Chapter 13: Horcrux
Fourth years, meaning we only have three more years here at Hogwarts. Then we can become something. We can become great wizards or witches and do whatever we please. These are pleasant thoughts.
Nothing here has changed, which I am grateful for. The only thing that really ever changes is the sorting hat's song. Iris and I are sitting at the Slytherin table. We clap whenever a first year is sorted into our house. I'm not really paying all that much attention though. At this moment my attention is on Hagrid. The git keeps staring at my girlfriend. How frustrating.
Iris knows that I'm frustrated, she just doesn't know why. She doesn't see Hagrid staring goo-goo eyes at her. At least she's uninterested in him. If she weren't that would make my frustration all the worse. Iris takes my hand under the table and smiles to me, the smile that she reserves only for me. I smile back and kiss her cheek.
Finally the ceremony is over and we are allowed to dig into the feast. As always I fill my plate to the brink with food. I look over and see that Iris barely has anything on her plate. I give her a look that she returns with a stare, acting like nothing is wrong.
"You need to eat more Iris. You're turning into a stick"
"I am not a stick, Morty. My appetite is perfectly fine for someone my age"
I snort and begin to place food on her plate. She groans but I ignore her. Although she eats it all slowly, picking at the food carefully, she eats most of it and that pleases me.
We make our way to the house once the feast is over. As always Iris and I make our way to the couch by the fireplace. Iris lays her head on my shoulder and begins to nod off. I suggest that she go to bed but she has none of it.
"I haven't seen you in over three months Morty. I won't go to bed just because I'm a little sleepy"
I sigh but don't push it. I pull her close and watch her as she tries to keep her eyes open. Eventually the Prefects order us all to our dorms for curfew. We wish each other a goodnight on the stairs before we have to separate.
Once I'm in bed the snake slithers up to talk to me. I nod when it makes a bow motion and turn over for sleep. It feels different being here. I assume it's because of what I've done over the summer. Have I really turned into a cold blooded killer? I pay these thoughts no heed and begin to think of Iris to calm me down. This does the trick and within moments I am fast asleep.
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Weeks begin to fly by and I am having a difficult time holding onto the days. Classes have become harder. Though this is not a problem for me it is for many others. They groan and complain all day, never shutting up. What's really frustrating is that Hagrid's persistence seems to have created some sort of hope for the others who fancy Iris. She claims not to notice but its hard not to when they're waiting at every door for her.
All they've done is thrown me into a possessive state. I walk with Iris to all of her classes, which really aren't all that hard considering we have identical schedules, simply to make sure no one confesses to her or slips her a love potion. It's almost worse in the library. Here's when Iris becomes angry. She'll be trying to study or finish some homework and they'll all be there pestering here with questions like 'can we get something for you?' or 'do you need help with that problem?' She's already had to snap at them to leave her the hell alone.
We are in the library and for once no one is bothering us,
"Looks like your little snap the other day has caused your suitors to disappear for a while"
She gives me a look,
"Maybe, but yours haven't"
"What?"
"Oh please Morty, don't tell me you haven't noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
"Your fan club, you even have seventh years vying for your attention"
I look around us. There are a lot of girls here but that doesn't mean they're all after me,
"See that girl past my shoulder? Her name is Myrtle. She's been trying to get you to notice her since our first year"
I look past Iris and sure enough there's a girl staring at me. She's not very attractive though. Ravenclaw, it seems, with brown hair held up into pig-tails and the most atrocious glasses anyone has ever seen.
"All these girls are part of your fan club, you know"
This surprises me,
"How can you tell?"
"Whenever you look away they can't tear their eyes from you"
"Really?"
"You're quite desirable, Morty"
I smirk. That much is obvious,
"What about the guys who like you, do you have a fan club?"
"No,"
"No? Iris, what about all of those git's who follow you around like lost puppies?"
"There's only like three of them. You have at least ten girls who fancy you. I'm no where near as desirable as you. I'm the undesirable, Morty"
I think about this. Am I really that desirable? I mean, I knew I was desirable when it came to magic but am I desirable sexually as well? This new information makes me feel a sense of pride.
