7:24 pm, August 31st 1943

Peverell Mansion, Sitting Room

"When does Master Pevrells be coming home?"

Harry grabbed the bridge of his nose in agitation, Laddey had asked him that question four times in the last ten minutes.

"As I've told you the last three times Laddey, I have next to no knowledge regarding the gathering. I expect I could be back as early as nine or as late as eleven, you're sure I set up the Floo correctly? I would avoid calling you to my… acquaintances residence if it can be avoided." Harry was loath to use the word friend in regards to a Malfoy, even if nobody else was around to hear it besides his House Elf.

"Yes Master Pevrells sir, yous already used it the day yous be getting us." Laddey answered in his usual animated manner.

Another thing he didn't remember, he would have to add that to the growing list of things that he'd apparently done. Maybe he should just ask Laddey everything he remembered from that day. Hermione probably would have started with that had she been with him; no, he couldn't go down the road right before a meeting with that group.

With his nerves starting to rise, he cast a Tempus charm. It was now 7:25 and with a deep calming breath, he stepped into the fireplace with a handful of Floo powder. Preferring to arrive at the earliest time than any other, he called out the name he'd been given.

"Malfoy Manor."

Flames erupted in the fireplace as Harry was whisked away from his home.

He stumbled out of the Floo, barely managing to right himself though it must've looked like quite a sight.

"Heir Peverell. I see you're not fully accustomed to Floo travel, your sheltered upbringing no doubts the primary reason." An arrogant voice attuned from his right.

Slowly turning his head, he was greeted with Abraxus Malfoy lazily lounging in a chair with tea on the table beside him. Great, the night had just begun and already he looked a fool, hopefully, this wasn't a sign of things to come.

"You'd be correct Heir Malfoy, thankfully that time was better spent in spellwork." Harry bit back, deciding to show that Malfoy wouldn't find him as another step to be walked on.

Smirking and with an arched brow, Malfoy rose to his feet in an extremely fluent manner; Harry supposed the git had practised that.

"You arrived at the earliest possible time Heir Peverell, I'm glad to see your manners aren't lacking. Now do come along, the others are waiting in the parlour room."

Harry nodded and followed after the taller boy, all the while scanning his surroundings with one hand floating near his wand. It's not just because he didn't trust his peers, as much as it was a contributing factor the main reason was he half expected Riddle to be watching. If Malfoy told her, which he most assuredly did, was he wrong to assume she'd already be here? Perhaps he was just too on edge.

"Why weren't the others waiting with you, Heir Malfoy?" Harry asked, hoping for a conversation to begin instead of walking in silence.

Abraxus side-eyed him as they continued their journey through his home and the reply shocked him. "I figured you wouldn't be very experienced in Floo travel and didn't wish for any of the others to use it as a reason to mock you. Rosier especially would find some form of pleasure in reminding you loudly and publicly."

"Thank you." Was Harry's simple response, which the Malfoy boy ignored.

Begrudgingly Harry would have to admit that Draco's ancestor may not be quite as bad as him, he was still an arrogant Malfoy regardless.

Abraxus came to an abrupt halt at a large wooden door, where he sidestepped after opening it. "We're here, Heir Peverell. Do excuse me, I have to see to the Dining room now."

That was curious, maybe he had more guests from a separate party he was hosting. Harry thanked the Malfoy boy again and entered into the room occupied by one figure sitting in a chair looking over the vast gardens of Malfoy Manor.

His throat constricted and his palms began to sweat as he noticed the features on the girl. She was tall, especially so for her age with a thin build, pale skin and long jet black hair. When she turned to face him, he could make out the slightest upturn of her lips. Just as he'd done when he had entered, she was now taking him in.

Harry felt that he couldn't move under her inspection and his breathing was increasingly shallow. She must have noticed his unease as she graced with a charming smile which only fanned the flames of fear; he'd heard just how charismatic Tom Riddle had been.

"Heir Peverell." She greeted warmly, a small blush appearing on her cheeks as she gave him a very well practised curtsey.

He couldn't find it in himself to return her smile, even returning her greeting took him a few seconds, of which she patiently waited with the smile not once leaving her lips.

"Miss Riddle." His voice hitched halfway through speaking her name - he didn't bother saying it again and bowed to her.

Graciously, she ignored it too and motioned towards where she'd been sitting before. "Please do join me by the window, I find the view to be most excellent as the background of any conversation."

Without waiting for his reply or seeing him move towards the aforementioned area, she smiled demurely and turned her back towards him. A few elegant steps and she was back in the seat she'd been in when he entered. Her movement now that he was no longer in shock at her presence, was fluid and as well practised as her curtsey. It was easy to see why any number of people would fall over themselves to do her bidding, something she likely figured he would do too.

A dark thought took over his mind at her seemingly careless attitude while in his presence.

I could end everything now.

How many thousands of lives could be saved? How much grieving could be stopped? If he'd but pick up his wand and speak the incantation. His hand inched towards his wand as he started stepping towards her. Twenty steps away… fifteen… ten… five, he was only a few feet from her now. She was still admiring the gardens and clueless towards his sinister thoughts; he shook himself from whatever had taken hold of his mind.

