July of 1943...
(Malfoy Manor)
Winning was the one thing, that felt good to Tom – and this, letting this girl, this Lajoie descendant, lose because she was regarded as weaker than he, it felt a lot like winning.
So, of course, he could relish in it in some fashion. So, the heir smiled in a condescending way down at the redheaded witch, while she looked up at him with a fiery sort of anger that smouldered in the depths of her obsidian eyes.
Abraxas, ever the non-confrontational member of Tom's Knights of Walpurgis, cleared his throat in a very loud fashion, before nudging his cousin slightly with his elbow, in an almost unseen gesture of familiarity that simply did not occur between a man and woman in these halls. Tom tried not to frown as he saw her lack of reaction.
"Are you not going to badger me about the latest happenings of the Pureblood community within Hogwarts, Nagini?" Abraxas teased the girl, as she quit her glaring at Tom, and sipped from her glass, not before giving Abraxas a slight smile.
Macnair and Goyle snickered slightly – because usually the 'latest happenings of the Pureblood community' were quite scandalous, if that was the proper term – down right dirty, could also be employed.
"Perhaps later, Abraxas," the Lajoie girl said with a slightly careless wave of her gloved hand, which sent the silk scintillating under the candlelight. "We could walk around and point out which men are going to be gaining new jobs at the Ministry, due to the fact they have sent Ministry Warlocks daughters up the duff."
Abraxas snickered, and Tom drank deeply from his wine glass to hide a slight smirk at what she had said.
It was awfully true – too many girls and boys from pure families had made their marriage contracts rock solid when they simply couldn't restrain themselves before graduation; shaming their families, and ultimately, looking like utter tarts and idiots.
Tom, had to admit that carnal desires were a natural impulse, but these pent up, lovely Purebloods, were altogether manic when they broke loose. Tom, he sampled here and there, and kept himself in check. Never sticking with one long enough, except to perhaps give her a goodbye kiss, and he always appeared saccharine, so, the ladies simply assumed he was untouchable (which, in his mind he was), and that made them want him all the more.
Tom Riddle looked up to see Nagini smiling wickedly at his pale friend, and her gaze flickered to his companions, and Tom to himself with a deadly accuracy.
Abraxas, had his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised in her direction. "You seem to know more about my place of learning than I do. How funny – perhaps, you ought to come to our school and see what havoc you could reap there? Add in your own personal touch to our slew of drama and comedy of errors?"
Nagini smiled wider, teeth glinting in the light. "I'm fairly certain I would be put into Slytherin should that ever come to be…"
Tom felt his muscles wind up excitedly, and he watched her creamy skin as it seemed to glow in the candlelight, that was significantly lowered so the dancing could commence.
Of course she would be in Slytherin, he thought in an absent sort of way, she's a wicked little -
Abraxas scoffed, cutting off Tom's thoughts. "Oh, Nagini. You have yet to be sorted and you are so terribly sure that you have a place in our House."
The redhead cocked a sleek eyebrow at her family member, and seemed to shrug almost imperceptibly, delicate bones of her shoulders rising and falling in an almost subtle breath. Tom observed the shadows moving along her clavicle with an interested hungry look, before watching her face once more. "Of course I am sure. Where else could I be?"
Abraxas, winked at his companions, watching Tom cocking his head at his follower before the pale boy answered. "Hufflepuff, surely?"
Macnair laughed hard, sloshing some of his wine about and Goyle seemed like a boulder emitting sounds of thunder with great shaking guffaws. Tom, keeping up appearances smiled ruefully, but watched the girl, with avid fascination – what could her reaction be?
Nagini's tiny nose was wrinkled with distaste, as if she had smelled something particularly pungent. "Not on your life, Abraxas."
The Malfoy heir shook his haughty head, and Tom, for once, found the man to be amusing as he bantered with his kin. "No – you're not loyal at all are you? Woes betide the man who gets you as a wife." Abraxas had sneered the last part, with a slight chuckle.
Tom raised his dark eyebrows, and let his midnight eyes narrow with the well-aimed barb. My, Abraxas, how harsh. The girl will probably walk away in a huff like the typical temperamental hussy…
Nagini snickered darkly, her tiny nose wrinkling up with mirth.
