Disclaimer: This story includes characters and situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe, which is copyright J.K.Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, Bloomsbury, etc. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made in the production of this FANFICTION. Not many outside resources were needed this time, but I (as always) made extensive use of the Harry Potter Lexicon, , when writing this chapter.

Author's Note: Ah, lots of talk of Tom, even if not much action. Tom appears next chapter, so you can wait with bated breath until then! Thanks so much to my beta-reader Katy for her incredible help, she goes so quickly and is quite thorough so I can't complain in the slightest. Thanks as well to all my reviewers, ennui, Pixie, and Sarah (please continue reading!).

Expectations of Grandeur: Chapter 7: The Quibbler's New Slytherin?

They travelled to King's Cross station in a car provided by the Ministry, Mr. Weasley smiling widely when Percy met them again at the Leaky Cauldron. Mrs. Weasley positively beamed to see her elder son accompanying them to the train station. She enveloped the young man in a gigantic, forceful hug, and Percy looked distinctly uncomfortable but thanked her with a tear in the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry mum, I really am," he said so softly it was barely audible, and Mrs. Weasley wept to hear it.

Mr. Weasley engaged him in discussion about the inner workings of the Ministry now that Fudge had admitted Dumbledore's correct stance, and Percy admitted it had vastly changed. While his efficiency was still prized, his ambition was looked down upon now that the Ministry was forced into taking actions to rid the world of Voldemort. This was no time for playing the game to get the promotion, and no promotions were likely to fall to either Mr. Weasley or his son. Before he could get any deeper into discussion, however, Percy saw his younger siblings and strode over.

"Congratulations on being named prefect Ron, Hermione," he said with a pompous edge to his voice. "I don't believe I've said it in person yet." He smiled proudly and shook hands with his brother with such official pomp and circumstance that Ginny had to work to suppress a giggle and looked toward Harry, who was having the same trouble. "Harry," Percy turned, and reached forward to shake his hand. "I'd just like to say I'm sorry on the behalf of the entire Ministry – lives could have been lost because of our foolishness, we remain very glad that casualties were at a minimum."

Lives were lost, Harry wanted to say, but it would be useless telling Percy about Sirius Black. For Percy, while he finally admitted that Voldemort was back, would have a hard time grasping in the same moment t he fact that Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather, was not guilty, and one of the few innocent victims in the Death Eater raid. Harry gulped down his anger and grief and smiled as he shook Percy's hand, saying only, "Thank you."

Percy next turned to Ginny and made to swallow her in a fierce hug. "Have they been looking after you?" he asked, seeming genuinely worried. "I'm so guilty I didn't keep in touch as much as I should have, Ginny. But I'm back now, I've seen how wrong I was, and if you ever need anything, anything at all…"

Ginny cut him off with a frustrated expression. "I understand. I'm a fifth year now, in case you didn't get the message. I can handle myself."

Percy stood back in mute shock but said nothing, turning instead to his father and expressing once more his gladness to be home. The seven approached the embassy-donated Mercedes together. The magically enlarged car had no trouble receiving all seven people and four trunks, and soon they were at the station and ready for the voyage to Hogwarts.

Ginny didn't speak to anyone on the trip to the station or while they were walking in the station, and Percy and Mrs. Weasley began to regard her with not a little distrust. However, they didn't act, and soon enough she was racing ahead of them toward the boundary between platforms nine and ten, and then she had crossed the barrier and was gone. Ron nudged Harry on the shoulder to follow, and Harry hurried through, but to no avail, for Ginny had disappeared into the crowd. Harry shouted her name, but no one answered. A voice came up to his left and he turned to see Draco Malfoy.

"Looking for your girlfriend, Potter?" he spat.

Harry just rolled his eyes. Malfoy seemed so infantile after this past year. "No. I'm looking for my best friend's sister, who's gone missing. Sod off, Malfoy." Ron appeared behind him, out of breath.

"Found her?" he asked.

"No," Harry answered with a shake of the head, but Malfoy was not to be deterred.

"Aw, the littlest Weasel has gone missing, has she?" he whined. "Have you checked all the rat holes? They're probably more spacious than the hole in the ground you call home." Harry had to hold Ron back while Malfoy laughed openly.

