After stabilizing Hermione and getting her to the hospital, the Weasleys came to tell Herido they had a problem: Ginny. Now that Tom and the Diary were forever out of her reach, she decided that she'd seen the light, that she'd been bewitched or hoodwinked by an old Slytherin student, and that she needed to tell everyone what had really happened.

Herido didn't like Ginny, because he didn't have time for people who lied to themselves: She hadn't only just come to the realisation that old Tom was up to no good, she'd known, if not all along, then definitely since the first petrification. She only wanted to speak out now because she either wanted to cover her arse, or because she didn't want to admit that she'd been seduced by the Darkness. And she had been; her power had been getting darker all year, and while it was still on the bright side of grey, it was not the striking white with which she'd arrived at Hogwarts. Magic was largely intent. One's affinity to different types of magic came from the type of person you were, the type of person you wanted to be, and the type of magic you'd used before. Dark magic didn't so much taint as it stained.

Whatever, he didn't care about Ginny Weasley beyond the trouble she could cause for him and his friends. The official investigation was now wrapping up, and everyone was reassured the danger had passed – thanks to the heroic efforts of Daphne Greengrass.

The media loved Daphne, and she was suddenly the nation's sweetheart. She had the family name, wealth, and purity, and yet despite this she befriended the less fortunate (muggleborns – hey, such things still mattered). She had the blonde hair and blue eyes that made her a newspaper's wet dream, and after recent scrutiny it was revealed she was a fine student, her best friends included the children of such families as the Longbottoms, the Weasleys (who were regaining respect by association), and even the Malfoys! She was also 'connected' – rumoured to be in a relationship with Herido Addams, who needed no further bio, because he'd been all over the papers this time last year, and if even he hadn't been, the surname alone told readers everything they needed to know. The girl had everything, and the people loved her for it.

Ginny was the only potential problem, so Heri knew he'd have to deal with her before she opened her mouth about any potential involvement Heri and his friends might have had in the school's troubles this year.

One the one hand it was a boring job. One the other hand he'd been working on his propensity to forgo warnings, and thought threatening little Ginny into silence would be great practice, because he wouldn't be able to torture her, or break her mind, or just kill her. Not without losing friends.

He took her alone into an old, abandoned classroom when her brothers weren't looking. They were insistent on being present when he spoke to her, but Heri knew that wouldn't work – she'd feel too safe with her family present.

"So you see, no one will believe a child from such a distinguished, Pure family didn't know what she was getting into." Heri didn't think he'd ever had to reason with someone like this before. He should be able to just cut out her tongue, he thought for the eighth time.

"But I didn't know – it's not my fault! And you can't make me –"

"Families as old as yours teach their children the risks of befriending any object that displays intelligence. Your brothers know better, so why shouldn't you? 'Ginny Weasley – she was fed-up with being overshadowed by her brothers, and so conspired with this Diary left behind by Salazar Slytherin himself!'"

"That's not true! It wasn't Slytherin, it was Tom – "

"No one will believe you." Heri repeated in a quiet hiss, which made Ginny shut up and take swift step back. "Some goody two shoes prefect from before the sexual revolution convinced you to unleash a deadly basilisk onto the school? Not a great defense, is it? You are still culpable."

"But if I told them –"

Heri waved a hand, and Ginny was silenced – her mouth moving but creating no sound. It freaked her out that he'd done it so easily. They were basically the same age: if he was born a few days later he would have been in her school year... how was he so much more powerful?

"Ginny," He took a step forward. He really hated all this – if his friends wanted their sister alive, they should have dealt with her! He looked at her for a few moments before sighing and then raising his hand and making a fist.

Two men appeared at his feet.

Dead men, Ginny realised with a terrified gasp.

He crouched down and grabbed the hair of one of the men, lifting his head so Ginny could get a good look at his cold dead eyes.

"This is… Gary," He had no idea of his actual name, "A reporter I caught sneaking into the Slytherin common room. Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped into the room, he suffered a massive coronary. Such a waste." Heri shook his head, letting go of the man's head and moving on to the next one. It truly was a waste – he had killed the man without using his sacrifice for any benefit; he'd killed the man simply because he was trying to get a candid camera shot of Daphne, and that made Herido very, very angry.

