I had, of course, explained everything that had happened to Catherine. She was very kind and sympathetic about the whole thing, but it was hard for her to understand where I was coming from. She couldn't comprehend why I didn't like Garrett, if he was so nice and fun to be around. The problem was that while he was all those things, there was just no chemistry.

It didn't make things any better when Garrett asked me out the next day. To turn him down was quite heart-wrenching, and I have to admit I didn't too good a job of it. His eyes were pleading and I couldn't quite bring myself to say no, so I just told him, "I'm not ready for a relationship right now. Let's just be friends, and maybe in the future we'll see how things go."

I was fairly certain things wouldn't go anywhere in the future. But I couldn't hurt him. I felt like such a horrible person for turning him down when he was such a great guy.

Another discovery bothered me even more. Catherine and I were sitting around in our room when I decided to search around for my missing necklace again. I had no luck finding it.

At last something that Catherine said rung a bell. She inquired, "When is the last time you remember wearing it?"

I cursed my excellent memory. For after thinking on it for a few moments, it suddenly dawned on me. The night that I had been with Tom.

You didn't need to be a genius to figure out what had happened. Tom, the petty little thief, had obviously stolen my necklace. But why? I mean, I suppose he could sell it. It must have some sort of value, but it was pretty old and not in the best of shape so I don't know how much he could get for it.

And then there was the romantic side of me. The little voice in my head that said, 'Maybe he took it as a souvenir. You know, something to remember you by. Because he cares for you.' I quickly brushed the thought out of my head. It was ridiculous.

Catherine argued against me. "You could be wrong, that might not be the last time you had it. Besides, what would Tom want with your necklace?"

It was true that I didn't have much evidence, but I just knew that Tom had taken it. Deep within my heart I felt it. There was no explanation, only a certain feeling.

Months passed, and life went on. Garrett and I still spent a bit of time together, though I always felt a bit awkward. Catherine was her usual cheerful self, and things were almost normal.

The only thing different was the fact that I felt as if my heart had been covered by a brick wall. It was a terrible feeling at first, but I quickly got used to it and settled into a common, ordinary life.

Tom did little to bother me. Every once in awhile I would think he was staring at me, but when I looked up he never was, so I assumed it was just my imagination again.

Tom had been acting strangely as well. His face somehow seemed less handsome, but it was still attractive. He always seemed quiet and brooding, and was now surrounded by a dark pack of guys that always seemed so secretive. I could've sworn I heard his friends call him by some bizarre name- like Voldemort. A few called him "Lord." I just assumed it was some sort of inside joke or a weird sort of game they played.

And then in the late spring of that year, Hogwarts turned into a sort of hell. It started out as seemingly insignificant, although it later had a much bigger impact.

I heard a rumor going throughout the school that some sort of message had been written on a wall somewhere in Hogwarts. Catherine and I were a bit curious, so on our way to the bathroom in between classes we stopped by to see what it said.

Written in a deep crimson shade that looked sickeningly like blood, the words 'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened" were written.

"What do you suppose that means?" Catherine asked me, staring up at it.

"I have no idea," I told her uncomfortably. "I really don't like the looks of it though."

Every teacher we asked about it could give us no answer. Some told us to mind our own business and not worry ourselves about it, while others just said that it was probably some sort of practical joke and had no real meaning behind it.

So the students tried to forget about it and continue on. However, the real horror began a few days after that. I had just arrived to potions class when one of my fellow classmates came rushing in.

"Cornelius Hulme's been attacked!" she cried, and suddenly burst into tears.

The rest of the class was out of control. People began screaming, others looked extremely frightened, and many searched for answers. Finally Professor Slughorn got everyone to quiet down and tried to calm the young Hufflepuff girl that had brought us the news.

"What do you mean, attacked?" inquired Slughorn.

"I don't exactly know," she sniffed. "But Cornelius always meets me in the Great Hall and we walk down to this class together. He's never late but this time he didn't show up. So I decided to look around a little bit, and when I finally found him he was frozen on the floor! His eyes were wide open but he didn't seem to move at all!"

"Let's go back to him," suggested Slughorn. "You go run down to the hospital wing tell the nurse what's going on, and I'll bring him up there."

He then turned to the rest of us. "I expect you to be on your best behavior. This is a very serious matter. If anyone gets out of hand, my most responsible students-" at this point he nodded and Tom and me, "-will let me know about it. You may have whatever time I'm gone as a free study period."

When the two of them left, the rest of the class began chatting immediately. Many of the Hufflepuffs looked frightened or upset, the Gryffindors looked nervous and excited at the same time, and the Slytherins looked a bit smug. Everyone seemed very emotional.

I chanced a glance at Tom. He just sat at the table, not doing anything or talking to anyone. In the midst of all the chaos around him, his face was completely devoid of emotion. And it scared me.

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A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update and that this update isn't too long. However, I sprained my finger last week and it made it extremely difficult to type anything. It still hurts a bit but it's not as bad as it was. Also, we are no longer allowed to reply to reviews in author notes but I'll send you a message if I want to reply to your review. Also, I'm still gonna reply to anonymous reviewers here because I have no other way to contact them… hopefully won't mind that.

Thanks to my reviewers: krillball6, Susie Q, 404, Queen of the Badgers, Aladailey, Lauressa, MandaPandaAR, and HPfreak!

HPfreak: yeah, this story should be taking place during Tom's 5th and 6th years.