Alexa stared down at her food and poked at it with her fork. Dinners on Thursdays had become a tradition with them all somehow. Riddle, Alphard, Abraxas, Amelia, and her would all walk to the Great Hall together, eat, and then usually go back to the common room and hang out. But today Riddle hadn't shown up. She could feel him in the castle, but hadn't been able to get away from the rest of her friends to track him down. She had a bad feeling about it.
She jumped as someone sat beside her, but was relieved to see it was Riddle, his cheeks flushed.
"Nice of you to finally show up," she teased.
"Sorry," he smiled, "I got caught up in the library and didn't realize the time."
She ate her food as well, wracking her brain to remember where in the castle she had felt him. Had he been in the library? She couldn't recall. Amelia had been talking the whole walk, switching between complaining about Riddle and gushing about the first Hogsmeade trip that was coming in a few days. It made it hard to focus. The next time he vanished she would follow him no matter what. School had been keeping her annoyingly busy and prevented her from being as active in her watch as she liked.
Amelia was watching her with an irritated twist in her mouth. Alphard, however, was looking between Alexa and Amelia with a very amused expression. Abraxas was oblivious. That seemed to be their dynamic, Alexa had noticed. Amelia would waver between seeming to like and dislike Riddle, and liked Alexa as long as she wasn't getting too much of his attention. Alphard picked up on the tension and usually tried to ease it or change the subject. Riddle mostly stayed unengaged unless asked something directly...or if Alexa was speaking. Abraxas was usually too absorbed in himself to notice any of it. As for Alexa, she supposed she just sat and over analyzed everything. They also seemed to think she was funny, which was good enough.
"Did you finish Slughorn's essay?" Alphard asked Amelia, cutting through the silence.
"Not yet," Amelia replied, "but I only need the conclusion. I'll probably finish it tomorrow so I don't have anything to do over the weekend, because of Hogsmeade."
"It's your first time, isn't it Alexa?" Alphard commented.
"It is," Alexa shrugged, "I'm excited, it sounds like a very cute village."
"Are you going with anybody?" Amelia asked, leaning in.
"Wait, weren't we all going together?" Abraxas cut in, having apparently checked back into the conversation.
"Don't worry mate," Alphard said, clapping his hand on the blond's shoulder, "I won't abandon you like Alexa."
Riddle had stopped eating, and was giving her a very arched brow, "Keeping secrets from us, Alessandra?"
Alexa rolled her eyes, "Yes, me and my nonexistent date are definitely hiding something," she shook her head, chuckling, "No, nobody has asked me. What about you?"
Amelia sighed, "I heard a rumor somebody was, but apparently it wasn't true," she raised her glass into the air dramatically, "Alas, to a love that never was."
"A true tragedy." Alphard tapped his glass against Amelia's. Alexa smiled to herself, and focused on her food.
This wasn't an ideal situation. These weren't the people she would have chosen to spend her time with, except for maybe Alphard. Abraxas and Amelia were rich and entitled, and thoroughly devoted to their pureblood. Alphard had the same good breeding, but he took an absolute delight in taking the piss out of it. Riddle was a future mass murderer, but at least he wasn't unpleasant to be around. She didn't think she could stop herself from killing him if he had proven to be both evil and annoying.
It was surreal how easy Riddle was to be around. He was quiet and clever, commenting only when he had something to say. That was, of course, how he manipulated people. His whole persona was artificial, right down to his voice. But it seemed to go even deeper than that. He knew how to manage people in order to protect himself. The result of growing up without security, she supposed. She wondered if he had any genuine personality or if it was all based on the best way to please others into giving him what he wanted.
There was a sudden crash that sent Alexa to her feet, wand drawn. The doors to the Great Hall were shut, and Dippet had gathered the teachers to one end of the staff table. She exhaled and sat back down, trying to force her heartbeat to slow.
"Little jumpy there, Alexa?" Abraxas snorted.
