CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
— the woman is a sweet poison
"WHAT'S A HORCRUX?" The question was out of Tom's mouth before he had a chance to truly process what Rhea was telling him as he raked his brain for any mention of a Horcrux from the numerous books he had flipped through, although he knew he would come up empty. A horcrux. Rhea spoke lowly, her tone slightly hesitant like it was forbidden for her to talk about. Her eyes darted around, as though she expected one of her family members to appear in the middle of the Room of Hidden Things and hex her for telling an outsider — a half-blood — their family secrets.
Rhea sighed, thinking back to her mother and Veles Fawley. She knew that, together, they had created their own Horcruxes. She always assumed her mother must have kept her Horcrux in the shed or wore it since she died in the fire.
"I don't understand it fully, we hardly talk about it. The first known one was created by Herpo the Foul. It's a way for a wizard to hide a part of their soul to become immortal by splitting your soul."
"How do you split your soul?"
"I don't know." Rhea frowned, watching Tom's curiosity unfold. She could see the thoughts spinning around in his head and he was looking at her like she had just given him some great treasure. "I never cared to ask."
"Could you?" Tom asked. Rhea shook her head sharply.
"I can't risk my family finding out that I'm telling you about Horcruxes. You'll have to find some other way." Rhea said.
Tom's brows pulled together and he quickly began to rake his mind for a solution. He doubted any library book, even the ones in the Restricted Section, would be able to answer his questions. But, experienced wizards, like their Professors, would surely have answers and Tom knew exactly who he would ask.
"Slughorn," Tom said finally. "I'll get Professor Slughorn to tell me about Horcruxes."
"Tom . . ." Rhea said in a voice that gave Tom pause. There was something in her expression that nearly made him recoil from surprise. Buried underneath her usual passive expression was concern. For him. He blinked and it was gone. "The one thing I do know about splitting your soul is that it changes you, drastically. Even doing it once does irreparable damage. Are you . . . are you sure this is something you want to do?"
"Yes." Tom said. He didn't even have to think about it. Death was one challenge he was determined to overcome. He could picture it now — him, a powerful and immortal wizard who had worked his way up until every wizard knew his name. "I'm sure."
Rhea and Tom left the Room of Requirement and made their way back to the Great Hall, only to find Davina standing in the hallway with her arms crossed and an impatient look on her face.
"I should've known." Davina rolled her eyes. Tom sent Rhea a questioning glance that she ignored as they approved Davina, who was glaring daggers at the both of them. "Tom, you said you were going to the bathroom. I had to dance with Abraxas."
"I'm sure he enjoyed that." Rhea whispered sarcastically. The corner of Tom's lips lifted ever so slightly before he turned to Davina, regretting having asked her to come with him in the first place. Rhea placed an apologetic smile on her face. "Sorry, Davina. Tom and I were only —"
"Save your excuses. Let's go back inside, Tom. There's still enough time for us to get a couple more dances in." Davina said. Tom glanced back at Rhea but her attention had wandered down the hall where Delphine Erebus was standing, waiting patiently for Rhea to come to her.
Rhea slipped away from them, her disappearance going completely unnoticed by Davina. A grin stretched across Delphine's face when Rhea approached her.
"You did it. Pandora's in the infirmary now, apparently she's having very vivid hallucinations and someone overheard Silas saying her parents were talking about shipping her off to St. Mungo's before too many people notice." Delphine said. Rhea shrugged.
"She'll be fine in a day or two."
"Nevertheless, you delivered on your promise. You have a friend in me and my family, Rhea." Delphine assured with a nod of her head, her dark eyes twinkling in a way that told Rhea that she might prove to be a more valuable ally than Rhea thought she would be.
News of Pandora Parkinson's condition spread through the castle by the next day and everyone was busy trying to figure out who could have done something so horrible to her. But, everything was going according to Rhea's plan and she felt confident when she entered Ravenclaw tower and knocked on the door to Lorelei Spencer-Moon's dormitory.
The door swung open, revealing the daughter of their Minister. She blinked, not at all expecting to see Rhea Hel standing at her door but she quickly recovered and put a polite smile on her face.
"Rhea," Lorelei greeted, her voice falsely bright in a way that wasn't very convincing. "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in? I think we need to talk." Rhea said. She decided to skip the pleasantries and get straight to the point. Lorelei blinked slowly at her before stepping aside, opening her door wide so that Rhea could enter the room.
"Is this about Tom? Because, honestly, you don't have anything to worry about on that front. I'm not interested in half-bloods."
