Cake

Charles Gaunt POV

Monday 21st October 1991

Reaching the steps which led out of the dungeons, Charles said goodbye to his friends. They had just finished their last lesson of the day, Defence Against the Dark Arts and as usual, the class had been nothing short of a joke. Quirrell had them get into pairs of two so they could practise the Verdimillious Charm. Now that itself wasn't so bad. In fact, after weeks of nothing but theory and listening to the Professor's incoherent rants about vampires – it would be the first bit of magic they actually learned in class.

The problem was Quirrell had yet to even teach them the spell before he ran off to the toilets, telling them to rush to the hospital wing if they injured themselves. The class had lingered about the room quietly, unsure what to do, until Charles, having already learnt the spell in his spare time, decided to teach his friends himself. Soon after some other Slytherins who already knew the charm copied and the self-taught lesson of D.A.D.A began.

All the spell did was produce a small amount of green sparks from the wands tip. More advanced versions of the charm could be used effectively in duelling but the one they were 'being taught' was close to harmless, only resulting in a slight heat when it touched skin. Though the sparks from Charles's wand were noticeably hotter than everyone else's. It could also be used to reveal objects hidden by Dark Arts, but Charles thought any object that could found using a first-year level spell, was probably not worth looking for in the first place.

Quirrell returned from his trip, a good ten minutes later. When he was told of his failings, he simply stated he had forgotten and much to everyone's displeasure, decided to have them all skip the practise and write about the charms usefulness.

An hour later the class ended. The disappointed students left the classroom and dispersed into the castle, Charles leaving his friends as he already had plans for the afternoon.

Currently, he was on his way to the library. Now that Charles had fully settled into Hogwarts life, he was ready to start being more proactive in his research. He had established a working routine that, while not perfect, was allowing him to stay well ahead in his subjects and had formed a friend group he was happy with. That had been his number one priority and goal since receiving his letter. However, to do so had forced him to be especially careful around them. When talking he tip toed around the words he didn't agree with, to avoid needless conflict, to fit in. Charles didn't want to ruin his first real friendships before they started.

But now he finally felt that his relationships and lifestyle were firmly consolidated and stable. He was confident they wouldn't be able to simply forget his friendship and move on – they wanted him around. All he had to do now was maintain. This meant he could shift his focus to other things he had pushed aside till now. It was time to start putting himself first – and he would start with the matter that had been on his mind for weeks.

The first time Charles heard the word Parseltongue was on the third day of school. As Charles had grown used to, the owls delivering the morning mail at breakfast dropped off their letters and newspapers. A copy of the newest issue of the Daily Prophet had fallen close to him and he had of course picked it up, still very curious of the broader wizarding word he had only recently been introduced to.

It was an odd feeling, turning the pages, only to find your name plastered in bold print, with strangers speculating your life and spinning out theories and accusations about who you were. 'The next Dark Lord', they had called him. Questions about who his parents were or whether Charles would be as crazy as the last Gaunt who died in Azkaban. Yet even then, there was something that stood out in the articles writing, as if highlighted in red ink.

'Doubts about the child's lineage are passing about ministry and noble families, and although Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has yet to make a comment, the Daily Prophet is investigating the issue very seriously and promises to keep our readers up to date as new information arises. Of course, such doubts would be put to rest if the boy were able to speakwith snakes. The ability of Parseltongue would all but prove his relation.'

Parseltongue, the language of serpents. He had hidden his interest in the word as quickly as it had arose. His friends had never asked so he had never mentioned it, but he had searched for it in every book that his surname was brought up in.

As the days went on, the newspapers investigations led nowhere, and began saying that, until a blood test was done, the only way to prove Charles was truly a Gaunt – was if he could speak Parseltongue. The world wanted to know if he could, and so did he.

The problem was he didn't have a snake to test it on. The only time he had even seen a snake was inside a book, having never been to a zoo and hardly ever glancing at the televisions in each of his foster homes. Perhaps he could search the school grounds for one, Tracey claimed pretty much everything lived inside the forbidden forest after all. Maybe a snake would have left the boundary. But that sounded pointless. There was no guarantee snakes were in the forest and even if they were, searching for them would take hours, maybe even days. Charles didn't have time to waste like that.

So he decided to search the library for some kind of spell he could use to summon a snake or get rid of one, if it turned out he couldn't speak with it. A spell to get rid of the snake might actually be the more important one as, even if he could speak Parseltongue, there was no way of knowing if it would attack him regardless.

