Summary: Scarlett Potter vanquished Voldemort and won the war, but felt dead inside ever since. After being murdered by muggles, she finds out what the title of Mistress of Death really means and uncovers the many benefits that come with it. Starting again in a Universe where Grindelwald is the Dark Lord that killed her parents, what will Scarlett do differently?

Pairings: TMR/Fem!HP

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Some scenes were inspired by other fanfiction writers... if anything has been done before I most likely have gotten my ideas from there.

A/N: It took a little longer than I'd planned, but here is the next chapter! Enjoy! :)

Part 2 - Chapter 3

Scarlett grinned as Riddle let her into his quarters. As soon as their exciting DADA lesson had come to an end and everyone had filed out of the room, Scarlett had walked right up to Riddle and she'd bestowed him with her most blinding smile, which she knew made her look slightly deranged. She'd been extremely amused when he'd looked immediately weary as he regarded her suspiciously.

"Hello, Professor" she'd murmured sweetly.

"Hello, Miss Potter" his lips had quirked up in amusement. "How many times do I have to remind you that any questions outside of class should be directed to my assistant professor?"

Scarlett had scoffed.

"As if that idiot could answer anyone's questions" she'd muttered darkly. "The only reason I'd go visit him is if I needed target practice."

Riddle had chuckled darkly.

"I expect an invitation if you ever do decide you need some target practice," he'd murmured in his deep, velvety voice. "I was disappointed to only catch the end of your chat with Quirrel last year."

"Are you giving me permission to use a professor as target practice, Professor?" Scarlett had mock gasped, her twinkling eyes giving away her sadistic amusement at the turn in conversation.

"Who am I to stand in the way of a student wanting to improve their Defence Against the Dark Arts skills?" Riddle had shrugged nonchalantly, smirking mischievously.

"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Professor" Scarlett had smiled innocently. "I actually wanted to ask if you could teach me how to catch a spell on my wand like you did at the End of Year Feast."

Riddle had regarded her in silence for a few moments, peering into her eyes as if they would allow him to see into the deepest recesses of her mind, but he never tried to use Legimency. Eventually the man had given a slight nod.

"Fridays after dinner" he'd agreed a lot more easily than Scarlett had predicted.

And so here she was, ready for her first private lesson. Scarlett would be lying if she said she wasn't excited to spend more time with the resident Dark Lord, especially since she could allow herself to be a little darker when she was around him without any fear of judgment or repercussions. After all the man had given her points for torturing and murdering a professor. There wasn't much that she could do at this point that would be considered worse than that.

"Thank you for taking the time to teach me, Professor" Scarlett murmured as Riddle cleared the furniture out of the way. She was amused to note that her flower still hadn't been moved from the table she'd last seen it on.

"I hope you won't disappoint me, Miss Potter" Riddle drawled.

Scarlett's eyes narrowed, affronted at the mere suggestion that she could be found lacking. Riddle barely concealed a smirk as he motioned her to stand in front of him.

"In order to take control of a spell, you need to be able to feel it, be confident in casting it and be powerful enough to take ownership of it without becoming a victim to it." Scarlett tracked the man as he circled her, like a predator sizing up its prey. But they both knew that Scarlett was no prey.

"We're going to start by testing your sensitivity to magic" he murmured. "Close your eyes, Miss Potter."

Scarlett barely hesitated before following his instructions. She was starting to feel too comfortable around the man. She needed to remember that he was still technically her enemy. But right now he was just her DADA professor. And he was helping her. She supposed she could trust him for the duration their lessons. And really, what's the worst he could do to her?

"Feel the room with your magic" Riddle's velvety voice caressed Scarlett's ear and she suppressed a shiver. The man was using a spell to mask where the sound was coming from so his words seemed to echo across the room, sounding both near and far at the same time. "Can you feel my magic? Turn towards me."

Riddle couldn't have set her an easier task. He'd unleashed his magic so that it was flowing freely around himself to make it easier for Scarlett to locate it, and she could feel its darkness temptingly calling to her. She could feel it against her skin, she could practically taste it and she would have found it almost impossible to not turn towards its source.

Scarlett opened her eyes and met Riddle's.

"Easy peasy" she sang smugly.

"Again" he demanded, reigning in a bit of his magic as she closed her eyes.

She waited for him to find a new spot and then immediately spun to face him, having tracked him as he moved around her. She smirked as she felt him hiding more of his magic away and, at his request, she obediently closed her eyes once more. They repeated the game of hide and seek over and over again, Riddle suppressing more and more of his magic each time, but Scarlett was very sensitive to magic, especially his deliciously dark magic, so she was able to easily locate him each time.

"Good" he said eventually. "Let's try that one last time. Eyes closed. I'm going to completely suppress my magical signature this time."

Scarlett closed her eyes and felt his last playful words wash over her in a whispered hiss.

"Come and find me, my little puzzle."

Taking a deep breath, Scarlett relaxed the hold on her Light magic and, on her next exhale, she allowed her power to spread freely around the room, covering every surface. She couldn't feel Riddle's magic at all, which just showed how powerful he was, so she used her magic like a form of echolocation instead. She could feel the position of every single thing in the room that was touched by her magic and that included Riddle.

