Arriving early, Arabella collected her book out of the dusty cupboard and set herself down on one of the tables in the middle of the room. Double potions with the Ravenclaws was never one of her favourite subjects but Arabella had shown a strength for the art of potion brewing and Professor Slughorn adored her so she listened politely and was grateful that it wasn't a double period with Gryffindor. Besides, the classroom was situated in her most comfertable area of the castle. The potions classroom was traditionally in the depths of the Hogwarts castle, dark and quiet it was the perfect place to keep ingredients and cauldrons. The dungeons were, unlike popular belief, warm and stuffy thanks to the flickering flames on the walls and no windows for the warmth to escape from. Sure, Arabella knew that some places in the dungeons were cold and damp but they were the dark corners where ghosts lurked and where Peeves slept. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Arabella flipped through the pages absentmindedly, glancing at the potions and cocktails she would be creating this year when one caught her attention. 

Advanced Love Potion                                                                                                                                                 Not suitable for beginners                                                                                                                                                 Brew with absolute caution

Arabella felt her heart clench and snapped the book shut, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. Her stomach clenched like she was falling from a broom. She thought she would vomit.  

"Good morning, Miss Caerwyn," Horace Slughorn said, pushing the door open. He straightened his robes and walked briskly into the classroom, towards his desk. Arabella jumped, her heart speeding up. 

"Merlin, Professor!" Arabella spluttered, holding a hand to her chest. Then she smiled graciously to her favourite professor who was looking at her rather curiously, wondering why she was so jumpy. But Horace dismissed it, letting it all fall down to fatigue since it was still the morning. "Morning, sir," Arabella replied finally and reopened her book carefully on a different page. At that moment, the door to the dungeon classroom swung open and six students walked in, Jaelyn one of them. "Jaelyn!" Arabella waved the blonde Slytherin over. Now over her petty annoyance, Jaelyn smiled and made her way over and sat down next to Arabella, letting her Potions fall on the table with a thud. 

"Hey Bels!" Jaelyn said then glanced at the blackboard where a chalk was writing instructions on it's own, charmed by Slughorn so he could arrange papers while everyone else wandered into the class and settled down at a desk. Jaelyn groaned, letting her head fall on the wooden table. "I hate the draught of the living death," she said, feeling the boredom begin to make it's way into her head. 

Arabella turned around curiously and saw the chalk break itself in half and fall to the ground, it's job finished. Written on the board were the instructions on how to make the difficult potion, usually reserved for NEWT students. She looked back at Jaelyn, grinning. "Go get the ingredients."

Jaelyn sighed in relief, "the usual situation?" 

Arabella grinned, nodding. "I'll make the potion if you do half my transfiguration homework. I hate that subject." 

Jaelyn winked, "and I hate this one." She wandered over to the supply cupboard and gathered every ingredient that was needed to brew the Draught of Living Death. When she returned, Arabella had found the correct page in the Potions book and was scanning the instructions carefully. 

"Hand me two doxy wings, will you?" Arabella asked and gripped the knife in her hand, ready to slice the wings thinly to add to the boiling mixture of unicorn tears and asphodel. Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened and a small boy wearing a red tie and the traditional black cloak approached Slughorn timidly. 

"Hello Thomas," the professor said kindly, noticing the small Gryffindor standing by his feet. "What may I do for you today?" 

The small child, Thomas, his voice was so quiet and nervous, that if she wasn't standing at one of the front tables, Arabella wouldn't have caught his words. "Headmaster Dippet would like to speak with Arabella Caerwyn in his study as soon as possible, sir." 

Arabella's heart stopped, it turned cold and her back straightened in shock. Jaelyn turned to look at her in confusion. "Why does old, Dippet want to see you?" she whispered.

Arabella shrugged shakily, but in her head, two words kept revolving around her conscience like a mantra. Jacob Summers. Was he awake? Did he remember anything? Was she being blamed for his horrendous state that Stefan Malfoy left him in? All the memories from that night that Arabella had kept blocked from her mind came rushing in as if someone had opened the floodgates of her mind. Hands trembling, she fixed her green tie that had become like a noose around her neck, tight and a reminder that Tom Riddle would be blissfuly ignored because it was not him, but her who returned Jacob Summers to the infirmary that night. 

Professor Slughorn waved the boy away with a polite 'thank you' and ten points for his house then turned his eyes to Arabella, who hid her discomfort from his gaze. "Arabella," he said and waved his hand to the door. "The headmaster wishes to see you." 

