Katherine awoke the morning after her late-night conversation with Riddle feeling surprisingly invigorated.

She had never revealed so much of herself to another person. Sharing the secrets of her sordid past – at least some of them, anyways – had left her feeling strangely exhilarated. There was a certain sense of invincibility created by having allowed herself to be vulnerable and having come out of it unscathed. It felt as though everything should be different now; she half-expected to look out her window and see the sun rising in the West.

She got ready for breakfast according to her usual routine, but unlike most days, she found her hands shaking slightly with a nervous excitement. After all this time at Hogwarts, Riddle finally knew who she really was. And although he had refused her offer to work together as allies, Katherine felt confident that this would soon change. She was certain that he wouldn't find another source of information with enough detail on how to make a Horcrux. He needed her; she had achieved the upper hand in whatever game they were playing, and that thought made her heart beat faster.

As she descended the stairs to the Common Room, she saw Riddle standing up from one of the tables. She quickened her pace to catch up to him, and greeted him cheerily.

"Good morning, Riddle," she said, smiling broadly. "Get up to anything interesting last night?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he replied dryly, turning to face her.

Katherine frowned. "How unfortunate for you. My night was extraordinary." She winked.

The beginnings of a smirk pulled at Riddle's lips. "Is that so? And what, pray tell, made it so extraordinary?"

Katherine beamed. "I believe I made a new friend, and that we're going to have great fun together."

Riddle's gaze was unreadable. "Don't make too many plans just yet. Some people value their independence. You might be in danger of smothering this friend with unwanted attention."

"No," Katherine shook her head, still smiling. "He may think he wants his independence, but in the end, I'm confident he'll see things from my perspective."

Riddle said nothing, but rolled his eyes as he turned and began walking towards the door of the Common Room.

Katherine followed, and as the door swung open to the hallway beyond, she saw two figures standing in the hallway beyond. Celeste and Thaddeus were standing intimately close, with her hands resting on his chest and her face tilting upwards to meet his gaze.

Hearing the noise of the opening door, Celeste suddenly dropped her hands and turned around, her cheeks rosy with embarrassment. "I thought everyone had already left", she said, clearly flustered, and looking down at the ground.

Katherine squealed excitedly and closed the gap between them with a few quick steps. "Don't be embarrassed! This is fantastic – I always thought the two of you would be great together."

Thaddeus glared at Katherine, not having forgotten their very recent confrontation. Meanwhile, Celeste flushed even redder. "It's just that it's not very proper of us to be behaving like this in public."

Katherine smiled. "Perhaps not proper in England, but it's very European of you both. Maybe that's why I find it delightful, and not at all scandalous."

Riddle, who had stayed silent until this point, suddenly cleared his throat, and looked expectantly at Katherine.

Katherine looked over her shoulder at Riddle. "Well, we should be heading to breakfast. We'll see you later."

She and Riddle began walking down the hall again. As they left, Katherine turned to look over her shoulder. Celeste and Thaddeus were embracing again, nestled together like two lovebirds without a care in the world.

A satisfied smile made its way onto Katherine's face. "I did that, you know," she said, turning to look at Riddle as they walked.

Riddle's only response was to slightly raise one eyebrow, so she continued, unfazed. "I got them together, I mean."

Riddle looked slightly confused, his eyes narrowed. "Would you care to enlighten me as to why you think that matters?"

Katherine gave a satisfied sigh. "I am so happy you asked, Riddle."

She took his arm as they turned a corner and continued towards the Great Hall. "Thaddeus was a loose cannon: unpredictable, and therefore dangerous. But Celeste is cautious and even-tempered. She'll keep him in check, and stop him from doing anything stupid."

Riddle shrugged. "I wouldn't be so sure. I can't imagine Thaddeus asking Celeste for permission before doing anything. He's usually too rash to discuss anything beforehand."

Katherine smiled. "That's the beauty of it. He doesn't have to discuss anything with her. When someone's in a relationship, they're constantly considering how their actions will affect the other person, and what the other person will think of their choices. It might not be a deliberate conversation, but Thaddeus' behaviour will be restrained by the very thought of Celeste."

Riddle frowned. "That's a big assumption to make, and frankly, I don't agree. When it comes down to it, people will always do what's best for them, regardless of how it affects other people."

"As always, Riddle, you underestimate the influence of relationships on people's behaviour," said Katherine. "But maybe that's because you're unfamiliar with the concept of a relationship, given that you haven't had much practice with them."