Rhea narrowed her eyes at Lorelei.
"No," She said sharply. "This isn't about Tom."
"Oh." Lorelei frowned, walking to sit on her bed. She stared up at Rhea with a confused expression. "Then, I really don't know what you and I have to talk about."
"I saw what you did to Avery." Rhea said. Lorelei's shoulders tensed at the mention of Cassius and her jaw tightened, but she didn't speak. She merely continued to stare at Rhea as though she was merely speaking about the weather. "That kind of dark magic is quite similar to the one that was used on Parkinson last night."
"I think you and I both know I wasn't the one who messed with Pandora Parkinson last night, Hel." Lorelei said, her voice calm as she stared at Rhea with an expression of the utmost dislike. Rhea smiled.
"Tell me, how would your father react if word got to him that his precious daughter was going around performing dark spells on fellow students."
Lorelei snorted.
"As if anyone would believe you."
"They wouldn't?" Rhea challenged. Lorelei rose to her feet, pointing her wand threateningly at Rhea.
"Don't threaten me, Hel."
Rhea flicked her finger lazily and Lorelei's wand shot out of her hand and into Rhea's. Rhea twirled it in between her fingers while Lorelei glared at her angrily.
"What do you want?" Lorelei asked.
"A favor." Rhea said before she tossed Lorelei her wand back. The girl caught it and stared at Rhea impatiently. "I want to be a Hit Witch after we graduate and your father can make that happen."
"What makes you think you won't be able to get it on your own? Why do you need me to ask him?"
"Don't play dumb, Lorelei. You and I both know your father would never let another Hel step foot in the Ministry as long as he is Minister and my father is still working with Grindelwald. I'm not taking any chances."
"Fine. I'll do it." Lorelei agreed. A grin stretched across Rhea's face, satisfied that she once again got her way. Rhea turned to leave, but Lorelei's voice stopped her before she had a chance to leave the room. She said, "You'd be wise not to blackmail me again, Hel. I am not someone you want to have on your bad side."
Rhea smirked, "Oh, I don't doubt that."
She left Lorelei to her own devices and made her way to Professor Dumbledore's office. She rasped her knuckles on the wooden door until she heard her professor's voice beckoning her inside the room. Dumbledore sat in his chair, a pile of parchments in front of him that he was going through with his quill. His bushy brows rose in surprise at the sight of Rhea, surprised to see her since he hadn't sent her a note telling her to come.
"Miss Hel, what a pleasant surprise. Please sit." Dumbledore said, waving to the chair across from her. Rhea offered him a kind, slightly hesitant smile before sliding into the seat. "Would you like a cup of tea?"
"No, thank you, Professor. I really mustn't stay long, but I thought I should come speak to you right away." Rhea said, forcing an anxious look to appear on her face. Professor Dumbledore frowned and leaned forward.
"What's the matter? Has something happened with Tom?"
"Oh, no, Professor. I'm afraid Tom isn't the problem at all." Dumbledore's frown deepened, wondering where Rhea was going with this. Truth be told, she hadn't had much of a plan until she realized she could knock out three birds with stone. The first step was to attack Pandora Parkinson and make it look like no one knew who the culprit was, courtesy of her grandmother's memory charm that worked wonders. Then, she could use what happened to Avery and Pandora in order to blackmail Lorelei Spencer-Moon into securing her a job after Hogwarts, but the last step to her plan was the hardest part. Dumbledore. He was hellbent on his crusade against Tom and Rhea had a feeling it was going to prove impossible for Tom to do more research into Horcruxes with Dumbledore breathing down his neck every second and watching her every move to make sure she was following through on their plan. So, Rhea needed to point him in another direction. "It's Jasper, sir."
"Jasper Rosier?" Dumbledore asked. Rhea nodded, tears welling in her eyes.
"I could hardly believe it myself. I've known Jasper for years and I would never have expected for him to do something like this." Rhea wailed, pretending as though she was extremely torn up.
"What did he do?"
"It was him, Professor, it was him all along!" Rhea cried out angrily. "I did what you said, I got close to Tom and I'll admit he is a little . . . well, I don't exactly know how to describe Tom Riddle, but I made my way into their gang and found out that it's not Tom who leads them. I mean, I should've known all along — boys like Lestrange and Malfoy are far too proud to ever fall in line with someone they viewed as inferior to them — but it wasn't until last night I realized how far gone Jasper was.
"I left the Halloween Ball to follow Tom into the hallway to catch him doing something when I saw Jasper take Pandora Parkinson into a classroom. I watched as he performed dark magic on her, a spell unlike anything I've ever seen before. I wanted to wait until Jasper didn't suspect anything before I came to tell you. I just can't believe what he did."
