AN - October 25th, 2005: It's a couple days later and I'm all ready developing out the next chapter! Oh gawd. I need something to do besides writing this story for Val, but I think the first chapter opening was a really good start to it and all, so yeah. . Tom is cool, anyways. WHOOGOTOMZOMG! ( jumps around and then lands on edge of randomly placed couch; eye gleam ) Okay, here's the deal - this and the chapter before it are introductory chapters to the characters themselves and how they first entered Hogwarts! After this continues the story from both character's perspectives. Just to clear some things up!
Eleriel: Let's just ignore that little timeline thing. o.o; I'm not really sure what timeline HP runs on, 'cept that it's about the 90's and Tom went to Hogwarts like...50 years ago...we can ignore that little fact, since it is fan fiction, after all! Nitpicky. XD
404: Thank you! Eh, some of the words aren't exactly mine, because I spiced it up with Val-e-ness ( she plays my Tom . ) but I figure I did a pretty good job with the filler speech. So heyyyy. Thanks for the review!
Lainia26: Thanks for the review! Er...erm...sorry that he's a little OOC? Lol, I'm not too good at him...sorry.
Poisonous Reality: I love you too. xD Thanks a lot! My accurate descriptions will destroy the world as we know it. People always complain about that, though... 'You describe too much! Get on with the story!'. Thank god someone likes theeeeeeeeem...
Only For You
By: Kifujin no STRAWBERRY
Chapter Two
T. M. R : Inside a Dark Mind
Was this dark-haired boy the cruel person that people had made him out to be?
One that lived up to the rumors that had been spread so diligently about him?
Certainly not Tom Riddle. Not he. No, Tom Riddle was the perfect role model - the emblem of power and peace within Slytherin's walls; excelling in all of his classes with apparent ease that shocked the rest of the school - a youth with a charming smile, dark soulful eyes, and such guiding words. Could those words have you turned on your best friend in but a moment of time and by his side, ready to risk you life? Perhaps they could. Tom Riddle was a fountain of untapped potential just waiting to be discovered by the right sort of people who could mold his young, passionate personality into something more.
But he had different plans in mind. He did not want to be controlled; oh no, it was rather the opposite of what some thought to be doing to him - he wanted to be the controller. He wanted to be the dominant one at all times, never losing and most of all never being controlled by anyone. Tom Riddle wanted to lead the world into a new generation that he would control...that would only yield to his guiding hands. This boy had it all planned out, this plan for world conquest...and even more in store for the residents of the Wizarding World, more that they would most certainly not expect out of such a charming, quiet boy.
The one they called by that despicable muggle name was silent, as usual - waiting patiently, unsmiling, eyes only focused on the railroad tracks that would bring with it a great clattering noise and one of the things that he could consider as the 'happiest' sights of his life - the Hogwarts Express, the train that would bring him away from the dreadful place in London and back to Hogwarts, a place he had called his home ever since he had entered it. A school for witchcraft and wizardry - a school where he showed himself and mustered his way to the front of the line to reach for his own personal goals. The thought was almost cliche in his mind...though one could not entirely say with a safety that was his or her own that he was entirely all there.
Ah yes, and now he could hear the whistle of the engine as it thundered down the tracks toward Platform Nine and Three Quarters ( quite a stupid name for a station in his opinion; but everything in the Wizarding world could be written off as odd or stupid these days ) and see the smoke starting to billow up over the buildings that surrounded the station. It wouldn't take long for it to get here, and he supposed that it would take a good ten minutes for the rest of the students to clambor and settle themselves in the Express - a good ten minutes of his time that he would rather much be spending doing something constructive and actually worth his time. But it didn't matter now; as long as he was going back to Hogwarts he would be fine with waiting a measly ten minutes or so.
"Mum, stop, your embarassing me!" A voice somewhere behind him. Head was inclined, ever so slightly, and one dark eye drifted over his shoulder. A little boy...brown-haired and brown-eyed, looking insistantly up at his mother, who was holding onto him as if she would never let go of him again. "It's only going to be for a little while and I promise I'll write you every week!"
"Oh, my little boy is finally going to Hogwarts," The woman who held onto the child so readily said tearfully, and hugged the boy tightly. The child echoed a groan and then struggled in his mother's arms. "You behave now, you hear me, young man? Don't give any of your teachers any trouble - like the last time you got a hold of your Father's wand and engorged a cat fifty times it's regular size! The hairballs were the size of...of...soccer balls! No mischief!"
"Yes, Mum." The child said obediantly. "Now let me go."
