September 29, 1941

Tom Riddle walked the halls of Hogwarts, passing into an upper corridor overlooking the Quidditch field during his free afternoon. Students were walking to and fro, hurrying to classes or elsewhere to study. He was the talk amongst the girls in the school, catching their eyes with his four inch growth over the summer and sharply handsome features tying together his pristine uniform. He walked with an air of grace and intelligence, his posture perfectly straight, and his prefect badge nearly giving him the authority of a professor.

He stopped for a moment, peering out the window to the Slytherin quidditch team practicing on the field. Eleonora and Isidore were floating near the goals as drills were ran with the beaters, playing Red Hands with each other. Eleonora kept jumping at Isidore's taunting flinching, sending him into a fit of giggles each time she pulled her hands back. He finally went for the move, quickly overturning his upward facing palms to slap her hands. She seemed to exclaim a complaint before giving his head a light push, the same way Tom saw her do to her brothers. It still amazed him how comfortable the two were around each other.

"Tom!" he heard, turning to see James give him a lazy wave as he approached him. Tom smiled, replying, "Hey James."

"What're those two fighting about now?" James asked, seeing Isidore and Eleonora in a small match of slapping each other's arms with blocking and pushing.

"An intense game of Red Hand," Tom answered, making James roll his eyes with a snort of laughter.

"Those two are so melodramatic," he sighed, then he said, "anyway, Professor Lestrange said he'd like to see you. I told him you didn't have class this afternoon, so he said you should stop by during his free period in the next two hours."

"I'll go see him now, thanks for telling me," Tom answered politely, and James gave him a nod as he headed toward the library.

"No problem, see you at dinner," he said, and the two of them headed their separate ways. Tom headed down a few flights of stairs, entering the empty hallway leading to the potions classroom. He wasn't particularly nervous about being called in alone, figuring it was something related to the house since Evander was appointed head of Slytherin.

Tom knocked lightly on the classroom door, opening it slightly to see Evander speaking with a woman at his desk.

"Tom, come in," he heard, then entered and closed the door behind him. He stepped forward as Evander beckoned him, hearing, "Tom, this is our new Arithmancy Professor, at least while Professor Mullins is on maternity leave. Professor Grimm here will be taking over for her through the semester, and possibly into the next as well."

Tom was the woman give him a smile, her warm green eyes reminding him of Eleonora's. She was average in height and build, attractive enough with striking straight strawberry blond hair reaching her mid back in one perfectly cut length, straying from the usual hairstyles of the time. She had a slight gaunt appearance with some shadow under her cheekbones, and seemed to be nervous in the stiff way she held her shoulders.

"This is Slytherin's fifth year prefect, Tom Riddle," Evander told her, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Tom, I've heard you're remarkable from the faculty. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Ignatia Grimm, and I look forward to being your professor," she said, her voice deeply rich and honeyed in tone as if she was meant to entrance people from merely speaking normally. It reminded him of Eva's voice, oddly enough. She extended a hand, which Tom shook as he replied, "likewise. I'm taking Advanced Arithmancy Studies this year, so we'll be seeing each other a lot. Welcome to Hogwarts."

"I'm sure we will, and thank you. It's nice to be back, although I wish I could go back into the Gryffindor common room and see if it's changed since I was here," she said with a sigh as she looked around the classroom with a reminiscent smile.

"It wouldn't be the same if it did. If there's one thing this school is, it's constant and always has been," Tom said, with her smile telling him she was won over with his charm.

"Right you are. Anyway, I thought I would introduce myself to the professors today, so I'm glad I ran into you. I should run, I have to prepare for the three o'clock lecture."

"I'll see you there, I'm in that class," Tom said with a kind smile, making the young woman grin gleefully as she exclaimed, "wonderful!"

She then turned to face Evander again, shaking his hand as she said, "It was lovely meeting you, Professor Lestrange."

He grinned, firmly squeezing her hand. She smiled shyly and tucked some hair behind her ear, then nodded with a small curtsey before hurrying out of the room.

"She seems nice," Tom said, and Evander nodded with a shrug.

"So, what was it that you wanted to see me about?" Tom asked, and Evander reached behind him to grab a letter. He held it out to Tom, saying, "Leviathan crashed into my office during an exam to deliver a letter for you. It's from Theodora."

