Authors Note: As on from now, there is no need for any more disclaimers, as you all know that I do not own Harry Potter, but I do own only Nemesis Riddle.


Here We Go Again.

Chapter One: Unexpected.

It is the 28th of August, 2021, and here I am, in the orphanage, in the dinner hall, eating. I'm waiting, along with the other orphans, for some woman to come in to tell us to follow her to the bus that will take us to the beach. Yes, we're going to the beach. I honestly don't feel like going. It's cold, and it's raining, and I prefer the sun. Why would you want to go to a beach in the rain? Well, it doesn't matter. I'll be in the caves exploring with Charlie, anyway. He's my best and only human friend. To be honest, that's the only thing I look forward to in these trips.

I got up from my seat and made my way over to Charlie who sat with a few other boys; John Town, a tall boy with blonde hair and brown eyes, Luke Gates, a short, skinny brown haired boy with green eyes, and Mike Valley, black hair and hazel eyes, very tall and muscley. All the girls are after Mike because he's just simply gorgeous. Did I say simply gorgeous? Oh, I meant gorgeously sexy!

I sat down next to Charlie and smiled. He smiled back and then turned to talk to his guy friends again. Whenever he is with that lot, he always forgets I exist. I hate it. Thankfully, I didn't have to sit there long, for the bell wrung and a lady in a grey skirt and white frilly top with clunky high heels and a bun on top of her head came in to announce the arrival of the bus. We all made our way outside and got onto it.

When we arrived at the beach, I just stood there and looked around, shading my eyes from the sun with my hand. There in front of me sat the sand with the sea up ahead, the waves overlapping onto the surface. I walked on up to the edge of the sand, where water pushed upon the brim of my flip flops. I pulled them off and let them fall from my hand where they landed to the right of my feet. Then I slowly walked three large steps into the sea.

As I walked further in, I ignored the calls of Charlie and the hisses of my snake, Kazan, who hid away in the back left pocket of my shorts. I decided to bring her along, just in case. You never know, I might need her one day and I would have left her in the orphanage, then what would I do?

Suddenly, someone rested their hands on my shoulders and jumped onto my back, making me fall over into the water with the person. I looked to my left to discover Charlie and his friend Rebecca, a pretty little know-it-all. Rebecca was still standing while Charlie lay next to me, a goofy grin plastered to his face. Sometimes I tease him about Rebecca. I say there going out or he likes her, but he always denies it.

"What in the name of mushrooms was that for?" I demanded to know.

He scrambled up onto his feet, the goofy grin keeping its place, and reached out his hand. I sighed and grabbed his hand, and he heaved me up. Once I was back on my feet, I roughly pushed him down. Grinning to myself, I left for the caves, but just after making sure Kazan was still there in my pocket.

As I made my way over to the caves, I looked behind me and saw Charlie jogging up to me, leaving his little girlfriend with her group. Those girls very much dislike me. Once he caught up with me, he put his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. I sighed inwardly, quite annoyed. He always does that to annoy me. I let him keep his arm there, not really feeling that bothered to remove it.

I looked to my right, where a bunch of beach huts stood, one behind the other, or one besides the other, to see many people going into them to change into their swimming costumes so they could go into the sea for a swim. Why would you want to go in the sea? It was dam right cold when I put my feet in and not to mention it's still raining.

Just behind one of the huts, a man in a long cloak like outfit hid. He had thick locks of brown hair and his skin was a marble white. He must have seen me staring for he looked over to me and our eyes connected for a few minutes, and I could see his eyes were a blood red. Yes, a blood red, even weirder than black. I felt the urge to give him the finger, but I fought it off. Not as much as I liked though, because instead I stuck my tongue out at him.

And he smirked. He probably thought I was childish. Yeah, not the kind of reaction I wanted.

I looked ahead of me, but could still feel his eyes on me. I looked back at him and gave him the 'stop-looking-at-me-or-you-will-regret-it' look; I use that look a lot. He continued to smirk. I rolled my eyes and looked ahead once more where I could see a cave coming into view. Grr, I could still feel his eyes on me. What did this guy want; a medal, a kiss, a punch? Oh, oh, oh, or a super duper jumpy thingy ma-bobble?

You know, a super duper jumpy thingy ma-bobble sounds evil, totally evil. I like it already and I don't even know what it is!

Suddenly, a horrendous pain shot through my head as if someone was searching through my brain. I put my hands over my face and gritted my teeth, eyes shut tight. I stopped walking and Charlie did too. I'm guessing he moved to stand in front of me because I heard him move. As soon as Charlie put his hands on my shoulders, the pain left and I un-gritted my teeth, taking my hands away from my face, but I didn't open my eyes.

