Chapter 1

Winter. What a beautiful season. Cold. Dry. So rough that only the toughest beings could survive in it. Tom loved winter. For him, it was an obvious choice. Cold inferred distance and strength. It suited his house, it suited him. What didn't suit winter was the pathetic tradition of Christmas that everyone felt compelled to follow. What could be worse than a day where people were forced to be kind to each other, exchange fake smiles, and give each other gifts that they would pretend to like?

That morning Tom twirled his fork in his plate with no motivation to bring it to his mouth. The happy chatter going around in the room didn't do anything for his already foul mood. With disdain, he lifted his eyes to the warm and colorful decorations that were still placed everywhere in the great hall. It had nothing to do with the magnificent White Queen that had covered the outside of the castle. Besides the holidays had been over for a week now and no one had thought of taking the ridiculous ornaments down yet. Maybe he could mention something about it to the head prefect. In the meantime, he decided to cut his breakfast short and headed out.

As the cold wind was passing on his face, Tom smiled with satisfaction. His steps made a crunching sound as they left an oval shape into the ground. The snow had been falling since morning, and it was already deep enough to hide his entire foot. They probably wouldn't be able to go out tomorrow. He started heading towards the forbidden forest. He loved that place that most students had nightmares about. He had visited it more than once with his followers and even alone. Something inside of him always pulled him to cold and terrible things. He never questioned that instinct.

When he got halfway there, he remembered that in this period of time snakes could not be found. His interest died a little. He missed his little creeping family; they were dearer to him than the people he referred to as friends. When he arrived at Hogwarts his first year, Lestrange and the other guys had paid him little to no attention. But that changed rapidly when he showed them his magical abilities. All Tom did was to answer their desperate call for leadership and provide for their lack of vision. They followed his every instruction like dogs would follow their master and always put their every resource available to him.

As he was going back to the castle to get ready for class, he took a detour to the Great Lake. He saw a figure standing on the lake. Puzzled he increased his pace to see who it was. When he recognized the person, he stopped deciding what reaction to put out.

Olivia A. Elliot. After their little encounter in the library, Tom remembered why she looked familiar. She was among the exchange students that came from Ilvermorny. They had sent them twenty of their students and in return, they got twenty of theirs. Tom had had no intention of leaving England while he was trying to figure out who his parents were so he did not sign up for the program. If he had, he knew he would have been picked given the fact they only chose the best and brightest to represent the school. He could also tell Ilvermorny did the same with the students they sent them. He was little concerned though, as he was persuaded that none of their intellect compared to his. At least that was before he saw HER in the library. He decided to do his little research on her and was rather uncomfortable at the number of similarities her past had with his. She was an orphan, had no close family to take her in so she had to live in an orphanage. She was raised by Muggles like him and she didn't talk much and kept her distance from people. Even her friends from Ilvermorny didn't seem to know much about her but they were the only people she spoke to, apart from Hogwarts' staff. That explained why she ignored him so easily. According to Lestrange, she was a brilliant witch, top of her house, and spent most of her time buried in books.

He looked at her from afar, debating whether to go talk to her or not. She then started moving on the frozen lake, elegantly tracing hyperbolic figures with her legs and throwing her hands in the air like they were bird wings. Tom recognized what she was doing with bewilderment. She was ice skating. He frowned with disgust at the idea that someone was doing a Muggle thing in the sacred temple of magic that he saw Hogwarts to be.

Despite himself, the memories of his first skating experience sprung in. It was Christmas and they received donations of old pairs of skates. So the sisters had decided to take them to the local skating rink. Like all group activities, Tom had decided not to participate and sit in a corner until the torture was over.

Unfortunately for him, Sister Marie-Clarence decided otherwise. No matter how much he protested, pleaded, and threatened he was forced to go on the ice with the other kids. The skates he was given were to tight and hurt him. He listened with one ear to the instructions given by Sister Paula while staring at the fiery red of the shoes.

"First make sure to feel balanced on the skate," said sister Paula "then start moving with caution on the ice... slowly."

After a few minutes of standing still, Tom's legs started to hurt. He lifted his head to look at the other children skating like they were born with blades instead of feet. His eyes met those of Dennis who was staring at him with a smirk.

"What's the matter, Tom?" Dennis asked while skating towards him. "Are your skates glued to the ground or are you scared of a little ice?"

Amy who followed Dennis everywhere, like an chewing old gum on a shoe, laughed mockingly at the tease.

"NO! I'm not afraid." Tom could feel his fists curling up.

"Prove it then!" He dared him.

Tom was aware of what Dennis was trying to do but he couldn't let him think he was afraid in any way. With a small breath in, he put his right foot forward and then another one until he crumbled miserably at Dennis's feet.

"Look, guys, it's Tardy Tom!"

Amy and Dennis laughed loudly at Tom joined by a few others until one of the sister's reprimanded them. Tom then left the arena and he promised himself that he will make them pay for it. A few months later, he did.

Emerging back to the present he decided to head back to the castle. He knew he couldn't speak to her without revealing the aversion he felt for her at that time. He wouldn't get anything from her in the state of mind he was in. Their confrontation will have to be postponed for another time.