Summer Part 1

Lillian stalked into the Leaking Cauldron, ignoring the looks she was getting from people around here, especially teenager boys. She knew that puberty was being kind to her and that she was developing into a beautiful young woman. Yes, she was very petite, standing only at 5 feet and 2 inches, but that had a lot to do with the malnutrition and living in the cupboard during her childhood. And still, her body seemed to be well proportioned. Her breasts were indeed on the small side and she assumed that she would end up with a small b cup but that would be just fine and would fit her. Her waist was small and accentuated her developing hips. While she was nowhere near an athletic person her stomach was still flat, albeit soft. Her legs under her summer dress were visibly smooth and soft, shaped nicely and would be one of her many aesthetic weapons.

To top all of those wonderful physical developments her teenage body was undergoing off, people could now actually see that she also had a gorgeous face. Soft lips, long eyelashes, naturally delicate eyebrows, high cheekbones. But now that her scar and glasses were gone people would at first notice the nice contrast between her pale skin, her black hair and hair emerald eyes.

And even though Lillian Potter had little to no interest in sexual endeavors and had never shown any interest or desire to explore her own body- courtesy of her uncle who raped such feelings and desires out of her in the past six years- she knew that she could charm young men and boys for favors if she used her features just right. A subtle touch here, a little innocent eye contact there. She knew she had those possibilities, but she never saw the need to do those things, to lower herself in such a manner to get what she wanted. No, if she wanted or needed something she found that blackmailing or threatening others was more effective. On rare occasions, a well-placed Imperius could do wonders too. But using her womanly attributes was something she found too revolting.

Right now, though it was just annoying, so she ignored all of those randy teenage boys who drooled after her as she walked through Diagon Alley and towards the Goblin bank Gringotts. She didn't like those distasteful beasts but it was what it was and they were needed in the wizarding world. Very, very few creatures could compete with the ingenious ways the Goblins guarded their vaults. They were ruthless and at times even sadistic. They were dangerous.

So, as she entered Gringotts, she made sure to be a polite teenage witch and not the Dark Lord's powerful, dark and sadistic apprentice. Walking up to a free desk she was greeted by the goblin sitting behind it. "Greetings. Your name and your business." He greeted her.

"May your riches flow freely, Master Goblin." She greeted him in return, showing some Goblin courtesy, she read up on and while the words flew freely from her mouth she still had to swallow the bile rising in her throat down.

I only have one true Master you inferior creature. She thought to herself.

"And yours too." The Goblin returned after blinking in surprise.

Lillian smiled at him, though her eyes remained cold. "Thank you. The name is Potter and I would like to have a thorough inheritance test done so I can at least know if there might be potential vaults, titles or names I could claim or reclaim."

He glanced at her forehead, his eyes narrowing at the lack of a scar there.

Slightly irritated, she spoke up. "It's gone. I am still Lillian Jane Potter. If you want you can have a blood test done to confirm my identity."

The Goblin stared at her. "No need. Wait here as I find someone for your original business."

He left her alone before returning a few moments later with an older looking Goblin. "This is Gradnik. He will handle your affairs from here."

She nodded at him and followed Gradnik into his office, where he offered her a seat in an uncomfortable chair. Apparently, Goblin's didn't care for human comfort, something that irked her.

"I was told you want to do an inheritance test." He began as he rummaged for a knife and a large piece of parchment. He rolled out and flattened the parchment on the desk before handing her the knife. "Three drops of blood."

"Will this be sealed?" She asked him.

"Sealed to your blood. It will look blank to anyone else. With three drops of blood you will allow them to see all."

With a satisfied nod, she nicked her thumb with the knife, letting her blood drop onto the parchment, one, two, three.

Immediately names and lines, linking the names to each other, appeared on the parchment, spreading themselves along the parchment in a deep red, the deceased crossed out.

