disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters J.K. Rowling owns then all and has copyright on them. I am just borrowing a few for awhile for a bit of fun.

Please read and review! I promise we will meet Tom in the next chapter!

Ch. 2 The day Voldemort Moved in

Some relationships are too complicated to express in words. Cory and Tom Riddle's relationship was something like that. They weren't exactly friends, but then they were far from being enemies. Cory supposed some people might call it an acquaintance but it was much more then that and yet at times it didn't even seem as if they had any connection at all. Tom was a strange creature some times he would seemingly be like ice and Cory would wonder if he had any feeling at all while other times he could almost be warm towards her. One thing Cory was sure of though and that was that she held some importance in Tom Riddle's world though in what since she was never really sure.

Tom and she were together a good bit of the time. They had been potions, charms, and transfiguration partners since they're first year. They studied together; walked to class together in fact they even ate all of their meals together no easy feat as they were both in rival houses. Tom had never had an easy time of it being the only half blood wizard ever accepted into the Great House of Slithern. His fellow housemates had spent a good deal of the time degrading and harassing him when he was younger and less able to defend himself. Mind you very few were brave enough or stupid enough to do it nowadays, as Tom was a very powerful wizard with a thirst for Vengeance. Tom also had a very long memory he would store each and every act against him in his mind and then later systematically get his revenge. The younger students were warned about him and most avoided him like the plague. The older Slitherens avoided him because of his sordid heritage and his muggle father. Perhaps this was why Tom always sat with Cory at the Griffendor table instead of alone at the Slitheren one.

These were the thoughts traveling through Cory's head as she appeared on the dark gloomy country road, which lead to her home. A full moon rose high overhead lighting the dirt path like pearly lantern light and dispelled the darkness of the nearby woods, which lined either side of the road. Ahead, behind a huge Black grill gate stood before a cream white mansion whose dark windows almost seemed like eyes staring defiantly up towards the moon as if daring her to try to shine her light within. That was how her home had always seemed to her, big, dark, defiant, as if trying to live up to the family which gave it it's name. Darkling Manor. As Cory got closer, her eyes automatically swept up to the two granite gargoyles who stared ever affixed at the entrance to her home. They seemed to look more frightening then ever before sitting there glowering in the darkness.

"Come on Cor. Your letting your nerves get to you." Cory chided herself out loud but then pulled her wand out from the pocket in her robes just in case.

"I suppose one can't be too careful what with Voldemort running about though."

Voldemort. Tom. How could they be the same person, the same man, the same boy she had met so long ago on the Hogwarts express.

Cory came upon the metal gate now and pulled it open smoothly without a sound.

"That's odd. Somebody must have oiled it recently. I wonder if Mum and Dad are home."

She climbed up the set of steps that lead to her doorway before pausing to search for her key in her robe pocket.

"I know it has to be in here somewhere." She whispered to herself rummaging in various pockets. She put her wand between her teeth so she could use both hands to look when suddenly she heard the door in front of her creak open about an inch and a rather brown nose peaked out.

"Who's there?" Squeaked a high pitched voice.

" Oh Minky it's just me home on holiday." Cory exclaimed to the house elf who was squinting out the door.

"Miss Cory ? Mistress Cory is that you?"

"Of course it is silly. Who else?"

"Oh Miss Cory you have to go away. Go away and don't come back!" Exclaimed the house elf," There are bad men here, very bad! You must go! Go now before they see! Hurry!" The house Elf exclaimed before slamming the door shut in Cory's face, but seconds later Cory could see light shining through the little eye slot on the door.

"Minky what bad men? What are you talking about? OF course I can come in this is my home!" Cory exclaimed and knocked on the door.

The little eye slot suddenly became dark once more and Cory was left standing in the dark alone on her very own doorstep.

"What's gotten in to that house elf now?" She muttered then slid off the side of the porch and made her way along the side of the house.

After passing two dark windows she came to a great silver oak tree and began to climb it. This tree had been beneath her bedroom window ever since Cory could remember. Cory's brother Dannen used to climb down it when he had gotten in to trouble. She figured if he could climb down she could climb up and get to her room even if the crazy house elf would not let her in. When she was a third of the way up the tree she walked along one of its thick branches, the one which almost touched her window. When she reached the end of the branch she could just reach her window. She pushed at the glass pane hoping it would not be locked and smiled as it easily moved beneath her hand. She stopped pushing immediately however, when she heard strange voices echoing from within. She could just make out through the black curtain a red flicking light and two dark figures conversing within her room.

" I am mossst disspleassed with you Luciouss. You did a sshooty job of esscaping. You almosst lead out enemies right to uss!" exclaimed a high pitched hissing voice which made Cory's blood run cold.

Lucious? Did he mean Lucious Malfoy? Hadn't he just escaped from Azkaban? What would an escaped deatheater be doing in my house?

"Please my master I tried very hard to make out escape quiet, but that fool Moody walked in on us while Faraly was picking the last lock." Whined a voice that most definitely belonged to Lucious Malfoy. "It's that eye of his! It must have spotted us from three floors up..."

"Silence Malfoy! I will hear no excuses. You have failed me and I must punish you so you will not do so again." The voice seemed to grow stronger losing the hissing quality it had once had and taking on a almost excited tone.

"Please master it will not happen again I promise! You don't have to punish me!"

"Lucious are you telling me what to do." The voice took on a quieter more dangerous tone." I believe you are. I believe you actually tried to give me an order. I can't be having that now Lucious."

"No master Please! I would not presume, I could never give you orders."

"Precisely why I have to do this Lucious. You see it is for your own good. CURIO!" The awful voice exclaimed a bright green light flooded the room and the air was filled with such high pitched piteous screaming that Cory cringed and cried out herself.

The room suddenly darkened again and the screaming quieted down to a soft moaning and weeping.

"What was that?" The awful voice asked.

"My lord? What was what?" Another newer voiced asked.

"That sound you idiot Wormtail! I thought I heard a girl cry out."

Cory's heart dropped into her stomach at those words and a sudden terror filled her entire body.

"A girl my lord?" Where?"

"Over there! By the window, yes I can see someone. IGNEO!" The awful voice exclaimed and a stream of green fire shot from his wand and just singed Cory's arm.

An awful pain filled her then. It hurt like nothing else she had ever experienced. She took a stumbling step backwards and felt herself falling through the air. She landed so hard on the leaf littered ground bellow that the air was knocked out of her lungs. She glazed upwards toward her window and through the red haze made by her pain she glimpsed a pale monstrous face missing a nose with glowing red eyes peer down at her below.

"Get down there and capture her you fools I can't get a good angle with my wand!" The red eyed monster exclaimed.

'I'm done for.' Cory thought,' This is it. My end.' She could heard someone pounding down the front steps and knew it would not be long now. Suddenly an image popped into her head. A rabbit's foot.

"The port key! I forgot!"

She could just reach into her pocket and pull it out. She grasped hard to the little fuzzy thing then whispered," Portus," and she disappeared with a odd popping noise just as the Deatheaters reached her tree.

She reappeared at number 12 Grimmald place on the middle of the kitchen table during what was ovesiously a Order meeting. Startled faces took her rumpled scorched frame in but, the sea of heads parted as Albus Dumbledore shoved his way through.

"What on earth is going on!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "What's happened to you child?" He looked worried. She must look very bad indeed for Dumbledore to look worried.

" I think Voldemort's moved in to my house." Cory whispered before the edges of her vision went dark and she passed out.