Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter world which is owned by J. K. Rowling. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and the events which happen in this story are not canon. I am not profiting financially from this story. I only own my own plot ideas, which make up only a part of the plot, and original characters. Thank you J. K. Rowling for thinking up such a world as wonderful as Harry Potter.

Chapter #2

It's been about a week since I've arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I've been rather busy with various things: homework, getting lost, making sure I get to classes on time, getting lost, and the such. I've made friends with Ruth and Robert, and we hang out together often. I haven't had many chances to look for Tom, nor have I seen him much outside of classes. And during classes, he seems to more or less ignore me.

Today, it's Friday. Classes have already ended. Currently, it's evening and students have gathered in the Great Hall to eat dinner. I spotted Tom entering the Great Hall with a few boys who looked to be his age.

I quickly sprung out of my seat and raced over to Tom, calling out to him, "Tom! Hey, Tom!"

People gave me weird looks, and Tom's Slytherin friends gave me dirty looks, making me slow down. Tom said something to the two of them, and they walked away to their house table. When I stopped in front of Tom, he looked angry.

"Come with me," Tom muttered, angrily.

I hesitantly followed him. He lead us out of the Great Hall, down an empty corridor a little ways off to the side.

"What was that?" Tom hissed.

"What was what?" I hesitantly asked, not wanting to anger Tom further but genuinely confused.

Tom growled. "Don't approach me during classes, in the middle of the corridor, or anywhere. Not in public, and especially not in front of my housemates," Tom elaborated.

"Why? We're friends aren't we? Friends approach each other and talk with each other," I was still confused.

"No, we're -," Tom paused, his expression becoming less angry.

My eyes were teared up. "We're…not…friends…?" I felt like my heart shattered and fell to the floor in a billion small pieces.

"…Yes, we're…friends," Tom mumbled the last part, practically choking it out.

My face immediately lit up, a joyful smile bursting on my lips. "Really?"

"…Yes," Tom reluctantly, once again, choked out.

"Promise?" I prodded.

"Promise," Tom confirmed.

"Thank you, Tom," I smiled a big, gleeful smile, flinging my arms around Tom. Tom squirmed in my hold on him, but he eventually gave in.

"Must you do that?"

"Mmhm," I pulled back, my big smile still plastered onto my face.

"But if we're going to be friends, you can't approach me in public, at all. Do you understand?" Tom insisted.

"But if I can't approach you in public, when can I?" I asked, a little sadder, but not completely.

Tom thought for a moment. "How about Saturday evenings, from the second half of dinner to curfew? In the abandoned classroom right between your common room and my common room?" Tom suggested.

"Sure. So then, I'll meet you there tomorrow after dinner?" I asked.

"Yes," Tom replied shortly.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Good," I gave Tom a hug before we headed back to the Great Hall together. "What'll you tell your friends tomorrow?"

"I'll tell them that I need Saturday evenings to myself just to think and be by myself," Tom explained.

"Oh," I was impressed by how well Tom handled things.

The rest of the night was uneventful. I eagerly awaited the following evening, so that I could meet Tom.

…

I snuck away after dinner to the abandoned classroom I was to meet Tom in. I had to wait a while before Tom finally arrived.

"Sorry, Avery and Lestrange were being a little persistent," Tom explained.

"It's alright," I reassured.

Tom and I talked and we played a few games, although we didn't do anything in particular, the time flew by quickly. We both had fun to some extent, Tom had as much fun as he could've possibly had. I enjoyed our time together though, it made me relieved to find we were still friends - even though we've hardly known each other for a week.

Our weekly meetings soon became part of our daily lives at Hogwarts. Tom and I would regularly meet each Saturday evening to spend time together. Sometimes we'd play wizards' chess, other times we'd talk about school and teachers and interesting events that've happened. It'd be normal for Tom to arrive late by a short while, his friends were often very curious as to where he went on Saturday evenings.

I soon came to understand why Tom didn't want us to be affiliated publicly. It'd damage his reputation, as it's disgraceful for a Slytherin to be seen with a Hufflepuff. If I were a Ravenclaw, it'd be more acceptable, but because I'm in Hufflepuff, I'm considered weak, useless, and those sorts of things.

About a month before Christmas, Tom missed one of our meetings. The following week, he missed another. The week after that, he missed again. That was three meetings in a row he's missed. He couldn't possibly be that busy, but I don't think he'd purposefully skip one of our meetings. I decided that I'd wait for Tom once more, before confronting him about it.