Once it stopped she went to look for the name she really wanted to see on there and grinned in satisfaction. There, at the far bottom she saw the name Salazar Slytherin. Looking farther up after following some more lines, branching up here and there she saw the Peverells. After that the lines branched farther and farther apart until there were no real familial relations left of the Peverell's descendants up to the Potters.

"So, I am a very far descendent of Salazar Slytherin..." She mumbled to herself. "Just barely enough for me to be a parselmouth." Satisfied, she looked at the Goblin. "Is there anything that I could claim?"

"Well, the Slytherin Vault is already claimed by a direct descendent." He explained.

She smiled at him, smug and with arrogance. "I already know that. I know that person."

"Very well. As for the Peverell name, there is not much to it. The name itself died out and nothing more than your now known blood-relation is left. We do not know of more as of now." He continued. "To the Potter name there would be the Potter manor, some heirlooms and the main family vault. Those you can claim once you reach wizard maturity."

"You mean once I am seventeen years old."

"Yes." The Goblin confirmed.

"Very well. That will be all. Thank you for your time, Master Gradnik."

The Goblin nodded at her, rolled the parchment up and took it with him as he left.

She left Gringotts and walked purposefully to Eeylops Owl Emporium. An elder man greeted her.

"May I help you dear?" He asked her kindly.

Lillian gave a nod. "Yes, I need to send a letter." She had never bought herself an owl or any other pet as she never had anyone to exchange letters with and had no desire to care for a living being. When she could she would study and complete her summer assignments if her stuff wasn't locked away. Usually she was forced to slave away for her relatives during the summer and endure other forms of abuse and humiliation.

No more.

The man pointed her to a booth to write her letter. Pulling a small piece of parchment, since her letter would resemble more to a note than an actual letter, she began to tip the point of her quill into the ink and began to write.

I finished my business at Gringotts. He wanted me to inform him of the results. I assume you know his location. I also assume I will be picked up. The address is 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey. It is heavily warded. If I am to be picked up, there is a playground for muggle children close by. If He decides for other means to meet or contact me, then owl me.

LJP

After addressing it to Lucius Malfoy she paid and left.

She was lying on her bed, finishing another summer assignment, when an unknown owl flew through her window and landed on her desk. Getting up from her bed, she walked towards the desk to untie the letter from the owl's leg.

"About time..." she muttered to herself after having to wait for almost a week to receive an answer from Lucius Malfoy. Reading it, she wrote a short note to confirm the information she got and bound it on the owl's outstretched leg.

Going back to her bed, she continued her homework.

A couple days later, late in the evening, she had her trunk packed with her necessities and went down to leave for the playground. Satisfied that a whole month had already passed so the wards would still be there, she left Privet Drive and headed to the meeting spot.

After 10 minutes, she arrived at the playground and saw a lone, regal looking woman with long blonde hair sitting on a bench. Upon approaching her, the woman turned towards Lillian, a look of distaste on her face. "Potter."

"Mrs. Malfoy."

"I am to take you with me and you are to stay at our manor until term starts." Narcissa explained, obvious that she didn't like that at all.

Lillian nodded. "I assumed as much. Let's go then." She said and grabbed Narcissa's arm tightly while holding onto her luggage.

The Malfoy matriarch scowled at her but held her tongue, apparating them away. The still very uncomfortable feeling of being squeezed through a tube caused Lillian to feel nauseous for a few moments, after they re-appeared inside a large foyer.

Straightening herself after taking a couple deep breaths she nodded at Narcissa, indicating that she was good to go.

"Dobby." Narcissa called and a scared looking house elf, wearing a filthy pillowcase as clothing, appeared. "Take our guest's luggage into a guestroom upstairs."

"I wills do so, Lady Malfoy." The elf squeaked, looking at Lillian with wide and frightened eyes, a look which Lillian returned coldly and without empathy. In her second year the elf had tried to get her punished by the ministry for underage magic to protect her from what would later take place in Hogwarts. Once her Uncle got his hands on the letter and found out that she was bluffing with her threats of hexing them...well, his wrath was extremely unpleasant. As was Dobby's second encounter with Lillian as her wrath wasn't something to be trifled with either.

