#but of course once it comes to the darker skinned characters. all hell breaks loose

[jackienautism]

Literally hate that dedue, the only dark skin team mate you get is so sub servient to a white male character and I feel like no talks about this,

hmm you're. absolutely right. i never actually thought abt it like that before. it really DOES give off white savior type shit... i know dimitri's whole thing is trying to get dedue to FINALLY see him as an equal, but youre right. the implications of it are very... bad. esp when it couldve been ANY other character in the game, but they chose to pick the black man? esp ESP when lorenz in one of the beginning chapters says that some nobility bullshit probably is even worse than slavery? like. lets be for real

also? i never rly thought abt it until now but like. of COURSE the regions outside of fodlan (almyra, duscur, etc) all have some sort of .... conflict for lack of a better word w/ the white man from the church right? of course theres people LIKE ingrid in faerghus that disdain people of duscur due to what happened. and of course people of the alliance are weary of almyrans too. LIKE. of COURSE realistically racism is going to exist, but to have both places have such huge conflicts and be portrayed as the "Evil" towards the primarily white area is a bit ............. bad. it's bad. fire emblem needs to be better. adding one person of color per house isnt going to magically make the game's own racism disappear. doesn't matter how much "discussion" they have surrounding it either, theres still bias and prejudice seen in the game itself

like they rly gave petra an irish last name? making people doubt that brigid is most certainly inspired by polynesia? they clearly did their research when designing her, so why didnt they do more when naming? it just doesn't make any sense.

and with shamir? she's from dagda but... what IS dagda meant to be? they just say shes from a foreign place and refuse to elaborate. but i suppose that's just petty of me to bring up, its just somethign that's always bothered me

and you're right that no one really talks about it. /I/ certainly havent seen much discussion surrounding it, but then again i dont necessarily go out of my way to search for it. but yeah. it deserves to be criticized

and maybe all that i talk abt doesnt even matter or its not a big deal or whatever but like. whatever man. i sometimes just want people of color to just exist in my silly fantasy video game. without Racism and the change everyone has to go through being their like. main arc

#mine #text #asks #anon #fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #does any of this make sense? sorry if it doesnt #and sorry if its not even something to make a fuss over. i just. idk #i love fire emblem so much but they have such a long way to go lmao #esp seeing that their company ISNT white! #they obv have light skinned privilege (as do I) but. yeah #they included japanese characters quite nicely in fates #but of course once it comes to the darker skinned characters. all hell breaks loose #my FE tag #FE #FE3H #my thoughts

[phoebehalliwell]

What Hogwarts houses do you think the charmed ones are in?

hmm okay

so for starters i think prue is a slytherin, less because of the whole workaholic factor / bitchy character thing, but more because of how fierce she is to protect her family. they are her chosen circle and she will protect them to her dying breath. which i know gryffindor is sort of more the “loyalty” house, but imo it’s much more of a slytherin thing to have a really small close circle that is meticulously selected who you will be endlessly loyal to. on top of that, her undeniable ambition, especially at the expense of her own happiness. gryffindor is about chasing you passions, ravenclaw is following your mind, hufflepuff is doing your due diligence, but only slytherin is going into something you really don’t even want to do but still putting in endless effort into it because you have to be the best. we see a great example of this with prue and her jobs at the museum and the auction house. prue left behind her true passion of photography so her family could keep the manor, putting her love for her circle in front of her own personal desires, but that didn’t mean she trudged through her nine to five. she dedicated herself to her field and became one of the best, because that’s the type of person she is. we didn’t see her chase after her true dream until she was confident that the house was secure and her loved ones were safe, and then proceeded to pursue photography with just as much zeal as she did her previous work. on the darker side of the slytherin coin, we see her but her circle above the wellbeing of common folk in all hell breaks loose. when she needs to get piper to the hospital before she dies, she’s at her absolute most basic instinct. she launches people through the air not really caring where they land because she cannot let piper die and she’s willing to do whatever it takes make sure that doesn’t happen. and then for my third and final point, she’s the best at like a character study. she can read people and then work them to her advantage. she can easily get under people’s skin, or, on the flipside, pretend to be the person she knows they want to see, another very slytherin trait imo

then i would probably go and say piper is a gryffindor. like surface level i could easily go hufflepuff bc you know, she’s obviously a hard worker and all that but i just have to say gryffindor. because even though she was always sort of teased as the chicken of the family, she does have undeniable amounts of bravery, even before prue’s death. her speech to the elders in once upon a time?

