where are you now
when i need you most?

Green.

Why was there so much green?

Hold on, why was a Slytherin questioning why their surroundings were green?

Theodore Nott's thought process was nothing to be envied that morning. Laid in front of the fireplace, his gaze slowly sharpened as he took in his surroundings, standing up as carefully as he could.

His legs were numb underneath him, barely keeping him upright; Theo vaguely remembered the sensation as a common Muggle ailment called 'pins and needles'.

Another term for it could be 'In need of 5 shots of firewhiskey," Theo had thought to himself ruefully.

He yawned, stretching his limbs, unaware of anyone else in the room until Draco Malfoy made himself known, Blaise Zabini strolling after him like it was just another regular morning.

"Morning," Draco greeted, lifting a glass filled with amber liquid to Theo, "How'd you sleep?"

"Like shit."

"Why didn't you come to the dorm then?" Blaise asked, refusing Draco's offer to pour him anything.

"I...can't remember." Theo was momentarily sidetracked by his lack of knowledge towards the last day or so. "I woke up here. How the fuck did you get a bed, and I got the rug? Do you know how many girls Malfoy has shagged on there?" Theo hissed, gesturing in the direction of the, albeit comfortable, tainted rug.

"I take offence to that." Draco interjected, although the lazy grin slipping onto his face told Theo that he didn't care that much.

"Good. If I wanted to share a dorm with a rabbit, I would've gone to live in the Forbidden Forest."

"Just say the word, and we can get you back to your home, Nott. Such a shame you've been separated from animals like yourself for so long."

"Prick."

"Asshole."

"Ferret."

"We promised we would never bring that up!" Draco seethed.

Blaise sighed, clearing his throat to grab the attention of his friends, who were minutes away from jumping down each other's throats. "If you two don't mind," His tone was calm, eerily polite, forever the voice of reason, "Can we discuss the girl that was laying on the floor of our room?"

"Pansy? Just pour cold water on her."

"It's not Pansy, idiot."

"Oh?"

"Merlin, Malfoy, while we were in the room?" Theo scoffed in partial disgust, partial wonder.

"You weren't even here, Nott!"

"Enough. Who is she, Malfoy?" Blaise asked, taking a seat on a nearby armchair, refusing Draco's offer of alcohol with a shake of his head.

"No idea. Maybe one of the girls got lost?" Draco offered.

"How did we even get back here? I don't remember last night. I don't remember...much, actually." Theo was unpleasantly surprised by the discovery that his last memory was his eighteenth birthday. "What day is it?"

"Not sure, mate."

"Maybe we passed out after pre-celebrating? It's not everyday Nott turns eighteen, and Potter defeats a tyrant." Draco suggested, already pouring himself another glass of firewhiskey.

"No, it was more like every year." Theo was wracking his brain for any information on their supposed wild night. "The last thing I can remember is the battle. The night before, we had that dinner party, no?"

"Oh, I remember that." Blaise seemed amused by the memory. "Was that where you hexed your dad and told him to go to hell? Or was that your seventeenth?"

"Both, probably. He needs a reminder sometimes, and who better to give it to him than the 'disappointment to the Noble House of Nott'? As Theo quoted the words his father had infamously berated him with for many years, he found himself needing some of Draco's alcohol too. "So I can remember my dad. I can't remember yesterday. What does that mean?"

"You should consider seeing a Mediwitch? Seeking help? A Mind Healer even?" Pansy drawled from the doorway, eavesdropping on their conversation. "Only joking."

"Ha fucking ha ha."

"Oh! Good morning to you too, Pansy! How are you, after waking up and forgetting an entire year like the rest of us?" Pansy took a seat on the sofa, her legs on Blaise's lap, unwrapping a stray Honeyduke's chocolate bar.

Theo waved a hand, dismissing her dramatics. "Pans. What happened? Why have I forgotten everything?" He asked patiently, far too patiently for someone with an intensely growing migraine.

"We didn't forget, Theo. We were made to forget." Pansy responded idly, before placing a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"By who?" Draco dropped the glass he was holding, sending glass crashing to the floor.