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I feel a bit disgusted right now. I've asked some of the other Slytherins about that Myrtle girl. She's a mudblood. How revolting. She shouldn't even be here. Had Salazar had his way she wouldn't be.
Once I heard about Myrtle I made my way towards Iris,
"Hey"
She says, and then notices something about my face that makes her ask,
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing"
I answer quickly. Iris doesn't buy it but she leaves it alone, which I am thankful for. I pull her in for a kiss and she complies one-hundred percent. The kiss makes me feel better. When we're together we are no longer half-breeds. We are united as one perfect pure blood. I deepen the kiss by pushing Iris down to the couch in the common room. I don't care who se us snogging. Iris twists her hand into my hair, pulling me even closer. My hands rest on her waist and I begin to draw small circles with my fingers. Iris giggle a bit, ticklish, but then flinches with pain,
"What's wrong?"
I ask immediately after she pulls away,
"Nothing, tender spot"
I don't believe her, but it's not as if I can just pull up her shirt to see. If anyone walked in on us we would be in detention for months.
"Iris"
I say this menacingly, she needs to tell me what is wrong,
"Seriously Morty, I'm fine"
She pulls me back down for another kiss. This time I am not distracted. I pull away and give her a look; she gives me one right back. Right as I am about to push the subject a Prefect enters and warns us to get to class.
As we walk down the hall to our Potions class I wrap my arm around her shoulders. In turn, Iris wraps an arm around my waist. Now that we're in the hallway, along with the rest of the student body, I decide to wait until we're alone before continuing the conversation.
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I really haven't had a chance to ask Iris more questions. I've tried to push the subject when we walk to Hogsmeade but someone always interrupts. There have also been a couple incidents where a gang of girls from my supposed fan club begin to gang up on Iris when I'm not around. Even though it is rare that I'm not around here it does happen. When I'm not around Iris' friends from slug club interfere with my fan club. I use the word friends lightly though. Iris doesn't really hang out with them unless we're at slug club or if they have a study session when I'm elsewhere.
Tonight is the slug club Christmas party. We're all supposed to dress up and some form of gift for Slughorn. Iris and I decided on a basket of sweets that Slughorn likes. We added a few charms to it as well. One charm was that once the basket was empty whenever you wish for a certain sweet it will appear in the basket.
Iris looks beautiful in her emerald green dress. It's hard for me to take my eyes off her. Something is missing from her outfit though. A piece of jewelry would look nice with it. I think back to Salazar's locket in my trunk upstairs. Perhaps I'll give it to her for Christmas.
When we arrive there are already a number of people there,
"Ah, Tom, Iris, how good of you to come"
Slughorn makes his way towards us, I hand him the basket and he looks pleased with its magical properties,
"Thank you. This is a marvelous gift"
He opens the wrapping on the basket and takes out a pineapple sweet. We walk into the crowd of students. Iris' friends wave for her to go and talk to them. She nods, kisses me on the cheek and tells me she'll be back soon.
As soon as she walks away from me a fellow slug club member walks up to me. I suppose you could say he is my friend. Though I don't really talk to him outside of slug club,
"Tom, god to se you"
He shakes my hand and I reply,
"God to see you too Avery, what have you been up to?"
I act civil and polite as always. No one, except Iris of course, ever realizes that I'm faking. The night goes on without a hitch. Slughorn accepts more presents from other students. You can tell who will and who will not be returning to slug club based on Slughorn's expression when he accepts their gifts. I find it amusing to watch Slughorn's face when he receives a present that he doesn't like.
The party is almost over when Iris returns to my side. I wrap my arms around her waist and she warps her around me neck,
"Did you have fun?"
"Not really. Avery kept on talking to me. That was a bit annoying"
Iris laughs and kisses me ever so lightly,
"You know he adores you. You're like a role model to him"
I snort. That's one of the cons of being a perfect student I suppose. I sigh and look up to the ceiling. My eyebrows furrow, there was no mistletoe there before. I look to Iris and ask,
"Did you create the mistletoe?"