i bet you guys think this is real funny, don't you haven't you taken enough from me? you have to send trolls to kick me while i'm down! i had a nice normal life once and you took that from me. you took my boyfriend, you took my life, the least you could do is leave me my freakin car keys. i am a good person, i am a good witch and damn it i would've made a great wife. and how dare you take that from me? i deserve... no, you know what? i demand that you send him back to me. you hear me? right now. i am going to stand in this very spot until you send leo back to me.

quintessential gryffindor. the gall, the rooting your feet where you stand, cursing out of a higher power, i mean hello? and she’s always been a bit headstrong. hufflepuff is more putting your head down and doing the work because you know it’s right, gryffindor is a little different. piper’s work ethic comes from her heart, if she puts effort into something, it’s because she holds a passion for it. if she doesn’t, well... right and wrong go a little out the window. in brain drain, she was willing to barter with the source just so she could have a normal life. her heart wasn’t in it, ergo she had no desire to put the work in. a lot more gryffindor than hufflepuff to me.

and then possibly my most controversial take i’m saying phoebe is a ravenclaw because okay like think about it a lot of what she does is driven by sort of this curiosity this passion for the unknown and desire to learn more. she never knew her dad, so after high school she flew halfway across the country just to try to find him. she was the first one to discover the book, and the first one to dive headfirst into witchcraft. if i’m gonna cite some sources here’s a piece of dialogue from the painted world:

phoebe: you weren’t at that job interview surrounded by all those college graduates. you don't know how good it feels to be really smart. smart people are respected, taken seriously. and really smart women, forget about it. then again, you probably do know what i'm talking about. you have a four-year degree.

piper: so what? phoebe, i will never have the kind of smarts you have, no matter what i do.

so from this we can gather that phoebe doesn’t like being viewed as unintelligent. in fact, she really wants to be considered smart, she wants to be smart. to which piper retorts that she is smart, but more street smarts. phoebe knows things that can’t be found in a textbook, she can operate in society at a much higher capacity than her sisters; it seems like everyone loves phoebe. also, she can go toe to toe with prue in an argument, and that takes a considerable amount of brains. and then we go on to see phoebe enroll in college and graduate with a ba in psychology, and then goes on to return to college to get a phd in psychology. and, of course, on top of that, she’s the best spell writer of the bunch, writing 40+ original spells in the show, including the spell to vanquish the source, the most powerful spell the charmed ones have. very ravenclaw, if you ask me. 

uhh but tragically i’m not gonna round this out by using all four house paige is a slytherin. now, you could argue paige for about every house but i’m arguing slytherin. bc okay. so much of paige’s life was about being the best person she could be for herself, you know? like her adolescence was very “stereotypical slytherin” with excess drug use, being goth and a dramatic fuck up to your parents, stuff you see on pinterest moodboards yknow. and then she becomes a social worker, which people would usually go to as like hufflepuff support. but like,, paige was Not like a hard worker at that job. she held a passion for it yes, and she did get things done, but she was notoriously late and behind schedule, and had a bad habit of vanishing for extra long lunch breaks (even before she was a witch, if i’m not mistaken). furthermore, her methods of getting things done are less doing the works in a solid and proper method, and more about cutting corners and using her own cunning to get it done in the most efficient way possible (i mean, she was the one to use personal gain undeniably the most). and this isn’t an insult! when she first got the book of shadows, she immediately took it to work and started using it in her cases. yes, this was “personal gain”, but she was doing it to help others. with the flipside being like she didn’t need magic & should probably have done her task properly so the use of it wasn’t necessary but like i feel like that only makes it more slytherin. and then moving on, her superwitch phase was obviously her putting herself in competition with prue, and her obsessive competitive need to be the best. slytherin. and then the next season she tried to dodge magic in an attempt to reclaim her life and find some greater meaning to herself. slytherin. her whole dynamic with kyle and being chill with him knocking out sheridan was very slytherin. in season 8, her whole early competition growing into flirty with henry is very slytherin. her dynamic with her father is very slytherin (calling back to what i was talking about prue, she has closely selected her inner circle and it takes a lot of work to get it. we also see this in early season four onward with her having trouble to come to terms with new sister living and accepting piper and phoebe into her circle.) what i’m getting at is paige is a very much a slytherin when you stop to think about it.

