Hogsmeade weekend arrived, finally. Bella could barely sleep the night before, she was just so filled with anticipation for what Tom Riddle was going to teach her! She hadn't told anyone about what he'd said to her, or that she even saw him on the corridor that night. No one had asked any questions because they didn't see her return, so either they assumed she did see him, and that's why she was late, or assumed she didn't and she'd spent all night moping about it. Either way, the news of her little accident in the dungeon corridor had not spread any further than Lily, James and his friends. Although, the mystery of why Madam Pomfrey got up and left the room, allowing to Bella to leave, was still confusing her. It played on her mind when she had nothing to think about. When she went to bed, at that point where you're just about to go to sleep, it crept up on her, replaying itself like a movie, slow motion so she could figure it out. But it was to no avail. She just could not work out why it had happened. She knew she ought to let it go, because it was probably nothing; Madam Pomfrey could have remembered she left something there and gone back for it – it could be anything. But, she still had that feeling that fowl play was involved, and she couldn't place why.

It was cold outside, bitterly so. Bella had on her thick woolly tights, under her denim shorts, her hooded jacket was zipped up all the way, and she pulled her scarf tighter around herself. Lucy was walking with her, although she was acting more distracted than usual.

'Alright?' Bella asked her eventually, as they reached the end of the path into the town. Lucy nodded meekly.

'Something's not right.' She murmured, staring around her.

'How so?'

'I'm not sure,' Lucy bit her lip and tucked her hair behind one ear. 'I can't place what. Just… something.' She turned to stare at the cloudy sky. 'Something's changing.' She decided finally.

Bella didn't answer her. She could hear her own pulse in her ears, she was just begging Lucy not to have found out about Tom Riddle. She hated lying to her friends. Lucy in particular. Close friends were just horrible to lie to. Even as horrible to lie to as sisters. Something moving caught her eye, right in the corner of her eye. Just inside an alley way on the far right of the town, was Tom Riddle. Leaning casually against the wall, showed by the shadows, a cheeky smirk on his lips. Bella felt herself blushing again, she just hoped she could blame it on the cold weather.

'Luce, I have to go,' Bella said abruptly. Lucy snapped around to her, the trance like observation state she'd been in had broken instantly.

'Why? I thought we were going to the Three Broomsticks?' Lucy seemed slightly hurt by this. And yes, Bella had agreed to go, but there were a lot of other people going, so she assumed she'd be able to get out of it.

'I remembered something I left back at the castle,' Bella lied quickly and flawlessly. 'and besides,' she changed the subject so Lucy couldn't ask her what she'd left behind. 'everyone's going, so you're not going to be on your own.' Lucy opened her mouth as if to protest. 'Alex is going, you know. I heard him telling Roddy, yesterday. He was asking if you were going to be there.' That part was actually true, she had heard Alex asking that. Lucy's eyes lit up slightly.

'Really? He said that?'

'Yeah.' Bella grinned at her.

'Well… okay,' Lucy shrugged. 'I guess I'll see you later?'

'Sure,' Bella smiled at her. As Lucy turned around and began walking towards the centre of Hogsmeade, Bella made a slow pace as if she was going back to the castle, but the second Lucy was out of sight, she spun back around. She inconspicuously wandered down the alley way and met Tom. He looked even handsomer than he had before. He had on a shirt, and no tie, the first two buttons un-done, and hidden by a navy scarf. His military jacket seemed to just glide with him when he moved, and for a moment, the gracefulness of his movement mesmerised her.

'Hey, Bella,' He greeted her. She smiled at him, trying not to look too eager. Although, in her mind, she couldn't wait to show him the map in her bag. However, the fact still stood that she didn't know how to open it. She knew how James had closed it, she heard him say 'mischief managed' but she had no idea how to open it. Would Tom believe her, about what the map could do? She'd never considered that.

'Are you okay?' Tom asked her, leading her through the alley and further away from civilisation. Bella swallowed and took a last glance at people walking past the entrance to the alley, before they turned a corner and she realised how alone they really were.

'Yeah,' She breathed. 'fine.'

'You can trust me, you know.' Tom re-assured her. He didn't touch her, in his head, he wanted to put his arm around her to comfort her, but he knew that if she didn't trust him, it would only spook her out even more.

'I know,' Bella replied. 'I just don't know how I know I can.'

Tom smiled warmly at her. 'Because I'm not hiding anything from you.'

'You didn't tell me what you "organisation" was. You wouldn't specify.' Bella reminded him, her mind working over-time to analyse everything she knew of him.

'I had to know you were interested. And now that I know you are, I will explain everything. We'll just get to a safe place, and then you can ask all the questions you like. I might even teach you a few things.' He gave her that cheeky smile that made her insides just melt.

