Slytherin Forever! Book One: Blood Ties

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Chapter Five: Ashes To Ashes.

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All the colors turn to grey

Everything dies to be born again

There's no need to be afraid

I'll hold on until we fade away

- Autumn Harmony, For My Pain.

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Tom watched Ginny with a grim sort of satisfaction. The little girl did not know that he was the cause of her problems, nor that he had made her write the threatening message on the wall. Yet he was worried.

He was worried about her friends who had proved to be quite intelligent, and he was worried about the trance she slipped into after he left her body. Her friends could be taken care of, no doubt about that, but her trance...

Tom knew that he'd had quite the same reaction to his powers, trance included, but he had no idea about the seriousness of the cause. Laura had always kept quiet about the exact state he was in while he was in a trance, and to see the same thing overcome Ginny was really scary. He thought back on Laura with a sigh. So like Ginny she was, and yet so different...

Being raised like a Malfoy in every way had not been easy for Laura, he mused. And when he had met her for the first time he had pulled her down into his little world, a world full of uncertainties, without thinking about the consequences for her. She was a very powerful woman in her own right but even she'd had trouble with him and the powers given to him through his mother's blood.

He sighed as he remembered Laura's funeral, which was also the funeral of their child that had never been offered a chance to live...

"We are gathered here today to prove how deeply we loved and cherished the one known as Laura Seideira Malfoy," the vicar said. "She parted from us with a laugh and a tear, showing us exactly what kind of person she was. And we are also here to bless the child called Virginia Aurélie who died within her mother's womb, not knowing about the great evil her mother had to face. We commit their bodies to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. May they rest in peace for eternity."

Tom felt a tight knot place itself in his stomach as he recalled how the two women he had loved deeply died in his arms, killed by the people who were supposed to offer the wizarding world protection: the Aurors.

"Take this necklace and give it to the redheaded woman who shall be under your command one day. Tell her she should not keep it for herself, but should give it to one of her friends. My love shall live on in that friend until..."

"Laura!"

The redheaded girl closed her eyes despite Tom's cries, looking peaceful and sweet in his arms. He sighed and bowed his head as one single tear rolled down his cheek.

"I vow to you, Laura," he began, "that I shall never forget you. The Prewetts, the Clearwaters and the Potters shall regret this day for the rest of their lives. For with your death I have been given the will and the strength to become the man I was destined to become, and the wizarding world shall mourn for the deaths of the members of those families as well as it will mourn for you."

When he finally looked up his eyes were red, red like the blood of his beloved spilt on the stones. This night would be remembered as the night in which one man who would one day be known as Lord Voldemort sealed the fate of many families...

***

Ron Weasley was seething with anger. Not just because he had failed his History of Magic assignment miserably, but also because his sister had come into the Great Hall talking with the Slytherins. How Ginny could be happy with them he did not know. He wouldn't want to be in Slytherin for anything, not even for a thousand Galleons. The Slytherins were cunning little menaces with a very big ego. You just had to look at Draco Malfoy to see the embodiment of a Slytherin, Ron thought, but not at his sister!

And yet there she was, laughing about a silly prank with one of the Slytherin Prefects. It was almost like she felt at home there, but Ron knew Ginny well enough to know that it was all an act. Or was it?

He frowned as his sister slammed her fist down on the table as she glared at Pansy Parkinson who had just said something. Ginny's lips curled into a sneer as she said something to Pansy, which caused the older girl to blanch visibly. The Prefect seated next to Ginny put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, causing her to look up at him in confusion. He smiled and whispered something in her ear.

"Zeynep!"

An indignant shout was heard at the Slytherin Table as Pansy jumped up screaming. The shout came from the other Prefect, who was now making her way down to Ginny's little group. Zeynep Zabini got up and stretched himself to his full length; causing him to tower over everyone at his House Table, seated or not.

"What is it?"

His innocent question was loud enough for the whole Hall to hear, making students look at the Slytherins in interest. The female Prefect's words were more of a hiss and Ron could not hear what she said. Some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs started to giggle though, so it must have been funny.

Ginny's little group burst out laughing as Zeynep replied with a very serious face. Ron felt a pang of guilt as he saw Ginny glare at him before she started to laugh along with the others. Even the female Prefect had to suppress a grin as Zeynep continued to make wild gestures. However, Ron's attention was torn away from them by the arrival of Harry and Hermione and he did not look at the Slytherin Table again.

