A/N: Well then, I must say this chapter was particularly fun to write. Tom is such a bastard…don't we love it? I hope you all like it. I def. went back and tweaked Ch. 6 a little and renamed it 'Dancing With Wolves', lol.
Chapter Seven: Death Wish
"Have fun over Christmas break Lydia?" Gregory half shouted across the room in potions the next afternoon. I was trying to ignore him while chopping green onion into tiny bits. Pinching the long stalks I pretended it was his neck I was slicing into as he rammed insult after insult into my ears. The whole class was listening by now and that only added embarrassment to grief. Professor Veterinus was sitting in her office with the door closed shifting her way through a stack of paper work. All the teachers had been asked to file reports on the girl who had lost her life: Amelia Tresky.
"Shame I had to miss your New Years party, word is spreading like wild fire that you had a rather invigorating guest at the manor. Every pureblood in the castle is talking about it. Except for your friends of course. Or wait, I forgot, you're only friend as of late is Riddle. Isn't it so true that our actions speak louder than our words, eh Jonathan?" John sent his own malicious grin my way and I mouthed back an obscenity or two. A dramatic and purposeful sigh left my ex-boyfriend's mouth. "Next thing you know she'll be fishing around in Gryffindor."
My jaw clenched as I wondered how well my hair was hiding the bright red blush that was fast creeping into my cheeks, making them looked like I had just been slapped. Emotionally, I had been. But Greg wasn't finished.
"But listen to me ramble, I'm getting off topic. Where was I? Oh! Tom Riddle at the DelaTorre Manor, that's right! Spent the whole of Christmas there I'm told. Tell me Riddle, is she as good a shag as she is a dancer?" Surprisingly it was Tom who held me back at Greg's oral assault when I began lifting the butcher knife gripped tightly in my right hand. His long fingers dug into the side of my arm, preventing me from advancing as tears formed at my emotional distress. The entire class was whispering animatedly now as I threw my knife down and took a few deep shuddering breaths while resting my arms against the work table in front of myself and Thomas.
"Don't let him provoke you, not yet. There are better ways of dealing with people like him." the mumble he offered me wasn't much help. The entire class, and by the time I had stormed down to Slytherin's hidden study (via the aid of a certain prefect), probably half of Hogwarts thought I had slept with a mudblood. Not only was I an alleged scarlet woman but I wasn't being picky about it. I got notably drunk that night and as the teasing refused to relent I found myself in Tom's company nearly every evening for the better part of a month. If I couldn't raise my own spirits, I would raise them in liquid form. One evening in particular I was so miserable that for an hour I sat curled in the corner of my usual spot on the sofa while downing gulp after gulp of crisp, cool white wine. My ranting got sloppy and loud as my senses dulled under the gentle persuasion of alcohol.
"I never li"- a hiccough escaped me -"liked him." another large sip, "Never."
"Not even that time I caught you two snogging in the trophy room?" Tom was reading again, not bothering to look up as he took pleasure from playing with my emotions. I couldn't even respond to his comment but instead plowed on with my own.
"He never had pro" I was swaying a tad as I spoke, loosing my place with my words every now and again.
-"proper nerve like that when we were toge-together…how could he say that? And to every-everyone?"
"Perhaps he liked you a little more than you never liked him." A small smirk played at the edge of Tom's mouth.
"I"-hiccough "I never did, not ever."
"And you still don't apparently." Thinking back on it, I honestly believe he was barely holding back his laughter.
"I hate him." I finished what was in my goblet, only to have it refill itself within seconds. How I ever avoided alcohol poisoning still amazes me.
"Hate is a very strong word, be careful of what you say Lydie."
"I know it is…" hiccough, "I hate him."
Finally he looked up from his book and set it aside on the table that kept his wingback chair company. Nagini, whom I had come to know the name of only upon our last visit to the study, sat comfortably across Tom's lap as usual looking more protective by the minute. Jesus, you'd think she was his girlfriend.
"If you were presented with an opportunity to do away with the prat all together would you take it?"
In my drunken state I could only stare stupidly, blinking a few times.
"Could you re-repeat the question?" For a second I was sure he had wanted to throttle me. But on the contrary, he rose from his seat and came beside me a gentle look on his face not being able to overshadow the morbid excitement in his eyes.
"If there was a way to kill him, would you take advantage of the opportunity?"