Riddle narrowed his eyes in warning and pulled his arm away from hers.

"Of course," she chuckled lightly, "I'd be happy to help you practice; in any sort of relationship you like." She began counting off options on her fingers. "We could be friends, co-workers, allies, lovers…or all of the above."

"How very generous an offer, Ms. Markova," he replied smoothly. "But as I made clear last night, we will be staying acquaintances and classmates, nothing more."

Katherine nodded solemnly, feigning agreement. But as they reached the doors of the Great Hall, she leaned closer, and whispered playfully: "Do you make a habit of kissing all your classmates, Riddle? Or just the ones you like?"

All the other 6th year Slytherins had already arrived at the breakfast table by the time Katherine and Riddle arrived, with the notable exception of Celeste and Thaddeus.

Victoria Carrow was flipping through some sort of magazine, her breakfast mostly untouched. Abraxas, Orion, and Antonin were having an animated conversation, while Adeline sat sulking, ignored.

"Finally," groaned Adeline. "These idiots have been talking about Quidditch for half an hour. Please save me from the monotony!"

Katherine laughed, and even Riddle cracked a smile as they sat and began helping themselves to breakfast. "I would have thought you'd have an ally in Victoria," said Katherine, "Unless, of course, you're secretly a Quidditch fan?" asked Katherine, turning to look at Victoria.

Victoria scowled. "Certainly not. I've not been following the conversation, as I've just received the monthly 'Enchanting Enchantress' fashion catalogue, and I want to submit my order before they run out of all the best clothes."

"You see? She's useless to me," said Adeline, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, have you seen my sister?"

"I most certainly have…" Katherine leaned forwards conspiratorially. "I saw her just before we left…and she was with Thaddeus!"

Adeline's eyes opened wide. "Do you mean she was with him, as in, with him?"

Katherine nodded emphatically, while buttering her toast.

Adeline gasped. "Merlin's beard! That's so exciting. How did she look? How did he look? Do you think they've been together long?!"

Abraxas laughed. "Stop to take a breath, Addie, or you're going to pass out on us."

Katherine shrugged. "I don't know anything more than that, but I will say that they looked pretty cozy together."

Adeline whistled, impressed. "I'm so happy for Celeste. She's been sweet on him since 3rd year." She paused, sighing. "Will you find someone for me next, Kat?"

Riddle stopped mid-sip of his tea. "Please don't encourage her," he said dryly, putting his mug down. "She's proud enough of herself as it is."

Katherine ignored him. "Of course, I will, Addie! It won't be difficult – you're such a catch!"

Adeline blushed and looked down, smiling at the flattery.

The conversation quickly returned back to Quidditch and the highly anticipated upcoming game against the Gryffindor team. Adeline managed to tear Victoria's attention away from her shopping catalogue, leaving Katherine and Riddle largely ignored at their end of the table.

Katherine cocked her head at Riddle. "So, how long are you planning to spin your wheels trying to figure this out on your own? Just so I can know what day to mark my calendar for."

Riddle pointedly ignored her, staring past her down the length of the table, although the hint of a smile tugged at his lips.

Katherine continued, unabashed. "Because there's no shame in asking for help you know. When you have access to someone with experience successfully performing magic as complicated as a 'you-know-what', it simply makes sense to take advantage of that resource."

Riddle shot her a warning look, obviously annoyed that she would bring up horcruxes at the breakfast table, albeit in coded language.

"Fine, ignore me," Katherine sighed. "But don't make me wait forever. Patience may be a virtue, but I'll freely admit that I've never been very virtuous."

She sat back and poured herself a cup of coffee, settling in to watch the ongoing Quidditch discussions with detached amusement.

That night, after dinner, the Slytherins came together for one of the classes they all had together – astronomy. Professor Alqamar had sent notice earlier in the day asking them to gather in one of the ground floor classrooms, rather than the astronomy tower which was their usual meeting place. The Slytherins milled about on one side of the classroom, some standing and others sitting on the tops of desks, while the majority of the Ravenclaw students were already seated at desks on the other side of the room, awaiting the arrival of their professor.

Professor Alqamar swept into the room a few minutes later, wearing midnight blue dress robes emblazoned with embroidered silver stars. He was known for his somewhat on-the-nose astronomy themed dress robes, and this ensemble lived up to his reputation.

