A/N: Hey! So, yeah it's been a while. Anyhoo for those of you who don't know, I am now a mother to a beautiful baby boy who (unfortunately for you all but happy-happy joy-joy for me) eats up the grand majority of my spare time. Thus, I hope you all will forgive me for the wait. Now, enough talk! Onwards and through the fog we go! Please leave me a review when you get to the bottom. Cheers!

As of September 16, 2014 this chapter has been revised.

Chapter Five: A Game of Thorns

The first letter came for Lily two days after the duel in charms which Abraxas insisted up, down and sideways would go down in Hogwarts History as the school's first 'Charm Off'. Dumbledore had apparently been rather amused by the whole thing and had sent word of it to Xavier who then saw fit, in his role as Lily's father, to write to her about it. The letter didn't go into any explicit detail but it did manage to establish a line of communication that soon saw letters appearing before and after meals - and sometimes in the common room - quite frequently. It also saw Lily with a new companion. One day at breakfast about a week into February Lily's usual letter was delivered not by owl but by a white falcon that, in the accompanied letter, Xavier explained was an albino peregrine named Persephone.

Lily loved her instantly; Emily of course disapproved.

"It's not seemly for a witch to keep a falcon as a pet," the dark haired witch insisted, "Falcons are dangerous creatures Lily, what if she -"

"Em," Xander interrupted his sister, "Lily's a dangerous creature, personally I think it suits her."

And that had been the end of that conversation. Emily still pursed her lips in disapproval every time Persephone arrived with Lily's mail (usually a letter but sometimes Xavier would send her a cut-out from the 'Prophet', something to do with the war, in which he thought she might find interest. On those days her classmate's displeasure was two-fold) but Lily had long ago taken to ignoring her friend because some things, she realized, would never change.

Other things, however, did.

After her victory in Defense and after a rather extensive discussion in the Headmaster's office that Merrythought was still grumbling about more than a month later, the defense teacher was forced to begin allowing Lily and only Lily to participate in the practical portions of his lessons. At first Lily had thought about taking a stand for the inclusion of all witches but after remembering one of her Aunt Hermione's favorite muggle sayings about gift horses she decided against it. Besides, it would seem as though Merrythought was determined to have the last say. As a result, unless it was strictly necessary for the syllabus, the professor had dwindled the number of practical lessons down to a bare minimum. After a week of doing almost nothing but theory work the wizards in Lily's class, instead of being impressed like they had been after the charm off, were downright pissed. Not a day went by where one of them - sans Abraxas, Xander and surprisingly Riddle - wasn't blaming Lily for turning everyone's favorite class into their least favorite. Defense for the sixth years had now become more boring than A History of Magic.

"If you had just shut your mouth like a good little witch we would still be dueling!" one particularly angry Ravenclaw hissed at Lily as they all exited the class room after what had to be the most boring lesson ever to have been taught at Hogwarts.

"I can think of another use for her mouth, since she likes keeping it open so much," another boy, this one a Gryffindor, sneered at her. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes and, for the first time in this time, Lily was afraid.

Abraxas and Xander on the other hand, were downright livid and shook with indignation. Before they could defend her though, they heard Riddle's voice call out.

"Raul, Wilson!" Both boys turned at the sound of their names and found themselves face to face with Slytherin's sixth year prefect. "Detention, tomorrow, both of you."

"What!" the Gryffindor, Wilson, squawked, "What the bloody hell for?"

Riddle's gaze was cold as glass. "Making lecherous comments."

Wilson opened his mouth to argue only to have his friends come and escort him away before the prefect did more than hand out a detention and started docking points. Raul, with a glare, followed the Gryffindors retreat thus leaving the four Slytherins alone in the defense corridor. Abraxas and Xander were openly staring at Riddle while Lily managed to mutter a quiet 'thank you'. Riddle acknowledged it with a nod before he turned on his heel and walked away.

For the rest of the afternoon Abraxas and Xander kept trying to tell her he was playing at something but Lily didn't think so. She did, however, begin to grow suspicious when by Wednesday two other Ravenclaw had detentions and Gryffindor had lost nearly sixty points. Thus, that evening after dinner, Lily darted ahead of the others and cornered Riddle before he could disappear into his dormitory.

His answer wasn't one she'd been expecting.

"They're afraid of you," he said plainly, "You're strong while they're weak and so they fear you and think that attacking you will bring you back down to their level. It won't, it will only make you stronger but they're too stupid to understand that. The ignorant will always fear what they don't understand and can't control."

The boy had then sidestepped her and went on his way leaving Lily standing there, totally and completely lost for words. It was only later, after she'd thought about it for a couple days, that Lily realized that Riddle hadn't been talking about just her but also himself. It made her wonder if, just maybe, there was more to why Riddle became Voldemort then was known. In one two minute conversation, Tom Riddle became an enigma and Lily - intellectually aware enough to know that having the desire wasn't exactly smart - desperately wanted to figure him out. Maybe if she did then she could take what she knew back to her time and her father could use it to finish the war. Maybe that was why she'd been sent back in time in the first place but, as she knew nothing for absolute certain, there wasn't anything Lily could really do other then go on and try to enjoy her time in the past as much as possible. With Defense classes on the fritz, her classmates out to get her and all the other things that had come as a result of her little duel with Riddle, enjoying herself became a tall order.

Madam Lattice - whose reaction Lily admittedly hadn't given much thought to in any of her decision making processes, and who already disapproved of Lily for her near flat out refusal to adhere to any of the restrictions of a 'proper' lady - turned downright mean after Merrythought was forced to concede to Lily's victory. In one class period the elder witch managed to find enough things wrong with Lily to justify docking over seventy points from her wayward pupil. That night in the common room when Lily found herself cornered by over half the house all wanting to know the same thing, she didn't even get a chance to open her mouth before an indignant Emily jumped to her defense and began spouting off the list of things that had moved Slytherin house from first choice to win the house cup to third.

"Twenty points for Lily's hair because it's too long and not coiffed like the rest of us; ten for her handwriting; fifteen each for slouching and for crossing her legs at the knee instead of at the ankle and another twenty for not wearing cosmetics. That insufferable woman! She simply can't get away with this; it's not professional!"

And while Lily was glad that the witch was finally acting like her friend and defending her she didn't really except that it would help much.

It didn't.

Lattice continued to insult and verbally abuse Lily in almost every class and while the duration of the attack seemed to earn her some sympathy from those of her peers with whom she did not share a house, Slytherin as a whole had turned against her. Her only supporters that remained were the Lestrange twins, both Malfoys and the boy that would be Voldemort the latter of which continued giving out detentions anytime anyone insulted her and he was within earshot to hear it. Thus, when Lily was counting allies in her head Riddle got put on the short list. Abraxas was horrified when he found out.

