❝ her gaze was like the darkest night, and when he looked into it, he saw the path to his own destruction. but he couldn't look away. for in those veins of darkness, he found something he couldn't deny-something that called to him with a voice as ol...
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september 1st, 1943
Friendship, the sacred bond of friendship is what Tom had promised Victoria. However, six years later, standing across the crowded halls of Hogwarts, she had barely recognised the boy who once had been her closest ally. The years had changed him. His once-shared dreams with her had faded into the shadows of his new life, surrounded by the snobby elitist slytherin's who whispered in huddled circles, their eyes never straying from the power and privilege he commanded. Tom had left her behind, and the friendship they'd built was nothing more than a distant memory, now as cold and distant as the growing gap between them. The promises he'd made seemed hollow, lost in the glint of ambition that shone too brightly in his eyes.
Victoria was the only one who noticed the subtle unsettling rise of Tom's followers -- the Knights of Walpurgis. While others admired him from afar, she saw the way certain slytherin boys began to gather around him, their devotion growing darker with each passing day. They whispered in shadows, exchanged knowing glances, and Tom, always at the center, wielded an influence that seemed far more dangerous than mere admiration. The cult was forming, and Tom was its leader. She was the only one who truly saw it, the only one who had seen the change in Tom.
It was the first day of school at Hogwarts, and Victoria couldn't shake the nervous flutter in her chest. It wasn't just the usual unease that came with the start of a new term, it was something deeper, something more unsettling. She couldn't ignore the growing distance between her and Riddle, the way he had slipped out of her grasp, surrounded by his new companions, and how their old connection now was a mere memory. She couldn't help but wonder if today, like every other day, she'd have to face the reality of the space that was once nonexistent between them. She gather her courage, straightened her robes, and took a deep breath, knowing that the day ahead would only force her to confront the painful truth: the Tom she had known was no longer the one she would find in the halls. They were strangers again.
Victoria was seated in a lone compartment, distanced away from the other students. Over the years Victoria had grown close to the silence that engulfed her days. While she would see her peers growing closer with each other every passing day, Victoria grew closer to liking the loneliness. The silence had opened its embrace to Victoria and engulfed her in its arms. Sure, she felt a hint of sadness sometimes, having her one shoulder to lean on be turned away from her, but she liked the quiet. The quiet had never disappointed her.
She was seated comfortably, with her back towards the door and her legs propped onto the seated. Her two manicured hands held a book, which paged she would turn every 5 minutes. Her peace and quiet was harshly disrupted when yelling came from further down the hall, making the blonde girl groan in annoyance. She tried her best to tune out the harsh voices, which were inching closer, but she had no luck.
"Bloody hell! You just had to be later didn't you, Lestrange?," A voice grumbled with notable irritation in their voice. Doors could be heard slamming shut, the sound nearing closer. "All of these damned compartments are occupied."
