SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

006. SOLVITUR AMBULADO

The bell over the door chimed and Rhea looked over her shoulder. A rather tall boy with dark hair and eyes the color of moss stepped into the shop. Rhea recognized him despite the fact that they'd never formally met before. This was Andrew Stubbins, though Rhea didn't know what he was doing here. As far as she knew, he was supposed to be serving in the Muggle war.

"Andrew!" Mr. Stubbins said cheerfully. Andrew glanced up and Rhea could see the way his curious gaze lingered on her, as though there was something familiar about her. His stare slid back to his father and he didn't look nearly as happy as Mr. Stubbins was. "I don't believe you've met, Miss Hel. Rhea, this is my son, Andrew."

Rhea could hear a hint of eagerness in Mr. Stubbins tone that made Rhea well aware that the man was trying to play Cupid. She didn't blame him. It was well known amongst the Muggles that the Hels were the richest family in this side of Wiltshire and the rumors that surrounded how their family had amassed its fortune were never ending. It was always different or wild, which is why Rhea wasn't surprised to see the recognition flash on Andrew's face when his father said her name.

There was a tightness in Rhea's smile when she looked at Andrew and the rigidness of her shoulders certainly didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Pleased to meet you." Rhea said politely, bowing her head ever so slightly at him while he inspected her, looking for any sign that would explain why she seemed to be familiar to him. She turned to Mr. Stubbins, her curls fanning her face. "Goodbye, Mr. Stubbins."

"Goodbye, Rhea. I put a little something in there as an early Christmas and birthday gift." He said with a wink. Rhea cracked a smile at him and turned to the door.

She wasted no time brushing past Andrew and stepping out into the cold air. She closed her eyes and looked up at the grey sky, letting the snowflakes fall on her face.

She would walk; for hours she would walk in the snow, in the cold. She'd do anything to avoid going back to Hel House when tensions were high between her brother and father. They had been at each other's throats at every meal. Rhea knew what, or who, her brother had been thinking about and why he was lashing out. Caliope. Everything always came back to her.

When Rhea passed by the woods on her journey, her mind wandered to what Mr. Stubbins had said to her about his son's old treehouse in the woods catching fire.

She could hear the echoes of laughter filling her ears . . . the sound of two girls singing sweet melodies at the foot of an old tree . . . a boy with eyes the color of moss. . .

And, suddenly, the scenery around Rhea drifted away and she was right back to where she was eight years ago.

"You're like a princess!"  A Muggle girl laughed as she and Rhea spun around the base of the large oak tree. Rhea giggled, feeling free as she twirled. The warm summer air touched her skin like a gentle kiss as she and the Muggle girl, Lizzie, skipped around.

Rhea didn't have any friends besides her brother, Pluto, and he was too busy following their mum around to notice her lately. There was her mother's friend, Mr. Fawley, who was always kind to her and would sneak her treats when her mum wasn't paying attention. But, with her father away and her mother not caring or taking a particular interest in Rhea, she would sneak away from Hel House and make her way into the woods. It was there that she stumbled across Lizzie, a girl from town. Lizzie would pick flowers at the base of a tree and offer Rhea a crown of daisies to wear.