"The fucking Bloody Baron. Who else, Malfoy? Not like we have a sociopathic Dark Lord who was trying to murder the defected Death Eaters." Pansy snapped back, throwing a cushion at Draco's head. Fortunately, her aim was precise, and she landed the cushion square in his face.

"Hello?" Whilst they had been bickering, the new girl had crept to the Common Room. "Where am I?"

"Hell on Earth." Theo deadpanned, turning to face the girl.

"Victor?" The girl asked Theo, momentary delight approaching her expression at a familiar face. "Clarence?" She turned to Blaise at this one. "Prudence?" Pansy was her final resort.

"Wrong witch." Pansy broke another piece of the chocolate off, not even looking in Talia's direction.

"No?" Theo raised an eyebrow. "That would be my great-great-great-great grandfather. Maybe a few less greats."

Blaise was nonplussed. "Same here."

"So, who's your prehistoric friend?" Pansy finally looked up, her face falling in recognition. Standing up, she pulled out her wand. "Theodore. Move away." Pansy instructed, no hint of amusement in her tone.

"Gotcha."

Theo took two steps towards Talia.

"You said move away!" He exclaimed when Pansy set her glare onto him.

"Not from me, idiot! I meant from the girl in front of us." Pansy gestured to Talia, waving her wand in her direction.

"Are you trying to gouge one of my eyes out?" Talia stepped backwards, her own wand pointed at Pansy defensively too.

Pansy shrugged, grabbing Theo's arm and pulling him behind her. "It'd probably benefit the human race."

"Pans, you need to chill the fuck out." Theo muttered, watching Talia from the corner of his eye. Her face was impassive, and Theo was never good at detecting emotions, that was a job for Blaise.

"Or, we could let Pansy continue. It's been a while." Draco's argument was ignored, Theo's focus on the brewing argument between the witches.

Pansy stood at the end of their group, possibly on the verge of bursting with anger when Perseus showed up.

"What part of step away from the psychotic bitch didn't you lot understand?" Pansy shrieked, making Theo thankful that nobody else had dared to leave their dorms yet.

"We were not here for that conversation." Perseus reminded Pansy.

"We didn't even have that conversation." Draco amended, scoffing at Pansy.

"Then let's have it. Step. The. Fuck. Away. From. Talia. Riddle." Pansy raised her voice once more.

Talia's face fell, probably in shock, Theo presumed. "How did you know my name?" She asked out of confusion, glancing between the five in front of her.

"Well, while these idiots made no effort to read the Death Eater handbook—"

"Pans, that's not a thing."

"Yes. It. Was!"

"Why would the Dark Lord have spent time writing a handbook?"

"For intellectually deficient people, like you, who don't know who that," Pansy waved her wand in Talia's direction a few more times for effect, "is." She continued her explanation after a pause. "We had to read it in Sixth Year. The handbook said that you were Tom's sister. You know. Heir of Slytherin, evil, no nose? Did he ever have a nose? I've always wanted to know."

"You cannot be fucking serious, Pansy." Theo almost laughed at the absurdity. "Go see Madam Pomfrey. Better yet, go admit yourself into St Mungo's. Fast."

"She's...actually right." Draco admitted begrudgingly. Everyone stared at him in disbelief, Theo included. Draco agreeing with Pansy was rare, they both tended to butt heads on everything. "What? That shit has practically been tattooed on me since birth. Dear old Lucius is especially devoted to the Dark Lord Diaries."

"No way it was actually called that." Perseus laughed.

"And I suppose you could do any better?" Talia bit back, instantly jumping to the defence of her brother.

"I like this one." Perseus grinned. "Can we keep her?"

Pansy scoffed, prodding Draco with the tip of her boot. "She's not a pet. And even if she was, she'd be a snake. Snakes are the worst."

"You do realise how ironic it is for you to say that, right Pans?" Blaise reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm in Slytherin. Whatever. Snakes are still the worst. Expelliarmus!" Pansy disarmed Talia, leaving her defenceless.

Or so she thought.

Talia raised her hand, sending Pansy flying into the air, hanging upside down by her feet.

