CHAPTER FOUR

The following day was Saturday. Damian woke up early and had a quick breakfast in the kitchen before sneaking down into his brother's quarters.

Sanaro was still asleep when Damian arrived, so in order to wake his brother up, Damian conjured ice-cold water to pour over him. Worked like a charm. Sanaro fell out of bed with a yell and looked over up at Damian.

'Are you early?' he asked, getting to his feet, deciding to ignore the method Damian used to wake him. 'I know I set the alarm to go off at eight, so I could get a few things done before I met up with you and Dad in the Chamber at ten… YOU WOKE ME UP AT FIVE-THIRTY IN THE MORNING!' Sanaro yelled, catching sight of the time.

'Yeah, I have a question,' said Damian, sitting on the edge of Sanaro's bed, where it was dry.

'Couldn't it have waited until later on?' Sanaro yawned, sitting down next to Damian.

'No. Can anyone enter a Hogwarts common room regardless of what House you are in?'

'Yes. There are two ways one could enter. The first way is to be invited in; while the second option is that you must possess one of the Founders qualities, such as a Gryffindors bravery or a Ravenclaws intelligence. And if you are asking if it is against the school rules then the answer is no.'

Damian sat there pondering what he had just learnt before he jumped up and cheerfully said, 'Thanks, Profes – I mean - Sanaro. See you at ten!'

'It's too early for anyone to be that cheerful,' Sanaro groaned, before he called out to his brother, 'The passwords "Horntail".'

Damian smiled and ran out of Sanaro's quarters. Of course Sanaro would get the general gist of what he was up to.

Damian did not stop running until he was in front of the Fat Lady, who was asleep in her frame.

Controlling his breathing, Damian said "Horntail" to the Portrait, which opened after muttering something incomprehensible in her sleep.

Damian quietly walked into the Gryffindor common room and sat in one of the chairs in the shadows waiting patiently. This was obviously not one of his Gryffindor traits. You're probably wondering what he was up to. Well, in Gryffindor there is a certain routine that takes place every Saturday morning. The vast majority of Gryffindors would sleep into eight, before heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Then they would do whatever they want as long as they were back in the Common Room by nine o'clock for the weekly meeting, which was run by the Prefects.

Eventually nine o'clock rolled by and the Gryffindors were ready to begin. No one had noticed Damian yet.

'Okay, the first order of business today is Damian Riddle,' began Ron. Damian felt as though a cold hand had grabbed his heart. 'We'll have to keep a closer eye on him and the other Slytherins from now on.'

'Why?' asked Neville.

'He's You-Know-Who's son, Neville!' Ron said as though he was speaking to an idiot. 'Just think about it, You-Know-Who's son being in Slytherin means a lot more potential Death Eaters!'

'I think you're wrong, Ron,' Hermione said quietly. 'We have seen no evidence that Harry has changed.'

'Open your eyes, Hermione. He's a bloody Slytherin!'

'What's that got to do with anything?' Hermione cried angrily. 'He's still our friend, and if you recall, his brother said that they were correcting a mistake Harry – er – Damian made in his first year, which means that he was going to be placed in Slytherin before now!'

'That means he has been lying to us from the very start!' Ginny intervened angrily.

'I don't believe that!' Hermione retorted.

'Why are you standing up for a son of a monster?' demanded Lavender.

'Because he isn't a monster himself and he is my friend! Besides, if he was really a monster why did he save the Philosopher's Stone when he could have given it to his father? Why did he save Sirius from the Dementors? Why did he bring Cedric's body back? Why did he try to protect us at the Department of Mysteries and teach us how to fight to protect ourselves? Or save Mr Weasley or Ron from the poison or you from the Chamber of Secrets, Ginny?' Hermione argued.

'For someone so smart you are acting really dumb,' Parvati said nastily.

'Hermione, don't you see? He did all of that to gain our trust,' said Dean. 'Besides, you forget that we are Muggle-borns… filth in his eyes!'

'That's not true,' Damian said quietly, unable to stay quietly any longer.

Those who were closes to him jumped quickly away and drew their wands.

'What are you doing here?' Ron demanded also drawing his wand. 'You are no longer a Gryffindor, so you can't be here!' After a moment's pause he added, 'How'd you get in here anyway?'

'I entered through the portrait, just like everyone else.' Damian knew what Ron really meant, but he just wanted to annoy him. He was already starting to pick up Sanaro's habits.

'I meant how did you get in here without the password?'

'That's for me to know and you to never find out,' replied Damian.

The top of Ron's ears started to turn red.

'Was it Snape?' he questioned bluntly.

'Was what Snape?'

'Was Snape the one who let you into our common room?' Ron said, turning redder.

'As if I would ask Snape for help with something like that! I got in here without his help.' Technically it wasn't a lie. Sanaro actually told him the password without his disguise on.