"Why on earth would you count Riddle as a friend!?" he wanted to know.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I didn't say he was my friend, I said he was an ally. There's a difference."

"No there isn't!"

"He's given eight people detention in the last week."

"All that proves is that he's up to something," the blond insisted, "Riddle doesn't do anything for anyone unless there's something in it for him."

Lily scoffed. "What could he possibly get out of this?"

The wizard rolled his shoulders. "I've no clue," he said, "But you can bet that there is something. Just be careful around him Lily. Riddle…just don't make the mistake of thinking that you've got him figured out."

Curious about that last statement, Lily had asked them to elaborate and then spent the next hour listening to an explanation that didn't actually explain anything. In the end she gave up, frustrated.

February ended on a particularly frigid Friday in which Lily experienced the absolute worst Domestic's class to date. They were learning how to do alterations, in case a house elf wasn't around to do it for them, and had all been paired up and given a dress to work on when Madam Lattice instructed them to get out their wands. Lily had flicked her wrist and felt hers slide quickly into her hand only to then cringe as a loud shriek filled the classroom. Looking around for it's source, Lily found herself face to face with a furious Madam Lattice who reached out, grabbed her arm and then forcibly yanked up her sleeve revealing the wand holster strapped on the inside of her wand arm.

"What in Merlin's name is this monstrosity!? Miss Claire, you will explain yourself this instant. Where did you get such an atrocious item!?"

Around her, her fellow witches watched the display with equal measures of disdain and sympathy. The class was divided as to whether or not Lily was to be admired or ridiculed. Emily, despite her conservative leanings, stood by her friend as did Abraxas' sister Cassie. The rest of them however, were convinced that Lily's forwardness was catching and, like their teacher, took any and all opportunities to reprobate and torment her. As Lattice started in on her, at least half of the other witches began to grin sadistically, gleefully awaiting the dressing down that was to come.

While her classmates waited, Lily took a deep, calming breath and tired to keep her magic in check. She knew that if she wasn't careful, one more word or insult might make her explode and say something that she couldn't take back. Standing there, shaking with anger, Lily bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

"Well?" Lattice demanded, "Answer me, Miss Claire, surely you are capable of doing at least that much."

Lily glared at her. "It's a wand holster, obviously."

Her teacher's eyes widened at the blatant disrespect in the girl's voice. "How dare you take that tone with me! Have you no shame? With the way you behave perhaps it is well that your mother is dead; she needn't see the wicked, brazen child you've become! You are a wholly despicable girl without any morals and clearly without any sense of dignity. What makes you think that wearing that…that thing is acceptable?"

Lily opened her mouth to defend herself but was cut off; apparently Lattice wasn't done with her tirade.

"One hundred points Miss Claire and you will remove that thing from your arm and not wear it again," the bell rang and while Lily stood seething in front of her, the elder witch went on. "You will not return to my class until you are presentable and can be passed off as a lady. Your blood and breeding will only get you so far in life Miss Claire and if you continue to look and behave as a common, ill-bred troll then I'm afraid that that is exactly how you will be treated."

Lily left the domestics classroom fighting the urge to curse her teacher into a hex induced coma. Emily ran on ahead to warn her brother and Abraxas about Lily's mood. As a result Defense was a mostly tense, silent affair and lunch was just plain awkward. By the time she arrived in Arithmacy Lily had cooled down only somewhat but Abraxas was still weary of engaging her in conversation. Riddle, however, didn't have the same reservations.

"Dare I ask what you've done to incur the wrath of Madam Lattice?"

Lily glared at him. "Sarcasm Riddle, really?"

"I thought you might like it," he replied coolly.

"Not really."

"My apologies," Riddle smirked, taking out his notes from the last class to review.

Abraxas glanced sideways at the witch, frowning over the exchange. There was no denying the fact that Riddle had been acting odd lately what with his recent perchance to give out detention to anyone who insulted Lily. He and Xander had spoken at length about why he was doing it and what could possibly be in it for him. There had to be something. As he'd told Lily, Tom Riddle did not do things for free. 'An eye for an eye' or some variation thereof was one of the most basic of Slytherin traits and, as they'd all learned last year, Riddle – damn him – was a consummate Slytherin. It made Abraxas uneasy and weary and damned near paranoid when it came to his dark haired not-nearly-as-benign-as-he-looked rival.

Thus it was that Abraxas Malfoy decided it was time to poke the hippogriff; covertly of course. "You know," he began conversationally, his voice smooth, "I'm a bit surprised you're not more upset at Lily, given how many points she keeps loosing us."

Gob smacked, Lily rounded on him. "What in Merlin's name is that supposed to mean Abraxas?" she demanded hotly.

"Yes," queried Riddle softly, "Just what, exactly, are you trying to imply?"

Ignoring the indignant witch, Abraxas focused his gaze on his least favorite housemate. "I find it curious is all. I've known you for six years Riddle, you're a perfectionist; you like being the best. It's the only thing you've got going for you really."

Tom's midnight blue eyes narrowed. "Your point, Malfoy; make it."

Abraxas crossed his arms and leaned backwards in his seat, giving one of his shoulders a nonchalant shrug before addressing his rival. "Since first year you've had the top marks, earned the most points and been every teacher's, except old Dumbles, dearest pet. We've also won the cup every year since our first because you refuse to be part of a losing house. Now, with Lily loosing close to two hundred points a week, we'll be lucky if we end the year with more than three hundred points total. Forgive me for being the one to point this out but she's making all of us look bad including you. Why aren't you more upset about that? If were me doing it, or somebody else, you'd have hexed them stupid by now."

Lily was absolutely furious, was Abraxas trying to drive away her support group? She couldn't really afford to lose anybody and that included the boy-who-would-be-Voldemort. "Abraxas, what -"

"But Lily is not anyone else is she?"

Both Abraxas and the witch in question blinked, "What?" the former asked unintelligently.

Riddle's face was placid, a study in complete neutrality or so his expression would have had you believe. "I said, Lily is not anyone else is she."

Abraxas practically growled at him. "I heard what you said!"

"Then, forgive me, but what part of my statement seems to have you confused?"

"That part about Lily not being just anybody else! What in Merlin's name does that even mean?"

"It means that if Lily were anyone else, you are correct, I would have hexed them by now but the simple fact of the matter is that she is not."

"Why is the fact that it's Lily such an important factor Riddle? What's it matter?"

"Why haven't you severed ties with her and renounced her then?"

"Because she's my friend!"

