Echoes of Time (Harry Potter)

November 8, 1943

Sunday Evening

A week had passed since he'd gone into the Chamber, and during the entirety of that time, he'd been unable to head to Slytherin's study to read his newest catch in the safety it provided. It wasn't because of any protections on the book itself, nor was it anything dangerous that happened. It was all because of one girl that'd been within spitting distance for almost the entirety of the time that'd progressed.

Elaine had been hovering nearby regardless of wherever he'd gone, from classes to spending time with Sarah or his mates. Thanks to her constant pestering, he'd found out that his shared dormitory wasn't safe from Elaine or those loyal to her either; the girl had entered into the boys' dorms with a group behind her, looking for him when he was five minutes past the usual time he'd emerge to the common room.

He didn't ask why she'd had that time written down, her obsession with him was well known to him by this point and nothing she'd do could further it short of trying to dose him with Amortentia - boy, he hoped she wouldn't try that.

Not only was he unable to do anything with Slytherin's journal or the study, but because of her aforementioned closeness, he didn't want to risk furthering his knowledge on Walburga's 'gift' either. Especially if it contained information on the two missing Gaunts of whom he could find out more about Slytherin's plans by teaching him in a roundabout way.

So ridiculous was Elaine's constant presence that Aster'd made a remark about it for all within a few meters to hear, the boy having said "Should just get a shag mate, maybe that'd get rid of this tension, yeah?"

Needless to say, the following day Aster had been quiet, nervous and apologetic to the very same crowd of their peers who'd been standing exactly where they'd been the previous day when he'd said it.

Harry was under no delusions that it was a coincidence, Elaine had chosen to flex her power without using any physical means of punishment; it worked too, based on how subdued Aster acted the rest of the week. Obviously, Harry didn't know exactly what was said between them - Aster wouldn't say and it would be pointless to ask Elaine; whatever it was had been a smidge too far though, regardless of the crass remark.

Now, most recently (that being earlier this morning) on the sixth day of Elaine's recent uber obsession with him, another peer had pointed out the pointlessness of the act.

He'd found an ally in a person that he'd never have suspected, but he wasn't crazy enough to think she'd done it for anything other than personal gain.

Upon his entrance into the common room a few minutes earlier than usual - an act he was committed to doing to avoid the awkwardness of Riddle sitting on his bed and staring at him in his sleep - he'd seen Daphne roll her eyes and whisper something to Riddle while grasping lightly at the girl's hand. He'd seen girls do it before and he wasn't quite sure what it meant, his best guess was a means of getting attention in a better manner than the wrestling boys would do.

Whatever had been said in the brief exchange of words clearly hadn't impressed Elaine, nor had it made her at all sympathetic with the girl Harry'd come to know as her Second in the circle of her followers; for Elaine had whisked her hand away and pointed to the door while saying something sharply, her mouth morphing into a sneer as she'd said it.

Daphne being the loyal servant didn't fire back, instead, she bowed her head while making her exit - a few lesser members of Riddle's circle following after her while maintaining a few feet of distance.

He didn't blame them, Daphne could be a ri-

"Harry, won't you join me by the fireplace? I'd love to spend a few moments with you before the room's too crowded," Elaine batted her eyelashes at him and moved fluidly over to the seats they'd always taken.

His response was a sigh, "We both know you could fix that whenever you'd want to," he paused and glanced at the darkest corner in which Walburga's always frequented, "Well, for the most part at least."

Elaine's expression didn't betray anything as she patted the seat beside her, her words, however, did.

"I insist," her smile grew while Harry noticed a few older students edge closer to him, "Spend a few precious minutes of your morning with me, I'm sure we could find something agreeable to do or discuss."

Oh, he was sure that they could; maybe she'd finally tell him that she knew what he suspected her to, or that she'd finally gone barmy while chasing after him. Merlin, maybe those Seventh Years would stun him so she coul- no, that was Aster's fault, he'd been speaking another one of his outrageous and overly sexualized thoughts aloud again.

Harry walked over to the seat without looking back at the older students, knowing at this point he'd be unable to stop them from doing whatever it was they wanted, especially if Riddle were watching. Though, maybe having the girl with a dangerously obsessive crush on him was a point in his defence rather than a magnitude of points against it.

"Well?" he'd asked as he took the seat and glanced over at the still smiling older girl beside him.

Elaine's smile grew while her closer hand searched for his, taking it within her grasp with her icy skin touching his.

"I simply wished to spend some time with you," she sighed dramatically, her other hand wiping under her left eye at nothing, "Oh to yearn for the day that you'll not detest my company on principle alone…"

Harry sighed, though he felt he was warranted in comparison - Elaine could be so dramatic, come to think of it, she could be whatever the moment called for. It irked him.