'What do you want?' Ginny said furiously.

'To see where we stand and so far Hermione's the only one I can see that might still be my friend,' Damian said, looking over at Hermione.

'Will you join him?' Hermione asked, desperate to see if her friend was still the same.

Damian didn't answer straight away.

'All I want from Voldemort is his help to take down Dumbledore,' he said gently, walking over to her. 'I promise I won't become a murder… unless I'm murdering Dumbledore.'

'What about Muggles and Muggle-borns?'

'Hermione, do you think that I would be here talking to you if I hated Muggle-borns?' Damian asked lightly.

Hermione let out a sob and Damian hugged her tightly, which she returned.

When they broke apart, Neville walked over to Damian.

'You have always been an excellent friend and I would be foolish to throw such a friendship away. Until the day you change for the worst, I will be your friend. And even then, I will try to make you see the error of your ways.'

'Thanks, Neville,' Damian replied. When no one else said anything Damian continued. 'I guess I will be off with this all said and done. I will see you guys later.'

Head held up confidently, Damian left the Gryffindor common room lighter than he was before, now knowing whom his true friends were.

Upon leaving the Gryffindor common room, Damian decided to go to the Great Hall to meet up with Draco.

Damian found Draco sitting with Blaise and Theodore at the Slytherin table. As he was walking over to them, he found his path blocked by a girl with long dirty blonde hair and radish earrings.

'Hi, Luna,' Damian said a bit warily, wondering what she was about to say.

'Hi, Damian, just want you to know that I'm still going to be your friend even though You-Know-Who is your father.'

'Um, thanks, Luna.' Even though he had known Luna for a year, he still wasn't use to her out of the blue comments.

'You're welcome,' she said, before skipping out of the Hall.

Damian watched her leave before going over and sitting next to Draco.

'Where have you been?' Draco asked.

'I've been in the Gryffindor common room.'

'The Gryffindor… wait what were you doing there?' said Blaise, looking up from the game of chess he was playing with Theodore.

'Just seeing where I stand with the Gryffindors, which reminds me,' Damian said, looking at Draco. 'Can you make sure that the Slytherins leave Hermione, Neville and Luna alone, please?'

'I can do that, but why aren't the two Weasleys one that list or any other Gryffindor?'

'I don't care what they do to the Weasleys or any other Gryffindor. They're no friends of mine, except Neville, Hermione and Luna,' Damian growled.

'Thank goodness,' the three other Slytherins muttered. Damian raised an eyebrow.

'To be honest, Damian, every Slytherin in our grade have been waiting for you to figure out the truth,' Theodore said sadly. 'Whenever you weren't looking, they would have a look of satisfaction on their faces, except for Longbottom and Granger.'

'I feel like such an idiot,' Damian mumbled bitterly.

'Don't, you had no way of knowing when they did it behind your back, so to speak,' said Blaise. 'Anyway, Theo and I are going back to the common room, you two coming?'

'Nah, I was going to go for a walk down to the lake and sit there for a while,' replied Draco, rising from his seat.

'I'll join you,' Damian said quickly. 'I'll see you guys later.'

'Okay, see ya.'

'Hey, Damian, do you want to get together some time during the holidays?' Draco asked as they left the Hall.

'That would be wonderful,' Damian said. 'I'll talk to my D-Voldemort about it, but I'm sure he'll be all right about it as long as we follow any rules he gives us - uff.'

Damian had just walked into someone and fell flat on his bum.

'Sorry,' Damian said quickly, 'I didn't mean to…' Damian trailed off with a gasp.

Standing above him was Dumbledore, Moody and Remus.

'That's alright,' replied Remus. Apparently he was the one Damian walked into. 'I should have been paying more attention to my surroundings as well.'

'Where are you two off to on this fine day?' Dumbledore asked Draco and Damian friendly.

'That is none of your business!' Damian snapped, while Draco's eyes narrowed with dislike.

'That is no way to speak to your elders, Riddle,' Moody growled.

'If you mean respect, then I should let you know that I don't respect those that haven't earned my respect or those that lied to me and made me fight my family!' Damian said with more venom in his voice than a snake has in its fangs. 'Come on, Draco. Let's go. See you, Remus,' he added as they walked off, well, Damian stormed off and Draco practically ran to keep up.

-THE TRUTH REVEALED-

At five to ten, Damian was in the Chamber of Secrets walking over to Sanaro who was already there waiting.

'How did it go?' Sanaro asked, putting down the book he was reading.

'Well, I'm still friends with Neville, Hermione and Luna, but the others think of me now as "the son of a monster",' Damian said sitting down next to Sanaro.

'Does that mean that you and Ginny Weasley have split up?' Sanaro asked hopefully.

Damian nodded.