"Ron- It's not worth it," Harry gasped, it was getting harder and harder to hold Ron back as he got to be taller and taller. Harry was built for Quidditch, but Ron was tall and lanky. Fortunately, Hermione appeared before Ron could do any damage. She grabbed Ron's arm and he slowly relaxed. Harry shot Hermione a grateful look, and Malfoy snorted and left, his two cronies following him closely.

"Where is she?" Hermione asked. The two boys shrugged in response. "You can't tell me that you've lost her because of Malfoy," she sighed.

Ron looked at Hermione quizzically, as if this were a perfectly acceptable answer and precisely the one he intended to use. "Why not?" he asked. "He was insulting my family again."

Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Yes. Just like he's been doing for the past six years. Simply because he can't grow up doesn't mean you shouldn't. We should start looking for Ginny before your mum gets through, though," she said. Harry felt distinctly like an unneeded entity and let them off alone to go look for Ginny, or whatever it was that they were going to go and do. Mrs. Weasley came through in a fluster, and barrelled her way through the crowd hardly even seeing Harry, searching for her daughter. Mr. Weasley and Percy were a long time coming, deep in discussion about some department or another at the Ministry. Harry sighed and began to search the crowd.

It wasn't long until he had to board the train and he still hadn't found Ginny, so he searched instead for a compartment that was free. Ron and Hermione had to do their prefect duties in the devoted car at the head of the train, and so Harry settled on the car populated with Neville and Luna. Entering, he smiled weakly. Neville greeted him in return, but Luna was far too deeply into her magazine to even notice Harry's presence. "Have you seen Ginny?" he asked, and Neville shook his head in response. Luna let out a short 'No,' and returned to reading without taking her eyes off of her upside down Quibbler.

Harry resorted to staring around and wondering where she could be. The train was almost leaving when Ginny poked her head in. Seeing only Harry she smiled guiltily and began, "Don't you start chastising me for running off alone, I've already heard all of it from mum. I was only looking for…"

Quickly, and with a pointed look at Neville and Luna, Harry finished, "Thomas," at the same time as she said "Tom."

"He has a first name, Ginny. Most of the Gryffindors call him Dean." He hoped Ginny wouldn't question him on this one before turning around to find her friends of late.

Fortunately, the pointed glance was enough. Ginny turned to see Luna and Neville and blushed brightly. "Right. I know." She said, and then sat down with a bright, "Hello Neville. How was your summer?"

Neville muttered something unintelligible, and Ginny took that as a good sign. "Glad to hear it," she responded. "Mine was wretched – they wouldn't let us out of the house for fear that we'd get eaten alive by Death Eaters or something. It was frightfully boring." She smiled toward Luna and tried to make conversation. "How was your summer, Luna?"

Luna had looked up from her magazine, and shot Harry and Ginny a pointed glance. "Have you heard of the new student?" she asked. "Were you looking for him?"

Ginny furrowed her brow, and answered, "I don't know what you're talking about." Harry stared at Luna, puzzled as well. How would she know about Tom? Especially at this early a date, when only Order members, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny knew about it? Who would have told her?

"What new student?" asked Harry, visibly confused.

"Oh," replied Luna, vaguely disappointed. It was probably hard for her to ever muster more than a vague disappointment or emotion. Her washed out, bulging eyes didn't permit for much else. "I thought you would know, with your links to the Ministry and everything. There have been rumours all summer about a new Slytherin starting school a year above us." She smiled. "I guess the Quibbler is still good for something."

Ginny blinked. "Well, whoever it is I'm sure they're wretched if they've been sorted into Slytherin," she offered, with what she hoped was a veiled glance toward Harry, who was staying remarkably quiet. "And the Quibbler has always been good for plenty," she added to appease Luna and her family ties.

"The new Slytherin – he should be on the train," Luna said. "How else would he get to the school?" She looked dreamily towards the door, as though she fancied to go and look for him herself. Harry had to stop her quickly.

"It's a Slytherin, Luna," he answered. "He's probably not worth knowing. Someone like Malfoy – all money, no substance."