"Why?"

The question brought Abraxas up short. "Why what?"

Riddle looked at him pointedly. "Although I'm sure it pains you to acknowledge it Malfoy I am quite a bit smarter then you, don't think for one moment that I did not notice that you attacked yourself to Lily the moment she arrived. You extended your hand to her and invited her into your circle without any explanation and now, despite the fact that her behavior would have turned anyone else away, you continue to stand by her and support her. My question then, Malfoy, is why?"

Abraxas' eyes narrowed, glaring darkly at the boy seated across from him who was, unfortunately, not lying. The wealthy wizard would never admit it aloud but Tom Riddle was quite a bit more intelligent than he was. Hell, Tom bloody Riddle was probably the smartest wizard in the world under the age of thirty. It would kill Abraxas to admit that but that didn't make it any less true. Riddle realizing that there was a reason Abraxas had made Lily a friend was a given; he just wasn't very keen on telling him what it was.

"Because I'm powerful."

The statement, made by the witch currently sitting between them and around whom their entire discussion revolved, pulled both boys out of their starring contest and made them refocus on her. Lily, who had been watching them, very closely, might she add, since the topic had been broached, thought she had the measure of what was really going on. Abraxas was fishing, Riddle was deflecting and she had had enough of both of them.

"I'm powerful, uncommonly so or rather, I'm uncommonly not afraid to show it. Abraxas knows this, he recognized it almost the second he saw me and he knew that he'd rather be my ally then my enemy," her gaze turned to Riddle, "As for why he's not turned on me; same reason. That and he's not afraid of me."

"Nor am I," Riddle reminded her, harking back to the conversation they'd had outside his dorm last week.

"No you're not," Lily acknowledged, "Which is why, even though I keep losing points by the bushel full, you haven't joined the ranks of those actively trying to make my life hell. I'm your equal."

With a nod of recognition, Riddle went back to his notes while Abraxas let out a loud snort.

"Bit bold don't you think?" he asked.

Lily frowned. "I don't -"

"I mean he's not really your equal. He's still a half-blood bast-"

"If you decide to hex him, I won't stop you," Lily stage whispered towards Riddle whose knuckles had gone white the second his blood status had slipped out of Abraxas' mouth, "I won't defend him either."

Riddle raised an eyebrow; Abraxas looked hurt.

"Lily!"

She looked at him. "What? He's given out eighteen detentions in two weeks and knocked Ravenclaw and Gryffindor down by at least a hundred points. the least I can do is give him a free shot."

"Traitor."

Lily grinned at her friend while leaning sideways towards Riddle. "Might I suggest the bat-bogey hex? It's a particular favorite of mine."

Tom frowned incredulously but before he could ask her what she was playing at or if she was being serious, Professor Maycott arrived and class was begun. With a wave of her wand a set of problems appeared on the board and the class was instructed to divide itself into pairs. Normally Lily worked with Malfoy and he with one of the Ravenclaws so it was quite the surprise for both boys when the Slytherin witch, without so much as a glance towards her usual partner, slid over towards Tom and proceeded to nonchalantly open her book. It was then that he realized she'd been serious about letting him hex Malfoy and Malfoy, it seemed, realized it as well. With a gulp the wizard gathered his books and looked around for another partner; the only one left was a Andrew Draven, a Hufflepuff. With a exaggerated sigh, Abraxas left the table and headed towards Draven, glaring at the boy as he sat down. This left Lily and Riddle alone at the Slytherin table.

Without preamble Lily asked, "Shall we begin?"

Tom stared at her, his gaze calculating. "What are you doing?" he wondered aloud.

Lily looked up from her book and locked her gaze with his. "I'm not afraid of you either."

Their eyes remained fixed on one another long enough for an understanding to form between them. Lily dropped her gaze first and picked up her quill so that she could copy the problems from the board onto her parchment, "Now, where would you like to start; should we solve first and then show the division or should we do the division first?"

Responding that they should first do the latter, Tom deftly began to work while every now and then snatching glances at the witch next to him. He didn't know why but there was something about her that had piqued his interest ever since she'd deviated from the book in that first potions class. Admittedly, his first reaction had been anger; anger that she had upstaged him, anger that she'd made him look the fool in Transfiguration and anger that she'd hurt him. Tom had been beaten and attacked more than the average boy throughout his relatively short life but never while at Hogwarts and never there. The searing pain he'd experienced afterwards along with the humiliation of having to go to Dumbledore to reverse his other condition had infuriated him. He had lashed out, wanting to hurt her as she'd hurt him. That stupid charms duel had been meant to put her in her place, to show her that he was better than her and that she'd best be afraid of him. It hadn't worked, if anything, it had done the opposite. By the time they'd started volleying auror level defensive and offensive charms at each other Tom had realized that Lily would never fear him and that her place was so far above his it was almost laughable. He'd been angry at her for that too at least so long as it took the entire school to turn on her. Tom had felt his anger with her begin to fade as more and more condescension was heaped down upon her. When Raul had made his vulgar suggestion about another use for Lily's mouth, he had realized that all his anger was gone and that in its place was understanding and no small amount of empathy.

Tom had known all his life that he was different and he had learned, very early, that to be different was to be despised. His first seven years of life had been utter hell. The older children at the orphanage had gone out of their way to make certain he knew that being different was not a good thing. They had beaten him, hurt him, played nasty tricks on him and hidden all his belongings. They'd pushed him down stairs, tripped him up, slammed him into walls and if any of the other children so much as smiled at him they'd turn and do the same thing to them. As a result, no one dared come near him, no one stood up for him, no one helped him. Even the Matron Mrs. Cole and the nurse Mrs. Crawley had turned a blind eye to most of it claiming him to be an unnatural child that deserved what he got. Tom had been utterly alone until the day his accidental magic had saved him from a particularly nasty fall courtesy of his persistent tormentors. Then, and only then, had things changed and Tom had vowed on that very first day that he would never be hurt or made fun of or punished again. He would make them fear him so that he would never have to be afraid again. It would have worked splendidly if he hadn't have gotten his Hogwarts letter.

At the orphanage Tom had been feared and that made him safe but at Hogwarts, he was back to being less than dirt on the bottom of everyone's shoe. Being sorted into Slytherin house was both a blessing and a curse. He'd discovered his heritage early in his first year after he'd taken a wrong turn down a corridor and ended up face to face with a portrait of Salazar Slytherin but given that he couldn't very well go about bragging of it very little had changed. He was still an orphan, still poor and while his mother might have been a pureblood his father was still very much a muggle and that, in Slytherin house, was very bad. Tom had had to work very hard to get to where he was today and Malfoy was right, at least in part, about why he did everything in his power to be the absolute best. Power was power regardless of bloodlines and if Tom could get it, if he could learn enough, knows enough, do enough then he'd never have anything to fear from anyone ever again. By the end of fifth year he'd finally achieved what he'd set out to do and while nobody could prove that he'd had anything to do with Myrtle's death and the whole Chamber of Secrets incident the whole of Slytherin house from first year to seventh knew that he'd had something to do with it.

