Chapter 17
As she stepped out of the gate that guarded the entrance to the forest and her eyes caught sight of her visitor, her heart skipped a beat.
Tom was standing in front of her, a few metres away, wearing a deep black wizard's robe with a regal bronze cloak, he looked absolutely majestic and for the umpteenth time she fought back a blush.
The last time she'd seen him, she hadn't really noticed the difference between him and Voldemort when his soul was shattered, but now in the sun it was obvious, his features, though still unbearably handsome and perfect, had lost some of their otherworldliness, his eyes had lost that constant cruel edge. He was definitely more stable.
"Er... Hi, has something happened?" She asked uncertainly, he looked strangely solemn.
He walked towards her "Nothing, but I had something important to ask you" He took a small box from his pocket and opened it. It was a ring, a white gold band with a brilliant emerald stone depicting a coiled snake.
Suddenly she felt dizzy, she didn't know if her mind was playing tricks on her or if he was...
"This ring belongs to the Gaunt family and is usually given to the spouse, it offers powerful protection and can heal serious wounds," he explained seriously.
Lily came closer and looked at the ring, Tom was right, the ring was so imbued with magic that she could see a thin sheen over it as well as runes carved into the white gold band. She swallowed and looked into his eyes, "That's beautiful... but... are you proposing?" She whispered.
Tom grinned "Why, do you want me to?"
She scowled "You come out of nowhere, you show me a ring that is given to a spouse in your family, what am I supposed to think?" She was definitely not disappointed. She crossed her arms over her chest, "Anyway, what do you want? My training is going well, I'll be back soon if that's what you want".
The man smiled charmingly, looking at her with amusement, "I know your training is going well, your skill in magic is second only to mine. And I hope you're going home, that's why I'm here, Narcissa almost kicked me out of the manor to fetch you".
Feeling slightly confused by his easy manner, which reminded her too much of their first meeting when he was this charming, handsome stranger, she frowned, "Narcissa sent you here?" How... disappointing.
He gave her an apologetic smile "I'm not a very nice man, I've made several mistakes, I'm violent and often cruel, but I know how much I regret how much I've hurt you these past few months," he paused, "But though my soul is whole and my mind clearer than ever, I feel...incomplete when I'm not near you," he handed her the ring again, "So yes, I'm proposing to you, I don't expect an immediate answer, you have all the time in the world to think about it. I plan to create a philosopher's stone. We could be immortal together"
Any sense of disappointment Lily felt vanished like snow melting beneath the snow. "Oh," she was at a loss for words, "I...will think about the immortality thing...and..." He looked at her intently, an insufferable grin on his face, and she glared at him, "Oh, give me the ring, you obnoxious bastard."
He grinned madly and gently placed the ring on her finger before taking a deep breath, "Honestly Lily, I had no idea you liked me that much," she slapped him hard on the shoulder before burying herself in his chest.
“I can’t believe I missed you” She mumbled
He laughed softly, "I've missed you too. We shall never part again”
She smiled sweetly at him, "Then I have Narcissa to thank for this," she looked more closely at her ring"
He scowled, "I am the one here and the one who gave you the ring, I would have let you know."
"Yet it took you six months to get here."
He raised an eyebrow and seemed to exhale in relief, "A month for me... but only six months for you? You definitely look older."
She nodded "Time is so strange in there, I am mostly human so it affects me more, my body is three years older, and for me I spent six months out there while for you it was only one.
His eyes shone with academic interest, "What an interesting phenomenon, now you are physically twenty years old. Sounds better than a fifty year old man with a seventeen year old," he grimaced, then paused and raised an eyebrow in surprise before laughing, "I like your ears.
Lily blushed slightly and touched her ears, which were now pointed like the elves', "They told me it was normal because I was using my elf gene part more now" He nodded amusedly, "Anyway, you only look thirty and no-one knows you're Voldemort... you've all taken care of that, haven't you?" She had no idea how they had dealt with the aftermath of the battle at Malfoy Manor.
They both sat on the trunk of a dead tree, "Yes, we took care of that, but to be quite honest, the appearance of Marvolo Gaunt and the disappearance of Voldemort is very suspicious to many people, but as the Order members who were at the Manor are bound by an unbreakable oath and the Death Eaters who do not support my new agenda are... well, I am getting rid of them, no one has any tangible proof that I am Voldemort," he smiled contentedly.
Lily laughed, feeling elated, "I bet you like that, still being seen as the powerful and dangerous Voldemort, but no one can do anything about it".
He tried to bite back a grin, "Indeed," then his face took on a darker expression, "Now, there is something I think you have put off for far too long because of me. Your revenge, my dear."