#yeah obvi this is based on my own personal perceptions of each house #but like #im right #prue halliwell #piper halliwell #phoebe halliwell #hp #💌 #margaretanswers

[ohmytheon]

Heat Stroke (Kanej, Six of Crows)

Honestly, this is pure crack. It's fluff with a tinge of angst because I can't write anything but that, but also because Kaz is the most melodramatic and Extra person there is. Boy, could you just be easy for once? Based on this post that had me rolling. I'm a sucker for jealousy fics. Also, this is low-key one of my favorite tropes. This is my first Six of Crows fic. I don't plan on writing many because I've got too much on my plate and I don't know if I can get a handle on the characters. But I did have fun writing this. Kaz kind of reminds me of Roy in a strange way tbh.

The mere idea of going to the beach sent Kaz into a silent, near frothing rage. Who in their right mind would want to go to the beach? What was good about them anyways? There was too much sun, too much pointless salty water, and far too many people, most of whom were in an ungodly state of undress that made him want to pay them to cover up.

Sure, it would be easy pickings, considering that people left all their belongings just lying around in the sand on their blankets while they splashed about like ducklings in the ocean or snoozed in the sun, but that wasn’t even fun. What was picking money off of lazy tourists after breaking into an impregnable prison and destroying the lives of not one but two filthy, scheming bastards?

There was no way in hell that Kaz would step foot on those sandy shores. He’d hightail it back to Ketterdam and its slums before he did that.

Then, of course, he overheard Inej mentioning to Nina that she couldn’t wait to be on the beach again. The last time she had been on one, she had been stolen from her family. She was excited to make new memories, much happier ones, to replace the one that had been forced upon her. Would the sand feel the same beneath her toes -- like quicksand? Would the ocean water lull her into a daze until she felt like she was drifting in the center of the universe? Would the sun warm her skin and bleed color into her again?

And that was how Kaz found himself standing on the edge of a beach, just inches away from the sand. Enough of it had been tramped onto the sidewalk, grainy underneath his shoes, and he scowled at the contact.

Everyone else was ready and excited to have some proper fun. Nina had made sure to set up their base camp on the beach, including a large umbrella, so that, in her words, “Kaz could have somewhere to sulk in the dark”. He hadn’t appreciated the remark, but he would undoubtedly spend his time under it anyways. Already the sun pricked at his pale skin irritably. He wasn’t meant for this kind of weather. Where were the clouds? Where was the rain? Where was the dreariness that seeped into a man’s bones and left him shivering?

Jesper snorted as he came up to stand next to Kaz, flipping up his sunglasses. “Nice suit, Kaz. Not sure it’s for the right occasion, however.”

Kaz glowered at Jesper, but it didn’t have the same effect as normal. Being out in the sun in a place like this was going directly to the other boy’s head. He looked right at home here with his flamboyant lime green and blue swim trunks and his skin gleaming darkly in the sun and soaking up the rays. Jesper was the complete opposite of Kaz, who was wearing a dark suit, though not with as many layers as normal. He’d opted for something made with thin material. At least he wasn’t wearing his gloves, though the amount of near naked people had him itching to snatch them from Inej’s bag where he’d put them.

“Come on, relax! Have some fun! Even you deserve it.”

“This,” Kaz pointed out, “is not my idea of fun.”

“Go con some hapless tourists if it’ll make you feel better,” Jesper told him. He put his sunglasses back down and glanced behind them. An amused and sneaky grin found its way onto his face. When Kaz turned to look, he saw what had caught Jesper’s attention: Wylan, attempting to carry far too many things at once, his wavy red hair practically glowing in the sun. “Some of us are going to enjoy every last bit of this vacation.”

