the seven devils [completed]

chapter thirty-one

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The following days that passed were a blur to Varya Petrov, as she had spent most of her time hiding away in her room, claiming to have fallen ill yet again. The House-Elves brought most meals to her bed, and whenever she was forced to attend dinner, she would arrive just as everyone else was leaving, pick up some food on a platter, and then run back to her chamber, shutting the door behind.

It had been too much for her, realizing that her childhood memories had been fabricated by someone, and that Grindelwald had managed to infiltrate in her life without her being aware. She had always gathered that she was safe, far away from his hold, and yet Varya had been precisely in his den of snakes.

It was mostly Tom Riddle whom she avoided, however, because while she knew a way to get her memories back with the help of Dumbledore, she did not know how to make her infatuation with the reptilian boy go away. It was almost as if she was a fly caught in his well-designed web, and part of her wondered if this was his way of finally shutting the door of her coffin because the feelings that she felt were deadly.

Varya knew that the boy was growing impatient with her, keen to know what had unnerved her during the party, so much so that after kissing unfortunate Icarus Lestrange in the middle of the dancefloor, she had run away from the ball, not even bothering to complete her task by talking to the rest of the guests. And on top of that, he was too intelligent to fall for her lie, knowing very well how the girl acted when she was seriously sick.

Had it not been for Bellatris Rosier's urges for the girl to quarantine herself in her room, her evasion might not have worked, but the mother had had a terrible scare when the influenza pandemic of the winter of 1943 started, infecting some of her staff members. And while it was not enough to kill a witch, it was definitely a safety hazard.

Varya took this time to rearrange her thoughts, to plan. She had a task, after all, and now she was more determined than ever to make Tom Riddle see the light. However, part of her wondered if it was even possible. What did she even believe she was going to do? Make the boy fall for her? That was impossible, and she was well aware of it, knowing that despite Dumbledore's belief that the love potion had not affected his ability to feel, the boy had still developed into a full-blown sociopath.