Tom Riddle is mostly a loner. Many students think he's strange or have an awkward feeling about him. My name is Lucia, and this is my story. I'm in the same class as Tom, and I'm also a Slytherin student. I've never had much to do with Tom, but I've never been mean to him either. He's rather quiet and introverted. I've heard a few stories about him, but I don't really listen to gossip. I'm rather popular and have a group of friends from different houses with different backgrounds. I'm in Slytherin, but I don't come from a pureblood family. That doesn't matter to me or my friends.
One day, I'm on my way from the library to my dorm when I see Tom standing in the corridor. His books are scattered on the floor, and he's staring at them. I think for a moment and then walk over to him. "You're Tom, aren't you? What happened?"
Tom's head snaps up, his gaze meeting mine. A flicker of something unreadable flashes across his face, and then he blinks.
"Yes, I am Tom Riddle. And... nothing happened."
He's clearly in a state of distress, despite his response. His books seem to have been thrown to the ground.
"I'm just... having a bit of a rough time."
He seems very distracted as he gazes up at me, his dark green eyes staring into mine intently. "Can I help you, maybe?" I look confused."Did other students throw them on the ground?" The situation is really strange. Tom stares into my eyes, almost giving me shivers. Strange boy, strange situation. I'm not really waiting for his answer and start picking up his books, and I see a few pages that have fallen out with strange symbols, but I don't think about it any longer.
"Thank you for... picking those up."
He reaches for a few of the pages that have scattered to the side, gathering them together and tucking them into his book. He pauses for a moment, staring at me, as though searching for something.
"Yes, it was other students."
He looks away, suddenly seeming to be angry about it. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, clearly wanting to say more but not knowing how to express himself.
"You're... Lucia, right?" He asks.
"Yes, I'm Lucia. No problem." I give him the books and smile friendly."I have to go now. Have a good day." I walk away and don't look back at him. This was strange, but I also felt kind of sorry for him. He seemed surprised that I was talking to him at all.
Tom stands there as I walk away, his green eyes following me for a moment before he seems to snap out of it.
I can tell that his behavior was unusual, almost unsettling, but something about him makes me feel sympathy for him. He's strange, but he's also attractive, in a darkly enigmatic way. I'm also curious about the symbols on the pages that have fallen out of his books.
I'm entering the Slytherin Common room, and my best friend Kim comes over to me. Kim: "Did I see you talking to Tom Riddle? What did he want from you?" She rolls her eyes and looks at me digusted.
"Yes, you saw right." I reply with a slight smile. "Honestly, I don't know. He had books scattered all over the floor and seemed like he was in trouble. I was just trying to help..."
Kim raises her eyebrows, clearly puzzled by the entire situation.
"What's so weird about talking to him anyway? He's okay, I think."
Kim gives me an exasperated look, but I see a hint of something in her eyes. Perhaps curiosity?
"For real? He is the strangest boy I ever saw. Everyone is either scared of him or bullies him" Kim says in a shocked tone.
"Yeah, he's definitely... strange."
I pause for a moment, debating whether or not to tell Kim about the pages that fell out of Tom's books. I decided to be honest with her.
"And he was holding pages that had some kind of strange symbols on them..."
Kim's eyebrows shoot up, her eyes looking more curious now but also slightly worried.
"What? That's... strange. Do you think he's into the dark arts?"
Lucia: "I have no idea. But It's none of my business. Can we talk about something else, maybe? Did you do the homework for Potions?"
"Yeah, you're right. It's really none of our business."
I pause, trying to think of a way to shift the conversation to something less troubling.
"Um... I did do the homework for Potions. Did you? You usually skip those assignments... "
I see a guilty look cross Kim's face, but it quickly evaporates.
"Hey, I do the homework sometimes!"
YOU ARE READING
Tom Riddle - Downfall
Fanfiction"The monsters were never under my bed. Because the monsters were inside my head. Because all this time the monster has been me." This is the Story of Tom Riddle and his life in Hogwarts when he was 17 and Lucia Grey, a popular girl from Slytherin bu...
