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.

A/N: Hello everyone! Can you believe I'm posting again after two weeks rather than a whole year! Thank you so much for all the reviews! I love hearing your thoughts on what's happening in the story! Here's the next chapter:

Part 1 - Chapter 10

When Scarlett walked into the Great Hall on Christmas morning, she immediately noticed the absence of her favourite Dark Lord. She inwardly smirked to herself. It seemed like Riddle had gotten her present and would be a little late to the festivities.

Scarlett had been extremely proud of her creation, a beautiful flower that sucked the life force from any living thing in its vicinity. It had taken her a while to get it exactly right especially since each flower was created from the energy released by a murder. So she basically had to kill someone every time she wanted to make one and, instead of gaining a skill or ability from their death, she channeled it into the flower. Some more experimentation was in order especially to see if the flowers could be stronger or weaker depending on who she killed. It had also been a challenge to create something to actually contain the flower's powers, but she'd finally succeeded with her enchanted glass.

Judging from his absence at the Feast, Scarlett assumed that Riddle had stupidly lifted the glass off of the flower. However, she had also been confident that he would have been able to immediately feel what the flower was doing and been able to survive its attack by simply enclosing it in the magical glass again.

When the following day there still hadn't been any sign of Riddle anywhere, Scarlett assumed that the man was sulking at having been caught off guard and was tending to his wounded pride in the privacy of his own rooms.

When the fourth day passed and Riddle had yet to resurface, Scarlett started to feel a bit concerned. Perhaps Voldie hadn't been quick enough to free himself from her flower's powers. But surely he wouldn't have actually been killed by it?

After the sixth day went by with no sign of Riddle, Scarlett had pushed away any worry and guilt she might have been feeling by reasoning that if Voldie was weak enough to be killed by a flower, admittedly an extremely deadly and never before seen flower but a flower nonetheless, then he didn't deserve her concern or attention and he definitely wasn't worthy of being soulbound to her. Either way she didn't care what happened to him one way or another, she'd just been having fun playing with him but there were plenty of other people that she could play with instead.

So on New Year's Eve, after a week had passed since Riddle had been missing, Scarlett could be found impatiently knocking on his door purely to sate her curiosity and definitely not out of concern for the man. And when he finally opened the door she didn't feel any relief at the sight of him alive and well. And she also didn't feel any guilt whatsoever at the lingering signs of magical exhaustion that hadn't fully healed even after a week of rest.

As Scarlett shuffled into Riddle's private quarters with the excuse that she'd been missing Nagini, she didn't feel much of anything at all because Scarlett simply didn't care about Tom Riddle.

When Tom opened the door to find Potter standing on the other side, he was a little surprised. Firstly, he wasn't sure how she'd even found his rooms in the first place as they weren't anywhere near the Defence classroom and secondly, he couldn't think of any reason why she would be seeking him out rather than enjoying the holiday period with her friends.

"How may I help you Miss Potter?" He said, not letting his thoughts show on his face.

Potter just looked at him. It seemed like she was inspecting him very closely as if checking that there was nothing wrong with him. Surely she hadn't been worried about him? After the flower incident it had taken him a few days to get back on his feet and, as he hadn't really been needed the past week, he'd decided that a little extra rest could only be beneficial to his health. And perhaps he'd been a little shaken by the feeling of his magic being forcibly taken. No one could blame him for needing a couple of days to himself after facing his biggest fear. Anyway he hadn't thought that anyone would have felt his absence, especially not the Girl-Who-Lived.

Potter seemed to realise that she was just staring and cleared her throat.

"Hello Professor, it's been a while since I saw Nagini and I did promise her that I'd come to see her," she said, stretching her neck as if to see if she was behind him. "I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought I'd pay her a visit today."

Of course she hadn't come to check on him. Tom had no idea what he'd been thinking. He didn't care either way so there was no reason for him to feel irritated. Dispelling his ridiculous thoughts, Tom moved out of the way, letting the little puzzle in.

"Nagini is out hunting, but she should be back soon if you want to wait for her," Tom said, motioning Potter towards his living room.

"I'll do that! Thanks!" She said, smiling slightly at him as she curiously looked around his quarters.

Having officially taken the title of Lord Slytherin, Tom had been bestowed with the Founder's rooms which were very nice, much nicer than even the Headmaster's quarters. In his opinion, the living room was particularly impressive. It housed two comfortable armchairs and two very soft sofas arranged around a mahogany tea table, all facing a huge fireplace and the walls were completely covered by bookshelves filled with all kinds of books he'd collected over the years.