And then they'd been afraid and Tom, once more, was safe. The only one that wasn't completely cowed was Abraxas Malfoy but even he was weary of actually trying anything. When sixth year had begun, his entire house had given him a wide berth and Tom had gotten used to it, accepted it as the way things were until one day a green eyed which had arrived and upset the new order. If she could beat him, be better than him then the grip he had over his peers would dissolve and he'd be back at the start; again. Tom would do anything to ensure that that didn't happen so he'd challenged her and she had risen to that challenge with all the fury of a raging storm. He had weathered her, stayed strong against her wrath and survived her rage but now, watching as the whole school made her life hell because she was different, because she was stronger than they were and they wanted to bring her down, squash her back to their level, Tom was reminded of what had been done to him, how it had felt and what it had been like. He would never allow anyone to make him feel that way again and he would never, if he could help it, do that to her. Not when she had beaten him, not when she was his equal.

Side by side the two of them worked diligently until, ten minutes before the bell, Professor Maycott told them to put their quills down.

"Next week we will begin our unit on augmented enchantments," Maycott began explaining, "For homework I want fifteen inches on how the equations for augmented enchantments differ from the equations of normal spells and charms. In addition you will be given a list of equations from which you shall attempt to guess the charm or spell based solely on the components used. The essay is to be completed alone, the equations with whomever you worked with during today's lesson. Both are due next Wednesday and if you have any questions or concerns I trust you to be able to come up with the answers amongst yourselves."

The bell rang and Lily had just begun gathering her books when Abraxas appeared by her side. "How marvelous," he quipped sarcastically, "Thanks to you I've got to spend time outside of class with a Hufflepuff."

Lily frowned. "Why are you angry with me?"

Abraxas glared at him. "I'd be paired with you if you hadn't felt the need to stick up for him!"

Lily scowled. "What you said was uncalled for; we're all Slytherins Abraxas. Do try and remember that."

"He's a half-blood!"

"Yes, which means one of his parents was pureblood which is more than can be said for certain other members of our house. As far as blood status is concerned he could do a lot worse."

Abraxas looked decidedly unhappy with her reasoning. "But he's -"

Lily decided to use Riddle's logic on him and see how he took it. "At least be honest about why you hate him. Yes, he's a half blood but what's more, he's a half blood that is smarter and more powerful then you. That terrifies you. So, in order to make yourself feel better you belittle him, push at him and try and bring him back down to your level. You're doing the same thing to him that everyone else is doing to me and for the same reason. How about instead of trying to bring him back down to your level you try raising yourself to his. It might do you some good."

Abraxas blinked and stared at the witch who he was quite appalled to realize had hit the proverbial nail on the head. Satisfied with her rant, Lily turned on her heel and marched down the corridor leaving both Malfoy and Riddle, who had been behind the pair of them for the entire conversation, staring off after her until she disappeared from view. Once she was gone, Abraxas whipped around and glared heatedly at his unfortunate rival.

"This is your fault," he seethed before stomping off towards the dungeons and their awaiting Potions class.

Tom followed at a much more languid pace, mind swirling with thoughts about what he had just witnessed. Fortunately for him, he had quite a bit of time over the next class period to think. They'd begun their unit on mind altering potions and the whole class spent the period taking notes as Slughorn droned on and on. Packing it up at the bell, Tom's train of thought came to an abrupt end when his head of house called him up to his desk. Clearing his mind, he approached his teacher only to realize once he got there that Lily had been held back as well.

He focused on maintaining a pleasant façade when in reality he was biting back a groan. He knew full well what was about to happen and while normally it was an advantage to go into a situation where one already knew the outcome. Not here, however; knowing did him not one lick of good. Thus it was slightly more difficult to force himself to smile then it might normally but smile he did.

"Yes Professor?"

"Tom, my dear boy," Slughorn chortled, "I was just telling Miss Claire here about the little get together I'm having this Saturday. Seeing as she's never been to one of my gatherings I thought you might consent to escort her."

Tom resisted the urge to sigh, it was as he'd expected. "Of course Professor," he said coolly, turning to grace Lily with a genteel smile that did not quite reach his eyes. "It would be my pleasure."

"Of course it would my dear boy, of course it would," Slughorn tittered gaily, "Miss Claire is a beautiful witch after all, quite lovely; escorting her will be quite pleasurable for you I dare say."

Lily's emerald eyes widened at the implications while Tom felt an uncomfortable heat beginning to crawl up the back of his neck. Why oh why couldn't the ground just open up and swallow them both? Anything to escape their teacher's rather lame excuse at matchmaking.

Lily recovered first. "Thank you Professor Slughorn for securing an escort for me, the gesture is appreciated but, I'm afraid we really should be off. Professor Maycott assigned us quite a bit of homework and we really should get started as soon as possible."

The head of Slytherin began nodding empathically. "Yes, yes, by all means," he said, stepping back so that the two of them could go out the door, "I shall see you both on Saturday, six o'clock and not a moment later."

With hurried steps the both of them escaped as quickly as was proper. When they were safely away Lily let out a sigh of relief before turning to Riddle apologetically. "I'm very sorry by the way," she lamented, "I know you've probably got better things to do with your Saturday but I'm afraid that trying to get out of it might just make him worse."

"Yes, he's annoyingly persistent Slughorn," Tom agreed, "He's been trying to socialize me for years."

"Oh?"

The wizard looked at her deciding, for once, to be completely honest. "Our head of house finds it difficult to believe that the witches of Slytherin have absolutely no interest in me nor I in them."

Suddenly, Lily found herself almost morbidly curious. She was willing to bet a whole sack full of galleons that nobody had ever bothered to ponder over whether or not Voldemort had ever dated. It was hard, given his many avowals that love was a weakness and his less-than-human appearance, to think of him in such a way but walking now beside the boy who was not yet so evil Lily was reminded of the fact that he was, fundamentally, a wizard. And wizards, Lily had learned, all generally had one thing in common; they liked witches. Abruptly, quite out of the blue, Lily was stuck with a very real inquisitiveness as to what kind of girl the teenaged Dark Lord was attracted to. So much so that she asked him which made her companion come up short and stare at her in incredulous confusion.