Once Jesper left to help Wylan -- or tease him or both -- Kaz turned back to face the beach and the ocean and shoved his hands into his pockets. He might’ve liked this at one point in his life. Large bodies of water held little enjoyment for him these days, but it was more tolerable than before. Besides, the blue ocean of the Ravka shore was much different than the rough, freezing waters that surrounded Ketterdam. Nothing terrible looked like it could happen here, although he knew that even the prettiest of places held dark secrets and terrible wounds.

Maybe a shark would pop up and cause a thrill. That would at least be entertaining.

Familiar laughter drew his attention, the one laugh that reminded him of the sun and made things brighter even in his dark mind, and his eyes snapped in that direction. There was Inej, sitting cross-legged on the blanket. She was smiling as Matthias blushed and attempted to help Nina with her sunscreen. The Heartrender was making it as difficult as possible for him, lounging in an unseemly manner, which caused him the bluster every time she moved or breathed. Her swimsuit, red of course, hugged her curves in a way that dragged the eyes of every man and woman twenty feet from them, but she only had eyes for Matthias.

Well, almost every man. Kaz was mainly focused on Inej.

She was still wearing a loose-fitting black shirt and shorts. He knew that she was nervous about showing skin. The last time she had shown so much skin in public was when she had been trapped at the House of Exotics. She had kept to modest clothing since then, except for the time when she’d been forced to don a costume again during the Ice Court heist. But this would be all her, no one forcing her to do anything, hence why no one had tried to goad her out of her clothes. If she wanted to swim in them, no one would say a word, least of all Kaz.

He glanced down at his own clothes. He knew a thing or two about armor and levels of comfort.

But he also knew how much she wanted to do this. She had confessed to being nervous, but also that she wanted to prove herself capable. She was stronger than her past. She was ready to take more steps forward. Again, Kaz’s bare hands itched for the safety of his gloves. No, she was right. It was time to be stronger.

He still wasn’t going to like any of this.

Jesper blew past him in a rush, walking through the sand like it was nothing. When he reached their blanket, Nina squealed and scolded him as he kicked up sand, peppering him with threats that he ignored. Instead, he threw himself down next to Inej, holding a pair of goggles, and the two of them marveled at their darker complexions next to Matthias who was already starting to turn pink.

“It won’t be so bad,” Wylan’s voice came from the left. Kaz looked down at him, but the shorter boy wasn’t paying attention. He seemed almost as hesitant to enter the sand as Kaz, tentatively touching it with his bare feet before shaking his head and sliding his flip flop back on. At least he didn’t comment on Kaz’s poor choice in footwear or clothing. “But you’re going to want to put sunscreen on, even if you hide under the umbrella.”

“An expert on the sun, are we?” Kaz replied.

Wylan gave him an awkward smile. “No, just a lesson learned through experience. The sunburn was unbearable. I could barely sleep for three days.”

Not much of a difference from Kaz’s normal sleep schedule. But he didn’t fancy the idea of getting a sunburn. All the dead, peeling skin made him want to shudder and possibly throw up. He begrudgingly took the bottle of sunscreen that Wylan offered him, but said nothing in return.

Together, the two of them braved the sand, neither one of them fairing as well as the others, but they eventually made it to the blanket. Kaz ducked under the umbrella, just as everyone knew he would, while Wylan flushed and wiggled away as Jesper fought to get his shirt off to rub sunscreen on him. Despite everything, Kaz could tell that everyone was having fun. There was a happy glow about them all that had nothing to do with the sun. It would never be like that with him, but he was fine with it. If they could have a moment of unburdened happiness, then good for them. He’d helped them get here. If not for an easy life like this, then for what?

While Nina proclaimed that she was going to sunbathe -- “I have to get extra sun to make up for Kaz” -- the others decided to head to the ocean. Inej glanced at Kaz, who merely nodded his head, and smiled as she stood up to join the others. The boys were already down to their swim trunks, although both Matthias and Wylan seemed hesitant to part with their sandals and dare the heat of the sand on their bare skin. In the end, both boys ditched them, took deep breaths, and bolted towards the water, Wylan half squealing and half cringing as he did so. Matthias was probably too proud to admit any pain.

