Forever Yours • Tom Riddle

Obsession

April 06, 1938
Despite his plans to see Catalina that day, Tom had still entered Flourish and Blotts first. He finds it the most fascinating place and has spent many mornings strolling through the aisles and browsing the books unhindered, as he had already charmed the staff.

When professor Dumbledore delivered his Hogwarts letter in December, he gave Tom a stern warning about thievery and its punishments. On top of that, a few stores around have runes in their windows stating they are under a surveillance spell. He won't ruin his chances in this new world by stealing, though his fingers still itch every time he sees something that could fit in his jacket pockets.

He was on his way out when he heard her name.

Hidden by the stacks on the mezzanine above, he watched Catalina approach the counter. She wore a similar dress to last time, in a dark Slytherin green. A white cloak hung over her arm and Tom knew just looking at it that it was worth more than the entire orphanage. She held three paper bags and the same red purse from last time.

"I suppose I shouldn't bother asking," she had said to the shop keeper, nonchalant.

"Unfortunately, though you should still try your luck at the second hand shop."

He doesn't hear the rest of the conversation from above, watching her pay with more galleons than he had left. But he could tell her last words to the shop assistant Janna (easiest to charm) were said with the same biting sass she used with her aunt the previous week.

Without responding to Janna's goodbye, Tom had followed Catalina out of the book store.

A normal boy would have approached her, tapped her on the shoulder and said hello. The kind of persona Tom was building for himself to wear in this world would do exactly that.

Instead, he now finds himself stalking her down the street, watching closely and carefully but staying a length away. He's smooth in his weaving and ducking of people, but her stark figure of rich green never escapes him.

He watches her through the window of the apothecary as she browses the sets of basic potion ingredients. He guesses what she'll choose and in the next second is proved right. The most expensive set; a decorated case with the highest quality ingredients tucked in neatly.

Tom's came in a sack, but he saw many other future students purchasing the same.

When she leaves the shop he turns behind a little fruit cart smoothly, not drawing her attention as she moves on to the equipment store. Thankfully, she buys the exact same items Tom had.

The same can not be said for her next stop; a store Tom had seen countless prudish-looking women shop, leaving with bags and bags of expensive clothing. It doesn't take long for Catalina however, who exits stuffing something thick and black into her tiny purse.

He's less discrete as he follows her back to the east side. She enters Ollivander's wandshop looking very excited, though it seems to come with the territory of one's first wand. Tom feels the weight of his own heavy inside his blazer, a comfort.

Many minutes pass while he waits, staring at her distorted figure through the rickety window. It took Ollivander three attempts before he found the right wand for Tom. It seems to be taking even longer for Catalina.

At the orphanage, he observed many of the other children having little crushes on each other. Billy Stubbs' crush on Amy Benson had come between him and Tom often- not because Tom was interested in her, and her rat-like face and twitchy little mouth -but because Billy thought Tom had done something horrible to Amy (and Dennis) on a previous trip.