The undeniable silence circulates through the still air between the three of us, Niya is remarkably quiet and hasn't spoken up about anything at all since Naomi had told me the majority of the missing pieces. The fireplace's smoke heavily thickens while Naomi silently takes a seat down beside me, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and smiling softly.
I still can't get the image of the twins out of my mind, nobody has told me if they were alright or not and I have no way of communicating with them besides physically searching for them in this massive castle.
I guess you can say that half of my mind is at ease now knowing the missing bits and pieces of what exactly happened. Mom thought she could fix him, but in the end she couldn't and ended up with Sennith and I. I find it ironic how back at my old school we always talked about the zombie apocalypse; and here this guy was making a livingzombie out of conjured flesh fueled with magic. Something tells me that it's possible now, screw Biology class; everything we know so far must be a lie. This place is far from the mysteries that linger in the back of your mind constantly; there must be a lot more out there than we think. Who knows, maybe the end of the world is at the hands of us; the magical ones.
"You have no idea how happy I am, at first I was upset that Tabitha kept such a huge secret from me, but I knew she had a motive." Her lifeless eyes gaze into mine as Niya rubs up against my leg, gazing around the empty room.
"She kept it from me as well until you popped out. I guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh?" Niya pipes up, smirking as usual before hopping down off of the couch and curling up into ball on the ancient rug, trying to retain whatever warmth comes her way.
The toasty warm air lingers throughout the chilly room, even though we're in the dungeons and it's usually damp, I still don't mind the warm air once in awhile. Despite my affinity; for lack of better words, to fire I find it slightly ironic how I favor the cold. Everything about this school is unique in it's own way, if the walls could speak, they would have quite the little collection of stories from over the centuries; and I wouldn't mind listening to every single one.
My father was a Slytherin, perhaps that's why everybody was silent when I was placed in that House. I don't understand the meaning of the name Tom Riddle, but judging on what Naomi had said and what he did to her I'm sure Snape would have an answer. Speaking of him, I wonder how he'll feel knowing that Naomi had opened up about what he was clearly trying to hide from me... I get it that he's 'keeping me safe' as he likes to put it, but why does he even care enough to smother me, that's what I don't get.
I peel my eyes away from Naomi's and gaze deeply into the fireplace, watching the wood slowly splinter down into ash while a few sparks escape every so often. It feels like an eternity had passed since I was whisked away and told to stay here until Draco showed up, I really do hope everybody is alright from that incident, Snape must have known it would happen otherwise he wouldn't have been so edgy beforehand.
Naomi joins me as well, gazing intensely into the flames while her eyes are still watery from before. A low howl can be heard from the creaky windows as the wind outside begins to pick up the pace, blowing loose flurries around the frigid air.
"I hope Severus won't be angry with me, you should have known all of that anyways, before you came to Hogwarts..." She lifts her legs up onto the couch and wraps her arms around her knees, watching Niya curl up on the rug in front of the fireplace after being sprawled out seconds after.
My mind brings me back to the train station, mom never had anything about her indicating that she would tell me anything about the past. But was she ever careful of our surroundings, even during the way to London; she made sure to keep quiet in public places and always had an eye on me.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, he was going to spill the beans somehow. Mom however, she didn't even mention anything up until her death." My eyes linger towards the door behind us as the handle jiggles around a little bit, Niya jumps right up with her tail puffed out, and her teeth showing whereas Naomi quickly disappears in thin air, knowing that she's still lingering around in the room.
My heart races, it could be Lucius again and after his affectionate look he kept giving me I wouldn't want to be caught dead with him in any place without Niya. Judging from what Naomi had said about him having a thing for my mother; and the given obvious fact that I'm a spitting image of her, something tells me that this will cause a few problems down the road.
The blonde boy comes in through the door, turning around and flashing me a quick grin while shutting the door behind him, Niya hisses profusely at the poor kid before giving up and trotting underneath the piano that's off to the side. A small sigh of relief escapes my lungs, I'm just glad it wasn't any of those hooded figures or else I'd be screwed.
"I was looking for you, the party's still being held in the Great Hall in about a couple hours. I ran into George and he told me to let you know that they are alright." He casually makes conversation while unraveling his scarf from his neck and taking off his House robe. He folds them up and holds onto them while he makes his way towards one of the chairs to place them. All though something seems a bit off about the last part, I know for a fact they wouldn't even look at him if they didn't know where he was heading.
