Konichiwa! Did you guys enjoy the last chapter!
*blush* Thank you for the sweet reviews that some of you posted and I'll take all of them into account!
This chapter you'll get to know Tom a little better! ;)

"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream."
― Edgar Allan Poe

Act 2: The Inevitable

"Who's blood is this?" she whispered. And then the lights went out.

"Poor sweetheart."

"What happened to her?"

"Susan found her unconscious in the girls bathroom. She was covered in cuts, I think she was trying to kill herself."

"Was she abused?"

"Not that I am aware of... But I suspect there is some childhood trauma involved, after all, she had been living alone for two years. What's even more peculiar is the fact that she doesn't seem to have an acknowledged birth certificate. The police officers who brought her in a year ago searched for her records and birth certificate to see if perhaps we could locate her guardian, but there were no valid certificates for a Raeyna Grey."

"That is odd."

"Indeed."

Voices. That was what she heard. What were they saying? This she did not know, for their words were muffled and distant. She tries to open her eyes, but they are heavy and she is so very tired.

Darkness surrounds her. The voices are there again, this time they are stronger. She is frightened now, she wants Tommy to come.

"Tommy." she whispers into the nothingness.

Red. She detests this colour. She sees herself slipping into a red lake. She's drowning, the taste of iron on her lips. Oh! She can't breathe.

It's bloody.

So very bloody.

"Raeyna?"

"Raeyna!"

Raeyna stirs as her eyes flutter open. "Tommy?" she questions. He grasps her hand and squeezes it, reassuring her. Inside he is bubbling with annoyance and fascination. He grimaces internally, she is currently the source of all his inconveniences. He is finding it hard to continue this facade he has forged.

Perhaps it is time to reveal to her, he thinks, who he really is. Raeyna gazes dreamily at him through hazy eyes. "Thank you for watching over me." she tells him, blushing from head to toe. He smiles angelically in reply.

Soon, he thinks, soon.

She wakes up, staring at them. They're so very hideous… She's covered in them. She weeps, her hand brushing over the slowly healing cuts covered in gauze. The ugly truth. It is showing.

The next day, she lies in the infirmary, staring at her hands, only to find that the scars are gone.

Tom sits on a dusty wooden stool, hidden behind the enormous entirety of the bookshelf before him. Raeyna sits beside him on the moulding floor, her head resting on his lap. She sketches quietly beside him, drawing the endless blue sky and the paradise it beholds.

"It's quite nice." Tommy whispers in her ear, gazing at the notebook.

Raeyna beams, her eyes twinkling in the dark of the night. They sit together like this for a while, until she falls asleep and he carries her to bed.

At breakfast, Mrs Cole informs the orphans that as a reward for behaving well these past few days, they'd be going to a nearby lake. She cheerfully orders the latter to head to their dorms and pack their swimsuits, for as she said, 'if the weather is nice, then we'll all be going for a lovely little swim together.'

Raeyna hurriedly packs her tattered swimsuit, a similar replica donated to all the children of the Orphanage by a generous ambassador, into a small woven basket. She glances briefly at her reflection, fixing her hair clip, given to her by her mother, in her wild hair, a vain attempt to tame it.

"Oh Tommy! I'm so very excited! We're going on an adventure!" she shrieks engulfing him in a hug. "Oh, yes, yes..." he dismisses, waving her away. She blushes, in chagrin and stares at the ground, as her fellow orphans stroll towards the glistening lake before them.

Little do they know, but this exchange between them has been witnessed. The observer smiles maliciously.

Raeyna can feel someone staring. She flushes and whips around, bent on giving the creep an earful. Oh, it's Peter. She frowns, he is flanked by Georgiana and Samantha. He beckons to her. No, he is rude and untrustworthy. She vehemently shakes her head. She will play with Tommy.

"Come play with us!" the two girls call, beaming at her. She turns to Tom to ask for permission, but he is busy glaring into the distance. She shrugs, oh well, she deserves to have fun. "Where are we going?" she asks tugging gently at Peter's sleeve. He grins and tells her that it's a surprise.

She beams, she very much likes surprises! She follows them down a muddy path, Georgiana asks her various question, her favourite book, if she's wearing a wig, at this she laughs, shaking her mane. Georgiana gapes and proceeds to compliment her locks endlessly, as Samantha ventures wordlessly by Peter's side.