The fourth time, Tom showed up.

"Hey, Tom," I greeted him as usual.

"Hello," he replied.

"So, you must've been really busy with homework these past weeks. What'd you have to do? Or did you get detention?" I joked. Tom would never get detention, he'd never let himself be caught breaking the rules.

"I, uh, got detention," Tom muttered quietly.

"Tom. I may have only known you for," I counted the months on my fingers, "about three months, but I can tell when you're lying."

"…The first time, I actually did get detention. It wasn't my fault though, some brainless toad made a mistake in potions class. The second time, I missed our meeting deliberately," Tom explained quietly, "The third time, I had homework."

"Why would you deliberately miss our meeting?" I asked, hurt.

"I…it doesn't matter. I'm sorry, I realized after that I missed our little rendezvous. I didn't think you'd have come today," Tom said quietly.

"It's alright, Tom, I forgive you. And, of course I'd have come. I've missed you, Tom," I said brightly, forgivingly. I gave Tom a big bear hug, he squirmed a bit but less than usual.

"Anyway," I said, releasing Tom and changing the topic of conversation, "what're you going to do for the winter holidays?"

Tom shrugged his shoulders, "Stay here at Hogwarts? I'm not sure."

"Really? You should come over to my house then," I offered.

"No. Thank you," Tom declined firmly.

"Why not?" I asked, confused.

"I refuse, thank you," Tom firmly declined again, politely.

"Fine, then I'll stay here at Hogwarts with you," I decided.

"No, you should go home. You have a family, you should spend time with them," Tom said.

"But you'll be lonely here at Hogwarts by yourself. I imagine Avery and Lestrange are going home for Christmas?" I pointed out.

"I won't be lonely," Tom insisted.

"Even if you won't be, I will be," I insisted as well.

"…Your mind is set, isn't it?" Tom gave in.

"Yes, it is. And whatever happened to, "Do as you like"? I asked.

"You do as you like anyway, so why should I state the obvious?" Tom pointed out.

"But you've resorted to not stating the obvious, but rather doing the opposite of the obvious? How is that any more logical?" I was confused.

Tom shrugged, staying silent.

"Alright then, it's settled. We'll both stay at Hogwarts for the winter holidays," I stated, confirming the situation.

"Do as you like," Tom reverted back to saying that phrase.

"I will, thank you," I smiled.

Tom and I spent the rest of our time doing the usual, which is doing nothing in particular except enjoy each other's company.

The following weekend on the Saturday in the morning, the majority of the Hogwarts student body left to spend Christmas with their families, including Avery and Lestrange - Tom's friends. That left Tom and I, and a handful of students from each house still at Hogwarts, and of course the professors.

The Headmaster replaced the four house tables with one long table since there were so few of us at Hogwarts. Tom and I wouldn't eat together, but we'd spend nearly the whole of our days together since there wasn't anyone to catch us.

My mother was a little saddened that she couldn't spend Christmas with me, but she understood. She said that she was happy so long as I was happy.

When Christmas day came, I was so excited. I raced down to the Great Hall, shoved some food down my throat, and then shoved some more food down my throat. I was too busy stuffing my face to have noticed Tom walking through the doors of the Great Hall. Only when he passed me by did I notice him, and that was only because he commented on my eating habits.

"You'll die by choking if you continue to eat like that," Tom muttered to me as he walked past me.

I was tempted to retort, but I couldn't because we were in public. And Tom knew that, the sly Slytherin. Instead, I merely slowed down my eating speed. Besides, I couldn't very well retort with my mouth full of food.

The mail soon arrived. I recognized my mother's owl, Mistletoe. Mistletoe dropped a medium sized package in front of me. She grabbed a strawberry from my plate and ate it before flying off again, returning to my mother.

"Bye, Mistletoe! Thank you!" I called after Mistletoe.

I then turned to the package. It was addressed to Tom, with a note on it addressed to me. The package was from my mother. The note said:

Dear Evelyn,

This is Tom's Christmas present from me. Give him my greetings, okay? Merry Christmas! And Eve, I wish to meet Tom during Easter break if possible, okay?

Love,

Mommy dearest.

I decided I'd give Tom his present from my mother when I gave him his present from myself.

After I finished my breakfast, I grabbed a strawberry to eat on the go. Tom had already left, he doesn't like to eat much, food is merely sustenance to him. I quickly dropped by my dormitory to grab Tom's Christmas present. Then I met Tom at our usual meeting place, the abandoned classroom. Tom was already there, waiting for me.