'Okay.' She couldn't find anything else to say, but she had a feeling that the smile she was no longer able to hide, said everything for her.

Tom led her down a few steps and into a door under the street. It led to a small, dimly lit room. The walls were all made of dark stone, and the only thing in the room was a small desk, lit with a flimsy desk lamp. Tom quietly shut the door behind them.

'What is this place?' Bella asked him, almost afraid to take a step further into the room.

'It's only for the time being,' Tom stated. 'it was the closest place I could find to train you… without being seen.' He added with a smirk. Bella smiled back at him.

'So,' Bella tried to ask a question.

'Sit down,' Tom invited her, pulling up a chair from the opposite side of the room, and placing it on the other side of the desk. 'please.' He held the chair out for her, and Bella was instantly reminded of the kind of chivalry you only saw in a film. This was the sort of person her parents expected her to marry. And she thought it over for a moment, if Tom Riddle proved to be as nicer person as he seemed to be, she wouldn't mind marrying him either. He slid into the seat at the desk, wordlessly telling her to ask her question now.

'So,' Bella repeated. 'what sort of organisation is it?'

Tom smiled. 'It's just a group of like-minded people, meeting together to achieve a common goal,' he explained in a very business-like manner. 'it's a belief I think you'd share.'

'Oh? And what belief is that?' She raised her eyebrows at him. 'You're not trying to get me to join a cult, or something, are you?'

Tom chuckled. 'No, no, nothing like that.'

'And the belief you all share?'

The smiled wiped clean off his face and his eyes became so dark they almost just looked like slits into his mind. 'That mudbloods are scum.' He whispered sinisterly. Bella felt a shiver fly up her spine.

'I'd second that.' Bella agreed. It was true, entirely so, but the tiny nagging voice in her head was screaming out Lily Evans' name. She was such a lovely person, and she was a mudblood.

'Thought so.' Tom smiled at her, subconsciously willing her to believe it herself as much as she said she did. He knew there were doubts in her mind, he could see it. She didn't doubt what she was saying, as such, there was only a tiny little inkling that she could be wrong. It would be easy to correct. People with insecurities are easy to corrupt.

'So,' Tom continued. 'how about I teach you a little something?' He watched as Bella's eyes lit up slightly. She tried to hide it, but it made him like her that little bit more because she wanted to hide it.

They both stood up, and Tom drew his wand; Bella held hers loosely by her side.

'I'm going to hazard a guess that you're good at Defence Against the Dark Arts?' Tom said. Bella smiled and nodded, still excited as to what he was going to show her. He smirked. 'Thought so. Well, that's good news.'

'Might as well start with something simple and useful.' Tom continued, taking a step back from Bella in order to demonstrate what he intended to teach her. 'A Disillusionment charm.' Bella nodded but said nothing. Truth was, she'd never done a disillusionment charm before, she'd seen them trying at school, reading out a charms book, but she never tried it herself. She'd always held the belief that it was better to be unnoticeable than invisible. Tom sensed her slight disappointment when he suggested this, and he knew she'd never done it before. But after all, what's the point in teaching someone something they already know?

'It's non-verbal,' He added. 'I assume you're fairly handy with those? Assuming Professor Slughorn still likes to give tips to his brightest and favourite students?' He gave her a cheeky smile. For a second Bella was stuck staring at his chiselled features, locked in his gaze – but she snapped out of it.

'Yeah,' She agreed. 'yeah, he teaches us some non-verbal stuff. Nothing too complex, though…'

'You've got nothing to worry about.' Tom assured her calmly. 'Now, I'll show you what to do, okay? And what's going to happen, is that I'm going to apparently disappear for a moment, then I'll reverse the spell and be back in sight.' Bella nodded again. Tom gave her another smile, as he raised his wand, gave it a sharp flick, and he seemingly vanished completely. Bella stared in amazement, although she had no idea if she was looking at him or not.

'Shit!' Bella exclaimed, as Tom re-appeared directly in front of her, with barely an inch between their faces. She blushed slightly at her shock, but grinned at him all the same. He took a step back, realising he may have over-stepped the boundaries.

'Impressed?' He asked, straightening his military jacket.

Bella raised an eyebrow. 'I'm not easily impressed, Mr. Riddle.' Tom smirked at her, evidently this was a good answer.

'Good,' He replied. 'then you won't be easily disappointed.' He added slightly coldly. Bella nearly shivered, but he was back into his normal self after a moment, almost like it had never happened. 'Your turn.'

She nodded back at him and raised her own wand.

