I have loved
the stars
too fondly
to be fearful
of
the night
'Because he's trying to kill me'
A six worded sentence that Tom found himself reading over and over again. Certainly not the response he expected after he notified his sister that he indeed knew of Jean Belmont's existence and questioned her on why it even mattered.
It was Sunday night already, and unfortunately for Jean, it had been a long day for Tom. He was tired and far from being in a pleasant mood, and just when he believed it was time to call it a day he received the letter that managed to make his irritation skyrocket. He wasn't getting any sleep that night, that much he was sure of. He didn't want nor need further explanation. Alexis' words were all he needed, the why's or how's could be answered later. He also didn't bother with notifying his Death Eaters, their incompetence had already caused him enough troubles. He calmly put on his coat and reached for his wand before making his way out of his room. He was taking care of this one himself, and thankfully, he knew just where to find the Belmont family.
A whistle echoed in the dark and silent streets of Haugh, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Tom Riddle looked calm and composed, his silhouette blending with the shadows that surrounded him. Haugh was no more than two hours away from Hogwarts grounds, meaning this man was a very short trip away from Alexis. Tom's composure didn't change, but the grip on his wand did.
The Belmonts' were a pureblood family that held themselves to a higher standard than they actually were. Neither the father nor the mother had ever engaged in a duel, so their pathetic attempts to stop him from getting to their only living son were futile. He got the job done fast, sparing them the agony of having to watch him murder yet another one of their sons. Jean, however, Jean was ready for a duel. The lad, fueled with rage and fooled by some feeble idea of revenge, dared to point his wand at Tom. His shaky hands and glossy eyes were all Tom needed to know this would be an easy victory. But he wasn't going to be as merciful to Jean as he was to his parents. Jean was going to suffer, and as opposed to the old couple, Tom was going to grant him his last words.
"You should've learned from your brother." Tom taunted the boy who was kneeling in front of him, his body trembling uncontrollably as blood splattered from his mouth. "And now that we're on topic, why don't you tell me why you were planning to kill my sister, huh?" Jean squirmed in pain, his body feeling as if an invisible dagger kept plunging into him. "Was it because I killed your brother? Is that it?" Tom neared the boy, gripping his face tight to ensure he had his eyes on him. "How did you even know I have a sister if you never even went to Hogwarts? She's never been mentioned on any of those silly newspapers, she's off the records, I've made sure of that. So mind enlightening me on how, Belmont?"
It was hard for Jean to speak, but knowing this were his last words he had to make sure he didn't go down alone. "Marion Favreau."
Tom nodded. A name he'd heard before but never from Alexis herself. He knew the girls had some issues with each other but he never considered them to be anything other than childish drama. But Marion Favreau was a name he wouldn't be forgetting now.
A green light lit up the room seconds before Tom disappeared into the night, wondering how long it would take people to find the three dead bodies.
-
Potions was a dreadful class to have first thing on a Monday morning. The darkness in the dungeons did little to help students get rid of the usual grogginess that came along with starting a new week. And along with all the instructions Professor Slughorn was going on about, his classroom was rapidly becoming a second dormitory to many.
A deafening silence engulfed the room, much to Horace's glee, when even the Marauders felt too sleepy to cause their usual commotion. There was one student who was wide awake though, and it happened to be Alexis, who had left any trace of sleep behind once she got a hold of the Daily Prophet during breakfast. There was also a notorious absence that was soon filled when Marion abruptly walked into the classroom twenty minutes late. Disheveled and panic-stricken were the best ways to describe the girl and to let Alexis know that she too had heard the news.
"I-I'm sorry, Professor," the girl stuttered as she hesitantly stepped forward.
"Come on in, Miss Favreau, we don't have all day." Slughorn instructed, not the least bit concerned about the girl's sick appearance.
Marion swallowed hard, her gaze setting on Alexis with unease as she walked past her, making a devilish grin adorn the girl's face. James quietly questioned Marion once she took her seat next to him, his expression a mortified one, but the girl was all silence and a lot of fear.
"What did you do?" Remus whispered from beside Alexis, an amused grin plastered on his lips with his eyes still set on his book.
