She's A Liar [T.R. & R.B.]

III

PLEASE READ THE NOTE AT THE END THANK U I LOVE YOU

3| Pleasant lies

Tom Riddle forgot faces as quickly as he killed them. It was nothing personal, simply no face was relevant enough to cling to his memory. Once, he had even partially removed Bellatrix Black's face.

He had only recognised her by her obnoxious proximity to him.

It came as a great surprise to him when he saw a girl standing next to Mr and Mrs Yaxley, but not because she was a woman. But because, although he did not mind remembering people, it was particularly difficult to forget the face of a girl he had met on an occasion far removed from a crime scene.

He saw out of the corner of his eye Lestrange's gaze move quickly between him and her and then finally stop at the table. He bowed his face, trying to mask a small smile that was trying to make its way onto his face.

Riddle was fully aware of how Yaxley's daughter had fallen into a whirlpool of mild embarrassment. This encounter had taken her by surprise as well and he couldn't help but feel a sense of delight.

His gaze lingered on her all the way from the door to the chair, in front of his pupil, Regulus Black, who seemed equally surprised and frightened at having the girl in front of him.

She showed no knowledge of him, showed nothing but mild surprise disguised as admiration for him, and Tom was pleased to see himself reflected in her big black eyes.

He liked to be the object of the most attention, wherever he was.

A strange tension grew in the room, no one was quite sure where it came from and no one dared to start a conversation. It was too great a risk that no one had the courage to take but the young and devoted Bellatrix Black.

"my lord? may we begin?"

She made a gesture with her hand -could have meant shut up is a sign that she could move on- and Lestrange was the first to speak. With the courtesy and manners of a gentleman he smiled at the newcomers, welcoming them and testing, with simple, focused questions, the young girl's behavioural predisposition.

"I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced," he smiled felinely, his eyes sparkling with curiosity. It was common for recruits to be extremely young, fresh from Hogwarts, but not that they had such specific talents.

Voldemort kept close to him all humans - and non-humans - who could offer him advantages and connections. He exploited them with the promise of a better life.

The girl, Rodolphus thought, was his mother's daughter indeed. With her perfect posture and chin up, her gaze was so bright and her face so proud that for a moment he thought she was actually happy to be there. Juliet had taught her well how to wear the most appropriate masks and Lestrange was impressed by the girl's skill.

"Althea Yaxley sir, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Tom savoured the name quietly, Stephen's firstborn who he felt would lead him to absolute victory. Althea, the one who heals. He almost had to smile, for her parents it had been a misfortune, Juliette had been more than enthusiastic in offering her daughter as a token of his mercy and her father had been more than pleased once he had discovered that she would follow him anywhere, thus removing her from their custody.

"Tell us Althea" Lestrange almost whispered her name, as if singing a song from another time, narrator of past exploits "what services do you offer?"

Rodolphus' phrase was of dubious origin, he had tied his question to the memory of her clutching their lord. Casting a glance at the latter he realised that the times when he could play with him had come to an end. Now he expected the loyal and devoted follower.