Wisteria- wisdom, longevity, and endurance

Elizabeth sat looking out to the surrounding forest. Fog traveled across the green creating an ominous, yet serene painting. It was cold in the train car and gooseflesh traveled up her pale arms as she huddled closer within herself to keep warm.

Her image reflected in the glass, bright green eyes entrapped by pale flesh. Her lips were a pale pink and her long, dark hair cascaded freely past her shoulders. She didn't know what to think.

Feeling vain, Elizabeth glimpsed at the empty seats around her. They were empty every year. It wasn't that Elizabeth was a terrible person, she just didn't believe in unnecessary noise pollution. Elizabeth preferred to sit back and watch the conversation, but others didn't quite respect that.

Bored, she glanced down at her watch and decided to head up to the prefect train car. As a fifth year this was her first year as a prefect. When the letter came this summer, her father had been overjoyed as he had been a Head Boy in his time. Elizabeth had not been shocked that she had gotten the honor.

As she walked down the aisle she glanced at surrounding cars. First years greeted each other politely and awkwardly as they scrambled for their new best mates. Second years laughed and talked rapidly about their summers. And suddenly she was there, at the prefect train car. Hesitantly she placed her hand on the cold brass and pressed forward into the prefect carriage.

Barely anyone had yet to arrive, but there was the fifth year Ravenclaw prefect, Ophelia Rivers. Ophelia was a rather optimistic girl with a love for charms and muggle music. She had light blond hair and bright blue eyes which made her seem innocent and angelic. Elizabeth smiled politely to the girl and sat diagonal to her.

Ophelia grinned and stuck out her hand, "Hi, we haven't officially met, I'm Ophelia Rivers."

Elizabeth took her hand, "I'm Elizabeth Lynn, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh trust me, everyone knows who you are, you're one of the most talented witches to attend Hogwarts," Ophelia gushed.

Elizabeth blinked slightly taken aback, "I'm not sure about that, but thank you for saying that."

Silence overcame the room when the door opened to reveal the other 5th year Slytherin prefect, Tom Riddle. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and glanced away. Tom had always been her rival for the top scores and drove her insane. They'd barely talked to each other in their five years, but knew each other's thought process to a tee.

Elizabeth wasn't stupid enough not to know how beautiful he was. Handsome brown hair, blue eyes, and he was academically perfect. But he still pissed her off.

He nodded and took his seat diagonal to Elizabeth but a seat away from Ophelia.

"How was your girls' summers?" Tom asked politely, perfectly.

Ophelia, slightly red from the attention answered, "Very well. My father took us to France, it's very beautiful there."

Tom nodded, as if intrigued, "Your father works for the ministry, yes?"

"Yes," Ophelia nodded enthusiastically, "he works in a new branch that researches new muggle technology. He hopes to better our society with such knowledge."

Tom smiled, "That's ingenious of him."

But I knew better. The slight eye drift, the agitated fisting of the hands; Tom was obviously annoyed by this girl.

"And you, Lynn is it?"

Elizabeth recognized the slight insult in his phrase. Knocking her out as her academic rival by pretending to not know her name.

"My summer went well, Riddle, my father came home from Bulgaria."

His eyebrows raised in pretend interest, "I heard you spend your summers in America."

Elizabeth smiled tightly, "I do. My father was able to accompany me this year."

"Do you mind me asking why you go to America every summer?" Ophelia asked.

"My mother lives there."

Silence lasted a bit too long for comfort at that information.

"It's good that you're able to see your parents despite them being separated," Ophelia replied softly. In all honesty, Elizabeth had never met her mother. She wasn't exactly sure who her mother was.

"How was your summer, Riddle?" Elizabeth asked innocently.

Tom's eyes narrowed slightly, catching her jab, "Boring, but beneficial, Lynn. My marks should be as high as ever this year."

"But still lower than mine," Elizabeth thought.

"How do you two do it? You're both so smart and perfect in everything," Ophelia asked in actual innocence.

"I wouldn't say perfect," Riddle and Elizabeth stated at the same time. The two looked at each other, unseen words being passed between them.

Two more prefects walked in, both sixth year Gryffindors. The entwined hands made their couple status obvious. The girl was tall and lithe with long blonde hair and brown eyes framed by light lashes. The boy was tall and muscular with combed back blond hair and light blue eyes. The pair sat down away from the fifth years and cuddled closer together.

A flash of annoyance appeared on Tom's face as the glimpse of gold and scarlet. House prejudice was very common amongst the students of Hogwarts and Tom was no exception. Elizabeth didn't hold bias as her father had drilled acceptance into her brain. He was a Hufflepuff after all.

The Lynn family mostly hailed Hufflepuffs and William hadn't been an exception. As a Slytherin, Elizabeth would have been the black sheep of the family if there had been anyone beyond her father. William had been an only child and her grandparents had perished before Elizabeth was born. Her father often said she took after her mother, but the women had never played a part in her life.

More prefects trudged in; some nervous, others bored, and even more obnoxiously chatting.

"Okay! Okay! Quiet down everyone!" Called the Hufflepuff Headboy, Hubert Heart. He was a natural leader with slightly messy brown hair. He was also the son of a wealthy inventor.

