Tom was sitting at the long table in the living room of Malfoy Manor, surrounded by his inner circle of Death Eaters. His gaze swept over the group. Most of the men were looking down at the table in front of them. Only Lestrange, Malfoy and Rosier had their faces turned towards him, but they too weren't meeting his gaze. They were all waiting for him to disclose the meeting's purpose.
Tom had summoned them as soon as he had left Houlton Manor. He felt his temper flare dangerously, thinking about the encounter outside Houlton Manor mere hours ago. His magic was swirling aggressively around him.
"What do you know about the asylum in Newcastle?" Tom finally asked.
Avery looked up. "Malachi Buchanan is in charge of the asylum in Newcastle, my lord. As far as I heard it's a rather small and unspectacular one."
Tom looked back at Avery. "Are there any hints that there are members of the revolution among the staff of the asylum?"
Avery looked surprised. "I was always under the impression that Buchanan supported our cause unconditionally. Do you have any reason to assume differently, my lord?"
"I have reliable information that they are supporting our enemies. I don't know who's behind it. But I intend to find out." He glanced at his followers once again, his gaze swiftly moving from one face to the next. After a moment he said, "Avery, Lestrange, Rosier. I want you to turn the asylum upside down for any informaton about anything they've been involved in. Get all the information you can and then just dispose of everyone."
The three men nodded dutifully and Lestrange immediately said, "Consider it done, my lord."
Tom turned to look at the others. They were obviously waiting for him to give further orders, eager to not rouse his already short temper, their gazes fixed on the table in front of them. Tom suppressed a smirk. The power of unlimited fear didn't fail to fascinate him time and time again.
"That's all for now. You can leave," he commanded curtly and got up. The others quickly followed suit and silently filed out of the room. Rosier and Lestrange were the last to leave. Before they reached the door Tom raised his voice again. "Rosier, Lestrange."
The two men instantly stopped and turned back to Tom, their eyes turned to the floor. "My lord?"
"Signal me as soon as you find anything of importance." Tom's voice was sharp.
"Of course, my lord," Rosier replied and Lestrange nodded.
Tom stared at them for another moment before dismissing them with a wave of his hand.
He waited until he was alone in the living room. Then he turned on the spot and apparated back to Houlton Manor.
By now it was early morning. It didn't take him long to realize that the house was empty. Tom clenched his jaw. He had left a note, telling Cassiopeia to stay inside. Although it didn't surprise him that she had disobeyed once again, he was irritated.
He left the house and rounded it until he found Cassiopeia in the back yard, working in the garden. When he approached her, she turned around and looked up.
Tom glowered at her. "You were supposed to stay inside."
Cassiopeia looked back at Tom, unfazed by his anger. His irritation was clearly showing on his face, marring his features in an ugly way. She knew he hated when things didn't go the way he wanted them to, and it was obvious that this time was no exception.
Pursing her lips, she stated, "There are wards all around the place, and thanks to my paranoid ancestors even all over the garden. I don't think anyone could sneak onto the property anymore without being noticed." Her lip curled slightly when she added, "That is aside from you, obviously."
Tom's expression didn't change. Still glaring at her, he spat, "I thought I had made myself clear. Staying inside was not only a suggestion."
"I'm not your prisoner, Tom." Cassiopeia's voice was icy. "I don't appreciate getting dictated what I'm supposed to do, not by you and even less by people who claim to be fighting for freedom."
Tom's eyes were still blazing with irritation but he decided to not argue any further. He clenched his teeth.
"I sent Lestrange, Avery and Rosier to find out what our enemies know about us. If there is anything to be discovered they will discover it."
"You sent Lestrange?" Cassiopeia asked, raising an eyebrow.
Tom narrowed his eyes. "What's wrong with Lestrange?"
A smirk crossed Cassiopeia's face. "Well, I can't imagine that he would mind if anyone killed me. He disliked me ever since I cursed him back then in our common room, thinking I did him wrong and he got punished for my fault. It's hardly reassuring that he's in charge of this task."
Tom looked at her for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Lestrange is one of my most skilled knights. If it's not due to some juvenile misuse of firewhiskey he, Avery and Rosier are the best wizards I have. And in all those years he proved to be absolutely loyal and reliable. He may not like you but he'll defend you no matter what if I order him to."
Cassiopeia shrugged. "If you say so."
Tom pursed his lips. "Why are you still angry with me? I said I was sorry."
Cassiopeia looked back at him. "Yes. You said it. It's hard to believe you meant it, though. You're never sorry. Actually I don't think you even know what being sorry means."
Tom's eyes locked with hers, and she held his gaze. He shifted his weight slightly. "Fine, you've got a point there. So what can I do to make you stop being angry?"
Cassiopeia shrugged again. "Maybe give me some time."
Tom averted his gaze and looked at the surrounding landscape.
