The sun is just now starting to set as they climb into the old black carriage, pulled by four dark horses. The Asian driver greets them with a low bow and the iron gates slam shut behind them. They are headed towards to victory celebration which is located in a giant governmental mansion in China. Tom sits down across from her and crosses his legs as he stares out the window with a blank look in his face. Isabel straps the tired Calpurnia into a safety seat and sits back to enjoy the bumpy ride.

The place where this is being held is just like Hogwarts. No one can apparate in or out of the grounds, so fancy carriages have been set up to pull the people down the long drive way. Tom had sent all of his guards away… they were beginning to annoy him. He's not a people person. Isabel takes in the silence and studies the man across from her. His profile is sharp and strong and the light coming in from the windows illuminates the pale planes of his face. He looks so young, but he's not. His handsome face and charming smile make you think he can be sweet, gentle even… but that's hardly his real personality. He's one big lie…

A memory goes through her mind. It was the moment that she knew he wasn't what she thought he was. It was the first time that he hit her, back in school.

She had been talking to Samuel Higgins, who she would later love, about a defense assignment. She was conscious of Tom's friends that followed her around but she didn't think it was a big deal. Having never gotten in any real trouble with him because of them. He had only yelled at her a few times before for hugging one of her male friends or talking to someone he didn't like. She didn't think anything of it. In fact she had thought it was kind of sweet how possessive he was… it meant he really liked her.

"I think he wants the different methods listed as well." She had told Sam while hiking up her books and walking down the hall.

Sam smiled at her then and she noticed the dimple on his right cheek. "Thanks." He said and blushed slightly. "I hardly pay attention in that class."

She smiled. "No problem."

She turned to walk away, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "I could carry your books if you'd like." He said, not quite looking at her face. "I mean, we're both going to the same class, after all."

Her eyes scan the hallway and she notices Antonin Dolohov watching her closely, one of Tom's followers. She rolls her eyes because he's probably going to tell on her. "No," she says with a sigh. "I can handle it my self."

Sam looked embarrassed and nodded his head tightly. They walked together in virtual silence until they got out side for Care of Magical Creatures class. Sam volunteered to be her partner and it was then that she knew he had a crush on her. It was just the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors in that class… She didn't think she had to worry about any other Syltherins watching her. So she didn't even think about it when Sam wiped a spot of dirt off of her cheek with his thumb and smiled warmly at her. His hand had lingered on her face and she blushed.

On her way back to her dorm someone grabbed her arm violently and threw her against the wall. Shocked and confused she looked up through watered eyes at a very infuriated and annoyed Tom Riddle.

"Why did you do that?" she asked fiercely, while rubbing her sore arm.

He didn't smirk, he didn't smile. He had been so nice and gentle with her at first but now his face was a cold hard mask, she looked at her shoes to get away from it.

"You are a whore."

His voice was calm and it cut her like a knife. No one had ever called her that… she'd never heard anyone actually use that word before. She's still shocked. "What?"

"I hope you don't think I missed that little show you put on today in class. I was watching you." He takes a step closer to her and she watches him, totally confused by his behavior. "and Dolohov told me how you were flirting with that mudblood in the hallway before."

She furrows her brows as she looks at him. "I wasn't flirting. I was just--"

SMACK

Her head flew to the side and she looked back to him with shocked eyes as he brought his hand back down to his side. Embarrassment flamed her cheeks and tears stung her eyes. She had never been smacked like that before and she was too stunned to move.

"Don't lie to me." He said quietly. "I saw the way you acted. You were like a bitch in heat." Again her eyes widen at his language. She's never heard someone curse so much. "You won't let me anywhere near that pussy of yours but as soon as a dirty mudblood takes interest you're willing to drop your knickers for him."

Her heart started beating painfully in her chest and a fearful sweat broke out on her forehead. "It's not like that…." She says quietly, scanning the hall for someone to help her. "He's just a friend."

"You aren't allowed to have friends." He answered and she almost laughed but didn't think the situation would allow it. How can you demand such a thing?

"Of course I can." She said, standing a little straighter.

Another step closer and he's just inches away from her face. "You are only allowed to talk to people I approve of."

"That's just silly." She said, turning her head away from his intense stare. Trying desperately to be brave.

"I will not let you make a fool out of me." He spits out hatefully. He grabs her arm to get her attention and make her look at him. "No one makes a fool out of me."

