Tom Marvolo Riddle. The most infamous dark wizard of all time. His legendary rise to power as the Dark Lord will forever strike fear in the hearts of those who hear the tale. Still, little is known of Tom's life before his transformation into Voldem...
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Tom lay atop his four poster, Ellison asleep beside him. The morning sun shone brightly through the window, illuminating the dark curls that lay sprawled across her pillow. Saturday had finally arrived, meaning the weekday's pile of assignments had finally come to an end, even if only for a few days. The past week had been a stressful one. First the whole incident with Dumbledore, then his meeting with Grayback, not to mention the situation with Ellison and her father.
He still hadn't been able to wrap his head around the words he had spoken yesterday morning. They had slipped out haphazardly. He certainly hadn't planned to say them, and that troubled him even more. The fact they had come out without a second thought. He knew Ellison had heard them too, though she hadn't made any mention of them. Thoughts of his and Grayback's meeting earlier in the week had filled his mind. Had he been right? Had Grayback known how he felt before even Tom, himself? There was no question of whether or not it was true anymore ... he certainly did have feelings for her. Feelings he had never had for anyone else before. But was it love? Sure, he had used the word, but how did he even know what it felt like to be in love? He had certainly never loved before. Grayback's words annoyed him but as hard as he had tried, he couldn't seem to get them to stop playing over in his mind. 'You're allowing your feelings for her to cloud your judgement.' Was he right?
Tom thought back to the beginning of their seventh year. His original plans hadn't wavered. He was still going to go through with retrieving the diadem. He was still going to secure the Defense against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts. From there, he would rise to power and create a world where wizards were superior over the Muggles who crowded the city streets, unaware of the power people like him possessed. That had been the plan from the beginning, and he was still very much intent on completing it. But something had changed. The dark haired girl laying in his bed had been an obstacle he never could've foreseen. After all, his original opinion of 'love' had been that it was for the weak minded. Had that opinion changed?
Tom shook his head, dismissing the thought. Of course it hadn't. It couldn't if he were to do what must be done. Yet he had said it. He had said, "I love you." There hadn't been any agenda behind it. There hadn't even been thought behind it. The words had tumbled out more naturally than anything he had ever spoken.
He gazed at the girl who lay beside him, her chest rising and falling with each deep breath she took, completely unaware of the turmoil she was causing him. Did she know how much power she possessed? Was she even the least bit aware of the power she had over him? God, what had he gotten himself into? How was it that he could go from composed and levelheaded, to a confused, muddled mess when she entered a room?
"Good morning," a voice called, snapping Tom out of his thoughts. He turned to find Ellison awake, a sleepy smile on her face.
"Good morning," he replied, returning her smile. She placed a peck on his cheek before climbing out of bed, heading for the bathroom. The Quidditch jersey she had given him for Christmas hung almost to her knees. He thought back to the night she had first worn it to sleep in. He had sat on the sofa in the corner of the room that night, sleep evading him. The same questions he had been consumed with just moments ago had troubled him then too. He was always confused when it came to Ellison. No matter how hard he tried to suppress a feeling or dismiss a thought, they always seemed to find their way back into his mind.
