Chapter 17: Companions

November 1, 1943

Monday Evening

Harry had gone with Aster and Reinhard to the Hallowe'en feast the night prior, as he'd been unable to skip it without having to fabricate some sort of reason rather than simply not wanting to go due to what the day meant to him or his family - as far as the world knew, he was a Peverell and his birth parents hadn't yet existed.

Due to those reasons and a mix of curiosity on what the evening would have in store, Harry went with his mates to the festivities in the Great Hall rather than spend another night planning for the coming Yule holidays or going out to get something far more important in the depths of the school.

Looking back on the night with the minor headache he still had, Harry couldn't find it within himself to complain; Aster and Reinhard had proven to be good companions, both during the feast and in the privacy of the Slytherin common room. While Harry was feeling anxious and stressed out due to a mixture of what the day represented and the realization that he needed to get a move on, the boys took it upon themselves to better his seemingly 'sour' mood, as Aster had called it.

They'd started by doing the first of many pranks - this one being on Abraxas which proved to be no surprise.

Reinhard had distracted the Malfoy boy while Aster used some natural sleight of hand to slide a tablet of something into the boys drink, Harry was worried by the ease in which they'd done so but after Malfoy found himself making Pig sounds after every bite, he'd enjoyed the distraction for what it was.

For the remainder of the night and after Malfoy had run off to handle his snorting problem, Aster and Reinhard went about telling jokes, play-fighting and generally making merry; this slowly raised Harry's spirits until he'd found himself engaging alongside them towards the very tail end of the evening.

It was by that point that a few of the older students had brought out fire whiskey and being who they were, Aster had taken over a bottle for just the three of them; even Corene and Daphne had partaken in it - that was his justification for drinking on the evening, which would eventually lead into his current predicament.

He could understand now why Elaine had turned down drink after drink when presented with them.

Harry roused himself from his thinking long enough to pull on his robes and move to the edge of his bed, diving back into his thoughts briefly to finish the train he'd been on, lest he annoys himself by leaving memories half-finished and in a vivid state.

After Aster had kept the refills coming and the three had polished off the bottle, Harry vaguely recalled Elaine speaking with him about 'them' again once she had finished speaking some in Latin with a majority of her followers. Reinhard had told him it was something about Samhain and hadn't questioned why Harry lacked any knowledge of it, as even a lot of Purebloods who'd not gone away stopped the more ancient practices. Aster had agreed with Reinhard, saying that his family practised it while he personally didn't and as a result of that, Aster and Reinhard led them upstairs while Elaine had gone back to leading something in Latin with the others mimicking her.

Thinking back on it, Harry would have to speak with Elaine to fully gauge what'd gone down; for the life of him, he couldn't recall all that she'd spoken with him about during the brief lull in the Samhain festivities.

Sighing to himself and promising not to drink again, least of all on the day his parents were taken from him and by a girl who he'd begun to develop certain… feelings for, he stood up. Now was the time he'd finally decided to put a plan into action.

No sooner than when he'd gotten up and begun to make his way towards the exit of the boy's dorms did Aster question what he was doing.

"Where are you off to this late, Pev?"

"Nowhere's really, just going to take a walk - see if I can clear my mind from the haze that's taken over it after last night's indulgences," Harry responded while turning himself sideways in the doorframe.

Aster looked confused briefly, until a passing look of understanding passed over his face. That look of understanding didn't stop the boy from pointing out, "It's past curfew,"

Harry shrugged in response and lazily smirked while edging towards the exit, "It is, but that hasn't stopped us before has it?"

"One trip out with Reinhard and you're this confident in your abilities," Aster remarked with an eye roll as he shuffled about in his seat, "Don't get caught by the Prefects, Abraxas is out and about - we both know how happy he'd be to catch you Pev, especially after last night!"

"Thanks for the warning mate, I'll make sure to get caught by Corene if anyone." Harry laughed with Aster at his words, the boys both knew the Carrow girl was likely to go easy on him after the friendship he'd built up with her, though maybe it wouldn't hurt to bring a box of truffles just in case… they'd probably be fine on the slide down.

Harry gave one final wave back to his still awake friend as he slipped through the doorway, slowly making his way through the hall of the boy's wing and out into the common room where barely any students were milling about; of the few that were, only one stood out to Harry.

Daphne.

