Girls often dream about cute boys they know. That's just the way it is. However, when I had such dreams they were usually about a guy I had a crush on or one that I'd been talking to a lot. The one that entered my dreams that fateful night was one that I had never spoken a word to in my entire life and indeed one that I had never really thought about before.

His name was Tom Riddle and he was a Slytherin. The dream was not too exciting. He was just there, as if he was watching me. I woke up soon after but I could not shake the memory out of my head.

My biggest mistake was probably telling Catherine about the dream. "Oooh, you like him!" she squealed.

"No, I don't," I retorted. "I don't even know him."

"Come on, there's got to be some reason why you're dreaming about him. Maybe you're destined for each other."

"Doubtful. I think it's probably just a coincidence."

Nevertheless, Catherine felt the need to nudge me in the side every time we passed Tom in the hallway or saw him during a class. With her constant reminders there was no way I could get him out of my head.

Catherine was with me when Garrett approached me one day in the hall. "Hey Phoebe, are you gonna come into Hogsmeade with us?"

"No, I don't think so," I told him.

Catherine raised her eyebrows. "Will Tom be there?"

"Tom Riddle?" said Garrett. "Yeah, I think he will be."

Catherine smirked at me but I just smiled nervously. "Thanks Garrett, but I have other plans."

Garrett watched me curiously but finally left. As soon as he was gone I turned to Catherine. "What were you thinking? Now Garrett will realize I like Tom and he'll tell him about it!"

"Aha! So you do like Tom, you just admitted it."

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant that he'll think I like Tom and he'll tell him."

Catherine shrugged. "Garrett's not that smart. I'm sure he couldn't put two and two together and he doesn't even realize it."

"He's smarter than you think," I muttered.

After that incident with Garrett, I began to notice things about Tom Riddle. We would be sitting the Great Hall during the last few days of school, and I'd look over at the Slytherin table and swear he'd be watching me. He never seemed to look away when I saw him, but I was too embarrassed and would turn my head. By the time I got up the nerve to look back at him he would have his focus on something else, leading me to believe that what I had seen I had only just imagined.

However, Catherine also began to notice the stares that I was receiving from Tom. "It's obvious what happened," she told me matter-of-factly. "Garrett told Tom that you like him, and Tom is attracted to you."

"Yeah, okay," I told her. "I'm sure Tom doesn't even know my name."

I held on to this thought to try to convince myself that I shouldn't even try to get myself involved with Tom. But the man himself shattered all of my thoughts when I passed him in a deserted corridor one night when I was heading back to the common room alone.

I was scared to death that I had to see him when no one else was around, but I decided I would just give a small smile as I walked by. Before I had the chance to do anything, however, Tom looked me right in the eye and said, "Hello, Phoebe."

His voice was quiet and low but I knew that he had indeed said my name. Before I could respond he was gone. My heart raced and I heard the echoes of Tom's voice saying my name inside my head.

This whole thing was completely ridiculous. Because of one stupid, meaningless dream, I was allowing one person to dominate my thoughts.

The problem was that I was insanely attracted to him. He had black hair and was very pale, and he rarely ever smiled. He was extremely handsome, but I'd never heard any of the other girls say it. They were, I figure, too intimidated by him to go after him. I was intimidated by him as well, but it didn't stop me from thinking about him all the time.

In time I probably could have forgotten all about him or just admired him from afar. Unfortunately, fate wasn't going to let that happen.

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A/N: Sorry this update wasn't quite so speedy, but I'm a busy person. I figure I'll be able to update about once a week.

Thanks to my two reviewers, Midnight's Inertia and xxmadcowluverxx!