『 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗲 』

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝖾𝗇- 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴

APPARATING ONTO THE Slytherin Manor's grounds, Alex Riddle let his trunk drop to the ground, a house elf rushing to pick it up.

He ignored it and looked at the dead flowers with a frown. "What happened to everything?"

"Master Dark Lord doesn't want flowers, sir. Master Dark Lord thinks it's not important," replied the house elf automatically.

Alex shook his head, walking into the manor.

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As soon as Alex was back in his room, he let out a deep breath and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, letting it dangle between his lips— not actually lighting it up yet.

He walked to the desk in his room, looking at the many unopened letters on it.

"You told me you didn't get my letters," said a clear voice by his doorway.

Alex didn't turn around, nor did he seem surprised by the fact he was there. "Mother died because of you. I think it's fine if I tell one little lie."

Tom swallowed. "She did not die because of me."

His son finally turned around. "You really believe that?"

"Alex, I did not come here to discuss your mother's death. May she rest in peace, but honestly, I do not care. Now, the reason I've come to your room is because I want you to know that I'll be gone for a few hours. Would you like to come?"

He was quiet for a few seconds, letting the unlit cigarette drop to the ground. "Where?"

"Does it matter?"

"You could be taking me to my death for all I know."

"You think I want you to die?" Tom frowned in shock. "Really, Alex?"

The young boy shrugged.

"Will you come or not?"

"No."

"Fine," the man turned around and walked away, slamming the door shut.

Alex rolled his eyes, then frowned and sat down on the chair by the desk.

He looked up when an owl flew into his room and dropped a letter on his lap.

"Fuck," mumbled the boy, opening the letter, already knowing who it's from.

'Mister Riddle,
I'm looking forward to meeting with you tomorrow at your manor. See to it that your fireplace is open to the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic.
-Bulgarian Minister of Magic,
Oblansk.'

"Fuck," repeated Alex, standing up, rushing out of the room. "Shit. Shit. Shit. This cannot be fucking happening."

Ignoring all the portraits, the young boy continued rushing around the huge manor, cursing his heart out— which was a bad choice with all his ancestors watching, but he did not care at that moment.

"Does my heir have to say those foul words while I'm sleeping?" asked a portrait in Parseltongue.

Alex stopped dead in his tracks and slowly looked at the portrait. "Salazar Slytherin has finally woken up from his 2-decade nap, it seems."

Salazar Slytherin glared at the boy. "I've been awake most of the time, but I do not want another heir pestering me about how to cover up a murder with a basilisk."

"Excuse me?" blinked Alex.

"Never mind. Go back to what you were doing," Salazar said, closing his eyes again.

The young boy let out a scoff of disbelief and started walking away.

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"Tell me everything," said Tom as soon as he was back at the manor, looking at Alex.

"Tell you what exactly?"

"What does the Bulgarian Minister of Magic want with you? How long has he been sending you these letters? Why haven't you said anything before?!"

"Slow down," mumbled Alex with a sigh. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Well," the boy started fidgeting, playing with his bracelet, knee bouncing. "When I killed the man who killed mother, I took a good look at his face. Fast forward years later, I got accepted in Durmstrang. After a while, I noticed a boy looking familiar. Because he was familiar, I sent one of my.. er, companions.. to spy on him. Turns out he was the man's son. The son's name was Andrei Elian."

"And you killed him," finished Tom knowingly.

Alex looked at the man. "They're all after me, because I killed him."

Tom looked away.

"I had to. I had to avenge her death."

"Why didn't you cover up the murder, Alex? How could you have been so stupid?!"

"I was too in shock!" admitted Alex immediately in defense. "I didn't even realize we were still in his dorm! Earlier on in the day, I asked him if it was alright for him to tutor me. He said that it was fine and that he would be waiting for me. As soon as I saw him alone in his dorm, I took my chance and killed him immediately. I rushed away after realizing what I had done and tried to floo out of there as soon as I could. I even changed schools— started attending Hogwarts— because of this. I didn't dare go back to Durmstrang. Not even Bulgaria itself. Not when everybody's after me."

"Did the boy do anything to you?"

"Other than make fun of mother's death multiple times, no."

Tom nodded with a sigh. "Do you want me to kill Oblansk?"

"Not immediately."

"Why not?"

"I know exactly what to do."

"And what is it you'll be doing?"

Alex looked at the fireplace. "The Bulgarian Minister of Magic is coming to this manor."