A/N: Hello!
Special thanks to: Guest, Dobby lover 121, diany and J.F.C, you all got me working (admittedly slowly) into getting this chapter up!
Guest: Here it is :)
Dobby lover 121: Aww, thanks :) I hope you like this new chapter, too
diany: You're super cool, too :) And I have updated here, I hope you like! *kiss*
J.F.C: Best till last :) Thanks, I did history since I started high school and I thought I could transfer some of the info into here :) Keep them coming, I love to hear theories! I had contemplated on her taking the beast down herself, but I thought it would likely be in a fit of anger for it mocking her. There will be several more scenes of her being weak, unfortunately, but since I'm halfway through chapter seventeen, I can tell you with pride that she does build up her strength! Ah, we'll see about that later on :) You will find out what happens very quickly, since I am going to be updating at a rapid speed to make up for the chapters I've been too lazy to put online. So that'll be ten chapters coming in quick succession. I hope you'll like it all- and be happy with the gradual change in Tia's character!
The next few weeks we applied the 'perfect student' formula on ourselves. The results were almost instantaneous. Instead of losing points because of our attitude toward our teachers, we had drastically gone up in their respect for us and they'd almost forgotten about our previous manner toward them.
" Ah, Tom, could you cast that 'protego' again for us? Your shield was simply magnificent." Professor Merrythought asked, her hands clasped together in appreciation. Tom smiled charmingly toward her, twirling his wand between his fingers (a habit which he playfully accused me of passing onto him). He drew his wand from his hold. " Protego." A plume of blue erupted from Tom's wand, reflecting its cyan tone onto his face. He smiled, his green eyes appearing dark blue in the oceanic light. The class watched in wonder at his achievement. As if though that brought him back to earth, he cancelled the charm and looked down, humbly whilst the class showed their appreciation.
" Thank you." He said to the teacher, his voice quietly confident. Merrythought smiled at him.
" It's your hard work, my boy." She turned to her class. " I don't doubt for a second that you all can't do that. Prove it to me and I'll dismiss you all early. Tom will be giving help to those of you who need it." Tom nodded in affirmation, though his eyes held perplexity toward why she hadn't mentioned me.
" And me, Miss?" I asked, softly. Professor Merrythought gave me a fond look, though I saw the patronisation in it.
" You may sit on the side. This class consists mostly of boys; we wouldn't want you to get hurt." A furious flush instantly ignited on my face at the comment. Whilst she was right- I was the only female Slytherin in the whole of first year whereas the Slytherin second and third years had a huge abundance of girls- I had expected the Wizarding world to be fairer in terms of gender equality. Not only had she assumed that I wasn't strong enough to participate in Defence against the Dark Arts, but she had also assumed me to be the type to sit quietly in the corner and... And sew!
" But Mistress Merrythought," I protested, making my voice as sweet as possible. She gave me another smile at the title and my voice. " Surely you are not suggesting that I sit on the sidelines and do nothing?" As if though to punctuate my sentence, a boy shouted out a butchering of the protection charm whilst Tom hurriedly tried to correct his mistake before his mispronounced charm severed his partner's hand.
" Ah, of course not." She said, with a wink ready on her eyes. She looked down at me ( I cursed myself again for my short stature that made me significantly smaller than the rest of the first years) and beckoned me to her desk. I followed hesitantly, wondering why she wasn't allowing me to do the practical. She opened her drawers and retracted a book of all things. She handed it to me. " You may sit at my desk and read this book. If you have any queries, then do not hesitate to call me." She patted my head. " I know a fantastic plait that would look marvellous on you if you'd let me try it, that monotonous pony tail looks dreadfully dull." I tried hard to hide my pursed lips but failed, and instead hid my lower face with the book. She beamed at me and turned to face the class, her greying hair swaying at her hips. My hands were shaking with anger.
How dare she?
How dare she?
I carefully pried my white knuckled grip from the book and turned it around to read the front cover.
A Beginners Book on Knitting
" I have to speak to her after class." I promised myself, my voice below a whisper. " I cannot stand this unfair treatment any longer."