"Nothing she didn't deserve."
The Belmont family had been murdered, and although the news didn't come as a shock to many as they simply considered them to be the latest victims in this incessant war, Alexis and Marion knew better. They knew the motive. No words had been exchanged yet but there was an unspoken understanding between the two: Alexis had the upper hand.
This wasn't even about James anymore. Their animosity had become a matter of life and death, so it was no wonder Marion was in such a state for the remainder of the day, and the day after, and the day after. She was losing.
Wednesday came around. Dreadfully slowly for Marion, pleasantly fast for Alexis. It was a matter of perspective. The former carried herself with fear and panic, always looking over her shoulder, knowing very well it was completely plausible for her to receive an unpleasant visit. The latter had rekindled her friendships and was completely unapologetic about the Ravenclaw boy that stood by her side for over seventy percent of her day. Alexis' days had been getting better and she was yet to encounter a situation that could potentially ruin that.
That situation happened during breakfast that Wednesday morning when two tired and completely worn out boys joined her at the Slytherin table. Remus' absence was all too notorious and the reason behind it was all too obvious. "Took a good beating last night," Sirius groaned as he tried to stretch his body despite the obvious bruises and cuts that were causing him pain. "A dog and a rat can't do much to stop a bloody werewolf," he muttered under his breath, making sure his friends were the only ones to hear.
Alexis immediately looked up from her plate, staring at the boy with a disbelieving expression. "Where was the stag?"
"Somewhere shagging his girlfriend, probably," muttered Peter bitterly as he fixed himself a plate of food a little too aggressively.
Alexis' fork dropped, making a loud sound as it crashed against her plate, to which she payed no mind as she was already out of her seat. "Son of a--where's Remus? Is he okay?"
"He's okay." A fourth voice joined them as Remus himself made his way towards them, moaning and groaning with obvious discomfort that came as no surprise given his current physical state. He gave Alexis a small, comforting smile as he sat down and motioned for her to do so as well.
"He didn't go," she whispered.
"I wasn't expecting him to." Remus shrugged, trying his best to look nonchalant about it. "Can we please just.... forget it?"
The conversation was immediately dropped per Remus' request but the unease in Alexis remained. She had made peace with the fact James had chosen Marion over her, but never in a million years did she imagine she would see the day when he would prioritize someone else before his friends. Before his own brothers.
-
"That is absolutely ridiculous, Josh!" Alexis argued with a laugh.
"Hear me out--hear me out!" He raised his hands, trying to get her to allow him to explain himself as he led the way out to the grounds while they enjoyed their lunch break. "Flitwick and McGonagall make perfect sense."
"I have always been more of a McGonagall and Dumbledore kind of person." She added absentmindedly, which caused her to receive a side eye from the boy.
"I'm pretty sure Dumbledore swings the other way, Lex," Josh sneered.
"What—no—what?" She gasped, looking up at him with a wide and shocked eyes.
"Don't tell me you missed the whole Dumbledore might be gay debate?" He asked her with a teasing smile.
"It appears I did." She looked around perplexed. "Good for him, then."
"Yeah—so, Flitwick and McGonagall—"
"No." Alexis pulled Josh to a stop next to her before pulling him down slightly so she could comfortably wrap her arms around his neck. "Shut up," she whispered before briefly connecting her lips with his. "I don't want to picture that."
"But it's bloody hilarious," he commented with a breathy chuckle before kissing her once again, this time with a deeper and more passionate kiss that lasted for some good several minutes before they got interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.
Alexis let out an audible groan at the sight of a smug looking James. Josh tried to pull her away to avoid any confrontation, but James' voice stopped them from leaving peacefully. "Always been into sloppy seconds, haven't you Davis?"
Josh smirked, letting James know he wasn't the least bit intimidated by his taunting, but chose not comment as he didn't want to entertain the Gryffindor. Alexis, however, felt like putting up a show. "Always been into girls that don't love you, haven't you Potter?"
Oh, she hit a nerve. And just the nerve she wanted to hit. James didn't retaliate now, rendered speechless by Alexis' cold statement. Evans, Riddle, and Favreau. Three girls, two of which never reciprocated his feelings by choice. One of them by circumstance.