Tom steeled his expression, so as to not cock an eyebrow at this unexpected turn of events. The redhead leaned forward and, her cinched dress seemed to hug her willowy body in such an indisputably tasteful way, that Macnair and Goyle each leaned forward with her. They, along with Tom, caught her teasing wink sent towards her cousin along with her words. "For this man shall surely have to take up a fine mistress to keep him out of my way!" she whispered in a teasing manner .
Macnair and Goyle, once again, for the umpteenth time that night, began to laugh, but Abraxas groaned putting a hand to his face in some sort of shame.
"You are so brash. You will never marry…" Abraxas sighed in a heavy way, as if this was a fact he had long ago come to terms with, yet it still irked him.
Nagini rolled her lovely eyes; keeping them trained on the high, elaborate ceilings, seemingly fascinated with the vines painted along wide arcs above them. "Perhaps I do it on purpose, my sweet Abraxas. Perhaps I am on a singular mission to be as brash as possible. Have you never thought of that, even with that boarding school educated brain of yours?"
Her eyes flashed back to him, to all of them, and they landed on Tom who watched her with a growing anger and curiosity. Her cheekbones weren't even flushed, having said such outlandish words.
But Abraxas, as always, did not seek to dive in for a fight. "I wish your father would hear you with that tongue of yours. He'd cut it out of your mouth, and he'd never take you to the Manor again!" he laughed.
Goyle chuckled. "And Cetus. Merlin, what would your brother say. As Abraxas said, you would find yourself hard-pressed to see the walls of the Manor again!"
Nagini patted Goyle's arm briefly before commenting cheekily. "And you would never have the pleasure of my company, nor my lovely speech…"
Tom smirked slightly. Now he had a certain reading on the girl, and he knew he could hit where it hurt. He knew that the mere mention of her kin would send that unbearably attractive flush into her cheeks once more.
So he leaned towards her, letting his eyes drag over the rustling layers of her gown, her creamy skin and lastly her cherubic, yet wisened face, which held suspicious, yet fiery eyes that burned into him with a stinging mark of intelligence.
"Nor the lack of tact you have around men above your stature, Miss Lajoie," Tom said softly, in what could be an almost endearingly, soft tone.
A tone to melt butter, and the tone that wooed the many girls of Hogwarts… Yet now, he used it with harsh, cutting words against this bitch of fine breeding.
Nagini bristled, her eyes growing flat with anger and her tone was cold. "Yes, Mister Riddle, perhaps I should go back to my needlework and searching for a proper husband, shouldn't I?"
Tom smiled in a demeaning manner, and he watched as her eyes flickered uncertainly to his lips, and then to his eyes. She was not fooled he knew that much. "But where would we be without your cheek?" he asked her in a charming fashion.
"You?" Nagini smirked in his face before uttering in a low scathing tone but yet it was repartee in an almost undistinguishable way, and Tom watched her rosebud mouth shape the words, "bored, very bored. Myself? Talking to old men about incorrect Potion theories. That is exactly where we would be, sir."
Tom felt his eyes glaze over as he thought about what that old wizard had been talking about, while he had watched this confrontational little witch agonize over the stupidity of it all.
'I highly doubt that it would be necessary to soak the knotgrass – with the potency of having both dragon heart and dragon eggs mixed into the potion…' the old coot had drawled… he remembered it.
But what potion was it?
How could he find out if it was right or not?
Tom wanted to crunch the tiny wineglass in his hand.
He couldn't remember.
He could not, for the life of him, remember what potion the old man, and the Lajoie girl were talking about.
Which meant… he couldn't even attempt to prove the man right or wrong.
He watched as Nagini's eyebrow grew more and more cocked, and felt a rising tide of anger, and he saw her heart-shaped lips turn up into a soft, alluring smile.
"So I suppose putting up with your impudence will have its own merit…" Tom said in a thoughtful voice, attempting to get a rise out of her.
It did of course, and he smiled slightly, against his will when she scowled up at him fiercely, opening her mouth, obviously about to spout out something hot tempered. But in that second, the outpouring of wit that she had undoubtedly been about to whip Tom's way was cut short, when Abraxas' hand came down firmly upon her tiny wrist in some sort of warning grip, that released itself softly to become a gentle hold upon her arm.