The Slytherins quickly rearranged themselves to slide into various seats. Katherine found herself sitting next to Abraxas, with Orion and Riddle seated in the desk behind them.

"Students," announced Professor Alqamar in his deep baritone voice, "I have some unfortunate news to share. You may have been wondering why we are gathered here tonight, rather than in the astronomy tower. It appears that yesterday afternoon, some 4th year students were playing a game of Exploding Snap in the tower, when an errant card came in contact with a vial of ground Erumpent horn in one of the student's bags. Needless to say, the resultant explosion was disastrous, and resulted in extensive damage to the tower, making it unsafe to use today."

"This news is sadder still," he continued, "because tonight is the Lyrid meteor shower, which is anticipated to be exceptionally bright this year. I'm sorry to say, students, that you will all be missing this marvelous event due to the carelessness of the callous students who caused the explosion. Instead, we will be discussing the 47 technical means by which meteor showers may influence spellcasting."

A collective groan arose from the students in response to this, but Katherine had already stopped listening. She turned to whisper excitedly to Abraxas, "We obviously need to sneak into the astronomy tower to watch! It would be so much fun."

Abraxas shrugged. "Well, if you say we need to, then who am I to argue? Let's do it."

Katherine leaned back in her seat to talk to Riddle and Orion, as Professor Alqamar began his lecture on the 47 technical, and extremely boring, means by which meteor showers could influence magic. "Alright boys – who's up for an adventure?"

Orion looked at her eagerly, in a manner reminiscent of an excited puppy. "Sure! What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking of a trip to the astronomy tower, of course. You heard the Professor – it's supposed to be a 'marvelous event!'" She said with a smirk.

Orion paused. "It sounds like the astronomy tower suffered a lot of damage. It might be kind of dangerous."

"Oh, come on, Orion," said Katherine. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe from the big bad tower. How about you, Riddle?"

Riddle shook his head, disinterestedly. "No, thanks. Enjoy your little playdate."

"Oh come on, Riddle!" exclaimed Katherine "It's a once in a lifetime astronomical event – it's good for our education," she added sarcastically, wagging a finger at him.

"It's not that I need to be convinced," Riddle replied. "I genuinely have other plans tonight, I can't make it."

Katherine shrugged at Riddle and shot Orion a playful wink before tilting her chair forwards again and bringing her focus back to the lecture. As soon as the hour was up, and Professor Alqamar dismissed the class, Katherine attempted to gather together the other 6th year Slytherins so she could invite them to join their clandestine adventure.

Victoria and Charles slipped out before she could catch their attention, and Antonin Dolohov scowled at her in a manner that suggested he did not want to be bothered before trudging off after them. Celeste and Thaddeus declined her invitation, with a thinly veiled excuse about working on a History of Magic paper that everyone knew they'd already finished days ago. As the remainder of the group collected outside the door of the classroom, Celeste and Thaddeus departed down the hallway leading towards the Common Room, holding hands. Adeline elbowed Katherine gently in the ribs, clearly excited to see her sister and Thaddeus spending time together.

"Well, I would love to come," said Adeline. "And I'm sure Celeste wouldn't mind some time alone with Thaddeus."

Katherine smiled at her. "Great, let's head up there before we draw any unwanted attention."

"And Riddle," she added, shooting him a look over her shoulder, "feel free to join once you've attended to your other mysterious plans."

Riddle shrugged indifferently. "I might stop by, but I make no promises." He walked away, heading down the corridor towards the dungeons.

The remaining Slytherins – Katheirne, Adeline, Abraxas and Orion – began creeping towards the Astronomy tower, moving as quickly and quietly to avoid detection.

They soon arrived at the astronomy tower and climbed the stairs to reach the viewing room at the top. Usually, this room gave a phenomenal view of the skyline in all directions, with open windows on all side. Tonight, though, a pile of rubble and collapsed stone made looking out the windows impossible. The tower was dark, with no torches lit, and only a few slivers of starlight peaked in through cracks in the rubble.

"Damn," cursed Abraxas, "There goes that idea."

Adeline pouted. "We climbed all those stairs for nothing!"

Katherine scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Aren't we witches and wizards? We can solve this problem."

She stepped up to one of the South-facing windows, whose frame had mostly collapsed. Pulling out her wand, she wordlessly cast Wingardium Leviosa and a smaller fragment of stone lifted itself into the air and floated away, leaving behind a small gap in the rock-pile. "Come on, give me a hand," she said, looking over her shoulder.

