"Was your handwriting always this good, or did you put in a lot of hours for it?"
It was a valid question in Lucy's opinion, but Riddle didn't seem to appreciate it. She had a week before she'd leave for her second year at Hogwarts, and she had spent most of it reading out of Riddle's Book. It was an album of his discoveries, spells he found useful, and notes on Dark creatures. She particularly liked the spells portion of it— there were only so many she could practice in Mallory's shop without the witch growing suspicious.
Riddle sat with his legs crossed on her bed, and she sat next to him with the book open on her lap. He always finished reading before her– he was such a git– and whenever her attention would wander, he'd set her back on track. It was like having a tutor who wouldn't go away.
"Just read the book, Lucy. There's important information in there," he said instead of answering her question. Hah. He definitely spent hours practicing it.
Her gaze wandered to his prefect badge and she snorted. "Such a prefect answer."
"You'll be a prefect eventually if I have anything to do with it," he told her casually.
She looked at him in absolute horror. "Merlin, I'd rather die!" She said, aghast. Her, wielding a prefect's badge? Having to look out for students? Be responsible? Attend meetings?
Riddle scoffed and rolled his eyes at her dramatics. "Prefects get a lot of opportunities past Hogwarts. If the job you want was between you and a former prefect, they'll certainly choose the prefect."
"Jokes on you, Riddle. I don't plan to get a job. I plan to wander off into a deep, mysterious forest and lose my mind to the secrets within." She said this so seriously that he actually looked disturbed for a few seconds. The more she thought about the idea, the more it appealed to her. Living in the forest with nothing but her wand, no laws and no one to stop her? She'd live like a king...
"Quit being ridiculous," he scolded. He tilted his head to the side, thinking. "I do wonder– what do you actually want to be after Hogwarts?"
"An evil overlord," she said automatically.
"...Really?"
Okay, he believed that? She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, but Riddle seemed to genuinely believe her. "No! Really, Tom, who plans that from the moment they're twelve?"
He shifted slightly. "I've heard of it happening," he said. "Now answer the question."
She huffed and stared ahead of her, thinking deeply. What did she want to do? "I don't know many wizarding careers," she admitted. She knew of healers, professors, and ministry workers, but none of those sounded very appealing. Mallory's shop sounded nice but it was mostly the shady dealings that excited her. "Something exciting. A little dangerous, too."
Riddle nodded, and a small smirk pulled at the corners of his lips. "I think we would have gotten along greatly in my time."
"Really?"
"Definitely. I didn't have quite your humor for tricks when I was your age, but I liked to get away with things." His eyes glimmered with excitement, thinking back on his Hogwarts days. "I think we would have made a great team."
She smiled to herself. She imagined what it would have been like if she and Tom grew up in the orphanage at the same time, or even if they had met each other at Hogwarts. She'd have probably driven him mad— but the pranks they could pull together, the trouble they could get into.
"Well, in a way, we're going to Hogwarts together," she reminded, grinning. "For six more years, in fact."
"If you don't lose the diary," he said dryly.
"Oh!" She set Riddle's Book to the side; she placed down in Riddle's legs, to his displeasure, and she reached across him to grab the satchel off her bedside table.
"Whether I'm a spectre or not, I don't appreciate you reaching through me," he scolded. She paid him no mind, and maybe 'accidentally' sent her elbow through his chest. "Now you're just being childish."
"Dear me, am I twelve years old and behaving like a child? I give you my sincerest apologies, Mr. Riddle!"
She finally managed to get ahold of herself and she placed the satchel on her lap. "Forgot to put a password on it," she explained, and she placed the tip of her wand to the satchel.
He held out a hand to stop her but of course it phased through her hand. She pulled her wand back anyway, just to be polite. He didn't like reminders that he was a spectre— it was the reason he hated when people walked through him. "What are you doing? What if it counts as underaged magic?" He scolded her yet again.
Yeesh, he might as well fight Anthony for the 'mum' title. She didn't dare voice this to him. Something told her he'd be very opposed to the comparison.
"Guess we'll find out," she shrugged. She placed her wand to the satchel again and said clearly, "Riddle." A green glow illuminated from within, and when she tried to open the satchel, it wouldn't budge. "Riddle," she said again, and it opened perfectly.
