A/N: This is my second TR/OC story, but it will be much longer and more involved. I'd really appreciate reviews/feedback for this because I'm excited about this story and I think it's going to be a good one :) This prologue may seem like it's too much about the OC, but I needed something to set up the character's background and relationship to Tom Riddle. I promise it won't be this focused on her the whole time. It's really all about Tom, after all, because he's amazing :P

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

*******

Prologue

Eva Forsythe looked at the photograph of her father one final time before placing it carefully into her crowded trunk. It was the morning of September 1. She would be boarding the Hogwarts Express in no more than three hours. What was usually regarded as a happy occasion was tainted by feelings of apprehension that she could not get out of her mind. She knew this year was going to be different. Something felt wrong to her, and the strangely cold and grey weather only increased her worries.

Her eyes drifted to the handsome bronze and blue badge pinned to her packed Hogwarts robes. A bold letter "P" was superimposed on top of the Ravenclaw eagle. The sight of the gleaming prefect badge made her feel a little better.

Eva had waited anxiously all summer for the letter confirming her status as a prefect. It had not come as much of a surprise, for she was surely the best female student in her year. A true Ravenclaw, she was both blessed and cursed with a passion for knowledge and learning. She could spend hours in the library delving into the subjects she loved, or entire afternoons by the lake pondering ideas and theories. Few people understood her behavior throughout her life, but at Hogwarts, and especially in Ravenclaw House, she felt truly at home.

Home. It was a word that she had never felt nor understood. Eva had never known her father, or the reason why he was missing from her life. All she knew was that he had been, or still was, a wizard, and that her mother, a Muggle, came to resent the magical world when he disappeared from their lives. Ever since Eva was a little girl, she knew that her mother did not want her.

All of this aside, she would be returning to her true home, Hogwarts, with many new and important responsibilities. She was told countless times that the fifth year was the most important. With prefect duties, preparation for O.W.L.s, and keeping up with assignments, Eva hoped that she would continue to be as successful in her studies as she had in the past.

She turned her gaze to the window. Her mother's small London flat overlooked a quaint, old-fashioned street with specialty shops and small houses. Only a few blocks away was the Leaky Cauldron, and behind that, the entrance to Diagon Alley. Eva was grateful she was so close to the magical world during the summers. As she gazed wistfully out the window, she began to reflect on the past four years of her life at Hogwarts.

Eva felt as if the time had been well spent. She excelled in her studies, gained the respect of her teachers, made a few very close friends, and acquired knowledge of the most fascinating subjects. Hogwarts was filled with infinite possibilities and everything she loved in life. Yet, there was something present in the castle that never failed to disrupt the sense of home and belonging she felt; something that filled her thoughts and daily life with uneasiness.

His name was Tom Riddle.

Eva still vividly remembered the very first night at Hogwarts: the long journey on the Hogwarts express, the boat ride across the lake, and the sorting ceremony. Not to mention the strange combination of fear, excitement, and nervousness at the unknown.

Eva first saw him as she got off the train at Hogsmeade station. He was standing in the middle of the crowded path, wearing faded secondhand robes and gazing intently at the immense castle in the far distance. People everywhere were rushing to find friends, collect belongings, and make sense of the hustle and bustle. She thought it was strange that he seemed to hardly notice the hurried commotion around him. When she heard a clear voice yelling "First years, this way!" in the distance, she was surprised to see him continue in the same direction as her.

His appearance and manner made him stand out from the rest of the first years. He was far taller than the other boys, and somehow looked much older. While others shivered with cold and uneasiness, he appeared entirely calm and collected. His eyes caught her attention first. The complete lack of fear in them was obvious, but there was something beneath the surface…something unnatural, lacking in innocence. These were not the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy.

Eva felt more anxious about where he would be sorted than her own future. She was not sure if she wanted to be in the same house as him. It came as both a relief and disappointment when the sorting hat announced Slytherin rather than Ravenclaw.

As the years passed, she found herself increasingly intrigued by and wary of him. There was something strange about Tom Riddle…but also something so familiar. Perhaps it was their apparent shared love of knowledge, similarly quiet nature, or unknown backgrounds that first attracted her to him. Their similarities did not go unnoticed by their teachers. They were often compared to each other, even in front of the other students, their work similarly praised for its thoroughness and high quality. Eva was never content to complete the bare minimum, and neither was Tom.

It was a strange relationship. They were not friends, but were not merely acquaintances either. Each was aware of the other. This consisted of the occasional nod or "Hello" passing each other in the hallways, a shared smile at a teacher's praise or joke, or perhaps an exchange of looks in the library or Great Hall. If there was some sort of competition between them, it was never spoken of.

Each year, Eva battled with impulses to get closer to him. It was particularly difficult in her fourth year, when everyone around her seemed to be sharing their first kiss and exploring new feelings. The strange changes in her body both frightened and impelled her. In the end, it was always his eyes that convinced her to stay away from him. The eyes that both revealed and hid, frightened and charmed.

Now, Eva was content to observe him from afar, to keep their relationship just as strange and ambiguous. But as she stared out her window and watched grey clouds drift across the darkening sky, she sensed that this apprehension she felt was somehow connected to him. For the first time in her life, she did not want to go back to Hogwarts.

If Eva could have known then how much things would change after this day, she would have surely given up all the knowledge in the world.

*******

Please let me know what you think so far. I'd greatly appreciate it.