Maddie was mad at herself.

Beyond mad at herself, really.

She'd known it was foolish, stupid, and irresponsible, but she pushed off her attempt at brewing Wolfsbane until the last possible moment. It had been so easy, so blissfully, wonderfully easy to pretend that she was normal, that her change wasn't coming closer every minute of every day, and now the full moon was five days away and she needed to get the potion brewed.

The only problem was that she'd never made Wolfsbane in her life. She knew how it was done, had watched the process dozens of times, but it was a complicated potion that was way beyond her ability to brew.

Despite being all too aware of this knowledge, Maddie still tried to get it right. After her mid-evening conversation with Tom reminded her of the upcoming full moon, she went straight to the Room of Requirements after classes the next day, where she did her best to brew a batch of the potion. Unfortunately, Maddie wasn't halfway into the process before it started bubbling ominously, and she was forced to vanish it. Another attempt that night didn't turn out any better, and neither did any of the four she tried the next day.

She was good at potions, but apparently she wasn't good enough. It was sickeningly obvious that she needed help, but it was just as obvious that her options were very, very limited.

There was Dumbledore, obviously, but she wasn't about to ask him a favor, not when he still behaved almost as though he were afraid of her, even after he pulled her aside and said he accepted her apology letter. Dippet would be another option, but he wasn't the type to blindly follow a student's orders, no matter how much she begged. Slughorn would be another possibility, but given that he treated her like a piece of gum that he couldn't quite get off the bottom of his shoe, she knew all too well how he'd react if she asked him to brew a random potion for her.

That left one person who Maddie knew would be able to do it. One person who was very obviously trying to gain her trust, and who would no doubt do nearly any favor she asked as long as it was within reason.

The only issue with this person was that he would ask questions, and he wouldn't stop until they were answered. He'd also be the type to analyze every ingredient of the potion to try to figure out what its purpose was, not to mention that he'd expect something in return for his help.

Tom would do it. She knew she could give him the instructions and ask him to brew the potion, and he'd find her with the finished product within a few hours, smiling charmingly and acting like the saint everyone thought he was. Except then he'd start dropping smooth, calculating questions. He'd figure out that the potion was some kind of repressor easily enough- even Maddie would be able to look at the ingredients and see that- and he'd innocuously ask what she needed it for, where she'd heard of it, and what its purpose was.

And Maddie wouldn't be able to answer at all, would be forced to make stuff up or try to lie, which she couldn't do, and then Tom would get annoyed, would look at her like he did sometimes, like he wanted nothing more than to forget about his ridiculous mission to draft her onto his side and just off her instead, and Maddie would probably get nervous enough to blurt out some stupid bit of truth, and Tom would analyze it until he figured out her secret, and then he'd probably kill her or use her or do something awful, because everyone knew how Lord Voldemort felt about werewolves.

Maddie knew it was stupid, knew it was suicidal to ask Tom for this favor that she so desperately needed. Except she had no choice. She knew that she couldn't go out to the forest again. She was lucky she hadn't been caught the first time, and showing up in the hospital wing in such awful condition two months in a row would raise suspicions. Then there was always the worry that she'd hurt someone other than herself. Hagrid explored the forest on a consistent basis, she knew, and it wasn't exactly a rare thing for students to sneak out either. And what if someone saw her leaving and followed her, and she attacked them then?

She needed the potion. It was stupid and dangerous not to have it, and obviously she couldn't brew it herself, and no one else was going to do it, no one except for Tom, so…

She had to ask.

Maddie frowned and looked at the piece of parchment in her hands, the directions for brewing Wolfsbane written across it in her messy scrawl. She'd double-checked everything until she was sure it looked exactly like she remembered it, had gone over all the information again and again to ensure that nothing she'd written could possible connect the potion to lycanthropy.

Nothing did, not that she could see.

Then again, Maddie was painfully aware that Tom saw a heck of a lot more than she did.

