CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
— immortality would be worse than death
IMMORTALITY. Rhea didn't quite understand why anyone would ever want to be immortal — to live forever sounded as though it would be a curse rather than a blessing, She knew it was something her mother had dabbled in since she created a Horcrux that had, somehow, been destroyed before Rhea killed her, but the concept of immortality wasn't popular amongst Hel's. Her gaze flickered between the book and Tom as he watched each of them. She wondered what had prompted this and why he of all people would want to live forever.
"You want to be immortal?" Astrea asked. Rhea could hear the apprehension in her tone as she looked up to the boy. Each of the Knights exchanged silent looks with each other.
"What do you all know about becoming immortal?" Tom asked, ignoring Astrea's question. The Ravenclaw visibly bristled and readjusted in her seat as Tom stared at their blank faces. Rhea rolled her eyes as silence filled the room and Tom's dark gaze began to bore into her face.
"It's nearly impossible to make yourself immortal." Rhea said. She could see everyone turn to watch their exchange as Tom let out a low, bitter chuckle.
"Nearly." Tom said. Rhea narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't care if she was one of Tom's 'Knights', he would never be someone she viewed as her leader. His gaze hardened when she didn't offer him any information.
"There's the Elixir of Life." Lupe's voice cut in. Tom forcefully dragged his stare away from Rhea while the girl crossed her arms over chest and stared at the boy seated close to Tom. He reclined in his chair and lazily twirled his jagged wand between his fingers. "It was created by Nicholas Flamel and it can make the drinker immortal, as well as turn any metal into gold."
"The Elixir doesn't grant true immortality." Rhea cut in. Lupe's jaw tightened at the sound of her voice, but he didn't look in her direction. "You can still die even if you drink the potion because it only extends your lifespan. You have to drink it for all eternity, it doesn't rejuvenate your youth —"
"Well, do you have any suggestions?" Cassius snapped. Rhea glared at the boy.
"Nothing grants true immortality." Rhea stated calmly.
"What about — oh, what was it? — Unicorn blood?" Druella asked, lifting her head. Avida shook her head.
"Unicorn blood extends life too and you'd be cursed for the rest of your life if you drink it. It's only for those who have nothing left to lose." Avida said. Tom let out a disgruntled noise.
"There has to be something —"
"Why?" Rhea asked. Tom's head snapped to her, taken aback by the question. The other Knights exchanged looks with one another. Why. No one ever asked Tom that question until now. Rhea didn't seem to realize the gravity of the situation as she calmly stared into Tom's eyes without wavering. In his gaze, she saw something flicker — the most human emotion she'd probably seen in Tom's eyes. It stunned her so much her brows pulled together. It was fear. Suddenly, Rhea understood — Tom was afraid to die.
Tom didn't answer, but it was because he didn't need to. He knew that she understood and he didn't like how raw and vulnerable her gaze made him feel. He spoke, but Rhea drowned out his voice as she sat in surprise that Tom's biggest fear was death. To her, death always seemed like a natural end. It was something she looked forward to meeting when her time was right though she knew that wouldn't be for a long, long time.
The meeting finished and Rhea gathered her things as Tom frowned and called her to stay behind. She waited while everyone filed out of the room before turning to Tom.
"What do you want?" Rhea asked.
"You can't speak to me like that in public." Tom said sternly. Rhea rolled her eyes.
"All I did was ask why you want to be immortal and I got my answer. It's silly, I think, to fear something that will happen to us all eventually."
"'Everyone fears something'." Tom said. The corner of Rhea's lips turned up and she thought about Tom's quest for immortality while she made her way to her room.
Seraphina was waiting for her in the dungeons and Rhea was forced to endure the girl's excited rants all the way to their bedroom door where Rhea promptly shushed her. It wasn't until Rhea changed into her nightgown that she made her way to her bed where a neatly folded piece of parchment sat atop her pillow. Rhea narrowed her eyes at it suspiciously before she picked it up, squinting to read its contents.