I just stood there with my eyes closed, breathing deeply, as Charlie put his hand under my chin and tilted my head up. What the hell was he doing? Did he think I wanted a kiss or something? Is that why he thought I kept my eyes closed? No! It was not! It was because I had a stupid headache. Durr! If he kissed me, or even thought for one second that I wanted him to kiss me, I would murder him. Literally!

To be out of harms way, I smacked his hand away from my chin and opened my eyes. I glared daggers at him, but instead of running away like a frightened little girl, he just looked towards the cave we were supposed to be heading to. He then looked back at me, smirking slyly, and I knew what he was thinking. He wanted to beat me again. Nope, not this time!

I began to sprint towards the cave, yelling back to Charlie; "Prepare to be beaten by a girl, Charlie!"

I heard him coming up behind me. He was getting closer, and closer, and closer. Soon he was on my heels, but no worries, I was still ahead of him. I was sure to win. But then, it happened; he tackled me to the floor, and it hurt as he is heavier than me, also including the fact that he landed on me.

And due to the fact that he landed on me, I pushed him off, as I am muscle lady, and straddled him. I just sat there so he couldn't move. I was looking down at him, a triumphant look on my face, and he was struggling to get away. But I wouldn't budge because, as I said, I am muscle lady and no one can get past my genius. Soon, he gave up struggling and had a look of annoyance upon him.

I grinned, then leaned down so my mouth was next to his ear, and I whispered, "See, Charlie ol' pal, I will always beat you because no one beats me." I sat back upright. I climbed off him, standing up, and I left him lying there, as if he was a block of ice, never to move again. Well, not until he melts anyway.

I began to make my way over to the cave once again. It seemed that I'd been walking for hours due to all the interruptions. I looked towards the man by the hut once more to find him gone. Hurrah! Gone! Gone forever! Never to come back! I could finally concentrate on the cave without the man staring at me, Charlie pulling me about, and the annoying headache, which was still there by the way.

Finally, I was at the cave. I sighed a sigh of relief and looked around, grinning. I never had seen this cave before. It was different than the others I'd been in. More... magical? I couldn't think of a word to describe it, and even though magic isn't real, I just went with that.

I began to look around the cave. Behind rocks, under rocks, on rocks, under the sand, on top of the sand, at the sides and fronts of the cave, and up above, but I couldn't find anything. There was nothing at all. Inwardly sighing, I closed my eyes and began to rub them with my hands. Once I took my hands away, eyes open, I saw the very same man from the hut right in front of me. My eyes widened and I opened my mouth but nothing came out, so I closed it again, and blinked. A long blink. It looked like I closed my eyes again, but o' course I didn't. Or did I?

When I was just about to open my eyes, a hand made its way around my neck and I felt myself being lifted up into the air, and then pinned to the wall. I choked and spluttered, struggling against the wall. I felt it was a good time to open my eyes, so I did. In front of me, there wasn't the hut man (I just decided to give him that name) who turned out to be a mass murderer, nor Charlie playing some stupid prank to scare me, but a new man with long, very long, black hair that reached half way down his back, and he had silver eyes. It freaked me out… a lot.

As I struggled, choked, and spluttered, the man moved his head towards my neck. I hoped he wasn't doing what I though he was doing. Then I felt his breath on my neck, it was cold, so cold that it felt like ice. He loosened his grip slightly and moved his hand a little from where his mouth was, and then he bit me. Yes, he BIT me. His teeth were sinking into my skin and I felt like my blood was being drained away. Maybe he's a vampire, and I was his pray, and he was sucking my blood, and… and… I didn't even want to think about it.

Hah! Who am I kidding? There's no such thing as vampires. Just like there's no such thing as magic, fairies, Santa, elves, talking animals, invisible lands, or werewolves (as much as I would like them to be real, I'm afraid werewolves can't be). I'm just bringing my imagination into this.

Anyway, he let me fall to the ground after... err... after whatever he just did, and I hit the ground with a thump. I cracked the muscles in my neck, which sounded disgusting, but felt good. I reached up to touch the part of my neck where he bit me, keeping my eyes on the fellow, and felt two dents there. I pushed two of my smallest fingers into the cuts and they felt deep. They were deep. I wanted to get up and smack the guy, but I didn't have the strength.

I'm still wondering why he didn't run away and kept standing there, staring at me, looking as if he wasn't breathing.

"What the hell did you just do?" I whispered breathlessly.