•••
" Professor Merrythought?" I asked, my voice a lighter version of its usual tone. She turned around and gave me a bright smile.
" Yes, Katherine?" She asked, her eyes only showing warm amiableness. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cigar pipe. " Is your brother waiting for you?" I nodded. Tom was outside the classroom, though he was eavesdropping and not really waiting. She hummed. " What is it you wished to ask me about, sweetheart?" She had already waved her wand and lit the pipe wandlessly, though I wasn't truly surprised since she must have used that spell so many times that it'd become child's play to her.
" I wish to ask you the true reason why you asked me to sit aside." I answered, my voice clear. She gave me a patronising smile.
" You're a girl-"
" In a class full of boys, yes, but you are a female yourself and yet you are a Defence Against the Dark Arts professor." I explained. Suddenly, I was struck with a thought. A slow smile spread over my face and I tilted my head to the right. " After all, we wouldn't want this titbit of information to somehow reach Headmaster Dippet, now would we, Professor?" She paled suddenly.
" Now, now, sweetheart, let's not get ahead of ourselves-"
" I demand proper teaching from you or you will find yourself fired. I shall not allow such sexism to continue in a school where I'd thought such matters would have dissolved. I shall ask the same of Slughorn, but Professor Merrythought," I gave her the biggest eyes I could muster. " Please. Allow me to have the same rights as Tom when it comes to my schooling. The second I go back to the Muggle world it is stripped from me and I do not wish to have that privilege deprived of me when I never had it in the first place." Professor Merrythought gave me a long, hard look.
" You think you could take it?" She whispered. " A small, fragile girl such as yourself... A girl who looks as if though she'd never seen the light of day?" I swallowed, but nodded firmly.
What was she planning?
" Girl, the reason why I didn't want you to fight wasn't because of your gender. I was once the same as you. Quiet, shy," It took me a lot to stop from snorting. " Intelligent... Passionate, even. I was hypnotised by the mere sight of magic, and that was when I got mixed in with the wrong crowd." She looked pained. " I don't think I ever told you why I became the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, did I? Be a good girl and don't share this information to anyone but your brother, please?" She pleaded. I looked into her eyes and nodded almost imperceptibly. She sighed. Merrythought rolled up her sleeves. A mottled wound showed itself, bearing the crisscrossing scars as proudly as if though it were an achievement. I almost winced. " Gellert Grindelwald did this to me. I wanted freedom from my father, who controlled everything I did.
" I wanted to become part of his group. But then he showed me what disloyalty could do to you. He slashed the Mark off my arm with several 'Diffindo's' and tried to kill me. I managed to disapperate and was saved from blood loss when Dumbledore stumbled across me." She rolled her sleeves back down. I swallowed, staring at her presently covered arms and felt a shiver travel down my spine; I knew Tom was hearing every single whisper that left Merrythought's lips. And chances were that Voldemort was absorbing all of this information for his own needs. I could barely contain a shudder when I thought of what he'd invent for his own mark.
It probably involves a snake in some way.
Merrythought crouched down to my level.
" Don't you ever, Katherine, tell anyone of what we're about to do, sweetheart." She said, her eyes stern. I didn't know what compelled me to nod, but I did. She gave me a small smile. " Show me what you know."
•••
By the end of that training session, I was exhausted and sweaty. I could understand why Merrythought was so worried about me, but despite my fatigue I'd pushed on with the lesson and had skipped dinner in order to keep sparring with her (or, if I were to be completely truthful, dodging her attacks- and failing). I hadn't regretted this for a second, though, and whilst Merrythought was succeeding, I had the most exhilarating time of my life. Merrythought sprung an ambush on me with a shouted 'Expelliarmus!' and had me disarmed sooner than you could shout the spell yourself. I was thrown to the wall and my wand was caught by an expert hand.
" Your footwork and agility needs practise, Katherine. If you were involved in such a battle with Grindelwald himself, you wouldn't last a second." Merrythought told me, a serious expression on her face. I couldn't help but contradict her.
