Salazar is the only character that I own. The rest belongs to a goddess by the name of J. K. Rowling, and I am praying to Kami-sama that she won't lynch me for this.

Rating- Eventually will be R. This chapter is rated G.



Salazar Riddle had always known that she was strange. From the moment she had interaction with people other than her parents, she was shunned and avoided. In her Muggle preschool, classmates excluded her from their games and whispered behind her back. Nothing changed when she went to elementary school; once an outsider, as far as her peers were concerned, always an outsider. There were rumors she was involved with witchcraft, and parents, upon observing her at whatever function they were drafted into, muttered, "Don't go near her," under their breath to their children.

Her unusual appearance alone would have ostracized her from the crowd, to say nothing of her aloof and mysterious manner. Her wardrobe was completely black, matching the straight, silky raven hair that fell to her back. Her eyes seemed too large for her face, and the vivid green color stood out brightly against her pale skin. And there was an unmistakable aura that surrounded her, almost mimicking a vampire's- it set people she was not comfortable with ill at ease.

Her parents were never seen- all of her registrations were always done somehow beforehand, and they never participated in crafts or picked her up. Her teachers would anxiously watch her trudge off in the distance- she was their charge, after all- until she disappeared over the horizon.

She lived in a small town, and her reputation was passed from one teacher to another, and the fact that she was not to be befriended was carefully bestowed upon children her age. Not that it was much of a problem, as she remained in the huge, drafty house that she had been born in all day.

Little did the neighborhood gossips know that she was indeed practising witchcraft, and had been ever since she was three. She used her father's spare wand, and she had been supplied with endless textbooks and potion ingredients before she could use them. Her father and mother taught her the basics in a short span of three years, and had moved on to advanced magics at the ripe old age of seven. By the time she was eleven, she was equipped to go into any magical profession she choose, and her grades at her Muggle school stayed steady at straight Bs.

The family (the townsfolk supposed she had a family) lived alone for nearly eleven years, unbothered by the gossip and the people themselves that lived in the town, until one warm day in June.

Louise Elburn was well versed in the area of gossip. She had earned her standing as just the person to go to when urgent matters, such as Miss Smither's eighth marriage, or Mr. Stoffer's ten children destroying the calm in the weekly church service, surfaced. And, with her seventy plus years of living in the same town, she could drag old matters up when gossip was scarce and keep the old ladies entertained until the next juicy tidbit floated along.

So when a strange looking group of people appeared seemingly out of nowhere smack in the middle of the town square, Louise was the first to come up to them and ask them why they were gracing their little town with their presence.

Their rather _odd_ presence. Only one of them was dressed sensibly, in dark slacks and a blazer, his black hair falling into his emerald eyes. The four others looked decidedly uncomfortable in an assortment of ponchos, mismatched shirts and pants from several different decades. The red headed one in particular seemed exceedingly nervous, and he shifted his weight from one foot to another continuously, his hands wavering near his pockets.

"May I help you?" Louise asked pleasantly, keeping eye contact with the one with the beautiful green eyes.

The young man smiled charmingly. "Would you happen to know where Tom Riddle lives?" he asked. "Or Ginny Weasley? I believe they have a daughter who just turned eleven."

Louise had been shaking her head. "Young man, I would advise you not to go near that family. Strange folk. Haven't seen hide nor hair of the adults, and the younger one's name is Salazar-" here the young man flinched visibly, "-and if you'll forgive my wagging tongue, she's an odd sort."

"Harry. do you think that Ginny's okay?" the red head asked worriedly. "If no one has seen her."

"Oh, she's alive," Louise said decisively. "Signs paperwork every year for Salazar to go to school, but she never shows up at any of the children's fun days or helps the teacher out when she's sick."

The red head looked at her curiously. "Do you have a granddaughter in her class, ma'am?" he inquired.

Louise shook her head. "But I know what goes on here, mister, and I can tell you that that family is most definitely not normal."

The leading young man- Harry, had he been called?- ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "He's here, that's for sure, Ron, but I don't know about Ginny." he trailed off. "Are you sure that you want to come?"

"We're not going to have that argument again, are we?" a silvery blonde sighed. "It's bad enough we have to go to this stupid Muggle location. Why couldn't he have picked something a little closer to Scotland?"

"The entire point was that we weren't to find him, Draco," Harry said tiredly. "He knows that Salazar got her letter; he allowed her name to stay on Hogwart's list. Why, I have no idea. Perhaps you can ask him when we get there. Which at the rate we're going." He changed tactics abruptly, smiling down at Louise. "Ma'am, could you possibly point us in the direction of the Riddle house?"

Louise fought a brief internal battle. Sneaking up to the Riddle house was something that she had wanted to do since they moved in over a decade ago, but even she was daunted by the rumors that flew around about this strange family. Now, however, it seemed that these four young men knew the Riddles, and the potential gossip was well worth it. And if worse came to worse, she had a pretty good idea that these four would win in a fight.

"Certainly," she said brightly. "In fact, I'll even take you there myself."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Harry began, but she cut him off with a quick, determined shake of her head.

"I don't have anything else important to do, and a romp up to the Riddle house certainly sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day," she said firmly.

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Exactly how far is this place from here?" he asked.

Louise, who after all was one hundred percent Muggle, smiled. "Oh, it's just about twenty minutes. I'm sure you can all fit into my car."

"Car," Draco repeated. Ron nudged him and smiled a smile that looked forced. "Car, you know, transportation," he said.

Yes, they were odd, Louise decided as she led them to her car.

It was dusk, so they weren't any Muggles to see the four wizards and an old lady drive out of town and head in the direction of the Riddle house.

However, high in the sky, balanced on a well-maintained broom, a pair of sharp eyes followed the car's progress. The eyes narrowed, and their owner sped off to the Riddle house.

I am planning this fic to be fairly long, depending on feedback and my muse. So, if you like the idea of Salazar's days at Hogwarts (and trust me, they will be interesting) please review.

And a small cheer for all of you Ginny/Tom writers! I've been reading it since the first one came out and I'm so glad it's becoming more popular.

I haven't gotten a chance to make this grammar perfect. I wanted to make sure I was the first one to do a fic like this. please overlook imperfections. I'm currently looking for a beta, so if you're interested, mention it in your review or email me at vampire_melfina@graffiti.net

Thank you for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoyed it!

~hellsong~