This was exactly what Ginny had hoped for, and she nudged Natalya. Her friend looked at her and then over to the Gryffindors before she waved for some Slytherins to come over to them. When everyone was seated (including Zeynep and Verice) Alisha began:

"In the light of recent events we have decided that we should know something more about the Chamber of Secrets and the family connected to it. Now we are proud to announce that we have found something out, namely..."

"Will you get to the point?" Draco interrupted. "I don't know about you but I still have a life to attend to."

"...The Vayaen built the entire Chamber and designed the concept of Parseltongue," Alisha continued after sending a glare towards Draco. "Parseltongue is the language spoken by snakes and sometimes by wizards and witches. But unlike other languages this language can only be spoken by those with a blood connection to Salazar Slytherin himself."

"Meaning?" Dev asked with a frown. "That the Vayaen were a bunch of lunatics?"

"No!" Ginny hissed and continued: "It means that the Heir of Slytherin is in the school at the moment, maybe even present here in the Great Hall."

"It could be one of us," Emmanuelle Landon said thoughtfully. "But we already knew that!"

"There is a point in all of this," Zeynep snapped. "The Heir alone is able to speak Parseltongue, which means that we can test him or her by just learning the spell to conjure a snake."

"And then what?" Kelly Quentin asked. "Go around the school and set a snake on anyone who could be linked to Slytherin?"

"Just on Potter," Draco replied. "He was found in the place the crime was committed. If anyone is a suspect, it has to be Potter. And one of us is going to unmask him."

"There will be a Dueling Club," Verice added. "Maybe we can try to unmask Potter then with half of the school present because that would make the hero fall. But we are going to need Snape's help."

"Why? I don't feel like asking him if could kindly let one of us duel with Potter because we think that he is the Heir of Salazar," Kelly said. "He is not stupid, he will know when we lie to him."

"Who says that we are going to lie?" Draco asked softly. "I hate Potter, as you all know, and Snape knows that I want to beat Potter with something. A wizard duel sounds perfect to me."

"But what do we do when he is indeed the Heir? Dumbledore is not going to believe us with the little evidence we might have then. Snape and Sinistra are no-goes, and our parents cannot do anything," Dev whispered. "Think about it, guys! Potter is going to win this game of chess from us no matter what we do to stop him. Within a couple of months the school shall be closed."

"There is still The Zeppo," Verice said. "I think that they will be able to help us."

"The Zeppo?" Emmanuelle drawled. "Pray tell, is it a Muggle organisation for the Rights of the Animals?"

"The Muggle organisation for the Rights of Animals is called the WWF, you idiot!" Natalya hissed. "The Zeppo is a Slytherin-based group with members from all over the world. But they have disappeared since the War, so we won't be able to contact them anyway."

"We have to get to class," Ginny said before anyone could reply to Natalya's words. "Right now I just want everybody to focus on the upcoming Quidditch Match. The Chamber is still open and Harry is not doing anything except for being a Gryffindor prat, so we can take a break from work."

The Slytherins parted from each other in silence. Emmanuelle, Verice, and Kelly went to Divination while Zeynep and the first-years went up to the second floor for Charms and Transfiguration, only stopping to chat with Marcus Flint about the upcoming game.

None of them knew that at this very moment Tom was planning things for his next move, nor did they know that Melanie Smith had been taken to St Mungo's a couple of days ago after a very traumatising vision that had predicted the rise of Voldemort...

***

Vuori College For Witchcraft, Savonlinna, Finland.

"You need to get some sleep, dearie," Frida Amundsen commented as Gudrun walked into the Staff Room. "Although I think that a nice bath would do you good as well."

Gudrun glared at the plump Transfiguration teacher before flopping down on one of the couches. Wendy Jennings, the Divination teacher, scooted over to Gudrun and grabbed her hand. She gasped and exclaimed as she traced her index finger down Gudrun's lifeline:

"I have never seen this before in my life! Dangers are on your path, my dear, and one of them shall be fatal to you. Your future is not very bright..."

"Have you seen the pile of tests I still have to correct?" Gudrun interrupted. "Anyone with a brain can tell that these are the dangers you spoke of, and I daresay that the fifth-year tests will be fatal for me."

Nigel Petersen, who taught Potions, snorted with laughter as he put his book down to watch the unfolding scene in front of him. Wendy looked scandalized as Gudrun continued:

"And I think that my lovelife is going to go downhill as well. After all, who would want to date a ghost?"

"Your fate is hardly something to joke about," Wendy replied. "Be careful, danger is coming your way."