"Kill him? Who ever said anything about killing people?" shock and confusion sobered me up for a few seconds. I felt his hand brush my hair behind my ear before coming to rest on my shoulder. His mouth burned a trail of kisses along my suddenly exposed neck. It was as if he were injecting fatigue into my very blood. The feeling was just as it had been when I had begun passing out in the prefect's bath. A fever seemed to sweep over my skin as my reasoning blurred to the point that I couldn't recall what I was trying to remember or even why I was trying.
"Let me help you, let me kill him." Tom whispered. His voice seemed so needy. It's almost amusing now that I think about it, he wanted to spill blood the way most boys his age wanted sex. I was barely aware of it, or the nod that I performed.
"Yes Tom." I was all but breathless by now and I felt his lips break into a smile across my skin.
"My dear Lydie, I do believe you're finally ready."
"For what?"
"Why The Chamber, of course."
"Why are we in the girls' bathroom again?" He'd dragged me through the halls in an excited fervor, ignoring the fact that it was after curfew and we would surely be caught again. People were already talking about my relationship with Tom, the last thing I needed was to fuel the rumors even further. However, that didn't exactly cause me to resist him. My curiosity had peaked, could he really have found the Chamber of Secrets?
"This is it, this is where it is." his grin stood proud as he rushed towards one of the taps and abandoned his grip on my hand. A frown broke out on my face.
"In here? All this time and all that mystery and it's in the girls' loo?"
"Yes." he chuckled, leaning over a sink and studying one of the taps. "Didn't you wonder why it was Amelia who died?"
I had been in the middle of bending down when he said that and it sent me stock straight. He had just winded me beyond thought for a moment.
"What?" my mouth practically bit the word off as everything suddenly came together. I didn't know whether to be petrified or disgusted or in awe. The boy I was falling dangerously in love with had killed a girl. He'd committed murder. And worse, he didn't seem to care. Now I may have been a good little Slytherin, but we were only 16! Did he really need to go and become a murderer before he had even graduated school? In my shocked silence I didn't notice the hiss Tom caressed over the porcelain sink before standing back and allowing it to sink into the floor leaving a gaping hole in it's absence. His hand once more took mine, while his composure kept perfectly the entire time.
I was barely aware of the situation until my stomach fell into my upper chest and I screamed at the feeling of free falling through the dark. The vertical tunnel was seemingly never-ending as the wind whistled in my ears.
Tom only laughed when my nails dug into his knuckles. More passageways seemed to fly by us, branching off of our own, but at the speeds we reached I couldn't really know. What I did know, was that we must have hurtled into the very depths of the school, further down even than the dungeons I knew so well.
We hit the ground hard, Tom coming to a stop catlike on his haunches with me in rumpled heap beside him. How I managed to not break my ribs was a wonder. I noticed his gracefulness and stared, almost afraid as he began walking off, completely unphased or unharmed. Was he not even human?
Everywhere around us was damp and dark, I could scarcely see a thing at all. My robes were stained with dirty water. At least, it looked dirty. The puddles I was surrounded by were dark and by no means clean. However what ever was polluting them…I couldn't be sure but it looked more like ink than actual dirt. For a moment I wondered if it was blood for it was not uncommon to come across rat corpses, stripped of their flesh, as I looked around.
"Tom, wait." Pushing myself up, I made my best to hurry towards him. My own hand grabbed his this time as I finally caught up to his fast pace, splashing the puddle water all over my ankles and black knee socks. "Tom please, what the hell is going on? Why did you kill Amelia?"
"She was awfully hungry, I had to do something." he said, as if it were painfully obvious.
"Who"-
"Shh." he raised his hand to hush me as we reached a round vault looking door with two snakes entwined into it, their eyes set with great, glittering emeralds. I couldn't make out a handle or lock or anything. But I didn't have to, Tom let the words flow from his mouth as he all but whispered parseltongue once more. I couldn't decide whether or not the shivers that shook me when he spoke like that meant that his hissing turned me on or frightened me. The snakes as well as the door slid to hiding within the wall and our path was left clear. A large walkway came into view, leading to an archway that seemed to open up to an even larger room. Only it wasn't a room, it was the Chamber.
My eyes feasted on the beauty of the structures around me only partially shrouded in darkness now with minimal torchlight. Towering stone pillars entwined with more carved serpents rose to support a ceiling lost in darkness. Long black shadows stretched along the walls and floor and I got the feeling that these shadows held terrible secrets. There was a certain lure to that, like a prefect inviting you to do things you know better than to do. I felt like a queen on the arm of the heir of Slytherin, surveying a court I had only dreamed of before. Murderer or not, Tom had just tapped into one of my most fanatical fantasies and for that I loved him.
