... I am so sorry. Look, guys... I am really sorry that happened... it won't happen again.

In a review, someone told me the timeline was confusing. Look, guys, this is magic. They saw "black", meaning they fainted. Then, the day semi-restarted. What do you think happened there? It's meant to let you think. Explanations will be in second year, and all the pieces will fall into place, I swear.

And look, I would never let the same scene repeat twice, even if I change the P.O.V. under my watch.

It also may have been my fault that I killed off a "freshly introduced character". Maybe I should have introduced her earlier on. But the point is, they are loners. Would you like me editing the names and replacing them with Granger or Nott?

Just... whatever, let's move on.

Dani could only stare blankly at Trillos' dead body while Tom called for help. The girl who had given her contact mirrors for a Christmas present was gone. Dani didn't feel any sadness, but only felt as if this was a crime scene and she was the detective.

She looked up at Nott and raised an eyebrow, bringing her hand out. Nott understood and passed her his wand with shaky hands. Doing a quick Priori Incantatem, she wasn't surprised when Tempus popped up. However, this alone could not prove his innocence. Tom stopped yelling and his eyes remained downcast, almost glaring at the once alive witch. Dani tapped her throat with her wand and muttered, "Sonorus." As soon as she felt a tingle on her throat, Dani opened her mouth and whispered, "Help."

Her "help" echoed through the walls of Hogwarts. Dani, Tom and Nott's eyes widened, but they schooled their features into looks of pure, utter shock when a few minutes later, the Professors came banging in.

McGonagall gasped at the sight. "Dear Merlin..."

Dumbledore's face paled and the false twinkle in his eyes faded as he stepped in the Snake Pit. He made no sound when he knelt beside Trillos and started casting spells. Snape's skin was white as a sheet, but he didn't show fear and surprise in any other way. Silence reigned as Dumbledore set to work.

He soon stood up and looked back, lips pursed. "She is gone," he said gravely after ten minutes of constant spells.

...

Really, Dumbledore?! It takes you ten minutes to check if someone's dead? Why not, oh I don't know, check for a pulse? Dani inwardly thought, mentally scowling.

"How could this happen?" he murmured, and Dani just barely managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Dumbledore turned to the three of them. "Mr. Riddle, Mr. Nott and Ms. Potter," he said icily. "Come with me."

"Professor Dumbledore," Tom said, glaring up at the taller man. "Surely you don't think that we had something to do with it?"

"I just want to say that-"

"That they are under suspicion because they are Slytherins?" McGonagall cut Dumbledore off, mimicking Tom's glare. Dumbledore turned to her and opened his mouth, but he was beaten by Professor Sprout.

"Albus, they are children." She said sharply. "Do you honestly think they area capable of casting the Killing Curse?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Pomona, Minerva, I was just going to tell you that they are going to be questioned because of the simple fact that they are witnesses." he ended with an exasperated look. The females blushed, and pointedly looked down at the floor. Dumbledore's eyes brightened slightly, and he gestured for the three Slytherins to follow him. "Come along, you three," he said, albeit not cheerfully.

He lead them along unfamiliar corridors. Portraits of men and women raised their eyebrows, but did not comment, some even ignoring them and chatting with their neighbors. They soon stopped in front of a stone gargoyle, clear, transparent magic shimmering, enclosing upon the gargoyle. Dumbledore muttered the password, and immediately after the gargoyles sprang to life and allowed them entry, moving out of the way. A winding staircase was revealed, brightly lit my torches with the Hogwarts crest on it. Using the stone wall as a support of sorts, Dumbledore began climbing up the stairs. Dani and Tom exchanged looks, before rushing to match the esteemed Headmaster's pace. Dani poked her eye, just in case she needed to tear up a little inside the office. She kept on poking her eyes, especially the left one. She didn't know if it was true or false, but people say when a tear comes out from the left first, they are in pain. If it came from the right, then it comes from happiness. Meh.

Dumbledore waved his hand at an oak door with a brass griffin knocker, and it clicked open. He pushed open the door and went for the seat behind a rather impressive desk. Dani didn't pay it much mind, however, because she was looking at all the instruments, portraits, artifacts, books and all the other crap a normal headmaster wouldn't even own.

Intriguing, silver... machines were whistling, turning and just moving. Portraits of what Dani suspected were previous headmasters chatted with each other pleasantly while a bird soared around the large office. Nott (how could she have forgotten he was there?!) stared at a golden locket on one of the old man's expensive-looking shelves. She, sadly, had no more time to observe the office, because Dumbledore had cleared his throat.

