A/N: So I've had a lovely response to the first chapter. Glad you all seem to be enjoying it so far. Here's chapter two. Not too sure about when three will be posted - I'm at the stage where I'm writing all my favourite scenes so the beginning's getting little neglected. It shouldn't be too long anyway. I have a 3 hour train journey tomorrow so I'll try and crack it out then, providing there's not some idiot girl behind me whining about her boyfriend's lack of spiritual growth. Anyway, hope you enjoy this. Let me know what you think! =]

Blank Canvas

by Flaignhan

Tom, she discovers, is the only student left at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. He's an orphan, and he'd much rather stay in the castle than go back to the orphanage in London where he was raised. Clara can't blame him. From what she's heard, (which is, admittedly, very little) it sounds like a dreadful place to grow up.

She grows to like Tom very quickly. There is something about his manner, his quiet, polite tone that makes her feel less lonely during what she imagines is the most difficult experience of her life. Granted she has no other memories, but nothing could be worse than this, surely?

She likes it when Tom watches her, those grey eyes of his taking in every detail of her. He's like that, a good watcher – and he watches her a lot. It makes her insides squirm, and after much to-ing and fro-ing in her head over the matter, she decides that the knots her intestines tie themselves into are pleasant knots, as opposed to unpleasant knots.

"Are you going to tell the others?" Tom asks. "When they come back to school?"

Clara frowns and considers her answer. She swirls her pumpkin juice around in her goblet and doesn't meet Tom's eye.

"I don't know that it's any of their business," she says at last. "And I'm not sure the Ministry would like it if the whole school knew that I'm…" She's not sure how to finish the sentence, and so she trails off into silence.

"You told me," Tom says, his voice soft and low. She loves his voice. There's something in it, some hidden quality that invites trust. Or maybe it's his face that does that. He's handsome, but he lacks the awareness of the fact that usually leads to unbearable arrogance.

"Of course I told you," Clara says. Again, she does not look at him. She can feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and she lets her hair fall in front of her face, shielding her from view. "You're my friend."

Tom says nothing for a moment. Clara looks up at him to see the corners of his lips slightly curved in the smallest of smiles.

"We'll keep it our little secret then, shall we?"

Clara smiles and nods. From the staff table, Dumbledore watches.

For reasons she is unable to grasp, Clara does not get lost on her way to the Headmaster's office, despite having no recollection of going there ever before. The password, as Dumbledore wrote in his letter, is 'Babbitty Rabbitty'. When she says it aloud, the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance slides out of her way obediently, revealing an impressive spiral staircase.

As she nears the top, she can hear voices. Loud voices. There is some kind of heated argument taking place in the office, and Clara is unsure whether she ought to knock, or wait for the shouting to subside.

"Who sanctioned this?" Dumbledore's voice booms in a way that Clara had not thought possible. "Who led you to believe that you had the right to go anywhere near -"

"With all due respect, Professor," a familiar voice interrupts. There is a slight droning quality to it, but Clara is concentrating too hard on the words spoken, to care too much about the identity of the speaker. "We had to protect our own interests."

"And what reasonable evidence do you have that your interests were threatened?"

"We were simply following procedure -"

"Procedure? How can you have a procedure for something like this?"

"Albus, calm down."

"You take his side, Armando? You agree with the Ministry's actions?"

"You know I don't, Albus, but what's done is done."

"But what chance has she now of a return?"

"There was never any chance of that, Dumbledore."

"Forgive me, Eric, I was unaware of the one way ticket scheme that was in operation. My mistake."

"Albus, be reasonable."

More confused than ever, Clara knocks on the heavy oak door. The voices fall silent, and, after a moment, the door swings open. Clara looks up to see Professor Dumbledore's usually twinkling eyes burning with fury. Witnessing the gaze is bad enough. She does not want to find out what it's like to be the cause of such anger.

There is a small man sat behind a solid wooden desk, who she assumes is Headmaster Dippet. Aside from Dumbledore, there is one other man in the room, who Clara recognises as the briefcase carrying Ministry man who she encountered at St Mungo's.

"Ah, Clara my dear, a pleasure to meet you at last. You've met Professor Dumbledore, of course," Dippet gestures towards Dumbledore, who is still regarding the Ministry man with icy coldness. "And this is Mr…"

"Auden," the Ministry man finishes for Dippet, whose eyes are darting between Auden and Dumbledore, as though waiting for something to set them off again.

"Auden, I believe we're quite finished here," Dumbledore says, drawing up a squashy chintz armchair with his wand and offering it to Clara. She sits down, and Dippet pushes a small dish of boiled sweets towards her, apparently desperate for even the smallest distraction from the tension in the room.

"Don't you think I'd better stay for this meeting?" Auden asks, a slight tremor in his nasally voice. "After all -"

"None of our discussions today will require your input," Dumbledore says firmly. "These are matters of an academic nature."

Auden glances towards Dippet, looking for support, but Dippet is far too busy twiddling his thumbs and admiring the portraits. Realising his defeat, Auden picks up his briefcase and leaves the office without another word. Dumbledore closes the door and takes a seat next to Clara. Dippet stares at him for a long moment, then sighs heavily with exasperation.

"You think me too harsh?"

"I think you underestimate how intimidating you can be."

"Never without good cause."

"True," Dippet agrees, moving sheaves of parchment about his desk aimlessly. "Very true." Finally, he looks up at Clara. "I am sorry my dear, things can sometimes get a little…strained with the Ministry."

"Mr Auden is a terrible liar," Clara tells them. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Dumbledore's eyebrow arch with interest. "I have no memories, so there's lots of space in my head for new ones. And I can recall the new ones perfectly."

