The Fearsome Name of Riddle

Promised Duty Of The Heir

Though the days were slowly getting longer, the cold and the snow clung to the air in the new year. Tom Riddle wrapped his scarf tight around his neck as he waited at Hogsmeade station for the train. He didn't like the tight feeling in his chest as the train pulled into the station. He hated not knowing how Victoria would react to seeing him. Her loyalty had always been unwavering before. He should have never told her about his parents, it's not like she ever suspected anything before. Victoria wouldn't abandon him. Not now. She wasn't allowed. 

"Tom." Victoria's happy tone put Tom's nervousness at ease the way it always could. "You look like you're in another world, are you alright?" 

His dark brown eyes snapped up to see her looking exactly as he remembered her. She didn't look angry anymore. Had she gotten over it? Obliviated herself perhaps.

"Perfectly fine." Tom smiled charmingly as she reached him, even taking her gloved hand into his. Physical contact. A good sign. "How was your Christmas?" 

It was useless to try legilimency on her. They had learned how to use it together and much to his frustration, she had proven a natural talent at occlumency as well. He would have to read her the muggle way. 

"Boring without you," Victoria smiled, reaching up to stroke her fingers through his hair, "and you? How's the search?" 

Tom smiled broadly as he tugged her coat more tightly around her to keep the cold chill of the wind away from her. "I have something to show you, but we must keep everything strictly secret now." 

"Of course," Victoria nodded, a curious furrow forming in her perfectly even brows. "Just you and me then." 

"Yes," Tom agreed, glancing briefly at Obsidian as he stood awkwardly a little further away than he usually would. "Just you and I." 

The black leather glove on his hand slipped around the softer fabric of hers and held with a strong grip. Tom's head turned back as he began to guide Victoria out of the arch of the train station and onto the dirt road. 

“Take the boys for a butter beer, would you Lestrange?” Tom said, only wanting to share the core details of his plan with the woman he trusted the most. 

“As you wish.” Obsidian nodded but held it in a sort of bow as he moved his hand to grip Enoch’s shoulder as the boy swayed with a drowsy look in his eyes. 

The couple left their friends to walk on their own, staying shoulder to shoulder as they walked the path from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. Bare trees lined the road, not a bud of growing blossom to show yet. Tom and Victoria kept between the cart wheel groves in the dirt to avoid an awkward step. It pressed them closer together but neither minded. 

“You'll make me a mad man if you let me stew like this,” Tom said softly, tightening his grip on her hand ever so slightly, “what are you thinking about— about my blood status?”

The wind whistled through the stones in the wall that protected against the sudden drop of the valley. 

“I'm trying not to think about it at all,” She said after a moment, eyes down on the road as she watched her step for ice. “If I dwell, I'll hate it. I know I will, but I'm a Malfoy, willful ignorance is how we survive so well. You're a pureblood to me, and to anyone that asks.”

“Is that an order, my Lady?” Tom nearly scoffed, watching her tuck her nose under her scarf. 

“It is.”

#####

With her hand in his, Tom Riddle led his sweetheart through the halls of Hogwarts. Dark stone halls guided their way as Victoria watched the side of Tom's face. He was no different. The same boy she had grown up with. Determined. Ambitious. Focused. Part of her felt paranoid that he knew about her kiss with Obsidian. A stupid moment of confusion that she knew he'd hate. They reached the girl's bathroom before Victoria realised where they were going.