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

V

5| The charm of mistery

Tom Riddle spent every spare moment of his existence learning. Knowledge was an immense power that ordinary people continually took for granted. With knowledge also came awareness, past mistakes, victories and losers. And if you knew them you knew how to avoid them yourself, didn't you? There were so many variables that could have compromised his scheme but he almost always foresaw them. Nothing caught him off guard anymore because he knew.

Although he had private rooms to which he could retire after meetings he much preferred the library full of unnecessary decorations. The ostentation of wealth had never been to his liking. It was like a slap in the face, an everlasting reminder that those who followed him so loyally and blindly were the same ones who had been wallowing in gold since birth while he had been a victim of human weakness. Forced to live in poverty and to drag himself away from the humiliation he had suffered.

However, against all the expectations, his past sometimes swelled him with immense personal satisfaction. He, the poor and lonely orphan, had been able to bend the entire pureblood circle to his mercy. He controlled and exploited them mercilessly, they were the few he had to keep at bay with torture, most were naturally devoted to him.

The Malfoy library was one of the best stocked. With the numerous manuals on dark magic and the precise filing system on the data of each pureblood family it was a highly prized stock for his information-hungry mind. That was why he had immediately gone to the library to look for information.

His finger scrolled quickly over the list, eager to find the surname he was looking for, and the corner of his mouth bent slightly upwards as he found the desired family.

The Rosier family, in the days when he still went to Hogwarts, was a very valuable ally. His old school friend, David, had unfortunately fallen victim to a terrible illness and all his fortune had been passed on to his brother Leonard and this would not have been a big problem except that the fool had fallen for a French Muggle-born from beauxbatons. The couple had moved into one of the Rosier family homes in France and it didn't take a genius to figure out that they would never join his cause...voluntarily.

Tom was adamant that Leonard needed a little push. The right reason. He was even willing to not kill his pregnant fiancée and move on from his disgusting betrayal in order to gain access to his resources again. He'd already tried diplomacy, sending Lestrange in his stead, he'd failed but at least he'd learned that Leonard was hiding a secret, now all he needed to do was find out what it was.

He was searching through every register and every field. Politics, social life, post-Hogwarts education and in every philanthropic activity he was a part of -which had dwindled considerably once the circle had discovered where his loyalties lay. But he had found nothing

And that infuriated him.

He ran his hand through his curly brown hair for what seemed like the hundredth time, letting out a frustrated sigh before closing yet another book that proved to be useless.

Just as he had decided to leave the library and go to his rooms the library door swung open and he quickly retreated behind the bookshelf, he had no intention of meeting anyone. His hair was dishevelled, the knot in his tie loosened and a frustrated expression on his face. He wasn't in his best condition and he wasn't going to let anyone see him like that.

He would have gone through the side door, he told himself, then he caught a glimpse of Althea's profile and for some reason unknown to him he stood still.

He watched her wander through the shelves, her skirt fluttering around her ankles and the rolled sleeves of her blouse revealing her forearm and showing her mark. Her skin was still flushed giving the impression that the tattoo had a violet note in the ink. He saw her face and a flash of it contorted into an expression of controlled pain passed before his eyes...oh how he had enjoyed the sight of tears being shed for him.