At ten o'clock the next day, Lucy walked down to the Quidditch pitch, an irritated Tom Riddle following closely behind.

She and Riddle spent the entire morning arguing about whether or not flying broomsticks was a meaningful skill to have. He claimed it wasn't and it was a fool's mode of transportation, and Lucy countered by saying he only didn't like it because he didn't know how. He didn't like the implication that he wasn't good at something.

"I bet you couldn't summon your broomstick the first try," Lucy sniffed after he told her he was finished with the conversation.

He had 'ended' the conversation five times already. It didn't last for long. She always said something to set him off again, like now. "Lucy, I'm the greatest student to ever step foot in these halls," he hissed. "I could certainly summon the broomstick- however, that doesn't take away from the fact that using a broom is slow and dangerous, and not nearly worth the effort."

"All right." Lucy sighed, making it seem like she agreed with him. He smirked to himself as he thought he won the argument. He walked ahead of her toward the Quidditch pitch. "So now what I'm hearing is that you're scared of heights," she called after him.

He stopped in his tracks and whipped around to glower at her. "You are incorrigible!"

"I'm not hearing you deny it!"

"It's such a baseless claim that I shouldn't have to deny it!"

"I'm not mocking you or anything, it's perfectly fine if you don't like heights-"

"Lucille."

His voice was low, and he walked in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest. He stared down at her like the prefect he was. "We are done arguing about this. I'm not afraid of heights, I'm not afraid of broomsticks, and this entire conversation has been pointless."

She smiled, staring up at him. "Oh, I know. It's just funny when you get mad- your eyes get all squinty."

She changed her expression to mirror his, and the light genuinely drained from his eyes. The entire morning they argued about this, and now he found out it was all for nothing. She patted him on the arm as well as she could, considering she couldn't touch him.

"I'll hold DA Unearthed open tonight to make up for tormenting you," she promised.

A nightly ritual for them was Lucy reading whatever books she wanted with the curtains drawn around her bed; Riddle didn't have any books in that pocket world of his, so he liked to sit next to her and read whatever book she had in her hands. It was one of the few times they didn't bicker.

"You'd do that anyway." Riddle rolled his eyes but stepped aside to let her through. She grinned at him and continued on her way, like they hadn't been arguing for hours.

The match wouldn't start for half an hour, but she had a lot of people to save seats for this year. She had Ron, Hermione, and Neville to account for, as well as Ginny and Colin. Ginny had another friend of hers she wanted to sit with. Seats in the stadium were hard to come by, but she was determined- she would hex them if she had to.

The Slytherin and Gryffindor teams were already on the field glaring at each other, so like the good friend Lucy was, she stopped by to give Harry a little extra luck.

"HARRY POTTER!" She yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth.

Riddle jumped at the sudden noise and glared at her. "Really, we're only a few yards away. Was that necessary?"

"I will not contain my love for anyone, Riddle."

"Hey, Luce," Harry waved at her as she approached. "Come to give us a pep talk?"

She looked at the glum looks on the Gryffindors' faces. Wood was glaring over at the Slytherins' brooms every few seconds, and with the storm clouds above them, it looked like they certainly needed one.

"LISTEN HERE, my lovely lions," she began in a dramatic tone, putting her hands on her hips. "You lot are going to win. So what, they have some fancy new brooms? They'll be relying on speed rather than skill, and that will ruin them in the end! Do what you have to do, lions. Knock 'em off their brooms if it comes down to it. Weasleys, I entrust you to aim a bludger at Flint, just for the hell of it."

Fred and George saluted her, while Katie looked at the second year in shock. She turned to Wood. "See, that's a pep talk! Not that doom and gloom crock of shit you give us every match!"

Wood's jaw dropped. "What- there was no pep anywhere in it! She was only telling us to injure the other team."

"I feel quite enthused by it, so I'd say it did the job," Angelina shrugged.

Lucy giggled. The rest of the school was slowly arriving and she figured she should get back to the stands soon. Turning to Harry, she gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck, Harry! If a professor tries to kill you, I'll pull a Hermione and set 'em on fire."

Harry laughed, "Great, thanks."

She headed back to the stands, and as she did, she passed the Slytherins. Most of them glared at her. Clearly, this was too tempting for her to resist.