Tom would normally be annoyed by anyone invading his private space, but he could only be amused as the little puzzle stared in awe at his book collection and gently ran her fingers over their spines, almost reverently.

"You can choose one to read whilst you wait," Tom told her, his amusement only growing when she looked at him in delight and her eyes began darting around the the numerous tomes, trying to decide which one she would pick.

Knowing that Potter would probably take a while to decide, Tom settled back in his favourite armchair and reopened the book he'd been reading before being interrupted, glancing up every once in a while to check on her progress.

Eventually she settled on a book about ancient Chinese healing rituals, which was far too advanced for an eleven year old, but when Tom told her that, she only smirked saying that she'd be fine. Shrugging, Tom went back to his book only to quickly look back up again when he saw Potter nearing the table, the table from which he had yet to remove his unwanted Christmas present.

Potter had previously been too distracted by the books, and had not noticed the innocent looking flower. Unfortunately, as soon as she neared the table her eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"It's beautiful, Professor! What is it?" She asked, stretching out a hand as if to touch it.

Before her fingers could come into contact with the glass, Tom found himself darting forwards, catching Potter's hand in mid air and pulling her away from the dangerous object.

"Don't touch that!" He snapped, mentally chastising himself for forgetting about the stupid thing. Truthfully he simply hadn't wanted to touch it again especially not whilst he was still recovering from it, so he'd simply left it where he'd first found it. He was currently regretting that decision, especially since Potter was looking from him, to the flower, to her hand, which he was still holding, in open surprise.

Tom immediately let go of her as if burned. He hadn't been worried about her. He just didn't know how far the flower's powers could reach. Really he'd just been protecting himself. Plus how bad would it look if the Girl-Who-Lived was killed in his rooms?

"That's a very dangerous new flower, Potter" he told her, noticing that she was still looking at him expectantly, obviously waiting for an explanation. "From what I've gathered so far, it sucks all your magic from you until you're dead."

Potter's wide eyes darted to the flower again before refocusing on him.

"So you just saved my life? My hero!" She said so dramatically that it was obvious that she was teasing him. "If only you'd been there to help me with the troll and the curse on my broom…" she added wistfully, closely watching him as if to see his reaction, all playfulness suddenly gone.

Tom kept his face carefully blank.

"Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough on those two other occasions," he murmured, watching her back just as closely.

Potter smiled and the oppressive tenseness that had been slowly creeping in, was immediately dispelled.

"No need to beat yourself up about it, Professor," she said teasingly. "I can always count on Barry to keep me safe."

"Barry?" Tom asked. Surely she wasn't referring to the ghost?

"The Bloody Baron, professor," she smirked. "I've nicknamed him Barry."

Tom could admit that he was gaping at her. She'd nicknamed the school's scariest ghost Barry and he was apparently ok with it.

Potter openly laughed at his expression then settled herself in the other armchair, flipped open the book she'd found and began to read.

Tom stared at her for a moment longer and then went back to his own book, realising that she'd probably never cease surprising him. What a little puzzle indeed.

Scarlett soon became completely engrossed in the book she was reading and barely noticed the hours pass by. She was mildly alarmed by how easy it was to relax around Riddle. She knew that it was partly because of his magic which just seemed to call to her, but she would have thought that she'd feel at least a little on edge just from knowing that she was in the same room as Voldemort. Strangely that didn't seem to bother her at all. She really had changed!

Riddle also seemed to be completely at ease, his magic laying dormant around him. That in itself was also rather weird as she was sure that he didn't usually relax or let his defences down in the company of others…

Scarlett was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of Nagini's hissing.

"Little Hatchling you've come to see me!" The giant snake said, making her way onto the armchair and coiling around her. "I kept telling my Master to let me come see you but he's been sulking for the past week and completely ignoring me!"

"Nagini, she can't understand you. Anyway I haven't been sulking I've been resting and it's impossible to ignore you." Riddle muttered that last bit rather exasperatedly.

"Master this week you haven't given me any rabbits, I had to go and hunt on my own otherwise I would have starved to death!" Nagini was basically whining at this point.

Riddle looked up at the ceiling as if asking for patience.

"The House Elves bring you mice everyday! And it's good for you to train your reflexes every once in a while," he said snidely.

"I don't need to practise my reflexes! You do! You're the one that was beaten by a measly flower!" Scarlett felt that if she'd been able to, Nagini would have been smirking.

"I wasn't beaten by a flower! I defeated the blasted flower!"

"Then why is it still on the table?" Nagini asked smugly.

"Quiet Nagini. I don't want to hear another word from you!" Riddle snapped, obviously avoiding the question.