Professor Dumbledore sat back in his chair, stunned by what he was hearing. He stared at Rhea, and she got the sense that he was trying to figure out whether or not he should believe her. She could tell exactly what he was thinking. He was thinking that she was a Hel, daughter of someone who was currently wreaking havoc in France with one of Dumbledore's old mates according to the Prophet. Dumbledore had met her father and mother before and he remembered how charming they had been, until they weren't.
Dumbledore weighed his options before letting out a small sigh. To him, the girl standing before him was a child who had done everything in her power for the last six years to escape from her family's long shadows. Rhea Hel was kind and she had come to him to tell him about what someone from her circle had done.
"Thank you for telling me, Rhea. Headmaster Dippet will want to thank you personally for your bravery. Sometimes it's difficult to do the right thing, especially if it means standing up to your friends." Dumbledore said.
Rhea left Dumbledore's office feeling lighter. Finally, she would no longer have to pretend to be some sort of lackey for Dumbledore when she could focus on much more important matters at hand. She had written to her aunt and uncle to tell them that she performed the Necromancy spell, but they had yet to respond to her, though she wasn't entirely sure why. But, Rhea's attention was quickly pulled away from thoughts of her family with the impending trip to Hogsmeade Village coming up.
Normally, Rhea liked to stay in the castle during Hogsmeade because it gave her a chance to brush up on her spells without fear of her roommates barging into the room, but Persephone had practically forced her to come, citing that she didn't want to have to spend the entire time listening to Walburga and Davina bicker over something trivial while Seraphina and Druella pretended not to notice them. All in all, Rhea wasn't too happy when she found herself standing in the cold with her arms crossed over her chest and trudging through the thin layer of snow as Davina made them visit every single shop in Diagon Alley.
Rhea stared into the Three Broomsticks Inn longingly where most of the school was gathered. She could make out her brother and Avida holding hands at a table by the window and quickly averted her eyes, feeling a rush of anger whenever she caught sight of Pluto though she wasn't too sure how she could avoid him much longer with winter break coming up.
"I need to get a new dress from Gladrags for the holiday's. I'm not too sure what our family's going to do yet." Davina announced to the group while Rhea pulled her scarf tighter around her neck.
"Now that I think about it, my family hasn't mentioned what we're doing for Christmas either." Walburga said, turning to Druella. "Are your parents throwing a Christmas party this year?"
"Surprisingly, they're not. They haven't mentioned winter break at all in their letters which must mean there's something and we just don't know about it yet." Druella said.
"Mystery." Persephone said, playfully nudging Rhea but her eyes were across the street where Tom was speaking rather animatedly to Jasper, Abraxas, Lupe, Orpheus, Cassius, and Ramsey. Seraphina let out a tiny squeal that made everyone turn to her.
"What was that?" Walburga asked.
"Ramsey!" Seraphina exclaimed, her eyes darting in the direction of the boy. Each of the girls turned to look at Ramsey Lestrange, only to find that all seven of the boys were beginning to make their way over to them. "He's coming! How do I look?"
"Wait, you like Lestrange? Since when?" Davina asked incredulously, but Seraphina didn't get a chance to respond because the boys had arrived. Jasper was glaring daggers at Rhea, his cheeks flaming red. His silent seething brought a smile to Rhea's face.
"Hi, boys." Seraphina said, staring directly at Ramsey who had a hint of a smile on his cheeks from the attention. Rhea narrowed her eyes at him but she was distracted by Tom's voice.
"Is it all right if I speak to Rhea for a moment?" Tom asked before sharing a pointed look with the boys. "Alone."
Rhea, eager to get away from the group, agreed and joined Tom's side, but not before she caught Abraxas asking him if he really had to stay and speak to Davina Selwyn. Tom and Rhea broke away from the group and Tom led her down some dark alley where they could talk privately.
He whirled on her and exclaimed, "What were you thinking? We don't rat each other out, Rhea, and especially not to Dumbledore of all people! Do you know how much convincing it has taken to get them to let you stay a Knight?"
"Convincing? I thought you controlled them." Rhea asked, placing her hands on her hips.
"I do." Tom said quickly.
"Then, tell them that it's not up to them whether or not I stay. It's up to you. Besides, they should be grateful. Now, Dumbledore has no reason to keep looking into your group because he thinks he has it all figured out — Jasper's the leader and you're just some half-blood who's a little power hungry but nothing too concerning. I knew Jasper wasn't going to get in any real trouble because he's a Rosier, Headmaster Dippet wouldn't even think about disciplining him in any way which is why I'm sure he let Jasper off with only a slap on the wrist. Am I correct?" Rhea asked.
