Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters!
A/N: Just a short note, that this has a very large time skip, and the beginning just kind of beings you up to speed! :)
September 1st, 1943
Four years had passed since those first couple days at school, and many things had changed, naturally. Tom found out very quickly after beginning Hogwarts that he was the Heir of Slytherin through his mum's side, and he also learned about the Chamber of Secrets. He and Emma are still friends, and they've been working together to try and open the Chamber, although they have yet to find a way. Tom had become much darker throughout the years, embracing his new culture to its fullest, and secretly having the wish to power over anybody and everybody. Now, beginning their fifth year, and after basically four years of academic and behavioural perfection, Tom and Emma are the Slytherin Prefects, and this is where our real story begins.
Emma Ashwood raised an eyebrow as her mother ogled the boy that was standing in front of her. He was quite tall, with pale skin and black hair, and smouldering eyes. Just one look could bring any woman, grown or otherwise, down to her knees. Currently, his bright white, straight teethed smile was directed towards her.
"Hi, Em... have a nice summer?" He asked, his tone warm and friendly as a show for her parents. For Tom and Emma, the world was their stage, and they were the actors.
She returned his smile with one of her own, batting her eyelashes in a show to make her mum jealous. "Yes, I did, Tom thanks for asking." She said, and his smile turned into a smirk.
"These must be your lovely parents?"
"Oh, yes. Mum, dad, this is the boy I told you about!" Emma looked over at the older adults that were standing there awkwardly, "Tom, this is my mum and dad."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister and Missus Ashwood."
Olivia Ashwood was staring at her daughter pointedly. "He's much better looking than Malfoy." She said quietly, but Riddle could still hear her, "Why hasn't he been around the house?"
"I live in an orphanage, Mrs. Ashwood." Tom spoke up quickly, giving Emma a long look. She hadn't mentioned spending time during the summer with Malfoy. "I am rarely allowed to leave, although given the chance, I would love to visit the lovely Emma over the summer."
"Well, I'll be sure to arrange it." She giggled, looking at Emma with a wink, "And Thomas, dear, call me Olivia, please."
Nathan Ashwood stepped in quickly, "Well, you two best get on the train, it's about to leave." He gave his daughter a quick hug, "Be good, although, I don't think we need to tell you that anymore." He smiled tightly at the two teens, and Emma kissed him on the cheek before following Tom onto the train.
They were the first two to get to the Prefect's compartment, and after Tom made sure the door was locked, he turned around and glared at Emma.
"Are you seeing that twit again?" He whispered harshly, and she shrugged.
"Yeah. I mean... I know it ruins our plan but I really like him, Tom."
It was Abraxas Malfoy's seventh year, and he and Emma had been going on and off for about a year. "I don't care, Em." Tom said coldly, "You can't have everything you want, you know. Some sacrifices have to be made."
"I don't see what the big deal is."
"My uncle is finally being released from Azkaban again." Tom said, closing his eyes so he wouldn't lose it. His uncle Morfin Gaunt, who he'd discovered three years ago, was sent to Azkaban on and off for various crimes, and this time he wanted to get to his hometown before the middle aged man had a chance to commit another crime. "If we want to go see him, together, then I need to be at your place at some point."
"What does Malfoy have to do with that?"
"If your parents think you're dating Malfoy, why would they allow me to come over? They'd just think you were being unfaithful to him, and you know how into tradition they are." Tom despised Muggles, but he wasn't a fan of pureblood traditions, either. They were incredibly old fashioned, just not his style.
"Did you see my mum's reaction to you?" Emma replied quickly, "She thinks you're Merlin's gift to the world. She'll let you over. We're still going to go." She then added softly, "I promise."
They glared at each other for a few more moments, before the door slid open. "Finally!" A girl's voice said, "We've been trying to get in here forever!"
Six other students walked in, and froze when they saw Tom and Emma sitting on the one bench together, staring at each other. It looked to them as though they were staring into each other's eyes.
"Uh excuse me..." One Gryffindor girl, Meredith Newsome, said in a loud voice, and the two snapped out of their reverie.
"What do you want, Newsome?" Emma snapped, turning away from her Slytherin Prefect counterpart. She glared at the mudblood, and the girl recoiled, but couldn't say anything, because a second later, Emma's face was rearranged into a sweet expression. "I'm sorry we were holding the meeting up. Tommy here just couldn't hold himself back." She smirked, patting him on the leg as he silently fumed. Nevertheless, he put a grim smile on his face, saying nothing.
The Head Girl came in two minutes later, and by that time everyone was settled down. "Basically," She said, "We are going to be splitting up duties. The Gryffindor Prefects will be doing Mondays and Wednesday nights, the Slytherins will be doing Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Hufflepuffs have Fridays and Saturdays, and the Ravenclaws will be sharing duties on Saturday, because there is an increased amount of troublemaking that night. Martin and I will patrol the halls every night before curfew, so you just need to be out by nine, when the older student's curfew begins."
Martin Newsome, who just happened to be the older brother of the Gryffindor Prefect that Emma had just intimidated, stood up. "As for the train ride, Ravenclaws, you take the first hour. Gryffindors have the second, Slytherins have the third, Hufflepuffs the fourth. Just keep your eyes out for any trouble." He said, "And also, please do try and set a good example for the younger students. We have meetings every Friday night to collaborate."
