"After all, everybody has secrets and there are some things that nobody knows about you but only you, right?"

Halle Berry

The Queen of Serpents

Chapter Twenty

A Dark Diary

"speech"

thoughts

"parseltongue"

/mind speech/

=visions=

Writing

Tom frowned as Cedric motioned him to follow. "Where are we going?" he demanded, voice sharper than he had intended.

"Trophy room," Cedric replied shorty, heading up the stairs. "Come on."

Scowling, Tom followed, silently berating himself. He knew he should have done something about that stupid trophy. Now he would likely have to tell Cedric a part of his story - or even some aspect of the truth. Irritably he wondered if the headmaster had known. Dumbledore had clearly suspected something. Serves the old fool right if I change my mind about hating him, Tom thought grumpily as he entered the trophy room, resigning himself to the inevitable.

Tom was not exactly surprised to find Cedric holding his shield. Should have destroyed it months ago, he thought morosely. He had not, though he had considered doing so several times. Somehow he was never quite able to bring himself to destroy one of the last physical links with his past. His 'other-self' had done an excellent job eradicating most of them. Besides, he consoled himself, there are almost certainly some protective wards on it.

"Did you intend to kill Myrtle?"

Tom froze, wand coming up. He had expected questions, even anticipated the difficulty of answering without revealing too much, but this! This one had not even come under consideration. He needed time; time to learn what Cedric knew.

"What do you mean? Myrtle was murdered fifty years ago! How could I possibly have anything to do with it?" He allowed some of his shock to flow into his voice. Genuine emotions made for much better acting.

Cedric turned the shield over, his eyes focussed on the inscription. "You tell me Tom. How is it possible?"

"It isn't," Tom replied heatedly. Righteous anger never hurt either.

"You are here," Cedric replied, looking up for the first time since they had arrived in the Trophy Room, "so it must be. Just because I don't know how - and you don't want me to - doesn't change that."

Tom scowled. "Did it ever occur to you that the Riddle mentioned was my grandfather?" Time for his 'back story.'

"Actually, that was my first thought," the older boy admitted. "But then I had to wonder why you didn't mention it. If it was something you wanted kept quiet I had no intention of asking until I could be relatively certain as to why. So I asked Myrtle who claimed you were the Tom Riddle on the shield."

Tom shrugged, faking amusement. "She thinks I'm my grandfather. She's always so miserable and, I thought, if it makes her happy, why not?" There. A perfectly suitable Hufflepuff reason to let the deception stand.

Not that it helped any.

"And the Grey Lady?" Cedric demanded. "She claims to know you too, and says you are the same person."

This time Tom's confused shock was genuine. "The Grey Lady? I have nothing to do with her."

Cedric frowned, fiddling with the shield again. "She says you spoke a lot in your seventh year."

"I...see." And he did. "It wasn't me."

Cedric locked his warm brown eyes with Tom's cool grey ones. "Who was it then?"

"Not me," Tom repeated, feeling oddly trapped beneath the Hufflepuff's gaze. That infernal conscience of his! He knew he should never have bothered developing one.

"Then who are you?" Warm brown eyes demanded an answer.

Well, Tom thought furiously, if he's going to be so insistent then let him have one! He relaxed his stance, a falsely confident smirk pasted on his face."I am Lord Voldemort." Shock flickered across Cedric's face and Tom felt a flash of satisfaction. "Not what you expected, was it," he asked, voice harsh and raw.

"No," Cedric replied strangely cool. "I expected the truth."

Tom stiffened, and when he spoke his voice was ice. "It is the truth. I cannot help if it is not to your liking." Cedric opened his mouth to protest, but Tom cut him off. He waved his wand, fiery letters appearing in midair.

Tom Marvolo Riddle

Another wave and:

I Am Lord Voldemort

"No." Cedric shook his head firmly, almost angrily. "You're not." He raised his hand to forestall the protest. "I don't quite know who you are, and I'm not sure you do either. But I do know that -whoever you may be and whoever you think you might be - you are not him." He pointed at the name, not quite willing to say it. "Maybe you were once, and maybe you will be again, but that's up to you." He shrugged, the casual gesture seeming oddly out of place. "What's important is that right now you're not."

Tom scowled. "Nice speech. You should compare notes with the headmaster."

