Dark Dynasty || Tom Riddle

xi. you'll find I can be very persuasive

Over the course of the next week Tom did not approach her again, but she could feel his stare on her whenever he thought she wasn't looking. He was trying to figure out the girl he knew so little about. So far, he was failing terribly despite being a good judge of character. The other students, on the contrary, kept trying to talk to Victoria after the duel the whole grade was stunned by, though she had no real interest in the friendship they offered.

She learned to stick with Flint if she wanted to be left alone. Phillipe was not intimidating per se, but as the tall Quidditch captain he commanded respect. Much like Tom, but with him it was his quiet and mysterious ways that kept people away. He preferred to be admired from afar.

-

The second week Tom waited for her before breakfast, between classes and in the common room late at night. Victoria almost admired his persistence, but still she told him nothing.

In the late Friday afternoon, when she was done with the assignments of the day, she grabbed the book she was reading at the time and climbed up the stairs to the Clock Tower. It was her second favorite place to be. She loved to read up there or to just let her gaze roam over the hills around them. The ticking of the great clock often soothed her mind and helped her think.

Victoria tended to lose track of time there and so she only noticed the sun had set when she couldn't make out the letters on the page anymore. She sighed, closed the book and put it in her bag.

"Good evening, Victoria," a voice suddenly said from behind. She jumped, so startled she almost fell off the broad window sill.

Tom crossed the room and stopped at a few feet's distance. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you had heard me come up the stairs."

She didn't. Tom could move like a ghost if he wanted to. "No," she frowned. "Can I help you with something?" Victoria hated how her voice trembled a bit.

"You know you can," he smiled, knowing he finally had the upper hand in a conversation after having caught her off guard. "There's still something you wanted to tell me."

After the initial shock had passed, heartbeat slowing down again, Victoria regained her composure. She grabbed her belongings and jumped off the windowsill. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she denied, brushing past Tom, but lacking her usual swagger.

Suddenly, she was held back by a firm hand closing around her upper arm.
She stopped and flashed her eyes at Tom. "What?" she hissed.

But he didn't say a word. In fact, Tom just stared at her, studying her face.
Then he smiled. "Have a pleasant evening, Miss Greengrass," he let go of her arm.

Victoria scoffed and hurried down the staircase. Tom Riddle would not rest until he discovered every last one of her secrets, that's what she was now sure of. He might only be a nuisance at the moment, but could quickly pose a danger to the witch and what she had planned.

-

Since she spent most of her days with Phillipe, they inevitably grew closer.
Close enough that they had some semblance of what Victoria refused to call friendship.

She was new to this, people liking, not only admiring or envying, her. She didn't really have friends growing up, with her father controlling most of her life. Even now, she couldn't help but wonder if he would approve of Flint or Gemma. Both came from respectable families, though what James Greengrass really cared about was the usefulness of people.

Victoria swore to never become like her father, but in some parts she was exactly like him. She did choose the people she surrounded herself with at Hogwarts based on how they could benefit her. The difference between father and daughter was that Victoria sometimes genuinely enjoyed the time she spent with Gemma and Flint, and occasionally with Anthony and Isadora.