How could he be any better than Tom in his life if he struck down a teenage girl for what she may do in the future?

Harry took the last few steps necessary and fell in the chair beside hers, even the thought of that had made him feel sick of himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her left arm, which was the one hidden behind her body from his point of view, slightly move. Maybe he was to be struck down for his weakness in not ending her. Fate or whatever other being had sent him back must have seen him fail and were now ready to punish him.

But instead of such a crazy thing happening, she turned towards him with that infuriatingly charming smile on her face and started with what could only be the first of many questions she'd probably prepared for him. "I hear you're to start Hogwarts this year, does that excite you?"

Such an innocent, normal question from a girl that was neither of the two qualities.

In response to it, he nodded his head once and abruptly looked away from the rather attractive girl. It hurt him to no end that she was his age, good looking and well mannered - it would be so much easier to hate her if she had the appearance of Voldemort upon his resurrection in the graveyard.

Now if he kept his answers short or even nonverbal, his thinking was if he seemed boring and broody she'd move on from him after only a few questions. As it often did, however, his luck seemed to run out. Her attention changed at his lacklustre answer and she flicked her wrist, the chair she was in better angling itself so her undivided attention could be on him instead of alternating with the garden.

"I do hope to hear a better answer than that. Hogwarts is a privilege to attend and you would be foolish to be anything but excited to finally enter its storied halls." Riddle's tone had changed from charming to something sharper with a hint of another emotion he couldn't place.

For now, he would play to appease her. "My apologies Miss Riddle. I'm not much for talking but you're correct, I am grateful to Professor Slughorn for personally seeing to my registry." Pleased with his answer, her features morphed quickly back from whatever emotion had taken place and back into that of her charming, friendly persona that he thought his mind had played a trick on him. How could a person switch attitudes so quickly?

"Professor Slughorn has a wealth of contacts from all his time spent teaching. He's a good man to know, Heir Peverell." Riddle was right in that regard, at least from what the man's seemed capable of so far.

"He seemed to be, I'm lucky he was the first person I met." Harry tried making it sound like their meeting had been planned, even if it hadn't been. It wasn't like she'd find out and it was better than a story involving him almost falling out of a floo.

"Oh, that was something I wasn't told," Riddle replied, now moving to lean a few inches closer to him with one hand coming to rest on his chair before continuing. "It must have been difficult having to remain hidden away from public view, were you raised somewhere obscure and hidden away with magic?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed, only to continue on when the girl motioned for him to elaborate with a smirk on her face. "I was raised in England, I've not once left my family's grounds until two days ago."

"That must have been rather rough at times." She commented.

"It could've been worse." Was his neutral reply.

"It could've," Riddle confirmed with a shift in her tone that he couldn't place.

Harry was content to let the silence linger after her reply, already he'd learned a fair bit about the girl before him. She wouldn't let the time be wasted, however, as she continued her interrogation of him, this time moving her hand from his chair to brushing across his left arm. He fought every fibre of affected muscle to avoid flinching from her touch.

"Pardon me if this next question is personal. Abraxus is of the opinion that your whole family will steadily be coming out of hiding and you were sent first as a means to gauge the public. Would that be right?"

Seeing that her attention towards him was as focused as ever, Harry realized he needed to think up an answer in seconds. It would have to be vague but enough of an answer that she wouldn't press him for more.

Having decided with only seconds passing, he looked away towards the gardens, suddenly interested in a patch of flowers that would keep his face far away from hers. "Not entirely, my family will probably stay in hiding for a while longer." He could make out her eyes narrowing in his peripheral vision as she moved in her seat.

"I see. I must admit, I was hoping to meet your family as I have with my companions you've met." The disappointment was clear to hear in her tone and when he turned his vision from the garden back to her, it was her now looking away from him. She wasn't nervous as he'd been when he'd made the move, it was more likely that gears had been set in motion with changes being made to whatever plans she'd had going into this ambush meeting.

"You're unsure of where you'll be sorted into, correct?" She questioned abruptly, her eyes still roaming out the window.

Harry assumed now that anything he'd told her friends was told to her, no matter how mundane it seemed to be at the time.

"Yes; as I told the others, each House seems to have benefits and setbacks." His answer stayed the same.

"Surely you have a preference or hope?" She turned back from the garden and looked at him. "I most definitely did."

He tried to maintain a neutral expression and thought out his answer, letting time drag on. Harry had hoped if he remained quiet she would continue to the next topic rather than waste time but she proved patient with her eyes staying on him and her smile unwavering.

"Gryffindor appeals to me - I've heard there's a mutual disliking between those in that house and those in Slytherin."

Riddle shrugged her shoulders. "You have far too much potential for us to ignore you on something so minor as a Hogwarts House." She leaned in closer to him and twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers, smirking when she saw Harry's gaze follow it. "Thank you for being truthful, I can understand the worry you'd have felt if you thought the only people you knew dropped you over something out of your control."

