Correction: Last chapter I mistakenly wrote that Hagrid was 13. He is not! He's supposed to be 15. I have edited that already.
Update: Again, thanks for being patient. A little late in the Valentine's Day gift but I hope you enjoy. A bit of fluff in this otherwise dark story. Also, I will TRY to make a promise to update once a month. This is a promise I know I'll probably break but hey! I'm gona try!
Luna made a dash up the stairs for the third floor classroom. A million things ran through her head every passing second. Hagrid? They were saying the groundskeeper's name. Hagrid would never do such a thing! Even if he would, given the date of Myrtle's death, it would make him... Luna stopped in her tracks. If this was truly 1943, Hagrid would be 15 years old, which would certainly make him of age to attend Hogwarts. It couldn't be.
Below, the students began to pour out of the Great Hall. She had to hurry and beat Riddle to the classroom. She rushed into the room and tried to casually lean up against the desk closest to the door. Luna mentally slapped herself as she realized how opposite of casual she was. Just as she straightened up, the Slytherin walked into the classroom.
He stared at her with his shrewd, green eyes. "I trust that you haven't strayed from my instructions." His eyes said the opposite. "You know better than that by now."
She felt as if she was being told off by her father for sneaking into the cookie jar again. "No, I wouldn't," she lied, startling herself with how smooth the fib came out.
"Come along now," he turned to walk back out into the hallway. "We have a long day ahead of us."
The hours blurred past as Riddle sat through his morning classes. Lovegood hadn't peeped once and he was glad of it. The silence was allowing him to think. He couldn't believe his luck at how quickly Dippet had lapped up his lies. The moron was willing to believe anything to avoid closing down the school, afraid it would ruin Hogwarts reputation. Dumbledore on the other hand was not so convinced. Riddle scowled. That old fool was always suspicious of him. He didn't know whether the man was truly that clever or simply a worry wart.
He wanted to believe that he had averted a crisis. He didn't even want to think what would happen to him if Hogwarts had shut down. There was nothing that frightened him, but he knew one place he abhorred more than fear itself: the orphanage. Riddle detested having to return there every summer. He was above those stupid lost boys and he was too special to be placed among such commoners. Still, Dippet had insisted that no students were allowed to linger behind at Hogwarts after the school year was finished.
Although his plan to kill all mudbloods was thwarted, he knew he would be happier if Hogwarts stayed open. There were many more ways to fulfil his destiny, one that was very close to fruition. He simply needed to remain patient and all his desires would come true. Riddle always got what he wanted, no matter the price.
Luna was studying the tall, mysterious boy throughout all the classes. The feeling she got from him this morning in the Great Hall still lingered. She could tell something was bothering him. Riddle might be hard to crack, but she knew from his eyes that he was pensive. She wondered if it had anything to do with Hagrid. In order to find out the truth about the murderer, she could only ask him. She had nobody else to talk to. She cast her gaze down.
Following Riddle to his afternoon classes, she suddenly felt a hard bump against her right shoulder. She looked up.
A girl was standing there staring at her expectantly.
Luna's eyes grew wide. She wondered if the girl could see her. She cast a glance at Riddle and he was still walking down the corridor oblivious. She turned back to the girl and she was still looking at her.
"Well?" the girl started.
Luna blinked twice. The girl was talking to her! "Uh," She was so excited at the fact that someone else other than the raven-haired boy was speaking to her that she was speechless.
The girl shrugged. "An apology would be nice." She smiled awkwardly.
"Oh!" This startled Luna into finding the right words. "I'm terribly sorry. I was preoccupied with my mind. You see, sometimes it likes to take me on these thinking walks and I just get so carried away." She smiled widely.
The girl's eyebrows rose.
"Lovegood!"
Luna's smile vanished. She turned to see Riddle storming towards them.
"Better run," the girl hoarsely whispered and dashed off in the other direction.
"Oh no, wait!" Luna exclaimed, but the girl was already sprinting around the corner.
"What the blazes is going on?" Riddle yelled.
Luna winced at the volume while a few students around them slowed to watch him.
He puffed loudly and grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards a closed door.
Luna couldn't help but feel her heart flutter at the touch of him. She was once again surprised he was so warm for someone that was so cold. She also felt the hand was a pretty interesting part to grab considering how it was more intimate than the arm.
He yanked open the door and pulled her inside. It was pitch black and Luna couldn't tell where they were, but only how close his body was. His warmth began to travel down to her toes.
A flash of light came on and she was blinded for a second. She blinked a few times and saw they were in a storage closet filled with spare desks and chairs. A single bulb hung above them.