Tom took the letter shyly, clearly unaccustomed to having personal mail at school. He saw the familiar perfected cursive letters with his name in blue ink, and the return address with her name. Evander said, "how has everything been? Have the students been giving you trouble?"

There was a small sneeze behind Evander, which was Leviathan as he drank from a small bowl that had been set out for him. Leviathan sneezed again with force, banging his head into the bowl, spilling the water all over him as he fell over backward.

"Leviathan," Evander sighed, walking over to a cupboard with extra towels. Tom smiled as Evander handed him one, and they began to dry off the small owl as it sneezed a third time.

"To answer your question- it's been good. I'm guessing people are behaving since it's the beginning of the school year," Tom answered, making Evander agree with, "that's absolutely it. Come November and they'll all be tired of the rules."

Tom gave an annoyed sigh, making Evander laugh as he said, "Not only do I empathize, I'm a professor now. I'll have to deal with it as much as you."

"Perks of the job," Tom joked, and Evander snorted with laughter as he nodded his head.

The two of them finished drying off Leviathan, and Tom went on his way to the library to spend some more time studying before dinner. He made his way to the ground floor, passing the great hall where many students were socializing or studying in groups. He didn't care for studying inside of it, and neither did most of the friends in his group. Eva, William, and Victoria were the only ones able to manage it, and were the most outgoing of all them.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" he heard two familiar sonorous voices exclaim, followed by the male's yelling "ouch!"

The female voice began laughing, and he turned the corner to see Eleonora getting a light shove on her shoulder from Isidore as he held his forehead. The three of them were still in their Quidditch robes, and Victoria's usually loose hair was in a long French braid, courtesy of Eleonora. The front sections of Eleonora's hair were pulled into a hair tie where she usually clipped her hair for a half updo, and the rest of her hair was gathered into a low ponytail. They looked quite official, in Tom's eyes, aside from the playful spat Eleonora and Isidore were engaged in.

Isidore then said, "rock, paper, scissors!"

Eleonora threw out a paper, and he threw out a rock, earning him a flick in the forehead again.

"You little-" he retorted, then he tugged at her ponytail growling, "you read my mind- no cheating!"

"I didn't-" she exclaimed, pulling her head back up, and he argued "I saw that small little smile for a split second- your face gave it away!"

"Fine, one more! Rock, paper, scissors-" she began, and Tom gave the legillimency he had been practicing a try. The two of them didn't realize he heard them internally decide to throw out scissors, and he put his fist out for rock as they turned the corner where he was standing.

"Huh?" they both went, then Tom flicked their foreheads as they yelped, "ow!"

"I win," he said innocently, and the two of them gave him a grin.

"Tom, please get these two to stop competing over everything under the sun. At this point, I feel like they're going to fight about how to breathe properly and I'm going to lose my mind if I have to babysit them through it!" Victoria whined, and Tom smiled to her as Isidore and Eleonora shrugged it off.

"Can the two of you give Victoria a break?" he asked, and they nodded.

"Sure, all mother hens need a break at some point," Isidore muttered, and Victoria whacked his arm before he began laughing.

"Excuse me, I'm the mother hen and will fight to keep that title!" they heard Eva say as she emerged from the other hallway with her hands on her hips. Victoria promptly hugged her, saying, "thank goodness, you can take over for me!"

They all heard the sound of crashing footsteps running down the hall, then two people emerged from the corner in a rush. It was William and Elaine, with Tom promptly saying, "Hey! No running in the halls!"

"It's gonna kill us!" William yelled, then they all heard growling emerging around the corner. It was an enchanted book that had teeth and was chomping its way toward them very quickly. Eva screamed, tripping over her robe that was a little too long, and Isidore picked her up bridal style and they all took off down the hall. Tom felt for his wand in his pocket, then realized he had put it away in his bag. He didn't particularly want to show he doesn't always need a wand to cast spells, and began thinking of a hex he could use to stop the book without anyone noticing.

"What'd you do William?" Isidore yelled, and William turned to give him a shocked look saying "what makes you think it was me?!"

"When isn't it you?!" Elaine yelled keeping her eyes straight ahead.

"It wasn't me this time! You were the one who wanted to read that book-" William began, and Elaine snapped "I had a bad feeling about it!"

"But it wasn't even in the restricted section! I just wanted to reach it for you!" William whined.

