The Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop at the Hogsmeade Station. Students were swarming off the train, with firstyears milling about in confusion, their eyes wide with fear and excitement.

"First years this way," wheezed a voice barely audible over the crowd.

"First years this way," shouted a tall boy with hair as dark as the night sky above them. Tom Riddle plastered his most winning smile on his face and helped usher the new students towards the wizened caretaker.

"Thank you, Tom, you're always such a helpful boy," the caretaker beamed up at him, showing a mouth full of rotting teeth.

"Not a problem, sir. After all, it is my job now," Tom joked lightly and pointed at the badge gleaming under the light of the caretaker's lantern.

"Well they couldn't have picked a better boy for the job," the caretaker continued, then turned to lead the firstyears to the dock.

"Boy indeed," Tom muttered darkly, irritated by the caretaker's continuous use of the word. Who was he to call Tom a boy? He was nothing but an old servant, a squib nonetheless, while Tom had the blood of Salazar Slytherin pumping through his veins. Tom could kill him with the flick of his wand. He could make the old man kill himself in whatever way he wanted. He could make him writhe and scream in pain until he finally begged to have his life ended. Tom smirked at these thoughts and quickly scanned the crowd, looking for his housemates. His tall stature let him see over the other students with ease.

He spotted a group of three girls headed towards the carriages. One was tall and had a dark blonde bob. She walked with her shoulders hunched forward. Next to her was a slender brunette of medium build. They were following a smaller girl with golden hair who appeared to be navigating the swarm of students with ease. She darted through gaps and slid between bodies thanks to her small frame. Tom was captivated by her. She was almost dancing through the crowd. Like a little bird flitting between the branches of a tree. She stopped and looked over her shoulder for her friends, then her head tilted up and her eyes locked on his.

She quirked her eyebrow at him, confusion showing on her face. He smirked in response, causing her to roll her eyes and turn back towards her friends who had finally caught up to her.

"Tom! There you are!" trilled a voice close behind him.

He turned to see Druella's simpering smile. "I seem to have lost the others," she giggled. "I'm so glad to have found you, now I will at least have decent company on the ride up to the castle," she fluttered her eyelashes and linked her arm through his, "Shall we?"

"If we must," he replied evenly, his smile barely pulling up the corners of his mouth. He looked up to scan the crowd again, but to no avail. She was already out of sight.

Druella pulled him towards the nearest carriage and he helped her into it. They were joined by two seventh year Ravenclaws and as soon as the door shut behind them the carriage began to pull forward.

The Ravenclaws sat in silence, one with a book open and her wand lit above allowing her to read, and the other staring dreamily out the window.

"So, Tom, when do you think Slughorn's first party will be?" Druella asked, her eyes locked on the boy next to her.

"I don't know," was his curt reply.

"Do you think maybe this year he'll ask me to join the Slug Club?" she continued, attempting to make any sort of conversation with Tom.

"I don't know," he said through his teeth.

"It's just that" she began before he cut her off with a lie about a headache.

"Oh, I had no idea! You didn't look like you were in pain, although you almost never do. You must be very strong," she said, inching closer to him.

Tom could feel his even temper slipping away, when, to his relief, the carriage stopped. He was the first one out of the carriage. He helped the others out and when Druella tried to latch on to his arm again he brushed her off under the pretext of prefect duties. He quickly left her behind and maneuvered his way through the crowd.

Then he saw it. The golden head of hair was merely feet in front of him, but her friends were nowhere to be seen. He made his way through the crowd and stood behind her.

"Good evening Miss Blair," he said, his head bent down next to hers.

"Oh! How long have you been standing there?" she asked, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Not too long. You?" he responded easily, hands clasped behind his back.

"Few minutes. I lost Bailey and Nicole in the crowd. Can you see them?" she replied, absentmindedly searching the mass of students.

Tom looked through the crowd, but was also unable to locate the two. "I can't see them either. Maybe they already went inside," he suggested.

"Maybe," she replied. "Hey, why were you staring at me earlier?"

