❛ the antidote ❜ | draco malfoy

TWENTY-ONE

"I'm thinking we should ride, to a place that we don't know, to a place where no one's seen us before. I'm thinking, you and I, better just go with the flow, last thing that we should do is go slow."

***

    THE MALFOY'S had allowed the Rowle's to stay with them with the months proceeding to be Lord Voldemort's ultimate takeover.

    Thorfinn Rowle was one of the Dark Lord's most trusted acquaintances and Lucius knew how much the man would be involved in the upcoming plans.

Allowing the Rowle's to stay wasn't a big deal as they had stayed for a while before, but now with the knowledge of their children being sexually active, the parents knew they needed to set ground rules.

"You are to sleep in your own bedrooms, no sneaking around, we'll have the elves watching."

Gemma had told the two as they looked at each other in dismay.

Narcissa cleared her throat, "And absolutely no Apparating into each other's rooms. We may not know, but you wouldn't want to break the rules would you?"

Shaking their heads, the mothers looked at each other proudly after having gone through numerous rules with the two for over ten minutes.

If they broke the rules, Alice would have to sleep on the pullout sofa in her parents room, something both Gemma and Alice wouldn't be too fond of.

Leaving Draco and Alice to themselves in the living room, they both sighed.

-

As Alice lay in her bed, there was a knock on her door, "Come in."

A house elf had timidly entered the room, not making eye contact with Alice, "The Dark Lord has requested to see you, Miss."

Alice's breath hitched, it had been several days since the Astronomy Tower incident, and from what she had read from The Daily Prophet, nothing was going well.

What could he have wanted? Would Draco be there with him?

Getting up from her bed, Alice followed the house elf downstairs towards Lucius Malfoy's study.

"My Lord, I have got the girl."

Opening the door, Alice was greeted by the neutral face of Lord Voldemort. He was alone.

"Scram," He ordered the house elf out of the room, the frail elf shut the door, running away.

"Sit." He ordered Alice as she obliged sitting in the chair in front of the desk he was sat behind.

"Alice," He spoke above a whisper. "I'm very pleased that you fulfilled the tasks I gave you."

Alice's eyes widened, "T-Thank you, My Lord."

"You speak the language, Parseltongue." He wasn't questioning, he was clarifying, making Alice sit frozen.

Voldemort sneered at the girl, ordering her,"Tell Nagini to come over here."

Nodding hesitantly, Alice turned towards the snake coiled on the other side of the room.

She spoke in Parseltongue, "Nagini, go to your master."

As she spoke she never did realize what she said, only thought it, but as the snake slithered towards Voldemort she knew it hadn't just been in her heard.

"And you taught yourself, yes?"

Alice quickly nodded her head, "Yes, My Lord."

"Very good, very good indeed." He complimented. "I fear people take your knowledge for granted, Alice, you're very brilliant and I would hate for that to go unnoticed."

Not following, Alice sat silently, listening intently as the pale man in front of her went on.

    "In my next upcoming tasks, I want you to help me. Help plan and organize what it will take to find Harry Potter, the boy won't be returning to Hogwarts, so find out where he will be residing."

    Alice cleared her throat, "Yes, My Lord."

    "I need to know as soon as possible, Alice, don't fail me." He sat forward, intimidating the girl to no end. "I know you've read about me at Hogwarts, find anything interesting?"

    Her mouth opened and closed, "Uh-"

    Voldemort interrupted her, his eyes widening, as he stood walking around the desk in front of Alice.

    Taking her face in his long fingers, he tilted her face towards him, "Do I scare you, Alice?"

Furrowing her eyebrows she thought, his outer appearance terrified her to no end, but she knew who he was on the inside. Tom Riddle was the student at Hogwarts who was her equal, she more admired what he was than feared what he had become.

    "No, My lord." She spoke clear, looking up at the intimidating man. "I quite admire you, really."

Alice knew that by sucking up to a man who went by 'My Lord,' it would further grant her easy leverage with the demanding man.

    Voldemort hummed, his eyes filled with amusement, "Good. You can leave now, Alice."

As the door to the study closed, Tom Riddle stood confused. Through Legilimency, Tom Riddle was able to go through Alice Rowle's memories from the day she was born, to the day she sat before him. There were many occurrences of her in the library reading on the history of Parseltongue, and even many types of dark magics that Tom Riddle himself hadn't recalled since reading it himself at Hogwarts.

Sitting behind the desk, he quickly took out a piece of parchment, scribbling notes about Alice down feverishly.

Tom Riddle knew that Albus Dumbledore thought Alice Rowle was his heir, but he always scoffed at the thought.

Lord Voldemort had only ever been in (what he didn't even know was) love with one woman, when he was a teen at Hogwarts, who ended up dead because of him. And he knew that there was no way, he unknowingly conceived a child.

Petting Nagini, Lord Voldemort sat in confusion for the first time in decades.

Alice Rowle couldn't be his daughter.