V/N - Fourth addition to the story, hope ya like. Thank you for the fabulous reviews (and porn ::rolls eyes, astounded by the human race yet again::) Be prepared for more shockers as Mag and I continue to twist the characters around ::grin::.
-- Versailles (Verse+eye)


Chapter Four - Let's Ditch this Popsicle Stand!


Tom Riddle wandered the corridor. His hands were fidgeting madly and brilliant colors swirled around his head. He was rambling on and began telling how to divide fractions. As he was about to ascend a staircase, someone ran smack into him.

*oof* Minerva McGonagall looked down at her scattered papers and adjusted her glasses. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized as she picked up her notebooks and assignments. "I guess I wasn't looking where I... where I was..." Minerva looked up as Tom handed her one of her fallen books.

"Thank you," she said sweetly, taking the book and placing it in a pile. She then glanced down at her robes, picking at a grease stain that wasn't coming up.

"I was wondering, Tom," she began, trying not to sound too forward, "if maybe you'd like to go to the ball with me."

"Vrooty sloosh?" Tom foamed at the mouth and his right arm turned into a slimy green tentacle.

"Great! I'll see you at seven!"

Tom sat in the middle of the hall, his head madly swinging from side to side, having no idea what he just got himself into.


"Guess what, guys!" Lucius squealed at breakfast the next morning. "I got a girl!"

Severus choked on his orange juice. "Someone got you in bed? By god, who's the wonder-woman?"

Lucius ignored the implication of his remark. "Lily Potter!"

The entire Slytherin table turned and looked at Lucius, who sunk down next to the very bewildered Severus.

He grabbed Lucius by the collar of his robes. "You lie."

Lucius, looking extremely frightened, shook his head quickly.

"I had a girl, too!" screamed Tom. "She was beautiful and she had eight arms! And she gave me theeeeese!!" Tom's tremulous hand reached into his pocket and unscrewed a bottle of bouncing pink pills. As he took the top off, the pills jumped out and buried themselves into the wood of the table. Tom shrieked and fainted, splattering his oatmeal all over Persephone Lotte. Like clockwork, two men from the Hospital Wing lifted him up and carried him off. Tom was such a frequent visitor he had his own section there.

Severus poked at his eggs with his fork. Of course, he thought, more depressed than usual. Lily was just playing with me ... I knew she couldn't love me ... After all, no matter how much I care about her, she is the school's harlot...


After the graduation ceremony, Lucius and Severus were up in the common room. Neither of them had managed to find a date to the mandatory ball, so they weren't making much of an effort to look good; well, Severus wasn't, anyway. Lucius, on the other hand, was dressed in what he thought was a snazzy pale blue tuxedo, complete with orange bowtie. He was standing in front of the mirror, fixing his hair. Severus was falling asleep on the couch, wearing his usual black and grey robes.

"Severus, " Lucius said. "You could at least make some effort." He reached for Severus' hair with a comb in his hand, but his wrist was grabbed by Severus' sleepy hand. Surrendering, Lucius tossed him a red bowtie, Severus put it on.

"Have you seen Tom, Severus?" Lucius asked, back at the mirror again.

"I'd imagine if he has half a mind he's back in the forest, ditching this stupid dance. It's not fair Dumbledore lets him get away with everything he does."

The Great Hall was heavily decorated with house colors and pictures. The "Best Of" photos were all pinned on one wall. Sirius and Remus, of course, had tied for "Class Clown." They were messing around and bumping chests in their picture, smiling stupidly. James and Lily had won "Best Couple." Severus scowled and charmed the picture so that James sported a long, shaggy red beard. He sneered and walked away to the table of refreshments.

He sat down at a chair next to the table, opened his journal and whipped out a quill. Just as he was about to begin, he caught the oddest sight out of the corner of his eye.

Tom had just walked in from the entrance across from the table. Not only was he clad in new handsome dress robes, but he had a date. Not only a date, but Minerva. Minerva McGonagall and Tom Riddle. Just the idea was absurd. All the occupants of the Great Hall were staring at the two. Severus looked at Lucius whose eyes were gleaming with pride.

Everyone eventually became immersed in the ceremonies again and the unlikely couple began to dance--if you would choose to call it that. Tom, however nicely he was dressed, was more uppity than ever. Minerva was dressed regally in flowing scarlet robes. She led him along the dance floor, and he shuffled and scooted along with her.

Severus frowned and continued writing as Lucius sat down next to him, holding a goblet of punch.

"I'm so proud of our little Tom," he said. "Imagine, he, of all people, has found someone to make him happy."

"Happy?!" Severus spat. "By tomorrow, he won't even remember this whole thing! I'll bet you anything he doesn't even know her name!"

"Do I sense some envy, Severus?"

"No," he pouted, becoming very concerned with what he was writing.

"Severus?"

"What?"

"What are you writing?"

"Nothing." He clutched his book closer as Lucius leaned over.

"I know you're writing something. Is it about me?"

"God, no!"

"Please read me a little!"

"No!"

"Pleeeaaaase?"

"Argh, fine." Severus flipped open to a page. He cleared his throat.

"Dust, FIRE, agony, BETRAYAL. A figure on the horizon, CRADLING, ashes, BURNING, longing, DUST!" Severus hung his head and began snapping his fingers. He had gathered a small crowd as his voice rose, and now everyone was staring at him.

