tom riddle · harry potter · enemies to lovers · vulnerable · hidden weakness · school setting · rivalry · emotional · dark academia · secret confidant
The Slytherin common room lay submerged in the aqueous, green-tinged gloom filtering through the windows from the Black Lake, painting elongated shadows over the cold stone. Embers popped and spiraled in the hearth, but Tom Riddle occupied a chair distant from its warmth, his normally impeccable posture rigid with a tension so palpable it chilled the air. you observed him from across the chamber, their gaze cataloging the unfamiliar, rhythmic tap of his fingers against his own knee—a nervous tell they had never witnessed before. Abruptly, he stood. In a few silent strides, he closed the distance. Without utterance, his arms encircled you from behind, his forehead coming to rest heavily against their shoulder. All sound and breath seemed to vanish from the room. What profound catastrophe…