Chapter 17: 1939

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tom walked back downstairs into the lonely common room, putting Joelle on a couch before he sat in the armchair himself, eyes narrowing in thoughts. That voice. He has heard it once before while studying in the library, but it was louder when he walked around the corridor. He couldn't really make out what it said, he just knew it was not a student or any other person. Then a thought hit him - and he instantly rolled his eyes. Of course. A ghost. It was that simple. Probably Peeves, that insufferable Poltergeist. He always disliked Peeves and his-

"MEOW!" Joelle screeched up shrilly and Tom's bubble of thoughts popped at once, he looked round to find her, and there she was, on the ground, Merlin above her with his paw raised and tail flicking to the left and right, growling at her, and Tom knew something bad happened. He jumped up and ran over to Joelle, pulling her into his arms while glaring at Merlin. He was about to get out his wand but Joelle whimpered while Tom pressed her against his chest; and when he looked closely she was bleeding. He frowned and thought no more about Merlin, instead he quickly ran into the dormitory, putting her on top of his bed where he transformed her back. Joelle winced, her hand went to her bloody forearm that Tom inspected carefully. The gash was deeper than expected.

"Don't worry, don't worry", he tried to calm her down. "I've practiced healing magic the first week I arrived, just in case I'd get into a duel with somebody. Shh..." Tom whispered, aiming the tip of his wand above the bloody wound.

"Vulnera Sanentur" he said, and at once, the gash closed as if it had never been there. Joelle watched it carefully with eyes reflecting awe when with "Ferula", Tom let a bandage appear around Joelle's forearm. She smiled brightly at him. "Amazing!"

"I'm sorry for not paying attention. That stupid cat, wait until I get him!"

"No, Marvolo. Don't hurt animals, please. He doesn't know better" she frowned, but Tom frowned back.

"He hurt you."

"He is a cat, don't be silly, I mean it. Don't hurt him." Joelle grumbled dangerously now, Tom knew that she really meant it; she downright adored animals.

"He will hurt you again when he gets the chance" murmured Tom. Joelle shook her head.

"Bring him here. But don't hurt him!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Tom rolled his eyes, walked out, then came back with Merlin in his arms. He put him down on the bed next to Joelle and she carefully held out her hand. Merlin sniffed on it, then stretched and purred to Joelle, bobbing his head against her. She smiled.

"So, you little meanie, why did you do that, hmm?" She asked and snickered when Merlin meowed and curled down next to her.

"And what exactly did that do?" Tom asked while rolling his eyes. "He likes you as a human but just you watch, he will try to make your life a hell when you're a cat."

"He won't." Joelle smiled. "You underestimate cats, snowman. He just didn't know what or who I was. We can learn a lot from cats."

"You mean that attacking you results in snuggles? Right..." Tom raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but he let Joelle have her joy. He liked to see her happy, and even though her attention was not brought to him, he did not see any advantage of ruining the moment now.

"Your arm doesn't hurt anymore, does it?" Asked Tom after a second. Joelle shook her head, rubbing her skin, poking it. "It's just a little sensitive, but that's about it. You've done a good job, snowman, I didn't even thank you properly. Come here and let me cuddle you!"

"No..." Tom huffed, looking away from her. He could feel her pout, but he grinned as he glanced over his shoulder, then ahead again. Joelle chuckled.

"I'll get my chance tomorrow when it's your birthday"

"Oh no..." Tom sighed. "I still have blisters from your kisses last year" he grumbled, remembering how Joelle simply wrapped her arms around him and sneaked her lips to his cheek where she kissed him a couple of times while he tried to squirm away. Tom sighed and rubbed his skin with the back of his hand at the memory, not amused at all, however, he didn't necessarily hate it.

After a while, his gaze swept over to Joelle again, watching her cuddling with Merlin, her eyes alight with joy. There it was again. Tom felt the pondering jealousy increasing drastically, it grabbed and shook him out of nowhere, telling him to draw her attention back.

"Joelle?" He asked. She looked up to him.

"Yes?"

What now? Tom blinked, realizing he acted on sheer first instinct.

"I..." He stammered out, clearing his throat. "Nothing. I just like saying your name" he shrugged.

"Ah. Talking about names...why do your other friends address you as Tom by the way?"

"They're not my friends" said Tom at once, looking at her. "And...I don't want them to call me Marvolo. That name is just for you..." He murmured. Joelle looked at him attentively, smiling the next moment, but said no more.