'Now, there's a knack to how you flick it,' He informed her, slipping behind her and placing his hand on her wrist. 'like this,' he whispered to her. If she could have collapsed right there, she would have done, but his impossible grip was keeping her standing. His voice slipped like honey in her ear, and it sounded so sweet that she could practically taste sugar in her mouth. She tore her focus back to the matter in hand. Tom gently moved her wrist to flick her wand slightly to the right, before making a sharp movement upward and left. 'Got that?'

'Yeah, I think so,' Bella answered, not sure of how weak her voice sounded until now. She swallowed as Tom took a step away from her to observe.

'Really think about it, Bella,' He told her. She bit her lip to stop herself smiling because he said her name. 'really concentrate on what you're trying to do.'

She nodded, raised her wand again and thought about it hard. She flicked her wrist like Tom had showed her, and gave one last burst of concentration on becoming invisible. However, she had absolutely no idea if it had worked or not. She glanced at Tom for approval.

'Well done,' He said in vaguely her direction. 'so now, you need to think the opposite – about re-appearing, and flick your wand in exactly the same way.'

Bella didn't reply, she just did as she was told – focussed on being normal again, flicked her wand…

'Very good,' Tom grinned at her. She was a quick learner. With the right cultivation, she could be such a powerful weapon to have on his side.

'Thanks.' Bella beamed at him, so happy that she hadn't managed to embarrass herself by not being able to do it first time round. He'd be so pleased with her.

'I think we'll call it a day now,' Tom told her, and Bella felt her heart sink slightly as he said it. She didn't want to go back, she wanted to learn things. New things. She'd learned more in that hour she'd spent with Tom, than she had in a whole term of Charms class. She just couldn't wait for the next Hogsmeade visit – or until she figured out how to open James' map – so that she could learn something else.

'Oh,' Bella shrugged and dug her hands into the pockets of her jacket. 'okay. Well… thanks for teaching me. I enjoyed it.'

'No trouble at all,' Tom took a step closer to her, a warm glow in his eyes. 'it's only the beginning. Next time I can teach you something even better – if you like.'

'Yeah,' Bella said, almost too quickly. 'I'd like that. What will you teach me next time?' She pried.

Tom smirked. 'You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?' He ran one finger along the line of her jaw, and she instinctively wanted to follow it back to him. 'Come on then, I'll walk you back into Hogsmeade.'

He did just that, and in the most gentlemanly fashion he could ever have done it. Didn't change the fact that deep in the back of Bella's mind, she liked him so much that she wished he'd just kiss her. But she knew he wouldn't. He seemed only interested in her for her talent, and because they were old friends. She sighed inwardly as he left her at the entrance of the alley they'd met at.

She began to walk up to Hogwarts on her own. After a while, she decided to get the map out of her bag and have a go at figuring out how to open it. She unfolded it and stared at the blank pages. For a moment they were just aggravating, but after a moment, writing began to appear.

Mr Prongs wondered when Bellatrix Black would come across this. Up to no good, Bella?

She stared at it still, was this actually James talking to her? Or a personality that was already in the map? A piece of him, maybe.

Mr Prongs would like to inform Bellatrix that she'll never open the map without admitting she's up to no good.

Before Bella had the chance to even contemplate what that meant, she was rudely interrupted.

'Bellatrix Black?' A voice very close behind her said. She spun around, still clutching the map. The snivelling little face of Severus Snape stood behind her, his lanky frame still not quite overwhelming the greasiness of his hair.

'Yes?'

'What's that?' Snape avoided whatever it was he'd originally wanted and drew his attention straight to the map.

Bella shrugged. 'Just some parchment.' Snape snatched it from her hands, but she didn't really mind, after all, she couldn't get it to show the map, so all Snape was holding was a blank piece of parchment, as the previous text from 'Mr Prongs' had already vanished.

Snape's expression changed suddenly, from looking almost arrogant about having taken the map, to an expression resembling a potion having just exploded in his face. Bella peered over the map to see what it had done to make him look so offended.

Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Severus Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.
Mr. Prongs agrees with Mr. Moony and would like to add that Severus Snape is an ugly git.
Mr. Padfoot would like to register his astonishment that an idiot like him ever came to possess this item.
Mr. Wormtail bids Severus Snape good day, and advises him to wash his hair, the slime-ball.

Bella couldn't contain her laughter at this, as she snatched the map back off him and watched the ink disappear once more.

'Oh, Snape,' She muttered. 'there are just some people you will never be better than. And as a Slytherin, that's a big insult.' Bella told him, before striding away from him and back towards the castle, a smile still on her face from reading that. However, she still needed to work it out for herself, no matter how many quick witted words the map told her, it didn't matter if she couldn't work out how to get in it. That would be tonight's work.