A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! Keep them coming, you know how much I love them! Just to prepare you, there will be a couple of time skips in the chapter, but it's better than having to suffer through years of unimportant narrative, so there you go. Hope you enjoy!

The rest of Lucy's final year at Hogwarts, a year that she had expected to be the best of her life so far, passed in one miserable blur. She never had another real conversation with Elias after that day nor did she want to. He had already proven to her that he was no different from Sebastian. She knew now, thanks to Tom, that if he had had the chance, Elias would have hurt her the same way her stepfather had.

It was the night after graduation now, all of her NEWTS were passed and that was it. Her years at Hogwarts were over.

"You don't seem very happy darling. You've just graduated," Tom said, walking over to her and handing her some firewhiskey. The Slytherin graduation party was in full swing but Lucy had no interest in the celebration occurring around her.

Lucy took the firewhiskey Tom had offered her and downed it hastily. Tom laughed and took the empty glass from her. "Easy there, pace yourself."

"I don't want to go home, Tom," Lucy muttered, putting her chin in her hand. True, Sebastian wasn't there anymore, but the memories still were and somehow, that seemed just as bad.

"Well you don't have to," he said, pouring her another shot glass of firewhiskey and sitting back down next to her. "I've been saving up for an apartment and I've been offered a job at Borgin and Burkes… you can stay with me,"

She downed her second shot and looked at him in amazement. "You want to live together?" she asked in utter disbelief.

The concept was scandalous, of course. A young, unmarried couple living together… it would definitely send her mother into a shame spiral.

"I don't see a reason why not," he said coolly, putting down her second shot glass. "I could use some companionship and you need a place to stay. It's no secret that I'm quite fond of you, what is the problem?"

Lucy took a moment to consider this. How would their relationship change if they began living together? Would they sleep together? Would he even want to?

"If you're worrying about your reputation, I would put too much consideration to it. No one will dare say anything once I've gained control of the wizarding world," Lucy simply nodded. Over the past few months Tom had divulged a few choice details of his plans (though not much) so such statements no longer shocked her.

"It's settled then, I'll escort you home tomorrow to get your things," he offered, handing her yet another shot. He watched as she threw that one back, watching her swallow it and the slight cringe of her face as she felt the burn of the whiskey. His mind wandered to other things that he could have her swallow, but he shook the thoughts out of his head.

He would have her soon enough, he needed to remind himself of that, but he had to do it slowly. He needed to make sure that she was completely buried in his world before he moved onto anything like that. He needed to be patient.

He had never meant to get this attatched to Lucy. It had begun as a fascination, simply wanting her as an impressive trophy to his collection. But they had something in common. They knew what it was like to find their father-figure a disgusting animal. And now, he wanted to possess her in everyway, mind, body and soul.

The next day, Lucy's mother reacted to their plan much the way Lucy had expected she would. She cried and pouted and made a complete fool of herself, trying to keep her daughter home with her.

"Ungrateful child!" she wailed. "How can you leave me alone in this big empty house all alone?"

"You could always sell the house, mother," Lucy suggested as Tom helped her pack the few belongings she had left behind for the school year. Judging by her mother's horrified expression, might one have guessed that Lucy had suggested she sell her soul.

"Sell the house? Are you mad?" she shrieked at them as she and Tom dragged the trunk out onto their front lawn, preparing to apperate.

"I'll send you an owl once I've settled in," she said coldly, making sure that everything she needed was accounted for. She didn't want to have to come back after she had left.

"Do you know what my friends will say?" apparently, Mrs. Graves was determined to rave and shriek until the very end.

Tom didn't wait for another word and commenced the side-by-side apparition. Once they had reached the apartment, guilt hit Lucy like a wave of icy water. Her mother was truly alone now. But she swallowed those feelings and locked them away and helped Tom bring her things into the apartment.

"It's small, but it will do for now," Tom said, surveying his newly purchased apartment. It was small but clean and minimally furnished. As Lucy scanned her new home, she realized something that she had not been prepared for. "Tom… there is only one bedroom…"

Tom looked at her coolly, completely nonplussed. "Is that a problem?" The tone of his voice made her shake her head, no. She was sure that she would be able to get used to it.

They didn't speak much for the rest of the evening. Lucy was beginning to wonder if living with Tom Riddle would be all silence and boredom until after they had eaten dinner.

"I'm… very pleased you agreed to live with me, Lucy" Tom finally said after they had cleared their kitchen table.

Lucy whipped her head toward him in shock. She hadn't expected him to say another word all night. But once she had recovered from the shock, she gave him a small smile. "I am too," she replied, waving her wand and charming the dishes to wash themselves.

Tom walked up to her, so close their torsos were almost touching. He pushed a dark curl behind her ear thoughtfully. "I'm quite fond of you, Lucy," he whispered.

Lucy's breath hitched and her heart began to flutter. It was so uncharacteristic for Tom to be so intimate. He bent his head and kissed her softly. This only lasted for a few seconds before Tom allowed himself to get rougher, forcing his tongue into her sweet mouth and pinning her small, fragile body against the wall with his pelvis.

Lucy let out a gasp when she felt Tom unbuttoning her blouse. Tom paused and pulled away a tiny amount. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked huskily.

Lucy didn't say anything. She simply stood there, stunned into silence. Tom took her silence as compliance and continued with vigor. He ripped off her blouse and began pushing her toward their new bedroom. He shoved her onto the bed and crawled on top of her licking and biting at her neck.

He then turned his attention to her ear, biting harder than she would have liked. She gasped and whimpered in pain, but Tom continued, now groping at her breasts roughly, causing her to cringe. What had she gotten herself into?

Lucy woke up the next morning sore and bruised, not wanting to move. It had shocked and upset her how similar the previous night had been with the nights Sebastian would sneak into her room. The painful biting, forceful thrusting, hot breath on her neck. But the pain. It was nothing like she had hoped it would be. It had been painfully clear that it had been about power and domination, not about affection like she had hoped.

She forced back the hot tears that were forming in her eyes and she tried to move out of bed. Her bruised muscles screamed at her as she rolled out of bed. When she looked in the mirror, she thought she would pass out. She was covered in bite marks and bruises. She looked as bad as she felt, which was pretty horrible.

For perhaps the billionth time since she had met Tom, Lucy found herself dreading what she hading gotten herself into.

Tom had woken up and walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her. His eyes were hard and demanding again, and hers were cold and empty. "In a few weeks, I'll be leaving for Siberia. You'll have to be alone for a while," All Lucy could do was nod blankly. "All of my followers are at your disposal, they will visit if you ask,"

"How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"Could be years," he said, putting on a fresh pair of boxers. "But when I return, my power will be unparalleled,"

Lucy wasn't really listening. She wasn't upset about the length of time he would be gone, she wasn't even upset about how he had caused her so much pain. In fact, she couldn't feel anything. Everything was numb.

A/N: I know, this is a really short chapter, the next one will be longer, I promise! Let me know what you think. I'm a bit embarrassed though, this isn't my best chapter.