She then stopped playing with her hair and looked down to adjust a ring on her finger. Satisfied with it, she peered up at him through her hair and eyelashes, speaking in a hushed manner. "I'll let you in on something, honesty will always work very well with me, Harry. "

Her tone was soft and sent shivers throughout his body - joined with the look she was giving him he could easily see how any man would do anything to see it again. Even he wanted to see it again.

He blinked rapidly when that last traitorous thought came up and as if a bucket of cold water was tossed on him, he was roused from his admiration of her beauty.

Harry was flung into remembering the diary, how easily he trusted the version of Riddle that'd been in it- a version that couldn't be too much older than the one in front of him now. It was a mistake to come here, a mistake he justified as wanting to see if this girl was any different than Voldemort in his time. She may not be openly hostile to him, quite the opposite even - but he wouldn't be fooled again. There were a reason students he'd met thus far had been nervous regarding her and this time he wouldn't be fooled into thinking she was just another friendly face.

"Heir Peverell? I do hope it wasn't too forward of me to address you by your first name, something about you just feels so familiar." Riddle's gaze flickered around on his face for a moment as she self-consciously tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. It was a surprisingly girlish and cute gesture as he found himself once more being enthralled by her natural beauty.

Putting a hand up to cough into so he could ready his voice again, Harry told her it was fine.

Riddle's response was a grateful nod and a continuation of their speaking, which had somehow come back to his Hogwarts House. "I had hoped you'd say Slytherin so that I could escort you to the common room. Regardless of your house, I'd like to offer you a tour of the grounds if you wouldn't mind? We could even have Rosier and Carrow come along, they seem to think highly of you after just one meeting. Unless you'd prefer to have no distractions - which works for me if it does you."

She finished her rambling with a shy smile, which made him distinctly uncomfortable.

"That would be fine." He found himself answering without a second thought, something that confused him and surprised her.

Suddenly, she brought forward both hands until they were clasped in her lap as she was content to stare at him in contemplative silence. Gradually she leaned in closer and closer to him, her shy smile morphed into something more playful.

He'd been so lost in his thoughts as to what made him agree with her offer that when he noticed how close she was, he leaned back so fast the force of it moved the chair.

"Peverell, are you quite alright?" Riddle stood up from her seat while he was panicking and rested one of her dainty hands to his forehead, his sudden movement having proved to be a justification for her. "You feel hot, should I have Abraxus call for an elf?"

She was even closer to him now, he could feel her warm breath on his face which was startlingly different from her cold hand that still rested on his forehead. Why was she touching him? Did she do this with everyone? Personal space seemed to matter as much to her as feelings had to Tom.

"Yes… I feel… I feel fine." Harry then attempted to dislodge her hand with one of his own, the contact making him shutter. Frozen at the added contact and stuck in memories of the graveyard incident, he could do nothing when her other hand softly lifted his chin until the two were making eye contact.

It felt intimate, like something he would've done with a girl down the road in a relationship - but also weird, considering just who it was that he was sharing this moment with. He felt a tickle in the back of his mind but ignored it when she leaned in even closer, distracted again by the closeness to a beautiful member of the opposite sex.

It grew stronger still and Harry gave a small attempt at shaking her hand off with just a motion from his head, recognition of what the feeling was similar to just starting to creep into his mind's eye.

He noticed that her smirk grew and grew until her smile was wider than he'd yet seen. Why was she smiling at him now? Had he said something?

When the motion got stronger yet, he finally realized just what it was that she could be doing and knew he had to look away from her and break eye contact. But something about her eyes, her presence, made him feel like everything was fine when it should feel anything but.

With remarkable willpower, Harry broke eye contact with the girl and immediately felt a headache take hold. Her hands moved back from their positions on his forehead and chin as she sat back down in her seat. If he would've looked into her eyes again, or even at her face, he would've clocked the thoughtful expression she'd had on.

"You interest me, Peverell."

Wrong as it was, Harry's brain immediately switched from anger at the possible intrusion to connecting a line of dots that didn't exist as a memory of what Rosier had said flashed like a shopkeeper's sign in his brain.

' She's matchless'

He could feel his face heating up and bile rise to the back of his throat as he looked for anything to reply with. Surely she couldn't have met him once and decided to pursue him? How could he deny her without getting hit by a spell upon his denial of her?

A soft chuckling alerted him that she was in fact, still right next to him, something that he had pushed away while lost in the horrors of his mind. "My my, you seem rather forward. I hope it doesn't hurt our budding friendship when I tell you that I'm focused on education and business rather than pleasure at this point in my life."

What?

"What?" Harry was fully on his back foot. She was the one that expressed her interest in him and now she was telling him that she didn't want to pursue a relationship? Thankful as he was, it did nothing to make him less confused.

"I believe you misinterpreted my meaning of interest, though your embarrassment was entirely too amusing for me not to prolong."

Harry didn't know how to reply to that, he'd already made a fool out of himself in thinking she wanted him. Repulsive as the idea was, he'd still blushed and stumbled which must've made him seem like he did like her.

It seemed whatever gods existed had come in, at last, to save him when she'd pulled a pocket watch out to check the time, excusing him from having to articulate a response.

"Abraxus wished to meet with me when we were finished at eight," Riddle answered his unasked question.

