Chapter 16: Chapter Fifteen: Abarax Malfoy
The Black-McMillan siblings were quite the sight for sore eyes as they entered the Great Hall. With their arms looped, smiles wide and words whispered amongst each other the duo seemed like the paragon of good siblings, something they had been seen as ever since Orion arrived at Hogwarts.
Pureblood families were often known for the tension between children attempting to one-up each other, but after Orion's declaration to his parents during the Triwizard Tournament, it was clear the pair held no hostility towards each other. A sight that was revelled upon by students and professors alike who weren't so lucky.
"Mother is angry you turned down the interview with the Daily Prophet."
Cordelia scoffed at her brother's words, tugging him along to the back of the Slytherin table as she replied.
"I've already had a dozen of them, why do they need more?"
The duo walked past their usual group of friends as they spoke, just like they had for the past week, and instead approached Riddle and his gang of wizards at the back.
Cordelia hadn't been very keen on joining Riddle at the start but after a little persuasion from her brother and the fact that she couldn't hide out in the kitchens forever the brunette realised making amends with her sworn enemy of sorts wasn't too bad. The fact that Theodore and Rodolphus would join them every lunch also helped matters.
The change from being with a group of people she had known since she was a child to wizards who she barely spoke to was an awkward one, but over the days Cordelia had become accustomed to it. In fact, she thoroughly enjoyed getting to know some of the wizards, especially Abarax Malfoy.
Abarax was a peculiar pureblood. He was the type of wizard who was always a little too formal and talked like he belonged to their parent's generation. The blond never spoke more than he had to and took pleasure in changing the flow of conversation with a single comment. Cordelia hadn't known him for long, but she had come to like the blond and consider him a friend over the past few days.
Something Tom Riddle didn't take too kindly to.
After the situation in his bedroom, Cordelia had taken to avoiding Tom like the plague. She had disappeared from his room the moment he had taken his leave and chose to spend most of her days hiding out in the library with Theodore as she contemplated just what the two of them were doing to each other.
Tom and Cordelia weren't friends, that was for sure.
There was a time when Cordelia had yearned for them to be a little more than that, for Tom to properly court her as he had promised he would, but those emotions had disappeared the moment she won the tournament, for it was then that his hostility had returned.
After months of thinking of him as someone to avoid Cordelia couldn't help but feel peculiar at their acquaintanceship, especially when she knew it was a ploy to get closer. To consume any light she had in her so that Tom could mould her into what he wanted her to be.
Perhaps that was why she chose to swap him out with Theodore and Abarax the instant their previous ways returned.
One could never be certain with Tom Riddle. He was always known for his unprecedented ways and ploys no one could ever see coming.
But unlike before, Cordelia didn't let the constant changes affect her much and chose to ignore the pang of annoyance creeping through her veins the instant her gaze landed on Tracy Travers practically draped over Tom as she sat in what was previously dubbed Cordelia's seat.
If Tom wanted to play that game, Cordelia had no qualms with it. Especially when Abarax was far too much of a gentleman to ever misread her actions as anything but a little bit of vengeance.
"He won't take too kindly to your sudden proximity."
Cordelia couldn't help but smile at Abarax's words, noticing how hesitant he was to disobey Tom even as he passed Cordelia the eggs.
"That's the point."
They didn't bother to speak much after that, with Abarax reading the newspaper and Cordelia trying to cram an hour of breakfast into the ten minutes she had left. It was only when they were teetering on the edge of being late that Cordelia made any signs of leaving, choosing to follow after Orion who had rushed to Divination a moment ago.
However, unlike every other day for the past week, Cordelia turned towards Abarax when she was done, ignoring Tom's pressing gaze from the other side of the table as she spoke.
"Walk with me?"
"Of course."
Abarax was a faithful wizard. He was the kind to find a set of ideals and stick to them, even if it meant prioritising some ideals over others. Just like how he chose his persona of courtesy over serving his lord every given moment. The decision would cost him, Cordelia and Abarax both knew as much, but as the blue-eyed duo left the table to head down to Potions Cordelia couldn't help but realise that he didn't care.
"He seemed annoyed."
The brunette giggled at her companion's observation, choosing to loop their arms as Abarax led the way to Slughorn's classroom.
Abarax was hiding something.
It was clear from the way he paused every now and then during the lesson to contemplate a decision before snapping back to the potion before them.
Cordelia and Abarax had been working on their batch of Amortentia for over twenty minutes, but the blond had stared into space in contemplation at least a dozen times during that time. It was enough to make Cordelia take over the potion-making, choosing to have Abarax chop while she brought their Amortentia to life.
"Sickle for your thoughts?"
Usually, Abarax would refrain from saying too much around Cordelia. But with Tom busy trying to keep up his facade of kindness as Tracy messed up their ingredients for the third time, the blond allowed himself a moment of truth, one that would drastically change Cordelia's future at Hogwarts.
"He's planning something."
Abarax never referred to Tom by name, choosing to instead use pronouns when he couldn't address him as his Lord, but even with the vagueness, Cordelia could always catch on, which was why she couldn't help but look at her partner in amusement as his words registered.
"When is he not?"
"No- this isn't normal, Cordelia. He's planning something big, it's scary the way he's getting."
It was then that Cordelia finally sensed the fear in Abarax's voice, watching as he gnawed at the inside of his cheek and wondered just how much information was too much.
"He told all the knights to stay away from you and cursed Theodore yesterday. But it was different, he was more vengeful and wanted to hurt you."
Tom had hurt her copious times before, both physically and emotionally, but something about the way Abarax spoke made it clear that hurt was an understatement compared to whatever Tom spoke to his knights about. Cordelia couldn't help but feel bad for the way the blond returned to cutting up the ingredients with a little too much force as he thought everything through and found herself trying to comfort him even as she felt a sudden onslaught of fear.
"It will be alright, Abarax. I can handle him."
Her weak attempt at a smile was immediately shot down as the blond spoke again, this time sounding more solemn than frightened.
"I don't know Cordelia, but I think-"
"-I think whatever it is Tom is planning for the future, we just stepped into the next phase."
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