I am back!

Man how long has it been? TOO LONG ENTIRELY! Anyways! I finished my Masters', research, some TA work I had so here is a chapter! FINALLY!

Firenze had dropped me back at the very edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I trust you can find your way back from here?" He asked, already backing away into the shadows of the trees, away from the exposing moonlight.

"Yes," I turned to look at him. "Thank you again, for bringing me back…and um, not letting your friends shoot me, I suppose."

"Think nothing of it. And try not to stray too far into the woods again. I might not be around a second time."

A ghost of a smile crossed his lips at that. "Take care, child. I hope the stars are kind to you this time."

I turned back, a question already bubbling at my lips but Firenze had already taken off, trotting into the woods. When the sound of galloping faded, I took a deep breath and steeled myself. I reached into my pocket, drew my wand and focused as hard as I could on a memory of warm arms and a brilliant smile.

The wand tip glistened silver for a few seconds before with a burst, the wisps of my patronus twisted into itself and streaked into the dark wall of the forest. It would find Hagrid, let him know where I was and not wait for me. I waited another minute, shivering and then dropped the wand, pocketing it.

Thankfully, Hagrid had found the perfect spot for Aragog. He'd led me towards a cavernous little dip in the ground, covered with moss that climbed over fallen trees. Even the air smelled like dew. I floated Aragog's box, under a disillusionment spell, to the cavern. Then I hung back as Hagrid eagerly opened the top and let the spider out. As used to each other we'd gotten over the course of our acquaintance, I could never get over the vision of a hundred adult Acromantulas flooding the castle in my time. Aragog was the size of an adolescent thestral by now, disturbing clicking sounds exuding from him as it was introduced to his new home. I kept my wand at the ready, staring straight at it in case it suddenly turned hostile. Then I remembered Firenze's words.

"Aragog, what are you so afraid of in the castle?" I asked with no emotion, ignoring Hagrid's confused look. Aragog, who had by now scuttled excitedly to the mossy hollow and was clicking away happily stopped abruptly. It turned, eight long legs moving in unison to get it to look at me.

"I have nothing to do with that anymore." Aragog spoke, in the human speech of the acromantula. "I shall never cross the borders of the castle again."

"Why?" It was Hagrid, close to sniffling again.

"Because your castle hides many secrets. It is not for me to be hidden away, fearful and concerned for my well-being."

"Aragog! We kept you safe!"

"And I am grateful. I shall always be grateful. You will never come to harm from my brethren as long as I breathe. But I must not be near the castle."

"What is it that you're so scared of?" I asked as Aragog began to turn, slinking backwards into the depths of the ground.

The spider didn't reply until it was completely out of sight.

"We do not speak its name."

Settling Aragog into the Forbidden Forest came at an opportune time. The weeks were fading fast, blurring together till it was time for examinations for Hagrid and OWLs for me. It seemed as if the whole castle had flipped its atmosphere on its head. The murmur of chilly winters, of cozy and lazy study sessions in front of blazing fires were replaced by frenzied footsteps, running to the libraries, sneaking in books into the dorms to read. There were numerous breakdows and the teachers looked as nervous as the students felt.

In the frenetic motion of the castle, there lay a whisper of something else. It buzzed just under the surface of the exam fever, an intangible force that hinted at an unspoken existence of another excitement. As per the time frame and as much as I could recall of the history of magic class, it could have easily been about Grindelwald.

With me now fully detached from the wizarding side of Britain, I had no news of what was going on in Wizarding Europe. And of course, I was not going to ask any of the Slytherin what was up. The only source of news I had were Fawley, Lila and Alphard and they were all too busy with their studies to disturb.

I had to remember that it was their first time giving OWLs. I also had to remember that there were two direct victims of Riddle in the castle. So I left them to their work and tagged myself with Myrtle and Hagrid. Thankfully their friendship meant that they two stuck together now. Myrtle made notes for Hagrid in the library while revising for herself and she would also help quiz me on my own classes, claiming that it was good practice for when it was her time. I appreciated the help and the convenience of keeping any eye on them.

"This would be so much easier if they just had a bathroom in the library." Myrtle grumbled one time.

