Chap. 2: At Borgin and Burke's

It was the next day. The streets of London were calm, for this time, which Nathara liked. She wandered off in thought, thinking about what Hogwarts would be like, letting her feet guide her through the familiar streets of London to the Leaky Cauldron. She was deep in a fantasy about being top of class, until her eyes found a rusty sign that read, "The Leaky Cauldron."

"Hello, Tom," she greeted the bartender.

"Hello, Nathara. Hogwarts supplies?"

She nodded. Nathara was here so much that she was on first name terms with many of the staff. She walked to the brick wall where Diagon Alley was located. Using her mother's old wand, she tapped the bricks in the pattern that was to reveal the alley. It opened up a large archway that showed many colorful buildings, containing much magic within them. However, she still needed to do a bit more walking to reach the intended destination. She snickered a bit when she strolled past a girl, about her age, with very bushy hair gape at the Flourish and Blotts display.

Probably a Mudblood, Nathara thought.

Nathara had already seen Diagon Alley's magic, and so had most other Wizarding families. It wasn't very special or extraordinary.

Nathara kept on walking. She passed Gringotts, having her money prepared already. Finally, she strode down Knockturn Alley. She stopped at a dark, ominous looking shop (not that the shops there weren't dark or ominous), that was Borgin and Burkes, the reason why Nathara wanted to be alone.

"Ah, Ms. Riddle," Mr. Borgin said. "I have something for you."

"You have already mentioned that, sir" Nathara smoothly reminded.

That was true. Mr. Borgin owled Nathara the other day to pick up something.

"Here we are," Mr. Borgin pulled out a fine looking wand from behind the counter. "So you won't have to keep using your Mum's. Elder, 13 inches, Thestral tail hair. Not The Elder Wand, unfortunately."

He placed the wand in Nathara's hand. As soon as it made contact with her naturally ghostly pale skin, a mysterious golden light erupted from the wand, and circled Nathara. It felt warm, comforting, powerful. This wand felt way better in her hand than her mum's ever did. Nathara smiled. A true smile that was very rare for Nathara to show. Noticing that she was smiling this openly, she changed her expression to the usual straight face.

"Well if that's all sir..."

"No, one more little thing. A letter from your father. He gave it to me to give to you."

"How, sir? He can't -"

"Horcruxes. Goodbye Ms. Riddle," he quickly said, and he rushed Nathara out of the shop.

As Nathara traveled back to Diagon Alley, she thought about Horcruxes. She remembered having stumbled upon the word once, in a book Mr. Borgin gave her. Nathara sighed.

Books. She liked books. Not because learning was fun, exactly. She would much rather just have all knowledge in her brain already. She liked books, because the knowledge she gained helped her closer to achieving her many goals.

Nathara reached Diagon Alley. There were more people here now, many Hogwarts students. She noticed that the Mudblood was gone, but Nathara didn't need to go to Flourish and Blotts. Mr. Borgin supplied her with most of her possessions, ever since they met when she was five. Nathara remembered being bored one day, and somehow ending up at Knockturn Alley. Mr. Borgin found her, knew she was the daughter of Voldemort, and they became somewhat friends.

The books she owned were from Mr. Borgin. Nathara recently started Moste Potente Potions. Of course, she had done more reading than this, but Moste Potente Potions was her first restricted book. It hid under an enchanted loose floorboard in her room, along with many other unread Dark Arts books. Nathara wasn't sure if she wanted to read these. Her father was a Dark Wizard, the darkest, but Nathara didn't know if she wanted to follow this path.

Anyway, Nathara reached Madam Malkin's robe shop.

"Hogwarts, dear?" a blonde witch, no older than twenty, asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Nathara replied politely.

"Right this way, then."
The woman ushered Nathara into a room lined with large mirrors. The witch took a length of black fabric, lifted Nathara's slender arms to the side, and began sewing. A minute or two later, another girl, seemingly around Nathara's age walked in. The girl had a pug like face, and her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hello," she said. "Hogwarts too?"

"Yes," Nathara answered.

"Pureblood?"

"Yes," Nathara said again.

The girl smiled at this, and continued, "I'm Pansy Parkinson. What's your name?"

"Nathara, Nathara Riddle."

"Part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight then?"

"Yes, and you are too."

"Good. Everywhere I look there's a pack of Mudbloods." This earned a sharp glare from the witch who was still working on Nathara's robes. The blonde witch then exited the room, perhaps to get some more thread.

"I heard Hogwarts is full of them. They are seriously just shit-" Parkinson continued, but stopped since the blonde witch was back, with a considerable amount of annoyance towards Parkinson.

"What house do you think you'll be in?" Parkinson changed the subject.

"Slytherin, the best, of course."

"Ha!" the blonde witch remarked.

"I'm sorry, did anyone ask for your opinion?" Nathara said in a cold as ice voice that shut the witch up.

"Of course, Slytherin is the best..."

Before they could carry on, the blonde witch announced that Nathara's robes were done.

"See you at Hogwarts," Parkinson called.

"See you," Nathara called back.

Good, Nathara thought, another acquaintance.

Nathara liked having acquaintances that were useful. That didn't necessarily mean they were friends. Nathara didn't need friends. That was fine, she preferred to operate alone, just like on this shopping trip.

The last things Nathara needed to buy (some new quills, ink, parchment, another cauldron) were bought uneventfully, and Nathara headed back to hom- Aunt Opal's. It wasn't a home. It wouldn't be home, it didn't feel like one. Borgin and Burke's was the closest thing that felt like a home to Nathara. Hopefully, Hogwarts would be a home, too.

A/N: Hello people! Thank you to amandita2907 (hopefully I spelled that right) for reviewing. I love the story too, probably because I wrote it. The next chapter will be about the Hogwarts Express. Nathara won't open the letter until chapter 7, you'll see why. I will continue to update, probably tomorrow, because I get annoyed by unfinished work, and I also get annoyed when someone steals my Pokemon on Pokemon Go.

-Kat