For whatever reason, the girl was sitting in her usual seat alongside the empty one in which Riddle was usually in - Riddle's absence was initially because of Astronomy, but he'd heard that she would be meeting with Slughorn along with another student from Ravenclaw, Slughorn's second 'favourite' if the rumours were true. That opportunity was too good to pass up and Harry had made the snapshot decision to go for the Chamber one more time, hoping that Riddle would be unable to leave whatever proceedings were happening.

He hadn't accounted for Daphne or any others in Riddle's group sitting in the common room, why would he?

Harry was content to sit in the dark border of the room for a few minutes in case the girl would move, his confidence in his ability to perfectly use the disillusionment charm wasn't a sure thing. He'd grown far too complacent in having the invisibility cloak in the future than to ever put forth the effort to master magic that could do the same thing, only worse.

After those few minutes passed and Daphne was still sitting in her seat while casually reading a book, Harry made his choice.

Rather than waste any more time, he took in a breath and disillusioned himself - he hoped by sticking close to the wall in an already dark room that the girl would be less likely to see him, especially if he kept himself and moving slowly.

So that was what he did.

Slowly and patiently, Harry shuffled himself along the border of the room with his back only inches from the wall. It was touch and go a few times, Daphne seemed to be watching for something or someone, the girl being incredibly alert at any noise or movement from those within the room.

His thoughts were proven correct when he reached the halfway point and made it directly under a torch. For as soon as he'd done so, Daphne stood up from her seat and looked near him - his gut instincts told him to run at the glare she had on her face, but he realized belatedly that it wasn't meant for him, it was meant for the girl that passed by him.

"You look so fierce, Daphne," Walburga's snobbish voice called out while she stood only feet from him, the girl laughing at her jab which prompted the two boys behind her to do the same.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Black," Daphne said with a smirk on her face as she set her book closed on her lap and glanced from Walburga to the two boys behind her, "You three returned late, I suppose you were spending more time in a broom closet,"

Walburga's laugh died then, "That's rich coming from you - you're nothing more than Riddle's bitch, always looking for approval for the littlest thing,"

Daphne smiled at the reaction she got, "I suppose that's true from your rather childish point of view… I'll allow you that insult too, being ignored by Peverell must've caused you more pain than we'd thought," with that last remark, Daphne picked up the book from her lap and went back to reading it without sparing another glance to Walburga or the two thugs behind her.

Harry took advantage of Daphne's actions along with the unmoving Walburga and hastily made his way out of the still open common room entrance, thanking the Potter luck as he did so for numerous reasons.

Once he was finally out of the Slytherin dorms, Harry moved far quicker than he probably should have; practically running through the halls on his way to the Second Floor girl's bathroom all the while a box of truffles was bumping into his hip from its spot in his satchel. By going at such a pace, Harry was able to make it to his destination with little trouble, having not heard a single Professor or Prefect on the entirety of the journey. He supposed that was due to luck on his side or laziness on theirs.

Whatever it was, he didn't care, for he'd gotten to his destination for the third and hopefully final time.

Harry hesitantly looked for water on the floor as he took cautious steps towards the entrance to the lavatory, his moment of celebration forgotten and left to the past as he did so. When no water was present to his vision, he picked up the pace to some degree, taking faster but still slow steps into the room so as to avoid ruining his disillusionment charm and alerting the ghostly girl within.

Speaking of Moaning Myrtle, she was nowhere to be seen or heard - the latter being something he was more than grateful for. He supposed she'd only really wail if others could hear it, otherwise, she was just doing it for herself. Not more than a passing thought did Harry realize she'd have to have died incredibly recently, but that realisation came and went with incredible speed, for what could he do for the girl other than trying to stop more from joining her?

He took the last few steps required to bring himself within a few feet of the familiar fountain. Harry knew he'd have to speak 'open' in parseltongue and do so fast, for he'd only have a few seconds until Myrtle emerged from her hiding place to wail as she'd done before. He only hoped that his thought of saying 'close' would prove correct and that once he was down in the Chamber, there was another way up.

Harry'd hate to die from a lack of finding an exit after finally finding himself within the secret portion of the Castle, nor was he overly fond of Riddle finding him inside of it so soon.

Taking a steadying breath, Harry took another couple of steps and whispered the word 'Open', instantly the fountain began to shift itself around and only seconds later did he hear the sound of water from a nearby stall begin to swirl. His time was limited and the grandiose fashion in which the entrance made itself visible was wasting precious time.