"This is Bob," Again, Heri had no idea of the this man's name. He turned the body over and Ginny screamed silently, before falling back and crying. The corpse was horrifically mutilated. "I came across Bob during the storm, and he volunteered to help Hermione." He'd come across him in the storm, and used him, an off duty auror, in a ritual to give his dying friend strength enough to get to real medical help.

"Ginny, if you insist on speaking out about the Diary, both you and I and all my friends – your brothers included – will find ourselves in a spot of legal bother. We may well be expelled. I do understand that you don't care about getting most of us into trouble, but turning in you brothers? Your family? That's simply intolerable, and I want you to know that it would make me extremely angry. Now," He walked over to her, indicating to the bodies as he stepped over them, "These men just happened across my path: If you cause trouble, what do you think I'll do to you?"

Ginny glanced back across to the mutilated body and shook her head in earnest, trying to convince Addams that she wouldn't say a thing, but Herido wasn't done. He crouched in front of her and lifted her chin with a tight grip, forcing her to meet his eyes so she'd know he was serious. And he was.

"And I won't stop with just you, because once you're gone I'll lose three friends. Of course, I would never hurt Ron or the twins, but the rest of your family will suffer for my loss. Whatever you experience before you die, they will suffer threefold."

It only took thirty seconds of her pleading until he was convinced she'd keep her mouth shut.

After the first spark of consciousness, it took Hermione only 10 seconds to open her eyes, ascertain her location in St. Mungo's Hospital, and establish that she was in a private room that was currently occupied by both her parents, Daphne, Pugsley, and Herido Addams. A roar that might have been a yawn came from somewhere near the door, and a quick glance confirmed Kitty Cat was here too… in a hospital room.

She was up in an instant, and rounded on Heri.

"Where is he?" She demanded quietly, deadly seriously – she was out for blood.

"Hermione!" Her mother's soft exclamation did nothing to distract her. "Hermione, thank goodness!" All four children shuddered at the expression, but ignored the following questions of concern and suggestions that she lie down.

Herido stood slowly and held up his hands.

"Give me the Diary, Herido." Hermione demanded. She couldn't believe she'd gotten caught out by the young bloody Voldemort. She'd wanted to talk to him, but thought she'd been careful. Hex bags; locking away her wand when she used the Diary, and other safety measures that Voldemort had apparently walked through like spider webs. She knew it was a risk – even Heri had struggled to handle the Diary – but it seemed safer than trying to summon the 'real' Voldemort. That ridiculously charming, psychotic wanker had tried to kill her! She couldn't believe it! Well, she could; she just couldn't believe he'd nearly succeeded. She was more cross with herself than anything.

"Now listen, 'Mione – " Heri tried to reason with her, but she marched forward, on a mission.

"Give me the Diary, Herido." She repeated. She was going to kill him. "I'm going to kill him."

Heri ducked behind Daphne, holding her shoulders like a shield.

Hermione's parents had paused in their fretful cries, but started up again once they heard their daughter's threat. "Kill?! Hermione! Who hurt you?!"

"I sent him away. He's somewhere safe." Safe from Hermione, and safe from Heri giving into the temptation to open up a dialogue again.

"So where is 'safe'?" She made to reach around Daphne (who was struggling not to laugh), but a restraining arm wove over her collarbones and pulled her back securely.

"Your parents are worried." Pugsley whispered in Hermione's ear. The strange sensation of his breath ghosting over her ear finally made her stop and think about the situation. She gave Heri a look that promised this wasn't over, and then elbowed Pugsley in the gut, hard enough to make him double over in pain, spluttering and gasping for air, before finally turning to let her folks fuss and comfort her, hiding in her mother's arms like she was a vulnerable defenseless little girl. If only they knew.

With Hermione awake, Heri and Daphne returned to Hogwarts. The muggleborn had been in the hospital for the last two weeks, and her two friends were anxious for her to wake up, not because there was any doubt that she would, but because they were concerned about the effects their actions might have had on her mind. Now she was awake they could relax.

She was clearly fine.

