The current state of things didn't feel real. Was Dumbledore, Dumbledore, really dead? Tom himself had ordered his demise, but it was still hard to believe that it had actually happened.
It definitely didn't feel as if Tom had had anything to do with it.
If Severus had not said he would do it before the week was over —and Severus had never failed to deliver a promised result— Tom would have thought the old fool had died naturally. All reports agreed in that regard, after all: Albus Dumbledore had passed away in his sleep. The Ministry forensics had already examined the body and determined that the cause of death had been a heart failure due to old age. Of the hand the official report only said that it looked like a contained curse of undeterminable nature, completely unrelated to the cause of death.
Tom was pleased with Severus' impeccable work, but he also felt dissatisfied. Dumbledore should not have died in such an anticlimactic and peaceful way, without pain or suffering at all. Tom had wanted the bastard to die knowing that he had been defeated and especially that he had been a fool for trusting Severus, but to his frustration the old meddler hadn't even been aware of his death. Or at least that had been the plan.
He was anxious to hear Severus' report, even though he didn't expect to hear anything less than boring and disappointing, but to his additional frustration he had told his servant that he was to report at his own discretion. Being such a careful man, Severus might not come in several days, and Tom wasn't sure if he would be able to resist the temptation of summoning him before. Not tonight, though. The Ministry must have already updated Hogwarts' security, so Severus' illegal Floo connection had probably been closed off and the wards would not allow him to leave the grounds in the middle of the night without drawing attention to himself.
Tom was also anxious to get into the Black House. He didn't expect to retrieve his Horcrux, and he had little hope of it still being intact somewhere (even though the locket supposedly could only be destroyed from the inside he couldn't be sure whether Fiendfyre would have respected that rule, and it was also possible Dumbledore had used the boy or some other trick of his to open it), but he at least wanted to know all about Regulus' betrayal. And he was convinced the elf was where all the answers laid. Of course Tom couldn't be sure the current Black elf was the same one he had had at his service once (Narcissa had been unable to extract the name's creature last year, and the elf had been forbidden to go anywhere near Tom or any Death Eater —except Severus, who had been unable to speak of it— so no one had been able to legilimize it), but he was determined to find out.
If only he had a similar lead to follow when it came to the diadem...
And what was he going to do about his accidental Horcrux? That was a question. If Dumbledore's death made him feel unsettled, Harry Potter's change of status definitely left him at a loss. Tom had spent the last decade and a half wanting to kill the boy. During his years of exile, when he had been barely more than just awareness and pain, he had thought of little else. His hate had been multiplied by a million and become even more personal when the brat had frustrated his attempt to steal the Philosopher Stone, and then again when Tom had learned that Potter had destroyed one of his Horcruxes and killed Slytherin's basilisk, and after the graveyard, and after the Ministry... Knowing what he knew now, Tom was relieved that he hadn't managed to kill the boy in any of those occasions, but he still wanted to kill him —badly— whenever he remembered all those incidents.
He wondered how much someone could be tortured without being affected on a soul level...
It infuriated him to have a piece of his soul tethered to such a vulnerable and high risk vessel. Especially now that several of Tom's Horcruxes were missing. Nagini, Potter, Hufflepuff's cup... Only three remaining safeguards against Death (he had to assume the locket and the diadem were already lost). And he wasn't yet sure about the cup, he would have to wait until the Ministry fell to check Gringotts.
Only two or three Horcruxes left, one of which hated Tom and had been prophesized as the one with the power to vanquish him. Of course it no longer seemed possible for Potter to vanquish him when the boy was harbouring and protecting a piece of his soul, but it still made him nervous not to know the full content of the damned prediction. Tom felt inclined to believe that he had unknowingly thwarted the Prophecy by making the boy a Horcrux, but what if —as Dumbledore had plainly believed— Potter's "power to vanquish the Dark Lord" was the power to take his own life after all the other Horcruxes had been eliminated, rendering Tom mortal and defeatable if not exactly vanquished?
It would never make sense to Tom that anyone could be willing to sacrifice his own life for any cause, but he knew that many Gryffindors were stupid that way and Dumbledore had made sure that Potter was one of those. The boy no doubt would try to kill himself the instant he suspected what he was, just as he no doubt would try to kill Nagini if he had the chance.
Tom had no idea what he would do with the brat, but he knew the first priority —in addition to keep him alive— was to find out how much Dumbledore had told him and, therefore, how much of a threat he was. Potter was still an enemy, Tom was clear on that, an enemy he couldn't afford to kill but that had to be dealt with somehow.
A hesitant knock at his door interrupted his musings.