"I don't detest your company, you've just…" he trailed off as her face turned startlingly serious.

"Yes? I've been what, Harry ?" the pressure from her hand that was holding his increased; the feeling almost bone-crushing which went completely at odds with how she'd said his name.

He looked her in the eyes rather than show any discomfort, "You've been near me practically the entire week, why?"

"Why?" Riddle returned mockingly, her grip faltering before returning with more pressure than he'd thought possible from a girl with her build, "I know - did you think I wouldn't find out?"

Harry's throat constricted, his breathing became shallow and his brain could only focus on one thought; she knew .

Did he run? Go for his wand?

Or did he lie?

Just because Aster and most others couldn't get away with falsehoods didn't mean he couldn't.

Riddle took advantage of his seizing up and sat herself down on the arm of his chair while her fingernails dug into the skin of his hand.

"Tell me, Harry, did you truly think I'd not hear about your 'date' with that Gryffindor trollop?" her unoccupied hand grasped his chin painfully, the girl using that grip to turn his attention to her eyes of which she'd locked with his; Harry had all of a second to realise she'd done it for something far worse than intimidation and raised his Occlumency shields as best he could.

It wasn't a moment too soon when he felt an immense pressure slam into his mental barriers, Snape's couldn't compare to it, he doubted anything in the world could.

He heard Riddle cooing and whispering sweet words to him all the while she was trying to break into his most private of places - anyone looking at them would assume Riddle's position and actions portrayed a relationship in which she was undisputedly dominant; they'd fail to see or understand a battle of wills was happening with stakes beyond any recognition.

"Keep going," barely registered on the outskirts of his mind, the words coming from Riddle while she continued her forceful attempts at entering his mind.

Whether her words were playful or truthfully encouraging, he didn't know, but he took them for what they were and used them in one last breakout attempt from the eye contact she'd forced. With all his strength, physical and mental, Harry tried struggling free from the grip on his chin.

Seconds went by, his progress minimal and his fortitude fleeting to the point he'd almost given up on escape, but she relented or he'd succeeded. He wasn't sure which it'd been, or if it amused her for long enough after she'd gotten what she was after, her next actions betrayed nothing in that regard.

Riddle relaxed her grip on his chin before removing it altogether, her next action was as unpredictable as the one prior; the girl swinging her legs off the edge of the chair and over his knee as she slid into his lap - her arms moved in sync to pull him flush against her, his head coming to rest right at her neck because of the height disparity joined with her higher seat.

"Wut wuz dat or," he said, his words coming out directly against the skin of Riddle's neck causing a shiver to rake through her entire body.

"Shhh, I know you made a mistake, you don't need to apologize, Harry," Riddle affirmed, patting his head while rubbing his back; not at all interpreting his words for the question they were.

He gave up trying to speak or move until she'd tired of her forced cuddling; it took far longer than he'd have thought and while normally he'd have resisted harder, the feeling wasn't totally unpleasant. It helped that him letting her do that made her calm down as the seconds turned to minutes.

Roughly ten minutes later and when Riddle had finally pulled back, he took in the way she looked; her skin was flushed, her breathing heavy, her fingers all seeking out the sole ring she wore and her eyes staring off with an indescribable look to them.

All of those conditions he took in meant nothing to him and he questioned the girl after grabbing her hand so she'd not wander off.

"What'll you do about it?"

Still fingering the ring on her left hand, Riddle brought her free one up to toy with one of the long strands of her hair while she looked at him with a euphorically cocky smile.

"Goldhorn organized it, Goldhorn was making the plans for it and Goldhorn…" Riddle stopped speaking, her expression shifting from blissful arrogance to pointedly sharp, "You distract me so much that I'd almost forgotten to give you this," that was all the warning he had before she slapped him once across the face - the sting of it relaying surprise and the information that he knew she could've done it far harder, "You are mine, Harry James Peverell. Ever since our lips first touched, you've been mine ."

Riddle soothed the place she'd just slapped and her voice softened, "I apologize, I only wished to relay the pain you'd inflicted on me," she placed delicate kisses on the slightly red skin while her grip shifted to encircling his body, "I'll not follow you nearly so much now that I've spoken with you about my grievance… I assume we both understand that we're together ?"

Harry stared defiantly into her eyes, her usage of his name and the anger from being hit fresh, "I'll spend time with Corene, Sarah and whoever else I want."

"Oh Harry," Riddle talked down to him, her tone making it sound like she was speaking to a kid rather than a boy close to her age, "I'm not concerned about you spending time with any other woman, not when I know that you find my looks so attractive - those stares of yours when you think I'm not looking at you are especially cute."

He looked away from the domineering girl who only seemed joyful with his not-so-hidden looks.

