I Never Wanted a Partner and I Never Loved You

"Get out of here, Daphne," a handsome boy with dark black hair growled as he peaked out over top of the large, rough, tan book he was reading. Stacks of multicolored books filled his side of the heavy library table. They leaned over at such and angle that the books seemed to be threatening to tip over if they were not stacked properly.

He was one of the only people left in the library. It was winter break, so most pupils had decided to ride the long train ride to Kings Cross and be escorted home by their loving parents. Maybe when they got home they would enjoy a warm slice of apple pie that their mum had made for them in anticipation of returning from the stony castle. They would probably share stories of how their time apart had been spent.

Tom Riddle had no loving parents, though. There was never a warm slice of apple pie waiting for him and no one ever wanted to hear his stories of how his time had been spent. So Tom did not ride the long train ride to Kings Cross. No one would be waiting there for him anyway.

"Huh, I thought you only called people by their last names," Daphne replied sharply, setting her books down on the table and taking a seat across from the orphan. She shook her auburn hair out of her eyes and tilted her head gently to the side unknowingly. It was an unknown trait she had whenever she wanted to get a guy's attention. Had Daphne known this, she probably wouldn't have done it to Tom. But she didn't know it so it doesn't matter.

"Well I don't know your last name," Tom muttered as he cut his eyes at her. No one ever came to talk to him. He had no friends, along with his lack of family, warmth, social life and in general a heart. At least that's what Daphne thought. She, on the hand, did have friends; plenty of friends. She was one of the most popular girls in school and a perfect example for a proper Gryffindor. She had an excellent social life and she was proud of it too. She had a new boyfriend practically every other week. Though she wasn't easy to get. Quite the opposite actually. She was picky about her men. One thing Daphne and Tom had in common was their lack of family, though. While the striking, young Gryffindor wasn't an orphan, she also didn't have the loving family that she had always wanted. Her mum was always on the go to some distant, chic country to go shopping. Mainly for men, though her husband waited for her at home. He was mainly at work though. Well, he was always at work. So Daphne might as well have been an orphan. No one cared for her anyway.

"Wow, so you don't know everything! Which is crazy because I recall you muttering under your breath in Transfiguration that you did know what the answer was," Daphne mocked, tilting her head even more to side which only showed how much she wished to be craved. She breathed a harsh laugh as began to click her nails on the table. While no one else could hear it, it seemed as loud as an orchestra to the two of them. She continued to annoy Tom anyway though. She smirked as she saw that it was working.

"What do you want? There are plenty of other tables in this library. Go to one of them," he erupted in angry whispers. He was getting sick of her quickly. He hated how her nails clicked down in melody along the smooth top of the brown table where he sat. He hated how her eyes mocked him viciously…her bright, hazel eyes. Though he couldn't see it, her insecurity lingered right beyond his view into her corneas. She hadn't come to be mean. All she wanted was-

"The book. Give me the book and I'll go happily," she responded, halting her nail-clicking from this moment on. She motioned convincingly with her bright eyes and let out her palm to receive the book. Tom smiled maliciously though.

"Well I'm not finished with it," he replied, letting out his own breathy laugh like the one she had submitted just moments before. His coldness extinguished her warm core and her spirits dropped. She needed that book for a big History Of Magic project coming up. Little did she know that the Slytherin's reasons for retrieving the book were identical to her own. Had she known this, though, she probably wouldn't have cared that much.

"Well I need it and it's the only one that the school has," she defiantly retorted, anger swelling up like goose rising to attack a predator.

"Well it's a shame because I'm not finished with it," Tom replied, not looking at from the book. He had a smirk planted on his face as he gripped the book tighter. He didn't even bother reading the words. He just sat there, staring at the page, just to annoy and inconvenience his house rival. He ignored her when she began tapping her nails and even made it through her clicking her tongue.

