Only three students actually remained for Thursday's Care of the Magical Creatures class. Andrew Hartwell, Dorothy from Hufflepuff and myself. A very small handful of students did show up but Newt happily excused them all and said they were very welcome to research in the library instead.

As we were working on projects and rather than studying creatures we were working in the classroom rather than on the field. Newt still didn't seem to be his usual self. He wasn't engaging with the class and instead was reading quietly at the front. Andrew and I were sitting near the front whilst Dorothy was a few rows behind us working by herself.

"What creature are you doing your project on?" Andrew asked me quietly as we got our textbook out and grabbed our quills and parchment.

"I don't know yet. I've been working really hard on Transfiguration work instead, it's been a tough week." I responded.

"Tell me about it! I've been working on Transfiguration too. Turning a warm fruitcake into ice cubes, why on earth do we need to know this? I'd much rather the fruitcake!" Andrew ranted loudly.

We both turned very stone faced when we saw Newt look up from what he was reading. Andrew shot me a look but then stuck out his tongue at me to make me laugh in front of Newt's scrutiny. I tried my hardest to not laugh but the corners of my mouth twitched into a smile due to Andrew's antics.

Newt sent a smile back before he spoke up.

"You're more than welcome to spend your class time working on Transfiguration work if you believe it's more pressing." Newt offered to us.

"Thank you Professor Scamander but its okay. I don't want to be rude. This is Care of the Magical Creatures class. It would be disrespectful to you and the subject." I spoke up.

I was grateful that Newt was no longer crabby about what had turned him angry last lesson. It made me feel a lot more comfortable around him again.

Newt looked at Andrew and I, and I then noticed his eyes turned to Dorothy. She looked up from her school work to meet his gaze.

"I like you three. Tell you what, I'll give you an extension. I can promise that you three will be the last to present during the presentations. Therefore you can work on Transfiguration right now to your heart's content." Newt said to Andrew, Dorothy and myself before he went back to reading the paper he was so interested in.

I kept my eye on him for a moment as I wasn't sure if he meant what he had said. But he didn't raise his head at all, being engrossed in the topic he was reading about. After watching him carefully I got the courage to get my Transfiguration book out.

All of us read in silence for a while, until a knock at the door interrupted the silence.

We all looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore enter the classroom.

"Pardon my interruption, but I was wondering if I may please borrow your professor for a quick word." Professor Dumbledore asked us politely.

"It's quite fitting you've entered Albus. I've let the students work on their Transfiguration work today, they're going to finish their Care of the Magical Creatures work on the weekend." Newt smiled towards Dumbledore.

"Unfortunately I've got some urgent matters to tend to, otherwise I'd normally love to stay and help. Newt, if you wouldn't mind stepping out for a moment, I need to speak to you about Gellert Grindelwald." Professor Dumbledore softly spoke, a twinkle still in his eye even though what he was saying was fairly serious.

Everybody's head shot up at this revelation. Nobody said a word but Newt got off of his chair and rushed out of the classroom with Dumbledore. It was only after Newt had left that any of us spoke up.

"I wonder if it's a good or bad thing that Dumbledore wants to speak to Professor Scamander about Grindelwald. Do you think they've captured him finally?" Dorothy asked inquisitively.

This caused Andrew to let out a large snort.

"Even if they had, it wouldn't mean much. That man has been caught so many times and always seems to disappear. Scamander and his now ex-wife caught him for the second time back in the twenties and he's been caught and escaped dozens of times since." Andrew explained.

"Really?" I asked in amazement, causing both Andrew and Dorothy to shoot me weird looks due to my ignorance.

"I thought everybody knew that? It's well known knowledge that Professor Scamander and his family have been very involved in stopping Grindelwald," Dorothy spoke up "I don't mean to be rude, sorry."

"It's fine. I feel incredibly stupid right now for not knowing all of this. You need to forgive my ignorance though. I'm a member of the Black family. My entire family all agree with Grindelwald's values and thus have always shielded the news each time he was captured." I admitted.

I could tell Dorothy felt bad as she shot me a sympathetic look, however even Andrew looked at me guiltily. Both of them had grown up with stable and loving families. I used to only be concerned that the Black family had treated me as an outcast my whole life due to having a Veela as a mother, but this year after branching out and befriending other people I was beginning to see many more things that were wrong with the Blacks.

"So Professor Scamander's ex-wife sounds like quite the lady, if she was able to assist with Grindelwald. She must be really smart." I found myself saying out loud.

The worst part wasn't that I was scared of what Andrew and Dorothy thought about me bringing her up. I hated that I had opened up a can of worms – I was now going to hear lots of nice things about Newt's soon to be ex-wife, and that bothered me.

"I've read a few news articles about her. She's American, and an Auror. I guess she must be fairly intelligent but she's kind of ordinary looking, really. Her sister is a real dish though, but she married a muggle." Andrew explained with a big grin on his face.

I had to contain a smile at Andrew's revelations. I did feel a bit guilty that Andrew referred to Tina Scamander as 'plain' but I couldn't help but to let this news please me.

