The Dark Lord's Rose - A Tom Riddle Love Story

Part I - Charming Checkmate

October 22, 1943

Tom's classes were finished for the week and finally, he would have the entire weekend to do whatever he pleased. This would likely involve scheming ways he could gain more control over the student body and staff, or perhaps perusing the restricted section of the library. He nearly smiled with content at the thought; these sorts of things were the only things he could think of that made him genuinely happy.

Better yet, it had been several weeks since the thought of Rosemary Horton had distracted him. His curiosity of her had subsided and it seemed to be business as usual.

Alas, of course, he was faced with the inexhaustible irony of life when he entered the Slytherin common room after dinner and saw Horton lounging on one of the long couches with a book in her hands. When she saw him enter she set down her book and smiled up at him. "Hello, Riddle."

Always one to avoid social interaction if at all possible, Tom would have pretended not to see her and headed for the staircase that led to his dormitory if she hadn't acknowledged him. But now that she had, he felt obligated to stay and speak with her, if only for a few minutes.

"Miss Horton." He sent her a polite smile in return and walked to sit in a nearby chair. "I'm surprised to see you here without Avery. Have you finally realized that Slytherin is the superior house and begged Dippet to allow you to switch?" At times, Tom surprised even himself with his natural charm; he certainly hadn't expected something so playful to come from his mouth.

Her responding laugh suggested that she had liked it. For a moment, he noticed that she had a pleasant laugh. There was a quality about that he couldn't quite describe, perhaps some type of warmth; it was enjoyable regardless of his inability to describe it.

"Not quite. Markus is at Quidditch practice for another hour. He said I could wait here until he returns because Loretta is practicing for The Frog Choir auditions in our dormitory and I can't stand hearing it. I realize that makes me sound like a terrible friend, but it's just too high pitched to listen to for hours."

"Quite right." He smirked at her. Merlin, he was in rare form that day.

"If I'm not keeping you from anything, perhaps you could keep me company while I wait? I've been in the mood for a game of wizard's chess lately."

Tom paused. He had planned to get certain things done that afternoon, but he supposed there wasn't any dire urgency. Surely they could wait until later, or even another day. He did enjoy besting his peers at wizard's chess and he was intrigued to see if she was a worthy opponent. "Best two of three, Miss Horton?"

She smiled excitedly and he rose from his chair to retrieve the board from one of the bookshelves in a corner of the common room. Rosemary moved to sit on the floor with her back against the couch and he sat across from her with the board between them. He waved his wand over the board and the pieces moved into their staring positions.

"You know, you can call me Rose if you'd like" she told him after ordering a pawn onto the board.

He knew that was what most of her friends called her, but seeing as he didn't really consider himself her friend, he hadn't even considered it before. Thinking about it further, he wondered if this meant that they were supposed friends, at least in her eyes. He wasn't sure what to say or think about the prospect of that, so after a bit of hesitation, he decided to respond with: "Well, you can call me Tom, if you'd like."

Each of them took a few turns, back and forth. After an attack on one of her bishops left a few shattered stone pieces on the board, she leaned toward him to sweep them off into her hand. She was so close he caught a bit of her scent: strong, sweet vanilla with a hint of something rather spicy, perhaps ginger. It overwhelmed him for a moment and he felt a bit lightheaded.