A/N : Alright, just so you aren't lost with how much time's gone by in the story thus far, this is the current summary…Tom and Lena are now 22 and it's the fall of 1949, four years after they've graduated…
Chapter #6 – The Dorians and Cavius' Lair
When they left Denmark four days later, it was to many fond and sad farewells. They had spent almost four and a half years there and they had both come to regard it as something like a home. Most of the people they knew wanted to buy them food and drink, but they had to leave. The trip to Rome from Måneby was nearly twice the distance from the Westbrooks' manor to Måneby. It would take them nearly twenty hours of traveling to reach the capital of Italy.
Bundled up against the harsh cold that signaled the approach of winter, they set out early in the morning, hoping to get a good distance before they had to stop for the night, if they did stop. It was a silent day, but the scenery was more than enough to keep them occupied. Tom particularly liked the areas they passed over where damage from the war was still visible. By midday they had already begun their passage over the Alps, which made the air even colder than it had been when they left from Denmark, but they were warm enough from all the wool and furs they had on that they were well protected from the harsh conditions.
All too soon darkness began to fall. With it being nearly winter, the days were not as long as they had been when they had originally left England. The good thing was, they were reaching the milder side of the Alps. That meant that they were at least near the Italian boarder. They only had a little way to go, only a few more hours. But, with both of them yawning, they did not know if they would be able to make it before exhaustion overtook them. Tom's head had begun to throb because of the long journey and he longed for bed.
With the warmer air reaching them, they took off their heaviest coat and magicked them into their trunks. They felt very relieved to have them off, they had been weighing them down greatly. Lena stretched, taking both of her hands off her broom, but not slipping a bit. Tom only looked towards the horizon, wondering how much longer they would have to travel, for his bum was killing him.
Suddenly, an owl flew up to Tom, nearly colliding with him it was going so fast. Tom stopped his broom and the eagle owl settled down on its handle, hooting at him. Lena came up beside him and looked at the situation. There was a note tied to its leg, which it was holding out to Tom.
"It must be from Rex's grandparents."
With a nod, Tom lit his wand, took the letter, and read it silently. "They want us to follow the owl. It'll take us straight to the Dorians."
"That's nice of them." Lena smiled. "Let's go then."
Feeling a renewed sense of alertness, Tom nodded. The owl instantly flew off when it saw this and began to lead them to its home. On through the night, past the time the half moon rose well after midnight they flew southward. There were some larger Muggle towns than what they had flown over most of the day under them now, their lights glowing in the darkness.
The waning quarter moon was nearly to its peak by the time the owl started to descend. Tom and Lena followed it, gaining speed as they headed towards the ground. They were headed for a large villa below. As the two on brooms slowed to keep from smashing into the patio the owl was headed towards, the bird flew through the door that opened out onto it. Not sure if they should land or not, they stayed hovering a few feet from the edge of the patio's edge.
After a moment of waiting, an elderly woman in lilac robes, a wineglass in her hand, emerged onto the patio. She smiled at the pair still on their brooms and walked towards them, her eyes twinkling. "Our grandson has told us many wonderful things about you, Mr. Riddle, Miss Westbrook. Please, please, do come in. I am sure that you are both very tired."
Doing as she requested, they landed and dismounted their brooms. They followed her into a lovely sitting room decorated in vivid reds and purples. There were a large number of pillows tossed about the room, making it look quite inviting to the tired pair. They were nearly to the point of just falling down here and sleeping.
"Daem," Mrs. Dorian called before lifting the glass to her lips to take a sip of wine.
A snout-nosed house elf appeared at her side, bowing low. "Yes, Mistress?"
"These two will be our guests for a few days, please take them to the room you prepared earlier today."
"Yes, Mistress." The elf turned to them with her oddly brilliant blue eyes. "Come with me, please."
The house elf led them out of the room and into an open-air corridor. They were headed for a room that sat positioned over the cliff the main part of the house was built on. She reached the door to the room and opened it for them, bowing them in. Lena entered first and gazed about, her mouth slightly opened.
"Wow…"
Tom was silent as he looked around at the blue and lavender décor of the room. There were many large pillows piled on the floor here too. The bed was canopied with lavender curtains. The bed itself was fitted with blue and lavender geometric designs, making it look a bit like mosaic work. Landscapes hung on the wall, depicting ancient Roman temples and buildings.
"It is rather lovely."
"I will bring you breakfast if you want it. My mistress said that they are planning to take you to the Villa tomorrow to give you today to rest from your long journey. Please, do sleep well."
And with that, the elf left them. By the time that Tom had turned around from seeing her go, Lena had already collapsed, still dressed, onto the bed and fallen asleep. He smirked at her then his mind wondered to what had happened only a few days before. He had not thought of it much since that afternoon, either. Was Korbin a spy? Was Lena in on it with him? Could he trust her? He watched her for a moment, pondering it. If he could not trust her, then she needed to be gotten rid of. But what other than her incessant letter writing to her father was there that would make him think she was betraying him…or was that enough?
