Summary: He said he was just a memory. A friend. Someone to talk to. She had believed him and his stories of a magical land just beyond her world. But what happens when Tom Riddle becomes more than just a forgotten memory?

An: I'm back! And see I got me laptop back too! Huzza!

Meshalok-You will see a bit about that in this chapter.

XxAniketosxX- Yes she did, and there will be more tingles later.

Shaya- Hello, I know this isn't chapter six and you may put something else up for this chapter but I do like to put up my responses on a chapter I am working on. Anyway I'm glad you like Ash and the story it means a lot.

PlasmaDragon007- I love Tom stories myself that's why I wrote one!

Faith- I'm glad you think Tom is well written, glad you think my story is awesome.

NovemberDreamer- Glad you enjoyed the prologue, and kudos is spelt with a K. (I thought it was C for the longest time!)

Chapter 13 Confrontations

Tom glanced over down at the girl clutching at his arm, his eyes narrowed in thought. What he had seen in her memories didn't make any logical sense, but the more he thought about it the more he grudgingly accepted the fact that during the fight with Malfoy, Ashley had preformed magic.

'But how?' he thought as they left the darkening street to turn onto Diagon Alley. Everything he had ever learned told him it should be impossible for a muggle to channel any sort of magic. 'The diary must have something to do with it, and the blood. But that shouldn't have given her anything, it was meant for me to take her energy.'

"Which way, Tom?" he jerked a bit in surprise at Ashley's voice and turned his attention back to the girl on his arm, her muddy brown-green eyes locked on to his, and a small smile graced her lips at his attention. Tom looked away from her and glanced around.

"That way." she nodded and gently tugged his arm in that direction, seemingly eager to get back to the orphanage but knew that wasn't true. She just wanted to be alone with him. His head jerked back to the girl and glared at her obnoxiously short hair, how did he know what she wanted? Not even his legamancy could tell him a person desired. Was this another side effect of sharing her blood? Was that how she had found him in Knockturn? The thought disturbed him greatly.

If he could get an impression of her thoughts and she his, what else might she have heard? Ashley held his arm more securely as if sensing his distress and gave, what she thought, were covert, shy, glances at his face. He relaxed slightly, if she liked him still she must not have picked up that he planned to be rid of her as soon as he was firmly established in this world and she had outworn her use to him.

But what would happen in that near distant future if he killed her? They were closely bonded now, if something should happen to her what would happen to him? He sighed in frustration as he felt his head start to throb. Ashley frowned and looked up at him and in return he gave her a false reassuring smile. Had she sensed his stress? His troubled mind? He would have to be careful of what he thought around her in the future, she must not find out about any of his plans for her or the future he was working towards.

Soon enough they made their way back through the leaky cauldron, even more crowded than before by families trying to get home through the only fireplace in the bar. People jostled and pushed their way around the bar most chatting loudly and the loudest bunch were a family of redheads. One of the teens of the group looked over at Ash and then to him, he nudged his brother (who also happened to be his twin) and jerked his head in their direction. Tom frowned, had Ashley been associating with those boys before she had found him? That was simply unacceptable. With a sharp tug he pulled her towards the exit door and ignored her confused look.

"Tom what was that all about!" he ignored her again and she gave an annoyed huff, "Fine don't tell me, see if I care." he sighed in frustration, he could feel her pulling away from him, both physically and mentally and as much of a relief that was he had to keep her close and feeling amiable towards him.

"I just didn't like the way that boy was looking at you." She frowned in confusion before realization crossed her features.

"Are you jealous." Tom twitched in amusement and turned away from her, hoping to seem bashful, that brought another amused twitch. As if he could be jealous of some muggle girl gaining the attention of some poor hapless wizard. 'But she did perform magic.' he mentally reminded himself, as Ashley took his arm again and gave a reassuring smile. She wasn't a muggle anymore, but what was she? Could her magic be of some use to him? It was something to ponder when he got the chance.

'Perhaps I will keep her alive longer than I have originally planned.' he thought as she started to speak.

"Don't worry Tom, I'm not interested in any other guys," her cheeks flamed red a minute later after she realized what she had said, Tom smirked. It hadn't taken as long to make her like him as he thought. "I- what I meant was-" he turned to her and with his other hand he reached up to caress her cheek, making the girl shudder in response. This was childs play, he idly wondered what would happen if he kissed her.