"How is it so shin-" she asks interrupted by Peter's mumbled "We're here."

Raeyna gasps and giggles clapping her hands in ecstasy. Before them lies a cave, dark and full of secrets. She marvels at it, shyly exclaiming to Georgiana how simply grands this all is and if she is excited as well? Georgiana laughs and whispers to her in close confidence, "I have a fear of dark places."

Raeyna smiles at this and offers Georgiana her hand. She takes it, graciously. The orphans enter the eery cave, burning with curiosity. Peter lights a match, revealing a veiled pool of water. Raeyna leans towards it, with Georgiana in tow, considering its murky waters. "Do you want to swim, Raeyna?" Peter inquires, a strange expression on his illuminated face.

"Oh! No, I'm afraid I can't quite swim." she grimaces. "All the better," he replies grinning. "What are you sa-" she questions, alarmed, only to be cut short by Georgiana's forceful shove as she plummets into the unknown.

She attempts to surface, but to no avail. Darkness is closing in on her. She closes her eyes.

"Stay away from that boy!"

She stares into the endless sky, gulping down the remaining liquid in her glass. Smiling, she retrieves the box cutter off of the table beside her. Pressing the blade onto the soft skin of her right thigh, she carves the number: 819 onto her flesh. She laughs, shaking her red mane from side to side. "She took her fucking precious time."

Tom is annoyed. Where did she go? Had she gotten bored and left? Probably, he sulked. He was going to play with her. Sometimes she could be so stupid. But that was of little matter, he was furious that she had gone without his permission let alone to play with someone else! He shivers at the mere thought of it.

She is his. They all knew it. If they don't, then he punishes them without fail. They are not allowed to take what is his! Out of the corner of his eye he glimpses an object shining in the wet sand. He bends down and examines it.

Raeyna's hair clip. She'd told him just this morning that it had been her mother's, passionately exclaiming the importance of it. She would never have left willingly without it! He hears a name echoing throughout his mind, he narrows his eyes.

Peter, the little pansy's going to pay.

He follows the footprints until he arrives at a mysterious cave. Clenching his fists he stalks inside. He creeps towards Peter and swiftly places a hand around his throat. "Hello Peter." he greets, his voice oozing with threat. Peter squeals. Georgiana and Samantha hurriedly exit, abandoning him in fright. Tom tightens his hold on him.

"Where is she?" he demands. Peter grunts and points towards the water. Tom drags him towards the edge, and commands him, 'Stay here, or your punishment shall be far greater." His captive nods, eyes fearful. Tom dives into the icy waters. He glides downwards and blindly searches for her.

"Don't die on me, you useless bitch!" he orders her silently. He senses her underneath him, and reaches further downwards. He grasps her hand and rapidly begins to surface. He breaks through, carrying her in his exhausted arms. Climbing onto the surface, he lays her down gently and checks her pulse.

Functioning. Relieved, he pivots around and faces Peter, who is trembling in the corner. Tom saunters up to him, leering.

"Did you honestly believe that I would weaken the punishment, simply because you stayed?" he sneers, "You really are a half-brained son of a bitch."

Hauling him towards the water effortlessly, Tom shoves the hysterical boy and holds his head underneath the surface. He releases his grip once Peter has ceased to resist, assuring his death.

Tom grinned devilishly as the boy's body surfaced.

Raeyna opened her eyes.

Tommy. Her Tommy. He was standing over something floating in the water. Perhaps it was a fish. She frowned. No it was too big, and where had Peter gone? She screamed.

Peter. Peter was floating, dead in the cave's waters. And above him stood Tom. Realisation dawned upon her.

"Oh my god." she breathed, her eyes searching Tom's frantically, begging him to reassure her to tell her she was wrong. He frowned. He crouched down towards her, and reached out for her trembling hands. She yanked her hands away, glaring at him.

He stood, stunned at her act of ingratitude. He shuddered with anger as he stretched out his hand and slapped her angrily across the face. "I saved you! You ungrateful slut! Don't you dare act so ungraciously! He almost killed you! He deserved it Raeyna, he was willing to do the same to you, as a mere pitiful act of revenge!" he roared, as she cringed away from him, cradling her burning cheek.

Unwelcome tears dripped down her face and into her quivering lap. Tom grasped her chin roughly between his hands as he glowered at her. She looked down towards the stony floor.