"What time do you have?" With any luck, they would have just enough time to say their goodbyes.

"We're five minutes past eight." Riddle looked as if she didn't care in the slightest that Malfoy would be waiting for her.

"Well, I don't want to make you any later than you already are, it's been great meeting you, Miss Riddle." Harry stood up and was almost sprinting to the exit; he wanted to be alone with her no longer.

" Wait. " Her voice sounded confused, worried and entirely different than he'd heard all night. It was slightly deeper, more womanly rather than girlish and infinitely more appealing. Distracted by her new tone, he froze and looked back at her.

Slowly, she stood up and smoothed her clothing. Satisfied her clothing was righted, she stared at him, observing every detail intimately from a distance before she made her way over to him, pushing through his personal space until he was breathing in the air she'd exhaled. "I hope you weren't leaving without a formal goodbye, Harry."

He shivered at the way his name rolled from her lips, cursing his traitorous body.

Riddle raised her hand towards him and when he looked at her face for direction, he found more than just that. While an expectant look was certainly on her face, so was a blush brighter than any he'd seen all night from her.

Harry took the offered hand, holding it with very little pressure and watching her face as he raised it towards his lips. Her expression stayed the same - at least until the very moment his lips touched the back of her hand, it then changed to absolute rapture. It stayed that way when he let go of her hand, it stayed that way when it fell limply to her side and only when her other hand came over to touch it did she return to normal, returning his goodbye.

"Thank you, Heir Peverell, for the time spent answering my many questions," Riddle said quietly, moving around him so they didn't bump into one another. She then made her way over to the door he'd entered from.

Even then, with her body already halfway out of the door, she managed to squeeze one last question in. Careless if it made her a few minutes later to the meeting she had with Malfoy, which he did enjoy considering all the prick had gotten him into. "You'll be sitting with us on the train I assume?"

"I wouldn't want to impose upon you and the others," Harry answered.

"I assure you, it wouldn't be imposing." Riddle returned.

"Can one compartment even fit all of us? I'd heard they were rather small." He tried again, anything to avoid sitting with her with the confusing stance his brain was taking.

Riddle cocked her head and smiled wide. "Professor Slughorn has taken care of that."

Seeing that he had no further attempts at deflection, Riddle spoke again. "I'll have Rosier find you on the platform, have a good evening, Heir Peverell."

With her final remarks made, she closed the door.

Out of sight from the girl, Harry fully relaxed into the chair. Riddle had seemed charming, polite and everything else a well brought up peer of his would be, minus the intrusion into his thoughts - which he noted wasn't painful as Snape's had been. Back on that he realized that her distraction had proven extremely fruitful, as she'd slipped away before he could confront her about whatever it was that she'd done. It didn't feel exactly like his lessons with Snape, at the same time he didn't know what else it could be.

Next in his thinking was why had he felt so nervous around her? He couldn't feel a sense of power around her as Slughorn had said he felt around himself, all he felt around her was an uneasiness joined with an attraction he hadn't been concerned about.

Could the uneasiness be in his mind, a manifestation of his worries and anger towards her name? Or did others feel it too, contributing to why they'd follow her rather than become an obstacle in the way of an unstoppable object?

No matter what the cause of it, with the meeting he'd hoped to get a look into what she was like while at the same time destroying any interest she had in him. He succeeded in the former, at least partially, while utterly failing in the latter. Her interest in him had been raised even higher than it was before the meeting while his understanding of her was even worse.

Harry had thought she would be full of threats, warnings and violence; in actuality, she came nowhere close to any of those things.

"Harry, are you still in here?" It was Corene's voice calling to him from the doorway.

Roused from his errant thinking, he stood up speedily. So much so that his earlier brief headache from looking into Riddle's eyes came back full force.

"Yes. I was just admiring the view, the Malfoy family gardens are a sight to behold." A half-lie, the gardens were truthfully amazing even if he didn't know a majority of what he was looking at.

"Okay… Would you like to go to the Dining room where the others are?" Carrow asked, more interested in looking at him than the garden.

"That'd be brilliant." Was his short reply.

Carrow offered her arm once he was next to her, which he took after only a moment of awkward manoeuvring that amused rather than annoyed her. Small talk was then made for most of the journey until she mentioned Malfoy, bringing a question to the forefront of his mind.

"Was Riddle originally going to be here?"

Corene switched from looking ahead of them to looking partially at him. "Much later on in the evening, yes. We were all somewhat surprised that she was waiting to greet us in the Dining room upon our arrival, it should have been obvious to us that she wished to meet with you as soon as possible in retrospect."

Harry wanted to continue digging out information as much as he could. "Surely it could've waited until tonight?"

With a knowing look, Corene gave him what he was looking for. "Harry. Your House was powerful back when it existed publicly and we expect to see that return with your family having left hiding. Join that with Riddle's ambitions, and no I won't tell you what few of them I know, you were moved to the highest point of interest in our circle. Let me leave you with this before we join the others, do you think it was a coincidence that you saw us after your leaving of Gringotts?"

