"Has she arrived yet?"
Tom looked up from his book concerning magical fire, which he had been able to snag before a torrent of students assaulted the Hogwarts Library as soon as they had a chance. The duel between Lilith and Valerio in the Great Hall became quite the topic of discussion in their wake, with many of the older students analyzing the fight and looking for ways it could have gone better. Most would agree that Lilith showed a bit of arrogance in the fight, giving Valerio time to react after her first strike. Tom, however, disagreed. Lilith had managed to bring him down to his knees with a Cruciatus Curse, or at least what he and the older students believed to be the Cruciatus Curse, but didn't press the attack. The reason was there for everyone to see, if they only bothered to think. Lilith was trying to gauge just how dangerous Valerio was, rather than exposing herself to a close range attack. The Torture Curse was meant to scare Valerio into attacking back violently, which he did. Had he used those magical flames closer to Lilith, the battle would have gone the other way. Lilith wisely kept her distance, letting Valerio's fear expose his capabilities to her and everyone else. Unfortunately for his partner, the seventh year Heir had a trick up his sleeve, one that Tom was certain had cost more than what Lilith had been willing to gamble for in the fight.
Lucretia sat down on the opposite seat to his in one of the tables within the Slytherin Common Room. At a glance she seemed a mix of worry and fury. Tom had to admit that his last few interactions with the younger Black Prefect showed quite a different side to her. He quietly added her into the "avoid to irritate category" of his peers as it seemed that while she never showed symptoms of the so-called Black Madness, she was still quite terrifying when angry. "I haven't heard any news from her yet." Lucretia sighed, twirling a dark brown lock of her in her fingers. She looked over at the entrance of the Common Room, before Tom noticed a familiar ward snapping into place, followed by Alphard sitting beside his cousin. Tom really had to get a better read on the Blacks, as Alphard had moved around the Common Room without Tom being able to spot him at all. "Easy, Lu. She'll be back soon. Her injuries, minus the eye, weren't that bad." Lucretia turned to her cousin. "That's not the point! I had a discussion with her the night before about doing stupid things on her own. Yet yesterday, she did it again! The hell she was doing, out in the Forest so early in the morning all on her own?"
Alphard sighed. "Her Herbology assignment, probably. She missed it on Beltane. As to why she did it alone, you do realize that changing her very behaviour in an instant isn't possible, right? Sure, she agreed to your aid, which is saying something, but she still had to think about when to seek it. This was nothing more than a class assignment. There was no reason for her to be worried about anything." Lucretia glared at Alphard. "The Forest isn't safe! There are Barghest and who knows what else out there." Alphard hummed to himself before looking at Tom. "I don't think the Barghests are too much trouble for her, right Riddle?" Tom felt both Blacks looking at him now as he turned the page, looking up counters to the flame whip. Seeing the notes that described it as a spell designed to cut through most magical shields, Tom could see why it managed to cut through Lilith's, though it did struggle with it. Was that a fault on the caster of the whip or the strength of the shield's caster? "I am not sure. All I know is that that particular Barghest wasn't violent towards us." Alphard leaned back. "Think it might be her Familiar?" Lucretia looked over at Alphard. "Familiars don't work like that. Unless she had a run in with it, who knows when, that Barghest should have been a wild beast. Besides, if it had been her Familiar, Valerio would probably have been dead at the lakeshore."
"What's this about Familiars? Is Orion asking for one already?" The three froze at the sudden appearance of a familiar voice, with Tom being the first to react and look at the source of it. He instantly felt an unfamiliar pang of pain as he was only able to look into one bright green eye, the other being covered in a black cloth that stretched down to her cheek. From Lucretia's side, Alphard seemed to struggle for a second. "Wait, my wards are still active. How did you get through them without me noticing? And how the hell did you even hear us!?" Lilith gave him a smirk. "Did you bother to sweep the table and chairs for inactive sources of foreign magic? You still have a lot to learn about being careful, Alphard. Cassiopeia will probably be mad if she hears about this." Alphard paled slightly, though Tom had trouble determining if it was out of fear or embarrassment. Lucretia, however, had other things on her mind. "Care to tell me why you went off on your own, after you promised to keep me in the loop?" Lilith blinked at her for a second before blushing slightly. "You were sleeping? Orion says that you aren't a morning person, especially on the weekends." Alphard snorted as Lilith sat down besides Tom to his right. "She has you there, Lu."
Lilith turned and stared back at her partner, who had been eyeing her carefully since she arrived. "Something wrong?" Tom tapped his right cheek. "How long before that comes off or is it permanent?" Lilith glaced at the other two, who were clearly interested in hearing her answer. She sighed in resignation. "A few days, maybe weeks. The whip caused enough damage to it that my healers are having trouble correcting it. It should be cleared out by the time term exams are upon us." Tom relaxed a little at that as Lilith checked out his book. "Can I see that for a second?" Tom nodded and she looked over the details pertaining to the flame whip. While her extensive research into shield spells had given her a deeper understanding into how they worked and how they didn't, it was clear that her limitations had affected her defences more than she had hoped, even with the enhancements from the runes. Still, she wondered if there was a way that she could bypass that limitation. Maybe her project could lead to that. That was, if she could get the magical cores to work correctly. "Guess I need to add a few shield spells to the ineffective list, at least until I can hold them at full strength." Lilith handed back the book and looked at Alphard and Lucretia. "So, why were you two talking about Familiars?"
Tom kept his attention divided between the book and Lilith, as Lucretia tore into her. "Do you have any idea what you put us all through? I told you that we care, Lilith, and I meant it. The next time you need to get anything done in someplace remotely dangerous, you bring it up with me or so help me, I will tie you up to your bed!" Lilith looked at Lucretia and blushed. "Ah, I hate to break it to you, Lu, but I am not interested in you that way. I don't think I would mind a little ropeplay, but I would mind if it was with you." Lucretia stopped mid rant and blushed as she raised her voice. "I didn't mean it like that!" Alphard and Lilith laughed at Lucretia's embarrassment, which definitely helped to diffuse the tension at the table. Tom noted that Lilith was clearly in quite a happy mood, though she would turn pensive at times, something he had noticed she was fond of doing from time to time, as if there was some greater puzzle that she needed to solve. Still, the sight of her eyepatch irked him. While she had won the duel, it had come at quite the personal cost. So as the rest of the Black family made its way through the Common Room to check on Lilith, Tom wondered what exactly had Lilith gained from the duel that was worth losing her eye. Because he was absolutely certain that there had been more to the fight than what everyone had seen with their own eyes.