Tom Riddle and the Pure-Blood Prince

Dangerous Games

Clouds of darkness seemed to hang over Eileen's conscience. She could not do nothing whilst a storm of passion surfaced inside of her. She was torn between her guilt in being a silent witness to Riddle's hand in Myrtle's death and her passion and allegiance towards him.

She woke up the next morning and wrenched off her bed covers. She looked around at her roomates sleeping peacefully. She wished she could be them for a moment. All they had to worry about was their impending O.W.Ls exams in the week coming up. Eileen frowned and felt anger at the thought that if she didn't find a way to clear her head, she would surely screw up her own OWLs.

But then her thoughts shifted to Tom. She couldn't bare give the information that could possibly ruin his life. But this was, Tom Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, as she quickly remembered the name he preferred. And she felt a sinking in her heart as she realized that nobody was going to believe her when she had nothing to prove it was him. They could not even draw it out of Eileen's mind if they wanted to. She was repressing the actual images from her conscience, as she scarcely wanted to recall the details.

So that afternoon she dragged herself outside of the common room and up to the seventh floor corridor. She could not get Riddle expelled. She would try to make it sound as if it wasn't as bad as it had been. She certainly wasn't about to tell his secrets either. But it was anger that drove her towards action that Tom had such indifference to the fact that he was responsible for Myrtle's death. Eileen knew it was wrong, but she supposed even he could make mistakes as she had never realized until yesterday. He would surely come around and realize that he had to make an apology. As she was a Prefect, she knew the Headmaster's password to get past the stone gargoyles and into his study. She felt like she was going to the gallows and taking the man she loved there as well. She had to clear her conscience, but she was also determined to protect Riddle in a sense.

Her knuckles white, her hands shaking she knocked on Professor's Dippit's door. The wizard said in a tired voice, "Enter...please." Eileen slowly opened the door, looking down all the while....

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"Professor Dippit. I...er," Eileen began with a loss of what to say. She couldn't just blurt something out of this nature, if she wanted to absolve Tom.

Dippit looked up from the many books on the surface of his desk, scratching his head over his wispy, white hair. The room was dark, with only a couple of candles lit. Despite being morning he had not drawn the curtains. Straining his eyes in the semi-darkness Armando Dippit said, "Eileen Prince...a Prefect, correct?"

Eileen nodded and then before she could speak Dippit said sharply, "What are you doing outside the Slytherin quarters? Didn't your head of house tell you not to leave them as a precaution from the attacks?"

Eileen took a step closer and said, "Yes, professor but I wasn't thinking of that, sir for I have...something to say about the attacks," she argued meekly.

Dippit was too surprised to get up and draw the curtains to allow light in. He just sat straighter and folded his hands, which was a nervous gesture of his. "What exactly do you know?," he squeaked his beady eyes fixed right on her.

Eileen did not take the initiative, but stared at the floor once again. She was too terrified to speak, as she thought of Tom Riddle and all her passion for him.

"Why don't you sit down, my dear? I understand it can't be easy to recollect," Dippit said kindly.

"Thank-you...," Eileen mumbled and in haste went to the nearest chair and her hands clung to her sides over the arm-rests. It felt like she was in court giving testimony as she continued, "I saw....Myrtle Maudley die. I know who's accountable for what happened," Eileen mumbled.

Dippit's eyes popped and he said curiously, "Who is it? And how did that poor girl meet her end precisely? "

Eileen scrunched her eyebrows as if pained by thinking. She suddenly looked up from the floor and straight at Dippit, "There was a basilisk as I-I was hiding behind a stall door when I saw it. She was crying and moaning, and Myrtle opened the door and looked at the snake. I think that killed her. The b-boy directed it...I think he was negligent, but did not do it on purpose." She had forced to speak without emotion as she strained to tell her tale from the memories were not detailed, as she was repressing them and they were blurred and sluggish.

"What boy was involved?"

Eileen gulped, took a breath and croaked, "Tom. Tom Riddle."

Dippit's face sagged with his many wrinkles. Cocking his head from confusion he said "This is a very serious accusation, to accuse Tom Riddle of something this horrendous." His voice was grave, but he was growing offended for her to accuse his best student of Hogwarts of opening the Chamber of Secrets. Armando was still trying to overcome his pride and shame over discovering that the Chamber of Secrets had to be real only just last night.

