Title: Praeter erratum praeter

Disclaimer: I don't owe any of the characters you may recognise from Rowling's books. (to bad really)

Beta: kalathetrumpeter

Warning: Some of the characters will be OOC, especially Tom. If you don't like it, don't read the story...

Summary: A youth potion gives Riddle more trouble than he'd expected. First the Death Eaters refuse to take orders from a 16 year-old-boy and Lucius decides to take over, throwing Riddle out onto the streets. Then he ends up at Hogwarts. "Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance, Tom?" Dumbledore asked.
A/N: I know, I know, I said on month or so, but blame my teachers not me. Anyway, here's chapter 14. It's really, really short; don't hate me because of it.

I've decided to take a break from the writing. I'm still trying to re-write the beginning, and it's a bit disturbing to be writing on the story from both ends. And I'm not even sure if the plot will turn out to be the same, so I want to take a break to re-write everything and then I'll see how things turn out.

I hate to do this, because I know how irritating it is when authors abandon their fics, but I can't help it. I can't seem to find the will to write anymore, and I hope a break will give me some inspiration. I hope you all understand. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, you're the best, and to those who reads the story but doesn't review, thanks for reading. I've got 80 review, which is more than I ever hoped for when I first started writing .

I hope you don't kill me for skipping the review responds. Thanks again to those who reviewed.

Chapter 14

"Take a seat, Tom," Dumbledore said, and Riddle sat down.

"Who won?" The question caught Riddle by surprise. He had expected him to start on a long boring and complicated speech about not attacking other students, unless he wanted to have another chat with Fudge.

"I did, or I would have, if Lupin hadn't come barging in."

"And whose idea was it?"

"Potter's

Dumbledore sighed, as he seemed to be doing a lot lately.

Riddle wanted to say something he might end up regretting, but he kept his mouth shut for once and waited for Dumbledore to continue. He wanted to get out of the office, and the best way to make that happen would be to sit still and have some patience for once.

Dumbledore seemed to consider what to say next before he opened his mouth again, "Where is your wand now?"

"Ah, you mean that crappy piece of wood you got me because I don't know where my own is?" Riddle asked.

The resigned look on Dumbledore's face lightened Riddle's mood a bit. He always loved it when he got on the old mans nerves.

"Yes, that one."

"Lupin got it," Riddle shrugged, not really caring.

He missed his own wand. But he didn't know where his own wand was, even if it was stil in one piece. Riddle shuddered. That wasn't a pleasant thought, and he shoved it out of his mind.

"Well, I'm going to speak with Fudge. Perhaps I can get him to calm down. And Mr. Riddle," Dumbledore looked sternly at him, "You understand that this can not happen again.

"Can I go?" Riddle asked and got up from the chair.

"Yes, but you'll have to pick up your wand. And don't forget that you've got detention tomorrow."

"I won't," Riddle muttered and left.

He walked down the stairs towards the Great Hall, not really noticing where he was going. He wasn't hungry, just tired. Tired of living, tired of being blamed for every damned thing that went wrong. Not to mention he was tired of the school. He had already been through seven years of schooling and that was more than enough.

Instead of going to the Great Hall for dinner, Riddle walked outside, only stopping briefly by his own room to pick up a black cloak.

The air was cold and clear, and the sun was shining brightly down at him. It was a perfect autumn day. The threes were starting to turn into different shades of red, brown, yellow and orange, and the cold wind that swept over the grounds told Riddle that the winter was getting close. The school ground was empty, not a student in sight,.

He needed to think, and the best place to make sure he wouldn't be disturbed would be on the top of one of the towers. He'd spent a lot of time there during his own school days. He borrowed a broom from the broom shack and mounted it. It had been ages since he'd last rode a broom, and he wasn't even sure he remembered how to fly it.

He rose cautiously from the ground and into the air. Gradually, he began going faster and faster, until his eyes filled with tears from the cold wind. The feeling was astounding, though he had never really enjoyed flying, he was now thrilled by seeing everything rush past at an incredible speed.

He landed on the top of the north tower and walked over to the edge. There he sat down and stared down at the school ground.

The view was indescribable. He could see the whole school ground as well as the Quidditch field. The Forbidden Forest loomed in the distant, dark and foreboding. He knew it contained dark creature as well as good ones, like the unicorns and the centaurs. On the other side he could see the blue lake, glittering in the sunlight. The water look tempting, but everyone knew that it was freezing cold.

The cold wind blew his hair into his face, and he shoved it out of the way.

He needed to do some serious thinking. First of all, he needed a plan to get out of the blasted school. Then he could start plotting revenge on Lucius. He could, of course, fly away right now, but he needed his wand before he did anything like that. And he was pretty sure Dumbledore had some kind of charm on him, to alert the old man if he left the school grounds. So he needed to get the Headmaster to remove the spell. The best time to disappear would be during a Hogsmeade weekend. It was easier to vanish there, not to mention that actually could Apparate from the village.

Then he only needed to figure out was how to get permission to go to Hogsmeade. That would need some more thinking and manipulation. In short, he needed to get the teachers to trust him, which would be a problem. Once he got out he could always Apparate to Riddle Manor and start planning his revenge there.

Riddle sighed and closed his eyes. He had been feeling strange ever since he'd taken the potion nearly two months ago. His mood was constantly swinging, and he was feeling things he hadn't been feeling for a long time. Riddle knew that the emotions were a side effect from the potion, but he hadn't expected them to be this strong. Sometimes he actually had problem controlling them, and he would break out in a fit of rage. He had lost count of how many times he'd slammed one of the schoolbooks into the wall.

Normally he was pretty good at hiding what he was feeling, but it had been so long since he'd had to do that. It had been quite simple when he was Lord Voldemort. The only two feelings he had to concentrate on then were hate and anger, and he had gotten used to them. Now he suddenly had ten other feelings that he couldn't control. He knew he hadn't been himself since he'd drank the potion, and he was getting a nasty feeling that it would be a long time before he was back to normal.

A/N: Okay, I warned you. It was short, and boring.

As always, I will post comments about how the re-writing is going in my Live Journal, so drop by if you want to know how things are developing. The link is in my BIO.

P-oenix