"Awkward," Josh muttered in a singing tone as he turned away and pulled Alexis along with him, leaving a seething James behind.
"What's the deal with him," she muttered angrily once they were out of earshot.
"He wants attention." He stated matter-of-factly. "He went from spending all of his days with you guys to barely seeing you at all. He knows you no longer worry about him and it bothers him. It hurts him, because he still worries about you. Besides," he added with a sigh, "I'm sure spending so much time with a girl that has five brain cells can be exhausting."
"That's an exaggeration," she rolled her eyes, "she clearly has like two brain cells."
-
Classes were over for the day, and whilst that meant it was time to call it a day for most students that was not the case for sixth years, who had been informed earlier on by McGonagall that they would be having a midterm evaluation on Friday, arguing that this was their first year taking N.E.W.Ts and needed extra preparation, so the library was certainly more crowded than it would normally be on every other Wednesday. It wasn't uncommon to see Remus and Alexis there, buried under stacks of books. What was uncommon was their companion for the night, as Sirius Black in a library was a sight to admire. However, everyone wished the lad would be a tad bit more of a silent student.
"That's the wrong hand movement," Alexis muttered distractedly as she continued scribbling on her parchment.
Sirius dropped his wand and threw his head back dramatically with a sigh. "That's it! I can't do this! This is my eightieth try!"
"Actually—it's only the fifth one," Remus muttered amused.
"Still, I'm losi—" he voice drifted off as his attention shifted elsewhere, causing the other two to look up from their books with curiosity.
A disheveled looking Catherine was hurriedly making her way towards them, attracting the eye of more than one curious onlooker. "Can I have a word with you three?" She asked through her uneven breathing, uncomfortably looking at the several people staring at her. "Somewhere more private. Please?"
Alexis was the first one out of her seat and gathering her belongings, giving the boys knowing looks which instructed them to do so as well. The three of them hesitantly followed Catherine all the way to the end of an empty corridor with no words being exchanged in between them.
Catherine took a deep breath, clearly trying to gather enough courage to have a word with them after the sea of misunderstandings they founds themselves under. "Marion is putting a price on your head," she told Alexis, immediately receiving everyone's undivided attention. "She sneaked out to the Forbidden Forest tonight and I figured I should follow her, you know, just to see what she was up to." She fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable although still trying to be calm and polite, "she was talking to some centaurs, telling them she could give them Voldemort's little sister, and would even pay whoever did it. Told them to spread the word."
The three friends all swallowed hard and gave each other understanding looks, almost as if they were communicating with their eyes. "Where is she now?" Sirius asked angrily, his nostrils flaring as he struggled to keep any composure.
"Out by the forest, I presume. I hexed her." She gave them a sheepish smile as a blush crept up her cheeks. "That girl can't duel to save her life."
Remus cleared his throat, looking visibly uncomfortable by the girl's adorable actions which surely made him feel things he'd been trying to avoid. "Is that it?"
The smile got instantly wiped from Catherine's face as she stared at Remus with glossy eyes that reflected the sadness in them. Alexis and Sirius side-eyed each other, the awkwardness of the moment reflected in their expressions. They had no time to escape the argument that was clearly coming, however, because Catherine got right into it, no longer allowing Remus to do all the talking. "No, that's not it. It's been—it's been over a month now. Since my parents passed away. And I'm slowly trying to pull myself together, to get my feet back on the ground. I'm trying—" she took a shaky deep breath, "—to find some closure. And now that things are beginning to settle in and my head is clearing up, I'm just—I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I know it wasn't your fault Alexis, and I know I shouldn't have put you guys through such a predicament, but I guess I just needed someone to blame," she chuckled as she wiped the few fallen tears, "but I'm coming back to my senses now, back to normality, and I'm so alone."
The way Catherine had tried to hold herself together was admirable, however, she was no longer able to do so as the tears began to involuntarily slip from her eyes at a much faster rate. Her three former friends watched on helplessly, all of them pitying her but none making any effort to comfort her. "Prove it," Sirius whispered, "prove that you're our friend and I promise you we'll welcome you back with open arms."
