Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

"Good luck," I said softly to Will as we approached the Entrance Hall. Already I could see Riddle waiting for the two of us.

"You as well." Will sighed and slowed down as we walked towards Riddle. He was twirling his wand in his fingers as he waited for us, watching us approach with cold eyes.

He put on a charming smile as the two of us came to stand in front of him, waiting for our sentence. "Miss Linden, you will be spending your detention in the Detention Chamber. There will be a teacher waiting there for you." Detention Chamber? That sounds familiar. Have I been there before? Riddle narrowed his eyes slightly, and I realized that I was still standing there. Shooting one last anxious glance at Will, I turned around and walked towards the first floor.

"As for you, Mr. Harrison, I have something rather special for you to do." Riddle's voice faded away as I climbed the staircase. I grimaced, but there was really nothing I could do. Riddle wouldn't make him do anything too bad...would he?

Yes. I believe he would.

My thoughts turned to my own detention as I trudged along the corridor. The Detention Chamber doesn't sound too bad. There'll be a teacher there, as well. I wonder who? What will I be doing? Lines? I snorted at the thought. Didn't seem to be Riddle's style.

Then again, I hardly knew him.

I appeared outside the heavy wooden door. Testing the knob, I realized it was locked. I raised my hand and knocked on the door.

Silence.

Maybe he was wrong and I can go? I thought hopefully.

My hopes were dashed as the door slowly creaked open. A mass of white hair greeted me with dark eyes squinting at me. "You Findel?" the teacher asked in a rather scratchy voice.

"My surname is Linden, sir," I said.

The teacher opened the door wider, a scowl on his face, and ignored my correction. "What are you waiting for? Get inside!"

I obeyed. There were tables and chairs in the small room, and an easy chair in the corner. Two torches burned on the walls, giving the room a small amount of light. The teacher sealed the door with magic before settling himself down in the easy chair. "Just sit there and be quiet," he grumbled before closing his eyes.

What? I blinked. What kind of detention is this? Looking around again, I realized that there was another student lounging in the back. He raised his arm and motioned to me to come over to him. As I approached the boy, snores rose up from the teacher in the corner. He's asleep. Great.

"Keith. Keith Reynolds," he introduced himself, shaking my hand. "Seventh year Ravenclaw."

"Ella Linden," I replied. "Sixth year Gryffindor."

Keith leaned back in his chair, casting a glare at the teacher. "I've been in here for an hour and half. Southcott just sticks us in here and then goes to sleep. Bloody oaf."

"Southcott?" I also looked at the teacher. "I've never seen him before."

"He spends all his time lurking around the castle. Takes food from the kitchen. Hates people in general." Keith rolled his eyes. "I've had detention with him twice before. I've been in here for as long as six hours before."

"Can't we just leave?" I asked, looking at the door.

Keith shook his head. "It's magically sealed. I don't know how to get past it. 'Sides, if you lay a finger on that door, it starts shrieking. Southcott will wake up and-" He paused. "Well, let's just say it's not very pleasant."

"So we're stuck here." I sighed. "Great."

"What are you in here for, if you don't mind me asking?" Keith twirled his wand around on the desk.

"I defended my friend from a curse, and Tom Riddle saw." I dropped my head on the desk.

"Riddle?" Keith asked, startled. "Huh. He seems like a nice bloke, but strict about the rules."

"Only when it comes to Gryffindors," I muttered, before speaking up. "What made you come here?"

Keith looked sheepish. "I, uh, misfired on a jinx in the corridor and it caused a chandelier to fall. Carpe was just around the corner and he plopped me in here before I could say 'Quidditch'."

I laughed. "I'm surprised that he didn't burst a vein. He's very protective of all the school's artifacts."

"He nearly did, I assure you." Keith grinned.

It was quiet for a couple minutes. I looked around the chamber again. This room seems really familiar… My eyes landed on the torch on the wall. Wait a second…

I stood up abruptly and stalked over to it. It had an ornate ebony bracket that gleamed in the firelight, but there was something odd about it. There was something to do with this… What was it? I don't remember… It was important, though.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked from behind me, bewildered.