Tom felt a little insecure later that evening. He found it a tad too strange that Joelle was so enormously compliant about staying here at Hogwarts. It was too good to be true, it left him with a feeling of suspicion towards Joelle. Perhaps she was awaiting the best moment to escape, perhaps Tom granted her too much freedom as it is. Then again, her smiling face was not fake - Tom always knew when somebody was insincere, he always knew when somebody did not tell the truth (even though he had to admit that it was particularly difficult to determine Joelle's intentions). Thinking about it a little more, he realized that he was not paranoid and that his suspicion came due to one incident that left him wondering: She did not want him to use Legilimency on her. Tom felt his heartbeat increasing drastically upon the thought of Joelle thinking about things he couldn't know of, didn't want him to know of. After all he had done for her it was the least she could do; allowing him full control. Tom chuckled sarcastically. She would never allow it. But that did not mean he would never try.

"Stay still, will you!" Tom rolled his eyes later, holding a comb in his hand, trying to pull Joelle back with the other.

"Your fur needs to be brushed, it's way too long. Joelle! Stop it. I will put you back into the cage if you don't stop squirming away!" He growled, causing Joelle to only hiss lowly. She was super angry, but that stopped as soon as Tom put the comb away and pulled Joelle into his arms, rubbing her sensitive head gently. He watched how she closed her eyes and listened to the quiet sound of purring that she fell asleep with, a cat grin on her face.

"Meow!" It squeaked the next morning. Tom grumbled, rolling over, pressing the pillow against the back of his head, hiding under it, but Joelle was inescapable. She started digging at the pillow, clawing on his arms, chewing on his hair, purring all over the place. Tom sighed. It was impossible to sleep now, so he got up with a nonchalant grin, holding Joelle up in the air to his eye level.

"Just what do you want?"

"Meow!"

"I don't understand that. Mind to elaborate?"

"Meow!"

Tom chuckled, then put her on the bed, waving his wand at her. Joelle transformed back and almost instantly tackled Tom down, squeaking "happy birthday!" while hugging him tightly. Tom sighed, closing his eyes when Joelle kissed his cheek with a big and fat smooch, letting go of him the next moment. He looked at her with his hair all messy, eyes tired, pale faced, but he seemed very content nonetheless. Obviously, growing older had its advantages.

"It's six in the morning. You're getting better" said Tom, checking the time. Joelle nodded proudly, then sighed. "Unfortunately, but that's your fault, you won't get a present from me today. It's still at the orphanage."

"I don't care about presents" shrugged Tom. He got what he wanted.

"Are you okay, dear?" Joelle asked while yawning. Tom watched her attentively, as if he could not allow her to do something without his awareness. He nodded.

"I'm okay" he said and rested against the back of the bed. On a second thought, he wasn't okay. He felt good. No, it was more than that. While he looked at Joelle sitting next to him watching the creatures swimming in the lake, Tom felt something else. She was here. They were home. He was happy.

It did not take a long time for the rest of the boys to wake up. Black and Avery yawned heartily while Lestrange sat up in confusion as always, causing Joelle to giggle again.

"Don't tell them" whispered Tom to Joelle when he saw she was about to say something. She glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. "But-"

"I don't want them to spend time with me" he muttered sternly. Joelle looked down at Tom, then nodded, respecting his wish without further discussing.

"What happened to your arm, Joelle?" Asked Lestrange a minute later.

"Merlin" she said. Black looked over to her with a pale face. "He attacked you?" He asked with a frown, eyes widened, trying to avoid looking at Tom.

"When I was a cat, yeah. But he seems fine now" Joelle smiled. "Don't worry."

Black nodded, the color coming back to his face. He exhaled deeply, knowing that Tom was most strict when it came to his precious Joelle.

"Whoah mate...I have to finish my essay today, Slughorn's deadline is tomorrow!" Avery groaned. Black gasped. "I didn't finish it either!"

"Did you?" Joelle asked Tom.

"Finished it even before I came to the orphanage. I wanted to avoid that" he nudged his head to the side at Avery and Black panicky putting on their clothes, their ties hanging loose from their necks as they stumbled out of the dormitory. Tom shook his head.

"They're going to lose us house points..." Lestrange grumbled.

Tom nodded. "And we are in lead, l promised to myself that as long as I am at this school, Slytherin will always win." He got up from the bed. "Stay here, Joelle. I will be back. I have to tell these two troublemakers to fix themselves..." He swung his wand at her and she turned back into a cat, then nodded at Lestrange, who instantly followed without questioning anything.

