Hogwarts: a school of Witchcraft and Love (Tom Marvolo Riddle x F!reader)

Chapter 1-12

The end of your first year at Hogwarts was steadily drawing to a close. You were spending more and more time in the library as a result. The looming threat of final exams had you studying feverishly, with Madam Pince breathing down your neck every step of the way.

At first, it was a bothersome feeling, but now you didn't mind it all that much. It meant that you were taking studying seriously, and that you were determined to pass your grades.

But even as you pored over dusty tomes and scribbled notes furiously with your quill, you lost your focus at times, thinking back at the events of the past year. The people you met, Will and Alyssa, the teachers you found yourself growing fond of such as professor Dumbledore and even the scary McGonagall. Even the castle itself with its enchanted portraits lining the walls and the secret passageways hidden throughout made your eyes shimmer with good memories. And next year, you got to do it all over again!

The sun had long since set, casting the library into a cobweb of shadows. The air was thick with the scent of parchment and ink as you pored over your textbooks, taking notes and memorizing spells. The hours ticked by, but you barely noticed them as you became lost in the magic of learning.

You rubbed at your eyes as you bent over your Transfiguration book, trying to get through just one more paragraph... One more sentence! You had read the last one five times without absorbing any of it. It was time for bed; the books weren't going to run away, and you still had a week until your O.W.L.S started.

You shut the volume and tucked your hair behind your ear where it escaped again. Your hand reached to push it back up, but you didn't when your ear picked up on a soft rustling sound coming from one of the nearby bookshelves. At first, you assumed it was just another student searching for a particular text—but then you caught sight of a pair of lidless green eyes peering out at you from between the stacks.

An owl? Why was there an owl in the—oh Merlin, forget about it! You met a ghost here.

Cautiously, your eyes sweeped from bookshelf to bookshelf to see that Madam Pince was nowhere nearby. She hardly came in the back of the library because there was no need to; most people studying sat at the front so that was where she was, including today.

You tried to be stealthy as you got off your seat and walked over to the next row. There it sat, perched on one of the tables, holding something in its beak. The animal was chestnut brown in colour and you instantly recognized it to be Tom's, a suspicion which the deep blue lettering on the message confirmed. The elegant curls in the letters were definitely his handwriting.

Curiously, you slowly took the message from the bird's beak and opened it. Your gaze went over the thick and creamy parchment paper while the owl flew away, back to where it came from.

'Meet me tomorrow night at the duel chamber. Bring your wand.

TR'

That was all the parchment read. Short and simple. Despite liking the thought of going on a tour of exploration, you were also apprehensive. Venturing out after curfew could result into severe punishments, so why were you going against your better judgement just more than a day later? Curiousity was just one of the many, many reasons.

The corridors of the school were a lot spookier at night. Every sound of your small, light steps echoed in the midnight silence, and the shadows seemed to move in the flickering torchlight. But you weren't afraid of the shadows. You were more afraid of getting caught red-handed by a prefect or worse—one of the teachers. That was why every so often you halted to listen for any voices or footsteps that may alert anyone of your presence.