October to December 1941, 4th year
"You don't understand!" he said, raising his voice. "You don't have to die!"
He was pacing, walking back and forth in an empty room. (Well, not any empty room. It was the Room of Requirement. But empty.)
"I do," Naenia replied calmly. "To receive Death's gift of immortality we need to die first."
"But it's not the same!" Tom stopped and faced her. "You don't have any reason to fear death! Because it won't be permanent."
"Tom," Naenia said, trying to keep her own irritation out of her voice. "It is permanent. Death might grant us immortality, but there is no guarantee that He actually will. We might die and receive His gift of permanent death or we might receive his gift of an undead existence – as close to Him as we can ever wish to be. I have told this to you once already, Tom – it is not eternal life that He grants us, it is an undead existence."
Tom grit his teeth. "You still don't understand. It doesn't matter whether you call it eternal life or an undead existence – it's still immortality. Death is a human weakness. But you – you are not weak. Your family does not lose to death. You defeat it. You face death and emerge victorious. You represent power."
And all Tom had ever wanted was power.
This time, Naenia couldn't help the coldness seeping into her words. "Death is not a human weakness. It is a natural part of all life. And we do not defeat Death. We would never presume to attempt something so outrageous. If you cannot understand the difference, then you apparently did not listen to me properly."
She took a deep breath, tried to centre herself. Tom was watching her with narrowed eyes.
"A Boggart taking the shape of a dead body is not uncommon. I do not claim to fully understand it, but I know that it is a very real and valid fear. I am all for overcoming your greatest fear, but that does not mean that I support the notion of 'defeating death'. I am a Necromancer. I worship Death. And you, Tom, know very well what exactly that means."
She turned on her heel and walked towards the door.
"Naenia!"
She did not glance back. There were no steps behind her, no gathering of magic. He did not intend to stop her.
"Naenia!"
Naenia left the Room of Requirement without another word.
Ꝋ
"Did you guys fight?"
Naenia looked up from her book.
Amelia Blythe, the Hufflepuff girl, was standing next to her table in the library, looking honestly concerned.
Naenia tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, no! You totally did. I am so sorry!"
It was astonishing how genuine she seemed – no, was – in her worry and concern. Naenia had never seen anything like it. (Which was a sad thought, but she didn't want to dwell on that.)
Blythe sat down in the chair opposite to Naenia, put her books down and reached over. Before the girl could clasp her hands, Naenia withdrew them hastily. Blythe didn't comment.
"Are you alright?" she asked instead.
"Of course," Naenia said, bewildered. "Why wouldn't I be?"
She had not meant to say that last sentence out loud.
"Because you fought with your best friend," Blythe said - as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I –" Naenia could not remember the last time she had been at a loss for words.
To be fair, Naenia could barely remember anything apart from the important information relevant to certain scenes. There was no need to store her emotions related to them as well. If there even were some.
"It's okay," Blythe said softly and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's fine to be confused. It's fine to be sad, too, but you don't have to feel that way either. Everyone is different like that."
"Why are you here?"
"Because I want to be."
"We're not even friends."
Blythe laughed quietly. "But I would very much like to be your friend. I have wanted to since we first met on that boat, but I never found a good opportunity until now." Her smile froze. "Oh, no. Please don't take this the wrong way. I didn't approach you because I wanted to take advantage of your fight. It's just…"
"You never found any opportunity at all with Tom around all the time." Naenia waved dismissively with her hand. "It's fine, I know what you mean. But I don't understand why you want to be my friend."
"Do I need a reason? You seemed so incredibly lonely that I couldn't help myself and I just really, really like you, you know? Do I need another reason to be friends with someone?"
Naenia frowned. "It's been three years, Blythe. I have never shown any indication that I wanted to be friends with you."
Blythe shook her head. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm stubborn like that. And, please, call me Amelia."
Naenia sighed and muttered, "Must you be so incredibly Hufflepuff?"
"Sorry?"
"Nothing."
Blythe raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure you just called me 'incredibly Hufflepuff'."
"So?"
"That's –" Blythe laughed.
"Quiet!" The librarian shouted from somewhere behind the bookshelves.
"Whoops," Blythe stifled her laughter. "But honestly, that took me by surprise. I didn't know you could be so funny."
"I don't try to be."
"I know, I know. Because you are so very Slytherin." Blythe grinned. "And please call me Amelia."
Naenia raised an eyebrow. "I didn't call you by your last name since you told me so."
"Not aloud, but in your head. I could see it written all over your face."
Naenia did not like that statement. She preferred not to be an open book, thank you very much.
"So what are you working on?" Blythe – Amelia – continued. "Homework?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
Naenia didn't know why, but for a reason unknown to herself she decided to just go along with it. And wouldn't you know? She actually enjoyed spending time with the girl.
