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SEPTEMBER 1944

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A ruined castle.

The hiss of a snake.

A dark-haired boy wearing glasses.

The train was about to depart. Through the carriage window, Aliena watched the locomotive spew wisps of smoke onto the station platform. She was in a compartment, alone with two aurors who hadn't uttered a word since they leaved the cottage. She held back a sigh ; she was used to it by now. And even if their behavior was putting on edge, she still found some comfort in their presences.

To them two, they prevented anyone from venturing into her compartment and pouncing on her to ask a billion questions. She had become a freak. Everyone whispered about her and didn't care if they were discreet or not when they pointed at her. She had become the girl who had lost her parents.

One more girl whose life had been reduced to nothing by the hand of Grindelwald.

At least here, between the partitions of the wagon, she could still enjoy a moment of respite. After that, she would seek refuge in her dormitory or in the desert classrooms on the third floor. She felt a pang of bitterness towards Professor Dippet and Professor Dumbledore. They had refused to take her in charge at the school during the summer, putting forward numerous arguments. But if they had accepted, she would at least have been able to put her time to good use, scouring the grounds and spotting her future hiding places.

Suddenly, laughter rang out in the corridor, catching her attention. Aliena slowly turned her head. A group of slytherin students passed her compartment. They were all members of her graduating class, and she recognized them at a glance. Abraxas Malfoy's haughty bearing. Cyrus Avery's charming smile. Marius Lestrange's silky, medium-length hair. Keiran Nott's deep voice. And Thomas Rosier's lanky figure.

She was about to look away when a sixth figure entered her field of view. Tom Riddle was walking just behind them, chin lifted and hands deep inside his trouser's pockets. She met his inky-black gaze for a quarter of a second. And all hell broke loose.

Everything had set up in her spirit.

The "handsome man whose face she couldn't recognize , nor could she remember his name" she was seeing every time in her visions. It was him. It was Tom Riddle. She hadn't recognized him before. She sensed she knew him, but her mind remained perpetually in a blur, preventing her from finding an answer. His name was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't pronounce it. Her fingertips touched his identity, but she couldn't get closer. But now, there was no room for doubt.

It was him.

And, just as the last piece of the puzzle fitted perfectly into the intricacies of her mind, a new series of flashes blurred her vision. She closed her eyes and winced. Tom Riddle's beautiful face was replaced by another, more demonic, more horrible, which made her break out in a cold sweat. He became more reptilian, more savage. His features were skeletal and his eyes have been substituted by dark scarlet holes with cat-like slits for pupils. His mouth opened in a deadly smile, and she fluttered her eyelids.

It took a while for Aliena to regain her senses and realize that they'd left the train station. A verdant landscape now flashed through the window. She groaned, and must have looked distressed to the two aurors, enough for one of them to speak.

"Are you alright Miss ?"

She blinked at him, she didn't even remember having heard his voice before. She nodded slightly.

"Yes. Just the stress ..." she lied.

A dull anguish weighed down her stomach and compressed her lungs. She passed a hand over her throat and swallowed hard. Her heart drummed frantically against her sides. She could feel the panic gradually taking over every part of her being : her veins, her muscles, and finally her bones. She didn't understand, or rather, she didn't want to understand.

She was afraid to understand what her visions meant.

She forced herself to calm down and took long breaths, but when they arrived at the Hogsmeade station several hours later, Aliena wasn't feeling much better. She tried to ignore her visions. It could mean anything and nothing. She needed to study their meaning carefully, but for the moment, she couldn't. She had to face her other demons.

The aurors waited until almost all the students had disembarked from the train before getting off in turn. She followed suit and was greeted by gusts of wind on the platform. Aliena pulled her wizard's robe tighter around her and buried her nose in her collar. She had barely taken two steps when her name rang out in the air. Turning around, she was greeted by a tornado of dark brown curls. Elaine Rosier, her roommate and closest friend, stood before her.

"For Merlin's sake ! You're here. I wasn't sure you'd come. I thought maybe …" she shaked her head, moving her hair around her pale face. "But my brother told me he saw you on the train."

Aliena flinched lightly. She had indeed caught a glimpse of Thomas Rosier, just before—

She shook her head at her turn, she didn't want to think about it. Not now.