"What?" he growled. He wasn't in the mood to be disturbed. Tom had felt victorious when the news had first arrived, and he had taken part of the celebrations earlier in the night, but the exhilaration had worn off hours ago and now all he wanted was to call Severus to him so they could discuss the next steps to take.
Wormtail poked his terrified face into the room.
"I-I'm sorry to disturb you, m-my Lord," he stuttered. "But Snape is here. I-I thought you would want to know."
Tom's irritation was immediately replaced by pleasant surprize and satisfaction. He had wanted Severus here, and Severus had come without being summoned. If only all his subjects were half as good predicting and fulfilling his wishes.
"Send him up," he commanded as he stood up to terrorize Wormtail out of the room.
While the rat slid downstairs and forced his way through the crowd, Tom leaned over the landing banister to observe the celebrations still going below. Half his followers were likely busy with the Muggles that had been brought for the occasion, but there were still people drinking and laughing and throwing darts at Dumbledore's enlarged picture. He saw Severus standing in a dark corner scowling at the old man's face from a distance and looking very much as if he wished to throw some darts or something worse himself. As Tom watched, Narcissa approached the man and leaned very close to whisper something in his ear while she placed a hand on his chest. In response Severus grabbed and twisted her wrist to roughly turn her around and press her against a wall. Whatever he whispered in her ear made Narcissa quickly disentangle herself from Severus and scurry away looking very pale and throwing fearful glances over her shoulder.
Tom smirked with dark amusement, and felt another wave of satisfaction when he saw Wormtail cowering under his superior's scowl and people in general hurrying to make way for him as he crossed the room. Severus had grown into his power quite nicely, and it was satisfying to know that he owed it all to Tom. If the man had been on the opposite side of the war, he definitely would have been an urgent target to remove from the board, but as it was having Severus on his side and at his service made Tom even stronger.
"My Lord," said his right-hand man with reverence as he took a knee. Tom found himself not liking the idea of him bowing quite so low anymore, so he offered him his left hand to kiss. No more hems for you, Severus. He smirked again at the thought of Bella's expression when she realized her rival now had access to her master's hand too.
"I would say you surpassed yourself, Severus, but I did not expect any less of you," he praised him.
"Thank you, my Lord," said his subject, plainly trying —and failing— not to look too pleased with himself.
"I take it it all went according to plan?"
"Yes, my Lord. Dumbledore died without suspecting anything, and no one at Hogwarts or at the Ministry seems to suspect either."
Tom beckoned him to sit across from him and summoned an elf to order the finest wine in the Malfoy's cellar to be poured out for them. This time Severus didn't refuse, the corner of his mouth twitching no doubt at the thought of Lucius' indignation when he came back from prison to find his cellar half-empty.
"Tell me everything, Severus," commanded Tom once they had toasted to Dumbledore's hateful memory.
"Unfortunately there isn't much to tell, my Lord," said the man with regret and bitterness. He was also plainly dissatisfied with the manner of the old man's death. "I simply manipulated the fool so he would invite me for tea, and poured the substance into his cup when he was distracted babbling about Chocolate Frog Cards and such nonsense. Then I finished my tea and flooed away."
Tom shook his head in disbelief. He had not expected Severus would simply spike the old man's tea right in front of him without raising the slightest suspicion. So ridiculously easy.
"No pain?" he verified.
"I'm afraid so," admitted Severus. "The matron confirmed that Dumbledore passed away in his sleep, so if he felt something when his heart stopped he wasn't consciously aware of it. If I could have used a painful substance I would have, my Lord, but this was the only one that I was confident would be untraceable."
Tom told himself again that the important thing was that Dumbledore was dead. With any luck the bastard was in hell being informed of Severus' betrayal and subjected to eternal torment.
"Anything to report about the Order?"
"Not yet, my Lord," said Severus, his mouth twisting in wry amusement. "A meeting has been called for tomorrow, but I will not be told the time and place until the very last moment so I don't have opportunity to set up an ambush."
Tom raised his eyebrows.
"You don't seem concerned about such obvious show of mistrust," he observed.
"I'm not, my Lord," assured him his spy. "This is just Moody being extra paranoid. McGonagall is furious in my behalf —she hasn't been told the time and place either so she can't tell me—, and I'm certain I will have the support of many more. This sort of security measures will probably become a regular thing, but I intend to make sure I am confirmed as a true member of the Order tomorrow."