Riddle let his mind wander while Daphne tried to annoy him. He drifted off to a world where people would listen to him. Where people would not try to defy or mock him; a world where he was in control. He would have loyal followers that would believe he was the greatest thing ever conceived. Eventually everyone would believe that, whether they had decided it from their own free will or from force. He could rule the magic world- no need for the Muggle one seeing as it would soon be destroyed. Muggles only wasted precious air- all by himself. Though…maybe, just maybe, he would have a queen by his side. She wouldn't be needed but it would be nice for the company, while his followers were out doing his deeds. She would follow to his every whim, though have a mind of her own. Her hazel eyes would sparkle whenever he returned home. She would tilt her head to the side, shaking her auburn hair out of her face, to get a better look at him.

"Oi! Are you asleep or something? Are you dying? If you are let me have the book now. I don't want to be around to smell your rotting corpse," Daphne said bluntly, shaking Tom from his deep trance. He shook the ideas out of his head quickly, somewhat scared at what he had thought of, and glanced up at the girl opposite him.

"I'm not dying, you idiot. I'm reading," he said fiercely through tightly clenched jaws. She rolled her eyes gently at his statement. Specks of caramel in her eyes lit up under the library candles.

"So you can not only get obvious questions wrong, but you can also read while you're looking away from the book? Wow, you really must be something special, Ripple," she said sarcastically, mispronouncing his surname at the end.

"It's Riddle-"

"Whatever," she replied, clicking her nails quicker.

"Look, just go away and come back for the book another time," he said angrily. His thoughts soared with the hope that she would finally leave him alone to study and read the book in peace. His heart hoped just the opposite though. His hand twitched at the thought of Daphne staying. He couldn't decide whether or not this was a good thing.

"No. I want the book and I want it now," Daphne said stubbornly, lifting her right hand, forming it onto a loose fist and slamming it onto the table. The echo of it surprised even her and she wasn't sure where this sudden force came from.

The books stacked around Tom began to sway back and forth uncertainly. Papers drifted poetically onto the floor, like feathers falling from a flying goose. The library fell silent quickly except for the distant sounds of the librarian in her office and the closer sounds of the crisp paper hitting the floor. Annoyance swept over the dashing young man's face as the books went tumbling to the floor like snow and rocks falling from an avalanche. Daphne shut her eyes tightly and crinkled up her nose at the noise of the fall.

"Look what you did," the Slytherin boy muttered as he bent down to pick up the strewn books. A pang of guilt shocked Daphne's conscience as she got up from her hard, wooden seat and walked over to help the lonely boy. She bent down next to him on the floor and began to collect the volumes. As their fingertips brushed swiftly, a wave of heat crashed onto Tom and he hated himself as he could feel his pale cheeks redden. When Daphne saw this, she blushed too and lessened the tilt in her head. Unknowingly, of course.

"Sorry," she whispered to him gently. Their hearts began beating faster as they picked up the fallen books. Daphne stopped in mid reach and looked up curiously at Tom. Her fingers shook as she set her hand down on top of his, clutching his fingers nervously. She fluttered her eyelids shut as she leaned in close to him and kissed his lips gently. His heart stopped for a moment and he listened to her whisper his name as she pulled away from him. He pulled his hand away from hers and finished picking up the books that were still lying on the floor, unaware of the shock that the teenage boy had just felt to his world. Never had anyone kissed him before. No one had ever wanted to. Daphne was the last person in the world he would ever expect to kiss him. To want to kiss him. Though she was the first person he had ever really wanted to kiss him. His heart began to beat at its regular pace again as he realized that this couldn't happen. She would just get in his way. There was no real need for Daphne; only longing.

