At the end of the meeting, the Slytherin students began to trickle out in pairs, leaving every few minutes so as not to attract attention as they crept back towards the dormitory. Orion hung back, hoping for a chance to walk with Katherine. She was talking with Elenora, but as the younger Slytherin girl left, Orion seized his opportunity and approached to engage Katherine in conversation.

"That duel with Victoria was really something, Kat," said Orion earnestly. "I'd heard you were a good duelist but I guess this is the first time I've really seen you give it your all – and as it turns out, you're amazing!"

Katherine smiled broadly at him. "Thank you, Orion, you're sweet to say that. I'm a bit out of practice though; I'm hoping these meetings will give me an opportunity to polish up my skills a bit more."

"I'm happy to help you practice anytime," replied Orion eagerly. "Not that you need any practice, of course…"

Katherine was saved from having to respond as Riddle interrupted their conversation, calling out across the room. "Orion, I need a moment alone with our talented Ms. Markova."

Orion bristled ever so slightly at Riddle's voice, then gathered himself and gave a shallow bow in Riddle's direction. "Of course, my Lord."

Katherine reached out and lightly rested her hand on Orion's arm. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said with a wink, trying to be reassuring. "We can head down to the Quidditch pitch during the break."

Orion opened his mouth to respond but was cut off.

"Now, Orion," said Riddle, impatience beginning to color his tone.

Orion scowled but said nothing in retort. He left the Room of Requirement with Abraxas, leaving Katherine and Riddle as the room's only two remaining occupants.

Riddle slowly walked over to her, his shoes clicking on the hard stone floors as he approached. "That went…surprisingly well today. You might really be able to make the girls into capable duelists."

"You might be surprised, but I'm not," said Katherine, smirking. "I told you I could train them and I can. Victoria and Eleonora especially. They both have the drive for it."

There was a pause as Riddle came to stand in front of her. He gazed at her for a few moments, saying nothing. Finally, he lifted his wand towards her, until it was level with her face. She flinched slightly as the tip touched the skin by her temple, but he simply used the wand to brush her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. He smiled at seeing her flinch, knowing he'd succeeded in making her nervous.

When he spoke, it was in a quiet, controlled voice. "I've held up my end of our bargain, Katarina, even playing along with your public charade of romance. So now it's your turn. Tell me how to make a horcrux."

"What, now? It's already midnight, for Merlin's sake!" exclaimed Katherine, rolling her eyes. "And what's the rush? It's not likely that anyone will try to murder you before teatime tomorrow."

"I want to get started as soon as possible," replied Riddle. "I imagine there may be some preparations involved, and I want to successfully complete the ritual by the end of the school year."

"That's only two months away," Katherine objected. "Why don't we wait until the summer, so we can do it away from the school?"

Riddle narrowed his eyes, growing frustrated. "Because I don't want to wait. I don't need to explain myself beyond that."

Katherine sighed. "Hogwarts is a closed campus."

"I'm well aware of that," replied Riddle in a tone dripping with condescension.

"That means a limited number of suspects," continued Katherine, ignoring him. "Which means we are far more likely to be caught, or at the very least, to arouse suspicion and smear our reputations."

Riddle laughed. "You're worried about your reputation? You killed your family in their own home. That's as obvious as it gets."

Katherine's countenance darkened instantly at the mention of her family. "And everywhere I went in Bulgaria, I heard people whispering rumors about me. Is that really what you want for your future?"

Riddle placed a hand on her shoulder and held her gaze. "I have a plan to avoid any trouble. You'll just have to trust me to keep us both safe."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Trust you? I hope I'll never be foolish enough to do that."

Riddle's grip tightened on her shoulder, belying his frustration. "Trust me, or don't. It's all the same to me really, just as long as you do as I say."

She shrugged sharply, throwing his hand off her shoulder. "Watch yourself, Riddle. I've never responded very well to arrogant wizards giving me orders."

He stepped closer, so she could feel his warm breath on her face. "Perhaps you just need someone whose orders are worthy of obeying."

"I'll never be the obedient type," she shot back.

