Chapter Text
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Watching Tom Riddle get thrown into the practically frozen black lake on a Tuesday in February in the afternoon was not something (y/n) expected when she came out to hang out with her friends along the frozen lake. She had overheard Tom’s friends, some friends they were really, dare him to go into the lake but she had turned her head, knowing Tom would never do such a thing.
He wasn’t the type to do such reckless things.
That’s when she heard the ice crack and then she heard Tom yelp and then a splash. She didn’t know he could even make that sound! She whirled around-eyes wide as she watched Tom’s ‘friends’ all laugh, Tom missing from the docks. Her heart stuttered in her chest, something telling her that Tom wouldn't come back up on his own.
Her feet were moving before her brain did, and she was throwing off her scarf, her jacket, her robes-even her gloves, shoving aside Tom’s friends who were slowly growing silent as Tom failed to resurface after 10 stupidly long seconds.
“Oh shit-“ one of the idiots said, grunting as he was shoved aside. (y/n) dove into the icy lake without a second thought, her body burning from the sudden change of temperature as she broke the surface. She swam down-light barely illuminating her path towards Tom-who was sinking quickly.
His eyes were barely open, and she could tell he had already inhaled water due to the lack of bubbles coming from his blue-tinted lips. She swam towards him, reaching out and grabbing the floating end of his robe, pulling him towards her with all her might. His clothes were waterlogged so as soon as she had a grip on him, she tore off his robe and wool jacket and pushed off the bottom of the lake-her lungs burning as she used ascension charm to rocket her and Tom to the surface.
She looked at Tom, his face pale and lips blue-frost already across his lashes and hair as the cold air touched his wet hair. He wasn’t breathing. With the help of a few other students, she got Tom out of the lake and on his back-her heart stuttering again when she checked his breathing and pulse.
His heart still beat but he wasn’t breathing-she had to get him breathing. Someone else cast warming charms as she began CPR, breathing into his mouth and then giving him 30 compressions, doing it twice more when the first set didn’t work.
(y/n) sagged back onto her heels in relief as Tom suddenly coughed out water, his body trembling from the cold-his gaze unfocused and half-lidded. She turned him onto his side, smacking his back to help him get more water out.
“Tom,” she breathed out, his eyes locking onto her-his brows pinched-he breathed out heavily, his eyes locked onto her as someone used their dry robe that had a warming charm on it and wrapped it around Tom, and by the time someone scooped him up to carry him to the hospital wing-he was unconscious again.
But he was breathing and alive, so that was good enough. (y/n) followed the boy who had picked Tom up to get him to the hospital wing, since she had gone into the lake too and it wouldn’t hurt to get a checkup from the healers.
She watched as Tom was stripped of his soaking wet and freezing clothes and changed into something dry and warm, multiple warming charms set onto the bed and blankets he was wrapped in, his face flush with warmth once more.
(y/n) sighed in relief, taking a pepper-up potion from the healer who had been checking on her and then walking out of the hospital wing, proud of herself for acting while others had simply watched Tom drown in the black lake.
-
After that, only a few days after Tom woke up, she heard some rumors that Tom had been looking for the girl who had saved him from the black lake, and she was tempted to reveal herself but decided not to, worried the handsome boy would be disappointed.
She wasn’t a popular or rich girl, nor was she really within the circle of his friends, a ‘mudblood’ as the rude purebloods of Slytherin would call her, and with who he liked to hang out with-she was pretty sure he, at the very least, would sneer at her.
She didn’t want to make that a reality, so she didn’t come forward, even if other girls attempted to take credit-but it seemed Tom knew enough about his ‘savior’ that he didn’t believe any of the girls who attempted to claim themselves as the ones who saved him.
It was kinda…romantic, in a nonsensical way.
She noticed Tom being far less focused in classes than he usually was, but he was so ahead of the curriculum that he hardly needed to pay attention anyway-his mind consumed with his ‘mystery’ rescuer. She was honestly confused about why he hadn’t figured out, or why someone hadn’t told him it was her yet, unless somehow no one else saw her save him-which made no sense but she digressed.