Pugsley hadn't left her side. A journalist and a photographer had tried to sneak in when Hermione was first moved out of High Monitoring – the journalist was shaken up but returned home to his family that night, the photographer did not, in fact he'd been missing ever since. Soon after rumours spread that the Addams heir was camping out in her room. Media interest shot through the roof, but no one else had tried to approach. Hermione was now known to be the last victim of a dark artifact left at Hogwarts by Salazar Slytherin himself! And everyone was very grateful to Daphne Greengrass for saving Hermione from its corrupting influence. The ministry had been considering holding an inquiry to establish Granger's level of culpability in the murder of Penelope Clearwater, but when Gomez Addams offered to represent her, they decided against it. It just wasn't worth it. Not for the first time Herido was grateful for his family's reputation in the wizarding world: if they bothered to check his father's track record in the muggle world they'd know that with him representing her, Hermione would have got Life in Azkaban.

Everyone believed the Dark artifact had been destroyed, but Heri wondered how long it would take Draco to tell his father that it hadn't, and wondered what kind of favour he'd have to grant to make up for stealing the Diary.

Daphne and Heri walked into the Great Hall in time for lunch.

"She's finally awake then?" Fred asked. "How did she take it?" Heri looked away at that question, sitting down and suddenly very interested in the roast chicken.

"We thought it best to let her parents tell her." Daphne admitted. Everyone pulled in a sharp breath.

"You didn't let Hermione Granger know exams were cancelled?" Blaise clarified. He didn't blame them for chickening out.

"Well, she seemed rather angry enough – best to let her folks handle it, I think." Daphne was sure about this. Very nearly killing Hermione she could do, but not this.

"She wasn't angry, she was embarrassed." Heri said. He took Daphne's hand and was turning it over in his own, studying it like it held the great secrets of the universe. She mostly ignored him, because her hands were just not that interesting.

"She was homicidal." Daphne defended. "Where have you hidden the Diary anyway? Are you certain it's safe?" Because when Hermione found out she'd missed exams, Daphne was sure she'd be even more motivated to exact a little revenge on Tom Riddle.

"She'll calm down. And I took it to a resort run by an old acquaintance. It's probably my favourite place in," he moved his head from side to side in a little noncommittal motion, before waving a dismissive hand "sort of in the world. I'm sure he'll enjoy it there, and it would be suicide for Hermione to try to take it."

"That place run by your ex-girlfriend?" A familiar blonde suddenly appeared beside the table.

"Salazar's scrotum!" Ron cried in shock.

"Stop doing that, Luna!" Vincent mopped pumpkin juice from off his face.

"Your ex-girlfriend?" Daphne pulled her hand free and turned in her seat to face Heri head on.

He groaned. "Why would you say that, Luna?" But the first year was already walking away, sullen, and perturbed.

"So your favourite place in the whole world is with your 'ex' girlfriend?"

"No, I just love the town. She has impeccable taste." There was a collective 'ooh' and Heri looked up to see this whole section of the Slytherin table shaking their heads at him – that might have been the wrong thing to say.

Daphne, who was the ultimate Pureblood cliché, graceful, elegant, and who prided herself on always looking like she could be in the style icon pages of Witch Weekly, took a slow, careful sip of tea.

"I see." She said quietly. "And where does she live?" Her voice was deadly calm. It made Herido nervous. As much as he might like to watch his girlfriend fighting his ex, he knew Daphne would lose, and the thought of losing Daphne pierced his heart like a lion's fangs ripping out the neck of an antelope.

"Sang froid," He started, trying not to let his breath catch – sometimes he really was his father's son. He could still remember his father trying to convince uncle Fester to kill him when he thought Morticia had fallen for another man, "Ex is too strong a term. We dated for a few weeks when I was eight – she was ten. Really, we're just childhood friends." Daphne nodded. Her face was a mask of ice, but Heri could read the betrayal in her eyes.

"Just a friend. So tell me where I can find her." Herido hesitated, still trying not to imagine the two girls fighting, and suddenly there was a crack in the ice. "A friend who has impeccable taste and to whom you would trust a piece of-" She looked at the watching faces, "who you would trust with something precious. I mean, of course, how could I ever compete with that?"