She tried to step backwards but he snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "We'll see about that. Now that you're my girlfriend, we'll be spending so much more time together. You'll find I can be very convincing."

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. "This is what you wanted, right? Well, I want a horcrux. And I am going to get what I want."

He released her and she stepped back, slightly shaky on her feet. She gathered herself for a moment, and then spoke in a voice that was firmer than she felt. "If you're really that desperate to start preparations tonight, I suppose I can miss out on one night of beauty sleep to set your mind at ease. I'll talk you through the process tonight. I have everything we need, except for a victim and a plan to avoid getting caught."

"I'll handle that," said Riddle confidently. "Now, tell me about the ritual."

The next morning's Transfiguration class felt like it arrived much earlier than usual, as Katherine didn't return to her room until the small hours of the morning. Riddle, infuriatingly, was already settled into his usual seat, looking as put-together and polished as always. He gestured towards the seat next to him as she came in, and she acquiesced, settling into it without a word.

The two sat quietly as Professor Dumbledore explained that morning's task: to transfigure a pile of copper coins into a miniature version of an animal of one's choosing. Dumbledore explained that this was a particularly difficult challenge, as these objects have symbolic value for humans, and it is therefore difficult to convince them to become something else.

Riddle quickly began work on his pile of coins, first transfiguring them into gold coins, and then some into colored gems. He then transformed this collection into a small golden sparrow, whose wings were adorned with tiny red and blue gemstones. Every detail was perfect, down to the individual feathers.

Katherine, feeling exhausted from the night before, decided to follow Riddle's example rather than come up with a completely unique idea. She, too, began by transforming the copper pieces into a more ostentatious mix of gold coins and gemstones. Instead of a bird, however, she transfigured her collection into a small golden snake, with emerald eyes, and individual shining scales. Not to be outdone by Riddle, she then cast a charm on the snake, imbuing it with animation. The golden snake began slithering across her desk, with a ruby tongue occasionally flicking in and out of its mouth.

"Very impressive, Miss Markova," said Professor Dumbledore, stopping at their table and watching her snake slither around in circles. "What a delightful little creature you've made!"

As Dumbledore walked away, Riddle spoke for the first time that morning. "Show me how you did that," he said, with no suggestion of a question in his voice.

"I already taught you lots of new things last night," she said teasingly. "This wasn't part of our bargain, so you'll have to teach me something in return."

Riddle cocked his head at her appraisingly. "I heard you tell Orion you wanted more dueling practice. I'll help you, and even teach you a new spell or two."

"Deal," said Katherine quickly. "It's quite simple, really." She proceeded to show him the charm she'd used to animate her snake, and soon his golden bird was fluttering around the classroom, glinting in the sunlight.

"Keep the snake," said Katherine to Riddle, "I made it with you in mind."

He smiled, allowing the golden snake to curl up in his hand, where it quickly fell asleep. "Gladly. You can have the bird, if you'd like."

By the end of the class, most of the students had managed to create some sort of animal figurine. Some were better than others, but none approached the level of detail that Katherine and Tom had attained.

As they packed up their things and prepared to leave for their next class, Professor Dumbledore caught Katherine's attention. "Miss Markova, could I ask for a few more minutes of your time?"

"Of course, Professor," said Katherine politely. "I'll see you in Potions, Tom."

Riddle shrugged and walked out, casting a curious glance over his shoulder as her parted. Dumbledore shut the classroom door with a swish of his wand and gestured for Katherine to take a seat. She perched on the edge of a desk, hoping the conversation would be over quickly and not wanting to get too comfortable. Riddle's bird fluttered over and landed on her shoulder, settling in.

"That was an impressive piece of magic you did today, Miss Markova. It's not easy to maintain a transfiguration spell and an animation charm simultaneously." He paused, awaiting her response.

She smiled. "Thank you, Professor. You can call me Katherine, by the way, I don't mind."

"Thank you, Katherine," replied Dumbledore. "It is a pleasure to have someone of your magical talent in my classroom, and I mean that most sincerely."