Alexa shrugged, "I guess so," she chuckled, putting away her wand. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach that Riddle had not, in fact, been in the library. Right now he was looking at her, his dark brows pressed together. He turned back to eating when he realized she had noticed. She needed to stop reacting like that. Nobody was going to attack, she knew that with the kind of certainty that only came with knowing the future. But she still couldn't stop herself.
Dippet made his way to the very center of the dias, and raised his hands. The chatter of the hall came to a slow hault, until finally it was perfectly silent.
"There has been an incident. A student was found magically petrified. Your heads of house will be coming to escort you to your common rooms. Do not be concerned, we have no reason to believe this was anything more than an accident. We are merely being cautious, as your safety is our utmost priority. Please remain quiet and orderly." His face was serious and his voice perfectly level. It was not reassuring.
Especially because she knew exactly what had caused the petrification. Riddle looked worried beside her, and she fought the urge to slam her fist into his face. The Chamber of Secrets was open. Enemies of the heir, beware.
Slughorn came trotting down to their table, dabbing sweat from his face with an enormous periwinkle handkerchief.
"Alright, everyone, not to worry, you heard the headmaster! Back to the dormitory, let's go."
Alexa rose, but paused, watching the table empty and making sure the first years were all in front of her. She held the back of the line, keeping an eye on those in front of her and a watch on anything that might be behind them. Riddle was by her side. She didn't know why, considering Abraxas, Amelia, and Alphard were all far ahead of her in the middle of the herd. She needed to find the snake-feel the life pumping through it. It was in the pipes last time.
She stopped, horror striking through her. It was above them. She couldn't help but look up, almost expecting the basilisk to be staring down at her. The last thing she would ever see.
"Are you alright?" Riddle asked, concerned. Was the concern real or fabricated? How could he be asking her that knowing he was the cause of this.
"Yeah," she shook her head, "sorry. Thought I heard something," she gave a sheepish smile, hurrying to catch up with the group. Riddle kept pace with her.
"It's probably an accident, somebody decided to mess around and bit off more than they could chew." He shrugged.
"You're probably right," she exhaled. Myrtle was the only one who died. She had the date in her locket. She needed the girl's schedule to know what time it would be, to know her movements. She had weeks before she would need to fight the basilisk.
"You looked ready to fight earlier," Riddle commented. Alexa pressed her lips together. Anybody around her would have thought that was a weird reaction. She was jumpy. No matter how she tried to reason with herself, she couldn't shake the response. Maybe it was the demigod in her, or maybe it was a result of her seventh year. Either way, it needed to stop.
"Just...jumpy," she shrugged.
"You did the same thing when the train stopped," he glanced at her. He was trying to pry.
"Look," she sighed, "I just...where I was before wasn't great, okay?" she looked down, hoping to make him uncomfortable enough that he stopped asking. The snake was behind them now, headed in the opposite direction.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, "Nothing will hurt you here." That was a very interesting comment considering he was the one causing everything. "And besides," he gave her a half smile, "I'm sure whatever it is should be more afraid of you anyways."
She chuckled, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Thanks, Tom." He nodded, and they walked in silence. She didn't know how to feel about the exchange. Riddle seemed genuine, and that was the worst part. Maybe he really did mean it when he said nothing would hurt her. It was a nice thought, but not one that would serve her.
But by then they had reached the common room, and Slughorn was anxiously ushering them inside. He was the last one in, and raised his hands to silence the chatter. He, however, didn't have the same command as Dippet. He resorted to shooting a flare of emerald sparks into the air.
"Now," he began, "I know this whole situation is a little nerve wracking, but I assure you that you are all perfectly safe within the common room." He surveyed them, dabbing his shining forehead once again. "I will be back to tell you of any updates. As for now, Headmaster Dippet has decided classes tomorrow will be canceled, and meals will be had here."
"Will Hogsmeade be canceled, sir?" a third year asked.
"No, not to worry. The cancelation tomorrow is simply to conduct a very thorough search of the castle," Slughorn assured them.
Riddle's face was a perfect mask of polite attention. But there was just the faintest hint of a smirk. No doubt he was sure they would never locate the chamber. To be fair, he was right. None of the professors ever found it. A couple of twelve year olds had, but that was beside the point.