Cedric chuckled weakly. "Professor Dumbledore is a very wise man." He smiled faintly, wondering what to say now. "So, er, if you were born.." he glanced down at the shield, "what, fifty years ago?" Tom nodded. "Right. So, um.., how are you here?"

Tom laughed then, high and cold, the tension ratcheting up once more. "Tell me Cedric, what do you know about horcruxes?"

QoS QoS QoS QoS QoS

"So, essentially, your soul was placed in stasis in that diary," Cedric pointed at the small book in Tom's hand, "while You-Know-Who ran around trying to seize power?"

"Stasis? I could wish," Tom said bitterly, hating how much he sounded like a petulant child. "I was fully aware. I could not say how much time was passing while I lay between those pages, but I knew it was passing and that was even worse in some ways."

Cedric gently placed his hand on Tom's shoulder, compassion glistening in warm brown eyes. "I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. You're much stronger than you know Tom."

Tom pulled away angrily. "How can you be so calm," he demanded. "I'm a murderer; I committed one of the most heinous crimes known to man!"

"Fifty years in solitary is punishment enough," the older boy said firmly. "And even if it isn't, it's not my place to judge. I'm friends with the Tom Riddle of today, not the one of decades past."

Tom scowled, grey eyes growing hard. "You shouldn't be so quick to trust Cedric. This could all be a trick. I'm a Slytherin, remember?"

Cedric shrugged. "You're right. I don't know that this isn't a trick, But I don't think it is. Besides," he grinned suddenly, "you're a Hufflepuff now, remember?"

Despite himself, Tom smiled. It was not the best joke ever told, but after all the seriousness even that was a relief.

Cedric patted Tom again, before rising. "Coming?" he asked, hand extended. Tom nodded, ignoring the hand as he got up. The older boy frowned, but did not say anything. He doubted he would be winning this battle - at least not today. Instead he reached up to replace the shield, before leaving the room.

It was time they got a good night's sleep anyway.

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Harry frowned as he watched unseen from a corner of the room. With a sigh of relief he threw back the hood of his cloak. Merlin, it was hot under that thing!

Harry ran his hand distractedly through his damp hair. Horcruxes. Soul containers. The blackest of Black magic.

Unlike Cedric, Harry had known what a horcrux was, though just barely. It was one of several crimes that would get an underage wizard the dementors kiss. He had found out about them when he had signed up for courses on Dark Magic for the next year. Snape had made all potential applicants write an essay on the subject, which naturally meant that every third year Slytherin knew the penalty and crimes.

Which did not mean Harry had known what a horcrux was, only that making one was illegal. Now he did.

"Secrets of the Darkest Arts," Harry muttered, pulling up his hood for the trek down to the dungeons. If nothing else he would have something to look for at Malfoy Manor.

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AUthor's note: Sorry this is so late. But I have a good reason; I got engaged! So I was kind of busy, will likely remain so. I do intend to finish this book before my wedding though. I also have finals and important college projects so I can't promise quick updates and I don't know when I'll start the next one. This will be finished though, I promise!

Questions:

Chapter 20:

1- Where does Secrets of the Darkest Art come from?

2-Where is Hogwarts' copy now?

Sorry, I just can't think of any more...

Chapter 19:

1- Where does the title come from?

Chapter 18:

1: Why does Tom keep avoiding Albus' eyes?

2: Where does the caution with curiosity line come from?

3: For all of us Americans, what is a hanky?

4: Why does Rolf get so sad when someone brings up his grandfather?

5: What is Slytherin House rule number one?

6: Each Founder gave two gifts. What was Galen's second gift?

7:What record has Emerald broken?

8: What are spren?

9: Who is Liz and what is her real name?

10: Why was Tom not paying attention in Transfiguration?

11: What is a conduct disorder?

12: What is Tom's 'origin story?'

13: What do you think Godric suggested?

Chapter 17:

1-What are Fred and George's sources?

2-What is a Wizzle?

Chapter16:

1-Where does the chapter title come from?

2-Why does Draco mean "if you wait a millenia"?

3-What is a 'charmelis'?

4-Why is Norberta attacking the lake?

5-What is different about Daphne?

6-What is an Assessor? (Read 'A Necessary Gift' by cosette-aimee it's really good.)

Points:

Gryffindor:253

Hufflepuff:236

Ravenclaw:304

Slytherin:277