Disclaimer: I don't own the 'Harry Potter' books.

AN: Thanks to all my reviewers. Monnbeam guessed it right.

Chapter Six: The Diary

"Draco, why are you being so, um, nice? I thought you hated me!" said Callie, as she sat down next to her second cousin in the Slytherin commonroom. Draco had been talking to her during the feast and he seemed to think that his father was up to something that he didn't know much about. It was very unusual behaviour for him – usually Draco only ever saw the twins at gatherings which Sirius and Narcissa were both forced to attend. It usually ended in some kind of duel or fight with spells flying everywhere. It was an understatement to say the three of them didn't get on.

Except for today, when Draco seemed to behaving almost nicely towards her.

"Well I don't exactly have anyone else to talk to right now do I?" he retorted.

"What about your usual friends?" Callie asked. Draco was known for having Crabbe and Goyle by his side at all times. He usually had a few clingy hangers on like Pansy, too.

"What? Crabbe and Goyle? They're not exactly good for conversation are they?" said Draco. Callie shrugged. She had never had the misfortune of having to sit and listen to them. From what she understood they weren't the brightest of people. "Besides, I only hang around with them because Father says they're good company." He said the word father as if he had some newfound hatred of the word – or the man. Callie wasn't sure which.

"Where are they now?" she asked.

"How should I know? They haven't spoken to me since my Mother walked out on my Father. They think she's a disgrace to our family now," said Draco. Callie felt a little sorry for him, but only a little. She hadn't known what had been going on between his parents.

"Is that what you think?" she asked. "That your mother's a…"

"No, of course I don't! She must have a reason for it." Draco fell silent after he'd said that. Callie didn't really know what to say. "I don't really know what to think anymore," said Draco sadly, after a few minutes silent. "I really hate the way things are at the moment. I want to side with Mother, but it just seems like the opposite of how I was brought up."

"I know what you mean," said Callie. She didn't really. She didn't have a clue what Draco was going through at home but it felt like the right thing to say.

"I just wish things could go back to how they were before," said Draco. "At least then I'd know what to do. I could just strut around with the rest of the Slytherins and they wouldn't all be calling my Mother a blood traitor."

"It's not that bad. You'll get used to it. Everyone calls my Dad one," said Callie. Draco scowled at her. She obviously wasn't making him feel any better so she went up to her dormitory.

…..

There were four other girls there. Two were asleep but the others were sitting atop their four-poster beds. The taller one sneered as she walked in but Callie didn't care. She was far prettier and probably had more brain cells than the other four girls put together. She didn't care whether they thought her Dad was a blood traitor or not.

She sat down on the bed and started to unpack her bag. She dumped her clothes Leo-style, which meant no order whatsoever, into the drawers beside her bed and then started getting out the books. Just as she was putting one of the Gilderoy Lockhart textbooks on the shelf above her bed, something fell out.

"What's this?" asked one of the girls, snatching it up off the floor. Callie was glad she didn't recognise it, because those girls didn't look the types to be careful with other people's things. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. Who the heck is he?" Callie shrugged.

"It's blank," said the other, opening the yellowing pages. "What is the point of a blank book?" She tossed it back at Callie.

"It's a diary, obviously," said Callie. She opened it and wrote a message with her quill pen.

Dear Diary, I'm Callie, she wrote. To her surprise, the writing disappeared into the page.

Hello Callie. My name's Tom. Tom Riddle. Callie checked that the other girls were no longer interested before writing back.

Hello Tom. Is this your diary?

Yes. The writing disappeared again but then started to reappear again. Tell me about yourself.

I'm in my first year at Hogwarts. My Dad is Sirius Black and my Mum's called Sarah. I have a brother called Leo in Gryffindor, but I was sorted into Slytherin. I don't really mind that we're in different houses, and I don't think Leo does either. He was smiling at me all through the feast. Callie wrote.

Sirius Black? Are you related to Orion, Cygnus and Walburga then. I went to Hogwarts with them.

Yes. Dad's parents are Walburga and Orion Black. Orion and Cygnus both died and Walburga was put in prison for torture. She's escaped now, but our family hates her.

I was never friends with them at Hogwarts.

Oh.

She shut the diary. It was getting quite late anyway – she now needed to cast 'lumos' to see what she was doing! Her every instinct told her to stay away from the diary but some part of her – perhaps the pranking part – told her to keep it. If anything, Tom could tell her a lot about her Grandparents. He might even know a weakness that could help her put her grandmother bacl in Azkaban where she belonged.

Callie placed it on the shelf next to 'A History of Magic' and settled down to sleep.

…..

AN: Hope you like that. Sorry it took so long. I've had an exciting week – scout camp followed by results day! I got 100% in both Biology and Chemistry for my last A level exam. It's meant to be the hardest exam there is in second year and I don't know how I managed it. Oh well.

The poll is still up. It's extremely close so please vote. I am leaning towards Ravenclaw or Gryffindor still. I prefer Ravenclaw because I want Regulus to play quidditch against Harry.

Please review.