"Merry Christmas, Tom!" I greeted, smiling.

"Merry Christmas," Tom replied blankly. Still, he said 'Merry Christmas' to me, which meant something.

"Here," I sat down on the ground in front of Tom, placing his presents in front of him between us.

"Thanks," Tom mumbled before slowly opening his presents. "Why two?"

"One's from my mother. She seems to be fond of you, despite not ever meeting you," I explained.

"Hm," Tom read the cards that came with the presents. "Thanks. But why a watch? I have one already."

"I know, but you're always complaining about how you hate that watch. And this watch matches your house, Slytherin," I pointed out.

"…Thank you," Tom reluctantly said.

"You're welcome."

Tom opened the present from my mother. I, myself, was curious as to just what my mother gave Tom.

It was a magical camera, the ones that capture a small scenario instead of merely a moment like muggle cameras. "…What is this?" Tom asked.

"It's a magical camera. Here," I showed Tom how to use the camera.

We took a picture of us. "See?" I said.

"…Interesting," I could tell Tom was curious, even though he didn't really show it. "Here."

Tom handed me some rolled up parchment and a feather pen. "Look. Use your wand, and tap it like this," Tom explained, showing me how to tap my wand on the parchment.

I mimicked Tom's wand tapping pattern, tapping the tip of my wand on the parchment. The parchment jumped up, and floating in the air, it unrolled itself and reoriented itself so that it was in portrait orientation. The feather jumped up, and floated in the air as well, beside the parchment. I was amazed.

"Amazing, I'm in awe, Tom," I expressed my awe both in my tone of voice, and facial expression.

"It's charmed. You'll need to practice a bit, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. You simply think of what you want the pen to write, and it'll write it for you. You can also use a regular pen to write, and it'll still work fine," Tom explained. "Go ahead, try it."

I thought of wanting the pen to write 'Hello, merry Christmas!' And magically, the pen floated over the parchment and started to write. As soon as the pen was finished writing though, the inked words on the parchment faded.

"What happened?" I asked Tom, confused.

"Here," Tom pulled out another rolled up parchment from his robes. He tapped the roll of parchment with his wand, as I did with mine. The parchment unrolled, and on the parchment appeared the words 'Hello, merry Christmas!'

"…," I was speechless. What just happened?

"See? It's charmed parchment, as well as a charmed pen. The pen is charmed so that you may write just by willing it. The parchment is charmed so that you and I may communicate whenever we wish," Tom explained. "You may also use the pen on regular parchment. The pen uses magical ink, so there's no need to dip the pen into ink."

"Amazing, Tom, I'm impressed. What are you, a genius? This is magic above a first year's level," I remarked.

"Thank you. But it was merely the product of reading books, nothing special," Tom said, modest.

After Christmas, I started to notice more just how intelligent Tom really was. He was at the top of his class, and he was really quite skilled for a first year. It was very impressive. Tom was like one of those model students, polite, intelligent, charismatic. But no matter how well he seemed to get along with others, Tom would always still be Tom.

As the years went by, Tom grew in every aspect. He grew physically, mentally, personality wise, as well as in other areas. By fourth year, he had his own little 'gang' that he regularly hung out with. His friends respected him greatly, and looked to him as their leader. I learned more about Tom as time passed, and I too, grew in many aspects.

I found that I was quite skilled in magic application. I didn't receive excellent grades like Tom, though they were above average. However, I found I learned new spells quickly, and I was able to perform wand-less magic at an earlier age than my peers. The same applied to Tom, he also seemed to have an aptitude for performing and learning magic.

Tom was very odd compared to other children his age. But nevertheless, I grew to love him anyway. By fourth year, I began to see Tom as more than a friend. Of course, being the charming young man that he was, he had many girls lusting after him. He didn't really care for them, although sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he'd humour them. But Tom really wasn't interested in dating, he preferred to stick to himself and his gang. He was too calculative and shrewd to allow himself to get too close to anyone. The only exception was me. In fact, Tom has admitted to me once that he regrets becoming my friend, despite genuinely enjoying my company.

Tom's very good at lying, and over the years, he's perfected his skill. But for some reason, I trust Tom anyway. Besides, if he truly didn't enjoy my company, he'd have stopped being my friend long ago. It's not as if Tom asks me any favours or anything of the sort, so really, he has nothing to gain from being my friend. I'm not too worried about being manipulated by Tom, despite his manipulative personality.

But in fourth year, is when I'll learn about just what kind of people Tom hangs around with.