"What?"

Scolding herself for her own nosiness and how it had led to her asking Lord Voldemort what type of witch he liked if any, Lily's Weasley tenacity reared its head and refused to back down. "I asked you if there are any witches you do like. If not in our house then perhaps in another?"

Tom blinked. "I…" he trailed off. No one had ever been this forward with him, to go so far as to inquire after his preference in the opposite sex. Admittedly, Tom had never given the idea much thought. Everyone around him had always simply assumed that he didn't have a preference because he didn't think about them at all. This wasn't entirely accurate; Tom was male after all and an adolescent one at that but really, it was only accurate to say that he spent less time thinking about witches than any of his peers. Other than the basic acknowledgment of allure that was unavoidable given his age and his sex, Tom had never stopped to dwell on any of the girls with which he'd had contact as anything more than a source of momentary, fleeting visual stimulation. But, by God, now that he had been asked – and by a witch moreover – he was dwelling now. And since the only witch anywhere near him was the one in front of him, it was her upon which his eyes lingered.

"Well?"

For the first time in a long time, Tom found himself flustered. "I…" he began again before realizing that now that they had been awakened, he could not control the direction his thoughts now went. A swirling sort of heat began to race through his blood and Tom felt his self-preservation kick in with more force than he could ever remember it summoning before. He glared at Lily. "I don't think my preferences are of any concern to you."

"Fine then," said Lily dismissively, already over their conversation. She was still curious but figured that if she still wanted to know later she could inquire about it at a later date.

Ahead of them several pairs of footsteps echoed followed by a shout as Abraxas and both Lestranges turned the corner and found them. "There you are!" the former cried, shooting a glare at the black haired boy, "What are you doing back here? What'd 'ol Slugs want?"

Lily faced her friends. "To invite me to a little gathering he's having this weekend and to ask Riddle to accompany me."

Xander snickered. "I wondered when he'd ask you to join the Slug club. Only a matter of time really."

Abraxas frowned. "Why'd he ask him?" he demanded.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Why does Slughorn do anything?"

Her answer seemed to appease Abraxas who darted forwards, took a hold of Lily's arm and began leading her away from the other boy towards the common room. The twins followed and Tom was left alone contemplating the fact that, now that he thought about it, his teacher had been right. Lily was a very pretty witch and it would be his pleasure to accompany her for one night.

In fact, he was looking forward to it.

~xXx~

The rest of the week flew by. After class let out on Friday, Lily went in search of Riddle so that they could set up a time on Saturday to work on their Arithmacy homework. It was mutually decided that they'd meet in the library at four o'clock, work on their assignment and then at a quarter to six head down to Slughorn's office. Satisfied with the arrangement Lily left Riddle alone at his table in the common room and went to join her friends. The boys were talking about Quidditch and Xander and Abraxas were ecstatic to learn that Lily was not only very knowledgeable on the subject but that she actually played. Their discussion lasted through dinner and into the later part of the evening before Emily finally dragged Lily off to bed at half past midnight. In the morning when she woke, Lily made certain that she was up and out of the dorms before the house elves arrived.

She arrived in the great hall for breakfast at half past six and joined the only other member of Slytherin house currently awake. Riddle didn't even so much as look up from the book he was reading as Lily sat down across from him. In fact, he didn't look at her at all until she asked him to pass the butter.

Pausing in the middle of the page, Tom slid the butter dish towards her and proceeded to watch as she slathered a generous amount of it on a scone. For the rest of the meal the two of them snuck glances at each other alternatively until, by the time the hall began to fill up around them all manner of pretense, at least on Riddle's part, was gone and he was openly regarding her.

Lily opened her mouth to ask what about her was so fascinating when an indignant, outraged cry rang out from further down the Slytherin table.

"Lily!"

Fixing emerald eyes on the livid Lestrange, Lily responded, "Yes?"

Emily stopped in front of her and crossed her arms. Throwing her head back her eyes narrowed as she glared at Lily's chosen table companion with noticeable contempt. "And just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded hotly.

Although she didn't actually say 'with him' Lily knew that it was implied. Riddle seemed to catch on too and responded by glaring upwards at the intruding witch with an equal amount of mutual disdain. Emily's glare wavered and her eyes flickered away from Riddle's nervously, as if she'd crossed some sort of invisible line, and refocused solely on her red haired friend.

"Well?"

Lily offered a flippant shrug and replied with equal glib, "Eating breakfast."

Across from her, Riddle couldn't help but smirk at her reply.

Emily's eyes narrowed but she refrained from making any of the disparaging comments about the boy Lily was sitting with even though she desperately wanted to. Dangerous the boy might be but fear was different then respect and while Riddle had the first in spades he was severely lacking of the other. It made Emily wish longingly and with waxing nostalgia for her forth year when hexing Riddle blind was not beyond the social norm. What she wouldn't give for the opportunity to have her brother or Abraxas curse the infuriating smirk off the boy's face.

Or, perhaps, because it was Riddle, she'd even dare to do it herself.

Her musings were cut off when she felt someone appear at her shoulder. Turning she saw Abraxas' sister hovering just behind her; an amused expression on her face. Emily frowned. There was certainly nothing amusing going on that she could see. Turning to ask Cassie what she was doing here the younger girl interrupted her by asking Lily to please come with her.

"What for?" Emily demanded.

Cassie eyed her. "Because I asked," she replied tersely looking past her to Lily. "I need to talk to you."

Lily stood. "Concerning?"

Cassie's eyes slid sideways to Emily for one brief moment before returning to Lily. "Your Lattice problem."

Lily frowned. "You're not going to insist I start letting the elves do my hair in the mornings are you?"

The blonde witch shook her head. "Not exactly."

To the side, Emily huffed. "Well someone ought to," she said, taking a breath as she prepared to go on another tirade. Cassie cut her off with a well aimed glare.

"Emily," the younger girl started, a superior almost condescending tone lacing her voice, "I mean this in the kindest way possible; be a dear and shut it."

Lily's eyebrows rose, Emily let out an affronted cough and Riddle looked amused.

"Excuse me?" Emily exclaimed hotly.

But Cassie clearly wasn't in the mood to explain. Instead she reached around the elder witch, took a hold of Lily's wrist and proceeded to drag her out of the great hall. Admittedly assumed by the behavior of the younger witch with whom she'd had only brief contact since her arrival, Lily didn't stop and ask what was going on and what Cassie had planned until they were on the fourth floor and headed towards where Lily thought she remembered her father telling her the prefect's bathroom was.

The reply she got was simple. "We've come up with a plan to help you with Madam Lattice."

Lily frowned. "We?"