It didn't matter, though. Not really. She needed to ask him to do this, and that terrifying thought rang loudly in her head as she tentatively approached the Head's common room. Her hands were shaking, and the paper she was holding trembled weakly as a result. She was practically handing him her secret, not to mention asking for his help, help that would come at a price, as much as she wished otherwise.

After way too short a time, Maddie reached the portrait of the four founders, all of whom were sitting together in what she recognized as an early version of the Great Hall, eating merrily like their lives weren't all the big huge soap opera they came across as in the history books. It was just like Ignatius said it would be when she asked where the Head's common room was, saying she had to talk to Tom about a potions assignment. It wasn't a total lie, and he believed her easily.

Now there she was. Right in front of the room. All she had to do was knock.

She didn't want to knock. She really, really didn't want to knock.

As it turned out, she didn't have to. The doorway swung open while she was still working up her courage, and Piper Constadine walked out, her ever-present smile on her face, dark eyes shining prettily in the light that filtered from the room. The smile turned into a confused frown when she saw Maddie standing there, gripping her piece of paper like a lifeline and looking as though she were about to take on a dementor without a wand.

"Maddie?" said Piper, furrowing her brow. "Are you… here for Riddle?"

She swallowed and nodded, and Piper, still looking as though Maddie was wearing a clown hat and dancing the samba, slowly stepped aside and gestured for the other girl to go through.

"Then head right in. He's in his room... I'd warn you that he usually doesn't like visitors, but something tells me he won't mind if you talk to him. So... go right ahead, I guess."

"Thanks," said Maddie, still not quite working up the courage to move. Only when she noticed Piper's expression morphing into a look of concern did she realize how odd she must look, and, reminding herself that she was a Gryffindor and Tom was nothing to be afraid of, she finally got her legs working well enough to slip in past the Head Girl. "Um. See you later, I guess."

'Yeah. Bye," Piper replied. She looked like she was going to say something else, but only shot Maddie one more disbelieving look before disappearing down the corridor.

Taking a deep, choking breath, Maddie made herself move slowly towards the door with Tom's name on it, her feet dragging weakly across the thickly carpeted floor. It took her a lot longer than it should have to make it the few feet to his side of the room, and even longer to scrounge up the courage to raise a hand and knock bravely on his door.

The sound echoed painfully loudly in the quiet room, and Maddie's heart thudded in her chest as she heard light footsteps pad across the room. She felt Tom pause on the other side, could almost sense him mentally going over who on earth would dare visit him during his free time, then dismiss the hypothesizing in favor of simply seeing who it was.

Maddie half expected him to be surprised at her presence, but instead he only raised a dark brow when he briskly opened the door to reveal her standing outside his room, fidgeting almost ridiculously and doubtlessly looking every bit the stupid child he seemed to see her as.

Right on cue, his lips curved up into that stupid, infuriatingly condescending smirk. Maddie actually found herself relaxing somewhat at the familiar gesture. He didn't look angry that she'd approached him, didn't appear to even be annoyed. It wasn't any different than talking to him in the hallways, not really. He even looked almost slightly less intimidating than usual, maybe pleased that she'd come to him on her own.

Good. It didn't look like she was going to die quite yet.

Maybe after he gained some kind of idea as to what she wanted from him, but it was reassuring that she'd at least get the chance to voice her request.

"Madeline," said Tom, allowing himself to display some amount of surprise. "I must admit, I'm rather surprised to be seeing you here."

"Er… I'm rather surprised that I'm here myself," she said honestly. "It's just… I kind of need you to help me with something, but... my request is going to be a bit vague, and there are some questions I really won't be able to answer, and I'll tell you as much as I can, but… you're smart, and I'm not smart enough, and this is somewhat important."

Tom stared at her for a very long time, almost as though he wasn't sure what the best way to approach her statement was, but eventually he allowed his posture to relax somewhat and said, "I cannot promise my help, but perhaps if you were to explain what you want…?"