Cassiopeia felt his magic radiating from him, and she suppressed a frown. Why the hell did his magic still feel so bloody comforting? How could it make her want to ignore what he had done, when she knew the only right thing to do was to never forget? Why did his magic still have such an impact on her, after all that had happened, after all he had done? How could she still love him?
Tom felt her magic backing away from his, and to his utter dismay it hurt. He stared at the meadows around them, trying to come up with an idea how to fix this mess, when he suddenly felt Rosier's mark burning. He exhaled sharply. That fool surely had great timing.
"I have to get going," he mumbled, casting another glance at Cassiopeia. She wasn't looking at him, her eyes trained on the rose bushes she was taking care of.
"Sure." Her voice was indifferent.
Tom watched her for another moment, uncertain what to do. He hesitantly took a step towards her, but then he changed his mind, turned on the spot and disapparated.
Cassiopeia looked over her shoulder at the empty garden and wordlessly shook her head.
****
Tom reappeared at Rosier's side, taking in the scene with a quick glance.
Lestrange, Rosier and Avery were surrounded by bodies. Only one wizard was still alive, even though he as well was in a bad condition. He was lying on the floor, his face and body covered with blood, and Lestrange had his wand aimed at him.
"We thought you might want to see for yourself, my lord." Avery's voice was rough. "They obviously suspect a whole lot about your relation with Houlton. They're thinking they can use her against you. This one," he gestured at the only survivor, "knew the most. You probably want to have a look."
Tom pulled his wand from his pocket and glanced at the wizard. Then he flicked his wand and entered the wizard's mind. There were a few feeble shields but it didn't cause Tom any trouble to fight them down. What he could see in the wizard's mind though caused him much more trouble.
They knew an awful lot. Actually, they clearly knew far too much.
He quickly searched through the different layers of the man's mind, thoroughly looking for any further information until he finally stumbled upon a memory the wizard had been desperately trying to hide.
Tom clenched his teeth.
Just as Avery had suspected they were intending to use Cassiopeia against him. They were planning to ambush her at school.
Unlimited wrath thundered through his body.
He didn't know what made him more furious, the thought that these fools were trying to harm Cassiopeia or the thought that he had actually allowed for something to exist that was able to get to him.
Yet, he would prevent anything of this from ever happening.
He retreated from the man's mind and turned to Lestrange. "Kill him."
Lestrange nodded, and the three of them watched Lestrange as the familiar green light left his wand, ending yet another life.
Tom stowed his wand. "Get the others for a meeting tonight at eight," he ordered curtly. Then he turned on the spot and was gone.
****
It was shortly before midnight when Tom showed up at Houlton Manor again. Cassiopeia had just left the living room.
She had been feeling sick all afternoon and had laid down on the sofa, hoping it was going to help, but the sickness hadn't subsided. She sighed. She had been feeling sick a lot lately. Slowly, it was starting to unnerve her.
She was about to climb the stairs when she saw a shadow moving in the far corner. She exhaled sharply when she recognized Tom.
"Merlin, do you want to give me a heart attack? What on earth are you doing there in the shadows?"
Tom took a step forward. "I thought I...." His voice trailed away.
Cassiopeia raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue, when suddenly she felt sick all over again and abruptly turned around, rushing to the bathroom.
When she came out a few minutes later, Tom was waiting in front of the door.
"Is everything alright?" he asked.
"Does it look like that for you?" Cassiopeia retorted and shot him a glance. "I have to go to bed. So what did you want?"
Tom pursed his lips. "Stay at home tomorrow. Don't go to work."
Cassiopeia eyed him, a look of surprise on her face.
"I hope I'll be better in the morning," she said, a little uncertainty in her voice.
"Just stay here tomorrow, will you? Just," Tom paused and pressed his lips together before continuing, "don't go."
They looked at each other for another moment. Then Cassiopeia turned towards the stairs. "Good night, Tom."
Tom watched her walking up the stairs, his mind unusually empty. When she had almost reached the upper floor, he finally made up his mind and quickly went up the stairs behind her, taking two steps at a time. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed her wrist and made her turn around.
"Don't leave me standing there like that. Please don't be so.... so much like me." Tom exhaled sharply. "I know I shouldn't have killed Ceph. It was unnecessary." He paused. "If I had a second chance, I wouldn't do it again, but as it is, I can't change it." Their gazes met, and there was an unusual sincerity evident in his eyes.
Realizing he was still gripping her wrist, Tom slowly let go.
Cassiopeia looked into his eyes. They were filled with more emotion than she had imagined him to be capable of. She sensed that his magic was trying to reach out to her again, and she could tell that this was surprisingly important to him.
Finally she said, "I appreciate your honesty, Tom. And I'm glad that there's still something human left inside of you." She gently touched his hand and brushed her lips against his before she turned around and disappeared to her bedroom.
*****
Author's note: Thanks so much for reading. Please let me know what you think! I'm always so happy when I read your comments and votes!