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The Dark Lord's Secret

It was a handsome face. The expression was written with sorrow and etched behind the features that looked as if they had been carved from stone. To everyone, the face was a distinct description of the man behind it. To everyone, he was a popular, talented, and intelligent teenage boy.

With the exception of two people. To the knowledge of many, one of them was Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. But the mystery of the other was yet to be discovered.

He looked at himself in the mirror, long and hard with his hands pressed against the white sink. He had deep black hair that waved slightly from the top and a pale face that was cold and hard. On it, were two stale blue eyes. "Hey, first year!" his voice spoke out, cold, rough, and demanding. "How do I look? Do I look ok?" he questioned with ice in his eyes. The frightened first year turned around to the seventeen year-old boy, who was twice his height, and nodded nervously. Tom Marvolo Riddle just shoved the first year against the wall and adjusted his robes while walking out of the boy's lavatory.

"Hey, Tom!" a brunette girl called to him with a giggle. Tom just turned to her and winked as she giggled once more. He continued his destination down the fancy hallway, rolling his eyes behind her.

"Looking cheery today, Tom m'boy?" Professor Slughorn said cheerily, patting Tom on the back proudly. Tom just nodded and smirked cockily.

"I've never felt better, professor," he responded with a wave of his hand. You know what you could do? You could move your obnoxiously fat ass out of the hall so we could have more room to breath, Tom thought disgustingly to himself.

He strut himself to the great hall and approached the last table of all tables. The Gryffindor table.

Odd, Tom Riddle was a Slytherin.

He walked through the Hogwarts Great Hall. The Great Hall was dimmer than usual and the ghosts were floating around. They had been for centuries.

His pale palms set themselves down on the wooden Gryffindor table as he lowered his head so it was level with hers. "Go out with me," Tom whispered into the girl's ear bluntly. She was eating her breakfast when she suddenly dropped her fork onto her plate. His tone was low and seductive, his breath lingered below her ear as he leaned forward.

The girl's hair was long and straight. It's brown color flowed in thick locks down her slender back. Her cheeks glowed with a rose hue. Her lips were plump and her dark brown eyelashes were jutted out, magnifying the beauty of her grey eyes.

The girls around her giggled and nudged her to say something. She just scooted her head back to look at him with unknowing eyes. "No," she stated bluntly as she looked into his cold eyes.

"Why not?" he said darkly, his black brows furrowing.

"Because…I already--er," she began, searching for an excuse. "Because I'm, I'm--I already promised Thomas Wood I would go to Hogsmeade with him on Saturday. He would be devastated to know I already agreed to go out with you. It's improper." After she said that she picked up her fork and finished her breakfast, but Tom still lingered for a few seconds. She went stiff, waiting for him to remove his palms from the table. But he did not. "Could you let us girls eat in peace?" she said politely, indicating to his leaning body and pressed palms.

"Oh, yeah," Tom said with full, pursed lips. "Eat away." Then he left without a word.

"What is your problem, Elizabeth?" Bellatrix Black began snidely from behind as she approached the table. Elizabeth just turned and glared at Bellatrix with her grey eyes glowing. "He's gorgeous, any girl would want to have him. I'd definitely have said yes right away."

"Oh, really, Bella?" Elizabeth said, growing less fond of the girl day by day. "You say yes to anyone. Many, in fact, all at the same time. I don't wish to do so."

"But what in God's name is wrong with Tom?" she started again. "He's dreamy. And he fancies you, very much in fact--you could tell by his eyes. He's a school prefect, he's intelligent, a great Quidditch player, and very handsome. Plus, he's in the Slytherin house, my house, the best in fact."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at that last comment. "Oh, yeah, he also makes for some pleasurable company," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "He never joins in with our conversations. He always rolls his eyes when he hears us talk of family or dances or music. And he has his nose in the air."

"You could've at least handed him over to us," another girl said with a giggle as Elizabeth shook her head and rolled her eyes in the process.

The rest of the day passed by like any other day would have. The classes went by with ease, all the same people with their hands raised. The food tasted delicious, as usual, and the students roamed the halls freely, enjoying the sight of snow outside.

Except for one. He did not care for snow much.

Night had fallen quite quickly and the Head Boy and the Head Girl searched the castle to make sure everyone was where they should be. The prefects had already done so, but it was the Head Boy and Girl's jobs to check the entire castle. The teachers were sound asleep in their living areas and Tom Riddle roamed the hall, feeling bored.

He had not expected to be rejected. He was never rejected. So he found himself looking for Elizabeth rather than inspecting the halls. There she was, dressed in her Hogwarts robes and searching the empty halls. She was not going to find anything. The halls were deserted and she was standing in the most deserted hall in the school. The place where everyone went to snog.