She looks up, just as confused as I,
"No"
I smirk,
"The least we can do is use the mistletoe to its full worth"
I say suggestively. Iris laughs and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. We are interrupted by Avery elbowing me in the ribs, telling me useless things such as 'way to go'. How annoying.
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It is Christmas morning and I have decided to give Iris Salazar's locket. Seeing as how the locket is meant to stay in the family and how one day I plan to have Iris join my family I see no problem with it. During Christmas break Iris and I stay in the common room so we don't have to separate when sleeping in out rooms. This way we're always together.
There still has been no sign of the Chamber so tomorrow Iris and I plan on returning to the restricted section tomorrow to see if we can find anything. Now that we're fourth years we are allowed into the restricted section without having to sneak in. So far this break seems to be going very well. Especially since Iris and I are all alone with no fans or admirers to interrupt us.
We use the Accio spell to bring us food so that we don't have to waste time walking back and forth between here and the Great Hall. I chuckle when I think today is technically our one-year anniversary.
"Guess what today is"
I can't help but laugh while I say this. Iris looks at me with confusion in her eyes,
"Christmas?"
"Besides that"
"What?"
I
laugh and say,
"Maybe this will remind you"
I lean in and kiss her almost the same way I kissed her last Christmas,
"Oh"
She whispers when I pull away. Iris smiles and leans back in. When compared to the last kiss this one is much more aggressive. How wonderful. Right as I am about to pull Iris in closer she pulls away,
"Happy anniversary"
I don't respond I simply pull her back in. I lose myself in bliss as our heated mouths move against each other. My hands find their way to her waist as her find their way around my neck, fingers twisting in my hair. She moans into my mouth while I move my arm up and down her side. I smirk as she pulls away,
"Morty, stop, that tickles"
I smirk and trace her side again, this time adding a bit more pressure. I stop when I see her face contort in a second of pain,
"Iris"
She looks at me,
"What?"
"Why has your side hurt ever since September?"
"What are you talking about?"
I glare at her,
"You know what I'm talking about"
She sits up and says nothing. I sigh and pull her closer to me. Iris lets her guard down and I slightly lift up her sweatshirt,
"Morty!"
She cries in shock and pulls her sweatshirt back down. It's pointless though; I've already seen what she's been hiding. Even though these bruises must have been made months ago they still look fresh. There are also small scabbing cuts that seemed like they would reopen whenever she took a large breath of air. Her father must have done this,
"I'll kill him"
I whisper. I know now that I will actually do it too. I pull her into an embrace and look her in the eyes,
"You're not going back to him"
She looks at me and touches my cheek,
"I'm not"
This makes me freeze. She's not?
"You're not? Then why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want you to worry. You were so excited to be traveling and finding out about your family"
Her voice wanders off. So that's why she didn't write me?
"I've already sorted everything out"
"Oh really?"
I find this hard to believe,
"Where will you live? What will you do for food? Have you told the school about any of this? Or did you simply decide this on a whim?"
She glares at me,
"I'm not an idiot. I'll be working at the leaky cauldron. They allow all their employees who have nowhere else to stay reside in one of the inn rooms. Head Master Dippet already told me that it would be fine"
This is shocking. She really did have it all planed out. I suppose this would be the best time to give her the locket. Now though it will serve as a present and an apology.
"Iris"
"Yes?"
Great. She's still peeved at me. Though not as much as I would have expected,
"I have something for you"
She looks at me. A bit confused,
"Here"
I hand her the locket. Her eyes widen,
"You can't be serious. This is your locket! Why would you give it to me?"
I snort,
"For one I will never feel the need to wear a locket of all things. Two, Iris, I love you and I want you to have it. Also, I want people to know that you belong to me"
She smiles at my possessive statement and kisses me sweetly,
"I love you too, Morty"
I smile, knowing that she's the one person in the world who really means it.
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Today Iris and I make our way to the library to look for something about the Chamber. The librarian doesn't even glance at us as we enter the Restricted Section. As always the books are a mess and it is almost impossible to find something.