'Another time,' he thought and lowered his hand, she leaned towards him her eyes betraying her. If you want more, those eyes said, you can have it and I would give it gladly 'Always leave them wanting more.'

"We should get going." Ashley blinked and nodded in agreement, her face as red as the Gryffindor banner. She was silent the entire trip back to the orphanage, and he thanked Merlin for that small blessing.

He sighed as weariness suddenly over took him and was relieved that he had nothing more to worry about until the next morning.

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Jason floated above them seething, someone had commanded his magic from the diary, someone had made him lead Ash to him. But what other magical creature could control the diary? Who could have done it, and why would they want those two together. He shifted restlessly around, invisible to everyone but himself, something about this was off. His eyes narrowed at the backs of the two humans. He wouldn't have done it, he was occupied at the time (Jason got the best laugh of his afterlife when he was blasted into that wall, and even planted a invisible kiss on Ash's cheek if only to be the first to kiss her) and had no reason to want Ash there, he didn't want her anywhere near him in the first place.

They started up the stairs and Jason put his musing aside for a moment, they were about to encounter Dodger. Quickly the ghost flew up through the building and into Ash's room, there was the blonde but there was a problem, he was sleeping. Jason let out a hiss of frustration and flew into Dodgers body, shouting and screaming for all he was worth.

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Dodger was having a nightmare, a tall teenager with black hair and eyes had him tied to a bed, the cold blade of a knife pressing against his skin. The sharp sweet sensation of pain filling his body, and no matter how hard he screamed no sound emerged from his throat.

Wake up!

The teen wore a sadistic smile, his eyes flickering, changing from the black color to a bright almost glowing red.

Wake up!!

Suddenly he was dieing, whispering hoarsely about his soul, pledging to protect it. Then the feeling of weightlessness and in a daze he watched the teen leave with a flourish. He kept his eyes on the body left behind though, watched as it was discovered by a woman he recognized from pictures in the hallway. Mrs. Cole, the owner of the orphanage, she let out a loud shriek. "He's dead! Oh god in heaven!" she cried for him when the body was buried, the first one to cry for him in years.

Get up, quickly you damned fool, Ash is almost here!

Ash…

He groggily opened his eyes and sat up, his back popping from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in. Where was he? He looked around and it all came back to him Ash bolting past him, the letter on the ground, the clothing on her bed. His ears perked at the sound of footsteps approaching the door and Ash's laughter.

He stumbled to his feet, if he were a dog he was sure his hackles would be up, he tensed waiting and ready with a multitude of questions and demands. But when the door opened and he saw Ash, all questions left his mind and he suddenly felt very empty.

She seemed surprised to see him, "Dodge? What are you doing here?" he was about to respond when he saw who she was with and he got the shock of his life. It was the teen from his dream, the one with the knife, the hair on the back of Dodgers neck stood up and something inside him howled for blood.

"You!" Dodger growled and lunged for him he felt his first punch land and then it was like watching a movie, as if someone had taken over his body. Blows flew in a crazy whirlwind he heard Ash screaming and pulling at his shirt. Dodger thought he was going to kill him when with a sudden burst of power made him fly across the room. He blinked in surprise as he suddenly felt he had control of his body again.

The other teen rose up off the ground in one graceful movement, his eyes flashing with hate as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick…..wait that wasn't a stick that was a-

"Tom no!" Ash shouted and jumped in front of Dodger, she was protecting him. "Please no," she sobbed, "He didn't know what he was doing." the other teen tensed and glared down at him, then hissed something that sounded foul then waved a dismissive hand toward them, looking away from them and moving over to Ash's bed.

Ash sighed in relief and leaned down to him and roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet and pulled him out of the room. Robin and John from the room across from them were staring wide eyed at him.

"What are you looking at." he snarled and both boys bolted back into their room and slammed the door behind them. Ash pulled him down the hallway and into one of the janitorial closets, rudely ejecting the couple that were using it. Dodger gave a hurried apology to the jilted twosome as Ash pulled him into the closet and slammed the door shut. She whipped around to face him.

"What the hell Dodger." Ash hissed. Dodger scowled in return.