"Hmmm?" was his reply

"On the platform. You were staring at me," Delaney repeated

"I was amused by the way you work through large crowds. Forget what I said about you being a bludger earlier. If anything, you are a snitch the way you flit about," he casually answered.

"A snitch?" she quirked an eyebrow at this

"Mmmhmmm. A snitch. Small, golden, agile, and the last I heard you were on the receiving end of quite a bit of attention," he smirked

"Attention? What are you talking about?" she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, hoping he wasn't referencing what she thought he was.

"Well, from where I'm standing I can see at least three boys who have their eyes on you," Tom's smirk became a grin.

She quickly whipped her head around and instantly locked eyes with Simon. His face was stony and his eyes flicked from her to Tom before he turned back to his friends and headed into the castle. Delaney could feel the blush creeping up her neck and onto her face.

"You're blushing," Tom stated bluntly.

"Wh-what?" she replied, turning back to him.

"You're blushing," he repeated. "Were you that unaware of your popularity or just embarrassed to have caught one of them staring at you?"

"I, um, we should be heading inside for the sorting," she attempted to change the subject.

Tom chuckled, his eyes focused on the back of Simon's head. "Yes, let's go, your friends are probably wondering where you are."

"Oh! Nicole and Bailey, they're going to think I ran off with…" she slapped a hand to her mouth and looked up at Tom, hoping he hadn't caught the last part.

"What was that?" he inquired innocently.

"Erm, they're going to think I ran off without them. You know, ditched them for the food or something," she laughed uneasily.

"We wouldn't want them thinking that," he said and extended his arm for her to take. She looked at him in surprise her eyes darting between his face and arm.

"What's the matter? Surely someone of your blood status would be used to a gentlemanly gesture," he stated, curious to see her reaction to his comment about blood status.

"How would you know about my blood status?" she asked slowly.

"I'm a Slytherin, it's practically my job to know," he drawled, giving her a charming smile.

"Oh, Merlin. You're not trying to court me, are you?" she asked, clearly disgusted by the notion.

"What?" he replied, the smile sliding off his face and his arm falling back to his side.

"That's exactly what you're doing, isn't it? You're only being nice to me because of my blood. You know, I'd never thought of it before, but I'm not familiar with the last name Riddle. It's not a wizarding name, is it? What, are you trying to bag a wife with impressive blood to make up for the fact that you're not a Black or a Malfoy?" she inquired, her green eyes flashing in anger.

"What does it matter to you if it's a wizarding name or not? I thought you didn't care about that, isn't that what you Gryffindors pride yourselves on these days?" he spat back. "And why the hell would I sully myself by courting a slag like you?Don't think you're exactly subtle the way you go about with Richards." His last comment flew from his mouth before he could contemplate the damage it could do to his plans.

The sound of her palm against his cheek rang through the night air, but went unacknowledged, their classmates having already entered the castle. Delaney looked at her hand, not sure if she was more shocked by Tom's comments or by the fact that she had just slapped him. She had just slapped a prefect.

"Shit," she muttered. She turned to look at Tom, who was breathing heavily, his blue eyes dark with anger. She could feel his magic crackle in the air around them, and suddenly, she was afraid.

Tom took a step towards her, but she didn't move. He continued to move towards her, a predator stalking its pray, until he was nearly six inches from her. He then grabbed her chin and wrenched her face up to look at him.

"You. Will. Never. Do. That. Again. Do you understand?" he said, teeth bared.

Delaney nodded, staring up at him, her eyes wide as saucers. Tom let go of her face and stalked towards the castle, leaving her standing by herself. He stopped outside the large oak doors to gain his composure and then stepped inside. Delaney shook her head, still shocked by what had just happened. That was not a side of Tom Riddle she had ever seen. She wasn't sure anyone had ever seen that side of him. Yet, somehow, that side of him seemed much more real than the one she normally saw. He was definitely the wolf in sheep's clothing, and Delaney was now fully aware of that. She took a deep breath and headed in to the castle, wondering how much of the sorting she had already missed, and exactly how much explaining she would have to do.