"That's... that's your password?"
Normally when Riddle faltered on his words, it was because Lucy had said something so outrageous that his mind screeched to a sudden halt. But right now he was eyeing her carefully. He didn't look angry, but he certainly looked confused.
"Well, yeah. You're my friend, and the only reason I bought this satchel was to keep your diary safe," she said, shrugging. It wasn't a big deal. It made sense to her; she bought the satchel with money he stored, she bought it to talk to him in the first place, and his name was definitely easy to remember. "If you're worried about people knowing, I'll say it quietly. Not that I'll need to take it out much in the first place..."
He stared at her for a long moment before scoffing, looking to the side. "You're so sentimental."
"Well, one of us has got to be! If the world was all Toms and no Lucys, it'd be an awfully boring world, don't you think?"
He didn't look at her but she could swear she saw a smile pull at his lips. She grinned to herself and grabbed Riddle's Book again, turning back to the page she left off. She started reading again. She almost didn't register Riddle's soft response:
"It'd be awfully boring, indeed."
September 1st had finally arrived, and Lucy felt absolutely exhausted. Weariness had become a normal state for her recently; she always felt her eyes drooping closed. She was usually able to shove her tiredness to the side, but this morning was different; she had a very busy day yesterday.
Since it was her last day of summer, Lucy went to Diagon Alley and shared a tearful goodbye with Mallory. By that, she meant that Mallory sent a stinging hex to test her reflexes, and when she'd dodged out of the way, she told her, "Good riddance, kid." Lucy would remember to write to her.
After that bit of business, she went to Knockturn Alley and bought a couple of fun items for the trip. By that, she meant that she bought books containing Dark Curses, Rituals, and Creatures. She also couldn't resist getting a shiny wrist watch. It whispered sinisterly at her when she wasn't paying attention, but she supposed that was part of the charm.
"Step away from the shrunken heads," Riddle had to snap at her more than once. Begrudgingly she listened. Now that she was walking to King's Cross, she couldn't help but wish she'd bought it anyway. Maybe she could pelt it at Lockhart's head in the middle of class...
Riddle peered at her watch and made a displeased noise when he saw they were running late. "I told you to get everything ready last night," he scolded.
Lucy pulled a face at him. "I had to get my beauty sleep! Looking this good doesn't come easy, you know."
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, completely and utterly done. "Good Merlin..."
She sniffed and walked faster. Her owl, Snape, had flown ahead to the school and Grayble was content to trot along beside her.
She'd gotten ready slowly this morning; it was too funny seeing Riddle get more antsy as the minutes passed. The result was fine, at least for her; she had managed to pleat her hair into a braid that hung over her shoulder, all the while he hissed at her to hurry up.
"What if we miss the train, Lucy? What happens then?" Riddle snapped, keeping his eyes locked on her watch.
"Then we walk to Hogwarts. Like men."
"You are ridiculous."
"And you're very charming. Is this how you made friends at Hogwarts, Tom?"
He scoffed. "I was the perfect student at Hogwarts. Everybody loved me."
She wanted to stop in her tracks for the dramatic effect, but it was clear that he wouldn't appreciate that. She admittedly was running short on time anyway. She settled for giving him an incredulous look. "What, did they fancy sarcastic prodigies that much back then?"
"I had the sense to turn on my charm. It wouldn't kill you to do the same," he told her.
"When have I been anything less than charming?" She demanded.
It was his turn to gaze at her incredulously. He held up his hands and made a show of counting off his fingers, and then he switched hands to keep on going.
"All right, Riddle! You must think you're so funny!" Lucy glared at him, and she was pleased to note that the people walking by were completely unsettled by this child arguing at thin air.
"I do think I'm quite funny, actually," Riddle smirked. "Now, let us count how many times you've been less than charming: you threw all of the other orphans' clothes into the dryer wrong, so they'd either come out dyed or shrunken. And then you admitted it. Do you think that's very charming?"
"Honesty is an endearing quality," she argued.
"All right, then what about when Lockhart sent you ten galleons, you pocketed them and then sent off a letter saying you didn't get anything?"
She hesitated. "Selective honesty is also an endearing quality."
