Terry had never considered himself a religious man.

His parents swore to something beyond his bounds of logic and though it had brought him nothing but grief from them, he didn't care. He was magic and they were not, not to mention he was far smarter than they would ever be and he had already been practicing erasing small memories of him, buying books from Knocturn so one day… he would not be tied to them anymore.

Free of the burden that came with the idiots.

And yet…

He supposed his lack of belief in a higher power before was because he hadn't seen how much it could benefit him until Lena Farland had sat down before him with a smile more beautiful than any he'd ever had sent his way.

As if fate or some higher power had sent her to him.

Terry was never good at things like moderation and what he wanted usually ended up in his hands one way or another, so when something so coveted was set right in front of him- well- he wanted it.

At first, it had been a purely selfish desire, but after immersing himself into Lena's life, he then understood his real purpose and the reason she found him.

The woman that called herself his mother had always told him that there would always be someone better and wasn't that so very true in this case? Lena was a leader of many and the idol of more- so, in this case, wasn't it her greatest and deepest wish to then find someone better than herself to look up to?

She had found him to show him his true potential- even if he had always known he was made to be greater than those that had long kept him under contempt.

But first, he had to get her to somehow take off that be-damned locket.

Lena seemed to think that though the Slytherins seemed to worship the ground she walked on- the rest of the school having been won over by her neutrality in not hating the rest of the houses and how brilliant she had been during the Tri-wizard Tournament- she was only known to those that she knew.

Where in reality, there was a whole rumor chain about the girl and her mystery memory of 'Tom', many rumors about them popping up over time.

He, however, only had the patience to think about one that fit logically to the situation.

The memory of this boy- the one that Lena was so fond of- was stored in that locket.

Terry wasn't about to conclude if that was true or not, but he had noticed that she was more distracted from him when she had it with her and less likely to accept the gentle way he wanted to show her that he'd accepted his place, that it was alright to let go of the 'independence' she was clutching onto because her last strong male figure had died when she was young.

And by… rewording a few of the other Slytherin's words when he'd asked about the locket and then coming to her as if concerned, she was already wearing the gold accessory less.

It was taking longer than he thought, as the idea that she was in charge, that she was a natural leader that so many other deluded fools had pushed onto her had been there for a long time.

But that was alright, as he was patient and he would be waiting patiently when she accepted her place in his life.

After all, there was nothing sweeter than winning.

Terry found her with a small smile in one of their usual study sessions, except instead of sitting down, he held out his hand shyly. "I was thinking we could go somewhere today."

Blinking slowly, Lena stood up and moved to clutch her books to her chest. "If that helps you study, sure. Where are you thinking?"

Taking her hand, he smiled at her brightly and moved to pull her down the hall towards the doors to the entrance hall. "I was thinking of something we could do since we had a study session planned today anyway and, well, I made us a picnic!" He held up a small basket, smiling brightly.

"Is today… special?" She tilted her head and let herself be pulled along, wondering what the occasion was.

Looking at her with slightly furrowed eyebrows for a moment, his face then broke into a small amused smile. "Yeah, it's Valentine's Day!" They stopped in the middle of the grassy hill and she watched as he spread out a blanket he pulled out of his basket, sitting down. Looking up at her, he patted the blanket. "Sit?"

Sitting down, she folded her legs under herself, smiling in amusement at the boy as she watched him unpack his basket. "I don't think I've ever celebrated Valentine's Day."

"That's alright." Terry glanced at her. "It just means that it's something we can do ourselves. It makes it special."

Finding herself liking the lack of pity and 'aw, you poor child' ridiculousness that she usually got when admitting the gaps in her childhood, she scooted closer so she could help him set out the food, amazed by the amount of preparation he must have given the picnic. "I feel almost as if I should have gotten you something."

"Why would you do that when you didn't even know it was a holiday?"

Terry smiled at her, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. "Well… maybe you could make me one of those cloaks that Zabini was telling one of the fourth-years about? The one you made for the fellow at the Ministry?"

"How… rude." Riddle's voice was a sneer. "Asking for something after supposedly planning a surprise that wasn't supposed to have strings…"

Play nice. I doubt that it's as malicious a suggestion as you make it seem.

A hand held something up to her face. "Strawberry?"

Blinking and seeing he was holding out a chocolate strawberry, she gave him a smile of appreciation and then moved to take the fruit from his fingers. "Thanks." Then seeing him reach into the basket once again, she tilted her head slightly when he pulled out a small flat box. "What's that?"

"Something special for the prettiest girl I know. I- I thought that you'd like it."

Taking the offered box, she slowly cracked it open, staring at the gold chain that was looped into a small gold coin that looked to be engraved with small designs. "Oh… Terry this is beautiful, thank you." Gently pulling it from the box, she held it up in the light and watched it shine.

"I hope- well- I thought that it would look good on you. I hope you wear it…"

"It's wonderful, of course, I will." Unhooking the clasp, she made sure it was on forward and then reached around to clasp it again, taking her hair and pulling it gently out of the chain. Then bringing it up to rub her finger over the engraved patterns, she gave him a bright smile to soothe where he looked a bit worried as if he was anticipating something. "See? It fits perfectly!"

With a sort of frown, he nodded. "Yeah, I just… your locket kind of blocks it and- and I was hoping to see it on you without-… you know, nevermind." He smiled at her thinly. "I'm just glad you like it."

Eyebrows pulling down slightly, she let her finger brush against the warmth of the locket. "It's alright. I can take off the locket for a moment- you did plan all of this for me after all."

His face brightened. "Really?"

"Don't you dare. Lena, I don't like this one bit."

Darling, it's only for a moment, alright? I promise that you would never be replaced with some golden trinket, gift or not.