"I know! But, Headmaster. I assure you, it was...an accident! He has such a grand future. I don't think Tom deserves to be expelled. He-"

"Of course he doesn't! For where is your evidence?" he snapped, as anything without logic had always annoyed Dippit.

Eileen bit her lip, but would not answer for she knew she didn't have any. All the while, fighting her fears for herself and her fear for Riddle's sake.

The Headmaster sighed heavily. He did not like that she was so emotional about it and thought perhaps she was deluded within a vivid imagination. Composing himself again he chose his words carefully, "Unless you have something of truth and weighted value to communicate, I am afraid you're not making much sense, my dear."

"Why aren't I making sense?", she hotly demanded.

"For one thing, you just begged me not to punish the accused in question, despite your declaration of his guilt. I never heard of such a thing," he admonished. "Secondly, Riddle is a most outstanding member of this school and it is ridiculous for me to do anything or investigate....his character. "

"Your right...but," Eileen steadied herself and suddenly let out all the stress her conscience was under, "I saw him kill her and examine the body and laugh about it, sir! It makes me sick! I'm mad that he can get away with this and-"

"Stop ranting, you are being quite foolish Ms. Prince," Dippit actually bellowed.

She stopped and he smiled at her pleasantly, which he meant as a gesture for Eieen to convince her to listen to logic, "All I can conclude is that your story cannot be true. Nor, is there any reason to investigate a boy like Riddle as fond as I am of him. In fact, Riddle just owled me this morning requesting an appointment with me, and I'm sure it will be obvious he is innocent when I see him later...So it is time for you to depart."

She suppressed glaring at him and left the Headmaster's study without taking another look in Dippit's direction. But as Eileen walked back down the corridors to the common room she felt some real relief for she had cleared her conscience. She had tried, and that was all she could do. "At least I can concentrate on my O.W.L.s now," she thought.

A flash of insight had erupted in Riddle's mind when he had spoken to Armando Dippit the night of the same day Eileen had accused him. It was only furthered the next day when he received his award for special services to the school. Proceeding this, gloomy Monday was the fifth year's O.W.L. exams. Eileen Prince felt it perfectly understandable for Tom to not seek her out during exam week.

It was late in the day on a Sunday evening, before the last day of term. Eileen was in a depressed, foul mood. For the first and foremost reason, she was nit-picking over her O.W.L. exams and all the mistakes she believed she made, and secondly she was agonizing over the fact that she was not spending the last few days before summer break with Tom.

She was sitting in the courtyard between the main corridors, alone and reading yet another book on the Dark Arts that she had stolen from the Restricted section. Of course, it had not been easy to steal under the librarian's nose, but she had managed it thus far. Afterall, she sensed that a tendency towards risky behavior was a requirement to be in Riddle's "Dark Order."

It was getting harder for her to read, as the sun was already well on it's way beneath the horizon. She kept looking up, hoping somebody she knew would appear. A little while ago, the courtyard had been teeming with people, but now the last few stragglers were dispersing. The lights around the perimeter were being turned on through automatic magic.

After a few minutes alone in the silence, she saw a tall figure entering the outer hallways surrounding the courtyard and come into view.

She blushed as soon as soon as she recognized it was definitely Tom. She could never mistake his dark blue-gray eyes, that right now contained a spark of delight as he approached her, crossing the courtyard's lawn. He was handsome boy alright, but not your typical looks. One could always distinguish him from any other good-looking young man.

He sat down beside her on the bench, and turned with an inquiring intensity, peering straight into her brown eyes, "The OWLs exams are over and done with, Eileen. No need to worry about them until mid-July," he said airily. He wanted to brush her mind right past this topic, as for a very prudent purpose.

"I know, how do you think you did...T-er....?," she asked slowly, trying to be careful not to slight him.

Tom shook his head, and said quietly, "No,...not here." Then he looked over his shoulder as if afraid somebody was eavesdropping. He had just seen in Eileen's mind that she was wondering if he expected her to call him Lord Voldemort.

A second later he picked right up in his train of thought, "Spectacular...all across the board, of course," he said as if it was glorious. "I did things with a wand in charms and transfiguration, which you wouldn't be able to dream of, Eileen. I may have frightened my examiner...from my powers," he recounted, casually.