"I am not going to find Black and Avery."

Tom murmured once they were out of the common room, his voice sounding colder. Lestrange looked at him, not quite understanding what they'd do now.

"Then...what are we up to?" He asked.

"I don't know if we are up to anything. I don't know if I can trust you with my plan now..." Mumbled Tom while walking upstairs and Lestrange followed him hectically, excitedly talking into Tom's ear.

"Of course! I'm trustworthy!" He gasped. Tom stopped walking, he turned around to Lestrange, nodding after a moment of silence.

"Fine. I was...going to visit a girl. Her last name is Jordan. I've seen her at Slugclub...she's a third year Gryffindor."

"What are we going to do?" Asked Lestrange with a grin.

"Give her a little present" said Tom, pulling out a tiny dark box with a bow. He opened the lid and showed it to Lestrange - but the latter did not understand. He didn't see anything at first, but then, there, he noticed something.

"Are those...?"

"Cat hair. Joelle's" Tom explained when Lestrange still didn't understand.

"Jordan is allergic to cat hair. I've been collecting some since I came to know. Been brushing Joelle's fur yesterday evening, she wasn't fond of that."

Lestrange almost burst out laughing at the imagination. "And it's just a little prank?" He asked.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "No", he shook his head, "I don't have time for pranks. Jordan has to stay away. I want to take Joelle with us to Slughorn, I don't want her to be alone all evening. And I can't take her with me as long as Jordan plans to come. So. Do you understand my little tight schedule here? I need to find this girl."

Lestrange gasped feverishly. "I will help you! What can I do?" He walked up and stood in front of Tom, who looked back in concentration, rubbing his chin.

"Hmm...I don't know, Lestrange. This is important. It would require a lot of skill and devotion to find that girl...and then the allergic reaction...I'm not sure if you're the right person for that" Tom walked past him, but Lestrange frowned and stood in front of Tom again.

"Give me the box" he said full of determination. Tom raised an eyebrow, then pulled out the box and handed it over.

"You will see. You can visit that Jordan girl in the hospital wing later if you'd like" Lestrange smirked, then walked off in a hurry - Tom watched him aiming upstairs, a slight grin on his face as he stretched and rested his arms behind his head. It was too easy. Always way too easy.

"I'm back Joelle." Said Tom, sitting on his bed with a sigh.

"Joelle?" He asked, looking around. Where was she? She always came to him when he entered the dormitory. Tom's eyes widened as he noticed that she wasn't in here. He waved his wand, levitated everything up to see if she was hiding under the covers or pillows, maybe even in her cage. Nothing. Tom's nervousness increased from zero to one hundred, his heart raced rapidly while he ran out of the dormitory. And then there was panic.

"JOELLE?!" Tom yelled, eyes widened. He never felt this scared before. He was about to run out when he saw a handful of a black furred cat on the black couch in the common room. She yawned and looked up, meowing at him. Tom felt nauseated as soon as he saw her; not because he was disgusted by her, but because finding her erased all of his fear, leaving him with nothing but the hollow aftertaste of anxiety. He never wanted to feel it again.

"Joelle..." He sighed and flopped down on the couch, now seeing she was cuddled to Merlin. Tom frowned in surprise.

"You were right. You do get along now" he said, steadily calming down again, but a thought did not leave his mind.

"Hm. Joelle..." Tom raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. Joelle ducked a little at his tone.

"How did you get out of the dormitory?" Tom asked, pulling Joelle up from her curled up position, holding her to his eye level. She perked her ears back and lowered her head. Tom shook her a little to make her look up to him again.

"Did you open the door?" He asked. Joelle was quiet, resulting in Tom hovering her a little higher so she would look into his eyes once more. She meowed lowly.

"Did you jump on the door handle?" Tom asked. Again, Joelle meowed lowly.

"What shall I do with you?" He sighed, packing her away into his arms and started making his way upstairs with her, disappearing into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Where is Lestrange?" Asked Nott, looking around for everyone. Tom did not answer but instead put some food down on the bench for Joelle and left the Great Hall as soon as they were done eating. He hated pointless conversations.

"I don't want you to do that again" said Tom as soon as he transformed Joelle back in their newly found study-room. She sighed, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall while Tom aimed towards a book shelf.

"Did you hear me?" He asked her, turning around. "I think it's quite nice of me to let you walk around freely in the dormitory."

"Marvolo, we have deal, don't we? I promised I would give your world a chance. But you need to give me a chance, too."

