"Ah Lucius, so nice of you to join us."
The elder Malfoy bowed low, mirrored by his son.
"Apologies, My Lord, my son bonded with his familiar only a few moments ago, unavoidably delaying us."
"Interesting. Step forward boy."
The Dark Lord watched, quietly amused, as the young blonde approached. The boy was doing a credible imitation of his father's disdainful mask, but Tom could see the fear lucking behind his mercury eyes. The boy bowed again, holding the pose until he was acknowledged.
"Draco Malfoy. Your father has spoken highly of you."
The boy nodded at the praise, a small smile flitting across his pale features.
"Tell me of your find."
Tom watched the boy stroke the serpents head. He was a bit taken aback by the intense scrutiny the serpent was giving him.
"Her name is Oma, My Lord. She's a Syren – a pygmy Syren – and I came across her in a Diagon Alley side street."
"A pygmy Siren? I am impressed Draco. Syrens are exceptionally rare creatures in their own right, but pygmies appear maybe once every few hundred years. I hope you appreciate the gift you have been given."
The smiled again, a bit more relaxed.
"From what little I've learned of her, My Lord, I doubt Oma would accept anything less than complete adoration on my part."
Tom chuckled. He couldn't help it; the Malfoy heir was an imp.
"Greetings, Oma," he hissed in parseltongue. The Syren's eyes widened a bit.
"Greetings, Wizard."
"You may call me Tom. I hope that we will become friends."
She nodded. "Tom then. You are the leader here?"
"Yes. Draco's father is one of my most loyal and trusted followers. I look for your young Wizard to follow in his footsteps."
"We shall see, Tom."
The Dark Lord was considering the implications of her words when he felt Nagini slide into his lap.
"Insolent wretch," she hissed at the Syren. "You will address my Master as Lord! You and that horrid child of yours should be groveling at his feet, begging for your miserable lives."
"Nagini!" Tom hissed, shocked by the Cobra's behavior.
Oma reared up, "You will not speak of Draco in such a manner!"
"And what will you do about it peasant?"
"How dare you call me peasant, you ignorant lizard," Nagini hissed at the insult, flaring her hood, "Syrens are second only to Dragons. Even the mighty Basilisk shows its respect to me and mine. But you are too ignorant to know anything other than how to squeak like the pathetic mouse you are!"
Tom tried to grab the Cobra, but she leapt at the boy and Syren.
Draco stumbled back as Oma released her wings and sprang into the air.
"You go too far mouse, you have threatened my Wizard and you shall die!"
Nagini coiled and struck but Oma dodged with ease, laughing at her attempts.
Tom watched the conflict in horror but could do nothing to stop it. He knew Oma had been willing to let the insults slide even though she'd been within her rights to strike the cobra the minute Nagini had entered the room and failed to give her obeisance. She'd gone too far leaping at Draco, however, and Tom knew he was about to lose his long time friend.
Oma hovered, taunting the Cobra. Nagini struck again, getting close, when the Syren fluttered her wings in such a way as to flip in mid air, her fangs sinking deep behind the flared hood shooting venom deeply into the bloodstream.
And then it was over. His companion for the last thirty-odd years lay dead at his feet.
Draco fell to his knees, gathering the little Syren up against his stomach. He bowed low over her, hiding the serpent and stuttering his apologies.
Tom looked around the throne room seeing the fear, and in Lucius' case terror, written so clearly on their faces.
He stood and Draco fell silent. The whole room was deathly quiet as the Dark Lord stepped down from the throne and gathered up Nagini's corpse.
"It is alright Draco, Lucius. Oma is not at fault. In fact she was rather forgiving. Nagini picked the fight and threatened you Draco...I must ask your forgiveness young Malfoy. I should have realized Nagini's instability might lead to something like this and prevented it. I will endeavor to correct this breach of honor to your family. You are guests in my home and my familiar..."
Tom stopped. The emptiness in the back of his head where the bond with Nagini had been ached. His whole body ached.
"If you will excuse me gentlemen."
The assembled "Death Eaters" as they had been called, nodded and Tom tried to ignore their expressions of fear and uncertainty. He hated this, hated what had been done to him and what he had in turn done to his followers. These men had loved him, once upon a time, regaining their trust would take a long time, if it was even possible at this late date.
He made his way to his private chambers, the cobra's body cradled in his arms and his Potions Master, Severus Snape, following silently.
"Shall I summon Poppy, My Lord?" the dour man asked quietly.
"Are we back to that Severus?"
"I am sorry Tom. Losing a familiar is not an easy thing under the best of circumstances, and these are certainly not those."
The Dark Lord sighed, standing uncertainly in the middle of the room feeling lost and not a little bit scared. He was unfamiliar with such feelings and was ill equipped to deal with them.