Riddle continued speaking, "Spend time with any witch that you want to, Corene especially; I know you've built quite the friendship with her… if only you'd done the same with Daphne," he could make out the movement of her shaking her head, "All I expect of you is that you'll not go on a date with any witch, spending time with them is one thing - though I'll be very cross with you if it's done too frequently - but your Hogsmeade trips are reserved for me along with those I give the honour to join us. No. Body. Else."

Harry wanted to push her. He wanted to ask what'd happen if he refused or did what he wanted, but her instability was too close to the surface and he thought better of it.

"Fine."

"Wonderful," Riddle clasped her hands in front of her, "Come see me in the morning, I'll grant you the remainder of the day without being overly close to you."

Thank Merlin .

Finished with his thinking of the week that'd passed, Harry stretched from his cubby-like seat tucked between the outcrop of windows and yawned.

He'd hidden away in the boys' dorm early this evening, needing some alone time as he thought about the week's events or in some cases, lack thereof. Some of that should change following Riddle's obsessive conversation she'd had with him; perhaps now that she'd been territorial and gotten him to agree, she'd grant him enough distance so he'd finally be able to access the information he desperately needed.

One day at the minimum would give him the time needed to test out words on Slytherin's illegible journal.

"Going downstairs, Pev?" Aster asked from his seat on Reinhard's bed - as usual, the boys had been playing chess with Reinhard having very limited success.

"Yeah, think I might fancy a walk before curfew, you're both welcome to join if you'd like," Harry didn't mind if they wanted to tag along, he'd actually enjoy the company on the pointless walking.

"Nah, think we'll stay here and play a bit longer," Aster responded before moving a piece on the board.

Reinhard practically growled like an animal while he waved Harry off, showing the anger that so usually accompanied him when playing.

"Alright," he shrugged, "Make sure you let him win at least once while I'm gone, can't have him cursing you in your sleep," his comment had been made to Aster, but Reinhard's glare told him all he needed to know about being given a win rather than earning it.

Maybe he'd end up being the one getting cursed in his sleep if he continued toying with the two boys while in their match, ah well, he'd beaten Abraxas and figured he could do them in easily enough… hopefully.

Emerging from the boys' wing, Harry noticed a lower than average population in the common room and figured there'd be no problem in getting out unharassed; at least until he'd caught the eyes of a familiar girl who'd begun standing up upon her seeing him.

"Hey Corene," he greeted once she'd gotten closer.

"Hello Harry, I'd thought you'd gone to bed already - you weren't planning on staying out past curfew were you?" her blank expression and monotonous voice made him question if she were playing with him or meant it as a serious question.

Shuffling his feet, he lazily smirked and inclined his head towards the exit of the room.

"Of course not, I wouldn't break the rules," Corene raised an eyebrow at him, that being the only outward expression his words got from her; but it wasn't enough, he wanted to see her smile as she had in that not-so-secret classroom they'd fixed it, "And if I were planning on it, I'd have a box of something for my favourite Prefect."

"Were the truffles you'd given me not a down payment should I catch you?"

He shook his head in response, "No, no those were just something I'd wanted to give you - before it gets too much later, care to talk over a walk around the Dungeons?" lest they get too distracted talking about matters of no importance, he suggested she'd join him on the walk instead of staying in the stuffy, crowded room.

But his words must've missed their mark based on the reaction from her; Corene's second eyebrow joined the first in its raised position while she glanced around to see if anyone had overheard his words.

When she glanced back at him after doing so, she spoke quietly, "Your propositioning needs work, Harry."

His cheeks coloured while he looked anywhere but at her face, "I, uh, I wasn't propositioning you. Just figured I'd invite you to join me for a walk before curfew sets in and I don't get the energy out."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Corene's usually pale skin was slightly red as she cleared her throat a few times; Harry fared no better at the awkwardness that now hung between them with that one misunderstanding.

"I'll pass," Corene said once she'd finished clearing her throat; the red on her face not yet having fully receded.

"Are you sure? Figured we haven't talked this week and outta catch up," Harry'd recovered quicker than her, but for him, that wasn't because the embarrassment was gone. What did it for him, was that he cared to spend time with his friend without letting that one moment ruin it.

"You're not incorrect, I suppose… where were you thinking of heading or was the point an aimless stroll through these poorly lit halls?" Corene's personality returned with the embarrassment forgotten, her cheeks almost back to the porcelain appearance that they normally held while her face wore its blank expression.

"Aimless, felt restless," he'd only needed to say one word, but he offered the next two as an explanation. He didn't want to seem like he was going out for no reason, not that feeling restless was too good of one anyhow.