"Careful," Riddle warned as she walked straight up to the Slytherin team.

She grinned at his concern, but she was sure she'd be fine. McGonagall already arrived at the commentator's box and Madame Hooch was always closeby.

"Howdy, snakes," she nodded at them.

Flint, Pucey, and Bletchley all glared at her while Montague was impassive. Malfoy just rolled his eyes at the sight of her.

"What do you want, Rochester?" He scoffed.

"I've just come to wish my second favorite Slytherin luck," she said innocently.

Montague arched an eyebrow at her. "Who's the first?" he wondered.

Flint scowled and elbowed the chaser in the side to which Montague glared at him. Lucy answered with a grin, "Blaise Zabini, of course. Isn't he dreamy?"

"Can you get to the luck part and leave?" Malfoy asked.

"Of course. Good luck to you, Draco Malfoy, and now that I've decided to like you, good luck to you Montague."

"With these brooms, we won't need it," he smirked.

"Well, you have it anyway!" She looked over to her least favorite Slytherin. "Flint- choke and die."

With that, she finally went back to her seat. Riddle chuckled to himself at her quick threat, and he sank into the seat beside her. She sat toward the wall dividing the Gryffindors from the Hufflepuffs, making sure no one would sit in Riddle's seat. That was a surefire way to piss him off.

"Granger set a Professor on fire?" He wondered.

"Oh, yes. Back in my golden years, when they thought Snape was after the stone," Lucy nodded. "It broke Professor Quirrell's jinx. I've never been more proud of her."

"Hm. You should try it out."

"Should the opportunity arise? Absolutely."

Ron and Hermione arrived shortly after, settling into the two chairs to her left. Neville jogged behind them holding armfuls of popcorn bags. She smiled and waved at him, and he cheerfully waved back: he was still forgetful, but he was more confident since last year, at least around his friends.

"Is Ginny here yet? I told her to leave earlier." Ron looked around for his sister and spotted her in the distance, running up to the bleachers. She held the end of a banner in her hand that two other students were helping her carry. Colin waved eagerly at Lucy, which she gladly returned.

"Sorry, sorry!" Ginny said hastily. "Luna lost her shoes, so we had to find them." She sat behind them, letting the banner fall to her lap. She gave 'Luna' a disparaging look. "I don't really believe she lost them, though."

"It was hide and seek. They just forgot to tell me, is all," Luna said without missing a beat.

Lucy looked around at her, and her jaw dropped at the wonderful sight in front of her. Threaded into Luna's bright blonde hair were red and gold feathers, sticking out in odd directions. She also had two brilliant radish earrings that sparkled gold each time she moved her head.

"Blimey! I love your earrings. Luna, right?" Lucy said eagerly.

"Yes, and you're Lucy. Ginny's told me about you."

Though Luna smiled kindly, Ginny grimaced. "All terrible things, Lucy. I've tried to warn her of you."

"I can understand why, but that doesn't mean this doesn't sting, Ginny. Now," She turned back to Luna with a serious expression. "Is anyone being mean to you, Luna? Because mark my words, I will kill them if you want me to. And no, that is not an exaggeration. I will personally kill them, free of charge. Just say the word. I will. I will, Luna!"

Hermione put her face in her hands while Luna laughed; it was a delightful sound. "That's kind of you. I've never had anyone say anything along those lines before; it's quite nice."

"Yeah, that's Lucy for you, full of death threats," Ron said absently. He was busy watching the field. Madame Hooch gestured for the two team captains to step forward, and they shook hands with more force than necessary. The shrill noise of a whistle rang out and the players shot off into the air like speeding bullets.

The match had gone on for scarcely ten seconds before things started to go horribly wrong.

A heavy Bludger came pelting at her favorite seeker. Now, Bludgers were volatile by nature, but a distinct feature about them was that they needed to be hit in order to target someone. She had seen no such thing.

George darted past Harry and with a grunt, he knocked the Bludger toward Adrian Pucey. It should have hit the Slytherin but to Lucy's horror, it changed direction midair and headed straight for Harry again. Harry dropped to avoid it. George hit it toward Malfoy and yet again, it swerved around toward Harry's head.