Without waiting for it to finish or for Myrtle to make herself known, Harry dove into the partially opened slide, saying " Close" as he did so - he was happy to see that his inclination had proven itself correct when the fountain closed itself back off, though he only hoped that Myrtle wouldn't be speaking with staff anytime soon, lest he ends up with Dumbledore breathing down his neck as Diary Tom had said happened to him.

Harry went down the familiar slide and ended up on an equally familiar set of bones, the only difference was the lack of rubble blocking the path forward.

Come to think of it, would Riddle not have done something about the entrance or had she been content to enter as he was? There wasn't any chance that he'd be able to make changes for further incursions in the Chamber, not unless he wanted Riddle to become aware that there was another Parseltongue at Hogwarts. He could only imagine who she'd go to first and the things she'd do to get the information she wanted from him.

Shuddering at the thought, Harry stood up and brushed himself from the bone debris. Satisfied that he was mostly clean and there were no rips in his uniform, he pressed on further into the Chamber until he stood outside the familiar face of Salazar Slytherin. He knew the words to speak for entrance, they haunted his dreams enough times, he just wasn't sure if they were spoken only for calling the Basilisk as Tom had said or if they allowed entrance into other portions of the Chamber that he'd not yet seen.

Shrugging now that he was finally standing in front of the stone visage of Slytherin, Harry yelled out " Open," he'd not expected any results and so was extremely surprised at the sound of moving stone as a passageway emerged from the water in front of the mouth. For all the extravagance and secrecy of the Chamber, the small door looked unremarkable in its frame, as did the tunnel that led even further underground.

Making a pleased sound that he'd been right to try 'open' before accidentally awakening a Basilisk, Harry strode towards the entrance and tried a few of the common spells he'd picked up while back in this time to check for traps.

Nothing greeted him upon the successful casting and Harry suspected that if anything were on the door, it was beyond his comprehension - for now at least. Soon that would all change once he received the journal he'd come for… soon, all of Slytherin's information in that study would be his if it proved itself safe.

Happy with himself and eager to unravel the secrets of a Hogwarts Founder, Harry put his hand to the door to open it - he'd been expecting some sort of flash or over-exaggerated magic to happen, but nothing greeted him. Not when he put his hand to the door, not when he pushed it open and not when he'd taken the first step down.

Only when the thought struck him to check his hand for blood as he'd done when entering Slytherin's study did he see any sort of clue that something had happened, for blood was present just as it always seemed to be whenever he'd touched the handle in that dank classroom in the darkest depths of the school.

Harry really wanted to know what that signified and would make sure to ask Slytherin's portrait about it once he returned, Merlin only knew what one could do with blood magic - he'd only ever heard of it mentioned in the Dursleys wards!

Anxious at where he was headed and the time constraints he was under, Harry pushed on with speed through the winding stairs that led even deeper into the school. It struck him as odd that the deeper he'd gone the air tasted as fresh, if not fresher than the chamber., perhaps it was magic or maybe it had some sort of ventilation system. Whatever it was, the quality of life seemed undoubtedly high as he made his way through the passage until he was greeted with yet another door.

This one had one large snake, a Basilisk by the look of it, with glowing dark green eyes that seemed to track you as you moved your head to gaze at it. It gave off incredibly uncomfortable energy to him, almost as if he shouldn't be here… but that wouldn't stop him after all the trouble he'd gone through, no.

Harry did as he'd done to the door at the entrance to the system that led to where he currently was and put his hand to the door.

As above, so below; the door opened itself and allowed him entrance into a great chamber that put even the Slytherin Common Room to shame.

Large bay windows that looked out into the Black Lake, great stone pillars easily twice the size as the ones in the study each with its own Basilisk carved into them with the same eyes as the ones on the door. Tapestries that looked ageless and told stories from legends covered the walls while furniture that looked befitting a King or Queen decorated the room with the same green-lit torches that he'd seen throughout the Slytherin's Dungeons.

Even the rugs that were meant for nothing more than walking on looked to be of the utmost quality.

It was baffling that somebody would spend so much time carving such a location out; he couldn't guess the Galleon cost for the contents of the room either, and all of the effort was for a spot only a few would ever see over millennia.

Shaking his head, Harry stepped into the room and instantly, the few torches that were out lit up at his presence, as did the eyes of the countless snakes carved into the room along with a portrait from the man he'd hoped to have surprised… a man that would surely give his presence away to the girl who likely spent an incredible amount of time down here speaking with him.

