Hi. Sorry for the wait. I'm trying to write several chapters in advance for every updates but I've been really busy these days... As I might not appear for the next month maybe, here is chapter 13 for now. I hope you enjoy it.
"Sherbet lemon?"
"No, thank you Professor."
The office is different from the one she knows in the future. It's not the headmaster's, but Deputy Headmaster's office for now so smaller than the main space she is used to. Not so surprisingly, Dumbledore summoned her when she was heading to the kitchen to grab some snacks two hours before curfew. He was waiting for her near the Hufflepluffs corridor like he already knew her snacking habits. Again, not so surprising.
But Riddle is expecting her in less than thirty minutes from now on. She couldn't avoid this meeting in risk of being suspected as someone feeling guilty for something she is not, so she would listen to whatever the (not so) old man has to say before heading straight to the Astronomy tower.
"I am sorry I couldn't reach out to you before this day. There were many things to settle since the fiasco those past few weeks, particularly regarding young Clearwater's funerals and some paperwork for the Ministry."
She is rather surprised he hadn't try to arrange this meeting earlier knowing how meticulous he is with things that go out of his control.
"It's alright, no harm done– uh, to me I mean," she pressed when he gives her a sceptikal look.
"What are you saying? You were in a pretty bad shape yourself, my girl. I was really afraid you had encountered the same fate as poor Jonas for a moment. A chance that Riddle found you in time, right?"
"Yeah– a... chance." The response lacking true enthusiasm doesn't seem to faze the deputy headmaster. On the contrary, the smile widens almost imperceptibly.
"Of course, you have no memory of the incident as I was told. But I do hope your experience hasn't left any permanent post-traumatic stress disorder nonetheless."
"I'm fine. I think. Nothing has changed."
"You know you can tell me everything if something is bothering you. About your health or about anything as well."
She frowns. "Why so invested, Professor? I am a Slytherin. Slughorn should be telling me this as my head of House, not you. And no offense, but you are not really known for showing kindness to slytherins..."
She watches Dumbledore sighs longly like an adult already tired of life. He looks as though he wants to deverse everything he knows but suddenly thinks against it. The smile he addresses her is slightly peevish and that's a first for Eileen.
"I know that my past experience with Slytherins students has greatly affected my vision of them over the generations at Hogwarts. I can't see half of those kids as benevolent, doing things for pretence and darker schemes even though they're just that: kids."
Wow. Is this a confession?! Eileen isn't ready for the Light Lord's search of reedemption. Or rather, she doesn't really want to listen to him brag about past failures and whatnots that would make any villain compatissent with the manipulative (for the greater good) deputy headmaster.
"I know some of you are planning something really bad when the moment presents itself."
The name of Tom Riddle is silently hanging in the space between them. "But I know some of you are simply enjoying life in the castle like any other house members, sometimes with their family names pressuring them and sometimes being cold and unfriendly like they were taught to. Everyone is different and everyone is subjected to evil, be it Dark or Light."
... There is simply no way he just said that. God, she should have recorded it and hacked whatever speaker system Hogwarts possesses for everyone to hear the crazy speech!
"So you approve that a few of your Gryffindors are freely bullying some of my housemates due to their biased prejudice seing us as villains imprinted in their brains because of people like you?"
He shakes his head. "If you're talking about Parker and his friends, I punished them accordingly for their actions."
... What?
"What?"
"The day they were admitted to the hospital wing, he was under the effect of a strong healing potion that has the slight tendency of saying everything one has in heart. He gave you away of course, and I was ready to retaliate straight on– that was before he started cursing about a certain Austin Moore and how beating him was crucial for the Light cause, how taking down baby criminals was needed to purge this castle."
The silent fury Eileen hasn't feel for the boy for so long ressurects like wind over hot coals. The burning anger makes all her muscles tense to the limit. Parker... the son of a bitch. He hadn't learn his lesson at all. Seems like a second round is in order after all. Should she crush him next time she sees the shithead? Should she break some bones?
"Eileen, calm down."
She comes back to reality and at the same time, the flames in the fireplace reduce size almost instantly. Did she do that? Accidental magic isn't supposed to stick with full grown teenagers now that they've learned to direct their magical flux into wands. Looks like Eileen kept her bad temper underneath the eternal easy-going attitude she draps over herself every day of her life. Dumbledore has his wondering stare fixed on the fireplace, thinking of something before looking back at her.