Coming to a stop in front of a large statue of a rather vain looking witch guarding an alcove, Cassie answered in the affirmative before turning to the statue and announcing clearly, "Clary Sage."

Lily raised an eyebrow as the wall at the back of the alcove dissolved and the entrance to a large, opulently tiled room was reveled. She didn't get the chance to really study it however as she was rushed inside whereupon the wall closed behind her and Lily found herself facing two girls she'd never met before and one whom she thought she might've seen in the common room. She knew none of their names.

"What - "

Cassie took a step back and began introductions, sweeping her hand over each girl in turn. "Augusta Rockwood, Miriam Blackthorn and Lucretia Black. Augusta and Miriam are in sixth year with me, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectfully. Lucretia is in Slytherin with us, seventh year."

Lily smiled politely at each girl before turning back to Cassie. "And they're here because?"

"We're here to help," Lucretia responded, stepping forwards before Cassie could speak. "Lattice has it out for you, it's obvious and despite what the Lestrange girl thinks or says it's not going to stop. We think, however, that a with a little bit of help we can tone it down."

"How?"

Miriam stepped forwards. "We're going to tweak your appearance a bit."

Lily's eyes narrowed. "You mean you're going to give me a makeover."

"I'm sure that whatever you're thinking of is rightly horrible," Augusta said, her eyes twinkling with a bemused sort of glint, "We're not going to change you, we're simply going to...clean up your edges. Like polishing the silver, we're simply going to bring out what's underneath the tarnish."

Lily still didn't like the idea and she certainly didn't like to hear her appearance likened to blemished metal. Moreover, she had absolutely no idea why these three witches whom she'd never so much as said hello to before today had decided to help her. "And I should accept your assistance why?"

Lucretia gave her a look of appraisal, deciding that she rather admired the younger witch. "Because while the rest of the witches in this school are all suffering under the same delusions as Emily Lestrange we, however, are not," when still it seemed that the girl was still confused she went on to explain, "We – the four of us and you – are all the daughters of old, noble houses; high clan. Emily Lestrange is not. Her understanding of what it truly means to be a lady is incomplete at best and downright skewed at worst. She and others like her including Lattice think that beauty and propriety and magical ability are mutually exclusive and separate from each other. You can either possess one or the other. They're wrong."

Lily considered this before turning to Miriam who picked up the explanation where Lucretia left off. "Up until the equality act of twenty-nine it was considered the job of the parents to continue the education of their daughters in the subjects that were dropped after OWL level. Defense, advanced transfiguration, rune magic and so forth. The only difference between now and then is we're now tested on it."

Augusta nodded. "There's an old saying that the high clans mothers still teach their daughters; 'Like a stone that hides a serpent, in the garden a rose hides it's thorns'," she paused and looked directly at Lily, "Propriety, social correctness and our appearances are all weapons we use to hide what it is we're truly capable of. You are not the only witch capable of dueling at a competent level; all of us in this room are capable of it we simply do not advertise that fact like you do."

"And we're not going to ask you to stop," Lucretia assured, "It isn't our right. You said your father taught you to duel and for him to do so at such a high level of competency means he must have had reason. To ask you to ignore his teachings simply to appease the masses is asking you to dishonor him and so we will refrain. All that we do ask is that you allow us the chance to help alleviate some of the tension. You were raised without a mother to buff you until you shine, allow us the opportunity."

With great consideration for what had been shared with her, Lily bowed her head and let out a great sigh. "Alright," she told them, "I see your point. If you think it'll help, do your worst."

Exchanging a grin betwixt themselves, the four girls immediately took up the mantel of their task with gusto. Summoning a drove of house elves from Lily didn't know where, they set the little creatures to work immediately heating water, fetching lotions and oils and popping in and out of the dorms to procure various cosmetics. Within twenty minutes the bathroom had been transformed into a kind of day spa and Lily found herself reclined in a conjured chair as the tiniest house elf she had ever seen gave her a pedicure while two other elves worked on her hands and her face.

All under the careful direction of Cassie, Lucretia, Augusta and Miriam who were all huddled together on the other side of the room apparently discussing what to do with Lily's hair. In the end they instructed one of the elves to shorten it just a few inches and then to set it with a permanent curling charm that Lucretia informed her needed to be reapplied every six weeks.

When Lily's hands and feet were done and her hair was charmed, the girls dismissed the elves and turned on the bath. Faucet after faucet began dispensing sweet smelling, hot water into the swimming pool sized tub. When it was nearly full all five girls stripped bare and hopped into the water.

"We can't just let you have all the fun," Cassie told Lily with a smirk as the blond witch languished in the hot water. "Miriam summon the elves, I want somebody to wash my hair."

An hour later the five of them were wearing silk robes, their hair in wrapped up in towels while the elves administered facials. By this point Lily had stopped wondering what was coming next and simply resigned herself to enjoying it. In her time, it was rare to spend a whole day – or at least most of one – pampering yourself and so the whole experience was very new to her. The company was new too but not unenjoyable. Lily found out that she had quite a bit in common with the other girls especially Lucretia, Cassie and Miriam. Augusta, she learned, was betrothed to Franklin Longbottom who had graduated from Hogwarts the year prior. Lily had had to hide her shock at the fact that she'd just spent more than three hours with Uncle Neville's grandmother.

The whole experience ended with Lily receiving instructions on how to cast three very simple glamour charms.

"We understand that you're not one to fuss much," Miriam explained after Lily's hair had dried and her eyebrows had been waxed and shaped, "So we narrowed it down to three charms that can be applied in less than two minutes. The first one is to darken your lashes, the second applies a bit of shadow to your lids and the last stains your lips with whatever color you wish. Just swish your wand, jab and then give it a flick and you're done."

Nodding with understanding, Lily copied the movement's she'd been shown and then turned towards the mirror to see the result. She gasped as she beheld her reflection for the first time since she'd initially walked into the room.

She looked – there was no other way to put it – polished. At the beginning she hasn't understood why they'd chosen that particular alliteration but now, gazing at herself after all was said and done, Lily understood. There was no miraculous transformation; she could still recognize the face of the girl staring back at her, her features were just a little more defined. Her hair had been pulled half up and cascaded down her back in a tumble of soft curls to her waist; her brows had been shaped so that they framed her eyes and helped sculpt her face; the cosmetics that'd been applied weren't heavy in the slightest and only amplified what was already there; and the potion that Cassie had applied to her face during the facial had cleared her complexion while evening out her skin tone so that there was no need for her to wear powder. Add that to the outfit that Cassie had had an elf fetch for her and Lily would've dared even Lattice to find a fault with her appearance.