As we drew level with the last of the pillars and they shrank away into the past, I was presented with quite a sight. Stone stretching to the very ceiling was carved into an intricate art of worry lines and flowing robes. Salazar Slytherin stood guard of his magnificent creation, staring down at me in judgment.
Suddenly the image was gone and I was left in nothing but darkness that could have went on forever but ended just after my eye lashes. Tom was securing a blindfold around my eyes. My hands flew up to meet his in resistance.
"Tom? What are you doing?"
"Just making sure that you survive the night. I hope that's all right with you Lydie."
"Do you have any idea how confused you're making me?" I pouted in a frustrated growl.
"Oh honestly, you sound like a Huffelpuff. Now would you grow up and trust me?" his hands rested on my shoulders as he guided my path from behind. The hissing that Tom breathed over my ear was not meant for me as we walked along, making our way closer to the statue. I could hear something stirring within the innards of Salazar's statue, could feel it in the air. This disturbance soon turned a bit menacing as I sensed a great presence making its way past me. Coming round, the end of it thudded upon the stone floor. It drew nearer, coming right up to me.
"Aah!" a shriek left my mouth out of pure instinct when the sensation of cold, slimy scales met my skin. Humongous muscles flexed beneath its skin as it moved. I recognized the feeling and registered the animal as a snake. A gigantic snake. "Tom…Tom what is it?"
He chuckled, picking up my hand and slowly guiding it forward with his own on top, leaving my palm exposed. This was no longer the case as within seconds I felt the same scales beneath my hand. It hissed lowly, deciding what to make of me. As it sniffed the air around me I wondered out loud what it was thinking.
"She can smell Slytherin pride all over you. She likes it."
"Only enough not to kill me. I can tell she's barely holding off killing me." I told Tom without a trace of spite or fear in my voice. Simple data was all I had relayed and my tone reflected that.
"That's very true." he was still smiling and I didn't exactly take to the fact that we could discuss my possible death as if it were a joke over tea and biscuits.
"Can I ask why you blindfolded me from a giant snake?" that time I was rather bitter with him.
"She is much more than a snake, my dear. She is a basilisk."
"A basilisk?" I allowed the words to drawl in unconvinced sloth.
"Indeed. And a fierce one at that, I daresay she loves the taste of fresh blood."
"How sweet, you sound proud." I was still being sardonic.
"I am and you should be as well! This beauty's going to rid the school of mudbloods you know."
"You cooked up a basilisk to go on a killing spree?"
"Why Lydia, here I thought you were rallying for the cause as well."
"Of course I am, just…not…Tom! You're a mudblood too!"
"I am the heir of Slytherin above all else."
"So this is what you meant by creatures that can kill you with their eyes?"
"You do catch on quick, don't you."
"Would you stop mocking me, this is serious!" I had turned around, my outrage boiling to the point that he had better have been glad I was smarter than to remove my blindfold. Speaking of why I couldn't take it off, the creature behind me sensed a threat to Tom the second hostility hit the air. She rounded up and I heard her give a more threatening hiss. The kind that told me she would not hold back if protecting Tom become a priority. If all the snakes in Great Britain had been women, I swear Tom would have been a playboy.
My enmity subsided, as well as everything else I had been feeling, as his hands came to rest on my shoulders. All I could soak up was the fuzzy feeling of being numb and half knocked out. That's probably why his next words didn't phase me.
"No, I don't think so. I rather like mocking you Lydie. You'll understand I'm sure, since you have taken pleasure in mocking me since first year." He turned me to face the basilisk once more, "I'll need your help to kill him and you will obey me. If you get caught there will be hell to pay in every direction I quite assure you. But sleep now, you'll need your strength tomorrow."
When I came back to conscious thought the first thing I took note of was that my entire body felt like rusty metal. My breath spasmed into the quick and short as tears tightened the muscles behind my eyes before rolling down my already damp cheeks. I had been laying on The Chamber floor and as soon as this realization sunk in, my arms attempted to push at least my torso off the ground. Thankfully I was near a wall and used that as leverage in heaving my upper body into sitting. As soon as I accomplished my feeble goal I collapsed against the vertical slab of freezing cold mortar beside me. Goose bumps scattered the breadth of my legs and arms. Now the sobs weren't the only thing making me shake.
