The Family Name

The Family Name

By Slytherin Tattoo

Chapter 11

"Name of a girlfriend?" Draco hazarded.

"Yes. Eunice Longbottom."

"By any chance a relative of that moronic Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom?"

The Baron thought. "I do believe it's his grandmother," he replied, then faded away.

"Right then. Gryffindors should be in DADA now, I think." Artemis marched off.

Draco followed. He wanted to learn more about the Chamber, and he knew that's what this must be about. That's all Artemis asked about lately.

"You know, Malfoy," Artemis said slowly, "maybe you shouldn't let Longbottom see you. He's liable to run away--or at least, not talk."

"I'll stay in the background."

Ten minutes later found them standing outside Lockhart's classroom as the Gyffindors streamed out. The Fab Trio stopped at seeing Artemis. Draco blended further into the crowd. "Are you here to see us?" Granger asked.

"Him." Artemis pointed at Neville, who was just leaving the room along with Dean Thomas. "Longbottom," he called, motioning him over.

He came, with Thomas. "Longbottom, I need to talk to you."

"OK," Longbottom agreed warily.

Artemis sighed. "Privately. Well, Granger could come, if you want."

The five Gryffindors looked at each other. Longbottom hesitated, but Granger said, "All right."

So Longbottom, Artemis, and Hermione walked back into the DADA classroom. Lockhart had gone back into his office, so they were alone.

"Is your grandmother named Eunice Longbottom?"

"Yes." Neville looked even warier.

"I heard that when she was at Hogwarts 50 years ago, she dated a guy named Tom Riddle. I need you to find out from her everything she'll tell you about him. I want the name of his parents, the town he was from, friends, enemies, grudges, hatreds, anything."

"I can't ask my grandmother about old boyfriends!"

"Do it, Neville," Granger instructed. "It's important."

"Hermione, what's this about? Why is this Slytherin asking me this?"

Granger bit her lip. "All I can say is, it's important to Hagrid. Please, Neville."

"Oh. . . well. . . all right. I'll ask her as soon as I get home for Christmas and owl you what I find out."

____________ ___________

As soon as Granger and Longbottom left, Draco slipped into the classroom. "So he's going to ask her?"

"He'll ask her."

"He's scared of her, you know."

"She must be an interesting woman to date a Slytherin. I'm betting she was a Ravenclaw."

"Probably. Fowl, what does Riddle have to do with anything?"

"He's the Prefect who turned in Hagrid. You don't really think the Gamekeeper is the heir of Salazar Slytherin, do you?"

"That imbecile? No. Plus, he's half-giant!"

"I'm suspecting Riddle knew that, too. I think Hagrid was framed. I imagine Riddle was clever and--very Slytherin. I'm hoping for a lead."

"So then. We're relying on a Longbottom for information."

"Seems wrong, doesn't it?"

Draco actually smiled, then sneered. "He's an imbecile, too."

Artemis couldn't argue with that. "I'm going to go look up Eunice Longbottom in an old yearbook."

"Ooh, I'm coming. I bet she was ugly."

"No, she must have been pretty to have attracted a Slytherin."

"Oh, well, I forgot about that. You're right."

"Of course I am," Artemis smirked.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Shut up, arrogant prat."

"Same to you, conceited git."

They continued to the library in satisfied, companionable silence.

___________ __________

"Dear Artemis," read Butler's email, "Malfoy Manor was raided by the Ministry yesterday. They were looking for evidence that Lucius practices the Dark Arts, but they didn't find anything."

'Interesting.' Artemis thought. 'Not surprising they found nothing; none of the Malfoys are stupid. Well, I'll have to work this news into an insult soon.'

___________ ___________

The next morning, most of the students left for the Christmas holidays. Artemis looked at Crabbe and Goyle after they'd all gone. They were standing just outside the castle steps. Malfoy had already disappeared inside, but they'd still been saying goodbye to their friends.

"Pretty funny, that scene with Zabini, huh?" Crabbe asked, chuckling in remembrance. Zabini had had to pry his hawk off Ron Weasley's head so he could leave.

Weasley had accused Blaise of deliberately siccing his hawk on him. "He was just eating your hair," Zabini sneered in return. "It'll probably make him sick; it's obviously of inferior quality."

Potter had had to stop Weasley from trying to hex Zabini in front of Snape, to the professor's disappointment. He'd just been waiting to take off House points.