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Severus Snape watched his Lord anxiously. This was a delicate time for the Wizard and a loss such as this could destroy all the progress they had made in the last year.
Seeing his indecision, Severus quietly summoned a house elf. It disappeared after receiving whispered instructions and reappeared a few minutes latter bearing what resembled a hat box.
The Potions Master took the box, dismissing the elf and moved to the small dining table near the fireplace.
"Come Tom, I have something for you."
Tom shuffled over, his face starting to go from confused to blank. Severus cursed under his breath as he opened the box. Tom hadn't had one of his catatonic episodes in almost six months and if he had one now, after such a trauma, he might not wake up again.
From the box he pulled a heavily carved black marble urn with an equally carved lid and placed it gently on the table. A small spark of interest entered Tom's brown eyes making the darker man sigh in relief.
"This is beautiful Severus, wherever did you find it?"
"I came across it last year in Egypt. It is a funerary jar, generally used for feline familiars, but in this case all the carvings were of serpents. The seller told me that when the remains are placed inside, a miniature of the creature will appear at the base of the jar. It serves as a sort of Wizard's portrait only more so, having all the memories of the animal up to the point of death. The miniature will be able to move all over the jar, but not off of it."
Tom lovingly caressed the carvings and hieroglyphs. "This must have cost you a small fortune."
Severus snorted. "Not in the least. Apparently since most Wizards cannot speak to their animal companions as you can, they see no need in such an item. I think I got an excellent bargain." He looked up and saw his friend studying him.
"Why?"
Severus looked down. "When you started getting better it became evident that she wasn't. I feared her death was inevitable and what it would do to you. I thought this might help."
The Dark Lord gave a nod and a small smile. Removing the lid, he fed Nagini's tail into the opening, slowly lowering the rest of her body as the magic of the small jar accommodated her eight foot length. He kissed the top of her head before releasing her fully into the jar and closing the lid. The vessel glowed black and then, as promised, a two-inch replica of his familiar appeared at the base.
"Hello Nagini," he hissed to the marble serpent.
"Greetings, My Lord," she replied.
"I miss you."
She nodded, "I am sorry my illness has brought us to this, my Tom."
He smiled sadly, "It feels like forever since you have called me that."
"I think the urn has allowed my memories from before the sickness to come to the fore. You do know I loved you, don't you Tom, even when I was no longer myself and couldn't tell you."
"Yes, my Nagini, I know." He ran a tired hand over his eyes. "I think I will rest now luv."
The little snake bowed and then coiled up. "Of course. I expect you to get well and avenge us."
Tom smiled again as the miniature Nagini went still, appearing as nothing more than another carving on the urn.
Severus had stayed quiet during the exchange, listening with satisfaction to the affectionate tones of the two.
"You have no idea what this means to me Severus," his Lord said, moving across the room and placing the urn on his bed side table. He sat on the bed and looked tiredly at his feet.
Severus quickly followed and knelt at the man's feet, pulling off his boots and socks.
"You don't have to do that..." he protested.
"Hush Tom, you are still recovering and need to rest. What did Nagini have to say?"
Tom grumbled about being treated like an invalid and then, "It seems the urn has given her back her sanity. It will be a great comfort to talk to her like I used to." Tom stood and Severus helped him remove his robes, "She asked me to avenge her."
The Potions Master froze. "Against Draco?"
"No, no Severus. Dumbledore was the one to set us on this path and it is Dumbledore who will pay – for all of his sins."
Severus pulled back the blankets and Tom slowly climbed in.
After getting comfortable in the large bed, Tom summoned Lucius and Draco.
The blondes bowed and he was glad to see the fear was gone. Lucius looked concerned while Draco looked puzzled. Oma appeared to be asleep around the boy's neck.
"How goes your search Lucius?"
"We've only just started casting inquisito corpus in Blackstone forest My Lord...so far nothing has been found."
"I suppose that is good news. I do not really think he's dead, I do not think I would have been able to recover if he was, but why can we not find him? Why do I feel such certainty that he is in Blackstone?"
"Blackstone?" Oma hissed, raising her head. "What interests you about Blackstone?"
"Do you know of it little Syren?" Tom asked.
"I grew up there."
Tom leaned forward anxiously. "Perhaps you can tell me then, we have been searching for a boy, the same age as your Draco only with darker hair and green eyes. His name is Harry Potter and we think he may be hiding in the forest."
In the blink of an eye Oma left Draco's shoulder and was coiled only inches from the Dark Lord. Severus stood, thinking she intended to strike but Tom help up a hand as she spoke.
"Why do you seek this boy Tom, and what would he be hiding from?"
The Potions Master watched Tom thinking and knew that he was being very careful in what he said to the dangerous creature before him.
"I know that his parents were killed and that the relatives he was sent to live with were very cruel to him. They abandoned him in that forest when he was a very small boy. I wish to find him because...because he is my mate."