Mildly Infuriating | Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 14

Dumbledore stood before a crowd of excited teenagers repeating some boring pre-ball speech. The words were distorting and blending as Harry's short attention span was failing to keep up. Harry wished the old man would shut his trap so he could get on with the dance. There's no reason to give an hour-long sermon before the Yule Ball. Dances are simple: get dressed, dance with your partner...annoy your partner, don't partake in the spiked fruit punch (or do), gorge yourself on the table of sweets, and escort your partner to their room like a gentleman. This wasn't Harry's first rodeo.

Harry glanced sideways at Tom who appeared to be staring intently at the wall behind Dumbledore. He was either planning to cast a Bombarda at that wall or trying to fool other students that he was a star student who could pay attention to such a boring speech. Harry tried to entertain himself by creating more scenarios of Riddle's thoughts but got slightly distracted. Holy crap that side profile was immaculate. The chiseled jawline, the unblemished skin, an aristocratic nose, and the long dark lashes that occasionally fluttered shut.

Finally, in a moment of self-awareness, Dumbledore began wrapping up his speech, "Now I know you students don't want to hear this old geezer ramble any longer so let the Yule Ball begin!"

Cheers erupted from the crowd and the music began. The sound snapped Harry from his daze to find Riddle staring back at him.

"Are you finished?" Riddle asked, placing a hand on his hip.

"Finished doing what?" Harry asked dumbly.

"Staring at me," Tom raised an eyebrow, "You were drilling holes in the side of my face during the entire speech. I suggest you ought to take a picture in the future."

"Really? You would let me?"

"No."

Harry pouted, "You're such a tease." He stuck his tongue out in retribution. If you were wondering, yes, his mental age is 5.

Suddenly, Riddle caught Harry's tongue between his fingers. Dumbfounded at this, Harry lost his composure for a moment, letting genuine shock run over his face.

Riddle brought his face closer to Harry's, "Is this the tongue that's always misbehaving?"

The low, almost sultry, quality of his voice made Harry's hair stand on end. 

"You don't suppose I should cut it off? It would spare the world a lot of problems. Don't you agree? Answer me."

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Tom didn't know what came over him. Ever since Evans stuck his tongue out at him on the first day of Potions class, Tom had been resisting the urge to catch that taunting tongue between his fingers and cut it off. The root of all his annoyances would be solved in one go.

He finally let himself act on his thoughts. It was a reward for all the patience he had displayed up until now. The bewildered expression on Evans's face was satisfying. This was the first time Tom was able to get under Evans's skin and not the other way around.

For some odd reason, it was difficult to keep up his act around Evans. Something about the boy made him slip up and engage in sarcastic banter and fall into bouts of anger instead of his usual magnanimous acts and everlasting patience he showed the rest of the students.

Tom relished the power he felt in the moment at making Evans flustered and continued his monologue.

"Answer me." He demanded.

The moment of power didn't last long when Evans recollected his bearings. A mischievous look grew on his features. Evans moved his tongue out from Riddle's grip and began licking his finger. Those impossibly green eyes stared at him as he closed his mouth around his digits.