Chapter One

The Secret

Disclaimer: I own only my own original characters and the plot. And this fanfic will be different from the books and movies. So if you notice inconsistencies, then they are probably meant to be there. For example instead of Riddle killing his grandfather, ect. and opening the chamber of secrets at an earlier age, that will all happen later. Right now Riddle is a bit more innocent than he ever was, as you will see in my story. So if you ever get confused just let me know and I will clear it all up for you!

Little is none about the life of Tom Riddle, or as he is known now, Voldemort. Those who did know about his childhood are either wanted, dead, or in hiding. Many argue that a man as evil as he is cannot have ever been a child. They argue that he is not even a man, but a monster. Let me assure you, he is as man as any other man I have ever known. Nor was he always the evil Lord Voldemort you know him to be, a fact I think on every day, especially in hiding as I am, cut off from society, but not from the pain and suffering.

"Marilyn!" a voice called from behind me in the crowded halls. "Wait up!" It was Elizabeth Macintosh, a sixth year Ravenclaw and one of my best friends. She fought to reach me through the busy platform.

"Come on Beth! The train is about to leave!" I shouted. She was carrying a ton of books and loose pieces of parchment fell out of her arms every few seconds as she rushed towards the train. Her hair was a mess and she looked like she had overslept. I was positive she had. She finally caught up with me and we both hopped on the train just as it began to pull out of the platform. We both caught our breath before heading down the train in search of an empty compartment.

We walked down the train searching for an empty compartment. Finally we came a compartment with a few empty seats. Inside were some fellow sixth years from Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Luke Stafford, a tall handsome from my house, Gryffindor, stood up and opened the compartment door for us. Luke was a sixth year, but I couldn't say that we were really friends. Luke was a chaser for the Gryffindor quidditch team, and the quidditch captain this year.

After putting both our trunks up, we all sat down and began to talk again. There were five of us, Luke Stafford, Margaret Blake, a Gryffindor with long blond hair, and Daniel Anderson, a tall broad shouldered Ravenclaw who played beater.

Margret Blake was also a Gryffindor. She was rather bold and had refused to take household spells and charms, instead opting to take care of magical creatures. She refused to wear proper uniform. Instead, she wore dresses with shoulder pads in them. In her third year, Margaret had protested the quidditch matches until Professor Dippet had changed the school rules, allowing girls to play on the house quidditch team, not that any captain had yet to let a girl play. Margaret argued that someday a girl would be allowed on the house team All of the boys scoffed at this and so did many of the girls, but I secretly hoped someday we would get to play. Hogwarts was pretty antifeminist, in fact, the entire wizarding world was, but slowly things were beginning to change. Last year, they had begun to allow girls to take classes such as Care of Magical Creatures and flying lessons. Girls still had to take Household spells and charms, but Margaret was an exception. Many boys considered Margaret to be high maintenance, but she always had a boyfriend. Although she was very pretty, I always believed that the boys she went out with respected her more for her beliefs.

Daniel was Margaret's current boyfriend. He had been our friend since the first day on the train, even though he is a Ravenclaw. In fact, he is the Ravenclaw keeper. Despite the rivalry on the quidditch field, Luke and Daniel were great friends off the quidditch field. Both boys hoped to become Aurors. Daniel was a genuinely nice guy; Margaret had even managed to convince Daniel to let girls in his house try out this year for the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

I was seated next to Luke. Luke had dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes that crinkled when he smiled. He was at least a full had taller than me, making him measure at about six feet tall. He was quite muscular, something he never failed to show off whenever given the chance. He was the liked by all of the Gryffindors. Girls of all ages swooned over him, but he didn't currently have a girlfriend, causing many girls to walk past our compartment, giggling, staring, and pointing as they passed our compartment. Despite all this attention, Luke was never arrogant or conceited. When you were down he was always there with a joke to cheer you up.

"How was your summer, Luke?" I asked him.

"It was fun. I went to the World Cup. Ireland against Britain."