His sudden change in personality will always catch me off, considering he was a rude little rich brat fascinated by those cloaked figures at the train station. I don't get why he's trying to change all of a sudden. First impressions are everything to me, and so far he hasn't been doing too well. I'm still a bit iffy on the whole 'running into George' bit, though.
"Cool, I was actually just wondering that myself. Not to mention about the whole 'what will I wear' drama. " I force out a reply to the kid while relaxing after nearly getting ready to jump whoever would come through the main door. Especially after that incident that one night, when somebody was out here, which resulted in me using the back entrance to get back to my dorm. Come to think of it, how come nobody here even thought about the safety here? I've heard stories of monsters being locked away in the depths of the castle, and at least a couple students die each year; why the Hell is this place still up and running?
His eyes strike mine with his pride gleaming through his aura. In a lot of ways he doesremind me of the Lucius Naomi told me about in the past, which could be a bad thing now that I think about it. I wonder how he'd feel knowing that his father probably thinks of me in ways I don't even want to consider.
"Did anybody else come through? I was separated from Crabbe and Goyle." He asks me curiously, grabbing his House robe from the chair that he just recently set it on and tossing it over his shoulder, sitting comfortably in his grey sweater vest and black dress pants. I guess he cares about his little minions to some degree if he even mentioned their names to somebody that's outside of the group.
I don't think I should mention Naomi, she only shows herself to whoever whenever she wants to; so I guess that's a no for him. But to be fair, I have no idea who exactly knows about her since she was so timid around me for awhile.
"Others? Uh, no it's just been me and Niya, ever since Snape dropped me off-" I was interrupted by an obvious snort of disgust, while Draco tries to hide his facial expression; but his aura says it all. The room quiets down, even the noise from the flames seem to settle, I should have known he would be acting like this. Despite his nature; he's still an asshole at heart. I guess on the other hand he has someone else to hate besides Harry.
He radiates with an ugly color surrounding him, waves of disgust and jealousy radiate off of him like no tomorrow while he desperately tries to cover it up. My mind instantly goes back to Lucius, and the expressions he came up with when he saw Snape and I side by side, it was almost the same type of reaction that Draco's having; minus the snotty remarks.
"What's so funny, he's just concerned after yourfather tried to kidnap me." Defensively the words shoot from my lips without thinking, piercing him like a dagger coated in flames. It is true, his sole purpose was to clearly stop me from entering the castle hence why they all backed off after I nearly burned him alive. And judging by the story Naomi told me, I think their leader is my father himself.
His cold blue eyes graze mine with a bit of anger laced in between his glare. Instantly he changes from his unusual goodbehavior, straight into his normal, Malfoy self. Self loathing and undeniably jealous of every little thing, it's just Snape for crying out loud; why does he bring out the ugly side of everyone? After all, I'd gladly take somebody else over him anyday.
"Of course he's babying you now, father was right. He is a freak, and you're not any better." He retaliates with venom dripping from his words, turning around and heading up the steps towards his dorm in a tantrum-like manner. I can already feel the anger burning up inside of me, and that fire over there won't help anybody if it explodes.
"The only thing he was right about was underestimating me; next time I won't go easy!" I holler from down at the bottom of the staircase, the flames in the fireplace begin to rise dangerously high; displaying my current state of mind to everybody in the room. Niya's eyes widen greatly, in fear of the rising flames as Naomi fades in and out from the corner of the room, also displaying the same expression as Niya.
He snorts again, doing his little rich boy hair flip while disappearing behind the door and slamming it tightly behind him. Niya holds her breath as she calmly comes out from underneath the piano, her eyes dart up towards the staircase and then back towards me; followed by the flaming elephant in the room.
"Finally cracked the bad egg, I see." She scurries towards me with a slight hesitation, probably from the rising flames that are directly behind me in the fireplace. The flames sizzle and crack wildly, licking the metal bars and popping out a few sparks here and there that singe the detailed rug on the floor.
"I guess so, is that why you never liked him?" I ask, bending down and scooping her up in my arms as she gazes around the room from this new height she's at. Despite being an extreme know-it-all, she still has her cat-like tendencies; like laser pointers and cat toys.