"Well," Lucius gulped. "That was lovely..." He then squinted, looking at something across the hall.

"Narcissa!" he yelled, flailing his arms and chasing after her. "Narcissa, dear!"

Narcissa cursed under her breath and forced a grin as Lucius came bounding up to her and her date. Lucius smiled gallantly and Narcissa's date grunted.

"Whaddaya want, Lucius?" she asked as her date left to go chow at the refreshment table. While everyone else at the school spoke with an English accent, Narcissa had a very prominent Broklyn tone to her voice.

"I was wondering, Narcissa," Lucius twiddled his fingers nervously, "if maybe you'd dance with me, this being the last dance and all."

"Lucius, no, I--"

"Please, Narcissa? I mean, we may never see each other ever again."

"That's true,"she said, smiling at the thought of never having to put up with Lucius Malfoy for the rest of her life.

"So just one?"

"No, I have a date, Lucius--"

"Pleeeeeaaaaase?"

"Goddammit Lucius, just one dance!"

"Yippee!" Lucius skipped and the two danced as the orchestra played a charming slow song.

Severus sat, still very alone at his seat. He watched with raised eyebrows as Sirius and Remus spiked the punch with some alcohol they'd smuggled from Hog's Head. He turned his gaze to the dance floor where Lily and James were dancing, too close to each other. Lucius was smiling and talking excitedly to a very unfortunate Narcissa. The song ended and Lily and James approached the table.

"Hey, Lily, guess how many points I scored this year in Quidditch."

"God, James, I was talking. And then he goes "No way!" and I'm like "Shut up right now!" so she says--oh, hey Severus," Lily smiled and waved as James shook his fist.

Severus stood up quickly and directed a malicious look toward James. He wondered if James had any idea what Lily had been up to in the past 48 hours.

"Hello Lily," Severus said, still keeping eye contact with James. "Perhaps you'd like to dance with me?"

"Love to," Lily said as she took Severus' arm. James sunk down in Severus' seat. "Let him have his moment in the sun," he growled, snatching a goblet from Peter Pettigrew. "That's all he's gonna get."

"Holy Jesus," Sirius said, looking over his dance partner's shoulder. "'Theverus is dancing with Lils."

Remus laughed, dipping his partner and contrasting with the music of the time. "She must've had too much of our 'Special Graduation Punch.'"

Lily and Severus were trying to ignore everyone's baffled looks and unflattering comments.

"You think they'd be expecting this sometime," she said, attempting to break the tension. "Us being friends for all these years and all."

"I guess," he said, his gaze wandering to Tom who had just dove into the punchbowl. "Say, Lily, are you and James still fighting, because if you are I'm always here--"

"Omigod, Severus, guess what?!" she exclaimed. "We're gonna get married!"

"But I thought..." his thoughts wandered to the night the two were fighting outside the forest. He shook it off and said darkly, "Good for you guys."

"I'm so happy, Severus, you have no idea!" She then dropped to a whisper. "You know what else? I think I'm pregnant!"

The room went black and Severus passed out cold, right in the middle of the Great Hall.


"She's having a baby?" Lucius gasped while he neatly folded some sweaters and packed them into his trunk. "What if it's mine?!"

"Even worse," Severus began, crumpling up some socks and shoving them into and old sack. "What if it's Tom's?"

As of last night, no one had seen Tom or Minerva. All the other kids were nudging each other, thinking racy thoughts, but Lucius and Severus pushed that thought to the back of their minds. Tom had been acting rather weird lately, going from lunatic to evil genius hadn't been his style in previous years. His teachers noticed the difference, too. Carefully written instructions on how to perform deadly curses were found on the back of half his papers. All the professors just shrugged it off. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Oddly enough, Tom walked in the room at that moment. He was still wearing his dress robes from last night and his hair was slicked back. He had a cold look to him and his eyes moved around the room slowly. He began to walk toward Severus and Lucius, his hands folded in front of him.

"Boys," he said, glancing around the room to make sure no one was listening. "I have a proposition for the two of you."

Lucius and Severus looked at each other, a little worried at what was about to come. Lucius was too afraid to speak.

"And that would be...?" Severus asked.

"I have received a mission, boys," he said, annunciating each syllable, much unlike his usual garbled speech. "A vision. A prophecy, if you will. I am destined to become the next dark lord."

"You, a dark lord?!" Logan Story commented, turning from his packing. "Yo ass is trip-in. Hell, I mean I--"

In a flash, Tom changed the boy into a serpent without uttering a single word. "I mean business, boys," he said as he picked up the slithering little reptile. "Either you're in, or you'll be much worse off than our little friend, Mr. Story."

Severus gulped and Lucius raised his hand as if this ordeal was a lesson.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"Um, in this little 'club' thing, will there be babes involved?"

"As many as you wish, but aren't you concerned about the--"

"And what about donuts? Can we have truckloads of donuts?"

"If that is so you wish, and there will be--"

"Alright! Girls and food! What more could you want? This'll be so much fun, Tom! Just like old times!"

"You will achieve everything you have ever dreamed, but by no means will this be fun, Malfoy. You will work hard for everything, and you will obey everything I command."

Lucius was too excited to let Tom's words get him down. He skipped out of the room, carrying his luggage. Severus put a pale hand on his forehead as he slung his sack over his shoulder with the other. He could already feel the disaster in this little scheme.