"She can do wandless magic?!" Pansy screeched in pain, her face going slightly green from the motion.

Blaise cast the spell to let her down, quietly but firmly telling Pansy to "Shut up before I send you back up." It worked, because her complaints subdued. Theo picked up Talia's wand, carefully handing it back to her whilst Pansy was occupied.

"So," Perseus started, "How'd you get here? Surely if you're a twin, you would've been dead by now?"

Theo paled at the thought. "Don't tell me she's another one of those Horcrux things. I can't take any more of those, and Potter did all the work for us."

"Great. Another member of the Potter fan club. Should we bring out the old merchandise? I'm sure Theo wouldn't mind spending his time changing "Potter Stinks!" to "Potter Rocks!". You know, what with him having no future prospects and all."

"I will hex you into a ferret again, Malfoy."

"Noted. Blaise, you do it."

"No."

"I tried. So, is It a Horcrux or not?"

Talia raised an eyebrow. "It, has a name. And no. I'm not. My brother, well, it's complicated."

Theo shrugged in acknowledgement. "Yeah, a lot of things about him are complicated. Maybe it's the whole Heir of Slytherin thing. Or the obsession with Potter. Or the blood purist thing. Or-"

"We get it, Nott." Blaise grimaced. "He was deranged. Merlin, anyone could tell us that."

"Well, we don't just have anyone, do we? We have his twin sister." Pansy looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, only slightly soothed by Perseus pulling her onto his lap. "So tell me, Talia, how are you here?"

"Did I not ask you the same question? What makes you think I would've learnt the answer in the past three minutes?" Talia replied tartly.

Merlin, Theo thought to himself. One Pansy was already too much to deal with. And now they had two. Who were already jumping down each other's throats. He looked over to Blaise, hoping his friend would also have come to this horrifying conclusion, only to be met with a worried stare.

"You okay?" Blaise asked Theo.

Draco chimed in before Theo could answer, slinging an arm around Theo's shoulders. "He's fine. Look at him, he's even got himself a new girlfriend!" Draco jeered, ruffling Theo's hair.

"Can I hex him for that one, or do you want to?" Theo turned to a silent Talia, only half-joking. The half of him that wasn't, was unsurprised to see Talia point her wand at Draco, stunning him.

With Draco out on the floor, the common room suddenly became more bearable. Unlike when Pansy was cursed, nobody bothered coming to Draco's aid, to Theo's amusement.

"Bloody fucking hell!" Draco cried, when he was back on his feet, reluctantly helped up by Perseus, who had taken a picture of his misery before doing so.

"That's one for the wall." Perseus laughed, tossing his camera to the side before Draco could toss it at his face.

Talia scoffed. "Are you always this uncouth?" She asked Draco politely, although the edge to her tone caused Theo to slightly shift his feet.

"Sorry darling, it's not everyday that we're in the presence of Slytherin royalty. Sociopathic Slytherin royalty, that is. Percy, pass me the bottle of Firewhiskey."

"I will stun you again." Talia examined her nails, surprisingly calm for someone who just had their entire life uprooted.

Theo grinned. "Getting stunned twice in 5 minutes, Malfoy? I thought failing Seventh Year twice would've filled your embarrassment quota for the month right up."

"You can't hit a man while he's down." Draco whined.

Everybody turned to stare at his standing form.

"Was down." He grumbled.

"If you like it down there so much, just say the word and we can arrange for you to be permanently six feet under."

"Easy." Astoria warned, entering the common room with a smile. She pointed a finger at Theo, who raised his hands in return. "You will be the one that has to answer to Father when he asks what happened to my future husband."

Daphne rushed in after her sister, tying her hair into a topknot as she sat on the armchair Draco had previously occupied. "I say do it. We can convince him it was an accident."

Amory wandered in, yawning as he set his gaze upon the majority of his house. "Do you guys want to lose the Quidditch Cup again? We need Malfoy alive."

"Why can't we keep me alive because of my charming wit and dashing looks?" Draco scoffed.

"Those are the exact reasons everyone wants you dead, mate. Too much competition." Perseus said earnestly, cut off by a shove from Pansy.

