Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

27: Count me out.

Being on bad terms with Tom Riddle wasn't easy. His indifference and calmness were almost worse than his rage. His eyes showed nothing but emptiness and a hint of contempt when they met hers.
The other annoying thing was that his life seemed not to have changed at all. He was still walking the halls with an air of superiority and plenty of followers by his side.

Right now, however, they were working together in loaded, angry silence on a drought of living death.
Shivs hair was falling out of her ponytail, and she kept pushing strands away in frustration whilst cutting up a valerian root in tiny pieces.
Tom kept grabbing pieces of root from her plate and cutting them up even smaller, implying without words that she wasn't doing good enough.
She shot him annoyed looks and moved the blade up and down quicker. Finally, she scooped all the roots up and dropped them in their cauldron.

'Those needed to be dried first,' Tom hissed at her.

'I've read a new study that showed they're more effective straight away,' Shiv bit back.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, pairs of eyes narrowed. Then, they went back to doing their own tasks around their station without speaking.
A couple of times, they bumped into each other or almost stepped on the other's toes. They scoffed, sighed, and rolled their eyes.

When Slughorn strode around his group of extracurricular students, he was pleased with most of them. He gave a few small compliments here and there.
The professor stopped at Tom and Shivs station and bent over their potion. He dropped a small leaf in there and peaked down.

'It's.. perfect!'

It took Siobhan all the self-control in the world to stop herself from grinning. She forced a polite smile and thanked Slughorn. Tom did the same.

'Beautiful work, I knew that your two bright minds together would deliver nothing but perfection. You have not disappointed me!' The professor chirped proudly. 'I will award both of you with a small vile of a potion of your choice. You can think about it, pick it up at the end of class,'

Sluhorn made his way back to the front of the classroom and discussed some of the mistakes that were made. Tom looked at Shiv with the most blank, expressionless face he had yet made.
Even now, when she had beaten him right in front of everyone, even if only they knew, he seemed totally unbothered.
Did she beat him, though? Yes. The potion was perfect, and she had done something new with it. She made it perfect. Or maybe she would just like to make that her truth.

At the end of the class, both of them gathered at Slughorns desk.

'And what will it be for you, miss Selwyn?' He asked.

Siobhan had thought about this non-stop the last half hour. She looked over to Tom briefly but focused her attention back on the professor quickly. 'Veritaserum.'
Slughorn raised his eyebrows. 'Interesting choice..' and he started filling a small vile with clear liquid from a flask on his own working station.
He handed it to her and wrapped his hands tightly around hers, enclosing the vile. 'Use it carefully, miss Selwyn.'

Shiv observed Slughorn ask Tom the same question. She didn't move a muscle in her face when he requested Felix Felicis. She was surprised. She had expected him to choose something.. darker? It felt odd to her that Tom Riddle would request something that would increase his luck. If he believed his own words, he wouldn't need something as superficial as luck.

Slughorn gave both of them some instructions and warnings for their potion. It was nothing Shiv didn't know already. She nodded politely and thanked her professor once more for the reward. After that, she followed Tom outside.

'Surprised you didn't pick an antidote to something,' Tom commented without looking back at her when they reached the dungeon hallway.

'And what's that supposed to mean?' Shiv asked, irritated. She quickened her steps and passed him, looking back briefly before descending up the stairs.