"I am going to kill someone," Lucy hissed.

Hermione looked worriedly on, chewing her lip. "Surely he can't play with a fixed ball?"

"This is Quidditch, Hermione," Ron groaned as the Bludger followed Harry toward the end of the Quidditch pitch.

"Check for Snape," Neville suggested.

"It wasn't Snape in the first place, Neville!" Ginny said.

"Check for him anyway, maybe he took inspiration," Ron added.

Lucy's nerves became higher as the seconds passed. What's worse, it started raining heavily on everyone, adding to the urgent feeling in the air. The Bludger kept going at Harry no matter what, like metal attracted to a magnet. Gryffindor called for a time out and they huddled together for a few minutes. She wished she could hear what they were saying. Hell, she wished she could explode that ruddy Bludger.

"Whoever introduced Harry to this sport will rue the day," Lucy declared. Most of his injuries seemed to stem from it.

"That'd be me," Ron winced.

Sighing, she reached for her wand and pointed it at him. "Well, I didn't want to have to do this Ron, but rules are rules."

Exasperated, Hermione reached across Ron to stop Lucy from hexing him. "Come on, look- they're starting again."

As if things weren't bad enough, it started raining harder. Lucy strained to see what their new strategy was. In the first few minutes it became clear; Fred and George were no longer guarding Harry, no, they were leaving him all to his own defense.

Riddle looked shocked to see her so uncollected, as she chewed on her lip watching the Bludger whiz past Harry's head. She couldn't help it; she had been hit by Bludgers plenty of times in practice and it was nothing to blink at on a normal day. What if this Bludger had been tampered with further? What if the force behind it was greater, enough to kill someone? She couldn't believe the professors were letting the match go on when it was so clearly going wrong.

Harry suddenly stopped in midair, looking straight at Malfoy. It was a moment too long. The Bludger slammed into his side, and she could swear she heard the crack of his arm from across the field. Her hands clenched into fists so tightly that she felt her nails pierce the skin.

"Oh dear Merlin," Ginny gasped as Colin snapped photos.

"He's a madman," Colin agreed fervently.

Harry sped toward Malfoy, his arm hanging limply at his side. Malfoy thought he was attacking him and quickly spun out of the way; if she was calmer she might have felt bad for Malfoy since it was his first match and all, but as it was, she was glad for it to be over with already.

As soon as she saw his fingers close around the snitch, she jumped out of her seat and headed to the railing. The Bludger was making another turn in the air even though the match was over. "Reducto!" she shouted, aiming a little below it. Her timing worked out and the ball exploded, fragments raining down with the rest of the downpour.

Harry crashed and thudded into the mud as the Gryffindor stands burst into cheers.

Lucy grabbed her satchel, exchanged a worried look with Riddle, then ran with her friends down to the pitch with the rest of the Gryffindors.

"Oh, no," Lucy groaned once she saw her friend was unconscious. She crouched beside him; his arm was definitely bent out of place.

Riddle looked down at her. He wasn't concerned in the least during the match but at least he was interested. "Use Rennervate," he advised. "It won't fix his arm, but it'll wake him up."

"Rennervate," she repeated. Harry's eyes shot open and she gave Riddle a grateful smile. "You're a lifesaver, Tom," she mouthed at him. Through the rain, Harry couldn't see what she was doing.

Her relief faded away when a figure wearing lilac robes roomed over them, wand in hand. Lucy would have been happier to see Lord Voldemort standing there. At least he wasn't as annoying.

"Don't fear, Harry!" Lockhart beamed.

"Oh, no, not you," Harry groaned.

"Doesn't know what he's saying," Lockhart said to the Gryffindors surrounding them. "Not to worry, Harry. I'm about to fix your arm."

"Professor Lockhart," Lucy said sharply, standing up to look at him. "You're not a healer! I'm going to take him to the Hospital Wing."

The continuous flashing of Colin's camera was getting to be a bit irritating. She turned and looked exasperatedly at the boy. "Colin, give it a rest!"

In her distraction, Lockhart had twirled his wand and pointed it at Harry's arm. She realized too late and when she looked down at her friend, all the bones in his arm were gone. She stared at the professor, eerily calm.