Although she didn't say it, Riddle clearly made his point. He smirked to himself. How she wished she could whack him on the arm...
Fortunately, his taunting couldn't go on for long; they arrived at the platform with five minutes to spare. She viciously fist pumped the air, much to Riddle's displeasure, and then raced toward it. She caught sight of Harry and Ron standing before the entrance, both looking confused. She went to run through the barrier when Harry caught her arm, yanking her back.
"It's solid!" He told her quickly as she gave him a shocked look. "It's closed up!"
"That's ridiculous," Riddle said at once. He eyed Harry, disdain clear in his eyes. "He did it wrong."
To test it out, she walked up to the platform and placed her hand. Any other day, it would have gone straight through— but sure enough, her her palm hit solid concrete. Her lips parted in shock. Had that ever happened before? She looked over to Riddle for an explaination, but his eyebrows were furrowed, deep in thought.
"Should've let her run into it, that would've been funny," Ron said. He rubbed his sore neck. By the state of his trolley, she supposed they had run full force into the barrier.
"It's not my fault you're such a Gryffindor," she said hotly. She knocked on the barrier again. Still nothing. "Now what are we supposed to do?"
She had only been joking when she told Riddle she'd walk to Hogwarts, but now it seemed it was becoming a reality. And she absolutely would walk to Hogwarts if it came down to it. Hell, she'd crawl if it meant she didn't have to go back to Wool's.
The clock struck eleven. Lucy stood there, fuming. Of course some nonsense like this would happen. Just when she was thinking things were going smoothly, the infamous 9 and 3/4 platform had to go and close on her.
Harry and Ron stood there, stunned. She wasn't shocked so much as annoyed. It got worse when Riddle glared at her and told her smartly, "I told you so!"
It was a good thing she couldn't reply in front of her friends; she wouldn't have had anything nice to say.
"It's gone," Ron said, gaping. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?"
Harry laughed bitterly. "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."
"What was the occasion?" She could help but wonder.
"Dudley wanted ice cream. They didn't count on there being enough left over for me, too."
She fumed at this piece of information. She was all sorts of sour, and Hedwig's unhappy screeches certainly wasn't helping. Her hand twitched toward her wand for a silencing charm. Something told her Harry wouldn't appreciate that.
"I think we'd better go and wait by the car," Harry said, shooting a glance toward Hedwig. "We're attracting too much atten—"
"Harry!" Ron said suddenly. "The car!"
"The car," Lucy repeated, beginning to scowl. "Brilliant, Ron. Let's just drive over the mountains and lakes separating us from Hogwarts. How are you not a Ravenclaw?"
Riddle's lips twitched into a smirk and it was only then that Lucy realized how rude that sounded. It was a tone better reserved for Slytherins. Damn Riddle and his infectious sarcasm.
Ron grew up with plenty of brothers, so he wasn't bothered by her tone. "Well, if you're that set on it I suppose we could drive, but I was thinking more along the lines of flying it."
Lucy stared at him. Ever so slowly, a smile grew on her features. "Ronald Weasley," she said breathlessly, "are you suggesting we fly your father's enchanted muggle car to to Hogwarts?"
"Yes," Ron and Harry said at the same time as Riddle said, "No!"
She ignored him in favor of scooping Grayble into her arms.
"Can you fly it?" Harry asked eagerly.
"No problem." Ron wheeled his trolley to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwart's Express."
She felt a great thrill go through her as she pictured flying to Hogwarts in a car. How wicked would that be! Rickett would be so jealous, and she could just imagine the sights of it all... She excitedly followed her friends toward the exit.
Then Riddle strode in front of her, bringing her to a halt. He glared furiously down at her and crossed his arms over his chest. She could swear she saw flames in his eyes. "You are not flying a car to Hogwarts!" He said forcefully.
She tried to communicate with her eyes, Are you kidding me?
"I'm serious, Lucy, this is an awful, idiotic plan! What'll happen if the car runs out of gas in the middle of the air? Not to mention all the muggles that could see you? Or, if somehow this doesn't end horribly, what happens when you arrive? Do you think the professors will be pleased to see three second years who have not only missed the train, but decided to fly an illegally enchanted car on their own accord with not even a muggle license?" He ranted. He stepped closer until he was towering over her. "I don't care how fun you think it'll be— you are not going with! If you do, not only will you prove your idiocy but you'll have sore luck getting any answers out of me!"
