Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters!
September 2nd, 1938
"So? Why do you think I was sorted into Slytherin?" Tom asked Emma impatiently. It was their second day, and they were already sitting in the library, pouring over books.
"Are you sure you don't know who your family is?"
"My father's last name was Riddle... I think he was the magic one, because if my mum was magic, she wouldn't have died."
"You make a good point." Emma said, before muttering under her breath, "Muggles are completely useless."
"That's my mum you're talking about, Ashwood."
"Calm your hormones, Riddle." Emma cast him a dark look, "I mean Muggles as a whole." She said, "I'm sure your mum was a lovely woman."
"You don't like Muggles?" Tom asked curiously, and Emma shook her head.
"My family has taught me to hate them... so I do. And even if they hadn't, I probably would. They're oblivious. They're inferior. Why, are you a Muggle-lover?"
"I've grown up with them." Tom said slowly, "I don't hate them, but they're not my favourite people."
Emma smiled at him, "Trust me, Tom. After you've been around our lot for a couple of months, you'll be right turned off by your home."
Somehow, Tom knew to believe her.
The pair of them spent a couple weeks pouring over books, when finally Tom had to admit that a Tom Riddle had never been in the castle. He looked in the trophy room, looked everywhere for just a mention of his name, and was incredibly disappointed to find nothing. Had his mother been weak and died?
"What's your middle name again?" Emma asked after they'd been at school for a full month, "Maybe we can pull something from that."
"Marvolo." Riddle replied after a few minutes, "After my mother's father."
"Do you want to ask any teachers if they knew of a Marvolo who went here?" Emma asked breathlessly, setting the book back down on the table. Tom shrugged.
"Maybe we could ask that Slughorn guy." He responded, and Emma nodded.
"We can't ask Dumbledore. He's too... meddling. He's pried his way into my family's affairs way too many times before."
"Such as?"
"My parents... actually...my entire family, are under the impression that purebloods are the only type of wizards who have business being at Hogwarts. They believe that they're the only real wizards. If you know what I mean." Emma said breathlessly, "And many of them have been involved in some sort of dark magic, having been in Slytherin house and following his ideals."
"What are his ideals?" Tom asked, as if in a trance. This sounded powerful to him. It sounded like something bigger than anyone here, and he wanted in on it.
"That pureblood wizards were the only ones who should receive a magical education. That those with Muggle parents are just as bad as them." She said quietly, so that no one would hear. "There was never any real detail as to what Slytherin did, or even if he acted upon his beliefs, but people who absolutely worship them—you could call them "extremists," used dark magic to try and kill off Mudbloods and cause suffering to the Muggles that do enter their lives." She said, "My family was one of those families. The extremists. We created so much in the way of dark magic that Dumbledore wouldn't leave us alone after a while. It was infuriating. It's the sole reason why I can't stand that man. He had so many investigations done—because he doesn't like our belief system."
When she finished her rant, Tom was very silent for many minutes. "So it's a struggle for power."
"Basically." She said, "And I want that power. All of it."
Tom looked as though he wanted the power as well—a greedy look flashed in his eyes. He looked at Emma for a minute. She was of a slender build, with long pale blonde hair, grey blue, stormy eyes, and very creamy white skin. She walked with her head held high and her nose slightly in the air, with a swagger to her step. She was confident, and she was ambitious, and she was pretty, and he decided that maybe being her friend wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.
"I think..." Tom said, after realizing that his staring probably wouldn't win him any points, "That we should find out about my family." He said, "Something makes me feel like they're significant, whoever they are."
"We have potions with Slughorn this afternoon—how about we go catch the end of lunch, and then get to class early so we can talk to him?" Emma suggested, and Tom nodded, knowing that when the time came, he would ask her to stay outside. He wanted to do this on his own. It was bad enough that they had to ask Slughorn to begin with.
They started to walk down to the Great Hall, when they were stopped by Lestrange and two boys that Tom didn't recognize.
"Ashwood. Nice to see you again." One of them said, smiling nicely at her. She smiled back, showing her straight white teeth.
"Malfoy!" She grinned. He had blond hair that was whiter than hers, and eyes that were just a little bluer. He was taller than both Emma and Tom, and when he went to hug her, it was obvious that they were a little more than friendly—however that may be for an eleven year old.
"And who is your new friend, Em?" The other boy asked, and Emma smiled, gesturing at Tom.
"Boys, this is Tom Riddle. Tom, this is Abraxas Malfoy, he's in third year... a Slytherin, of course, this is Robert Avery. He's in our year."
The boys all exchanged pleasantries, and Emma seemed to be happy that they could all get along. "We're headed down to the Great Hall." She said after they talked for a few minutes about their class schedules. Unnecessary small talk. "Would you boys like to join us?"
"We'd love to, little lady, but Avery and I are meeting Mulciber and Lestrange for a game of Quidditch out on the lawn. Would you two like to join us?" Malfoy asked teasingly, and Emma smiled.
"No, and cutting class on the first day? Tisk tisk." She grinned and gave Malfoy another parting hug as he rolled his eyes before the two groups got on their respective ways.
Tom watched Emma closely as they walked. Her step had a bit of a spring to it, and she had an odd smile on her face. "So how do you know all those guys anyways?"
"We grew up together." She said with a small smile, "Malfoy and I were practically joined at the hip when we were younger... Mulciber... Lestrange, Avery... we've all known each other since we were in diapers. Our parents were all classmates."
"That Malfoy seems to worship the ground you walk on." Tom said, undertones of disgust evident in his tone. He couldn't imagine worshipping someone. Ever. Especially not a girl, no matter who she was. He was shocked though, that Emma blushed at his words, but didn't say anything. They walked silently into the Great Hall, and sat down at the Slytherin table.
"Ahh, Miss Ashwood, Mister Riddle, just the pair of students I was looking for." A soft voice spoke from behind them, and out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw Emma flinch. They both turned around to see none other than Albus Dumbledore, standing behind them.
"Good afternoon, Professor." Emma said with a sickly sweet tone that made Tom want to retch. He looked over at her, an eyebrow raised, but she didn't even acknowledge his glance, staring their teacher dead on in the eye the entire time.
"How are you two enjoying your first day, so far?"
"Quite a lot, actually, sir," Emma said, and suddenly her face fell, "But Tom and I were getting acquainted in the library, and we missed most of lunch, so we were hoping to be able to eat before all the food disappears."
"Oh, yes, of course." Dumbledore said quickly, standing up from his crouching position, and turned to leave, but whipped around rather quickly, "And Mister Riddle, how are you enjoying the castle so far?"
Tom gave a grim smile, "I'm enjoying it, sir. Thank you." He said, and turned away, which clearly indicated that their conversation was over. As Dumbledore walked away, he turned back to Emma.
"How did you do that?" He asked quietly. She shrugged.
"I'm pretty natural at hiding my dislike of someone, Tom. Something that is useful." She said. He had to agree... he'd always been very good at manipulating people and two facing his "friends" and acquaintances. He just hadn't expected his new 'friend' to be the same way.
As Dumbledore walked away, he couldn't help but be disturbed at the alliance between Tom and Emma. Their friendship had formed so quickly, and they were probably the two students he hoped wouldn't get to know each other.
A/N: This was a little shorter, sorry. I wanted to get some back story on the two characters sorted out, as well as an early look into their relationship. There will be one chapter more of year one, which will incorporate year two, and then the story will pick up in 5th year. I wrongly stated previously that the story will take place in 6 and 7, but it will span their final three. Thank you to all the people who subscribed to story alerts or reviewed! I appreciate all the positive feedback, and I hope that you will be eager to read more after this chapter is complete!