"Stupefy!" They heard behind them, then the book squealed and froze, crashing to the floor. They all stopped and turned around, seeing Eleanora with her wand pointed at the book and Victoria standing next to her with a dropped jaw.

"You guys are insane!" Victoria said, and Isidore put a bright red Eva back on the ground.

"The one time my wand isn't in my pocket," Tom muttered loud enough for them all to hear. He turned with a very serious and intimidating glare to look at Elaine and William, and they both froze and stared into Tom's cold eyes.

"Care to explain this to me?" Tom said evenly, and William said "nose goes!" Elaine grunted at him and explained that she was curious about this book about magical beasts, but it was too high on the shelf for her to reach. She went to go ask a librarian for a ladder, and the librarian said that the book should have been in the restricted section, but was misplaced. By the time they got back, William had gotten tired of waiting and had already jumped up to grab the book, which then came to life and chased them across the castle.

"Sounds like an honest mistake, but in the future, have the librarian help you. Don't get impatient," Tom said calmly but sternly. William nodded and apologized, and Tom laughed it off saying "It was funny, but I don't want you to get into trouble over something like that. What if a professor had seen it instead of me?" And William nodded saying, "That depends. It would've been bad, or it would've been great. I would've been fine if it was Professor Lestrange."

"Don't push your luck," Tom warned, and William gave him a nervous laugh. Tom then looked to his watch, then said, "Eleonora and Isidore- we have Arithmancy soon. Get changed."

"Oh- I lost track of time!" Eleonora cried, holding Tom's wrist for the time. She let go of it, yanking Isidore by the sleeve as the two of them ran to change.

"Ouch Ella, geez!" he yelped, stumbling after her.

"Hurry up, we only have 10 minutes!"

"These early afternoon practices cannot become a thing-" Isidore complained, with Eleonora agreeing, "yeah- whose idea was this? Some of us have classes at three o'clock!"

The two of them disappeared around the corner, and the others made their way to their own classes. Tom, Eleonora, and Isidore were the only ones taking the Advanced Arithmancy class, so he made his way to the quiet seventh floor of the school near the classroom.

He leaned against the hallway wall, seeing other students slowly filing into the room as they arrived to the desolate corner of the castle. He carefully observed them as they passed the Room of Requirement, noting that none of them gave any acknowledgment of its existence. Tom eyed it himself, irrationally paranoid that the door would somehow randomly appear in front of everyone, blowing the cover of his private room in the castle.

"Tom, is that you?" he heard a familiar rich female voice ask to his right, turning to look at her. Professor Grimm offered him a weak smile, and he plastered a charming one to his face.

"Professor Grimm, I'm glad to see you. I'm waiting for two friends of mine that were at Quidditch practice."

"Isidore Lestrange and Eleonora Morrigan? Professor Lestrange told me they'd be taking my class along with you."

"Yes, ma'am, they'll be here soon. Running as fast as possible, knowing them."

As if on cue, two people burst around the corner, slamming down the hall as they checked their watches.

"We've got a minute-" Eleonora wailed, then they saw Tom standing with the professor and slowed down.

"Take your time, you two," she called as they trudged over to them. Eleonora and Isidore were winded, and Professor Grimm said, "Tom explained to me you two had a Quidditch practice. It's alright, you aren't late. I'll have a word with your coach and request that you either be let out earlier or you reschedule your practices for after afternoon lectures."

"I love her already," Eleonora sighed with a smile, and Isidore said, "thank you, ma'am."

"Oh absolutely, the Quidditch locker rooms are seven floors down on the other end of an entire castle. It isn't fair to you two," she said, with the two of them internally worshiping how kind the woman was.

"Take your seats, let's begin class," she said, nodding to the door. The three of them followed her, and she insisted they walked inside before her despite them making room for her. Tom saw her look from him directly to the space where the Room of Requirement was nearby, before walking inside the classroom. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly with surprise, then he took his seat next to Eleonora at their desk near the window.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I am taking over for Professor Mullins as the Arithmancy professor. I'm thrilled to be teaching here, and am especially looking forward to this class in particular. Advanced Arithmancy Studies was my favorite subject as a student, and I am honored to be teaching it to the most brilliant minds this school has to offer. This class is designed to push you, and to think critically with logic while using abstract principles of the sciences and mathematics. As you already know- we are about a month into the school year.