Thinking he was too tired from the day's journey to really be worrying over that at the moment, Tom too headed for the bed and lay down by Lena. It had been a very long day and he ached all over. It only took him a few moments to go to sleep, and he too slept in his clothes. They both needed their rest, for there was not telling what the next few days might bring for them.
***
After two good nights of sleep and several hearty Italian meals, Tom and Lena were more than ready to go to the Aurorius Villa, the center of Italy's Wizarding community. Their aged hosts showed them the way to the Villa on brooms, passing over many of the ruins of ancient Rome along the way. It was all quite a sight.
The four of them landed in the central courtyard of a large villa, which was the only part of the Villa that was above ground and where the complex got its name. The mansion-like building was much like the Leaky Cauldron in function, providing a fairly unnoticeable entrance as well as room and board for those that desired it. All of the shops were located underground and covered a large portion of the area under the oldest parts of Rome.
They entered the underground complex through wall that looked like a solid mosaic of sun, moon, and stars but it was quite intangible. There was a maze of cobblestone streets that had an arched ceiling over it that had the same enchantments on it as the ceiling of the Great Hall back at Hogwarts, allowing in the sun though it was all below ground. All the shops around them held books and artifacts from all over the world, but they did not have the chance to stop in any of them for the Dorians seemed to have only one destination in mind. With the look on Lena's face, though, Tom was sure that she would be returning to all of these shop to see if there was anything she could waste her money on in them.
Suddenly their elderly guides stopped in front of a small shop with a lovely marble statue of a sorceress standing by the doorway. In the window was an assortment of Dark Magic devices and books, but there were also a good many non-Dark Magic things mixed in with them. The sign above the shop read clearly, though in Latin: "Cavius' Lair." A smaller sign in the window read, in Italian: "All manner of devices, books, and artifacts of the Arts."
Tom thought it was a bit strange seeing a shop dedicated to the Dark Arts in the middle of a "normal" street, but he had a feeling that here the Dark Arts did not have quite as bad of a reputation as in England for some reason. He could not wait to get a look around in the shop.
Following the Dorians into the shop, they saw that it was quite clean and dust-free, unlike the shops in Knockturn Alley. Everything seemed to be neat and tidy on its shelf or in its display case. Books lined all the outer walls. Three large tables stood in the middle of the shop with glass cases on them that held an array of artifacts. Shelves filled the rest of the shop, holding countless numbers of things in glass cases or extra rows of books. At the back was a counter, which had two display cases on either end. Behind it was a shelf of jars and boxes. The shop's owner was on a short ladder looking for something along those shelves.
"Benvenuto, welcome." The middle-aged man only seemed to respond to the bell on the door tinkling, for he did not look to see who had walked in. Though he spoke in Italian, Tom had learned it when he had decided to come here so he did not need to rely on an interpreter. "How might I help you?"
"You cannot even face your customers anymore," said Mr. Dorian in English, a slight chuckle in his voice.
"Ah! Marcus!" The man turned and looked at the four of them, smiling. "I have not seen you in the longest of time."
"I have brought that young man. Tom, this is Sig. Riservas." Rex's grandfather gestured to Tom, who had been watching Lena looking at all the things in a nearby display case, though turned when his name was said. "I was hoping that if you had the time you would…"
"Of course, of course. Always glad to meet an old friend's son."
"Old friend's…did you know my mother," Tom asked, a little shocked.
"Yes, I did, and you resemble her remarkably well. But I still cannot believe that you are her son, though I've been told several times. I did not think she had any children."
"Just one, myself." Tom looked at him, still puzzled. "How did you know my mother?"
"She was a friend of a friend and I met her a few times." He went back to the search he had been doing when they had arrived. "Lovely woman, great mind, very good Dark witch, even though there were several rumors that I heard of about her not being loyal to the Dark Arts, about her being a spy."
Tom did not like this man accusing his mother of ever doing such things. It was too much like what Karl had done with Lena's father less than a week before. He had never heard any such rumors about his own mother and many of his friends had known her or her family. Yet, he seriously doubted that it could be true anyway, considering his mother's (and his own) lineage. But he still could not help but find it strange that both his mother and Korbin had now been accused of being spies in only a short span of time.
"Rumor has it that she married a Muggle, too." He looked at back the teenager, knowing he would know the answer to that one. "That's not true, is it?"
"Sadly, it is."
"And that man was your father?"
"That man," Tom hissed, "abandoned my mother when he found out she was a witch."
"That is often what happens in such situations." He still searched, seeming to be getting annoyed. "But I never doubted your mother's devotion to the Dark Arts. I considered her among the best Dark witches in all Europe…"
A huge smile came to Tom's face.
"…even if she did fall for a Muggle." Finally pulling down a jar, he stepped off the ladder and looked again at the four of them again, though mainly looking at the Dorians. "So what is it that I can do for this young man?"
"Well, we were hoping you could get in touch with Lady Eirino. I think that she would be a very good teacher for him. What with her reputation and everything."