" Neither could Malfoy." I answered, my voice accusatory. She sighed.
" You've won the war, Riddle. I will admit I was wrong. I'll allow you the same privileges as the other boys." She gave me a tired smile, as if though my presence was causing her fatigue. I gave her a tight smile.
" Thank you, Mistress Merrythought." I nodded my head toward her in acknowledgement. " Goodnight."
" Goodnight, Riddle."
•••
" Where were you?" Tom asked, his face clearly showing his worry and slight anger. His frown was etched on his face and it looked like it was going to take a lot to smooth it out.
" I was sparring with Merrythought."
" For that long?"
" It was rigorous." There was a tense silence.
What was so bad about being late?
" Tom, I-"
" Leave it. To bed." He snapped. I clicked my mouth shut. Then, arrogance kicked in.
" Fine." I snarled. I kicked my patent shoes off and threw myself into bed, my back turned toward him. My vision was firmly set on the full wall opposite me, and I stubbornly ignored the pinpricks of pain in my eyes.
I hate him.
No, that's a little extreme...
" Tom?" I whispered, staring at the crisscrossing bars of wood supporting Tom's mattress. Only slow, steady breathing answered my quiet call. Holding my breath, I pulled off my blanket and swung my legs off the bed. I climbed on the ladder and watched him sleep, his face content. It almost stung to see Tom so peaceful after he'd shouted at me. I sighed and got into his bed before weaving my hands into his inky locks. " I'm sorry." My hands stilled before reluctantly pulling away from the silky locks. I kissed his forehead and leant my own forehead against his. " I'll try my best to be the sister I was before. I love you, Tom, and I don't care about the fact that Voldemort is inside of you."
No response.
I chuckled.
" With the amount of times we get into trouble, I'd like to see what happens tomorrow... Perhaps it may not be a run in with Dumbledore, for we do not have him in the foreseeable week, but that doesn't mean it'd be any less adventurous." A brief smile flashed on my face, but then dimmed. " Remember that time when Mr Wiley whipped you with his belt?" I asked, tracing the faint lightning bolt scar on Tom's forehead. " You took it for me... I should have kept my mouth shut when I admitted that we'd stolen his bread from his bakery... But we were starving..." I trailed off. " But according to Muggle morals, we shouldn't have done so either way. Perhaps seeing you in pain hasn't taught me a lesson... Perhaps, in some other parallel universe, we were raised by our own parents and were... different." I swallowed. " Maybe in another universe our mother had survived and our father actually cared for us." My hand stilled on his forehead. " The bottom line, I suppose, is that I wish that we had grown up differently." Sighing, I retracted my hand from Tom's head. He leaned, making a quiet sound of yearning for my hand's warmth. I replaced my hand with my lips. " I love you, Tom. I always have and I always will. No one- not even Voldemort- would tear us apart. Not fully." I promised.
Tom was still unresponsive.
" Good night, Tom." I sighed. I tucked his sheets closer into his body and climbed down the ladder, getting into my bunk and curling up on my bed before my eyes finally slid shut.
•••
It was a mere week later, on Friday ninth of December 1938 (A/N: It was actually a Friday on that date!), that Tom had already gotten himself into another scrape. A second year- Walburga Black, the Muggle hater above all Muggle haters- had flirted with Tom without realising that he was, indeed, a half blood. Tom had taken it as a compliment, considering the fact that the Blacks were such a prestigious family. He'd known that he could have Walburga, a potentially powerful ally, wrapped around his little finger, but Orion Black had ruined it for the both of us. The boy was in his third year and, whilst he did not love Walburga, was fiercely protective of his betrothed; who we'd later found out, to our repulsion, was his first cousin. Tom was currently in the process of glaring down Orion after he'd insulted his blood status. Walburga gasped, looking pale.
" Those abominable twins are Mudbloods?!" She exclaimed. I barely flinched, remembering that one time I'd called the Hufflepuff that very same word, but Tom looked like he was shaking in anger.
" You dare compare us to that filth?!" Tom hissed, his voice dangerously close to Parceltongue.