Eileen did not know whether to believe that story, but she felt sure Tom got all Outstandings, the highest mark possible. Although this was true, he had frightened his examiners, especially in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

For a long moment, the young Voldemort looked at her. It seemed he was drinking in the sight of her in the glowing light of dusk. It was true, she was now beautiful, but still unkempt in style, which prevented her from being stunningly attractive at the present. But even, Riddle felt a twinge of his own desire. Eileen just nervously glanced at him now and again, trying to enjoy a rare moment of peace in Riddle's company.

Leaning closer, Riddle whispered, "How do you... feel about your master, Tom Riddle being the Heir of Slytherin?" Riddle had a very exact reasoning, from his hunches to state this.

After he said the above, he closed in with such proximity to her eyes and face, that Eileen felt claustrophobic. She tried to smile, but it faltered sharply. Her stomach dropped as she recalled what she had seen him do, and her breathing became panting. "Um...it's awe-inspiring, Tom. I love how powerful you are," she said, but she did not sound sincere. Her positive wording, was no where near the affliction she felt at the recall of her belief that she had seen him kill Myrtle Maudley out of twisted revenge.

Impulsively he suddenly asked heatedly, "As you know, the Chamber truly was opened, but is now sealed....but you didn't tell anyone whom the Heir of Slytherin is?" This was not the true information, Riddle was trying to glean out of her, but it was the correct route to take with her not being any the wiser.

Eileen felt lthe balmly air of the June evening had turned to a palpable frostiness. There was something about the way he was talking to her, that was beginning to make her feel dread. "No, I would never...", she drifted off, going back to the time last week when she accused him to Headmaster Dippit.

"Look at me...I love looking at my beautiful girl.... You're such a refined beauty now your reinvented," he complimented, speaking his words quickly, but smoothly. It was the perfect phrase to get Eileen to look straight at him, as she tried to resist remembering what she had done, but unfortunately the memory persisted at the forefront of her consciousness.

After a few seconds, Tom had a very firm appearance, his lips drawn in a tight line, his eyes narrowed, but full of a light, Eileen wrongly assumed to be a wonderful desire for her. Finally he spoke, "No, I knew you didn't." But he was still looking at her very suspiciously, watching her closely.

"I got that half-breed, Rubeus Hagrid, expelled. But everyone except the school governors and Headmaster thinks it's him. As if he had the brains or the power!," Riddle seethed. And then hitting the hammer right on the head of the nail (or into Eileen's head) he said, "Aren't you glad I disposed of Myrtle Maudley?"

Eileen's face turned white, remembering how she hid behind a stall door as the King of Serpents had attacked poor Myrtle. "Yes, it was a good choice to g-get the only Slytherin muggle-born, Tom." She said, her eyes filling with tears of hurt remembering how remorseless he had behaved.

Speaking with lack of affect Tom said as he raised her hand and kissed it, "My favorite pure-blood witch is finally worthy of the Heir of Sytherin. Your good enough for me, but don't you want more?"

Eileen sighed with absolute contenment, "I'm good enough for you, really?" She now looked truly happy, happier than she had been in quite a while, perhaps since her first month's ounce of the Elixir of Youth had been given to her.

"Yes...but don't prevaricate. Why not tell me the truth? I must be certain you're not playing a game of deception, Eileen. You wouldn't dare disobey me even indirectly? Or would you?" he said.

But if anyone was deceiving and playing an awful mind game it was Tom Riddle, not Eileen.

"I wouldn't! No!," Eileen cried, becoming animated.

Tom nodded slowly, surveying her appraisingly his eyes still gleaming as if he was hiding something some insights he knew, as he most definitely was.

"In order to pass my judgments as a follower to my creeds, I must assess how far you'll go. That means, any lengths, Eileen. You've already admitted and sworn you'd do anything I ordered, haven't you?"

"Yes...," Eileen said breathlessly. But just then the sound of robes swishing distracted both of them. Out of the blue, quite literally in the mixture of black, grey, and blues of the twilight sky, which casted a silhouette over the courtyard appeared Albus Dumbledore. It was not clear to either of them, how long he had been standing at the other end of the courtyard. He may have made himself invisible.

Tom got up, abruptly and Eileen followed suit. They had to pass Dumbledore as it was the only exit in the courtyard, in which he was standing in front of it transfixed. Perhaps, intrigued by the beauty of the moon rising.