"Whatever," Artemis said.

"Hey, maybe you and Draco could make a holiday truce?" Goyle inquired hopefully. "Christmas spirit and peace and all that?"

"No."

"Please?"

Artemis sighed. The two of them were giving him that sad puppy-eyed look again. "That's up to him. I won't start anything."

____________ ___________

"Really, Draco, he wants a holiday truce," Crabbe told him when Malfoy turned up in their dorm room later that day.

Draco swallowed, then nodded. "Fine by me. As long as he doesn't pull anything, I won't, either."

Crabbe and Goyle exchanged looks of congratulations.

____________ ____________

Christmas morning, Artemis woke up thinking his face felt strangely wet. When he opened his eyes, he saw a tiny little cloud above his head, snowing on him. He sat up abruptly and pushed back the bed curtains.

Stacked in the middle of the floor was an enormous pile of presents. Malfoy sat cross-legged next to them, eagerly searching for ones with his name on them. Everybody else was still asleep except Zabini, who was standing over his bed.

"Wake up, Fowl!" Zabini grinned. "It's a white Christmas and high time to get out of bed!"

"Thanks, Zabini," Artemis grumbled, getting up.

Shortly thereafter, all of the Second Years who had stayed for the holidays, both girls and boys, were sitting on the floor levitating presents at one another while Blaise amused himself sending snow clouds after the girls.

"Fowl! You've got a gift from Hermione Granger!"

Everyone turned to stare at him. His eyebrows rose. "I do?"

"Feels like books," said Goyle, shaking it.

"How would you know?" Malfoy teased, making everyone laugh.

"It is books." Artemis ripped open the paper and tossed it aside. The Magical History of Ireland and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

"Why would you be getting a present from a Gryffindor? And a girl?" Eva demanded.

"Are you two. . . you know. . ." Zabini waggled his eyebrows.

"No!" Artemis denied at once.

"They just get together and discuss theory and philosophy sometimes," Draco announced airily. "You know, since they both consider themselves to be so much smarter than the rest of us."

"Did you get her a gift?" Eva was pouting a bit now.

"No, actually."

"You should, quick," Marie said, "or you'll hurt her feelings."

Eva kicked her leg. "Ow!"

"I don't have anything suitable."

"Send her a spell," Crabbe suggested. "She'd like that."

They all turned to look at him.

"You know," Artemis mused, brow furrowed, "I think you're right."

Crabbe beamed.

"You're not really going to send a gift to a Mu. . ."

"Don't even start, Malfoy." Artemis threw a gift at him. "Here. You missed one."

"Huh. It's from Snape."

"A professor sending you gifts, Malfoy?" Artemis asked, one eyebrow raised. "Been brown-nosing?"

"He's friends with my father!"

"Here, Fowl." That was Goyle, looking strangely shy. "From us." Meaning him and Crabbe.

"Thank you." It was a large box of chocolate frogs. Artemis was amused.

They had reached the last of the gifts, Zabini's. He gave Malfoy a bottle of hair gel. "What's it hexed to do?" Draco asked dryly.

Zabini grinned, unrepentant. "Turn your hair red."

The mischievous glint in Blaise's eyes did not fade as Artemis picked up his present, so he unwrapped it very carefully. It turned out to be a silver plaque with the words "Fowls Are Better Than Malfoys" inscribed on it.

Artemis's mouth twitched. "Yes, well, thank you."

"There's more! If you wave your wand at it, like this. . ." The plaque then read out its message, in a very loud voice, "Fowls are better then Malfoys!!"

"You are not displaying that in this dormitory," Draco insisted, glaring at them both.

"It's my present, I can put it wherever I wish."

"No, absolutely not."

"Fowls are better than Malfoys!"

"Bole!"

"What? My wand's right here."

"Fowls are better than Malfoys!"

"Zabini. . ."

"It wasn't me, it was Goyle," Zabini told him, laughing.

"Gregory. Look at me."

"OK, all right, I confess, but the first time it was Vince!"

"Maybe you should put it at the head of your bed," Chevalier suggested, smirking.

"Fowl, I will hex you and Zabini both into next week."

"Relax, Malfoy. It will start to annoy us all after awhile and be relegated to my trunk."

"In the mean time, why not put it in the bathroom?"

"Vince!"