"I want you to brew a potion for me," she said, handing him the slip of paper. Tom fell silent as he attempted to make out the directions, his brow furrowing in an uncharacteristically childish expression as he struggled to decipher the worst of her handwriting. Despite her nervousness, Maddie felt herself biting back a smile. It was almost unfair, how he looked incomparably charming even when he was confused. Maybe even more so than usual, because she could tell the expression was a rarely genuine one, and it was almost cute, in a way…

Then he finished reading and looked back up at her, his face returning to its normal state of smooth lines and unreadable features, that same awful, fake smile stretching across his lips once more.

"What gives you the impression that I can brew this? It's an advanced level potion, and-"

"I've seen you work, Tom," said Maddie. "I may think you're a bit arrogant, but it's not like it's unwarranted. I'm not asking if you can do it; I know the answer to that. I'm asking if you will."

"What do you need it for?" he asked slowly. "It's clearly supposed to inhibit something- the frogs' eyes and bicorn horn make that clear enough- but I cannot place what, exactly, you are attempting to suppress. It has to be something powerful because this potion is almost ridiculously potent, and yet there are not any toxic ingredients in it, leading me to believe you wish someone to ingest it… Madeline, did you come up with this yourself?"

"Um. No," she said quickly. "My father made it up."

Tom's expression was one of extreme doubt, and there was blatant interest written all over his features when he said, "Do you realize that anyone who takes this would most likely slip into a temporary coma?"

"I'm not going to feed it to a human being," said Maddie honestly. "Really. I just… I need it for something."

"Something," said Tom dryly. "I appreciate your frankness."

"Sarcasm?"

"Yes, Madeline. That was sarcasm."

"Does that mean you aren't going to brew it?" she asked worriedly.

"I really do wish I could help you," he said, his voice creepily gentle, "but I'm Head Boy, and this is a potentially dangerous potion. Not only would it take up much of my evening, but it would also require me to blatantly disregard Slughorn's rules, and-"

He honestly wasn't going to do it, and Maddie, unable to accept that answer, cut him off by doing something impossibly, unacceptably stupid.

"Do it, or I'm telling Dippet about what we saw Monday night."

Tom froze midsentence, and the righteous look on his face crumpled momentarily into one of furious disbelief before he took a shaking breath and schooled his features. He didn't do a very good job of it, though. Even Maddie could see the way that this face looked about ready to crack, how he was nearly shaking with anger at her sheer audacity.

People didn't blackmail Tom Riddle and get away with it, and she was terrifyingly aware of that fact.

"Are you blackmailing me?" he asked, his voice trembling in an effort to repress his anger.

"No. I'm simply stating a fact. I need this potion, and, for whatever reason, you need that bit of information to remain secret. If I don't get what I need, you don't get what you need." She raised her eyes to meet his and tried to keep her hands from shaking. "I really don't think it's that complicated, Tom."

"You don't realize what you're doing, Madeline," he said slowly. "If you tell Dippet that someone is in the castle, he will shut down the school. You won't have a place to go-"

Maddie's eyes widened as she realized for the first time why, exactly, Tom had been so concerned about the presence remaining a secret. He was right, she realized. If Dippet thought someone was in the school who shouldn't be, especially now that Grindelwald was on such a rampage, he would have no choice but to evacuate the school. It could be a spy, a terrorist, a psychotic soldier who was determined to burn Hogwarts to the ground.

But Tom would rather be able to stay at Hogwarts, to remain in the one home he ever had, and Maddie held back a smirk at the knowledge that she had him better than she ever could have hoped.

"No," she said, interrupting him. "You won't have a place to go. I can live with Uncle Al, probably even stay here, but you'd have to go back to wherever you came from, and obviously you don't want to do that, so please, please just go along with this. You won't regret it. I swear."

Tom gritted his teeth, his hands clenched into fists. There was a vein in his forehead that was straining against his pale skin, and if Maddie looked closely, she swore she saw crimson flashing in dangerously narrowed eyes. She was terrified, ready to call it a day and run, when Tom finally managed to say, his voice low and dangerous despite his best efforts, "Where do you expect me to brew this?"