"On that note I think I'm going to head off. If I'm going to be working on Transfiguration I may as well go to the library for better concentration. I'll see you both later." Dorothy stated as she quickly packed up her books and headed out.

There was some silence between Andrew and I once more as I looked down to my school work and began to read again. Andrew however was cheekily casting his eyes on the papers on Newt's desk to try and see what Newt had been so engrossed in before he was called away.

"Merlin! Tori, you're a half-Veela right?" Andrew asked cheekily.

"You know very well I am. Why?" I asked him.

Andrew didn't respond but thrust the papers into my hands after grabbing them from Newt's desk.

I scanned my eyes over the title of a letter, and then a research paper that he also had. Both of them had the same topic – half-Veelas. Not full blooded Veelas, but specifically girls who had a human father and a Veela mother.

"What on earth…" I exclaimed loudly to Andrew as I focused my attention on the letter and began to read it. I kept the letter in-between us so Andrew could have a read as well.

Dear Mr Scamander,

We were very pleased to receive your letter and we are very delighted to hear about your subject. As you are very much aware it is only very recently that Veelas have started breeding with wizards. We do not have any records of any half-Veelas prior to the beginning of the twentieth century.

Presently we only have thirteen girls on record worldwide that have the status of half-Veela. Only females born to a Veela mother and human father are considered half-Veela, as males have no traces of the gene.

Whilst you've attempted to keep your female student anonymous we must respectfully inform you that we are quite aware who you are referring to when you wrote to us based on your subject's age. We approached the Black family when Victoria was five years old in an attempt to study her, but her family quite viciously sent us away. Therefore we don't have much on record about her and unfortunately we don't have anything of use to forward to you for your studies.

Please find attached a journal article written by one of our researchers for your record which you may find useful. Our research has found that whilst half-Veelas have had their powers very much watered down compared to their mothers, they still have lots of power over men other than their inherited good looks. Normally they must learn to activate these powers first, which we've found they may not always activate these skills.

We encourage you to stay in touch as you continue to study your subject, and if you ever need any assistance we are only an owl away.

Yours sincerely,

Ragmar Brocklehurt

Institute of the Study of Veela

"That's not right. That's really not right." Andrew said in shock, the only one capable of speech.

"I'm not very smart so correct me if I've misinterpreted that letter. But from what I've read it seems as if Scamander wrote to this institute asking for records for someone who matches my description because he's studying them." I asked Andrew despite the lump forming in my throat.

"I wish it could be interpreted any other way. But no, unfortunately I think you're right. I've just lost a whole lot of respect for him." Andrew responded with disappointment very evident in his voice.

"Right. Well, I'm going to go. I need to process this information." I said to Andrew as I began to pack up my books very quickly.

"Tori, you can't stay in the dorm all night. I've got good news!" Beatrice exclaimed in a sing-song voice later on.

As soon as I departed from Andrew I came up to my dorm and closed the curtains on my bed. I had experienced a range of emotions through the late afternoon and early evening.

At first I expressed the same emotions that Andrew had expressed. Disgust and anger. I couldn't believe Scamander would sink so low as to become close to me purely to study me and my heritage. It had also made me feel paranoid – I clearly couldn't judge the people around me and their interactions with me. Who could I trust in this world?

Eventually this caused sadness to wash over me and for the past few hours I had been crying my eyes out on my bed. I had even missed dinner as I was too upset to go down.

I had heard Drucilla come in before and laugh cruelly at my misfortune. I had guessed she had gone around and told all of Slytherin house that I had been crying.

"What's the good news?" I asked Beatrice sounding quite disinterested.

"Riddle has summoned you. I think he heard you're sad and wants to cheer you up." Beatrice said sounding very cheerful.

"I-I might go see him later when I'm much better company." I stuttered out in response.

Beatrice opened the curtains and sat on my bed, giving me a sympathetic look at my tear stained face.

"That's very wise of you to be worried about your appearance and your state of mind before seeing Riddle, it really is. But you don't want to keep a boy you're trying to win back waiting. If you wipe your eyes and dust your face with powder you'll look your normal glowing self." Beatrice said as she squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

Even though I believed Beatrice's priorities were wrong I still appreciated her efforts. What I needed was a true friend right now and I was going to unload onto her. I didn't want to tell her about what had happened with Newt as I don't think I had the courage to talk about it yet. But I was ready to talk about another matter that had been bothering me for a while.

"Honestly Beatrice, the effect Tom has on me, I must admit I really don't like it. No matter how many times I tell him I'm no longer interested he keeps coming back. But I'm powerless to stop him, he always seems to make me melt. I just want it all to stop." I admitted, letting out a big breath of air and closing my eyes as I got this off my chest.

Beatrice was silent for a while and I opened my eyes to see her reaction. I saw that she was smiling wildly.

"What's not to like about that? That's so romantic. That no matter how much you push him away, he keeps coming back. There's no shame in admitting that Riddle's charm makes you weak at the knees, I think he has that effect on all of us." Beatrice responded.