Elaine reached out and grabbed her shoulders.

"How do you feel ? No, forget that, it's a stupid question. You don't have to answer—"

"It's fine ... I'm better, really."

Elaine smiled softly and hooked her arm around hers, dragging her along in her wake, the two aurors hot on their heels. They walked up the village's main alley and took their places inside the carioles. By the time they reached the castle's main gate, the aurors had disappeared down the corridors, presumably to the headmaster's office, and there were hardly any students left outside. Most of them were already enjoying the warmth of the great hall.

Finally, they went to the room and took their seats at the slytherin table, next to a pretty, light-eyed blonde girl. Aliena's back was to the other houses tables, but even so, she could feel the burning stares of some curious students on her neck. A murmur spread through the room, soon eclipsed by the entrance of the first years.

She paid no attention to the repartition, barely participating in the applauses that sounded each time a student joined their house. Her pupils remained stubbornly fixed on her empty plate while she was fiddling with the hem of her skirt. All she wanted to do was running away like hell and disappear. But if she did it, she'd be proving them right - all of them - and giving them even more to talk about. She breathed in.

Then, Armando Dippet spoke, and she deigned to glance in his direction, but her gaze stopped on the profile of another person. Sitting a little further away, in the middle of his usual group, Tom Riddle listened attentively the headmaster's words. She took the time to observe him at length : the fine features of his jaw, the curve of his nose, his flawless pale complexion and the curls of his black hair, as dark as his eyes.

As dark as his soul.

He must have felt the weight of her look on him, for he turned his head ever so slightly towards her. She immediately averted her eyes, forcing herself to look at the teachers' table. And when the meal was served, she was extremely careful not to meet Tom's gaze again and looked directly at the dishes that had appeared in front of her.

She ate almost nothing, spending most of her time muddling her food with her fork and didn't participate in Elaine and Isadora's conversation. As the meal drew to a close and all the students began to stand up, Aliena gave a pleading look to the two young women sitting in front of her

"Could we ... you know, just wait a bit ?"

"I have to accompany the first years to the common room," replied Isadora Selwyn.

Obviously, she was a prefect. She had to do this.

"I'll stay with you," Elaine assured her before turning to Isadora. "We'll meet you in the dormitories."

The blond-girl nodded, refraining from comment.

"The password is ''Vipertooth''."

And after that, she headed for the door.

"Tell me about your vacation," asked Aliena. "To pass the time."

Elaine did so, and took great care to tell her as many details as possible, so when they left the great hall, they crossed no one in the corridors. They went down into the slytherin common room. It wasn't empty yet, but most of the students - the younger ones - had already gone up to their dormitories. Only a few seventh and sixth years remained. The two young women hurried up toward the staircase leading to the girls-dormitory, when a deep, masculine voice, sounded behind their backs.

"Bletchey."

Aliena froze in place and cursed Salazar Slytherin himself before turning around. Tom was advancing in her direction, only stopped when he was inches from her.

"Is there anything I can do for you, Riddle ?" she asked, showing exasperation inside her voice.

They weren't friends, never really had been. They were in the same year, taking the same classes, sometimes competing for first place in certain subjects, just a few, but that was all. Most of the time, they ignored each other and never spoke. She had always found him a little annoying, too perfect to be real.

She didn't like being alone, face to face with him. Her instinct had always prompted her to be wary of him, of his too perfect appearance and his beautiful words. In his presence, she always felt a little sense of unease, chilling her blood. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was annoyingly handsome and smart. It was something else, something deeper. And now she couldn't help wondering if he wasn't hiding something, if there wasn't some truth to her visions. That was even worse.

"I just wanted to know how you were."

She was surprised, really surprised, and not in a good way.

"I beg your pardon ?"

"I heard about your parents," he continued. "I'm sorry, truly, and I wanted to offer my condolences in person."

She gritted her teeth, her jaw contracting under the effort.

"I don't need your pity, Riddle. You can keep it to yourself," she spat at him before turning on her heels.

She heard Elaine's soft voice echo behind her before she closed the door to her dormitory.

"Don't take it personally Tom, it's just that she ... You know. She needs time, she'll get over it."