"You ought to get ready and packed, Tom. You too, Miss Prince. You both have a long journey on the train tomorrow." It was impossible for Riddle to ascertain exactly what the Transfiguration teacher had heard or if he had even been listening.

Hurriedly Tom answered his remark, "I was just telling Eileen Prince about the trophy for special services I was awarded, sir."

Eileen and Tom swept past Dumbledore and left the vicinity of the courtyard. Eileen's curiosity peaked at this new piece of information. Meanwhile, Riddle started thinking, "I could never accomplish that at Hogwarts now. So I'll wait as patiently as is needed to get her."

Her jaw dropped at the thought of Tom being presented a trophy, it mostly delighted her, but also shocked her because she knew the truth. "A trophy? Where?," she blurted out, frantic with desire to know.

"Well, if you must know," he said with a sly smile, then pulled her forward, as they were just passing the school's trophy room. Riddle also wanted to show her it to ensure she would not badger him to see it, as he was sure Eileen would, unless he showed her it now.

Entering the room, it was dimly lit because the lights only surrounded the many cases and shelves of nearly a thousand years of awards.

Tom led the way with a look of bliss on his face, from the pleasure he had gotten from getting this award and he was recounting his memories. In the middle section, was the silver trophy on display, Tom Marvolo Riddle embossed on it. Eileen's brown eyes lit up as she stared at it, then held out a hand to touch the handles.

"It was amusing..." he started suddenly. "to console the bereaved. To act sympathetic to the dead girl's parents grief. The mother could not stop saying how comforting my council was," he stated antipathetically. Even though he was speaking of an experience that most would feel emotional about, Tom was detached.

Eileen frowned and said, "But why did you get the award for special-?"

Coming out of his reverie he snapped, "It was a cover-up, Eileen. They had to make it look like something was done." He looked at her more closely, examining her mind again. To get her to think about what she witnessed in the bathroom again he described more of his speaking to the family, "The family was of course upset. The father was actually bright enough to question if it was an accident. He ruminated over how anyone could have something against an innocent girl," Riddle looked at her closely as he finished confiding.

He saw in her mind, Eileen thinking of her anger at Riddle letting Myrtle die out of revenge because of what happened that day in March. Voldemort gave her an incredulous look of disbelief. How could she think that mudblood was important enough to kill passionately?

He continued to frown at her. Eileen became startled and said, "What's wrong, Tom? You look offended...was it something I-"

"No...No, I'm fine," he said softly. He smiled mechanically, "I'll be honored before the school at the leaving feast tomorrow. I couldn't be in a better mood from the recognition." Although that was not really true. "But you, Eileen. You should keep in mind the vows you made at the initiation."

"I am! I'm not being...disobediant. Why remind me now?" she asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"Well..." said Riddle pleasantly. "You don't want to wind up dead, do you? All that Elixir will have gone to waste....on a corpse," he said with sarcastic disappointment.

"Tom, please! You're scaring me," Eileen moaned.

"How inspiring for me to see the first one die!," he burst out heatedly. This was being caused by inner, well-hidden anger he was harboring at the moment.

"Th-the first one?!," Eileen stammered.

"When I rise to power of course they'll be many who will have to die," he stated blandly, for it was just a simple fact to him. "Why, I believe I feel aesthetic pleasure from seeing someone lose their power in death."

"I have to go...now. It's late," she said, rushing out of the trophy room desperate to escape him. Her feelings were telling her there was something incredibly spooky about this conversation, and she was in denial about how it related to her.

Voldemort's hand twitched towards his wand, as if he was going to stop her. He was secretly furious at her, planning on what he would do when the time was right. The hand that twitched for his wand, just broke apart, and his fingers spreading as Tom considered how he could get her in grasp and at his mercy again. He knew it would not be as easy as it was with Myrtle to get away with it all.


Tom then followed her direction, all the while calculating just what he was going to do with Eileen Prince, on the first golden opportunity he could get away from Hogwarts, and the watchful eye of Dumbledore, who was lately observing Tom much more closely.

At the Leaving Feast, the next day Professor Dippit got to his feet beaming, "I am happy to inform you that all six of the petrified people recovered. A thanks is in order for the many that helped make this happen..." He then paused.