Tom whipped his head up towards his Knight, his mouth twisted in anger at having been interrupted when he was speaking to this girl, but then he frowned as he saw Abraxas' expression: he looked uncomfortable, afraid even, and he looked at his lovely cousin with wide, pale eyes.
"Shush, Nagini," the ashen wizard hissed at the redhead. "Your father is coming to check on you."
Nagini's change in demeanour was almost instant. Her eyes widened for a moment, then her gaze lowered in an almost demure fashion, her fair, thick eyelashes brushing her now colourless cheeks. Her grip on the wineglass tightened, and… she was quiet.
Yet, her mouth was set in a firm way, her jaw locked in unhappiness, and her fiery red hair seemed even more rouge with her suppressed anger.
Tom didn't like this change at all. In fact, he found himself missing her rudeness, and her quick retorts, and he wanted to put her in her place again; see her coil for a rebuttal to his harsh words. That is until he noticed just how quiet his Knights were as they looked into the crowd with grim expressions, and he peered over Nagini's forcibly bent head to see a fair-haired man moving swiftly through the throngs of witches and wizards.
Yes, he could see that this man was Nagini's father simply by looking at him. Tom noticed the same tall, willowy frame but Mr. Lajoie's shoulders were wide set, and muscled beneath his black robes. His hair was not a pure blonde, but a strawberry blonde that was combed severely to the side, and his face was clean-shaven… to reveal the high cheekbones, and almost stern look to his mouth.
He came to stand near Abraxas, clapping him on the shoulder with a giant, many-ringed hand.
"Ah, Abraxas. Taking care of my daughter, are you?" Tom watched the Lajoie patriarch laugh, yet the blonde watched Nagini with cold eyes, as she continued to look down into her brandy-glass.
Abraxas nodded, smiling lightly at his distant uncle. "Yes, sir. I was introducing her to my classmates from Hogwarts."
Mr. Lajoie's smile fell slightly, and his handsome face grew quite still, as he looked at each of the boys then glanced at his daughter, eyes narrowing at how she seemed to have been leaning towards Tom Riddle. "Ah, but Abraxas," Mr. Lajoie said in a soft, acerbic voice, "Nagini musn't be socializing with your friends, but rather, her suitors. It will give her possible future husbands a bad impression to see her gallivanting with boys – no matter who they may be…"
Tom's dark eyes flickered slightly.
Suitors? She was to be wed off? Her father was to have her wed off with a dowry to some other Pureblood… She was like a birthing cow to them, apparently. He glanced down at her, taking in her soft, slim figure and her apparently silky skin that only intensified in appeal when wrapped in that curve-hugging dress. Her hair – fiery and thick. Her gaze, lowered, only showed the soft edges to her face, and her aggravation was evident in the way her rouged lips were parted.
They would have no trouble marrying her off, Tom thought.
Not with that body. Not with that mind.
Perhaps, the man who got her would be the envy of every other Pureblood here.
Perhaps, she was top contender within the girls who desperately wanted to marry a first-born son of a Pureblood family…
Perhaps she would do nothing in life except push children from her loins, and part her long legs for whomever her family chose for her.
Tom's lip curled at the notion.
Nagini, at the mention of suitors had stopped staring blankly into her glass, and her head had snapped up to stare evenly at her father.
Blue eyes met black – and the father and daughter smiled at each other in an almost bitter way of greeting.
"Father," Nagini addressed him for the first time in the most odd, hateful yet sweet voice, "I do not think that friends of Abraxas make unfit company. They are fine gentleman, and do not besmirch my reputation –"
The older man laughed softly, interrupting her, and his eyes, like chipped sapphires – shone with the same keen intelligence his daughters' held, flashed to each of the boys. "I am not insinuating that you are not all fine young men, Abraxas, Goyle, Macnair and -" his gaze stilled on Tom, raking over him with a lack of recognition and a frank curiosity which verged on rudeness, " – who might you be, young sir?"
Tom felt like he shouldn't like this man. He felt like, there was a great and powerful wizard before him, yet he wanted nothing to do with him, because of the way he had approached them all, and the way he disregarded the witch before him. This was probably a first… To feel the pulsing magical aura of this man, and not want to approach it… because of something as insignificant as a home-schooled witch.