Which, she supposed, had been the whole idea.

"I…"

"Amazing what a difference a few glamour charms can make," Lucretia whispered at her shoulder. "Now, if you all don't mind, I'm rather famished. Let's go before the elves clear the tables."

With a murmur of agreement all around, the five girls quitted the bathroom and headed towards the great hall. Their arrival went mostly unnoticed at least it did until Abraxas caught sight of Lily and dropped his fork.

"Bloody hell!"

His exclamation called the attention of half the hall over to the Slytherin table and with so many eyes on her Lily couldn't help the stain of pink that appeared on her cheeks. Lucretia and Cassie both rolled their eyes, the seventh year choosing to sit with them rather than join her usual circle of friends.

"Whatever is the matter Malfoy?" Lucretia teased, "Have you never seen a witch before?"

Abraxas shot a look at her before turning back to appraise Lily. "What did you do to her?" he demanded.

His sister smirked. "We cleaned her up a bit, ought to keep Lattice off her back for her appearance at least."

"You've ruined her!" the wizard exclaimed loudly, looking quite put out. "She looked fine before; now she looks like a proper witch."

Lily glared at him, insulted. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

He turned to her. "Do you have any idea how many wizards I'm going to have to warn off now?" he asked, "Every unengaged wizard from fourth year up will have his sights set on you by dinner!"

Lucretia let out a loud scoff. "As previously evidenced Malfoy, Lily can take care of herself," the elder witch informed the Malfoy heir, "I doubt you'll have to do any warning off that she isn't more than capable of doing herself."

Abraxas was not appeased but the combined glare of his sister, Lucretia and Lily had him holding his tongue right quick for fear of retaliation. The rest of lunch was a silent affair after which everyone broke off by year to go work on their assignments. When four o'clock rolled around Lily gathered up her arithmacy books and headed towards the library. It took her a minute to find the reclusive Tom Riddle and in the end she'd had to ask one of the ghosts. They'd pointed her towards the very back near the restricted section and, annoyed that he'd picked a spot so hard to find, Lily approached the table at a quick pace, dropping her books down onto the table with a loud bang when she reached it. Startled, Riddle looked up, a scowl quickly transforming his face until he saw her and froze.

Still agitated by the reception she'd received during lunch, Lily glared down on the boy staring up at her, dark blue eyes wider then she'd ever seen them, and crossed her arms. "Yes?" she demanded, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow upwards, silently daring him to comment on her appearance.

Tom wasn't that brave nor was he that stupid. Obviously now was not the opportune time to comment so, as a matter of self-preservation, the dark haired boy shook his head in the negative and kept his mouth shut. Appeased, Lily sat down across from him and took out a clean roll of parchment, her textbook and a quill.

"How would you like to do this?" she asked, hesitant now that her anger had worn off. It dawned on her then that she was alone in a relatively secluded spot with the future Dark Lord. Suddenly she was nervous. The sooner they got this over with the sooner they could leave and as much as she was not looking forwards to going to Slughorn's office at least there'd be people there.

Tom Riddle was nothing if not prepared. "Here," he said, handing her a piece of parchment on which he'd written the equations for three of the spells they were supposed to be solving for, "There are six total, we'll each do three."

"Fine," Lily said, glancing down at the equations he'd written out for her in clear, spiky script. Pulling out a quill, her notes and her book she settled in and got to work. The next hour was passed in silence punctuated only by the sycronised scratching of their quills and glances snuck at each other whenever they were sure the other wasn't looking. An hour later they both looked up at the same time and their eyes met; emerald to midnight blue.

"Yes?" Lily queried, abandoning her calculations while trying not to squirm under the brunt of his gaze.

A frown pulled the corners of the boy's mouth. "You gave in."

Lily scoffed, affronted. "I assume you're talking about my appearance?" Riddle nodded in confirmation, she glared at him, "I didn't 'give in' I just decided to take the path of least resistance."

"By bowing to outside pressures? That sounds an awful lot like giving in to me."

The witch scowled at him. "Shows how much you know," she growled, crossing her arms over her chest defensively her back stiff with indignation. "And besides, you have absolutely no room to talk."

"Don't I?"

"You do the same thing!"

"Is that right?" his voice was poison, "Please, explain."

Given the amount of malice in his tone any sane person would be scared out of their wits by now. But Lily, arguably, wasn't sane at least not when it came to him. When it came to interactions with the boy-who-would-be-Voldemort Lily had long ago accepted that she was out of her bloody mind. "Well, look at you," she said, gesturing at him from across the table. His eyes narrowed but, undaunted, Lily continued, "Your robes are impeccable, your posture's perfect and except for that one time in Transfiguration - sorry about that by the way - I've never seen you with so much as one hair out of place. You're as well dressed as Malfoy."

Tom scoffed. "There's no need to feed my vanity, Miss Claire. compliments will do you little good."

Lily glared at him. "I don't give two straws about your vanity and they're observations not a compliments. You do have perfect posture, you always look your best and I don't care if your robes are a little worn or slightly frayed on the bottom nobody except for maybe Abraxas or one of the Blacks would either notice or care. Most people you come in contact with are either so intimidated by your brilliance or so blinded by your false congeniality so that they don't really see you."

"Do you?" the wizard asked, rightly unnerved at Lily's apparent ability to understand him so easily or to compare the two of them so equivalently.

"Do I what?"

"See me," Tom clarified, "Or is all of this…" he gestured between them, "…just conjecture?"

Her green eyes flashed. "What do you think?" she quipped, challengingly.

Riddle chose his words carefully. "I think, that you and I, are very similar. People rarely expect danger from one from someone amiable nor do they see danger lurking behind a pretty façade."

Lily smirked. "Roses have thorns."

"And snakes hide beneath rocks."

"Heard that proverb have you?"

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I've come across it in my reading."

"Why am I not surprised?"

Tom snickered and then glanced at the hourglass on the bookshelf behind her. "Slughorn is expecting us, if we want to make it on time we should leave now."

Lily's face fell, she'd forgotten all about Slughorn. "If we must."

Riddle stood and began gathering his materials. "If we don't go, he'll just send one of the first years looking for us."

The witch grimaced. "Would he really?"

"He's done it before."

Lily scowled, rising to her feet with her parchments and books gathered in her arms. "Well then," she turned towards Riddle, "Shall we drop off our books or take them with us?"

"Take them with us. We can excuse ourselves early if he thinks we've got homework to do."

Agreeing that this was a fine plan, Lily lead the way out of the library and took to one side of the hallway leaving enough space for Riddle to walk beside her. He was supposed to be escorting her after all.