"Let's go to the courtyard, I'll call my House Elf when we arrive - you like tea, don't you?" Corene didn't give him a chance to respond as she signalled him to follow her quick steps with a nod in the direction of the door, all the while she'd continued speaking, "My personal servant, Lady, she makes a wonderful herbal mixture with mint and lavender; it's extravagant."

Harry smirked while following after her and during the entirety of the time they'd walked to the Courtyard opening, Corene wouldn't stop talking about Lady. From how good the creature could cook to how fast she could serve. He'd almost thought she'd had a relationship with the creature similar to his and Dobby's, but when Corene said she considered her servant better than some half breeds - though still a subservient and unintelligent species, he realized that she wasn't like Reinhard's family.

He tried not to let her words said without second thought bother him, but he'd be lying if he said it hadn't lowered his opinion of her to some level.

"Let's sit on the furthest most bench, it provides more privacy than all the others," Corene said as soon as they'd entered into the area; so fast in fact that she'd already been a quarter of the way to the aforementioned bench by the time the words had finished exiting her mouth.

Not feeling a need to reply, Harry followed Corene silently until they'd settled onto the bench. Looking around once he'd stopped shifting, Harry could see how the area was private. A couple of trees with low-hanging branches on one side while on the other were thick bushes that the groundskeeper didn't trim for whatever reason.

"Say, do you still have that book?" Corene asked him while her hands came to rest primly on her lap.

"Yes," Was his short reply, followed up by a question of his own, "What makes you ask?"

Corene cocked her head, "There could be information within that I'd like to know," her face took on a look of thinking with her lips smashing into one another, "Could I take it from you once you've finished? Perhaps make a copy and return the original to you?"

"I don't know… in all honesty, I'd planned on returning it to Walburga after taking notes from it."

"What if I were to offer you something of equal or greater value?" He'd been about to point out exactly what she did when continuing over his voice, "I know you've not read it yet, so it'd be extremely difficult to judge the value; think of my offer as something that'll be outstanding for when you've finally finished."

"Alright… now about that tea?" He'd changed the topic for two reasons. One, he wanted to get off the discussion of Walburga and the book she'd given him considering the perpetual lack of progression. Two, she'd interested him both in the House Elf and the Tea.

Corene shook her head as the only sign of having heard him, though she didn't press further with the conversation.

"Lady," the elf popped up, "Bring us two cups of my favourite tea," the elf popped away.

Harry could say in the seconds he saw the creature that she was dressed well for their standards and didn't show any signs of physical abuse. That didn't mean Corene's family failed to punish her though, they lived in a world of magic after all.

"While we've finished the only matter of importance on my mind, I have to ask, Harry," Corene paused as a chill went through her on the particularly cold evening - she initially made for her wand, stopping a second into the action as she looked at his robes, "Would you mind?" she asked while tugging on them.

"No," Harry leaned forward as he pulled the heavy clothing off from his shoulder and passed it over to Corene, why she didn't use a warming charm instead of taking his robes was left a mystery as she picked up the dropped question.

"As I was saying beforehand, why Indigo Birch?"

He sighed.

Not this again.

November 12, 1943

Thursday Evening

"Peverell mate, haven't seen you too often these past weeks, everything been alright?" Marcus Potter asked the moment Harry seated himself at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, Hogwarts' work caught up to me - Ancient Runes and Arithmancy especially," Harry said exactly the truth, the two subjects he'd picked up causing problems upon problems for him even with the tutoring provided by Riddle.

"Goldhorn, the oldest one that is, she's decent at both of those. Want me to see if she'd be willing to help?" Marcus offered politely.

Veronica snorted from her seat beside him, "Not likely that, the girls doing more gossiping than studying this year."

"Nonsense," Marcus elbowed Veronica under the table and the girl responded by stepping on his foot; they weren't very subtle when they needed to be.

Harry tried coughing to mask the amusement he had while watching them, but Marcus finished his fussing with the girl by scooching himself closer to Harry and changing the topic.

"Have you heard about Slughorn's meeting this weekend? I hear it's going to be a right corker to make up for his inactivity with us all!" Marcus looked excited at the prospect while Harry could only imagine what the older man would be allowed to get away with while in the Castle's walls.

"I only heard it was supposed to happen recently, that was a few weeks back if I recall - what made him wait this long?" Harry stopped speaking, not having anything else to say until something all but flashed in front of his eyes. 'Right corker', were they like post-match victory parties in Gryffindor Tower or something for high society that a few Purebloods would go on about? He had to know, thus he asked, "What're the meetings like?"

"Usually we'll sit around the table in quarters near his class, pretty boring really; all we do is speak of ourselves or listen to him telling tales while we ea-"

Veronica butted in, "Morgana is the food good, Peverell! If Marcus refuses to take me again this year, I'll have to bug you!"

