"Are you sure you're not just making the whole thing up?" Ron garbled out, stuffing a piece of chicken into his mouth at the same time Harry sat down beside him.
Harry didn't mind it on most days, but he was particularly irked that afternoon. He'd been humiliated in front of Snape again, and if matters could not get any worse, he'd been assigned to assist Professor Riddle with his duties. What those duties even entailed, Harry wasn't sure and he didn't really want to find out. The man was a twat on most days to him, so being put in with him on an evening he could be spending time with his friends, well, that was just horrid.
And then there was the niggling fact that something was bloody missing from his trunk. Harry could not quite pin down what it was, but he could tell that there was just something off about it.
"Yes, I'm bloody sure. There's something missing in my trunk. I don't quite remember what it is, but I know there's something weird." Harry sighed, unable to focus on the plate of food in front of him as he tried to pin down just what it could be.
Could it be a notebook? Could it be a pair of underwear?
Harry just couldn't pin the thought down.
"Harry...you have to be in detention soon. It's best you head on over before things get worse." Hermione stated, jerking Harry immediately from his thoughts. He couldn't help his sneer, the memory of the shite afternoon flashing over his mind once more as he regretfully nodded his head at them before heading down to the dungeons.
Harry might as well get this over with.
The walk was a quick one despite his hesitation. Harry knew that stalling things would not make the whole thing any better, but still, he still wished that something strange would happen to derail him or some professor would sweep him away from an unpleasant evening with the man.
Harry just hated Riddle, with his pretty face, soft hair, and dark eyes. The man was someone straight out of a witches magazine. And it irked him completely that everyone else was practically eating at the palm of his hand.
Everyone except for Harry, of course.
But that was mostly because the man had personally made it his mission to be a complete wanker since he took up the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. He was rude to Harry every chance he got--practically sneered at him whenever he tried to answer a question or did well during his exercises.
Harry did not know what he could have done to the man, but it was almost worse than his interactions with the bat in Potions.
Harry was taken from his thoughts when he stopped in front of the door, a frustrated sigh leaving his lips when he forced the door open and Riddle was sitting at his desk. The man's quill was moving, but the man was not obviously writing, he seemed engrossed in a book that Harry could not quite make out from where he stood.
"Quit your dawdling, you have much to do." Riddle interrupted, his sharp gaze turning away from the book to regard Harry with a mischievous twist to his lips. Harry felt suddenly very nervous. He could not recall ever seeing that sort of expression on the man's face before.
But he didn't let the nervous twisting in his gut stop him. Harry stepped further into the room, letting the door slam hard behind him, as he closed the space between himself and the desk.
It felt like an eternity before he stopped in front of the dark wood, but it was probably only seconds.
"...what will I be doing then?" Harry did not care that he'd failed to call him sir, both perturbed and curious when the corner of the man's lip raised up into a blatant smile. It made the mischief in his eyes more apparent and Harry felt his hands begin to sweat nervously.
"You see, I had originally intended to have you filing papers. But there's...been a change of plans. I've discovered something quite interesting about you." Riddle intoned, rising slowly from the desk and turning around it until he was standing right beside Harry, his height easily towering above Harry's own average stature.
"What are you--" Harry swiveled around to look at him, but stopped, the man's hand had shot out and clasped him around the shoulder, his grip so tight that Harry could not stop himself from flinching.
"Now why you would leave something like that lying about, I am not sure." Riddle continued as if Harry had not tried to interrupt him, and Harry swallowed nervously when the man forcibly turned him around, the shock of the entire situation keeping him still.
And then, like a shot of adrenaline, Harry recalled what it was that he had forgotten. Horror and shock twisted his expression, his mouth gaping and his eyes going so wide it looked like they were about to pop from Harry's skull.
"Gay pornography. My, my you're just full of surprises, Harry."
Harry wanted to die of embarrassment.