"I am going to tell you bluntly that I am curious as to what you three were doing before, after and during the murder of Ms. Trillos," Dumbledore began, leaning backwards. "Let us start with Mr. Riddle,"

Tom pursed his lips beside Dani, but kept his cool. "Dani-yte," he covered his slip rather nicely. "And I were walking to the Slytherin Common Room. As soon as we entered, we found Nott with his wand drawn but a confused, shocked and horrified expression on his face, while Aquila's-" Tom shuddered solely for dramatics. "-d-de-de-dead bo-bo-body."

Dumbledore nodded, sympathetically patting Tom on his back. His sharp eyes turned to Dani herself. "Is this all true?" he said softly. Dani sighed, muttered a "Yes, sir," and let a tear slide down her cheeks. She did not like making others think she was pathetic, but it would gain sympathy, and that was all Dani needed right now. She was lucky she was born a girl.

Dumbledore nodded once more and turned to Nott. Dani straightened up and listened to everything Nott was saying. She might not care about the girl's death, but there was a possible threat killing students, and she might be next.

"I was studying for the Potions test Professor Snape scheduled the first day back," Nott began, nervously twiddling his thumbs. So when he was nervous, his façade breaks, Dani noted. "Suddenly, I saw black, and then my wand was drawn, I was standing over Aquila Trillos' dead body, and Danyte and Thomas came in!" He cried.

Dumbledore pushed his spectacles up his nose and frowned, absentmindedly handing a tissue box to Nott, who was on the verge of hyperventilating. Braver Gryffindor first years would've had an even more violent reaction, Dani thought silently. Dumbledore was getting to her nerves just by talking, and Dani had no idea why. She couldn't pinpoint the feeling of utter hatred settling in her stomach every single time she saw those damned, blue eyes, but she was willing to follow her gut instinct. He even looked more suspicion-worthy now! He was deep in thought, when he suddenly announced,

"It will be best if you three will go to the library. Madam Pince is an excellent duelist, so she can protect you. The Head Girl, who stayed behind, will also be assigned to guard you three. A teacher will be present in the room, but those are all the protections I can give." Dani wanted to snort at that, but didn't. "I apologize that this is causing you three inconvenience." Dumbledore bowed a bit with his head, and with a wave of his hand, dismissed them. Dani wanted to speak up, but her mouth did not really obey her.

"Th-thank you, Professor..." the trio tripped out of the headmaster's office, and found themselves at the bottom of the winding staircase. The gargoyle closed, and the tension was thick.

Nott couldn't possibly do this, and so, Dani came to the conclusion that Nott was the instrument in this crime. However, Dani did not believe that they killed Trillos for money. No... they killed her for something more sinister. For the kick, probably?

Could be, but why Hogwarts?

Nott nodded to them and turned left, whilst the pair turned right. It was already late morning, so Dani and Tom decided to go to the library, where Dumbles expected them to be. They walked down with the silence ever-present.

LINE

Two days later...

Tom watched as a calm, neutral-faced Dani Potter dumped her books on a table, eyes promising eternal pain. Tom only raised a perfect eyebrow at the hostile expression on Dani's face (ahem, eyes) having already growing used to it, and maybe even grown to liking it.

"You alright, Potter?" Tom asked, eyes drifting back to his book. Dani nodded.

"Perfectly fine, Riddle," she said smoothly. "Except for the fact I had not yet found the killer of Trillos, nor have we went to another lesson with Quirrel! He's avoiding us."

"He can't even look us in the eye," Tom agreed, turning a page. "However, may I suggest that we get the Stone? This whole murder thing had already delayed us two days, we can't afford another. Seriously, it's a distraction to our main objective."

Dani sighed. "I suppose so..." she said, mulling over Tom's words. "But there must be a connection! I highly doubt the murderer killed Trillos out of spite or money. Fear? Power? The kick? Yeah, the last one's a bit sketchy, but why a Hogwarts student?"

"Maybe the killer is in Hogwarts." Tom guessed, putting down his book and marking his page. "Whoever possessed Nott to fire off that curse- I'm pretty sure Nott's wand did it, even though his last spell was Tempus- has to be in, or the maximum is near Hogwarts."

Dani frowned. "This better not be a Slytherin trick; but it takes another Slytherin to work out a Slytherin, anyways..." Dani muttered. Dani glanced at the door nervously. "It doesn't fit! This Christmas murder is driving me mad."

Tom chuckled as Dani banged her head on the table. "I told you that the murder is going to be a distraction."

I told you that the murder is going to be a distraction...

I told you that the murder is going to be a distraction...

I told you that the murder is going to be a distraction...

