Unbeknownst to Lilia, Tom had been in the infirmary when Dumbledore had come to see her. Abraxas and Celeste had been with him at that point, and they had all gone quiet when they heard the healer call out Lilia's name. Abraxas was telling him more about how the spell Lilia used didn't exist anywhere while Tom was getting his bandages removed. His injuries could heal on their own now. Celeste had come along because she felt bad with Lilia barely being around. Tom almost scoffed at her before he realised that he missed having her around too. The fact that she fainted created a constant knot in his stomach.
Then, they had heard the conversation between Lilia and Dumbledore unintentionally.
It had raised more questions about her in Tom's mind. Of course, he had been concerned for her. He didn't know that she had a twin brother who died in the war. He hadn't thought that Grindelwald would be attacking such young people, but Lilia's situation said another story. He wanted to talk to her, see how she was doing. He had noticed that she hadn't been joining them for meals but for her to faint? It was serious.
Tom could still hear the anguish in her voice while she talked to Dumbledore and he wasn't sure that he wanted to keep her at a distance anymore. Yes, she had almost killed him but she had also healed him. She had saved him and now, with the knowledge that her past haunted her more than he imagined, he had to understand her.
Abraxas had hated the way Lilia had sounded so miserable and the way in which his own chest tightened. His best friend almost died because of her. He could not sympathise with her, no matter what her past was. Nothing would ever justify almost killing an innocent person. A nagging voice reminded him that he had no qualms about hurting the mudblood from Hufflepuff, but he pushed it away.
Celeste had been heartbroken. The girl had become such a close friend and not having her around had been unpleasant. She wanted to talk to Lilia, but the latter had been fast asleep by the time they went to her bed.
The next morning, Lilia sat awkwardly at the Slytherin table. Both Lilia and the others were at a loss about what to say. They knew what had happened, but no one brought it up. It would make her feel worse so they decided not to say anything.
"Here." Tom handed her a cup of her pumpkin shake and she stared at it in surprise.
"You remember that I like this?" She asked him.
"He's been drinking it every day, you know." Icarus told her with a small smile.
That made her chuckle and it felt like the weight on her shoulders was coming off. "So you do like it."
"It's not that bad." Tom said, slightly embarrassed that Icarus told her he had loved her drink.
"We missed having you around, Lils." Tiernan said and everyone agreed, except for Abraxas. She tried not to think much of it, more focused on what Tiernan had said.
"I missed you too." She said with a sad smile. "And I'm sorry for last week."
"I'm fine now." Tom said to reassure her.
"I'm so glad you're here with us." Evangeline squealed and hugged Lilia from the side. It felt like the clouds above her had dissipated when they started chatting to her. She had missed their camaraderie. It didn't matter that they were going to become the first death eaters: they made her days better when the war had taken away her shine.
"By the way, this is for you." Tom gave her an envelope while she was eating.
"What's that?" She opened it and pulled out an invitation. "The Slug Club?"
"It is a club that Professor Slughorn has for students that he believes have a lot of potential. He is holding his winter dinner this weekend before the semester gets hectic." Right, it was the end of November.
"Oh, okay. Are you all in it too?"
Everyone nodded, but Abraxas was still avoiding looking at her.
He was understandably still angry at her, but she wouldn't complain. "Someone asked me to be their date for that night," Lilia added.
That got the others' attention and they all turned to her curiously. "Who?" Icarus asked, looking comically heartbroken.
"Septimus Weasley."
Abraxas scoffed, "A Weasley, really?" It seemed that the disdain of the Weasleys by the Malfoys was intergenerational.
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, skeptical.
"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'.
"To ruling the world one day, brother." Abraxas stretched in his chair. The knot in his stomach was gone.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Was she changing something in the timeline?
Lilia had found Tom's comment about stopping the pureblood lines from dying out, quite strange. It was not like what she knew of him. Voldemort would never have said something like that. Ever. But he was not Voldemort, was he?
Lilia sighed and tried on a dress while Evangeline and Celeste were waiting outside. They were shopping for a dress for the Slug Club dinner and Lilia had to wake up earlier than usual to cast repeated concealment charms to hide the scars across her body.
She twirled around in the blue dress that she had on, watching how clear her skin looked in the mirror. It wasn't marred with scars and she felt strangely naked without them. When she came out, Evangeline and Celeste seemed to be focused on the dress, not liking how it looked on her.
"I'm not sure how to feel about this one." Celeste said. She had settled on a pink dress while Evangeline was going with a white one.
"I think a navy blue dress would look better than the pastel blue I have on right now." Lilia added thoughtfully.
It took them two hours to find the perfect dress. It was a navy blue strapless dress that hugged her waist before cascading into a full skirt.
"It's a really pretty dress, Lilia. But isn't it too plain? You will be dancing with people that night and meeting well-known wizards and witches. Don't you want to make an impression?" Evangeline asked her, brows furrowed.
"I know a secret or two." She smiled in response. Lilia hadn't felt so light in so long. As a student, she had discovered a small book in the library that talked about how magic could be used in fashion. The girls bought high heels and jewellery before calling it a day at Hogsmeade.