He was beginning to look nervous. "Ah, yes..." he gave her a charming smile. "Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken-"

"NO LONGER BROKEN?" she roared, storming toward him. "He doesn't have any BLOODY BONES left!"

I am going to kill him, I am going to kill him, was the only thought running through her mind at the moment.

"Now, Lucy, nobody's perfect, not even Gilderoy Lockhart." He backed away, and she watched as he started to push through the crowd.

Once she was sure everyone's attention was on Harry, she pointed her wand at him. Sure, it was raining- but her spell was waterproof.

And she had promised Riddle, after all.

"Incendio," she whispered. A small, imperceptible jet of orange light shot out of her wand and hit the professor square in the back. She at once diverted her gaze and helped Harry to his feet, but she could hear his panicked screams as his robes ignited.

It wasn't that big of a deal, really. It was still raining and he had plenty of layers for the fire to go through. But watching Lockhart frantically pat out the flames certainly made her feel better.

Riddle burst out laughing, "I was wondering if you'd do it!"

"Anything for you, Riddle," she said. She might have laughed with him, but she was too concerned for Harry. "Don't look at your arm, mate." Like a git, Harry automatically went to look down but she blocked his view. "Trust me, it looks super gross."

"What was that screaming?" Harry wondered as she, Ron, and Hermione escorted him to the Hospital Wing.

"Lockhart just burst into flames! It was wicked," Ron grinned.

Lucy looked straight at Hermione. "Out of the four of us, which one has the biggest track record on setting professors on fire?" she said accusingly.

"I did not set Professor Lockhart on fire!" Hermione gaped.

Riddle snorted, shaking his head. "You're horrible, you know. You should have used Forever Flames- they'd have lasted in the rain."

"If the fire actually hurt him, I think Dumbledore would have gotten involved," Lucy said regretfully. To her friends it kind of aligned with the conversation but to Riddle, it made perfect sense. "He deserved a lot more than being caught on fire," she added.

"You think so?" Riddle looked toward the castle thoughtfully. She could see a mischievous smirk grow on his features. It was a new sight from the normally serious and prefect way he carried himself, but before she could ask him what she was up to, Harry looked at his arm and sighed.

"What if I never get my arm back?" Harry groaned as they reached the castle.

Their shoes squeaked walking on the stone floor toward the hospital wing; Filch would be furious later.

"If you never get your arm back, I'll cut his arm off," she assured her friend. Hopefully his brush with the flames would be enough of a lesson for Lockhart. If not, Riddle was right; Forever Flames were much more effective.

"Oh, Lucy, it was an honest mistake!" Hermione exclaimed. "You shouldn't antagonize him."

"Yeah, what if he's got You-Know-Who under that hair of his?" Ron shuddered at the possibility, but the mental image of Lord Voldemort being forced to experience five hair products per day made Lucy burst out laughing.

"It'd be the only time I'd feel bad for Voldemort," Harry concluded. He gave his boneless arm a disparaging look. He wasn't angry so much as he was exasperated, although Lockhart catching on fire definitely helped.

When Madame Pomfrey saw Harry, she wasn't at all pleased. She ushered the boy over to a bed and shoved pajamas into his hand. "I'll be able to regrow it, certainly, but it will be painful. You'll have to stay the night..."

Lucy and Hermione waited outside the curtain as Harry got changed. Lucy glanced at her and once again shook her head. "I can't believe you would set Lockhart on fire, Hermione."

"I did not!"

"I should've known you'd gotten a taste of blood," she continued grimly.

"If we started blaming each other for repeated offenses, I'd say you attacked Filch's cat since you threatened him last year," Hermione said, annoyed. "But you see, I'm mature enough to know you wouldn't do a thing like that."

Lucy was surprised to see Riddle smirking at Hermione. She smiled herself at the sight. Maybe he was finally starting to tolerate her muggleborn friends.

"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione?" Ron called from the otherside of the curtain. "If Harry had wanted deboning, he would have asked."

"Anyone can make a mistake," Hermione sniffed. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Harry?"

Tom and Lucy exchanged an incredulous look. "And they think I'm the crazy one," she complained.

"It doesn't hurt," Harry agreed, but he opened the curtain with a scowl. "But it doesn't do anything else either."