"Mark my words, Adrian, if I hear any news that you've been causing trouble you'll be punished--"
"YES MUM."
"Goodbye, dear. Have a nice time at school."
The child hurried past him, and he caught a glimpse of the look of irritation on his face. He was muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, 'God, that woman is too overprotective and pushy!' - either that or he was frankly hallucinating. The child was lucky that he had his mother to protect him so. He himself - he had never felt that 'protective' bond that they called love. He had no desire to feel that way about anyone who was in the remainder of his family, either...the family he'd exterminate, thus eliminating the entire past and Tom Riddle himself. He'd become something in the other catagory? He didn't know...where ever his interest took him, he would go. He would not let it drift away so easily.
Speaking of which, the train had pulled into the station and was now admitting passengers to it's compartments at a fantastically fast rate. He had stood there for too long this time; waited for that woman and her child to finish their conversation, a conversation he could have done without and time lost that he could have used to do something valuable in the meantime. Hrm. Well then, he supposed he could do with sitting in the back of the train this time, though he would have rather preferred the front. It was easier to get out of the train that way, but thanks to his own dawdling, that was not going to be possible today. The one known as Tom Riddle gave a soft sigh, ran a hand through his hair, and then pulled the trunk after him - up into the train, heading toward the back.
He supposed the first thing that he saw was a small, scared looking little girl. A First Year student, he believed - her size told him everything. She was fumbling with the clasp to her trunk and trying to hold a cat in the crook of her arm. There was a soft creaking sound, and the lock snapped, sending all of her things all over the floor - and her face turned red. He wasted no time in stooping to pick up the few things that rolled and rested at his feet; potions ingredients and quills, a bundle of parchment and other things that he was sure she would need. He stepped forward, letting a small smile creep across his lips, and then handed the discarded items to her. She blushed and then offered a tiny little smile, though he had all ready pulled out his wand and repared the lock to her trunk with ease.
"Th...thank you." She stammered up at him as he tilted her trunk back up and snapped the lock in place.
"Your welcome." He said quietly, and then fixated her with a look and a warm smile. Entirely fake, but it worked. Her eyes brightened. "You have a big day ahead of you. Good luck."
Then he was gone now, strolling down the aisle and searching for a place to sit, leaving the child back to sat herself with a newly made friend and chat about things he had absolutely no care in the world for. Hrm, it looked like everyone had gotten on the train early - nearly every seat that he saw was taken by others, and if they weren't taken, they were reserved by other people and saved by their friends. That was, he supposed, the way that things worked on the train and in the school network - save the best for the ones that you like and brush off those who are supposedly unimportant. It didn't matter to him at the moment, anyways - he had spotted a compartment that didn't look even half occupied. He hastened toward it; no one knew when someone could appear and take that spot that he had staked out as his.
He reached for the handle and then quickly pushed the door open, though quietly, as to not disturb it's occupant. Dark eyes drew and focused around the small room, finally resting on the only one who seemed to have taken the will to occupy it. A smaller girl, though not likely a 5th Year - no, she looked more of the 6th Year type, wearing her robes all ready and gazing quite fixedly out the window. Dark-haired and very pale. He had no perception of what color her eyes were, though it didn't matter at the moment. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Excuse me miss," A slight pause. "Would you mind if I took this compartment along with you? All the others are full."
She turned. He half-expected it to be a Gryffindor student waiting to jeer at him and tell him to go away, but it was not the Gryffindor crest on the front of her robes. A Slytherin crest...? And he did not know this young lady? He focused on her face - and nearly froze at the sight. Sharp gray eyes were surveying him as if he was some potential form of enemy - though he didn't care how she was looking at him, really - it was just the color of her eyes that fairly surprised him. It was a shifting, almost metallic gray...changing hue as she gazed at him, even as he stood there in the doorway and waited for her answer. He let an eyebrow arch before she avoided his gaze and then nodded her head slightly, a very slight movement.
"Thank you."
And he seated himself, shoving his trunk below the seat with no difficulty at all. There were no metal bars running from the front to back, he was sure. But what was bothering him so much about this insignificant girl? Perhaps it was the simple fact that he did not even know her name. He knew most of the others in Slytherin House; he was sure of it, he had taken evident care to make sure that they had learned his name as it was and that he had learned their names as they would stay. He had seen her somewhere, though...to think back to last year, roaming the halls and looking about for his lost book...a flash of a blond-haired boy...ah, yes, was that who she was?
"You look familar," He stated after a few pressured moments of silence between the two of them. Let's pretend that we did not notice the mark of Slytherin on her chest. That will start some sort of conversation and will lead me to finding who she is. "Are you in the Slytherin House with me? I daresay sometimes my memory just collapses on me..."