Snape picked that moment to enter the dorm room, followed by a large man. "I'll overlook having girls in here this once," Snape said, glaring at them. "Mr. Fowl, you have a visitor."

Artemis stood up quickly. "Butler." Unable to help himself, he smiled. Butler came forward and shook his hand as Snape left.

'Why does that man rate a smile from Fowl?' Draco wondered, frowning.

"Happy Christmas, sir," Butler greeted him.

"You, too. How do you like the dungeons?"

"Dungeons are never the best place to be, defensively speaking." Butler frowned. "You are, essentially, trapped.

"Artemis, who's your guest?" Marie asked.

"This is Butler." He waved his hand around the group. "These are my fellow Second Year Slytherins. You remember Zabini." They nodded at each other. "And Malfoy."

Butler's voice turned cold. "Yes. Malfoy." He positioned himself in front of Draco, who sprang to his feet, feeling intimidated. Butler still loomed over him.

"I am Artemis's bodyguard," he growled. "I defend him with my life. I haven't liked some of the rumors I've been hearing since I arrived." He simply shifted, and his muscles bulged dangerously. "I've been trained to kill a man 132 ways, and that's just with my bare hands. I know 150 more ways to kill a man--or boy--with weapons."

"He took out a troll once," Artemis supplied, unwrapping a chocolate frog, "with nothing but brute strength."

Draco's eyes were wide. He gulped. "I haven't hurt him!"

"Good," Butler rumbled, "let's keep it that way."

Draco collapsed back into a seated position. Artemis looked around at the others, smirking. They looked awed and fearful.

"282 ways?" Crabbe broke the silence finally. Butler nodded.

"Took down a troll with your hands?" Goyle added. Another nod.

"Wow! We're not worthy," Crabbe breathed.

"You're our new hero!" Goyle looked at Butler with worship.

Draco let out a betrayed-sounding yelp.

Artemis managed to turn his laugh into a cough.

___________ ___________

Artemis showed Butler around the castle. "So. . . what do you think?"

"This place is crazy. And that Prof. Snape of yours is a very dangerous man."

Artemis nodded. "This is true."

They stopped off in the Owlery, where Artemis sent his gift of a spell to Hermione Granger. It was an intricate, powerful locking charm he'd found in the library after much hunting his first day at Hogwarts.

Then they wandered the grounds a bit. On the Quidditch pitch, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were playing a trimmed-down version of the game with Eva's brother Leo, Montague, and a Sixth Year named Lacey. Artemis and Butler sat in the stands as Artemis explained the rules to him. It was there Madam Hooch found them. Artemis made the introductions, and there followed a discussion comparing Quidditch strategy and defensive tactics, martial arts, guerrilla warfare, stakeouts, and advanced weaponry. Artemis found it fascinating.

Just as the discussion was winding down, Artemis heard a voice calling his name from under the bleachers. Butler, of course, was instantly alert. "It's all right," Artemis reassured him. "It's just Granger. I'll be back in a minute."

He climbed down and went to join her. She had Weasley and Potter with her, as always, and was holding a letter. "We got Neville's owl!"

Artemis's eyes lit up. "What's it say? Let me read it."

She handed it over. "Dear Hermione, I asked Grandma about Tom Riddle. I thought she'd be mad, but she ended up fondly reminiscing about her school days. She went on for hours! But I couldn't get her to stay on topic very well. Anyway, here's what I found out:

"They dated 5^th and 6^th year, but broke up because 'the spark wasn't there anymore.' Plus she was getting a 'weird feeling about him.' She was in Ravenclaw, and she didn't usually believe in things like bad vibes, but when he started acting restless, like she was feeling, she wasn't sorry to see him go.

"He was an orphan, no siblings, no money. His mom was a witch and a pureblood, but the man was a Muggle. Her family disowned her for marrying him. Shortly after she got pregnant, he abandoned her. She gave birth and died, and he got put in a Muggle orphanage, where he lived til he came to Hogwarts. Because of this, he hated Muggles, though he put on a good face around most people. He could be very charming if he wanted. He told lies very well. His dad's name was Thomas Jacob Riddle. His mom was Gwendolyn Ninevere (don't they have very distant ties to the Avery's?).

