Sparks -Tom Riddle

Chapter One

Tom

"This is for you." I glanced at what she was holding. The girl who stood in front of me whose name I didn't know, gave me a box of chocolate decorated in green ribbons and a letter. She seemed nervous, avoiding my gaze, but plastered a huge smile. I could clearly see her friends hiding behind the wall, occassionally sneaking glances at us. I gave her a smile and accepted it.

"Thank you for this but I must apologize, I'm in a hurry. Professor Slughorn asked me to meet him, can I talk to you perhaps later?" She smiled not reaching her eyes but nodded anyways. I bid her goodbye and quickly walked off to the nearest room.

The room was empty and dark, I took a seat placing the bookbag and gift on the table. I lit the candle, it was very quiet, only the sounds of howling could be heard. I opened the letter, all the words were familiar that other girls had previously wrote to me. I placed the letter over the candle watching it slowly burn. I looked at the box of chocolate, muttering a spell which made it turned into ashes.

One thing I hated the most is love. People would fall in love and lose their sense of self, sacrificing their own happiness for the sake of the relationship. They would cling to their partners, unable to function without them by their side. Love was nothing but a weakness. I saw it as a distraction, something that got in the way of people achieving their goals and fulfilling their potential.

Marilyn

It was one of those evenings when I occasionally filled the jars. I would go gather ingredients for potion class early in the morning in the Forbidden Forest. I wasn't assigned to do it, students weren't allowed to wander the Forbidden Forest without supervision. However, I insisted to Professor Slughorn to let me, and he agreed but I was only allowed to go in the morning.

I heard the huge door of the classroom open, I turned around to see who came in but it was completely dark. I continued filling the jars, not caring who just arrived.

I saw a source of light coming from the back of room, I squinted my eyes to see who was it at this time. Someone was sitting on the last row, burning the letter. The letter blocked me from seeing the face. The only thing I could see see was the black hair. The letter slowly burnt revealing his curly black hair. His dark brown eyes were deep and mysterious, and his high cheekbones gave him a striking look. Tom Riddle sat quietly staring the ashes of the letter, lost in his thoughts.

Everyone liked him, there was not a single person I heard that didn't like Riddle. I did, only because he was always on top of the class and I was always the second. No matter how hard I studied, I could never beat him. I was jealous of his academic ability.

Last year, Tom Riddle was awarded 'Special Award Service to the School' after he caught a third year student, Rubeus Hagrid. While my interactions with Hagrid were minimal, I had numerous encounters with him during my prefect duties. He shared his love for dangerous creature and has kind and gentle nature. I know we weren't that close but I refused to believe that he killed Myrtle Warren.

I distinctly recollect that fateful day when I was on my prefect duty. On that day, I stumbled upon Olive Hornby and Myrtle in the second-floor girl's lavatory. Olive's cruel taunts towards Myrtle revolve around her glasses and how no one will ever love her. Subsequently, I intervened requesting both of them to retire to their dormitories. Although Olive complied with my instructions, Myrtle was hurt by Olive's words, and crept away into the privacy of one of the cubicles, sobbing inconsolably.

I made an attempt to comfort her but she asked me to leave her alone. It wasn't until several hours later that grave news reached me - Myrtle was found lifeless. To this day, I am burdened with the guilt of her demise, believing that it could have been prevented had I acted differently. Perhaps, if I had only insisted that she retire to her bed rather than considering her pleas, she would still be here today.

I looked at him, he was pointing his wand to what seemed like a box of chocolates, muttered a spell and it turned into ashes. I wondered what's with him and burning.

I diverted her attention back to what I was doing, silently put the jars back to its respective place but the jar slipped from her hands, making a loud noise. I cursed and looked at Riddle, who stood up and headed to where I was standing. "Who's there?" He said but I didn't said anything. I whispered lumos and bent down to start picking up the glass. As I was picking up the shards of glasses, I came in view with someone standing. I pointed the wand to see Tom standing in front of me.

"What are doing here?" He asked with a scowl. "Are you stealing?" He queried. I put the glass on the table and stood up. I scowled at his question.

I scoffed at his question, "No, I was assigned to put the ingredients." I explained while taking the broom to sweep the remaining pieces on the floor.

"At this time?" He questioned. I nodded and didn't bother explaining. I agree it was an odd time to fill the ingredients when it is ussually done in the morning of the weekends but I didn't have time to complete it. I swiftly fill the jar before the suppertime with the lone candle's dim light, which was the only source of illumination.

As I was throwing the glass, it pricked me. When I hissed in agony, Riddle rushed over to check on my hand. He seized my hand in his and utter a spell that I had never heard before. The bleeding gradually stopped.

"Thank you," I mumbled and he nodded. Once more, the enormous door unlocked, revealing Professor Slughorn. He first glanced at our hands, then at us. Riddle promptly dropped my hand. "What's going on here?" I could tell he was attempting to contain his smile as he asked.

He was carrying a stack of essay, Riddle rushed to help him carry it. "Nothing sir, Riddle was just helping me." I responded while throwing the remaining pieces away. "I am sorry for breaking your jar."

He smiled, "All is well, thank you for helping me. Good thing both of you are here. Miss Hudson, you did a remarkable work on your essay." I was elated to hear that, I spent so much time and effort on that essay. "Tom, my boy, as always your essay was well-written with a lot of details. Miss Hudson, would you like to be my helper for this semester."

Being a helper was a big thing, especially for Professor Slughorn. "Sure sir, I would love to." I responded too quickly. Then I remembered Riddle is the helper of the potion class. I looked at him, he was glaring at me. Why did Professor Slughorn has to annouce in front of him. Professor looked at him and his entire expression changes.

"Tom, you of course will still be my helper, I thought it would be nice for someone to help you." He said and Tom nodded but I could sense that he didn't like the idea at all. He handed me a namelist, "The first task you two have together. These are the students who joined study group this year. Assigned them a student to teach them."