"I never liked anyof them, Lucius was the worst when I was here with Tabitha, and Draco isright; Snape is a freak." She admits, licking her paws delicately as the raging fire begins to slowly simmer down. If anything she would know more about them than anybody in this castle, she was the one who practically grew up with both of them when my mother was alive so I should trust her judgement. All though I can't shake the feeling that maybe Snape is right when he says that I'll be safer with him, especially after what happened today at the Quidditch Pitch.
Niya quietly sighs, she then focuses her attention towards me with a look of defeat. Her shoulders slouch forward a little, while her tail doesn't flick around like it normally does.
"Nala, I didn't want to be the one to tell you this but; your father is Lord Voldemort. We didn't want you to know, we were only trying to protect you."
Time itself seemed to have slowed down, it feels like ages since Draco stormed away and locked himself up in his little tower away from human contact after showing his true colors, not to mention Niya's sudden confession. It really makes me wonder how long she knew about this. I don't get why he was so defensive about Snape like that; he was just concerned for my well being, which probably has to do with me being Tom Riddle's; my bad, Voldemort's child since Sennith has been dead for years. Judging by everyone's reactions and lack of information being thrown towards me, I must be a crucial part in something here.
"How long did you know this, and who the Hell is 'we'?" I can't even begin to piece the feeling I'm trying to process together. I heard about him briefly, nobody would tell me his name not even McGonagall or Dumbledore himself. Half of me just wants this to be over, to just go back to Maine and pretend that this is all just a nightmare. I read the name in one of the books in the library, detailing the unfortunate events of Tom Riddle's past that I intended to keep a mental note on. It stated everything, from the orphanage, being related to the founder of the Slytherin House, to his fascination with dark magic. I'm related to him; that's fantastic.
Niya quiets right down, gazing towards Naomi who's wandering about in the corner and keeping her mouth shut. Niya peels her eyes away from the spirit and focuses back onto me, tapping her paws on the furniture.
"I knew this for awhile, Tabitha wanted me to be the one to tell you since she knew something would happen to her. As for 'we', I think you should ask him yourself next time he randomly pops in uninvited." She hangs her head a little, I can tell she didn't want to be the one to tell me, let alone figure out a good time to even bring it up. But after the whole encounter we've had during the Quidditch game; I guess everything's off limits now.
My thoughts quiet down, still trying to process the recent information given to me. I basically know everything I was looking for, except for who murdered her, and who those dark figured bastards are. Judging by the hint she left me focusing on who we is, something strongly tells me that it's Professor Dumbass himself. Maybe he isn't as dumb as I'm making him out to be if that's the case.
Naomi begins to pace around the room, fading in and out from my vision as she continues to wander about in a stressed-like manner. I can tell, not by reading her weird ghost aura that she's beyond stressed, but just by the way she's acting since she's usually so happy and content; not to mention the bombshell Niya dropped on me moments ago. My eyes watch her while she eventually stops in place, whips around and flashes me this huge grin from out of nowhere.
"I know this is random, and completely off topic but, I think I have something for you to wear to the Halloween party soon." She forces out another smile while instantly vanishing from sight and doing whatever it is that she does best, leaving Niya and I alone in the dark Common room without even giving us a chance to speak.
The flames flicker against the burning wood that's nestled away behind bars of steel. It almost feels like a metaphor to me, to cage my fiery side considering the metal bars are for everybody's safety from the dangerous flames. My fingers burn slightly, glancing down I notice the smoke emitting from the fingertips on my left hand. Confused and slightly curious, I raise my hand and look at it closer. This is getting out of control, how am I even doing this, is it related to my father?
"Something the matter?" Niya quietly asks, hopping out of my lap ad gazing down at my fingertips with a slightly worried hue of color surrounding her. She knows what she did was the right thing, but however I don't think she was quite alright with the timing.
The small sparks ignite along my fingers, leaving a small fiery strip that connects straight down towards the palm of my hand while the flames quietly leap around, staying perfectly still in the center without little to no concentration. I remember reading about how not everyone can control an element with such ease, so the fact that my hand is lighting up like a firework kind of worries me greatly. Especially after discovering more than half of the questions I've been stuck with I can't really tell if this is just the emotion building up or what.
"I, I don't know. I feel fine, and I thought that wizards couldn't conjure magic without a wand; a channeling tool..." My words trail off, gazing into the flickering light, the burning heat source that's lingering in the palm of my hand and illuminating the small area that I'm sitting in.
