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She knew he was standing there beside her, waiting for her to notice. She had noticed, actually, the moment he came to her table. But she had this thing—she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of acting like he was the most important figure in the room and that everyone should feel blessed by his mere presence. That was all.
So she casually poured sugar into her tea, waiting for him to… say hello, maybe, like a normal human being.
"That's a terrible amount of sugar for one cup of tea," he finally said.
She rolled her eyes. If she got a Galleon every time she heard that, she'd be rich by the age of twelve.
"Why do you care how I drink my tea?" she asked, not even glancing at him.
"I don't."
"Well, in that case, that is a wonderful way to start a conversation, Tom. Good job!" She gave him a mock-impressed look.
He rolled his eyes and finally sat near her, taking an empty cup and pouring himself some tea—no sugar, no milk, no lemon. How dull.
"We missed our lesson this Thursday," he said.
And… nothing more. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. He was simply the most self-centered person she had ever met—giving orders and stating facts like the world should revolve around him. Sometimes she wanted to ask if he even knew the Earth revolved around the Sun and not around Tom Riddle.
So she sipped her tea slowly, staying quiet for another moment just to rile him up.
"I know," she said eventually, when he looked at her so hard it was like his eyes might start boiling her tea. "You had something with Slughorn, was it?"
"We worked on the pattern of my potion, yes," he replied, pride slipping into his tone.
It was actually something worth being proud of. So young and already inventing a potion that could bring him a fortune before he even turned twenty. Truly impressive—not that she’d tell him that, of course.
"You came here just to tell me that?" she asked, arching a brow. "Believe it or not, I noticed you weren’t around. I was confused at first, but eventually figured I was talking to a wall. The wall didn’t laugh when I nearly burned my fingers with a spell."
He rolled his eyes again, and she mentally gave herself a point. She was winning.
"Very funny," he huffed.
"Thank you," she replied with a polite smile. "Anyway, why are you actually here? What would your friends think of you, drinking tea with a Mudblood?"
He winced—as he always did when she used that word—and she smirked. She never knew why he reacted like that. He must be used to it, being a Slytherin and all. Maybe he just hated the idea that someone like her could teach him anything.
He took a sip of tea—almost pointedly—and glanced over at the Slytherin table where his friends sat, laughing carelessly. She grimaced. Their laughter always sounded like it was aimed at someone.
"I don't think there's much going on in their brains," he said bitterly.
She chuckled, and a thin smile appeared on his lips at the sound.
"They could think I’m just discussing student business with the Ravenclaw prefect. Though I’ll never understand how you got that position. Your academic record is far from impressive."
She rolled her eyes. Damn it. He got a point.
"Because my head of the house is smart enough not to judge this role by academics alone. There are more important qualities for being a prefect," she said calmly.
He snorted. "Yeah, right."
She huffed, offended. No one could tell her she wasn't good at something she clearly worked hard at.
"Oh, I’m sorry—when was the last time there was any incident or problem with my housemates?" she asked, knowing full well there hadn’t been any in ages. "On the other hand, your little snakes are the main stars of every other catastrophe."
He narrowed his eyes, not threatening, just trying to remember. But he couldn’t. She raised her eyebrows and looked him in the eyes, and when he was the first to break eye contact, she smiled proudly.
"And what are those more important qualities for the job?" he scoffed, knowing she had won this round too.
She sighed, but before she could answer—
"AMANDA!"
A ringing voice made her turn to the entrance.
A young girl was already rushing in their direction. Amanda couldn’t help but smile seeing the girl’s eyes glint with excitement.
"Katie," she said as the girl reached them. "What did we say about running in a place full of sharp and pointy things?"
"Don’t run carelessly where you can accidentally hurt yourself or others," the girl recited responsibly.
Amanda had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling wider.
"But I was looking all over for you last evening to show you this!" the girl said, digging into her bag.
Amanda noticed Tom wince at the utter chaos inside the bag. She didn’t understand how this lovely little tornado could be anything but joy—even if messy. But Tom was just strange like that.