After a moment’s hesitation that involved looking at the people around her, Inej seemed to come to a decision. No one was going to notice her, not with Nina right there. Part of Kaz thought Nina was being so outrageous was to draw attention away from Inej to make her feel more comfortable. It was a very sneaky thing to do, but thoughtful as well, something that sounded very much like a Dregs thing to do. Underhanded compassion. Was there any other way?

Slowly, Inej began to peel off the outer layers of her clothes. Kaz made sure to look elsewhere. He desperately tried to focus on a bird skimming over the water, but he could feel her out of the corner of his eyes, beckoning him to look. He gritted his teeth. No, he wouldn’t make her feel uncomfortable. He wouldn’t let his gaze rove over her. He wasn’t a pig. He was stronger than this. It was nothing. This was nothing.

It was definitely something though. Kaz was scanning the area, avoiding her, when he noticed another young man their age perk up. Kaz wasn’t going to look. He wasn’t like that idiot. He didn’t even want to look. It was just Inej, just another outfit. The excess of skin was nothing. And then she was laughing, darting towards the ocean.

“Oh, that is a lovely bikini,” Jesper noted. “Did you help her pick it out Nina?”

“I wanted her to be comfortable,” Nina sighed happily, “but also feel stunning.”

Kaz couldn’t help it. He didn’t mean to turn his head to look. He was only trying to find one of the books that Inej had packed for him, but then he saw her and his mind turned to actual sand, all thoughts slipping right through him until he was staring intently. Nothing else mattered. Not the silly pigeons waiting to be picked, not the annoying actual birds flapping over them, not the awful sand or the despicable sun. Just Inej.

It was a simple swimsuit really, not a full on bikini. Short shorts and a crop top, both solid black, but it stuck to her body. The amount of her skin showing made Kaz almost shiver. He’d never seen so much of it before. It was like his brain didn’t know how to register it. He wanted to run his hand up her arm, down the smooth skin of her thighs, her belly that had a few scars marking it. He wanted to just run and leave this place, get as far away from her as he could, because he didn’t know what to do with himself.

How could he want something and be so terrified of it (of her)  at the same time?

“Wow,” Jesper said, “she looks great. Just gorgeous really.” He chuckled and went to nudge Kaz in the side, though he missed Kaz by a few inches. He never actually touched Kaz, just faked the gestures. “Looks like some of these boys here have never seen a Suli girl -- at least not one as beautiful as Inej. Any of them could ask her out.”

“Not if I kill them first,” Kaz grumbled under his breath without thinking.

Jesper howled with laughter while Nina harrumphed, not even bothering to adjust herself. She laid perfectly still, sunglasses framing her face, as she hummed, “So romantic.”

Kaz blinked, suddenly aware that he’d actually spoken aloud. He hadn’t even thought about it. The words had come out of his mouth. He’d thought that he just thought them. He finally managed to jerk his eyes away from Inej to shoot daggers at Jesper, who was grinning cheekily as his laughter slowly died down.

“Well that’s one way to ensure you win a girl’s heart,” he said. “Kill off all her potential suitors.”

Refusing to acknowledge the subject any further, Kaz snatched a book out of Inej’s bag and opened it up, not bothering to even see what it was about. He wasn’t really one for reading, seeing as how he had better and more important things to do, but was surprised to find it was a history on the Council of Tides -- or what little history and facts could be gleamed about the mysterious group. She’d packed thoughtfully, knowing that he would be bored and wouldn’t like being at the beach.

A few seconds later, Jesper left to join the others in the ocean, leaving Kaz and Nina alone in silence on the blanket. The book was interesting enough, considering that it was what he was researching in Ketterdam right now, but every now and then, his eyes would find their way back to her. Water slipped off of her as she jumped out and then dove back under, her dark hair slick and dripping. His breath almost stopped every single time and then he would force himself back into the book.