Tom stared at her, and even though he knew she was right, he was terrible at admitting it. Thinking about being wrong was something that did not fit in his concept of the world.

"I don't care!" He suddenly barked. "We will stick to my rules! We will go out when I deem the time is right."

"You don't trust me" frowned Joelle. "You think l will run away. I've seen your panicked face."

Tom glowered at her, turning around before he could give away the red color starting to show on his pale skin. He hated to be weak.

"I won't run away, snowman. Not without a reason at least" Joelle snickered, but Tom didn't respond with a smile; he threw her a harsh glare.

"You won't run away at all" he said in a promising tone that gave Joelle enough information on her current and future status.

He wouldn't let her go.

Not at all.

It was one of those moments of realization which caused this unstoppable and unbearable silence that left Tom in the belief of having lost more than he has ever gained. If he had to describe it with a flavor, he would say it was sour, enormously sour, leaving him to shake his head at the mere thought of Joelle distancing herself from him. And then it burnt - like a hot spice, his whole body felt on fire when he realized that once more, things might have changed between them.

"Where the hell were you?! I've been trying to find you ever since Joelle is taking a nap! Did you manage it?!" Tom hissed when he saw Lestrange entering the common room later. Lestrange raised his hands, smirking, then burst out laughing.

"Pfhaha! You should see Jordan's face! She's in the hospital wing, looks really awful, but I promised I'd make it." He flopped down on the couch, content with himself. Tom raised an eyebrow; maybe Lestrange wasn't the idiot he thought him to be.

"Well done, Lestrange. Well done...I shall remember this in the near future" Tom complimented dryly and ignored Lestrange's attempts to tell him how exactly he managed to do it, and so he simply walked over into the dormitory to break down the news to Joelle.

"Joelle? Hey. Wake up. We can go to the party. Remember that Jordan girl? You see, she caught a huge flu and can't attend. I'm not sad about it, it means you can come with me." He picked Joelle up into his arms and walked off.

The evening could have been enormously interesting had there not been one particular condition that caused Tom to grit his teeth all the while sitting around Slughorn's richly filled table. Sylus Farley, the Slytherin prefect Joelle has met when she brought Tom to King's Cross in September, sat in front of him and looked forbiddingly good. Tom's eyes narrowed at his opposite, he hated how Sylus showed off nothing but raw elegance combined with the right amount of arrogant coldness that came from his light eyes and complimented his dark hair perfectly. Those were the things Tom knew Joelle saw in Sylus the first time she laid her eyes on him - and it was no secret that Tom tried everything to prevent Joelle from seeing him again. It was a tad difficult to do that since Sylus was in the same house, but it wasn't impossible. Until now.

"So children! I see that in ten minutes we will have left 1938 behind and shall embrace our new year of 1939! Farley, tell me, any plans for the new year?" Professor Slughorn asked.

"Oh yes, Sir", Sylus smiled. "But I am a strong believer of misfortune coming when wishes are spoken out loud, I shall keep it to myself, professor."

"Ah! Oh! No problem, son, no problem! Words of wisdom. How about you, Tom? Are you going to tell me?"

"Of course, Sir. Unlike others, I won't let my success depend on sheer superstition." Said Tom sharply, ignoring the frown coming from Sylus; especially when some other people chuckled.

"Then what are your plans, Riddle?" Sylus asked with a glare. "Buying a pillow for your cat?"

Silence.

Tom glared, the tension was even visible for Joelle, who was cuddled on Tom's lap quietly and observed everything with attention. She looked up to Tom, helping him out by meowing loudly so that to everyone it seemed like she understood the thing about the pillow and was very fond of that idea. Tom smirked, patting Joelle's head, then looked at Sylus with a calm but collected expression.

"My goal is to know everything about magic." Tom spoke gently, nipping on his cup of tea. Slughorn was about to say something, but the starting countdown from around him drew his attention to the clock.

"Ten...nine...eight..."

Tom and Sylus still stared at each other.

"Seven...six...five...four..."

Tom looked at Joelle.

"Three..two...ONE! Happy New Year!" Cheered Slughorn and everyone else joined his happiness, clapping and congratulating one another and even hugging. Just Tom kept on sitting where he was, looking down at Joelle in a thought.

He had a strange feeling that 1939 would be the year of changes.

Yes, Tom knew it. There was something waiting for him. Good or bad, he did not know.

AN: Happy New Year to you guys, too! We will see each other in 2016!