𝐈 𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮.. | Tom Riddle |

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

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I started to get ready much earlier than everyone else in my dorm, going down to the Great Hall to get some early breakfast. When I got there, I saw a few students scattered around the tables, none of them sitting at their particular house table. It wasn't necessary currently of course, no teachers were surveying the Hall anyways. 

I sat down at the Ravenclaw table due to the lack of students there, and the sweet silence it would provide. I grabbed some food, and sat down, pulling out my leftover homework from yesterday. I ate and completed the work in silence, enjoying the early morning quiet.

After some time, another person sat rather close to me, but I didn't look up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Slytherin robes and assumed it was just another early learner like me. Just as I guessed, I heard the shuffling of parchment being unrolled. We worked in silence, none of us communicating with the other. 

Half an hour later, just as I scratched the last letter of my essay, I heard a clink, and the toxic smell of ink flooding my senses. I looked up at my just finished essay to see, to my utter dismay, that a large pool of emerald green ink had engulfed the entirety of my homework. 

"Ah!" I said, standing. The ink was now dripping off the table and onto my robes. I drew my wand, looking down to examine the damage done to my robes. When I glanced back up however, my essay was sparkling clean. I looked around to see who had cleaned it for me, and to my left, the Slytherin boy was tucking away his wand, picking up the ink bottle gingerly and examining what ink was left inside. I couldn't see his face, but by the looks of his black curls, there was only one person it could be.

"Riddle." I blurted out, only realizing that I had indeed said it out loud moments after the damage had been done. Of course, Riddle then chose that moment to look at me, and for the first time since that Charms class, I got a good look at his face.

His face was pale, the shadows on his chiseled cheeks just accentuating his sharp features. His jawline, oh his jawline, was utter perfection. It was sculpted to perfection, one I would imagine a statue of a greek god to have. His black curls framed his face so flawlessly he nearly looked like a painting. A walking, talking painting of course. His eyes and eyebrows were perfectly symmetrical, his eyes so dark that they nearly looked black. They glimmered mysteriously, but they were so easy to look at that I didn't look away, nor did I do anything except gawp stupidly.

"Sorry." He said, after what felt like an eternity of me staring at him. His demeanor hadn't changed whatsoever, I guess he was used to people staring at him.

"What?" I said, finally jerked out of my trance. Honestly, I don't know why I was so mesmerized with him now. I looked at him many times before, yet none of them were as intoxicating as this time.

"For spilling the ink. I don't know what has gotten into me, this usually never happens. " He said, examining my face interestingly. 

"Right!" I blushed, looking away from him. Not to anyone's surprise, after a few baited seconds, I looked back at him again, and was not-at-all-surprised to see him still staring at me. I tried to focus anywhere but his eyes, oh his eyes, but it was extremely difficult for me.

"I better be going." I said awkwardly, grabbing my essay and stuffing it in my bag hurriedly. I glanced at the clock, students were going to rush in at any moment, best end the conversation before then. 

Before I could run away, Riddle caught up with me, tapping me on the shoulder. I spun around, and found my face only a couple inches away from his.

"Wait, I didn't catch your name." He said, looking at me with those intense eyes.