"Why?" Hagrid asked, scratching his ear with a quill.

Myrtle dropped her book, skidding her chair back to show us the hem of her robes. They were soaking wet. "Someone keeps leaving the taps in our bathroom on the second floor open. There's always water on the floor and it is just so filthy."

I stared at her robes, my jaw clenching.

"You should be careful." I said quietly.

"Yeah, there's a chance I could slip and break something." Myrtle scooted closer to the table.

"No I meant -" I coughed. "Just be careful around the castle. Things are strange around here."

Hagrid grinned. "I think yeh've seen some of the strange things around, eh?"

Myrtle didn't understand the joke. "It just feels like that because you're new. The castle is always strange." She turned to Hagrid. "Focus Rubeus."

They both lowered their heads to their parchments.

One thing was clear, I couldn't keep an eye on Myrtle and Hagrid all the time. Neither could I tell them what was happening, they would lose their minds or think I'd lost mine. The best thing I could do was keep an eye on the source itself. But keeping an eye on Tom now would be futile. I'd lost focus and given him an opening to go about his business. There would be no point in shadowing him.

I debated going to Dumbledore, but with no proof I wondered what he could do. He had failed to open the Chamber once when he had Tom under his nose. There was also the matter that he had specifically warned me not to tell him anything to do with my future. Without telling him about the future, I had little to nothing to report. There was no way I could tell him about Firenze, it would also get Hagrid and Aragog in trouble.

I was trapped both ways.

The only thing I could do now was to simply focus on my patrols. I specifically chose the bathroom, running him off whenever he tried to split our duties.

It worked well, as with a simple clench of his jaws, a suspicious glint in his eyes, he would march off, leaving me to scurry along the first few floors before spending the rest of patrol in front of the bathroom.

"Is this what you call patrolling?"

I jumped, turning from the window I'd been staring out of. The moonlight streaking in through it illuminated a figure coming straight towards me.

"Riddle?" I asked, suspiciously.

He didn't answer, coming to stand in front of me. His arms folded behind his back as he gazed imperiously at me.

"I just stopped for a second. I thought I saw something out on the grounds." I defended myself automatically before remembering that this wasn't a professor. This was Tom Riddle and circumstances had long changed between us. There was no need for the facades on either of our parts.

Tom seemed to have gauged the change in my demeanor, something shifting in his eyes as he relaxed as well.

"I thought you took the upper levels. Why are you here?" I asked, leaning against the cool pane of the window.

"I thought you already knew. I make it a habit to canvas the entire castle, no matter what 'levels I take.'"

"And Olive never noticed or said anything," I muttered, earning a smirk.

"No, she did not."

"But I do."

"Yes," He sighed. "You do." He took a step closer. "Why is that? What is it about this floor that makes it so important for you to patrol?"

I could lie. I should lie. But there really was no point…and I didn't believe Riddle would be merciful if he caught me out or even if I told the truth. So I chose to straighten up, taking a step closer to him so we were nearly touching. He didn't move away, simply staring down at me.

"I'm here. I will always be here, Tom. Every single night."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Am I to understand this as a warning?"

I grinned stupidly. "I'm threatening you actually."

"I see." Tom nodded, almost to himself. "I suppose there is nothing left for me to do but to heed the threat and treat you accordingly. I am…disappointed." He stepped back then, further into the shadows now that the moon had moved further. "You had such…potential."

He was completely shrouded in darkness. I waited for him to say something else…perhaps even a curse of two. But there was silence and as the fear began to leave my stricken fingers, I realized that it would be best to head to bed now.

I exited the floor by a different staircase, head down and wearily watching my shoes.

"Excuse me," I heard a soft whisper, looking up to see a younger boy, holding a cup of thick brown milk - hot chocolate.

"It's late. You shouldn't be out and about at this hour." I said sharply, the warning sounding harsh even to my own ears.

"I couldn't sleep. I'm going now." The boy yawned in my face and for a split second I wasn't looking at a boy - but my sister.

"Are you - You're…an Alton, aren't you?" I asked impulsively, hungrily.

The boy turned as he passed me upstairs, nodding carefully. "Dunston Alton, are you going to get me in trouble?"