Catherine chuckled as she tried to wipe away the tears with her sleeve, nodding eagerly at Sirius' proposal. Sirius nodded and began to walk away pulling Alexis, who offered Catherine a small smile, along with him. Remus stood behind for a few seconds, making the girl's heart stir. There was an understanding between the two which consisted of knowing that even though their friendship could be mended, their relationship needed a lot more work than that.
Once the three were out of view it was like the encounter never happened. All three of them abstained from mentioning Catherine's name given the fact they didn't even know what to say. Classes on Thursday went by in a haze, distracting them with the usual subjects and unusual amount of studying that managed to keep their heads off of their individual worries. When the night finally rolled around, leaving them all tired and restless, Peter suggested they picked up on their music sessions for relaxing and de-stressing purposes. Everyone thought it was a good idea, thinking some soothing tunes could help them ease their anxiety. Admittedly no one gave it much thought, so they were naturally quite displeased when James joined them with a guest of his own. They couldn't make the lad leave considering this too was his dormitory so they simply settled with listening to Elvis on a very tense room.
Ivy and Peter were sitting in the floor, having a hushed argument about vampires while Alexis laid in between Remus and Sirius in the latter's bed. James and Marion were all cuddled up in his bed, seemingly unbothered by how unwanted their presence was.
A very well-known song began to blare across the room as Elvis serenaded them to the tune of Can't Help Falling in Love. Alexis closed her eyes and sighed deeply, Marion's and James' giggles filling her ears, and despite how much she had improved when it came to her breakup she knew it would do her no good to see him then, with his arms around another girl as the song that accompanied them in many of their most precious moments played in the background.
Her mind became a mess of mixed thoughts and memories, but amidst the chaos one thought stood out. It may have been impulsive of her but her mind was made and she needed to act on it: she was going to visit Tom. Her heart raced at the idea, but Josh's words echoed in her head. She wanted her brother back and there was no shame in that. That didn't mean her loyalties were changing because Alexis Riddle was not and would never be a Death Eater. She was just a girl that craved affection, and her biggest source of it was now adoringly staring at someone else.
"Time to call it a night for me," she stretched before getting up and making her way out of the dorm after saying her respective goodbyes.
The Slytherin dungeons were last on the list of Alexis' plans for the night. First was the Owlery, where she immediately sent Saskia to notify Tom of her decision. She didn't want her arrival to be an inconvenience and certainly didn't want to visit her brother during the wrong time, not feeling like joining any Death Eater meetings any time soon. Then she headed to the Room of Requirement, where the task of writing letters for her friends proved to be a much more difficult one than she expected. She would deliver them shortly after she left and would abstain from notifying them in person, knowing very well they would try to stop her. There was a bit of hesitance when she tried to assure them she was going to be alright in her letter, because really that's what she hoped, but the truth of the matter was that Alexis had no idea what she was getting herself into.
Alexis didn't recall making her way back to her dorm due to her tiredness. All she knows is that she woke up on Friday morning with Saskia waiting for her outside her window as she carried a reply.
'Forbidden Forest. Tonight, 7pm. Take a five minute walk in a straight line right behind Hagrid's hut. You'll find a portkey there. No need to tell you what it is, you'll recognize it when you see it.'
A/N: it took me a week to update......
I know, I know, I'm a bitch for keeping you guys waiting 😩 but uni has been killing me and this weekend was my brother's wedding so I've had no time. Hopefully next week won't be so exhausting and I'll be able to write more.
Also I kept you waiting but this chapter is over 3k words long so you're welcomeeee
Btw I always write the chapters on my notebook because inspiration always comes easier. But having to write those 5-7 pages here on wattpad is exhausting and honestly the longest part of this entire process. Like, I can write a chapter in a day or two, and have the header/quote/gifs ready in less than twenty minutes. But typing the entire chapter online always ends up in a headache and frustration.
ANYWAY. Riddle reunion coming next chapter 👀. What brother/sister activities would you like to see Tom and Alexis do?
Also after the Riddle reunion comes Jalexis' reunion soooooo exciting times ahead!
I hope you liked this! Please vote if you did and let me know your opinion in the comments! ❤️