Lies and falsehoods, armour made of ambition and cruelty. Irremediably, Tom Riddle's destiny has been written from the beginning, foreseeing a dark and deviant path. But to everything there is an exception, and Anastasia Atwell did not know she was...
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Jonah Jericho Mulciber
Jonah Mulciber did not speak often. He wasn't inclined to participate in the other boys' jokes, he didn't want to meddle with such childishness. He preferred to spend his time in some remote corner of the castle with his nose buried in the pages of some book, to increase his knowledge.
He was a loner, but at the same time a participant in the life of the Slytherins. He had eyes and ears everywhere. He watched everyone from afar, without ever being invasive.
He did not like to take part in their daily life, however. Even during parties in the common room or gatherings during the holidays, Jonah would make brief appearances and then seem to dissolve into thin air, leaving no trace of himself.
This made him visibly one of the closest members to Tom Riddle. They often talked to each other, even when the others were not around. They chatted under their breath, letting their guard down. Or at least, that was what the others saw from the outside. No one knew the topics of their discussions, but there was definitely something stronger between them than between Tom and everyone else.
Anastasia thought about it as she watched him cross the hallway, his gaze low on the pages of the book he'd been dragging around for days.
She made herself small, leaning against the cold wall of that part of the school, hoping to go unnoticed by his eyes so he couldn't report her condition to Tom, but although he wasn't looking, Jonah seemed to become aware of her.
"Anastasia," he called her name, slowly closing the book. He brought it under his arm as he rested his gaze on her figure. His expression contracted with confusion. "You're pale. More than usual, if I must say. Are you feeling alright?"
She nodded, perhaps with too much vitality. "Just a bad migraine," then she murmured, swallowing noisily. "Thank you for your interest, by the way."
Jonah didn't believe her words, but at the same time he felt no interest in getting into the confusing dynamics of a young girl. "You should put something under your teeth. Were you heading for the Great Hall?"
She nodded again, and the boy shrugged. "Please," he told her, inviting the girl to join him as together they made their way to their destination.
The stretch was short and silent, but it was fine nonetheless. If Jonah hadn't appeared, the girl would probably have stood there for endless hours, wondering what had happened.
They arrived just in time. As she took her place between Abraxas Malfoy and Orion, sitting next to his fiancée Walburga, all eyes were on her. Jonah, meanwhile, had reached the opposite end of the large table, where Tom Riddle sat, sipping from his goblet heedless of anything or anyone.
"When?"
Anastasia immediately turned around, looking at Marcus, who, with his messy quiff that kept falling over his eyes, was squaring her from head to toe. With a raised eyebrow, she replied, "When what?"