Before he could ask her just what she meant by that, he was nudged through a doorway where a loud voice immediately greeted him. "Peverell! I almost thought Riddle ran you off! Yaxley and I even bet on it! I knew your nerves would hold!"

"Yes yes, enjoy the few Galleons your win gets you, Rosier," Yaxley said with annoyance dripping from his voice. After throwing a few Galleons at Rosier, Yaxley gave Harry a nod. "You almost got me twice as much, should have heard Rosier for the last five minutes."

Harry returned the nod as the other boy went back to a quiet conversation with a girl he hadn't been introduced to. That seemed to be a common occurrence as it seemed it was more than just the group he met in Diagon Alley in attendance tonight.

"I could tell you who everyone is, so long as you don't find my company unappealing?" Corene whispered from behind him.

He didn't even need to think about his answer, the Carrow girl was one of the two that he thought most salvageable from Riddle's grasp. Any excuse to build his friendship with her or Rosier, he would take. "Thank you, Corene, that would be great."

No response was given to him, instead she rejoined their arms and led him over to a section of the dining table that was relatively empty, only a group of three was within a dozen seats of the duo. Not even many snacks were at the area Corene took him to, he briefly wondered if this was planned too before realizing that like everything else since he'd met them, of course it was.

Corene then stood beside a seat, which Harry pulled out for her after one expectant look. Once she was seated, he took the chair next to hers.

"Now, are you familiar with other Pureblood houses or is that portion of your education lacking?"

He debated lying to her but that would only hurt him. "I know a few of them, not all."

She shrugged. "Good enough so long as you know the ones that matter."

Harry then followed her gazes as she pointed out each of the new faces. Yaxley was talking to Walburga Black, one of the two people Slughorn had said would act as guides or something similar he recalled. In addition to her, the other attendees previously unknown were Heir Reinhard Lestrange, Heir Cade Avery, Heir Thyme Nott, Scion Druella Rosier - who Harry made a mental note was very easy on the eyes even if he wasn't interested in her as it could no doubt be used to annoy Aster, Heir Heron Mulciber and Daphne Oleander.

From the information Corene then shared about those in attendance, Riddle had already built up a powerful group of allies. All of the Slytherin prefects were here but Riddle herself, Daphne Oleander was even the Head Girl.

Outside of Hogwarts, those assembled were all members of powerful houses, which if joined together made them almost impossible to defeat economically or politically. No wonder deaths were so common in the time before his birth; he couldn't even contemplate how the first war had been won even with Riddle dead.

Once Carrow was finished with the overview, which had taken longer than he'd thought, he pressed her for more information.

"You mentioned every Prefect from Slytherin was here excluding Riddle, could you point each one out to me?"

"Seeing who to avoid when you're doing something you shouldn't be?" Carrow raised a finely shaped eyebrow, it being the only indication she wasn't completely serious.

"Not entirely for that reason." It was a contributing factor towards his wanting to know, the main reason being those in positions of power were probably more focused by Riddle and by extension, likely more fanatic in her cause considering they were here.

"I should hope not, it would be awkward being the one to catch you…" Carrow paused and tilted her head with the faintest of smiles. "I like La Fudgerie."

Corene's attempt at humour came off so dry and monotone that Harry burst into a fit of unexpected laughter - drawing much of the room's attention away from their own quiet conversations and to the couple seated in the far corner.

"Carrow already ask for your hand in marriage, Peverell?" Aster yelled out with a slur, stumbling his way over towards Yaxley and the now identified Walburga Black. "I told you Yaxley, pay up you slimy git!"

Harry was about to fall into another fit of laughter at the sheer outrageousness when he saw Corene slowly moving her hands under the table in Aster's direction. Now as much fun as it'd be to witness the boy get cursed, non-life threateningly that is, he didn't want to risk an early end to festivities. Seeing that everyone's attention was in the drunken boys' direction, he did the only thing that came to mind - he grabbed Corene's wand hand.

Unlike Riddle's skin, Corene's was hot to the touch.

"Protecting Rosier already, Harry? You'll get tired of that task very quickly - just wait until he draws Riddle's ire." Corene didn't warn him, hiss in anger, strike him or anything else he'd expected. Instead, she calmly drew her hand from his and slid away her wand once she finished speaking.

"Rosier reminds me of somebody. Besides, I'm not overly worried about Riddle after having met her today." Truth be told, Harry could see that Rosier was most rescuable based just on his personality. He didn't belong with this group any more than Harry did.

Corene examined him for any signs of deception or false bravado before choosing her words. "I hope you don't mean that."

Harry wanted to follow up her words but she'd taken the chance from him, cutting him off before he could finish the first word.

"I hope you don't get distracted that easily and believe it or not, I do have other people to speak with tonight. Now, do you want me to finish telling you who the Prefects are or would you rather try convincing me that you could defeat Merlin's daughter?" Carrow's tone wasn't sharp or annoyed, instead, it was her usual monotonous tone.

He considered trying to show that Riddle wasn't all-powerful and could be bested, but for several reasons, he didn't.

Corene let the silence stay over them for a few additional seconds in case he decided to change his mind, when he didn't, she continued - she even provided a bit of usual information that he hadn't asked for.