She was itching to go out and find Dumbledore. He could get her Myrtle's schedule and that would be much easier than stealing it. But for now, Slughorn had left and the common room was buzzing. She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. This was going to be a long night. Most people had just grouped off with their friends, some going up to the dormitories to gossip or whatever it was normal teenagers did. But standing off to the side on the edge of the room were two first years looking absolutely terrified.
"Do you want-" Riddle had begun to speak, but she cut him off.
"Sorry, hold on, I'll be right back," she said, making her way across the room.
"Hey," she said, stopping in front of the pair, "Are you guys doing alright?" she asked. They were twins, a boy and a girl, each with startling blue eyes and inky black hair. They looked at each other and then back up at Alexa.
"Do you think it was just an accident?" the girl asked.
"I don't know," she replied honestly, "Hogwarts is full of strange magic. I'm just as new as you are," she smiled and offered her hand, "I'm Alexa. I just transferred here this year."
The girl shook her hand first, "I'm Katarina and this is my brother Dimitri," she said. Dimitri also shook her hand.
"Are...are they going to be stuck petrified forever?" he asked quietly.
"No," she assured him, "you can make a remedy for petrification with mandrake root. They'll be fine. And we'll all be fine too. They're going to search the castle and figure out what happened."
"What do you think caused it?" Katarina asked.
Alexa hopped up and perched on the arm of the sofa, "If they really messed up a petrificus it might do that. Or maybe somebody jinxed them," she shrugged, "The teachers will figure it out. They're pretty decent at magic last I checked." The kids giggled at that, and seemed more at ease. Another first year came bounding over.
"Do you want to play gobstones?" he asked the twins.
Dimitri looked back to Alexa, and she laughed, "Don't have too much fun out there." The twins smiled and followed their friend off. Alexa exhaled, at least she could do something to help. She rose, and went back over to where Tom was standing, still watching her.
"Sorry," she said, "what were you saying?"
He looked at her, head tilted ever so slightly to the side, "How did you do that?"
"What?" she asked, confused.
He flushed, surprising her, "I just mean," he said quickly, "I've had to try and comfort the first years before-because I'm a prefect. They don't...respond like that." He had just admitted to her a weakness. She may be reading too deeply into it, but never before had he directly said anyone did anything better than him. She had been paying enough attention to know that.
"I don't know," she shrugged, "I just talk to them. Most of the time they're just looking for reassurance."
"Huh...you know, you're going to have a whole menagerie of them following you soon," he mused.
"I always figured I'd end up adopting," she chuckled, "I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."
"Adopting a child?" Riddle asked, surprised. They had sat over on the loveseat farthest from the fire where it was quieter. The wall behind them was glass, looking out into the murky depths of the lake.
"Yeah," she replied, "maybe foster? There are alot of older kids that get stuck in the system." She wasn't sure why she was telling him this. It had nothing to do with her mission, or even anything to do with him. She had meant it as a passing joke, regardless of the fact that it was true. She should have realized that perhaps he might be invested in orphans, for obvious reasons.
"Why would you want to do that?" he asked.
"They deserve a chance as much as anyone. There's lots of kids out there who are alone. If I can give them more than what I had-" she cut herself off, looking down at her hands, and shrugged.
"That's...very kind," he said, "Even the troubled ones?"
She laughed, "Takes one to take care of one."
"You're calling yourself troubled?" Riddle chuckled.
"I'm pretty sure you've already called me trouble at least once," she countered cheekily.
Riddle considered, "I suppose you've got a point."
"And, y'know," she continued, "I guess I like kids anyways. I could at least be a fun aunt."
"Do you have siblings?" he asked.
Alexa stiffened, exhaling sharply. "No. Uh, not anymore." She was never ready for that question. She couldn't lie and act like they had never existed, she couldn't.
"Shite," he said, "sorry, I didn't mean-"
"No, no, it's fine, you didn't know."
