The Golden Age of Hollywood . Tom Riddle

Chapter 15

Mrs. Rosier's birthday party was opulent, full of magical socialites from all over the world, with everybody enjoying plenty of elite foods and live music, being served by a crowd of waiters and house elves in the grand Rosier estate in Norfolk. Despite it being the last days of summer, the weather was still balmy, with sun blazing in clear sky, and guests made sure to not leave the shade provided by huge white umbrellas: only men would occasionally step outside to smoke cigars but rushed back in as soon as they were done.

Tom looked over the crowd quickly. All guests have opted to wear light-colored clothes: Tom had donned down a cream suit, and Norma chose a short white dress, which when paired with her golden hair, reminded him of muggle depictions of angels.

The party in itself wasn't outstanding in any way- full of nobles mingling with each other. But Tom was quickly led to little circles of politicians, who were avidly discussing recent developments of Grindelwald's forces, and to Tom it was clear that the dark wizard had already lost, and was currently only fighting a personal battle against Dumbledore. The purebloods were only concerned about being perceived as superior and garnering political power for their families- they didn't care who helped them. Such turnout was both useful and disadvantageous to Tom: when Grindelwald is defeated, there will be an open vacancy for a new leader, but this also indicated that the nobles had no moral stance on who was leading them, meaning they've lost their pureblood ideals.

To make talking to guests easier, Tom had to split from Norma and had left her by the table with drinks to walk around on her own, and he was relieved to see Abraxas Malfoy chatting with her. The blonde shithead had finally decided to stop causing problems- Tom thought to himself, smiling a little.

"I am delighted to see you here, doe," Malfoy said lowly, letting his voice crack at just the right moment.

Norma jumped and spun around, her curled hair briefly obscuring her eyes before bouncing back in place. Abraxas grinned, seeing her startled expression- her painted lips were rounded just right.

"Leave me," she spat, working hard to keep her face neutral. Her fingers were griping the edge of the table tightly, bunching up the white tablecloth.

Abraxas moved to keep his hands behind his back and smiled softly, feigning innocence to any passerby.

"I'd rather talk to my mistress," he said, and watched muscle in Norma's arm flex. He interpreted it as a sign of contained delight. "Why are you here?"

"I was invited. I wanted to be here," Norma said tersely, the defiant look in her eyes only serving to spread warmth in Malfoy's chest. He chuckled.

"Really? You like it here?"

Norma seemed to have suddenly regained some confidence and control- she jerked her head back to throw her hair behind her shoulder, and leveled Abraxas with a cold stare.

"Yes. The nobles hold me and Voldemort in high regard."

Quickly, Malfoy's eyes darted to look over her shoulder. The proud rise of his eyebrow didn't sit well with Norma, and her eyes narrowed.

"They sure like him," Malfoy nodded, "Why don't you see for yourself?" He said and inclined with his head to the scene behind Norma's back. Suspicious and slow, she turned around.

With great pleasure Abraxas watched Norma take a few seconds to understand what she was seeing, and then her back stiffened. The shock and hurt rolled from her in almost palpable wave, and Malfoy allowed himself to inhale deeply that changed air.

Voldemort was facing a semicircle of pureblood gentlemen and some ladies, and appeared to be idly conversing with all of them. Then, the man standing closest to Voldemort took one young girl by the arm and led her to stand in front of Tom. She was lovely- with long, black hair and dark complexion, she looked roughly the same age as Voldemort, and the man appeared to be introducing them. Abraxas and Norma couldn't see Voldemort's face, as he was facing away from them, but it was clear he had bent down to kiss her hand. Norma didn't move an inch while she watched her lover hold girl's hand gently- he then said something that made her giggle- she was completely swooned, that much was clear.