Ace of Spades

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

I had thought of several ways I could have met the man who killed my parents. Considering we were standing in the middle of the ballroom, everyone still dancing and socialising, and I had already lost sight of Sirius and both my friends, I didn't think I would have been dragged out by Bellatrix Lestrange as she scowled at me.

She shoved me into a room and locked the door, forcing me to stay inside. I went for the door and found it locked. I was ready to Alohomora my way out but his voice stopped me, the smooth trebble of power-laced word keeping me from leaving.

He wanted something. Perhaps it was knowledge, or the simple reassurance of what I was doing here.

"Sit."

I turned to him.

It was easier to seem him as the leader version of himself instead of the abomination, and when I made up my mind, my eyes adjusted to accommodate it. I only saw him as the forever young, charismatic version of Tom Riddle. I allowed myself the pleasure of seeing a ruler instead of a tyrant, but I knew what he truly was.

My mission.

I clenched one hand as a new thought came to me. As long as I got out of this room alive, I could walk away completely, disappear from society entirely and be known by a different name. That one was tempting. Or I could cry my eyes out at how fucking terrified I was at this moment. I was scared beyond belief.

I remained calm and obeyed his command, something I would have to get used to, sitting down on the cushioned chair in the small drawing room. It was dimly lit with candles and a fireplace next to us. Our two seats faced each other and a tea set was between us on a table.

His lip curled up into something I could barely call a smile. He leaned forward, taking a spoon and swirling it in the air. The teapot floated up and poured us both tea, adding sugar to mine before deposing them at our saucers. He took the cup and sipped, letting himself enjoy the taste before his red eyes shot to me.

"What is your true purpose here, Lady Black?" he asked in his smooth tone. "You've just come into your Magic and you've already made enemies with your brother?"

"Do you know what the first thing he warned me of? What he told me to stay away from?"

"Do tell, Lady Black,"

I let a sly smile onto my painted lips.

"Slytherins,"

"You found yourself at the table of snakes,"

"I did," I looked into the faint sheen in my tea. I went for the truth. "And on the Quidditch team. He hates the fact that I joined the Quidditch team and won the match against Gryffindor. He hates the fact I'm not best friends with him anymore. That I'm no longer inferior to him because he had Magic and I didn't for so long. He called me powerless and weak and a Squib."

That was the word that got his attention. I could see it in the rise of his shoulders, exhaling slowly as he barely thought before speaking.

"There was a time before us, where only humans lived. No Magic. Not even an understanding of it. Then, a group of them discovered their link to Magic. They found that they could bend their world to their wills. They quickly found that Magic does not let itself be used." He paused. "Perhaps there was a reason you came into your Magic late. Perhaps it has been simmering inside you all along, waiting to be released."

Simmering.

That was the constant state of my Magic, just under my skin, just under my steel control. For years, I had felt it. For years, I had to hide it. It was a dangerous thing, something I even feared could hurt me if I let it. I never had to use that extreme amount, not even when I was training with Snape. Maybe I should have mentioned it to him. It could have helped with my training.