" Calm down-" I cut in, placing a fragile hand on Tom's forearm, but was interrupted.
" You're involved in this too, Mudblood bastard." Orion spat. Tom jumped on Orion, throwing the both of them to the ground in plain sight of the other pupils.
" There's a fight!" A Gryffindor yelled. A large group of students suddenly conglomerated around us, the herd cheering on their respective favourites.
" Don't you dare-" Tom savagely pulled on Orion's long locks. " Call my sister-" He threw a blow at him in the gut. " A bastard-" Tom punched Orion on his nose. " AGAIN!"
" Tom, stop it! Stop it!" I shouted, hands shaking. He didn't listen.
Tom never ignores me.
" GET OFF ME!" Orion pushed Tom off with much effort and managed to reverse the roles, punching Tom in various places. I ran to Tom and tried to push Orion away, but Walburga pulled the collar of my robe and I was forced to go back lest I starve my body of oxygen. Walburga pulled my hair back and forced me to stand there, watching in dismay at the ensuing battle. Tom struggled on the floor, the attacks obviously having reopened his wounds (which set him at a major disadvantage), causing him his obvious pain, but he was too late to avoid the winding kick that Orion sent to his stomach. Tom immediately curled in on himself, protecting his body. Orion smirked, kicking Tom several times on the face and his back. Tom made small noises of agony, his barely noticeable moans shaking me to the core.
Dear God... This reminds me of Briggs...
" Stay away from Walburga, Mudblood." Orion snarled. After a final kick, he spat on Tom. He began to walk away, and it was only then that Walburga threw me to the floor. I managed to stop myself from getting hurt by throwing my hands out in front of me. I crawled over to Tom whilst the students left, their interest in the fight annulled.
" No, no, no." I whispered, the chant followed by my gentle hand on Tom's cheek that was sure to bruise. " We came to Hogwarts to escape all of this..." I whispered. Tom groaned, his agony obvious. " Gosh, I'm so sorry." I buried my aching head in Tom's shoulder. He made a noise that sounded a little like:
" Don't be."
" My word!" Someone exclaimed. I turned around with a pleading expression on my face and was met with the imposing figure of Headmaster Dippet.
" Please, sir." My voice was wispy. His wide, shocked eyes suddenly veiled in grim anger, he raised his wand and cast the Patronus spell.
" Rosemary, come here at once. I believe there may have been a racist crime here in Hogwarts' dungeons." His voice was grave. I watched the deer at the tip of his wand with a desperate look on my face. It turned to face me and I felt such a deep connection with it that Tom was dulled to the back of my mind. Time slowed and I only saw an ethereal animal of prey, its unfathomable eyes staring straight into me.
It looked away.
The connection broke.
The deer nodded.
Headmaster Dippet turned to face me, anger in every line of his face- and for once I saw him for what he truly was- a man of authority. My previous thoughts of a bumbling fool who listened only to Dumbledore were dispelled at one glance of the man's face and I saw the man who invented the Veritaserum potion for who he was. Someone who demanded respect and was given it in return.
I shivered.
Good thing we have it, then.
" Tell me everything that happened." He commanded. I nodded.
Of course I would- there would only be a few white lies here and there...
•••
I watched over Tom's restless body that night. The teachers were convinced that we were being bullied, and as of such, we were sheltered from the other houses and pupils as much as possible. Orion was easily found out due to his wounds but the teachers didn't have any of it when he tried to say that Tom had started it (which I'd neatly covered up by saying the opposite). Sighing, I weaved my hand through Tom's messy hair and saw the immediate response- his body went lax and his face was peaceful. No words were exchanged- there was no need for them. There was only Tom and I, the twin star pupils of Hogwarts- and sure, we were a little temperamental, but that's because we are orphans, and we needed to be pitied and sheltered. I almost snorted.
*That would probably be the one thing on the teacher's minds today.
" Don't go." Tom murmured, his speech slightly slurred by the toll of both fatigue and pain. I leant my head over Tom's and kissed his forehead.
