Peculiar ~A T.R fanfiction~

Chapter 5 ~The exit~

"So Julietta how are your famous siblings doing?" He interrogated and she answered "My sister is riding dragons and my brother is killing off Grindelwald's men" Vague as always, Julietta only said things that everyone already knows about her family. This obviously frustrated Slughorn as he wanted the inside knowledge of the most secretive family in the world. "Do you have any more information that is less widely known," he hinted eagerly wanting nothing more than to know the inner workings of the three Goldwood siblings. Julietta knew she had to stay in his good books for school reasons but giving up information on her family was something she didn't want to do. Her siblings would also be extremely mad if she told all to a nosy teacher. The girl knew how to play this old teacher like a fiddle.

She put one of her more adoring smiles on her face and she lied "Oh professor I would love to tell you more, I really would. I just can't as that would be betraying my sibling's trust and risking their safety. They are very private people so they stay safe and so their work is not jeopardized. I am sure you understand. You know so many famous people how could you not." She sounded like sugar in that moment and she fed her professors ego in a way that made him forget all about her siblings. He moved on to talk about his famous students throughout the years.

Soon enough dessert was served and this is when the conversation began to break up into groups. The Slytherin boy on her left turned to her and began to introduce himself to her. "Hello, I am Tom Riddle." He held out his hand and she shook it rather hesitantly. His grip was firm and his hands were ridiculously soft and after a few shakes, he freed her hand. "You don't like the name Tom do you?" She wondered and he nodded slowly seeing no reason to lie. "Very well then I shall call you Thomas," she decided and he just had to go along with it. He never liked the name Tom and the way she said Thomas with a hint of a French accent made it sound exotic. He would normally curse someone who would dare to give him a nickname but he liked it.

He then leaned into her so close that his lips were almost touching her ear. She wanted to squirm at the feeling of his warm breath on her neck and air yet she stayed dead still. "What you did with Slughorn was extremely smart. Not many people can get him off there backs like that," he complimented. He didn't know what it was about this girl but he was already using extremely informal language with her. Today he had done something he hadn't done in a long time. He had complimented someone without lying through his teeth, he spoke without his usual formality, and he almost touched someone willingly without doing it to assert power.

His normally good mask had been thrown out the window for one girl. Even the great Tom Riddle couldn't figure out what it was about her. Yet professor Slughorn also caught a glimpse of this tiny action. Him being who he was automatically decided to play matchmaker with the pair. He knew that he could pair them together in future assignments to get those two together. "Ah, Tom you seemed to be getting awfully close to Julietta." He hinted while Tom had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Julietta not being one to let anyone insulate something about he explained "Mr. Riddle here was just introducing himself and when he whispered in my ear it was to ask a question about my deceased Mother. I simply shook my head as I cannot say anything about my parents work because the ministry won't allow it."

Slughorn nodded understandingly with a look of sympathy on his face at the mention of her dead Mother. Nothing hid the disappointment behind his eyes at the thought of how powerful that couple could be, "Very well miss Goldwood, I understand." He said and silence came over the room until a seven-year Ravenclaw spoke up, "I am not entirely sure how you know about your parents work Ms. Goldwood as Code 57 inhibits the family of Auroras from knowing of there work." Julietta's face went from pretty to murderous in a few short seconds. She wasn't going to allow some smart ass Ravenclaw to ruin her family name and reputation

"Yes, but Code 42 overrides that and before you ask obliviate didn't work on me. Now professor Slughorn if you will excuse me it is getting late and talk of my dead parents has made me rather tired. I am going to have to, unfortunately, retire to my dorm room," she announced. With one last glare at the boy from Ravenclaw, she swept out of the room furious and out for blood. "What does is Code 42 entail?" Asked Slughorn and the boy answered "It means she was witness to the death of her parents. By the sounds of it, she couldn't be obliviated so they just let her carry that knowledge with her. So yes, she would have watched her parents die. Rumour says that her Father duel Grindelwald and her mother killed seven hundred of his most accomplished fighters."

"Well looks like you just made the wrong enemy then," smirked Tom Riddle in glee as he watched the boy gulp. He was nervous for sure as Goldwood's are powerful beyond measure so insinuating her parents broke Auror code is not a good idea. For the first time in his life, he regretted trying to use someone's word against them. He knew that she would never forget this. Those pretty violet eyes had looked at him with an expression that was downright murderous.

Meanwhile, Julietta was walking to the room of requirement with urgency. She was very good at coping with her parent's death. She was okay with the fact that they were no longer alive. She had accepted their death but she would not accept someone defaming their perfect image. They had worked hard to achieve the level of respect they had and no one would take them down a peg. Certainly not an annoying year 7 who spent to much time memorizing the Auror code.