Tom didn’t trust easily, not when it came to people at least, not when it came to his past, the memories that lingered in his mind the same memories that told him to push people away instead of letting them in. But for once he chose to disobey those voices in his mind, to follow what he felt instead of what he thought.

You had joined Hogwarts later in the year after most students had, meaning that lessons may have already advanced, certain subjects may need to be studied more and catching up would be needed, or at least that’s what Dumbledore had told you in your first meeting, welcoming you into a school you had only heard about, never stepped foot in, not until now. But he was wrong.

Tom had always been top student, prefect at that, no one had ever outsmarted him in lessons but mainly in the dark arts where he thrived like no one else had, until you came along, a girl who was already joining the year late, later than everyone else, later than him. A girl who must’ve read books all night in the library, stayed up for nights and nights on end in the restricted section just to outsmart him in class when really that wasn’t the case, in fact, you had barely noticed that, noticed that he was so bothered by it, by your presence.

The night was already long for Tom, staying up almost all night to write in his diary, not just about his day but about you, how you held yourself in every class while giving answers, how your confidence radiated off of you, how your intelligence intrigued him like nothing else ever had, how Tom knew he had a problem, a problem with you always being on his mind like a curse, an obsession, he didn’t want and that was when you stormed into the library, cursing, not so quietly, under your breath like you had lost something, or instead was looking for something, something Tom already had.

“Lost?” His dark voice echoed through the dimly lit library as he sat at the table in the middle, gaze sharp, unwavering as his fists silently clenched around the feather he held, the same feather he used to write about you in his little diary.