They then headed to the Three Broomsticks to grab butterbeer with the boys.
"What did you get?" Icarus asked Lilia, sitting down next to her, too close for her liking. She shifted uncomfortably but smiled at him nonetheless. "It's a surprise. You'll see tomorrow."
"Don't I get special treatment?" Icarus tried pouting at her, making her laugh at how absurd he looked.
"You're too old for this, Lestrange. And no, if anything, my date should be the one getting special treatment." She smirked at him, teasing him.
"Good lord. What did the weasel do to deserve you but not me?" He sighed dramatically.
"Stop calling him that, you are so mean, Icarus," she chided playfully.
"It's almost like I'm a Slytherin," he added lightly and shifted to get a better view of Lilia.
"That's just an excuse."
"Salazar, do we have to listen to these two all day long?" Tiernan complained while Lilia and Icarus kept talking to each other, the other four forgotten.
"You're just jealous, Nott," Evangeline hummed, drinking her butterbeer.
"Of course I am! When will I find a beautiful girl all for myself?" He sighed and stared at his drink dejectedly.
"When you stop whining like a little bitch." The blonde girl smiled at him sarcastically.
"Language, Evangeline." Tom reprimanded, brows slightly furrowed.
"Oh relax, Tom." She rolled her eyes at him. "It's fine to swear once in a while. You need to let go sometimes."
Tom shook his head and sighed. Why was he surrounded by such childish people?
He could tell that Lilia was not comfortable with the way Icarus was being touchy with her, but she wasn't saying anything. There was always a tiny flinch whenever the Lestrange heir tried to touch her.
Tom was more curious as to why he had started noticing these small things about the girl sitting in front of him and smiling at Icarus. He had meant to ask her if she would be his date for the dinner with Slughorn, but someone else had already asked her out. It was just out of mere camaraderie; he would have asked someone else too. She had just been his first choice.
Meanwhile, Riddle did not notice the soft look that Celeste had when she stared at him. Celeste Meadows had been in love with Tom Riddle from the moment she had met him. She had kept it well hidden, knowing that the boy would never prioritise love over his own goals. That never deterred her affection. He was good-looking, smart, charming, and polite. He was the perfect prince charming.
Tom had never really looked at Celeste in that way. He had been more interested in the fact that she came from a pureblood family. He had always made it clear that he had no other interest in their friendship, but she still liked him. She always tried to look good when she saw him. He had never paid attention to her, and it had caught her off guard when he had complimented Lilia's hairstyle the first time.
She had felt a strange mix of hurt and happiness. It made her sad that he never paid attention to her.
But she was also happy for her friend. Lilia had the prettiest smile she had ever seen and she cared for her a lot, especially since Celeste knew that she came from a war-stricken background.
Celeste did not feel any jealousy towards Lilia, even when she knew that the new girl had caught Tom Riddle's attention, something she had never been able to achieve in all those years. She loved Lilia like a sister and she didn't mind being a bystander while Tom became more intrigued with Lilia. The Sorting Hat had stalled for her, between an odd combination of Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Celeste wasn't sure why it decided to choose Slytherin, but she felt more like a Hufflepuff at times.
Evangeline had an inkling of Celeste's feelings for the prefect, but she never said anything. They didn't really talk about it because Celeste wasn't sure she would be able to handle the hurt if they did.
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
The evening before the dinner had been chaotic.
Lilia, Evangeline and Celeste had all rushed to shower. They helped each other do their makeup and Celeste was in charge of the hairstyles. Lilia preferred having her hair down because it made her feel less exposed. So Celeste compromised and did a half-up half-down hairstyle and added a golden brooch. The only jewellery she wore was Theo's necklace and a pair of gold earrings. She had face framing layers, and Lilia marvelled at how pretty she looked and felt.
Her final trick to make them all look beautiful was to enchant their dresses and hair. Lilia enchanted the lower half of her dress to look like tiny stars and when she twirled around, the stars shimmered brightly. She enchanted Celeste's hair to shimmer like her dress, and for Evangeline, she added a shimmering touch to her exposed skin. They all looked beautiful in their dresses. Finally, they slipped into their heels and they were ready.
"Tom will think that you're so beautiful, Celeste." Lilia smiled fondly at her friend.
"I think Septimus might faint if he sees the stars on your dress. You are dressed in Ravenclaw colours, blue looks good on you." Celeste complimented.
"Maybe in another life, I would have been a Ravenclaw." The two other girls laughed, not knowing that that had actually been the case for Lilia.
"I'm stuck having to go with Icarus, out of all people." Evangeline grumbled, her blue eyes shining beautifully.
"It's okay, you'll meet your boyfriend during the winter break." Celeste teased.
Lilia gasped, "You have a boyfriend?"
Evangeline blushed, "I mean, we are set to get married when we both finish our studies."
"Merlin, where does he study?"
"Durmstrang. He is my most charming husband-to-be." Evangeline chuckled.
"Fascinating." Lilia smiled, choosing not to focus on the fact that Durmstrang was notorious for including the dark arts into their curriculum.
