Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter :'(
Wings retracted and contracted in an intricate display of power. Music carried itself throughout the elaborate ballroom surrounding the dancing figures. Outside the great hall, the music was but a faint whisper to the couple in the gardens.
"You can't catch me, Draco!" a young woman playfully challenged as she raced through the stone pathways, laughing, not caring about her expensive gown. The cultivated flowers swayed away from her as she dashed past them. Smirking Draco used his pale wings to propel him forward enough to tackle her to the ground as she turned a corner.
"Not so fast are you now, huh, Iris?" Draco taunted. Then, rolling off of her in concern, as he saw her terrified stare, "Hey, what are you looking at?" It was then he saw what had frozen Iris. Underneath a large willow lay a corpse, looking almost relaxed in its unnerving stillness. Drying blood surrounded the desecrated, carved up carcass of the lost. Long green wings were cut into shatters. As Draco and Iris drew in closer, they noticed the left eye had been carefully gouged out leaving a snowflake like pattern around it. Oddly the man's clothes seemed to be in impeccable condition. As the realization of what they had stumbled across sunk in, they broke their composure and screamed in terror.
Inside the manor, unaware of the horror unfolding nearby, the beltane festivities continued without interruption. A man seemed to be the product of much admiration as he chatted, standing in a cluster of prominent politicians.
"Now, Thomas, I must confess you have done a wonderful job on the Dephr Bill." Fudge schmoozed and then motioned to the tall man next to him, "Even James himself couldn't have crafted it so masterfully."
"Now, my lord, that really isn't true." Thomas's chocolate hair barely moved a centimeter out of place as he shook his head. As he spoke, a broad man laughed softly at this remark.
"That is a falsehood, my friend" James chided shaking his head. " In your time, you have accomplished more than I ever have." James looks out into the mass of dancers with a cheerful glint in his eye. Thomas caught the look and leans closer to him separating them from the rest of the group.
"Sir, I was wondering, if I could talk to you concerning your daughter."
Startled James questioned, "And what do you wish to speak about her?" Thomas smiled bashfully at Angus.
"Well...I wish to ask you for permission to court Iris." A smile spread across James' face.
"Do you truly?" James pondered and a swift nod followed his words from Thomas. "Well, I wish you luck in courting my daughter then, son." A victorious, haughty look appeared on Thomas' face for only a second leaving James to question whether it was ever there.
"Thank yo-" Thomas was interrupted by the object of their conversation barging into the room looking distraught. Causing the whole room to become silenced in their shock.
"Help! Help!" Iris tried to inform "A body...there is a body in the gardens!" Screams of terror were torn from throats. How could this have happened? How did it happen? Who was the poor victim?Who was the killer? Passed through all their minds, adding to the chaos that was now the party. Iris was left panting at the door exhausted, emotionally and physically, as her father rushed towards her. James embraced in a hug before leading her out of the room with Thomas' help.
Days later, a pale body thrashed against silk sheets. Sounds of distress echo through the regal room. Terror filled leaf green eyes shoot open as Iris is shocked awake.
"It's just a dream...just a dream...it's not real." Chanted Iris trying to calm down from the nightmare, sweat lingering on her flesh. Her bare feet touched the cold wood floor dragging her more into the present. Still shaking Iris forgoed her robe as she ventured downstairs to the kitchen. The stairs let out a groan and she froze listening for any noise of wakeful drakens. Hearing nothing Iris continued through the house. When she reached the empty kitchen she quickly grabbed the lamp near the door and lit it. Its soft glow illuminating the space gave Iris comfort. She looked out the large window and saw the waxing moon almost to completion. She continued to gaze out at the night sky not even noticing when the lamp ran out of oil. She didn't even hear the footsteps nearing the room.
"Iris? Is that you there?" A deep voice asked. Iris was startled and spun around to see who had interrupted her star gazing; her crimson wings fluttering open unconsciously.
"Oh, Lord Riddle! I did not notice you." She tried to calm her breathing as she responded, blushing slightly at being caught in her night clothes.
Smoothly Thomas spoke, " Really, Lord Riddle? You must call me Tom, Iris. Though it is a most lovely surprise to have; I had only crawled out of my warm bed for a quick midnight snack and I find you here."
Looking up at Thomas through her lashes she confessed, " I could not get back to sleep." She shivered at the memory of the nightmare. Thomas' quick eyes caught the subtle movements, and moved closer to her.
"I seem to be tried, though, so I am be going back to bed, Lord Riddle"
Thomas watched her leave the kitchen, but just as she was at the door he whispered to her, "Tom, Iris, just Tom." She did not turn around, and as soon as her head hit the pillows she fell into a dreamless sleep.
Another body was found the next day. This time their claws had been removed from their hand and taken somewhere away from the corpse. The now known signature, the gouged snowflake pattern on the left eye, had remained on the victim. The woman had been found in the exact same position as the first underneath the old willow tree.
Draco tried not to look troubled, but Iris knew her childhood friend too well for that to work.
