2. A Dignified Reputation

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It was the next morning and everyone was down in the great hall relishing the heaps of bacon, eggs, sausage. I sat next to Cassy and Mary, who were both talking about their schedules. I scanned my own one last time, Advanced Potions, Advanced Divination, Advanced Transfiguration,

As I finished chewing the last crumb of my English muffin, I felt a pair of eyes on me. As I had thought, Tom was staring at me from the Slytherin table with the same calculating stare he had used when we first met on the train

"I'll be back, I just have something to take care of," flashing a quick smile at her, I traveled across the room where the students gathered to eat their breakfasts, stopping at the Slytherin table. " Riddle, I need to speak to you." he looked up at me me and narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth to say something but snapping it shut and rising from the bench. He took the lead and walked to an empty broom closet.

"A broom closet? Is this your talking place? What if anyone saw me follow you in here?" I scowled in slight embarrassment at the quarters of choice. Riddle was not amused, he let out an impatient sigh and folded his arms over his chest.

"What do you want Evans?" his height towered mine and his eyes glowered down at me, taking in every detail of my face.

"What do you think you were doing? Staring at me from across the great hall? Who do you think you are? I have a reputation to keep," I knew that my so called reputation didn't actually matter. But I knew if anyone saw him staring with those cold eyes, they'd begin to pester me.

"Perhaps you shouldn't question my motives, Evans. As I don't question yours," Tom glared angrily then began to smirk as I faltered for words.

"Leaders ought to question each other, otherwise there could be corruption," I glared at his smirk, loathing it's very existence. Riddle was arrogant, a side I hadn't seen of him yet. He was always quiet, always a teachers pet. He wasn't the type to be malicious at all.

"Aren't you a little wise girl?" he glanced at the ravenclaw crest upon the breast of my robe, "naturally, it comes with that house," sneering, Riddle stalked off, leaving me angry and defensive.

I took five minuets until I left the broom closet, just in case. I smoothed out my robes (even if nothing happened to them), tightened my tie, straightened my Head Girl pin, then walked out of the closet quickly, immediately bumping into Lucas, a Gryffindor boy in my year.

"Oi! Look where you goin'!" he said angrily.

"Oh, sorry, Lucas. I didn't see-" Lucas then interrupted me.

" 'Ello, Ruth! I thought it was some firs' year not watchin' themselves! 'ow was your 'umma?" his thick cockney accent always made me smile, so I couldn't help but let my lips curve upwards as he fluffed his brown hair.

"What do you have first?" I asked him.

"Transfiguration," he replied, grabbing my bag from my shoulder. I gave it to him gratefully.

"Me too, do you want to walk with me?"

"Sure!"

The day's classes weren't  as exciting as I had anticipated. In fact, my hopes were crushed by the overwhelming prospect of having to sit in these classrooms the rest of the year. Normally, I was excited and ready to learn at Hogwarts, but it seems now I just needed out of the place.

Professor Slughorn assigned Riddle to be my potions partner for the rest of the term, much to my dismay. Not that Riddle wasn't brilliant, because he was absolutely brilliant, but something told me that I didn't want him as my lab partner. Yet Slughorn assigned us table one saying, "Oh! The head boy and girl can work together on their work!"

Riddle glared at me, then sometimes would smirk and make me slightly angry with his obvious dislike of me. I hadn't done anything apparent to him, nothing I think I've done. Yet he won't give me a chance to make friends with him.

Perhaps that's why he only has his five friends that follow him around everywhere...

I sighed and buried my face in my hands in frustration. Riddle was the biggest mystery, he was like the dark side of the moon. Even in the way the light shadowed across his sculpted jaw so perfectly invoked curiosity within me.

Curiosity killed the cat...

I groaned quietly as students began to close their books for the day and slammed my own shut and dropped it noisily in my book bag and closed it up. My mood was awful to say the least, a permanent frown was etched across my face and my eyebrows furrowed in the way one's would whilst they were in deep or critical thought.

Mary caught up with me on my way out of the classroom with a smile upon her freckled face and her green eyes twinkling in joy. I looked down at her and laughed, potions was her favourite subject. "You're happy to be back, then!" I smiled and rubbed my lip.

"Quite, it's so boring at home where there's no magic. Muggle life truly is dull, even the radio is a bore now!" Mary twirled her wand between her fingers then dropped it back into her robe pocket.

"I never asked, what did you do over summer?" I asked smoothing down my blonde hair with my free hand.

"Oh, me? Well, I wasn't really allowed to leave the house because of the air raids. So I either helped my mum cook, clean, so laundry, read, or listen to the radio. The radio had nice music when they didn't report on the war," Mary laughed in slight pity and more appreciation of being back, "what about you?"

I smiled remembering my summer, "oh, I would read the books in the library and when Robert came back home, we'd eat and, you know," explaining it to her didn't give the effect of nostalgia I felt when remembering. Since my brother was all I had left, I enjoyed his company three times as much.

"I'm glad to be back!" Mary laughed as we entered the Ravenclaw common room. Leonard Beau sat on a corner couch with Cassy, as soon as they saw us, they closed their books and separated to make room on the couch for both of us.

I finished my work with my friends while we laughed and joked and eventually headed down to the great hall for dinner, but one thing really bothered me about Riddle the whole night. His anger toward me, before even knowing me.

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I edited this whole chapter, renamed it, and even changed a few events that happened... I'm really trying to make this book better than it is in it's current condition. I'm sure that you can vouch that the first few chapters are poorly written :/ so pretty soon it'll be re-done!

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