The Blurry Line Between Hate and Love
Tom Riddle x Pureblood!Reader
warnings: not too bad, some stalking, tom being tom, lwk more of a cat and mouse game. ( i finished this @ 3am )
summary: The story of Tom Riddle and Y/N Bellator, both being Head Boy and Girl of the Slytherin house, where in different situations they find out about each other more and more until it leads to something dangerous. Remember this is not a love story, but the dangers of someone understanding Tom Riddle too well, and the dangerous of Tom Riddle slowly coming into obsession.
mari's note: i havent wrote a fic in 4eva maybe will do a part 2 for the nancy one but school is over now so i have more time to larp!! but ive been reading tom riddle fanfic since 7th grade and randomly thought why thought why not make one hehe. I lwk dont know where i was trying to go for this fic but pls enjoy!! ;p and remember im not a pro writer!! I just write for fun from time to time and I do it a an enjoyable hobby!! <33
Tom Riddle had a strong view of love by the age of 8, the emptiness of the orphanage; the cruel kids, the wretched caregivers, and the realization of his mother's abandonment. Tom despised love or any emotion close to that, why would he allow such emotion to take over him? His weak mother died because of it, so why should he fall into temptation. Until he learned the advantages of this great emotion, the power it has over a person, and how he can use that power to get what he wants. How can anyone say no to his charm? His persuasive tactics? Or his intelligence? It is so easy for everyone to be distracted by love, you won't notice the dangerous and risk until it's too late. Until Tom discovers her.
Y/N Bellator the head girl of Slytherin. Tom knew of her, of course he did; he knew of everyone in the Slytherin house because of his prefect position. She was the perfect pureblood daughter, everything Tom envied even starting to hate her. She wasn't like any other students in Hogwarts. She was smart, well-mannered, beautiful, and- well Tom couldn't describe much of her, she was the mystery he couldn't solve, unlike any other person he'd ever known. It left him curious, maybe even undone.
Y/N wasn't like any girl.. no no no. She was different, she didn't look at Riddle like she wanted to fix him, she didn't look at him in admiration or even love, no.. she had the look of hatred; like she knew more than she led on, more than anyone else knew..she looked at Tom like she saw behind the mask he puts on that everyone else knows of. Behind the charms of the head boy of Slytherin. And Tom knew that, of course he did, and he hated it. Hated that she caught on before anyone else did or could. But Y/N, what did she hate about Tom? Why would anyone hate the respectable wizard Tom Riddle? The one everyone adored, who even the professors adored?
Y/N couldn't quite place it first, she was an observer; she could practically read everyone like a book. But Tom was something that she couldn't quite read and it made her uneasy or maybe even curious? She always knew that someone as charming as Riddle couldn't seem all perfect, everyone had their weaknesses and flaws. It didn't help that he was also head boy of Slytherin, and half of the students and professors were quite fond of him. Yet, every time they had to meet up for their patrols something twisted in her stomach, and she knew it wasn't in a good way, call it instinct or a gut feeling. She saw his expressions, how they always arrived a minute too late, too calculated to be genuine, as if he had studied them before wearing them. Everyone saw the confidence and kindness in Tom but she saw control, she saw the look in his eyes, that odd feelings of emptiness. And perhaps what she hated the most is that she could never prove it. He never slipped that strategically made mask, he never made mistakes, he kept his grades in control, his emotions and attitude in control, and his company in control. But she saw the crack in his perfect mask, the true Tom Riddle.
In 5th year, a Ravenclaw boy named Douglas Carraway saw Tom steal pages of multiple books in the restricted sections and publicly accused him, it was a shock to anyone, even the ghost! How could Tom do such a thing? Of course no one believed Carraway, rumors going around saying that Carraway was jealous of Riddle's success and wanted to take him down. Others saying it was Carraway himself who took the pages and decided to blame Riddle instead. But it all stopped when he withdrew the accusation two days later. Then strangely he transferred schools a week later. Everyone forgot, professors forgot, even the ghost forgot. But Y/N didn't, because one night when everyone else was in the Great Hall she decided she needed fresh air, wandering down the halls admiring the portraits she suddenly stopped, she heard the sound of murmuring- what could that be? and she slowly walked down the hall towards the sound she stopped. It was Douglas Carraway and Tom Riddle in the shadows of the corridor, hidden by the noises of the Great Hall, by the sound of the night. As her eyes looked at Carraways' face, she froze. She saw the look of terror, the look of fear in his eyes, no not embarrassment or anger. She saw fear, the kind of fear that lingered long after danger had passed.
And from that moment on, she began watching him.
And somehow, he began watching her too.
The library was nearly empty that evening, only the background of rain tapping against the windows keeping company to the few students in the library. Y/N sat alone at a table trying to study for her advanced potions class which she despised ironically enough, but besides her and the other few students doing last minute studying, Tom Riddle was there across the library. Her eyes kept going to stare a Riddle, trying to read him again like the many other times she tried to. He was always reading, always writing charm essays, always looking for something. She quite often saw him with ink on his hands when he was heavily focused in his studying.