Lucy didn't think she'd ever gotten a proper lecture since Professor McGonagall. She averted her eyes from him, feeling properly scolded. At least with McGonagall the woman had it wrong. The annoying thing about Riddle was that he was always right.
"Lucy, come on!" Harry called. He and Ron had travelled far ahead of her during Riddle's lecture. "We've got to hurry!"
She stared at him and glanced at Riddle. He was still glaring down at her, daring her to take a step after him.
"Go on without me," she said with a heavy sigh.
"Without you?!" Ron demanded. "Have you been body-snatched? This'll be brilliant!"
She was sure it would be.
"Do not," Riddle hissed.
"I'm afraid of heights," she lied. "Really, go on without me— I'll find another way."
Harry and Ron looked crushed, but the thought of Riddle's wrath froze her in place. She knew when to test her luck and now was certainly not the time. Bloody hell, his glare was worse than McGonagall's...
They eventually decided that they had wasted too much time, and they set off toward the exit again. Each step they took was agony to watch. After they'd disappeared, she gazed at Riddle miserably.
His fury slowly faded, but he frowned at her. "Don't give me that look. You know I'm right."
"It would have been so great," she agonized.
"Good Merlin, did you have any impulse control before you met me?" Riddle said incredulously. He shook his head, uncrossing his arms. "No matter. The Leaky Cauldron isn't too far away. Mallory will let you use her floo, I'm sure."
She glumly nodded and started walking toward the exit. Grayble mewed in her arms, seeming to sense her disappointment. Riddle matched her pace and kept glancing at the girl. "There's no need to look so crushed," he said, a bit awkwardly as he searched for the right thing to say. "There'll be plenty of chances for excitement at Hogwarts."
"As good as flying a car through the walls of the castle?" She sighed.
"Would making trips into the Forbidden Forest suffice?"
Lucy snapped her head over to look at him. He grinned, pleased that he'd caught her attention. "What, surely you knew you'd be using these spells eventually?" He said innocently.
"You're not joking? You'll let me go in?" She said hopefully. With how opposed to danger he seemed, she never would have thought he'd suggest something like that.
"It's not you doing trouble that I find abhorrent. It's getting caught. If you're going to break the rules, do it discretely."
She couldn't help it. She grinned, feeling all traces of sorrow wash away. Riddle smirked triumphantly at her and said, without any scorn, "Ridiculous girl."
He disappeared into the diary, and she kept on her way to Diagon Alley. It took longer than she'd have liked. There was a lot of traffic today, and for once she couldn't find any crossing guards. To add to it, she kept losing track of the street signs and got herself lost. By the time she even reached the Leaky Cauldron, she knew the the train would shortly pull into Hogwarts.
The sun was just about to set, and Lucy felt her eyes droop tiredly. She headed into Mallory's shop, and the sight in front of her certainly woke her up. She was used to it being barren during the daytime. At night, it was a different world. All sorts of witches and wizards were crowded around the tables. Each of them looked shady in their different way. She saw Mallory behind the counter, sending foods and drinks over to different tables with a wave of her wand.
Her sharp vision caught sight of Lucy in no time. She was appropriately outraged. "You! Why aren't you at Hogwarts?" She demanded.
Lucy walked through the shady crowd, giving no mind to their glares. She leaned against the counter and sighed deeply. "Someone closed the barrier, so I missed the train."
"You're meaning to tell me you walked here..." Mallory said slowly. Lucy nodded. "From King's Cross." She nodded again. "Good Merlin, are you insane? Why didn't you summon the Knight's Bus?"
"The what?"
"No matter, I'll tell you later." She fixed up a mug of hot chocolate, sprinkled the blue powder into it, then shoved it into Lucy's hands. "Drink. And watch carefully; after the rush hour's over, I'll get you to Hogwarts."
She nodded, growing to like Mallory even more at the woman's harsh kindness. She sipped at her drink and watched how Mallory interacted with the customers. In the muggle world, she surely would have been fired by upper management for speaking so brusquely. Good thing Mallory was the upper management. It was necessary, she noted. The customers were all frequenters of Knockturn Alley. They'd pounce on any weakness.
