The Fearsome Name of Riddle

Cursed Jealousy

Yellowing pages of a book on dark curses turned with the fingers of Victoria Malfoy. She had a free period and decided to spend it reading after already finishing all her school work. The Slytherin common room was almost silent in class time, but as her free hour came to an end, the chatter of students coming back from their lessons began to fill the room. 

"You know," Obsidian said, leaning over the back of the sofa she was sitting on. She could feel his knuckles tucked behind her shoulder, a gentle pressure on her unif. "The class is called defence against the dark arts, not just the dark arts." 

"You need to know of the dark arts in order to defend yourself against them," Victoria smiled, turning to look at his smirking face. “There's no crime in reading.”

"That is true. You Malfoys do love your loopholes." Obsidian agreed, hopping over the sofa to sit next to her. "Tom tells me you agreed to be his girlfriend. I'd hate to break his heart when your father tells you to marry me." 

"I'm not going to marry you," Victoria chuckled, accepting a bertie botts every flavour bean, letting him feed it to her to avoid putting her book down. “If I can, I'll talk him round. I just need to prove Tom isn't a mudblood.”

"We both know your father wants to join our families at some point. If Septimus can marry you to a pureblood, he will." He said, letting out a chuckle as he watched her face screw up in disgust. "What did you get?" 

"Dirt, I think." She swallowed hard to get the taste out of her mouth, a grimace on her face. 

"Don't worry, I've got something to help." Obsidian turned to his pocket, rustling with a packet. 

"Don't give me another one," Victoria sighed, watching him as he sat turned away from her, "I don't trust them." 

"No, it's not a bean, it's a roast chestnut," he smiled as he held the bitesize nut in between his fingers, "here." 

The Lestrange boy fed the snack to her, popping it between her lips as he watched with anticipation as her face lit up with delight. 

"It's coated in honey," she exclaimed as the sweetness spread through her mouth. 

"Do you like it?" 

"I do," Victoria smiled, folding down a corner on her page and closing the book, "have you been to Honeydukes today?" 

"I made it myself." Obsidian beamed as he pulled the brown bag from his pocket. The nervousness in his eyes seemed to melt away at her happy reaction. "I've been thinking about it all summer but my father had me working with him if I wasn't doing homework, I didn't get the chance until now." 

"You're not trying to poison me are you," Victoria chuckled, placing her book down on the seat next to her. “The Lestrange gardens are a wonder to behold but I do not wish to sample them.”

"Of course not. You've a long line of protectors." He laughed, offering her the bag. "Tom would kill me, if your father didn't get to me first." 

"You've been feeding me sweets," she smirked, leaning forward to readjust his tie, "you're lucky Tom isn't here to see you." 

Obsidian laughed again, this time taking a glance around the room to check he was safe. His eyes landed on where Tom Riddle was standing. Fortunately for him, he wasn't watching them. He was distracted by a girl that was obviously interested in him, amused by the attention. She was talking to him about his jacket by the look of it, feeling the fabric on his sleeve. 

"Lucky he's not looking at least.” Obsidian smirked, leaning against the back of the sofa  before turning back to Victoria. “So, what curses have you been reading about?"