AN: I know the story idea is kind of odd, but I always wondered what would happen if Tom Riddle had taken the second chance Harry offered him at the end of DH. Remember Tom has no memory of any of the evil things he's done. He still knows who he is, and is still pretty malicious :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter, although I wonder if JKR will sell them on eBay...

"I wonder what made him decide."

"Whatever it is I wish he hadn't. It's not like all the people he killed are just going to come back to life."

Ginny and Ron were sitting hunched over at the back of the library. Ron was back for his final year, along with Harry, Nevil, Hermione, and many other young wizards who weren't able to finish school.

Coming back would probably have been exciting if it weren't for the fact that another student who had never attended seventh year was coming back, even though the missed year had occurred nearly fifty years ago.

It didn't matter that Harry erased his memory. It didn't matter that Professor Magonagal told them all that he wasn't the same person anymore. No one cared. Saying those things didn't bring back all the people he killed. It didn't suddenly make him good. They might say he was Tom Riddle, but everybody knew he was still Voldemort.

Tom wouldn't mind the looks of hate and anguish that followed him everywhere if he had deserved them, but Tom never knew what crimes they were accusing him of, which person on Voldemort's list of casualties made this person cry, who Johnny Medal was, or Candy Jordan, or who the hell this Snape person Slytherins kept talking about was. Sometimes he would wonder vaguely if Snape was some sort of mascot, and Voldemort had gotten into killing snakes too.

Tom remembered once liking Hogwarts, but he didn't remember much of anything else. Apparently that meant that the rest of his life was all evil, filled with killing and crap like that. It would be nice to remember just a bit of the stuff people kept accusing him of.

At the moment he was feeling particularly annoyed. Listening to the Weasels talk was annoying him. What right did they have to say this stuff. Tom didn't like the Weasleys. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were blood traders, Tom didn't see the big deal behind all the pure blood crap, no it was just that the Weasley's hated him, so he hated the Weasley's.

"Talking about me again are you," Tom sighed in a bored tone.

"So what if we are," Ron said, after getting over the initial shock of having Tom appear out of nowhere.

"I really don't care. You may continue as you please. Don't mind me, I'll be quiet." Ron glowered at him. Tom vaguely recalled that a death eater had killed one of the Weasley twins. Maybe he and Mrs. Weasley could have tea sometime.

He remembered that it had been Ron who had stood and yelled at the headmistress when she told the school of his "arrangement". Tom had it pretty sweet at Hogwarts. He wasn't in a house, nobody wanted to stay with Voldemort. He got his own dorm and common room. He even ate separately. He only had classes with the other students. Everywhere he went someone yelled at him. He'd sustained about three bloody noses during transfiguration alone, two of which had come from everyone's favorite obnoxious redhead. People enjoyed beating up the dark lord.

It was ironic that Tom had two friends at Hogwarts, well not that he had them, but who they were. One was more explainable, Blaise Zabini. A wealthy Slytherin with a father in azkaban, the other made everyone tilt their heads in confusion. Tom Riddle was the most hated person in school, so how he managed to get along with the most beloved kid at Hogwarts was beyond him. Harry and Blaise were the only people who seemed to realize that Tom wasn't Voldemort anymore. He was a kid like the rest of them.

When Harry had started hanging out with Blaise and Tom the whole school had been in uproar. Harry Potter and Voldemort, friends, no way in hell. Tom had to admit, it had been pretty funny seeing Ron's face turn so red after he found out. He was pretty sure that Harry and Ron weren't quite as close as they used to be.

The Weasley girl was glaring at him again. She seemed to enjoy glaring.

"Go away Riddle."

"Oh I'm sorry, am I invading your personal bubble?" Tom mocked. And then there was Ginny. Honestly Tom had no idea what Harry saw in her. She didn't hate Tom quite as much as Ron. She more hated the idea of him. He was often forced to get along with the youngest Weasley for Harry's sake, but when Potter wasn't around they were very open with their mutual dislike.

"Come on Ginny let's go." Ron sighed.

"I feel hurt, do you not like me?" Tom whined sarcastically. Ginny and Ron threw him simultaneous death glares.

"Tell Harry I can't come to Hogsmead this weekend," Ginny called out behind her.

"I'm not your personal messenger Weaslette." he muttered. Tom couldn't quite decide if that exchange had put him in a sour mood or if he'd already been in one.

It was a typical day for Tom, which meant he was substantially bored. He headed for the grounds. It was raining, not pouring, but there was still hardly anyone outside. Tom like the rain, he also liked solitude. It felt good to be rid of all the stares and hatred. Good to sit back and relax.

"Bad day Tom?"

"What's it to you."

"I'll take that as a yes." Blaise said, smiling. People knew Harry and Tom were friends, and they were, but it wasn't like with Blaise. Blaise didn't have any other friends before Tom. All of the kids he used to hang out with became death eaters, and were either in Azkaban, on the run, or had their memories erased like Tom. Of course Blaise was the one who found Tom. Blaise didn't really like rain, but he knew Tom did.

"So Harry canceled on Hogsmead, something about only wanting to go if the short Weasley could."

"Do we have to go then," Tom groaned. He hated Hogsmead.

"Of course we don't, you know I hate Hogsmead too."

"Forest?"

"Sure." Tom and Blaise spent most of their free time in the Forbidden Forest. Most kids were terrified of it, but most of the monsters weren't as awful as people made them out to be. It also easily the most magical place on the grounds. The lake was just a lake, with some mermaids and a squid, all the magic in the castle had to be brought there, and the grassy field outside the castle wasn't particularly special at all, but in the forest there was a tingle in the air, something special, something almost other worldly. You could feel the magic when you stood with in the trees.

Tom could see the thestrals, almost everyone could these days. He liked to watch them. They reminded him of himself. Nearly everyone hated them, found them creepy and evil. Death followed them everywhere, and pain with it. Tom was definitely just like the thestrals. Maybe he didn't look like a skeletal horse, but that's how everyone treated him. The thestrals didn't seem to care that no one liked them, and neither did Tom.

AN: I know, no much happened, but this was more of an explaining chapter. The next one will be from Luna's point of view, I promise. Please review! I don't care if you write like one word.