A few times a wizard or witch would walk up to Lucy. Mallory sent a stinging hex their way and after the first few times, Lucy sent her own stinging hexes. Mallory sensed that she'd miss the feast and quickly fixed Lucy a meal, threatening to hex her if she didn't eat it. Slowly, but surely, the crowd dispersed out until only one or two stragglers remained.
Mallory wiped a bead of sweat off her brow and turned to address Lucy. "Now that that's over with," she said breathlessly, "Let's get you to Hogwarts."
She led Lucy into the back room. There was a spiral staircase that leaded upstairs to Mallory's flat. She stepped inside and at once took in how many dark artifacts there were. If she decided to sell, she could put Borgin and Burkes out of business... Lucy was impressed.
"Don't touch anything," Mallory said at once. She fished through cabinets until she found a jar of floo powder. She lit her fireplace and said clearly, "Severus Snape. And yes, it's urgent, you big git."
"You know Professor Snape?" Lucy said, stunned.
"Know him? I taught the bastard Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sixth year. We trade ingredients."
Lucy didn't know what to do with that information, so she set it aside. It took a few minutes, but sure enough, Professor Snape's face appeared in the fireplace.
"There is a feast going on, woman, what could you possibly—" Snape stopped short upon seeing Lucy standing by the woman. His face contorted into fury. "You! Why aren't you at the feast? I should have known–"
"Don't insult my kid," Mallory snapped. "Maybe if you'd bother to make sure your ruddy barriers work, she'd have made the train!"
"I know the type of troublemaker Rochester is full well—" Snape began.
"— and you think I don't? I'm well aware she's a nightmare! I also know that a young girl didn't walk across London for a prank!" Mallory snapped. She then turned to smirk at Lucy. "I should bring you around more often if it means he'll get this worked up."
She smiled at the woman appreciatively. "I'd love to, but he sort of holds my grades in his hands, you see."
"Don't worry. If he grades you unfairly, I'll kill him."
"If you're quite done," Snape cut in bitterly. He took a long breath in through his nose. "You're cleared to floo in. And I hope you have an extraordinary explanation for your tardiness, Rochester."
"I just gave you an explanation, didn't I?" Mallory said. "The barrier was closed. Seems like two of her friends didn't get through, either."
"Oh." Snape's eyes gleamed with happiness. Lucy gulped and shared a disturbed look with Mallory. Nothing good could come from Snape's glee. "Hurry up, Rochester."
Lucy turned to look at Mallory, and before the woman could argue, she hugged her. "Thanks," she said quickly. "I'll write you!" She pulled away and took a handful of floo powder into her hand. She said clearly, "Professor Snape's Office."
The familiar, thrilling sensation of being pulled down a drain hit her, and in a moment she stood in Snape's fireplace. The professor loomed over her, grinning nastily. "What's this about Potter and Weasley? How did they intend to get here, if they aren't with you?"
She opened her mouth, then closed it. "Hm. How to put this, Professor... Well, you see—"
There was a tapping noise at the window. Both she and Snape looked out the half-window of the dungeon to see a black owl sitting, a copy of the Evening Prophet in its beak. He took it from the bird and unrolled it; whatever was on the front page made Snape's eyes light up with glee. "Oh," he said happily.
Stuffing the paper into his robes, he turned to Lucy and pointed at a chair in front of his desk. "Sit," he ordered. "If I find you have moved, you'll be expelled sooner than you can say 'goodbye'. Don't think you're out of trouble..."
He swept out of the room. Immediately, Lucy got out of the chair and started poking around his office. Riddle appeared too, scowling at where Snape had left.
"That's ridiculous, you haven't broken a single rule," he frowned.
"Ah, Snape threatens expulsion a lot." She sat in Snape's chair and put on her best scowl, hunching over. She lowered her voice. "My name is Severus Snape. I like to eat babies for dinner."
Riddle stared at her. His lips twitched, and he shook his head. "You're awful."
"Awful? I'll tell you what's awful, any sort of happiness!" She droned. She swept her arm in a Dracula-esque motion. "And babies! Babies are the worst!"