Katherine smiled again and blushed, looking down at the floor. "Thank you, again, Professor. I really appreciate you taking the time to say that, but I do have another class to get to…"

"Of course," he exclaimed. "I shall attempt to take a straighter path to my conversational goal, although I'll admit the meandering path often holds much more interest." His bright blue eyes fixed her with a curious gaze. "Do you work on these magical skills of yours with any other students? Riddle, perhaps?"

Katherine furrowed her brows, feigning confusion. "Well, we work on homework assignments together sometimes, if that's what you mean."

"Well, of course," said Dumbledore, "You are housemates, after all, it's to be expected. But do be careful, Katherine. Someone with your magical gifts could be taken advantage of."

Katherine laughed, brushing off his concern. "Trust me, sir, I'm not doing Riddle's homework for him, or anyone else's for that matter. We enjoy each other's company, that's all."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, considering her words. "Very well. Just be mindful that those with magical talent can be valuable to those with ambition."

Katherine pursed her lips. "I'll keep that in mind, Professor," she said slowly. "But I think I should get to Potions now."

"Yes, indeed you should. I would hate to irritate Professor Slughorn any further than I already do by reciting poetry at the dinner table," said Dumbledore, smiling and waving a hand towards the door, which swung open once more.

Katherine smiled at him and waved goodbye. As soon as she turned the corner, she found Riddle waiting for her.

"What did the old man want?" he asked, scowling.

Katherine shook her head. "I'm not sure. He doesn't trust you though, that much was clear."

"That's no surprise," said Riddle, seething. "He's had it out for me from the moment he met me."

"What a surprise that is, given your affable personality and accommodating nature," said Katherine sarcastically.

Riddle shot her a dark look. "Come on, we're going to be late to class. We'll deal with him another time."

Riddle and Katherine met in the Room of Requirement after classes had ended for the day, to make good on Riddle's promise to practice dueling with her.

"Before we start," said Katherine, "give me the snake that I made for you earlier."

Riddle smirked. "It's very rude to ask for a gift back, you know."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Don't be a prick, Riddle. I'm trying to show you something."

He pulled the snake out of the pocket of his robe and handed it to her.

She raised it to her lips and muttered an incantation under her breath. The air that puffed out through her lips as she did shimmered with a lilac incandescence, and the snake glittered for a few moments before the light faded.

The snake paused in its movements for a moment, and then lifted its head up and looked at Katherine. It hissed gently, flickering its ruby tongue in and out of its mouth.

Riddle raised an eyebrow. "It looks somehow…more aware, or more intelligent than before," he said, surprised.

"It's true animation," explained Katherine. "When you make a horcrux, the soul doesn't tear in a nice cut, it rips apart with jagged edges left behind. The little bits don't quite come back together. You can use those little fragments of your soul to create a mockery of life in inanimate objects, when combined with some creative charm work."

Riddle exhaled softly, thinking for a few moments. "You'd be so careless with a piece of your soul?"

"I'm not being careless," Katherine said, shaking her head. "I'm giving that part of me a new home, since it can't find its way back to being a part of either half of my soul."

She touched her hand to his, letting the snake slither back into his palm. "I hope you're not careless with it."

"I won't be," he said solemnly. He lifted the snake to eye-level and began to hiss at it.

Katherine recoiled, surprised. "You speak Parseltongue?"

Riddle nodded. "I realized I could as a child, before I even knew about Hogwarts."

Katherine cocked her head. "You're full of surprises, Tom Riddle."

"As are you, Katarina Markova," he replied. "But we're not done for tonight. I promised to teach you a new dueling technique, and I intend to deliver on that promise."

"Very good," she said, eagerly. "Let's see if you can teach me something new."

"Oh, I'm sure of it," he said, smirking. "Give me your wand."

She hesitated, glancing down at the wand in her hand.

Riddle narrowed his eyes. "Do you want to become a better duelist or not? Your wand is a crutch. You don't need it."

He held out his hand to take her wand, and she handed it to him wordlessly. "Now, cast some sort of basic hex or jinx at me. A stinging hex or something like that."

