Welcome back everyone!

Much thanks for the awesome reviews and feedback as always. And as many of you have questioned and pointed out, yes the points where Lily is bringing up Occlumency, she WAS supposed to say Legillimency. That was a mistake on my part. I struggled for so long to spell Occlumency right that I eventually started putting it in even when I meant Legillimency. My bad XD

So a few of you have voiced some concerns about Mary and Severus's relationship, so let me ease some worries and tell you this: this isn't a relationship right now.

Severus hasn't agreed to date Mary. He's hurt and depressed and Mary has been spending time with him and honestly, he is mainly enjoying her company at the moment because she is expressing the understanding he hopes to finally get from Lily. He hasn't commented on the kiss, nor has he consented to another. Right now he is merely distancing himself from Lily and Mary is capitalizing on his newfound separation from Lily.

That isn't to say Mary is trying to steal him away. As far as she knows, Sev and Lily are just friends. But they're friends who are ALWAYS together. Mary sees the recent argument as a chance to spend time with Severus one on one and try to win him over. She's knows he isn't sure at the moment so she hopes to change his mind. She's aware right now that Severus doesn't know quite how he feels about her; the kiss was her way of just giving him a heads up that she is interested and wants him to consider whether it is something that could develop between them.

So Severus isn't leading her on. He's more confused than anything. He honestly is questioning if he and Lily should be together if they can't get through hurdles like these. Dark Arts are a part of him whether she likes it or not, and he can't see a relationship working if Lily doesn't try better to understand him. He isn't dating Mary and none of what they are doing is dates in his eyes. They're studying like usual, but more often just the too of them and with a bit more affection from Mary as she hopes to get him used to the idea of seeing her in a romantic light. Since Severus has no idea if Lily even wants to be with him now that she knows what he was doing with his spells, he doesn't see a point in telling Mary he may be unavailable due to a relationship that may be now nonexistent.

Hope that makes a feel people feel a little better. Now on with the show!

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Sixty: T. M. Riddle

At a secluded table at the back of an empty classroom, away from prying eyes and ears, several teens were gathered. Being the middle of a Wednesday afternoon, there was little chance of them being discovered, Ravenclaws off in the library getting head starts on homework, the majority of students were at lunch or playing in the snow during free period. The rest remained trapped within busy classrooms, the unlucky ones trying to will themselves to stay awake through Binns' monotonous sermons.

For a select group comprised of three Slytherins, two Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw, and a Hufflepuff, there was no frolicking in the white powder outside, no head starts on recently assigned classwork, nor class time naps. For them, all focus rested on a simple item, sitting innocuously on the table they gathered around.

A book.

An old, musty smelling book complete with faded leather cover and yellowing pages. Bronze embellishments at the corners had rusted over and the leather was cracked and dried out as if left in the sun too long. Clearly, someone had taken good care of it and old age simply took its toll, as despite the wear and tear on the cover, the overall pages seemed to be in relatively good condition, yellow but not stiff or crumbling like one would expect.

Overall, it seemed like an innocent, unassuming journal lacking in suspicion.

At least it would have if not for the name printed neatly in faded ink Thea found written on the very first page earlier that day.

T.M. Riddle.

"You're powers of serendipity is starting to stretch my suspension of disbelief past normal levels, Thea," Severus stated sardonically.

Thea raised her hands helplessly, "This one isn't on me. My powers lead me to things; they don't just appear in my trunk among my school books!"

Simone nodded, "I've witnessed quite a bit of her discoveries; she inadvertently goes to them, they don't come to her."

"Well then this is a damn interesting coincidence, don't you think?" Severus drawled, causing Simone to bristle at his tone.

Lily stepped between Severus and Simone, "Let's just back up a bit. Thea, could you please tell us how you found it again?"

Thea sighed, "It's like I said: I filled up my notebook for Divination and needed a new one. I bought blank ones before the start of term and went to get one from my trunk. And that," she pointed at the book on the table, "Was tucked in between the top two notebooks in the pile."

"You don't recall buying it with your other supplies?" Nesme suggested.

Thea shook her head, "No, all my things are new; this looks ages old."

Severus inspected the inside of the cover, running his finger over a label at the top.