"It's hard to be alone like that," Riddle said quietly. She supposed he could understand, as much as she hated to have anything to connect with Voldemort over. He didn't know she knew of course. He certainly would never tell her.
"Yeah," she swallowed, "it is." Maybe that's why she collected younger students. She'd done the same thing at Camp-until she almost killed Jason and the entirety of New Rome turned against her. Even then, the really young ones still ended up taking a liking to her.
She was lonely. She was achingly lonely. Being in the past was starting to get to her, and it was making her share way too much. She hadn't thought that it would be so hard to pretend. There were times when she just wanted to scream because all of the classes seemed so meaningless, the quidditch, the O.W.L.s. the drama of being a teenager-pointless. She almost wanted Tom to tell her about his childhood just so they could talk about something that actually mattered. But of course, that would be counterproductive. She leaned back against the back of the sofa and shifted to sit cross legged.
"I'm sorry," Riddle said.
"Thank you," she murmured.
"There you are!" Amelia sat herself elegantly down on the adjacent armchair, legs primly crossed at the ankle, Alphard and Abraxas plopping down on the couch opposite them. "I thought you got eaten by the monster."
"Nah," Alexa laughed, "too gamey."
"You've decided it's a monster, then?" Riddle asked, lacing his fingers together. Amelia shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder.
Alphard snorted, "Come off it, Ames. It was probably just an accident. Do any of you know how to play poker?"
"Yep," Alexa nodded.
Riddle raised an eyebrow, "Isn't that a muggle card game?" he asked.
"You want to play a muggle game?" Abraxas scoffed, wrinkling his nose.
"Scared you'll lose?" Alexa challenged. Abraxas looked at her, clearly weighing his options.
"One round-and if my father ever finds out…" he shuddered.
"I'll watch," Amelia sneered. Alphard produced a deck of muggle cards and an enormous bag of jelly beans.
"We'll use these as chips," he said excitedly.
"Wait, Alphard, have you ever played poker before?" Alexa asked, watching him shuffle the deck.
"No, but I saw it being played and learned the rules," he grinned. One round of poker turned into more than she could keep track of, with Riddle being the surprise card shark. He bluffed his way into winning at least half the games, with a truly unmatched poker face. Abraxas kept insisting they keep playing, although he still had yet to win. Amelia had even joined for the last few hands. She was honestly just surprised that Alphard had memorized the rules of poker never having actually played.
"I won!" Abraxas shouted, slapping down his cards. He had not, in fact, won.
"You sure did," Alphard nodded, yawning. He gave Alexa a wink while Abraxas admired his cards.
"Congrats, you finally beat us," Alexa chuckled, glancing at Amelia who seemed relieved.
"Time for bed?" Amelia asked.
"I think so," Riddle nodded.
They would try poker again later, and hopefully Abraxas would do better next time. She rose, stretching her arms above her head. She still needed to talk to Dumbledore, and it was already late. They said their goodnights and parted ways. Alexa followed Amelia, and got ready for bed alongside her. She was careful to tuck a dress under her pillow, however.
Once it seemed everyone was asleep, she swiftly changed into the dress and slipped on a pair of simple flats. She dropped down into the shadows, deciding she may as well check his office first, just in case. She got lucky. Dumbledore was there pacing. Alexa knocked on the door, not wanting to startle him by walking through it.
"Hello-you shouldn't be out of bed." Dumbledore crossed his arms, regarding her sternly, "Come in, I suppose."
"Hello professor," she said, taking his offered seat at the desk.
"Whatever's going on had better not be because of you." He sat across from her looking severe.
She raised her eyebrows, surprised by the anger in his voice. "No. The student will be fine, by the way. It's a matter of waiting it out until it's time."
"You're telling me that you knew this was going to happen?" His voice was calm and very quiet.
"Yes," she replied, meeting his eyes, "it's part of the reason I'm here. I need Myrtle Warren's class schedule."
"You're letting students get hurt-" his voice began to rise and she cut him off.
"I'm preventing them from getting even more hurt in the long run."
"I will not give you anything until you tell me what this is." he glared at her. She was taken aback. Heat was rising in her face and her heart began to pound. She took a breath, trying to keep her cool.