Once Dobby disappeared with her trunk, Narcissa led her through the manor and towards another wing. As they got closer towards their destination, she started to hear loud voices coming from one of the rooms.

"...children like this! This is a disgrace!" She heard her master shout. "This is what is supposed to succeed you? This is what will be the pride of the magic world?"

Once in front of the door, Narcissa knocked, albeit hesitantly, to announce their arrival.

"Come in." Riddle called, his voice still full of irritation and anger.

They entered a room that seemed to be a conference room. Lillian wasn't sure if it had always been here or if it was transformed into this for the Dark Lord. It was a wide room with a long table close to a wall and rows upon rows of chairs lined up on every side of it. There was also a large portion of the room unfurnished, probably for situations as the one presenting itself right now: the Dark Lord standing in front of a group of her year mates, all of whom looked pale and scared out of their wits in front of their parents who didn't look much better.

"My Lord, I have Potter with me as per your order." Narcissa said.

"You may leave." Riddle told her without looking at her.

Once the door closed behind her Lillian walked in front of Riddle and dropped to a knee looking down. "My Lord, I arrived as summoned."

"Yes, my apprentice, and I believe you have interesting news." He looked down at her, a pleased smile on his face at her subordination. "You may rise. First, I have some other business to tend to and I have something for you to do over the summer which has to do with the spoiled, useless spawn of my Death Eaters, followers and supporters." Riddle ended with disgust as he looked at her year mates.

She followed his gaze and saw Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, Greengrass and some more. So this wasn't solely about Death Eaters.

"Tell me apprentice, what do you see when you look at your friends?" Riddle asked her.

At the word friends sneers appeared immediately on the faces of her year mates, causing her to roll her eyes. "My Lord, I apologize, but none of them is a friend of mine. I don't make 'friends'." She made air quotes with her fingers. "But what I see in them are children who hide in the comfort of their parents' influence, money and blood-status. Mediocre in everything they do, gutless and spineless." She glanced at Riddle's unreadable expression as she continued to demean the thunderous looking Slytherins. "They don't work because they don't have to work. If they need or want something, their mommies and daddies get it for them. After their education, they will be useless to our society because they do not have the drive, the intelligence, the knowledge and the talent to actually do the work."

Riddle nodded. "Pretty much my assessment and it pleases me to see that you do not shy away from calling out incompetencies of those standing right in front of you and with whom you will have to spend the majority of the year."

She looked smug and straightened up at his praise. "If I was afraid of them I would be just as useless, my Lord."

"Very well said." He turned back towards the others in the room, all of whom were glaring at Lillian causing him to frown. "Do not glare at my apprentice!" He snapped at them. "No one but you are at fault for being here in front of me! If you hadn't made such lazy fools out of your children then I would have no reason for calling you here. I will not have any useless dimwits supporting me. I will not have people in key ministry positions who do not know how to do the work. There are of course some of you, who are naturally...below average intellectually." He looked at Crabbe and Goyle- both senior and junior- with distaste. "Alas, every leader needs muscle. But that muscle needs to be able to do more than casting a couple of spells." He then looked back at Lillian. "You will spend your summer here and catch up these children in their schoolwork."

Lillian looked severely disappointed. Instead of learning from her Master she would have to waste her time tutoring them. "Yes, my Lord." She still answered obediently.

"You will listen to her." Riddle looked at the young Slytherins. "You will do as she says. When your time comes you will be ready. If you are not ready then you are useless to me. And you will not like what happens to people who are useless to me. So, in your own interest..." He let the threat hanging.

The children all nodded and mumbled several 'yes, my Lord's'.

"You are dismissed." Everyone aside from Lillian left. After the door closed, Riddle spoke again to her. "What did you find in Gringotts?"