Except for the Gryffindors, most looked decently content. Gryffindor had come in fourth place this year, and it was natural for many of those students to feel shame in that.

Nobody seemed to remember the death of Myrtle. In fact, the Great Hall had no shrouds of black. Rather the dark green and shining silver colors of Slytherin were displayed, as they had won the House Cup.

Amongst the sea of faces there were only a few frowns. Dumbledore seemed to have developed more lines over the preceding year. He silently sympathized over how Rubeus Hagrid was not allowed to attend the feast! Eileen Prince was actually anxious, yet her expression looked confused even with her eyes constantly darting towards Tom Riddle, who in the midst of all the emotion, was strikingly impassive.

Dippit plowed on with his speech, despite some wavering attention spans of the hot, sunny afternoon, "It was a difficult year at best. But in spite of the hardships, accidents, and...tragedy, leaders took the initiative. Professor Dumbledore's wisdom and council, always a comfort. Our Herbology Professor's mandrake draught..." He paused once more to some light applause.

"Finally there is one student I am quite proud of. Despite being alone and parentless, to put it nicely, he has succeeded in every sense of the word here at Hogwarts. He even took his time and effort to secure us against some of the threats. For that, I awarded him the honor of "Special Services to the School." Of course, I am talking about Tom Riddle."

Tom did not rise, like the others Dippit had mentioned in his speech had. Rather, he stayed in his seat, heat rising up his pale face. He did not relish the fact that Dippit had mentioned he was parentless, implying he lived in an orphanage. But this reluctance, just made Dippit chuckle lightly, "Please come forward, Mr. Riddle."

Riddle sprung up from the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. He moved, towards Armando Dippit, standing in the center in front of the staff table. Briefly, he shook hands his expression still so strangely impassive, yet he was looking quite elegant considering the fluidity of how he shook hands. Dippit reacted by commenting, "Such a modest young man you are Tom. Good work, my boy."

At that, Riddle turned to go back, smiling as if he hadn't a care in the world, looking over everyone's heads. Most of them clapped much harder for Tom Riddle than they had for the others.

As Eileen watched Tom, for some reason, tears formed in her eyes. She felt like she was seeing something for the very first time, but she could not pinpoint what it was. She thought it might be something like a façade, but once Riddle was back in his place, it receded.

After this, Dippit went on to congratulate Slytherin House, and it's accomplishments. This only suited Riddle's feelings of superiority that day more, as he inwardly marveled about the legacy he was leaving behind in that diary he had created and of course, being the Heir of Slytherin.

A short while later, all the students were piling onto the train-station platform. Eileen Prince, had went alone, feeling very isolated at the moment. But Tom Riddle, was trailed by a group that had tried to ask him a whole host of questions about what he had done to help the petrified people and the school this year.

A boy, a couple of years younger than Tom, who seemed to wish he could be like him, said, "I wish I could follow your example, Riddle. But why did you feel compelled to do something?"

Stepping out of the coach, with one black bag, his head held high, Riddle answered, "It was a sense of solidarity. I couldn't watch Hogwarts close....knowing I don't have a home to go to," he answered as if he had been virtuous.

Eileen, several yards in front of him, turned around abruptly at the unmistakably smooth charismatic tone of voice. She bit her lip, feeling a sense of pain at the truth she knew. Eileen then turned away, to find the other prefects.

Riddle did not follow the crowd. He seemed to be watching something as the horse-less carriages drove away. He stared shrewdly at whatever it was, his dark blue eyes were full of a false light in the afternoon sunshine. "So... what I read in Hogwarts: A History is true. Thestrals do exist," he said softly to himself.

Riddle continued to stare at the animals, folding there leathery wings.

Riddle had seen Myrtle die, but to him it had been an interesting and cosmic thing to see and that was how it had sunk in for him. For a death must be witnessed and sunk in, in order to see Thestrals. But to Riddle it was a savage pleasure, to see their reality, as his face formed into an ugly sneer at the thought of what he considered of that human weakness, death.

Heading towarded the train, lost in thought, the seeds were now being planted. Riddle was going to start to search and ponder for a way to make himself immortal.

Eileen hoisted her bag up on the rack, slowly. Then sat down in the plump cushioned booth, exhausted. She was emotionally drained from all the stress she had undergone these past few weeks. Her eyes were closed, until she was jerked awake by the sound of the compartment door sliding.