"Look at me." he ordered, spitting out each word, "Look at me, Raeyna." Frightened, she glanced into his menacing blue eyes.

His gaze softened as he glimpsed her tears and he gently caressed her aching cheek. "Hush, don't cry. I won't hurt you, I promise. When they find his body-" he hesitated, awaiting her reaction, grimacing as she froze in place, "they'll ask us questions. Tell them we heard him screaming for help, but by the time we arrived, it was too late." he commanded, a ghostly smile playing on his lips.

She nodded wordlessly, tears hazing her eyes. "Good girl." he smiled, stroking her hair gently, "I promise everything will be ok."

She nods to show she believes him.

She will never forget. She knows what he has done. But for the time being, she will stay. And when the time is right, she will flee. Far away from him. Where he will never find her. But for now, she will continue to love him.

She sniffed and grasped his hand, urgently.

After all, he was all she had left.

The following days were of an incredibly hectic nature. The duo were interrogated endlessly. Questions were asked. Questions she was frightened to answer. A death she did not want to remember. Yet, he stood there, charming and weaving his lies without shame or disgrace.

She glared. She was suffering again, and it was all his fault.

Soon after the accident, Georgiana went missing, only to arrive at the Orphanage a day later, her once flawless skin covered in burns, her left arm completely decapitated. She was driven immediately to the emergency ward.

Raeyna sits outside Mrs Cole's office, a small notepad sitting delicately in her lap. Her pencil grates away at the paper, outlining the body of a girl.

She sees him staring and continues to sketch, slightly tilting her body in the opposite direction.

"Raeyna." he speaks, a threatening lilt patent in his voice. "Come." And she does so, placing her notepad gently onto the nearby coffee table.

She has drawn it. A girl, bearing the bones of a child in her womb.

She knows, soon, it shall begin.

Her eyes were bright and merry as she twirled around in her freshly sewn plaid dress, gazing at her reflection. "Oh! It is simply marvellous, Mrs. Cole! Thank you very kindly!" she exclaimed, clapping her dainty hands.

Mrs. Cole smiled, the child was undisputedly charismatic. Her face darkened, but something concealed itself, unconscious, inside this child, something dark and evil, and it was awakening in the presence of that Riddle boy.

It had begun.

Raeyna twirled a strikingly red lock around her finger, once, twice. She gazed at the sleeping form beside her. He held her, encircled tightly in his arms, imprisoning her struggling body, reminding her, that she is his.

Tears spill down her face, her wings have once again, been broken.

The sun flares through the petty straw curtains. He is already awake. Tom loosens his grip on Raeyna and climbs out wearily from the bed. His drained eyes rested on her unconscious figure, her chest rising with every melodic breath she took.

Her sweet scent filled the room as he stroked her soft cheek possessively.

"You're mine." he whispered placing a cold finger on her moist lips, "Mine."

The grass is soft beneath her head. Mrs. Cole, gazes hawkishly at the duo from the bench. Orphans scream electrifyingly, racing around the gloriously warm meadow. Raeyna watches wistfully beside Tom. He sees this and pinches her, hard.

She yelps quietly and places her gloved hand on his, reassuringly. Satisfied, he promptly continues to read the worn novel resting in his lap. Raeyna sighs, gaping at the nearby flowers, blossoming in the soil. He shuts his book, firmly and proceeds to stand, whilst signalling her to stay in position. He strolls towards the flower patch and briskly glances at Mrs. Cole, but she is otherwise distracted, aiding a bruised child.

He swiftly snatches a blossomed snow white rose and plucks it delicately from it's stem, concealing it behind his back. He beckons Raeyna to advance in his direction. At her arrival, he reveals the rose, and to her delicious surprise, adorns it in her hair and stares at her in triumph.

"Beautiful," he whispers, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. And she has fallen, once again.

Raeyna growled playfully at Tommy, tickling his unclothed stomach. He glared at her, as she giggled bemusedly in reply. She proceeded to continue her vicious advances only to be flipped onto her back with a soft "ooh". He held himself above her, grinning demonically as he lowered his head onto her chest, positioning his ear on her breast, enthralled by the gentle thumping of her heart.

A sudden knock at the door threw him off of her as he swiftly situated himself upon the wooden chair positioned by the foggy window.