Maddie let out a long, low breath.

"Have you ever heard of the Room of Requirements?"

Tom nodded, not asking how she knew of it. Doubtlessly, he figured Dumbledore must've said something. Either way, he accepted her answer and said, "Very well then. I will brew your potion, as long as you swear you won't say anything to Dippet. What we saw… it is likely nothing, Madeline. You should have forgotten it right away."

"I'm not an idiot, Tom," she replied icily. "You know that very well. It's… I don't know who or what it was, but it wasn't supposed to be here. But don't worry. I won't say anything. I just won't forget about it either."

"Good enough, I suppose," he said coolly. "Now run along. I apparently have a potion to brew."

"Thank you," Maddie said.

Tom looked down at her with poorly concealed ire and replied, "I had no choice."

Then he waved her off again, and Maddie left hurriedly, torn between relief that he was going to help her and terror that he wasn't going to let her get away with manipulating him. Tom Riddle was the type who always got the last laugh, and Maddie couldn't help but look over her shoulder in paranoia as she scurried back to the Gryffindor common room, already worrying that something awful was going to happen.

People didn't coerce Tom Riddle into something and get away with it. No matter how badly he wanted a Dumbledore on his side, he wasn't going to let her off easy.

She was sickeningly positive of that.

…

The next day, Maddie was just heading in the direction of the Great Hall for supper when someone firmly grabbed onto her forearm and began leading her in the opposite direction. She was momentarily startled and tripped slightly when her muscles protested at the somewhat rough treatment, but then she recognized how abnormally long the fingers on her arm were, and after looking up, realized that Tom was the one dragging her off to Merlin knew were.

Her first thought was that he was going to assault and/or kill her, but it'd be ridiculous to let himself be seen going off with her if that was the case. The second, more viable option then popped into her head, and Maddie began jogging to keep up with Tom, assuming that he was going to give her her potion.

"You know," said Maddie, panting slightly as she struggled to keep up with Tom's ridiculously long strides, "a normal person would generally ask someone to follow him instead of just dragging them off to a random, undisclosed location. See, what you're doing right now, that's what's generally referred to as kidnapping-"

"After what you pulled yesterday, I wouldn't be so confident that's not what's going on," Tom replied in a somewhat light voice, and even though he was obviously trying to make it sound teasing, Maddie really didn't think it sounded like a joke at all.

"If you were kidnapping me," Maddie said, taking up the same light tone he was using; she imagined it was just as fake as his was, too, "you'd go about it in a much more intelligent manner."

"Why would I have to bother? You're going along with me easily enough now."

"I suppose. Then again, a whole bunch of people have seen you dragging me off and would immediately suspect you if I went missing. Although, for future reference, you may want to note that this whole 'forcing me along behind you' thing is generally reserved for excited first-years and horny upperclassmen who want to shove their girlfriends in broom closets and snog them senseless, and given that you aren't a first year-"

"Your point being?"

"Aren't you worried about rumors?"

Tom glanced at her carelessly.

"People do not spread rumors about me, Madeline. They're too afraid to do so. Either way, I would hardly care if they did." There was a very obvious unspoken, Why should I care what those simpleminded peons say behind my back?, but Maddie pretended to ignore it.

"That surprises me," she said thoughtlessly. "You seem the type to pay very close attention to how people perceive you, and then adjust your behavior according to your observations. I mean, it's interesting to watch and not all that surprising from a Slytherin, but it also doesn't coincide at all with what you just told me."

Tom glanced at her and began moving more quickly, almost as though he wanted to get away from her as soon as possible.

"Is that why you think so little of me? You do not find me genuine?"