The usual surge of anger she felt when she thought of Potter and Black did not come, this time she felt only a cold, morbid hunger to see them suffer, she was already grimly satisfied with Euphemia Potter's death. "You know how to talk to me," she said with a grin. "I'll pack my things at once."
They both rose, but before she went through the portal Tom spun her around with one hand on her waist and the other in her hair and he kissed her with as much passion as he put into their duels and then with a pure evil grin he pushed her into the portal and she could only scream in protest and the last thing she saw was his laughing face.
- - - ✦ - - -
"You know, for so long I saw my revenge as my only drive, but then you decided to slice your soul like a piece of ham and now I have no idea what to do," Lily said as she lay on the hard floor of the Malfoy Observatory.
Tom was reading books on rune rituals and just humming "I'm sure James Potter doesn't have a crush on you anymore".
She giggled, "Yes, but I still don't know how to make Black regret his existence, he despises his parents, doesn't speak to his brother, I don't think he cares about anyone but himself and Potter".
"Kill Potter," was Tom's only advice.
Lily rose from the floor and put her head on his shoulder so she could read his book, "You don't like him, do you?"
He turned to look at her, "He hurt you and wanted to marry you. He represents everything I despise."
She smiled fondly, "Cute. But come on Tom, you are the evil Dark Lord, any ideas?"
Tom closed his book, "Yes, actually a very simple one, I happen to know Regulus Black very well. He was an aspiring Death Eater and gave me a lot of information about his brother, whom he so despised. Sirius Black has a thirst for life, he wants to experiment without consequences, his freedom is everything to him," he smiled predatorily, "but in my new government I intend to administer justice fairly to all, without discrimination. So... Sirius Black should be sent to Azkaban as well as dear James Potter, in a few weeks there will be a trial and Fleamont Potter and the Black can spend all his galleons, he will not get his sons back this time" he grinned, a mad light in his eyes.
"I want to be here, I want to be the one to hand them the warrant, I want to see their faces when they realise they have lost everything," Lily squealed happily.
"That can certainly be arranged," he said with a satisfied smile.
- - - ✦ - - -
Lily and Tom had prepared everything for today down to the last second. Tom's spies had been observing Potter and Black's habits for the past two weeks, Sirius was still living with the Potters, but Fleamont rarely left his room and James was a shadow of his former self, barely reacting to Black's antics, much to Lily's grim satisfaction.
This weekend, Black and Potter were to visit Diagon Alley before returning to their respective schools.
Sitting at a table in Florean Fortescue, patiently eating an ice-cream and waiting for her prey to discover her, Lily was not far from Tom. Passers-by eyed her warily; she had unintentionally gained a reputation as a dangerous psychopath after killing Euphemia Potter and Minerva McGonagall, and Marvolo Gaunt was suspected of being Voldemort. The people around her were right to be afraid.
Then, in the distance, she made out the shape of her former classmates, walking directly towards them, and given how angry they seemed, they had probably spotted her.
When they finally reached her level, Lily waved and beamed at them, "Boys! Long time no see!"
Sirius's face was contorted with rage and James was pale and sad, "How dare you show your face here, Evans! You should be rotting in Azkaban for what you have done!"
Lily raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Because I killed someone? And you Black? Shall we be cellmates?"
"Why? How could you do this, Lily? To my mother? I had nothing to do with Snape's death..." James muttered.
She made a mocking face of pity, "I don't care, you bullied him, attacked him and then let him be mauled to death. You are not innocent," she added cruelly, "It was a pleasure to watch your mother choke on her own blood." It really had been.
James lunged at them, his face contorted with rage, and Sirius pointed his wand at them, but as soon as they moved, two flashes of blue light petrified them and Tom appeared, tutting disapprovingly and towering over the two boys who were now on their knees at their mercy. "Young men, we do not attack defenceless young ladies," Lily glared at Tom.
"Who the hell are you?" Sirius spat, showing once again that he clearly had more brawn than brains.
James, on the other hand, recognised Tom immediately and paled drastically, "Voldemort..."
Tom tilted his head, "Me? I'm Marvolo, Voldemort is dead and buried, thanks to your friend cousin."
Black struggled in his bonds, "Narcissa would never kill her precious Dark Lord, no one believes your lies!"
Tom leaned in close to Sirius and whispered, "I don't care if they believe it or not. That is one of the wonderful things about goblins, as long as they can live as they please they do not care about the difference between truth and falsehood, Voldemort is dead, everyone is happy. Why look for more? And as you may have noticed, no one is trying to arrest me," he grinned, "the same cannot be said for you two, you got away the first time, but Azakban still has two cells with your names on them.