Elaine arrived a few moments later.

"You could have been a little more polite."

"Do you have to defend him all the time ?"

"Stop it, Aliena," she sighed. "It was considerate of him. At least, acknowledge it."

Aliena made a face, clicking her tongue against her palate in annoyance.

"As if I need to thank all the people who rushed to me, offering their hypocritical condolences while they spent all their lifetime spitting on my mother's back."

"I hear what you're saying and I understand. But don't blow off anyone who takes a step towards you. Not everyone is so mean."

Not everyone, but maybe Tom Riddle was.

A horribly familiar male silhouette.

A medallion swinging in the void.

A bone-white face whose eyes shine like rubies.

Aliena had naively thought that being back at Hogwarts would make things better, that having her mind occupied would help deal with her visions. She was wrong. It was even worse, as if magic attracted magic. Visions came one after another in an incomprehensible jumble, draining what little energy she had left.

And despite this, she had to work even harder than in previous years to keep up with the frenzied pace of classes. The teachers were not sparing the seventh years and had already piled them with homework, with ever-shorter deadlines and growing demands. On the first day, they had only had the word "N.E.W.T" in their mouths. A week later, it was still the same.

Aliena sighed and swept away the few strands of her brown hair that stuck to the sweat of her brow. Sitting at a workbench at the back of the potion classroom, she stared blankly at her cauldron. Truth be told, she did her best not to spit out her breakfast, but the heavy smells that permeated the room's air turned her stomach. She took long breaths, but nothing helped. At this rate, she was going to faint before the end of the class.

"Are you sure you're fine ?" asked Elaine, concerned. "You really don't look well. You almost look like you're going to throw up."

"Don't be so dramatic, it's nothing."

"You don't be so dramatic. Have you looked in a mirror lately ?"

She didn't answer. Elaine was right, she knew she was scary to look at with her waxy complexion and dark circles, but she wouldn't admit it out loud.

"You should go to the infirmary."

"I can't miss class, I'm already behind on some of my homeworks," she complained.

Elaine was about to retorted, but she didn't need to as if, to prove her point, Aliena had a retching. She couldn't help wincing and closed her eyes for a few moments, resting her head against the wooden table.

"Enough. Don't be so stubborn."

And before Aliena could stop her, her friend called out to the Professor Slughorn.

"Sir. Aliena is not feeling well. She needs to go to the infirmary."

She reopened her eyes just as Slughorn turned his head towards her, eyebrows raised. He looked at her intently, a worried expression on his face.

"Indeed, you do look very pale, Miss Blethey. I think you'd better go."

She sighed and, resigned, reaching for her bag.

"I'm going to come with—" began Elaine.

"Tom, my boy," said Slughorn "Would you please accompany Miss Bletchey to the infirmary ?"

Aliena froze, holding the strap of her leather bag with her fingertips, and didn't dare look up toward Tom.

"Of course Professor," he agreed.

She gave Elaine a pleading look, but her friend misunderstood her thought and added with a reassuring voice.

"Don't worry, I'll pass you my notes. You need rest, I'll see you later."

With a heavy heart, she left the classroom without turning around, Tom on her heels.

"It's true you know," said the young man as they reached the castle hall. "You really do look awful."

She twitched. She didn't know why his comment irritated her more than anything else. Maybe because he was always so perfect. His uniform was always neat and tidy, his tie perfectly knotted and his hair impeccably styled, only a few rebels strands fell over his forehead, accentuating its natural charm. No matter the weather. No matter how many times they had to go back and forth through the corridors to reach their various classrooms. No matter how much opaque steam escaped from the cauldrons in potion class. He was always perfect.

"Try not to sleep and we'll see about your look," she retorted dryly.

"You don't sleep ?"

She ignored his question and walked past him, up the first steps.

"You can leave me here. I'll go on by myself."

"And risk having my status as Head Boy revoked because I left you passed out in a hallway ? I don't think so. No offense Bletchey, but you're not worth it."

"You should try not to care what people think of you."

"Like you ?" he didn't give her time to answer and held out one hand towards her. "Give me your bag."

She blinked and unconsciously tightened her grip of her bag.