"Okay," she says quietly, nodding her head. He sounds crazy right now and she doesn't want to provoke him. That would be like kicking a tiger. "I shouldn't have talked to him."

"That's right." He said harshly. There's a moment of silence and then his fingers come up to touch her face. She flinches but he doesn't notice. "This is where he touched you." He said lightly, more to himself then to her.

"And where you hit me." She said, angry again and unable to holdback.

"You deserved it."

"I did not!"

"If you want me to do it again, I will." She clenched her jaw shut and looked at his throat. She doesn't like this new Tom. "That's what I thought."

"I have to go." She says trying get away from him. She turned to walk down the hall but he pushed out his arm against the wall to block her. "Dinner is going to start soon and I want to change."

His breathing became different but she refused to look at him. She closed her eyes as she felt his face come down to the side of her neck and his right hand started to touch the back of her leg, pulling up her skirt in the process.

"I would like to see that." He says darkly. Her face flushed as his hand touches her bare skin and begins tracing the line of her knickers. "Since you were giving it out for free today I don't see how that would be a problem."

He was being cruel in unfair. "Stop it." She said solidly, but too afraid to move away from him. "I've never done anything with anyone. You know that."

His fingers moved aside the thin cotton of her underwear and start to touch her back side, moving closer and closer to her privet spot. She begins to panic.

"Then convince me." He said in a deep voice, trying to manipulate her. "Let me be the first to taste you. You claim to like me so much."

"I don't like you like this." She hissed, clenching her legs closed and turning her body so her back is pressing into the wall and his hands have to move.

He smirked and grabbed her wrists, pinning her against the wall. His body was flushed up against hers and she could feel his arousal against her stomach.

"Mr. Riddle." They both turn to Professor Slughorn as he waddles down the hall towards them. He smiled a sly smile when Tom stepped back and Isabel looked down. He misinterpreted what was happening. "And Miss Prewett…. Dinner is about to start soon. You should get moving." He gives Tom a smirk. "I didn't expect to catch you necking the hallways Riddle."

Tom nods his head. "Sorry Professor." He said with a smirk, mirroring the older mans.

"Five points from each of your houses. Now, shoo, before I change my mind."

Isabel started walking away quickly while Slughorn laughed and commented on teenage hormones. Her cheek still burned and she was so upset that she couldn't wait until she got to her room. Where she would stay and skip going to the great hall for supper. Tom grabbed her hand and intertwined her fingers with his own but she refused to look at him. She was holding back tears and he didn't say anything until they reached her common room portrait.

"Isabel." He said silkily to get her attention. She looked up at him hesitantly, wanting nothing more then to punch him in the face. "You had better be a virgin when I decide to fuck you."

She didn't have an answer to that so she turned to give the portrait to give the password. He grabbed her again and forced her to face him. "What?" she asked quietly, almost pitifully. She just wanted to get away from him.

"Aren't you going to give me a kiss?" he had a smile on his face but his eyes were cold. He was daring her to say no.

She hesitated just a moment before leaning up and giving him a light kiss on his lips. He smirked a wicked smirk and winked at her.

With that he left, leaving her there to stare after him. He had just crushed everything pleasant thing she thought about him and the next day she broke up with him…in a public place so he wouldn't have a chance to bully her… Now she knows she never really got away from him. She told him she loved him. It's hard to believe….

"What are you staring at?" Tom's voice brings her out of her mind and she looks at him.

"What?" she says quietly as the horses hoof's clump against the ground.

"You were looking right at me. Why?"

She shrugs her shoulders and looks out the window at the passing scenery. "I was just thinking."

She watches him out of the corner of her eye as he takes out his wand and starts to twirl it between his fingers. He doesn't like to sit still; he always has to be doing something. She looks down when thinking about that memory again. She hated him so much that day and he had done many worse things after that… but she loves him… she loves him but it will never sound completely right when she says it to herself.

A large bump in the road brings her out of her thoughts and a weird noise causes her to look at Tom and then out the window.

"Oh, Tom. Stop the carriage."

"We're almost there."

"Please?"

"There is no reason why we need to stop."

Isabel sticks her head out of the window and looks on the dirt road behind them. "We ran over a cat." She brings her hands up to the ledge and squints her eyes, trying to see. "We have to go back, it was the mother… Oh, look the kittens are coming out." She turns back to Tom and looks at him pleadingly. "Please, let's go back. It may still be alive."

