SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

036. DA MI BASIA MILLE, DEINDE CENTUM

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
— give me a thousand kisses, then a hundred more

            THE DAY BEFORE THE START OF BREAK, Professor Slughorn invited Tom and about half a dozen other boys into his office for the last Slug Club dinner of the term. He had already had the girls in and Tom could imagine Rhea sitting in one of her fancy, floor-length gowns paired with her signature gloves as she listened to Slughorn praise each of them for their family's accomplishments while she silently sat back and listened, probably thinking about all the different ways she was going to take over the world — or, whatever it was that went through her mind, Tom wasn't exactly sure. He hated to admit that Rhea had been taking up a lot of his thoughts as of late and he constantly found himself in a state of wonder of what she was doing or what she was thinking, and he hated himself for it. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before and he had half a mind to ask Lupe, Abraxas, or, Merlin forbid, Ramsey for advice on what was happening to him. But, he kept his thoughts to himself and chose to suffer in silence and it was Rhea he thought about the entire time he sat at Slughorn's table, staring at the face of Pluto Hel who would rather avert his to the ground than meet Tom's withering stare. Coward.

The dinner was drawing to a close and Tom knew that there wouldn't be a more perfect time for him to ask Slughorn about Horcruxes than there was now. He had just given his professor a bag of crystalized pineapple he bought during the visit to Hogsmeade.

Hogsmeade. That was another thing that hadn't escaped his mind. He constantly found himself thinking back to what Rhea said about how she wanted power, just like he did. He always thought that Astrea would be the only person who could truly deal with the darkest parts of him, the parts he hid away and reserved only for those closest to him, but he was beginning to think that Rhea was the only person who could understand him. There were so many similarities between them that he was surprised he hadn't seen it before and he wondered if that was why they had clashed when they first met. He thought it was silly now, that he ever wasted time underestimating someone who was ten times smarter and more powerful than anyone else he surrounded himself with.

Tom stared down at the gold and black ring that gleamed on his finger. He had nearly forgotten Marvolo Gaunt's ring was there but he was, again, reminded of how Rhea had helped him and watched him kill his only living relatives without batting an eye.

He turned to Professor Slughorn, watching as the man lounged in his comfortable armchair with his legs resting on a velvet pouffe with a half-empty glass of wine in hand. Conversation came to a brief lull that Tom took as an opportunity to swoop in.

"Sir," Tom started, pushing all thoughts of the blonde Slytherin to the back of his mind to focus on the task at hand. Everyone turned to him. "Is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?"

"Tom, Tom, if I knew I wouldn't tell you." Professor Slughorn wagged his finger at Tom while winking. "I must say, I'd like to know how you get your information, dear boy, more knowledgable than half the staff, you are."

Tom smiled; the others boy laughed, but this particular bit of information had actually come from Avida who was close to Professor Merrythought since she was pretty skilled at Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter — thank you for the pineapple by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite —" Orpheus, Cassius, and Ramsey tittered. "— I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."

Tom merely smiled as the others laughed again, looking at him like he was their leader and they agreed with Slughorn's assertion. Tom Riddle, Minister of Magic. He could hardly imagine.