Theo rolled his eyes at the entrance of the next pair. Everyone's eyes fell on Alexander and Evelyn, who were deep in conversation when they noticed.

"Were you guys having a Slytherin meeting...without us?" Evelyn glared at the room. Theo raised his eyebrows when her scowl landed on him.

"I'd say you two also had quite a fun meeting without us." He stared pointedly at Alex's arm around Evelyn's shoulder, and the rather prominent mark on Alexander's neck. "I'm not sure failing Glamour Charms is what Ilvermorny sent you here for, Eve. "

"Oh, don't be jealous some of us are having fun, Nott." Evelyn adjusted her crimson strands to cover the mark. While greeting the rest of the room, Evelyn spotted a disgruntled Talia, her eyes lighting up as she turned back to Theo. "Never mind. I never thought Theodore Nott would be the first to sneak a girl in here. Who is she?"

"Technically, he isn't the first—" Draco started.

Everyone in the room managed to yell, "Shut up, Malfoy!" at the exact same time.

"We are not doing this again." Talia grimaced. "No, I'm not dating...Theo? And no, I don't know how I got here. Anything else?"

Blaise smiled at her in acknowledgement. "I don't blame you. Actually, I don't think anybody does."

Theo retaliated by chucking a cushion from the nearest sofa at Blaise, only for the other male to catch it with ease.

"Fuck all of you." Theo grumbled.

"When?" Perseus quipped.

"Hopefully when none of us are in the room." Evelyn remarked, her tone calmer than it was upon her tempered entrance.

"I never said I wasn't into voyeurism." Perseus shrugged, ignoring Pansy's scorching glare.

"And I never said I was into you." Theo retorted back. "Now can we focus on the girl that just appeared in Draco's bed?"

"Where was Draco?" Astoria asked, her strong curiosity barely hidden.

Draco coughed, clearly unwilling to give up his location. "I slept in here." He lied, eyes locking with Theo in desperation. Theo nodded slightly enough to reassure Draco he'd go along with whatever Draco wanted him to do. Even if he would get Draco to divulge his true whereabouts when they were back in their rightful dorm.

"It's true. He took up the entire bloody couch. And woke me up because of his fucking snoring." Theo backed Draco's story up.

Blaise chimed in, falsifying their night even more. "Then I woke up, and found Talia. So I came here. To Draco and Theo drinking."

The three glanced over to Talia, wondering if she'd deny their statement. Luckily for them, she seemed too disinterested to care.

Graham chose that moment to enter the room. Of course, he shared a dorm with the Avery's, and neither of those three or Graham had no idea what was happening yet.

"I feel like I forgot something." Graham took a jump and landed on a couch, curled up in a ball like he wasn't even trying to fight the weariness slowly overtaking him. "Someone owl my mum — it might be her birthday today."

"Is your mum still fit?" Perseus asked with interest.

"Still married last time I checked, idiot." Graham swore back, opening one of his eyes to glare at Alexander.

"Speaking of fit," Amory glanced at Talia, "I really think-"

"I really think you shouldn't finish that sentence. Unless you want your testicles detached and hung from a Christmas tree." Amory recoiled at Talia's threat, and she smiled complacently in response.

Diana, just arriving, made no effort to hide her grin at this girl taking the Slytherin boys down a peg.

"Fucking hell." Alexander stared in wonder. "Who is she?"

Theo ran a hand through his already-ruffled hair, tugging at the strands as if they would give him the strength to deal with his friends right now. "Okay, enough. All of you shut the fuck up. For real this time." Theo commanded the room so often that everyone willingly listened to him, all eyes on him. "Talia, explain who you are and how you're here."

"Gladly." Talia responded monotonously. "My name's Talia Riddle." She didn't bat an eyelash at the gasps and evident fear in the newcomers' eyes when she dropped her surname. "Yes, my brother is Tom. I don't know what he did to you all, but I'm assuming it's bad considering only 3 of you can look me in the eye right now." That would be Theo, Blaise, and Draco. "I don't know how I'm here. Last time I checked, it was 1945. So, does anyone want to explain what he did?"