Tom remained silent, staring curiously at Rhea and she took his silence as a sign that she was right.
"You planned this out all along?" Tom asked, finally.
"Of course I did. You always have to think ahead." Rhea said. Tom's eyes racked her face, as though she was some puzzle he was having a hard time figuring out and she wondered what was running through his mind as he stared at her with his dark eyes. Eventually, he said,
"Let's go." Tom turned on his heels, taking long strides to leave the alley that made Rhea have to rush to catch up to him, shocked by his sudden turn.
"Go where? Where are we going?" Rhea asked, but Tom didn't respond as they walked down the street side-by-side. She saw a few curious glances from other students who passed them by, so she kept her head down. She didn't need it getting back to Dumbledore that she was seen spending time with Tom after she just cleared his name.
But, Tom didn't stop until they arrived in front of the Three Broomsticks.
"I take it you're hungry, then." Rhea said, following him to the very back of the crowded pub where they could sit away from everyone else in the secluded section that was hidden behind a wall.
"I just wanted to get out of the cold." Tom said. He went to order them food, although Rhea wasn't too sure what he was going to get for her since he had no idea what she liked to eat or drink.
She sat in the booth, peaking around to stare at some of the other students who sat in the bar. In the middle of the room were some of their friends — Seraphina was giggling into her hand after Ramsey leaned over and whispered something into her ear, her cheeks a light shade of pink as she stared up at him with lovestruck eyes; Persephone and Walburga were laughing at something Orpheus said to them, which even made Lupe crack a smile as he downed his butterbeer; and Abraxas and Davina sat back, glaring at each other and only joining in when spoken to. There were other students too and a lot of smiling couples. Rhea frowned as she watched one boy, a Hufflepuff, reach across the table and take his date's hand in his with a shy smile on his face.
Tom came back, two foaming pewter tankards of Firewhisky in hand and Rhea was glad he didn't bring her butterbeer since she didn't have a taste for it. In his other hand, he held two orders of Shepherd's Pie, her absolute favorite, and her stomach grumbled at the sight and smell of it.
"I just guessed." Tom said, sliding the items over to her side of the table. Rhea turned to stare at him, slightly surprised and confused by what was happening. It wasn't as though her and Tom were friends who regularly hung out or spent time with each other, but something about sitting with him in the Three Broomsticks, surrounded by couples made this feel different. Rhea picked up her tankard and drank at least half of it in one gulp. "Did you tell your family you brought the Thestral back to life?"
"I wrote to them a few days ago. I've been trying to find the time to go to the forest to check up on him, to make sure that he's still alive and it wasn't just some fluke." Rhea said. She could still hardly believe she had done it, she'd actually brought something back to life at sixteen.
"What do you think they'll do?"
"They'll probably want to start figuring out whether or not I'm the Enchantress, but . . . I don't know." Rhea shook her head, deciding midway through that Tom probably couldn't care less about how she was feeling. But, there was a crease in his brows when she stopped talking and he stared at her, waiting silently for her to continue as he shoveled a piece of Shepherd's Pie into his mouth. "I don't think I really want to be the Enchantress."
"You don't want to be the reincarnation of the most powerful witch our world has ever seen?" Tom asked, sounding genuinely confused. Rhea sighed.
"I just . . . the Enchantress is all about being the reincarnation of Morgana. Sure, she has all these powers and she's supposed to be extremely powerful, but a part of her will always be connected to Morgana. Some even say Morgana chooses who the Enchantress would be, but I don't want that to be me. I don't want to get my power because she chose me for it, I want to earn it myself. I brought a Thestral back from the dead, not because I'm the second coming of Morgana, but because I could do it."
"Then, what do you want?" Tom asked, turning to face her. Rhea noticed that they were sitting a lot closer together in the booth than they had been when they first sat down and she could tell because she could feel Tom's leg pressing up against hers. She wondered if he even noticed, but he didn't even blink, instead he just stared at her and waited for her to answer his question as though it would finally tell him everything he needed to know about her. "If you could do anything after Hogwarts, without thinking about what your family wants or what's expected of you, what would it be?"
Rhea blinked.
