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.

Part 1 - Chapter 3

Tom sat in Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions waiting for Potter to buy her Hogwarts uniform and whatever other Wizarding Wear she might need. His mind was still reeling over the results of the blood test. Having pushed thoughts of the soulbond aside for now, Tom allowed it to sink in that Potter was extremely politically powerful. She was the Heiress to the most influential Light and Dark Houses and once she came of age she would be a force to be reckoned with. Tom thought it was a shame that she wouldn't be allowed to live that long. Soulbond or no soulbond the girl had to die.

He would stick to his previous plans. He'd allow himself the luxury of her first year to uncover all her little secrets and, surely bored with her by the Summer holidays, he would dispose of her.

Tom nodded to himself. The Potter girl would die and he would savour killing her. For now though, he could amuse himself with her antics. As infuriating as her lack of fear was, it had been a while since he'd spoken to anyone who wasn't intimidated by his chilling glare. Even as Hogwarts's most popular professor he always managed to instil terror in the hearts of students and faculty alike. Potter's fearlessness and boldness was as amusing as it was annoying. It was different anyway and Tom had become rather bored lately.

The girl was a puzzle. For example, he was sure that the girl's aunt had been telling the truth and Potter had murdered someone, her own aunt at that. However, when he looked at her, it was simply preposterous. And he wasn't just thinking about her appearance. Of course not. Whilst the girl did look like the epitome of innocence, Tom was well aware that appearances could be deceiving. On the other hand, magic wasn't. And he could feel Potter's magic, especially since there was a lot of it. Her core was pure, unblemished. If Potter had indeed killed someone, there would be a sign, a dark residue, a shadow over her Light magic, but her magic was blinding white. He'd never seen someone with magic so disgustingly Light, not even Dumbledore and he's the bloody Light Lord! That would indicate that she'd never committed an act of 'Darkness', but Tom knew she had and so he was back to square one.

Tom was snapped out of his musings by Potter's return. She had changed into royal blue wizarding robes which made her look very regal. Following behind her were a boy with white blond hair and a pale pointed face, who was obviously Lucius's son, and a girl with lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.

"Professor Riddle," Potter called as she walked over to him, her voice like tinker bells. "These are Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, guys this is Professor Riddle," she introduced, rather smugly if you asked Tom.

Young Malfoy seemed to be unable to tear his eyes away from Potter, he seemed almost hypnotised, whilst the girl was staring at Tom in awe. Granger was a muggle surname; the girl must be a Muggleborn. How did Potter manage to get a Malfoy to stand so close, let alone play nice with a Mudblood?

"It's nice to meet you Mr Malfoy, Miss Granger," Tom murmured, never really taking his eyes away from Potter.

Malfoy and Granger just stood there, staring stupidly at him until Potter nudged them forwards with a small, pointed cough.

"It's nice to meet you professor," they said in unison. Tom couldn't contain an amused smile at Potter's snort, her eyes once more twinkling mischievously.

Scarlett watched Draco and Hermione walk away together, chatting amiably. Draco had promised to show her the best books to learn about Wizarding Traditions. It had been a little tense when they first met, but a few words from Scarlett and the tension had been quickly diffused.

"That's a sight you don't see every day," she heard Riddle mutter. "He's a Malfoy and she's a Muggleborn, how did you manage to make them get along?" He seemed unsure whether to be exasperated or bemused.

Scarlett laughed quietly before leaning close to Riddle as if to tell him a secret.

"Magic," she whispered grinning.

Riddle gave her an extremely unimpressed stare. Scarlett couldn't help but cackle, sounding worryingly similar to Bellatrix Lestrange. Riddle seemed to have made the same connection because he looked momentarily wary.

Scarlett's stomach chose that moment to rumble and she looked down mortified, a blush staining her cheek.

Riddle chuckled. "I think now is as good a time as any to stop for lunch," he said.

That's how Scarlett found herself in a cute coffee shop in Later Alley, a side street off of Diagon Alley that housed a variety of dining establishments, enjoying lunch with none other than Lord Voldemort. She was incredibly amused to discover that he was a vegetarian. Voldemort, Dark Lord extraordinaire didn't eat animals. Oh, how she wanted to laugh, but she felt that said Dark Lord wouldn't be very happy at being made fun of.

Riddle's glare told her that she hadn't been very successful in hiding her amusement. Her twitching lips and twinkling eyes were probably not helping.

Usually, when Tom visited Flourish and Blotts, he could spend hours looking through books and selecting which new source of knowledge he wanted to explore next; however, today he was too preoccupied studying his new puzzle, that he already knew was turning into a slight obsession.

He was still annoyed at how funny Potter had found the fact that he was a vegetarian. Gellert had always teased him about it as well, but she didn't even know that he was a Dark Lord so Tom really didn't understand what she found so amusing. So what if he didn't want to eat animals? It was his choice and his alone. The fact that he killed people on a regular basis didn't mean that he wanted to kill every living being! He'd always had more tolerance for animals anyway since they'd been his only companions when he was a child. That didn't mean that he didn't kill animals, if they were a threat and attacked him, he had no qualms about disposing of them, he just saw no reason to eat them when there were other foods that were actually healthier. He might have also read somewhere that vegetarians had longer lifespans and one could never be too careful in looking after oneself. Anyway, he could eat, or not eat, whatever he wanted. He would not be laughed at by a silly eleven-year-old girl. He'd only been slightly mollified when Potter followed his example and chose a vegetarian option as well.