"Parker has been taken care of. He won't do anything again and your friend is safe. The same goes for little Warren too. Although she looks like she could get her way out of the other girl's clutches by herself, I spoke with her head of House. Olive Hornby won't be a problem anymore."
"Really...?"
He nods gently, smiling at Eileen's expression still so tight. She couldn't believe it. Everything looks so easy when the past months were like hell for Harvey and Myrtle.
"Why?" she asks, not a single trace of gratitude on her face. "Why bother now when you all pretended to see nothing before? Why trying to get under my skin when you know Ei– My life was ruined all of those years because of my housemates? You only do that kind of things when it becomes convenient for you."
"I know what you think and you're right. We have long been blinded by our hopes of perfect Houses," he says, leaning back on the old wooden chair. "We didn't want to see one of our child being mean for fun. We haven't taken the consequences of letting them do it in consideration. Austin Moore could have been injured enough to miss the rest of the year or worse: to have his magical core ending up damaged."
The fireplace crackles more intensely.
"I don't want any of it repeat itself in Hogwarts. Not under Headmaster Dippet's nor under my juridiction. Never again."
Eileen considerably calms down after hearing all that. She looks down on her trembling hands. She wasn't even conscious they were trembling until now. Dumbledore seems sincere. She wants to believe him but at the same time she can't find herself trusting the man who would later try to mold Harry into his secret weapon by transforming the truth and hiding most important parts of his own life.
"And that includes you."
"Huh?" she suddenly looks up to the intense, twinkling stare that fills her with unease for a moment.
"You're not telling me everything, Eileen. I know your housemates hadn't been the most gentle with you in the past. I know how bad you were treated and those events have been occuring again sometimes this year. I remember you were diagnosed with traces of nasty curses in your body last time."
Oh shit.
"No, that was–"
"And that story about you getting lost in the Forbidden forest for two days? Tom finding you in time right after discovering the acromentula and incriminating the candid, innocent Rubeus Hagrid? I don't believe it one bit."
"Ah..."
"There are things going on within these walls that none of us has control over. We can't protect anything like this and it pains me grandly to watch children be hurt right under my nose. I want Hogwarts to be a safe place. So Eileen, if there is something you want to say, anything, my door is always open."
She can't get over the feeling of wrongness in those words right now. He is definitely genuine in the way he craves for peace and justice but there is something he's not telling either. What is the purpose of this meeting? Why tell her all of this? And this is when she realizes. He is worried about her, alright, but the man also expects something out of this exagerate concern. There are two options here: he wants Eileen to become some kind of a spy to help his cause, or he wants her to rat Tom Riddle out.
Maybe both?
There goes her wish to return in the shadows after the past nightmare she had to endure.
"I.." She bits her lip. Maybe telling everything she knows about Riddle would help getting rid of him quickly and Eileen can live peacefully after that. Maybe the war won't be coming. Maybe Harry would grow up surrounded by his real family plus Sirius, maybe Dumbledore will become a normal, not-manipulative gentle old man.
But–
What if–
What if it gets worse?
What if Riddle escapes before graduating? What if Dumbledore being focused on the boy results in Grindelwald striking at the worst moment, killing Dumbledore and then him winning the first war? What if Tom, stronger and with more influence than before comes back to kill Gellert, grab the Elder Wand and transform the world into chaos much sooner? She can easily imagine the scenario. Riddle would pursue everyone who doesn't follow him. He's going to create a mass genocide, enslaving magical families of the resistance, murdering every muggle on Earth. And then, only then, he would go for the one person who thwarted the entirety of his original plans: Eileen Floquet.
Will he kill her? Torture her slowly? Make her suffer until she can't think anymore? Making her his slave so that she can watch the world burn helplessly, showing the miserable bitch how vain her move was?
"Eileen."
Shaking the last horrific apocalyptic picture off her brain, she looks up at the deputy headmaster.
"I will remember that Professor."
She needs to leave the room before she suffocate. What time is it?
"I... I have to go."
Dumbledore frowns. "But classes are finished."
"Tutoring lessons," she blurts out before thinking. Crap.
"Tutoring?" he looks even more curious. "I never thought you would take your studies seriously after all this time claiming not to care..."