"I am afraid to say that she is unavailable for some time. She has been traveling to see old colleagues in Africa. I think she said she was currently in Mali in her last letter to me."
"When will she be back," Mrs. Dorian asked, sounding disappointed.
"Not until next summer I'm afraid."
Both the Dorians sighed heavily.
"You two give up too quickly." Sig. Riservas smiled. "Though I do not know nearly as much as Lady Eirino, I can teach him until her return."
Tom seemed more thrilled than Rex's grandparents were at hearing that. "You'd do that?"
"It would be an honor to do it. I've heard of your being taught by Rauthuell. I've heard of your skill with potions and charms. I think that you would be a marvelous student."
"Why thank you."
"It is nothing." He look to the silent woman now standing a short distance from the others, whom was staring at a row of rare books that were all in Latin. "Young lady?"
Lena suddenly looked up, seeming to suddenly realize what was going on. "Oh, sorry, books always distract me."
"Anything distracts you as long as it's for sale," Tom said, somewhat agitated over her recent spending. She gave him a very unamused look.
The shop's keeper looked at her carefully. He smiled after a moment. "You're Korbin Westbrook's daughter?"
"Yes." She smiled too, blushing some. She did look an awful lot like her father, after all (minus the glasses, at least). "I do believe he's mentioned you before, Sig. Riservas."
"Are you here to be taught as well?"
"Oh, no." She smiled, nodding towards Tom. "He's the only one here for that. I'm just here to shop."
The man laughed quite jovially at her sincerity. "Well, shop away, my dear. But be sure to touch nothing. There are some pretty nasty little things in here."
Lena nodded as she went back to looking over the books on the shelves, not paying any more attention to the conversation that was continuing between Tom and the shopkeeper. She knew better than to touch things in a shop of Dark Magic. She had learned her lesson early on in Borgin and Burke's when she found a lovely golden ring that was set with emeralds loose on the floor. Even though her father had told her not to touch anything, she just had to put on. As she stood there marveling at how exquisite it was on her finger, it began to burn her hand. She squealed and tried to take it off, but it would not budge. Her father had to use a complex removal spell to get it off. Mr. Burke said that she had better have been glad she was a pureblood, else it would have rotted her hand off as soon as she stuck it on instead of giving her a burn on her finger. It had claimed the hands of dozens of Muggle and Mudblood owners in the past twenty years, though it had been around far longer than that. That incident had given her her fill of touching things before she knew what it did.
For several hours, Tom spoke to Sig. Riservas about all the things that he had learned from Rauthuell. The Dorians had not stayed long after the introduction, as that they had accomplished what they had set out to do, helping their grandson's friend to learn more about the glorious Dark Arts. Lena spent the entire time just looking around the shop, only interrupting them to find out if certain books were alright to handle, as she knew some books contained poisons in the pages or ink. That evening, the shopkeeper, who insisted Tom call him Cavius, showed him up to the main villa and arrange for him to stay there as his assistant, which meant he could room there for free.
*********
To my reviewers –
lord archimonde - :-P to your being sarcastic…I couldn't tell…and I while going to Iceland for six months would be rather nice *thinking of hot springs* I don't think I could…I don't think I could trust my husband alone for that long and he wouldn't be able to take that much holiday…*sigh*…but, that's why I want the instant learning spell…*still searching for one*…
(insert name here) – oh? None of it's true, eh? So, that means you don't think it's interesting and that it's crap, you think it'll suck if it's AU, you hate how I portray Dumbledore, you don't want to read my one-shot, you hate my ideas on magical morals, you don't like me skipping so much time, and I do know you, eh?…:-P I take it on, um, faith (for lack of a better term) that you tell me the truth…^_~…if you wish to keep your identity secret, by all means, do so…and if you say you don't know me, then I'll take your word for it…I won't pry any farther than asking any question but once…and my one-shot will eventually get up…^_^;; I just haven't had the time to finish editing it…sorry about that…
Aurdomiel, Ravenstar – suspicions confirmed? I've already told you and I'll tell you again, it proves nothing…and what's this about Korbin being good, and being good makes him bad? Voldemort uses everyone else, why can't someone use him for once, eh? Though I'm not saying that that's what happened, mind you…:-P And, no, Karl is not related to anyone in the canon…though he has things in common with a few of them…and why do you have raging hormones?
Liv – tiptoe around Tom? *blinks* Really? I hadn't noticed that in my writing…hmm, interesting…and, yes, Tom is going to change how he treats Lena, though she's really not around that much at the moment with all her shopping and so she's not that much of a problem to him…once her spending starts decreasing, though, she'll be a bit more in his way, so to say (though there's other factors there too)…*cheers for your long review*…and thanks for still loving it…^_^
Lady Mandara Snake – oh, yes, "psycho" Lena will be saying "my lord" and "master" again (and it slowly increases in frequency of her saying it too as the chapters pass)…and she'll be around a while, yet…haven't decided exactly when I'm going to kill her off quite yet, though it won't be until the third part…she's rather useful, you see, and Tom doesn't get rid of things that are useful to him too quickly…^_~