"Well that's excellent news my dear!" Dippet cries happily, "We were rather concerned about any potential lasting effects on your mind."

"Go on, Clara," Dumbledore says encouragingly, paying no notice of Dippet.

"I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that when Mr Auden visited me in St Mungo's, he went by the name of Buckfield."

Dumbledore's lips twitch a little, but he remains silent, while Dippet simply looks tired.

"If you're going to lie about your name," Clara continues, "You need an element of consistency. You have to make sure you tell the same people the same name, otherwise you're just an idiot."

Dumbledore is now smiling triumphantly, and he turns his gaze towards Dippet, who lets out a sigh.

"Ravenclaw I imagine," Dippet says, and Dumbledore tilts his head in agreement. "Or perhaps Slytherin. Very shrewd."

Dumbledore's expression falters. "Perhaps we ought to let the sorting hat choose?"

"Please, Professors," Clara interrupts. "I'd…I'd quite like to stay with Tom. We've become rather good friends you see and…well…I shouldn't like to be alone."

"You can still be friends," Dumbledore says stiffly. "And being sorted into a different house will give you the opportunity to make other friends. The Gryffindor fifth year girls are all very kind, and I'm sure you'd feel at home with them…"

"Professor Dumbledore is trying to convince you to join his house. He wants to steal you away from the other heads," Dippet half-whispers playfully. "He can probably tell you'll be one for winning house points, as opposed to losing them." He winks at her, and Clara can't help but smile. She feels at ease. Almost at home. Tom had said Dippet was very kind, that he'd always been like a doting uncle towards him.

"You know full well that it's not house points I'm concerned with, Headmaster," Dumbledore says pointedly.

"Oh poppycock, Albus!" Dippet exclaims. "I don't know what you've got against him but -"

"Clara is vulnerable, as you are well aware. I think it sensible to place her in my own house where I can easily keep an eye on her." He turns from Dippet to address Clara. "I don't mean to sound patronising, of course Clara, but you've been through a lot."

Clara nods, and before she can get a word in edgeways, Dippet is off again.

"She's found a friend in Tom, Albus. A friend is what she needs and -"

"Tom Riddle does not have friends, Armando. And I don't think it wise that we use Clara as a test subject to see if he's actually changed his attitude towards people."

"Albus, I know you don't much care for the boy, but the rest of us find him to be charming, intelligent and amiable. Quite clearly, Clara feels the same." Dippet looks towards her and Clara takes the opportunity to nod her support of Tom. She can't understand Dumbledore's dislike of him. What can Tom have done that was so dreadful that Dumbledore now reacts to him like this? Surely it can't be a matter of house rivalry?

"With the current situation I think we should exercise a great deal of caution. And I've already told you my concerns about -"

"You have," Dippet cuts in coldly. "And I thought I'd made it clear that I want to hear no more on the matter. Clara, if you'd like to be in Slytherin, you can be in Slytherin."

"I would like that, Headmaster," she says quietly, not wanting to upset Dumbledore. He has been so kind and supportive, and she knows he only has her best interests at heart. Obviously, he doesn't know Tom that well. She's sure that if he did get to know him, he'd like him just as much as Dippet does.

Dippet sends a message to Tom requesting that he join them in the office, and by the time they've sorted out Clara's lessons - her optional selections being Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, Tom has arrived, his prefect badge gleaming on his chest.

"Clara's going to be in Slytherin, Tom," Dippet tells him. All the while, Dumbledore remains quiet.

"That's excellent news, Headmaster. I'm so pleased." Tom glances at Clara and smiles. She can't help but smile in return.

"You'll help her settle in, I trust? Make sure she feels at home? You know how scary it can be, being alone."

Tom's face falters, and for a moment, Clara thinks he's about to argue with Dippet. As soon as she blinks, however, there is a warm smile resting on Tom's lips.

"Of course Headmaster. I'll see to it that she's well looked after."

"There's a good lad," Dippet says heartily. "Do have a sweet, dear boy."

Tom follows orders and moves forward, his long fingers plucking a sweet from the dish on Dippet's desk. Dippet pushes the dish towards Clara, and she takes one too.

"Albus?"

Dumbledore regards the selection on offer - chocolate limes, sherbet lemons, aniseed balls, but shakes his head. "No thank you, Headmaster."

Dippet sighs softly and looks up at Tom. "What are your plans for the afternoon? If you wanted a little trip into Hogsmeade I'm sure we could arrange it...seems silly to keep you cooped up in here all Christmas."

"I was going to take tea with Professor Slughorn," Tom says. "And I'm sure he'd be delighted if Clara joined us." He turns to Clara. "I don't think you've met Professor Slughorn yet, have you?"

"No," she replies, shaking her head. "The name rings a bell though, so I'm sure you've mentioned him."

Dumbledore shifts slightly in his seat.

"Yes, probably," Tom agrees. "He's our head of house."

"Excellent," Dippet says, clapping his hands together. "Well Clara, we'll have your belongings sent down to the Slytherin dormitories, now you two run along and enjoy yourselves."

Clara stands. "Thank you Headmaster. You've been very kind."

"You're most welcome my dear. Oh and Tom, make sure Clara's up to speed with all the O.W.L. work, will you?"

"Yes Headmaster, of course."

"Very good, very good."

Clara follows Tom from the office, and as she descends the spiral staircase, she hears Dippet's voice, faint in the distance.

"In the current climate, Slytherin house is the safest place for her, Albus."

"You're sure of that, are you, Armando?"

"Positive."