"Alright." Arabella gathered her books and slung her bag over her trembling shoulder. "Bye, sir." 

She left the classroom, sending a reassuring glance back to Jaelyn who had been silent most of the encounter. Jaelyn smiled back but it didn't reach her eyes. She was curious. Arabella knew she would pester her until she found out what the meeting had been about but Arabella wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her friend what had happened yet. She wanted to figure out Tom Riddle before anyone else knew of his threats and promises. Tom Riddle was her mystery. 

The halls were silent, apart from the passing of the occasional student who had a free period. Arabella walked silently but at a brisk pace, Headmaster Dippet didn't appreciate tardiness. Her mind wandered around everything she had experience during the past few days. Ever since she overheard Lestrange talking to Avery about the strange painting Tom had become increasingly obsessed with, Arabella decided to find as much information on it as she could. Maybe the painting would give her clues on Tom's odd group of friends and his strange, motives. 

 Tom Riddle was a polite young man in front of teachers and other students but there was a harshness, a darkness behind his eyes that he hid behind soft words and his intelligence. There were times when he was a terrifying wizard, capable of terrible things. Arabella had witnessed that side of him that night in the common room and in the Great Hall. She'd seen the shadow of darkness pass through his green eyes and knew that he was falling deeper and deeper into the dark arts. But no one else saw. In everyone's eyes, Tom Riddle was an extraordinary student with amazing powers of wizardry that just couldn't be taught because they were natural.  

His darkness was hidden in plain sight and Arabella was sure, she was the only one who could see it. 

Still deep in her thoughts, Arabella's foot sunk straight into a trick stair, one that she usually knew to jump. "Merlin's beard," Arabella said, groaning. Now she was going to be very late to her meeting with old Dippet. She yanked her foot viciously but all it did was make it sink deeper into the step. "Damn."

Arabella pulled her wand out of the pocket in her robe and waved it a few times pointlessly before dropping her arm in defeat, accepting the fact that she would be stuck there until another student happened to walk by and help her out. 

"My, my," said a voice behind her, sly and soft. Arabella groaned. Tom walked around Arabella until he was in front of her. His lips quirked up when he saw her frown at his presence. "Are you following me, Arabella?" he asked, eyes sparkling with confidence. His dark hair was pushed back, leaving his porcelain face free to examine. 

Arabella shrugged, feeling a surge of sudden confidence fly through her. "I'm more inclined to think you're following me, Tom." She saw Tom's eyebrow twitch slightly when she said his first name however the rest of his face remained neutral. Tom was good, very good at hiding his emotions, if he had emotions. 

Arabella held her arms up. Tom eyed her warily. He motioned at her arms, raising an eyebrow. "What do you want? A hug?" His face convulsed as if hugging someone was something he had not done in a long time. Arabella suspected he hadn't. 

Arabella groaned. "No, dorcus. Pull me out." She waved her arms impatiently in front of his face again, watching him carefully. 

Tom sighed and ignored her outstretched arms, stepping forward. "I hope you know that just because I'm pulling you out of this it doesn't make us friends. I'm only doing it so you can get to Professor Dippet's office."  

"How do you know about that-" Arabella squeaked as Tom gripped her waist tightly and pulled her sharply out of the trick stair. Now standing on the stair lower than him, his face was above hers and his green eyes were scanning her own face curiously. "Uh, Tom, you can let go of me now." Arabella said softly and pried his hands off her waist. 

Tom clasped his hands together painfully slow, still staring at Arabella with his beautiful eyes. He cocked his head. "Strange," he said then turned around and continued down the staircase and back the way Arabella had come from. 

Not fully understanding what had just happened, Arabella peered at Tom's retreating back and realised that, his hands were wet. Where he had held her waist were two damp patches, her skin tingling from his touch. 

She looked up and realised that the closest bathroom on this floor was the girls bathroom. If Tom had come from anywhere else, the water would have dried and his hands wouldn't have been wet at all. She ran up the rest of the stairs and edged closer to the entrance to the bathroom. Suddenly, she froze when she realised what bathroom she was about to enter. 

Last year, a young Ravenclaw was killed in the bathroom. No one knows who or what did it. The only thing anyone knew was that the killings stopped when Rubeus Hagrid, a big oaf of a Gryffindor was expelled. Myrtle Warren. That was her name. She was a mudblood, and was the only person killed in the sea of petrifications. 

Swallowing, Arabella shook her head and backed away, keeping on track to her meeting but wondering what Tom Riddle was doing in the girl's bathroom where a young Ravenclaw was murdered.