'Thank goodness,' Sanaro said, surprising Damian. 'I'm glad that I won't have her as a sister-in-law. It's bad enough having her in class.'

Damian couldn't help it, he just burst out laughing and Sanaro shortly joined him.

'Good to see the two of you getting along,' said a quiet voice.

Damian jumped and turned around to see his father and mother walking towards them.

'Hi, Voldemort, Nagini,' he greeted. Voldemort gave his son a look, while Nagini made a sad noise at the way their son addressed them. 'I took your advice, by the way, and discovered that I'm still friends with Hermione, Luna and Neville.'

'You found that out fast,' Nagini commented. 'What did you do, ambush them at breakfast?'

'No, if I did that then I would have had Dumbledore down on me, so instead I waited in their common room.'

'Yeah, the little brat decided to wake me up at five-thirty this morning asking me how to get in there,' Sanaro said glaring at Damian, who trying to act innocent.

'You were actually able to get him up at that time of morning,' Voldemort said in disbelief.

Damian laughed while Sanaro glared at their father.

'Anyway, you know the reason why we are here today,' continued Voldemort. 'We are here to teach you how to defend yourself against Dumbledore.'

'Speaking of Dumbledore; Draco and I kind of ran into him, Moody and Remus when we were heading out to the lake,' said Damian.

'Did he speak to you?' Voldemort asked quickly.

'Yes, he asked where we were going in the annoying grandfather voice. I think it was one of his attempts to try and gain my trust or he was hoping that he might get an opportunity to kidnap me again.'

'It probably was. For now on try and have at least one person with you at all times, just to be safe.'

'Yes sir.'

'Now, the first thing we'll be teaching you is Occlumency. I take it that you are familiar with this term?' said Voldemort.

'Um, yes. Are you sure that you want to teach me it today? Wouldn't you prefer to teach me something easier? 'Cause I suck at it. Even ask Sanaro. When he tried to teach me it we got nowhere - why are you guys looking guilty?'

'Damian, the only reason why you sucked at it is because I told Sanaro to make it easier for me to access your mind,' Voldemort said apologetically. 'But this time you will be able to close your mind.'

With that said, Voldemort and Sanaro taught Damian how to control his emotions and clear his mind. By lunch, he had a good hang of Occlumency, which surprised his family on how quickly he picked it up.

'I guess we really shouldn't be so surprised that you were able to learn this so quickly,' Sanaro said as he and Damian left the Chamber so Dumbledore wouldn't get suspicious of their absence at lunch.

'And why's that?' asked Damian.

'You were able to throw of the Imperious Curse at the age of fourteen, which has similar elements as Occlumency,' Sanaro replied, before adding, 'And it probably helps that you are unusually powerful for your age.'

Damian didn't say anything. He knew that he could perform advance magic, but for some reason, he never thought as himself as a power wizard.

'So, what are you plans for the rest of the day?' Sanaro asked his brother as they arrived back in Sanaro's chambers. There was a secret passage in there that led from his quarters to the Chamber.

'I'll probably hangout with Draco and my other friends. Maybe play some Quidditch,' Damian answered as they walked to the Great Hall together.

'Sounds good, but speaking of Quidditch, when you were in the Gryffindor common room the Slytherin Quidditch team came and spoke to me,' Sanaro said conversationally.

''Bout what?' Damian asked curiously. Draco never said anything about seeing Sanaro.

'Draco has resigned from the Slytherin Quidditch team...' Sanaro said, looking down at Damian to see his reaction.

'What? Why did he do that? He loves Quidditch as much as I do!' exclaimed Damian.

'If you had let me finish, I was only going to say that he has resigned from the Slytherin Quidditch team as their Seeker. Its Urquhart last year and he gathered the whole team this morning to talk about our team next year. They are leaving the Seeker post open for you, if you are interested?' Sanaro concluded, happy to see the smile that was slowly spreading across Damian's face.

'They want me on their team?' Damian said eagerly.

'Yes. They know that you are the best man for the job. Urquhart also has suggested for you to be Slytherin's Quidditch Captain next year too. After seeing the Gryffindor team you put together this year, he knows that you will do an excellent job and your future team mates agree with that choice.'

'So I'm going to be Slytherin's Seeker and Quidditch captain next year?' Damian said in disbelief.

'Didn't I just say that you were?'

'Yes, but... wow. Hang on, what's Draco playing then?'

'Draco will take Urquhart's place as a Chaser. And I expect you to give us a winning team next year!' Sanaro added sternly. 'It will make up for all the times you stole the Cup away from Slytherin!'

'No problem with that!' Damian laughed. 'I'll make sure...'

Whatever he was going to make sure of was left unknown, for as the two brothers arrived at the Entrance Hall, they heard yelling and it sounded as though a duel was taking place inside the Great Hall.

