Zealous (Tom Riddle)

Chapter 2

Tom Riddle had not been in Elizabeth's presence again since that night. It was the next afternoon, and although Tom was someone Elizabeth despised, she was worried about the fact that a student who was known for never being tardy wasn't in lessons.

"Elizabeth?" Hazel called out tiredly, watching her roommate and friend escaping from their room, "Lizzie, it's eight o'clock! Where are you going at this time of night?"

"Uh..." Elizabeth was going to check if Tom was with the matron, "The Hospital Wing. I haven't been feeling too great. I've got a bit of a headache."

"Oh, never mind me then! Feel better soon," Hazel encouraged her. Elizabeth thanked her before heading out, rushing to the wing.

When she got there, Tom was talking to the matron with a heated expression. He looked flustered and frustrated. His body language agreed with this - he was stiff and seemed as though he was beginning to get extremely angry. Elizabeth stayed in the shadows to listen to their conversation before butting in.

"Why can you not provide me with this?" he breathed out, evidently attempting to stay calm, "I do not feel well."

"I've been warned not to give it to any students, Mr Riddle. The ingredients can be spilled and used for dark magic!" The matron replied, her expression equally as annoyed.

"Do I look like the sort to perform such a thing?" Tom asked innocently, "Please. You can stay here whilst I drink it, can you not?"

"I can..." The matron sighed, handing over a bottle of dark liquid. It was only then that Elizabeth realised how sick Tom actually appeared to be. His face was gaunt; his cheekbones protruding at such an extent that must have been dangerous and although his stance was stiff and rigid as it usually was, he shook and swayed as he took the potion to his lips.

"You must not breathe a word of this to anyone, do you understand?" The small woman asked, shaking her head at Tom, "Don't even think about it."

Tom nodded but Elizabeth noticed that his cheeks weren't as thin as they looked before. He swung his body around a corner, hiding in the shadows. Although Elizabeth couldn't see his face clearly, she couldn't help but notice the glimmer of a glass vial reflecting onto his lips.

"You can come out now, Miss Marin," Tom said as he also appeared back in the light. He scoffed in the matron's direction, nodding towards Elizabeth, "She wasn't very sharp-witted."

"She was stupid enough not to see your dirty little trick there, Riddle," Elizabeth smiled. She strode towards Tom, her eyes not breaking contact with his. He froze as she got closer - he didn't recognise human contact. He never received any nor did he attempt to make contact with anyone else. She reached an arm around his neck and pulled his face inches away from hers. Just as his eyes widened with the recognition that she was going to kiss him, she pulled away.

"Surprised, are you?" She said, a little flirtatiously as she held up the vial full of dark liquid between her fingertips. "It'd be such a shame if Headmaster Dippet were to hear that you persuaded the poor, innocent matron into giving you this, wouldn't it? Even worse if he were to hear that you tricked her into thinking you drank it... Don't you think?"

Elizabeth's arms were pinned against the wall in a singular motion, her hands high above her head.

"Your dirty tricks work on yourself, I see," Tom teased, his face so close to hers that she could feel his breath against her left cheek and ear, "Give it back, Miss Marin."

Elizabeth slipped the vial between her fingers, making it fall into Tom's hands. He smirked and said, "Admit it. You couldn't defeat me no matter how hard you tried-"

The vial was taken from his hands once again and Elizabeth was stood behind him with a smile, "I won't tell Headmaster Dippet, Riddle. However, I will be disposing of this."

The dark liquid was held high above their heads, Elizabeth's arms outstretched. She moved it slightly in front of her, and within seconds, it was hurtling to the ground. Tom protested, "No! It-"

By that time, it had already smashed to the floor, revealing a deathly odour. Elizabeth felt herself slipping out of consciousness, for that was a potion that killed whoever spilled it within minutes of it happening.

Tom lifted Elizabeth into his arms without a second thought, taking her to the matron with speed. He yelled out, "It's an emergency!"

The healer rushed to him, staring at the sight before her with wide, unimpressed eyes. Tom sighed as he put Elizabeth on one of the crisp, white beds, explaining the story wholeheartedly... with a twist.

"You see, I didn't want to use it for my own intentions," he said, feeling panic rise in his stomach as the short, stout woman rushed around Elizabeth's bed with various antidotes, "A student outside of school asked me to collect it for them. Someone at the orphanage, actually. I don't have to name them, do I? I don't know what they'd to do me, Matron..."

To him and anyone else who knew his true colours, his lie would have been obvious. But to a healer who had just been brought a girl who was dying, he seemed genuine enough, "Whatever you say, boy! Just go clean up that mess! It's still effecting her from out there."

Tom did as told and covered the almost black liquid with several thick pieces of parchment, sinking it into the paper. He knew he might be able to burn it to extract the liquid again so he pocketed it in a clear, unsealed bag. He rushed back into the wing, pretending to care what happened to Elizabeth, who he told the matron was his friend who had been waiting for him.

"Is she going to be okay?" Tom asked, trying to be emotional. He was only tricking himself. The façade of false emotion was far too obvious even for the matron.

"Yes, of course. It was right of you to bring her back here. You are in trouble though, Mr Riddle, despite the fact that you say you truly weren't using the potion to commit such acts yourself."

"You can't tell I wouldn't hurt her?" Tom inquired, his hand reaching out to Elizabeth's despite his inner, utmost disgust, "I... I am in love with her."

Sure, Tom was digging himself a deeper hole, but he didn't care whatever lies he had to come up with as long as he wasn't going to get in trouble. He craved power with every inch of his soul, and becoming Head Boy was the greatest authority he could have got at that moment.