Ginny nodded slowly, unsure of what to do. "Yeah," she agreed, sounding less conclusive for all her deliberation. If Tom were on the train… she would want to find him immediately, but she would want Harry along just in case. "Actually, I was thinking I would try to find Dean again. Harry, would you come with?" she asked, nearly dragging Harry out of the cabin.

Once outside, Ginny breathed again and colour returned to Harry's face. "How does she know about Tom?" Ginny whispered as they strode down the corridor.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but it scares me. What if more people have been reading the Quibbler? What did it say about him?"

Ginny nodded. "We should find him," she stated.

Harry shook his head. "You're crazy if you think we're going to go looking for Riddle on this train. That's asking for trouble. We should stay away from him as much as possible. Knowing Slytherins, he won't make himself scarce." Harry was confident in his own logic and looked at Ginny pointedly, as if daring her to contradict him.

"I guess you're right," she conceded. "I just… I'm having a hard time believing this is true, so I figured I'd look for him to find out for myself. But probably it's not worth it."

"Probably," Harry began, "he's not even on the train. He was found in the Chamber of Secrets – and I dreamt about him in the Slytherin dungeon. He's at Hogwarts already, Ginny. He has no need to take the train there."

Ginny sighed. "All right. You win." She paused and turned back to the cabin, before realising that they hadn't spent nearly enough time outside to qualify as 'looking for Dean'. "We should probably find Dean, for honesty's sake if nothing else." Harry nodded, not really averse to seeing his friend after the summer, and they began checking compartment windows, looking for the sixth year Gryffindor.

They found him, in a cabin with Seamus Finnegan, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown. One look in the compartment showed both Harry and Ginny that they were not wanted, and Ginny backed up with surprising energy. "Well, we found them," she offered.

Harry nodded. "Ron will be pleased," he commented as they turned back down toward the compartment with Neville and Luna.

Ginny glared at him. "Overprotective git," she muttered. A few seconds later, she perked up again. "We've looked through most of the train," she said.

"And?"

"Well, we haven't seen Tom."

"No, we haven't."

"So… where is he?"

Harry shook his head. "Like I said, he's at Hogwarts. And I'm glad. The less we see of Tom Riddle this year, the better."

Ginny sighed and shook her head. "Look, like Dumbledore said – he's not supposed to be the same person. Promise me it won't be the same as Malfoy, okay?"

Harry looked down at her, confused. "Since when do you care about the Slytherin bastard? Ginny… He's the Dark Lord. It's not as though I asked for him to hate me – I don't really have much of a choice in the matter."

Ginny just shook her head. "Give him a chance, Harry."

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "Why should I? So he can stab me in the back?"

"Maybe he's not as bad as all that!" Ginny said, a little louder than she expected.

"Yeah," Harry commented. "Maybe he's worse."

Ginny dropped the subject. "All that," she muttered, "And I can't even scare Ron with stories of Dean. How long until he finds out about Dean and Lavender, do you think?"

"I don't give him too long." They paused, having reached their compartment. "You'll just have to find another boyfriend, I guess," Harry offered.

Ginny blushed, and then Harry realised what he had said and flushed as well as he opened the door. Neville and Luna turned to them. "So?" asked Luna. "Did you see the new Slytherin?"

Ginny shook her head. "We've been up and down the train, and no new Slytherin," she said. "Too bad."

Luna sighed. "That would have been interesting – a new Slytherin," she whispered, and turned back to her Quibbler.

A shout came up the train, someone crying "Oi! Thomas! I didn't need to see that!" Harry and Ginny laughed. It sounded like Ron had found out.

It wasn't long until Ron and Hermione returned to the cabin and flushed from running up and down the train, fell into seats by the door. "Prefect meeting just finish?" asked Neville.

"No," answered Ron, "We were looking for Tom…" he stopped himself abruptly, not knowing what to say. "As. Dean Thomas?" he squeaked finally.

Neville squinted. "He sure is popular. Ginny was just in with him too."