" Harry Peverell, it has been some time since you've last spoken with me and yet, here you are, in the sister location to the one you last entered. You're quite full of surprises, aren't you?"

Harry stood tall and looked at the visage of Slytherin, " You told me to enter my name or find your journal, so here I am," he then continued moving further into the behemoth of a room, examining the many doorways that were present that likely led to their vaults of unimaginable treasure… or something as simple as a loo.

" I half expected never to see you again and here you are as confident as ever," Slytherin stroked his beard and looked at Harry with interest, " Tell an old man something, will you?" Slytherin didn't bother to hear Harry's answer as he asked, " How did you find the entrance?"

Harry stopped his walking and looked at the portrait, " I'll answer that if you'll answer something that I'd like to know."

Slytherin smiled wide and continued stroking his chin hair, the happy expression looking at odds with his sinister clothing, " But of course my dear boy, ask away and I will answer with not but the truth."

Resisting the urge to snort at words he very much doubted, Harry looked around the room before settling his eyes back on the portrait, " Which door leads to your journal?"

Slytherin's smile only grew, as did the manner in which the man toyed with his beard, " Are you sure you'd like to use your sole question on that - it seems extraordinarily pointless considering where you find yourself presently standing."

Harry wouldn't be dissuaded from asking what he had and only stared at the man in response while impatiently tapping his left foot.

Bowing his head, Slytherin answered, " My journal in which you seek is upon the desk in my bedroom - the door is the furthest back and to my right, consider my portion of our deal complete," the man leaned as forward as one could in a portrait without exiting it, " Now see to it your end of the bargain is struck, how did you find the entrance?"

Mimicking the careless attitude in which the portraited man had shown, Harry shrugged.

" I found the entrance after looking for it quite some time, it was… imperative that I did so and as you said, here I am."

Slytherin didn't at all look fully pleased with his answer, but the man tossed aside the annoyance that had momentarily been visible on his face as he smiled and leaned back while nodding to himself.

Harry wouldn't know what the man was thinking, as he ducked out from that portrait and moved to another in which Harry couldn't see - possibly one that would alert Riddle to his presence, if he gave voice to the more sinister thoughts present in the back of his mind. Harry was under no delusions that the man would give away some manner of presence within the school, especially if he'd been willing to discuss to some degree the missing Gaunt girl decades earlier, a girl in which Harry had yet to find anything out about.

Walburga's book was another matter in itself, a matter that he would need to rectify before too long.

But such thoughts would need to be saved when he was out of the belly of the beast so to speak, and so, he put them on the back burner as he urged himself to act in the direction of the door Slytherin had just mentioned moments prior.

While on his way to that door, Harry took in the surrounding area briefly; picking out a few key matters of interest, those being a book on Pureblood customs that was left with a bookmark on a plush looking chair, along with a few books of ritualistic magic that he'd never before seen or heard of. There was even a crudely made wand with a purpose Harry could only speculate about.

Riddle's current use of the room was quite prevalent in the carelessly discarded objects strewn about - that carelessness was something he'd not yet seen from her and it made his task all the harder, for it greatly made him want to see what the girl had gotten into but to do that would require moving the objects. Harry's thinking was on some off chance, Slytherin wouldn't alert the girl that he'd entered an area she likely felt was impervious, and if that off chance proved itself correct, he'd loath to find out he was the reason he was caught.

Harry stood out front of the door that'd been indicated as Slytherin's bedroom and as he'd always done with doors that belonged to the man before, he hesitantly put his hand to the handle to wait for any sort of reaction.

Nothing happened.

It was somewhat frustrating really, Harry had expected that if anything would have some sort of mystifying enchantment or ward on it that Slytherin's bedroom would be the place.

Shrugging, Harry entered into the rather compact room; another surprise as soon as he'd entered it, for he'd been expecting a mammoth of a room with godly furnishings. But the room was simplistic and minimalistic. Maybe he didn't know Slytherin as completely as he thought he did, but that didn't matter all too much currently.

Harry looked around for the desk he'd mentioned and found it tucked away in a corner, while atop it sat the very journal Slytherin had promised him was present.

Just what was the man playing at if he'd told the truth as he seemingly had?

Carefully and as if he were expecting something to jump out at him at any moment, Harry made his way over to the desk with the item he'd come for resting atop it. Every step he took made his stomach flop and the bile rise in the back of his throat, but that was all; not a flash of magic, activation of a trap or sound from the Basilisk that was slumbering in the bowels of the castle. It was eerily quiet and far too easy for him to walk until he was within arms reach of the journal.