Charles entered the library and sighed, the sheer magnitude of it almost made him want to leave and find another way to get what he wanted. But there was no better way than what was before him. Tens of thousands of books rested neatly on bookshelves that towered above him, even taller than the half-giant gatekeeper of Hogwarts, all lined up in hundreds of narrow rows. That wasn't even mentioning the second-floor upstairs, which Charles noticed had a sign prohibiting first year entry. In order to sort through all the information contained within, far longer than the seven-year tenure he would be allowed at Hogwarts – perhaps even an entire lifetime wouldn't be enough.

'Well, best start quickly, I suppose.' The library was mostly empty, excluding a couple of Ravenclaws who he noticed sitting quietly around the room's edges, making the way forward to the reception desk quick and easy. Madam Pince sat behind it, her hooked nose hidden by the book in her hands.

Charles tapped lightly on the desk to get her attention.

"Mr Gaunt," she whispered, adhering to the rules set for everyone. Charles had been here enough times to be remembered. "Is there something you want? Usually you're fine finding what need yourself." Madam Pince had a general unkindliness in the way she spoke, as if she could only barely tolerate a student's presence in her library.

Not that it mattered to Charles. "I was wondering where I could find information on summoning spells, I saw an older student summon a rabbit recently and was curious on the principals behind the magic."

"A bit early for a first year to be looking at summoning," she probed, her sunken eyes watching him.

Charles shrugged. "Is it?"

"Yes, especially for a student as green as you," she told him. She dropped the subject when Charles didn't say anything. "Are interested in related charms or transfiguration?"

"Both."

She nodded. "Second to last row of shelves in the Transfiguration section and there should be a book or two by the General Magic section. Anything more than that and you'll have to look upstairs," Madam Pince said in her dull tone. Charles thanked her quietly the woman went back to her book, ending the interaction.

Charles spent an hour sifting through the shelves, going up and down the sliding ladders, laying each book that mentioned summoning on top of one another, and then another half hour going through those to eliminate the ones that didn't align with his intended purpose. Then he picked up his small pile of books and headed for the closest table. Dinner would have already started by now, but he didn't find himself hungry enough to go, a rare occasion as he usually didn't eat enough.

"Over here, Charles," came a hushed whisper a little ahead of him. It was Lily Moon, his Potion partner. She sat at a table near the end of the room, waving at him with the seat opposite her already pulled out. "I saved you a seat."

Charles looked about. Pretty much every other table was empty, 'Even Ravenclaws need to eat, it seems.' Though he could sit anywhere he liked, it would be rude to ignore the invitation. He placed down his books on summoning magic and took a seat, waiting for Lily to say something – she didn't.

The girl was already back to her reading.

Somehow Charles felt like he was losing. "I didn't see you come in," he said, deciding to speak first. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, just an hour or two. I thought we could sit together after you were done searching," she said aloofly. 'How much of that time did she spend waiting for me?'

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I think so," replied Charles, still trying to decide which book he should go through first. "Dinner will be over soon. You should go eat before its too late." 'It's not worth going hungry to sit with me.'

Lily shook her head gently. "I'll eat later, I can just ask an elf to bring some leftovers to my room."

"You can do that?" Charles questioned; his surprise evident. "How?" The existence of house-elves at Hogwarts were meant to be a secret and for the most part, they were, but more than a few Slytherins were in the know. Yet, as far as he knew, even those who were aware weren't able to call the elves. Theo had even said that even though his father had told him they existed, neither of them had actually seen one.

"Not telling," said Lily playfully.

Charles nodded and went back to his books but a tap on the table from Lily took him away once more. The girl was looking at him as if his nose was missing. "You're supposed to keep asking," she said disappointedly. 'I am?'

"Ok, then how?" Charles asked lamely.

Lily was happy again. "A trade. I'll tell you how if you tell me what those books are for, agreed?" It wasn't in a Slytherins nature to give away things for free, though admittedly Lily wasn't asking for much, letting Charles have the better half of the deal.

"Deal," he said readily.

"They're all summoning books, correct?" Charles nodded, "Then what are you trying to summon, is it a snake?" she asked, making Charles pause. Lily sounded rather excited, but Charles was wondering why she even suggested a deal in the first place, she clearly already knew what he was doing. Not that it surprised him, he already knew she was clever from their Potions classes.

'Oh well, she already agreed.'

"Yes, I want to try and talk to one," he told her, revealing more than she had asked for. There was no point in trying to hide it. She knew who he was, pretty much everyone did, not to mention it was quite obvious what he intended to do with the summoned snake.

"Can I watch you do it?" she asked sweetly but with a hint of curiousness.

"Sure," Charles agreed. "But only after you tell me how to call an elf."