After a couple shouts to the Gryffindors the noise died down and Helen Wimsnisky started her speech, "Alrighty,let's start with the fifth years, yes? Fifth years, your job is to patrol parts of the castle and keep general order within your designated house. This does not mean, however, that you can take points away from a house without a definite reason. Most of you are the top of your class, so I encourage you to become close with your fellow prefects, but keep in mind that you must report each other's wrongdoing. Six years-"

"I suppose that means we'll become better friends," Ophelia whispered. Elizabeth nodded as she tried to focus on the babbling girl and Helen's speech. She saw Riddle's hand clench again. "Annoyed aren't we?" she thought.

"That's good, because I don't have very many friends outside of Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws are nice and all, except for the ones I don't get along with, but I find friendships outside of one's house interesting from both a scientific and personal way."

This girl talks to much, Elizabeth thought as she repressed her discomfort at the amount of talking and tried to focus on Helen's orator. Movement from Riddle caught her eye. She looked over to see him glancing at her. She met his eyes, but he refused to look away. Time stood still as the they just simply looked at each other.

"If you have any questions, ask your superiors, and don't be afraid to take points away. Meeting adjourned," Helen called out at last. Prefects stood up and the the volume increased expenecialy. Elizabeth and Riddle looked away from each other.

"I suppose we go back to our train car," Ophelia said rising. She patted off the skirt of her dress and swayed nervously. Elizabeth paid little attention to the blonde Ravenclaw and watched the other students leave in a variety of noise levels. Ophelia cheeks reddened, "I-I will go now, um, bye Lynn and Riddle."

"Bye," the two voiced politely. Once again, their gazes meet. Ophelia, not noticing the tension, exited the train car alone. The noise had quieted in the train car as a couple prefects talked adamantly over current events.

Still, Riddle and Elizabeth gazed each other. To an outsider, the two looked like they were simply enjoying the silence together, but in reality, unspoken words drifted from their eyes. Tom face told Elizabeth that he was ready for their year-long competition. And their was something else she could not decipher. The question pressed against her chest as she pondered the possible answers. Elizabeth asked a lot of questions for a Slytherin, but they were always answered. If not from a book, than a teacher, but Elizabeth had a feeling there weren't any answers for questions involving Tom Riddle. No such book existed to tell her anything about the boy. Elizabeth smirked, maybe she'd write such a book.

Apparently, that cued Riddle to leave. He stood up suddenly and ushered out of their booth, but then he just stood there expectantly. Elizabeth glanced at the still boy, her grenade eyes swept over his phenotype. His combed brown hair, clear blue eyes, and his uniform. Elizabeth hadn't even put her on yet.

Elizabeth suppressed a look of confusion and smiled politely, "Don't you have a cabin full of boys waiting for you, Riddle? I don't want them getting too lost without their leader."

Riddle had a pack of lost boys he ruled over like a perfect Peter Pan. All of them Slytherin, most of them Pureblood, all of them prejudice.

Riddle smiled tenderly, "I'm glad for your worry, but I'm sure they can survive a train ride to school."

"They manage every Winter, I suppose," Elizabeth said casually, ignoring Riddle clenching his hand once again. She stood up and started walking back to her empty cabin, but noticed Riddle was following her by the quiet pats from his shoes. She swung around and smiled, "You want to come back to my car, Riddle?"

Tom smiled, "I was hoping to so we can discuss prefect duties."

Elizabeth shrugged in reply, teasing the boy , and sauntered off back to her car with a frustrated prefect on her heels. She pressed into her empty cabin and took the middle spot. Tom closed the door quietly and sat directly in front of her.

"What do we need to talk to, Riddle?" Elizabeth asked expectantly as she leaned back into the booth. She didn't care if it seemed informal, she wanted to give off an aura of indifference for the snide boy.

"I wanted to make things perfectly clear for you, Lynn," Riddle sat forward and spoke coldly. His blue eyes suddenly seemed frozen as she stared into them. She sat forward with narrowed eyes.

"What needs to be clear, Riddle?"

Tom didn't drop whatever act this must've been. He stayed silently thinki by about his choice in words. He was careful to not leave something out. "Lynn, we've been friends for awhile."

"We aren't friends."

"Fine," Tom muttered, "But we could be."

Elizabeth sighed and stared at Tom. Quiet blanketed to room as Tom waited for her to speak. Elizabeth thought for a moment longer before speaking, "What do you want?"

Tom smiled wickedly, "I want an agreement." Elizabeth simply stared at him to continue, "I want to make sure my prefect whereabouts and activities stay quiet, and yours can too."

"What would I be doing that'd result in getting reported by you," Elizabeth asked. She stared at Tom, just asking for him to give her the information she wanted.

"That's your business, just as my whereabouts are mine, Lynn," Riddle replied firmly. His eyes narrowed, asking her to dare to dig deeper.

Elizabeth didn't like this bet, "What if confidentiality is not enough for me?"

Tom glared at her before smiling, "I'll let you be the top at Herbology."

"I already was that, Riddle," Elizabeth reminded him playfully.

Tom glared at her even more, "One favor, I can't say no and I can't change the deal."

Elizabeth smiled, "It appears we struck a deal, Riddle." She stuck out her hand, he grasped hers, and the deal was struck.