She took a step back and raised a hand towards him. A jet of red light flew out of her fingertips towards Riddle's chest. To her surprise, rather than blocking or countering the spell, he seemed to let it strike one of his hands. Instead of stinging him like Katherine would expect, it traveled up his arm, through his chest and back down his other arm. He threw his other arm forward, and the spell shot back towards her. Surprised, she was too slow to block the spell and just barely managed to duck out of the way.

"Okay," she said in a low voice. "That was a surprise. What the hell was that?"

Riddle was once again wearing his characteristic smirk. "If you absorb the energy of a spell in a controlled manner, you can re-direct it and sent it back towards your opponent, making their spells work for you."

He spent a few minutes explaining the theory of the technique to her, and practicing with some slow, basic spells, before suggesting that it was time to practice in earnest. "Enough talk, it's time for you to try it."

He fired a stinging hex across the room at her. She tried to catch the energy, but panicked at the last moment and threw up a blocking spell. Riddle narrowed his eyes, and muttered a counter-spell, dispelling her shield. He began rapidly firing more hexes, knowing that she wouldn't be able to counter all of them successfully. She blocked two, and then dodged a third, the red light whizzing past her cheek.

"Slow down, Riddle, I'm still figuring this out," said Katherine, irritated.

"Will you ask your enemies to slow down in a duel?" mocked Riddle, ignoring her. He continued firing off spell after spell.

Katherine tried to catch one of them but the stinging hex just hit her hand. A large red welt appeared, and she gasped in pain. She grit her teeth and tried again, and again the spell connected with her hand, raising another large welt.

"That's enough, Riddle, stop it," she called, voice shaky with pain.

Riddle continued advancing on her, firing off spells. "It will be enough when you do it correctly."

"I can't do it; you need to stop!" Katherine fired off a few hexes of her own, trying to stop him, but he dispelled them easily with his wand and they fizzled in the air before reaching him. One of Riddle's hexes hit her squarely in the chest while she was distracted, and she staggered backwards and fell, sprawling across the floor.

Riddle towered over her; his wand pointed at her. "You want to be a great duelist? Then stop being so afraid of a little pain!" He laughed and fired off three more spells in quick succession.

Katherine roared, furious that he would laugh at her. In her fury, she prepared to lash out, calling on all her magical power. In that instant, his spells hit, and were sucked up into her maelstrom of magical energy. All at once, she released the gathered energy and it exploded out of her in a crackling ball of purple electricity.

Riddle was blown backwards off his feet. Katherine stood up, wincing from the pain of her wounds, and strode over to stand above him. She was satisfied to see that he looked a bit shell-shocked, and his usually perfect hair was sticking up at odd angles and smoking slightly. "I've known more pain in my life than you could possibly imagine. Pain doesn't scare me. It just pisses me off."

"Fear or anger, it doesn't matter. Either way, my methods worked. You did it." He slowly pulled himself to his feet, clearly hurting but not wanting to show it.

Katherine rolled her eyes. "I'll admit I learned something, but I can't say I appreciate your teaching methods, Riddle. If you try something like that again, I will hit back twice as hard."

He smirked. "I made you stronger. You're welcome."

She didn't respond but plucked her wand out of his robe pocket and tucked it away. "Goodnight, Riddle," she said firmly, "I've had quite enough of you for one evening."

She turned and headed towards the rooms exit. She was almost at the door when Riddle fired another hex at her, hoping to catch her by surprise. This time, Katherine saw it coming. She absorbed the energy without hesitation and thew it back at him. He blocked the spell easily and had a look of triumph flash briefly across his face before he realized his mistake. The re-directed spell had distracted him, and he didn't notice the blasting spell that she directed at his feet. He was swept off his feet and landed unceremoniously on his backside.

Once Katherine saw that her spell had landed, she didn't bother to look back. She left the room, her laughter echoing softly across the stone floors.

AN: Thanks again to everyone who is still reading. I'm certain I'm in the running for slowest author of all time, but I am still trying to fit in some writing when I can and getting your reviews/comments always reminds me to carry on!