Who was just as clingy as Tom, now that she had gotten Naenia's approval. Where before she had gone to meals with Tom and spent her spare time with him, Amelia now walked beside her or joined her in the library. It was odd at first, but the girl made it rather easy to get along.
A month had already passed without Naenia noticing.
She had just sent one of Professor Slughorn's little messenger boys away with yet another declination, said goodbye to Amelia and made her way to the Slytherin common room – when someone stopped her from entering the dormitories.
"Please tell me it wasn't very serious and that you'll make up with Riddle soon."
Naenia turned to her left. "Hello to you, too, Nott."
"Hi, nice day, isn't it?" He made a dramatic gesture. "Now, back to more important matters – you will reconcile with him, right?"
"I don't see how this is any of your business," Naenia said primly.
"Yes, well," Nott shrugged. "It isn't, really, but watching the two of you is rather unsettling."
Naenia blinked. "What?"
Nott shifted from one foot to the other. "Look, you are at the top of every class in your year, right? And people are watching the two of you for… reasons."
"That much is obvious."
Nott nodded. "And it is also obvious that people are afraid of you."
'You' as in 'me' or as in 'the both of us'?, Naenia wanted to ask, but she didn't.
"So it stands to reason that seeing the two of you together puts people at ease."
"Wait a minute," Naenia put up a hand. "Explain that to me, please."
Nott blinked.
"How does our friendship put people at ease?" she elaborated.
"Oh, that. It makes you seem more human."
Naenia did not gape at him, but it was a near thing. "Excuse me?"
"You are a Necromancer, for Merlin's sake! And even you can't deny that Riddle can be really scary if he wants to be. But whenever the two of you are together you become… less scary." Nott shrugged. "I can't really explain it. Fact is, now that you are at odds with each other, you're both back to being very, very scary." He scowled. "Or Riddle is, anyway. You seem to have regained your more approachable version rather quickly."
Naenia raised an eyebrow. "Whether I seem approachable or not doesn't really matter, does it? I am still a Necromancer. People will always be afraid of me."
"I can't deny that, but you are pleasant company."
"I am what now?"
Nott grinned at that. "Oh, don't be like that. You're really not that scary after all – a bit, yes, but not much. One just needs to get past the stoic exterior. Don't tell me you actually want people to be afraid of you? In that case you might consider trying harder."
"It has its advantages," Naenia shrugged.
"Sure does. So, will you make up with Riddle?"
She sighed. "That depends entirely on him."
He nodded and that was that.
Tom did approach her a few times as the weeks went by. But Naenia wasn't ready to forgive him just yet. Maybe, if she waited a bit longer, he would actually think about what she had said. Maybe he would finally see reason. One could still hope.
Sometimes Tom called after her in the common room or in the corridors. These days she was often walking with Amelia or, sometimes, Nott - or even Black - so she could easily just ignore him and continue her conversation as if he wasn't there. The others never commented on it.
Well, Black had, after the first time, but only then.
"What's going on between you and Riddle?" he had asked.
Naenia had nearly thrown her hands in the air. "Why does everyone seem so invested in our friendship?"
Black had shrugged and dropped the subject.
She didn't know how it had happened, but supposed that she could call Nott and Black her friends at this point. Not very close friends, but they were more than acquaintances – like the rest of Tom's flock were.
Naenia called them his flock, because they were not his friends, would probably never be – Tom didn't do friendship. (Why he called her his friend she had not figured out to this day.) They just… flocked around him. And he let them.
From what she had observed, there were Avery and Lestrange, the first to approach him, then Nott and Rosier from the year above them, recently Malfoy and his friend (she was pretty sure he was a Carrow) had joined and ever since Tom had become part of the Duelling Club, Perseus Black and Mulciber had started to be seen with him now and then as well.
Mulciber was Black's friend and captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Tom hated Quidditch. (Naenia didn't understand why he loathed it so much, she herself was indifferent to the sport.) But he was a rich pureblood just like the rest of his flock, so his acquaintance probably had its advantages. Tom was all about taking advantage of his connections.
It was interesting to see them all gather around him, the orphan with the Muggle name. How they admired him and looked up to him, but tried to avoid the subject of his blood status at all costs.
"What are you thinking about?" Amelia asked from beside her.
She had insisted that they take a walk around the lake, because the weather was so nice.
Amelia was dressed in a thick layer of wool and a heavy cloak, with a Hufflepuff coloured scarf and hat to complete her outfit. Naenia was dressed more lightly, it wasn't that cold yet.
"Pureblood politics," she replied, letting Marin come out to explore.
Amelia scrunched up her nose. "Don't tell me you're one of those elitists." She followed Marin with shining eyes. "I never asked what his name is – or is it a girl?"