Why was I crying anyway? Was it the pain in my muscles? An emotional overload seemed to weigh heavily on my shoulders, like a dead weight that pulled you under water. But from what?
I gasped nearly silently when I spied the basilisk laying half coiled on the other side of the room and realized that this time I had no blindfold to protect me, and no Tom either. But its shallow breathing and motionlessness told me it was more than likely asleep. Too bad it couldn't have died, that god awful beast scared the living daylights out of me. And with good reason I thought. Tom could keep his pet snake and his insanity for all I cared if it meant sharing him with a basilisk.
Forgive me, I really ought to explain. A basilisk is really no more than just a huge, extremely poisonous snake. Huge as in about 20 yards long and a little over a yard thick. They aren't exactly common and for some very good reasons. The first being that they don't breed in the normal fashion. A basilisk can only be brought about with wizarding assistance and care. The reason most magic folk are hesitant to perform such assistance is that there isn't much of a way to control these beats. I mean, obviously, they are after all so very much larger than humans it would be impossible to get any kind of word in before it devoured you and went off to look for your friends. That is of course unless you happen to be a parselmouth. Which perfectly horrified me because as we all know, Tom was a parselmouth. The funny thing is I'm quite sure I had been the only one wearing a blindfold the other night and he wasn't afraid at all. It's one thing to be able to control an animal's actions but its powers…
A basilisk, you see, is in possession of an enormous set of great, yellow eyes. How anyone took note of this fact I am unaware because supposedly anyone who looks into these eyes suffers death immediately. And once you're in the presence of one don't even try to use magic in warding it off because its scaly skin is nearly as thick as a dragon's. This is why basilisk breeding has been outlawed since medieval times and I'm sure even if it were perfectly legal, no one would dare try it.
But no, Tom had to go and be the most brilliant and bloody ambitious student ever to roam the halls of Hogwarts. And I of course just had to go making friends with him. Curse the luck…
Hollow sounding footsteps reverberated around the room. From a side alcove pocketed in shadow out walked Tom. He strode over and knelt beside me before presenting me with a goblet of clear liquid.
"No thank you." I croaked, "The last thing I need is more wine."
"It's just water, drink up."
I took the cup and he only stopped watching when I tipped it back. The liquid was room temperature and though it wetted my lips, I dared not drink it. Too little had my trust in Tom waned. That was three separate times I could recall being knocked out in his presence. I was a wretch on his home grounds and the situation was clearly in Tom's favor. There was no need to tip the scales even more.
"What happened?" I demanded of his retreating figure as he walked some feet away to light a torch. A terrible smile spread across his mouth. The fire that erupted from his wand and burst into a merry dance over the torch reflected a satisfied gleam in his eye. I certainly hadn't imagined it that time.
"Nothing at all, you passed out from being so induced with alcohol."
"And you left me here?"
"I let you sleep it off, you don't sound very grateful."
Avoiding his eyes I mumbled almost incoherently "Sorry." I felt almost obligated to do so. Not being able to help myself any longer and figuring it was silly thinking it might not be safe, my lips met the goblet once more and I drank with a fierce longing. I'd been much more parched than I had bothered to realize.
"How long was I out?"
"It's Sunday evening." he told me, kneeling beside me on the ground.
I nearly choked on my water. He had brought me here on Saturday night, how could it be that 24 hours already had passed?
"Are you sure? I mean I just fell asleep and it was-maybe it's early morning, did you check a clock or just daylight?"
"It was 10:32 pm when I checked the clock in The Entrance Hall."
"Is that where you just came from?"
"Yes, that's why you have water, I took it from the kitchens."
"And no food?"
"Gluttony is a sin." he chuckled.
"Well I haven't eaten in over a day, I skipped supper to get drunk remember?" my own smile not far behind as he leaned closer.
"You should have thought of that before." our lips met briefly after he spoke and a full fledged grin broke out on my face. "If we go any farther with that, you'll need to brush your teeth." he laughed.
Not exactly the response I'd expected. Humility was not one of my virtues and the blush on my cheeks showed that blatantly. Then again, it wasn't my fault I'd been left alone on a floor for a whole day, how did he expect me to keep up dental hygiene? Certainly not with the Chamber water.
"Alright, alright." standing, I dusted my robes off, failing to rid my clothes of their dirty water stains. "I suppose we'd best be getting back, hmm?"
He stayed seated, taking my hand and pulling down for me to do the very same. His features fell grave and I couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was my turn to kneel.