An old man bearing spectacles entered the dorm, withheld in his wrinkled hands, two formal appearing envelopes. He smiled kindly at the children as he stood by the doorway accompanied by a frazzled Mrs. Cole. "Raeyna, Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr. Dumberton – sorry, Dunderbore. He's come to tell you – well, I'll let him do it."

The old man sat down on Tom's uninhabited bed and stared cheerfully at the two. "How do you do, Tom, Raeyna?" he questioned as he held out his hand. Tom hesitated and then climbed up from the chair and shook it. He smiled knowingly at Raeyna as she blushed and recoiled from the stranger's outstretched hand.

"I am Professor Dumbledore."

"Professor?" Tommy repeated, his crude eyes narrowing, "What do you want with us?"

"My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer the both of you a place at my school – your new school, if you would like to come."

Raeyna stared at him in disbelief. Tom leapt up from the chair and stared at the professor, in obvious disgust.

"You can kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? "Professor" yes, of course – well, I'm not going to see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to that snivelling brat Peter Thomson or Georgiana Hayward, and you can ask him or them, they'll tell you!"

"Tommy?" Raeyna whispered skeptically.

He glared at her, furiously in reply.

"I am not from the asylum," said Dumbledore patiently, "I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you and Miss. Raeyna both, about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force either of you –"

"I'd like to see them try," Tom sneered, pulling Raeyna towards him.

"Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, as though he had not heard the boy's last words, "is a school for people with special abilities –"

"I'm not mad!"

Raeyna flinched as he shouted, holding her desperately towards him.

"I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people. It is a school of magic."

Silence. Tom froze, glancing dubiously at the old man.

Raeyna wrenched herself away from his grasp and scurried to the professor. "Please sir." she begged tugging at his robe, "tell me more, I want to know, I want to get away from this horrible place!". He patted her head gently in reply, his brows knitted tightly together.

Tom stared at this encounter, his eyes flitting back and forth between Raeyna and Dumbledore.

"Magic?" he repeated in a whisper.

"That's right," said Dumbledore.

"It's... it's magic, what I can do?"

"What is it that you can do?"

Raeyna stared astonishment etched in her porcelain face.

"All sorts," he breathed. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can make them hurt if I want to."

Raeyna wailed.

"I knew I was different, she's different as well!" he whispered in excitement his finger pointed at the sobbing Raeyna. "She almost killed someone, a girl, just 'cause she was jealous! She made her fly!" he laughed hysterically, as if this whole situation, was indeed a joke of some sort.

She froze.

"You lied." she whispered, anger evident in her final tone, "I believed you!"

Tom waved his hand dismissing her and pivoted towards Dumbledore.

"Are you a wizard too?"

"Yes, I am."

"Prove it."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "If as I take it, you are accepting your place at Hogwarts –"

"Of course I am!"

"And you, my dear?" he questioned pointedly.
"Yes." she whispered gazing emptily at her hands, "I have nothing left as it is, it seems."

Tom grinned smugly, of course she would! What was the stupid old man thinking? That she would dare to go against his wishes? What a joke!

The wardrobe burst into flames.

Tom leapt to his feet.

"I think there is something trying to get out of your wardrobe."

Tom looked frightened.

"Open the door," said Dumbledore.

Tom did so and retrieved a small cardboard box. Raeyna glanced upwards, interest plainly displayed on her face.

"Is there anything in that box you ought not to have?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, I suppose so, sir."

"Open it."

He towered over her. "Be a good girl and come to your dear brother." he crooned. He encircled her in his arms as she screamed, tears running down her pale face. "Leave me alone!" she wailed, "I don't want to go to bed! Please! I'm scared, please!" The man glared, furious at her audacity.

"You little whore!" he growled, grabbing her hair, and lifting her up forcefully. He frowned at the woman cowering in the corner.

"Get over here! Useless bitch!" he barked. The woman nodded her wild fiery hair trailing behind her, as she encompassed the sobbing girl in her gentle embrace. The girl buried her face into the woman's chest, weeping and shivering.

"Shhh..." the woman whispered, "You're going to be okay, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I should have believed..."

Raeyna wakes, sweat trailing down her frail body. A lone tear runs down her face, "If only you had."