He sat on the bed and his arm jiggled at his side. Madame Pomfrey walked into the room with a bottle labeled Skele-Gro. "You're in for a rough night," she said grimly. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

As Harry took his Skele-Gro, Lucy sank into the chair beside his bed and started poking at his boneless arm. Now that she wrecked vengeance on Lockhart she could find a little more humor in the situation, and she had great fun bending his fingers back.

"I'm glad you're having fun," he said, fighting a smile. She snickered and kept playing with it.

"At least we won," Ron grinned. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face- he looked ready to kill..."

"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione.

Lucy didn't bother looking up at the accusation. There was no way Malfoy would have managed to hex a bludger, and even if he did have the ability, he wouldn't have. That was the whole point of him buying new brooms for the Slytherin team- he wanted to win against Harry through his teams' advantages. It was the Pureblood way.

The doors to the Hospital wing opened, and a muddy trail of Gryffindor quidditch players trudged in.

"Unbelievable flying, Harry!" George beamed. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy, something about having seen the Snitch on the top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy."

"When Gryffindors show up, that is when I take my leave," Lucy said dramatically. She gave Harry a smile and ruffled his hair. "Get well soon, Potter."

He batted her hand away with a scowl and tried unsuccessfully to fix his messy hair. "Yeah, thanks, Luce."

Grinning, she left the Hospital Wing. She pulled a face at the Weasley twins as she did and in sync, they stuck out their tongues at her. Riddle rolled his eyes at the childishness of it all but refrained from commenting until they were alone in the hallway.

"I think Quidditch is growing on me," he said at last.

"You're only saying that because the Bludger tried to kill someone," Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Well, of course. Nothing that exciting happened in my time."

"Don't get used to it. I doubt anything that fun will happen at my match."

"It's only fun because it happened to Potter. If that happens at your match, I wouldn't be as amused," Riddle frowned.

Lucy grinned at him. They'd find out soon enough. Her first Quidditch match was next week, against Ravenclaw. "Maybe then I'd get to set Lockhart on fire a second time," she joked.

"I'm surprised you did it this time, to be honest. I know you've killed a troll, but cursing professors is different, isn't it?" Riddle's eyes gleamed, thinking back on it.

"He got off easy," she said. "But I've got the rest of the year to get him."

"Who knows. Maybe he'll be attacked next, if you wish hard enough."

She laughed, half at the thought of Lockhart getting petrified and half because of how happy Riddle sounded at the moment. "If that happens, Tom, Christmas will have come early."

He hummed in reply. She was glad to see him in such high spirits. It was a bit surprising to be honest; he'd tried to convince her to skip the Quidditch match for weeks and she was certain he'd be in a sour mood afterward. But now, he walked beside her, almost cheerful. She never thought she'd see the day Tom Riddle was innocently happy.

Lunch had already passed, so she headed back to the Hufflepuff dorms to maybe get homework done. She was more likely going to play Exploding Snap with Anthony though.

As she walked through the halls, she noticed some of the Slytherins in her year sitting by a window. None of them looked happy at all- especially not Malfoy, who was in the center of them.

"Afternoon, Snakes," Lucy nodded, slowing to a stop.

"If you've come to gloat, get it over with and leave," Malfoy said sourly.

She actually wasn't going to do that, but now that Malfoy mentioned it, she was tempted. She'd save it for another time- Zabini and Daphne Greengrass were there and she didn't want to make them mad.

"Can't a girl say hi to her sort-of friend? You're so rude, Malfoy," Lucy sniffed.

"Flint yelled his ear off earlier," Daphne explained.

"Flint deserves death," she replied. Zabini snorted, and Nott tried to hide a grin behind his book. Hah! She made the bookworm laugh. "I don't think you did that bad. Bit of advice for the next match- spend a little less time mocking Harry."

"Spend less time- did you see what he was doing?" Malfoy spluttered, "He looked like a ballerina! How am I meant to not comment on that?"

"Quite easy, really. See, you start by closing your mouth-" Daphne began.

"Don't start, Greengrass!"

Regretfully, Lucy had to agree with Malfoy on this front. "You can never let a good insult slip by, Greengrass. Damn the consequences."