She hummed to herself as she walked through the library, having just finished up some research for her upcoming Charms exam, unaware that her voice was carrying through the quiet library that had hardly anyone else in it. She was in her own world; unaware there was a set of footsteps getting closer and closer, but by the time they reached her, she was already stepping out of the library and into the crowd of students heading from one class to the other.
She turned at the last second, seeing Tom Riddle at the library doors, his eyes and head on a swivel, trying to find someone. She paused for a second, keeping her eyes on him, wondering if he would look back. But he just huffed and turned back into the library, looking frustrated.
She blinked, wondering if she should go back into the library and introduce herself, but shrugged it off, heading off to her class after having her study period in the library.
-
She had always liked singing; she was unaware that it had attracted the very boy who had become obsessed with her voice. She had just been singing softly, singing under the tree in one of the Hogwarts courtyards, the warm late winter sun beaming down on her, the snow had begun to melt and soon spring would arrive.
She felt like someone was watching her and as she went to look-someone called her name. “(y/n)!” she perked up, glancing away from her book to see her brother walking over to her, that usual grin on his face. She smiled and stood up, holding the book close to her chest as she met up with her brother, glancing behind her to see Tom Riddle behind the tree she had been sitting at, his cheeks flushed and his eyes wide.
It seemed he had found her then, now the next question was-what would he do next?
Not much was the answer.
Just staring mostly, in class, when they would pass by each other in the wall, during meals, even in the common room-he stared at her, a light flush to his cheeks, an almost longing look in his eyes. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he was smitten.
But this was Tom Riddle, the boy who had never shown interest in any girl, or even boy, before. He had hundreds of girls interested in him and yet he had never given them a time of day, and she-who had saved him from drowning in the black lake-had all his attention suddenly.
She would be lying if she said she wasn’t flattered. Soon they were paired up for a potions assignment, and she found it adorable that he was fumbling through it for once. Tom was easily one of the best students in school, with top marks in every class he took and easily set to be head boy the next year, and yet here he was, dropping ingredients and unable to find his words.
It was very….endearing.
She felt his eyes on her, all over her, on her face, her hands, her hair, any part he could look at, he looked. She looked back at him and he quickly looked away, his ears turning bright red as he pressed his lips together, glaring at his friends who were all silently laughing at him-probably knowing just how obsessed with (y/n) he was, while she only knew he probably most likely liked her, a lot.
“So,” Tom suddenly said while they were putting the finishing touches on their potion. She looked at him for a split second before returning her attention to the swirling potion. “you were the one to save me from the lake, weren’t you?” Tom said, less asking, and more confirming what he knew to be true.
She nodded, glancing back at him. “Yeah,” she said simply and Tom hummed, tapping his fingers on the spine of his potions book. “…How did you know I couldn’t swim?” Tom asked quietly, for no one else to hear, and she shrugged, tapping the stick on the cauldron edge and setting it on the desk.
At the time, she hadn’t known Tom could swim, but something inside her had told her that Tom had been in danger when he had been tossed inside the freezing lake-and she had risked her life to save his. “I didn’t, but the lake was freezing and you were wearing a lot of wool, even a strong swimmer would’ve had trouble with that, plus cold shock can really mess with the senses, and when I noticed you weren’t coming back up-so I just…jumped in,” She said, shrugging a bit as her voice trailed off, realizing she had been rambling.
Tom stared at her, and a shiver ran up her spine at how intense the look in his eyes was. “Thank you,” he said, his voice strained and quiet, like he was struggling to get the words out. She just smiled and said ‘You’re welcome’ and they went back to their assignment.
That’s when the gifts started.
They were extravagant and some of them expensive; bracelets, rings, necklaces, books, flowers, sweets. One of her friends that was more… knowledgeable in the life of romance told her they were ‘courting’ gifts. “It’s a tradition in pureblood or high society culture to give gifts to those one wants to court,” Sarah said, admiring the caramel sweets that whoever it was had sent her. Caramel was one of her favorite sweets, so whoever it was, had to know her, at least a bit.
“Oh,” (y/n) said softly, rubbing her thumb on the silver snake bracelet that she had gotten a week back. The jewelry was the rare part of the gifts she had been getting within the last month and a half, more often getting sweets and flowers, things easy to get.