"Can I tell this story?" Alexander asked hopefully.

"Go ahead." Talia urged him on, desperate for any information on her brother's deeds.

"So it all started when Voldemort killed the Potters." Talia looked unsurprised of her twin's nickname — she knew what it stood for. "Then, their child killed him. Left a lightning scar on the child's forehead. Then, he spent 7 years trying to kill the child. Said child then killed him for real. And now we're here."

"Did you forget the part where he, most likely, cursed us to forget our entire last year?" Pansy spoke impatiently, shooting another glare Talia's way as if she was the fault of all of this.

"Well how was I supposed to explain that if I couldn't remember it?" Alexander countered.

"I can remember everything, actually." The statement fell upon deaf ears, as everyone was far too consumed in their own arguments to listen; it would've been impossible to detect who said it.

"You are so fucking stupid." Pansy looked like she was seconds away from screaming at Alexander, so Theo claimed  the attention back to him.

He raised his hands, silencing the room. "Okay, I have an idea. We're gonna need the Sorting Hat, and a Pureblood Directory." Theo delegated the tasks to the youngest Lestrange, Perseus' trickery necessary to carry out his plan.

"I don't like where this is going but I also don't care." Graham mumbled sleepily. "If we all die, it's Nott's fault."

"Shut the fuck up." Draco scowled at Graham in the defence of Theo. "If anybody's dying, it'll be me doing the killing. Now all of you, piss off."

The Averys, Graham, Evelyn, and the Greengrasses all went back to their respective dorms, albeit reluctantly, as Millicent Bulstrode walked in.

"Did I miss something?" She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "What's— ow! Daph, you just elbowed me in my—" Her complaints back down the corridor could be heard from the common room, as Daphne Greengrass had quickly turned her around and walked her out.

Theo guided Talia to a stool in the far left of the dungeons. "So, we're going to sort you. Then figure out a name for you. Any objections?" Theo asked Talia as well as Blaise, Draco, and Pansy.

Nobody spoke up; Theo took it as a win.

When Perseus and Carina returned with the Sorting Hat and a crumpled directory, they were quickly, and politely, shooed out of the room by Blaise.

Blaise placed the hat atop Talia's head, just like McGonagall had done for him 7 years ago.

The hat began to speak up, it's words only conceivable to Theo by Talia's expression.

"Round 2, Miss Riddle?" The Sorting Hat remarked to Talia, who cautiously nodded in response. The hat seemed to accept this, as moments later it rang out,
"Slytherin!"

There was no shock to this sorting — this was the supposable Heiress of Slytherin in front of them. Talia accepted her second sorting like she did the first, with poise and relief.

Whilst she had been getting sorted, Pansy and Draco were scanning the Pureblood Directory, searching for a new identity for Talia.

"I've got it!" Pansy's eyes lit up at the fact that she came up with a solution faster than Draco. "Your mother was Merope Gaunt, correct? We can say you're a distant relative, you transferred in after fighting in the war. McGonagall will believe it if we get a Gryffindor on our side."

"Talia Gaunt." Talia spoke her new name carefully, almost seeing if it would fit. She seemed pleased, as she inclined her head in thanks to Pansy.

"Pans, you're forgetting most of Gryffindor fucking hate us. They think we're all still a bunch of Death Eaters." Theo reminded her.

"Potter and his stupid saviour self won't resist helping a charity case." Pansy sniffed.

"Charity?" Talia laughed. "Why would I need charity? Nevertheless, accept it from my brother's killer?"

"Well, would you rather you die right now along with your brother?" Blaise reasoned. "Potter is our only option. Come on, we can go tell him now."

Pansy held a finger up. "Not before I get her some robes. She can't go round wearing that all day." It might've been the most altruistic thing Pansy Parkinson had done all year, even if her words came out grudging and forced.

"Fine. Go play dress up. We'll meet you outside the Gryffindor portrait hole." Theo nodded to Blaise and Draco, who followed him out. Pansy stayed behind, silently cursing Theo before pulling Talia along to her dorm.

my darkest hours, girl, i felt
so alone inside of this crowded room.