THEM

Tom Riddle liked the colour red.

When he had arrived at Hogwarts, six years earlier, he had found himself hoping to end up in the house of flaming colours. That was, of course, before he noticed the representative animal of his current house.

When he thought back he almost shuddered at the memory. How foolish and childish he had been to want to join a house just because of its colours.

Times had changed, for the better. He was in the right house for him, founded by his own ancestor. It was destiny.

He was right in the table of his own house when it happened. At first he only paid attention to his book.

No conversations reached his ears; they did not interest him. Futile exchanges of words would not lead him to greatness, knowledge would.

Knowledge was power.

It was an unwritten, unspoken rule. There was no need for it. If Tom Riddle was locked in his world of parchment and ink no one should dare interrupt him.

Since it was a rule, therefore it had an exception and it confirmed the rule itself. Not even Riddle could escape it.

That night the exception would be Abraxas Malfoy and his countless attempts to get his 'friend's' attention.

He closed the book abruptly and turned to face Malfoy. With furrowed brows and a contracted jaw he sent him a glare that made him visibly wince. "What's so important Malfoy, that you're distracting me?" he asked in a sharp tone, perfect for an impatient person.

Malfoy gestured towards the Gryffindor table and Tom followed his gaze. He fell on Elias Selwyn, a boy known for not knowing his own business. Loved by Dumbledore and consequently hated by Riddle.

He huffed and turned boredly back to his source of distraction 'it's not news that he's sitting at the table at dinner. You'd better elaborate before I lose my temper" could a boy be so stupid?

Malfoy shifted in place uncomfortably, doing his best to avoid the threatening gaze in front of him. When he had gathered the courage to speak to him, however, he was interrupted by the deafening noise coming from the back of the room.

The two Slytherins, like everyone else in the room, turned towards the front doors, which were now wide open.

It all happened too quickly. Tom barely registered a swirl of red and green heading towards Selwyn at a brisk pace and then, the latter, was on the floor.

Malfoy was standing directly in front of the scene, his face growing an expression of horror as the scene unfolded. A girl was standing on Elias' ribcage and with her knees pushing his ribs against his lungs, making his breathing irregular. Almost impossible.

Elias' face took on a delicate note of violet. Soon stained with the colour cresimi, his blood.

Her hands were stained burgundy, not from the cold, nor from a burn. Covered in the viscous substance. Even though her knuckles were stained, a bone whiteness stood out. She clenched her fists so tightly that Malfoy feared for a second that her knuckles might snap. They just cracked. Her blood and the boy's mixed, but there was no difference.

An expanse of red ink on skins that were no longer soft and shiny but bruised and swollen.

It was a beautiful sight, Tom thought. He felt satisfaction at seeing Selwyn beaten so severely, without mercy. Unfortunately, that girl, whoever she was, was condemning herself without knowing it. Her bloodlust and impulsiveness caught Riddle's attention.

People worthy of such attention never came out winners.

Suddenly parchment and ink were no longer so intriguing. His pupils caught every snap, collision and slash, unable to melt away from the girl's boiling rage.

Several cracks could be heard and no one was sure if they were the poor hapless man's bones or the girl's hands.

Although several girls screamed and cried in horror, none of the boys, begged by them to intervene did anything to stop the wrath of the girl with unnaturally blood-red hair.

She was screaming and taunting Elias. Daring him to repeat to her face the mean words she had spat behind his back. "You're a filthy fucking bastard" scarlet stained purple and a new slash made the blood flow from his eyebrow. It came out copiously and obstructed his vision. "You fucking coward, repeat your fucking words," her breath was quite laboured. That's what gave her away. Physically she had to slow down, slowing down meant giving two players the chance to drag her away from the panting pile of flesh and bone on the floor.

Tom recognized the voice of Flint, captain of the Quiddich team whispering through his teeth to stop immediately. "Anima! Not here, you'll get yourself expelled," but she didn't stop it moving and squirming in his grip.

A small group of people had gathered around Elias and Tom huffed as he heard his groans of pain. The girl, Anima if he had heard correctly, was in much worse condition but not a trace of tear or pain was present on her beautiful face.

"are you crazy?! You are a psychopath! Oh Elias Elias!" a brunette with lively brown eyes was kneeling beside Selwyn trying to lift him up and support him. She continued to cry, desperate tears fuelling, inordinately, the amusement of the author of such misery.

She began to laugh, with delight. A maniacal laughter, devoid of joy but imbued with venom. The mockery was so prominent it almost scratched his ears.