"Winstanley's Bookstore & Stationers," he read aloud, "That's a muggle store in London, I think. You're father shops there sometimes, doesn't he Lily?"

Lily nodded, "I think so."

"Never heard of it," Thea explained, "I definitely didn't buy this book."

"It looks like a journal," Davis stated, picking the book up. He thumbed through it, "It doesn't seem to have seen much use though; there's nothing written in it."

"Seems a waste," Mary observed, "It's like…fifty years old? Yet the inside's still in such good condition. Why go to the trouble of preserving it if he wasn't going to use it?"

"Beats me," Davis said, continuing to give the diary a look over. A frown crossed his face, prompting him to close the book. Flipping it over in his hands a few times, he frowned down at the book in befuddlement.

"What's wrong, Davis?" Simone asked.

Davis shrugged, "I just…I get this eerie feeling from it."

"You did with the diadem too," Severus recalled, "Give it here."

Davis dropped the book into Severus's outstretched hand, allowing the Slytherin to examine it closely.

"It didn't feel the same as the diadem," Davis elaborated for everyone else, "But something felt a little off about it. The diadem felt wrong…like something awful was going on in it. This just feels…I don't know how to explain it," he shrugged again, "Call it a sort of intuition, but it gives off this vibe like there's more to it than it seems."

"I didn't get that feeling at all," Thea said, confused, "Sure, I was baffled by why I had Riddle's diary of all things, but it seemed exactly that; just a diary."

"I'm not getting a read on it either," Severus announced, setting the book back down, "Are you sure you didn't just imagine it? We've all hyped ourselves up about the mystery of this Riddle fellow."

"I don't think so," Davis replied, "My mom's an empath, so we have a pretty good sense for these things."

"News to me," Severus mumbled, "Not that I doubt your suspicions, though. So far we haven't learned anything too positive or trustworthy about Mr. Riddle, this thing very well could be cursed in some way."

"We've learned he took credit for solving a murder he didn't actually solve and may have in fact caused," Simone tacked off on his fingers, "Dumbledore clearly doubts his account of the so called evidence he provided to accuse Hagrid. There's also the fact that he was a prefect and Head Boy, which Helena said were titles the one who tricked her once held in this school. And the timeline of when he attended school and graduated lines up with when Helena first encounter the guy who asked about the diadem."

"I'm having trouble keeping track of all this," Nesme said, "Did Helena say the guy she spoke to was a Ravenclaw? Or that he could have been from any House except Ravenclaw?" Flipping open to a random page in the diary, Nesme procured a quill and dipped it in ink, preparing to write.

"Are you mad?!" Severus exclaimed, grabbing hold of Nesme's hand before the quill could touch the paper, causing a glob of ink to splash down on the open diary.

"What? I was going to make note of what we know so far," Nesme asked with genuine surprised. She looked down at the ink blot, "You're making a mess."

"Do you have any idea how foolish it is to tamper with something we know nothing about?" Severus asked angrily, "Something that was owned by a person who could very well be dangerous? If he is the one who killed Myrtle, do you really want to poke around in his things?"

Nesme rolled her eyes, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe up the ink, "It's a blank book, he didn't even bother to write in it. How dangerous could it be?" She laughed at Severus's paranoia, making the dark haired boy scowl.

Turning back to the diary, Nesme's smile faded away to confusion, "Where'd the ink stain go?"

Everyone looked down at the diary. Where once sat an ugly blot of ink blemishes its pages, the paper was now pristine and untouched, though just as old and dated as ever.

"Disappearing ink?" Mary suggested.

"More like disappearing paper," Davis muttered. He flipped the pages to make sure the stained one wasn't somewhere else, "It just got sucked in."

Curious, Severus plucked the quill from Nesme's fingers. Dipping it in the inkwell, he lifted the quill up without shaking off any excess ink.

Everyone watched with baited breath as he hovered the quill over the unmarked pages and waited. Carefully, Severus lightly shook the quill and dripped a spot of ink onto the diary. Then he waited.

Right before everyone's eyes, the ink began to disappear into the pages as though it had never been there at all.

"I think you're on to something, Davis," Severus said.

