the end, again - tom riddle

chapter eight

October 29, 1941.

Mara could not believe it was almost Halloween. She felt like she had blinked and suddenly it was the end of the month. Maybe it was that elf wine that made the time fly by so quickly.

In any case, students were all excited for the Halloween feast and the secret party the Hufflepuffs were throwing after. As a teacher, Mara should shut down the party due to it continuing on after hours, students from other houses being in the Hufflepuff common room, the breaking of numerous other school rules, and the whole rumor that there may be but most certainly will be alcohol for the older students. It was her job as a teacher to do something about it when students spoke loudly enough about it for her to hear in at least half of her daily classes.

As someone who loved to frequent parties though, Mara couldn't be bothered. Besides, if Hannah Abott wasn't there to sell her recreational potions there couldn't be too much damage.

But if the two sixth years sitting in the front of her classroom did not shut their gods damned mouths, she wouldn't be able to pretend like she couldn't hear them talking about said party.

"Nathaniel, would you care to tell me what's so captivating that you are incapable of finishing your worksheet?" Mara asked loudly from her desk.

The boy and his friend snapped their heads in her direction, their faces flushing from the embarrassment of being called out.

"No? Then I suggest you get on it. I've got a rather realistic dementor simulator that even gives you a taste of what it's like to get the happiness sucked out of you and I need volunteers. I'll save you the time of figuring it out, it's not very fun. So why don't we turn our attention back to the worksheet, yeah?"

"Yes, Professor Vaux." both boys mumbled with their heads lowered and their quills now scratching against their parchment.

"Excellent."

Mara caught the stray eyes of students who looked up to see what the interruption was. She delighted in the reactions her sharp look had.

She returned to her lesson plan for the next week, scratching out lesson highlight ideas for her second and fourth years. Her Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff fifth years were on track for their lesson plan but the Gryffindors and Slytherins were behind.

She knew why, of course. All the Gryffindors could seem to do was aggravate the Slytherins and vice versa. It resulted in her pausing to shut them up much more than her other classes. And as a result, they would not be able to have their practical lesson next week. Maybe they'd learn to swallow their insults.

The bell rang a short while later, the sounds of chairs scraping against the hardwood flooring filled the room. "Remember to turn in your notes on dementor habits! I want to go over it in class before the simulation the next time I see you!" she called as they left.

That was her last period of the day. All she had left to do was attend dinner, drink, and sleep.

That was the plan as she finished up her stack of papers to be graded, but then she heard a knock on her classroom door and she somehow just knew who it was. He walked in without waiting for clearance, as usual.

"Mara." he greeted shortly.

"Riddle." she returned suspiciously.

They hadn't spoken since the weekend. What with the whole drugging and interrogating her before searching her memories only to interrogate her again. You know, the usual.

"How can I help you on this fine evening?" she asked.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated, Mara. You, however, can help me. I would like to have dinner with you tonight in my office to talk about the events of last weekend. We did not cover certain topics that I would like to cover and we have other matters to revisit."