Even standing and looking at the incredibly neat text written on the front of the journal made him uneasy, as if the moment he'd touch it something would strike out at him.

But that too was proven false when Harry picked Slytherin's possession up and deposited it in his satchel.

Not a thing had happened after he'd entered - almost as if the man and all those who'd entered in after him had no worries of a thief or someone with ill intentions finding the secret layer they'd used throughout the centuries.

Was it the folly of ignorance that'd made them so uncaring? or did they know something that he didn't?

Harry hummed in thought as he exited the room and made his way back up the path until he was stood where the corpse of the Basilisk had been back in his time.

Again he said " Close," and as he'd expected, the entrance that had risen from the water now receded down until a time when it would be called up again.

He sighed and wiped at his brow, a single bead of sweat being whisked away as he realized he'd completed a majority of the task he'd thought would be anything but as easy as it seemed. Now, all he needed to do was find the exit that didn't entail a ride from a Phoenix… he supposed running around saying 'open' in parseltongue could reveal something, though maybe heading to the far end of the long corridor with water on either side of it could show him the actual exit.

Why else would there be a stone path with water on either side that led to yet another engraving of a Basilisk at its end?

Harry laughed lightly at the ease in which he'd done all that he had while jogging towards what he presumed to be the exit and as he'd thought upon speaking the word " Open," for yet another time in Parseltongue, he was greeted with the exit opening itself up for him.

Instead of leading him back to the girl's lavatory in some roundabout way, the exit led him into a hidden compartment within an already small broom cupboard within the dungeons of the school. From the look of things too, this wasn't the way Riddle usually left from, for the cobwebs and dust within the small cubby sized area were incredibly thick; or they were until he'd walked through them. He hoped that the tingles running down his spine were from what he'd just done too, rather than being any number of spiders that had likely called where he was currently stood home.

Ripping off his robes at the slightest idea of critters roaming across his body, Harry made a hasty exit from the cupboard and into the hallway, thankfully nobody had been present to question why he'd exited from where he had. It would've surely been a tough thing to explain.

Once he was out from the hidden area and into the very public hallways of Hogwarts, Harry used a simple cleaning spell on his robes after ensuring they weren't overridden by spiders - once that was done, he threw his school robes back on and tied himself up before finally making his way back to the Slytherin Common Room while under a Disillusionment Charm. He wouldn't be entering carelessly, nor would he be entering at all without first waiting for one of the roaming Prefects or Riddle to return so the door wouldn't open to reveal nobody… maybe he'd not enter in even if Riddle were the last one.

It'd probably be for the best if he spent the night away rather than getting caught quite literally red-handed by the girl he was pulling one over on.

Harry shuddered at the thought of Riddle confronting him while he had Slytherin's personal journal on his person.

That sole thought made up his mind to wait outside the entrance to the Slytherin's dorms until a peer would enter in… and after nearly an hour, Abraxas along with Corene made their way to the entrance from separate hallways.

Without speaking to one another, Abraxas motioned for the girl to enter in and then went in after her - Harry used the boy's carelessness to slip in between them, as Abraxas left a considerable gap between himself and Corene for a reason that was unknown to him.

Harry hurried himself to the boys' dorms as soon as he was within the Slytherin's common room, he knew he needed to get back to his bed before Abraxas entered in on the off chance of the boy seeing him. Aster had been right earlier when saying Abraxas would likely enjoy catching Harry out of bounds, for the boy had grown even more passively-hostile after Harry had defeated him in the DADA class a little more than a month ago.

Fortunately, Harry accomplished what he needed to and Abraxas was none the wiser by the time he entered into the Fifth Years boys sleeping quarters; for Harry had quickly tucked himself into bed while still fully clothed - he would change and look at Slytherin's journal once he was sure everyone was off to bed, even then, he would only do the latter briefly to minimize the risk of getting caught with such a priceless piece of history.

Harry waited until there were no more sounds emitted by any in the room and even then, he waited longer still. It was thirty or so minutes since the last bit of noise caused by one of the other boys in the room when he finally emerged from his bed to both change and finally take a peek into the journal Slytherin had all but given him.