I laughed at my grandfather. "No, I won't say a word. Just go to bed now and stay safe." I moved on before I could say anything else.

Each step towards the Slytherin dormitories strengthened my resolve to thwart Voldemort.

But thwarting Voldemort would have to wait as it turned out.

OWLs swarmed Hogwarts in a surge of frenzy that outdid the preparatory months leading up to the examinations. It was like seeing a kaleidoscope of my past years at school, frenetic over the subjects I knew I wouldn't do too well in and coasting by on the subjects I knew I would do well in. I wasn't prepared to go through all that again until a few days before the examination a letter dropped in my lap.

I hope you are making the most of the second chance you have been given.

- A. D.

I rolled up the small bit of parchment and shoved it into my robes, feeling guilty somehow. Knowing Dumbledore was right only pushed me to perceive just how contagious the studying fever of the others were.

For the most part…it was Tom Riddle who made the decision for me ultimately.

If there was one student who studied like there was no tomorrow, it was him. He barely left the library - as far as I could tell - and his followers only hung about in the common room.

I still patrolled the bathroom but he never came by again. It was almost like he had called it quits for the exams.

I could then focus on my own studies until the OWLs were over.

But while Tom seemed to have quietened down, Grindelwald increased his attacks. They were subtle, only something a wizard might detect but he was getting bolder and the worst thing was I couldn't recall if this was how it happened in my own time or was it a changed pattern.

The examinations came and went swiftly, one moment spent revising hurriedly, the next chewing over quills in the theoretical examinations. The practicals by far were the easiest, the incantations flowing smoothly over my tongue as magic flooded through my wand to obey the examiner's whims.

But even as I spent time with my friends, being the nervous student I once had been, I couldn't quite shake the feeling that something brewed on the horizon. Whether it was Voldemort's appearance, or Grindelwald's I had no way to ascertain and sharing my concerns with my friends was out of the question.

So I shared them with Helena Ravenclaw.

She hovered over the stones of her little grotto as I poured over my parchments, muttering about my worries.

"It seems to be hysteria." Helena murmured, not as interested as I would've liked. "Do you still have those in these times?"

I glanced up. "I'm sure hysteria never went out of fashion, Helena."

"It does come in handy if you know how to put on the proper act." Helena gave a brief, ghostly smirk before sinking through the ground.

I promptly returned to my revision for the final examination.

The last exam to get through was History of Magic, and surprisingly it wasn't as hard to focus on, mostly because a lot of the coursework that we had had in my time hadn't even happened. It brought a smirk to my face, realizing that the wizarding kind hadn't managed to really do much in over fifty years.

It made for an easier exam though and that was better than any progress any wizard could've made.

"I can't believe they didn't ask about wand legislation. I learnt all those stupid years for nothing! But - I absolutely crushed it in the Statute of Secrecy question." Fawley gloated as we exited the classroom.

"It was the other way round for me. I was miserable in the years, but I'm sure I have all the Warlock congregation names right." Lila said.

"Lucky you -" Alphard muttered, Fawley already cutting him off to begin comparing answers.

It was then, half engrossed in conversation that I noticed the all too familiar head of raven hair disappear around a corner. And just like that, I was back in my first weeks in Hogwarts. The night after astronomy class…Tom Riddle around a corner…following him…and losing him in the maze of the castle…

Only this time, I knew where to go.

"I'll catch up with you guys. I'm just going to go down to the kitchens for a bite." I excused myself, heading straight for the bathroom on the second floor.

The flooding problem Myrtle had spoken about had caused the caretaker to block off the bathroom while he attempted to figure out what the problem with the plumbing was. However, it was empty and I stood at the door, wishing I had an extendable ear to hear what was going on inside. I stretched out a hand, thanking Merlin when I detected no charm barring the door.

Checking if the coast was clear, I edged the door open, catching the group of boys in the mirrors at the sink. They circled each other ominously, standing too close. The marble echoed their mumbling into a jumble of words, too entangled to be intelligible.

And then Riddle raised a hand in the center of the circle, ceasing the mumbling.

"I assume you all have no questions," He said flatly, indicating the conversation had already finished. "It will be done tonight."

