melody [tom r.] - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Melody entered Riddle's office, and found herself liking the git's workplace. Although he was not amiable, she couldn't deny that his office was breathtaking.
The room reminded her of the Slytherin common room somehow, and she almost forgot that he was the Head of her house. She stood in the doorway, inspecting the skulls and snakes that lined the shelves, and she revelled at the thought of them being real ones.
The professor cleared his throat when he noticed that Melody wasn't making any attempt at fully entering the office, or even greeting him.
"Miss Malfoy," Tom spoke, his emerald eyes following her as she finally came back to her senses and sat across from him.
"Good evening," she started, her sepia eyes connecting with his, "sir."
The last word she uttered seemed to be mocking him in a way, and he gave her a tight smile. She noticed him fiddling with a ring on his index finger, but her gaze flitted back to his face when he started speaking.
He did not answer her greeting. "I am disappointed, Miss Malfoy. Your title as Head Girl should be taken more seriously. You are a role model to your fellow schoolmates, and your tardiness is not acceptable. I hope you understand why you are serving detention right now." His forefinger traced an empty glass on his desk, and for a second she wondered what he'd been drinking. It was surely not pumpkin juice.
Melody regarded every movement of his, from the way his fingers delineated the empty glass to the manner his lips moved as he spoke. She even found herself glancing at his neck when he loosened his tie, and almost understood why girls fussed about him so much.
"I do," she finally answered, and Riddle raised an eyebrow at her informality. He did not comment on it, though, and gestured to his spacious office.
"You should thank your lucky stars that I'm in a good mood today. You will only be cleaning my office," her eyes darted to the palatial room, "without the use of magic, of course."
She quirked a pencilled eyebrow at his words, although he couldn't exactly see her with her head turned to the other direction. He was such a perfectionist, so much that not a single speck of dust could be spotted in his personal office. And she was sure he was no idiot, so why did he want her to clean a spotless room?
She nodded, and watched him conjure cleaning supplies with a wave of his wand. This would be the easiest detention she'd ever done.
Melody handed him her wand, making sure her hand didn't 'accidentally' brush against his. Merlin knew how awkward she'd feel. She collected the materials and reached the very corner of the room, starting with one of the many shelves when he interrupted. "Oh, I almost forgot." She observed him perplexedly as he waved his wand around, and a thick layer of dust fell over the furniture. Even his desk was rendered grimy.
She gaped at him, her left hand stopping midair with the rag grasped tightly between her fingers. She decided against complaining, and flashed her evil professor a tight smile before resuming her work. The anger she felt was indescribable when she noticed the faint smirk on his god-like face.
It was said he tortured his students during detention, and as the minutes ticked by, she was convinced it was true. Melody struggled not to squirm under his intense gaze, and found herself forgetting how her hands worked. Riddle watched every move she made, his eyes stuck on her figure as she transferred from shelf to shelf.
His scrutinising stare made her incredibly uncomfortable, and the thought of her snapping at him to keep his eyes to himself felt dangerously tempting. She also liked the idea of wiping that smirk off of his handsome face much more than wiping those dusty shelves clean.
She was finished with the right side of the office within an hour, and Tom was perfectly aware that she was working offhandedly. He didn't mind, though. He could've chosen a much harder task for detention, but this seemed to be the only way that allowed her to stay within his eyesight, and him to watch her relentlessly.
"Should I clean your desk as well?" She snapped a little too harshly, but there was nothing worse he could do to her than giving her that torturous duty. He made her feel like a foolish maid, cleaning his office while he sat and watched. If only her father knew about this.
"What do you think?" His viridescent eyes seemed to taunt her when he spoke, and she only then noticed how deep his voice actually was. She almost scoffed at herself. He'd spent weeks drawling useless lectures to her class yet she never noticed that his voice was a resounding baritone.
Melody did not answer, but instead huffed and began working on his bureau. He looked up at her when she was by his side, and he didn't budge when she began scrubbing the mahogany wood right in front of him. She didn't dare glance at him, and felt herself brushing against him unintentionally as she worked. The position she was in was quite unseemly, and she wondered why he didn't move his seat when she had to work this close to him. It didn't occur to her that he enjoyed making her uncomfortable.