An image popped into my mind and I gasped. "Oh!" Reaching up to grasp the handle, I tugged it down. Immediately, the wall opened, revealing a dark stone passageway. A grin crossed my face. "I knew that I remembered this room!"

Keith was beside me in an instant, staring in awe at the passageway. "I never knew about this!" he exclaimed. "I wonder where it leads…"

"Only one way to find out, I suppose." I cast a glance back at Southcott, but he was still fast asleep. "Though what happens when he wakes up?"

"Then he'll be in a right state, trying to figure out where we went. 'Sides, he doesn't really know our names. He'll forget 'em. So let's go!" Eagerly, Keith held his wand aloft, lighting the tip as he took the first steps into the passageway. After a second's hesitation, I followed him in. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the wall behind me closed, leaving us in near darkness.

"Lumos." I held my wand up as well as we began walking.

"I have to say this is the most interesting detention I have ever had the pleasure to be in," Keith said amiably, glancing around at the stone walls. "I definitely hope that I'm placed with old Southcott again for my next one. Ha! He won't ever wake up to see me there again!"

"Just don't tell too many people," I warned. "Otherwise the teachers will catch wind of it."

"Tell anyone?" Keith sounded generally insulted. "This is the greatest discovery yet! Of course I'm not going to tell anyone!" I laughed at that, and my companion allowed himself a small grin before glancing at me with an inquisitive eye. "How did you figure out it was there?"

"Oh, um…" I wracked my brains for a suitable story. "An older student showed it to me when I was a first year. Never really had detention in this room, so I forgot about it."

"Huh. Fair enough." Keith sighed. "I only wish that I knew about this sooner. Alas, in my years of youth, I had not the chance for such a marvelous discovery as this. All well. It'll be worth getting detention, now!"

Keith came to an abrupt stop and I nearly toppled into him. Coming to stand next to him, I saw that there was the back of a picture frame blocking our journey. "Um… Excuse me, but could you let us out please?" I said rather loudly, hoping to capture the inhabitants of the picture's attention.

After a small moment, the picture swung outwards, and we clambered out into an unrecognizable corridor. It was dimly lit with portraits lining the walls, filled with scowling witches and wizards. The large portrait behind us closed, revealing a middle-aged woman with a pallid complexion and sour expression. "Thank you," I said to her.

She snorted and batted at the air with her hand, as if warding away the thanks. "Get out of my sight, you lot."

We obeyed, choosing to go down the left side of the passage. The grim portraits were starting to make me feel uncomfortable. I racked my brains, but I could not draw up any memory of this place, though I guessed I had been through here before. "Any idea where we are?" I asked Keith softly.

"None," he murmured back.

After what seemed like an age, the passageway started to grow lighter, and the portraits less disapproving. As Keith and I went through a tapestry, we both recognized where we were. "Funny," Keith remarked. "I didn't realize that we had been traveling downwards."

"I didn't know this would end up in the dungeons," I admitted as we walked up the corridor, heading to the stairs that led up to the Entrance Hall. A thought suddenly struck me, and I tugged on Keith's robe. "We have to be careful. If Riddle sees us, then we're done for."

He nodded. "Duly noted. Onward."

Luckily, we made it up to the Entrance Hall without incident. "What an adventure!" Keith grinned. "Thank you, Ella, for receiving detention today and showing me that passageway. I can now cause mayhem freely without fear of hours of backlash!"

I grinned slightly, shaking my head. "Just be careful. If you use it too often, the teacher will probably find out about it. As it is, I think it'd be best that I skip dinner tonight and just grab something from the kitchen. Riddle might find out."

Keith smiled at me. "Maybe we'll be stuck in the same detention again. Who knows?" Waving, he began to walk away towards the stairs that would take him to Ravenclaw Tower. I could hear him chortling to himself. "Oh, I wish I can see the look on Southcott's face when he finds out that we're missing…"

Laughing quietly to myself, I began the journey to Gryffindor Tower. The common room was slightly crowded, as more and more people fled indoors for the promise of dinner in a little bit. I took the opportunity to grab a table and put a dent in some of my homework. Margaret was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Will. A spark of worry flashed through me. I had forgotten about Will and his detention. Is he okay?