"I listened on the radio! How were they able to have the cup with the war going on?" World War II had been going on for two years now. Even though it should have had little effect on the wizarding world, the war deeply affected the relationships between other wizards.

"They had it in the countryside. Did you hear about the Inter-house tournament this year?" Luke asked. I shook my head and waited for him to continue. "The rules have changed apparently."

The Inter-house tournament is a tournament preceding the Triwizard tournament to determine who is worthy to compete the following year. All but seventh years are allowed to take part in the Inter-house tournament. Their names are put into a goblet and in October, the house champions are announced. After that they must compete in three tasks to prove their worthiness. The wining champion will represent his house during the Triwizard tournament.

"Really? How did you find this out?" I wondered. It was exciting that the rules were changing! Hopefully they were planning on excusing the house champions from exams or O.W.L.s. I had always considered it unfair that the house champions had to put up with extra studying on top of the tournament.

"We sat next to Professor Dippet," Luke explained. Professor Dippet was the current headmaster at Hogwarts.

After a while of talking to everyone, I decided to check on the train's progress with the conductor. I slid out of my compartment and strolled down the train toward the front. The aisle wasn't crowded, so I made my way to the front easily. I glanced around the compartments, but the conductor wasn't there. The compartments up here were all empty, a fact that should have made me suspicious, or even mildly surprised, but I just glanced around, barely taking note of the empty compartments. I was about to turn around and head back to my compartment when a cold pair of hands grabbed my wrist and pulled me into a compartment. The door slid shut with a thud, causing me to jump. The curtains in this compartment were all closed. Outside it was dusk, so only a weak reflection of the earlier sun seeped through the window. I could barely see the outline of a boy, standing a head or so taller than me.

"Get off me!" I screamed as I fought to push the hand that still held my wrist away. I felt for my wand but it was nowhere to be found. I suddenly froze, fearing what this boy could do to me. I cowered in the corner of the compartment and felt for something, anything to defend myself. I sucked in a deep breath; prepared to scream for help I knew would never come. A sudden chill filled the compartment making my hair stand on end. Goosebumps covered every inch of my body as I tried to press myself further away. The figure lifted his wand and said

"Lumos."

"Tom! I thought you were attacking me!" I said with a playful slap. I was still shaking but the goose bumps were gone. Tom still held fast to my waist, but his grip was at a more comfortable pressure. He handed me my wand which was already lit. I could see his handsome face in the white light. His prominent cheek bones and straight nose were casting shadows on his face. His pale skin contrasted his brown wavy hair and brilliant blue eyes. His eyes were welcoming, but I knew as well as anyone else they could be just as cold. His features made him look like he had blue blood somewhere in his lineage, something I would bet a galleon on. He was much taller than me, so I had to look up at him to see his face. His mouth was curved into a playful smirk, but I recognized the creased lines on his forehead that he almost constantly had from scowling and frowning. Tom pushed himself to be perfect, and was seemingly so.

Tom and I met the first day on the Hogwarts Express in our first year. He had been alone, so I left the friends I had recently made to talk to him. People who were alone always brought out my compassionate side. We were sorted into different houses; he joined the Slytherin table whereas I joined the Gryffindors, making it nearly impossible to be friends. The prejudiced feelings between our houses were the worst predicament, but we found ways to work around it. We often studied for potions together in the library or in a secret room Tom had found. The room was full of books, scales, old dress robes, and anything you could possibly imagine, new and old. Sometimes we would find enough ingredients to practice brewing a potion or two, and others we would just sit down in a makeshift chair in the room and go over our last few lessons. Professor Slughorn, the Potion master, adored us. He often invited the two of us to stay after class for a bottle of butterbeer or a chocolate frog, and neither Tom nor I complained. Tom was the most adored boy in the school although he was never with anyone. Sure there were rumors about him and a few of the girls, but nothing that ever lasted more than a day or two. There was not a single person who openly despised Tom, but I got the feeling that a few of my friends dislike him.