"Apparently my connection goes over several different lines as far back as to the Peverells. That is the connection I have with Slytherin, my Lord. It is really thin and blurred with all the different bloodlines coming into the mix but I assume it was just enough that I could inherit the parselmouth ability."

"The Peverells you say?" Riddle asked, suddenly really interested. "You do not happen to know about the Deathly Hallows?"

"No, my Lord."

"They are powerful items, gifted to the Peverell brothers by Death itself: The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility."

At the last item Lilliam perked up visibly, with her eyes widened. "My Lord...I do own such a cloak."

"You do? How did you come by it?" Riddle asked her, his focus on her intense, making her fidget.

"I, uh...it was given to me on Christmas during my first year by Dumbledore I assume...it had a note attached, saying that it belonged to my father and that he gave it to him before you killed him, but it didn't have a name on it. It also said that it was kept for my father before the decision to give it back to me was made. As I said, I assume it was Dumbledore." Lillian explained.

"So, he had it for at least eleven years and you have it for an additional almost four years now. It still works? Usually such cloaks lose their worth after just a few years."

Lillian nodded in confirmation. "Yes, my Lord. It works flawlessly."

"May I see it? I will not keep it from you. What I truly want is the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand in existence. Your cloak will be of more use to you."

Secretly glad that he did not seem to have any desire of taking her cloak for himself, she nodded. "Of course, my Lord. You don't have to ask. I will show it to you tomorrow."

"Good. One last thing, then you can leave. I will start teaching you non-verbal spellcasting. You are good and quick, you seem to have a nice repertoire of spells to use but it will be a huge advantage if you can make use of those silently."

Hiding her giddiness at being able to learn from her Master after all, she nodded her consent. "Of course, my Lord. I look forward to learn from you."

Riddle smirked inwardly, still not fully able to grasp that the nemesis of his mad and paranoid self was now an eager and devoted apprentice of his. And all of this after the supposed prophecy? He couldn't understand how his paranoid self paid any heed to mere words. Now of rational mind, he grasped that those mere words could not outline his fate and destiny. A prophecy only worked if you paid mind to it. He didn't any more, but still, he would like to hear the full prophecy. Just out of mere interest.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he nodded at Lillian. "Good. You are dismissed. Ask Narcissa to escort you to my quarters at no later than ten o'clock. Do not forget your cloak. And we will discuss something else then. Something, that Dumbledore might have decided not to tell you."

"Yes, my Lord." With that, she turned around and left.

Finding her way back to the foyer she originally apparated into with Narcissa Malfoy, she headed upstairs. A sudden pop startled her and she scowled down at the house elf Dobby. "What?"

"Miss Potter, I is to shows you your room. Please follows me." The elf squeaked and rushed to lead her to her new room, which was next to another which seemed to be occupied by several people, if the noise coming out of it was any indicator.

"Who is in there?" She asked Dobby.

Cowering slightly from her glare, the elf answered. "It's Master Malfoy and friends, Miss."

Nodding and dismissing the elf, she knocked once and without waiting for an answer, opened the door. All occupants- Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Daphne- glared at her.

"Look who is here." Pansy sneered. "The Dark Lord's whore. Did you just come back from spreading your legs nice and wide for him, Potter?"

Lillian just smiled coldly at Pansy. "I dare you to say this again, Pansy. But this time when the Dark Lord can actually hear it." Pansy paled slightly at the thought, but kept glaring at her, as did the rest of the group. "Don't think that I look forward to wasting my time with tutoring you lot. But it is what the Dark Lord demanded of me, so I will do it." Her smirk turned into a vicious sneer. "If any of you even thinks of disrupting the tutoring lessons in any way...well, just don't think that I am above showing you my displeasure."

"My father won't allow this." Malfoy growled. "He will talk to the Dark Lord first thing tomorrow morning. He is his most loyal-"

"Your father?" Lillian asked incredulously, before laughing loudly. "Really?"