He dipped some more ink onto the paper to find the results were the same.

"It just vanishes," Lily said in amazement, "Do you think it is a prank diary? Maybe he wanted to trick people into writing things in it only for it to disappear."

Severus shook his head, "Mr. Tom doesn't strike me as much of a prankster."

"Maybe he wanted to keep his own secrets hidden," Simone theorized, "Perhaps a charm can bring what is written back up to the surface."

"That is a possibility," Severus agreed, dripping another glob of ink onto the diary.

The ink got sucked into the pages again, but this time a surprising response bubbled up in it's place.

Everyone watched in amazement as words seeped to the surface where the inkblot once was.

'Would you kindly stop dripping on me?' Was the simple request.

Severus dropped the quill in shock, taking a big step back.

"Okay, the diary is talking," Simone stated, "Does anyone else think that is a little questionable?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure objects aren't supposed to talk to you," Davis agreed, "At least not with actual thought of their own. I've seen a teapot screaming German at people, but only a set list of phrases. This seems…aware somehow."

"This is against my better judgement but," Severus dipped the quill in ink once more.

'To whom am I speaking?' he wrote. He watched as the words sunk into the paper.

"Sev!" Lily hissed, "Don't talk to it!"

Again, a response appeared, 'I am Tom Marvolo Riddle.'

"He's…in the diary?" Nesme asked hesitantly.

"That's not how magic works," Simone assured her. She tapped Severus on the shoulder, "Ask it something else."

"We shouldn't be asking it anything," Thea pointed out, "Who knows what this thing is."

"We need to know if we can trust it," Severus said sternly.

"How?" Mary asked, "I doubt it will tell us if it was lying."

"Ah, but it doesn't know what we know," Severus said, "I have an idea."

Redipping the quill, Severus quickly scribbled out his question.

'Do you know about the murder of 1943.'

The answer came straight away.

'Yes,' said the diary.

'How did the student die?' Severus wrote.

'A creature killed her,' the diary replied.

Severus dipped his quill again, 'What kind of creature?'

The reply was quick, 'An Acromantula. A student was hiding it in the school.'

"Now we get down to the heart of the matter," Severus told his friends. He wrote out his next question, 'How do you know that's what killed the student?'

This time it took the diary a moment to respond.

'I witnessed it,' the diary said finally, 'I saw the creature fleeing the place the body was found.'

Severus shut the diary.

"It's lying," he declared, "Hagrid said the causalities leading up to the death that year were all victims of petrification. Acromantula venom can't do that."

"Plus Hagrid kept Aragog in a box locked away in the dungeons," Lily added, "There's no way it could have gotten loose."

"Even if it did, there is no way it would have gotten to that bathroom and back so quickly," Severus pointed out. There were other factors to consider as well, "Hagrid said Riddle didn't confront him until that evening, but the body was found in the afternoon, Olive Hornby being the first to see Myrtle's body. If Riddle had found Myrtle first, why wait all that time to act? And why not go to the authorities first?"

Simone scoffed, glaring at the diary, "Does this thing actually expect us to believe that a student saw a spider the size of a dog running through the school and didn't hex it on the spot."

"Tom knew more than he is letting on," Severus stated, tapping the diary, "Whatever happened that day, his actions alone indicate he used whatever info he had to his advantage. I'm personally more inclined to believe Hagrid's innocent and Dumbledore thought so too; he vouched for Hagrid when he was expelled."

"Even if Riddle didn't kill Myrtle, why lie?" Thea asked, "Aragog wasn't the creature Myrtle saw in the bathroom, meaning even as an innocent in all this, Riddle never would have seen Aragog leaving the girl's room. So why lie and say he did?"

"All I know is this," Simone said with finality, "However Riddle made this thing and whatever he made it for, it can't be good. This diary can't be trusted. I think it's best we stop talking to it."

"You don't need to tell me twice," Severus said, pushing the diary away from him.

Thea picked the diary up gingerly. She carefully wrapped it up in a handkerchief and with a quick spell, transfigured the cloth into a thin, wooden case, "I'll keep it safe for now. If I was meant to come across this thing, then that must mean it's up to me to hide it."

