This is an idea I came up with while reading Phoenixmaiden13's Kitty series and I thought I should write it down before it floated away. So here's the prologue. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

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It was a surprisingly sunny day in London and despite the heavy atmosphere of the war; people were going about their business as usual. Adults went to work while children played in the street. A seven-year-old Tom Riddle stared down at the scene from his room window. Some of the children from the orphanage were playing tag in the shabby front yard. They were smiling and laughing and running about. Of course they didn't ask him to join in. They were all too afraid to even speak to him. And he made it seem like that's what he wanted; total solitude, while in actuality, he wanted to run too. He wanted to smile and laugh and play with the other children. Of course he wouldn't get to. He was far too different from them. And humans don't like different. Deciding he should at least get outside on the one sunny day of the summer, he grabbed a book at random and made his way down the stairs and out the front doors. His housemates made a path for him, avoiding eye contact, as usual. They didn't want to be "in his way". He went over to the little tree in the corner of the yard, sitting beneath what little shade the scarce flimsy leaves could provide, and looked down at his book. He saw it was Shakespeare and opened up to his favorite play; Macbeth. Witches and spells and manipulative women, it was most entertaining. He was half way through Act II when a loud yipping noise distracted him. Looking up in the direction of the sound he saw a young boy around his age playing with a small puppy. Tom watched through the fence as the boy tossed a small red rubber ball a short distance ahead of him and the puppy ran after it, taking the ball in its mouth and bringing it back to its master. The game went on for a good half hour, Tom watching in fascination the whole while. He was in awe of the relationship between the two. The loyalty and…love. That was the day he decided he wanted a dog.

That was also the first year he'd ever written to Santa Clause. It wasn't an ordinary letter though; it was more like a negotiation request. A dog for whatever the fat man wanted. Of course, like every year previous, he received only the customary single gift from Mrs. Cole. While she failed to deliver a live dog, she was able to give him a book on the canine family. He spent the whole rest of the day reading up on dogs and, even more fascinating, wolves.

Years later, while attending Hogwarts, his liking for the creatures caused a very interesting event to take place. His focus switched once again to wolves until his plans for world domination got in the way of his interest in the amazingly smart and loyal creatures. It would be decades before his interest was once again peeked by a very special stray.

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Okay, that's all I've got so far. It's short and not all that great, but knowing me I'll come back and rewrite it in a few weeks, or months, depending on my level of laziness. I hope you enjoyed it. Review if you wish to comment.