"Who were you talking to?" he demanded. His body was trembling from fury.
"It was a girl. I bumped into her and I was just apologizing," she explained. She didn't understand why he was so angry.
"She saw you. How could she see you?" He was gripping her arms and unknowingly shaking her.
"I don't know," she stuttered. The pain from his grip was making her grimace. "Do you mind loosening your hands? It sort of hurts."
Riddle leaned down towards her face and spat, "I don't care." Still, he let go of her. "Tell me everything that happened."
Luna rubbed at her arms where he had held her. "I was just walking, thinking. I felt a hard bump and looked up and she was just standing there staring at me." She recalled how happy she was to know that her existence was finally being recognized.
He noticed her soft smile and immediately a surge rose through him. He couldn't pinpoint the exact feeling. "Stupid girl!" he scolded. "From now on you're not allowed to walk and think at the same time, because apparently you don't know how to multitask!"
She took a step back towards the door. She didn't know how to feel trapped in such a small space with a very angry Tom Riddle. Her heart continued to thump.
He placed an arm around her and roughly pulled her back. "You better find out fast why she can see you or I will. I'm sure she'd prefer your company." He grinned mischievously. "I'm a rather impatient person." He went to step around her, but Luna blocked him. His eyebrows rose high.
"Please, Tom," she begged. Luna was terrified of what he might do to the poor, innocent girl.
Riddle was caught off guard. Nobody ever called him by his first name other than the mistresses at the orphanage and the professors here at Hogwarts and he hated it. "Don't call me that!"
"I'm sorry. Riddle," she corrected. "Please, she wouldn't know," she continued a bit more calmly.
He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged off her hold. He pushed past her and back out into the brightly lit hallway and left her standing in the closet alone. His mind buzzed with anger and frustration. He hated that he didn't know what was happening to her. Riddle didn't fear that the girl was any harm to Luna and him. If the girl was of any importance, she wouldn't be a Hufflepuff. He scoffed. He had caught a glimpse of her robe before she dashed off with her tail between her legs. It wasn't possible that she had an ulterior motive. He believed Lovegood's meeting with her was an accident, including Lovegood's visibility to her.
A cool tingle of apprehension began to blanket the fury. The girl's ability to see Lovegood could only mean one thing then: others soon will. He was counting on the fact that only he could see her and therefore only he could possess her. He certainly didn't like this new development. Riddle shook his head slightly. Right from the start he had assumed nobody could see Lovegood because Dumbledore couldn't. Perhaps he was wrong and he didn't want to admit it. He secretly thanked Merlin that he made sure Lovegood didn't act too out of the ordinary. If indeed other people were able to see her, they shouldn't suspect anything. At least he hoped.
Luna sat through the rest of Riddle's classes silent as a mouse. She had wanted to raise her questions concerning Hagrid, but since bumping into the girl, she didn't dare open her mouth. She took Riddle's silence as letting her off the hook so she wasn't about to poke a sleeping heliopath.
"Hey Riddle!"
Luna snapped back to reality and searched for the source of the greeting. It sounded too friendly to be directed at the ill-humoured Slytherin Prefect.
A boy with floppy black hair and a strong, square jaw plopped down next to Riddle.
"Lestrange," Riddle replied.
Luna noted that Riddle didn't mind the black-haired boy being so familiar.
"You don't look so good," the boy commented. "What's bothering you?"
Two more students approached them and they exchanged a glance at Lestrange's comment. Perhaps they too thought Lestrange's relationship with Riddle was bizarre. "Riddle," they said in unison.
Riddle gave them a curt nod before turning back to Lestrange. "Nothing you can help with." He smirked.
Lestrange grinned and clapped him on the back. "Nothing you couldn't handle."
Riddle's smirk grew.
Luna's jaw dropped.
"Hey Rosiers! Do you always have to play up the twin act or does cute come naturally to you two?" Lestrange provoked with a crack.
"Shut it," countered the female twin. She sat down on the other side of Riddle while her brother sat behind her. She had beautiful platinum blonde hair that was perfectly curled. Her skin was alabaster white, almost translucent, and her eyes an icy blue.
Luna squirmed in her seat. They were beginning to choose seats closer and closer to her. She was worried about how to react if one of them decided to sit on top of her.
"Nott. Abraxis," Lestrange greeted.
Two more boys of equal height, one brown-haired and one black-haired were walking towards them.
"Riddle," said one. "Lestrange," said the other.
"What about me?" complained the sister.
The brown-haired boy beamed. "Druella." He had large brown eyes and freckles dotted his nose and cheeks. The beard he was growing looked more like a few wisps of hair sticking out from his chin.