"It's just a cat."

"It has babies!"

"It doesn't matter. We have more important things to do tonight then worry about a stray cat."

"It flinched." She says urgently while looking back out the window. "Her babies are trying to help her. We have to go back and see if she's alright."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Tom!"

"I said no, goddamnit!" he shouts, officially annoyed. "Now stop it."

He crosses his arms and huffs while looking out the window. Out of the corner of his eye he looks to her and sees her lower lip is jetting out and her eyes are staring at her hands, playing nervously with her dress. Calpurnia is strapped into a baby seat beside her and is watching him with a frown on her face. He turns back to his wife and glares at her for a few minutes before he breaks.

"Son of a bitch." He says hatefully, sticking his head out the window and addressing the Asian driver. "Go back," he hisses annoyed. "You hit a fucking cat."

"Watch what you say." Scolds Isabel as she tries to distract the baby with a toy.

"This is the last ridiculous thing I'm going to be doing for you for a while. So never ask me again." He says harshly as the driver turns around and the horses trot back to the cat.

Once it stops beside the poor feline Isabel jumps out of the black carriage and kneels down beside the cat as the four small kittens meow at her and scurry away. Tom watches her from the window as she scrunches her nose up in disgust at the obvious dent in the creature's stomach. She's wearing long, black gloves that go half way up her arm. She watches the pitiful cat as she rolls one of them down and takes it off.

Tom looks down at her in complete disgust. "Don't even think about touching that thing." He says, like a parent talking to a child. "It's dirty and probably has flees."

She ignores him and touches the cats head. The cat takes a ragged breath and twitches one of its legs. She looks over her shoulder, up at Tom who has the most impatient scowl on his handsome face.

"Can you help her?" She asks. Trying to look as helpless as possible. "She's still breathing."

He scoffs. "That foul thing deserves to die for jumping in front of a moving carriage. If the animal is really that stupid then I think natural selection is trying to weed it out." He props open the door. "Get in. The celebration is about to start and Calpurnia is getting restless."

"You're good at healing charms," she says, ignoring what he told her. "It will only take you a minute to fix her."

They stare at each other for a few moments before Tom rolls his eyes and steps out of the carriage. Isabel lets a small smile come to her face as she gets in and frees the baby from her seat so she can see what's going on. He is the freaking Dark Lord; he shouldn't be healing defenseless animals. Hell, when he was little he used to kill them himself. Tom bends down with an annoyed look creasing his features as he pokes the cat with is wand and after a muttered spell the dent in its stomach inflates and goes back to normal. The cat jumps up after a few seconds and hisses at Tom before running off into the nearby field with its kittens.

"Bloody ungrateful." He mutters as he stands straight. He turns around and sees Isabel, with his daughter in her arms, watching him with an odd little smile on her face. "What?" he barks out.

"That was so nice." She says in a voice that states she didn't think it was ever humanly possible for him to do something like that. He looks decidedly uncomfortable by her saying that and sends a death glare to the driver who is watching the whole scene over his shoulder.

"We're leaving now." He says, gaining back control and putting pressure on her back so she'll get back in.

After they climb in and shut the door Isabel straps the baby back into her seat and hands her a toy. When the carriage starts to move again she stands up and sits on Tom's lap, kissing him deeply on the lips.

"Thank you." She says to him sweetly before giving him another deep, breathless kiss.

He's reminded why he should do things for her more often when her fingers tangle in his hair and a moan escapes her throat. When she pulls back he looks at her very seriously with his hand on her leg. "For doing this I expect to be woken up every morning by your mouth sucking my cock for the next three months."

Her eyes widen scandalously and she slaps his arm. "You can't say those things in front of our daughter!" she whispers fiercely, getting off of his lap and returning to her seat across from him.

He only smirks and when they finally reach their destination he helps her out of the carriage, keeping a tight grip on her arm. "I wasn't joking." He whispers, very seriously, into her ear. She has to resist the urge to stomp on his foot.

He has to ruin every nice moment.

X

Calpurnia sits up in the cradle that has her confined as fireworks light up the hall. She smiles and claps her hands as lights of different colors fall down to the floor and sizzle. The people in the room clap after every show and when the big sparks come the bangs from the fireworks make the baby jump. Suddenly she's scared and starts crying.