"oh poor Kyla! What are you afraid for your betrothed?" she burst into another roaring laugh and relaxed into the arms of Flint, who did not stop holding her still. He knew all too well the redhead's uncontrollable temper and didn't trust her to leave.

Kyla stood up and walked towards Anima. The candlelight cast an orange shadow over her figure making the bronze stand out among her long dreads. "Littelton you're a fucking-"

"I dare you to finish that fucking sentence Carter. Do that and I'll send you to the morgue in a black bag."

Despite being motionless, his bloodied smile and sharp eyes were enough to instill fear in her. She stopped in her tracks and looked at Anima with wide eyes. She studied her face for any sign of teasing or irony but her gaze was impossible to mistake. It is a promise.

More and more students gathered around the scene and finally some teachers deigned to show themselves. Better late than never, after all, the poor guy only had several bruises on his face.

"What in the name of Merlin's beard is going on here! Why have none of the prefects deigned to come and call us?! Mr Selwyn?"

Kyla regained her courage and began shouting to the four winds that Miss Littelton was a lunatic. To be locked up in Azkaban, she hinted. Anima curled her lips, trying to hide her amusement. The most they could do to her was send her back to the mental institution at St Mungo's. Honestly, she wouldn't have minded so much. It was a nice place, psychotic patients aside.

Tom looked at her and found her to be a curious girl. Maybe it was the hair dyed an unnatural colour or maybe the fact that she was a girl and played a sport. Oh maybe...

"Miss Carter now calm down and escort Mr. Selwyn to the infirmary" the professor helped him up and a couple of people overtook Elias, Kyla followed them with a distraught look, she was shaking to the bone "and you Miss Littelton!" Dumbledore had always been a patient man. He always seemed to know everything. Sharp and wise, so he was described. "You Miss Littelton go to Headmaster Dippet immediately, he will take care of you!"

Tom suddenly understood why she was curious. Usually no one dared to contradict Dumbledore. If he thought about it more carefully he had never met anyone who could make him

lose his temper. And yet, there he was. His finger pointing at the redhead, cheeks flushed. His eyes, usually lit by the light of someone who knew more than was necessary, wide and bloodshot. Furious at the girl who had dared touch his protégé.

He had to hide an expression of genuine amusement when he heard the girl reply in a sweet and condescending tone that she was not a Gryffindor and therefore he had no power over her.

She sat down at the table quietly, followed by the two boys holding her down, she turned to the professor and with scarlet stained teeth still on her face, she smiled cheekily at him, "I'll wait for Slughorn's verdict sir, you can go and find him to speed things up if it will make you feel better!" Before turning around however she twitched her eyebrows. As she did so a small cut opened up again. She raised her eyes to meet the professor's bleary ones, her face suddenly becoming relaxed and devoid of any anger. If you paid close enough attention, however, you could make out something in her eyes. They were not clear, not at all. They were veiled by an almost imperceptible curtain of mockery.

"absence of authority is routine now."

Malfoy turned back to Riddle with wide eyes, seeking confirmation for what he had just heard. He never met his eyes, they were still glued to the girl's figure.

"Very well Miss Littelton, I'm going to go find your head of house" he passed his gaze over the table quickly and stopped when his eyes found Riddle, already intent on staring at him. "Riddle, as head of house I'm relying on you, check her out."

"Of course sir" and with that Dumbledore left the room quickly causing the murmurs to flare up again.

When Tom rested his gaze on Anima he found her quietly eating her soup. He arched an eyebrow, she hadn't bothered to wipe her face and he wasn't sure if the metallic taste of blood matched the aroma of the dinner.

He didn't have to 'watch' her for long. Slughorn arrived a few minutes later and Anima followed without protest, escorted by what Tom assumed were his friends or potential witnesses.

"I wanted to tell you that Elias Selwyn sabotaged the last game of Quiddich but I guess there's no need for that anymore," whispered Malfoy still slightly shaken by events.

"Find out everything you can about her."

Malfoy looked at his companions. Had he heard correctly? Looking back at Riddle, whose attention had returned to the book, he guessed that he had heard perfectly.

He found himself praying for the poor girl whose presence had aroused Riddle's interest.

Poor Soul, soon to be corrupted by the ultimate sinner.

I'm sure it's disgusting, but when I wrote it, it sounded nice.

vote o comment if you enjoyed pls

By the way that's story Moves fast.