"Neither did I. Slughorn forced me. Had no choice," she grumbles while standing up quickly.
"Who is tutoring you then? They must be someone really patient to put up with the ill-tempered fireball you are, Miss Floquet."
Ha double-ha. Even Dumbledore is trying humour with her now! "It's Tom Riddle."
She almost regrets telling him when she sees the vivid twinkle eyes darkening a little. Oopsy.
"Tom?"
"Yeah- um. He's not the most gentle tutor of all times but... well. He's good at what he does."
He doesn't answer. Taking this chance to get away, Eileen politely bids the deputy headmaster good night before passing the door, running for her life. She's going to be late for good if she can't cross the whole castle in five minutes.
She sprawls on the floor with ragged breath when she arrives at the Astronomy tower. Riddle is already here of course, eyes calmly on his watch without looking up at the slytherin girl about to die of exhaustion. The prick had decided to pick the upper level of the tower to tutor the hopeless failure she is, added to that.
"Ten seconds more and you could say farewell to your legs."
"S-Shut... up! I... I made it, alright. And why... targeting my... fucking legs!?"
"Language."
Never has she wanted to kill the bastard more than now. "I think that with your legs functionning no more, you would stop running around like a fool where you shouldn't be and stay right where people need you to."
"Ha. T-Try me."
This place at the top has no table to settle onto, so both of them just sit on the floor like there were on a picnic. The image of Riddle positioning himself on the ground like a plebeian when he spends all his life trying to appear like a pumpous noble brat makes her crack a discreet smile. Until the git conjures a comfortable chair for him only to sit in.
Obviously.
The following lesson however, puts it away like a slap on the face. All those words, names and space history brings Eileen to the verge of death. She is a person of letters and imagination. Theorical schemas, calculus or galaxies are not for her brain to register.
"You're really not faking your dullness in this..." he murmurs in genuine wonder. It makes Eileen grit her teeth. Well, no one can be as perfect as the son of bitch heir of whatever who possesses the brain of a genius.
"Even you are not capable to save me from mediocricy for this Riddle. Give up."
"On the contrary. All I see is a challenge that I must overcome at all cost."
"... You're serious?"
He was. Eileen spends the next two hours trying to recall every name of every constellation with their meaning regarding Magic. That is to say, she only managed to remember twenty out of a hundredth, including Orion's and Sirius's for more than obvious reasons. It was even harder as thick clouds took over the sky tonight, hidding the billion of stars behind an endless black screen.
"You should have helped me in Runes instead," she growls, stretching when the lesson is finally over. Riddle is gathering all the books he prepared for this.
"Runes is a subject you're supposed to excel in if you've taken the option."
She bits her lips. The previous Eileen must have excelled in that class apparently, but the current one is unable to remember the symbols, the correct placement and pronounciation in order to make a Rune work. She sighs, looking at Riddle and the pile of books he is building to carry them all back to the shelves in the classroom.
There is something she can't figure out with the prefect. Their last fight is only a week and half old. She vividly remembers the intensity of the moment, the genuine murderous intent Riddle was battling with against her. He could have easily killed Eileen as soon as she lost alongside her acknowledge about certain things no one was supposed to. But here they were, having "joyful" tutoring lessons together like nothing happened, without Riddle breathing on her neck to try and extract every layer of secrets she has.
"Do I have something on my face?"
Ah. She is staring.
"I'm just wondering why you are doing this."
He lets out a long sigh. Oh wow, it's the fifteenth one this evening!
"We've talked about this already."
"No, not the extra private lessons coming out your generous heart. I mean, this," she waves a hand between them. "Why am I still breathing? Why are you not trying to force the truth out of me?"
No need to pretend anymore, right? He knows that she knows. About the Chamber, at least. He stops what he's doing, trying to find something in Eileen's doubtful stare. She does everything she can not to flinch back at the sudden fixation on her.
"Are you going to talk if I used more forceful methods?"
"No." Absolutely not.
"See, that's why."
He stands up, the books piled up under his arms. "I have my way to obtain the informations I want. And know this, Floquet: I always get what I want. In time. It doesn't matter how long it takes, what efforts it costs, I will know everything and you will regret the day I asked you politely."
Well. It does have the merit of being clear. How lucky for her that the in-becoming dark lord hasn't mastered legilimency yet.