Miss Hel,
Please come to my office during your after-lunch break.
Professor Dumbledore
Rhea crumpled the letter into a ball and tucked it away under her pillow so that no one would be able to find it. When she woke up the next morning, her skin felt a bit warm. She blinked slowly as she sat at the edge of her bed, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over her.
"Are you well?" Persephone asked as she picked up her bag from the side of her bed. Rhea squeezed her eyes shut.
"I think I'm getting sick." Rhea said miserably. Persephone chuckled, but Rhea sat silently, chewing on the inside of her cheek before she glanced around at the room. Persephone was the last of her friends to leave the room, leaving her alone. Rhea grabbed the letter from Dumbledore, unwrapping it to read its contents once more to wonder why he would want to see her.
Professor Dumbledore, her Transfigurations teacher, had never taken much of an interest in her before. In fact, she didn't think he'd spoken to her unless he was giving her a compliment on her technique during class. She didn't know what he wanted with her though she suspected it might not be about her at all.
Nevertheless, she parted ways with Walburga and Persephone after Herbology and went to Dumbledore's office. She found her professor fixing two cups of tea at his desk when she knocked on the door with a polite smile on her face.
"Good afternoon, Professor." Rhea said. He glanced up.
"Rhea, excellent to see you. Please, come in." Dumbledore waved her inside and Rhea did as she was told, shutting the door behind her. She dropped into the chair across from him. "I wasn't sure if you would receive my note. The Selwyn girl was kind enough to offer to give it to you."
Rhea's smile nearly faltered. Davina. She was sure Davina had read the letter and was probably waiting to pry information from her.
"That was very kind of her." Rhea said, picking up her cup of tea and slowly drinking from the cup, keeping a calm façade while Dumbledore dropped sugar cubes into his tea. "Sorry, Professor, but am I in trouble for something?"
"Oh, no." Dumbledore said with a hearty laugh. Rhea mimicked his laughter, but she found the situation far from amusing. "I called you here because, well . . . after the events of last year, I wanted to keep a better watch on our students in order to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Many of the teachers told me to speak to you about some of my concerns."
"Your concerns?" Rhea repeated, growing more intrigued by the second. Dumbledore nodded.
"There's no need to be alarmed. After all, it's our duty to make sure our students, especially the ones who don't have a strong support system, are being taken care of." Realization dawned on Rhea instantly. This was about Tom. "How well do you know, Tom Riddle?"
"Not well at all, I hate to say." Rhea flashed Professor Dumbledore a sympathetic smile. "We have a few classes together and mutual friends, but Tom's never taken much of an interest in me."
Rhea brought her brows together and forced a look of concern to fill her expression.
"Professor, is . . . is Tom okay?"
"I know it might seem like a lot to ask, but your peers and teachers describe you as someone who's kind and trustworthy, and that's the kind of person I think Mister Riddle would benefit from having in his life at the moment." Professor Dumbledore said. Rhea almost found it laughable how Dumbledore was turning to her to straighten out Tom. She offered Professor Dumbledore a smile.
"Thank you, Professor. I'd be happy to help him." Rhea said, holding eye contact with Dumbledore while she continued to smile. "What is it exactly that you'd like me to do?"
"I want you to keep an eye on him — be his friend, make sure he's not falling in with the wrong crowd." Dumbledore said. Rhea nodded.
"You can count on me."
Rhea left Dumbledore's office in a hurry to return to the dungeons to tell Tom what Dumbledore was having her do. She entered the common room to find Astrea speaking to Tom in a quiet tone with their backs to Rhea. Rhea approached them silently, eavesdropping on the tail-end of their conversation.
"— He's been asking me a lot of questions about you lately," Astrea said. "Do you think he knows about —"
"Hold on," Tom turned around and came face-to-face with Rhea. She offered him a sarcastic smile as he glared at her. "What do you want?"
