That first winter holiday Tom spent it at the orphanage. I was surprised to see him on the train sitting in a compartment filled with indignant Slytherin whom feathers were in a bunch about all the muggleborns that had been let into Hogwarts that year. Apparently, they were over running the school. All twelve of the first year muggleborns. The students in Slytherin really needed to get a hobby. I sat in a compartment with Maxwell, Myrtle, and Grace. We're excited about the upcoming holiday season like only children can be. Grace and Maxwell suspected that they would be getting brooms that year, while I knew exactly what I would be getting. My mom promised to show me how to brew nightlock over the break. I would be getting a brand new potions set! Myrtle was just excited to see her family again. She had shown all of us a picture of her four burly brothers. She looked so small and young next to them. They were tall, with thick necks and straight black hair. According to Myrtle they were as sweet as pie, but they looked like they eat nails for breakfast.

We pulled into the station in what seemed like no time at all. During the hustle and bustle on platform nine and three quarters I found myself next to Tom. The crowd was pushing us in the same direction. All of a sudden I did not have the energy to be mad at him or to feel betrayed and used. Carrying all those negative feelings were weighing me down and suddenly it seemed so easy just to let them ago.

"Tom," I said. He looked up surprise clear in his expression. "Have a great holiday. I know that we have had our differences this past semester; however, I hope we can put that behind us now."

"No," Tom replied.

"What?" I asked surprised.

"You're trying to push me into your past. You're trying to move on and I'm not going to make it easy for you. Happy Christmas Gwen," Tom said as he passed through the barrier of nine and three quarters.

I thought of his parting words more than I care to admit during that winter break. What did he mean he wasn't going to make it easy for me? It wasn't like I was the one that was wrong here. He was! Did it mean he valued our friendship? It seemed to me that he moved on rather quickly to me. He had his Slytherin crew now. I was piqued. I mean how dare he end his little monologue with happy Christmas!

That winter break was spent in the same way that winter breaks were always spent in Evans' Hall. I spent my days reading, occasionally I allowed myself to be goaded into a quidditch game by Grace. The evenings were family time. My mother came out of her study, my father put away his artifacts, I put down my book, and Grace stopped doing whatever it is she does and we did something together. Once my father got his hands on a muggle jigsaw puzzle. It had 2,000 pieces! We had to put it together, no magic allowed! I don't know how muggles do it. It was a mind numbingly slow process, even with four people.

Tom's winter break was not so run of the mill. He got back to the orphanage and as one would expect, everything had changed. Tom no longer cared about being king of the castle amongst people that were at the bottom of muggle society. Also, children have blessedly short memories, so the terror that Tom had once inflicted on them had all but been forgotten. Darren had been removed to a detention center for trouble youth. Unfortunately he would be dealing with what Tom did to him for the rest of his life. Or rather he would actively not deal with and those closest to him would pay the price.

Nagini patiently waited for Tom's return. By this time she had already disposed of the other anacondas. People had started noticing the increasing amounts of dogs that had started to go missing. Nagini thus decided that there was only enough food in the area to feed one of them. It wasn't personal just necessary. Nagini missed Tom. It was quiet now without the others.

Nagini wasn't the only person waiting for Tom to return. Hector was waiting too. Hector had heard about how Tom had gotten into some fancy school for rich kids. Hector wasn't happy for Tom. He felt that he had been abandon without so much as a farewell. Hector had waited for a letter from Tom anything that would assure him that he had not been forgotten. No letter had ever come. Hector stopped going to school halfway through that first semester. He didn't see any point. The local gangs had noticed him and tried to recruit him with sweet words of loyalty and a new family, but he didn't believe in any of that anymore. Soon, Tom began to invade his thoughts again and he wanted Tom to answer for abandoning him. He wanted Tom to pay for it. Hector had taken to sitting across the street from the orphanage. Waiting. Hector's parents knew that he wasn't going to school and they didn't know what he did with his days. They addressed these issues by yelling at each other trying desperately to lay the blame on the other person. So, instead of Hector's bad behavior inhibiting him, it simply gave his parents something new to argue about.

Three days before Christmas Hector caught his first glimpse of Tom. Tom was making his way inside with his bags. He did not notice Hector watching him from across the street. Tom had looked relaxed and happy to Hector. Tom had looked like he had not noticed Hector's absence from his life at all. That had made Hector blood boil, because now he knew for sure that he had gone through hell while Tom lived his life obliviously. Hector refused to have his suffering go unmarked yet again. He would make Tom see his suffering he vowed.

