My father was never around - he left before I was born.

I was abandoned in an orphanage - feared and isolated.

I was born because of a love potion and not because of love. True Love was never something I could understand. It was never something I wanted to understand. I understood anger. I understood hatred. I let my own anger and hate grow and fester within me for many years. It was all I knew.

But then...

Then I met her and everything changed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hi!"

I turned my head and raised an eyebrow. No one had ever willingly walked up to me before. No one has ever had the nerve to since first year. Nonetheless, a girl was standing in front of me without some fantasy idea or even fear. I didn't respond as my eyes raked over her properly.

She really wasn't that tall - not even average height - around 4'5, maybe? She had really long hair by the looks of it. Her hair wasn't as dark as mine, but it wasn't exactly light either. Although she was on the short side, she wasn't at all stubby. She honestly had a fairly appealing body.

I was snapped out of my observations by a pair of fingers clicking in my face. "Usually when someone says hi you say hello or hey back."

I raised my eyebrow at her again. Did she really think I was going to talk to her? Even if she was pretty, I didn't even know her. I was slightly impressed by the sheer amount of guts she had honestly. I had to commended her on that even if I wasn't interested in making polite conversation with anyone.

"Okay then." She shrugged.

I expected her to walk away. Most people didn't hang around me for as long as she was. I was surprised, to say the least, when she sat down next to me. I was about to comment on it when one of her legs was slung over my legs. I sneered at her and instead of cowering back she swung her other leg over me.

"The fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked.

She didn't answer me even though I was glaring at her. I scoffed and pushed her legs off of me. She responded by putting them on my lap again. I was getting really annoyed by this. She was invading my personal space without permission.

"Get the fuck off of me." I growled out annoyed. "Or I'm going to fucking hex you."

"Hex me? What are you? 12?" She smiled.

"The hell is wrong with you?" I hissed out.

"What's wrong with you?" She shrugged.

"Oh just Fuck off already." I growled.

"I don't feel like it." She shrugged again.

"What do you want then?"

She shrugged again but didn't answer my question. I tried pushing her legs off again but ended with the same result. I sneered at her and was met with another seemingly impassive shrug. Was this girl mentally ill or something?

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I was definitely not in the mood for any of this shit. Usually my annoyance or anger was accompanied by a migraine. Right now was no different. I just wanted to get away from this annoying girl.

*~*~*

That was 3 months ago. To this day I still have no idea why she acted like that. It happened a few more times after that in some way or another. I was beginning to think she was some kind of a crazy fan. That idea was shot down easily when I found out she didn't even know my name or reputation.

"Hey!"

I looked up only to be met with those pale blue eyes. I didn't respond - instead just shook my head and sighed. Here we go again. She was extremely persistent. I had to give her that. Annoyingly persistent and strong willed.

"Soo. I realized that we haven't introduced ourselves to each other yet." She rocked on her feet.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. I was really getting tired of this. It was the same thing every single day. She'd somehow find me and proceed to annoy me with pointless small talk. Every time I threatened her, she just shrugged it off. Even when I did eventually hex her, she still came back.

"What the hell do you want from me? I'm getting tired of this back and forth game." I deadpanned.

"I am not playing any games with you." She shrugged.

"What is with your obsessive shrugging and stalking me then? Why not just leave me alone?" I grumbled.

"1. It's not obsessive shrugging. I just don't always know how to respond and it's a natural reaction. 2. I'm not stalking you. If I were you wouldn't know I existed, and I'd be following you around everywhere. Also before you ask. 3. When I want to find you, I usually just follow the line of shivering, cowering, shit scared students." She shrugged again.

"What the hell do you want from me?" I asked again.

"A smile. A genuine one. Then I'll leave you alone for good." She grinned at me. "I swear on my life."

"That's stupid. Why would you want that?" I frowned.

"Oh, you know. I realized that you really don't smile all that much so I thought it would be a fun challenge getting you to smile." She shrugged... Again!

"You're so fucking annoying." I mumbled.

"What's your name anyway?" She asked, sitting down.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle." I sighed and cringed a little as I said my second and last name to her.

"I'm Alicia Reid. It's nice to officially meet you, Tom." She offered me a smile and her hand.

I never thought someone would be so willing to casually talk to me. I've been told that my demeanor is very scary - that I give off bad energy. Yet despite that and the numerous hexes I've thrown at her, Alicia Reid still comes back.

All because she wants to see me smile? I haven't felt happiness since the day I was born. I haven't had a single reason to be happy my entire life. I don't even think I know how to smile.

It was the same thing all the time. Every day she'd somehow find me. She'd annoy me to no end, but her answer to my question was always the same. She just wanted me to smile.

At the exact same time every single day she'd somehow find me. I wasn't getting annoyed by her anymore. I was feeling rather... glad she was there. She still just wanted me to smile - a genuine smile. Somehow, I could see that happening now.

I decided to look up her name. She was a Slytherin which meant she had to be a Pure Blood... Right? Except I couldn't find anything in any record about a Pure Blood family named Reid. There was nothing no matter how many family trees I read through. No matter how far back I looked.

I eventually asked her. She said her family were muggles. I wanted to hate her for that reason alone.

She just kept on bugging me.

I couldn't bring myself to hate her. She was the only person who genuinely wasn't afraid of me.

Despite knowing that I believed in Salazar Slytherin's views, she still came back. She still bugged me with pointless small talk. For a muggle I actually admired her determination. She was manipulative and I could see why she belonged in Slytherin.

Knowing she was from a muggle family affected our interactions greatly. I wanted her to leave me alone but she wouldn't. All she wanted was a genuine smile from me. I didn't understand it. Even after I told her I thought her kind were trash. Even after I called her a filthy mudblood. Even after everything I did to her, she still came back.

Every single fucking day she'd find me.

It was like clockwork - I was able to pin down the exact time she'd show up to bug me. She would talk and I would listen. Some things really bugged me about her and her family. Information didn't add up and I was certain there were no muggles in the Slytherin house. It was impossible.

It was gradual and then all at once. I stopped hating her for the status of her blood. I stopped caring about the possibility of muggle blood running through her veins. I started to see the possibility of giving her what she always said she wanted from me. I could see myself genuinely smiling for her.

*~*~*

Every day for 6 months. 6 months, 2 weeks and 3 days. Every single fucking day. It had become our routine. Except for today.

I checked the time and patiently waited. I expected her usually somewhat excited greeting. I checked the time again. She hadn't shown up. It wasn't like I was hard to find anyway. I was sitting in our common room and there were plenty of shit scared students shivering all around me.

She just hadn't come to find me.

(1525 words)