The Slug Club
Two days later it was Thursday and time for the monthly meeting of the Slug Club. It wasn't a big event like the Christmas Party, so I decided to go with a casual black blouse and a green skirt combined with a green cardigan. None of my dorm mates are part of the Slug Club but I refrain from bragging and they completely ignore me.
I left the room without a word and entered the Slytherin common room, where my eyes immediately met a familiar pair of dark eyes. Tom Riddle was sitting at the fireplace in his usual armchair and stood up to walk in my direction as soon as he saw me.
"Katherine", he greeted me with an almost honest smile, "You look nice tonight." He offered me his arm and I take it.
"Thank you Riddle, you don't look bad yourself." An understatement, he always looked bloody perfect and it annoyed me. We exited the common room together and made our way towards Slughorn's office. There wss a silence between us so I tried to fill it with the first thing that came to my mind.
"I've been thinking about not covering the scar anymore." I turned my head slightly to see his reaction but opposed to my assumptions, he showed no reaction.
"What made you consider it?"
"It pains me to admit but you were right." He raised an eyebrow at my words, "Not about everything of course. That night in the clock tower you said you thought I was braver and more resistant. And I think it's time to show the world how brave I really am."
There were words I thought but didn't say: To show you how brave I could really be. "I don't want to hide who I am anymore." There was another long silence after that.
Just as I thought he had moved on from the topic, it was broken by Riddle's voice.
"Hiding, who you are, doesn't make you a coward. Letting them use it against you does."
"Letting who use it?"
He shrugged "Your enemies. If you want to be yourself then do it with pride. But if that scar hurts your confidence it might be better to keep it concealed."
Should I..? I shook my head. "No, I don't want to be controlled by my past."
We stop and he fully turns to me while grabbing my shoulders. "Then prove it. Attend this meeting with the scar visible." His stare is intense and it strengthens my confidence. I nod, take out my wand and point it to my face. Luckily returning my face to its original state is easier and I don't need a mirror for it. The scar appears at my forehead and spreads over my face like a lightning, going through my left eye, covering my cheek completely and fading out down to my collarbone. Small scars appear on my right cheek.
Only my right ear wasn't changed to its original state because I wanted to spear my fellow students from the sight of an ear with the top cut off.
He watched closely as I concentrated on the spell and when I was done I imagined to see a hint of admiration in his eyes. I get it, human transfiguration is really not easy, that is what must be impressing him.
"We are almost at his office," he takes my hand into his, "are you ready to be brave?"
"I don't have to be ready to be brave. It comes naturally.", I smiled and he rolled his eyes. But when we entered through the door two minutes later, I am glad that he was at my side. I felt the eyes of my peers linger longer on me than usual. Although there was a slight majority of Slytherins, the Slug Club consists of all houses. The rumours will inevitably spread throughout the school by the end of this night. Good.
Professor Slughorn comes over to greet us with a friendly smile. "Ah, Mr Riddle and Miss Lestrange welcome." he looked at me and I was unsure if his eyes spell out confusion, surprise or simply bafflement. "I see you got more comfortable with... well..."
I forced a smile "Yes, I have Professor. Sometimes one just needs to be brave."
"Good, that's good.", he looked distracted, I'm not sure if he meant it.
Tom pulled the professor from his thoughts: "I believe everyone is here Sir."
"What? Oh, right." Slughorn turned around and addressed the crowd. "Everyone, thank you for coming tonight. Please, have a seat."
About fifteen students found a seat at a big table. The professor sat at the head of the table, Tom's seat was to his right and I sat next to Tom. On my left there was Icarus and next to him Malfoy and Rosier. That's all of the Slytherins, the remaining ten students were from other houses and I would consider myself very lucky if I even remembered the name of one of them.
Even though I attended these meetings regularly, I didn't really talk to anyone here. They thought I was weird and I thought they are boring.
Throughout the meeting I mostly talked to Icarus as always but it felt differently then usual. I still held a small grudge against him because of his betrayal but we haven't talked about the situation since it happened.
He addressed the inevitable "So, you are showing the scars now?"
At least we were not talking about the betrayal.
"Yeah, I figured I'm done hiding.", I said as I picked a bit of salad up with my fork. The food here was always really good.
"And he helped you figure that out?"
There was a strange undertone in his voice, was it... jealousy?
"No," I wasn't sure why I only told half the truth, "Professor Dumbledore has initiated the thought."
A Hufflepuff from across the table kept glancing at me since he sat down and it seemed he had finally worked up the courage to talk to me.
"Hey, you're Lestrange's cousin right?"
"Yes I am.", I had no idea who he is and begged Merlin that the guy will reveal his name somehow.
"I don't want to sound rude... But, uhhh... What happened to your face?", his face turned red in embarrassment and he quickly adds "I mean, last time I saw you, it looked fine and those scars don't just grow overnight. ...If you don't mind me asking, of course!"
I gave him an amused smile and assured him: "Don't worry, I don't mind. They are a few years old, I just hid them up until now."
The boy kept digging: "And how-" Icarus jumped in to save me. "Marcus you performed really well in the Quidditch game last week.", u-huh so his name was Marcus,
"I doubt Hufflepuff has ever seen a better Keeper."