"The more I change, the less I know-the less I know, the more dangerous this gets and the more likely it is that things go wrong again. I have to be careful and only change what I have to. Nobody is going to die." This was the best plan she could think of. If she killed the snake now, before it had run its course, then she didn't know what Riddle would do. Right now he was focusing all his free time into the Chamber. She prefered him occupied and where she could follow
"Miss Di Angelo," he snapped, rising to his feet, "I warned you that I would not allow my students to be put in danger. I never should have allowed a demigod in the first place-you will tell me what-"
Alexa stood up with enough force that the chair fell backwards with a crash, "Don't," she spat, "ever talk to me about endangering the students of this school. Do you want to know what the future was like?" She stared at him, daring him to speak.
"You died because of your own greed and left the school in the hands of the Dark Lord. He would have killed every muggle born on the train if I hadn't been a demigod. I pulled them through the shadows to safety. The Death Eaters became our teachers, and they attacked students. They made us use the cruciatus curse on each other as punishment. You know who helped us? Aberforth. He was more reliable than you ever were." Dumbledore opened his mouth, but she plowed forward, "And I, because I am a demigod, because I am a soldier of Rome, I trained the students of this school-I had to train children to be killers in a war you died and left us with." She was so angry she was shaking. The stone beneath her feet had split, a deep crevice running from her feet to the door. She had heard more than enough about Harry's experiences with Dumbledore and read more than enough about his life.
Dumbledore stared at her, open mouthed and wide eyed. He seemed too shocked to speak.
"Myrtle's class schedule, Albus. Or her blood is on your hands too." She stared at him, waiting expectantly, watching him squirm.
He sat down heavily, and removed his spectacles. "You are not the only one who wishes to protect this school."
"You're right, but I'm the only one who can," she didn't sit.
"I only ask," he began, "that you understand the position I'm in. You're not telling me enough, you need to give me more."
"Myrtle Warrens will die unless I do something. Is that enough?" she demanded.
He looked up, regarding her, "You came all this way and gave up so much. Why? What do you have to prove?"
She shivered under his cold blue gaze. "Same thing as you," she stared him down, "Ariana deserved better." Maybe Blaise was right. Maybe all of this, everything she had ever done, was just to make up for not being able to save Nico and Bianca. But ultimately it didn't matter why she was doing it, she was doing it.
"Do not use my family against me." It wasn't a demand. It was too soft for that.
"She's the one who showed us the way to Aberforth," Alexa had no reason to tell him this, but she did, "We were holed up in the room of requirement and they were getting suspicious about food going missing in the kitchen. One day this portrait appeared and she was there, beckoning us to come closer. It was a passageway to the Hog's Head."
Dumbledore had his eyes closed, fingers laced together.
"That's enough," he said quietly. "You said you had the same reason. Tell me, and I'll give you the schedule." She had been rash. She still needed Dumbledore. It would be so much harder to do this without him on her side.
"I was the oldest," she looked away, wrapping her arms around herself, "then it was Bianca, and Nico was the baby. We were...I don't remember where we were but he was there. Pluto. There was lightning, and everything got really bright and they were gone. Along with my mother. Jupiter killed them all. It would have been just a few years ago, actually. Right at the beginning of the war. Pluto stuck me to rot with the Lotus eaters for seventy some years before he sent one of the Furies to bring me out. I was nine, give or take."
His expression was unreadable as he looked at her. "I'll have the schedule for you by noon. I'll be here, and you can come and collect it."
"Thank you," she nodded.
"But for now, you had better go back to your dormitory before you're caught," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I'll be back at noon," she nodded. Alexa walked away, but paused at the door, turning back around to look at him. She couldn't stop herself.
"And Albus? If you ever think you can use what I am against me, I would reconsider." She vanished into the shadows before he could respond.
…
Hours later, Alexa lay curled in bed, eyes tightly shut but utterly awake. All she could see in her mind was the flash of lightning and the look on Pavarti's face when she ordered her to kill.