I contemplated continuing on and explaining to Beatrice just how much Tom negatively affected me but I stopped myself. Beatrice may be somewhat of a friend to me but I now realised we didn't see eye-to-eye on the topic of Tom Riddle's involvement in my life and she perhaps wasn't the best person to speak to about the topic.

"I'll think about coming up soon." I said to Beatrice with a fake smile on my face.

She gave my shoulder a squeeze before she got off my bed and left the dormitory.

Instead of feeling better I felt a lot worse after Beatrice's talk. I was really hoping to relieve myself of this pain that Tom caused me but instead I felt even more alone. Not only did I have to worry about the fact that my entire friendship with Newt was most likely based on lies, I once again had to worry about the trance that Tom Riddle always seemed to suck me into.

I made no attempt to make my way upstairs and a short while later I heard someone come into the dorm. As my curtains were still open I sat up to see Drucilla sneering at me, her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently. She made it very obvious she had no desire to be conversing with me.

"I don't really care if you come up to the common room or not. But Riddle wanted me to tell you if you don't come up in five minutes, he has no choice but to assume something is really wrong and your safety is at risk. He said he'll have to go to Slughorn to make sure you're not doing any harm to yourself." Drucilla said with a roll of her eyes.

Girls like Beatrice would think this was a very sweet gesture that Tom was pulling. That he was so concerned for my wellbeing that he was willing to get a teacher involved.

I knew better. This was another control technique. He knew perfectly well I was not capable of causing harm to myself. He couldn't stand that I was upset for reasons unknown to him. He had to be the one calling the shots and to stay in control.

If I was a stronger person I would tell Drucilla to go away and that I wasn't going to move an inch. I'd either be calling Tom's bluff, or if he got Slughorn involved I would show them both I was fine.

But unfortunately I was me. I got off the bed, wiped my tears and straightened my school skirt before I followed Drucilla out into the common room.

I saw Tom pacing around near the fire moments before he noticed my presence. He was always hard to read but he looked like he was worried. He made sure this look disappeared off his face the second he saw me enter the room.

"Look, I'm alright. No need to get Slughorn involved. I'm going back to bed." I said in an attempt to speak up first – before Tom could lay his charm thick on me. However I should have known I wouldn't be so lucky and that Tom would press on.

"Tori you see, the number one duty for the Hogwarts Head Boy is to ensure his students are safe and happy. I can clearly see you're not happy and I'm not quite convinced you're safe. I must insist you accompany me on a stroll so we can have a chat." Tom sternly stated.

I stayed quiet but I began to follow him up the stairs outside of the common room. I was once again wishing Andrew was made Head Boy over Tom – he wouldn't pull a stunt like this. He once told me that he was Dumbledore's pick for the role, but every other decision maker preferred Tom.

We didn't venture too far from the common room as we made our way into the empty Potions classroom. I didn't bother taking a seat as I wanted this over and done with.

"What has happened to make you this upset?" Tom asked me.

"I don't know. Silly, teenage girl things. It's not a big deal." I responded in an attempt to downplay my mood. I even looked down to try and avoid Tom's gaze so he couldn't work his usual charisma onto me.

As if he understood exactly what I was doing, Tom took a step closer to me. He cocked my chin up using his hand and let his hand linger around my face.

"Someone has hurt you. I want to know who." Tom asked me intensely.

"Tom you can't keep doing this to me. You can't keep claiming I'm a distraction but then come running after me when I start to lose interest. Ultimately the one that keeps hurting me is you." I exclaimed to Tom, finally letting my frustrations be heard by him.

"You've never been this vocal about your feelings. It's very refreshing to hear." Tom stated, moving his thumb up and down my jaw gently.

"You may be the one who keeps upsetting me but today I've learned that someone is capable of hurting me more than you have. So forgive me if I'm not my usual self tonight." I sighed.

Although I wasn't completely immune to Tom's charms tonight, I had put up a good shield and not let him affect me as much as he normally does. It was just a shame that it was my mix of negative emotions that was the driving factor.

It's been a while. Sorry. I'll try and update more - I really want this story well and truly done by the time the next film comes out, as the next film is going to establish facts that make this story even more alternative universe than it already is.

In response to the reviews...

Guest: I'm very sorry to hear this story has upset you and caused you great discomfort. I definitely understand it's not everyone's cup of tea. Unfortunately I won't be deleting it, but I'm willing to compromise. I've changed the rating to M (Which it definitely should have been) and included a trigger warning and a disclaimer right at the top of chapter 1 that this story should be considered alternative universe (AU) AND all parties are consenting and over the age of 18. Hopefully you now never have to stumble across this story again.

AnadoraBlack: Damn Riddle I hate him too. And not just because he becomes Voldemort and evil AF - which is disturbing because that's why I should hate him the most. But I effing hate cocky overconfident teenage boys. Luckily Tori is slowly building up immunity to him.

ForeverTeamEdward13: Thanks soo much for your continued support on both stories :) I'm going to try and update more.

SilverNightmares: Cheers for the review, really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoy the scandals - I love writing them hehe.

Sarah: Thanks for both really kind reviews. Don't worry - I'm back in black ;)

strangeyouths: Thank you :) welcome!