After about an hour and a half, when I was sure that mostly everyone was at dinner, I made a quick run to the kitchens. The house-elves greeted me cheerfully and shoved as much food as they could into my hands. The one that I recognized from my fuzzy memories, Pokey, was there as well. She grabbed my elbow and convinced me to sit at a wooden table in front of the hearth to eat.

"Pokey is glad that you've come to see her, miss!" she squeaked, beaming at me. She was still clothed in a ragged pillowcase, but I knew better than to mention it. Pokey held no desire to be out of service, and loved her job at Hogwarts.

"It's been a while," I replied, smiling at her before shoveling some food in my mouth.

"Don't worry, Miss Linden." Her tennis-ball eyes grew wider than they already were. "Pokey has not told a single soul about your secret! Pokey will take the secret to the grave!"

"I know you will," I assured her. I had known Pokey from a time before, and needless to say when I came back to Hogwarts five years ago, she was rather alarmed. As far as I knew, Pokey was the only one alive that knew of my secret, and I wanted to keep it that way. I knew I could trust her.

Pokey chatted towards me for a couple more minutes before she returned to work, and I was left to finish my meal alone. The moment I had taken my last bite, the house-elves whisked away my plate and tried to offer me all manner of desserts. I grabbed a couple of sweets to take with me to Gryffindor Tower, and left. Luckily for me, most people were still at dinner, so I made my way undetected to the Gryffindor common room.

As I walked through the portrait hole, I jumped. Will was standing there, soaking wet, exhausted, and a haunted look in his eyes. He had minor cuts and abrasions all over his hands and some on his face. He looked up slowly as I walked in. "Oh," he mumbled. "Hi, Ella."

"What happened to you?" I gasped, flicking my wand, drying him immediately. I watched as he sank into a comfy chair in front of the fire, and quickly went to go sit in the chair next to him. "What did Riddle make you do?"

"He told me that Slughorn ran out of leeches for his potions. So Riddle made me go and get some more. He didn't let me use magic." Will shuddered. "I won't ever go in another lake again. No. Never."

"How long were you out there for?" I asked incredulously.

"Four hours," was the reply that my friend gave before he went silent. When I realized that I was still clutching the bundle of sweets, I unwrapped it. Seeing that chocolate was the main thing in the bundle, I plopped it on Will's lap. He started a bit, glancing down.

"Eat," I said firmly. "You'll feel better."

Will hesitated, but he was never one to deny food, especially sweets. They soon disappeared, and color returned to Will's cheeks, making him seem more alive again. "Thanks, Ella."

"You're welcome." I eyed one of his hands, which was still bleeding freely. "You might want to go to Madam Walsh to get that-"

"No!" Will gasped, making me jump in surprise. He blinked, but continued in a softer voice. "No. I-I'm fine. I swear."

"Alright, fine," I said softly, watching him closely. Four hours trying to catch leeches? That must have been- My eyes widened as a sudden thought struck me. Will absolutely loathes slimy things, and he also has a fear of vampires sucking his blood. He told Margaret and I that it came from his older brother scaring him with those types of stories when he was really young. Riddle must have found that out, and that's why he specifically used this detention for him. No one knows his fears except for Margaret and I, so he must have used Legilimency. My fists clenched. What kind of bastard is he?!

Most of the school likes him a lot. Even people who haven't really met him. My mind flashed towards earlier, with Keith. "Riddle?" Keith asked, startled. "Huh. He seems like a nice bloke, but strict about the rules."

I sighed. Margaret also likes him, and thinks he's handsome. I know that a lot of other girls share her opinion. He is handsome; only a fool would deny it. I'm just not attracted to him. There is something off about him… Using Will's worst fears against him was a vicious move. I now don't like him even more than ever.

I reached out and gripped Will's arm in comfort, glancing at him in concern. He'll bounce back. He always does.

I hope.

A/N

Hello again! I apologize for my absence, but graduating from high school took up a lot of time, as is preparing for college in the early fall. I am turning my attention back to this story. I have up through Chapter 11 written, and will go through and edit it as I publish it here.

Please review!

~Eva Sirico~