"Tommy how exactly are we supposed to get to this Diagon Alley the Professor told us about?" "Will you stop blabbing? There's no need to fret I've got it all sorted." he smirked, "we'll just ask people along the way, someone's got to know where it is."

"Good Lord! We've been searching for hours and we still haven't found where we're supposed to buy our school equipment! Maybe it was a hoax, like you said? Perhaps, he was an old fool trying to cheat us? I surely hope not! I was rather exc-"

"Be quiet! I think I've found something!" Tom murmured in agitation.

"Tommy?" Raeyna whispered inquiringly as the boy marched steadily towards a dingy inn, his nose pointed to the early morning sky. Her palms began to sweat. Was he going to leave her? After all, she shouldn't even come near him, after he'd lied to her over and over. But something drew her to him, like she was a pup and he was the one pulling her leash.

She knows she needs him.

For now at least...

"What are you waiting for?" Tom called as he noticed her absence by his side. "We should get going!"
She sighed in relief and nodded gaily, her red mane shaking in conjunction.

She races forwards and grabs his hand. But she knows better now... She is not going to fall again, no, she's been naive and an onlooker till now. Now, she is going to play the game too.

The chains have thickened, the price to liberation is higher. The black which she bleeds is becoming white. The redemption of the sins...

She stayed by his side as he conversed with the innkeeper of the dubious Leaky Cauldron, it seemed as though this man was, much to Raeyna's surprise and an inflation to Tom's already mammoth ego, a wizard. And following a brief inquiry conducted by Tom, the man showed them the way to Diagon Alley, where they were to purchase the necessary equipment for their enrolment in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Tommy? What are you doing?" Raeyna questioned the smug boy.

"Just watch." Tom ordered and he released Raeyna's hand, kissing her softly on the forehead. Blushing, she stood at a distance, her head spinning.

She watched Tom through bleary eyes, black dots clouding her vision as he tapped numerous bricks on the wall consecutively.

"To-?"

She stands in the meadow cradling it in her arms. It is wailing again. She does not like it. It moves its disfigured head, a mound of bleeding flesh. It smiles. Blood drips down its trembling chin. She has made a monster.

There is something soft brushing against her cheek. Raeyna's eyes flicker open, adjusting to the light. "Raeyna?" someone breathes, "Raeyna! What happened?" She raises her head pushing her body off the wet pavement. Something wet dribbles down her back. She stretches out her hand, grazing against her forehead. Red is splayed across her palm.

"Wha-?" she mumbled. Tom frowned. "You fell. Don't you remember?" Raeyna shakes her head. He shrugs nonchalantly. "At any rate, we should get going now." He grabs her hand and sweeps her violently into his arms. "What are you doing Tom?" she protests, "Please put me down, I'm fine, I'm not hurt that badly! Honest! I don't want to cause any trouble!"

He grins smugly and pets her head gently. "You're not causing any trouble. You're light, so I can carry you like this without any difficulty."

"Thank you."

Tom steps through the crevice in the wall, resting Raeyna against his chest. They walk silently, awestruck, through the etherial streets of Diagon Alley.

The duo search for the listed stores, the ample coin given to them by the Professor resting in the pocket of Tom's trousers.

She milks it, watching as it suckles on her pale breast. Its bone puncturing through its layer of skin, a mass of flesh, blood and bone. Once it is full, the girl cradles it, gazing without emotion, as it smiles at her. Blood seeps out from its jagged teeth.

He stops before an old wooden store dubbed Ollivanders, sliding Raeyna gently out of his arms. Raeyna grasped Tom's hand in her sweaty palm and together they walked into the other-worldly store. An old greying man sat behind the counter.

Tom clears his throat. "Pardon me, but my friend and I here are looking for a wand, would you mind lending us a hand?"

The old man nods and wanders towards the mountainous pile of wooden boxes. "Come here child," he instructs, pointing at Raeyna. He hands her a long dark brown wand and tells her to wave it around. A moment after she does so the pile of boxes on the left side tumble down onto the ground. "I beg your pardon sir!" Raeyna apologises stumbling towards the fallen pile of boxes.

"Never mind that!" the man, assumably Ollivander himself, barks. He then proceeds to place a lightweight wand in her palms. At the contact, a sudden bolt of warmth flew through her veins. "Ah… 12 inches holly Veela hair core. How odd…" the old man murmurs. "He had the exact same… How very odd."