"Master you are so cruel to me! You haven't even been giving me any bedtime cuddles! This den is so cold and you haven't been sharing your warmth with me!"

To avoid laughing, Scarlett was clenching her teeth so hard that her jaw was starting to ache. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes from the hilarity of the situation. Voldemort was having an argument with his snake about cuddling. Scarlett wasn't sure how she'd been managing to keep a straight face.

"I always make sure your rock has a warming charm on it!" Riddle said soothingly.

"It's not the same, Master. And the rock is not as comfortable as you!" If snakes could pout Nagini would definitely be pouting right now.

"I'm not your pillow Nagini!" Riddle was definitely annoyed, but he also sounded resigned as if he'd already had similar conversations in the past.

When Scarlett thought that she'd be able to talk without bursting into laughter, she cleared her throat, interrupting the hilarious discussion.

"Professor… are you having an argument with your snake?" She asked, hoping that she didn't come across as amused as she actually felt.

Riddle stared at her blankly for a second.

"Of course not! She was just telling me about her hunt," he lied very convincingly. "She also said that she's very pleased to see you."

Maybe if Scarlett hadn't been able to understand the conversation, she might have believed him. She chose to let the matter slide anyway as she was still not ready to reveal her Parseltongue ability to him. She was having too much fun. Instead she turned her full attention to the giant snake in her lap.

"Oh you're so sweet Nagini," she murmured, scratching the snake in all the right places. "I've missed you too! You're so cuddly!"

Unable to help herself, Scarlett turned to Riddle who had gone back to reading and asked as innocently as she could manage: "Do you cuddle her, Professor?"

"I don't do cuddles," he sneered, not even looking up from his book.

Scarlett muffled a chuckle on Nagini's body and went back to petting her. She spent the rest of the afternoon like that, showering the snake with affection, continuing reading the interesting book she'd picked out and occasionally discussing some of its points with Riddle.

Eventually it was time for her to return to her common room and it was as she was leaving that she remembered exactly what day it was. So, just as Riddle was about to close the door, she called out to him.

"Oh Professor, I almost forgot! Happy Birthday! I know it's been good because you've spent most of it with me!"

She giggled at his surprised expression and sauntered away, rounding the corner before he could respond. She wondered when the last time someone had wished him a happy birthday was.

On the 4th of March Tom could confidently say that he was in an awful mood. He had yet to make any progress on finding the person responsible for his Christmas present and to make matters worse he had somehow been convinced by Dumbledore to referee the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff Quidditch game despite there being a perfectly adequate flying teacher to do the job. Dumbledore had apparently been worried about Potter's safety due to her recklessness in her last match and wanted someone more capable to keep an eye on the players and prevent any unfortunate accidents.

When he'd first been asked he had of course immediately refused as he hated the sport; however, Dumbledore had had the gall to insinuate that someone else might be more suitable than him for the task and, even though Tom had been perfectly aware that he was being manipulated, he hadn't been able to let the comment slide and had agreed to referee the blasted match. He had just added the whole ordeal to the list of reasons why Dumbledore had to die. It was a rather long list.

To add more insult to injury, the previous afternoon, when Potter had stayed behind after class to pet Nagini, Tom had made the mistake of ranting at her about the whole situation and instead of being appropriately remorseful for essentially being the cause of his grief she'd had the gall to actually laugh at him.

"Don't worry, Professor," she'd said with a by now familiar mischievous smile. "I'll make sure to catch the snitch extra quickly so you don't have to referee for too long."

He had simply kicked her out of his classroom.

Tom blew the whistle, officially starting the match and watched the chaos begin. He grumpily sat on his broom, keeping a safe distance from the action, not wanting to be accidentally hit by a stray bludger. Two minutes into the game, which felt more like two hours, Tom looked up to see Potter staring intently in his direction. He didn't think she could see his expression from that far away but he made sure to glare at her anyway, just in case.

Suddenly, she starting flying at break neck speed towards him. Not having enough time to react, Tom was barely able to brace for a collision, a collision that never came. The little puzzle had somehow managed to stop mere centimetres away from him. She then proceeded to wink at him before plucking the Snitch from behind his head. The golden ball had been hovering just next to his ear.

"You're welcome," she said smugly and before Tom could respond, she was already flying off waving the Snitch in the air.

The match had lasted two and a half minutes.

Scarlett let herself laugh freely as she landed gracefully on the ground. Everyone's shock was amusing, but Riddle's gobsmacked reaction was the funniest. He'd been sure that she was going to crash right into him and Scarlett guessed that his shock came from that not happening as well as her audacity in general. She had promised him that she'd end the match quickly and that's exactly what she'd done. He should be very thankful.

