The Dark Lord (Tom Riddle X Reader) || Short Story - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

You are in your room and you're searching for your diary that you haven't written in since the time you were in the infirmary.
You rummage through your belongings, searching high and low for your diary. The last time you wrote in it was during your stay in the infirmary. You distinctly remember hiding it away, but now you can't seem to find it anywhere. Frustration starts to creep in as you wonder where it could have gone.
"Casey have you seen my diary?" You ask her.
Casey looks at you a bit nervously and hesitates before replying. Her usual carefree demeanor seems forced, and her eyes dart around the room as if avoiding your gaze.
"Your d–diary? Hmm, no, I haven't seen it anywhere. Why do you ask?" Casey's voice falters as if hiding something.
"I can't find it anywhere..." You frown.
Then the next day you are casually strolling by the hallway when Avery confronts you about the diary.
You continue walking down the hallway, deep in thought about the missing diary, when suddenly Avery appears in front of you. He looks serious and somewhat confrontational.
"What do you want now? Oh wait, let me rephrase that, what does Tom want now?
Avery huffs in response, clearly annoyed by your dismissive attitude.
"This isn't about what Tom wants. It's about you. I talked to him, and he's convinced that you have feelings for someone else."
"What do you mean?" You're dumbstruck at this new information.
Avery's expression remains firm as he continues.
"He told me he saw your diary. He's certain it's yours, and that it confirmed your feelings for someone named Jake."
"But I can't find my diary anywhere, ever since I returned back from the infirmary!" You exclaim.
Avery crosses his arms, clearly not convinced by your explanation.
"That's what you're going with, huh? That you just misplaced it? Seems a bit convenient, don't you think?"
"I swear I haven't written in it since I came back." You protest.
Avery huffs skeptically.
"And how are we supposed to know that it's true? For all we know, you could be lying just to cover up your feelings for someone else."
"You know what, I don't care anymore, just think whatever you want. I'm tired of you all." You walk away.
Avery informs Tom about your little encounter.
Tom listens to Avery's story with a pensive expression. The information adds fuel to his suspicion, and he finds it difficult to shake the idea that you might genuinely have feelings for another guy.
"I think someone sabotaged her diary and changed the contents to make you believe that Y/N is into someone else. I think it's Casey's plan. Avery lays out that possibility.
Tom's eyebrows furrow as he considers the possibility.
"You think Casey might be behind this? That she's somehow altered the diary to manipulate me into believing that Y/N has feelings for someone else?"
"Yeah that girl is going crazy over you. She can do anything for you at this point, if this is true." Avery worries.
Tom nods, his expression hardening as he contemplates the situation.
"If that's true, then we need to find out if the diary was tampered with. Can you investigate the diary and see if there's any signs of tampering? I need solid evidence to confront Casey."
Avery closely examines the diary carefully. "Look! There are signs of torn pages."
Tom's eyes widen as he glances at the torn pages in the diary. This was the evidence he needed to put his suspicions about the diary to rest.
"So pages of the diary have been torn out. This confirms someone tampered with it. But who?"
"And the handwriting change, it looks like Casey tried her best to imitate Y/N's handwriting but lacked the correct grammar." Avery scoffs.
Tom examines the handwriting closely, comparing it to previous entries in the diary. The difference in style is evident.
"You're right. The handwriting is not quite a perfect match. It looks like someone, possibly Casey, tried to emulate Y/N's writing but failed to write the correct grammar. This further proves that the diary was tampered with."
"You need to confront Casey." Avery says firmly.
Tom faces Casey with a stern expression, the torn pages of the diary clutched in his hand.
"Casey, we need to talk. We've found evidence that this diary was tampered with. The handwriting, the torn pages... It all points to you. Did you do this?"
"What?! No tom I just showed you what I found. And it's her diary, you already saw the previous entries." Casey states defensively.
Tom looks at Casey skeptically, his eyes narrowing.
"So you're saying you didn't alter the diary in any way? You just happened to discover it? And the torn pages and altered handwriting, that's all just a coincidence?"
"Y/N has a huge crush on jake! I will prove it to you just wait." Casey challenges Tom.
Tom smirks, intrigued but still wary of Casey's claims.
"Okay, prove it. Show me evidence that she has a crush on this guy named Jake."
In your dorm.
Casey enters the room, tears streaming down her face, devastated and distraught. She throws herself onto her bed, crying heavily.
"It's over... Tom and I broke up!"
She sobs into her pillow, her heartbroken cries filling the room.
"What?! why?" Your eyes widen.
Casey lifts her head, her eyes puffy and red from crying. She takes a deep, shuddering breath before reluctantly recounting the events that led to the breakup.
"We got into a stupid argument... about something insignificant. But it escalated quickly, and we both said things we didn't mean. It just spiraled out of control until Tom ended up walking out..."
"But what were you arguing about?" You ask being intrigued.
Casey sniffles, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.
"It was something about trust... I accused him of being overly possessive and jealous, and he accused me of being too flirty with other guys and not taking our relationship seriously enough. It just... all went downhill from there."
"Oh, I see... Looks like you two are really in love with each other." You scoff.
Then out of nowhere Casey asks you, if you wanna go out with a friend of hers.
Casey glances up, a small flicker of hope in her eyes.
"There's a friend of mine who's been asking about you... His name's Jake. He's really nice, and apparently he's been interested in you for a while. Would you... be interested in going out with him?"
Out of jealousy you say yes. Falling right into Casey's trap. "Hell, yeah!"
Casey's eyes light up as you agree to go out with Jake, a sly smirk spreading across her face. She didn't expect you to say yes so easily, and it seemed all her planning was coming together.
"Great! I'll let him know you're interested. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear that!"
Casey quietly smirks to herself, feeling a sense of triumph. Her plan is working perfectly. She wants to ensure that Tom stays with her, and she'll do whatever it takes to drive a wedge between you and him.