"Tom, you're really a genius." Dani shot up, smiling. Tom raised an eyebrow.

"What did I-" Realization dawned on his face. "Curious, curious. You think that the murder was meant to be a distraction from the Stone?"

Dani nodded. Tom continued. "How can we be so stupid? We better grab the Stone, now! The murderer would waste no time in getting the Stone! For all we know, it's already gone!"

The two grabbed their bags and vamoosed out of the library, almost racing to the third floor corridor.

"How did you get the idea, Potter?" Tom asked while his friend ducked to avoid a knight's spear.

"Well," she started. "Even though I mentioned them, I already ruled out 'fear and power' a long time ago. So there was only one choice left. My mind was desperate for something, and I guess it picked the most logical one. It wasn't to let others be fearful, but they made it big, traumatizing and horrible enough for Dumbledore to let his guard down about the stone."

Tom hummed as they made a hard left. "Hmm. Wow, never knew you could be perspective... for once."

Dani laughed. "Yes, well, I am awesome."

"How arrogant."

"I learned from the best." She said, making a harsh right.

"Brat." Tom immediately said, thumping up the slightly trembling staircases. They jumped when it was about to move, sighing in relief when they landed safely.

"Whatever. What's the plan?"

"How am I supposed to know? I only know Hades' hellhound is guarding a trapdoor." snipped Tom, who grabbed Dani's arm before she crashed into a wall while her thinking face was on. "Come on," he urged, halting in front of a door at last. Breathing hard, Tom nodded to Dani, whose wand was immediately out and a noiseless explosion obliterated the locked door.

Striding in, Dani repaired the door and searched for the hellhound. Suddenly, the temperature seemed to have dropped twenty degrees. The silence was chilly, and the room was dark. Dani pushed her glasses up her nose and winced when her boot made contact with a stick of sorts. Picking it up, her eyes widened when she saw a recorder.

"Hey, Riddle," Dani called. Tom stopped in his tracks. "I found a recorder on the floor."

Tom hummed once more. "I think... I think that could help us make the beast fall sleep. How, though? Did the murderer bang the mutt's head with that piece of wood?"

Dani snorted, but stopped. "No, wait, that actually has its merits..."

Tom rolled his eyes, but froze when a deep growl was heard.

"Shit!" he cursed, and Dani wanted to raise an eyebrow. "It's awake! Hurry, try playing that thing."

"I know how to play it, geez," Dani snapped in her panic. Running from the creature, she placed the recorder on her lips.

Dream of the outcasts

Angels of wills

Promise of demons

I shall fulfill

A god by day

A devil by night

Promise me my lines

Won' change

Dani watched as the beast roared, growled, then slumped, falling asleep while she played her song. She continued, kicking the trapdoor and ushering Tom in. As he jumped, she stopped playing jumped in, and remembered to shut the trapdoor as she fell into the darkness. The first year Slytherins yelled as their bodies made contact with the surprisingly soft ground. Dani didn't dare move, registering ropes wrapping around her. She didn't even breathe, until Tom lit up a fire.

The "ropes" screeched and let go, creeping someplace else. Dani sighed, letting the Devil's Snare do whatever the hell they wanted. They were supposed to move on. Muttering a quick Lumos, they gasped as the floor suddenly caved in and led them crashing into the underground-ground. Dani coughed and waved the dirt from her face, picking herself up. Her foot collided with some rubble. She cursed, bending to her knees and sticking her arms out to lessen the pain of the fall when Tom caught her. Grinning at him, she muttered a quick "Thanks," and cast the cleaning charm upon them.

"Look, there's a door over there." Tom pointed to an oak door, light shining brilliantly through a small crack. Tom and Dani walked to the door cautiously, wands out. Dani silently crouched low, then peaked through the door. She heard buzzes coming from the door, but she didn't see anything really threatening. In fact, she only saw the yellow-orange light. Gesturing for Tom to enter, she opened the door, cringing when an audible creeeaaaak was stretched out.

Keys with wings buzzed around merrily. Dani's eyebrows slowly began to rise when she spotted two broomsticks beside another door. She tried to blast the door open, but it wouldn't budge. Tom tried several unlocking spells, and yet, the door remained unopened. Tom spotted the lock, eyed it and tried to summon a suitable key, but that didn't work, too.

"Whoever in Merlin's freaking name thought this was the best defense ever..." Tom began. "... must be really stupid."

"Tch. I've seen this in my Warding book. This is easy to break." Dani rolled her eyes. Swishing her wand, translucent purple encased the area around the door plus the door itself in whole, flickered, then died. With a wave of Tom's wand, the door was blasted off its hinges.

