Unexpected Encounters | Tom Riddle

XIV: Mended Ties

Lilia simply nodded, making him sigh in exasperation. "Of course you would go with Weasley. Blood traitors, the lot of them." She gulped but didn't say anything. She was also a Potter and she briefly wondered what his reaction would be when he found out that she was also from a family of blood traitors.

Abraxas was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she didn't say anything. "Don't say things like that here." Tiernan glared at the blonde guy. Icarus, Evangeline and Celeste were looking at each other. Tom was focused on Lilia and the small frown on her face. She was probably scared of messing up again, which explained her silence. Tom didn't like that at all.

"We are rethinking our whole pureblood stance. There are more factors to take into consideration than we initially thought," he eventually said, earning surprised glances from the other six people. "We are?" Tiernan asked, sceptical. "Yes. While we do want to continue with this school of thought, it is also important to ensure our numbers don't fade out. It puts us at a disadvantage to be more of a minority than what we already are." "And you're telling us that now?" Abraxas asked, ticked off by Tom's comment. Everything had changed for the worst since Lilia had come to Hogwarts. More importantly, the Tom that he knew would never have said something like that. "Abraxas." Icarus' tone had a warning to it. "I have to go." Abraxas left the table and Tom sighed loudly.

Later during the day, Tom found Abraxas hunched over a book in a secluded corner of the library. "Brax." Malfoy visibly stiffened and he looked up warily to see the dark haired prefect sliding into the seat next to him. "Tom." His reply was curt and Abraxas could not explain the knot in his stomach. Riddle took out his books, parchment and quill, and straightened before focusing on his friend.

"You're angry." He stated. "No, I'm not." "Don't lie to me, Brax." The latter sighed and shut his book. "You never discussed those things with us. How could you tell Lilia that we were rethinking everything?" "I was planning on telling you all about my thoughts." "But you decided to go ahead and tell her that we were thinking of changing our stance because you know she is clearly against it." His words sounded accusatory.

"It's not only about that." Tom paused before continuing. "She had a valid point when she brought up the fact that we were minorities in this world. As much as we hate it, there are not enough wizards. Pureblood families can only do so much to contribute to the birth rate. They cannot populate the entire wizarding world." Such a comment might have made Abraxas laugh at another point, but right now, he was frustrated.

"So what? Purebloods should mix with mudbloods and muggles? Is that what you are suggesting?" "I'm saying that we should think of the greater good of the wizarding world. Ultimately, what we want is for our people to thrive. Look, you yourself are an only child." Malfoy nodded. "Most of the other pureblood families have one or two children too, three at most." Tom continued. "There are only 28 pureblood families and about half of them are blood traitors. Do you see how that affects the numbers in our society?" Abraxas nodded slowly.

"Do you think it is realistic to restrict ourselves to pureblood families only? There will come a point when we might go extinct." Malfoy tensed at his words before sighing. "So what are you saying we should do?" "We should think about what we want carefully. Rousseau made a good point earlier. There are many more factors involved in this. It is not as simple as becoming all powerful and ruling the whole of the world. We have to really think about what we want and who we want to witness the day we harness enough power to leave our mark on the world."

Riddle saw the tension leaving Malfoy's shoulders and he allowed himself to relax too. "My parents support Grindelwald's views, you know." "I know and I understand it. But Grindelwald has not given it much thought. He is more focused on annihilation." Abraxas' lips quirked upwards in a smirk. "Oh, are you saying you're better than Grindelwald?" "In terms of magical ability, I will be. In terms of logic, absolutely." Tom's expression mirrored Abraxas'.