Chapter Ten: Confusion

Ella and Tom were inseparable. Of course, he gave her her time when she was with her friends, and she gave him his time when he was with his. But together, they were the best of friends. Or so Ella thought. See, Tom was changing, in more than one way. He didn't feel guilty for using Ella, of course not, for he was Tom Riddle. But he had to admit that she was more than an innocent little girl that he was using. She understood him, something that Tom thought no one could do.

Now, Olive Hornby was getting quite jealous of her dear friend Elladora St. Clair. She despised Ella for Tom's attention, and she loathed her even more for stealing her spotlight. Meaning: Her popularity and social status inside Hogwarts. But Olive couldn't risk getting on Tom's bad side, everyone was scared of Tom's abilities, and what he could do with them. Few to none of Tom's victims spoke of their experiences, for they were afraid of death.

"Thomas, do you think I am okay for being a "new" student here? I mean, I don't think I'm all that great in my Transfiguration...My Charms skills are lacking, and I can't seem to take control of my broom while I'm flying. I feel hopeless." She confessed to him one day in Potions.

"You aren't bad, Ella. " He told her. "You're good at Potions." He admitted. And she was, she had extraordinary skills in Potions and especially in Care of Magical Creatures.

"Thank you, Tom. Though Slughorn thinks you are quite good as well." She told him.

At dinner, two new faces showed up at the Slytherin table. One was a boy with brown, tousled hair, and was very handsome. The other was a boy with platinum-blonde hair that was stroked back who wore a smirk.

"Abraxas...Lestrange, you've decided to join us." Tom greeted.

"Yes, Tom. As you know, I have decided to come by Floo this year. Abraxas was merely staying at the manor this summer."

"Indeed..." Tom muttered.

"Hello." Ella greeted, a smile on her face.

Lestrange, being the gentleman that he was, kissed the top of her hand. "Rolphus, Lestrange." The boy introduced himself.

"I'm Ella St. Clair. Nice to meet you, Rolphus."

Tom scowled. Yes, they were just being polite, and would jump at the command of Tom Riddle, but there was no way that Tom would risk Ella getting "caught up" in another boy's arms. She was his. His. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Abraxas Malfoy." The blonde said. He remained at his seat on the long bench at the Slytherin table, not bothering to get up. Abraxas was more of the boy that wanted the girls to come to him.

"Nice to meet you too." She replied.

"Would you like to sit here?" Rolphus made room for Ella on the bench.

"I would be-"

"Ahhem." Tom spoke. "I thought we were going to sit in our usual spots, just across from them?" He asked.

"Of course, Tom. But I would like to get to know your friends some more. Just for today, Tom." She told him.

As much as it pained Tom to say it, he agreed. "Sure, Ella."

"So where're you from?" Lestrange asked Ella.

"Oh..."

"She doesn't need to talk about it, Lestrange." Tom scolded.

Lestrange flinched, but only a little, before Ella continued.

"It's alright, Tom. It's in the past anyway...Well, Rolphus...you see, I ended up at Wool's Orphanage when my mother died...I was very sad, but then I met Tom here. He was very kind to me. And then Dumbledore came and told me that my mother didn't want me to become a witch-"

"Which is unpreventable, of course." Lestrange finished for her.

"Yes," She blushed. "And now I'm here, at Hogwarts. How about you, Rolphus?" She asked.

"The Lestrange Family is one of the most noble Pureblood families in Europe. Of course we would all be going to Hogwarts, and all of us in Slytherin, for that matter." He spoke with pride.

"I see. Olive over there," She said pointing to the end of the Slytherin table, "told me all about wizard blood status. I'm afraid I don't know my full blood purity though. My father was a wizard, for sure. But my mother was just a St. Clair, and I stuck with her name. She always tried to prevent me from learning about magic, I'm afraid." Ella explained.

"A pity." Rolphus said after a pause. "I'm sure you'll find out later." He added.

"I'm trying to. But since St. Clair is not a common wizard family name, and I don't know my father's, it is quite hard." She told him.

A second later, the massive piles of food appeared onto the tables.

"Well I'd be happy to help you, Miss St. Clair." Rolphus offered.

"That would be quite nice, thank you. You can call me Ella though."

"Of course." He finished.

Tom was getting exceedingly angry at the conversation between Ella and Rolphus. She was his. His! So he had tried to perform Legilimency on Ella once again, though it did not turn out as he had planned.

"Ouch...My head." She groaned.

"Is there a problem, Ella?" Rolphus asked.

"No...I just have a bad headache, thats all."

There was something...like a barrier between Tom's head and Ella's. And it would not go away. She was definitely not practicing Occlumency, for it was too advanced, and even so, Tom could surpass most Occlumency attempts.

"Oh...it seems to have faded, I guess it was nothing, after all." She said after Tom had stopped using his mind strength to overpower her. All it would do was give her headaches, slow her down, and make her tired.

"Here's some pumpkin juice." Tom offered.

"Thank you, Tom." She said as she took a sip of the drink.

"So how are you liking it here?" Lestrange continued.

"It's really...something else. I mean, in a good way."

"Who's in your dorm?" Asked Abraxas, smirking.

"Olive Hornby. And Kathy and Michelle. You know, the ones that follow Olive around all the time." Ella said, as Lestrange, Avery and Mucliber sniggered. "What?" Ella asked them.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that any other girl would be afraid of speaking of Olive like that. You don't seem to care at all." Avery told her.

"Well, I don't. She's conceited, and sometimes just oblivious to the world around her. And frankly, I wouldn't care if she shunned me from the rest of Hogwarts." Ella spoke, while continuing to eat her dinner as if she hadn't said anything.

The boys were impressed. Especially Tom, he was really impressed that Ella would have the nerve at her first week in Hogwarts. Lestrange had different things on his mind. He was thinking about making Ella his girlfriend before Christmas, while the other boys were just happy that Tom's new friend was actually worthy of being in Tom's gang.