"Thank you, Vee," Marcus said in a faux angry tone, pushing himself back to the centre of the conversation at the same time, "Now as I was saying, there's nothing too entertaining at the usual happenings… Vee also reminded me of the whole partner deal about his parties. Slughorn fancies himself some type of matchmaker; likely it's his third favourite thing after Potions and Politics, best make sure you have your Witch for the evening well in advance mate."

"Right," Harry replied bemusedly at the way his ancestor had made it sound.

"Pretty sure Goldhorn wasn't invited, Indigo too, I'll go bri-" Veronica was cut off by an all too familiar voice, one that'd promised to allow him his space only days earlier.

"That won't be necessary, Weasley," a pair of ice-cold hands settled on his shoulders, the clothing he was wearing doing very little to protect from the feeling.

"Go back to yo-" Veronica shot up from her seat, the fork in her hand slipping out and clanging on the near-empty plate it'd been hovering over.

Marcus silenced her with a gesture from his hand, the Weasley girl begrudgingly sitting back down in her seat while fixing Riddle with a glare that matched the firelike hair on her head.

"Why's that Riddle?" Unlike Veronica, Marcus was composed, not allowing the disliking of the girl to stir him up.

"Oh, you don't know?" her grip tightened on his shoulders while her fingers moved sporadically, the feeling was similar to a massage, only very amateurish, "Harry's my date for the meeting, and he'll be so until my graduation."

Marcus' eyes shifted to him while Veronica's attention stayed fully on Riddle; she looked more than annoyed at the revelation that'd been revealed and thankfully, that annoyance was directed at the girl behind him.

It meant that some sort of companionship could still be had, at least he hoped. Riddle's coming over didn't help his relations with them, she probably knew that too.

"Elaine," Harry started, using her first name rather than her last, "Could we study tonight? I think I'm falling behind on Ancient Runes again and I'd love to get your help considering how highly you're spoken of."

Veronica's annoyance now shifted to him, her eyes especially conveying the displeasure with his words considering the offer Marcus had earlier extended. Thinking of his Ancestor, Harry glanced at him to see if he'd understood what he'd done, as Veronica hadn't.

Unsurprisingly, the other Potter didn't look nearly as annoyed, he almost had a look of curiosity if anything.

"Yes, I'll meet you in the common room once Dinner's finished - I trust you'll not arrive late," Elaine then planted a kiss on his head and stepped away from him, "Enjoy your breakfast, Potter,"

With that final remark, she made her exit from the immediate area without letting Marcus get in a reply without shouting.

Veronica jumped at the chance to question Harry as soon as his 'date' was gone.

"You're going with her ?"

"Heave off, Vee. Peverell's love life isn't our business and," Marcus paused to glance over his shoulder, doing a sweeping motion with his head as he swung his body around in a full circle. Harry had no clue why the boy had done that until he was finally back to where he'd begun and completed his sentence, "Since he'd placated her enough to leave, we've got the rest of breakfast to finally speak with him more than passing pleasantries."

"Well… well she still got what she wanted! Before too long Pev here will hate us! Don't forget it happened with Flint!" Veronica looked victorious upon her reminder and when Harry glanced at the other Potter boy to see his reaction, Marcus' bored expression clearly stated that he'd heard this argument countless times.

"Flint wasn't because of Rid-" Marcus raised both his hands in a 'stop' gesture towards Veronica, the girl looked peeved but stayed silent, at least for the moment. Winking once to Harry, Marcus continued on from where he'd stopped, "Flint stopped spending time with us after his Father passed, Riddle wasn't solely responsible for his change in demeanour - I'm not saying she wasn't a contributing factor," he looked to Harry exclusively now, "Flint's mother was from a very dark family, Purebloods over in Yugoslavia you see, and not only was she his only caregiver, she replaced his tutor during the breaks with herself. He learned magic, etiquette, everything really, all from his Mother."

"What'd Riddle do then?" Harry was curious, maybe she was doing the same to him as she'd done with this Flint boy.

"Riddle encouraged acts of cruelty mainly, but once he got too violent he'd also become resistant to commands from her - she cut him loose a few months before the school year ended and a week later, he'd been removed from Hogwarts," Marcus looked sad once he'd finished recounting the loss of a friend and it wasn't hard for Harry to understand why.

Aster and Reinhard would be two people he'd keep an eye on going forward, though not for his sake. He trusted them and Corene far more than anyone else in this time, as such, Riddle wouldn't be allowed to corrupt them as she'd done to Flint, even if the fault wasn't only on her shoulders.

"Enough about topics so sad this early in the morning, why don't we speak of something far more beautiful?" Marcus clapped his hands while looking between Harry and Veronica, the latter girl rolled her eyes while Harry shrugged. He didn't mind if they'd switch topics, he'd already learned a few things from one breakfast with them.

