Hope you guys are liking it so far J

Chapter 2

The whole train ride home Lyn was wondering how things were going to work out that summer. She was glowing with happiness when Tom got the permission to stay at her house for the holidays.

"No point in telling dad," she had said, "He doesn't care about me anyway."

And now they were off. Things weren't going to be perfect this summer, but they sure were going to be better.

Once they got off the train at 9¾ Tom asked exactly how they were going to get to her house from where they were. She shrugged. They hadn't the money for a taxi, but it was a long way off from London.

"We'll train and then hike," she said blandly.

"Hike? You don't mean hitch-hike, do you?" Tom asked.

She shrugged again. "I've done it for 5 years now."

It must not be that bad, Tom thought. He wasn't afraid; he just couldn't imagine that she had done that before.

"Of course, its only 5 miles once we get off the right train so we might just as well walk," she murmured.

"Oh, OK," he said shortly. He didn't want to seem like a sissy to her or anything, but he was used to living tough.

A couple hours later, they were finally walking to her house. The streets were polluted with litter and there were many small shops and stores along the way that were just as dirty as the ones that Tom was used to around the orphanage.

Finally, after about 3 ½ hours of walking around, hauling their stuff, and getting rides, they came to a small, crumbling house that looked more like a broken-down shack at the edge of town.

"There it is," she said, so glad that they had reached their destination.

"Looks great," said Tom smiling sarcastically. It reminded him of his former home. Some of the windows were broken; the roof looked like it was going to cave in any second.

She started toward her house and Tom followed, unsure what to expect. She listened for a second and opened the door cautiously.

"Good, he's not home," she whispered. Most of the lights were turned off inside and where the walls had cracked, Lyn had duck-taped them together. She knew no one else would. "C'mon, this way's my room," she beckoned.

On the way down the short hallway, Tom almost tripped over about 5 beer cans, all of which crumpled under his weight.

"Sorry about the mess… It's been a while since anyone cleaned up in here…" she apologized.

"Oh, its fine." Tom was used to much worse things.

She opened the door that was almost falling off its hinges to her room. Tom looked around. It was a very small room with a crushed bed in the corner that had sheets strewn across it. Across from the bed there was a door that looked like it lead to a bathroom and a small desk against the wall. Everywhere where there was a crack or something was falling apart, she had duck-taped it.

"Home sweet home," she said sarcastically.

He smiled. "This is great!" He looked over at her beaming face that looked a bit sarcastic as well.

"I'm just waiting until next year so I can fix the whole house with magic," she said, "I'm tired of this stuff."

He nodded. He understood.

That night, Tom slept on the floor of her room with a few sheets while she slept on the bed. They were both so tired from walking all day and practically crashed once they got there.

* * *

That same night, they woke up with a smash—literally.

Lyn's dad threw a glass bottle at the floor next to her bed which shattered and woke both of them up. Lyn got up immediately and tried to hide her look of panic.

"Who is this kid!?" he demanded.

Tom sat up on the floor and leaned against the wall.

"I'm Tom Riddle," he said flatly.

"And who said you could stay here!?" the mad man screamed.

"I did!" Lyn shouted back, "And he's staying here for the whole damn summer so get used to it!"

Her dad glared at her, but when realizing that he was unarmed this time, he left the dark room.

"Get used to it… He's always like that…" Lyn murmured.

Tom nodded through the darkness; he had never expected more of her house or her family.

"You know something?" Tom said.

"What?" Lyn said sleepily.

"My dad and Muggle-mother are still out there somewhere. They dumped me off at the orphanage because they assumed I'd be magical. But before they did, they left me with his stupid name"
"That sucks." She had already heard some of this before.

"Someday I'm going to kill them," Tom said to himself before falling into a deep, soundless sleep.

* * *

The next morning, the two went out to a Muggle bakery with whatever Muggle money they had and had breakfast. Mr. Willard wasn't home, so they had the whole house to themselves. He had a low-paying job to go to and wouldn't be back until around 5:00.

"So, what are we going to do all day?" Lyn finally asked when they got back from the bakery.

"I think we should plan."

"Plan? for what?" Lyn obviously didn't know what he was talking about.

"Ridding this island of Muggles," he said shortly. A grim smile slid across his face.

Lyn was taken aback. "Do you really think we could do that?"

"Well, first we'll work on this island, then we'll work on the planet."

She closed her eyes and thought. Revenge, what a beautiful thing. How heavenly the world would be without any ignorant Muggles to mess everything up. How wonderful…

"Do you really think we could do that?" she asked, still thinking it over.

"If we've got enough followers, and I've heard of so many places all over of wizarding towns that are full of people who despise Muggle and Muggle practices. If we come up with a plan, they're sure to follow."

Lyn still didn't know how they were going to pull this off, but she certainly wasn't about to argue with Tom. He had to know what he was talking about.

So, for the rest of the day they spent their time coming up with ways to banish everyone but wizards and witches, some of which were very creative.

"It all depends on if people agree with our ideas," Tom said, "We'll never gain any power if we don't." Lyn knew this of coarse. They had to gain strength first before they could do anything.

"What about Hogwarts though? Are we going there next year?" Lyn brought up a very good point.

"I don't think that will be necessary. We know more magic than most 7th years do. Why bother?"

"Because people will question if we don't," Lyn said, "They'll get suspicious."

"I think that we have more important things on our schedule than to waste our time going back to that school so full of Muggle-lovers."

Lyn nodded. She decided she would see how things went along and protest later if she needed to. "All right then."

* * *

A month went by and things changed within their relationship. As soon as they opened up a little bit, they understood each other more than they ever had before.
It wasn't a love. It wasn't a crush. But it certainly was there. It was more of a respect for each other. They respected the fact that they each lived like they did and agreed on most things.

When working with her, Tom soon found out how clever and brilliant Lyn was. He never thought she was stupid or ignorant, but she never got an elementary school education (A/N: I don't know what that would be in Britain) because of her father. Soon he figured out that Lyn had what most people don't have: common sense.

One day, when Lyn found out how much Tom hated his name, she began to mix around the spellings. For most peoples' names, this wouldn't work, or even be worth trying, but it was something Lyn wanted to do. She wanted to do it for Tom.

For hours she spent looking at the letters and putting them in different orders. Tom needs this, she thought, he can't keep the name of his bloody Muggle father!

Until finally it stuck her. I am Lord Voldemort. The letters fit perfectly and she wrote it down on an old piece of newspaper and stuffed it in her pocket. Still not knowing if Tom would approve it, she decided she would tell Tom when the time was right.

Later on, Tom thought in a way that he had never thought before. He decided that he wouldn't kill Lyn when they reached the top. It was a hard decision for him, but he needed Lyn. Lyn was important. She was the only one who had ever brought him happiness in his life, and he respected her for that. Lyn would never turn against him. Lyn knew what she was doing.

And for a while every night, he'd look up at her. She would be lying in bed asleep while he would still be on the floor. Her face would be calm and her chest would rise so evenly. Oh, if only she could stay sleeping forever the way her face was warm and calm. He knew that wherever she was in her dreams, she was safe. That was important.

But now they had to leave. They were going to a town named Redsnake the next day to try to spread their ideas… It wasn't going to be easy.

But he had Lyn on his side.

"You know something Lyn?" he said clearly through the darkness,

"We could rule the world someday."

* * *