The OWLs arrive like a bullet train coming straight in the face with high speed. Eileen has spent the last week learning and reading every bits of the lessons she couldn't get through under Riddle's merciless tutoring every night. It had been hard. Tough. Surprising that none of them had finished one of those lessons brandishing their wands at each other's throat yet. Tom has threatened her multiple times already, but the murderer hasn't done a single thing about it by now. Eileen only knows that the Chamber has been shut down permanently– No, the basilisk only has been put to sleep permanently and no other case of petrification would be heard again until fifty years later. Thank God for small mercy.
Dumbledore hasn't summoned her again since the last time, and the stares, even though as invasive as ever, had reduced significantly. Harvey enjoyed spending time with her, Myrtle too- maybe too much. Although the encounters with the ravenclaw were more hazardous than anything because really, sitting next to the endless human chatting-box all day was worth a kilogram of Dafalgan.
The performing tests were a piece of cake for Eileen. The writing part however... let's say she put the most efforts in Care of Magical Creatures because although she hasn't participated in most of classes, she's read enough to comprehend some of the beasts' caracteristics and style of life. The pressure of success lasted four days and half. The last subject was Transfiguration and when Eileen left the classroom after performing a stunning magic trick, she wanted to laugh at the over-stressing students in the corner who were crying in despair while in the queue.
"You are in a good mood."
Leaning her head against the armrest of the sofa, Eileen barely takes a glimpse at Eldwins who she knows has her eyes burried in another book the Slytherin queen brought with her. They are in the common room, settled in their favourite area near the fireplace. A few of upperclassmen has joined them surprisingly, including some characters Eileen could rarely have a peek at because of the different schedules for each year. Walburga is here. Cooing erotically at Riddle who takes great pleasure at pretending not to know while entertaining their conversation.
"Me? I'm just happy OWLs are over."
"Even though you surely failed in everything?"
"Ha-ha, very funny Demeris. Thanks to your cult leader, I might have succeeded in three or four subjects."
"At least you're not as completely hopeless as we thought. By the way, call Riddle a cult leader again in front of me and I will make sure you can't utter a single word ever again myself."
Having said that, Eldwins dives once again in her Arithmancy book without taking any attention at the assembly of elites gathered around the common room. As the only one not important enough to be offered a seat, Eileen is happily enjoying the comfort of the common room's rug that matches the dark green aura of the place. The mood is lighter than what the Slytherin's den usually feels like today. And the cause is: the summer holidays announcing the end of the exams and as thus, the school year. Everyone looks thrill to go back to being lazy at home and going to rich parties with their ass-rich friends.
Everyone except one.
Eileen doesn't even want to look his way right now. It's been days since he has finally left her alone, going back to ignore her again like before. Not that it changes the dynamics of the most popular soon-to-be sixth year group of young witches and wizards. Malfoy is as acerb as always, Orion still thinks it funny to tease her in a way she cannot comprehend. It wouldn't be a shock to learn that Atheis is keepind a vaudoo doll under her bed to curse Eileen to death too.
Eileen couldn't wait to get out of here, tired of avoiding everyone's suspicion because of her stupid mistakes. What if she could convice her father not to go back to Hogwarts next September? To hell with the NEWTs, it is a given that she is bound to fail theoric classes over the practical ones. No one could suddenly appear in the Harry Potter universe and top every class like a cliché overrated main character. It would take years for Eileen to master everything she has no memories of learning before, even with Riddle's help. So the only solution is to give up on the future failures and be satisfied with the good results.
It's not like she is bound to become an Auror or some shite like this. Eileen wants a peaceful life. No war, no rivalties, no pressure about her social cast. The Ministry have nothing to offer her. Maybe she should go with a Magizoologist career or something. A librarian? Would be hella great for the kind of working environment she is looking for.
Sighing in contentment, Eileen leans her head back on the armrest. The vibrant buzzing of conversations around is enough to lull her into a small sleep for minutes. Ah, so weird. It must be the first time she is able to be at peace around the most vicious slytherins of all times. So refreshing, yet so weird at the same time. Walburga's greasy laugh pops in the background before being swallowed up by Lestrange's yelp in the crowd.
Yep. Those baby Death Eaters won't be missed at all, should Eileen drop out prematurely.