"Malfoy is the fifth year boys Prefect and the only one besides Riddle who can't be persuaded. If it comes down to being caught by him or Mister Pringle - go with Pringle."

Harry couldn't help but ask who Pringle was and why she spat his name out - finding out that the man enjoyed physical punishments that oftentimes left scars on those who were frequent visitors.

"For our sixth-year Prefects, as I mentioned earlier, Riddle is one and with her is Reinhard Lestrange. Lestrange is easy to please, taking Galleons and the like as means for his silence - pay him enough and he'll help you with whatever you're doing. Riddle…" Harry tensed as Corene's wand appeared in her hand so suddenly that he swore it materialized from thin air. With shallow breaths, he watched as she brought it between their bodies and cast something so quietly that the words were lost to the room

One finger around her wand pointed up towards her face and when he followed it, he saw just how serious this moment was. "If you ignore everything I tell you but one piece of information, for your sake it should be this." Corene then grabbed for her drink and looked to her left at the rest of the room as she held the glass to her lips. Unbeknownst to Harry, who thought she was doing it for suspense, Carrow's eyes roamed the room with precision. Satisfied that nobody was doing anything more than an occasional glance, she finished sipping the drink and put it back on the table. Slowly turning towards him, speaking when her body was fully facing his. "If you find yourself cornered by Riddle while past curfew or otherwise breaking any rule serious enough to warrant mild or worse punishment - yell loudly."

That was all she said to him and just as quickly as she cast something before, she did so again, destroying whatever magic she'd put around them.

"Now, for our seventh years." Carrow appeared to be continuing with no sign of having said what she had before, likely for any prying ears that were tuning in and out of their conversation. "Heron Mulciber, he tends to collect favours, the number and power of which depend on what you get caught doing. Daphne Oleander is as simple as Lestrange to deal with, just more expensive."

"Should you really be telling me all this?" Harry was concerned for her, he didn't want to be the reason for any punishments that came her way from this group of 'friends'.

"Everybody in this room already knows everything I've just told you, more than that, actually."

"They won't mind you sharing it with me?" Surely Malfoy wouldn't be happy if he found out what Carrow had said.

"Apart from Malfoy and our other mutual contact, do you think they're opposed to taking your gold or having you owe them?" Her response was fair, would they rather cost him a few house points or charge him for something much more personally valuable?

"Understandable - you really take La Fudgerie as a means for people to avoid being reported?" Galleons and favours made sense as a price, sweets much less so.

"From you I will." Oh. Maybe Rosier wasn't too far off when he'd called her barmy, that or she was just incredibly direct.

An awkward silence stretched over the two, with Harry looking anywhere but her while she kept her eyes entirely on him.

"Did I fail to convey a joke or is your laughter internal?"

One day, he would need to teach her how to speak with emotion. Until then, he would humour her with a small laugh.

"Carrow! Stop hogging our guest of honour!" Rosier slurred loudly from beside his sister, the latter slapping him on the back of his head followed up with a 'No yelling, little brother.'

Corene's right fist opened and closed repeatedly in agitation with a pointed look at Harry. Silently reminding him of his earlier protection for the boy and how difficult a task it would be.

"You can get him if he does it again?" Harry tried, his statement coming out as more of a question.

Her response was the slightest of nods before she scooted to the edge of her seat in anticipation of standing. "He isn't entirely incorrect, there are others who wish to speak with you and as I told you earlier, I have others I need to speak with."

Harry stood up before her. "None of them will be as helpful as you I'm sure, or as enjoyable." He followed that up with offering a hand, which the Carrow girl lightly grasped, only dropping it when she was fully stood up.

"You can be sure of that." Corene curtsied to him, something he couldn't help but compare to Riddle; said comparison gave him anger-inducing results.

Returning the courtesy with a bow and smile, her parting words came.

"See me before you leave."

She was already a few steps away when the last word left her mouth, leaving him to idle next to his seat for whoever was next to speak with him. Almost as if the order was planned, two figures stood from two conversations and joined together as they made their way over to him.

Heron Mulciber and Walburga Black, his two guides that Professor Slughorn had graciously provided.

"Heir Peverell." Walburga greeted him first, Heron echoing her greeting.

"Scion Black, Heir Mulciber." His greeting was just as formal as theirs.

Without waiting for further formalities, Walburga seated herself, followed by Mulciber and finally Harry - who started the conversation.

"Professor Slughorn had told me he'd Owl'd you on my behalf for assistance, as much as I appreciate his offer, you don't need to do that as I'm sure you have better uses for your time."

Walburga smiled at him while Mulciber grunted, it was the former that would respond first.

"Heir Peverell, I don't know how deep your knowledge of academics is at Hogwarts, but a student's Seventh Year can be overwhelming - which is why Heir Mulciber and I agreed that I would be solely responsible for any help you need."

"Tha-"

Walburga raised a hand from her lap in a gesture for him to remain silent as she continued. "We both know I won't be available every time you're likely to need me, no matter how far apart those moments are. Thankfully for all of us, a fellow sixth year that I'm very familiar with extended an offer of help that I accepted on your behalf, you just met her before entering here unless I'm mistaken?"