He didn't say anything, didn't move, didn't freaking breath. Just stood there watching. So, I stood up, but sank back to the ground right after, my eyes closed as soon as I hit it. And then I felt something smack on the wall I was leaning against, so I re-opened my eyes with a snap and saw the man gone, Charlie taking his place.

"Charlie!" I exclaimed, overjoyed that he saved me.

I jumped up and embraced him in a BIG hug. He saved me, and I didn't want to even think about letting go, but he pushed me away as soon as I wrapped my arms around him. He was glaring at him as if I'd torn him up into shreds and left him for the wolves to eat as lunch. Uh, well, actually, I kinda did, you know, but I didn't rip him up into shreds, nor did I leave him for the wolves to eat.

Charlie touched my neck where I was bitten and I winced at the pressure he put on it. What was he trying to do? Kill me even more, perhaps? Charlie frowned and then he took my wrist and pulled me out of the cave as if I was a lost puppy. I tried to pull away from his grip, complaining that I could walk very well on my own, but he didn't let go. I was beginning to hate the guy right now. He was acting like my carer, or worse, my dad!

I began to think about the man. What if he really was a Vampire and now I was one, too? Honestly, I didn't want to think about it, but I was confused to the brim, and seriously, there wasn't any other explanation for the situation.

A little while later, we left the beach and came back to the orphanage. I raced in through the doors and went up to my bedroom, hoping Charlie wasn't following me. Once I got into my room, I pulled out Kazan from my pocket and placed her back into her cage. I smiled down at her, then walked to my door, closing it, and went back over to my bed and sat on it, and I looked around my room.

The walls were plain white with a grey ceiling and the windows were rather misty, so I couldn't see out unless it was sunny. The curtains were grey and crinkled and the window sill was also white. I had posters and pictures up on my walls; a twilight one with Edward sitting and holding hands with Bella, and they were sitting on nothing but a sparkly blue background with the words TWILIGHT written out in neon purple. Then there was a St. Trinians one with all the girls standing there, all leaning against each other. And the final one, which sat besides my wardrobe, was a picture of me, Charlie and Kazan out in the orphanages back garden, and we were sitting on the swings in the middle of the night, telling scary stories.

No one knew about Kazan except for Charlie, mainly because we have been best friends since we first met. Kazan's cage sat on my bedside table which was made out of oak, and my bed was just metal with grey and white covers. Besides my bedside table was an oak desk with absolutely nothing on it, but paper, colored pens, and a locket, which I always keep around my neck. I don't know why I didn't wear it today. I've had that necklace since I was a baby.

The last thing my eyes landed on was my wardrobe. It was tall, oak (like everything else that was wood), and had weird patterns on it. There was a rumor about that wardrobe. Once a boy named Tom Riddle (yeah, he has my last name. Odd, huh?) stayed in this very same room and he had no friends or anything. He kept items in a tin box in the wardrobe that he had stolen from others in the orphanage; I guessed that was why no one liked him. Anyway, one night, a man wearing weird purple robes and half-moon spectacles came, and wanted to speak to Tom Riddle alone. Rumor has it that the man set the wardrobe on fire, but the fire never burnt the wardrobe, and then he told Tom Riddle that he was a wizard.

I laughed at the people who told me this. I mean, a wizard? No such thing. And a wardrobe doesn't go on fire and then not burn into ashes. It's stupid.

Just then a pecking noise came from my window. I turned to look, but after remembering I couldn't see anything through it, I opened it up and a bird flew through it. I let out a yelp of surprise as it skimmed the side of head as it flew past me and into my room, and landed on the edge of the desk. I noticed it wasn't normal bird, but an owl. Weird. But what was weirder, was that it carried an envelope in its claws.

I pulled the letter from its grasp. It felt like parchment, which is a type of paper that is rarely used these days, and it was quite heavy and thick in my hands. I looked at the back of the letter. There was some type of seal holding it closed: a strange coat of arms that was the letter 'H' and was surrounded by a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a snake. But who would send me a letter, and what on earth was Hogwarts?

Looking back at the front, I read the name; Nemesis Drew Riddle. My name. There was no address, but it had to be a letter to me. Pulling the seal open, I pulled out the letter and unfolded it. As I predicted, it wasn't paper, but parchment. I began to read;

HOGWARTS SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall.

Miss Nemesis Riddle,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

You will find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment.

Term will begin on September 1st; we await your owl no later than July 31st.

Yours Sincerely,

Neville Longbottom,

Deputy Headmaster.

I put the letter on the desk and pulled out another piece of parchment. This time it was a list. I looked down the list and read;

Uniform

Three sets of plain works robes (black)
One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Books

Only one additional book is required of all fifth year students:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 5) by Miranda Goshawk
Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard

Other Equipment

1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl, cat, or a toad.