He waited outside the orphanage every day waiting for Tom. Waiting for a moment to catch him alone. He got his chance on Christmas day. Hector had tried several times since he has been home, but he always ended up losing, but now he had him. Hector thought that it was auspicious that he would have his moment on Christmas day. Maybe the gods were finally smiling down on him. He should have known luck has never been on his side. Why would fortunes be on his side that time? He followed Tom to a cave, he followed at distance far enough away that Tom didn't expect that he was being shadowed.

Tom was surprised when Hector walked into the cave, but his surprised paled in comparison to the shock Hector experienced. There was Tom sitting on the floor of the cave his back resting against the cave's wall, and Nagini's head resting in his lap. Tom was making hissing sounds to the snake and the snake nodded as if it understood. Hector stood there stunned he hadn't really known what to expect when he followed Tom to the cave, but what he saw before him was nowhere near the realm of possibility. Every natural instinct Hector had screamed at him to get out of there, but he didn't. He had waited too long and come too far to just walk out on Tom and not say anything.

"So, this is the crowd you're hanging out with these days?" Hector asked, his tone was casual as if people talking to anacondas was completely normal. "I guess I never really stood a chance. I mean the conversation must be stimulating. I guess it's only fitting that someone like you should hang out with snakes!"

Tom was shocked. What was Henry doing here? And what was he going on about? Tom decided all that really wasn't important. What mattered was getting Henry to keep his mouth shut. "Look Henry, I don't…"

"HECTOR! My name is Hector," Hector yelled in rage. He doesn't even know my name! He was never my friend. "You know what, Tom? You're a complete and utter ass."

"How dare you filthy muggle!" Tom moved with lightning speed. Immediately, Tom was on his feet, his wand drawn and digging into Hector's neck. "I am the descendent of Salazaar Slytherin!" Tom yelled as if that was suppose to mean something to Hector.

"Stop," Nagini hissed. "You can't use magic outside of school. If you do it's over. It's all over."

"What do you suggest I do," Tom hissed back. "I can't let him talk to me like that. He's a nobody. A muggle."

"Let me have him,"Nagini stated simply.

Tom stood there clutching Hector's collar with one hand and pushing his wand into Hector's neck with the other. Tom knew what Nagini was asking. He wasn't a child anymore, he knew very well that his actions had consequences. He thought over Nagini's suggestion. Condemning Hector to death over a few words spoken in anger seemed like it was bit much, but on the other hand why should he care what happened to Hector? Hector was just a muggle after all and Nagini was his friend. Still Tom hesitated, there was a part of him that knew that once he did this there was no turning back. "Take him," Tom hissed.

The energy in the room was charged. Hector saw the large snake in the background gliding in the background. Hector had no idea how much danger he was in. He knew that the snake must be Tom's pet and so he tried pushed it to the back of his mind, but the gliding figure kept pushing itself to the forefront of his mind. Where did Tom get an anaconda from in the first place? Hector asked himself. He shrugged the question off it wasn't the strangest thing he had ever seen. Hector watched as Tom hissed again and this time he knew that things had taken a turn for the worst. It was just argument for Hector, hurt feelings and anger filled words. Nothing worth dying for. He thought about reasoning, but immediately rejected that thought. He didn't know Tom. He had never known him. Hector turned to run. He really didn't know why. He knew he couldn't out run her.

Nagini slammed her body hard against Hector. He fell and his hit his head hard against the cave wall. He wasn't fully conscious for what happened Nagini wrapped her sleek body around Hector and began to squeeze tightly. Tom heard bones cracking, but he had no idea about organs being ruptured. Hector breath came out in a shallow wheezy manner as Nagini opened her jaws and slowly began to swallow him. Tom became sick. He began throwing up in one of the far corners of the cave. Tom had been unprepared for the scene before him. The sounds and smells caught him off guard. Hector let out his last hollow breath when something Tom had not expected happened. A small sliver of Tom's soul broke off and attached itself to the only other living thing in the room. It was painful the pulling and tearing of his soul. The first time he ripped a piece out of his soul it was rigid and inflexible. However, over time it was yield pieces easily.

Tom was exhausted. He really couldn't look at Nagini laying there sleepy and satisfied. He couldn't believe what he had done. He began to remember how Hector was once a friend to him. They had sat next to each other in class, worked on projects together, and when he had no one else they had talked. Tom sat there his back pressed up against the wall. He didn't go back to the orphanage that night or the next day. He didn't know if he could face other people. He wondered if people would look at him and know that he was a murderer.

They didn't. No one saw how he had soiled himself. However, he had the knowledge stored up inside himself and it ate at him. Tom didn't remember what excuse he made up to account for his absence, but everyone seemed to have accepted. Or maybe no one had even noticed his absence. The holiday season at the orphanage went on in the same way it had every year. Tom marveled at how everything could go on in exactly the same way when he was changed forever.