Harry was fuming and based on the arrogant smile that Walburga was pulling when she finished speaking, his anger was clear to see.

Seeing that he wouldn't respond, Walburga stood up from her seat which prompted Mulciber to do the same."Splendid. Do you have any questions for us before we head back to our conversations?"

Harry shook his head in the negative and stood up. "Thank you for the assistance, Scion Black, Heir Mulciber."

Walburga's smile wavered for a moment. "Happy to be of service, Heir Peverell."

Mulciber mumbled out an "Heir Peverell" before trudging after Walburga. Leaving Harry once more, standing beside his chair.

While he waited for the next person to come over to him, he glanced where Corene had gone off to. He found her in another corner of the room, listening as another girl spoke animatedly to her. Her interest didn't seem to be in the conversation as she noticed his look and sent him a wink, which the girl across from her failed to notice.

"Peverell."

Reinhard Lestrange had boomed from a few feet away as he came over, one hand holding up Aster as it seemed his sister had gotten sick of caring for him.

"Lestrange."

That was all the formalities it seemed Reinhard wanted to do as he flung Aster into a seat before enlarging one for himself. Even magically enlarged as it was the seat still seemed small for the massive boy. Crabbe and Goyle were both big, Lestrange was bigger than them both but the difference was he knew how to use his wand at least somewhat.

Aster groaned and flipped his face fully onto the table, a dribble of drool steadily growing into a pool.

"Can't handle his alcohol this one." Lestrange laughed. "Can't believe the little man tried to out drink me! Me!" He slapped his chest when he said the second me before his booming laughter sounded again when Aster groaned.

"Will he be alright?" Harry was slightly worried for the boy who'd gone from slurring to unable to form words.

"Oh 'course he will, only had four shots he did! What do you say, want to join me in a drinking game?" Lestrange didn't bother to wait for his answer as he called over a House Elf with a firewhiskey bottle in its diminutive hands.

"I'm quite alri-" Harry was cut off when Aster suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Whe'is Emilene! I wan to marry er!"

For her part, Emilene Nott looked very embarrassed while her brother looked murderous. Everyone else was split between disdainful looks with only a couple openly laughing, one of them being Rosier's sister.

Lestrange stood up from his seat and pointed towards Emilene for Aster's sake. "There she is lad, go on over!" He followed that up with what was supposed to be an encouraging pat on the back - Aster didn't take it as such and was sent a few feet back into his chair, once more incoherent and drooling.

"Ah, here I thought he was finally coming around! Well now Peverell, suppose I should tell you what I meant to when I came over. Marcus Potter and his cronies ever give you any trouble, come find me. Always ready for a good rumble!"

Interesting. Marcus Potter, a grandfather or great uncle to Harry must be problematic. While Harry certainly didn't plan on fighting any of his relatives he would take up the offer the giant in front of him offered.

"Thank you, Lestrange, will Riddle and the others not mind?"

Reinhard guffawed and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Riddle's telling me to take out my aggression on the Potter brat! Says it helps her just as much as it does me!"

Aster chose that time to roll off the chair and onto the ground, leaving a puddle of drool so large on the table it looked like a glass had spilt.

"Well, that's my queue to send the little man off to one of Malfoy's elves! See you on the train, Peverell!" Reinhard reached down to grab Aster by his shirt, dragging the boy away from Harry and in the direction of one the elves in the room.

Nobody else seemed to be in line to speak with him, busy in conversations of their own.

Corene was joined by Daphne, Druella Rosier. Yaxley was still chatting with Walburga while Mulciber and Avery hung around close by the two. Thyme Nott was speaking to his sister who still seemed to have a small blush on her cheeks from Aster's earlier drunken marriage comment. Reinhard Lestrange seemed to have dragged the very recently entered Abraxus Malfoy over to the firewhiskey.

Harry decided to stay seated where Corene had originally put him, content to watch all the others interact with one another rather than inject himself into any conversation. He'd met a few interesting people this night and weird as it was for him to admit, he found himself liking Aster, Corene and Reinhard. All three of them seemed amiable enough and he couldn't help but wonder just why they'd come to follow Riddle.

Were they blackmailed? Had she threatened them or those precious to them? All three of them had more wealth in their families and political power than Riddle so what drove them to seek her out as the de facto leader of the group?

He would need to learn more about the three of them, their wants and true personalities before he could truly understand what Riddle could offer that they wanted.

Almost as if summoned by his thoughts, the door opened and she stepped in. Rather than head over to a particular group, she stood by the door and examined the happenings within the room with a joyous, almost victorious expression.

Harry finally noticed how every conversation but one had stopped upon her entrance with all those who did stop looking towards her. Some of them even had their heads lowered while others simply downcast their eyes.

Only Walburga didn't stop speaking, more so, she didn't even turn to look at Riddle even while Yaxley, her conversation partner, had.

"Walburga… I am pleased you could make it here tonight." Riddle greeted warmly, Harry was confused about why she'd not lashed out at the other girl seemingly going against the established order of things.

