Chapter 17
"My lord, my lord....." Happiness and thrill could be heard dripping from her voice, she extended her hand to touch the apparition and Tom decided enough was enough and desactivated the charm. When that ....thing disappeared, she looked devastated as if the whole world crumbled. She fell down on the floor sobbing like he had never seen her before. He couldn't kid himself, the artifact was working as it was intended, it was just more far-fretched than he ever imagined. It took her a few minutes to stop sobbing and understand what actually happened, when she did she looked up at him and fury could be seen in her pupils. Tom was so unused to her taking any negative stance against him, he was surprised at the look he received though he foresaw that there would be consequences. She got up from the floor and yanked his arm harshly
"What did you do?" Tom felt that it was not her place to ask questions , no that was his job. He was still shaken by what he saw. Did she truly love that man? No wonder she was unfazed by whatever he was doing, just the looks of him spoke untold stories of the cruelty and insanity beneath. Besides, where were they similar? Maybe in strength or the eyes...? but even then, he never heard of him.
"Shouldn't you be the one explaining yourself? Who is that?" This seemed to enrage her further, Tom was very sure had it not been him who did this , that person would have long found themselves under a torturous round of pain.
"Tom, you crossed a line. You have no idea what you did and the consequences of it. Now hand it over."
"The consequences? What?The aurors coming after that abomination, what did you call him? Your lord?" This didn't escape his notice, what was she involved in that she called that man Lord? He was pretty sure that that was not Grindelwald at all. When she heard him say abomination, her face morphed viciously and Tom could get a peek at how horrible she can be. He was almost positive that she was doing an immense effort to control herself just because it was him.
"Do not call him that!" She screeched
"What? An abomination of a man"
"He is not, he is the greatest wizaed to ever exist" Tom wanted to absolutely scoff at that, he and only he was the greatest wizard to ever be and such a thing doesn't qualify. Besides, he never heard of him at all
"I never heard of him at all. Doesn't seem that great, now does he?" She took a deep breath to calm herself
"Well, you do not know what you are talking about. Nobody should be hearing of him now, just tell me what you did that made him appear lest it becomes a problem for the both of us" Nobody should be hearing of him? This whole affair was only becoming more and more complicated. His complicated feelings towards her not helping in the matter. How would it become a problem for the both of them? Tom knew that there was more to this whole affair that he previously thought so he decided to try to reign himself....for now and be sober about this whole thing until he managed to untangle this web of disturbing mysteries. For now, he would have to calm her and the best way to do this was to appeal to her emotions and make himself the victim in this.
"I just wanted to see who you always saw through me...Bellatrix. You never liked me for me, did you?" This seemed to still her in her track, though not enough to thoroughly calm her fury, a testament to how this whole ordeal rattled her. He decided to double-down on his performance as he took her by the arm and donned a sad look on his face
"I am very happy that you are here with me, but the thought that you are kind to me just because you see someone through me....is very hurtful"
She pursed her lips with frustration before closing her eyes in annoyance. She finally opened them again before dragging him to sit next to her on the sofa.
"Tom, you have no idea how much you matter to me and not just because you...., not anymore. During this time at Hogwarts, I came to see you as another person, different and apart. Believe me, will you?" Tom was just doing a performance previously but he didn't know how much he really liked those words, how much he needed hearing them. That her affection for him was directed at him only, not through a vessel, at least not yet anymore and best of all, he knew she wasn't lying. However, she seemed to still have things to say and Tom didn't know whether he would really like what was coming next "However, the dark lord is my master and I would not tolerate anything compromising his safety, not even from you."
This had a smiliar effect to the bombs those filthy muggles liked to throw around, it was a whiplash he didn't expect. Master.... was what she called him and nothing could have angered him more. How dare she treat that abomination as a master? And how dare she .....love him? How dare she tell him that she would favor serving that insane....lord at his expense? The rage he was feeling was not even letting him think properly and was slipping through his mask which Bellatrix was sensitive to, as always. He forced his face to keep still and his mind to go through the issue at hand and wondering whether this Dark Lord would know anything of his horcruxes
He remembered her saying that he was gone which meant he was dead with no possibility of him coming back since Bellatrix even knew of Horcruxes, at least that meant he was safe and for now Bellatrix would always be on his side. However, if he was dead, that still meant he existed and should have been mentioned yet the only really influential dark lord he knew of in the last century was Grindelwald and as much as he loathed to admit it, that man in the apparition looked strong, even stronger than Grindelwald. Even if it wasn't for strength, looking by cruelty alone, he should have been known... or was he the leader of some extremely secret group that the ministries of the world worked to cover up? Or maybe he was left undiscovered and untracked but died after delving a bit too deep in dark magic by his own doing? He has to make sure that he is no more, at least so that he can be at peace of mind with Bellatrix knowing so much of his secrets and he decided to tug some more at her heartstrings
"Is he alive? Would you give me up to him?" This made her purse her lips in annoyance and frustation as if he was asking stupid frivolous questions
"Tom....I would never give you up to anybody" She was telling the truth but he was still waiting for her to continue "and...the Dark Lord is no more" she said with a sob dying in her voice that only managed to irritate Tom despite the relief he got from having his doubts affirmed. Good, he was safe and she was still to be trusted.
