Consider My Cares
Upon finding Lestrange and Nott in the common room once Tom had gotten back from the library, Tom decided to grasp this opportunity to confront his circle regarding a topic that Thea had introduced him to via the gift set of book recommendations. He briefly left for his dormitory to grab the appropriate set of notes and rejoined the pair of seventh-years afterwards, taking his place on the armchair perpendicular to the fireplace and the couch where Nott and Lestrange sat. They chatted leisurely of classes – Tom always eager for any advice from his seniors – as they awaited the others to be released from potions. Soon enough, Avery had joined the long couch facing the hearth while Rosier and Mulciber had settled themselves on the cabriole sofa opposite to Tom.
“What’s the occasion? Why’re we gathered like this?”
Tom grimaced inconspicuously at Avery’s query, knowing that if he didn’t approach the matter at hand carefully, everything could go south rather quickly. Almost half a decade of friendship backing them up – they hadn’t gotten along in first year and only became amicable to one another the following year – the boys could pick up on the slight furrow of his eyebrows and the small frown Tom was now sporting. A tinge of anxiety and dread ran through them at the unpromising sight.
Hesitance would only get them nowhere, however, and so, Tom started with an unwavering voice, “say, what do you know about inbreeding?”
Eyes found each other in confusion and Lestrange responded quizzically, “well- it’s common within our blood? It’s been practised among us for generations now to maintain the purity of our magical blood. Other than that? Nothing else, really.”
Tom found himself a subject of many nods of agreement and sighed in resignation. He hoped they were all in just as an agreeable mood and that he wouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail to reverse their indoctrinated minds.
“As I’ve corresponded over the summer break, the nature of Theana Grace’s gift consisted of a selection of book recommendations that she thought would be… helpful. One of the muggle books from the list includes the title: ‘History and the Madness Within: Consequences of Inbreeding’. As you can guess by now, there is something about this that I wish to talk about.” Only a few apprehensive looks so far; that, Tom could deal with. However, never someone who would beat around a bush, his next sentence triggered a slew of outraged expletives from the boys. “The main takeaway of this book is that it might be time for you to introduce new blood to your families.”
“What the fuck?!”
“What in the bloody hell are you insinuating?!”
“New blood!”
Tom held his gaze steady and simply waited for the heated accusations to die down at his silence. He met their hardened eyes strongly and kept his volume at a calm level. “Chapter 3: Dead Lines. As you’ve said, inbreeding has been your tradition that began many generations back. Revolutionary science on genetics started with Darwin only less than a century ago and since then, investigations have been conducted to understand the effects of inbreeding. We’ve seen a rise in the number of pureblood lines dying out over the past few generations. Evidence has pointed out inbreeding as the root of the cause. Furthermore, children born from inbreeding are susceptible to defective genes. Take the Blacks, for example. The Black Madness is no magical phenomenon; it is nothing more than the consequences of intense generational inbreeding. Or- look at Slytherin; an ancient and noble line reduced to broken minds and dishonour that their lordship titles have not accepted them for generations now. The only reason why I’ve come out alright in comparison leads back to the idea of new blood.”
At the mention of familiar family names, the boys take in Tom’s words tentatively. They were all no stranger to how the Black Madness had affected the minds of the great. What everyone had thought to be a magical curse, only to find out that it was the fruit of their actions? They’d be distraught. They were all no different – who was to say that they were not the next to be ‘cursed’?
“It isn’t too late to re-establish your lines as a powerful ones that aren’t fated for doom. The introduction of new blood into the gene pool allows for new, healthy genes to be picked. If not new blood, then at least distant ones. Those from far away lands whose blood are so ancient that no one would question its purity; or relatives’ relatives so distant that you’ll have to trace millenniums down their line to search for a common ancestor. If heirs are as important as you have always claimed them to be, this is something to seriously consider. Continue as you have been, and there’ll be no guarantee that you’ll have heirs by the time you turn ninety.”
At the sharp blow of confident words, the boys cursed under their breath with widened eyes. To not provide their family with children? Oh, they couldn’t even begin to imagine the disgrace they’d be to everyone. And to think that it would be all their own fault too! They couldn’t let that happen – not if they wanted to preserve their family lines down the ages with pride and wealth.
All at a loss for words, it was a wonder that Rosier managed to swallow the lodge in his throat to respond on behalf of everyone. “That’s… we’re grateful for your concern. It’ll definitely be something we’ll need time to wrap our head around.”
“Of course. Here are some notes I’ve jotted down from the book if you find yourself sceptical of the evidence.” Tom handed his notebook to Lestrange, who sat the closest to him, and received a nod of appreciation in return.
“You know, having learned all this, it really does suggest that Grace is on our side.”
Mulciber’s words turned in everyone heads and the others found themselves nodding along. Rosier then voiced his thoughts aloud, “surely she is? I can’t – for the bloody life of me – think of a reason why she would be concerned about our lines dying out other than to indicate that she wishes to establish her stance to be on our side.”
“But what would she gain from all this?”
“Maybe she’s just as respectful of Magic as you are, Tom?”