She was soon being swept in the air as Gryffindor students congratulated her on her fantastic performance. However all celebrations were abruptly halted by Riddle's angry magic which she was sure even the least magic sensitive students had to be feeling. The crowd parted, students practically diving out of the way to avoid the angry professor. Scarlett couldn't help herself, she just kept on smiling, amused by the extreme reactions that she was able to get out of him.

"Detention, Potter, for endangering a Professor," his voice was icy. "With Hagrid."

Ooooh it seemed like he was very angry indeed: he didn't even want her to serve detention with him.

Scarlett adopted her best innocent look and fluttered her eyelashes at the angry Dark Lord in disguise.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, Professor," she said, keeping her amusement well hidden.

Riddle sneered and stormed off.

Scarlett laughed delightedly. His magic was even more alluring when he was angry.

The twins high-fived her for her daring and hoisted her up onto their shoulders to carry her back to the common room.

Hermione was appalled.

As Scarlett trudged through the Forbidden Forest with a very unwilling Fang, she could hardly believe that they would make an eleven year old walk around alone in the dark in a place that was strictly off limits to students during the day, let alone at night. It's like they were trying to kill her! She was sure that Sirius would have something to say about this. She made a mental note to write to him in the morning.

Hagrid had told her that someone had been hunting unicorns and that they had to follow the trail of blood to find the animals and help them if they were still alive or at least investigate the scene of the crime if they were already dead.

The walk had started off fairly well aside from Fang's refusal to go anywhere near Scarlett. She had yet to encounter an animal that hadn't been drawn to her magic, but she assumed that it scared Fang who was pretty much afraid of everything. So when they found that the trail led in two different directions and Hagrid decided that Scarlett and Fang should follow one and he would follow the other, Fang had been less than pleased. In the end Scarlett had basically had to drag Fang with her whilst Hagrid ran off in the opposite direction.

Scarlett strolled leisurely along the path, confident that she'd be able to handle anything that she might encounter, and when she heard a noise in the distance she immediately hurried towards it. She eventually reached a clearing which was faintly lit by the moonlight. Thanks to her perfect, vampiric vision, Scarlett could clearly see the unicorn's body, faintly glowing in the darkness and the cloaked figure that was greedily drinking from it.

The unicorn seemed to sense Scarlett's approach as it reacted violently, using the last of its strength to thrash wildly and try to get away from her. Scarlett supposed that it made sense that something as pure as a unicorn would sense and dislike her aura.

At the same time, the figure looked up from what it was doing, aquamarine eyes met emerald and Scarlett's scar heated up to an almost painful level. Good thing that Death had removed the pain!

Never one to miss an opportunity to play with her enemy, Scarlett kept walking towards the spectre.

"Hello Grindelwald. It's nice to see just how far you have fallen," she taunted him. "How desperate you must be to have resorted to this."

Grindelwald didn't seem to appreciate her friendly greeting. He screeched angrily and violently lunged at her. Scarlett easily sidestepped the attack and tutted mockingly.

"Resorting to muggle attacks now. Have you perhaps forgotten how to use magic?" She asked condescendingly.

Flexing her own magic, Scarlett was getting ready to give Grindelwald a real taste of her power; however, she was interrupted by the sound of galloping and a Centaur jumping into the clearing.

Grindelwald, the coward, immediately retreated and Scarlett schooled her expression into one of innocent curiosity as she turned towards the being responsible for ruining her fun.

"Are you all right young one?" He asked gently as he came to a stop before her.

"I'm fine, thank you!" She replied sweetly.

"You are Scarlett Potter!" The Centaur exclaimed, noticing her scar. "My name is Firenze. The stars have much to say about you. Mars isn't shining as brightly as it should be…"

Firenze gazed critically at the sky, lost in thought for several minutes before turning back to Scarlett.

"You shouldn't be wondering around here on your own. The Forest is not safe right now, especially for you."

"I'm serving detention with Hagrid," she explained. "He's in here somewhere. Fang, his dog, was with me but I think he got scared and ran away."

"I know Hagrid. He is a friend to the Centaurs. Get on my back and I will take you to him." Firenze said, bending his legs so that it would be easier for Scarlett to climb on.

"Thank you Firenze, that's very kind of you but I can walk. I know that Centaurs consider carrying a human on their back a dishonourable act and I wouldn't want to disrespect you or your kind."

Firenze seemed surprised but quickly straightened up again and smiled.

"The stars are right about you. You are a strange human Scarlett Potter."

Scarlett snorted. What an understatement.

A/N: What did you think? How long will Scarlett be able to hold out before she lets slip that she understands Parseltongue? Till next time!