Black turned towards Riddle, finished with the sentence she'd been speaking and her eyes roamed over the other girl. Harry could see the arrogant smile settle on her face as she returned Riddle's greeting.

"Elaine, I had feared it'd be another year where you'd have to cancel at the last possible minute." Walburga then pulled a piece of parchment seemingly out of nowhere, Harry made a note to ask Aster how the girls keep doing that, and held it out for Riddle. "Orion wrote this for you, he didn't attend since he was worried you'd be held up."

Neither Riddle nor Black moved. Harry didn't see why it mattered who went to who for grabbing the parchment but he could feel the tension in the room growing with every passing moment, a few of the occupants even had their wands drawn as the moment continued.

Finally, Abraxus stood up when Riddle sent him a nod and grabbed the parchment from Walburga. He then carried it over to her and received a smile in return. She whispered something back to the boy who nodded before returning to his seat.

"Don't let me stop the festivities." Was all Riddle said and everything went back to how it was before her entrance into the room.

Figuring she was going to come over to him for another round of conversation, he was surprised when she instead went over to Corene's group, loudly disagreeing with them on the topic of clothing styles as she slid into the conversation. That had to be one of the weirdest occurrences of the night in his mind and was more than enough to prompt his leaving. He'd had enough of Riddle tonight and as far as Abraxus went, Harry didn't want to get stuck into a conversation with him.

He rose to his feet once he was sure Riddle had her back to him, she was almost fully engrossed in the conversation with only sporadic glances at the Malfoy boy. Abraxus for his part was staying with Reinhard who seemed much more business-oriented if the seriousness on his face was anything to go by.

Choosing to be polite, Harry stood near enough Abraxus that he and Reinhard could see he wished to speak; this prompted the boys to finish whatever conversation they were having and expectantly look at him.

"Heir Malfoy, thank you for my inclusion tonight."

Malfoy appraised him for a moment that seemed to drag on, careless of the awkwardness it caused.

Reinhard with a lack of patience decided to interrupt what Harry assumed was Malfoy attempting to intimidate or otherwise get under his skin, coughing loudly while tapping. Unfortunately, it did more than prod Abraxus into a returning of farewells as the voice of the person he'd least like to hear called over to him.

"Heir Peverell, leaving so soon?"

Riddle stayed in her seat but exited the conversation she'd been in with the fellow women in attendance.

"Yes. I have quite a bit of preparation before my abrupt entrance into Hogwarts."

She smiled. "Do be sure to come to me if you forget any necessities."

Harry returned the gesture but was sure she could see just how false a smile he'd put on.

"Thank you, I'll do that."

Pleased with his acceptance of her offer, Riddle gave her closing remark to him. "Heir Malfoy will show you out - don't forget Rosier will be waiting for you on the platform, should he miss you, I'll come looking."

"That won't be necessary, Rosier will find me or I'll find him. Good evening, Miss Riddle." Harry began slowly shuffling towards the door, Malfoy not moving as he waited for his master to get the last words.

"A good evening to you as well, Heir Peverell." With that, she toasted a drink in her hand towards his direction followed up with a dainty sip. Her mind was once more back into the conversation of whatever her fellow ladies were speaking on.

With a sigh of relief, Harry turned towards the now moving Malfoy - who as he passed Harry, gestured with his head to follow.

Soon he would be done being in the company of people he couldn't be himself around. Better than that he could be back in his bed before too long, it was the best he'd ever slept in.

"Before you feel the need to ask, it was nothing personal, Heir Peverell. Riddle felt it better that she meet with you before letting you roam the room with others in our circle, call it peace of mind if you would." Harry didn't buy it, any of it. Abraxus did seem to dislike him and Riddle was likely anything but worried with him in the room of her followers - many of them could presumably beat him rather soundly.

"No hard feelings, Heir Malfoy. Our conversation was enlightening." He meant that, having learned a good deal about Riddle. Enough to at the very least not want to be alone with her again, regardless of location.

Abraxus seemed pleased that Harry wasn't visibly angry at the deception and proved content to let their walking go by in peaceful silence until Harry was back at the room his night had started in.

"Farewell, Heir Peverell - for a few hours anyway." Abraxus chuckled.

Harry took a handful of Floo powder and made his way over to the access. "Goodnight, Heir Malfoy."

A quick pull and home he was, the last thing his vision registering being Malfoy's face that had morphed into a smug expression.

Not bothering to call for any of his house-elves and dead tired, Harry made his way to the Master Suite. His earlier headache from Riddle's likely breach into his mind was at a dull throbbing pain, worse than that were his now sporadic thoughts going a mile a minute. Many of those in attendance weren't what he expected, especially Walburga Black; he'd heard she was devoted to Riddle but witnessed quite the opposite.

Knowing that his thoughts weren't going to settle anytime soon, Harry did what was best for him; he called Laddey to bring to him a Sleeping Draught.

He wasn't ready in the slightest to deal with Riddle and her company on the train, Slughorn too would no doubt expect something in return for his admittance.

Laddey popped back with the sleeping draught and Harry drank it before he convinced himself otherwise. Luck had gotten him out of a lot, maybe it wouldn't be too much to ask for it to do so again.