"Go on then, ask him," Veronica goaded Marcus, the boy's eyebrow twitching upwards in response.

"Ask me what?" Harry questioned Marcus when the boy didn't say anything.

Veronica got louder, "If you won't tell him, I'll do it."

"Fine," Marcus threw his hands in the air and turned to Harry, "Vee finds it hilarious that I enjoy romance."

"Alright?" Harry responded, not catching where the other boy was headed.

Having missed the segway Marcus was trying to do, the boy questioned Harry in a blunt manner that he was intimately familiar with.

"What're your date plans with Indigo? Did you get her anything beforehand? I'll offer advice if you'd like, she's my fri…" Marcus went on and on, so much so that Harry glanced towards Veronica for help.

Her response was a smug smile and a wave with her fingers - he'd walked directly into it.

November 13, 1943

Friday Morning

"Good morning Harry!" All four Goldhorn sisters greeted, their in sync voices reminding him of Fred and George.

"Good morning girls," he'd said as his greeting back while sliding into the seat beside Sarah, the girl looking at him with a wide smile while conspiratorially leaning towards him.

"I heard Elaine wasn't too happy with you agreeing to take Indigo out," Sarah sounded sarcastic as if she knew the chance of it happening had gone so far in the ground that no amount of magic would ever get it out.

But how had she heard about that? The conversation had been in the Slytherin common room in front of a large contingent of Riddle's followers.

"Yeah… who'd told you that?" Sarah probably wouldn't tell him, but it didn't hurt to try on the off chance the girl was feeling especially charitable so early in the morning.

Sarah giggled and shook her head at him, "Silly! You know I can't tell you about my sources, only the information they give me."

He sighed in response and went about making his plate; piling eggs, toast, hash browns, sausage and more on it. Sarah did the same, only having arrived a few minutes before him and while the two went about preparing their breakfast. During the minute or two that it took them to grab all that they'd wanted in appropriate portions, Harry allowed himself to be swallowed by the noise of the room; there was a surprising amount so early in the day!

Starting with the table in which he'd seated himself for breakfast this morning, the Hufflepuff table; he spied multiple loud conversations with overly energetic students waving their hands animatedly to their peers. In response and on their turn, the person being spoken to returned the conversation in an equally excited manner.

He assumed that roughly half the room's overall noise came from the table he'd chosen.

Ravenclaw and Slytherin were completely the opposite of Hufflepuff - they had fewer students so early on in the period, smaller groups (if at all, maybe half of the students from the two houses were seated alone) and when they spoke, it was in hushed tones. Harry noticed on top of the whispers, some students couldn't be heard at all.

Why they needed privacy so early in the morning and while in a public space was a puzzle to him.

Gryffindor table was as rambunxious as ever, accounting for a majority of the remaining noise in the Great Hall; their main difference from Hufflepuff was how few of them were up this early, Harry could count on his fingers the number of his former housemates seated at their table or around the room… he could do the same with how many people from differing houses were seated at another table too.

For whatever reason, it seemed almost taboo to sit with another house. Maybe that explained why he'd not seen it done during his time if it were already so unpopular.

Glancing at the staff table last, Harry wasn't surprised to see almost every Professor eating and socializing without looking tired in the slightest.

Or at least almost every Professor.

When his eyes had gotten to his old Headmaster and almost Grandfather like figure, they'd slowed to take in the man's outward appearance. Harry wasn't overly concerned with his health, especially when he knew how long the man lived from this point. But the more base instincts that functioned in his mind still made him do so, recognizing the older man as just that.

That was why Harry was so shocked at seeing the bags under his Professor's eyes, accompanied by his beard looking unsightly and his frame looking thinner.

Why hadn't he noticed it during classes? He'd see the man weekly and every time he did, the Professor seemed the same as he'd always been, if slightly more energetic from the fifty years younger that he was.

So how had the man degraded so quickly? It didn't make sense.

"Looking at Dumbledore?" Sarah asked, waving her hand in front of his face for attention while at the same time tapping his shoulder.

"Yeah - quit it - I was, what's wrong with him?" Harry had to stop after the first word to have Sarah knock off her poking, when he'd finished her response was a shrug and an uninterested glance in the direction of their Professor; she'd done it so fast he half wondered if he'd seen things.

"My Father says it has to do with the Dark Lord, he wouldn't go into further detail - now why don't you stop getting distracted and we talk about something that matters, like…" Sarah leaned in, her face only inches from his as she put her hands between them, using them to reveal an imaginary object as she spoke, "How you'll make it up to Indigo since I imagine your date with her is cancelled."

He sighed and dropped his head only inches from his plate, the force knocking a piece of sausage onto the table.