What felt like hours later but could’ve been minutes, Nina abruptly said, “I didn’t think you’d come.” When Kaz didn’t respond, she propped herself up on her elbows and looked back at him. “Why did you?”

Because I wanted to see her smile. I wanted to hear her laugh. I wanted to be in her new memory. I wanted to be a part of something good for her.

“I felt like I was getting into a rut,” Kaz told her instead. “A break and going somewhere new can jog something.”

Nina gave him a lazy, knowing smile. He could tell that there was something she wanted to say, but unlike Jesper, she kept it to herself. He was both relieved and irritated. He hated it when people kept things from him. Still, he had a fairly good idea what she was thinking about and he didn’t want her to say it out loud. “Well, I hope it ends up being a productive trip. You could do with some sun and air after rolling in the stink of Ketterdam.”

“I happen to like it,” Kaz pointed out. “Fits me quite well.”

“Hm, yes,” Nina replied, lying back down, “but I’m sure you’ll find other things that you like as well. Better things, prettier things.”

Kaz’s eyes flickered back to Inej, who glanced at him right when he did. She smiled at him, the kind of smile that he’d start a war over. It burned him worse than the sun. It wasn’t so bad. He could learn to tolerate places like this if it meant seeing that smile.

#kaz brekker #inej ghafa #kanej #kaz x inej #six of crows #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #nina zenik #matthias helvar #jesper x wylan #nina x matthias #crooked kingdom #soc #soc fic #kanej fic #crack crack and more crack #everybody lives bc I am weak ok WEAK

[enochianfanfiction-blog]

A lil Tom Riddle fic

This is just a little musing about what I think it would have been like to know Tom in his Hogwarts years. Mostly I wanted to focus on how... er... attractive he would seem as a person before he went full Voldy. tried to keep this true to character... but I ain’t JK Rowling, so you know. 

         I was familiar with him. I met him when we were both first years, but never really paid him much attention. He was charming, of course. He had jet black hair and dark eyes. He was an attractive boy. It unnerved me, however, that something always seemed to be going on behind those dark eyes, and it never seemed to be anything good.

           The boy grew into a man over the years, his jaw and cheekbones became more prominent, his nose tall and regal. His presence commanded attention in a way that was unlike anyone I had ever met. He was so incredibly smart, and if he batted his eyelashes the right way, he could get whatever he wanted. Girls swooned over him and boys wanted to be him. Yes, Tom Riddle was a charming man if I had ever met one.

           Despite all this, however, something told me to keep my distance. Maybe I was intimidated, or maybe something in me knew. Perhaps I could see in him what no one else ever did, and so I avoided Tom Riddle. He regarded me in the same way until one day in the autumn of our sixth year.

           I sat under a yew tree on the grounds near the lake. I could see the tentacles of the giant squid breaking the surface of the water, leaving little waves in its wake. I was completely comfortable in the grass, with my back leaning against the tree. My loose black and green tie fluttered in the wind, ash blonde hair sticking to my face in places. I sighed, just on the brink of a nap. I closed my eyes against the sun, but it seemed to disappear altogether. I opened them again, and there he was. The light shown behind him, turning his black hair into a halo of sorts. He stared down at me.

           “Hello,” he said simply.

           “Hello,” I responded.

           “I’m Tom.”

           “I know.”

           That’s where it all began for me. I had been acknowledged by the mighty himself. Life seemed to change for me after that. He kept me close, and I became someone rather than just a shadow in the common room.

           The same things that had always bothered me about Tom still did, just substantially less. He was so funny and smart and kind that it was impossible to imagine he had anything other than the purest, nicest kind of thoughts. Still, though, his eyes didn’t lie. I would watch him study sometimes, and they would tighten at something he had thought.

           “What’s wrong?” I would ask.

           “Nothing. Transfiguration is just a difficult class, is all,” he would reply. This never made sense to me though. He excelled in every class without the slightest bit of effort.

           The only times I had ever seen Tom address anyone with any sort of harshness was when someone would ask about his past, which I quickly learned not to do.

           “Hey, Tom,” they would say “Where is it you said you come from again?” This was all it took to make him combust.