Upon the first page after opening the book, Harry was greeted with a painting that'd been made miniature for the sole purpose of anyone reading the book to see a younger version of Salazar Slytherin. He knew who it was because of the large, carefully written words at the far bottom of the portrait, those being 'Salazar Slytherin, Lord and Founder'.

Rolling his eyes at the fact the man had a younger version of himself within his own journal as the greeting upon opening it, Harry turned the page over and saw it filled with nothing but squiggles of ink across the entirety of the page. It was so illegible that it looked as if a child had taken ink to parchment with no distinctive pattern or goal in sight.

It made sense to Harry now why the man seemed so undisturbed with his giving away of the journal, for like everything in Slytherin's possession, there was probably some Parseltongue password.

That left Harry with the problem of having to take the book to the study - there was no chance that he'd risk speaking Parseltongue multiple times in the boys' dorm, especially when they were all present as they seemed to be in the current moment.

Annoyed but still feeling victorious after the course of the night, Harry kept the book under his pillow and slowly gave in to sleep; it was an uphill battle considering the nerves and adrenaline that had returned at full force. Harry supposed his body was catching up to him, though he could've sworn he felt anger mixed in with the priorly mentioned feelings.

November 2, 1943

Monday Evening

Harry woke up with much of the same feelings as he'd gone to bed with, those being nerves and an almost constant rush of adrenaline, though the anger he'd begun to feel towards the very end of the night was thankfully gone.

In its place was almost a feeling of happiness or joy?

He shrugged in his bed at the new feeling and stretched after a few seconds passed, enjoying the way the warmth radiated throughout his body while the fog of sleep gradually left him.

This was among the best he'd felt since coming to this time. It was crazy what an evening like the last could do for one's feelings.

Harry allowed the feeling of happiness to flood through him as he reached for the book under his pillow; he panicked for the most fleeting of moments when his hand came up empty, but it was a false alarm as the book had been pushed in his sleep. Everything was fine, he told himself while bringing the book to his chest. He felt almost… possessive, about the object in his hands, but he supposed anyone would when thinking about the possible contents of it.

First peeking his head out from his curtains to see if anyone was present - which a few of his housemates still were based on the closed curtains, Harry made a quick decision to pack the book in his satchel rather than risk leaving it unattended. Doing that would also give him the chance to bring it to Slytherin's study this very evening, where he could take an in-depth look into it while trying any number of words in Parseltongue if the usual one failed him.

Right when he'd finished putting it away, Harry heard the sound of Reinhard rousing followed quickly by Aster; that made him swish open his curtains after one last check to make sure his satchel was closed and then he began his day.

His entire day would be spent thinking about the book he'd retrieved and the girl who very well may know where he'd been.

Harry was feeling extremely proud with himself - he'd gone the full day without once looking into his satchel to view the very prized possession within.

It'd taken a lot more willpower than he thought it would, but it didn't matter any longer as he was finally out of his class and free to go to the dungeons where Slytherin's study was hidden. Once he was inside, he'd be free to explore the undoubtedly countless secrets the book contained and if he were lucky, he'd manage to narrow the considerable gap Riddle had over him.

Unfortunately, as a lack of luck would have it, while on that journey he'd pass a corridor where Daphne, Riddle and a dozen other peers in green were walking at a casual pace while making light conversation. He'd tried to duck quickly back around the way in which he'd come from, but by then it was too late as the scuffing of his shoes alerted Daphne to his presence; the girl had looked over her shoulder the moment he'd made noise.

For a few seconds, they held each other's eyes hostage and then surprisingly, the blonde girl looked away while continuing to walk alongside Riddle.

He didn't know why the girl didn't point out to the group that he was behind them but he very much doubted that it had any altruistic goal in mind. More likely she wanted to tell Riddle that he'd seen them and left without saying anything, which, after her point of wanting to spend more time with him could come off very rude.

She'd tutored him, encouraged the others to allow him a period to integrate with a society that would prove new to him and offered him anchors in the form of those who'd be less likely to cause problems, ie Corene or Reinhard.

If he refused to even acknowledge her request to spend more time with him, he'd lose any respect from those around her who had any for him, not that he was under the delusion that Daphne had any respect towards him - more so he wasn't willing to lose any from those who did.

"Riddle!" Harry called out which caused the girl in question along with the blonde girl beside her to stop and look back at him, "Would you want to walk back to the common room with me, if uh, if you aren't already doing anything?" he sounded like an idiot if the looks on the rest of the groups faces were anything to go by, but he'd made the effort and that's all that mattered. So what if the girl was too bus-

"I would love to, how very thoughtful of you Harry," Riddle smiled and walked towards him without saying goodbye to anyone that'd been in her presence… unfortunately Daphne tagged along with her master as she always did, seemingly thoughtless.