She stared at him. He felt his outer mask start to falter before she spoke.
"Yes, I am in Slytherin. Most people don't know me too well, though...I guess I'm too quiet..."
"Oh?" He let that warm smile he had given to the 1st Year girl drift onto his lips. "Hmm. Let's see...where have I seen you before...ah, your the one who is always with Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy, hmm?"
"Yep, that's me." Very blunt.
"Ah, so that is where I've seen you!" Yes indeed that was where he had seen her. And he'd just remembered it as well...hrm, perhaps his memory was a bit musty over the summer. Offhandedly, he added, "By the way...I'm Tom. Tom Riddle. May I have the pleasure of your name?"
"Christine McCallion." She was not the type to speak very much, he could tell that - but her name sounded distinctly familar for a moment or so... He opened his mouth to speak, adding a slight tone to her name as he did.
"You sound like your from a very affluent and distinguished family, Christine."
"You could say that." A difference in the way she spoke. Almost like there was some sort of hidden humor behind it all. "Not really, though."
"Ahh, I see." He nodded at her, and then glanced out the doorway. A muffled sound of what seemed like a fight through the doorway; a yell of 'You bloody traitor!', and he looked toward the one they called Christine. She was still gazing at him calmly. "Would you mind watching my trunk for a moment, Christine? Unfortunately, our conversation must be cut short before it can even begin - it is a Prefect's job to control order within this train and I fear that this is the job that I must take at this time."
"All right. I'll watch it until you come back."
"Thank you."
He gave her another smile and then stepped out of the compartment quickly. Yes, it was as he had predicted - two boys were rolling around on the ground, kicking and punching the living daylights out of one another in another section of the train. It didn't take a second thought, really; he'd pulled out his wand, and with a quick flick, both boys were hoisted into the air by an invisible set of hands. They still struggled vainly, growling at one another like a pair of vicious dogs pulled away from each other by their owners. Tom Riddle straightened himself to his full height ( which was rather tall, mind you ) and then stared at them both, letting a sigh pass through his lips.
"Would either of you be so very kind as to explaining why you were trying to break every single bone in the other's body?" He finally asked, and the boys turned their faces toward him. One of them was a Slytherin...the other was a Gryffindor. "Your a disgrace to our House, Slytherin. I had no idea that some of us would stoop so low as to exchange blows by physical means instead of walking away from those who are weaker."
The boy hung his head in shame, while the Gryffindor fixated him with a feral look.
"'Ey, you!" He said rudely. "Mind yer own business! This ain't your concern, ya slimy git!"
"Seeing as I am the Slytherin House's Prefect, I find it deeply within my interest that someone of my House is involved with a Gryffindor student," Tom gazed at the other, his eyes narrowing even more at the upstart. "When I find it also interesting to know that Gryffindor and Slytherin have such a...rough relationship with one another. Now. If your going to glare and shout, by all means, continue your tirades. I'll leave you hanging there for the rest of the train ride and let my House mate go."
"W...What! That's not fair!"
"Then I suggest you start talking. Tell me what was going on here and the cause for such an idiotic fight."
The Gryffindor boy made an odd sputtering sound and then wriggled in the grip of the invisible hand that held him so readily in the air, kicking and struggling. The Slytherin one looked him up and down warily, before opening his mouth to speak.
"That idiot attacked me for no reason at all." He said disdainfully. Hrm. He remotely recognized this boy - Fernando, the full-blooded 3rd Year child of two higher level Ministry representatives. A pampered prince like this boy, in a fight? How odd. "And we ended up fighting."
"That ain't true!" The other boy interjected, looking outraged. "He provoked me, he did!"
"I did not. You came at me swinging." Fernando replied crossly. "And attacked me."
"YOU PROVOKED ME, YOU GIT!"
"I did not."
"Did too!"
"Most certainly not."
"You DID TOO!"
"I did not."
"Yes you did!"
"No I didn't."
"YES!"
"No."
"YES YES YES YES YES!"
"No."
"YES YOU DID!"
"NO I DIDN'T!"
"Silence!" Tom said loudly, shutting them both up. "I see there is a dispute, but it will be settled NOW. You, Gryffindor boy," he raised his right hand and the boy dropped to the ground, "You will keep your distance from this other, or I assure you there will be dire consequences. 50 points will be taken from Gryffindor the next time I see you near him. Is that understood?"
"That ain't fair and you know it!" The boy balked and then got to his feet, glaring at him. "Yer goin' easy on that prat right there because he's from your House!"