          “I didn’t say I come from anywhere, so do us all a favor and keep your damn mouth shut,” he would respond harshly. This, coming from Tom, was worse than any series of expletives that could be hurled at you from anyone else. His tone alone could make your blood freeze and your heart stop. There was something extremely horrifying about this handsome boy.

          I grew to care deeply for Tom. I could have even loved him if he had ever given me the chance, but it seemed that there was always something lacking in him that made love impossible. My relationship with Tom progressed quickly, and soon it was like I had always been a part of his innermost circle. I saw parts of him, I think, that no one else ever saw; I saw weakness.

        We sat in front of the fireplace in the common room, chatting into the night. He leaned his head against the back of the couch, eyes closed. He began breathing deeply and I assumed he was asleep. It was very late, after all. I watched him for a moment, his pale skin glowing in the light of the fire. There was something that seemed fragile about Tom as he lay there. With all of his presence gone, without his charming smile or devious eyes, he seemed small. Like any other boy. He reached up to run a hand through his hair and I realized that he was’t asleep. I looked away. I didn’t want to intrude on this moment he shared with himself. A few minutes passed and I heard a shuffling sound beside me. He was moving again. I turned towards him, only to discover that his face was just inches away from mine. He put a hand on my face and pulled me in. His lips were soft and warm, but they moved in an odd way. The kiss was rigid, but it still sent my heart soaring so I kissed back.

       He pulled back, looked into my eyes for a short second, then stood up wordlessly and left for his dormitory.

       Tom grew cold after that. He shut me out. I had been waiting for the right moment to ask him about what was wrong. I thought maybe it was because, as the year drew to a close, he would have to return home. I didn’t know what “home” was for Tom Riddle. No one did. He bit off the head of anyone who tried to mention it, and so I assumed Tom’s home life was less than desirable. I thought maybe if I talked to him he would open up for once and let out everything he kept bottled up.  

       The common room was crowded one night after a quidditch match. I sat at a table in a corner, watching Tom. He was talking to a few people, but his expression implied that he would rather not. He stood up quickly and made for the exit. I didn’t know where he might be going; it was minutes until curfew. I rose and followed him, baffled as to where he might be going so late.

     I kept my distance as he walked down the corridor. He walked quickly, as if he had a purpose. I trailed him for five minutes or so when I realized that he intended on leaving the school. I followed him out the door and into the night. It was a foggy night, and the air smelled like dirt and grass and warmth.

     Tom was almost to the Forbidden Forest when he turned on his heel and glared directly at me. A vein jumped out of his forehead and his was jaw tight, teeth clenched. His brows furrowed, and his eyes seemed darker than I had ever seen them. I froze. My stomach flew into my throat and I knew that I had made what would prove to be the biggest mistake of my life.  

     “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he asked, his voice piercing through me like daggers.

     “I-” I stammered. I swallowed my stomach and began again. “I wanted to talk to you.”

      “Did it ever occur to you, perhaps, that I didn’t want to talk to you?” he shot back. “I think that if you wanted to talk to me, you could have called my name and gotten my attention, but you followed me through the school, hiding behind walls and creeping in shadows. That doesn’t seem like the kind of actions of someone who just wants to talk. It does, however, seem like someone who wants to spy.”  

     “I didn’t want to spy- I was just curious. I saw you leave and it- it was almost curfew and I didn’t know where you could be going...”

     “I gave you plenty of time to turn back. You certainly had the opportunity to decide that my business is none of yours, did you not?” 

     I knew that was over for me when he drew his wand from his robe. I had been right when I saw the darkness in him, but I made one last attempt to fight what was about to happen. “Tom-”

    “I’m not Tom anymore. I am Lord Voldemort.” He said slowly, each word weighing heavily in the air.

     There was a blinding flash of green light, and I heard myself scream. Then blackness.

***

      You see, Voldemort never cared for me. He never cared for anyone, in fact. Only himself. He sought me out. He made me care for him because he couldn’t fathom that a single person could not be captivated by him and his charm. He made me care to prove that he could, and when I outlived my usefulness I became an annoyance, so I had to die.

#harry potter #tom riddle #fanfic #slytherin