"What's the matter?"
"We can't go back, not yet."
My face reflected my worry, "Why? What's happened?"
"There's been another attack. It isn't safe in the halls, that's why I came down here to check on you."
"Well won't they be looking for you, I-I'm sure they'll understand."-
"Lydia none of them know of my heritage, or of the Chamber having been found. When it was noticed that you were unaccounted for I volunteered to go looking for you. I was worried anyways." his hand fondly found my cheek. I laid a hand of my own over his and smiled gently.
"I'm fine, obviously. But who was attacked? Are they alright?"
"They died, just as Miss Tresky."
I frowned, "Another death? Tom this is getting serious. Tell me it was at least another mudblood."
"No, that's why I was worried about you."
"Who then?" What if Celeste had died? What if it was…
"Gregory."
I could have fainted right then, but I refrained. A sigh left my lungs as I rested back against the wall, stunned. Who was doing this? Why would anyone go after Greg? The only person I knew who had feelings of resentment for him was Tom, but he had been with me yesterday. We had been in the Chamber…
"Oh God…" voicing my thoughts aloud had been an accidental mistake and I paid for it.
"What is it?"
"Tom, the basilisk, are you sure you have control over it?" I asked desperately. Apparently that was not the reaction he had expected as his look was a surprised frown.
"Pardon?"
"Don't you remember the legend? Slytherin built this chamber to house a beast that only he could control-a creature that would rid the school of mudbloods."
"You have a terrible memory, do you know that? Dèpit was a pureblood."
I rolled my eyes, "I know that, I dated him for a whole year."
"Well then what are you getting at?" he urged me on in his confusion.
"Well, Amelia was a mudblood and you really had it in for Gregory." I sighed, knowing I still wasn't getting the point out clearly, "Here's the thing, that basilisk is terribly fond of you. You quite evidently have a natural way of snake charming, shall we say. I think it's safe to say she would kill for you."
To my bewilderment, Tom only chuckled, "Yes, she would."
"Right…well maybe she went after Greg. Knowing how you resented him and all…"
"Maybe she went after him knowing how you resented him." Why had that come out sounding like flattery?
"I doubt it, she tolerates me and little else."
"It was you who said you hated him after all, not I."
"When did I"-
"Last night, don't you remember?"
Thinking back for a moment, all I could recall was feeling hot and feverish in the study before feeling cold and almost afraid in The Chamber. My head shook 'no'.
"No, I don't really remember anything that happened last night. I was so drunk." Oddly I felt shame to admit that to the man beside me even if it had been he who had knowingly set the cup in my hands.
"You remember coming to The Chamber, don't you?"
"Only just." I was disappointed in my memory, how much had I missed last night? "For all I know I could have sent the basilisk after you. I honestly don't remember."
"Well," he wrapped an arm around my shoulder in warm comfort, "You have nothing to fear, she's perfectly in my control." Resting on his shoulder I did feel safer. But I could hardly believe him. If he had so much control over that stupid monster then why was Gregory dead?
"That doesn't change the fact that Greg died, you know."
He let out a deep breath, "Lydie, not to sound cynical, because God forbid we're only in Slytherin, but you're making it sound like you actually cared. As if you still had feelings for him."
"That isn't what I meant, of course."
"Enlighten me then, what did you mean?"
"He was just…I had known him for so long and…it's just strange how close he was-had been. And now he's just gone."
"He put you through hell." Tom said softly.
"Yes, thank you for reminding me." I hadn't meant to sound so bitter, not really.
"I wasn't trying to"- Tom sighed, restraining his temper. "I was only reminding you that he deserved what he got. You shouldn't waste your pity."
"Who said anything about pity?"
"You sounded as though you felt bad."
"Well of course I feel bad, I mean I knew his parents as well. It's a terrible tragedy for them. But it's not like his death is really that big of a deal for me."
"At least you won't have to marry him."
"Thank God." I laughed and Tom did as well. It echoed gently against the Chamber and I felt much better. Perhaps I wasn't about to tell Tom, but I had felt pity when the news had first hit me. Greg had been such a large part of my life for so long and suddenly he was just…dead. But Tom had been right, I was acting like I belonged in Gryffindor. That bastard didn't deserve a second of my thought for everything he'd ever done, everything he'd ever said. Everything he hadn't done when we were together. "Oh Tom," I half sighed, still laughing, "I hope there is a hell and I hope Greg's found it."
He chuckled and raised my goblet of water, "Cheers."
