Disclaimer: Anything you recognize as belonging to the brilliant J. K. Rolling is obviously not mine.

A/N Thanks to the people who replied :-) Enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 3: Lost And Found

Maria woke up to find the dorm room filled with other 6th year girls.She checked the time: 6:00, time to get her schedule for the week. Maria sighed slightly as she stood up. Another year of classes, homework and loneliness. She almost wished that summer wasn't over. She quickly got dressed in her school robes, and hurried down to the great hall before those giggly girls could wake up and start gossiping

The Great Hall was crowded with students; talking, laughing, and moaning over their class schedules. As Maria walked by, she could here things such as "Ugh, this is just great, I have Herbology first," or "I didn't do that summer project Professor Slughorn gave us!" Maria was merely surprised that anyone could put so much stock in the classes they had this week, it just wasn't a big deal.

"Hey Riddle, guess who has potions with the 6th years today? I hope you're ready to give me that diary now." Malfoy's smug face grinned up at her, as if he really thought having a class with him would send her screaming. Professor Slughorn handed Maria her schedule for the week. She glanced at it before replying.

"I would suppose that would be you, Malfoy. What I wouldn't suppose is that I'm handing my diary over to a lowlife jerk." Malfoy frowned, annoyed. He didn't really expect her to just hand it to him yet, but everyone he had spread rumors about had quickly given him what he wanted.

"If you still don't want to try the easy way, then you'll just have to wait for what I'll do" He quickly left, and Maria ate her breakfast before heading to the dungeons.

Professor Slughorn took a good look at the class. The Slytherin 6th and 7th years were all sitting with they're respective groups, occasionally looking down at their potions books to try and guess the lesson.

"Alright, then. Today you all will be making Air Potion. Can anyone tell me what it does? No one? The Air Potion is a substance that will cause you to become lighter than air, allowing you to 'fly' for a period of time. Can anyone tell me three reasons why this would be dangerous?"

Maria wondered for a moment if she should volunteer an answer. She certainly knew several reasons why this would be a bad potion to use for trivial matters, but she would rather not draw attention to herself. In the end, her opinion did not matter.

"Miss Riddle, do you know why the air potion is dangerous to use?"

Maria had no choice, she would simply have to share her thoughts. "Well, for one, if the potion's effects ran out while you were high in the air, the fall would be deadly, and there is really no telling how long it will last. Also, if you're lighter than air and in an open space, you could keep floating up out of the atmosphere if there was even a minor problem in the potion."

"Very good. Does anyone have another reason why the Air Potion might be dangerous? How about you, Mister Malfoy?" Malfoy just shrugged. How should he know why flying would be dangerous?

Finally, after several other people were called on, a 6th year raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Draken? Do have a reason?"

"Air isn't like water, so even if you didn't need to worry about falling, you wouldn't be able to move yourself very well. Anything could hit you, like a stupid muggle helicopter." Slughorn smiled, obviously pleased.

"Exactly right! You could easily be seen! So, I do trust that none of you will treat this potion like a toy. You could very well be expelled! Now, I have the ingredients and direction on the board. Hop to it!"

Maria stood up to get the boomslang skin form the cupboard, leaving her bag on her desk. This was not at all lost to Malfoy, who looked through it quickly, then pulled out the prize. He almost yelled triumphantly, but contained himself and sat down. Maria came back and got to work on her potion. Malfoy had to run and get the boomslang skin, which he had completely forgotten.

After potions was over, Maria headed to Charms, somewhat surprised that Malfoy hadn't done anything worthy of the threat that morning. Malfoy just went outside, secretly gloating over his slyness. Once at the greenhouse, he opened the diary to a random page. Before he began to read he heard an unwelcome voice.

"I hope that isn't what I think it is Malfoy, because if it is then there's one more reason for me to pound you into oblivion."

Malfoy glanced up. "It's a diary Scarhead, so go ahead and try. You won't get anywhere if you try to take me on now. And where's Weasel and the Mudblood?" Harry glared at him. What a bully, Malfoy had probably stolen it from some first year just for laughs.

"Accio diary!" he yelled, and the diary flew to his hand. It was still open to the page Malfoy had been about to read.

"Alright, keep it then Potter. As if I care. As long as the diary is missing, it's fine by me!" Malfoy scrambled away from Harry, upset that the Muggle-Lover had stolen his prize.

Harry glanced at the page, then looked away. A second later, he looked again. Sure enough, the word 'Voldermort' was written on the page. Though he knew he had no right to read someone else's diary, he read the sentence. "I am the child of Lord Voldermort" he muttered then closed it and put it in his bag. If there was a descendant of Voldermort here, he would have to find him. He was definitely in danger; but now, so was the owner of the journal.

A/N: The chapters are getting longer, but I'm sure that's okay. Any ideas for what should happen next would be greatly appreciated, this is as far as I thought it out before I started. Also, I think I might make Maria and Harry border near friends, just to make things interesting. Do you think I should?