"What are you laughing about?!" Malfoy snapped at her, his cheeks starting to flush, Pansy and Daphne looking at Lillian suspiciously and Crabbe and Goyle glancing uncomfortably at Draco. Their fathers seemed to have talked about the events at the graveyard.

Calming down a bit, Lillian looked at Crabbe and Goyle. "Judging from the way you look at Draco here, I assume you know about it?" Both boys shifted uncomfortably.

"Know what?" Malfoy asked, looking at Crabbe and Goyle. "What's she talking about?"

"I'm talking about the way I humiliated your father in a duel, Draco." She answered softly. "The Dark Lord was definitely not pleased. It was after he saw how a fourteen-year-old girl humiliated one of his most devoted Death Eaters he decided for me to become his apprentice."

"You are lying." Daphne said, a haughty look on her face. "No way you could defeat a grown man, let alone humiliate one."

"Ask him and see how he answers. Ask the Dark Lord for all I care. I am surprised he didn't speak of it, just to taunt your father, Draco. Your father probably begged the Dark Lord to be spared this humiliation in front of his family." Lilliam smirked. "But enough of this." She ended the discussion with a swipe of her hand. "Tomorrow after lunch, first session. You all will be there." She was about to turn around and leave when Pansy's voice stopped her.

"And why should we?" The pug-faced girl glared at her.

"Because I will not be punished by the Dark Lord for your insolence. And if that should come to pass then what I will do to you and what the Dark Lord would do to your family would make my punishment look like child's play. Don't think that I have no experience in using an unforgivable."

Without waiting for a reaction, she retreated to her room.

This time, after knocking, she waited. But it wasn't just any door; it was the door leading to her Master's private quarters.

"Enter." Came the answer from inside and so she did.

Dropping to a knee, she greeted her Master. "My Lord."

"You may rise. I assume you have your cloak with you, as I requested?"

"Yes, my Lord. I also brought your diary. I imagined you would want it back to find a safer location than the bottom of my trunk." She said, as she handed him the diary.

Taking it from her, he stroked its cover gently, looking at it almost fondly. "Indeed, I would. I have to thank you for keeping it safe, apprentice. This is a particularly precious item to me. You shall be rewarded in good time."

Looking awfully pleased with herself, Lillian gave a bow in acknowledgement to Riddle's praise. "Thank you, my Lord. It was my pleasure."

"Now, let me see this cloak of yours." He put his diary away for now and looked at her expectantly.

She handed him the neatly folded cloak and stepped back, giving him a bit of room. He held it in his hands, stroking the material, muttering a few things she didn't catch. Finally, he donned it on, looking pleased at how perfectly he vanished from sight as he looked into a mirror. Taking it off, he handed it back to her. "You definitely own a Deathly Hallow. Your average invisibility cloak loses its ability after only a few years, but this is different. The material already is different. And the fact that after at least 14 years it still works this perfectly just adds to that assumption." He had a faraway look in his eyes. "The Elder Wand has to be real then...I just need to find it..." Riddle then looked back at Lillian. "Now to the matter of what I wanted to talk to you about." He motioned for her to sit down on a chair as he did. After they were both seated, he continued. "The night I tried to kill you. The reason was a prophecy I was told parts of. Those parts fit you and another infant. I had to choose and the choice fell onto you."

Not sure what kind of a reaction was expected of her, she just nodded. "Understood, my Lord."

Pleased, that he didn't have deal with a now angry or sad or confused apprentice, Riddle continued. "I am curious about what exactly that prophecy entails. I will try to gain access into the Department of Mysteries. When we are successful I want you with me."

"Of course, my Lord! I would be honored." Lilliam couldn't hide her excitement.

"By then you should have your own Death Eater uniform, though with slight differences. You are after all not a mere foot soldier. You are being trained to become my right hand."

Her eyes were wide and her chest was swelling with pride. "I... thank you, my Lord. I promise I will become what you expect of me."