Eh, a magic school with wands, cauldrons, spells, and broomsticks? What the hell? One moment I'm thinking; Magic is not real, just a myth, is all. Then the next thing I know is I have a letter telling me something about a magic school and what not. Is someone trying to play a prank on me or something?

I paced my room trying to come up with a conclusion. Just then there was a knock on my door. I spun around to face the door and saw a man with brown hair and goofy teeth come in. He was wearing something like the hut man wore, except more flashy and colorful. I was about to be rather cheeky to the guy but Miss Hailsworth came in. She's the woman who owns the orphanage, and looks after the orphans. She gave me the 'show-some-manners-or-you-wont-get-any-food-for-a-week' kind of look. Thinking I better do so, I smiled innocently at the man but I was actually thinking different.

What does goofy want? I thought. Hey, Isn't there a TV show with a thing called goofy in it?

I left my mind wander and didn't notice Miss Hailsworth leave the room, leaving me with this man. I snapped out of my thoughts when he poked me. I looked towards him and he was grinning. I smiled back for the sake of it. What was he grinning at? Even his smile looked goofy. I now officially name him goofy until he tells me his name.

I lay on my bed, sitting up a little, motioning for him to sit on the edge of my bed, and I decided to say something, to break the silence. "Hello, sir, my name's Nemesis Riddle. What's yours?"

"Neville Longbottom," he replied, sitting where I motioned for him to sit.

"You're the guy who sent me the letter," I said, pushing the letter in his face.

He chuckled and took the letter from my hand, looking at it. He was probably examining it… or something. I don't know. How should I? I ain't any genius, thank you very much. Then he put the letter beside him and seemed to be in thought. Maybe he was trying to think of a way to explain.

"I am, and I believe you realize what the contents of this letter explain," he said.

"It means that you and Miss McGonagall are off your heads, sir?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Ah, but this is not fake. It is very real indeed."

"But, sir… magic just doesn't exist!"

"Have you been able to do things, things you could never explain?" he asked; his face was now very serious. He knew my answer, I could tell, so I kept silent and very still. He nodded a nod of understanding and continued. "It is because of your magic. Of course, you didn't know that at the time. Most young witches and wizards in your situation often have their magic get away from them. That's what Hogwarts is for, teaching you control."

"Oh, so that's what Hogwarts is! I thought it was a hog with many warts." He chuckled. I bent over and reached for the supply list and then gave it to him. "Sir, I'm confused. It says fifth year, but wouldn't I be in first year, and where do I go for this stuff?"

"Ah, yes, that is because you are an orphanage and well, we didn't know about you. Usually the school would know, but for some reason, we did not. So you have to start rather late. Oh, and to get everything you need, you must go to Diagon Alley. You get there by going through the Leaky Cauldron, out the back, and then tapping a certain brick on the wall. I will take you there myself."

"The Leaky Cauldron… Isn't that the pub looking place that's somewhere around the corner?" I asked. "I noticed it once before on the bus when we were off to the beach, but my friend, Charlie, couldn't see it. Kazan could though. Charlie thought I was mental."

Mr. Longbottom looked thoughtful. "How could your friend, Kazan, see it?"

"Oh, err… well, she's my… err… snake. I can talk to her; she's really friendly." I pointed towards the cage where Kazan slithered around, trying to get comfortable so she could sleep.

He muttered something under his breath. "There is something else I must tell you," he sighed. "Around an hour ago, you were bitten by a man," he put his hand on my neck where the holes had healed and turned into small red dots. "This was no ordinary man; this man is a vampire."

"A vampire, wow." This is... kind of cool and exciting. Though I don't want to live forever and I don't want pointy teeth. I wouldn't mind the long nails part, since I am a girl. And I certainly don't want to bite people... even if I get to choose to bite animals.

As if he read my mind, he began to go into further explanation. "You don't have to bite, you can eat normal food and drink, since you're only a half vampire as you were bitten by a vampire, and not born a vampire, but sometimes you may have to bite because sometimes you will have a need for blood. You can drink animal blood if you want."

I stared at him, unblinking. "How do you know all this?" I asked.

"I went to school," he replied, rolling his eyes. I almost laughed. What a very unprofessional thing for a professor to do!

Our conversation switched from the vampires to Diagon Alley, and he began to tell me about all the different shops. I found Mr. Longbottom to be a really nice fellow; I could get used to him. He also told me he teaches Herbology, along with being the deputy head of the school. Honestly, the information just wouldn't sink in, and I was scared that it was all just a very good dream. This was going to be a very interesting year for me.