In came, Tom Riddle, not even glancing at her, as he busied himself, tossing his leather satchel on the top rack. She did not look at him, but continued to stare out at the landscape of the English, countryside, as the turrets and towers of Hogwarts slipped around the curve, the train was turning through, towards Hogsmeade.

He sat down, right next to her in the tiny compartment, slouching a bit. Riddle was in a mixture of both satisfaction with how his year at Hogwarts had went, and great agitation that he would be returning to his orphanage. But even though he was feeling this, he barely showed it.

Eileen couldn't help but continuously glance at Riddle for the next several seconds, out of re-assurance that he was still there. In truth, she was experiencing a sense of loneliness, knowing she wouldn't see Tom Riddle all summer. Being under his rigid control had felt like being in a family within his gang. She did not want to leave, as she was sure she was now strangely disconnected from her blood family. Then she remembered the ritual of the initiation and realized that she had a new family. Her mother and father and all the rest did not know, nor would they ever learn of her obligation and vows to serve the man she loved.

As Eileen glanced once again at Riddle she was able to discern that he was seriously contemplating something and she burned to know what it was, but didn't dare ask. Although only a minute passed, he finally faced her, looking her in the eyes as if greatly stimulated by her appearance, "Disappointed in leaving Hogwarts, aren't you, Eileen? I'm sure you'll have a good summer....Even when feeling separated from your family, . But if you really are determined to be special towards me...you must make sacrifices."

This had finally caught, Eileen's full attention. The light in the soft brown irises of her eyes sparkled as she asked sweetly, "How do you do that...m-my lord? You have such a way with understanding all about me like nobody else!" She meant what she said, feeling comforted in her belief that Tom Riddle cared to understand her feelings.

Riddle raised an eyebrow and spoke charmingly, "Just a useful talent, I possess in great measure, it's called Legilimency, Eileen." At this, he thought of all he learned of his clever interrogation of her just a few days ago. Suddenly there was a subtle, but pronounced darkness. Riddle was recalling her lame attempts to deceive him, and he was still furious. The young Voldemort was still instrumental, in calculating just what he was going to do to her. "But there is no need to feel alone, when you're in my presence. And let me remind you..."

But Riddle instantly, stopped as soon as he heard a loud knock on the door, and one of the prefects entered, and frantically complained, "Let's go. We all, have prefect rounds to complete...then we can finally relax!"

Riddle looked up as if exasperated and said in an almost bored voice, "Yes. What is it? Carter and Johnson fighting again over that girl right now?"

"Yes, how do you know this, Tom?," the boy asked, surprised.

"Just do....Simple, decent people are so easy to figure out," he muttered casually.

The prefect nodded at Eileen, expecting her to come along as well. But Tom shook his head and answered, "No. Eileen isn't feeling up to it today. Motion-sickness."

Eileen's face screwed up in annoyance, that Tom had to lie like that. "No – I'm okay, really."

"I'll be back shortly, Eileen to help you," he said as if he was going to do her a favor, winking at her and the two boys left the compartment. He had done that, as a small way to put restrictions on her, and taking privileges without her knowing. Riddle thought she needed to learn a lesson from her mistakes in confessing what she had witnessed and putting, Lord Voldemort's reputation in jeopardy.

Coming back from the last rounds he finished on his own, Riddle went back to his place reserved for the two fifth-year prefects of Slytherin.

Withdrawing his wand made of yew, the young Voldemort used magic just to close the blinds of the aisle window. He had an agenda to speak with Eileen Prince, one that was not going to be an open request and nor did he wish for people to see them together.

"I'm really going to miss being with you. For all you've done for me, Tom. Because without you, I'm nothing, nobody...." she said.

Tom Riddle had listened carefully to her little disclosure but just answered dryly, "That's all to be expected. Yet, you should be thinking of my dire circumstances, Eileen. I have to live with Muggles in an orphanage. Meanwhile, you're in the comfort of Stonewall Estate." He had spoken as if envious, but really did not care at all. In Riddle's mind, it was best to press his advantage through laying another touch of guilt.