Or thoughtless until Riddle turned to her with an appraising look and had a wordless conversation - he had no clue how they did it, but Riddle turned back to Harry while Daphne nodded once before turning back to the group. If her displeased expression was anything to go by, she'd wanted to stay beside Riddle but the girl hadn't allowed it.

Thank Merlin Riddle had known better, she probably didn't want him to cut short their first solo conversation.

"Where'll we be going, Harry?" Riddle asked as she entwined her arm with his and began directing them back from where he'd come.

"I was going to the common room," he lied before picking their pace up and asking a question of his own, "Would you want to go to the library or someplace else?"

Harry didn't know what Riddle really liked to do in her spare time, as all the time they'd spent together consisted of three things with those being; studying, her playing with him for the sake of it or her seriously telling him to avoid Walburga.

"I'd like to walk with you - to where, I don't care," Riddle smiled after saying that and led them in the direction of the stairs.

She didn't say anything to him while doing so, being content to drag her eyes across the covered walls of the Castle and only occasionally bringing them back to him; it was important to mention that the smile on her face never faded the entirety of the time he'd been in her company.

It made him feel weird and as if he'd messed up in doing what he had.

But at the same time, if he hadn't called to Riddle after Daphne had seen him… there was no winning.

"So… learned anything new today?" Harry winced as soon as he'd asked the question - he was trying to be nonchalant and unprovocative. Speaking with the girl outside of arguing, word games or for educational purposes was a little harder than he'd have thought.

Especially when he could just look at her smiling and acting innocent as she was.

"As a matter of fact, yes," Riddle brushed her hand against his from their entwined arms and with her other, she tapped Harry's nose with a playful expression taking over her face, "You should always strive to learn something every day. I'd wager you could tell me something you didn't know at the time of your waking up."

Harry was a bit put off by her playful demeanour, having expected anger or agitation once they were fully alone - she had to know where he'd been… didn't she?

Or had he truly pulled it off without incident?

He puffed out his chest slightly as he continued walking with the future Dark Lady who he now believed there was a firm chance he'd gotten one over on, turning to face her with a confident smile of his own.

"You'd probably be right," he agreed while picking up their pace and leading them to the stairs that led to the dungeons; Riddle had other plans though, as she'd pivoted her feet and twisted their path so that it led to the ascending staircase rather than the descending.

"I find that I'm right more often than not, it can make life a bit bland really… knowing what's going to happen," Riddle sighed for dramatic effect and rested her head against his while leaning further into him, "Luckily enough you showed up, I find that you're far harder to predict than a majority of our peers."

Harry shook his head as best he could while Riddle was resting on him - it didn't move very much but he'd still mused aloud "Interesting,"

Riddle laughed lightly, "Exactly, you remembered," she unhooked her arm from his as she walked her fingers across his back, down his shoulder, back it up and then finally settling to wrap around his waist; she'd almost been massaging him and he swore he could feel her shiver at the closeness while she was moving her fingers on the opposite hand too.

She didn't have her wand in it; he'd made sure of that as soon as he'd seen her other hand moving.

Harry allowed the girl whatever it was she was doing and again tried to steer their direction only for her to block him again. This time she'd done so by refusing to alleviate her pressure, practically making him turn his body until he was in a half-hug with the girl, not that she seemed to mind at all. Harry did mind, however, and as a result of that, moved back beside her rather than continue to press into the girl who'd only manoeuvred herself to be in his way whenever he tried to move around her.

"Were you offering to spend time with me out of pity from last night's words or did you actually wish to see me?" Riddle's question caught him off guard and he turned his attention fully to her as she continued leading him about.

"Not out of pity, I wa-" Harry stopped himself for a few seconds… did he want to spend time with her? Could he say it and mean it? Did he want to mean it?

He took in Riddle's smile and slightly red cheeks, she looked a thing of beauty but he knew the danger she could eventually become.

Riddle seemed to baulk at his staring as her smile fluttered and her eyes became watery - Harry understood what was happening when the girl looked away after another few seconds. She was either skillfully playing him or had been hurt that he'd paused where he had; Harry knew it was the former, but on the slightest of chances it was the latter, he couldn't afford to alienate her.