"He hated a lot of things. Muggles. People who looked down on him for being poor. He held grudges--for a long time. He liked snakes. And he tried not to show it too obviously, but he liked power. He liked being a Prefect, and Head Boy. He was very ambitious, but Gran says that's not necessarily a bad thing. He was very good-looking, she said, and very popular, even though he was a Slytherin. She wonders whatever happened to him.

"I hope that's good enough for you, Hermione. I really don't want to ask her anymore. Neville."

Artemis looked up at the three of them. They had been watching him read.

"Did that tell you anything?" Weasley asked.

"Another place to go looking. Thanks for the gift, Granger, by the way."

She smiled. "You, too. That spell will come in quite handy."

Artemis's mind kept turning things over and over. "Potter--did you know you were a Parseltongue before that duel?"

"What? Oh. No. I didn't even realize I was speaking in another language," Potter confessed.

"We're missing something somewhere."

"All I know is, everybody thinks I'm Slytherin's bloody Heir!"

"Only the students. The professors all think it's Fowl."

The Gryffindors spun around, but Artemis had known Malfoy was coming up behind them. "Do they?"

Malfoy smirked and crossed his arms. "Yes. I meant to tell you after this morning, but your. . . bodyguard was there. He seems quite taken with Hooch, incidentally."

Artemis ignored this. "Win your Quidditch game?"

"Of course. Anyway, I woke up about 6 AM and couldn't go back to sleep, so I went to the kitchen, and on my way I passed the staff room. The professors were all in there, drinking egg-nog and discussing it all, and McGonagall said she still felt sure you were bad if not outright evil, and Sprout said she was sure you were outright evil, and Flitwick said you had to be Slytherin's Heir, and that was why the Ministry hadn't. . . um, I'll ask you about that part of it later," he finished with a glance at the Trio.

"What did Dumbledore say?"

"There's no evidence to connect you with any wrong-doing. But I couldn't tell if he thought that made you innocent."

Artemis shrugged. He didn't care what anyone believed. "I have to get back to Butler. And spend some time in the library."

"Keep that letter. It's a copy I made for you."

"Thanks. Go away now, Malfoy."

"No, I think I'll follow you awhile longer."

"Again? Ah well, I'm sure Potter would enjoy seeing Butler run you off."

"You're annoying me, Fowl."

"Then I've done what I set out to do, Malfoy."

They emerged from the shadow of the bleachers. Just behind them, the Trio scowled at Malfoy one last time and moved on.

As soon as they were out of hearing range, Draco asked what he'd been dying of curiosity to ask all morning. "Flitwick said the Ministry blocked your magic until you were 'of a more mature age to handle power.' He said they must have been wrong to give it back because you must be evil, as they suspected, and they should have 'continued to monitor your behavior' even though Dumbledore didn't want them to."

"He'll only be getting coal in his stocking from me," Artemis responded, looking up to the stands where Butler sat with Madam Hooch. They did appear to be getting along rather well.

"Is it true?"

Artemis sighed and met his eyes. "I assume you're asking about the Ministry part and not the evil Heir of Slytherin part."

"I know you're not killing people. You're only moderately evil. Besides, we were both in class before the last attack--with Flitwick, if he'd stop to think about it."

His father partially controlled the Minister, Artemis remembered Butler reporting to him. "Yes. Dumbledore told me I started showing magic at age 7 and they panicked, because I'd shown all the signs of turning out to be a criminal mastermind like my Fowl ancestors before me. Rather than let me loose on the Muggle world, they blocked my magic and kept watching me. Dumbledore finally talked them into taking the block off so I could come to Hogwarts, and he insisted no one could watch any of his students, so they had to stop." He paused, then added, "And they haven't been watching. I've checked."

"Well, that's. . . that's good for you, then."

"Your father. He works with the Ministry. He would know all this, I suppose. He ever warn you against me?"

"I've never mentioned you to him."

Artemis raised his eyebrows. "I thought you went complaining to your father over the least little thing. That's what Bulstrode said. She said you'd probably owled him first thing, to have him use his mighty Governor powers to try to get me expelled."

Draco flushed. "No."

"Why haven't you?"

"Because he might have ordered me to leave you alone."

Silence. Artemis suddenly became aware that Butler was moving down toward them.

"Do you want me to ask him what the Ministry has said about you?" Draco asked, looking at the ground.

"Yes."

"OK. See you round."

"Wait--you want to research Riddle with me? I'm going to the library next."

Draco looked back up at him. His eyes were shining. "Yeah, OK."