I spun on my heel, away from the Death Eaters, away from Lord Voldemort.

Dumbledore's office door slammed open as I entered shoulders first, my bag half falling to the floor as I dragged it behind me. The large airy room seemed empty, the fireplace crackling and in front a disturbed Fawkes crooning annoyedly at me.

"Professor?" I called and a head turned from one of the large squashy armchairs by the fire.

Messy honey blond hair perched on a youngish face, startled at my wild entrance. He half stood from his seat.

"He isn't here, Miss. Are you alright?"

"Oh," My bag sagged to the floor. "I guess…I'm not. I really need to speak to him. Do you know where he is? And who are you?"

The man smiled nervously. "He went off to see off the OWL invigilators. And I'm Newt. Newt Scamander."

I stopped looking around the room, fixing the man with a dead stare. Newt Scamander? Author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them? But he couldn't be that just yet, he looked barely out of Hogwarts himself.

"Do you want to sit?" Scamander indicated the chair opposite him.

"Oh…I don't know, I really should look for Dumbledore."

Fawkes took off, circling the room once before settling on my shoulder, a warm, bracing weight on me. Almost immediately I could feel some of the "nerves" easing. Under his support, I went and slumped into the armchair, Fawkes going back to sit on his perch. Newt offered me one of the cups from a spindle table, filling it with tea.

"Dumbledore will soon be here. Why don't you talk to me till then?" He asked kindly.

I took a sip of tea.

"Why monsters?" I blurted out.

Mr. Scamander paused before his sip, hiking up an eyebrow. "Does Dumbledore speak of me?"

"No…you're just…um, kind of a legend." I said lamely, hoping he would leave it at that.

Fortunately, Scamader snorted. "I'm sure. I was one of the failures of Hogwarts, believe it or not." He placed his cup down. "As for the monsters; they aren't monsters…not really. In my time of searching and befriending them I've learned something about them. They aren't all that different from us."

"Really?"

"Some creatures are just creatures. The ones that you would consider "monsters," are abandoned, lonely, scared or just plain angry with their circumstances. You do not leave children back when their circumstances are dire, do you? It is the same with these hostile creatures. All they really want is gentleness and nourishment, from their environments, their homes and sometimes their handlers."

"And a gentle hand and friendliness tames monsters?"

"I don't see why not. I have something of a knack for it." He chuckled.

I smiled absently, looking into the fire. Light was beginning to fade from the open windows, a sweet smell wafting in from the honeysuckles bordering the sills. It didn't seem that Dumbledore was coming back as soon as I needed him to. Meanwhile Tom would gather his followers and unleash the beast in the Chamber. Firenze's warning came to my mind. I had to stop it this time. What if it wasn't Myrtle, considering I made sure she listened to my advice to use the third floor bathrooms instead. What if it was someone else? The caretaker who was working there, one of the Death Eaters…although I didn't mind that one all that much. What if something went wrong and Tom himself got hurt? I couldn't sit here doing nothing for long.

Scamander's words reminded me of Dumbledore's earlier advice; to bring friendship into my approach towards Tom rather than just mete out aggression. Was that still possible?

I placed my cup down.

Time to test that theory.

In the end it was me alone.

I placed a hand on the wooden door of the bathroom and pushed it open as quietly as I could. My wand was gripped in my hand tightly, enough so I could feel the blood thrum against my skin. There was water on the floor, the glass windows grimy from having not been cleaned for days.

And in the center, the large sink system was dismantled. Four basins gaped open, revealing a hole in the ground. And above that stood, Rosier. He was standing with his back to me, peering down into the hole.

I wondered if he was pondering jumping in.

I moved slightly to the left, trying not to hit him so he would fall into the hole.

I raised my wand.

"Stupefy!"

The spell threw Rosier head first into one of the opposing sinks, head crashing into the marble. Rosier fell to the wet floor with a thud, not responding. I rushed over, putting a hand to his head. There didn't seem to be any blood and I was sure he hadn't cracked his skull.

Just knocked out then.

I got up slowly, breathing hard as I leaned over the hole.

They'd already gone down then.

Nothing else to do…

I closed my eyes, prayed to Merlin and jumped.

I can't believe there are only two more chapters left!