His Equal [Tom Riddle]

seven

Horace Slughorn found pleasure in three things: drinks, parties, and successful people. On the night of Christmas Eve, he found himself in the midst of all three: his hand clutched a mead as he danced drunkenly with the Seeker of the Holyhead Harpies at his Christmas party. Nothing could have been more perfect.

Slughorn's Christmas party was always a low-key event. Only a dozen students or so were in attendance, for the rest of those that he had hand-picked opted to go home for the holidays. The majority of attendees were therefore Hogwarts alumni or random, impressive connections that he had made throughout the years. To add on to this, the Malfoy family hosted their annual Christmas party at the same time, which always attracted a fair share of higher-caliber witches and wizards. The potions professor had considered changing the date of his party to a time where students were still in school, but that would come with more oversight and restrictions. For now, he took advantage of the intimate affair to parade his meticulously selected network around.

Tom Riddle and Dean Rosier sat at a table in the corner, talking in hushed whispers amongst the din of the event. They would both usually be at Abraxas's home during the holiday, but this year was different. Tom's inner circle had been cued in on his discoveries about Kepi Nassor since day one. He had them keep a loose eye on her throughout the school year, but she seemed particularly good at evading social situations. The girl mainly kept company with Black and Burke, and when she wasn't with them, she was contentedly alone.

It had been Tom's mission to establish meaningful contact with her over break, and so far he had been successful. Thanks to his knowledge of her parents' demise, she was officially roped into his life, whether she wanted it or not. He did not yet know what role he wanted her to play - how expendable she was - but until he knew enough of her magic, she had to be kept on a leash.

Dean Rosier, on the other hand, had stayed behind with Tom for two reasons, the primary being a petulant stand against his parents. They had specifically requested that he become more involved in Grindelwald's regime over the break, despite knowing his distaste for the cause. They were headed to some hidden location in France to visit his Aunt Vinda, who was posted at the top every wizarding wanted list across the globe. Dean would rather be caught dead than visit that vile woman, so he told them that he had to remain at Hogwarts to catch up on his studies. The second reason he stayed behind was per Tom's request. He knew of the boy's motives for the holiday, and in the event that his friend needed backup, he would be there for him.

On the other side of the castle, Kepi sat in her room staring at the dress in front of her. It was made of a beautiful black silk with a tantalizingly low neckline. She imagined her mother fainting if she saw this gown, for she had been a large proponent of modesty, and she smiled at the thought.  

The events in which she acquired this gown were unusual, to say the least. A seer had given it to her during her family's travels in Japan to visit Mahoutokoro School of Magic. She was thirteen.

He was a short and thin man, with a tanned face that demonstrated labour and a beard thick with age. He was a slave there, paying dues for his father's transgressions. He knocked on her room's door one night and fell onto his knees and wept when she opened it. In a manic rush, he told her she would "free the defiled and set fire upon the violators". He offered her the dress as an advanced token of thanks, his hands trembling as he gave it to her. He had stolen the dress from the daughter of Mahoutokoro's headmaster and it certainly didn't fit Kepi at the time, but it was the best he could do. Kepi inspected the fabric greedily and accepted his gift, not caring where it had come from and only caring that it was now hers.

She didn't look at the dress again until tonight. She took the seer's words with a grain of salt then, but as she began to recall them so vividly in her mind, she couldn't help but feel a fire surge within her. He was right, wasn't he? Set had planted seeds of a revolution in her mind, though she was still unclear as to how she would accomplish his ambitions.