Princess - A Tom Riddle Fan Fiction

Chapter 31

I hate him.

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I can't say why I want him angry at me. Maybe it is my growing fear of our feelings. Maybe I'm not used to softness. Maybe those two are the same thing.

My eyes search the ceiling, tracing and memorizing every dip and splinter in the wood. Boredom comes easy without him but I'm in no hurry to go looking for him. 

Him. Why are my thoughts always on him?

Why does he have to consume me the way he does? Why does he have to keep me wrapped around his finger when I'm useless with magic and even just talking?

I can't say. 

Questions roll through me on a loop, always ending unanswered and leading to deeper, more frustrating ones.

I hate him. 

"I hate him," I whisper, something inside me settling at the idea.

"I hate him," I say, this time a little louder.

"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him," I say, my voice increasingly rising.

I sit up, anger coursing through my veins, "I hate you Tom Riddle. Always have, always will. Fuck you."

Even though he's not in the room, satisfaction, as if I've said it to him, envelops me. I sigh, releasing tension in my lungs. I slowly lie back down, my gaze fixing itself on the ceiling once again. 

"So what do you call your emotion towards your father?"

My jaw tightens as I remember his words. His smugness. Was he smug? The memory blurs, blocking me out of my answers.

What were my emotions towards my father?

Love for a while, maybe. Hate at some point. Is it possible Tom's right? Can I actually hate and love someone at the same time? Not that I love Tom. Of course not. Tom Riddle will never get to me. Not the way my father did. Tom doesn't have that power.

A knock on the door breaks me from my pondering. Ember lets herself in, a cheeky smile across her face.

"Hey," Ember says, gently shutting the door. She stands there for a moment, staring at me.

"Hey?"

"Are you and Riddle friends now?" She says, blushing at the inane question.

I scoff, "what gave you that idea?"

"Well, he was being sweet. Defending you then talking to you like you actually have feelings. He doesn't do that often."

I'm silent for a second. So it truly was strange. Good to know I'm not going crazy.

"Well, we're not friends," I say, my voice surprisingly steady.

"Do you want to be?" 

I go silent again. Do I want to be? Do I want him to be nice to me? Do I want to be nice to him?

"No."

She looks down, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. She doesn't respond to that. Instead she changes the subject as she makes her way towards me.

"I have to go. Are you going to be okay?"

I give her a questioning look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

She opens her mouth to respond but closes it instead. "Nevermind. See you when I get back."

She takes her time walking to the door. She's stalling.

"Say it. Whatever you want to say, say it."

She doesn't turn to me. She stares at the door, I assume with a blank expression, though I can't be sure.

"Don't trust him," she whispers.

I don't speak. I don't want to make her stop talking.

"He'll do what he can, he'll go so far... Don't trust him. And please, for fuck's sake, don't fall in love with him."

I look down, "I don't love him."

She turns to me, her face back to its usual glowing. "Tom's right. You're a terrible liar."

She leaves, shutting the door as gently as she did when she arrived.

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Shorter but I feel like you should process this convo before the next few chapters.

-Gray