Scarlett glided confidently towards the armchair where she knew he was sitting, stopping just a step before she would have bumped into his legs.

"Very good, Miss Potter" Riddle murmured as she opened her eyes. In the next moment, he completely freed his magic so that it joined hers to flow freely around the room. Sparks and static filled the air where their magic touched, their combined power saturating the room.

Standing so close to Riddle, with their magics playfully merging and flowing with each other in an invisible dance, Scarlett found herself hating being trapped inside her stupid twelve year old body. She wanted Riddle to see an equal when he looked at her, not a child. And why couldn't the man still look like a snake? It would make her life so much easier.

Angelina grumbled to herself as she sleepily headed to the second years' dormitory. She loved Quidditch and she respected Oliver's dedication to leading them to victory, but the boy was insane. Was it really necessary to attend practice at the crack of dawn? On a Saturday? With no prior warning? She didn't think so.

Suppressing a sigh, Angelina tiptoed towards Scarlett's bed trying not to wake up the whole dorm. There was no need for everyone in Gryffindor to suffer. Angelina silently pulled back the curtain obscuring the Girl-Who-Lived from view and slowly reached forward, intending to gently shake her awake; however, before her hand could come into contact with Scarlett, she was roughly flipped onto the bed, the previously sleeping girl now crouching threateningly above her.

Angelina froze, partly in shock, partly in fear. She could feel the wand digging into her neck, she could feel the angry magic that was weighing her down like an iron blanket, but all she could see were glowing green eyes, which were swirling with power. Time seemed to stand still as both girls stared at each other, unmoving. Then Scarlett's gaze seemed to focus on Angelina's face and she blinked. It was as if a switch had been flipped, the magic retreated and the wand disappeared as if it had never been there to begin with. Warmth returned to the Girl-Who-Lived's expression and she smiled apologetically as she gracefully jumped off the bed.

"Sorry," she laughed sheepishly, offering Angelina her hand, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "You startled me."

Angelina gaped at the girl, trying to wrap her mind around how someone so innocent looking could be so terrifying. Perhaps she'd been overreacting because she'd been taken off guard. After all Scarlett was only twelve. Shaking her head, Angelina grasped Scarlett's hand and let herself be pulled up from the bed.

"Oliver wants everyone down on the pitch for Quidditch practice." Angelina murmured, refocusing on why she'd come to wake the Girl-Who-Lived in the first place.

Scarlett looked out of the window. A thin mist floated across the sky, which was still too dark for anyone to be out of bed.

"But… it's the crack of dawn!" She said almost whining.

"You know what Oliver is like." Angelina shrugged sadly. "Apparently it's part of our new training programme."

She watched in amusement as Scarlett groaned and grumpily changed into her Quidditch robes, muttering to herself as she scribbled a note to let her blissfully sleeping friend know where she was going.

The rest of the team had been waiting for them in the common room and no-one seemed very pleased at having been woken up so early on a weekend. Oliver, apparently oblivious to his team's murderous glares, clapped his hands gleefully.

"Great! We're all here!" He said way too cheerfully. "Let's go!"

Angelina joined the rest of her teammates as they trudged behind a practically skipping Oliver all the way to the pitch. She had to admit that some of his enthusiasm was catching as he detailed how they were going to destroy the other teams by practicing harder than they ever had before. You had to admire the boy's dedication even though he was completely insane.

Instead of heading straight to the pitch, Oliver led them to the changing rooms, motioning for everyone to sit down as he pulled out a large diagram of a Quidditch field covered in various lines, arrows and crosses.

"Before we actually get out on the field, I wanted a quick chat about our new strategy," he said seriously. "I spent the whole summer devising a brand new training program, which I really think will be the deciding factor in leading us to victory."

Unfortunately there wasn't only one diagram and each one seemed to take longer than the one before to explain. As the speech went on, Angelina felt herself sinking into a stupor and she wasn't the only one. Fred and George were leaning more and more heavily on each other, Alicia and Katie kept blinking rapidly trying to keep their eyes open and Scarlett was gazing into the distance, seemingly lost in thought.

"So," Oliver practically shouted, jerking everyone awake. "Is that clear? Any questions?"

"I have a question, Oliver" said a dangerously soft voice as Angelina felt the same oppressive magic from before spreading across the room. "Why didn't you tell us all of this yesterday when we were awake and would have actually been able to pay attention to what you were rambling on about?"

Oliver flushed as he spun to face Scarlett who, despite being a lot smaller than their captain, seemed to somehow manage to look down her nose at him.

"Now, listen here. Last year we finally won the cup and I have no intention of it being taken away from us! So that means pushing ourselves beyond anything these other teams are going to be able to throw at us! We can't afford to get cocky or we're going to lose!" Oliver advanced with fire in his eyes.

Scarlett didn't seem the least bit impressed by his impassioned speech, staring him down in silence until Oliver was the one to turn away.

"Alright team, let's go!" He snapped, grabbing his broom. "We're wasting daylight!"