"I am sure of it." Riddle smirked at the eager teenager. After hearing of her bloodlines, he had even more plans with her but decided to wait a bit more before telling her about them. He didn't want to scare her away after all. Instead he brushed upon another topic. "Young Draco came by an hour earlier, asking about a duel in a graveyard."

"What did you tell him, my Lord?" She asked Riddle, trying to hide her smirk.

His answer was short. "The truth."

"How did he take it?"

"As you would expect, my dear apprentice. I assume you had a reason?"

Lillian nodded. "I hoped he would see that I was not one to be trifled with without me having to crucio him in his own home."

"Are they causing you trouble already?"

"No, my Lord." She answered hastily. "This is nothing I can't deal with. If they get too insolent then I won't hold back on punishment."

"Good. This will be all then. You are dismissed."

Bowing, she turned and left for the door when someone knocked. Looking at Riddle, who nodded at her, she opened the door only to be surprised by her Head of House, Severus Snape.

He looked at her, his expression unreadable. "Potter."

"Professor."

Without another word or look, they both went on their ways.

Still kind of distracted by what it could mean that her Potions Professor and Head of House saw her leaving the Dark Lord's room, she entered the one provided for her tutoring sessions. She saw the group of year mates from yesterday and almost all of them glared at her.

Standing in front of them she gave the group a once over, mentally deciding who of them could be worth her effort and who couldn't.

"You all know why you are here, who I am and why I am here, so there's no need for any introductions or speeches."

"A bloody slut is who you are..." Pansy Parkinson muttered under her breath.

Lillian did hear it however and gave Pansy her iciest look. "Pansy, come forward."

The black-haired girl came forward, haughty and arrogant. "Yes?" She asked Lillian with a smirk.

"You seem to think that I need to whore myself out to the Dark Lord to be worthy of his attention. Among other things." Lillian began.

"You talk as if I am wrong."

Ignoring Pansy's interruption, she continued. "I say you need to get it out of your system. A duel. Now."

Pansy looked gleeful, hoping to put Lillian in her place. A half-blood like her being the Dark Lord's apprentice!

Lillian purposefully remained lax as they readied their wands and gave a short bow. Pansy took the chance and immediately cast a cruciatus at her. For a second Lillian was scared and wondered if she made a mistake but the pain of the curse went as quickly as it came.

She blinked and looked at Pansy who stared at her wand in confusion. Then Lillian laughed, humorlessly.

"Lesson number one." She began, raising her wand with a cruel grin. "If you want to cast an unforgivable you have to mean it! Crucio!"

Pansy writhed in agony and screamed as all her nerves burned in white-hot pain. Lillian held it for another few seconds until Pansy begged her to stop and then she did.

Pansy whimpered on the floor and her body spasmed in the aftershocks. Lillian just looked at her, no empathy on her face. "Someone help her up already." She finally said and Daphne gathered her friend up with Tracy Davies.

"Now to just have any doubt about why I am the Dark Lord's apprentice removed once and for all, let's ask Draco what the result of his talk with the Dark Lord was. Draco?" She gave him a grin.

He just glared at her, his fists clenching in his lap. "You were right." He clenched out between his teeth.

"Indeed. I was right. I beat your father in a duel." She let that settle for a moment, smirking smugly before calling the attention back to her. "Now, I want to see what you lot know and don't know. I prepared a test for all of you before I went to bed. You have an hour."

With that, she handed the parchments out and hoped that they were smarter than she gave them credit for.

She really could think of a lot of better ways to spend her time during her summer than tutoring spoiled pure blood brats. There were a couple moments when she thought this might be some sort of punishment but really, it somehow showed that her Master thought she had enough talent and intellect to make a difference here.

And then there was Snape. Was he a Death Eater? If so, then where was he when the Dark Lord returned? Was he a spy? Where were his loyalties? Obviously, he came to see the Dark Lord, so he knew about him.

She was confused. She had to talk with her Master about this. If Snape would talk to Dumbledore about her being here and leaving the Dark Lord's room...

She didn't want to think about it.