"Did you seriously need to do that?" Dani muttered, amused, as she rolled in, weapon drawn.

"Yes," Tom drawled once Dani signaled the okay. "Yes, I did."

"Hmm, seems legit," Dani replied. Tom didn't answer, his eyes turning wide.

He seemed to be staring at the huge chessboard. Dani wanted to raise her eyebrows and join Tom with the "let your eyes widen!" thing, but watching him was more productive. She silently cast the picture spell. She felt the wind change behind her. A picture was dropped in her palm. Smirking, she stuffed it rather gently in her pocket. This is going to be good for blackmail material, Dani thought smugly.

"Why don't you try unlocking these wards? They're not identical to the first, though. The chess piece blocking the door probably has several wards, therefor making it indestructible... to the average muggle." Dani said.

Tom nodded and went to investigate the wards. He tapped them, lights going out. After two minutes, he gestured for Dani to try it, ignoring the chessboard completely. With a wave of Dani's wand, the chess piece went boom boom.

Going inside the next room, they were immediately assaulted by a cheery yellow. Having already been used to the dark, Dani and Tom were rendered useless for six seconds, eyes not yet adjusted. Blindly spinning around, wand in hand, they relaxed when their eyes adjusted. They turned around, only to recoil as a revolting smell wafted through the air. Coughing, Tom placed a warding charm that blocked smells reflexively, taking in a deep breath once the putrid odor stopped reaching their noses.

Turning around, they took a sharp intake of breath when they saw the dazed mountain troll that eerily looked like the previous mountain troll the two had killed to save Granger. They dashed to the other door, not even bothering to fight it once more. Slamming it shut, they sighed in relief and turned to the next pitiful excuse for a defense.

Or so they thought.

The room was bare except for a long table, seven vials neatly arranged on top. Different liquids bubbled, sizzled, stared at them and sloshed inside the glass vials, a piece of parchment directly in the middle of the table, floating. As soon as the duo stepped in the room, black fire erupted behind them. Startled, Dani whipped around and yelled, "Aguamenti!" only to have the water fade as it hit an invisible barrier. Lashing out at the barrier with different spells, Dani shook her head at Tom. "Stronger barriers," she said simply. Tom nodded.

He approached the piece of parchment and read it silently as Dani stared suspiciously at a blood red yet calm liquid. Thirty seconds later, Tom snorted. "It's a game of logic. This is brilliant, wizards and witches would be stuck down here forever. But..." he trailed off. Dani smirked.

"You could smell." With a sweep of her hand, the corks vanished.

"There's supposed to be two vials of nettle wine, three poison, another will take you forward, another will take you backward. I assume you don't need the clues?" Dani shook her head, and started sniffing the liquids. As soon as the first one was smelled, she immediately threw it on the ground. Tom did so, too. They sighed as one, then returned to their job. After managing to throw five out of seven vials, they were left with two. Dani smelled the purple fire in front of them, then smelled the blood red liquid she had seen earlier.

"This leads to that," she said, pointing at the two. It looked like it could only fit for one person. Snorting, Dani duplicated it. "We better move before the teachers realize we're gone. And I'm sleepy."

Tom chuckled, took the copy of the original one and downed it one gulp. Dani watched as he visibly shivered, and ran straight through the fire, trusting Dani. It made her smile a bit as she mimicked him, sprinting towards the flames.

Dani blinked as she observed the empty room. No one was there, surprisingly. Dani thought that since the troll was already compromised, someone would be waiting for them at the end of the "defenses" Dumbledore and the other teachers set up.

The room was dark and bare, save for a tall mirror smack in the middle of the room. The mirror was framed with what looked like bronze, bordering the round mirror perfectly. Some of its metal coiled like snakes, some like wisps of smoke and others just went around. A ruby was perched on top of numerous entwined bronze wires, decorating the mirror. The mirror stood impressively, its glass shining, looking like it was just polished by a professional artisan. As Dani looked closer, she saw words written on top, but in an unfamiliar language.

Dani and Tom stared at the mirror, Dani half-wishing the Philosopher's Stone just appeared in her pocket. Suddenly, her reflection winked, and its hand dove into its pocket. It pulled out a blood red stone, waved it around, then put it back. Dani felt something sink in her pocket.

Smirking, Dani grabbed Tom's hand and hoped to Merlin this would work. They were gone with a crack, Dani and Tom forgetting that they weren't supposed to be able to apparate at age eleven, let alone at Hogwarts.

LINE

Two months later...

"The stone is missing!" cried Albus Dumbledore, not noticing the two students walking hand in hand, the boy tossing the Philosopher's Stone and the girl catching it.