She felt some sort of tension between them. . one that was not supposed to exist between a student and their professor. She was aware that Tom Riddle was not much older than her. He was barely 23 and she'd only just turned 18 on the 30th of September. But she was not supposed to feel anything towards him for various reasons, including that he was her teacher.
A framed picture on his desk distracted her from her position, and she examined it after wiping it clean. It was a moving picture of Dippet handing Riddle some sort of trophy, and she could tell from the latter's uniform that it was back in his Hogwarts' days. Melody was aware that he'd attended Hogwarts, and that he was a magnificent student, but she didn't know that he'd earned a reward from the school.
"A trophy for special services for the school," Tom answered her unasked question, and the proximity of his voice startled her.
She looked at him, noting how similar he looked to his young self. The only difference was that he'd become even more manly and attractive. He was a bit taller as well.
"This was eight years ago," he explained, and she wondered why he was telling her, but nodded along nonetheless. "I captured the culprit of various attacks that took place at Hogwarts. A student was murdered, too."
The lack of remorse or empathy in his voice did not surprise her, for she felt indifferent to the whole situation. "Moaning Myrtle?"
Riddle nodded, his eyes zoning out while he stared at the picture in her hands. "The Chamber of Secrets had been opened." This statement piqued her interest, for she'd always found Salazar's chamber fascinating.
"Who was it?" Melody had a gleam of interest in her earthy eyes, something he hadn't seen there before.
"I shouldn't tell you," he murmured, watching as the interest dissolved into disappointment. "But I will."
"You will?" She didn't realise how informal their conversation had turned, but focused on him as he shrugged.
"Rubeus Hagrid," he stated nonchalantly, taking the picture from her hands and placing it where it belonged on his table.
She scoffed, causing him to narrow his eyes at her. "The gameskeeper? I heard he was a Gryffindor."
"Correct," Tom answered, the tips of his fingers pressed together and his elbows propped onto the arms of his chair. "And the monster was an Acromantula."
Melody widened her eyes, an incredulous laugh leaving her rosy lips. He noticed that she seemed more comfortable, for she was leaning on the edge of his desk, facing his chair. "That is absolutely ridiculous."
He raised a dark eyebrow, "And why do you think so?"
"The Chamber of Secrets can only be opened by the heir of Slytherin, who could not possibly be a Gryffindor, or a half-breed!" She argued, and Tom watched the way she waved her left arm as she spoke and crossed the other over her chest, her right hand holding her left elbow. She still looked a bit closed off.
"Besides, the beast cannot be an Acromantula. It's obviously a serpent of some sort. Do you really think Salazar Slytherin would choose another emblem than his beloved snake?" Her detention was long forgotten for they were too engrossed in their conversation. With every word she spoke, Tom realised how much Melody resembled his younger self. And even his present self.
"Your argument is reasonable, but the attacks stopped after Hagrid was expelled." Tom even considered telling her that he was the one to open the Chamber in the first place, because he figured she wouldn't disapprove. Melody was clearly interested in anything that involved monsters and dark magic.
But it was risky to tell her too early on, so he opted for simply proving her wrong.
"So what? The culprit was probably afraid of being actually caught and stopped the attacks. I wonder how Dippet believed you. Looks like he's as daft as the students claim," Melody didn't realise how bad it was to say such a comment in front of her professor until it was too late. Besides, she'd forgotten he was her professor at all because of how freely they were speaking.
Riddle was silent for a few moments, which made her go back to her uncomfortable state. She was completely bewildered, however, when he spoke again. "He is."
Tom was trying to bite back a smile for he knew her words were true. Dippet was quite a dunce in his opinion. He just never thought he'd admit that to a student.
"You can go back to your dormitory, Miss Malfoy," he finally said, handing her back her wand. Tom glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, watching silently as she pushed off of his desk and went to the door. She was about to leave when she heard him speak for the last time.
"Don't tell anyone I said that, though."