" I never will." I answered. He smiled and finally allowed his swollen, bruised eyes to slide shut. My hand trailed down his scalp and onto his cheek before I rested my hand there. " I never will." I watched his eyes finally rest under his purple eyelids, moonlight hitting his face and revealing the small, little boy of whom only I had been allowed to see. I retracted my hand, sighed and walked backward until my knees hit the wooden chair behind me and watched Tom in a stunned stupor, the events of the day rushing to me.
Why was it always us who were targeted?
The Gryffindors hated us because we were Slytherins.
The Slytherins hated us because we were... of Muggle descent.
Hell, even Merrythought seemed to be under the impression that I was weak simply because I was the only girl in Slytherin's batch of first years, though I knew that she had a valid reason for her worry. I simply hated being underestimated and misunderstood just because of who I was. The whole reason why Tom and I had left the Muggle world and our previous aspirations to become lawyers was so that we could escape from the systematic abuse Tom and I- though particularly Tom- faced with Mrs Cole and the lumbering Briggs. The other orphans were also children that weren't to be trifled with, though Tom had tried his best to shelter me and succeeded in protecting the both of us when we were nine. That didn't mean that we were sufficiently protected from the adults, however. Another thought, a whisper of a sad memory, had me sinking down on the chair behind me, burying my face in my hands.
Dear Lord... I was supposed to take care of Tom.
I spared another glance at his tormented, bruised body.
And I started to cry.
•••
" Tom?" I called. My brother had taken his respective potions last night and Madam Rosemary had also force-fed him the Nutritional Potions to help him regain the stature he should have. He looked up, a slightly lopsided smile on his face. The bruise on his cheek had reduced his capability to stretch the muscles in his left side of his face, and therefore caused him to look like he was giving me a half smile. " Do you need help with your shirt?" I asked, gently. He nodded.
" Yes, please." His speech had a little lisp to it due to the injury. I strode over and picked up his shirt before tiptoeing slightly to match his height and slipping it around his shoulders. I pushed his left arm in and then his right, carefully sliding his bruised appendage in. I patted his exposed chest gently.
" There you go." I proceeded to button up his shirt. He gave me a small smile. " All done." Tom nodded.
" Thank you." He turned around and slipped the green and silver tie around his neck before struggling to knot it. I took pity on him and helped him yet again, tying it into a Windsor knot. He patted the tie twice and smirked at me. " Let's set Slytherin on fire."
I nodded, wearing an equally devious look on my face.
" And allow fire to meet ice."
•••
Walburga and Orion were lounging about in the Slytherin common room, the latter's body strewn across the sofa, explaining the fight with much bias to his friends with his betrothed throwing in the occasional comment about those 'horrid, filthy little Mudbloods'. Walburga was sitting a little too close to Orion but the thirteen year old aristocrat seemed to enjoy it, his body unrelenting as Walburga played with his hair and fluttered her lashes at the boy. I managed to hold back my retch.
Disgusting
" Just the Mudbloods I was looking for." Orion spat, having noticed us. He slung Walburga's legs off his and journeyed toward us, his cold grey eyes glinting with murderous intent and his shoulder length black hair slicked back into a pony tail.
" Just leave it, brother, he's not worth it." Someone called from behind the eldest Black heir.
Orion's younger brother, Alphard, was two years his junior. The young boy was neutral in his interactions with us, though some of his habits were questionable and his views were something that I'd expect to have come from a Potter, not a Black. His hair, as opposed to his elder brother, was cut neatly above his eyebrows and his boyish gaze was shown through his grey optics, as was expected to have been inherited by a Black. The boy was a conundrum as to who his loyalties lay with, but they most certainly did not rest with us if his disinterested but sympathetic gaze was anything to go by.
" Shut up." He seethed. Alphard's jaw snapped shut, but he pretended that he never spoke anyway, inspecting his fingernails and acting innocently.
Hmm... Orion the hunter... An entertaining notion...
