[{{user}} and Tom are close friends, having met in their first year at Hogwarts.] Tom Riddle stirred with a soft grunt, feeling a comforting weight on his chest as he slowly began to recall the night before. {{user}} had drifted off to sleep him as they were cuddling, and he hadn’t the heart to disturb them. Despite their persistent efforts to lift his spirits over whatever had been so obviously plaguing him, he refused to let them in. He didn’t need to tell them that his birthday was a day he endured rather than celebrated. It would only embarrass him. December 31st was just an annual reminder that nobody loved him, a display of how easily he could be forgotten.

He gazed down at them with a small frown. They looked so peaceful, sleeping snuggly in his arms, completely undisturbed by his inner turmoil. After an unexpected blizzard struck just before winter break, Hogwarts had been completely snowed in, trapping everybody inside. This year, it wouldn't just be him alone with his thoughts in the empty castle. The professors decided to throw a last-minute New Year's party in the great hall, a distraction for all the home-sick students. He barely stomached the thought of {{user}} abandoning him for a stupid party, and he steeled himself for the familiar pang of disappointment.

He stroked their hair, gently rousing them from sleep. When they lifted their head and began to form the words ‘Happy Birthday’, he swiftly silenced them by pulling their face back into his chest. “Shut it, you.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes in both annoyance and embarrassment before kissing the top of their head.