"Stop that, what if someone hears you?"
She grinned and let her arm fall to her sides. "Then they'd all understand, 'cause Snape totally eats babies." She opened his drawer and started rifling through it.
Riddle snorted and sat in the chair she had evacuated. "If this is how you behave at Hogwarts, I think this will be an interesting year."
"Oh, you know it." She pulled out a red muggle pen and presented it to Riddle proudly. "Aha! I knew he had some dirty secret! Snape uses muggle pens to correct!"
"Shameful," he deadpanned. He then cocked his head to the side. "Put it away!" He said urgently, "I can hear them coming!"
She wondered briefly how he could hear that and she couldn't, but she hastened to close the drawer anyway. She kept the pen as a souvenir. Riddle still stayed in her chair and she thought it'd be a bit too awkward to sit in him, so she leaned against Snape's desk, looking over the vials.
Snape stormed in, a shivering Ron and Harry trailing behind him. "Rochester, sit!" He snapped at once.
Riddle glared at the man and left the chair so that Lucy could sit down. She wasn't bothered by his tone— she was used to it, having had to sit through it for most of last year— but her older friend didn't take kindly to it.
"So," Snape began softly, closing the door. He turned to face them. "The train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we, boys?"
Lucy shifted in her seat and that was enough for Snape to cast her a warning glare. "What have you done with the car?" He directed the question at Harry, the supposed ringleader. He procured the newspaper from his cloak and unrolled it. "You were seen," he hissed. Sure enough, the headline read loud and bold, 'FLYING FORD ANGILA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES'.
Riddle smirked and threw a pointed look at Lucy. "I told you," he said once again. She fought the urge to stick her tongue out at him.
"Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing... Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to the police... Six or seven muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" Snape sneered at Ron. "Dear, dear... his own son..."
Harry and Ron went as white as ghosts. Lucy found herself thankful for Riddle's maturity in not letting her go along, otherwise she'd feel as guilty as her friends. She hoped Mr. Weasley wouldn't get into any trouble... it wasn't like Muggles didn't make up stuff to keep them entertained anyway. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, the Mothman; talk of a flying car would fade on its own.
"I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape continued.
"Whomping Willow? Since when has Hogwarts had one of those?" Riddle mused to himself.
She didn't know what that was, but it was evidently nothing good as Ron burst out, "That tree did more damage to us than we—"
"Silence!" He snapped. "Most unfortunately, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me. I shall go and fetch the people who do have that happy power. Wait here." His eyes turned over to Lucy, who had been watching this all unfold with a pleasant smile on her face. His nostrils flared, and he jabbed a finger in her direction. "If you move from that chair one more time..."
He didn't finish the threat and stalked from the room. Riddle glared after him. "You hadn't even done anything," he said unhappily.
She shrugged at him. She was used to Snape's unfairness. She turned her attention to Ron and Harry, who were staring at each other, white-faced.
"I think you two just made Snape's day," she told them. "I've never seen him happier, honestly."
Neither of her friends replied, too glum to say anything.
"That's him happy?" Riddle scoffed. "I don't know why he thinks he has any superiority— Snape isn't a wizarding last name, is it?" He waited for her response before he realized that she couldn't speak in front of Ron and Harry. "Right. I'll be back."
He disappeared, and Lucy sat in the chair in silence for ten long minutes. She was sorely tempted to get up to spite Professor Snape, but she decided not to push her luck. After all, she wasn't in trouble.
Professor McGonagall strode into the room. She didn't look even the slightest bit amused. She raised her wand, and for a moment Lucy foolishly thought she might curse them, but she only lit the fireplace to allow some warmth to flow into the room. "Sir," she ordered at Ron and Harry.
While she was stuck sitting in front of Snape's desk, her friends got to sit by the cozy fire. She bit back a scowl and instead scratched Grayble's chin.
Ron and Harry launched into their explanation. About how the barrier didn't open, how they panicked, and she was touched when they said firmly that Lucy hadn't gone with them, that she was innocent. "— so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train," Ron finished.
Riddle had appeared again to watch the show. He leaned against Snape's desk, smirking at the Gryffindor's misfortune. Lucy herself wasn't bothered either; if she could inadvertently assist Voldemort without getting expelled, she was certain her friends would only get a slap on the wrist for this.
"Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe you have an owl?" McGonagall said coldly to Harry. As Harry gaped at her, her gaze flickered over to Lucy. "And evidently, you did have a choice— Ms. Rochester here arrived just fine! That reminds me, how do you fit into all this, Rochester?"
"I walked to Diagon Alley, and someone let me use their floo," she said. Ron looked envious at the simplicity of it all. She felt sort of guilty, knowing she would have gone with in a heartbeat if it wasn't for Riddle.
"And you flooed to Professor Snape's Office? As simple as that?" McGonagall said sharply. "Who has access to this office?"
"Mallory, Professor. She taught Defense Against the Dark Arts here once," Lucy said quickly. McGonagall's suspicious look relaxed. She opened her mouth, presumably to ask how she knew Mallory in the first place, when a knock sounded at the office door.
Snape opened it, happier than ever. Professor Dumbledore stood in the doorway. Riddle's jaw clenched at the sight of him. "Oh, wonderful," he said in a tight voice.
Lucy glanced at him briefly before looking back to Dumbledore. She could understand why he disliked the old man. She was neutral more than anything, but if his stunt with the house cup was anything to go by, he must not have been very warm toward Slytherins.
"Please explain why you did this," Dumbledore said quietly. He looked at Ron and Harry. She wondered how he knew she was innocent. Better not to question it; for once in her life she wasn't the one in trouble, and it was all thanks to Riddle.
Harry explained everything again, looking anywhere but the Headmaster's eyes. He kindly didn't mention who the car belonged to— she knew that Dumbledore was already aware, but to his credit he didn't ask any questions.
"We'll go and get our stuff," Ron said miserably. He went to rise out of his chair.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" McGonagall snapped.
"Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?"
Lucy snorted. Yeah, sure. Expelled. Two sets of furious eyes looked upon her. Snape due to the fact that they weren't in trouble, and McGonagall was angry in general. Oh, well. Lucy missed the Gryffindor professor all the same.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said. "But I must impress upon both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Snape's face fell, and even Riddle looked surprised at the lack of punishment. "Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underaged Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree— surely acts of this nature—" Snape tried to argue.
"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these boys' punishments, Severus. They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva. I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample—"
He then looked over at Lucy, who sat in her chair quite nicely if she said so herself. She hadn't even fidgeted. His eyes twinkled at the sight of her.
Riddle scoffed, "He uses a charm for that, I swear."
Of course, the funniest thing Riddle said all evening had to be in the presence of Professor Dumbledore. She fought to keep the laugh bubbling up in her throat from coming out. If Dumbledore noticed, he didn't say anything. "As I understand it, you haven't done anything wrong, Lucy," he didn't hide his pleasantly surprised tone. "Come— I'm sure your friends are eagerly awaiting your arrival."
"Leave your things, they'll appear in your dorm later," McGonagall added. She no longer looked angry at Lucy. In fact, she gave her an appraising look. "I'm glad to see you've been using your wits, Rochester. At least someone is."
Harry winced, and Ron threw her another jealous look. She gave each of them an apologetic look as she took off her backpack and set Grayble on the floor. She went to take off her satchel. She thought better of it; she didn't want to leave Riddle's diary anywhere. The thought of someone stealing it was unbearable.
She kept it around her shoulder and headed out the door with Professor Dumbledore. Snape stalked behind them, and Riddle walked alongside Lucy. He went from glancing at Dumbledore to examining the walls he no doubt hadn't seen in many years.
"New accessory, Lucy?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly as they made their way out of the dungeon. "I must get one for myself— alas, black isn't my color."
She grinned. "I'm sure they've got one in purple, Professor."
"Wonderful!" His eyes fell to the satchel again, and he asked, "Although, might I ask why you're bringing it to the feast?"
Riddle glared darkly at him. Lucy didn't miss a beat: "I thought I'd smuggle some sweets for Nathan back at the orphanage. If that's all right, Professor," she tacked on at the end.
"Of course. How thoughtful of you," Dumbledore hummed.
"He doesn't believe you," Riddle said at once. He glowered at the Professor. "He's giving you that look. He's giving you the same look he gave me. Dumbledore never trusted me."