"Is that the way to greet someone who's about to do you a favor?" Rhea retorted. She looked between Tom and Astrea, wondering how those two ever became friends. "I just got back from a meeting with Professor Dumbledore. He wants me to 'be a friend' to Tom, though we all know that really means he wants me to spy and report back to him. I can't believe you managed to get on Dumbledore's watch list. Even I stay away from him."
Tom cursed, running a hand through his dark hair. Astrea curiously looked at Rhea.
"Why would Dumbledore trust you?" Astrea asked.
"The other teacher's sang my praises, apparently." Rhea bragged. Tom chewed on the inside of his cheek.
"Dumbledore's been asking Astrea questions about me, too." Tom said. Astrea turned to Tom, surprised he told Rhea so readily while the blonde hummed thoughtfully.
"He mentioned it was because of what happened last year. I'm guessing he doesn't believe that Gryffindor had anything to do with it." Rhea said. Tom clenched and unclenched his jaw.
"You two need to take care of this." Tom said finally. Rhea raised a brow, though Astrea didn't seem that phased despite the unpleasant look on her face.
"You want me to work with her?" Astrea asked. Rhea scoffed.
"It's not like I'm dying to spend time with you either." Rhea rolled her eyes before she coughed into her elbow. Her throat was beginning to feel extremely dry, like sandpaper.
"Abraxas and I are in the middle of handling something else, besides Rhea's a Knight now and I can't have all of you hating her." Tom said. Rhea huffed while Astrea pressed her lips into a thin line.
"Fine. We'll handle it." Astrea said. Tom nodded and brushed past them without sparing a second glance. Astrea turned to Rhea. "What'd you tell Dumbledore?"
"I didn't tell him anything." Rhea said. She dropped into one of the armchairs in the common room, watching as the Giant Squid swam by. "I won't tell him anything. I'll purposefully interact with Tom a few times in front of Dumbledore, so he believes I'm gathering information like he asked. Then, I'll tell him nothing. By the end of the next meeting I have with Dumbledore, he'll think Tom Riddle is nothing but a charming, hard-working student."
"Dumbledore is harder to fool than your average teacher." Astrea said sternly. She glared down at Rhea. "He won't stop until he finds something."
"So, what would you have me do?" Rhea asked. Astrea fell silent.
"We need to throw him off track, but we should also make sure he trusts you. You'll have to feed him something — anything — but, ultimately, it must amount to nothing." Astrea said. Rhea leaned forward.
"We should give him someone else to focus on." Rhea said. Astrea's frown deepened and she shifted uncomfortably. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you're having some sort of moral dilemma about whether or not we should throw someone else under the bus in Tom's place."
Astrea glared at Rhea.
"Don't you have any compassion —"
"Spare me the lecture, Ravenswood." Rhea rose from her chair. "If the worst comes to worst, I'll handle it."
Astrea didn't protest, not that Rhea expected her to. Instead, Astrea narrowed her eyes at Rhea.
"Are you okay?"
Rhea frowned.
"Why would you ask me that?" Rhea asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. Astrea shrugged before walking past Rhea.
Rhea stormed upstairs to her room where she rummaged through her trunks and drawers, searching for something. Nothing was out of place or had been moved.
Rhea thought she might've been a bit paranoid, but she never got sick and her symptoms only seemed to get worse the more the week went on. By the night of the first full moon, Rhea was sporting large pink splotches on her cheeks and struggling not to fall asleep as she waited for Tom to meet her in the entrance hall.
She had spent most of the evening testing out the first round of creating a spell that would terrify Pandora Parkinson so bad she'd never mess with anybody again. Luckily for Rhea, Halloween was right around the corner and she decided that would be the perfect time to strike.
Rhea was in the middle of plotting when Tom rounded the corner, walking side-by-side with Lorelei Spencer-Moon. Rhea tilted her head curiously to the side, watching as Tom said something that made Lorelei burst out laughing. Tom's gaze wandered down the hall to Rhea as she tapped her foot impatiently. She stared at Lorelei and had to force a smile onto her face when she realized Tom was coming her way.