That annoying Auror should definitely go next in the to-kill list, reflected Tom. If Moody took charge of the Order of the Phoenix from now on, Severus would have little access to confidential information and all his movements would be carefully watched. Tom had known his usefulness as a spy would decrease significantly after Dumbledore's death, though, which was why he had originally intended to blow his cover when that happened and target as many Order members as possible before they caught up with Severus' betrayal. Potter's change of status had forced him to give up on that plan, however, and to redefine the role of his spy.
Now Severus' main job was to protect Tom's most vulnerable soul piece.
And a little information was better than none, he told himself. Severus would at least be able to report on general Order meetings and to watch the boy while at Hogwarts. And of course he could at last give Tom the secret he wanted.
"Do you have a location to share, Severus?" he asked with that in mind.
"Yes, my Lord," said his servant at once. "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."
Tom nodded with satisfaction, not the least because Severus being able to share the secret made Dumbledore's death more real.
"What about the house-elf? What is it called?"
"The name is Kreacher, my Lord," said Severus, sounding pleased to be able to finally speak freely about the House of Black.
Tom fought the urge to set off immediately to painfully interrogate the creature now that he had confirmed it was the same one the traitor Regulus had lent him (he had already checked his memories in the Pensieve and, indeed, the elf had been called Kreacher).
"I don't think the creature will be a concern, however," continued Severus. "As far as I know the elf is not currently there, my Lord, so your visit will go unnoticed as long as the few remaining portraits do not see you."
Tom froze, a wave of cold rage crashing over him.
"What do you mean the elf is not there?" he repeated in a soft, dangerous voice that made Severus very judiciously put aside his glass of exquisite wine in case he got crucio'd. Tom forced himself to remember that he had decided not to torture this particular subject quite so much from now on, but it was hard.
"I believe Dumbledore removed the elf from the house, my Lord," said Severus warily. "He considered the creature dangerously untrustworthy and carrying too much information about the Order as to be left alone in a house which ownership might be challenged by Narcissa or Bellatrix."
"What did he do with it?" demanded Tom.
"I'm afraid I don't know, my Lord," said Severus with obvious apprehension. "I know that Potter inherited the elf together with the house, but the brat hated the creature because it had betrayed Black, so he refused to keep it when Dumbledore informed him of Black's will last summer. I assume the old man found another way of restraining the elf, because he assured the Order that the elf was no longer a security problem, but I ignore what he did with it."
Tom regretted again having granted Dumbledore such an easy way out and really hoped the bastard was burning in hell. Of course the old meddler had wanted to keep the elf hidden, and not because of the Order secrets the creature had held. Tom wondered what he had done to the creature. It wasn't Dumbledore's style to cut off the heads of inconvenient witnesses, but it would not be surprizing if the old man had trapped the elf with some dark ward or perhaps forced it to bind itself to some other wizard once —if— Potter had given it clothes.
He pursed his lips in frustration. He had been waiting for over a week to have access to the Black House so he could interrogate the bloody elf, and now it turned out he would only have an empty house to search?
He stood up and went to stand against the window, waving it open to let in the cold spring air as well as the sounds of laughter and torture coming from the grounds. It had always calmed Tom down to hear the screams of pain and terror, and especially the begging. To know that he was in control. Even now that he wasn't doing the torturing he rejoiced in the sound, since he had full control over his subjects and their dark entertainment.
Severus had remained in his place, but Tom could feel the sharp eyes on him. Severus, who knew about Potter and suspected about Nagini and probably at this point also had his suspicions about the diadem and the ring. He might have made the connection to the diary too, and now Tom was all but giving away that there was or could be something in the Black House that interested him just as much as the diadem. It made him uneasy to have someone knowing so much about his soul issues, but at the same time he couldn't deny that it was convenient to have a loyal subject he could trust with those issues.
Would he risk letting him know more, though? Tom needed to know what the brat knew, and Severus was perfectly positioned to find out, but that would mean Severus would know too. Could the man be trusted with information about Horcruxes or the Prophecy, if Dumbledore had shared that with the boy?
Tom trusted Severus, but should he trust him? Being betrayed to the Order wasn't the only risk, he knew. Severus had grown too powerful, and he enjoyed power just as much as Tom did. What if at some point it stopped being enough for him to be his master's right hand and he began plotting to bring Tom down and take his place at the top?
He shook his head. He was getting paranoid again. Severus had never given him any reason to mistrust him (not since he had come back to him after his resurrection and they had cleared the air between them) and he had not given any indication of wishing to overthrow him. The man enjoyed to have power over his fellow Death Eaters, yes, but when it came to Tom all he wanted was to please him. Severus had always craved Tom's approval, and even though he was ambitious his goals were ordinary enough and were easily achievable from his current position.
"I want you to get close to the boy, Severus," he said finally.