He kept his eyes locked onto the page of the book until he didn't. Without warning, he looked right up at her, like he sensed her gaze upon him. Y/N froze, but she still kept her gaze on him. It felt like time stopped while the two kept eye contact, no one looking away. Until Tom smiled at her, a perfect pleasant smile. The same smile he gave to professors, the same he gave students, the same everyone adored. She felt her stomach twist like it always does at the sight of him. That odd feeling never going away, a mix of curiosity and hatred- is what she believed it to be. As she kept looking at him and his smile she realized something, his smile never reached his eyes, not even once. Then suddenly it was gone and replaced by a polite nod as he returned back to his book. Thats when Y/N returned her gaze back to her forgotten book. Not focusing on a single word at all, she couldn't. Because she knew, she knew that he had caught her watching him. And somehow, she had that same gut feeling he had been waiting for it.
Across the library, hidden behind the pages of ancient text. Tom Riddle allowed himself the small flicker of satisfaction. It was interesting to Tom, most people avoided his gaze or looked away first . But Y/N Bellator didn't not one bit.
She was becoming a problem to Tom, a small one, but still something in the way and he hated that. His fingers tapped against the pages of the book, a habit he rarely took part in. He thought about many stuff, but thing he focused more on was; How much did Y/N Bellator know? Not if she distrusted him or not, he didn't care about that, but he found himself wanting an answer. Not because it was necessary or useful, but because she interested him. And that, he realized with growing irritation was going to be far more dangerous for both of them at the end.
The rain battered against the windows of the Astronomy Tower. Y/N Bellator should've left an hour ago, but instead she stood near the railing and stared at the stars out across the dark night. She felt his presence before he spoke, his voice being smooth as silk.
"You've been following me" Tom said.
"And you've been following me" Y/N replied but still didn't turn around.
It felt as if the air around them got colder, more intense, as if it felt the tension between the two before they even knew.
"Fair enough" Tom spoke quietly over the silence.
She finally faced him, there stood Tom a few feet away in the moonlight with his charming face and hands behind his back quietly. Anyone passing by would think the Head Boy and Girl of Slytherin were just taking a break of their patrols. But that was the problem, the harmlessness of it all, how Tom always looked harmless, it distracted anybody from the real truth of him and the doubt.
"Why are you here?" Y/N asked.
"I could ask you the same question" Tom replied coldly.
"I was here first" She said in an instant.
His eyes flickered with an emotion that was unreadable.
"Then perhaps I'm the one following you" Tom said nonchalantly.
Y/N narrowed her eyes, trying to unravel why he said that.
"You are strange" She said a bit unsure.
"And yet," Tom said quietly, "you keep seeking me out".
The words struck her harder than she wanted them to, maybe because there was some truth to them. For months she had watched him, studied him, waiting for him to slip. She hated him, she was almost certain she hated him. So why did she constantly find herself looking for him? Why did she always know where he was? Those thoughts ran short when Tom finally spoke up.
"There it is" He said slowly, noticing her hesitation.
"There what is?" She questioned.
"Doubt" He replied coldly.
His eyes than changed from that unreadable emotion.
"You know, most people decide what they think of me rather quickly Bellator" Tom said.
"Most people either adore me or fear me" Tom continued.
"And which do you prefer?" She questioned.
They both continue to stare at each other, no one moving, and no one breaking the contact. Before he spoke his eyes darkened.
For a moment, something raw flashed across his face then gone so quickly she wondered if she'd imagined it. That familiar mask everyone knew too well returned.
She looked at Tom closely, folding her arms to shield her from the cold night air.
"You're lying," She said, "you always lie".
"You think you know me?" He asked.
"I know enough" She replied.
"No" Tom said in an instant.
"You know nothing" Tom continued.
She stepped closer, matching his exact move moments before.
"Then prove me wrong" Y/N said without hesitation.
For the first time, Tom felt surprised, not visibly, not enough for anyone else to notice it. But she saw it, she saw the tiny crack, the tiny fracture in the perfect facade. And suddenly she understood something; Tom Riddle hated being understood..no..he feared it. The realization settled between them, Tom took a step forward..then another. Until barely a foot separated them. Neither of them moving away, neither of them breaking the tension.
"Careful, Bellator" Tom carefully said.
"Why?" Y/N questioned without fear.
"Because one day your curiosity is going to get you in trouble" He said in that same cold tone.
"With you?" Y/N said with a little bit of laughter at Tom's threat.
Tom's eyes remained fixed on Y/N's.
"Especially with me" Tom said.
The laughter she felt only moments ago died immediately. Because he wasn't joking, they both knew that. For a moment neither of them spoke, not even when a sudden storm started to raged around the tower, with the lightning flashing across the sky. Y/N felt something she hadn't expected. Not fear, not exactly, it was more of recognition; as if some dark part of her understood him better than she did. Tom seemed to sense it too, with his expression becoming that same unreadable emotion.
"Do you know what I find interesting about you?" Tom asked.
Y/N hesitated to answer his question but not out of fear, but out of curiosity,
"Go on" She quietly said.
"Everyone else believes what they're told," Tom's gaze never leaving hers," you don't". He said.