"I’m always out on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you know that. You could’ve gone to Andy," Amanda said with a gentle smile.
"I know, I forgot," Katie said hurriedly. "But I wanted to show you first. Look!"
She shoved a piece of paper in Amanda’s face, making her chuckle in surprise.
"What’s that?" she asked, taking the paper. Her eyebrows lifted. "Katie! Highest mark! I’m so proud of you. This is such a huge improvement!"
"I know!" Katie beamed. "I wasn’t sure about—"
She launched into a breakdown of the test, and Amanda let her have her moment. She deserved it.
"Awesome!" Amanda said when the girl finished. "I bet Sam was a good teacher, wasn’t he?"
"I guess," Katie shrugged, and Amanda waited. "It’s just… he always talks sooo much and explains things like I’m stupid. Why can’t you teach me? You’re way more fun," she pouted.
"Oh no, History of Magic is really not my thing. But if you ever need help with Potions or Charms, I’m your girl." She pinched the girl’s nose gently. "Besides, Sam’s talking is actually a blessing in disguise. He knows you only absorb half of what he says, so he overloads you to make sure you catch enough. And he doesn’t think you’re stupid. You wouldn’t be a Ravenclaw if you were. Did you show him your results?"
Katie shook her head.
"Go on then! I bet he knew you’d get that mark even before you did—and he’ll be so proud of you."
Katie looked at her test, hesitating for a moment, then nodded with determination.
"SAM!" she yelled, dashing off again.
"No…" Amanda groaned, but the girl was already gone.
She sighed and turned back to Tom, who had been watching the whole scene quietly. For a moment, she saw something in his face—but it slipped away before she could name it.
"You need to be good with people to be a prefect. That’s what matters," she said, watching Sam smile faintly (a rare sight) and listen attentively as Katie waved her test in the air.
"Right," Tom replied.
She frowned. There was no mockery in his tone. She met his gaze, but whatever emotion had been there was gone, replaced with his usual carelessness.
"So, I thought we could reschedule our lesson for tomorrow," he said firmly.
"Tomorrow?" she asked.
"Yes."
"But tomorrow is Saturday."
He rolled his eyes. Ha, another point for her.
"I do know the days of the week," he muttered.
She smirked. "What about Saturdays throws you off so much?"
"First Hogsmeade trip, hello?" she said. "I have a date. I can’t."
"A date," he repeated the word like it was unfamiliar.
"Yes," she confirmed, resisting the urge to glance at the Gryffindor table where her date sat.
"I thought knowledge came first for you," he said, eyes narrowing slightly with more irritation than there should be.
She brushed off the discomfort that flared inside her.
"It does," she said. "Knowledge will always be most important to me. But…" She looked him in the eye, noticing the red lines in his. "I try to live in the breaks too. If I only study and explore, my brain will explode. So…" She shrugged, uncomfortable, and gave a tight smile.
"Whatever," Tom said carelessly.
Amanda bit her lip, debating whether to say something. Finally, she put her empty cup on the table and grabbed her bag.
"So… Tuesday, as usual?" she asked.
Tom nodded sharply.
She was almost ready to walk away, but something held her back—those annoying thoughts that wouldn’t let her go unless she let them out.
"And Tom," she said, uncomfortably. He looked at her. "I know we’re not exactly friends, but… you seem tired." She shifted on the spot, and before he could respond, she rushed on.
"Maybe think about some rest too? You’ve been working nonstop the past month—your potion, our lessons, your perfect academics, prefect duties… and don’t get me wrong, that’s impressive, but even you need to come up for air sometimes. You might even discover something genius if your brain wasn’t always pushed to the edge. And sleep. That’s important too. You can’t possibly be doing all this without sacrificing it. So I hope you get some healthy sleep soon. And maybe some vitamins. Eat a banana or something."
She said it all in one breath, and Tom blinked, processing.
"Okay! Think about it, yeah? Okay. Bye!"
And then she basically ran off before he could hex her for nosing into his life.