Daphne was a Gryffindor. She was brave, bold, and she cared about people. Even the muggles of the school. Tom was brave also, but in a different sense. He didn't care about the muggles; he hated them. The worst part of it was that Daphne wasn't even pure blood. Well, she was but Tom didn't know that. Nor would he care whether or not she was. He decided to make himself believe that she was just another mudblood so that then it would be easier to hate her…to reject her. She would stand in his way of becoming the man that he was meant to be. Her feelings would come into play and then she would care for the people that got hurt. She wouldn't consider the fact that they were not of pureblood status. She wouldn't care that all Tom wanted was to cleanse the world of the filth and grime that was muggle-born people. She would want to save the people, and help them. Daphne was a Gryffindor and Tom was a Slytherin. Nothing would change that.

"Get away from me," he growled, turning his face away from the auburn-haired girl. She let her mouth part slightly in shock and shame, and then closed it.

"No," she whispered, touching his hand again. She hoped to herself that he was just playing hard to get, that her really wanted her. Her mind told her that he truly didn't like her though. He pulled his hand away sharply and wiped it on his pants, as if to wipe off the dirt that her status had spread to him.

"Take your stupid book and never talk to me again," he said as he threw the book down on the ground. Grabbing his cloak, he began to stride away, only to be stopped shortly. Daphne clutched onto his ankle desperately, hoping he wouldn't leave her. She mouthed his name. Tom. He looked down at her, shook his ankle to knock her off and then continued to leave, ignoring the sharp pain that was spreading through his heart.

-10 Years Later-

"My Lord, we have found the witch that killed Durlope."

"Very well, bring her here," uttered a cold, familiar voice. Well, familiar to our story at least. If anyone ever hears this voice then there is a good chance that they will not be alive much longer. Or that they are in a position where someone in a higher power is controlling their lives from this point on. Tom Riddle smiled maliciously, just like he had done a decade ago, when he saw Daphne enter the room where he was stationed. Her hair was dirty and she had cuts all over her face. Her arm was bleeding terribly and she gasped in pain as the first wizard dragged her over. Tom motioned for the man to leave as soon as Daphne had been placed in front of him. She looked up in defiance as the door shut behind the muscular man, leaving only Tom and Daphne. A young snake slithered across the ground though, coiling itself near Daphne and watching her with venomous eyes. She was unmoved by this though.

"Tom," she said breathily, shaking her head at how he had turned out.

"That is not my name anymore," he replied angrily. He had never wanted to see Daphne again, and yet here she was sitting in front of him. The only real reason she was here was because she had to be punished for killing his followers. As he looked down at her, he remembered his distant fantasy of having her as his wife. Though his heart called out for that again, he shook his head at how naïve he had been.

"Please don't do this," she whispered to him.

"You must be punished for killing my followers."

"I don't care if you hurt me, Tom. You've done it once before," she replied. Her words stung him hard and looked away towards the far south wall. "Just don't hurt the people anymore."

"You think that just because you ask me not to do something, I won't do it? Well you're wrong. You must die and so must the mudbloods," Riddle harshly said to her, staring down into her bright hazel eyes. He saw tears beginning to gather in them. He knew it was not because she didn't want to die though. Daphne was stronger than that. She was upset because she was so disappointed in how he had turned out. She clutched onto his ankle, just like she had done years before in that empty library, and looked up into Tom's cold eyes. She searched for warmth, and she found none. She mouthed his name gently as he called for his servant to re-enter the room. Tom.

"Kill her," he snarled villainously to the man. He watched in masked horror as the wizard carried Daphne away to her death. She was not scared though. The only emotion that Daphne had in her was hate. She hated Tom for everything he had done. She hated him for killing innocent people. She hated him for breaking apart families. She hated him for making the once cheerful wizarding world into a place of fear, where no parent could feel that their child was truly safe. She hated him for sentencing her to death. More than anything though, Daphne hated Tom for not loving her.

She blew him a kiss as she left for her end. It was the end of their small relationship. It was the end of her feelings for him. It was the end of the nights she had spent thinking and worrying about him. It was the end to the date offers that she had turned down because she was waiting for him.

It would never end for Tom though. He would always remember killing the only girl that had ever loved him. He would remember it up to his very last moments. Daphne would never die in his heart, and that made him angrier than anything.