“That Riddle boy sure is infatuated with you,” Her friend Maggie said, enjoying the peppermint bonbons she had gotten as well, peppermint being another one of her favorite sweets. She blushed, scratching at her face. “How are you sure it's him?” (y/n) asked and her friends all laughed, giving her a look.
“He stares at you constantly,” Maggie started, “He always looks for your reactions for when something happens,” Sarah went next, smirking as she set down the caramel sweets and picked up (y/n)’s new choker necklace that had a little silver snake hanging from the fabric. “He went from sitting alone in every class to trying to sit next to you in every class you guys share,” Maggie said, giggling as Sarah nodded.
“It’s quite clear when you look at it from an outside perspective.” Sarah said, looking at (y/n) as she sat on her bed, surrounded by a month and a half worth of gifts from her ‘secret’ admirer. “and he’s friends with all the pure blood boys, Malfoy would no doubt suggest courting gifts, he’s a sucker for courting gifts, you saw all those gifts he sent Macmillan last year didn’t you? She was drowning in sweets and jewelry.”
(y/n) slowly nodded, looking around at the gifts she had gotten. She had quite the pile, three bracelets, four rings, two necklaces, five books, several flower bouquets, a soft fluffy emerald green blanket, boxes and boxes of chocolates and sweets, and a stuffed snake.
Clearly, her admirer had a theme, especially with the jewelry, which all had to do with snakes in one way or another, which was fine, she liked snakes, snakes were cool.
Then came the notes.
Little notes here and there throughout the day, all sweet and soft, or at least she thought so. She recognized the handwriting as Tom’s, having seen him write down notes in potions class before and he had very distinct handwriting. She didn’t know he could be so sweet, he was charming yes, and had a way with words, but she didn’t know he could be so…romantic.
‘Your eyes shine brighter than the stars above’
‘your voice has consumed my soul and has made me a slave to your love’
‘my siren, no one else will ever compare to your beauty’
The notes were mostly sweet and honestly, it was a bit odd since she had never imagined Tom Riddle to act in such a way. It had to be him sending these notes because it was his handwriting and he always stared at her when she received these notes, his finger twitching-in what she thought was anxiety-as he watched her open these notes.
She thought it was sweet, and so did her friends. She hid the notes that were a bit more…Tom like.
These notes came about when she would hang around her brother or anyone who wasn’t another girl, notes that had her going quiet for a second or two as she read them. These notes didn’t look as neat as the others, more like rushed writing-trying to get to her as soon as possible.
‘get away from him, he’s not good enough.’
‘you’re mine, don’t let him think differently.’
‘mine.’
‘no one else will adore you like I will.’
‘if he keeps touching you like that he will lose his hand.’
Maybe Tom’s ‘infatuation’ with her, as her friends called it, was a bit…darker, than any of them had thought.
She jumped slightly when Tom sat down next to her in potions class again, tearing her out of her thoughts, and giving her the tiniest smirk as his friends snickered at him from a few desks down.
Another hint to him possibly being ‘infatuated’ with her, but she was beginning to think it was more than that. “Afternoon,” Tom greeted and she smiled politely, nodding. “Afternoon,” she said in return, opening her potions book, her hair falling into her eyes as she looked down at her book.
She went to brush it behind her ear again but Tom beat her to it, his fingers cold against her cheek as he tucked the lock of hair behind her ear, a small smirk on his face as she blushed and looked away from him.
She got another note just before class ended, and she was quite sure she never saw Tom write a note, at least not meant for her-he had been too busy writing notes for class.
‘your hair is very soft, my siren’
She cleared her throat and stuffed the note in her bag, her heart beating faster as she remembered the moment he tucked her hair behind her ear.
She wasn’t sure if it was butterflies or fear that made her heart flutter.
She started catching him staring at her, somehow even more often than he had before. It was like he was always watching her, trailing her in the halls, keeping his distance but always a few steps behind. She would spot him drawing her in his notes when they would sit by each other in their shared classes, his gaze intense as he doodled out her face on his parchment.
She didn’t know whether or not to be flattered, or nervous.
