"I'm not afraid of you, you know," the blonde whispered, gently running long, silver-tipped fingers along the tall, handsome teenager's arm. "I'm glad," Tom Riddle—or, to his friends, Lord Voldemort—whispered in return, smiling kindly. With one pale hand, he cupped Gianna's heart-shaped face. Riddle could feel the warmth of her cheek against his hand, and felt something stir within him. She was less than a year younger than him, and she made him feel lighter—happier—fearless. Gazing into Gianna's bright blue eyes, Riddle vaguely wondered, Is this…love?
"Tom—don't grimace like that!—Tom, I like your name. It may not set you as apart as you wish, but your talents—especially Parselmouth—set you more apart than any name could," she batted her dark lashes, pleading with him. "Do you not like the name I chose?" he asked her, his handsome face grave. "Of course, I do! I like the idea of calling you 'Lord' anything," she added in a voice that seemed to caress the creature within Riddle. It raised it head, sniffing hopefully. He wrapped his arms around her, gazing around the deserted corridor, listening intently for a teacher. "They'll wonder what's become of you," he whispered into Gianna's ear, leaning back against the stone wall. "Let them wonder," she replied, kissing his neck. Riddle felt fiery blossoms of…something…everywhere her skin touched his—her lips on his neck, her fingers running through his hair, her knee, pressing against his leg. He turned her around, pushing her into the wall. He kissed her passionately, and the creature within him seemed to purr with happiness. This is…right, I can feel it, he thought, running his long-fingered hand down her side, caressing her hip, catching her right behind the knee. Riddle felt the blonde grin as he hitched her leg up, and she wrapped her leg around his waist.
"Oi! You two!" The call of the old caretaker startled Riddle into dropping Gianna's leg. With a sneer, Riddle called out, "Squib!" before both him and Gianna ran along the corridor, splitting up when they reached the third floor landing, breathless. "That—was—amazing," Gianna said between gasps. "I'll…uh…I'll see you tomorrow," Riddle whispered, kissing her swiftly before turning towards the dungeons. Watching him go, Gianna pressed one hand to her hot cheek. Had she been blushing the whole time? She couldn't remember. Her mind drifted to Tom's black hair, dark eyes, and handsome features as she began her walk to the Ravenclaw common room.
In the shadows, unseen by Gianna, was a seventh year girl—her best friend, Jada. Silently, she noted Gianna's slightly tousled hair, flushed cheeks, and rumpled skirt. "Where have you been?" she asked as the blonde passed her. Gianna jumped, and let out a small squeak before retorting, "It's none of your business. I'm obviously not in trouble."
"You could have been," Jada hissed, unwilling to let such a good strain of gossip escape. Within seconds, the brunette had an ebony wand in her face, and Gianna hissed, "Forget we ever had this conversation and I won't jinx you, you backstabbing git."
By breakfast, however, half the school seemed to know about Riddle and Gianna the night before. "How did they find out?" Gianna hissed during Transfiguration the next day. "I don't know, I swear I didn't tell anyone," murmured Riddle, whom was acting subdued. As the bell rang, Professor Dumbledore called to the blonde, "Miss Prince, I would like to speak to you." She left her remaining supplies on her desk, gave Riddle a swift kiss on the cheek, and tentatively trotted up to the auburn-haired professor's desk, where he sat, slightly vulture-like. "I see you have taken to Mr. Riddle, have you not?" he asked calmly, seemingly only moderately interested in what she had to say. "Oh…well, yes, I have, I guess," she replied timidly. His mustache twitched slightly before he said, "I do hope your performances in your classes will not drop."
"Of course not, sir."
"Good, good. Run along, I do not wish you to get into trouble with your next class."
Gianna hurriedly packed the rest of her things and ran out of the classroom, nearly colliding with Riddle at the end of the hall. She threw her arms around him to keep both of them from falling, and he returned this action with a passionate kiss, hoisting her up onto his hips. "I love when you do that," she whispered, kissing his jaw line. Once again, the creature in Tom's chest unfurled, making his heart thump. "I-I've never felt like this before," he whispered in her ear as she kissed his temple. "Me either," she replied breathlessly. She paused, and Tom looked into her brilliant blue eyes. "I've just realized, shouldn't the professors know when you have free periods?"
"Well, yes, why?" Tom asked, slightly irked. "Dumbledore…he told me to hurry off before I got in trouble with my next class, Tom," she replied, then shrugged. She kissed him with a fire he didn't know how to handle—a fire that made the creature inside him squirm with a fierce energy. He pressed her against the wall, feeling her hips, sliding his hands under her skirt. She gave a small gasp, grabbed his face in both hands, and, with a smirk, kissed him again. His hands felt their way up Gianna's thighs, feeling the goose bumps rise at his touch.
"I knew it!" Jada's screech echoed through the hall, making Gianna squeal. "Bloody hell," the blonde hissed as her feet touched the ground once more. Her eyes, now cold as ice, found Jada's shocked gray ones and she said, "What did you 'know?'"