"I'm still unsure how it wound up in your things, Thea," Lily said curiously, "It's sort of strange that you had it."

Thea shrugged, "It definitely is weird. I mean, I haven't really touched my school trunk since I first got home for Christmas. My house elves clean it out for me."

"Maybe we should ask one of them," Severus suggested, "Which one cleans your things?"

"That would be Heeby," Thea began, but before she could finish her sentence, a tired looking house elf popped into the room.

"Mistress Thea be needing Heeby for something?" the house elf asked eagerly.

"I think she's missing you already," Simone muttered.

Thea smiled kindly down at the house elf.

"Heeby," she said, taking the house elf's hand in her own, "Do you know where that diary came from? You put it in my trunk and I don't recognize it."

"Heeby found it in your cloak, Mistress," Heeby replied, "It was empty so Heeby thought it was a journal for notes. Did Heeby make a mistake?" the last part was asked in worry.

Thea was quick to assuage Heeby's fears, "No Heeby. You did fine; I quite like having an extra notebook. I'm just curious…what cloak did you find it in?"

"Your formal cloak, of course," Heeby said, "The one with the raven feathers around the collar. A grand cloak that one is, Mistress. The diary was in the pocket."

The color drained from Thea's face, but she put on a smile anyway, "Thank you, Heeby. That will be all."

Heeby curtseyed low and vanished.

"Thea," Simone prodded, looking at her friend with concern, "What's wrong?"

"That's the cloak I wore to the Malfoys," Thea said softly, as if talking to herself. She turned to the others, "I haven't worn it since that night. I was just so disgusted I wanted nothing to do with anything related to it. I threw the cloak on the floor as soon as I got home."

"If it came from Malfoy's, that confirms this diary is no good," Severus said.

"How could something from the Malfoy's house get in your cloak, Thea?" Mary asked.

"Lucius!" Thea gasped, "I came across a room that was supposed to be hidden—serendipity, you know—and it seemed very important that no one find the place. The little house elf guarding it was quite cross with me. He re-hid it, but Lucius just seemed to know I had seen it. He opened the room up and everything. Then he personally escorted me out to my parents. He wouldn't let the House Elf take me to them."

"If he was supposed to be hiding it, why would he give it to you?" Davis questioned.

Thea was at a loss, "I don't know, but it all makes sense. Why else would he show me there was a room there when he had no proof I actually knew about it?"

"It's a trap," Severus stated, "Whatever this thing does, clearly Malfoy intends it to cause you or others harm."

"What was Malfoy doing with it in the first place?" Simone inquired.

"Whatever the reason it can't be good," Lily said, shuddering, "That whole family gives me the creeps. So heartless and arrogant. And Lucius is the worst. I remember him from my first few years in school; so pompous, like Salazar himself ordained his birth."

"Safe to say we should never use that book again," Davis said adamantly, "If anything, we may want to add it to the 'destroy' list."

"Agreed," Simone confirmed, "Thea, keep that thing safe."

Thea nodded, "You can count on me."

"Now, we better get out of here before the next class comes in," Simone addressed the group, "Don't want to be caught sneaking around."

"Last thing we need is to be accused of plotting something," Davis agreed.

Severus snorted, "What could they possible think we'd all be doing alone in a classroom together? Having an orgy?"

Lily giggled and Simone waggled her eyebrows.

"Hey, Sev," Mary cut in, making the smile drop from Lily's face, "If we're done here, I was wondering if you'd like to study together," she twirled a piece of hair around her finger, "Just the two of us?"

"Studying," Severus repeated, considering the idea. He nearly looked in Lily's direction, but changed course at the last minute, staring out the window, "I guess that would be fine."

Mary beamed, "Great," she linked arms with Severus, as had become a common practice for her and together they left.

Lily watched the two depart forlornly.

Casting a concerned glance in Lily's direction, Simone ushered Nesme and Davis out the door with Thea, leaving her and the redhead alone.

"I take it you haven't patched things up, yet?" Simone queried.

Lily sighed, shaking her head, "I know I said I would apologize, but it hardly seems like it would be enough. I said some pretty awful things. I have no idea how to fix it."