Her friends were flattered, always gossiping about him during their end-of-day chats in the dorm room. “I think it’s cute,” Maggie said with a swooning sigh and Sarah hummed, looking over some of the more…softer notes Tom had sent her over the last month.
“And teetering on creepy,” Sarah joked, putting the notes back in (y/n)s bedside dresser. “you said you’ve noticed him following you around school?”
(y/n) shrugged, playing with the necklace that Tom had gotten her, or at least she thought it was Tom who had sent her all those gifts-which still kept coming. “Well, we do share a lot of classes together, he might just be following the same path as me to get to them,” she mumbled and Sarah hummed again, tilting her head.
“If you say so,” Sarah said.
-
She began noticing…another boy, from Ravenclaw, who began staring at her a lot, and began following her around like Tom was, but unlike Tom-where she didn’t know if she should feel flattered or nervous-this guy just made her nervous, and not a good nervous.
He would stare at her during meals and during class and she felt very uncomfortable around him whenever he was near.
“Now that IS creepy, maybe you should bring it up with one of the professors?” Maggie suggested as she, (y/n), and Sarah walked down the hall towards their next class. (y/n) nodded, biting her thumbnail nervously as her fingers tapped against the strap of her bag.
“I probably should,” She muttered, glancing around, spotting Tom looking at her once again, ignoring his friends to watch her walk by him, his gaze following her until she went around the corner.
She very much preferred Tom’s gaze over the Ravenclaw's gaze.
“He’s following again,” Maggie said into her ear and (y/n) glanced to see the Ravenclaw boy following, again, his gaze locked onto her in an unnerving way.
“Doesn’t he have his class on the other side of school?” Sarah said and (y/n) nodded slowly, the three going their separate ways to head to their classes and (y/n) slipped into DADA, bumping into Tom’s back just as she looked over her shoulder to look for the Ravenclaw boy.
“Something wrong?” Tom asked, staring down at her now, his eyes gazing over her face and hair, a softness to his eyes. (y/n) licked her lips nervously, an action that had Tom staring for a moment longer.
“There’s a boy that’s been following me a lot, it’s just getting a bit…concerning,” (y/n) said with what she hoped was a smile that brushed away any concerns for Tom. He hummed, looking back out the door, but there was no Ravenclaw boy to be seen, having raced off to get to his class across the school.
Tom’s gaze follows (y/n) again as she goes to sit down at her desk, making his way to his desk that sits right behind hers, never once taking his eyes off her, he never did when she was around.
-
The Ravenclaw boy slowly gets to be more of a concerning presence, he’s following more closely, staring at her with an unnerving gaze, following her to the Slytherin common room and looming around far too long.
Things of hers began to go missing, like her hair ties, or the little gifts she had gotten months ago now; things she had been quite fond of, like her bracelets and crystal roses. She was getting very worried now, wondering how this boy was getting into her room-let alone the Slytherin common room!
She knew she had to report this when her used underwear disappeared from her laundry basket.
“That’s disgusting!” Maggie squealed when (y/n) had said as such to her friends, sitting on Maggie’s bed, not wanting to touch her own bed. “You have to report this! He’s straight-up harassing you! No, stalking you!”
(y/n) nodded, wringing her hands together, her most recent gift from-who her roommates were so sure of-Tom sitting in her lap, it was a cute plush snake with a little green bowtie. It was her most recent comfort item, and she was holding it close to her stomach while anxiety burned in her gut at the thought of the Ravenclaw boy.
“You have to tell the headmaster, or Professor Dumbledore-he’s deputy headmaster right?” Sarah said and (y/n) nodded, stumbling to her feet as Maggie and Sarah pulled her up. “Go! Before it gets worse!”
(y/n) nodded, they were right, and gripping her now snake plush, she raced out of her room; though she should’ve asked for her friends to accompany her as she made her way to the headmaster's office, soon feeling a presence she had grown to dread.
She looked around, clutching the stuffed snake to her lower chest, clenching her jaw as paranoia filled her stomach and chest, a voice cooed her name only a few feet away and she screamed, bolting through the halls of Hogwarts that were dimly lit with the torches, as it was night and just before curfew.
And now that Ravenclaw boy was chasing her, a look in his eyes that made her want to throw up-if he caught her, it wasn’t going to end good.
