Before Evil Came Along

BEFORE EVIL CAME ALONG

Chapter Two:

We decided to have secret meetings, to make it a little more exciting. I also believe he didn't really want to tell his other friends he was hanging out with me, but I didn't really mind. I never told a soul either.

Keeping our friendship a secret was harder than I thought it would be. All those excuses one needs to make up and one has to make sure that one doesn't use the same excuse twice a day, or that one doesn't sneak out of a class when the other couldn't... It took a lot of planning and we soon had a strategy to meet four times a month, once a week.

Once during class, once, we would sneak out of our Common Rooms and we would skip breakfast, lunch or dinner twice.

It was particularly hard for me, Persephone, Aglaia and Uma liked to check up on me in the evening, or they would come and sit with me in the Great Hall. Plus Minerva kept staggering after Tom...But we managed to fool them every time, although I still don't know how we pulled it off.

But it was good we did. I had such good a time... Tom and I, we could truly talk about everything. We liked to discuss our future, Tom was a serious boy. He could appreciate a good joke every now and then, but he took almost everything in earnest. I could see why. If he had good notes he could stay in the Wizarding World, something I think he desired more than anything. He hated Muggles.

We had some wild discussions about that, we had. He was a true Slytherin that way. He didn't want Muggle-borns or Half-bloods at Hogwarts. I didn't have to fear, because like I said, I come from a long line of pure bloods, but a lot of Ravenclaws didn't and a lot of them were friends. The things he wanted done to them to "clean out the Wizard Race" were awful, and it made me sick to think that some of those could be done to any of my friends. And when I told him that he was a Half-blood too, he got so mad he scared the living daylights out of me.

'I am not a Mudblood!' he would yell. 'Tom Riddle is a Mudblood, and Tom Riddle doesn't exist anymore... There is only Voldemort!'

But I knew Tom still was there, because every time I said something, Tom would say something back. When we were together, he was no Slytherin and I was no Ravenclaw. We just were Tom and Shiphrah. A boy and a girl, being very good friends.

Well, you can pretty much guess what happened, can't you?

Indeed, we became more than friends. We fell in love. But it wasn't until our fourth year that we gave in to our feelings. Before I gave into my feelings, at least. I never really knew how long Tom had wanted to be more than friends. He wouldn't tell me.

It happened during one of our secret meetings. Oh, yes, I remember everything so well. We had sneaked into the Divination class. I had heard from Persephone that Professor Ekstispeks had told her last class she was going to be sick that day, so that room was empty...

The attic was so hot it made you drowsy almost instantly as you entered and it smelled of tea-leaves.

'Oh look,' he said, obviously faking his own surprise 'isn't this a pretty couch...' But it was... It was a soft couch of pink velvet; the arm rests were matte gold and it was covered in white rose petals. 'Ekstispeks must've seen what was coming.'

We sat down and had a beautiful view over the lake and the grounds and the sun shone so beautifully bright, as if she knew as well that we would be looking up at her.

We soon agreed to skip some lessons, and I know, that sounds silly, but if you would've been there, you would've done the same...

And we just sat there and did nothing but look. I can still see that view if I close my eyes, and it's still one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen, one of the most wonderful moments I've ever known... And the funny thing is, I know Tom knows it too... He still feels it, I know he does.

But back to the attic- Suddenly, he put on a very fake yawn and he stealthily laid his arm around me. I let him. I liked it... and I got closer to him and softly leaned against him, resting my head on his chest.

I could hear his heart beat, louder and faster than a normal heartbeat. He breathed short, irregular breaths... And I noticed I did too.

And we looked at the sapphire sky contrasting with the lake as the sun made it shine silver. We- well, at least I- felt special and alone, alone in the entire world... And I enjoyed it with every short, irregular breath.

After an hour or so, Tom nodded off and suddenly the lake and the sun didn't seem so pretty anymore... But he did... Oh he got more handsome everyday and it never hit me like it hit me then, not even when I first saw him on King's Cross.

I couldn't keep my eyes of him, and I loved...wait- I don't think love is strong enough a word... let's say I adored watching him.

I could've sat in that classroom for hours, just looking. I knew for sure, that moment, that there was nothing about him I didn't love. Not a bloody thing- pardon my language.

I was aware of my feelings, maybe even of his too- that they were strong, but somehow I had always considered them rather... I wouldn't say mundane, or wrong, but I can't seem to think of other words.

I mean, I think practically every single girl at Hogwarts was interested in him. Yes yes, I know this sounds very cliché: he was the playboy and we were the airheads running after him... but we were. It was just that he didn't devour every girl he came across.

And that's what made me realise... Out of all the girls, all the fashion-queens, the rich heirs and Pure Greens, he chose me: a simple Blue, not that rich, not that pretty with a huge family. It's probably because of my siblings he chose me, though. But he did, and that was enough.

I worshipped him... seeing him so peaceful...

And I thought- This, I thought... This is how I want to spend the rest of my life. Warm and safe in his arms. The things I felt are too intense and too complicated to explain, you'd have to actually feel them. It's-it's a special feeling... Which made me completely calm down one way or another. I've never felt that serene in my whole life. Quite the shock if you'd been spending the previous hours trying to get your heart back in its place. It's weird, isn't it, that as a fifteen year old -even an eleven year old- I already knew love. Most people have to search half their life and some don't even have the luck of finding it at all, but I, Shiphrah Johnstone, had found love the first day of school... Sounds rather comical, don't you think...

But, as you know, all good things end way too soon. And so did our afternoon-which had turned into evening without us noticing. I think it was about nine thirty when I had finally spotted it had got dark.

But I had to stop that moment and I'd have to live on the memories of one heavenly afternoon. Of an afternoon as I would never see again for the rest of my life. So I woke Tom in what I hoped was a gentle and kind way. It wasn't, Tom woke with a start.

There was something different about him now; something different about the atmosphere as well. It wasn't ruined, it was still romantic but it was... different, I don't know how to explain it- less tangible. In my heart I had been convinced that the end of the evening would be the perfect moment. The perfect moment for us to be honest about our feelings and I had been so sure that it was going to happen... until then. I wasn't all that eager anymore, I sensed there was something wrong with Tom, and although he had intended this afternoon to be a reason for us to get together, I think he knew it wasn't the right time to do anything more intimate than we had done. I believe he was just about to kiss me, when I fully realised that this wasn't the ideal moment and I had a hard time stuttering:

'I think we'd better get back to our Common Rooms...'

He looked slightly put out, but he agreed... I know we didn't kiss right there, or we didn't confront our feelings, but from that moment, I felt like he was mine... And I knew that I was his forever...