Title: Inrequietus
Author: DTaishou
Rating: T
Summary: ONESHOT – Sequel to Caliga
.oOo.
The Sorcerer's Stone was lost to him. But he found that he could not dredge up the strength to care. His vessel had been destroyed, another possibility of a body vanished, and all because of that measly brat he had failed to kill eleven years ago. His fury lashed out in ghostly tendrils of rage but he could do nothing for the pain that began to well again. He needed another host, and soon.
"So, you have failed once more, thwarted by that child," hissed the Demon. She stood beside his pale countenance with a blank face and burning eyes. The Potter child lay still upon the floor. Tightly in his hand was grasped that blood red stone. The Demon scowled, a frown that marred her beautiful features but fit her so well.
"The boy has proven to be clouded," she continued. Her talons gripped the gossamer robes and they disappeared. "Blind to the workings of the world and his young mind obscured by that of him." She settled onto the coverings and called forth another serpent. He sifted gracefully into its form and relished the blankness his psyche felt with the absence of pain.
"You have much to learn, boy. That Potions Master caught on to your scheming. I distinctly remember him as one of your followers." He hissed in agreement.
"Do not try to make excuses for yourself," she replied scathingly. "It may have been the host who was presiding, but you are his Lord, his Master. The little that you could do would have been intensified by my power." He bowed his serpent's head. She was right, as always. He had made a serious lack of judgment. The Potter boy had not been enticed by his promises. His work, no doubt.
"As I understand it, one of your followers, the blond aristocrat, possesses many of your old school things." He nodded. Lucius did indeed retain most of his old school supplies. One of which was his Diary with a memory of his preserved sixteen-year-old self. The self that had yet to meet Li Grim, Lucifer, Nagini. But this, however, was a way to take another form. Possession of his own body would assimilate the other's spirit and replace it with his own.
"Come. We are leaving." He wrapped around the proffered arm, and they disappeared once again. They reappeared in the familiar halls of Malfoy Manor. The Demon was amused, he could see, by the supposed grandeur and luster of the Manor. Lucius had always been one for greatness. A tiny, beaten little creature shuffled forwards, clothed in rags and sagging skin.
"How can Dobby be helping guest?" the thing squeaked. He grimaced as well as a serpent could but the Demon's black claws caressed his crest.
"Where is Lord Malfoy, the one called Lucius?" the Demon demanded. The creature seemed to cower at her commanding tone and scampered away after beckoning fearfully to the tall being. She followed with a cold expression and her talons stroking underneath his scales. It was a wonderful touch and he found difficulty in not voicing his pleasure to the Demon. She would, out of spite, withdraw from him.
"I am Lucius Malfoy. What is it that you want?" the aristocrat sneered in the expected Malfoy manner. The Demon's lip curled disdainfully, and she locked the door behind her as she entered. All at once the shadows engulfed the roaring fireplace and snuffed it. Lucius sat at his desk, recognition dawning upon his face. The Demon set his serpent form upon the desk, and his hood opened in the traditional aspect of a King Cobra.
"Lucciusss," he hissed. The aristocrat, having long learned to recognize his own name in Parseltongue, bowed his head in respect.
"My lord. I had not realized that you would be paying me a…visit." The Demon sneered at the fearful look upon the blonde's face.
"We come to command, littling, not converse," she hissed. Lucius drew back with a nod, and he retreated to the Demon's talons. "I understand that you possess many of the boy's school things." Lucius nodded once again. "I am in need of your services, littling. Should you serve well, you shall be rewarded. If otherwise, it would be wise to remain untraceable for a few years." The aristocrat visibly repressed a shudder.
"What do you require of my Lord's possessions?"
"A diary. Black leather, white parchment pages, embossed with the Riddle crest. It shall be given to the first student you come into contact with. That student will die in order to return the boy's past form to life." He hissed in agreement. "It does not matter who, just so long as this student remains dependent upon the diary." Lucius nodded sharply.
"A Hogwarts student, if I am correct?" the aristocrat inquired. He nodded his serpent's head.
"To release that which has been imprisoned," the Demon hissed in pleasure. Lucius shuddered but nodded all the same. Indeed, he had released Slytherin's beast long ago during his time at school. Now would be perfect opportunity to do so again. With the assistance of his younger self, perhaps he could destroy the taint at where it started: the students and children.
"Be wary for your child, littling. He may be caught in the crossroads." He hissed in open amusement. The son of Lucius Malfoy being caught in a crossroad was laughable, considering the hold his father possessed over him. But in more literal terms, Draco Malfoy could very possibly be killed or petrified by Slytherin's beast.
"Show me the diary," the Demon commanded. The aristocrat nodded and snapped his fingers. A thin white box appeared on his table. Magic wove around and within it, but the darkness that radiated from its contents was refreshing to his scales and mind.
"Please be careful, my Lord. There are many enchantments upon it…" Lucius trailed off as the Demon snapped open the box without use of magic and extracted the tiny book. He hissed in recognition and nodded. The Demon flipped through a couple of pages.
"Quill," she spat. A long eagle feather quill was placed delicately in her claws. She wrote a quick fine script that was replied to in his pristine handwriting.
You are the one called Tom Marvolo Riddle.
I am. Who might you be? How did you come across my diary?
It matters not, boy. You know me very well as the Darkness that lurks within you. I have instructions that will give you a body with which to live.
Tell me.