Ron flushed bright red. "Ginny… you… you did what?" He stood up, ready to pummel Dean Thomas for so much as -

"Ron," Ginny warned, "I was doing exactly the same thing you were. Trust me." She sighed. "Besides, since when do you take an interest in my social life except to be incredibly overprotective? Get a life of your own. Not everyone is a maniacal Slytherin. Is there even a boy at Hogwarts you'd approve of?"

Ron instantly answered, "Of course," a bit to fast, as he was staring at Harry and tried to cover it up, "There are plenty of guys I'd approve of."

"Then why not Dean Thomas?"

Ron seemed caught between a rock and a hard place, and glanced around him for support, but found none. He tried explaining himself, but it came out as meaningless stuttering.

Ron calmed down and Luna looked up from her Quibbler. "Ginny," she murmured, "Ronald is just looking out for your best interests, aren't you, Ronald?" she whispered in her dreamy voice. Ron nodded but then edged slightly away. Turning to Ron, she continued. "Have you seen the new Slytherin?" she asked.

Ron blinked for a bit and looked to Harry, completely missing the look of panic his friend was trying to send. "So you do know about Tom, then. Harry, why didn't you say you'd told them?"

Silence reigned in the car. "His name is Tom?" asked Luna. "Tom what?"

Ginny was plastered the seat, a stricken look on her face, and Hermione and Ron froze as well, all looking toward Luna and Neville. Neville caught on. "What's going on, Harry?" he asked. "You can trust us – Dumbledore's Army – remember? We all went to the Department of Mysteries together last year. What's going on?"

Harry sighed. Neville was right, he had counted on these five people last year and he probably would count on them even more in the future, he should tell Neville and Luna what was going on – but no one else, he resolved. "Luna's right – there's a new Slytherin in our year. His name is Tom Riddle." Neville nodded and Luna turned her rapt, bulging eyes toward Harry. "Or, he might be going by something different, but his real name is Tom Riddle.

"He was found in the Chamber of Secrets this summer, and he's still at the school, which is why he's not on the train," Harry supposed. "He looks like me except he has blue eyes. And…" Harry paused, remembering what Dumbledore had said and Ginny had warned him of. "Well… he's…" He's You- Know-Who in disguise, Harry wanted to say, but although Luna would accept it hands down, he wasn't sure he wanted to say it as bluntly as all that. He was at a loss for what to do.

Ginny interrupted, offering a diversion. "From what I've heard, he's killingly handsome," she said, a catlike gleam in her eye. Luna seemed interested, but Ron was taken aback.

"Ginny!" he shouted, so loud that the entire train must have heard, and just stared at her in mute amazement. "You… he's a Slytherin, and not only that… Ginny, remember your first year!"

Luna furrowed her brow in concentration, trying to remember her first year, and Neville thought back as well. "What are you talking about, Ron?" he asked.

Luna looked shocked. "Does this Tom fellow have to do with the people who were petrified that year?" she asked.

Seeing how close she had come to the truth, Harry realised it had gone too far. Luna wouldn't keep this under wraps; there was no way she could. "Of course not," Harry said. "He wasn't even here. He's the son of a well-known Death Eater, is all." Harry tried to make that sound conclusive, and he wasn't sure if he succeeded. "In her first year, Ginny…" Here Ginny cut in.

"I realised just how wretched Death Eaters could be. All that terrified me, and I was sure that Malfoy was behind it, because after all he does seem awfully evil. But when I found out that he didn't know how – I guess it made it worse, because it made it seem that he would have, had he been able to unleash a monster like that onto the students. It made me realize that there are even worse things than Malfoy."

"Did you ever find out what it was?" asked Luna. "I heard it was a Cockatrice."

Harry shook his head. "Basilisk. It was Slytherin's monster; remember? What else would Slytherin use as a monster of preference other than a giant snake? But it's dead, don't worry."

"Ginny, weren't you…" began Neville, but stopped suddenly.

"Yes. I was the last one to be kidnapped, and he said he would kill me. But I'm fine now."

"Who?" Luna asked, confused. "Who said they would kill you? You must know who was leaving all the messages."

"Well," Harry began, wondering what he would say for this.

Just then, the compartment door opened and Draco Malfoy stood, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. It was the first time in his entire life that Harry had been glad to see Malfoy.