my riddle to solve (tom riddle)

twenty-seven*

Warning// mature sexual content

After all of my previous experiences with him, I had concluded that Tom was not a very funny person. He rarely joked about anything. He also never laughed at my jokes. However, it seemed that he did have a sense of humor after all.

"I'm telling you, animals all hate me! I once got bit by a bird! A bird, for Salazar's sake!" Riddle took another long drag of his joint as I burst into a fit of laughter.

"That is impossible. Birds have beaks, they can not bite!" I took the joint from his hand, seeing as mine was now nothing but ash. It felt as if we had only been on the rooftop for seconds, although it had probably been about fifteen minutes. I let the smoke escape my lips, sending it in Tom's direction. He frowned and turned his head away from me.

"You obviously have no clue how birds work. Sssisslsssyyysss" I let out a groan as I playfully swatted at his arm.

"I hate it when you speak that snake language. It's so damn creepy." I decided that I was tired of sitting upwards, so I let my body collapse down onto the cold rooftop. It was hard for me to concentrate on anything; thoughts stayed in my head for a mere second before being pushed away. The sky was clear enough to allow the stars to shine, which made my heart flutter with excitement.

"I can barely hold this," Tom complained as he desperately tried to balance the nub-sized joint between his fingers. He eventually gave up, and flicked it to the ground. I glanced up to get a good look at him. His eyes were red, pupils dilated, and face flushed. "I'm incredibly parched. It feels as if I haven't had water in weeks."

"Fuck. Forgot about that; happens when you're high. Something to do with brain systems," I tried to explain. Riddle flashed me a weird stare, making me consider that my words hadn't sounded the same out loud as they had in my mind. I watched the boy transfigure a small stone into a goblet and then fill it with water. He quickly drained the goblet, and then repeated the process.

"I can still hear the music," I blurted out. I had turned on my side, my ear pressing against the stone. Beneath me, a violinist played beautifully. I had forgotten that the party was still happening. I suddenly felt Riddle lying next to me, his ear pressed against the roof as well. His eyes darted around as he tried to focus.

"I never gave you a birthday present." I nearly laughed out loud; surprised by his sudden change of subject. Although the weed left a strong smell, hits of his cologne still reached my nostrils. I loved the way that he smelled.

"I didn't expect one from you. Do you think that Slughorn is going to have us brew Veritaserum next term? Corrina thinks that he might." Tom's face scrunched up for a moment as he considered my question.

"No, I don't think so. You know, er-, what was I going to say? Fuck." I giggled, reaching for his hand and giving it a small squeeze.

"You have to focus really hard, or else the thought goes away and your words get all twisted," I explained. "It sort of feels like everything is in slow motion." Tom ran a hand through his hair, messing up his curls a bit. I decided that he has really nice hair.

"Tell me a secret. Tell me something about you that no one else knows," he proposed. It took me a moment to think of something, I wasn't quite sure if there was anything that I had kept completely to myself.

"I'm afraid to leave Hogwarts. It feels more like a home than the manor ever will, and I haven't a clue what I will do after school," I admitted with a sigh. It was true, I did hate thinking about the future. It was a bit embarrassing to say such a thing, especially to Riddle.

"Interesting. I think that you'll be fine, you really are quite smart. Would you like to know a secret of mine?" He lowered his face to mine and brought his voice down to a whisper. I nodded eagerly. "Alright. That rumor about me being the heir of Slytherin; that was true. I opened the Chamber of Secrets."