My heart feels at ease almost, watching the very matter that can easily destroy anything in it's path. This just has to be linked to the so called powerful line of wizards I hail from, it's odd hearing that, especially coming from my own words. I've always grew fond of RPGs especially ones with Mage classes. Usually they give you certain move sets, like fire and ice, or other ones along the lines of that. You guessed it; I always went the fire route. Everything I did back in Maine seems to have some sort of impact on what's happening now. I was always connected to the element of fire, especially when we went camping; I could just gaze inside of those flames for hours on end if I could. I wonder if I should let Snape know about this; let alone Dumbledore himself.
"Well, I think it should stay between us, I've never seen anything like this before; I don't think anyone can do it. Nala, I'm serious, there's something strange here."
My eyes switch from the small, concentrated flame sizzling in my hand towards the cat who's basically grown up with me throughout the years. And when she says something isn't normal or right; she means it.
Confused yet again, I turn my attention toward her instead of my hand. How dangerous can they possibly be? I'll easily drown them all out with no remorse if I have to, I almost killed one of them for crying out loud. I thought things would get better after coming here to this new school but to be completely honest; everything's gone to shit. Mom got murdered right in front of me, some Demon wannabe tossed me off the edge of a cliff, none of my marks are doing well in Potions class; I just want to pass it so that way I'll never have to deal with Snape ever again, and now all of a sudden I have a group of misfits chasing me around with black smoke and basically hailing Satan? I'm not okay with any of this.
"What do you mean, what else is going on that you know for sure?" My eyes pierce hers with a strong intention of getting an answer from her.
"Tom Riddle's 'form' is out there, he has his followers, they know you're here. And they won't stop until they get what they want." She returns my stare with hers, her color hue lights up in a light shade of blue, showing her sympathy after revealing the truth.
"The hooded figures..." I finish the sentence, cluing in quietly. Remembering the scene from the train station, and the encounter I had moments before I was thrown off the cliff. Speaking of that, how did Snape know I was going to be there since Dumbledore mentioned that it was him who found me. I swear every time I feel comfortable around that freak he just keeps getting more mysterious and it's bugging me. How can I trust him with my life since he always goes on about 'being safer with me' when he hides almost everything from me, including my past? If they want me so badly like she's saying they do, then how come Lucius fled like that? He had his opportunity to sweep away the flames like Snape did without a care in the world; which reminds me, how the Hell did Dumbass do that? I thought it was nearly impossible to calm down a fire with little to no ease.
Naomi instantly reappears after a few minutes of being gone, breaking us from our train of thought, and conversation all while carrying a beautiful Victorian era dress full of ruffles, and a lacy beige corset that blends in with the bottom half. There's a satin white long sleeve part that's laced around the corset and eventually splits down the middle, framing the bottom part with a massive amount of ruffles, It's stunning that's for sure; but I feel like I would die from heat in this thing, along with the lack of oxygen. She flashes me a quick smile once more, tossing a pair of small dress boots that are also beige and match the dress onto the couch beside me, and gently placing the ruffly dress on the edge of the couch, looking quite pleased with herself and the findings that she scavenged for in the abandoned empty rooms.
"I knew I could find it, here; try it on-" She couldn't even finish her sentence without a strange sound emitting from the fireplace, almost like a weird humming noise mixed with the sound of somebody literally falling down the chimney shaft, causing all of us to tense up automatically, getting ready to fight or flight at any moment. My heart races inside of my chest, my mind flashes from different thoughts, like Tom Riddle himself trying to kidnap me, or worse; Lucius. All of the tension and anxiety quickly builds up inside of me, awaiting our fate.
The smoke from the fireplace eventually flares up into a bright green color; a heavy feeling rises inside of me, as a dark figure emerges from the fireplace, dusting off his dark robe while gazing up at me with the same old stone cold expression that I grew rather used to. I'm almost happy that it was only him, considering the other thoughts fluttering inside my overactive imagination. All he's missing is the red suit and a sack full of toys, I doubt it would work though; with his shitty attitude and all.
Naomi instantly freezes up, locking eyes with him while he tenses up as well, piercing his dark eyes with her dead ones as he approaches the both of us while tracking a few soot colored footprints along the ancient rug. Naomi seems almost paralyzed at the fact that he had caught sight of her lingering in the Common room, almost as if she wasn't supposed to be here.