"It was not a question," he insisted, irritated. "The sooner you make up your mind, the sooner I'll get you to the infirmary and go back to potions."

"As if you needed it." she grumbled, obeying him all the same.

She nearly stumbled several times on her way, and surprisingly, Tom had the decency not to remark on it, which irritated her even more. He'd seen her, it was obvious. When she reached the first floor, she suddenly felt her stomach contract painfully.

"Wait a minute ..."

Aliena approached a window and leaned against it, resting her burning forehead on the cold glass.

"What's wrong with you ?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. It'll pass …"

"No, it won't. It's nothing to do with lack of sleep. You're sick, and it looks like not just a little."

"Are you a mediwizard now ? I must have missed that in your already long list of qualifications..."

He sniffed, but waited patiently for her to get up before moving on. As she walked through the door of the infirmary, the dim light, the warm silence and the smell of clean linen and disinfectant relieved a bit her nausea. Noreen Blainey - the school's matron - arrived shortly afterwards, and Tom handed back her bag before hurrying off again without a word.

"You've got a fever miss. Has it been going on long ?" asked the matron while touching her forehead. "When did you have your first symptoms ?"

A month ago should have been the answer.

"A few days," she shrugged.

Madam Blainey pouted, slightly skeptical. But Aliena didn't need her cares. She knew what she needed for. The fever wouldn't last, it would be gone by the weekend. What she needed was a potion to clarify her visions, to regain control of her mind, and she wouldn't find it in the infirmary cupboards.

"I'm fine, it's just the after-effects of ... It's fatigue, I'm not sleeping very well at the moment ..."

She didn't need to explain why. Her parents' death had been front-page news for days, no doubt the matron - like the entire teaching staff - was aware of it. Admittedly, it wasn't the only reason, but she wasn't going to go into details.

"I can give you a sleeping potion, but you mustn't overdo it."

Aliena nodded.

"I'd be grateful."

The old woman went looking something from her office cupboard and Aliena made her decision in the same time. She would send a note to Toph this evening, ask her to send what she needed and then everything would be better.

At least she hoped so.

A cold laugh.

Hundreds of screams of horror.

A flash of green light, synonymous of death.

The sleeping potion had helped a little. Aliena was sleeping better. She could finally regain her strength and enjoy several hours of dreamless sleep. She was no longer continually assailed by visions, at least not during night. But even though she was feeling better and had regained colors, she knew it wouldn't last, the solution was temporary. The sleeping potion just shifted the problem, it didn't solve it. She needed a more permanent solution.

Sitting at the slytherin table for breakfast with Elaine, she ate her porridge without much appetite. Her friend was just complaining about their latest arithmancy homework when Cyrus Avery came to sit beside them, his usual charming smile hanging on his lips.

"Good morning my sweet Elaine, I'm glad to see you," then he turned toward Aliena. "You too Bletchey, you seem well."

"What do you want Avery ?" Elaine demanded, suspicious.

"Just enjoy the pleasure of your company," he took a piece of bread. "Why ? You don't like it ?"

He bit into his bread, punctuated his sentence with a mischievous wink and Elaine stifled a laugh. But Aliena had already stopped listening them. A little tawny owl had just landed beside her, a parcel tied to its legs. She quickly untied the rope, freeing the animal to which she handed the rest of her bowl.

The package Toph had sent her contained only a small black leather notebook, barely larger than her hand, which various spells were carefully transcribed in cyrillic script inside ; and a small tin box. She didn't need to open it to know what it contained : scales and powdered-eggshell of chimaera.

These two ingredients were indispensable for the potion she had to prepare. Without them, she couldn't proceed with the scrying ritual. The problem was that they were hard to find, especially powdered-eggshell of chimaera. The chimaera eggs were classified as non-tradeable goods and their sales were forbidden. Her mother had to source them on the black market, from strange and disreputable wizards.

As for the other ingredients on the other hand, she had no worries, she knew where to find them. She'd already started snicking a few in small quantities during potion classes. Discreetly. A little at a time.

She carefully placed the parcel in the bottom of her bag. Next Saturday would be a full moon, the perfect time to perform a scrying ritual. She could do it then. She'd just have to wait a few more days to get her mind right.

Or it would be the beginning of her own personal hell.