"I just thought you would want to see me before the term began," Tom said with a smirk, but I was used to his way of showing emotion. By this, he really meant he had missed me over the summer.

"Did you get my last letter?" I asked. Tom and I wrote to each other often over the summer. We even wrote to each other occasionally at school. Every once in a while I would get an owl tapping on my window in my dorm late at night or early in the morning. I presumed Tom often bored of some of his Slytherin friends, not that I could blame him. The whole lot of them were a bunch of slimy, betraying, cheaters. I couldn't think of a single one of them besides Tom that I would want to have a conversation with.

"Yes, this morning. I expect Ambrosius will be waiting for you with my reply when we get to Hogwarts." I smiled of the mention of my barn owl, Ambrosius. She was the fastest owl I knew and could carry extremely heavy loads in no time at all.

"So how was your summer?" I asked.

"Boring, except for when I was writing you."

"Were you holed up in that orphanage again?" I questioned. A look of disgust immediately came to Tom's face at the mention of the orphanage. I quickly decided to change the subject. "Are you going to enter the Inter-house tournament this year?"

"Of course. I am going to win it too," Tom said as confident as ever. "What about you?"

"You know very well girls aren't allowed." I responded. Tom always said stuff like this to bug me. I knew he was only joking, but I knew I was the only girl that he didn't try to charm just to get what he wanted. I sighed as I remembered Tom's escapades last year.

"I don't know," Tom said mysteriously making me frown in confusion.

"What do you mean?" I asked but Tom was already pulling me towards the door. "Where are we going?"

"We are almost to Hogwarts. You had better change." I looked down at my muggle dress and sighed. Of course that had been why I was headed this way, to ask the conductor of our progress. Tom was already in his robe; I expected he arrived at the station with them on. I waved goodbye as I hurried down the train. I glanced behind my shoulder, but Tom had already disappeared.

"What took you so long?" Margaret asked as I slid into the compartment. She and Elizabeth were admiring their new robes. They were both already dressed, but Luke and Daniel were nowhere to be found.

"Where did the boys go?" I asked as I unbuttoned my dress. I pulled my robes on in record speed. I pulled on my red dress and buttoned my dress. I left my robes off and put them down in the seat so I wouldn't forget them. Girls in each house were required to wear a dress in their house color. Gryffindor's dresses were a brilliant red that went to my knees. The neck was scooped but modest, with little gold buttons up the front. Ravenclaw's was blue and bronze, Slytherin's was green and silver, and Hufflepuff's was yellow and black. There was a knock on the door and after a chorus of "come in"'s Luke and Daniel came in in their school robes. We talked for a while about who was entering the Inter-house championship this year and who had won in previous years.

Finally, the train came to a halt I pulled on my robes and stepped into the chilly fall air. We all clambered into a carriage and were off to Hogwarts. Hogwarts was as mystical as ever with its enchanted ceiling and bountiful feast. The first years that were tinier than usual were glowing with excitement, though some of them looked mortified. Finally Professor Slughorn brought out the Sorting hat looking as merry as if he had already had a few glasses of wine. After the sorting hats song and the feast, Professor Dippet stood and gave his speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts to those of you new students. To those returning students, welcome back." Professor Dippet began. "This year, as some of you may know, is the Inter-house tournament. Tonight, you may enter your name in the goblet, and if you are chosen, you will compete in three rigorous tasks. If you win, you will participate in the Triwizard championship next week. But this year, you will have a partner." At this, the hall erupted into murmurs of excitement. Two house champions?

"This year, each house will have one male and one female champion. They will compete together and next year will both be entered in the Triwizard tournament. They will be given separate lodgings from their fellow house in order to have a place to practice and prepare for the tasks in addition to their dormitory in their house. Students may enter their names for the next 24 hours and then the champions will be chosen. Now, off to bed!"

I lay awake all night, thinking about entering, just as every other would be, something I knew very well.

Sorry this chapter is so short, but it will get longer and better! I promise! Review please!