"Merlin, no. I'm not saying it like it's a bad thing, but sometimes I catch little flashes of emotion from you, or awkward moments when you're obviously pretending to be happier, or calmer, or more interested than you are, and then the real emotions are gone, and it makes your fake ones a bit more obvious. To me, anyway. I don't think anyone else has noticed all that much-"

Tom cut her off by coming to a stop in front of an abandoned classroom. Without looking at Maddie, he tugged the door open and pulled her inside, then turned around and charmed the door looked behind them. Maddie wasn't sure why, but that last precaution seemed so unnecessary, and despite the way she'd been reassuring herself earlier, being so alone with Tom, despite the fact that it definitely wasn't the first time, scared her just enough that she found herself drawing her wand as he put the finishing touches on the door.

Tom turned around and caught her holding up her wand defensively, looking at him like she was worried he was going to attack her, and let out a low, chilling laugh.

"So you were more worried about the kidnapping thing than I thought?" He seemed to contemplate something for a moment, then allowed himself what looked a hell of a lot like a genuine smirk- not a smile, but a smirk, and that was still something- before he said, "You're smarter than you look, you know. Too talkative and somewhat grating, but perceptive. Wrongly so in this instance, however. I didn't charm the door to block out the sound of your screams or anything ridiculous like that-"

"I didn't say-"

He ignored her.

"-I simply wanted to make sure no one disturbed us." He frowned now, his expression morphing from one of something almost real back into a much more familiar mask. "I will give you that potion, but I discovered something that… troubles me, and strangely enough, I believe you'd be the only person in this school to potentially know anything about it. I believe now would be as good a time as any to discuss it."

Maddie frowned at his, unsure if it was another one of Tom's tactics to gain her trust, or if genuinely wanted to bounce this issue off of her. It seemed unlikely, impossible really, like the sun rising in the west or a legitimate rhyming poem with stanzas ending in 'orange' and 'purple'. Then again, she'd seen far stranger, and something told her he did think she might know about whatever it was he planned to question her about.

"I can't promise to help you any," said Maddie after a moment, "but I guess I'll hear you out. Um, can I have the potion first though? Not that I don't trust you, but-"

"-you don't trust me," Tom finished, not unhappily. He reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a glass vial containing what Maddie recognized as a perfectly brewed Wolfsbane potion. Relief washed over her in waves, and she quickly took the vial and stowed it away in her own pocket, relaxing slightly as one of her major worries had just been taken care of.

"I know you're still relatively mad at me for blackmailing you into this," Maddie said, unable to help herself, "but how likely would you be to kill me if I hugged you right now?"

"I wouldn't kill-"

She hugged him. Again. Hugging people really had turned into an awful habit for her, and she was well aware that doing so with Tom was probably stupid, but it was simply her tell-tale reaction to a good-deed done.

At least this time she was quick about it, pulling back before he even had the chance to stiffen properly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said genuinely. "A million times over."

He narrowed his eyes and briskly said, "I believe I mentioned a more urgent matter."

"You didn't say it was urgent, just that you wanted to talk to me about it-"

"The Room of Requirement wasn't open the first time I tried it yesterday evening. I talked to Lestrange, and according to him, your sister was in the common room at the time. Have you told anyone else about that room?"

Maddie's eyes widened, and she was almost surprised at how quickly she made the connection. She generally was rather slow with things like that, but maybe the total lack of other possibilities made it too obvious even for her to miss.

She hadn't told anyone about the room, and she doubted Azaria had either, and it had been clear in Hogwarts, a History, that Tom had been the earliest known person to have known of its existence, and he sure as hell hadn't told anyone, meaning that someone not from the Hogwarts of that time was undoubtedly the culprit.

"It's the person we saw Monday night," Maddie breathed. "Or didn't see, but the one who was laughing-"

"I know who you mean, Madeline," Tom cut in sharply. He pursed his lips. "And you're sure about this?"

"Positive. I haven't said anything about the room, and Azaria wouldn't, and you haven't told anyone, have you?"

"Of course not."