Afterwards, Potter had wanted to pop into Eyelops Eye Emporium. "I just want to have a quick look," she'd mumbled as she darted through the door. Tom had sighed, thinking that the girl would take ages to choose a pet, but when she'd said quick, she'd actually meant it. Potter had walked right up to a beautiful snowy owl with intelligent eyes, murmured softly to it, opened the cage and let it settle on her shoulder. The owl, that she'd named Hedwig, still hadn't moved from her new post, occasionally rubbing her head against Potter's cheek and being rewarded by soft words and light caresses.

Tom observed the two now as Potter piled book after book into her basket. She had quickly gathered her school books and was now browsing for 'a little light reading'. Potter's words not his. Tom wondered how much reading she could possibly be intending to do.

Tom was momentarily distracted when he saw a section of books on soulbonds. He'd never really had any interest in the topic as it had nothing to do with him, but now he thought he should inform himself on the matter. Tom had just finished picking out three books that seemed rather informative and reliable when a sweet voice made him freeze as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Professor, why are you buying books on souldbonds? Are you soulbound to someone too?" Potter was looking up at him with wide green eyes.

Tom floundered for a second before handing her the books.

"Oh no Miss Potter, these are for you. I thought that, since you seemed interested in finding out about soulbonds earlier, you might want to buy these as well," he said smoothly.

Potter stared at him for a moment longer. Tom felt the strong urge to fidget but he quickly squashed it. She was only eleven for Merlin's sake. Finally, Potter smiled a brilliant smile and Tom almost sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank you so much Professor! You really are too kind" she said sweetly, before grabbing the books, adding them to the pile and continuing on her hunt for 'a little light reading'.

Tom would come back for those books another day.

Ollivander watched curiously as Tom Riddle and Scarlett Potter walked into his shop. His eyes widened as he felt her power, despite her aura appearing to be pure and Light, he could feel Death's mark on her. She was his chosen, his Mistress.

His lovely wands obviously felt the same thing because they all surged forward at once from their resting places and attached themselves to the young girl, almost rubbing themselves over her body like cuddly pets. They had felt her power and wanted to have the honour of channelling it. Little did his precious wands know that young Miss Potter had already been claimed by another, more powerful, more possessive, more temperamental wand than any of them.

Ollivander rushed forward, forgoing his usual air of mysteriousness, to try and put a stop to the spectacle taking place in his shop.

"My deepest apologies," he murmured. "I had wondered when I would be seeing you Miss Potter. I must admit that I was not expecting to have to rescue you from my wands."

Tom watched baffled as Potter giggled cutely. She stood still, allowing the wands to snuggle up to her, going so far as stroking a couple of them, causing them to shiver in delight.

"What is the meaning of this Ollivander," he demanded, gesturing to what was happening in front of him.

"Ah, Professor Riddle. I remember giving your wand to you," Ollivander said. "Yew, thirteen and a half inches, unyielding. A very nice wand."

Tom's hand twitched in annoyance.

"Indeed. Now answer the question," he said in clipped tones.

Ollivander turned back to look at Potter, seemingly having forgotten that his wands were currently trying to become one with the girl.

"Oh yes, well… it seems that my wands are rather eager to be wielded by you Miss Potter," he said solemnly. "You may take your pick. Simply choose one that calls to you the most."

Tom felt a tick develop in his left eye. All the wands wanted Potter? Great, just great. How powerful was this child?

The girl in question was observing each wand closely, she then smiled softly and actually started talking to them.

"You are all rather lovely," she whispered, causing the wands to preen in delight, as much as sticks can anyway. "However, I think you all know which wand I'm going to choose."

At her words, a few of the wands fell to the floor, seemingly knowing they wouldn't be chosen and being extremely dejected about it.

Potter chuckled and opened her hand, one of the wands immediately flying into it. She clasped her fingers around the handle and almost shuddered, sighing happily. A wind picked up around her and her pure white magic was visible for a few seconds before it settled down again.

With a wave of his own wand, Ollivander sent all the other, rejected wands back to their boxes before slowly clapping his hands.

"Very good choice Miss Potter. An unusual combination: holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. Very good indeed, but also curious. Very curious…" he suddenly trailed off as his gaze settled on Tom, deep in thought.

Tom narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"And what exactly is so curious?" he said, looking rather bored.

He saw Potter cock her head to the side, obviously just as interested in the answer.

"It just so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in Miss Potter's wand, gave another feather, just one other." Tom tensed slightly, surely it couldn't be… "It's very curious that she should choose this wand out of all the others when its brother why, its brother is in your pocket Professor Riddle, having served you well for so many years now."

Tom grimaced. "Curious indeed," he muttered rather sullenly. He was definitely going to need a large glass of Firewhisky when he got home.

Potter hummed pensively.

"Do you also have a holster?" she asked.

Ollivander nodded. "An invisible, dragonhide arm holster for you," he said as he handed it over, causing Potter to let out another childish giggle. "That will be eleven galleons all together."

When Potter had finally handed over the money, Tom swivelled and stormed out of the shop. He was slightly appeased when he heard Potter immediately follow after him, shouting a polite "thank you" over her shoulder as the door closed behind them.

Ollivander watched from his shop window as the pair walked away.

"Goodbye Miss Potter. I think we must expect great things from you. Terrible perhaps, but great nonetheless," he murmured, wide pale eyes seeing more than anyone could imagine.

A/N: Another chapter done! I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! :D

Coming up: Scarlett's sorting ceremony: which House will she go to in this universe? And what's going on with the ghosts?