"He knows I'm right" Scarlett muttered to herself as she rolled her eyes, grabbing her own broom and following Oliver outside.

Angelina waited until the girl was gone before turning to the twins.

"Do you ever find that Scarlett can be a little… scary?" She asked in a whisper.

"Oh yes…" One of the twins started.

"She's truly…" the other continued.

"Utterly…"

"Wonderfully…"

"Fantastically…"

"Amazingly…"

"Terrifying" they finished together.

Angelina felt that Fred and George's matching grins were also rather terrifying. Why was she surrounded by crazy people?

"Scary Scarlett has a rather nice ring to it, don't you think Forge?"

"I can't help but agree, Gred."

The twins winked as they sauntered out of the changing rooms. Angelina suppressed a shudder as she followed them outside. She hoped that Scarlett never found out who gave them the idea for that particular nickname.

Scarlett was racing around the pitch with Fred and George on her tail when she was startled by a loud clicking noise and a bright flash. Using her momentum to propel herself forwards, Scarlett twirled in the air, pointing her wand at the cause of the offending noise. She mentally groaned when she came face to face with Colin Creevey. She really was on edge this morning. She needed to calm herself or she was going to end up killing someone. Although she did enjoy watching her classmates' fear when she let some of her masks drop.

Unfortunately Creevey was completely unperturbed and just smiled brightly at her.

"That was amazing!" He shouted from behind the camera. "Point your wand again."

Scarlett's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she debated the pros and cons of destroying the little boy's camera.

"It's rude to take pictures of people without their permission" she said coldly.

Creevey gaped at her for a moment and then raised his camera again.

"Can I take a picture of you?" He asked eagerly.

"No" she snapped, turning away to resist the temptation of making his precious camera explode in his hands. She was a grown woman she could control herself.

"What's going on?" Oliver flew over, looking at the stands suspiciously. "Why's that first year taking pictures? Is he a Slytherin spy?"

Scarlett rolled her eyes.

"Unfortunately he's in Gryffindor" she grumbled. "Anyway the Slytherins don't need spies. They're here in person."

Oliver twisted so fast towards where Scarlett was pointing that she was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash.

"I can't believe this!" He hissed angrily. "I booked the field for today!"

Scarlett sighed as she followed her captain to the ground.

"Flint!" Oliver advanced threateningly towards the Slytherin Captain. "As you can see the pitch is in use. I booked it. You can come back another time."

"Ah" Flint chuckled smugly, waving a piece of paper in front of Oliver's face. "But I have a specially signed note here from Professor Snape."

I, Professor Severus Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice on the Quidditch field today to train their new Seeker.

"You've got a new seeker?" Oliver asked, momentarily distracted. "Who is it?"

Scarlett couldn't help but be amused by the dramatic way that the Slytherin team parted to reveal a smirking Draco hiding behind them. It seemed like some things never changed.

"Draco, you're the new seeker?" Scarlett said cheerfully, ignoring the animosity building around her. "Why didn't you tell me? Congratulations!"

Draco valiantly tried to contain his pleased expression, but he couldn't hide the faint blush dusting his pale cheeks. Scarlett wanted to coo. He was adorable.

"Why don't we play a friendly game?" she suggested sweetly, glancing at the two glaring captains. "There's plenty of room for all of us and the winning team could get first dibs when reserving the pitch next time."

"Fine by me" Oliver shrugged.

"And me" Flint agreed immediately after, not wanting to be outdone.

With one last confrontational nod towards each other, the two captains led their teams into a huddle at opposite ends of the pitch.

"We're going to win this" Oliver basically commanded. "Scarlett end it quickly. I don't want them learning too many of our new tactics."

"Aye Aye Captain" she saluted him playfully as she mounted her broom and raced into the sky.

Draco was already circling the pitch and she blew him a kiss as she sped past him.

"Don't cry too much when I catch the snitch in the next five minutes" she shouted with a wink.

"You wish!" Draco shouted back with a playful glare.

Scarlett laughed, enjoying the morning air whipping her face as she scanned the pitch for the elusive golden ball.

Sadly it took longer than five minutes, but Scarlett eventually spotted the snitch floating lazily at the bottom of the middle Slytherin goal. With a quick glance at Draco to make sure that he wasn't looking her way, Scarlett pointed her broomstick downwards and let herself dive at breakneck speed towards the ground. With an exhilarated laugh she pulled up at the last minute, her toes skimming the grass as she grabbed the snitch, barely avoiding crashing into the goal, instead clasping it with her free hand and using it to turn herself around without losing speed.

As she raced back into the air to celebrate the victory with her teammates, Scarlett noticed narrowed charcoal eyes watching her from the DADA classroom. Still full of adrenaline, Scarlett jumped up so that she was standing precariously on her broomstick and she offered Riddle a mocking bow, before gracefully falling back into a more comfortable sitting position. The man rolled his eyes and turned away from the window, shaking his head.

Had the man been watching her the whole time? Scarlett's stomach did a little flip. She must be hungry. She still hadn't had breakfast after all.

A/N: What did you think?