"No, I'd rather think that I'm punishing the one who started the fight in the first place."
"You...you slithery git!"
"10 points from Gryffindor. Good bye."
"GRAGH!" The boy turned and stormed off down the corrider, slamming the door behind him so hard that the windows rattled in their panes and students looked up from their compartments to see what was going on. Tom didn't bother watching him leave. It would have been a waste of his precious time.
"And you," He turned toward Fernando. He was staring sulkily at him. "If this happens again, you can consider yourself under that very rule, regardless of whether or not you are in my House. I will not tolerate any fighting for the behalf of something as idiotic as that. You are a SLYTHERIN. You have more pride in your House than that, don't you? I advise you show it."
Fernando opened his mouth to speak again, though closed it and then shook his head yes, turning on the heel of his foot and then walking away stiffly. I see that he has finally seen things from my own perspective, Tom thought with a wry smile twisting the corners of his lips up. Then again, I would not know that unless I used Legilimency against this foolish boy Fernando. Whether or not his thoughts are focused on the event at hand or on me depends on who he is, does it not? And a laugh escaped him at his own thoughts, before he turned, to head back to the compartment that he had left his things in. That girl whom he had addressed before coming to deal with this, Christine McCallion, was watching them, so he supposed that they would be all right by the time he got back there.
A quick pace and a single sweep of the entire area proved him right. His trunk was still safely under the seat, where he had left it, though she was now...conversing? With whom? Nothing but a girl and a boy, sitting next to each other, both blond, though the features were different of either of their faces, so he deducted that the two were not brother and sister. Friends of hers, it seemed. A small, polite smile was given toward them as he lifted his eyes from the stoic frame of the dark-haired girl next to the window to her comrades.
"Old friends reuniting. Such a lovely sight indeed." He said after a moment or two of debating whether or not he should say something, and then seated himself beside the pale Christine. "Please, by all means, continue."
"Um." The blond-haired girl giggled all of a sudden, and the dark eyes slid to her. "Oh, your the new Prefect from our Year! Tom Riddle, right?"
"It comes as a shock that one so lovely would know me." A courteous tone, and she blushed. The one sitting next to her looked at him and narrowed his eyes, staring at him resentfully. "Yes, I am him," One of the boy's arms slid around the girl's shoulders, and he pulled her closer into his side. Tom let out a soft laugh and then stared at the boy. "Please do not be alarmed. I have no intention of stealing your girlfriend away from you."
The boy only 'hrm'ed at him and then focused his eyes on the pale girl beside him, beginning to inquire of how her summer had gone by. She only replied with - it seemed to him - a dry tone and simple, hard facts; 'she was no pureblood with lots of money' and that her parents worked at the Ministry. Simple facts, really, but it intrigued him that she would speak so disdainfully and absently of her parents; most of the children in this Year he knew said they 'loved' their parents, did they not? Psh. Pitiful love. Is there more to this girl than it seems, hmmm? He mused silently. Is she just like the rest of them, with no knowledge of how this world as we know it really runs, relying on that idiotic emotion that they should know does not exist? I wonder. Is she as naive as they all are? So he opened his mouth, and spoke.
"Your parents work at the Ministry?" He made sure his voice was only curious and soft. He pulled out his diary as he spoke and questioned her, as well as a quill. "It must be hard on you. I'm sure they are very busy, if they have no time to spend with their lovely daughter."
She responded with a, "Try telling that to them."
It was a simple statement, really, though hidden behind it seemed some sort of anger.
"There will come a time when they yearn for your attention. It will be your choice whether you give it to them or not. I wonder, what will you choose?" Tom's lips curved up into a secret smile as he began to write down a simple set of enchantments; the ink sank into the paper and disappeared without a trace. "Drive the needle of vengeance into their hearts for loving their work more then you? Or forgive them for their lack of thought on your part? Forgive them for their detachment?"
He could feel the intense gray eyes resting on him, like a twin pair of x-rays...silent she was, yet the hairs at the back of his neck prickled as she gazed at him. Tom finally let up a fleeting glance to her face - yes, an even more so intent look on her face, as if she was studying him for 'further reference'...something along those lines. He could not be sure himself. Tom offered her a small, partial smile, and her eyes flickered away from him, resting back on the blond-haired boy - Lucius Malfoy, ah, he remembered his name now - as he began to speak. Their conversation turned from the inevitable subject of her annoyance with her parental figures to what seemed to bring life into her voice as she spoke - Quidditch, a sport he had never been entirely good at.