When he spoke, he did so with his head still resting on the table.

"How do you plan on me doing that without Elaine getting upset now that we're together?"

Sarah's eyes widened, comically so, and he wondered why until he'd repeated back what he'd said.

He cursed inwardly, wishing the earth or being that'd sent him back would swallow him up so that he'd not have to deal with what he'd said. No such luck came and as a result, he was stuck looking at a Hufflepuff girl who looked like Christmas had come early.

"Y-You're with her ?!" she squealed so loud that he flinched.

"According to her we are," he stated back to the girl somewhat indignantly.

Sarah likely thought he was joking, her response being a fit of giggles while words poured from her mouth in almost a string.

"I hadn't thought that would happen! I only knew that she wasn't happy with you going to Hogsmeade with other girls, that was it! Never would I have guessed she'd actually do anything more than run her competition off; I hadn't dared to imagine she'd date you - or you dating her either!"

Harry looked over to Sarah's sisters, all three of whom were watching them with equally as excited expressions on their faces. When he moved his attention further down the Hufflepuff table and around the immediate area where other houses were, he'd seen that maybe a dozen of the few people in the room were glancing at them.

If Riddle hadn't already made it public, he just had.

He turned his attention back to Sarah, the girl fidgeting in her seat while she awaited what he'd say next; he didn't make her wait long.

"How do you 'know'," he used air quotation marks when saying the last word, "That she likes me?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "It's obvious with how she acted around you at Hogsmeade, Merlin, even before that date she'd been all over you when I was near - not very hard to believe she's the possessive type."

Harry remembered the few times Riddle seemed off when she'd seen Sarah with him, he'd been worried the whole time that the girl would feel unwelcome or nervous, but she'd shown nothing but friendliness. Riddle had probably felt as annoyed as he felt relieved when she'd failed to run the girl off with her presence.

"Yeah… Yeah I suppose you're not wrong, I'd worried she'd run you off considering Marcus and Veronica's warning given to you," he'd still remembered the conversation they'd had regarding her two friends disliking Riddle along with the aforementioned warning to Sarah.

"Oh don't worry about that happening," Sarah waved off his concerns, "You're far too pleasant of company for Riddle to spook me away. Though I have to say, I truly pity you in regards to the explanation you likely had to give to her about why you're coming over for Yule."

Harry didn't outwardly show any signs that he'd failed to do so, instead, he asked something far smarter.

"How would you have gone about doing it?"

Sarah cocked her head and bit her lip in thought, keeping that pose for roughly thirty seconds while her hand shifted about halfway to start tapping away at the table. When it stopped and Harry saw her thinking face shift to something self-satisfied, he'd gambled that she'd thought up her strategy.

He was exactly right too; Sarah spoke once another second or two had passed.

"I'd have gotten her something as a gift before doing so - it'd have to be thoughtful rather than something monetarily expensive, you've seen her friends with the resources they have before you ask why," Sarah leaned in, "While they have the money to get whatever she'd materialistically want, I can't imagine anyone closer to her than you now seem to be; it shouldn't be overly hard to pick out something she'd enjoy."

"So you'd have me bribe her before telling her that I'm spending Yule with your family?" Harry had half a thought to pull out parchment and his quill to take notes, the only thing that stopped him was how stupid he'd look. Wholly unrelated to that thought was the one that reminded him he'd have to get gifts for a whole host of people rather than the few he usually did.

That presented its own list of problems and complications, namely time during the winter break.

At least he had no curfew or other restrictions in the Peverell Manor - only his house-elves lived with him and apparently, he could call them over too. Corene had done it, and while he hadn't tried yet, there didn't seem to be anything stopping him.

"Not bribing her so much as showing that you're still committed by way of showing thought rather than wealth," Sarah sighed and tried to explain what she meant, "While I can't speak for every girl at Hogwarts, I'd much rather receive something meaningful that I knew meant my boyfriend understood me better than anyone else. Girls?" She'd looked towards her three sister's who'd been listening in; their conversation long paused while taking in that Peverell was dating Riddle.

Harry looked at them as soon as he'd seen Sarah do it and when it came time for them to respond, all three nodded their heads while saying they agreed with her. Unless they'd planned it beforehand, Harry assumed that Sarah was right and asked if there was anything else she'd do.

"Could always snog her senseless, should help in stopping an angry response," Sarah's response had him blushing while she giggled with her sisters.

"As if," he scoffed when he'd gotten over her words.

That initiated another giggle fit from the girls around him, but this time it stopped abruptly when a Daily Prophet was handed to Sarah by a boy from a year ahead of them; he didn't know the boy personally, but he'd seen him before… His name was something Foxglove, Stuart maybe.