The two boys blanched drastically and began to shiver, but Lily noticed how Sirius seemed affected by the prospect of being locked up for an indeterminate amount of time; he seemed ready to faint.
Lily stood up and knelt down beside them, "Severus and I knew each other since we were nine years old, we were very different but we were inseparable, it was thanks to him that I never had to catch up with my wixen raised peers at Hogwarts because he taught me a lot about the wixen world.. We supported each other when our families shunned us, he had it worse than I did, his father was violent and abusive towards him and my sister became more and more aggressive towards me as well," she took a deep breath, "Going to Hogwarts together was wonderful, we thought we could both be sorted into Ravenclaw, but Severus was still deeply attached to Slytherin because of his mother. What should have been the best years of his life soon became his own personal hell, leaving an abusive family to be bullied by four boys who, protected by their wealth and pretty faces, became increasingly cruel simply because they could," she paused, "I made the unforgivable mistake of not believing him when he told me how despicable you were, I made the mistake of falling for your charms and becoming a self-centred, shallow girl. Now Severus is dead, and that is partly my fault, so you understand that I must right my wrongs, as a true Gryffindor must, and so must you. Besides, I'm sure dear Peter will be delighted to have his old friends as neighbours"
The boys were silent, paler than before, if that was possible, tears rolling down their cheeks.
Tom had called for the Aurors and as soon as she got to her feet, Black and Potter were taken into custody, Corban Yaxley, the Head Auror, made a discreet bow to Tom and his colleague Aaliyah Shafiq, who was known to be part of the Order, looked sternly at the two boys, nodded at Tom and gave a hesitant smile to Lily, who smiled in return.
"See you at the trials boys," she said venomously.
- - - ✦ - - -
This time Lily had the satisfaction of seeing Potter and Black's egos finally crushed as their parents, sufficiently cowed by Tom, did not lift a finger to help them this time. James Potter was sentenced to eight years in Azkaban and Sirius Black to life imprisonment.
This did not seem to bother Black's parents too much; they still had Regulus to perpetuate the family name. Fleamont, on the other hand, looked half-dead in his seat, eyes vacant, face hollow, all life seeming to have left him.
She felt a little sorry for him, he had saved Remus after all, but the man had made his choices and she had made hers, there was no going back now.
✧ ✦ ✧
Narcissa, Bellatrix, Lucius and Abraxas exchanged a dismayed look as they heard, certainly not for the first time, the sound of screams and broken furniture.
"They have the strangest love language," her husband commented, his cup of tea in one hand.
Abraxas sighed, but smiled, "They're perfect for each other, Marvolo needs someone who can't handle his outbursts".
Bellatrix snorted, "Wait till they start to fuc..."
Narcissa kicked her sister under the table as cutlery clanked, Lucius dropped his cup in surprise and Abraxas cleared his throat in obvious disapproval.
The black-haired woman threw her hand up in exasperation, "Oh, you are such a bunch of prudes ! Mark my words, soon there will be dozens of red and black haired little creatures crawling everywhere," she said with a cackle of delight.
The three of them shuddered at the thought.
Bellatrix's mental health was not the most stable, but having found someone willing to be the first magical surrogate mother for her child and heir, she was more like the rebellious and unfiltered woman she knew her sister to be.
Giselle de Bellombre was a Frenchwoman who had met Bella when they were on an exchange programme between Hogwarts and Beauxbâtons in their seventh year, they had quickly become fast friends and, as Narcissa was far from blind, she knew that her sister and Giselle were clearly more than friends.
"How is dear Giselle, is the pregnancy going well?" Narcissa asked, taking a sip of her tea.
Her sister smiled broadly, "Everything is perfectly fine, Rodolphus is delighted with our arrangement and I get to spend some quality time with Gigi".
Abraxas hummed, "When is the baby due?" An explosion echoed in another room of the manor, but they barely reacted.
"In six months, I swear Rhiannon is more impatient than I am, but I think she's upset that she wasn't able to use a surrogate for herself," Bella chuckled again, "Anyway, everything is perfect, and you little sister? Is there a baby on the way?"
Narcissa felt like she had a stone in her stomach and deliberately avoided Lucius' gaze. "I... Excuse me..." She hurried out of the room, feeling dizzy with anxiety, and for what seemed like an eternity she ran through the corridors until she came to a dimly lit, large room with no furniture, the ceiling and walls covered in names, linked together. She knelt on the floor and her eyes found the lineage of her husband, a first son, like every Malfoy before him since the fifteenth century. The source of pride for the House of Malfoy, always producing a male heir.