Herido grabbed her hand again and placed it over his heart. "Buio dei miei occhi, Alessa couldn't hold a candle to you. …Unless, of course, you're willing to let her." Daphne stood abruptly, but he still had her hand against his chest. She stared down at him, the adrenalin pumping through her veins in anticipation of finding this 'Alessa' and ripping the girl's hair out. But then there was that feeling that if Heri would be happier with someone else she should let him go.

"And she already runs her own town? At fourteen, fifteen?" Daphne hated her.

"She's not fourteen now… she's older… it's complicated."

"Oh 'it's complicated'." Daphne snapped, but it lacked bite. There was nothing meaningful behind the phrase 'it's complicated' when it came to relationships(!)

"I don't mean 'it's complicated', I mean she's complicated." Heri tried.

"Okay she's 'complicated'? She's mysterious too? I'll just add that to the list of ways your ex is perfect." Alessa sounded like the perfect woman.

Herido stared up into Daphne's icy blues, until finally he sighed.

"I'll kill her." Herido declared, his eyes burning into hers. "I'll kill her, and we can spend the first few weeks of summer spreading bits of her throughout Philadelphia."

Daphne bit her lip. What was a girl to do with an offer like that?

Everyone within earshot watched on with bated breath. There had been no middle ground with Addams and Greengrass: when they were friends they were friends, and everyone knew Addams and his friends were fiercely protective of each other. But then a few weeks ago they started dating, and instantly the dynamic between the two was so intense it sucked everyone else in. More mature students would watch them, and then consider their own relationships – usually coming to the conclusion that perhaps they weren't quite as serious as they had thought. They all felt inadequate in comparison.

Carefully, gracefully, Daphne retook her seat. "There's no need for that. I'm not so insecure so as to be threatened by some silly ex from years ago." She took back her hand and turned to her dinner as though the last five minutes hadn't happened.

It was no good – Herido might have been ready to let it go, but their friends were not quite so kind:

"Yeah, right." George snickered.

"No jealously here at all." Fred added.

Herido made the mistake of laughing in agreement.

"Oh and I suppose you never get jealous?" Daphne asked Herido, and he didn't know whether there was a correct answer to that: if he did get jealous he was a Neanderthal who didn't trust his woman, and if he didn't get jealous he obviously didn't care about her at all, or thought other men wouldn't find her desirable.

"Of course not." Heri decided to go with honesty. "There's not a jealous bone in my body!"

"Oh good," Daphne said, taking a bite of chicken as though she didn't have a care in the world. "Then you won't care that Blaise and I dated last summer and…"

Herido made a choking noise, and then jumped to his feet:

"En guard, Blaise Zabini!" He cried, brandishing his wand like a sword. He wasn't nice enough to roll over and surrender Daphne's affections to another! Perhaps he wasn't too much like his father after all.

Everyone not in Heri's gang fled to a safe distance, while Blaise leapt up from his seat across the table, instantly raising the strongest Light Protego shield he knew of with the wand in his right hand, and taking his dinner plate in his left hand to use as an actual shield. The rest of their friends hadn't moved from their place, and they continued with their meals and conversation as though nothing was happening.

A kunai knife pierced the plate a second after it was raised, and another bounced off, forcing Gregory to lift his plate so his lunch wasn't ruined by the rebound – once the knife had slid by, he replaced his meal and decided he needed more cranberry sauce…

Blaise tossed the broken plate, looked along the table and summoned several metal platters, tipping off any remaining potatoes and veg, and once they reached him he rolled to the side behind one of the twins, needing the protection while he dropped his magical shield in order to transfigure the platters into a thick round metal shield.

He jumped back to his feet and recast. "Herido…" He sighed, sounding very put out and almost bored, though he was clearly taking the threat seriously. A thud, thud, thud against metal had him smirking at his friend. Which was probably a mistake because several powerful, but perfectly legal, hexes ripped through the protego like it was vapour

As soon as the barrage ended, Blaise fired a few hexes back, forcing Heri to the right (as he hadn't bothered with a shield), and then swung the hulk of metal at his face.

Herido leaned away, his back bending to an unnatural angle, before spinning at a speed difficult to follow and throwing out a solid side kick (Draco, who sat to his right, ducking down so he wasn't hit as the powerful leg sped above his head, but sitting back upright to take a drink once it passed).

