Slughorn's Soiree for Gifted Students, better known as the Slug Club, was held in a chamber off the Great Hall. A roaring fire burned directly across from the door, and groups of chairs were arranged in clusters around the large room. Katherine was greeted by Slughorn at the door with a goblet of pumpkin juice and a jovial pat on the back. After a few minutes of small talk with the Professor, Katherine excused herself to join the other students.

She surveyed the room, noting that just over a dozen students were present, with most being from Slytherin and Ravenclaw, although a few Hufflepuff and Gryffindor students were also present.

Riddle stood leaning against the brick wall containing the fireplace, while a group of Slytherin students sat clustered around him. Victoria was bragging about her family's new winter home in the Alps. Eleonora Burke, a 5th year student, was listening attentively; she was clearly surprised that she was being allowed to talk to one of the older Slytherin students at all. Abraxas slouched against the back of his chair, looking bored as he sipped pumpkin juice to which Katherine suspected he'd likely added a bit of something stronger.

Katherine began to walk towards her housemates, but was quickly intercepted by Julian Fawley, the Ravenclaw prefect, and Hestius Bartleby, another Ravenclaw student. "Hey Katherine," said Julian. "I didn't know you were a member of the Slug Club!"

"I'm a new addition, as of today," she said, tucking a stray stand of hair behind one ear. "How did the rest of your Ancient Runes assignment go?"

Julian smiled earnestly, his blue eyes bright. "I finished it last night, and I think it's pretty good, thanks to your help the other day!"

"You could have figured it out without me," she said, shrugging, "But it was definitely more fun working on it together."

There was a momentary lull in conversation, in which Hestius cleared his throat nervously, and fiddled with his dark blue tie. After a moment to work up the courage, he managed to speak.

"A few of the other Ravenclaw students, along with Julian and I, we have this discussion group for Advanced Magical Theory…It's not all that exciting I guess, and if you aren't interested, I understand…" Hestius paused. "But we were wondering if you might want to join?"

Julian cut in. "It's normally just for upper-year Ravenclaw students, but we talked to the others, and they agreed that you would be a welcome addition."

Katherine smiled broadly, eyes crinkling at the corners. "That doesn't sound uninteresting at all! I would love to attend. Thank you for thinking of me."

The two Ravenclaw boys looked at each other, then grinned at Katherine. Julian opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by a high pitched voice - "You're Katherine Morrigan, right?"

Katherine looked over her shoulder to see a short girl in Hufflepuff robes looking at her expectantly. The girl had shoulder length chestnut brown hair, hazel eyes, and a spattering of freckles across her round cheeks. Without pausing to hear Katherine's reply, she continued. "I'm Clara Potter, and this" – she jerked a thumb towards a ruddy-faced blond boy standing behind her – "is Nicholas Vesper." Clara's male companion had his gaze planted firmly on the floor, and seemed to have no interest in moving it anywhere else.

Katherine looked a little taken aback by the sudden introductions, but nevertheless smiled politely. "It's nice to meet you," she said, bemused.

"We heard from Samantha Bones, who heard from Frederick Marshall, who heard from Olive Hornby, that you are really excellent at Charms," she said, all in one breath. "Nicholas and I are on the Halloween Dance Decoration Committee, and we have some good ideas, but we don't think we'll be able to actually execute them, given that Lauren Smelter is in the Hospital wing, and she normally does that sort of thing." She paused her frenzied speech, looking as though she expected Katherine to say something.

Katherine raised an eyebrow, clearly not following. "And?"

Clara shook her head, exasperated. "So we were wondering if you might be willing to help with the decorations?"

Breathing out in relief as she realized what Clara wanted, Katherine smiled. "Is that all? Of course, I'd be happy to."

Clara looked surprised, as though expecting Katherine to say no. "Oh, well, okay then. Our next meeting is Tuesday night after dinner; we meet in the Divination classroom." She nodded sharply at Katherine, directed a little wave towards the Ravenclaw boys, and then left, Nicholas trailing behind her.

Katherine was about to ask Julian and Hestius about Clara, and why she seemed so frantic about the Halloween decorations, when she noticed that they were staring over her shoulder. Turning to identify the newcomer, Katherine came face-to-face with Tom Riddle.

Riddle was looking down at her with a cocky smirk on his face. "Welcome to the Slug Club, Katherine," he said, amusement evident in his voice.

"What's so funny?" she inquired coyly, one eyebrow pulling up.

He laughed once, a silky deep chuckle escaping his throat. "If I'm not mistaken, you just got roped into working on the Halloween Decoration Committee."