A few days ago she had taken the test expecting nothing more than the sage green that would indicate a boy, but when the potion had turned a pearly violet she had almost fainted.
What would Lucius say? Would he blame her? He was always gushing about how he was going to raise their son, what activities he was going to do with him, when he was going to give him his first broom, and Abraxas... Abraxas had already suggested names and decorated the nursery in royal blue. And at no point is there any mention of a girl, the first Malfoy girl in three generations, since Chrysotome had no siblings, as did Abraxas and Lucius, and the first born girl in four hundred years.
Her fears were absurd and she knew it, they would never hurt her or her baby but she could not bear their disappointment, she had been brought up to be perfect and she had done everything perfectly and in her mind her girl was perfection incarnate but... she wanted Lucius to see her the same way.
She breathed shakily and as she got to her feet the door slowly opened. It was Lucius, he looked hesitant but not angry "Your sister left earlier, she was worried"
"Is there a curse on your family, Lucius?" She asked, looking at her husband's name on the wall, hers was right next to his, a daffodil behind it.
The blond man raised an eyebrow, "Not that I know of, there's a rumour that Armand Malfoy performed a ritual so that every first born was male, but that's about it," he paused and cleared his throat, "Narcissa, we're young, not even twenty five, there's no need to be so pressured to give birth to an heir, my father isn't worried either..."
Narcissa smiled, feeling lucky she hadn't ended up with Brute, and raised an eyebrow, "I'm not under any pressure, Lucius. I am actually pregnant."
A dreamy smile appeared on her husband's face, "Really?" He whispered, as if afraid she would lose the baby if he spoke too loudly.
She nodded.
"That's wonderful, Cissy! Why do you look so frightened? Everything will be all right, we have access to the best med-witches and healers in the land!" He continued to smile at her and took her hands in his, "You and I will be wonderful parents to him.
Fighting irrational fear, she managed to choke out "It's a girl"
Lucius' eyes widened and he let out a very undignified squeal, "A girl? But... a girl?!" He took a deep breath and gave her a desperate look, "How am I supposed to raise a girl?"
Narcissa burst out laughing, "Oh my dear, I'm sure you'll make a perfect father.
Her husband seemed to have trouble wrapping his head around the fact that he was going to be a father, then he seemed to compose himself, "Is that why you left in such a hurry?"
She bit her lower lip and nodded, "Araminta always said how important it was that I was the first to give birth to a son, that it was the Malfoy tradition, I know it is silly, the sex of a child is hardly something we can choose, but still, four centuries without a single first born girl is... strange".
Narcissa, my ancestor, Armand, did perform a ritual to have only sons, but it was done badly and... most of them were severely handicapped and the ritual was forbidden, as were any sex changing spells or potions," he sighed, "It's a secret in our family, not even spouses are supposed to know about it. It is true that we Malfoys are known to produce more boys than girls and it became something others envied. So when the first born was a girl... they usually..." Narcissa gasped and put a protective hand over her stomach "...killed them" He grimaced "It is a truly barbaric thing to do, even my grandfather, who was known for his cruelty, was ashamed of this legacy we carry" He turned his face towards her "But rest assured, it will end now, our daughter will be the first Lady Malfoy in four centuries."
She was horrified at what she had learned and let out a choked cry, but soon Lucius' arms were around her and she finally relaxed, relieved that her fears were truly unfounded. "I thought only a man could inherit the title in your family?" She asked, hastily wiping her eyes.
Every family had its own system of inheritance, some were patriarchal where only boys inherited, or matriarchal where girls were favoured, some it was the first born regardless of gender, others preferred to test their children and choose the most worthy.
"Well, the rule of inheritance in our family is that the first born inherits the title," he smiled, "A little girl, how... refreshing, it truly is the beginning of a new era."
Narcissa chuckled, "Perhaps our daughter will befriend Marvolo and Lily's future children.
Lucius scoffed, "I don't see Lily having a child any time soon."
She smiled softly, "I have a feeling, dear, a good feeling.
✧ ✦ ✧
There was an island surrounded by a stormy sea, devoid of all life, animal or plant, and where the rocks were beaten by a cold and harsh wind, there stood a dark tower, surrounded by an unnatural mist, where only despair and fear thrived. Sirius Black sat in the middle of his cell, in the cell to his right he could hear the whimpering and begging of his friend James.
In the cell opposite his own, across the corridor, Peter's body was slowly decomposing, he had already been dead when they arrived here, for how long? He had no idea, time, like everything else in this place, had disappeared.
Sirius laughed.