The brother rolled his eyes. "This is why I've always said girls shouldn't be allowed to keep with us. They're so damn needy." He had shaggy blond hair that was cropped just above his shoulders. He had a large nose and mouth, which seemed too much for such a small face.
Druella shot him a glare. "You're the one that's whining all the time, Drogon."
Lestrange chuckled at the exchange. "And I've always said twins are a nuisance and look what that got me." He gestured widely with his arms.
"Shod off," said Drogon.
"Piss off," said Druella.
Lestrange gave a hearty bellow and Luna could have swore the corner of Riddle's lips twitched.
The black-haired boy approached Luna's desk and placed a hand on the back of her chair about to sit down. She screwed her eyes shut, preparing for the worst.
"Abraxis!" Riddle called. "The seat's taken."
Without a word, Abraxis chose the seat over and sat down. His expression unchanged.
Luna let out a soft sigh of relief and quickly shut her mouth when Riddle turned to glare at her. Settling into the lesson, she couldn't help herself but smile once more. The solitary Slytherin boy had friends. She didn't understand why, but she felt comforted by this realization. He wasn't completely closed off. He was capable of smiling and laughing. Luna felt her shoulders relax.
As the group of them sauntered towards the Great Hall for supper, Luna saw Riddle linger behind. She slowly walked up to join him. It was now or never. "Riddle," She knew now to address him so. "The girl who died," she mentioned.
Riddle felt his heart pick up its pace. There wasn't a way she could know. "Myrtle? What of her?" he cautioned.
"The students are whispering that a boy named Hagrid did it." It was true. Throughout the day they couldn't stop murmuring about this morning's gossip.
"So?"
"Is it true?"
"Yes," he replied.
Again, she noted that he pronounced his 'S' like a snake's hiss.
"I was the one who caught him with the monster he used to kill the girl." Riddle never felt the need to boast, because everyone already knew he was superior. To do so was redundant, but he didn't hold back this time. He wanted to revel in his wickedness before her.
Luna gasped. She didn't know what to think. If Hagrid truly was the culprit, he would not have been kept around at Hogwarts as a groundskeeper, especially with Professor Dumbledore as the Headmaster. Why would Riddle say he did? "He doesn't seem capable of murdering someone innocent," she stated plainly.
He stopped in his tracks. There was no way she would know his innocence. Why was she pressing the matter further? "What makes you say that?" he baited.
Luna fumbled with her words. "Well, the name Hagrid first belonged to a Greek god, who was known to be one of the kindest gods, most gentle of heart. Anyone with this name is not killer," she recited. She was thankful she still remembered her research in the origin of names. Because she was often teased and ridiculed at school, it was rare for her to encounter anyone who was pleasant to her. When they did, she would take an interest in them and even study their names. Ginevra meant "the fair one", the Italian form of the famed King Arthur's queen, Guinevere. Harry meant "protector of home".
"Since when were you an onomastician?" He began walking again. The girl wouldn't be able to name a killer if it happened right in front of her. "If you don't think he did it, and I say I caught him, does that make you a stubborn half-wit or me a liar?" He peered down at her challengingly.
Luna noted the underlying tones of jest, but glazed over his insult. "You are not a liar if you say what you think you saw, but what you saw may not be what the truth is."
She was infuriating. He spun on his heels and grabbed her shoulders. The look in her eyes was beyond satisfying. "Listen, Lovegood, and listen well. Hagrid did it. I took him to Dippet and since his expulsion, nobody has died. You are still a half-wit, and the world keeps spinning round." He straightened up and smirked. "I don't have time for your pointless questions." With that, he stomped off to the Great Hall.
She huffed and crossed her arms. Perhaps he was the stubborn half-wit and not her. There was only one way to find out whether she was in the past and also if Hagrid was the true killer. She would have to find him at his hut and question him herself. She remembered very clearly that his cabin stood just behind the castle on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. With Riddle at supper, she had just enough time to make it out there.
Luna was out of breath by the time she trudged her way around the castle. The brisk weather had already hardened the ground and made it slippery to walk on in her simple shoes. Her breath was coming out in wisps, curling around the chill air. It was eerily quiet out here with clatter of students long behind her. Her path was lighted only by a sliver of the moon.
As she walked further out towards the darkness, she approached a very large willow tree. She gave it a wide berth as she recalled how Harry Potter and his friend Ron Weasley were delivered a good whomping when they crashed a large carrier machinery into the tree during her first year. A little bit further and the hut should be right before her.
Luna stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't help but say out loud, "It couldn't be." Her eyes raked every inch of the forest's perimetre but to no avail. "It's not here."