"You once thought being called the M word was unforgivable," Simone reminded her, "And yet you managed to forgive Snape."

"An abstract slur isn't the same as being compared to the man who beat you!" Lily exclaimed, "You didn't see how hurt he was. The look he gave me, he looked so betrayed. I'm the one person who is supposed to see the good in him and then I go and say the worst thing imaginable."

"That doesn't mean you can't fix things," Simone stated firmly, "And you might want to get on that at some point, before you lose him to Mary."

Lily scoffed, "It looks like I lost him already. Did you see how she clung to him?"

Simone shrugged, "They're not official yet; things are casual right now. I'm sure Mary wants to be his girlfriend, but right now she's playing it safe to not scare him off. There's still time to make your intentions known and win him over."

"But I could never do that to Mary," Lily bemoaned, "She's been through so much and she trusts me."

"You've been through a lot too," Simone interjected, "And our experiences don't mean we are entitled to get what we want. You don't owe her the love of your life because of what she's been through. Mary's a big girl; I'm sure she can get over any infatuation she has over him."

"But what if she really loves him?" Lily fretted.

Simone snorted, "We've been over this; she hardly knows him. Sure, she's warmed up to him and seen his better side, but she's still mostly in the dark about his life or who he is. She's romanticizing the tall, dark, and mysterious aspect of him."

"If you're so sure them being together is a mistake why haven't you spoken to him?" Lily asked.

Simone shrugged again, "Honestly, I've meddle enough with your lives at this point. It's time for the two of you to work things out on your own; you're big kids now. The only reason I'm giving you advice is because you clearly want it. I have no idea what Severus wants, whether it's you, or Mary, or if he just wants to be mad for a little while—which given what you said is technically his right," she reminded Lily.

"You had no problem telling me how to feel after the last fight Sev and I had," Lily grumbled.

Simone shook her head, "I never told you have to feel; I simply pointed out that you were using that argument as a scape goat to end a friendship that was plagued by other underlying problems. You weren't trying to see his side of things to look for a deeper reason for Snape's actions. Hell, you yourself have pretty much admitted that it wasn't what was said that bothered you so much as what was unsaid. Also, on your end it was pretty obvious you planned on staying severed forever out of stubbornness; I highly doubt Severus is going to manage a grudge against you for long."

"You think so?" Lily asked hopefully.

"Definitely," Simone assured, "Maybe you two don't end up together. Who knows? What I do know is that you've been his candle in the dark for so long he's never going to throw away your friendship. You'll probably always be someone special to him in some way."

Lily sighed mournfully, "I'm not sure I could continue being friends with him if it meant watching him be happy with someone else."

Simone placed a hand on Lily's shoulder, "Then pursue him. Love is subjective and complicated. If you give up without even trying, you're going to spend your whole life wondering what could have been. Is that really something you want hanging over your head?"

Lily snorted, halfhearted, "You sound like you're talking from experience. Have you ever been in love?"

"I suppose I am familiar with it," Simone replied vaguely, "Perhaps been swept away by it a time or two."

Lily couldn't help but notice Simone staring at a moonstone bracelet on her wrist, one Lily hadn't ever seen before.

Simone continued, unaware of Lily's quandary over the jewelry, "If my dabbling in love will give my words more credence so be it. Take my words to heart: never knowing if you could have had love is far more painful than loving and losing. 'What if?' is a truly agonizing question."

"So overall, you're saying I have to solve this on my own and pray to whatever's listening that this doesn't end with my heart getting stomped on," Lily quipped.

Simone grinned, "That's love. And you better get a move on quick. MacDonald's beating you right now, and she started without even having an inkling of whether or not Snape even felt the same way. You at least knew Snape shared mutual feelings with you, so what's the holdup? Own up to your mistake, explain the real reasons you're upset, and pick up the pieces. Maybe there's still a chance to fix things between you two."

"But you won't know until you try," she added knowingly.

"Going to be a little hard with how things are right now," Lily pointed out, "He's still very peeved at me."

Simone waved the concern away, "Like I said last time, he needs to cool down a bit first. Give him a week or so to stew in his bad mood, get a good sulk going on. Once he gets it out of his system, he'll start to miss you and realize what a constant you are in his life. In the meantime, maybe try and play some gentle interference."

