Chapter 1
Aimee felt like hiding. She often felt like it but the instinct was particularly strong when she felt his heated gaze on her. She'd just come to return her brother's book to him, waited outside of his Transfiguration class because it was the only part of his schedule that she had memorized, but she wouldn't have come if she had known what would happen, wouldn't have even left bed at all that day.
Her sweaty hands gripped the leather book tightly, pressing it against her chest as if could serve as some shield between her and him. Between her and the handsome boy that looked at her in a way which was not gentlemanly at all. His dark eyes made her face feel hot with embarrassment, her cheeks burn the most brilliant shade of red. His gaze was intense and made Aimee's heart race.
He was tall and his hair darker than the night. He looked like the boys that Aimee read about in her silly romance novels, like a prince but also he didn't feel very princely. No, he felt more like a villain, like a wolf that was going to swallow her whole. He was very handsome though. Elegant in a way which Aimee could not quite describe. He was pale and lean and reminded her of the illustrations on vampires that she had seen before, illustrations of alluring monsters who seduced young girls before draining their bodies dry of blood. He had a sharp nose and a half-smile that would make most girls swoon. His dark hair was coarse, tousled like he had just walked out of a brawl but still effortlessly perfect. It was his eyes that made Aimee tremble with fear, inky eyes that followed her every movement.
Those dark eyes looked with her much brighter ones.
Look away, Aimee told herself, look away before he steals your soul and breaks your heart. But she couldn't. There was something about his gaze that Aimee feel like she would suffer if she looked away, if she dared to break eye contact. But oh she wanted to. He was handsome but also terrifying. There was something sinister about him, something that made her fear him in the most irrational way.
"Well, aren't you a cute little thing?" His voice was low and made it difficult for Aimee to hold his gaze. She lowered her eyes down to her shoes, her ratty black dress shoes which had needed replacing for the last year or so but she had never quite gotten to. "Are you waiting for someone, darling?" Aimee looked up slightly and saw that he was smiling. It wasn't a kind sort of smile but the type that made shivers run down Aimee's back. I should've never come, Aimee thought to herself, I should have just waited until dinner.
"Yes," she finally managed to squeak out and was embarrassed at how croaky her voice came out, "I'm waiting for my brother."
"What a dutiful sister you are." He tilted his head, his eyes shining with something she couldn't quite place, something a little wicked. "Though I suppose I should not be ungrateful as I have the opportunity to talk to someone as adorable as you."
Aimee felt her face burn, felt all the blood rushing to her head like she had suddenly been flipped upside down. She wanted to run away so badly but her legs wouldn't move, were seemingly glued to the floor, all stiff and useless. She was not supposed to talk to boys like him, to not so much as look at him.
"Your brother is terribly negligent though," he said and there was something teasing about his voice as he stepped closer to her, too close. He is a wolf. "How could he leave someone as pretty as you all alone in the halls? It's irresponsible of him." He was so tall - it was intimidating. He was intimidating and then also entrancing at the same time. His hands brushed her face as he tucked a strand behind her ear. "I should have a word with him, shouldn't I?"
Aimee stuttered. "I - I should leave." Leave. Yes, she wanted to do that. But could she? It seemed so difficult. "I have lots of homework and..." Her voice trailed off as he leaned even closer. She could smell his cologne, the expensive sort of fragrance that most boys couldn't bother to put on. It was nice, a musky scent which reminded Aimee of the forests back home.
"Yes?" he asked. Aimee just swallowed while he smiled. A smile which made her feel like a mouse being toyed with the much more clever cat. He finds me entertaining, she thought to herself and that worried her. It was not a good thing when boys like him, boys with dark eyes and wicked smiles, found her interesting. "Can you at least tell me your name?"
Aimee hesitated. "My name?" She repeated. He nodded, grinning slightly. "Um, well -"
She was interrupted, thankfully, when the classroom door suddenly swung open and her brother, who Aimee had come for in the first place, stepped out. He looked a lot like her. He had her dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes of the exact same startling shade. But while Aimee was small, not just in build but in demeanor, he was confident and strong. There was a reason he was in Gryffindor and not in Hufflepuff like her. His eyebrows furrowed when he looked at Aimee and even more so when he noticed the dark-haired boy.
"Riddle," he gritted out, his expression dark like Aimee had never seen before. He strode over and pushed away the boy, Riddle, away from Aimee, standing protectively in front of her. He was a bit overkill, Edward always was when it came to her, but she was grateful and hid behind him, "what the fuck are you doing with her?" It wasn't often that Edward swore, he usually tried to refrain in front of Aimee to prevent himself from implementing a bad influence, but this boy seemed to have made him angry enough to forget.
His smile did not falter though - no, he smiled even wider. "I was just making conversation," he replied smoothly, glancing at Aimme who was hiding behind Edward with amusement still shining in his eyes. He looked away and back to Edward. "You have a very pretty sister, Macmillian - you should hide her better."
Edward's hand clenched into a fist and Aimee was certain that he was going to punch the boy, was afraid of what would happen because he did not seem like the type of boy that would take a punch and not retaliate, but fortunately he held himself back. He instead took Aimee by the shoulders and steered her far away from the boy, down several corridors and through multiple passageways before he finally stopped. Before he stopped and turned her so she faced him.
"Aimee," he told her, sounding more serious than Aimee had ever heard him, so serious that it was somewhat concerning because her brother was usually full of humor, "you have to promise me something."
"Promise what?" asked Aimee though she felt she already had a clue.
"Promise to stay away from him," he looked at Aimee and she could see how serious he was just by looking at his eyes, "promise that you will stay away from Tom Riddle. He is trouble - he will ruin you."
"I know," said Aimee. "I know and I will stay far away from him." Because she knew he was dangerous, she knew that he was trouble and that he would ruin her. But for a moment, just a small fraction, she wondered whether it would be so terrible to be ruined by him.