Isabel's chair is right beside her and she picks her up and holds her against her chest. "You're okay, sweetie." She says quietly against her hair. Another loud bang causes her small body to shake and sobs escape her mouth. Isabel turns towards Tom. "The fireworks are starting to scare her." she tells him with a frown on her face as the baby holds tightly onto her dress with her little fists.

Tom takes his eyes off of the show and looks to them. Calpurnia is crying hard into Isabel's neck and she has brought one of her soft white hands to cover her little ear. The baby sees him looking and lifts her head from Isabel's shoulder and reaches her small arms out to him.

"Aw, she wants her daddy." Isabel says with a small smile on her face.

"Father." Tom corrects before taking the small child in his arms and covering one of her ears with his strong hand. He whispers a spell and the baby immediately calms down and watches the fireworks again.

"What did you do?"

Tom looks at Isabel watching him with a frown on her face. He smirks at his own cleverness. "It's a simple spell that blocks out loud noises."

"Oh," she says and then smiles at him as she leans over his chair to touch the baby's hand. "Good thinking."

"Of course." He says arrogantly and when he thinks no one is looking he looks down at his daughter who is watching him with tears still in her eyes. He smiles at her and wipes a few away.

"My Lord!" He snaps his head up. The fireworks show is over and one of his followers is in front of him now. "We have our final surprise for you!" says the short, darkhaired man, loud enough so everyone in the room can hear.

Tom hands the child back to her mother and stands up to show his acceptance. At the end of the hall the doors bust open and in walks three chained and dirty prisoners. Black cloaked guards with wands make sure they make it to the front, by Tom. He watches them through narrowed eyes and scowls when they fall before him.

"What's this?" he asks as he eyes the dirty prisoners with distaste.

"These are the three leaders of the resistance here in China, My Lord." Says the Death Eater proudly.

Tom nods his head. "I see, and you must be Mica then." He says, eyeing the black figure up and down.

Mica smiles, showing a row of dark yellow, crooked teeth. "Yes, My Lord."

"Then a congratulations are in order." Says Tom looking around the room. "This is the man who helped defeat the resistance here in this fine country by betraying his brother for our cause." He looks down at the chained prisoner at the center who is a younger version of Mica. "How does it feel to know your down on your knees because of your brother?" he asks cruelly.

The man looks him in the eyes. "I don't have a brother." He says solidly with a thick Chinese accent.

Tom takes out his wand with a smirk on his face. Isabel watches the scene before her frowning. "Now, what shall we do about you three?"

"Kill them!" a person in the crowd shouts out, followed by giggles.

"Cut out their eyes!" another yells and Isabel again covers her daughters ears and looks around her in disgust.

"Let me torture them, My Lord." One of his follower stands up and bows.

Mica turns his dark eyes up. "No, My Lord. Allow me." He says with a vicious smirk.

"You are the reason why we caught them, after all." Answers Tom. Giving his consent. Mica lifts his wand and starts shooting curses at the bound prisoners.

"Is this supposed to be entertainment?" hisses Isabel quietly. Tom was the only one who heard her and he looks down at her, lifting an eyebrow. "This is morbid." She says solidly staring up at him with a scowl on her face. "And in front of our daughter."

"What do you suggest we do, my darling wife." He asks nastily, taking his seat and watching the scene before him.

"Those men were just fighting for what they believe in." she says and flinches at a loud scream. "They shouldn't be punished for it… but that man," she nods her head to Mica torturing his brother. "Betrayed his whole family. He deserves to be punished, not them."

Tom watches her closely now. "But he betrayed them to come to our side. There is something noble about that isn't there?"

She shakes her head and rocks the little girl in her arms who's starting to cry again from the cheers and screams. "There is nothing noble in betraying your family like this." She whispers fiercely. "A man like that can never be trusted again. Make him stop or let me leave."

"You aren't leaving."

"Then make him stop."

"I'll have Narcissa accompany you to the hallway, but you aren't allowed to leave this building."

She shakes her head at him. "Just think about it." She says while standing up. "Do you really want a man like that fighting for you?"

She leans down and gives him a kiss on the cheek before walking out with Narcissa Malfoy. Tom watches her go and then turns back to the bloody spectacle in front of him. Once the crowd had been satisfied he stands up again.

"Kill them all." He says. Mica smiles widely again with sweat pouring down his face. The guards start to levitate the prisoners out and Tom nods his head to Mica. "Take him too." He says.

The crowd is silent as Mica is carried out to be executed. He sits back down and awaits the next entertainment of the night.