"I'm afraid I yet require your assistance Mr Ollivander sir." Tom interrupts the other's deliberation.

"Yes, yes…"
After examining numerous wands, Ollivander reaches the last box in the upper right section and extracts it from its box. He lays it gently in Tom's trembling hands. Tom can feel the power flooding through his body…

More… He wants more…

"What an exotic combination… 13 1/2 inches, yew, phoenix feathers core." the old man mused. He looks up.

"How very odd."

Weary and hungry, the duo sat on the pavement of an alley, having just bought their cloaks at Madam Malkins.

Silence.

"Tom, who did you hurt?"

He freezes. "What did you say?" "I mean, don't we all hurt someone? Whether directly or indirectly, I believe we've all hurt someone. You see, I've hurt a lot of people." she whispers whimsically, "So I was wondering, who have you hurt?"

"How nosy." he snarls, "Do you enjoy angering me? All I've done is keep you safe since you've come to the orphanage, and this is how you repay me? By snooping around? By interrogating me? Don't ask questions which you should not ask. The truth will frighten you."

Raeyna leaps out of his arms, and steps backwards. "What are you saying?" she trembles. He closes the distance between them and grabs her chin roughly in his hands, "you don't know pain." Wriggling free from his grasp, the girl shivers, tears streaming down her red face.

Puffing, she slaps him angrily across the face. Shocked, he cradles his stinging cheek, his eyes, two slivers, as he glares maliciously at her.

The pitter patter of feet can be heard as the girl runs out of the gloomy alley.

The doorbell of Flourish and Blotts rings, as a frail girl enters the bookstore, her pale face puffy from crying. A boy sitting in the corner of the room, stares excitedly at the newcomer. Raeyna walks shyly across the room towards a bookshelf labelled 'Learning Material'. Standing on her tippy-toes she reaches out towards the top shelf, vainly attempting to extract a book.

"Hullo." a voice greets. The girl whips around, her red hair a blanket behind her. She stumbles in surprise falling ungracefully into the strong arms of the speaker. "Woah there!" she tears herself away from the strange arms holding her. "I'm so very sorry!" she apologises, bowing her head in shame.

"Hey there! Don't apologise! It was an accident! I'm Alphard, what's your name?" her saviour grins. "I-I'm Raeyna." she whispers in reply, raising her head. "Bloody hell!" Alphard smirked, "You're hot!" Raeyna blushes, "What! W-Why? I-I mean t-thank you…"

The boy reaches out towards the top shelf and grabs a dusty, antique book shoving it towards the flushed girl's chest. "You wanted this one, right?" he questions cocking his right eyebrow. Raeyna smiles demurely in thanks and properly acknowledges the boy. He is beautiful. Just like her Tommy. His pale skin is framed by shoulder-length black tresses, his eyes a striking grey, clouding a subtle spark of mischief.

He smirks in reply to her ogling, "Like what you see?" he whispers seductively. She blushes profusely and looked down, abashed at having been caught.

"Raeyna? There you are! I've been looking for you." A voice summons from behind her, "and may I inquire as to who might you be?" Raeyna whips around to face him.

"Tommy?" Alpahard cocks an eyebrow at this. "Well?" Tom demands, his cold blue eyes staring demonically at the other boy. Alphard steps forward, stretching out his hand to shake Tom's. "Alphard Black." he greets as Tom silently refuses to make contact receiving a frown from the other "Can't say that it's a pleasure meeting you."

"Tom." the other boy snaps in reply, Alphard smirking at the omission of a last name. "The same goes for you. Let's go Raeyna." Tom snatches Raeyna's hand, dragging her towards the doorway.

She slaps his hand away and glares at him, tears filling her eyes.

"How can you? How can you be so cruel!" the girl weeps as a stunned Alphard comforts her. "Why do you hate me so much? What have I done to you? How have I wronged you? Please, tell me!"

Tom stands frozen, a look of shock etched onto his handsome features. "What are you saying?"

"You bastard! She's crying because of you!" Alphard barks, his face red with anger.

"And?" Tom questions his face morphed in nonchalance.

"Can we please go Alphard, I don't want you to be dragged into this..." Raeyna mutters to the boy.

He nods in reply, glaring at Tom and motions towards the counter.