"So what are these get togethers like anyway?" she asked once they were back in the dungeons. She could remember her mum and dad, aunt Hermione and uncle Neville telling her stories about their Slug Club meetings but, like other things she'd come to realize, the Hogwarts of her parent's school days was not the Hogwarts in which she now found herself. There were differences all around her and she wondered if whatever was awaiting her in her head of house's quarters was one of them.

Beside her, Tom's mouth took a slight downturn. "Dull."

Lily shot the tall, dark haired boy a look. "Really?" she asked, "That's all you've got for me?"

Tom smirked. "Would you like a more detailed elaboration?"

"I would."

"Say 'please'."

She glared at him but decided to play along. "Please."

Riddle grinned. "The activities vary, some nights are more tedious then others. When he invites former students of his to visit, those are then night you usually want to try and find a reason to miss but every now and then he'll teach us some old, medieval game or start a worthwhile discussion and let us sort it out. Those nights aren't so bad."

"I don't suppose there's any way to predict what type of night this will be is there?"

The boy shook his head. "Unfortunately not."

Lily groaned. "Great, just great."

Tom looked down on her. "This is why we've brought our books."

Remembering that they had an escape plan, Lily felt only slightly better about things as she and Riddle arrived at the appointed place and took their first steps into Slughorn's quarters. Lily's eyes widened. The room, which she was almost positive functioned a bit like the Room of Requirement, had been enlarged and a dance floor had been erected in the center of it. Students from all four houses were mingling, clumped together in groups of three or more while their potions professor flitted around the room conversing joyfully with everyone. When he saw them, Slughorn let out a joyful squawk.

"Ah, and here they are!" he announced to the room at large, "Tom my boy, you're late. I was about to send Nigel over here to find you," he gestured at a second year Gryffindor boy who looked positively horrified at the prospect of searching the halls of Hogwarts for the two sixth year Slytherins.

Tom's face adopted a good-natured smile. "My apologies Professor Slughorn, Lily and I were delayed."

The rotund wizard tittered with barely contained joy. "Not to worry my boy, you're here now and behold," he make a wide gesture at Lily that brought her the attention of all in attendance, "How marvelous you look my dear girl," his eyes swiveled towards his favorite student, "Don't you think Miss Claire is looking quite fetching this eve?"

The head of Slytherin house had been trying, with little success, to get Tom to act like a normal boy around witches since third year. Thus it was a surprise to everybody when the sixth year turned, looked down at Lily and said, "I do."

Slughorn beamed at the pair of them while, near the back of the room, Abraxas Malfoy let out an indignant sounding yelp. Lily, the witch in question, glanced upwards at the boy she was standing next to and shot him a look of silent inquiry.

The only thing Tom offered her in return was a smirk that was mistaken for another smile by everyone except Lily, Abraxas and Xander.

Still tittering over his apparent success at match making, Slughorn turned towards the room at large. "Tonight we will be partaking in the courtly dances of ages passed," whispers of excitement broke out amongst the witches in the room while all the wizards groaned, "Everyone grab a partner and come onto the floor. Mr. Riddle and Miss Claire will provide demonstration if you would please leave the center of the floor open…"

Lily turned to Tom with an expression of helpless horror on her face to find him eyeing her with a similar look as soon as she heard Slughorn call out their names. With what she suspected was a supreme amount of effort, Riddle managed to look affable while offering her his hand. She took it and let him lead her to the center of the room. All eyes were on them as Slughorn instructed them on how to stand and talked them through the steps of what he said had been a particularly popular dance during the founder's time. Once he was sure they had it down, he stepped back and waved his wand at a nearby phonograph. Music began to play gently through the room as Lily looked up and locked eyes with Tom Riddle who, with a determined look, began to lead her through the dance.

The experience was surreal and Lily envied Riddle his ability to make it look like he effortlessly knew what he was doing when she was pretty sure he was just as clueless as she was which was to say; he had no bloody idea. Still, they managed to make it through the rest of the steps without embarrassing themselves and by the time they were done the dance floor was filled with other couples for which they were both grateful. Lily felt a tug on her arm and turned around to find an anxious looking Abraxas Malfoy standing behind her.

"May I cut in?" he asked, shooting a dangerous look at Riddle over the top of Lily's head. His rival glared at him and crossed his arms. Abraxas turned to Lily and held out his hand.

She took it, eager to put as much distance between her and the boy-that-would-be-Voldemort as she could. For all that she'd decided that he wasn't horrible to be around she didn't want to spend any more time with him then was absolutely necessary. He might not be a flat nosed, snake faced monster yet but he would be and that was enough of a reason for Lily to want some distance put back between them. She could try and puzzle him out from afar; surely classes with him would provide her enough study to put the riddle of Riddle to rest.

Tom watched her go, moving to the edge of the dance floor to watch the new pair rather then find another partner of his own. From the corner of his eye he thought he saw Slughorn shoot him a knowing look but Tom ignored it. His teacher could try and play matchmaker for him all he liked it would get him nowhere. Tom didn't have time for the distractions of the fairer sex like the rest of his peers did. He wasn't here to find a wife or to practice procreating. If he required release he'd either do it himself or wait until summer came and go visit the red light district. He didn't dare get involved with another student because if there was one thing he knew about the witches of Howards it was that they were all looking for some form of commitment and that Tom did not have time for. Still...

His eyes wandered back to watch Lily as Malfoy led her through the same steps he had taken her through himself. The memory of what it had been like to hold her hand in his sprang unbidden to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't help it. Slughorn, damn him, had finally accomplished at least a part of his goal. Tom might not be willing to do anything about it but the fact remained that he now thought of Lily as a witch first before everything else. That combined with her natural intuitiveness, her ability to read him and the raw, sheer force of her power made her much more than simply pretty. It made her attractive and being attractive, at least to Tom Riddle, also made her dangerous.

Turning away, Tom retreated to the place where he'd left his books and picked them up. Without a backwards glance he left the room and headed determinedly back to his dormitory silently praying to any god that would listen that the witch around whom his thoughts spun would not invade his dreams so that he could sleep in peace.

He would think about it more tomorrow.

A/N: Hey, ya'll made it: now push the button! (with my mind I compel you!)

But seriously, reviews are the only way fanfic authors get paid so give me a penny and I'll try my darnd-est to reply to everyone. On that score, I would like to encourage those of you who (if you're like me and I hope at least half of you are) like to over analyze and pick things apart to leave me novel sized (or at least a paragraph or two) reviews. I like discussions, especially with my readers and it always gives me such joy to know that my stories have made somebody think. So please, please, if you're so inclined, I'd love the opportunity for a rapport. Until next time…