"Rhea," Lorelei blinked, surprised to see the girl standing out in the hall so late."What are you doing here?"
"I was waiting for Tom, actually." Rhea said, the corner of her mouth twitched. Lorelei glanced at Tom, but he smoothly covered.
"Rhea and I are doing a side project for Professor Slughorn." Tom lied. Lorelei relaxed and smiled between the two Slytherins.
"Well, I should probably go then. It was good to see you, Rhea. Tom."
Rhea watched Lorelei disappear down the hall before she turned to find Tom staring curiously at her face. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"What are you staring at?" Rhea asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
"There's something wrong with you." Tom commented. Rhea grimaced.
"I'm sick," She rolled her eyes and began walking down the hall. Tom fell into step beside her, waiting patiently for an explanation. "I think it's a curse. I looked for some sort of talisman in my room, but I couldn't find anything."
"Who do you think would curse you?" Tom asked.
"A few people come to mind." Rhea frowned. "It doesn't feel advanced, so I think it's a student."
Tom hummed, but didn't comment as they stepped out of Hogwarts and into the cool September air. Rhea tugged her robes around her as they made their way to the Dark Forest.
She secretly wondered why Tom was speaking to Lorelei Spencer-Moon since he hardly ever spoke to anyone outside of his Knights and the Professors unless it was for something, but she didn't want to ask him. Instead, she would focus on the Dark Arts lesson she was about to give him; it was something she had never even tried before, but she was confident things would go her way if Tom didn't mess anything up.
"How far in are we going?" Tom asked when they arrived at the edge of the Forest. Rhea smirked and turned to him.
"Are you scared?"
He flashed her a bemused look.
"Don't be ridiculous," He said before smiling sarcastically. "Ladies first."
Rhea rolled her eyes and continued on, sliding her wand out of the hidden pocket in her robe to keep at her side. She turned to Tom and brought her finger to her lips, signaling for him to be quiet as they snuck through the wooded area.
Though he was surprised by his own compliance, Tom managed to keep his mouth shut until Rhea stopped walking. She halted so abruptly that Tom crashed into her back. She glanced over her shoulder with a frown on her face before turning to face the group of eight thestrals before them. They were fleshless beasts, with their black coats clinging to their skeletal frame. Their heads were like dragons and their black, leathery wings reminded Tom of bats.
Rhea exchanged the wand for the knife buried deeper in her pocket. The jagged blade glinted under the moonlight as it rested firmly in her grip. Rhea lunged forward and the thestrals scattered at the sight of her — except for one. Rhea's blade buried into the neck of the thestral and it let out a cry before dropping to the ground.
"What are you doing?" Tom asked, stepping forward to join Rhea as she knelt on the ground.
She rubbed her hand soothingly along the thestrals neck while it gave another soft whimper.
"It's okay . . . everything's going to be okay . . ." Rhea whispered as the thestral's eyes began to droop close. She glanced at Tom and sighed. "Give me your hand."
Tom stared at Rhea for a moment before he brought his hand up. Rhea gave the thestral one last pat and yanked the knife from its neck. Its breathing became shallower as blood poured from the wound and Rhea quickly grabbed Tom's hand. She paused for a moment, surprised by how cold his hands were before she shook her head slightly. Rhea brought the knife to his palm and created a long cut across the middle. Tom's brows pulled together and he grabbed Rhea's wrist with his uninjured hand before she had a chance to pull away.
"What are you doing?" He repeated, a bit more impatiently this time.
"Don't you trust me?"
"No."
Rhea rolled her eyes.
"You should. I'm the only person who's ever been honest with you." Tom frowned, thinking about her words and wondering if they were even true. Rhea lifted her hand and easily created the deep cut. Her eyes traveled back to the thestral to find that its breathing had stopped completely. She placed her hand back on Tom's, her green eyes meeting his dark gaze as a sly smile started to creep onto her lips. "We're going to bring the thestral back to life."