With a smirk, Jada replied, "I knew you weren't taking an average nighttime walk! I knew you were meeting someone. Why him, though? Why not someone worth being with, rather than a worthless orphan?" Once again, Jada found an ebony wand pointed at her face. "I told you," Gianna hissed, her voice taking on an uncharacteristicly cruel tone, "I told you not to worry about it." She paused, and then muttered, "Calvorio."
With a shriek, Jada's hand flew to her head, which was now bald. Her eyes grew wide as she turned to run away. At the end of the hall, she turned to see Tom embracing a now weeping Gianna. "Don't worry," he whispered, stroking her honey-colored hair. "It'll be okay." He seemed to be uncomfortable in such a situation. In truth, Gianna had caused many firsts in his life: his first feelings of genuine nature towards someone, his first lust, maybe even his first love. Now, she caused him to have his first experience at comforting another person. "She fancies you," Gianna whispered, her voice barely a sound, but still in Parselmouth. "I didn't know you could do that," Riddle replied, realizing that to anyone passing, it would sound as if something was letting off some sort of steam. With a weak smile, Gianna replied, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me. Would you care to find them out?"
"Of course, I would," he whispered, tilting her face up with is finger under her chin. With a kiss, her sobs stopped and her face, though wet, felt fearless. Her anger, pity, and fear seemed to seep into him, to feed the beast within him. It made him want to do nothing but hold her, to kiss her. I…I don't understand this…this feeling, he thought cautiously. "Gi…" he began. "Gi, I…I don't… Gi, what if…" he began again and again, unable to put his thoughts into words: He didn't know what he was feeling, or if it would last—he certainly hoped it would. Tom felt more alive when he touched her—or even looked at her. The way her golden hair shimmered in the sun, the way her body seemed to fit perfectly against his, the way her eyes glittered even in the dimmest light: all these things made him feel…different. He could feel that she felt the same way—he could tell in the way her breath and heart sped up slightly when he touched her, and even more so when they kissed. It felt like a new kind of power, a kind of power he didn't know what to do with when he had it in his hands.
After what seemed like just minutes, the bell rang and forced Gianna and Tom apart. The flood of students pushed them towards the Great Hall, to dinner, and to their own cliques. "Hey, Lord Volde—" Gianna heard the Lestrange boy call before he was silenced with a stern look from Tom. His tender touch could melt barriers set up by anyone, but his cold, cruel stare could strike fear into anyone—even the teachers.
"What do you really think of him? I mean, is he just a pretty boy, or is there something…I don't know, real under his cold exterior?" Janine Puddlemere questioned Gianna relentlessly through supper, and the blonde was quickly tiring of all the questions. She had yet to confide in any of her friends what she thought of Tom—that his touch made her shiver and burst into life all at once, that his kiss made her heart skip a beat. Janine shot question after question at Gianna, with Jada sneering to her left. She had obviously run to the Hospital Wing because she, once again, had a full head of brunette hair. "Look," Gianna hissed, "I don't want to talk about it! Just, please, leave the subject alone!"
"Ooo! Looks like little Gianna's got a thing with the Orphan Wizard," Jada sniggered, twirling her brown hair. "Did that Healer modify your memory, too, or do you remember what happened less than an hour ago?" Gianna retorted coldly, earning a look of surprise from the Ravenclaws gathered around. She stood, gazing around the Great Hall. Her eyes found Riddle, and he hissed, "Don't listen to them." His friends looked at him questioningly, ignoring the blonde who nodded and left the Great Hall.
After supper had ended, Tom found Gianna in the library, poring over ancient tomes of spells and potions. "She won't stop sneering at me. She doesn't know I'm an orphan, too," Gianna whispered, leaning her head against Tom's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her skinny shoulders. "What she doesn't know will make her the fool," he whispered into her hair. "I know," she whispered, sitting up. She shut the large book in front of her and stood, gathering the books into her arms. Tom stood, taking half the books from her.
"Are you staying for Christmas, again?" she asked Tom, lacing her fingers through his. "I'd suppose so. I've not exactly got anywhere else to go, have I?" he replied, kissing her hand.
That Christmas only three students stayed: Tom Riddle, Gianna Prince, and a Hufflepuff first-year. "Well, merry Christmas to you two!" Professor Dumbledore called as Tom and Gianna entered the Great Hall Christmas morning. "I hope you're having a good holiday?"
"Yes, sir," Gianna muttered after yawning. Riddle had given her a miniature dragon and Janine had given her an ancient spell book about curses. "Tom!" Professor Slughorn greeted his favorite student enthusiastically, and nodded to Gianna. "Good haul this year?" With a smile that was more like a smirk, Riddle replied, "Why, yes, indeed."
"Good, good," Slughorn murmured as he sat at the table set up in the center of the Great Hall. "Since there are so few of us this break, Professor Dippet found it would be cozier if we all sat together," Slughorn explained as a very drowsy-looking first-year stumbled in, wearing a yellow jumper and black pants. "Let's eat," Professor Dippet said, and food appeared on the table.
After breakfast, Gianna and Riddle took to roaming the castle, exploring hidden areas, finding new passageways. Once, they encountered a pair of teachers, locked in an intimate embrace. They turned and quickly found an empty classroom. "Wow…that was embarrassing," Gianna giggled.
