SERPENT HEART° TOM RIDDLE

042. SIC GORGIAMUS ALLOS SUBJECTATOS NUNC

CHAPTER FORTY TWO
— we gladly feast on those who would subdue us

THE CORNER OF TOM'S MOUTH TWITCHED INTO SOMETHING THAT ALMOST RESEMBLED A SMILE AS HE STOLE A GLANCE TO THE GIRL SEATED A FEW ROWS TO HIS LEFT DURING HISTORY OF MAGIC. Rhea sat casually in her chair, quill in hand and hardly listening to a word Professor Binns was saying about the fourteenth century wizarding economic bubble. As though sensing his gaze on her, Rhea slid her attention away from the ceiling of the classroom and to Tom with a small, knowing smirk on her face.

For the past few weeks, Tom and Rhea had spent every night in the Dark Forest, practicing and perfecting his skills. He was surprised by how patient Rhea was with him; Even when he would get frustrated when he wasn't able to immediately master a spell, she would calmly wait until he got it. And getting to watch her practice her magic up close was another thing all together and Tom would always leave practices with the same thought ringing his mind:

Rhea Hel is truly one of a kind.

Rhea wouldn't deny that she enjoyed having someone who understood how wonderful dark magic could be. It was one of the thing's she liked most about Tom. Unlike her, he hadn't grown up in a family that specialized in and preached about how sacred the Dark Arts were, but he could still see that they were a misrepresented form of magic with limitless potential for what it could achieve or do. Magic had and always would be Rhea's greatest love and no one, not Eddie or Tom, could ever take its place.

They would spend hours in the Forest, talking about magic and, occasionally, stealing kisses from one another without worrying about what it means or the consequences of what they were doing. For the first time in Rhea's life, she didn't worry about what her family would think if they found out what she was doing. Her and Tom's relationship was their little secret and she didn't want to share it with anyone else.

In hindsight, Rhea wished she'd paid a bit more attention when a neatly wrapped letter landed on the table in front of her while she ate breakfast in the Great Hall amongst the other Slytherins. Persephone was rambling on and on about their upcoming end-of-the-year exams while Walburga and Druella whispered quietly to one another. Rhea didn't pay any mind to who the letter was from — assuming it was her grandmother or stepmother writing to her like they usually did — but when she slid the letter from the envelope, her stomach plummeted to her feet and a deep, angry frown formed on her face.

Rhea,

I hope you remember our last conversation. Sneaking out to the woods every night with the half-blood boy will surely raise eyebrows and it would be such a shame to see you and Atlas's engagement come to an end over something that couldn't possibly last.

Gaia

Rhea crumpled the letter in her fist and abruptly rose from her seat, ignoring the looks of confusion from her friends as she stormed out of the Great Hall. Rage built up inside of her when she thought of Atlas's mother and how she was interfering in her life. 

Rhea had done everything to prove to his family that she was worthy — she even crossed into the plane between life and death because it was tradition — and this was how they treated her? She was Rhea Hel and she wouldn't let Gaia get away with this.

Rhea found herself in the library during her free period between History of Magic and Charms. She had a large tome in front of her, but instead of paying attention to the words on the page, her sharp gaze was trained on the table of students near the window overlooking the grounds outside. Nesta Greengrass sat comfortably in the wooden chair beside Damocles Rowle and Juniper Prewett. A light pink blush spread over the Greengrass girl's cheeks at something Damocles said before she carefully took her gaze away from him and allowed it to sweep across the room to where Rhea was sitting.