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—IT WAS NOW YULE BREAK AND ALEXANDRIA, LIKE THE OTHER STUDENTS, WAS BACK HOME. She had been apparated back home by her father a few hours ago, which was why she was busy with unpacking. "Come in," she said when somebody knocked at the door.
The door opened and Tom walked in, frowning at her unpacking. "Leave that to the house elves, Lex."
"Yes, father." Alexandria mumbled, eyes lighting up when Nagini slithered into the room.
"You seem.. different," said her father monotonously.
"I do?" She frowned, confused, crouching down to pet Nagini's scales.
"Yes. Yes, you do. Is everything alright?"
"What do you know about necromancy?" asked the girl suddenly, now looking at her father— who was sitting down on a couch.
"Everything," frowned Tom in suspicion. "Why?"
Alexandria sighed, walking to where he was sitting at and sitting down next to him. "There's a new professor. His last name is Selwyn— who are all died out. My guess is he's somebody back from the dead pretending to be a Selwyn."
"Lex," Tom put an arm around her shoulder. "You do know that whoever this man is, he won't be alive for much longer, right?"
"What?" frowned the girl. "What does that mean?"
"Necromancy," started the man. "is the study of the dead, more commonly known as bringing the dead back. It changes somebody's appearance, voice, and pretty much everything— except for their feelings and memories. They're almost human, but the only difference is that they cannot eat, nor will they be alive for much longer. That's the point. The dead stay dead, Lex."
"How long do they have left?"
"It depends on the person. It's never more than a year."
Alexandria frowned in thought.
Tom looked at her curiously. "Why do you want to know who he actually is?"
"I have this.. feeling," replied his daughter. "This feeling that I'm supposed to figure out who he is."
The man sighed, worried. "I suppose I should go get all the necromancy books from our library and bring it to your room." He stood up, walking to the door.
Alexandria couldn't stop the smile growing on her face. "You'll help me?"
"Of course," nodded Tom. "I'll be right back."
♡
"So.. these are all the choices?" asked Alexandria, looking at the list in her hands.
It was a few hours later and not only had she gone through every necromancy book in Salazar Slytherin's library, but the dark lord was also helping.
Tom nodded, looking at it over her shoulder. "I've narrowed it down to these 5 people. However, I've got no idea who knows the ritual."
Her eyes stopped on the 'Cedric Diggory' part, but she shook her head and crossed his name out. "His father is from one of the lightest families. I doubt that it's him."
He shrugged and sat back down next to her, lips quirking upwards when she put her head on his shoulder. "Maybe you should give yourself a rest."
"How? I haven't got enough time," replied his daughter with a sigh. "I've got to figure out who he is before he dies. Wait— how do they even die?"
"They'll bleed out suddenly. A small cut will be on their body— which is step 1. It slowly becomes larger and when it's time, the person will die again by bleeding out."
Alexandria groaned. "Great."
"Kinda is," nodded Tom, shrugging unapologetically when he noticed her glare.
♡
"Alexandria?" asked a voice by the doorway.
It was almost midnight and everyone was asleep— well, that was what Alexandria, who was eating a late dinner in the kitchen while re-reading another book about necromancy, thought.
"Harry?" frowned the girl. "Why're you not asleep?"
Harry's eyebrows rose. "Look at you, caring for me and shit." he grinned.
Thanks to being around Sirius most of the time, Harry was now more sarcastic and basically had the same personality as Sirius— meaning he was more fun and stuff. But thanks to also being around all the other death eaters, he was starting to learn how to torture and kill— practicing it whenever he had free time.
Alexandria rolled her eyes, taking a sip of whatever was in the glass next to her plate. "Bold of you to assume I feel."
"Bold of you to assume I don't know that," he shot back, walking to the fridge. "Why're you awake, anyway?"
"Somebody's back from the dead and I have to figure out who he is before he bleeds out to death in front of a school filled with children. You?"
Harry slowly turned around and made eye contact with her. "And I thought living with the dark lord and a bunch of death eaters was the most unbelievable thing to happen."
"It is," nodded the girl, unbothered.
"Everything in this manor is crazy," mumbled the boy, taking a sip from her glass.
"Hey!" She exclaimed, slapping his hand.
Harry made a disgusted face, looking at the glass. "What was that?"
"Firewhisky."
He gagged, rushing to the sink. "Firewhisky at midnight?! What would your father say?"
"He'd kill you."
He frowned in confusion. "Why me?"
"Because I'll be telling him that it was you who offered me a glass of it if you don't let me get back to reading," smirked the girl, ignoring his horrified look.
"G'night," said the boy, rushing out of the kitchen.
