13 Chapter Twelve: A Wise Wizard Once Said

Every wizard in the history of wizardry had a day or two when they felt weak.

A day where they felt incompetent and equal to a failure, one that they would spend slumped away in some dreaded corner as they contemplated life itself and wondered whether it was worth living.

Those days were what really defined how mentally capable a wizard or witch was, because while everyone could have a bad day, not everyone could barrel through it and make it till midnight without having a mental breakdown or two. Usually, Cordelia Black was one of these people.

The people who threw themselves into work and school until they couldn't focus on anything except the task at hand. The people who got so busy throughout the day that at the end when they're curled up in bed with nothing to distract them from their true thoughts, they can't help but think of the day as nothing but productive.

The people who knew how to cope, move on, and make the best of what they had.

Cordelia was always one of those people.

Up until the day she wasn't.

The sun streaming through the emerald green curtains in the head girl's dorm was simply another reminder of the change in her life. Of how she wasn't just an idle sixth year tucked away in the dungeons wondering what was for breakfast that day, but a competent seventh year preparing herself for the world outside her comfort zone.

A world that now no longer included her usual pillar of friends she could turn to when she needed anything.

"Nix why does fate have to be so cruel?"

The question was muffled into Cordelia's unkept silk sheets, but the black cat curled up beside her heard it nonetheless. Or perhaps the small meow Nix let out was one of confusion directed at her owner's sudden distress. Regardless of the motive behind her cat's reply, Cordelia chose to take it as an opportunity to rant to the only being willing to listen to her.

"I have one drastic albeit destructive attitude change and suddenly I'm a friendless, heartless monster in the span of hours! Hours, Nix!"

She flopped onto her back as she spoke, further rustling the sheets around her body and prompting the black Persian to hesitantly paw at Cordelia's unkempt hair.

"I'm not saying it wasn't my fault or that I don't regret being such an awful person, but do I really deserve to be stripped of my brother's friendship because of it?"

This time Cordelia couldn't help but take Nix's whiny, drawn-out meow as a 'yes'. Something she didn't take too kindly to.

"That's it, I refuse to leave this room today!"

The words spoken contradicted the pristine uniform on her form and the full bookbag Cordelia had tossed onto a corner of her bed. Perhaps that was why even Nix, an oblivious cat who couldn't fathom why her owner was being so theatrical, was done with Cordelia's dramatics.

As she finally sat up from the bed she had been tossing and turning on for the past hour, it occurred to Cordelia that the reason her cat was so annoyed by the witch was due to her delayed breakfast. In fact, Nix couldn't care less about why her owner was throwing a fit so long as it didn't interrupt her plans of a full stomach.

The thought would have usually made the blue-eyed brunette petty, but after a morning filled with wails of regret and rambles of how unfair life was, Cordelia felt the lack of food in her system finally take a toll on her. Crying the night away usually did do that to a witch.

Thus, as much as she wanted to confine herself to her room and never leave the four walls again, Cordelia found herself pacing towards her black door with a happy Nix trailing behind her before she could stop herself.

The witch tried to busy herself with thoughts of her hungry self and Nix as she descended the stairs. After all, if she was going to get through the aftermath of losing all her friendships in one night, Cordelia would have to take things one step at a time.

Her plan, however, was ruined shortly after she fetched a new can of cat food from the shelf in the heads' common room. For just as Cordelia turned to the corner of the room to fill Nix's cat bowl, she was met with a sight that had her huffing with annoyance.

Of course, Tom Marvolo Riddle just happened to wake up an hour earlier than usual the one day Cordelia wanted to have a peaceful morning of solitude. And of course, he chose to bring up the one topic she had almost convinced herself to forget about.

"You came back late last night. I had to do the patrols myself, you know."

"It might surprise you to know one of us actually has friends and chooses to occasionally talk to them late at night."

Cordelia's snarky remark wasn't taken too kindly by the dark lord, who chose to quizzically raise an eyebrow and fold the left side of his newspaper away so he could meet her gaze as he spoke.

"So, you've made amends then?"

This time Cordelia didn't bother to conceal her annoyance with snark, choosing to instead fetch out her wand and mutter the can-opening charm. It was only when Nix's breakfast popped open that Cordelia finally chose to respond, not bothering to turn back towards Tom even as she spoke.

"If you call them showing me just how lost I was making amends then yes, we have."

Tom Riddle wasn't a very jovial person. He wasn't the type of wizard who liked cracking jokes and goofing around and was rarely seen in a position that could be perceived as true happiness.

Hearing Tom Riddle's let out a genuine laugh was almost as rare as a Niffler passing up the opportunity to steal some gold. Which was why Cordelia was genuinely surprised to hear the chuckle he let out, one that wasn't overly fake or openly mocking like his usual laughs.

The rareness of hearing Tom Riddle sound genuinely amused, however, didn't stop the witch from feeling more annoyed than she had ever been.

Cordelia found herself whirling around and snapping her wand in Tom's direction seconds after she heard the sound, a feat that had Nix whining in annoyance for the lack of breakfast. However, any choice few words Cordelia had planned to let out were cut off by a sharp pain in her leg. One that finally drew her gaze towards the whining cat below her.

