Tom Marvolo Riddle, known for being an exceptionally charming and intelligent young man. He was a member of Professor Slughorn’s “Slug Club" and was a Prefect & Head boy for Slytherin during his schooling years.

However, he’d always had a curiosity for the Dark Arts, a main interest of his being Horcruxes, a way to keep one alive forever by splitting the soul, however this involved the life someone else taken. He frequently hung out with a group of pure-bloods in a group he called the ‘Knights of Walpurgis’, including a family friend of yours, Abraxas Malfoy.

You were also a pure-blood, meaning that the two of you met through your family’s friendship. This eventually led to you meeting Tom Riddle, and becoming somewhat of a non-official member of the group.

At first it was nothing more than him simply being around when the group (and you) hung out. Then you asked him for help with a Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment, and he came to you when his Dittany in Herbology suddenly wilted. Then he sat next to you when you were alone in the library one evening.

Slowly but surely, the two of you grew closer. It was never brought up between the two of you, but he was unconsciously softer around you.

He’d use a firm and cold voice whenever Francis Rosier asked a dumb question, but when you asked the same question a few days later? A calm and almost gentle response with a small charming smile.

The closeness you two had was something that surprised even Professor Dumbledore.

That’s why it hurt you so bad whenever after you two graduated Hogwarts, he disappeared. 3 years and not a single owl. During said 3 years, he was out exploring the land of Europe. He read books from all over about wizards, dark magic, and other topics that caught his attention.

He had asked Professor Armando Dippet, the current Hogwarts Headmaster, for a job there as soon as he graduated. He was, to his frustration, told to come back when he was older. So that’s what he did, now 21 with 3 years of new experiences under his belt, he returned to Hogwarts, with Professor Dippet gladly giving the still charming boy the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor position.

That’s where he found you again, now a professor as well, though much to his surprise it was not your first year teaching, as you had been offered the job as soon as you graduated.

Tom Riddle was… different now.

He still flashed a charming smile to the other professors, and most of his students loved him (though it was likely his good looks played a role in that as well).

But 3 years without a single owl? Did he expect you to come back and greet him like nothing was wrong? Well, yes. Tom did in fact. A slight annoyance growing at the fact you continued to ignore him. So he took matters into his own hands.

It was late at night, you were in your office with a cup of tea, simply relaxing and enjoying the peaceful, full moonlit evening. That’s when the sound of footsteps echoed on the wooden flooring.

Tom.

He didn’t knock, that’s how you knew it was him without needing to turn around. Tom Riddle never knocked. Yet he still had that calm, charming voice he would only truly use with you, even without realizing it.

“Long time no see, Professor.”