Eileen filling with compassion and desperate to reveal her sympathy for him, "I know, but what could I do? Oh, an orphanage! They must treat you horribly there.... you are brave to return to it alone every summer." She was once again thinking of her admiration of his whole personality.

At these words, which were sincere from Eileen, Riddle's expression hardened. He did not take kindly, from a follower feeling pity towards him. Riddle just swallowed hard and remembered his immediate objective as he silently promised himself he would teach her better at a later date.

"Forget the orphanage!," he spoke as if angry. "That place holds no intrinsic value to me. They're afraid and rightfully so. When I want to, I hurt them," he explained with delicate simplicity. "Now...to change the subject. To use your words, Eileen, it is true that without me, you'd be nothing and nobody. But do you know why?"

"Should I tell you my opinion? Th-the real one,L-Lord Voldemort?" She then smiled, glad she was able to say his preferred name.

"Yes," he said firmly. "Remember, that even before the words come out, I know if you're contemplating an attempt at lieing."

"Without you, I'd be weak. I need to be closer to you so badly... and I desire protection through power."

"That's a start. The reality is that your desire matches up perfectly with the next step to serving dutifully. Dark magic is about power. Weakness is never beneficial, even if being subservient to your master, Eileen...." Riddle paused folding his hands, composed after speaking pursuasively and as if he was explaining a whole new system of information.

Then a flash of greed appeared in his eyes as he announced leaning closer beside her, "Possession. That is the answer and key to all your worries, Eileen. You say you want to be closer to the future Dark Lord, what better way than for I, to possess your body?"

His real motivation was selfish. Riddle was planning on it being his first experiment on a possible way to solve the puzzle of achieving immortality. He smiled awfully at the thought of something going wrong, and Eileen's death.

Eileen gasped, and almost hyper-ventilated. She was caught between sheer desire and terror. "How would it work?"

"You'll see soon enough, darling. But it should and will be a beautiful experience," Riddle said, as he was not going to tell her the details on possession. "But don't be afraid. You'll be enhanced by my powers and therefore protected," he added soothingly, sensing Eileen's fear.

Riddle felt aroused by Eileen and was staring at her. Eileen noticed it, but wrongly misinterpreted it to be positive, when it was really about Riddle's hidden indignation regarding her behavior. Sitting right next to him she felt compelled to do something drastic and she was further encouraged from the few seconds he stared at her.

Thinking of her love for him, she put her arm around his broad shoulders and her head against his chest, where she could hear his heart beating.

"I trust you, I know you'll protect me," Eileen whispered as a response to what he said a moment ago.

Riddle's expression changed from cool surprise, to a much more bleak expression. Eileen was not frightened she just laughed as she was delighted that he was allowing her to be affectionate.

He answered as if being sweet, "I have total control and you love it, don't you Eileen?"

"Yes, Tom," she dreamily answered. Responding to this, Riddle kissed her while still in his arms, his lips brushing her roughly. Then lowered her so that her head was in his lap and he started caressing her dark-brown hair.

"You're so handsome, Tom," Eileen murmured, looking up at him.

Tom's eyes glinted near malevolently from her comment, thinking of the beauty she had now become and how he wanted to destroy it. "I hope you can remain at ease, Eileen. I can't wait to possess you, for then you shall finally satisfy me in terms of powers. I want to keep a piece of you forever."

"You mean a piece of me in your heart, right?," Eileen asked, thinking it was like a poetic expression.

Riddle nodded slowly and smiled. But underneath he was silently seething and plotting revenge for her transgressions in informing Professor Dippit.

The pistons blew and the train came to a halt. Tom pulled Eileen off of him immediately and grabbed his bag, and handed Eileen's to her.

"I said I'd be taking a trip near Hangleton, and you never know, you just might bump into me," he finished with a bit of sarcasm.

Eileen looked at him, smiling as she delved into her bag, looking for a slip of paper. But before she could get her stuff together, Tom left the compartment and departed off the train. Eileen finally found what she was looking for after a few moments.

Desperate to get to say good-bye to Riddle, she pushed her way through the now crowded aisle. Once outside, her eyes adjusting to the light, she did not find him. Crestfallen, she rolled up the slip of paper, that had her address written on it. She had wanted to say good-bye to Tom Riddle and to ask him to write to her over the summer.

But her heart filled with budding hope, as she slowly tread down the platform. Tom had hinted that he was going to visit her!