Chapter 14
Tom gave her one last look before heading to the headmaster's office. Fooling Dippet has always been easy to him and he managed to extirpate himself finally after Dippet asked him to wish Bellatrix good recovery. As he made his way to the next class, he couldn't stop thinking of Bellatrix's state. He finally decided to return to her office to take a look at her and hit turned out to be a very good decision. Once he opened her office, he didn't find her there, so he closed the door behind him and climbed to her chambers. He opened the chamber's door and inside he found her in her nightgown with three whole bottles of firewhiskey emptied on the bed and the floor and the fourth one on her hand as she was gulping down on it. He forcefully took it out of her hand and threw it on the floor.
"Look at me!" And look she did, however while she did look at him, he was quite sure she couldn't see him and probably didn't even know he was there. In her drunk unfocused grey eyes, tears were falling. Tom never saw her drink more than a cup, he didn't know what provoked her to almost poison herself from Alcohol. He got rid of his shoes and sat on the bed next to her, he took her by the arms and forced her eyes to look at him, then he used legilimency to push through her shields, this seemed to wake her up as she pushed back forcefully and snapped her head down to look at her sheets. She finally seemed to see him though her drunkeness didn't seem to decrease.
"You are not him Tom, I know , I know very well. He is gone." She said while renewed tears formed in her eyes. Tom was absolutely enraged that she drove herself to this state for some irrelevant person and worse, that she compared them. Tom thought himself to be the best, if she had to really make herself so tragic, she may as well do it for him. He needed to figure out who this was once and for all , though it seemed they were gone according to her, which Tom thought was good otherwise he may have done something indeed to make it be the case.
"But I will protect you , don't worry, I will...make sure you live" She mumbled before sleep got to her, it seemed she was really tired. Tom really didn't know what to think at this point, this other mysterious person has long got on his nerves. He was glad that Bellatrix wished to "protect" him, though he really didn't know that just because she thought it was for his sake that it was truly beneficial to him, however if she did , it must be for his sake and his only, nobody else. He looked around her room before waving his wand to vanish the bottles of alcohol. He hesitated just a little bit before putting a spell on her that would ease her discomfort.
The next day, she seemed to forget what happened and her memory stopped at him leaving her office. Curiously though, Tom noticed that she is trying to avoid him a little bit since that day. However, at this point Tom was occupied with something else. He finally decided on Saturday for visiting little hangleton, he felt an apprehension he was unwilling to admit. If he has any time afterwards, he would go to Gringotts to deposit his horcrux.
Saturday came fast and Bellatrix let him use her fireplace early morning without much question, he gave her one last look before dropping the powder.
It was already late at night when he dropped in her fireplace, wet from the rain and shaking. He looked up, it seemed that she was waiting for him and at the sight of him, she seemed to get that something was wrong. She jumped to his side and took his arm
"What happened?" He looked at her with his eyes wide open
"I killed ....I killed them...I killed him" She didn't seem that shocked or worried and that helped calm him a bit. She waved her wand and he dried up, she then led him to the sofa and sat down next to him before summoning tea and biscuits.
"Tell me what happened"
He told her. He told her everything, even the ring horcrux. This above everything was what worried her.
"Did you put them at Gringotts?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure you left no tracks? Morfin...you said, are you sure you framed him successfully?" He was starting to calm down with her line of questioning. She seemed to not care one bit about what he did and more about whether he would be caught.
"Yes, I am sure"
This seemed to get a sigh of relief out of her before she turned to carefully look at him, she took his hands in hers enclosing them in a supportive way. He let her.
"Tom, the only tragic thing in this story is how these filthy muggles could be related to someone as amazing as you. You are the greatest wizard to ever exist, an existence destined to great heights. It's those muggles or those destitute excuse of wizards greatest honor to be affiliated with you. If they fail to understand what kind of honor it is, it's only right for them to bear the price" That's what Tom was thinking and he liked hearing it validated from her, however no matter how much he believed those words to be true, it didn't escape him how bizarre it was for someone else to say it. Bellatrix seemed to resonate with his deepest and darkest beliefs and think them to be a matter of course. However, for now he indulged in hearing those words, to have them affirmed.
"You realy think so?"
"Of course I do, Tom. I am proud of you. You have done well" He ignored the bizareness of those words and hugged her.She froze under his hug but seeming to think he needed it, she hugged him back and he could feel affection and warmth coming from her, so strange from someone like her. They stayed like that for a while before they separated and she urged him to drink his tea. It didn't ecscape him that she was overly coddling him, insisting he drinks his tea, eats his biscuits, dries up and treating him as if he was fragile. He indulged for the day. Just for today.