"Now, not everything in this class may make sense, and that's alright. If you need anything at all, my door is always open. I would like to help you all as much as possible, and am happy to offer any assistance to your other subjects."

She looked at the students with a warm smile, offering a small nod to them as she made eye contact with Tom. Before he could really react, she was waving her wand that opened her textbook and began flipping through pages.

"Without further ado, let's begin the lesson. I believe you were looking at logarithmic functions. Interestingly enough- the nature of the function can perfectly coincide with the nature of future prediction from certain parallels with time. For example-"

She turned and began writing an equation on the chalkboard, and Tom found himself barely paying enough attention to get him by. This professor seemed a little too nice to him for his comfort.

I wonder if Eleonora thinks- he began to think, then saw Eleonora looking up to the board as she intently wrote down the equation.

Isidore?

Isidore was staring at the board with a focused expression, lightly rolling his quill between his fingers as he gave Professor Grimm his full attention. Tom looked around, seeing everyone engrossed with the lesson.

If Eleonora or Isidore haven't noticed, it must be my imagination. Nothing gets past them, I think- Tom thought as he turned his gaze back to Professor Grimm's chalkboard.

Maybe she's just as nice as Theodora. For all I know, those two may be friends and she's put in a good word for me with the new professor. That or Evander did- and I can't see him bragging too much about Isidore since he tries to be humble about his children.

The lesson continued, launching into an interesting class discussion of mathematical theories that intertwined with scientific laws of space and time, with Professor Grimm offering perfect explanations to the students. She gave the students time to work on their homework, allowing them to complete most of the assignment before leaving the class. The thrilled students were also released early, then Tom made an excuse to separate from Eleonora and Isidore to make a quick visit to the Room of Requirement.

He saw that the hallway was cleared when he thought hard for the door, and entered it quietly as he usually did. He jumped in surprise to see Professor Grimm tracing her finger over the spine of a book on a nearby shelf. She, however, didn't seem very startled to see him. Nevertheless, she said, "Tom? I'm surprised to see you here."

"Oh- Professor Grimm I-" he began, and she shook her head while holding up a hand to stop him from making up an excuse.

"This castle is full of surprise rooms, I don't believe in punishing students for finding them. You can relax," she said warmly, and he sighed with relief. He was genuinely terrified for a moment that he was about to be reported after being so careful all these years.

"This actually happened to be my quiet place when I went to school here. It hasn't changed, I can see," she said happily as she gazed around the room.

"It's a nice place to study. I don't work well with a lot of noise," Tom said. She nodded her head in agreement, her shoulders tensed like when she met him as she crossed her arms.

"Neither do I. Being in Gryffindor meant I had to find somewhere else to study other than the common room. This sufficed on those late nights," she responded, taking a few steps in his direction. Her heels of her Mary Janes echoed loudly in the large room, almost reminding the two of them how alone they were.

She suddenly stopped, looking at him with shock. She scurried toward him, and then said, "I figured out why you look familiar."

"Pardon?" Tom asked politely, not sure where this was going. She nodded, and said, "I definitely knew your name, but the second I saw you- I thought you looked too much like him. But then Evander told me you're a Gaunt- Isidore's cousin- which would mean Merope Gaunt must've been your mother. I had no idea she actually named you..."

"Did you know her?" he asked, stiffening a little as he felt his nerves growing stronger. The way she trailed off unnerved him, and he was suddenly desperate for an explanation.

"Not her, Tom. I knew your father- Tom Riddle."


A/N: After being slammed with work and writer's block, I've resurrected. I couldn't figure out when I wanted to introduce the new professor.

Thank you to the Guest review for chapter 17, it gave me the push I needed to finish up this chapter. And it made me really happy- I couldn't tell if you guys were liking where the story was going or not. Thank you thank you thank you! :)

Also, I know the Arithmancy classroom is canonically on the seventh floor like the Room of Requirement, but for the purposes of the story, I put them in the same hallway. I have no idea if they're actually close to each other or not. *shrug*

Thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting. It's much appreciated. See y'all next time!

Also- I tried uploading this and don't think it ever posted, so I'm giving it another try and hope your email inbox isn't spammed with chapter updates if I have to keep re-uploading this.