Whoever he was didn't matter nearly as much as the contents of the writing she'd been given, for on the very front of the paper and in bold writing was another atrocity of the Dark Lord Grindelwald over on the continent.

Similar as to before, it was in a French village behind the Muggle German lines; like the first instance too, it was against more rebellious French Wizards and Witches. This time rather than burning down the village or massacring the population, they'd all vanished with not a sign as to where they'd gone after his arrival. Only ominous words that'd been omitted from the paper and a single child survivor were any sign that something nefarious had happened to them.

"Sarah what do y-" Harry stopped in his questioning of the girl as he'd noticed her attention was focused solely on Dumbledore and for a change, her expression was completely unreadable. It was weird when considering she was the type of person to wear her emotions on her sleeves and seemed willing to discuss how she felt with anyone so long as she'd met them before.

Harry shrugged off her ignoring of him and joined her in looking at Dumbledore; the man some appearing as if he'd deteriorated further in the brief amount of time since Harry had last looked towards him. His actions seemed to match his appearance too, as his movement was sluggish and his talking seemed slow; he hoped whatever's gotten hold of the Professor would vanish and fast.

Dumbledore was his greatest fail-safe against Riddle should something happen, even after Harry's awkward and tense conversation about time travel - or at least the eluding he'd done around the subject. Not only that, but the man had been the one to defeat Grindelwald too!

Looking at him now almost made it seem like the task was impossible.

"Sorry, Harry! I was just thinking how poor Professor Dumbledore's health looked," Sarah glanced briefly back at the man, as if he'd suddenly keeled over in the short instance she'd looked away. "You see, he's a family friend and tends to stop by over summer or during Yule - I forgot to tell you that too - because of that, he's almost like a second grandfather to us all," she smiled at him and turned to her sisters, "Right girls?"

They all nodded in response.

Sarah then picked up the conversation without much of a break between her previous words, "Let's head back to where we were - Riddle. How and when?"

"When she found out I was taking Indigo on a date, or at least when she'd finally confronted me about it. I suspect she knew well in advance." A more maniacal part of Harry's brain took over when he'd finished speaking aloud.

Just like how she knows where you've been and what you've done, she's biding her time.

Harry briefly tensed and untensed the muscles through his neck, the sudden stressing of them distracting his mind from its unhelpful thinking; regardless of how good a point he'd raised against himself.

"I could bet you all the Galleons in my vault she did," Sarah agreed.

"I'll have to figure out what to say to Indigo…" Harry trailed off, looking hopefully at his friend who glanced up and over his left shoulder.

Without giving him the chance to turn around to see who'd come upon them, Harry heard her voice.

"Peverell, you'll be coming with me."

Daphne - that must mean Riddle wanted him for something important… or maybe she'd finally chosen now to confront him about a far more serious act than taking a girl on a date.

"What's Riddle want now? Didn't she say she'd b-" Daphne cut him off with a silencing charm, causing Sarah's eyebrows to raise while Harry simply looked enraged.

" Elaine, wants nothing," she grabbed his robes with her free hand and heaved him up; her wand occupying the other acting as the only thing to stop him from reaching for his own, "You and I will be speaking free of any interruptions."

"Oleander, you're acting out of order as Head Girl," Sarah challenged on his behalf, her head raised high while she looked pointedly at the older and much fiercer looking girl.

"Take it up with the Headmaster then, Goldhorn - we both know any action against me will have repercussions from the board," Daphne didn't attempt to mask her threat for what it was and again, she pulled on him, her surprising strength causing him to stagger afoot towards her.

"Cancel the charm and let him decide where he'll go; as much as the board can do, they can't help with matters in Diagon Alley," Sarah's voice was sharp, nothing like the girl usually acted but still distinctly familiar in its softness.

He only needed to wonder what Daphne would say or do in response for a few seconds.

After registering the words Sarah had said, Daphne relinquished her grip and cancelled the silencing with a wave of her wand. All of that still didn't make her leave or cease in her order.

"Come with me, Peverell, you know we'll have this conversation eventually," Harry knew she had a point. Eventually, Riddle or Sarah wouldn't be around and Daphne would corner him.

Aside from that, he had a feeling of security having considered the circumstances.

She couldn't do anything to him in Hogwarts, Riddle wouldn't allow her to get off without severe punishment if she did, and now he had Sarah sticking her neck out for him. Daphne couldn't do anything and so with a small smile in Sarah's direction, he relented.

"Sure, let's go have a chat," Harry followed after the older girl, though not before throwing another soft smile at a slightly nervous-looking Sarah and her trio of sisters.

Daphne noticed the lack of nerves from him and snorted as they'd cleared the great exit of the room.

"We'll be going to the study," in a quieter tone of voice, she added one word that riddled him with questions, "Cousin."