Blaise had still been leaning over the table in his punch, and so his midsection took the full brunt of the kick, and he flew back, landing heavily against the Ravenclaw table and very winded. He looked to the startled student he'd fallen beside.

"Hey," He rasped. "mind if I borrow this?" Not waiting for a response, he grabbed the boy's steak knife and threw it at Herido's head, but Heri easily deflected it with the back of his hand, and raised his wand one more.

Blaise gathered his strength and pushed himself from the table. He raised his hands, but still held his wand tightly, ready to attack or defend.

"Herido," he tried again, "She's having you on." His voice calm and confident, even though a part of his survival instinct screamed that he was in life-threatening danger. He wasn't, or at least he didn't believe so. This little spar was pretty par for the course for his friends – if Addams wanted to kill him, Blaise doubted he would even see the blow coming.

With his wand still aimed at his friend, Heri looked back at Daphne in question. She took another dainty bite.

"Not jealous, eh?" She said with a coy smile, a smile that melted Herido's insides and pulled him back to her side like a magnet.

"You tricky little minx."

Heri turned to give Blaise an apologetic half shrug, which Blaise waved off, and then felt Daphne's knuckles run along his cheekbones. He snatched her hand up and kissed it. "Cara Bella." He whispered. Both friends and fearful looked away, rolling their eyes or shaking their hands.

"He's such a drama queen." Draco said.

Twins looked at each other, and then Draco.

"Well, yes,"

"He's an Addams."

"You have met his dad, right?"

Slowly, slowly, the students returned to their seats and carried on as before. That lot was never right, and everyone thought it best to just let them be.

At the head table, several teachers sat aghast. McGonagall would have called out a loss of points for Slytherin, but as angry as she was that they would fight in the middle of the great hall, she was also impressed by their display. Zabini's use of transfiguration while in the middle of a fight filled her with pride, though she knew it was misplaced, and one glance at Flitwick told her he too was impressed by such a multi-layered duel, well, no, not at duel. There were rules to dueling and they were not 'anything goes'.

Snape would usually be angry about students of his house acting this way in public, but he knew that this display would only add to Slytherin's reputation, as well as the reputation of Addams' gang. At first the group was given respect and fear because of their association with Addams, but now each member had their own individual reputation that grew as each season passed. Snape supposed that even if Addams was to leave, these little (mostly) 12 and 13 years olds could rule the school if they chose to. And he knew they were capable of much more than fights over the dinner table.

He frowned: McGonagall really should have stepped in when the first shot was fired, because allowing them to fight set a bad precedent… He worried this could become a regular event… Maybe, and he hated to think this way, but maybe it would be for the best if Dumbledore returned.

He looked back to Addams, who was currently chatting pleasantly with his friends, and remembered he had a meeting with the boy that night. During the devastating storm a few weeks ago, two people went missing. One was an auror who later was found washed up on the banks of a river several miles away, his body battered and disfigured supposedly by the brutal forces of nature. The other missing man was Lockhart, and Snape suspected his disappearance to be more sinister in nature. He'd asked Addams about it directly, because the boy didn't hide his distaste for the Defense teacher, and Addams said they could discuss it tonight. Given the time they'd spent together, and the secrets they shared, Snape wasn't really worried about it. He should have been.

The moon was bright as Herido led Snape into the forest, deeper than they'd been before and down non-existent paths that he didn't recognise.

"I do not appreciate all this cloak and dagger nonsense." Snape drawled, using his wand to remove the foliage and hanging branches in his path.

"Nor do I. I suck at it." Herido admitted and then shrugged. "But heyho, school's for learning."

Snape would have challenged what sounded to him like an admission that the boy was up to something, but they stepped down into a small meadow and he momentarily lost the ability to speak. He also very nearly lost his supper.

Directly in the middle of the clearing, illuminated far too well by the brilliant moonlight shining down unhindered, were two small wooden boats fastened one atop the other , in which lay what remained of, who Snape could only guess was once, Gilderoy Lockhart. Only his head, arms and feet could be seen, and only just, for they were covered in a moving swarm of insects and vermin. The wind changed and Snape lost his composure and gagged as an overwhelming stench of honey and excrement and putrid rot filled the air. His ears started to ring. Ick. He couldn't even think about what was going on inside the boats.