"That's entirely Unslytherin of you, Rochester."

"Yes, well, I'm agreeing with Malfoy here. He can't have said something that smart."

Malfoy shot her a withering look. "Did you come here to insult me, or was there a reason you stopped by?"

Neither, really. She just saw them and decided to see what was going on. Now it was clear that Malfoy was throwing himself a pity party.

"I came over here to see Zabini's beautiful face," she said innocently. "And Greengrass, of course," she added with a wink.

"Please, Rochester, I'm blushing," Daphne said in a flat tone.

"Aaand, I guess I came to tell you that you did some good flying up there." It pained Lucy to say it. Being nice to Malfoy went each and every one of her instincts. Alas, she had to be the bigger person and admit it because he admittedly was skilled at flying. If Harry wasn't the best flyer at Hogwarts, he might have won.

Malfoy's grumpy expression turned into a disbelieving look. "Was that a compliment from Lucy Rochester I just heard?"

Zabini was just as shocked. "Have you been body-snatched?"

"Blink twice if you've been possessed," Daphne said, her brows furrowed.

"Perhaps she's come down with a life-threatening illness,' Nott said without looking up from his book.

"Okay, you all suck! That's the last time I say something nice!" Lucy complained.

"I think you're right, Nott. I'll have Father call St. Mungo's-"

"That's it, I'm gone!"

She walked away and she was in disbelief that she had gotten bested by the Slytherins for once. After she was far enough away, she turned to face Riddle.

The older boy was trying his best to fight a smile. He failed miserably.

"Bloody snake," she grumbled.

"I can't help it," he snickered, catching up to her as she walked faster. "It's a nice change to see some witty Slytherins for once. Considering your Gryffindor friends and your last name, I'm surprised the purebloods would interact with you."

"Well you talk to me, Mr. Pureblood. Maybe I'm just charming," she sniffed. "How's all that inbreeding feel, Riddle? Hm?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not a Pureblood, although even I admit the incest gets to be a bit much."

That brought Lucy to a stop. She stared at him, shocked. She knew he said his mum was a witch and she died giving birth to him and he grew up at Wool's, but she figured his dad had to have been a wizard, too. "You're joking."

"I am not." He had a look of disdain on his face. "My father was Tom Riddle Sr, and he was as mugglish as it gets. I suppose my mother thought herself clever, tricking him with a love potion. My counterpart made the diary shortly after he met my father."

"So do you remember him?" She wondered.

It wasn't a happy conversation, but Riddle didn't mind telling her. She was likely the only person he dared to tell- it wasn't like she'd run around yelling 'Tom Riddle is a half-blood'. Who would care in the first place?

"Yes, I remember meeting him. He was... terrible." Riddle's eyes turned dark, not unlike the time Flint yelled at her. "I might have overlooked his being a Muggle if he was brilliant. He was neither brilliant nor great; I only share my name and my face with him."

Lucy felt a rush of sympathy for him. She liked to think she knew Tom quite well and she could imagine his reaction to such a thing. He would have been furious but deeper down, she knew he'd have been disappointed.

"Well, you know what, Tom? I think you're brilliant and great enough to make up for it," Lucy said decidedly. "Isn't it something to be proud of? You took Tom Riddle's worthless name and made it into something impressive. It's like a badge of honor, really."

Tom looked down at her, a strange expression on his face. She looked up at him earnestly. Even if she was bad at turning her thoughts into words, she hoped he could sense how well she thought of him.

Finally, he looked away from her. "Lucy, you have the oddest ways of thinking," he mused. He nodded toward the direction of her common room. "Let's go. I believe you agreed to read DA Unearthed?"

"A wonderful bedtime story," she said sarcastically. She followed after him, and all the way back to the common room he kept glancing at her. She could see the gears in his mind working. "What's got you thinking so hard, Riddle?"

He smirked. "I'm wondering if Zabini was right, and you'd been body-snatched after all."

He started laughing at the indignant look on her face, before disappearing into the diary.

"You're such a git, Tom Riddle!" She huffed. He laughed again and it was even stranger because she couldn't see him. Against her will, a smile pulled at her lips. "Such a bloody git..." she repeated fondly.