A lightbulb lit over Avery’s head as he was reminded of their class earlier. “Speaking of- you’ve talked to her in potions, haven’t you? How is she?”
A simple question loaded with an abundance of curiosity – of which, remained hanging in the air for a moment when Tom clenched his jaw and averted his eyes to the flickering flames off to his side. To the utter astonishment of the boys, Tom had found himself at a loss of words.
Anticipation laid thick in the air before Tom parted his lips, his voice carrying emotions he was foreign, yet familiar, with. “She is… remarkable.” When he turned back to feign an undisturbed composure, no one made any mention of the desirous darkness in his eyes that gleamed in the glow of the fire. “It would be to our best interest that she turns out to be a friend. Besides her impressive capability in potions, she has a massive aptitude in wandless and non-verbal magic that she has achieved by coming up with an unorthodox spellcasting convention.”
“Oh?” Now, that was one way to catch their attention. Coming from Tom, genuine expression of interest in a person was a rarity – if ever. “Unorthodox, how?”
Tom let slip an amused twitch upwards of one corner of his lips as he anticipated the dumbstruck expression the boys would have upon learning of Thea’s ingenuity. If Tom had learned to distinguish science and magic as two separate disciplines, he could only imagine that the purebloods had that idea ingrained in their heads ever since they took their first breath. “If you’ve yet to feel your mind combust because of Thea, I suspect you’ll experience it quite soon…”
True to Tom’s expectations, jaws were dropped as he proceeded to do Thea justice by repeating her comprehensive approach to efficient charms-work. Stupefied expressions littered the couches as they tried to understand Thea’s theoretical concept of mixing science and magic together which, judging by Tom’s description of his time with Thea, had proven to be a successful practical feat. With the proud way Tom had relayed Thea’s talents and taking note of the unspoken hunger for the girl that dripped from his words, it came to none of the snakes’ surprise when Tom departed from his housemates and beelined for the empty seat beside Thea during their shared transfiguration class with the badgers that evening.
Having thought that she would remain unwanted as a seatmate as usual, Thea jolted when a tall presence suddenly loomed right beside her and looked up from her transfiguration textbook to regard the shadow who had spoken. “Is this seat taken?”
A hand on her sternum in surprise, a relieved expression crossed her upon learning the identity of the man. Breathless, still, from the unexpected companion, Thea managed to stammer out a “not at all”. A small smile playing on his lips, Tom apologised for startling her as he took his seat next to her. “Oh, no- don’t worry about that! Just wasn’t expecting anyone ‘s all. Would’ve sat in the front row if I knew you’d be here.”
“The front row?”
“That’s where you usually seat, no? I assume there’s a reason why you don’t pick out the back seats.”
“You’re not incorrect…” Tom cocked his head to the side as he tried – and failed – to decipher Thea, certainly not for the last time. To prioritise his preference over something as trivial as seating arrangements – and above her own favour, at that – it was odd. That wasn’t something one would choose to do for someone they’d only recently met and the casual way she had suggested it only tickled at his heart a tad. If the sweet smile she had paired the words with became something he wished to see more of – well, that’s only to his own knowledge and no one else’s.
“Oh, and also-” Thea ruffled through her bag and fished out a notebook, flipping it open and retrieving a flattened paper crane, only slightly larger than the usual ones, from between the pages inked with neat handwriting. “I took the liberty and – as you can probably vaguely guess at this point – duplicated my bibliography that has helped me with wandless and non-verbal spellcasting. It’s got both physics and magical sources that Hogwarts provides so you can go ham- I mean-” To Tom’s absolute mirth – and confusion at the strange idiom – he was witness, once again, to Thea’s flustered state. A hand up to instinctively cover his view of her embarrassed smile and the flush of pink in her cheeks, she cleared her throat swiftly to avoid choking on her words, her eyes avoiding contact with his stare. “-enjoy, is what I meant; so you can enjoy those texts to your greatest contentment.”
He took the folded paper from her offered hand and similarly slipped it into his notebook for temporary safekeeping. Frankly baffled at her unprovoked thoughtful gesture, he followed up his words of gratitude with those of curiosity. As if he had just questioned a matter of common sense, Thea merely tilted her head in consideration with that same Merlin-damned-Tom-was-done-for honeyed smile on her face. It was certainly inevitable, as Tom would think later in his life, that he found himself endeared by this girl when the words that proceeded to leave her lips single-handedly changed the trajectory of his fate.
“‘Cause I like you, of course. You’re a good friend, Tom, and I find myself fond of you.”
In the privacy of the night later, the darkness of the dorm room only lit gently by the refracted moonlight and starlight fighting against the dim Black Lake to make it through the reinforced glass, Thea’s words rang clearly in Tom’s head in a constant loop. Jumbled thoughts and a mess of emotions were let loose inside the containment of his mind, a thick haze of uncertainty dulling his senses as he floated between a state of consciousness and slumber. In the midst of all the chaos, desire reigned supreme and brought about a resolution that he repeated to himself the next morning when his eyes subconsciously sought after the girl that was too good to be true.
He would have her – just as she, him – and no fate would get even a sliver of chance to decide otherwise for him.