Sanaro quickly took out his wand and rushed inside. Damian followed a little more slowly so it wouldn't look like they arrived together. When Damian did enter though, he got a huge surprise. Gryffindors table looked as though a bomb had hit it. It was on fire and many of the Gryffindor students were covered in food, but what got Damian's attention had nothing to do with the burning table. Standing in the isle between the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables was Ron, Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Lavender with their wands out and they were yelling at Neville, Draco, Blaise and Theo, who also had their wands out and were yelling back at them. Behind the three Slytherins and Neville, was a crying Hermione, with Pansy and Daphne Greengrass next to her.

There were no teachers in sight, so it was all up to Sanaro, who raised his wand and a loud band exploded from it. That got everyone's attention.

'What is going on here?' demanded Sanaro, with his black eyes getting a slight redness to them. 'Draco? I expected more from you! So tell me exactly what happened!'

Draco didn't answer; instead he just continued to glare at Ron.

'As Draco, Blaise, Theo, Pansy and I walked into the Hall, we heard and saw Hermione having a heated argument with the other Gryffindors, minus Longbottom, and eventually the others turned their wands on Hermione so we got up and helped her,' Daphne answered bluntly instead.

'Right,' Sanaro said furiously as Damian walked over to Hermione and knelt down next to her, drawing her into a hug. 'Weasley, Thomas, Brown, Patil and Finnigan, you have lost fifty points each from Gryffindor, and will all serve detention with either Mr Filch or myself for a week!'

'What? That's not fair! What about the Slytherins?' Ron argued.

'They're not the ones who started it,' Sanaro said coldly.

Damian thought that it was a stupid question to be asked, especially to Sanaro. He would always take Slytherins side, unless he had a very good reason not to.

'Now, I suggest you run along before I take away more points!' snapped Sanaro, before putting out the fire that was spreading along the Gryffindor table. 'Where are the other teachers?' he added after a while, ignoring the fact that the Gryffindors hadn't moved.

'None of them have turned up yet,' Neville answered nervously.

'That's odd...'

'Severus, there you are!' Dumbledore said cheerfully, walking into the Hall. 'We've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you... what happened in here?' he added, looking at the Gryffindor table.

'And why has the Gryffindor hourglass lost two hundred and fifty points?' McGonagall added as she walked into the Hall.

'Professor Snape took the points off us!' Ron said quickly. 'We were duelling with Longbottom, Granger and the other Slytherins, but he only took points off us and gave us detention for the rest of the week.'

'Really, Severus. I agree that their actions were wrong but to take points of just the five of them isn't fair. As a result, Mr Longbottom, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy, Mr Nott, Mr Zabini, Miss Parkinson, Miss Greengrass and Mr Riddle will also lose fifty points each and they will all serve detention with Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest tomorrow night!' Dumbledore said calmly.

'Why is Damian getting punished? He wasn't even here when it happened!' Draco said angrily.

'Is this true, Severus?' Dumbledore asked.

'Yes. Mr Riddle had been with me this morning discussing he's ideas for the Slytherin Quidditch team next year,' Sanaro answered stiffly.

'Very well, Mr Riddle shall receive no punishment. Come now, Severus. We have a staff meeting,' Dumbledore said, before walking out with McGonagall, followed unwillingly by Sanaro.

The Hall was still for a moment, before Ron and his friends stormed out of the Hall.

'Come on, let's get out of here,' Damian muttered to his friends, helping Hermione to her feet. Together, they all left the Hall, and went and sat down by the Lake. Once they were all comfortable, Damian turned to Neville. 'What was that all about?'

'We were still arguing about you,' Neville shrugged simply.

'Sorry,' said Damian. 'I didn't want you two to go through that.'

'We had it coming. At least it was only into the Forest with Hagrid,' Hermione said quietly.

'Hmm, I'll take Filch any day,' muttered Draco, think of the last time he went in there.

'Don't worry, Draco. Hermione will protect you!' Damian joked.

'Ha ha ha. Funny.'

'I thought it was,' Damian said, before asking, 'Why were you five sticking up for Hermione and Neville anyway? Not that I'm complaining.'

'You're friends with them and we have no grudge against them, so we decided to help,' Pansy shrugged.

'Damian, there's something you should know,' Hermione said quietly. 'The Gryffindors are planning on doing something to you, but Neville and I don't know what.'

'In that case, I'll have to watch my back,' Damian muttered darkly.

For the rest of the afternoon the six Slytherins and two Gryffindors sat by the lake talking and laughing, and eventually Luna joined their group.

However their happiness didn't last for Hermione asked Damian why he hated Dumbledore all of a sudden, and once Damian had finished explaining, the nine friends swore that they would stand together and fight Dumbledore in order to bring peace to the wizarding world.

Azaelia Silmarwen facebook page: link on profile
Written: 12 July 2011
Updated:
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