the seven devils [completed]

chapter twenty-one

"Curiosity" was the answer he received. "He will also be suspicious of your loyalty, and he will try to talk you into aligning yourself with them."

"I am not interested in joining any side, I prefer my brooding grayness," she admitted, not enjoying the idea of having to promise her loyalty in exchange for information. To her, the less involved she was, the better. She already had one sociopath to deal with.

"He does not know that," Tom said, suddenly stepping away from her. Then, he turned halfway to look at her over his shoulder. "Keep it that way."

Varya watched him walk away, and up to a woman she recognized from the Daily Prophet as Amelia Skeeter, and she felt her blood boil at the sight. She was in her twenties, perhaps, and her cheeks reddened at the attention of a young, handsome boy such as Riddle. Her charmed pen flew around her eagerly, and then it started scribbling down every enchanting word that passed Tom's lips.

Varya had not expected him to be much of a date, to take her dancing or engage in small talk over a glass of refined champagne, but he had barely spent a few minutes in her presence before turning away. Not only that, but he was also trying to involve her in something she was not sure she wanted to be part of.

But what could the girl even do? She had to gain his trust somehow; she had to make herself part of his circle of followers if she wanted ever to have a grasp on his mind. Right now, he was as intangible as ever, a wall of stone, and Varya doubted he cared for anything except his conquest. 

Was she just like the rest? Had she fallen for his manipulation and charm? She should have been angry at him, should have raised Hell because of what he had done, and yet she could not bring herself to harm the boy. She had threatened Elladora, Avery, and had even hexed Malfoy the first time she had the occasion, and yet Tom was beyond her reach.

To take down a king, you first have to play the game of chess.

Because of that reason, she found herself making her way to the end of the room, where Malfoy was still talking about the odious tapestry on the wall, gesturing half-heartedly to the creatures he did not quite know.

"And this dragon, uh, the Norwegian Ridgeback—" he said, scratching his chin as he tried to describe the mighty monster.

"Actually," intervened Varya, slowly advancing toward, "it is a Romanian Longhorn, you can tell by its horns, a number of two, and the slyhterian color of his scales. Quite impressive beasts, I had the opportunity to train with them in the Carpathian mountains."

Newt Scamander turned towards her, eyebrow raised at her knowledge, then back at the tapestry, and nodded. "Yes, I quite agree with Miss Petrov."

"Ah, I see—" said Malfoy, a pitiful pretense of intrigue on his face. "Well, then, I will leave you to it. A pleasure, sir."

Abraxas headed off, but not before giving Varya a knowing look, and walked towards another party attendee to make idle chatter. The girl turned, her emerald dress dragging at the ground, and faced the wizard with the hair of flames.

"You said you trained with them?" he suddenly asked, eyebrows frowned as he continued to look at the image. "I never quite had the pleasure, the Carpathian mountains have not been on my list of recent travels, despite the fact that I have been told they hold many wonderful beings."

"Dark beings," she corrected, "Not your average fantastic beasts, they are demons more than magical creatures."

"Your knowledge of them is quite broad, are you interested in Magizoology?" he asked her, finally meeting her darkened eyes.

Varya was taken aback by his statement. She had never considered her interests, although perhaps it was time for her to do so. With dread, the girl realized she had no idea what she wanted to do after graduation.