"Ok," Lily looked around, checking if they were alone, if any could see what they were doing. There was no one else in sight

"Filly," she called gently. The air in front of him distorted, swirling in place, and he was suddenly faced with an odd-looking creature, not quite three feet tall, with large pale blue eyes, a small but pointy nose and long bat-like ears. To cover itself it wore only a small piece of cloth, a few fresh stains standing out on the white fabric.

The elf smiled, a delighted look on its face. "Lady Lily. You have called?" Charles hadn't expected the elf to have such a pleasant voice. It soft and caring, full of love for its 'Lady Lily'.

Lily smiled back. "I did," she turned to Charles. "I wanted to introduce you to someone."

Only then did the house-elf seem to notice him. "Oh my, you're an odd looking one," said the elf nonchalantly. "My name is Filly and I'm a house-elf of the Moon family." Filly bowed as was customary for an elf.

"Charles," he responded simply, before realising his mistake. "Charles Gaunt." He thought he had been getting better at using his full name when introducing himself, but evidently, he still slipped up occasionally.

"Yes, I've heard of you." Filly's eyes were far more scrutinising now. 'Heard of me? Obviously nothing good.'

"Be nice Filly, he's a friend of mine," said Lily. "Right, Charles."

"Right…" Charles definitely hadn't known they were so close. It didn't bother him to be declared such, being friends would be much more convenient than them not being so as they were Potions partners – just she would be the first friend he made without ever intending to.

Lily's smile reached further. "See?" she looked smugly at Filly, as if saying I told you so.

"Of course, my apologies Mr Gaunt," said Filly, eyes wet with tears as she bowed for a second time. "I had not meant to disrespect Milady's first friend at Hogwarts."

'Her first friend?' Charles stared at Lily and noticed the girl slightly reddened cheeks, which unfortunately for Lily, stood out in contrast to her snowy white hair. Her elf had embarrassed her by revealing too much.

"If you think my apology isn't enough, then please feel free to punish me however it pleases you!" Finny had broken down, kneeling on the ground as she wept.

Charles was stunned. "No, um, its fine I… forgive you?"

Light shone in the elf's eyes. "What kindness!" she exclaimed. "As expected from my Lady's very first frie-," Lily covered Filly's mouth, she had had enough of the elf's babbling.

"Sorry, Charles, elves can be a little strange sometimes," said Lily who was nearly equally as strange in Charles's mind. It had taken five minutes, but soon enough the house-elf was calmed down, returning to its previous respectable persona.

There was a slight awkwardness in the room afterwards, but Lily swiftly put an end to it and started explaining. "As Filly said earlier, she is one of my family's house-elves. A few strings were pulled to allow me to bring her to school with me and in truth, I was meant to keep the whole thing a secret. If people find out I told you…"

Charles nodded. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you," Lily said sincerely. "I don't want to have to send Filly home. As she helps out in the kitchens and I often ask her to bring me snacks when I'm hungry and since you know about her now, you can also ask her for things like that as well, if you want."

Filly affirmed. "Yes, please call for me if you are in need of something."

"Just make sure no one is around when you do," Lily added.

"I'll be careful." Charles couldn't believe how easily this had fallen into his hands. All he had done was be honest about why he was in the library, he felt a little uneasy for receiving something as useful and beneficial as a house-elf for doing something he thought was worth little. Still, he wouldn't be turning it down anytime soon. "Guess, I'll call for you when I'm craving cake."

It had only been a joke, but Filly seemed completely unaware of that. "If you tell me favourite type of cake, I can have one prepared for you. However, please be care about having too much, it's not good for a young wizard's health."

"I myself am rather fond of fruit cake," mentioned Lily. "Your preference, if I had to guess," her hand rested on her dainty chin, "maybe… chocolate cake?"

"How did you know?" asked Charles, only half faking his surprise.

Lily giggled softly, "I wonder."

"Then its settled," came Filly's smooth voice. "I'll have the cakes sent to your rooms tonight." Charles wondered if this was what it was like to be a rich boy. Perhaps Theo and Blaise had forgotten to mention the countless desserts sent to their rooms at home.

"Really? Thank you, Filly," said Lily.

Filly shook her head. "Only for today, my Lady, as it's a special occasion. But your Lady Mother knows about your sweet tooth, I am forbidden from spoiling you too much." Lily nodded ruefully.

'You can spoil me as much as you want, I don't have a mother.' Mused Charles, though the thought didn't make him feel good in the slightest.