"Some of our elders are, but that comes with the age, I guess. We don't really discriminate based on blood anymore, because all are equal in death." She paused. "Though you could say that we discriminate by magical ability."
They were only letting those enter the family who had an aptitude for Necromancy, after all.
"And I named it Marin," she added. "It's neither male nor female anymore."
Amelia didn't comment further on the first subject, instead opting to continue her questions about Marin. "Eh? How does that work?"
Naenia bit her lip. "It's dead."
Amelia startled at that. "Wait, really?" She stopped and stared at Naenia. "There were rumours, but I didn't think they were actually true."
An uncomfortable feeling unfurled in Naenia's chest. She didn't know what to do with it.
Amelia did.
"Oh, please don't take this the wrong way," she was quick to reassure. "I'm not disturbed or anything like that, you just took me by surprise."
Naenia relaxed a fraction. But it still unsettled her how easily Amelia could read her. They hadn't even known each other that long. Not really.
In the back of her mind, she wondered whether Tom could read her just as easily, or whether it had more to do with Amelia's knack for empathy. The girl always knew the right things to say to comfort everyone, no matter how close or distant she was with them. Naenia had noticed that early on, when she saw the Hufflepuff constantly stopping to help people regardless of their age, social standing or the house they belonged to. It was something she would never quite understand, but Naenia sometimes caught herself watching her friend with fond exasperation.
"So you can really bring back the dead," Amelia mused.
"Not exactly." Naenia silently called Marin back to her and put the mink into Amelia's hands. "It's not alive anymore."
Amelia slowly lifted the mink to her face and examined it carefully and Naenia experienced that weird feeling of seeing and sensing doubly that she always got whenever someone else touched her mink. Touch conveyed a lot of things and sensing someone's magic was so much easier upon close contact – and also so much more overwhelming.
She mentally shook herself and refocused on her friend.
"If it weren't for the eyes, I wouldn't believe you." Amelia frowned. "And I think it lacks body warmth, but I could be mistaken."
Naenia nodded. "We can never get the eyes right. I don't know why. My family has worked with the Undead for centuries, but that's the one thing no one has figured out so far. The body warmth is something I just didn't bother with, because Marin's fur hides the lack of it rather well."
Amelia put the mink on her shoulder and smiled. "This is really cool. And rather fitting, I guess. I mean – I couldn't imagine you with a living pet."
Suddenly her eyes lit up and Naenia knew she wouldn't like what came next.
"You totally need to visit over the holidays! Snowdrop, our cat, recently gave birth. You won't believe how cute those little kittens are!"
"I'm not sure that would be a good idea."
"Why not?"
Naenia couldn't quite believe her eyes. Amelia was pouting. She had never seen someone pouting. Not like that – so open and honest.
Then realization hit her friend. "Oh, it's because of my parents, isn't it?"
Naenia nodded.
She still didn't know why the Hufflepuff had decided she needed to be friends with Naenia – or how, exactly, she had managed to firmly insert herself in Naenia's life in just a month – but it had undeniably happened. Just like that.
Amelia sighed. "That's too bad. Normally, I would say it doesn't matter or that I could convince them, somehow. But I don't think it will be that easy."
"Not with this," Naenia agreed, then smiled. "You're a very rare and special case, you know?"
"I'm not," Amelia huffed. "You have other friends who don't care about your family name either."
"Do I, though?"
Amelia opened her mouth to reply, but then caught whatever expression it was that Naenia was making and stopped, mouth still hanging open.
"You're serious," she said incredulously.
Naenia shrugged. "Tom only approached me because of my reputation. The others learned to tolerate me because of Tom."
"What about," Amelia sapped her fingers. "What were their names again?"
"Nott and Black?" Her friend nodded. "I'm not so sure myself," Naenia answered honestly.
A triumphant smile spread over Amelia's face. "See? There's a possibility that they really just like being your friend."
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends."
"Oh, but you dooo," Amelia all but crooned.
And she wasn't wrong, was she? Naenia had called them her friends in her head before.
"And I don't think Riddle is just friends with you for your name," Amelia continued. "Or if that was why he approached you in the beginning, then it's not his reason anymore."
"Do you really think so?" Naenia asked quietly.
"I believe so," Amelia replied confidently.
"I would like that, I think."
Amelia beamed.
AN
I've been waiting to write more about Amelia since chapter one.
Lots of different people interacting with Naenia in this chapter, that was very fun to write in general. And so much easier than the interactions with Tom. Who's coming back next chapter, but not going to be there every single time anymore, now that Naenia is starting to develop friendships with other people. (Depends on how clingy Tom is.)
I also drew older Naenia & Amelia:
something-rotten tumblr com/post/648637768395833344/naenia-and-amelia-from-my-fanfic-lemuria