The meeting ended shortly after these words, and Tom grabbed Emma's forearm, pulling her out into the corridor.
"I couldn't hold myself back?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. She gave him a closed mouth smile, which turned into a full grin when she couldn't contain her laughter.
"Calm down, Tom. I was kidding. Those Prefects know you're not like that, anyways. They know we're not like that." She focussed her grey eyes directly on him, and gave him a real smile. "Now, I think we have some boys waiting for us."
He followed her down the hall, and she heard him distinctly say, "If anyone else was saying that, I'd hex them into oblivion..."
She grinned, and he eventually caught up to her. They walked side by side, looking for the other Slytherin boys' compartment. "Look, there they are." Emma peered through the blurred glass, and saw a head of blond hair.
She opened the compartment door, and saw five boys waiting for them to arrive. "Hey, darling." Abraxas smiled and patted the seat next to him. Emma sat down, and as he put his arm around her, Tom coughed loudly and smirked, clearly amused. He sat down between Avery and Lestrange.
"Good to see all of you again." Tom said awkwardly. Emma smiled on the inside, knowing what he actually thought about the guys in their "group." Disposable.
They all sat and chatted awkwardly, and as Tom told the group about his plans for the year, Emma could see that they were admiring him more and more. They'd decided a long time ago that apart from keeping a "perfect" act up, they needed people to do their dirty work while at school. These boys were perfect. Upon finding out about Tom's "Heir to Slytherin" status, they did just about everything he asked them to.
The boys were making small talk, and every now and then, Emma would glance over at Tom, to see him glaring at her and Malfoy, who she assumed he still didn't approve of. Abraxas was holding her hand in his, and was talking to Lestrange. Both of them were laughing loudly. Emma stayed quiet for most of the ride, lost in thought.
Tom finally got up. "Where are you going?" Avery asked, looking panicked. He seemed to be lost without Tom, which Emma almost laugh out loud at. Pathetic. She thought, rolling her eyes.
As if he read her mind, Riddle smirked, before replying, "Prefect duties. And I'm hoping my fellow Prefect doesn't blow me off on our first rounds, because that would be rather annoying." He looked pointedly at Emma, who grinned, standing up.
"I guess that's my cue to leave. Guess I'll see you all in an hour." She said this mostly to Malfoy, who kissed her on the cheek before she left.
"So what exactly do we do?" Emma asked Tom as soon as they shut the door behind them. The hall was annoyingly crowded with children, most of them who were small and who Emma would have stepped on, had Tom not pulled her out of the way.
"We don't step on little kids, that's for sure." Tom said with a small smile, and Emma rolled her eyes. "We also, make sure they're not clustering the hallways." He walked over to a small group of First Years, "Move along, now, we don't need you constipating our hallway." Emma started giggling uncontrollably, and Tom towered over her, a stony look in place on his face.
"How old are you, five?"
She giggled again. "You should choose your words better then, Thomas." She said, saying his name in a perfect imitation of her mother, only hours before. Tom ignored her, a trace of a smile on his face.
"You there!" She hollered after a couple minutes of walking, "No snogging in the corridors!"
"Why not?" The girl was in Slytherin, and the boy was in Ravenclaw. That was enough for Emma, but she shrugged it off and said,
"Because, Miss. Black, snogging in public is unsightly and no one wants to see your displays of affection."
The girl, whose first name Emma could never remember, scoffed and stalked off, her boyfriend trailing behind her.
"Good job, Em." Tom said quietly, "Looks like you won't wimp out like I thought you would." He teased. Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Four years, and you think I would wimp out of bullying small children? I guess you really don't know me, Tom." She laughed, and kept walking, so quickly that he couldn't catch up. They finished their hour, and returned to the compartment, but instead of sitting with her boyfriend, Emma elected to sit with Tom so that she could talk to him about their plans for the year.
"If we don't get it by Christmas," he said, "Then we'll have to give up. There are more important things than opening this Chamber."
"Like?" Emma asked, staring at him very closely. He'd grown very good looking over the years, but looking at him right now, she really noticed it. He looked tired—almost vulnerable. Like this task to open the Chamber was draining him.
Tom didn't want to tell her about his thirst to evade death; she meant a great deal to him, and he was sure she would find out eventually, but he didn't want to tell her yet, or get her involved.
"Don't worry about it, right now." He put his hand on her arm, a friendly gesture, but almost felt scorched by her hot skin. Wondering if she was sick, he added, "You'll know in due time."
Emma nodded. She and Tom were friends, but they certainly didn't divulge every detail about their lives to each other, and they definitely didn't pry into each other's lives. So she just had to believe that if he said she'd know, she'd know eventually.
A/N: I wanted to mention last time that when I think of Abraxas Malfoy, I think of a slightly different Draco, but basically the same. Yum. Kay so sorry about the time skip, but I wanted to get into the real story, which commences now! Tom and Emma are obviously friends, but with secrets and a secret plan... what could happen? Thanks to all the reviewers! I appreciate it.