Riddle was obviously not pleased, but he huffed before giving in. "...I trust you."

Smiling slightly, she unclasped the locket and then set it down, expecting to feel that creeping cold that always bothered her like an itch she couldn't scratch when Riddle wasn't with her… but instead, the place where her hand was touching the locket now just felt as if it was burning.

As if the heat was too much.

...weren't Tom and her fighting about Terry anyway?

Frowning slightly and tucking the locket in her bag, she smiled brightly at Terry. "Sorry about that. What were you saying?"

Things were alright.

Terry was here for her.

But as she found comfort in his presence and they started to date only a week later, her dreams seemed to get worse and when she woke up gasping from a nightmare of a cold wasteland, she found that the gold coin she now always wore- why did she wear it again?- had started to crack slightly.

It was raining out, her eyes looking longingly to where the window was weeping with the water falling from the eve above. "Why don't we go outside, take a walk in the rain?"

"Why would we do that?" Terry's voice was distant from where he was reading, his arm slung around her shoulders heavily and though they ached slightly at the weight she didn't feel like bringing it up only for him to tell her that it was the most comfortable position for him.

"Wouldn't it be sort of romantic, kissing in the rain?" She kept her tone light, hoping that would persuade the boy into doing it as he would have jumped at the chance in the past. "Perenelle told me that-"

Terry scoffed softly. "Lena, you know you don't have to listen to the Flamels. They're not your parents and anyway, aren't you independent enough to think for yourself?"

Her skin prickled slightly, something she couldn't place rising in the back of her brain to protest that as she wiggled out from under his arm with a frown of discontent. "What does that mean? What- I shouldn't take advice from my mentors now?"

"No, just that don't you think it's a bit strange to always fall back onto needing a parental figure to approve of everything you do?" Terry's brow furrowed, eyes darting to her necklace. "I thought you were a Queen! I thought that you stood above them and you didn't want to have to conform to whatever mushy relationship standards other people set for you!"

Lena's magic surged out, surrounding them as her eyes narrowed and for a moment they were both still before she pulled it back slowly with a deep exhale. "Maybe I want to have that perfect mushy relationship someday but just don't know how. Did you think of that?" When he opened his mouth, she shook her head and picked up her bag. "I'm going to go take a shower and see how my court is doing. I'll see you later."

And when she was drying off her hair after soaking in the warmth of the water falling in droplets to kiss her skin soothingly, her hand drifted to where the locket was sitting on the side of her makeup table, wanting whatever comfort Tom would offer.

But when she brushed her fingers against it, it felt like her skin was burning and she immediately pulled away.

Right. He was probably mad at her.

Instead of entertaining the other Slytherins like she had told Terry, she changed her mind halfway down the stairs and instead went to sit in Nicolas' chair while he finished up the rest of his elective for a class of sixth years.

When the students were filling out and moving to get on with their weekend day, the man turned to smile at her fondly. "Little Lena, what's the occasion? I haven't seen you around here recently, are you working on a project of yours?"

"No, I…" Thinking about it, she frowned slightly. "I guess I've been spending all my time with Terry- the Ravenclaw? We started dating a little while ago and… I think I like him."

Humming and moving to stand by her as he put away the different books that he'd probably pulled out as a reference. "Where is your locket?" The man looked at her with knowing eyes. "The one that you always clutch so tightly when so speak about the possibility of love?"

Lena looked away. "Terry said that it's clunky and doesn't go with my skin tone."

But even though she was trying to just use one of the boy's offhand comments as an excuse to not have to explain herself, there was something of a bad taste that the words left her with.

"Perhaps he should worry about himself. I think it compliments your eyes quite well." Nicolas then turned to look at her, reference books forgotten. "I will put it simply. I do not like this 'Terry' very much and think you deserve better."

Something about the words rubbed at what Terry had mentioned earlier about her needing approval and she stood with a huff. "Then it's good I didn't ask, isn't it? Because I'm dating him, not you!"

"Is that also something he said?" The man's lips pulled down disapprovingly.

Lena bristled. "What if it is? Who cares- he's my boyfriend and he's supposed to look after me, alright?"

Nicolas peered at her for a long moment before holding up his hands in a sign of surrender, going back to his books. She took a deep breath to cool some of her irritation, the man speaking up after a moment of silence. "And what about Severus? Isn't he supposed to look after you as well?"

Deciding that was the last straw and not wanting to curse the man, she stalked out of the room, heading for a quiet corner in the library.

Turning the last row of shelves, she found Terry sitting in her usual spot with a book in his hands. Looking up, he raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were talking to that Professor friend of yours."

"I- yeah, I thought maybe seeing Nick would help but he's just pissing me off right now."

"If you could not yell at me and then lie about where you're going next time, that would be wonderful. I thought that you'd be in the Common Room and went to take you hot chocolate, but instead found out that you'd ditched me to go visit your 'mentor'."

Lena sat down next to the boy with a sigh, bringing a hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose. "I didn't think that it would matter that much."

"Lena," taking her hands and pulling them so she was looking at him the boy looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, "you're the first person to actually see me- to care about me and I don't know what I would do if you were hurt or if I lost you. If you left me… I don't know what I would do. Without you- well- I wouldn't have a reason to live."

She didn't know how to react to the admittance that she was that important to him, moving to lace her fingers in his with a concerned smile. "Don't talk like that, okay? I'm not going anywhere and you have so many different reasons to live- past that you're brilliant, of course."

Luckily this got him to crack a small smile, leaning in with his voice just barely drifting over her lips. "Of course."

Then he was kissing her bruisingly, hand tangling in her hair and she relaxed, knowing they were alright.