"And I'm sure no one else knows-"

"Your uncle-"

"Wasn't him," said Maddie thoughtlessly. "I'm sure of it, just as sure as I am that it isn't anyone else in the school. Meaning it's someone from outside, and I think we both know that laughter hadn't come from a student, so… whoever that was, whoever we saw before… that's who was in there."

She said the words with a kind of certainty she hadn't felt in a long time. Her instincts told her she was right, and logically it almost kind of made sense, because an intruder had to have a place to stay, except…

Maddie froze .

What kind of intruder would know that that room even existed? If no one before Tom had bothered mentioning or recording it, logic said that it didn't matter how good Grindelwald's spies were, how good anyone who wanted to get into the castle was; they wouldn't know about a room that Dippet himself had no idea existed.

There were so many holes, so many uncertainties, that Maddie wasn't entirely, a hundred percent sure that her guess was right, but it was the only thing she could make fit, and, she realized with a terrible kind of comprehension, it was the only thing that made sense.

Dumbledore had been worried about another time-traveler working for Grindelwald, had hypothesized that it was likely the person Azaria wanted to come back with in the first place. Now there was someone in the school who knew about the Room of Requirement- just like everyone in Maddie's time did- and who had made a point of picking on her that night she heard the laughter. Which means whoever it was knew her, making it almost logical that he'd be a student at Hogwarts in the future, one who no doubt was friends with Azaria, and one who was apparently on Grindelwald's side if what happened in Paris was any indication.

And… and one who was now clearly inside Hogwarts, Maddie realized with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Someone who traveled back in time, who wanted Grindelwald to win, who broke into Hogwarts…

Maddie looked at Tom in unconcealed horror, and suddenly the panic she felt when Dumbledore first told her she might not get back to the future, the terrible, awful sensation of potentially losing everything, came back twice as hard as before, because there was really only one logical move for the time traveler to make next.

"Madeline?" Tom asked. Maddie blinked, unsure of what to say, what to think… unsure if she was even able to think. "What on earth-"

"It's nothing," she finally blurted. She wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or Tom. "I'm being paranoid and crazy. That thing Uncle Al and I were fighting about… I just realized something about it, and I'm making awful, impossible connections, and it's a bunch of nonsense. What I'm thinking… I don't have any reason to think it, not at all." She laughed almost hysterically. "Now I'm blabbering, and…"

"Madeline?"

"Never mind. I'm just going crazy, really. I… I think we should head down to the Great Hall. Yes, that's a good idea, because I really want something to eat, and this conversation is becoming rather tedious, don't you agree?"

"There's something wrong," Tom said lowly. "Whoever's hiding in there… you know who it is."

"I don't," she protested. "I just have an awful suspicion about the nature of this person, but it's completely ridiculous. Nothing to worry about, really-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence; the sound of dozens of terrified kids, all screaming at once, cut her off in the most awful way possible.

"I think your suspicion may have just been proved correct," Tom said, and Maddie realized in a vague, detached way that his voice was actually shaky. That he looked panicked, scared almost, because it was very, very clear that something just happened that was going to haunt his home forever.

...

A/N-

A lot of Tom/Maddie chatting. Actually, practically the whole chapter was dialogue between the two, so I apologize if that gets redundant. I just realized that thirty thousand words have gone by without the real part of the story popping up yet, and as much as I like Tom bickering with someone who honestly isn't his equal, things had to start happening, or this was going to turn into a two-hundred thousand word monster with too much of nothing occupying the first twenty chapters.

Anyhow, I don't have much else to say, other than maybe an apology for another late chapter. I do have Easter as an excuse this time, but I'm hoping things will go more smoothly now, especially because things really, really take off after this. Um, if anything's confusion, it's either supposed to be, or it's because of my awful editing and I'll get to fixing it later. No review replies for this chapter because it's dreadfully late and I do need to sleep, but I will never time around.

Okay. That was a lot of tired babbling, and I'll be quiet not. Thanks again for the wonderful support, and please keep telling me what you think. It's a proven fact that reviews lead to faster updates. :-)

~bballgirl32~