What was he going to do? He knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to kill that boy. What did it matter to him; it was just another life he would end. He'd killed before, many times. Somehow, though, killing her son seemed different. Now is not the time to reminisce, Tom, you idiot. Yet, for some reason, he paused to remember…
The first time Tom Riddle laid eyes on Lily Evans, he had already begun his journey to becoming more powerful than even Prof…Albus Dumbledore. He was still a handsome man, with jet-black hair and snake-like eyes. Lily was walking across the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry nonchalantly, humming a slow tune under her breath. Tom could hear her gentle humming as the soft breeze carried it toward the entrance to the Great Hall. He stood there a moment longer, and sighed as he opened the doors. He had hoped to never come back to this place, but he found it was necessary, as his current job required it of him. Even evil wizards needed to make money somehow.
Lily suddenly looked up at the startling noise coming from Tom's direction. Tom stopped, feeling her eyes on his back, and turned to stare at the cherry-haired beauty. He looked deep into her piercing green eyes and worried that he was beginning to lose his edge. Her lips parted into a slow smile as she noticed him noticing her, then she continued to walk along her way, resuming her exquisite humming.
Tom found himself torn. Should he continue about his business, and venture inside the building he loathed so much, or should he follow the lovely girl he saw walking, the first thing that really gave him peace since he stepped back upon the school grounds. The sight of her erased all the bad memories these grounds prompted. He felt her humming in the very depths of his soul. She smiled at him.
He made up his mind. Garrulously, Tom released the door and moved toward the girl. He then began to run frantically toward her, without a care for how the scene must have appeared. Tom knew at that moment that he needed to know this woman. As he advanced upon her, Lily spun around, causing Tom to stop. They looked into each other's eyes, and Lily said, "Hello. I'm Lily."
Grasping for words, all he could manage was "I'm Tom."
"Hello, Tom. Aren't you too old for school?"
"Yes, I am, I'm afraid," he replied, looking at his feet. How did this red-haired girl make him feel so vulnerable?
"Then why are you here? You came to see me, didn't you?"
Was she flirting with him? He had to have been at least thirty years older than this girl, and she was teasing him like he was another one of her classmates. "Actually, I just wanted to tell you I liked your humming." Tom then turned on his heel, and walked toward the building berating himself. He needed to ensure that a scene like that one never occurred again. This Lily Evans was nothing but trouble for him.
The memory began to fade as he continued to stare into her shocking green eyes. He remembered her quite vividly, this woman who was willing to die to protect her son. He had never even considered the possibility that Lily Potter could be his Lily from Hogwarts, twenty-odd years before.
"You don't have to do this, Lily. You can save yourself," Tom heard himself hiss. She didn't look a day older than she did that day at Hogwarts. "Just give me the boy…"
"NO! Please, leave Harry alone!" She cried hysterically as she threw herself into the path of death.
Tom sighed and raised his wand. Lily screamed in despair as the green light shook the walls of the small house to which Wormtail had brought him. Then, gracefully, she fell, all life having left her body. Tom looked at her desperately, closed his eyes, and raised his wand once more…