It was the first time anyone had ever asked her that. It was such a simple question, one that she thought should've come easily to her. She knew what she was supposed to want. She was supposed to want to marry Atlas, have his children, and work as a Hit Witch for the rest of her life while her brother got to carry on their family name and legacy. Everything he did would go down in their family's history meanwhile she would just be another forgotten name to the Hel's. Once she married Atlas, she would never truly be a Hel again.
"I want power." Rhea said after a while, turning to Tom, her eyes twinkling with dark mischief. "I want to be able to do anything without having to worry what people will think. I want to be able to have the entire world fall on their knees just because I told them to. I want it all."
For the first time, a smile formed on Tom's face. A genuine, honest smile that told Rhea she had given Tom the answer he had hoped for. The answer that told him that he had finally found his match, someone who could understand the darkest parts of him, and he hadn't even been searching for her.
"There is only power and those too weak to seek it." Tom whispered underneath his breath before he turned to Rhea. "You'll have it."
"I wouldn't be too sure. My whole life is mapped out in front of me. I doubt I'll have time for world domination." Rhea said sarcastically.
"I think you're capable of a lot more than you give yourself credit for." Tom said quietly, so low that Rhea thought she hallucinated what he said. She was too shocked to respond so she just drank the rest of her Firewhisky, the sentence repeating in her head on a loop as the realization settled that, finally, someone believed in her as much as she believed in herself.
That's when she smelled it. She was so close to Tom that she could smell an earthy scent to him that reminded her of morning dew.
He smelled like her Amortentia.
Rhea sat at breakfast a few days after the trip to Hogsmeade, quietly sulking over the realization she had while sitting in the Three Broomsticks, when her owl flew over her head and dropped two letters and a tiny bundle of what appeared to be invitations in front of her.
"Someone's famous." Davina commented as Rhea picked up the first letter, immediately recognizing the symbol of the dragon on the insignia. She tore it open to see a short sentence written in her grandmother's neat penmanship.
We will talk when you get home
— Elvira
Rhea sighed. She supposed she expected too much for thinking that her family would, at least, congratulate her for performing a spell that was supposed to be impossible. She tossed the letter aside, tucking it away before turning to the other one. The crane on the symbol made another deep sigh come out of her, though she ignored the curious looks she received from her friends (Apart from Druella, who hadn't spoken to her ever since Jasper told her what happened) as she tore open the envelope to find a letter from Gaia Krane telling her that her engagement to Atlas was going to be announced at the Christmas party the Krane's were throwing. Gaia asked her to send out invitations to all of her friends from families who were apart of the Sacred Twenty-Nine.
"What is it?" Persephone asked, noticing the look on Rhea's face.
Rhea turned to her friends and forced a bright smile on her face.
"You're all invited to the Krane's Christmas Party." Rhea said. Immediately, the girls began speaking animatedly about what they were going to wear and they peppered her with questions wondering why the Krane's were asking her to invite people since they hardly ever spent time with other families from the Sacred Twenty-Nine.
It didn't take long for Rhea to give invites to the other children from other families. Druella was the most cold when receiving her and Jasper's invitation, but everyone else seemed either excited or surprised by the invitation, especially Lupe. But, after Rhea delivered the rest of the invitations, she was left with one.
Rhea found Tom waiting outside of Professor Slughorn's office since he had been spending the past few weeks making sure to really get on Slughorn's good side. Tom could hear the sound of Rhea's footsteps approaching before he turned his head to see her holding a red envelope with a silver bow wrapped neatly around it. He eyed it warily.
"What's that?" Tom asked.
"An invitation." Rhea handed it to him. She wasn't too sure if Tom was even going to show up but she wanted him to be there. "You're cordially invited to the Krane's Christmas Party."
"The Krane's?" Tom asked, raising a brow in surprise.
"Well, I'm sending out invitations around the school and I had an extra one left, so I figured I might as well give it to you." Rhea shrugged nonchalantly as Tom marveled at the invitation. He could only imagine the type of people that would be there and the type of networking he would have to do in order to create a memorable impression. But then, Tom frowned.
"Why are they having you send out invitations?" Tom asked. Rhea chewed on the inside of her cheek. It wasn't like she could tell Tom that the party was, technically, her engagement ball since the actual engagement hadn't been announced yet.
"Gaia just thought it would be easier." Rhea said, brushing it off but Tom knew she was lying, though he didn't understand why. Rhea stared at Tom. "Will you be there?"
"Yes, I'll be there." Tom said. Rhea smiled.
"Good. I don't think you're going to want to miss this."
next chapter's gonna b my favorite i can feel it
but there won't be an update saturday because it's
my birthday but i'm definitely going to TRY to get it out before
because i'm excited for you guys to see it