"Again, what's so funny about that?" she pressed, looking slightly confused.

A smile dangled off the corner of Riddle's lips. "Decoration Committees are usually reserved for Hufflepuff students, since no one else is willing to put in extra effort without any reward in return. Slytherin students usually just show up and enjoy the party."

Katherine glanced at the Ravenclaw boys for confirmation. They shrugged and nodded their agreement with Riddle.

Katherine lifted her chin, and set her jaw. "Well, I'll enjoy the party even more knowing that I'm partially responsible for its success. And Clara seems lovely, if a little eager."

Julian snorted. "She's completely mental. Clara's obsessed with parties, and wants to be an event planner when she graduates, but she's not good enough with wandwork to do any of the charms herself. Mostly she just bosses other people around."

Katherine shrugged. "Then it's a good thing she's got me to help her."

A hint of a sneer played at Riddle's features as he took pleasure in hearing about Clara's deficient skills. An instant later, the sour expression had vanished, replaced by his usual polite façade. "Katherine, if you're finished loaning out your skills to students in need, perhaps you should join your housemates."

Katherine nodded, lifting a hand goodbye to Julian and Hestius. Riddle placed his hand at the small of her back, and guided her towards the Slytherins by the fireplace. "Friends with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs," he said as they walked. "Quite the socialite, aren't you?"

"I guess so," she said, smiling innocently up at him.

As they reached the cluster of Slytherin students, Victoria stood up abruptly, and rushed off to get a drink. "What was that about?" asked Eleonora.

"I have no idea," said Katherine, her voice laced with false concern.

Abraxas shrugged, uncaring. "Victoria's always been fond of drama; I wouldn't worry about it."

Katherine plopped down on the chair next to Abraxas, and leaned towards him. Speaking softly, she said, "Do you have anything to make this night a bit more exciting?"

A mischievous smile crept onto Abraxas' face. "For you, always," he said, surreptitiously pulling out a golden flask, and pouring some of the contents into Katherine's goblet. Eleonora watched the exchange out of the corner of her eye, but if she had any issues with under-age drinking she didn't address it aloud.

When Abraxas was finished, Katherine raised her goblet, toasting his contribution to her drink. She took a sip, and the telltale burn of firewhiskey warmed her throat on the way down.

Riddle resumed his position leaning against the fireplace, a contemplative expression on his face as he observed the chatter amongst the gathered Slytherin students. After a few minutes, he took a seat next to Abraxas, turned down the offer of firewhiskey, and joined the lighthearted conversation for the rest of the evening.

Neither Katherine nor Abraxas made an appearance at breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning. Abraxas forewent food entirely, and showed up early to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. He snagged a spot in the back and promptly slumped over on the table with his head tucked under his crossed arms. As the other Slytherin students filed into the classroom, he grunted a good morning, but otherwise remained non-responsive.

Katherine arrived just a few minutes before class was scheduled to start, clutching half a bagel and a mug full of tea. She began to head towards the back, perhaps hoping to catch a quick nap like Abraxas, but noticed Riddle motioning for her to join him at the front of the room. With an exasperated sigh, she shuffled up to the desk next to him, put her food down, and sat.

"You know, Riddle," she said, after a sip of her coffee, "If you want me to be your partner in every class, it might be easier to just say that up front, rather than asking me to sit with you individually in every class."

Riddle contorted his face in mock-horror. "But if I did that, I wouldn't get to delight in seeing your evident pleasure at my invitation."

Katherine rolled her eyes and continued to eat her bagel.

"You're certainly less talkative than usual this morning. Bit too much pumpkin juice last night perhaps?" asked Riddle with a wink.

With a brittle smile, Katherine turned towards him. "It's not all that unusual to be less than chipper on Monday mornings, Riddle. You might know that if you ever let yourself unwind and have a little fun."

Riddle started a little in surprise, before pursing his lips together in a pout. "You don't think I have fun?"

Katherine gave him a pointed look. "I've yet to see any evidence to that effect, not since Prague anyways."

Riddle smirked. "Maybe that's because my personal brand of fun isn't the kind that can take place at school-sanctioned events."

Just then, Professor Mirabeth Nortings entered the classroom and turned to face the students, waiting for the chattering voices to die down.

"Good morning, students! Today we will practice the basic stunning spell, Stupefy, in preparation for learning more advanced stunning techniques later in the year. Please stand facing your partners, wands drawn, and begin taking turns attempting to stun the other. Don't forget to use the Shield charm we learnt last week, Protego, as a means to defend yourself against your partner's stunning spells."