"Long time no see, Miss Grey. I take it you've been waltzing around here for quite some time now, no?" His eyes narrow deeply, crossing his arms across his chest as his eyes slightly shift from hers to mine in an uncomfortable manner. Hie aura slightly singes through his 'barrier', showing a fine array of flustered colors in an attempt to figure out why she is still here inside of the castle.
Naomi doesn't even muster the strength to speak a word, she just stands there completely shocked while gazing back at the man who stands before her. She stammers a few words out of her mouth, before instantly vanishing and fleeing the scene while Snape approaches the couch I'm sitting on, and focuses his attention back onto me.
"You startled her,nice." The sarcasm drips from my mouth while I shift around on the couch, pulling my feet up on the cushion so I my feet don't freeze from touching the floor. I guess he finally knows that she's still running around Hogwarts, that and she's been talking to me lately as well.
"My bad." He sneers, counterattacking my sarcasm with his as he gazes around the room with a look of disbelief sewn across his face. Niya throws me a strange look, indicating that it actually is him she was talking about earlier. Now's my chance, I guess.
"And may I ask where Malfoy disappeared to?" He turns around after gazing towards the massive staircase, his aura radiates with a slight concern for the kid. His dark robe emits a different scent than the usual death and destruction I'm used to, it's almost mixed with a heavier amount of death than usual. After feeling almost every emotion for this guy, anything ranging from anger, to pity I can't help but almost feel offended that I'm disappointed in him for holding back the truth. If anything, he should have some reason as to why he never told me in the first place; and I swear if he says 'it was to protect you' I'm going to snap.
"Him? Oh, he ran upstairs like a little bitch after I told him the truth about how his father tried to kidnapme, why do you ask?" My eyes lock onto his, pulling myself up from the couch while Niya hesitates greatly, and scrambles her way underneath one of the nearby chairs. My arms fold across my chest, I can feel my skin just burning up from the anger boiling inside.
Snape's eyes widen a little, losing his snarky expression and replaces it with his usual scowl. He then lets out a deep sigh, walking over towards the fireplace and whisking around his wand, probably forming some sort of barrier of some sort I'd imagine.
"How much do you know about this whole, predicament?"His eyes narrow deeply, gazing up the steps to the dorms once more, and keeping a look out for Naomi if she ever reappears again. My lips almost curl into a smirk, I just find it hilarious that he has the strength to even ask me how much I know about.
"A lot actually, anywhere from Lucius seeing me as my mother and wanting to bang me, to the simple fact that oh!My father is fucking Lord Voldemort."
Snape goes quiet, I've actually never seen him at a loss of words before. The flames begin to lick the top of the fireplace now as they begin to rise a little higher inside the chimney. Niya cowers in fear underneath the chair still, knowing that Snape's about to get the full blunt end of my anger and there's nothing that she or he could say or do about it.
"I didn't want you to find out this way, now do you see why it is crucial that you let me help you?" He simply protests, knowing damn well that's going to do absolutely nothing to change my opinion on the fact of the matter.
"Why does it have to be you of all people, huh? What makes you so special to the point where you dictate my life? Didn't you already had enough dealing with me during the after hours of classes?" My eyes lock onto his with a fierce position, he simply follows suit and calmly approaches my gaze with cold one. The damp air lingering inside the dungeon eventually turns into an intense warmth from the fireplace flickering wickedly, the silence is almost unbearable between the two of us, and I have no idea where Naomi disappeared to ever since Snape scared her off.
"I can't tell you because I don't know the answer myself, by all means if you want the truth right now I can tell you the rest of the missing pieces. But you have to promise me one thing." His eyes dart across the room towards Niya who's frozen in place, she must already know what he's about to say, and judging by that she knows a lot more about the story than she led on.
You're kidding me right? You want me to promise you one thing after you sat here and lied to my face several times about not knowing anything about my past? After all of the friendly conversations we've had this past month down in the damp dungeon struggling to figure out why I can't get the hang of Potion making, you finally decide to set an ultimatum. If anything I should be the one setting one on you, dick.
"Great. Name your price, and keep it PG13." I can't hold back the sarcasm any longer, not that I ever could anyways. His eyes narrow in confusion at my choice of words, but none the less taking in a deep sigh and running his fingers against the dress Naomi had found for me to wear to the party.
"Don't go to the party that will be happening in the Great Hall in a few moments, stay away from the crowd of people."