Heri smiled at the reaction. Lockhart's fate was a particularly cruel one, but the man offended Heri by simply being alive, so he thought such an ugly death befitted such an ugly soul.

"S-se-severus – please – k-kill me-" Severus was horrified to hear the desperate, almost inaudible rasp, and see one eye peering at him. Lockhart was still alive.

"What did we say about talking?" Snape didn't know how, but he managed not to jump out of his skin at the fiercely hard words that came from the devil to his left. Lockhart didn't react, Snape didn't think he could, but he also didn't say anything more. He just kept staring at him, silently pleading.

Seeing he had succeeded in shaking up his stolid professor, Heri spoke, "Ignore him, professor. He's fine." Good fortune had delivered Lockhart to Heri. The man had been hit by falling bits of castle during the storm, and had wondered into the forest in a state of confusion. Herido found him a few days later and helped him get over the concussion – then he took the opportunity to deliver his horrific death day. "Now, I think we need to talk."

"I very much doubt that." Snape hadn't taken his eyes from his colleague.

"I don't particularly mind your harboring animosity towards me, professor, but I'm afraid I must take exception when you bring my father into it."

Snape finally glanced away and to Addams. His father? Snape wasn't stupid enough to attack the Addams patriarch, even verbally, so he had no idea what the boy was talking about.

"You called him arrogant." Heri helped. He didn't really care about that, because his father probably was arrogant in some way, and certainly not petty enough to care about a minor slight. However, Snape had spoken of his father with unconcealed hatred and scorn, and Heri didn't like that.

Clenching his teeth, his nerves still rattled, and his desire to fire at the boy increasing with every second, Snape cottoned on to what Herido was talking about. He looked back at Lockhart for a second, to the man who had been slowly eaten alive for over a week... He was deep into the forest, in an unknown location, alone with this boy… He grit his teeth harder, sticking his courage.

Suddenly he brought his wand down in Lockhart's direction. "Avada Kedavra!"

Heri took a deep breath, soaking up the darkness that snapped around him, and watched the eerie flash of green dance against the trees; dark magic out shining the moon herself. It was the first time he'd felt Snape use proper Dark magic, and even if it was used in an act of pity, it was delicious. Snape was born to be a Dark wizard. His core was more at peace as he fired the death curse than Heri had ever seen it to be. It was the only thing that stopped him moaning at Snape for spoiling his fun. He, Ron, and Gregory had a bet on how long Lockhart would last, and now that was ruined.

Snape turning to face him head on, his black eyes boring into Heri's, livid yet calculating, and Heri felt the side of his mouth lift in a smile. "I spoke of your biological father." Snape told him, his voice low and menacing, and crystal clear with conviction. "And he was arrogant, and vile, and weak, and the world is a better place for his passing." The smile slid from Herido's face, and he returned Snape's intense stare. For a few moments it looked as though they might fight.

Heri wondered what James Potter had done to Snape to make him hate so. He would find out.

Snape saw the curious look and shook his head, before turned briefly to set Lockhart and those creatures that feasted upon him alight. It didn't seem right to let them live. The action was dramatic, the flames hotter and larger than necessary and clearly making a point. "Do not ever try to threaten me, Herido Addams!" He quickly swept away.

Damn, Heri thought, he really sucked at this. He had forced Snape into giving him some answers, which was a start, he supposed. He now finally understood why the man had treated him with such distain. The man was good though, and Heri didn't imagine he'd be spilling all his personal issues unless he got him in the playroom for an hour. Maybe one day. In the meantime…

Snape only made it a few meters when his feet stuck fast to the mossy ground. Darkness descended around him in an instant and from within the shadows right in front of him stepped Addams.

"I wouldn't dream of it, professor." And then the shadows and the darkness were gone, and so was Herido.

Severus shuddered, realising for the second time in as many years that Addams could kill in an instant. He took a breath, and then had to use point me to find north, and eventually his way back to the castle.

Sang froid – Cold blood

Buio dei miei occhi – darkness of my eyes

Whoop. Second year is over. Bring on the summer, and year three. heehee. I think Heri is better at threatening than he thinks ;)

Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading xx