She strode out of the room with dignity, muttering something about a tarot reading with the fourth years. When the door had slammed shut behind her the whole room burst out laughing.

"And once again it proves how valuable Slytherins are," Bibbi Andersson giggled. "You, Gudrun, are an absolute superwoman."

"I am too tired to get up and bow to everyone," Gudrun said lazily. "And may the Lord upstairs forgive me but I really don't like that woman."

"Who does? She is like Poison Ivy from Batman, minus the 'I want to control the world' part."

Bibbi shrugged as everyone looked at her in disbelief. Being the Muggle Studies teacher she was used to these looks by now and wasn't bothered by them anymore. Gudrun shrugged and closed her eyes, but opened them again as she heard a hoot from an owl outside.

"It's for you," Nigel said and tossed the letter to Gudrun who opened it quickly. "It has to be seeing as the Slytherin seal is on it."

Gudrun,

I cannot tell you everything in this letter, but you have to stay at Vuori no matter what kind of message you receive from us later on. Promise me that you will take my advice to heart.

Albania is still safe and we have not heard anything on the news about strange disappearances. It is Hogwarts everybody is worried about, and our concern is especially the bad name recent events will give Slytherin House.

Apparently the Chamber has been opened and a Squib's cat was Petrified. I guess that you already knew this, but I am merely refreshing your selective memory. The real news comes from London this time, from St Mungo's. I hope that you are seated because I know that this news is going to shock you when you read it.

Mel's condition has been going backwards ever since she arrived in Britain. The only coherent thing she talks about now is a second Heir from Salazar's bloodline. The doctors at St Mungo's fear that she will not recover completely from these traumatizing visions and they fear for her life if they continue at this rate. I don't know the details but Catherine told me in a letter that Mel does not respond to anything she says, so it must be pretty bad.

I cannot say anything else because my fear of anything dark and spooky is bigger than my fear for your life. You are safe at Vuori, Gudrun, so stay there no matter what happens to Mel. She is strong enough to survive without you.

Love always,

Heidi.

"I have got to go."

Gudrun got up despite protests from the other Staff members. Frida was the only one who noticed Gudrun's pale face as the Dark Arts teacher left the room.

Outside Gudrun slid down against the nearest wall and read the letter again. She shook her head mutely before putting her head down in her arms. Slowly she started to cry, not caring about who would pass by and hear it, letting her emotions take her over for the first time in years.

Mel... I need you... I cannot do this all by myself...

Her thoughts were directed towards her friend who was currently staying in St Mungo's thanks to Tom Marvolo Riddle. She wanted to be with Mel in this difficult time, not in a distant country with nobody to talk to, she wanted to support her friend and let her know that she cared about her.

"How am I supposed to fight when I don't know what I am fighting for?"

Her voice was aggravated and clearly had a tone in it that suggested weakness and grief. Her crying had ceased as she thought things over and she got up slowly, wiping the trail of tears away before striding towards her room in the South Tower.

"Sometimes you do not start fighting to make things draw to an end, but to create a beginning..."

Her mother had been right about everything. The Aurors had wanted to end something but instead of that they had created the foundation of Lord Voldemort's entire being: grief and hatred. It was not more than fair that the Slytherins, fifty years later, would heal the wounds inflicted on the name of their House.

It was time to contact Severus.

***

56 Years Ago, Hogwarts.

"Riddle, Tom!"

The blackhaired boy walked towards the Sorting Hat slowly and put it on after an encouraging nod from Professor Dumbledore, the Deputy Headmaster.

"Ah! Gwendolyn's son, finally!"

"Have you known my mother?"

"You could say that," the Hat chuckled. "She was so like you, young Riddle. You are clever, you have disregard for rules, and you are brave to the bone. Now where to put you? Founder's Blood, I see. That will do, yes, that will do just fine. I know a good place for you, Riddle... SLYTHERIN!"

The Slytherins applauded their new House member with not that much enthusiasm, seeing as the name Riddle was a Muggle one. They did not like House members with pureblooded parents that much, but Tom could not be bothered with the small round of applause.

"Seideira, Laura!"

Tom watched the redheaded girl with interest as she put the Sorting Hat on like he had done moments before. She grinned broadly as the Hat declared her a Slytherin and skipped over to the seat next to Tom. Unlike him, however, she got cheers from every single member of their House.

"Told you we would be here together," Laura whispered to Tom as the Sorting continued. "We will have a great time in Slytherin... mark my words!"

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