Tom kissed her passionately, hoisting her up onto the desk. She kissed his neck, undoing the buttons on his shirt. Gianna felt him undoing the buttons on her shirt. His hands were cold against her sides, his chest cold under her hands. Her body was warm against him, begging him to touch it, to feel the contours of her body.
"Wow, Head Boy and a Ravenclaw," the Hufflepuff squeaked as the door creaked open. Gianna rolled her eyes and said, "What do you want, boy?" Her voice came out cold and calculating, making the boy flinch. "Now, now, Gi," Tom said soothingly, "Don't be mean." Her blue eyes found his brown ones, and she batted her eyelashes. "But I am being nice," she added with a smile. The boy cleared his throat and announced, "Professor Slughorn wishes to see Tom Riddle. He said you may bring along your…friend, if you want." He turned and hurried from the room. "Alas," Gianna said with a smirk, "Hufflepuffs are so…" She trailed off, unable to find a suitable word. Tom kissed her gently and said, "Come with me?"
"Of course," she replied, buttoning her navy blue shirt to cover her black lace bra. "I wonder if he walked in on the professors, too." They both laughed at the thought of the timid first-year walking in on the two teachers. "I guess we'd better hurry," Tom said, taking her hand.
Slughorn's office was in the dungeons, and he had set up a small table filled with sweets. "Take your fill, you two," he called as the pair entered the room. The Hufflepuff boy was sitting in a large chair, nibbling something that sparkled faintly. Tom smiled eerily around the room, and Gianna could tell it unnerved the first-year. "Ah, yes. Tom, Gianna, this is Wilbur Weatherby," Slughorn said, waving one hand at the first-year. He then commenced eating candied pineapple while Gianna and Tom plucked items they fancied to eat.
"You know, Tom, lots of girls talk about you," Slughorn said when they were all comfortably seated in chairs. Tom raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised, and said, "What do they say, may I ask?" Slughorn took a long drink of mead before replying. "They talk about your looks quite a bit. 'Look at his cheekbones, aren't they dreamy!' 'His eyes are just so dark. They make him look darkly handsome.' Naturally, they say many more things, but I don't try to keep up with student's gossip," he added with a smile. "Tell me, Giana," he said, turning to the blonde who was sipping butterbeer, innocently listening, "What are you planning to do after you leave Hogwarts?"
Gianna shrugged, and said, "Well, I don't really know."
After the "party," Gianna and Tom once again found themselves alone in a corridor. "Gi, would you still care for me like this…if I was a Dark Wizard?" he asked tentatively, brushing her blonde hair over her ear. "Of course. I would relish the thought of calling you my 'Dark Lord.' They say you don't truly love, Tom," she added in a whisper that barely reached his ears. "I know," he replied. "And I don't…didn't…I think I love you, Gi." With a sweet smile, she whispered, "I think I love you, too, Tom. What Slughorn said, about the girls talking about you—they're mostly Slytherins. Other students feel unnerved—scared, even—of you." Tom tilted her head up and kissed her deeply. "You're not afraid of me, you've said it."
With the end of break brought fear. Unusual things began to happen when one angered Riddle or Gianna. Jada was found, days after her return, at the edge of the Forbidden Forrest—dead. No one seemed to connect these strange "accidents" to either student. It seemed, many thought, that someone was practicing Dark magic on students. Jada had been tortured to insanity, and then killed by something in the Forest. Weatherby vanished and did not return for weeks. When he did return, he was mumbling nonsense. At the beginning of his seventh year, Tom had taken to wearing an old gold and black ring; the ring hung around Gianna's neck by March. Rumors flew about that Riddle had proposed to her during Christmas, or that she was carrying his child. Naturally, neither were true.
Gianna and Tom were questioned many times, for various disappearances—a student saw Gianna argue with a student who then vanished, Tom dueled against another boy who was found wounded weeks later, and on. They were, like the victims of the Chamber of Secrets, all Muggle-born. Several of Tom's friends were given detention for performing curses on Muggle-born students.
Tom and Gianna were still together months after they left Hogwarts. She became the bearer of good news—she and Tom were to be parents. Among his friends—now called Death Eaters—this was a cause for celebration. Tom took Gianna into his arms with a happy cry. He kissed her feverishly, saying, "I cannot wait. I hope it shall be a girl as beautiful as you."
When the children were born—twins, one a blonde boy and one a black-haired girl—they named them Marvolo Voldemort Riddle and Vivian Merope Riddle. Their joy was to be short-lived, however, for Gianna vanished shortly after, and the twins were stolen. Voldemort, as he now called himself publicly, was outraged, and henceforth forbade anyone to speak of her or his children.
One day, a small parcel arrived for Voldemort: a black and gold ring on a chain and—to his horror—Gianna's wedding ring. He swore on her ring that he'd never love again, never show any gentleness—and kept that promise.
I do not own any characters other than Jada, Gianna, Wilbur, and Janine. All other characters are property of J.K. Rowling.