One of the books I skim through has an intriguing word in it. Though it explains what this word is it's very confusing.
"Iris, do you know what a horcrux is?"
She looks up from her book and walks over to me,
"Where does the book mention that?"
I point to the word,
"I don't know what it is but it's obviously dark magic if it rips your soul in half"
I nod but even as we leave the library I can't stop thinking about it.
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At tonight's slug club I decide to as Slughorn about the horcrux. It would be more plausible to ask the D.A.D.A teacher seeing as it's dark magic but I am Slughorn's favorite and he won't question me too much about it. He also won't turn me away.
Tonight is the only night I can ask him. Iris is unable to attend tonight's meeting due to some essay that is due tomorrow and she has yet to start it. Which is very strange for her. I am silently thankful though because if I am to ask Slughorn I will need to be alone with him and if I told Iris to go on without me she would become suspicious. I grab a box of pineapple sweets and make my way towards Slughorn's office, where the meeting is being held.
Due to my impatience the meeting seems to be taking an extraordinarily long time. Avery won't shut up about something he did in Transfiguration class. How very annoying. Eventually Slughorn tells us it's almost curfew and to head off to our houses. While his back is turned I flick an hourglass that is quite peculiar,
"Tom, what re you doing here?"
"Sorry professor, I was simply intrigued by your hourglass"
"Oh, well yes, it is an intriguing piece of magic"
I walk away from the hourglass and look into the fireplace,
"Actually professor, I came across an interesting piece of dark magic in the Restricted Section that I couldn't quite understand. I was hoping you'd be able to explain it to me"
"Odd, you usually understand everything. However, don't you think your question would be better asked to a Dark Arts teacher?"
"Yes, well, I had considered that but you see, I don't believe they would understand. They might get the wrong idea, you see"
He nods. Like taking candy from a baby.
"What was the name of this dark magic?"
"I believe it was called a horcrux"
"Well Tom, a horcrux is any object that you place you soul into. Meaning if you die part of your soul lives on"
I begin to play with Salzar's ring, which is on my ring finger,
"How do you go about doing this? Splitting your soul, that is?"
"I believe you know that answer to that Tom"
"Murder"
This is no question. I had a hunch that would be the case but I had to be sure.
"Professor, is it possible to create more then one of these horcrux's? Say several?"
"Several? Tom, isn't the thought of murdering one person bad enough?"
He pauses and then continues,
"This is all hypothetical, isn't it Tom?"
I look over to him and plaster a fake smile on my face,
"Of course Professor"
He nods and I bid him a goodnight. I begin to think of what it would be like to split my soul. I've already murdered three people. Can I create a horcrux from those deaths or will I have to kill even more people? Questions like these keep me up most of the night. It's a bit frightening, the thought of ripping apart your soul. I think about Iris. As long as I have her I believe I'll be able to resist the temptations of creating a horcrux.
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Exams pass easily enough. Next year will be a bit harder though, we'll have to take our O.W.L's. Nevertheless we are finished with our fourth year. This summer I will be returning to the orphanage. I am unaware of the location of Ravenclaw's diadem. Therefore, my only option is to return to Wool's orphanage.
I worry about how Iris will do on her own but it has to be better then if she were staying with her father. When we arrive at King's Cross-Station Iris walks me over to the car where Mrs. Herman is waiting for me. She hugs me goodbye and while the car drives away I watch her out the back of the window until she's too far away to see. This summer she has Fenrir, she insisted saying that she'll have more room for Fenrir's cage.
I sigh as Mrs. Herman attempts to make small talk. Asking how my year was and such. I just want this summer to go by quickly so that I can return to the place where I belong with the people who belong with me.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Special shout outs to Gemma, who has reviewed twice now. I tried my best on the horcrux conversation but since my books are in storage I had to rely on my memory from the movie, which is probably way off but oh well. Also, the tweak has arrived. Although Voldemort wasn't supposed to obtain the locket until after Hogwarts I couldn't help but have it so he gives it to Iris. It was just too cute to pass up.
Love,
Pastry~