Raeyna fumbles around searching for the money the Professor gave them. "Oh." she says, momentarily remembering that Tom is currently the holder of their money. Alphard, seeing her so distressed, beams and fishes a great sum of coins out of his pocket.

"Don't worry! I'll pay for you Raeyna!" Placing the book on the counter he deftly pays the owner and grabs Raeyna's hand, gently tugging her outside.

Raeyna can feel Tom's glare burning into the back of her head.

She walks along the streets with the other boy, her head bent, tears running down her face. She cannot afford to break again. She must play the game at all costs, the redeeming of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Perhaps, to redeem for her sins, this is what she must do. She turns to the other boy, smiling.

"Perhaps - this was inevitable."

"What, love?" Alphard questions, frowning.

"Everything until now, maybe it was all for this…"

Alphard pointed to the black kitten sitting serenely by the window of the Magical Menagerie. "How about this one, love?" he asked, his lips titled up into a smirk.

Raeyna blushed and gently caressed the silky fur of the kitten. "Hello." Raeyna whispered, "I-I'm Raeyna." The kitten hissed, its furs standing up and skulked towards the corner of the store. Raeyna stood, stunned. "She doesn't like me." she mumbled, wringing her hands. Alphard frowned.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she does that to everyo-"

"Alphard!" a woman's voice growled from behind them.

"Shit." the boy muttered.

Raeyna examined the speaker from afar. She was beautiful, her hair was thick and black like Alphard's and hung beneath her waist in ringlets, but her blue eyes were cold and empty.

"Who are you child?" the woman interrogated, her eyes glaring suspiciously at the tiny form of her son's accomplice. Suddenly, her eyes softened, and she reached out to stroke Raeyna's red locks, "Such beautiful red hair. Oh, are you perchance a Rosier?"

Raeyna frowned. "I beg your pardon ma'am but I am nothing more than a mere orphan."

The woman gasped, snatching her white hand away, "a mudblood! With my son! You filthy scum! Come Alphard, Blacks don't associate with her kind!"

Raeyna's bottom lip trembled.

"Darling mother, I'm afraid I do." Alphard replied his face morphed into that of fury and defiance.

"Insolent child!" the woman shrieked, shivering with rage. "Mother?" a voice called.

The woman pivoted to the direction of the voice, and smiled sweetly. A girl stood in the doorway of the store, a splitting image of the woman before them.

"Walburga, let us leave quickly, so that this maggot does not poison our blood." the woman called to the girl.

"What about brother?" the girl questioned, disgust evident on her face. "That boy is no better than she!" Walburga stares wistfully at her brother before glaring at the ghostly girl. Mother and daughter turned on their heels and swiftly stalked out of the Magical Menagerie, the ringing of a bell announcing their exit.

Raeyna sank onto the floor, her plaid dress a sea surrounding her. Alphard patted her head gently.

"I'm sorry, love…" Alphard muttered, "She - I barely know you, and yet…."

"It's alright. Don't fret! I'm sure she was just worried for you, so she must have thought I was a bad influence for being with you, and I must have looked quite a bad child in this scenario-"

"No. It's not anything like that. She despises you because of what you are. You're muggle-born and she's been raised since she was a little girl by a pure blood family. She was taught to despise your kind… I do apologise."

She is dressed in a beautiful peach gown, her hair adorned with a crown of flowers. She stands by her mother, watching the passing dancers and occasionally to the dismay of her mother, eavesdrops on the fleeting conversations.

"This is simply delightful!"

"I've heard that the only reason they have any matter of money is because their–"

"Both mother and father are squibs. Poor dear. It must be so very hard on her, it's a good thing she has such a wealthy-"

"But I'm not." Raeyna mumbles.

Alphard cocks his eyebrow. "Do you remember your family name? Not that it honestly matters to me. I could care less."

A stinging pain runs through her head.

"I'm sorry. I can't remember." Raeyna states, covering her face with her hands. Alphard begins to speak, but she cannot hear him, someone is singing. She walks towards where the song is coming from, her body drawn to the sound.

"Rockabye baby on the treetops…"

"Raeyna?" the alarmed boy questions, resting his hand on her shoulder. She whips around and faces him. "Yes?" she asks. Alphard gulps.

Her eyes- her eyes, they're red.

"Yes Alphard?" she repeats, staring quizzically at the gaping boy. He shakes his head, no they're brown, he must be tired.

