For the Greater Good || Tom Riddle ||

Chapter Eighteen: A Pawn

Tom stood silently, hidden behind a stone pillar on the seventh floor. While it had never even been a remote possibility for him to be sorted into Gryffindor House, Tom did resemble that of a lion hidden in the long grass of the sun swept savannah, silently stalking its prey before it violently pounced.

His dark eyes were fixated on the Alchemy classroom door. Tom had to admit that he had been somewhat surprised when Dumbledore requested Gwen's presence after class.

It was not typical of the aging professor to carry out punishment against students that failed to pay attention during lessons. In fact, Tom could not recall a time where Albus Dumbledore had ever punished a student.

So what was he discussing with Gwen?

Tom stared intensely at the large wooden door, curious about what was transpiring behind it.

But as he imagined the middle aged wizard lecturing Gwen about her distracted nature during class, Tom found himself slightly bothered by the idea. It was spurred by the fact he absolutely despised Dumbledore, and while he certainly wasn't very fond of the blonde haired girl either, he did not wish for her to be punished for merely failing to copy down some of the notes.

After all, she was the only student in the classroom aside from himself that seemed to hold any sense of higher intellect or knowledge of Alchemy.

Because of this, Tom decided to wait for Gwen until she was done speaking with Dumbledore as his studies were completed for the day. And by doing so, he was saving her from the despicable request of the blood-traitor, Selwyn, to visit his mudblood friend in the Hospital Wing. He was sure that she would be appreciative of his courtesy.

It was several minutes before Gwen emerged from the classroom, wearing a very conflicted look upon her fair brow. Tom narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but quickly put up his charming façade as he sauntered down the hall to meet her.

"Tom," she said with a hint of surprise. She looked around the corridors in confusion, obviously perplexed as to why he had waited for her. He smirked at her bewilderment.

"What are you doing here?" she asked in a puzzled voice. However, he noticed that her eyes held a certain sharpness to them as though she was awaiting his reaction with a pointed blade. His smirk only grew as he peered down at her.

"Waiting for you, of course," he replied smoothly as a charming smile overtook his face.

"Me?" Gwen questioned with a highly-arched eyebrow. He watched her lips purse in dubiety as she stared back up at him. "Riddle, don't try to play me. What do you want?"

A small chuckle escaped his lips, only sounding like a huff of breath. "Can I not simply await a young lady after class?" he slickly countered. "And before you question my intentions further, I have do an advantage. It seems that you may need to see my copy of notes for the upcoming quiz, don't you think?"

"I hardly need help in that class, much less help from you," she simpered incredulously.

His eyes flashed with something Gwen couldn't quite understand. Slowly, as a smug smile washed over his face he said, "I'd care to disagree."

Gwen scoffed, shaking her head at his frustratingly suave arrogance. However, the pair had begun to walk down the hall side by side, their strides evenly paced. They turned the corner, meandering slowly towards the bare wall where the Room of Requirement was hidden. She watched Tom's every move as his lips quickly curved into a resemblance of a smirk that quickly faded when he caught her staring at him. She instantly turned away.

Tom began to walk the length of the wall three times with his hands poised behind his back, wearing a very concentrated look upon his brow. Just as the time before, a door suddenly appeared on the bare wall. Tom stood in front of it, ushering Gwen inside.