He approached her slowly with a serious face. He could not smile, he did not like to smile often when he was alone. But he tried to smile because he knew she liked to smile plenty. "Hello there, Elizabeth," he began as he inched towards her. But she just kept circling around, checking for places where she might find something or someone roaming the halls when they're not supposed to. But this hall was empty, there were not even any paintings on the walls. "What are you looking for, anyways? There's nothing here."

She turned to glare at him. "What are you doing here, just standing around? At least I'm doing my job," she began as she bent down to retrieve a bag of chips. "They're pigs, I swear it," she muttered as Tom watched. Something flashed in his eyes as he watched her, something unnatural. But Elizabeth chose to ignore it, although she faltered a bit when she continued her search.

"Would you stop doing what you're told for one moment. I need to persuade you to go out with me again," Tom began as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

"Why, so you can drag me along with every scandalous venture you go off on. I know who opened the chamber of secrets last year, Riddle. You can't get anything past me," she began as she tried to walk past him to scour the rest of the castle. But the hallway was very narrow and he had blocked her exit. His hands were held out to block the pathway.

"Clever little mudblood, aren't you?" he sneered and then grinned evilly. She turned to him with a surprised expression and he agreed that that was permission for him to continue. "You thought you could hide it from everyone? Well, not from me, sweetheart. I knew right when you came to this school that you smelled like a mudblood. But don't worry, I'm the only one who knows who you really are. Your secret's safe with me. Although, I don't thing Black would want to hang out with you anymore."

"Let me pass," she said, shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

"Go ahead. I'd love to see you try," Tom began as Elizabeth reached in her robe for her wand. She looked to Tom now with fear in her eyes. Her wand was not with her. Tom patted his own robes to indicate where it was. So Elizabeth plunged forward to try and escape under Tom's arms. But he caught her around her stomach and tightened his hold on her. He pulled her against him tightly, breathing heavily against the back of her neck. "I'll let you go if you go out with me."

"Never," Elizabeth said strongly as she jammed her elbow into his stomach, almost below his belt. She hurried past him but Tom recovered and ran after her. He caught her and pushed her against the wall in an animalistic manner. "Get off me, you slithering leach."

"I've had my eye on you for years. You were too blind to see it. You're not like other girls, you know. You're much prettier," Tom whispered as he caressed her cheek. Both of them were heaving heavily. Her wrists were pinned to the wall as Tom leaned against her. "Just one night with me, and you'll be coming back for more," Tom said huskily, "I promise you." His eyes flashed dangerously. A hint of red came and then disappeared just as quickly.

"You can't fool me, Riddle," Elizabeth said with a low tone, her hair thrown in every direction. "You can fool others, but I see right past your polite smiles and small talk."

"Whatever are you talking about," Tom began rather innocently. It was a fake innocence.

"I see those eyes," Elizabeth breathed, fear creeping across her skin. "I know how you really are. Your face never brightens when there's sun outside and I never see you smile, genuinely at least. Many people have fled this school, and most of them claimed to be close to you. They were never brave enough to say what had happened for them to leave."

"You don't know what you're talking about. And you don't know what I'm capable of. But I can show you," he said as he pushed his lips against hers harshly.

She pushed away, but only just, for he held on tightly. "Don't touch me," she whispered darkly. "I know what kind of boy you are. Every week with someone different."

"Every week with a different girl. Except the one I want," he whispered in her ear. "Go out with me." Elizabeth just shook her head. His rough hands were now roughly around her small neck. "I'll do it, you know."

"I know you will."

"So go out with me."

"Never."

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She was found unclothed in the middle of the deserted hall with a small blanket over her. She had cuts all over her body. It was a horrifying sight and Dumbledore felt great grief and a bit of helplessness.

Her wand had been found in two pieces in her hand. Dumbledore cringed, trying not to remember the scene.

"Albus, this is the third death we've had in two years. This is mad," Minerva McGonagall said with a terrified expression on her small and slightly wrinkled face.

"Who would have done this to Ms. Jamison?" Dumbledore began with a twinge of guilt and grief on his brave face. "Was there anyone that took a fancy to young Elizabeth," he said as he looked at the dead body that had obviously been touched. "Tom Riddle, perhaps."

"I don't know, Professor Dumbledore, sir. Those two never even spoke to each other. Never once," Bellatrix began, the expression in her eyes held not the least bit of grief. The rest of Elizabeth's friends knew, but they were too afraid to say anything. "Why would you blame Tom anyways? He would never kill Elizabeth. He probably didn't even know who she was."

"Alright," Dumbledore said, looking at Bellatrix Black suspiciously. He knew the truth, only hoping she would tell him out loud. He knew Tom had killed Elizabeth and he felt sorrow creep into his soul. He had no evidence on Tom. None whatsoever. A young man from Hufflepuff had already come clean, claiming he was the one who murdered the girl. He was a behaved young man, never causing any trouble. Tom never liked him much.

A handsome face with no sorrow behind it. No grief, no emotion.

Elizabeth Jamison had been the only other person who had known the truth behind Tom Riddle's lies. Now, there was only one.

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