Riddle stood and gestured for Katherine to stand across from him. She moved to stand about 6 feet away from Riddle, who was already in position with his wand drawn. "Are you ready?" he asked politely.

Katherine nodded, and Riddle immediately shot a bolt of red light towards her, which bounced harmlessly off her invisible shield. Both Katherine and Riddle were performing the spells non-verbally, leaving them free to chat as they fired the simple spells at one another.

"I've been thinking about what you're trying to accomplish by spending time with students in other houses," said Riddle, "and I think I've figured it out."

Katherine shot a stunning spell at Riddle, who deflected it with a casual wave of his wand. "I'm interested in Advanced Magical Theory, and I offered to help with the Halloween Dance Decoration Committee. That's all there is to it, Riddle."

Professor Nortings walked by, looking impressed with their spellwork. "You two have certainly mastered these spells. If you'd like, you can work on exchanging other spells; just make sure to stay safe." She gave them an approving nod, before heading off to check on other students.

Riddle waited for Professor Nortings to be out of ear shot before continuing his conversation with Katherine. "You know that I'd never believe such a lackluster excuse, Katherine. You're making a concerted effort to befriend students in other houses. You must want something from them, I'm just not sure what that is yet."

He shot a stream of purple sparks towards her, which she deflected with a wave of blue light. The sparks sizzled against Katherine's wall of energy before going out.

Katherine fired a stinging hex at him in return, and put on her best simpering smile. "Isn't simple friendship enough of a reward, Tom?"

Easily side-stepping Katherine's simple hex, Riddle scowled angrily. "Don't call me that." He began to move his wand more quickly, firing off spell after spell, pounding against Katherine's shields.

She stayed calm, maintaining her defenses while managing to occasionally fire off a spell in return. "Why not? I called you Tom when we first met; you had no problem with it then."

He glared at her, and spoke through gritted teeth. "That's how I was introduced in Prague, and I couldn't argue there. But Hogwarts is my domain, and here I go by Riddle." He pulled his wand back, and then sharply jabbed it forward. A series of silver-tipped daggers flew out of the tip of his wand and towards Katherine.

Quickly swishing her wand in the air, Katherine managed to cast Oppugno. The daggers twirled in mid-air and changed the direction of their flight, returning towards Riddle. With a flick of his wand, the daggers halted in their paths and dropped to the floor, where they transformed into snakes and began slithering towards Katherine. Immediately afterwards, he began firing various hexes and jinxes at Katherine, splitting her attention. The other students in the class began to cease their practicing of Stupefy and Protego and watch the intensifying duel instead.

Katherine fought to block the onslaught of spells, glancing nervously down towards the serpents at her feet. She wanted desperately to deal with the reptilian threat, but couldn't spare her attention from Riddle's offensive spellwork. She was just barely managing to prevent a spell from breaking through her defenses; she had no time for offensive measures of her own.

Finally, as the snakes neared Katherine's feet, she decided upon a last-ditch strategy. With a deep inhale, she dropped all her shield charms simultaneously, funneling all her magic into a single powerful Incendio charm directed towards Riddle. A wall of fire advanced towards him, and Katherine lost sight of him through the flames. For a moment, she thought she might have bested him, but then a mesh of silver light shot through the fire, entangling her in its web. She struggled to free herself, but with every movement the silver strings seemed to tighten further, binding her arms to her body. Losing her balance, she fell to the floor, where she remained, giving up on freeing herself from the bonds.

Suddenly, the flames died down, and Riddle stepped through the smoldering ash. With a quick non-verbal Expelliarmus, he disarmed Katherine, before freeing her from the web. Although she'd been beaten, Katherine noted with satisfaction that the bottoms of Riddle's robes were clearly singed. Their duel had not been entirely one-sided; perhaps it had even been a close call.

Professor Nortings scampered over to Riddle and Katherine. "Well done, the two of you! I didn't expect you to progress from turn-based spellwork to freeform dueling so early in the year, but clearly you are well prepared for it."

Riddle smiled enthusiastically at the Professor, before taking a few strides to close the distance between him and Katherine. Extending an arm, Riddle offered Katherine a hand. She took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. Wordlessly, Riddle passed Katherine her wand, and then began to turn away.

Katherine grabbed the sleeve of Riddle's robe, pulling him back toward her. "Thank you…Riddle," she said, placing emphasis on his surname.

He paused. "Where did you learn to duel like that?" he asked quietly.

"The same place you met me," said Katherine, looking up at him. "Where did you learn?"

An arrogant look descended upon Riddle's face. "I didn't have to learn. Winning comes naturally to me."

AN: Stay tuned for the next chapter in a few days - the Halloween Dance is coming up!