After finishing her lecture to Lily on the problems of having too much sugar, Filly readied herself to go. "I've just received word that I'm needed to help with the dish washing." She turned to Charles and smiled kindly. "It was lovely to meet you Mr Gaunt. I'm happy to know the rumours were only tripe. You appear a very respectable young man in my eyes."

"Thank you, Filly," Charles smiled genuinely. "But before you go, I've been wondering something for a while now."

"Curiosity is a good trait to have," Filly answered. "Go ahead and ask."

"Lily mentioned your being here is something best kept secret, I was worried if we should have been having this conversation in the library."

Filly tilted her head and Lily was looking at him like he had said something incredibly silly. "Was that all?" Filly laughed. "I of course set up a few wards to prevent any watchful eyes when I arrived. Well I best take my leave now, the other house-elves will be missing me. Please continue to look after our Moon family's young Mistress." The elf took one final bow and shrunk away into the air.

'Wait… doesn't it feel like house-elves are way more useful than I thought? And I was going to simply have her bring me cake...'

With Filly gone, Charles and Lily were left alone, other than the couple of other students that had suddenly appeared. But his reading had been put off for long enough. He picked up the closest book to him, deciding it was a good enough place to start.

"I think you should read this one," said Lily pointing to a book with a purple cover that Charles had brought over.

"Why?" he asked. Did she know something he didn't?

"I like the cover."

"…"

Charles picked up the book Lily suggested and started to read through it. It was a transfiguration book, with terminology and principals meant for students a few years above his and he decided that even if he couldn't get the right spell from the book, he could borrow it from the library for studying. However, after only short period of light reading – he had already found the perfect spell for his purposes. It must have shown on his face as Lily quickly congratulated him for the find.

Lily raised her hand up for a high five. Clap – Charles made sure not to hit too hard.

"Charles? Ah there you are!" He turned around. It was his roommates, as well as Tracey and Daphne.

"You didn't come to dinner," Theo stated the obvious.

"We were worried," Daphne added with a sigh.

Charles was in a good mood, so he smiled back, "Sorry, I was a little busy, kind of forgot about the time."

His friends stared at him in shock.

Blaise broke the silence with a laugh, "Don't smile at us like that, we're not used to it."

"I thought you had been possessed for a moment there," Theo quipped, looking fearful.

Charles nodded. "I'll try not to do it again," he assured them.

The three of them laughed as Tracey and Daphne started telling Charles's friends off.

"Then are you still busy, mate," Theo whispered, unexpectedly obeying the library's rules. "We're all heading back to the common room."

'Well I'm pretty much done here.'

"I just need to check a few of these books out, then we can go." Charles saw Madam Pince rushing towards them. Theo noticed her as well, a panic spreading across his face. "Wait outside!" he told them all. The lot of them rushed out the nearest exit, Tracey waving at Madam Pince as she ran.

Charles went to the reception desk and waited for Madam Pince to return. When she did, he checked out his books as she stared at him unhappily. He promised to return them before the end of the next month and returned to the table he had been sharing with Lily.

"Are you staying?" he asked the girl.

Lily shook her head softly, "I'm not."

Charles paused, all of a sudden there was a question he wanted to ask her.

"Were you planning on missing dinner today?"

He had been distracted by the mentioning of elves and forgotten to ask her earlier.

"Of course not," she said plainly.

"Why did you then."

"I thought you might not want to sit by yourself," were her words. So simple, so kind. Words wasted on someone like him. 'I would have been fine alone.'

Still, they felt nice to hear. "I see." He started walking to the door but stopped. "Well, are you coming or not?" Lily hopped out of her seat with a grin.

He met up with his friends in the hallway and together, they all returned to their common room. No one questioned the addition of Lily following behind them, as she was also a Slytherin, but Charles thought it would be nice if she could become friends with everyone there. Filly said he was the only friend she had at Hogwarts after all.

On the way he pulled both Blaise and Theo aside as they walked and whispered something important in their ears. "I've had chocolate cake ordered to our room." Their eyes widened as they looked at him incredulously. But then they shook their heads, clearly not believing him. "You'll see."

-

When the group of Slytherins arrived at the common room, three of them rushed to their shared dorm in a hurry. Theo and Blaise had been more eager to get there and had run much faster than Charles. But when the extraordinarily dark-eyed boy finally got to the room, he found his two roommates stood in place, like human statues.

There was a large brown cake, coated with shining chocolate icing and flakes sitting on top of Charles's personal table, a fork, bowl and napkin alongside. The dessert looked truly delicious.

"How?" Blaise asked quietly.

Charles smirked triumphantly as he looked at Filly's handiwork. "Not telling."