Tom walked gracefully down the streets, winking at the gaggles of giggling girls who caught his interest. Yet inside he was fuming.

"Where is that bitch! That little slut went off with that asshole! She's mine! Not his, god-dammit!"

From the corner of his eye, he glimpses a girl clothed in black, staring enviously into the window of Magical Menageries. Curious, he glides towards her and stares at her point of interest.

"That whore." he mutters. "I'll make her pay." The girl stares at him in surprise and flushes as he returns her glance.

"I-I wasn't staring!" the girl utters defensively.

Of course you were. "I beg your pardon, I thought nothing of the sort, I was merely admiring a pretty lady! I do apologise if I came across as rude." he charmed.

The girl presumably blushed staring at the ground, yet her eyes were still empty of warmth.

Oh wonderful, how thick does this bitch take me for?

"Who are you?" the girl demanded, dropping the part of a pitiful romantic.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." he replied, batting his long hypnotic eyelashes.

"Are you a mudblood?" she questioned, suspicion marked on her features.

"Not at all, my lady." he answered, presuming through her manner of question, that being a mudblood was not all heaven and glory.

The girl sighed in supposed relief.

"Then I suppose you may kiss my hand." she stated curtly, pronouncing 'suppose' as an evident order.

Narcissistic, stuck up little whore. "Thank you kindly." Tom lied skilfully through his teeth, as he pressed his lips against her ice cold hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watches them hold hands.

Raeyna walks alongside Alphard, cradling a white kitten in her arms. Alphard stumbles beside her whilst carrying their seemingly endless trunks and parcels. Suddenly, she stops in her tracks and turns around to stare at Alphard.

"Alphard…" she frowns glancing down at the train ticket in her hands, "it says platform 9 3/4… I don't believe there's such a thing!"

Alphard barks in laughter. He folds his hands over his stomach as Raeyna pouts frustratedly from the side. Wiping his eyes he states, "Ah, you muggles! You're ignorance never ceases to surprise me! Come on, I'll show you."

The duo hold hands and race towards a column in between platforms nine and ten.

"Alphard! Stop! If we hit that, it's going to really hurt!" she shrieks, mortified. "Trust me!" he yells in excitement.

She closes her eyes.

After a few minutes of not undergoing extremely agonising pain, Raeyna's eyes flutter open. Gasping she stares at her surroundings. "How marvellous…" she admires.

Alphard smiles and drags her towards a platform labelled, 9 3/4. Flabbergasted, she squeezes the boy's hand in amazement. "It's really real…" she whispers. Alphard sweeps her up into his arms but then drops her quickly, his ears a bright shade of red. "S-Sorry…"

Raeyna blushes and beams, wrapping her arms around the tall boy's waist.

"This is fine…" she mumbles.

She stares out the window encrusted with snow.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Alphard smiles, "the snow I mean."

Raeyna nods. "Very."

"Alphard?" a voice calls from behind the door of the compartment.

"Dorea?" Alphard enquires.

"Alphard!" the voice replies, sliding open the door and slamming it behind her.

The speaker leaps up into Alphard's awaiting arms, squealing in merriment. Raeyna watches the reunion, envious at their obvious friendship.

"Raeyna, this is my good friend Dorea. Dorea Black to be precise!" Alphard introduces the two joyfully.

"How wonderful, you're related! It's a pleasure to meet you!" Raeyna greets.

"To some extent yes, we are! It's an absolute pleasure and marvel to finally meet a girl Alphard can't take his eyes off!"

Alphard replies to this statement by shoving her jokingly in the ribs. To which Dorea feigns an expression of extreme pain. Raeyna giggled staring shyly at her palms. A sudden feeling of loneliness washed over her as the two conversed as old friends, oblivious to her isolation.

"Excuse me," she muttered, "I'm going to go change…"

Silently sliding the compartment door shut behind her, Raeyna ambles aimlessly down the hallway of the train.

She screams as someone grabs her wrist pulling her inside a compartment.

"Found you." the attacker whispers in her ear.

So was that enough drama for you guys! And whew! That was a long chapter for me! Anyways, hope you guys like it! With thanks to Izsmiling for recommending a house! Hope you guys have a nice rest of the day!

Till the next chapter! *wink* *wink*
Helerine.