Now that he has the affirmation that he was in no danger, his mind would not be able to keep holding of his irritationn so he will bid her goodbye for today. His endeavor has been more fruitful than he himself would have expected, coming with more questions than answers. He took the quill in his hand and was planning on putting it back in his coat when he was stopped by her taking hold of his hand.
"Tom, explain to me exactly what you did today" He pursed his lips and forced himself to calm down before recounting what he planned.
"Walburga? Tom, artifacts may record previous instances they were used, just like wands and she may get curious and want to see how and why you used it"
Tom already thought of that of course but he didn't think it would be anything so compromising. He would have to find a way to delete its history, he already searched how to do that to wands of course, but artifacts, specially ones linked by blood would be more complicated to do so. He is quite condifent he can do it if he has the owner's blood but without it, it may take weeks to undo. He would have to ask Walburga for some more time with the artifact though he knew it was not going to be an easy feat or find a way to get blood from one of the Blacks even though it would be a dangerous thing to do if it were found out.
"I will find a way to get blood from one of the Blacks and will manage to undo it" She pursed her lips further until they thinned, disapproval was in her eyes when she reached inside her robes and took out a dagger. She then got up from her seat and travelled to her chambers. Tom decided to follow her to see what she would do. She took out a vial from her night drawer and cut herself with the dagger, Tom watched her bleed uncomprehensively. When she judged the vial filled up, she cast a healing spell on her hand before handing him the vial.
"Here you go" Tom took it in a daze. Wasn't she a Lestrange? Maybe her mother was a Black, that must be it. She in fact did look like the typical Black. His mind was unwilling to travel to another possibility, specially not after everything that transpired today.
"Tom, look at me" Look up, he did.
"There is a fidelius charm I made at Gringotts on my blood so I would detect any attempt at uncovering its genealogy, this blood is just enough for undoing the artifact's history, so do not waste it in anymore untrustworthy endeavors, am I clear?" A fidelius on her blood? It was so bizarre and.... she was able to guess his thoughts exactly, he pursed his lips and answered
"Very well" He himself wouldn't want Walburga or anybody to know of this matter at all and he would have to work to uncover this whole thing by himself later on.
She didn't entertain him more and shoved him out of the office with barely a good night, she seemed to truly be angry with him this time. He couldn't blame her as what he did discover was very damning.
When he reached his chambers, he closed the door behind him before sending a powerful wave of magic that trashed the furniture against the walls. He looked at the artifact in his hand and threw it on the floor angrily. He felt absolutely horrible and extremely confused with the information he got. He remembered how happy and thrilled she was at seeing him...her master, she called him. With her serving someone like that, no wonder she was not that impressed with whatever he was doing. He hated that word, master...if anyone should be her master, it should be him and him only. Remembering that tattoo in her arm does nothing but enrage him even more, even if that man was dead, he left her branded and he simply couldn't swallow that. He didn't know he cared so much. He felt like somebody was stealing what belonged to him, what was rightfully his. He almost wanted that abomination alive so he could find some way to get rid of him but he knew at the back of his mind it was ridiculous.
He didn't forget what the artiact was supposed to show, a romantic interest. The fact that Bellatrix loved that abomination was just flabbergasting, which sane person would? But maybe it was just like Bellatrix and her strange ways, the power of that man was undeniable and that seemed to fascinate her most. Probably why she doesn't even consider him no matter her talk about how great he was, Tom clenched his fist angrily. He was the most powerful and he would prove it to her, she would see....and he would never delve to look like that thing. Power was important and the most important kind was to have a sane mind that could think properly. He forced himself to calm down. If he learned anything, it was that indeed Bellatrix's mind is not to be trusted, he has to watch over her lest she slips. No matter how one is smitten with power, Tom has to say, being truly in love with somebody like that was a testament of insanity. The artifact does not lie. What truly beffudled him too now that he has the time to think about it, is how by Salazar were he and that man similar? It maybe stopped at magical prowess and the red eyes but they could be as far apart as possible, Tom didn't know how to take being compared to such an insane individual. No wonder with such comparison, she thinks he is a good boy. Maybe Bellatrix was so hurt over not having that lord or whatever with her that she started grabbing at straws looking for similarities everywhere.
He looked over at the artifact and uncovered the vial, he would need to start working on it now. He will have to not push it further with Bellatrix for the moment, first because ....he was looking forward to the upcoming hogsmeade trip and second to leave her the time to calm down and lower her guard once more against him before probing further. The sessions with his "study group" would be held after the hogsmeade outing.