Yet, he could not scorn this man… Not a direct relation to the Malfoys. That would only limit his resources when the only thing he ought to be doing is expanding them until they reached the four corners of the Earth.
So Tom leaned forward, extending his hand to the man in a salutation, his robes' threads glowing in a fine manner in the dimmed light, and as the Lajoie man and the Slytherin Heir shook hands, Tom saw Nagini eye him with something like respect.
Perhaps because he did not act so idiotically stooge-like with her father, or maybe because Tom had gripped his hand firmly, like an equal, and Mr. Lajoie's eyes suddenly became appraising as they ghosted over Tom Riddle yet another time.
"I am Tom Riddle… A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir," said the dark haired teenager, in a quiet, charismatic voice to the fair-haired man.
"I am Cepheus Lajoie, and I, you, Mister Riddle…" the older man nodded, releasing his hand, and in turn placing it upon his daughter's arm, his fingers digging into it slightly, but not so much as to arouse suspicious – but Tom saw the faint redness under his fingertips from where he gripped Nagini Lajoie.
Her lovely face remained stony, and she momentarily glanced at Tom's suspicious eyes, before smiling slightly at Goyle and Macnair – ignoring Abraxas all together… because his mouth was a fine line, and his nostrils flared almost imperceptibly, as the grip her father had on her, tightened.
"Well, young wizards, I'm afraid I must remove my fair daughter from your company, for the dancing has started and she is to win no bids for her dowry by drinking in your fine company…" Mr. Lajoie smiled at each of them, and gave a wink to Abraxas, before he circled his daughter's upper arm with his fingers, and pressed them into her flesh even more deeply, in a firm command to move - now.
Yet, the redhead persisted, and decided to curtsey deeply for the men, her delicate, bent head nodding to each of them, and her eyes rising to Abraxas' with some deep, unfathomable message, that Tom peeled his eyes so he could decipher.
They were like magma, her eyes, as she raised them to her cousin's eyes. They told Abraxas she was seething. She was hateful.
Anger.
Pure anger.
And when Tom focused on the air around her, he saw that it crackled with unrefined raw magic, which seemed to come from her very aura. Her emotions seemed to be uncontrollable when linked to her magic, and Tom wondered how she might be with a wand. If this, was her, angry and her raw elemental magic as erratic as any great wizard he had met.
"Goyle, Macnair, my dear Abraxas…" she said softly, and then she righted her body, tilting her chin up to Tom, "… and of course, a pleasure to meet you, Master Riddle. May your research into potion theories and philosophies be prosperous for your future."
Dark brows raised, and a smirk graced his full mouth.
The chit was challenging him, and she was going to leave him with that challenge. The challenge to find out what exactly was wrong with that Potions theory that excited her so, and where the true philosophies of his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin could be found amongst the tomes of the Hogwarts library.
Tom Riddle smirked even more deeply, and took in this enigmatic woman with the wild hair, and the green dress and all her creamy skin and her touchable figure.
"With satisfaction, fair Miss Lajoie. With absolute satisfaction," Tom murmured, so that she and Abraxas could hear his words, and no one else.
Her onyx eyes brightened, and he knew the challenge was on.
Cepheus Lajoie gave Tom one last hard stare, then pulled on her arm, and Tom saw the indents of would-be bruises on her pale skin, and the two of them, Cepheus and Nagini Lajoie, walked into the crowds of Purebloods…
Nagini turned many heads, as Tom guessed she would, when she came to stand before a group of young men, their fathers, and who – from this distance Tom assumed to be her mother and brother, by their reddish hair and milky skin, but they were otherwise unrecognizable to him.
She was taller than her brother and with a vastly better posture, and as she stood beside him, a vivid sight of fire and velvety greens, she curtseyed in that low, daring way of hers, and she cast Tom a swift coquettish smile that was barely visible from across the room… except perhaps to him, and maybe to the pale Malfoy heir, should he be watching her too.
"She is quite something, isn't she, my cousin?" Abraxas said quietly, taking a deep, assumingly burning gulp from his whiskey tumbler. Tom knew that he had seen her smile, with those words having been said.
Goyle and Macnair nodded, eyes still locked in her direction.
"Yes," Tom agreed, blinking as a horde of elder partygoers blocked the Lajoie girl from view, "I suppose she is."
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