They headed to the common room, where the boys were already waiting.
Lilia caught sight of Tom who was smoking and staring at the fireplace. His face was turned to the side but she noticed his sharp jawline and the way it flexed when he exhaled some of the smoke. Why was Tom Riddle so mesmerising? She hated smoking, never saw the point of endangering one's health like that. But he looked elegant and she could picture him standing on a stage, smoking with a crowd cheering for him.
Upon hearing the sound of heels clicking on the floor, Tom turned to look at the girls, eyes landing on Lilia. Her cheeks reddened and she quickly looked down at her own heels. Tom smirked and crushed his cigarette in an ashtray on one of the tables.
"Well, don't you look ravishing, ladies." Tiernan complimented with a small bow.
"Thank you. You look very handsome too." Lilia said, smiling at the four guys standing in front of her. They were wearing black three-piece suits with black robes on top. It was very similar to their Hogwarts uniform and yet, they looked better. She was surprised when Abraxas gave her a small smile.
"Wait, Lilia, your dress looks different. Is there glitter on it?" Icarus asked, quickly getting closer to her.
She had to hold herself from stepping back, but she fisted her hands by her side. She had become wary of the touch of men since what happened with Dolohov in the Malfoy manor, especially if she did not want to be touched. However, she couldn't keep living in fear like that. She was trying to overcome the new fear that she had developed, even though it was hard to forget how easy it had been to be physically overpowered by a man.
"I enchanted it to mimic a starry sky." She twirled in place, her dress flowing loosely and the stars glimmering.
"I should have been your date." Icarus sighed, "You are too beautiful for the redhead." She blushed from the compliment and chuckled. Tom's jaw ticked in annoyance but he did not say anything.
"You say that when your date is right here? I expected better, Lestrange." Evangeline grumbled and hit Icarus on the shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?" "For being such an idiot." The two kept bickering while they headed out of the common room.
Lilia was all the way at the back with Tom, and she wasn't sure how that had happened.
"You look nice." He told her, looking down at the girl by his side. "You look very nice too." She smiled at him, a slight blush tinting her cheeks when he stared at her with his dark eyes. It felt like there was no one else around them. His curls were styled neatly, one strand purposely left on his forehead. He looked elegant, and the way he held himself added to his charisma. Tom Riddle was an absolute charmer.
She quickly broke off eye contact with him when she noticed Septimus nervously looking around. "Septimus!" She called out and walked to him, a wide smile on her face.
"Lilia! You look- absolutely stunning. So beautiful, Merlin. Are you doing better now? I heard about what happened the other day."
"I'm doing fine. I just had some... food issues.."
"Sure you're okay now?"
"Absolutely." He looked behind Lilia and she followed his gaze to see her friends standing there awkwardly. Right, they didn't know each other personally.
"This is Septimus Weasley." She gestured at her date.
"Riddle."
"Lestrange."
"Nott."
"Malfoy."
She cringed from how curt their introductions had been.
"Evangeline Selwyn."
"Celeste Meadows."
Thankfully, her two friends made up for the boys, and they shook Septimus' hand. "Well, let's get going then," the latter said.
"We need to stop by Ravenclaw tower. Malfoy and I are picking up our dates." Tiernan said briefly, almost challenging Septimus to refuse with his eyes.
"Ravenclaw tower it is." Septimus smiled, refusing to play into their game and turned around. Lilia and Septimus were at the front of the group of Slytherins, chatting.
"So, I bet you think Theo was more creative than me when he asked you out, huh?" Septimus chuckled, hand rubbing his nape in embarrassment.
"I think you both have a knack for bad timing" She smiled, remembering how chaotic it had been. They had been arguing one minute and the next, he had asked her to be his date for the ball. She had been in disbelief but had said yes.
"Okay. Boys with terrible timing, I get your type now."
That made her chuckle. "What kind of girls do you like?"
"Girls like you."
"No, no, no. Give me a proper answer, Weasley."
"Well, someone I would want to settle down with, you know. Get a job, get our house, start a family, have two or three kids, grow old together and die peacefully."
Lilia was not that girl. She felt the sinking feeling in her stomach again. She didn't think she could go back to wishing for simple things like having a family of her own and dying peacefully. She had physical and emotional scars from the war, and her wishes had consistently been hoping for her loved ones to live again or for her to die so she could be free from the torment caused by the war. She didn't feel beautiful because of the scars that marred her body and she knew that no one would love her for being the way she was.
Septimus didn't know about what her body had been through and he would feel repulsed if he did.
"You want to settle down." She commented wistfully, wishing that it could have been her. At 14, she had been strongly considering it. Now, she didn't know who she was anymore.
"Don't you?"
"Not really." Her reply was vague and Septimus wasn't sure how to keep the conversation going. "You will figure it out someday." "Maybe." She gave him a strained smile. When they reached the stairs at the bottom of the Ravenclaw tower, two girls were already waiting. Aurora was Abraxas' date and Nelia was Tiernan's. The group then proceeded to Slughorn's office, which he enchanted for his dinner nights.
Taking a deep breath in, Lilia walked in along with her friends.