Well it's been a hell of along time huh? Hopefully I'll be able to crank out a few more chapters before I lost interest again.
Victoria breathed in deeply and calmed her nerves she was standing in the boys dorms hidden under the invisibility cloak and Darren Flint's voice was grading on her eardrums.
"Give it a week, one week and the little slut will fall for me so hard that-"
Grading on her eardrums as well as her temper. Of course she was a topic of discussion, but she hadn't expected such blatant sexism which she really should have. This was the 1940s after all; it would take a hell of a lot to earn respect and be considered more then a pair of breast with legs.
"I was under the impression she was a women with taste Flint, and she certainly didn't seem overly impressed with you at dinner." Malfoy's drawl was easily recognized.
Victoria rolled her eyes at Flint's cliché response of how she was 'only playing hard to get.'
Boy talk was so far proving to be neither amusing nor informative. She had been so certain that it was building up to some great plan that Riddle would reveal, but she supposed that even he needed more time then a day at school to come up with something appropriately evil.
Deciding to tune out the offensive conversation she sent about breaking into the boys trunks. There were six trunks meaning her hadn't meet one of the boys in her year. Maybe he wasn't part of Tom's group? She left that trunk alone and examined the others. She wasn't her father's daughter for nothing and most of the trunks looked easy enough for her to break into. There were two exceptions and she was fairly certain she knew which one was Tom Riddles, the warding was powerful and elegant one spell twisted into another one nearly snake like and left it with a very strong lock, it would not be impossible to undo the warding however the alarms worked into the spell were troubling. There was no doubt that she could get in if she had too, but she would be caught and she wasn't desperate enough for that sacrifice.
The other trunk looked as if someone has simply placed whatever spells they could think of on the trunk with no concept of organization. The spells themselves were strong ones, but it took skill to properly ward something and Victoria simply slipped her magic in under the spells and tugged unraveling the whole thing.
She ginned in triumph and then froze as she heard Riddle's voice for the first time tonight.
"As fascinating as your little fantasies are I believe it is time to turn to more serious topics, unless of course you believe your love life is more important then the information I requested from you this summer?"
It was hard to describe his tone, certainly polite and calm, but there was a mocking ring to it which raised the hair on her arms. 'Dangerous' she thought and then tried to make herself study the contents of the trunk she broke into and listen at the same time.
She removed some cloaks and what looked like rare potions ingredients as Tom's minions made swift apologies and began reporting on what she believed to be something to do with politics.
"Mr. Birchwood is retiring according to my Uncle Markus and everyone says that Gabble will be replacing him-"
"Not Lennon Gabble surly?"
"No not Lennon you dolt, Martin."
Victoria raised an eyebrow no wonder Voldemort cursed his minions all the time if they couldn't even make a report with interrupting each other.
She was wondering if Tom would curse his followers even at this age if they got too annoying, but then she found something in the trunk that completely switched her interest and as the potions intended purpose dawned on her she could felt blind furry engulf her.
It seemed Darren Flint had quite the supply of illegal love potions and it seemed that Victoria Peverell was going to have to teach him something about respecting women.
She smiled carefully selecting a bottle to take with her, then closed the trunk and reapplied the pathetic wards. She knew just how to serve up some ironic justice for whomever that digesting boy had tricked into sleeping with him.
She smiled and heard Tom Riddle laugh as if he was agreeing with her, she wasn't sure what he was laughing as she had lost track of the conversation, then someone screamed and she was running back toward the common room.
An Interlude with Percy
Percy upon their arrival had immediately gone to do the only job he had ever wanted or thought of doing and that was working for the Ministry. Of course now it was more like he was working for Harry, for the family and simply worked at the Ministry. That had been his greatest failing before to allow the Ministry to become something that owned him, which he gave all his loyalty to.
That had been a long time ago though, before the finial battle, before Fred…and before Audrey. He should be and he was, grateful that he had his two little girls, that he had his parents and siblings, yet even a year of struggling to adjust to a new time period hadn't completely numb the void his wife left behind.
He tried not to focus on his dead wife or his dead friends or how his daughter only 12 was on another continent and how his youngest only ten would be starting Hogwarts next year, unless she went to Beauxbatons, but that most likely wouldn't be an option next year and he didn't want his daughter in Durmstrang and really none of the adults had the time to home school even his mother was busy organizing, researching, and making much needed social contact with the gossiping masses. Mum never did care for a gossip, but while Narcissi spread the family's 'fake' history to the upper, highest of society's ladies, it fell to Molly to get in contact with the middle to upper middle class families. She was especially popular among those with children.
Hopefully she would be able to gain a place on either the School Board of Governors or the Department of Education in the Ministry. Neither possibility was something he thought that his Mum would be especially suited for considering her age and her (extreme mothering) temperament when it came to children. But they needed someone in those places and Ginny…well Ginny wasn't taking things well and she, well they could really use her now and she wasn't doing much of anything anymore.
Hopeful Harry would be able to bring her out of it, at least get her focused on something beneficial to the cause, but every day that Percy saw her show less and less interest in even her own children he lost that hope.