"And?" She questioned a bit unsurely, wondering whats to come next.
"And that makes you dangerous". He finished.
The words should have felt like a warning but they didn't, instead they felt strangely like a compliment. Tom's eyes never stopped looking at her, still examining her, reading her. A slow smile appeared, not the charming smile he showed professors and everyone. This one was colder, more honest, and somehow far more terrifying.
"There you are" Tom murmured.
"The real you" Tom replied.
Y/N hated the way her heart skipped, hated the way he looked at her though he were peeling back layers no one else could see. She hated him, she truly did, and yet for the first time she wasn't entirely certain she wanted him to stop looking.
And that frightened her far more than Tom Riddle ever could.
Tom Riddle disliked unpredictability, he disliked it even more when it came in the form of a Slytherin girl with lingering eyes and an even sharper tongue. Three days had passed since their conversation in the Astronomy Tower. And he had thought about her entirely too much and it irritated him. Tom sat alone in the library, quill moving effortlessly across a piece of parchment, yet his concentration was fractured, not because of the essay but because of her. Because Y/N Bellator had looked at him without fear.
As if she could somehow see beneath the mask, it was impossible, and yet..His grip tightened around his quill, almost snapping it in-half until a shadow suddenly appears across the table. Tom looked up, and there she was; Y/N Bellator.
Tom blinked at the sudden demand.
"You're sitting in my seat" She replied like it was normal.
"Your seat?" He questioned while his eyebrow rose.
"Yes" She said with no hesitation.
Tom stared at her while Y/N stared right back, clearly not intimidated. The silence passing by them slowly until Tom laughed. Actually laughed; a genuine sound.
Y/N immediately regretted speaking, not because she was intimidated no never that, it was because she had never heard Tom laugh before.
It changed his entire face.
Somebody to relate to, and somehow that was more unsettling than anything else.
"There are dozens of empty tables" Tom observed.
"There seems to be" She said sarcastically.
"Then sit somewhere else" He said.
"No" She said in an instant.
For a moment, Tom simply stared. Then to her complete surprised he gathered his books and stood.
"There" He said in a nonchalant tone.
"That's it?" She asked, clearly anticipating more.
"What were you expecting?"
"A fight." She answered honestly.
Tom leaned down slightly only close enough for only her to hear.
"I don't waste my energy on battles I've already won." He said coldly.
Then he just walked away like nothing happened, like he said nothing. Leaving her frozen beside the table with her cheeks burning.
Later that evening, Y/N discovered a note tucked inside one of her textbooks, she closely examined the note, noticing there was no signature. and no explanation. Just a single sentence written in elegant handwriting.
"You should be more careful. Not everyone is as patient as I am."
Her stomach dropped, because she recognized the handwriting immediately.
Y/N hated that she couldn't tell.
Across the castle, Tom sat in the Slytherin common room, with a book rested open in his lap only to be unread and across the room there was Abraxas Malfoy who frowned from across the room.
"You seem distracted." Malfoy stated.
"I'm not." Riddle said in a calm matter.
"You are." Malfoy observed/
Tom only ignored him, which only made Abraxas smirk and ask.
"It's Bellator, isn't it?" He questioned.
Tom's head snapped up, too quick for someone to hate her, the room suddenly felt colder.
"What about her?" Riddle asked.
Abraxas could only laugh.
"Oh, that's definitely a yes."
A dangerous silence followed, with this most people would have backed down but see Abraxas wasn't most people.
"She hates you." He boldly said
Tom could only look away.
"And somehow that's the interesting part." Malfoy says.
Tom closes the book in a certain manner.
His expression became unreadable, and he could only say.
The warning was quiet, far quieter than shouting would have been, and this made Abraxas immediately raise both of his hands.
"Fine." Malfoy simply said, clearing understanding the tension in the common room.
But the damage was already done because Tom hated how accurate the observation was. Y/N hated him and yet for reasons he couldn't fully explain, not to her, not to himself or anyone but he wanted her attention.
That night, Tom found himself wandering the corridors which was a rare occurrence. Sleep had become difficult lately, with his thoughts kept circling the same person.
The very things he despised, but as he rounded a corner, he heard voices and suddenly stopped. Y/N stood near a classroom doorway with a seventh-year Gryffindor boy named Gregory Weasley and he leaned against the wall beside her.
Tom felt something unfamiliar twist inside his chest, something completely foreign to him and the sensation was immediate.
His jaw tightened and the realization hit him clear as day. Jealousy. For several seconds he simply stood there, thinking, really thinking. He was stunned, then disgusted. Jealousy was weakness, it was irrational, hell even embarrassing and way beneath him and everything he believed himself to be above. And yet, his eyes remained fixed on the Gryffindor's hand resting against the wall beside her. He observed how close his hand was by her, too close, far too close. Before either of them could notice him he turned away and left. His expression remained calm.
But his thoughts were anything but, because for the first time in his life, Tom Riddle understood something, Y/N Bellator was no longer a curiosity. She had become something worse, something far more dangerous, she had become a vulnerability.
And vulnerabilities had a habit of destroying people.