"Chrissy, are you still trying out for the Seeker's position this year?" The girl beside Lucius - Bellatrix's sister Narcissa; he knew her by first glance, since Bellatrix could not stop talking about her for an instant - asked Christine in interest.
"Yes. If there's someone better than me, I'll just have to deal with it." She let out a breath and then focused her eyes back out the window. "It's not like I need the position or anything."
"Yeah, we've all heard that one before," Narcissa giggled and then smiled brightly. "Quidditch is your life, Chrissy. Every one of your spare minutes last year was spent up in the air..."
"So what? I like to fly, all right? Doesn't mean I'm any good at it..." A degrading statement from a Slytherin? My, my, everything was surprising him today! "Like I said. If there's someone better than me, then I can't do anything about it. Flying on a broom isn't going to help me get any better than that person after they've qualified for the position."
Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a knowing glance. Hmm? Tom's eyes shifted up as he heard a familar voice echo throughout the corridors and compartments - signifying their arrival at the station - the conductor's voice, telling them, as usual, that they would be stopping fairly quickly and that all things were to be stowed and people to be seated. He stopped writing aburptly - one wrong word and the entire enchantment placed on the book could be ruined - he would have to consider doing this another time. They had talked for quite a while, had they not? It was amusing, really; the train rides to him had always been so long and boring...it was a change from the usual sights of uneventful scenery that he always had his eyes on as they rode further towards the school.
The train was slowing down - and yes, finally it had come to a stop. He heard the conductor's faint voice over thousands of excited student voices - "Welcome back to Hogwarts, you may now unload and depart from the train. Have a nice year!" - the customary goodbye from a train's conductor, he supposed. Tom reached under the seat and jerked the trunk out from underneath it, composed, as usual, and then got to his feet. "Well," He said to the three, who turned their attention back to him. "I am supposing that I will see you later," seeing that none of them got into any...major trouble, "In the common room." They nodded at him, and Tom Riddle, supressing the urge to smirk in a demeaning way at the expression on Ms. McCallion's face, exited the compartment, tugging his trunk after him.
There was no doubt in his mind that they would speak about him. People had always called him...one with presence, had they not? Tom Riddle? Oh, I've heard of him! That dominating black-haired boy who expects what he says to be obeyed! Who does he think he IS? He mused on his own thoughts for a moment or so. He could almost hear the voices of his fellow students as they spoke about him in such light terms. That Slytherin Prefect boy who is always there when you least expect it...he's always in the right place at the right time. Perhaps it was not that he was in the right place at the right time...it was the fact that they were always in the right place at the wrong times. It made him chortle as he walked from the train, still pulling his trunk behind him, mindful of how empty it seemed compared to all the others, who had to drag it step by painful step...
Tom Riddle kept walking, speeding up as the castle came into his line of sight.
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. He had fallen in love with this castle - longed for it, more than anything else in the world - long ago when he was still a tiny, unassuming 1st Year boy who could be scared so easily by the burning of a wardrobe. Hogwarts; a place that he had come to know as his own personal castle...his own personal palace against all odds. It was very simple when it came to these thoughts about a place he come to once a year until it would eventually end next year...Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was his home. There was no other place for him to go, save for the Orphanage that he lived at over the summer, and it would be a cold day in hell before he would return there and begin to 'appreciate the benefits' of it all, like that old crock Dumbledore had said before he'd left at the end of his Fifth Term year...
Hogwarts would be more than his home in due time, oh yes.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -
Tom's mouth curved into a shrewd grin as he stared up at the turrets of the castle.
- Would be HIS.
AN: Those words ring omnious in this 14 year old heart. Kind of gives it a creepy, edgy feel to it. ( shiver ) Tom Riddle always have the talent to creep someone out because you never know what he's thinking until you go inside his mind itself. EEEEEEEEEEE it makes me excited that I'm actually continuing this story! YEAH YEAH YEAH GO STRAWBERRY, GO STRAWBERRY!
Lucius: WTF is wrong with you? Do I really come off as that QUIET? ( vain toss of hair over shoulder )
Me: No, I just wanted you to be that way.
Narcissa: I am NOT that girlish. ( growl )
Me: I know, I just wanted you to be that way.
Tom: I'm perfect!
Me: I don't even need to want you to be that way.
Voldemort: How DARE you have the audacity mess with my past, you BRAT!
Me: ( hug ) Eee! Voldylocks!
Voldemort: Avada kedav- ( points wand at clinging person to his arm )
Tom: NO I WANNA SEE WHAT HAPPENS! ( beats future self with broom stick )
Voldemort: Oh fine. Have your fun.