Orion stepped up, pulling out his wand. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said, swishing and flicking his wand vigorously. A larger piece of stone pulled itself loose and drifted away.

The two of them continued to move stones from the pile until a gap a few feet across had formed, creating a small, irregularly shaped window. The four of them gathered around it, peering out at the sky. A few streaks of light darted past in the dark night, but it was hard to follow them for long through the small makeshift window.

Orion was the first to break the silence. "Well," he said, "this sucks. We might as well head back to the Common Room."

Katherine groaned. "Boo, that's no fun. We came all the way up here; I want to see the show!"

She stepped up to the window and lifted a foot through the hole, straddling the edge. As she ducked her head through to stick it out the other side, Orion grabbed her arm to stop her. "What are you doing?" he asked, worriedly.

She shot him an annoyed look. "I'm going up to the roof. Follow me, or don't, but you're not stopping me. I'm not spending another boring night holed up in the Common Room."

Orion kept his grip on her arm. "Are you crazy? You're going to get yourself killed."

Katherine tugged her arm away. "I'm not crazy, just not afraid to die," she said with a reckless grin.

With that, she ducked her head through the opening and twisted to face the outside of the wall. She found a handhold and a spot to put her foot, and then swung her second leg through and started climbing.

Orion watched nervously, while Adeline chewed her lip, worried. Abraxas looked at the two of them for a brief moment, and then seemed to shake himself, and moved towards the window to follow Katherine. "What's the worst that could happen?" he said, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Um," said Adeline, "you could fall to your death?"

Abraxas didn't respond, but rather swung himself out the hole in the wall and started climbing. Katherine had already reached the roof, and he could see her face peeking out over the edge. "It's beautiful up here," she called down at him. "Hurry up!"

Abraxas said nothing but kept climbing, making good time. Suddenly, the stone his foot was resting on crumbled and fell away. He cried out, dropping a couple feet before managing to catch himself precariously, hands gripping tightly onto a larger outcropping of rock.

"Shit," said Katherine, scrambling to her knees. She pulled out her wand, and began tracing a quick pattern in the air. Suddenly, the stone of the tower wall beneath Abraxas seemed to shimmer and move. It grew outwards, morphing into a thin ledge beneath his feet that gave him something to stand on.

Abraxas breathed a heavy sigh of relief and steadied himself. "That was…"

Katherine cut him off – "Exciting? Exhilarating? Unforgettable?"

Abraxas gave a nervous laugh. "Sure, something like that."

"Well, come on, don't keep me waiting up here," called Katherine.

Abraxas looked at her incredulously, shocked that she still wanted him to climb up to the roof after a near-death experience. But, nevertheless, he started slowly climbing up the wall, and soon pulled himself over the edge onto the roof.

"Are you two okay up there?" Adeline's voice floated up to them from below, sounding worried.

"We're fine! You two chickens are missing out!" shouted Katherine. She turned to face Abraxas and spoke more softly. "You okay?"

He nodded. "I'll live, thanks to you."

Katherine smiled. "Not sure I can take the credit for saving your life, since I'm also the one who put it in danger."

Abraxas chuckled in response. "Fair point."

"Seriously, though, Abraxas" said Katherine, leaning closer to him, a teasing smile on her face. "You didn't think I'd let you die, did you? You're far too handsome for that." She placed a gentle hand on the side of his face, resting lightly on his jaw.

Abraxas smiled wryly. "Good to know why you keep me around."

Katherine laughed, and let her hand drop from his face. She leaned back and looked up at the stars. "Well, I also keep you around because you're the only one who will do reckless things like this with me."

"It was worth it," said Abraxas softly, gazing up at the stars. Dozens of meteors streaked across the sky, in a mesmerizing symphony of light.

They sat in silence for a while, taking in the beauty of the night, before climbing carefully back down into the tower. Once there, they faced extensive chastisement on their foolishness from Adeline and Orion. Even so, as they meandered back down to the common room, Katherine and Abraxas couldn't help but smile, sharing the lingering joy of a shared adventure and a clandestine moment.

AN: I don't even know what to say, it's been years since I've posted an update. I do still really want to finish this story, even if just for my own sake. I hope someone is still reading - I'd love to know if you are, feel free to leave a review or send me a message.