"What the hell Ash," he repeated back at her, "And what are we doing in the lover's closet?"

"No one will bother us here don't change the subject. What is your problem! You can't just go and attack people!" He sneered.

"I didn't attack a person. Tell me did you know that your new boyfriend is a murderer?" she blinked in surprise.

"What? That- that is completely ridiculous, who do you think he killed? " Dodger flinched, how was he going to explain.

"Well, I don't know." Ash scowled.

"What do you mean you don't know!" he flinched again.

"I saw it in a dream." Ash gave him a disgusted look.

"A dream, your kidding right." he held his hands out in an imploring way.

"Please Ash, just trust me on this." she gave an angry sigh.

"You know what Dodger, I thought I did trust you but then you give me this wild story about how Tom is out killing people in your dreams," she shut her eyes and shook her head, "He makes me feel special Dodge, don't you understand? I feel better than I have in years and he makes me feel that way." He scowled.

"I won't let you be with a murderer." Ash gave a disbelieving laugh.

"Unbelievable, I can't believe you would choose to hate him over a stupid dream."

'Oh I hate him for other reasons believe me.' Dodger thought darkly. "Look Ash, this guy is bad news, trust me I've known guys like him."

"You don't even know him!"

"I don't need to know him to know he is no good!"

"Your impossible!" she shouted.

"Your incorrigible!" he shouted in return, they both scowled at each other with the nastiest look they could conjure, catching their breaths.

"I'm not going to make him leave." she finally said.

"And I'm not going to stick around to watch him kill you."

"So where does that leave us then?" she asked.

"You heard me, I'm leaving." Her eyes filled with pain and she reached out for him before pulling her hand back sharply.

"Then go." she said her voice wobbling, and Dodger left, knowing that if he stayed a moment longer he would never leave. He bolted to his room, tossed his things together in an old bag and left the orphanage. His despair consuming him every step he took, at the main gates he glanced over his shoulder at Ash's window. Tom was standing there, his face perfectly blank as he watched him go, then the lights went out and he disappeared.

Dodger looked at that window for a long time, he knew Tom was evil, knew it like he knew that the sky was blue and that cake was sweet. He couldn't leave Ash here, but it wasn't safe anymore, not for him. But he would be back, and he would be back with a plan.

"This isn't over!" he screamed at the blank building, and turned to walk away from this place one and for all.

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Tom glared at Dodgers retreating back, in that moment he would have given anything to cast a fatal curse at the boy. He gave a frustrated growl and slammed his fist into the wall next to him. Tom's hand passed right through it, he pulled his fist back and looked at it. He was fading again, he had used too much energy. Dodger was very, very, lucky he couldn't use any more magic.

He hissed and slammed his fist against the wall again, this time it hit with a solid thunk and Tom relished the sting of pain in his knuckles. He was solid, for now, and he wanted to keep it that way. Anything was better then that diary, anything.

Just at that moment the door opened and a sobbing Ashley came in, her face was red and blotchy and her eyes were swollen with unshed tears. He was lucky it was dark on his side of the room and that hid his grimace. She moved toward him and clung to his chest, crying into his shirt.

"He's gone Tom, he's gone." with a sigh he reached up and stroked her hair, telling her it would all be ok, that was when his hand started to fade again. It flickered and passed through the back of Ashley's head, he jerked the appendage back but not before feeling something. He frowned and pressed his fingers into her back and gave a startled gasp when he felt his magic, twisted from what he was used to, but his. It flowed into his body, recharging him, he pulled his hand back and saw that it was very solid again. For the moment all he could do was go through the motions of comforting with Ash.

His face was blank but the realization he had just experienced filled him with shock, this girl had his magic? It was inside her? He looked down at her in horrified wonder. If anything ever happened to her he would loose his magic, he was stuck with her. Possibly forever. His mind reeled with this new knowledge, Ashley looked up at him.

"What do I do Tom? I didn't want Dodger to leave me. He's my brother." Tom frowned, she was upset and he felt his energy drop, why hadn't he noticed this before? Well it didn't matter it was in the past and he couldn't do anything about it, what did matter was using this new piece of information to his advantage 'I wonder what would happen if I made her happy?' he thought and gently tilted her chin up.

"Forget about Dodger." he whispered, leaned down, and kissed her.

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