" Perhaps you should listen to your brother. He seems to be the only one of whom the inbreeding in your family has left unaffected." I drawled, my gaze flickering meaningfully between Walburga and Orion. There was an outraged look on the boy's face, almost as if though I'd slapped him, but that look was soon replaced with a burning hot ire.
" You Mudblood attention whore-" He attempted to punch me but Tom caught his wrist and twisted it until the boy was reduced to begging on the ground. He whimpered and whined, of which Tom interrupted with his own little speech.
' I've had enough of you. You are an insult to the Wizarding World and are the worst excuse of a wizard I'd ever seen.'Tom hissed. My mouth slid open.
' Tom, you have us found.' He turned around.
' I do not give a damn, Kathy. If anyone hurts you then I will go to any length to protect you. This is a small price to pay and even has benefits. Look at him.'
True to Tom's word, the proud Pureblood was staring at Tom with a strange mixture of emotions on his face that I couldn't quite decipher. I could identify the jealousy, hatred and admiration- having seen it enough times on the other orphan's faces when Tom walked past them, but I could also see an emotion I'd never thought I'd see before.
Complete and total submissiveness.
To Tom.
I could see, looking just past Orion, the same look plastered on Abraxus Malfoy, Walburga Black's and Antonin Dolohov's faces. Alphard's face held none of the hatred or jealousy but rather a calm boy taking note of this fact, though it didn't seem like he'd want to follow Tom.
And I was fine with that.
" My Lord." The boys all bowed before Tom, though Alphard only did a small bob of his knees. Although Tom's face was filled with euphoria, he looked slightly confused. I nodded toward Alphard.
"Go." I mouthed. He nodded and left the room, glad that I'd picked up on the fact that the first year didn't want anything to do with this. I was confident that I could trust the boy- after all, issues in Slytherin house, stay in Slytherin house.
" Elaborate." Tom commanded. They all looked up at him with glazed looks on their faces.
" As the heir of Slytherin you hold total power and control over us all. You immediately hit the top of the house hierarchy and surpass even me. The last Slytherin to hold this title was Corvinus Gaunt, who was rumoured to have hidden the Chamber of Secrets." Malfoy explained with a rush of one breath, looking like he'd run from halfway across the world to tell Tom this. The almost immediate devotion had left me slightly overwhelmed.
" Brother?" I asked. Tom looked at me as if though he'd just noticed me and the confusion must have shown on my face because his facial expression went from hard and calculative to loving and warm in a matter of milliseconds.
" Go to bed, Katherine." He told me, gently. I shook my head, the look of confusion still on my face.
" But Tom, I have to stay with you, your injuries-"
" My Lord, forgive me for those substantial sins that I had committed upon your body and allow me your total mercy!" Orion shouted. Tom span around, eyes flashing.
" Please do remember that you had hurt my sister also. And do not interrupt Katherine when she is speaking." He hissed. Orion's mouth snapped shut. Tom turned around, his face content yet again once he looked at me. " Continue?" He asked, softly. I swallowed, my voice lost for a while before I finally answered.
" I have to stay with you, you are hurt and-"
" And you don't trust Orion because you think he'd do the same thing to me again." Tom finished, a patronising look on his face. I frowned.
" Tom-"
" Katherine, it is nothing to be concerned about." He smiled at me with that funny one sided grin, wincing a little when he exerted his muscles a little too much. Orion winced also, remembering how he'd hurt Tom. There was a second's worth of doubt on my face before it cleared.
" I am trusting you, Tom." I said, patting his chest before walking away. I was stopped by a gripping but gentle hand on my forearm.
" Where are you going?" Tom looked at me with a small smile on his face. I frowned again.
" You told me to-"
" Kiss me.*" He cut in.
A/N: Hello... -Ducks from all rotten food thrown at Space- Oh God, I'm so sorry!
*I just wanted to say, Tom doesn't mean 'Kiss me' in that sort of way, it's just if you recall from the first chapter, Tia says that they are rarely close in public, so this is something which she will react badly to.
Also, I am going to update very quickly up until chapter sixteen, since I never got the time to update my Wattpad chapters onto Fanfiction.
Hope you all liked!
~ Annika