Lily raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

Simone raised her hands, "I'm not saying sabotage Mary or anything. I like her enough to not want to screw with her life. But she's still feeling out the whole crush thing with Snape; testing the waters and seeing if he can reciprocate. So…play the third wheel. Come up with excuses to be around them. Hell, invite the others. Study groups, big get togethers, ask Mary to spend girl time with you. The more time she spends in the company of others, the less time spent alone with Snape. That will also keep him from doing something stupid like feel pressured to date Mary as a rebound."

Lily nodded, considering the plan carefully, "So…give Sev space and attention to Mary. Then apologize when Sev's less mad and start slow all over again," she scrubbed a hand over her face, "It'll be hard to go back to 'just friends' with him, but if that's what it takes, I'll do it."

"Atta girl!" Simone cheered, slapping Lily on the back, "I've got to say it's weird to see you chasing after him for a change."

Lily looked at Simone in puzzlement, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Simone shrugged, "Just, you know, he's been hounding after you for years. This is an interesting change."

Lily blinked, "He has?"

"Of course," Simone said. She looked at Lily, realization spreading across her face.

"Oh dear, sweet Merlin," she cried, "You honestly had no idea? Evans, his feelings for you aren't a recent development. It's been going on for years!"

Lily blanched, "Years…But, surely I would have noticed."

"How didn't you notice?" Simone asked with a cackle, "He's spent every year since he's known you, following you around, hanging on your every word. He gets defensive every time someone new comes into your life and steals your attention."

"Well we were best friends," Lily explained feebly.

Simone snorted, "Please. Do you honestly think Snape would have shared his potions notes with a friend? His heavily guarded techniques. No, you sweetie, were special to him. Very special. Everyone could see it."

"Everyone?" Lily gawked, "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Simone sneered, "Because your pesky little friends in Gryffindor didn't want you returning those feelings. That and I'm sure they had a good laugh watching Snape chase after someone who they thought was too good for him."

"I'm not too good for him," Lily protested, highly offended, "Sev is plenty good enough for me. More than, in fact. Better than a dunderhead Quidditch player or hoity toity rich snob. But wait, if everyone knew, why is Mary pursuing him? Surely she knows he has feelings for me."

"But she also thinks you don't have feelings for him," Simone explained, "Plus, she knows the two of you are on the outs at the moment. She probably thinks Snape will start to get over you if he realizes there are other fish in the sea and that one is ready and waiting to be caught."

Lily frowned, "Well that's not going to happen."

Simone patted Lily on the arm as she gathered her stuff.

"See to it that it doesn't," Simone said, leaving Lily to plan her next move.

Yes, Lily is this dense! Lol at least to me canon Lily was dense. Seriously, she never knew James continued to bully Snape during their final year at Hogwarts? She honestly couldn't see that tormenting someone "because he exists" is no different than purebloods hexing muggleborns? Canon Lily could be a bit of an oblivious twat. You heard me: Twat, I didn't mean twit. XD

So people have been pretty torn on Simone's opinion of Mary's feelings and that's good. Do not take everything Simone says as gospel. Regardless of what turns out to be true or not true, Simone is still a teenager giving advice on a subject she herself has limited experience in. Even if she was experienced, her own dalliances in love do not make her keen to the feelings of others, no matter how observant she thinks she is. She mainly encouraging Lily to act so that everyone's feelings can be out in the open so that the three of them (Sev, Lily, and Mary) can clear things up and figure stuff out. She honestly has NO IDEA what exactly Mary feels or why. She just wants Lily to stop sitting around and DO SOMETHING instead of playing the 'if only' and 'what if' cards of uncertainty.

Welp, now our friends have spoken to Mr. Riddle and unlike little ginger girls they are smart enough to know you can't trust talking diaries with a mind of their own.

So our heroes know better than to keep talking to this thing, but don't think that's the end of it! Diaries are tricky and teenagers can be stupid! What horrors does this little diary hold?...scratch that, we all know what's in the chamber, blah, blah, blah.

Ahem.

What lengths will the diary go to have it's horrors unfold?!

Review lovelies :)