Burning Obsessions : Tom Riddle

9: Reckless Behaviour

[author's pov]

Now that Locke and Riddle had secrets connected to each other, they weren't sure whether they wanted to keep their distance or investigate each other.

As if they both wanted to swim, but neither of them wanted to get wet.

Slughorn had given out a test already, which Victoria and Theodore had not done so well on. The past few weeks, they had been a distractment to each other.

"You're a bad influence, you know that, Theo," Victoria complained to him when he walked her to Quidditch practice.

He scoffed and said, "That's very hypocritical of you, Victoria."

So afterward, they had forced themselves to stay serious during lessons. It's what was best for both of them.

"Miss Locke and Mister Theodore, if I could see you for a moment please," Slughorn had called them over at the end of class. "Riddle and Abbott as well too."

Riddle wasn't sure it was a good idea, as he already suspected what Slughorn was going to ask of him since he was already his top-graded student; Why else would Slughorn had called him over?

"Doubt we're being called over to join his club," Theodore whispered to Victoria and they shared a quiet chuckle. The last thing Victoria wanted was to join the Slug Club and become a teacher's owl.

Once the four of them had approached Slughorn's desk, he cleared his throat and said, "Now I don't want to embarrass you two," he looked at Victoria and Theodore, "But I feel as if you could use a hand."

Not embarrassing at all, Victoria thought, not giving Riddle a single glance.

"I've chosen my top two brightest students," Slughorn said. "You can both decide who to pair yourselves with or if-"

Riddle almost interjected and volunteered himself since he wanted to find time alone with Victoria to question her, but she always had company–specifically Theodore. Theodore could tell Riddle was going to say something so he interrupted Slughorn and said, "Lessons with Helen Abbott would be just fine."

"I'm sure Riddle doesn't have the time on his hands so having lessons with Helen is alright," Victoria spoke, not bothering to glance at him.

Slughorn looked at Helen to see if this was alright. She looked confused, as if to ask why we would prefer a Hufflepuff student over her own house.

"I- I suppose," she said. "I don't mind tutoring Victoria and Theodore together..."

"Excellent!" Slughorn clapped his hand together and Riddle's eyes darkened. "It seems we have worked this out wonderfully. Any objections, Riddle?"

"No, professor," he lied.

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[victoria's pov]

Slytherin's Quidditch first match was right around the corner. Gryfindor had beaten Hufflepuff (a first in ages) and so that meant we'd be up against them next. Cygnus had gotten the keeper position he wanted; Serenity, seeker; Rene Chombrun and Collin Yaxley as beaters; along with the chasers, Abraxas Malfoy, Richard Nicholson, and I.

Rene Chombrun was a sixth year student and Richard was a fourth year, the youngest on our team.

Practicing with them was easier said than done. Rene Chombrun had quite a temper and sometimes forgot he wasn't Slytherin's quidditch captain. Abraxas wasn't great with communication and Yaxley seemed to favour the males over the female players.

I should've spotted these flaws first, I thought.

Serenity must've read my mind because she nudged my shoulder and said, "You're not a lousy captain. You've just got a team with perks."