15 Chapter Fourteen: Fool

Tom Riddle's POV

She was falling for it.

He had drawn her in like a moth to a flame, trapping her with charms and charisma that once upon a time would have made her scoff and brush him off. But she wasn't as strong or smart as she used to be, the worries of the future and foolish friendships eating away at the brilliant witch she used to be until she was but a shell of her usual self. A shell that held the potential to be moulded into the perfect little puppet.

His puppet.

Her first mistake was to let him in. To believe that the Tom Riddle was interested in anything but adding her to his collection of numb-minded knights. To believe that, as impossible as it sounded, Tom of all people could turn into someone she could confide in and daresay trust.

Perhaps if Tom hadn't been cursed with his mother's mistakes he wouldn't have manipulated her at her worst and made her mistake a venomous viper for a pet python. But the past was just that and Tom Riddle couldn't help but take advantage of the situation and put his plan into motion sooner than he had anticipated.

While others had spent their last summer break off of Hogwarts vacationing in foreign countries and having copious flings, Tom had spent his plotting.

Plotting for the future, for their future, and how Cordelia Black would be his greatest masterpiece. One that would lead to the death of the light and would plunge the world as they knew it into the Dark Lord's realm of shadows.

Tom had been meticulous with his plans, making sure there were no blind spots that she could sneak her way out of, but in the end, all his planning and plotting was in vain. Because, as ironic as it was, it only took a few overwhelming questions of the future to push Cordelia over the edge and into a fantasy, one that was cruelly broken the second she realised she wasn't all that and then some.

Much like most of their snakes, Tom hadn't known whether the newly made Triwizard Champion's little rampages at the start of the year were a facade or a final breakdown, only realising it was the latter when she turned to him of all people.

The normal Cordelia would have known better than to trust him. She would have died a thousand deaths before allowing Tom the benefit of the doubt or even considering him to be anything but the traitorous little snake he was. But after nearly a year of facing monsters and being thrust out of her perfect little pureblood childhood, Cordelia had to face a reality that was far too bitter a pill to swallow.

And unlike most, Tom took great pleasure in forcing said pill down her throat at his pace until Cordelia would become exactly what he needed.

"Tom-"

However, for now, he had to take things one step at a time. To have her so completely fooled that she couldn't tell friend from foe, especially not when it came to him.

"It's your turn, is it not?"

Cordelia nodded.

"How was Emeric the Evil slaughtered so easily?"

The answer to the question came to him even before he uttered the question, however, the sight of Cordelia smirking from her perch on the other side of her bed as she fell into a detailed description of the answer made Tom's head rush with the familiar yet peculiar mix of pride and hatred he had become accustomed to feeling ever since their fourth year.

Fourth year.

Tom Riddle had pined after his Dark Lady for three years. While wizards his age were busy gossiping about who they wished they had a betrothal contract with, Tom had already been planning his grand take-over and how Cordelia would be his Trojan horse that would tip the scales in his favour for eternity.

The mere thought of it was enough to make his head pound as Tom barely registered Cordelia rambling on about how Emeric was too power-drunk to see what was happening until it was too late, and his refusal to seek his followers' help was what had drawn him to his cruel end.

It was only when her lips began to form the first syllable of his name that Tom finally rid himself of his pounding headache, one that had him more confused than he had ever been.

"-you see, Tom, Emeric's ego was the death of him."

The Slytherin head boy smirked at her words, placing his slip of parchment into the 'right' glass just like he had every other time that night. Cordelia couldn't help but smile at the gesture, choosing to reach for the glass in between them that held the remaining questions for the night.

Over the course of two hours, they had worked through half of the three hundred questions they had written down for their ultimate revision session before the NEWTs. A session that had officially become a tradition of theirs that would occur every month for the rest of the academic year until the duo was certain they knew more about their chosen subjects than every Hogwarts professor combined.

So far, the white jar they had stolen from the kitchens and carefully placed to their left remained empty while the two black ones slowly approached their halfway mark. The sight would have usually made Tom scornful or at the very least snide if it weren't for the sudden effect his thoughts had on him.

Tom didn't realise he had gotten up from his bed until he could no longer feel Cordelia's warmth beside him, but by then it was too late and he was already rushing towards the bathroom with excuses of how he needed a minute. The Slytherin wizard didn't even bother listening to her response, slamming the bathroom door open and slipping inside before Cordelia could get out more than a confused 'okay'.

It took him a moment but amidst the confusion of why Tom finally collected himself to stare into the mirror before him until he was subconsciously studying his brown pools for any signs of emotion. An emotion that could explain why it had to be Cordelia Black.

Why did even a fourth year Tom Riddle just have to have Cordelia or no one else by his side, even if they barely spoke to one another back then? Why did Tom go through so many lengths to ensure that Cordelia would help him win the world even if he could probably do it on his own?

Why had Cordelia Lucretia Black-McMillan festered into the nooks and crannies of his mind even before he knew those spaces existed?

It was only then that Tom came to a realisation. One so horrendous he couldn't help but keel over in fury as he recalled every moment throughout their seventh year, realising just how daft he had been to think that he had nearly won. That she was foolish enough to not know and to not strike back with a sword ten times sharper than his.

Cordelia might have been weak and daft in her moments of weakness, but she was still smart enough to try and play him into the palm of her hand and mirror his tactics. The mere thought was enough to make Tom sigh as he leaned further down, allowing his forehead to rest against the cool marble platform as he contemplated whether the situation was good or bad for him.

An emotional Cordelia was of no use to him, but a smart Cordelia who had gotten closer to him was a lethal weapon, one that could ruin him or at the very least change him. The mere thought was enough to have him hiss and draw his forehead back just to move it forward again, repeating the motion until the sharp pain in his head wasn't just internal.

Stupid.

Tom had been so stupid to think he could trick her that easily. That a lack of ladies in waiting could ever affect a queen's prowess.

Her first mistake was to let him in, but his was to let her get too close and to mistake a venomous viper for a pet python.