"Ow, Nix! Bad cat!"

Her predicament seemed to heighten Tom's amusement, making the wizard let out a snort as he watched Cordelia wrestle the cat away from her stockings while attempting to fill the food bowl. In the end, after several minutes of trying to convince Nix to stop jumping on her, Cordelia settled on simply levitating the tin of cat food to the table in front of Tom and letting her cat do as she pleased.

It was only then that she once again turned towards the head boy, with her mind reeling in frustration and silver tongue ready to dish out a series of insults. However, any words of disdain she had planned to throw his way vanished the second their eyes met.

Cordelia had planned to let out her frustrations on the wizard before her, but as she stared at Tom Riddle she couldn't help but give in to the sad curiosity she felt.

"How do you do it?"

Tom seemed surprisingly prepared for the question as if he had known Cordelia was going to ask it even before she did.

"It's easier when you're not attached. You can't let emotions get in the way if you plan to have real subordinates."

Any sign of his previous amusement disappeared as Tom spoke, making Cordelia feel too curious for her own good and leading her to her next question.

"But doesn't it hurt? Knowing they'll never look at you as a friend and only as someone they hate but respect?"

"I don't need their affection, the respect is enough for me. After all, I wanted knights, not friends."

Cordelia found herself drawn to Tom as he spoke, and it wasn't long before she settled into the spot beside him on the couch, leaning back in her seat and resting her chin in her hand as she watched him talk about the life he had created within Slytherin's dorms.

"If I want to achieve my goals, Cordelia, I cannot let emotion get in the way of reason. Otherwise, my knights would have left me as they did you."

Tom had begun using her first name ever since their return to Hogwarts, but Cordelia still couldn't get used to the way he said it; as if he thought it was a privilege to be able to say her first name. She couldn't help but wonder whether that was how his knights felt every time they referred to Tom with his last name in public.

The thought made Cordelia think about other aspects of his relationship with the Slytherin wizards, a relationship he wasn't too keen on talking about up until that day. Her pent-up emotions from the previous night began to fade away as Cordelia used her companion's sudden honesty to try and understand Tom Riddle and the person he wished to become.

"What exactly are your goals?"

Tom seemed amused with her curiosity but chose to answer nonetheless.

"I want to purge the wizarding world of its filth. To create a world where magic folk does not have to be hidden away from mudbloods and muggles who are lesser than."

"You want to change the wizarding world as we know it?"

Tom turned away from her as he spoke, choosing to instead stare into the distance and contemplate his plans.

As she watched Tom, Cordelia couldn't help but see the resemblance between Tom's ideals and that of Grindlewald, but she chose to avoid any mentions of the other dark lord that could lead to hostility from the head boy. After all, it wasn't every day that Tom chose to speak so freely, and she wasn't willing to pass up that opportunity in order to annoy him.

"I want to give us the freedom we deserve, Cordelia. That isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"But what of the collateral?"

Tom hummed at her question as if it was a universal question wise men would contemplate for ages. In the end, he simply chose to look back at Cordelia with his signature smirk and a reply that had her scoffing indignantly.

"What of it?"

It was clear that Tom didn't want to share more than he had to, but as she watched the brunette slowly fall into his usually guarded habits, Cordelia couldn't help but press on.

"No war was won without blood being shed."

Tom clicked his tongue at her words, a habit Cordelia had come to recognize as a sign of his growing annoyance.

"I would rather watch the muggles bleed than us."

The statement was one she couldn't possibly argue with. After all, only a saint would choose to save people they didn't know over their family and friends. The likes of Dumbledore and his blood traitors could argue as much as they wanted, but at the end of the day, Cordelia knew it was human nature for people to save themselves over others.

Although as she turned away from Tom's pressing gaze to watch Nix hiss at Nagini, who had crawled out of Tom's robes to try and steal the cat's food, Cordelia couldn't help but wonder whether the promise of peace and prosperity was worth risking your life for people who would never know of the battles fought for them.

After all, wasn't that what the light was formed for? To save muggles and mudbloods who were too weak to save themselves.

"If this was your excuse to tell me you're interested in being my dark lady it's not very subtle."

Tom's sudden statement cut through the solemn atmosphere of his previous words, making Cordelia snap out of her thoughtful reverie with a curt giggle.

"If this is your plan to take advantage of the situation and convince me then it's not very subtle."

The duo shuffled around as she spoke, abandoning their position on the couch to collect their belongings and prepare for the day ahead of them. Even as Cordelia busied herself discarding the empty can of cat food and cleaning up Nix, she couldn't help but catch the unamused eyeroll Tom threw her way. One that had her chuckling yet again.

When she finally turned away from Nix and bid the cat goodbye for the day, Cordelia couldn't help but smile at Tom who was holding out her book bag for her. A gesture that she couldn't help but regard as an olive branch, one that solidified their friendship of sorts.

Just like she hoped for the new morning had brought her a miracle, even if it wasn't exactly what Cordelia had in mind.

As Hogwarts' head boy and girl exited their common room and made their way to breakfast that fine morning, Cordelia couldn't help but feel slightly grateful for Tom Riddle and the similarities they shared. Similarities that ensured she couldn't push him away even if she wanted to.