(y/n) ran through the halls, desperately trying to lose the boy in the halls, taking every turn and staircase she could on the way to the headmaster's office, but in her panic she lost track of where she was-ending up down some hallway she somehow didn’t recognize.
“Shit-“ she mutters, and then there's rapid footsteps and she’s shoved against the wall, arms trapping her and she’s looking into the brown eyes of the Ravenclaw boys she’s come to dread seeing. Instantly she panics, trying to shove the boy off but he’s pinning her hands with one of his large ones and then touching her. “GET OFF ME!” She screams, hoping someone would hear her-someone had to-a prefect maybe-it was around that time they would go on their routes, right?
The Ravenclaw boy breathes heavily and puts his hand up her skirt, touching her and she kicks his knee, he stumbles back but doesn’t let up, leaning his face in and huffing on her neck, licking her skin which makes her lean away-tears of terror in her eyes that are streaking down her face.
“GET OFF ME!” she screams again, sobbing now, planting one foot on the boys thigh and attempting to push him off, but he’s stronger than her and is biting and licking at her neck, his hand pulling at her underwear.
There's 3 more seconds of terror and then it all stops, the boy slumping to the floor as a spell hits him right In the head. (y/n) cries out and desperately stumbles away from the now unconscious boy, looking around for her savior, seeing the very boy she had been subconsciously hoping to see-Tom.
“Tom-“ she sobbed out, rushing towards him and then he’s hugging her, bringing her tight to his chest, letting her cling to him like he’s the only thing to keep her up. He shushes her gently, rocking her back and forth as he cradles the back of her head, his eyes locked onto the boy who had assaulted her.
“I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” he whispers, voice softer than ever, but with a hint of something darker in his voice-but she didn’t care to read deeper, trembling in his grasp, gasping desperately for breath. He brings her directly to Headmaster Dippet’s office, making sure to grab her snake plush she had dropped when the Ravenclaw boy assaulted her, and the boy is instantly expelled for attempted rape, sexual assault, and stalking.
In the boy’s room, they find all the things that had gone missing from her room, like her dirty underwear and the gifts she had gotten from her ‘secret’ admirer, which Tom then confirmed were from him.
A week passes by when she gets a chance to talk to Tom. “thank you,” she says first, looking up at him with a soft heat to her cheeks, he looks back down at her, his eyes soft. “well I couldn't let him touch you like that, no one deserves that,” Tom says and she nods, but she wasn’t just thanking him for that.
“Not just that but…thank you for all the gifts,” she says, wearing the silver snake bracelet and earrings she had gotten from him months ago. Tom nods, looking a bit pink in the ears now, his friend/follower Malfoy had suggested the gifts, as that was a tradition in pureblood courting.
“It was my pleasure,” Tom said softly, his eyes widening when a feather-light kiss was placed on his cheek and then (y/n) is gone, her face bright red as she ran down the hall, not seeing the slight change in Tom’s expression, the faintest of grins on his face.
He walks through the halls, heading back to the common room in a daze, only to focus when Malfoy speaks up.
“So, did it work? She head over heels for you?” Malfoy asks and Tom’s dazed grin turns to a slightly cruel one, his eyes sparking with victory.
“Like a charm,” Tom purred, sitting down and thinking about other ways he could lure his precious siren further into his grasp, the spark of her kiss still lingering on his cheek.
Malfoy sighed, wondering why his lord had gone through the trouble of imperioing that Ravenclaw boy to stalk (y/n) when he could’ve just kept up with the gifts, it was quite obvious to anyone paying attention that the girl had been smitten with Tom quite quickly, one confession and Tom would’ve had his girl.
But then again, it was Tom Riddle, and Tom Riddle wasn’t right in the head.
-end-
ye, i meant to have written the rest of this and posted yesterday, but C.ai has consumed my creative writing life so-yeah...
so-the imperioed stalker bit is DEF inspired by another fic on Tumblr where Tom n Mattheo come up with a plan to get Tom's gf back through a spelled student who stalks the gf-i was legit JUST reading it like 5 minutes ago but i cannot find it somehow so! when i find it again, i'll link it/@ the blog but yeah def got inspired