"Did you hear what Weasel did? He insulted Lord Lestrange's daughter, and she pushed him right into the fountain!" he chatted away as they sat in the otherwise quiet library. Iris idly stared at the tomes surrounding them her thoughts in another place.
"...and the new maid -Cho, I believe- tripped while holding a pile of plates..." Draco continued to get his mind off of the horrific happenings surrounding them with his rambling. Iris sighed at the idle gossip and stood abruptly, causing Draco to stop his racing words.
Iris announced before taking her leave, "I do believe I shall have leave you to collect herbs for my mother." Draco nodded and watched her leave the room with wistful eyes.
Finally being able to actually do something instead of sitting around was a relief for Iris. She quickly gathered a wicker basket and went to go outside. Her father crossed her path in the hallway and stopped her.
"What are you up to, now?"
Tucking a stray hair behind her ear she replied, "I am to collect the yarrow and herbs from the garden." A worried look flashed on her father's face before it returned to its stone like mask.
"Not without a guard, I hope."
Surprised Iris quickly responded, "A guard? Since when have I required a guard to go and fetch herbs?"
A stern look encased James' face. " You have required a guard ever since a killer on the rise, Iris."
"And just who is to be this guard?" She snapped at him, her emerald eyes burning as she met her father's eyes.
A smooth voice joined their conversation. " I would be honored to be Lady Iris' guard, today." Iris jumped and found the speaker behind her.
"Lord- I mean Tom, why do you insist on frightening me?" a teasing light appeared in her tone along with a quick smile towards the young man.
"It was never my desire to scare you, Iris." Thomas charmingly smiled at her.
James looked pleased as he interrupted them, "Well, that is settled then. Lord Riddle shall be your guard for you outing." He nodded the himself and then left to continue his work else where.
A golden haze hugged the garden as the couple walked it's paths.
"I don't understand why my father has believes I need a guard." Iris complained, " I mean I've been trained enough to know how to fight someone off."
As she crouched down to collect a flower, Thomas admired the picture she made reasoning, " He is worried never the less about you. You are his only child."
Iris smiled slightly despite her anger, " I just wished he would show he cares for me in more ways than locking me up with constrictions." She exhaled frustrated as she finished filling her basket, and standing up.
"I believe he tries to but, doesn't know how. He talks of you constantly. Don't you know?" Thomas questioned as she watched her smooth out her purple gown.
Iris' eyes widened at the information given to her. " Really? I never realized..." The rest of the trip was silent as Iris tried to sort her thoughts. The sight of the doors snapped her back to the world.
Iris then turned to Thomas. "Thank you for being my companion, today." She smiled at him, and turned to leave when Thomas grabbed her looking directly into her eyes.
"The pleasure was all mine, Iris." His cheeks tinted pink and she reluctantly withdrew from the intense gaze.
She could still feel his gaze as she prepared for bed sending tingles up her spine. She closed her eyes thinking about Thomas' crimson eyes creasing her skin drifting off to sleep. The next thing she felt the sweet scent of chloroform pressing into her face waking her briefly before she passed out.
Iris was cold when she woke. Her skin itched from the grass gently digging into her. Hard silver chains kept her from moving from the willow. Her sight was slowly adjusted to the surroundings as she tried to figure out where she was. Shadows sifted with the soft breeze ruffling the foliage. The full moon hang in the clear sky above. Candles were set in a pattern of a snowflake. Bowls of mysterious substances occasionally took the place of the flames. The sound of feet against the stone path brought Iris' eyes upward. A man. A man covered a blood red shirt and pitch black pants swaggered his way to the snowflake pattern. The combination of the soft light from the moon and candles lit up his figure as he drew near. The air seemed to leave Iris' lungs as she recognized him.
"T-Tom! It was you?" She stuttered struggling to get free of her constraints.
He preened as he looked at his work. "Why of course it was me, dear. Did you know of someone else who could have brought this plan to life? Who could have made all the preparations together to become immortal?" Thomas questioned her as she glared up into his deceivingly handsome face.
"That's why you murdered those people? To gain power!" Iris snarled giving up at fighting the chains around her for the moment.
"The world is split up into two types, Iris. Those who have power and those who are too weak to seek it." The moon continued its journey as they had conversed, now nearly in it's highest position. "The moon is almost in place. It's time to start." Thomas caressed her face gently before retreating from her fangs snapping towards him, longing in his eyes. He then took his place across from her in the ritual. He cut his hand with a plain looking dagger and squeezed the dripping blood into a crystal bowl in the very center of the snowflake. Iris wondered what the ritual would do to her as a strange language sang out from Thomas' mouth. The tune was strangely calming, lulling her into a daze. She struggled against the magic crying out soundlessly for help. The last thing she saw that night was the white glow of the two draken bodies still alive in the clearing.
Thomas felt the power flow through his veins as he finished the ritual. Warm traitorous tears fell from his eyes as he looked at Iris. Her spirit. Her fire. She would live as long as he himself did. That was plan all along; a life endlessly with her.