"I wanted to see you," Harry said while still looking at her, a move that proved smart when she slowly turned her eyes back to him as they hid behind curtains made of her hair.

Harry stopped walking when she did, which was after another few seconds of staring.

His words had been right when the girl stood tall again and pulled him into a hug, "Thank you, Harry - I'm glad you've finally gotten over whatever getup you had while in my company," Riddle then pulled back from him (though not before putting another chaste kiss on his cheek) and stretched out fluidly, her bones cracking as she happily shivered, "Walk me to the Common Room after I use the loo."

It'd come out as a statement rather than a question, but he figured he could wait for the girl outside the lavatory.

A second went by with him leaning against a pillar when his last thought struck him; they weren't at the same bathroom Myrtle frequented, far from it in fact, but Riddle had still taken him upstairs.

Was she sending him a message… or was it just a coincidence?

Harry sighed and slid a hand into his satchel, letting out a breath when he felt the journal was still in his possession.

Nothing had come of Riddle's stop at the girls' lavatory; she hadn't said a word that he could interpret as confrontational nor had she given away in the slightest if she'd known where he'd been or what he'd done while there. If anything, her lack of knowledge or apparent lack of knowledge made him feel even more on edge than if she'd come out and confronted him.

At least if she'd done the latter he knew to sleep with an eye open or constantly look over his shoulders; now when he did it he could be wasting time!

Then again, maybe it wouldn't be a waste of time… this was Riddle he was thinking about.

Regardless, after her exit, they'd walked back to the dungeons and entered the common room without incident, almost immediately they'd separated too. Harry had gone to the boy's dorms while Riddle made her way over to a lounging Corene and pacing Daphne..

Aster had greeted him cordially while playing a game of Wizard's Chess on his bed against Reinhard, the latter boy didn't acknowledge Harry's presence in the slightest.

Harry often worried about the seriousness in which the boy took the game, but he shrugged, if Aster wanted to risk a punch to himself he could do so.

After half an hour, simply watching his friends play proved too boring for Harry and due to that, he'd exited the boy's dorms again.

As usual, Riddle was seated with her more loyal followers in front of the fireplace, while Walburga lurked in a corner with those loyal to her family name and a few other splintered groups tucked themselves in between as a sort of buffer zone. None of the inter-house politics was interesting to Harry and neither was spending time with either of the two girls who led the most popular clique's. Because of that, he'd quietly made his exit from the common room for the third time that day and decided to head to the kitchens for a snack.

At roughly the three-quarter mark of his journey, he was greeted with a familiar redheaded girl skipping through the halls while singing a song that he'd never heard before; it stopped as soon as she'd seen him.

"Harry!" Sarah greeted him as she continued her skipping over to him until sliding, or rather, stumbling to a halt in front of him.

"Hi Sarah, having a good day?" he asked that with a slight laugh, the girl's behaviour had reminded him of Luna though her personality was a bit more common than the odd Lovegood girl.

Nodding her head emphatically, Sarah said 'yup' in response and then grabbed his hand.

"Let's go to the library and catch up! I've barely seen you all month!" she turned to pout at him in playfulness before her eyes lit up, "You have a date with Indigo in a couple weekends - the next Hogsmeade trip got posted on the board. Can I please -" the girl let the word drag, "-e pick out your outfit?"

"Uh," Harry coughed while bringing a fist to his throat, thinking that the girl was far too invested in his date that she'd set up. Then he shrugged to himself, what did he care if she picked his outfit? He'd barely spent time with Indigo as it was and as a result of that, he'd need to ask her where to take her friend so he didn't come across as a total arse, shrugging again, Harry answered her with one word, "Yes."

Sarah squealed in response and pulled him off course from his kitchen run - that being the third time in a day that a girl had made him change direction - she then sprinted the pair of them to the Library.

Once they were inside it and came to the conclusion that they had roughly an hour to speak before curfew would close in as the result of a quick Tempus charm, Sarah led him to the furthest table in the darkest portion of the library. It was a section he'd been familiar with intimately in the future; the rare instances he'd voluntarily spend time in the library were almost always in an area such as the one she'd brought him to.

"Alright!" she chirped as she settled into her seat, brought her arms to rest on the table in a v shape and rested her head in the space provided, "What's your plan for the date?"

Harry exhaled while she looked at him with excitement.

"Think you could help me with more than just the outfit, Sarah?"