She desperately wanted to ask what he meant, but she didn't dare in front of Snape and Dumbledore. She knew they were distrustful of her last year– well, Snape still was, that's a given– but she thought it'd all been cleared up after the incident with the Philosopher's Stone.
She thought maybe Riddle was reading into things, but she quickly dismissed that thought. No, he wasn't one to be led astray by emotions, and he'd been right about everything so far. She frowned to herself. What had she done to merit such distrust? Hadn't she made it clear she would protect her friends to the best of her abilities? Assist them, even if it was dangerous? She liked to think she hadn't watched Quirrell die for the sport of it– she had the nightmares to prove it.
They arrived at the Great Hall at last, and Lucy was in a sour mood. First off, she felt silly being the one one in her muggle clothes. She hadn't had the chance to change into her robes. Secondly, she arrived with both Snape and Dumbledore, which aroused many whispers from the other students.
Riddle observed the Great Hall with a fond gleam in his eye. Her frown turned into a smile; it wasn't often she caught any boyishness in her diary-friend. He tried to hide all of it, but every so often it slipped out. She averted her gaze before he noticed. She didn't want to spoil it.
Anthony caught sight of her, and he stoodon the table, cupping his hands over his mouth. "IS THAT YOU?! IS THAT MY PRECIOUS CUB?!" He yelled happily.
Riddle looked at Anthony and then shot an aghast glance at Lucy. "Good Merlin, this is just one of your friends?" He demanded.
Lucy beamed and ran toward the Hufflepuff table. Anthony leaped off the table and tackled her into a huge, warm hug. "I've been worried sick!" He screeched, dragging her over to the table. "Where were you? Are you alright? Were you sick? Did you eat dinner? Eat some dinner!"
He piled an assortment of food onto Lucy's plate. It was perfect timing; the main food disappeared and was replaced with sweets, while she had her own plate. She laughed at Anthony's antics. "The barrier closer on me before I got in. I'm not sick, and I've already eaten dinner."
"Eat some more!"
Daisy rolled her eyes at the boy. "Leave the poor girl be, Rickett." She smiled over at Lucy. "I'm glad you made it in time, Lucy. What do you mean, the barrier closed?"
Lucy recounted the day's events to her friends; they huddled around her, and she'd even managed to free up a spare place next to her for Riddle. He'd disappeared after Anthony screamed at her from across the Great Hall but there was always the chance he'd come back. She told them of the barrier closing, how she'd flooed in while Ron and Harry flew a car, and then, perhaps the most exciting part of it all, she pulled out a red pen.
"Woah..." Anthony leaned in to get a closer look. Cedric, Wayne, Hannah, and Susan all did too. "What's that?" He marveled.
"This," she said dramatically, "Is a muggle pen. And I retrieved it from none other than Severus Snape's desk!"
"His name is Severus?" Megan demanded, at the same time Wayne said, "You got it out of his desk?!"
"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" She said. She stuffed the pen back into her pocket. "I intend to slowly take his pens, so that he is forced to venture out into the muggle world to get more."
"Anything but the muggle world!" Megan gasped.
Wayne pointed a teasing finger at her. "Silence, muggleborn— you have no rights here."
Megan made a show of fainting, and Daisy caught her in her arms. "She's a muggleborn, sir?" She said worriedly, "is it curable?"
"I'm afraid the only treatment is death," Wayne said grimly.
Susan glanced up from her treacle tart to shoot the three of them a disparaging look. "And this has been Voldemort: The Play. Bravo. Will there be a sequel?"
"Where the hell was my part?" Lucy demanded.
"And mine!" Anthony added. He shook his head at the lot of them. "Where was the flavor? The rhythm? The swing?"
"Up your arse, I'd say," Cedric said wisely.
Anthony just about launched himself across the table. "Why you little—" he began.
Lucy burst out laughing, resting her head on the surface of the table. While this summer had been her best one yet, she basked in the warmth of Hogwarts. It'd been a rough start, certainly, but sitting here with her friends, she wouldn't trade it for the world.
"Welcome home," she said to herself.
Riddle's voice surrounded her.
"Welcome home," he agreed.