Chapter Forty-One: Secrets of The Past

"Meet me at the clearing in the woods after the Yule."

Contrary to her previous time in the woods, Cordelia felt an odd chill rolling down her back as she made her way past the fountains and marble statues. She wondered whether her fear stemmed from her lack of experience with the French. After all, every encounter Cordelia had with a Beauxbaton student ended in chaos and pain.

Regardless of what her heart made her feel, a part of her couldn't help but disregard the fear for nervousness.

Cordelia thought the fear would seep away as she walked through the woods, with her gown blending into the darkness and creating an eerily peaceful environment as her mind ran free with speculations of Antoine's intentions. She thought that the panic would ebb away as soon as she met the French boy.

She was wrong, oh so wrong.

The malicious, almost murderous glare thrown her way made Cordelia's heart stutter as her hand automatically reached for her wand. One glare was enough to completely change her perception of Antoine, enough to make Cordelia regret her decision to ignore her heart.

The fun, playful French boy was replaced with a calculative, diabolic wizard filled to the brim with hatred. However, it wasn't the glare that horrified her. Over the past few weeks, Cordelia had faced an ample amount of glares worse than the one thrown at her at that moment, but none of them had ever been paired with such a cynical smile.

"You made it."

She gulped as Antoine reached out a hand, attempting to escort her towards a familiar clearing in the woods.

"Why am I here, Antoine?"

His arm fell back as the brunette boy huffed and walked towards one of the crumbling pillars. If she wanted to, Cordelia could have fatally injured Antoine and escape before he had the chance to explain himself, but a part of her, an annoyingly curious part, couldn't help but play along with his peculiar games.

"I want to tell you a story."

"A story?"

Antoine nodded at her, motioning for her to join him as he continued.

She eventually gave in to his coercion, noticing how his glare sharpened as Antoine sucked in bouts of air. For a moment all was silent as the French boy composed himself while his companion contemplated whether it was too late to run away.

Unfortunately, Antoine started speaking before rationality could corrupt Cordelia's curiosity.

"French wizarding families have always been very complacent. We don't ask for much, for me usually have what we need, and in return do our best to help those worthy. We only seek one thing in return, something everyone wishes for in their life; happiness."

"And we were, up until my first birthday-" harsh heaves cut off his story as Antoine met Cordelia's gaze, captivating her with an intoxicating amount of pain.

"-until mother took her life."

They remained silent for a moment as the duo took their time digesting Antoine's words. While his story didn't help her understand why she was summoned to the woods in the middle of the night, Cordelia couldn't help but pity the jovial boy with a tragic past.

"Antoine I'm-"

"Sorry for my loss? Tell me, Black, how many things are you sorry for?"

Her pity had flipped a switch inside him, a switch that brought another maniacal smile onto his face as Antoine slowly walked towards her.

"Will you apologize on behalf of your mother? For her wanton sins? For her stupid parties?"

Pain spread through her back as Cordelia collided against the pillar, her gaze set solely on the hand yanking her wand away from her. Even though they were the same height, Antoine felt like he was towering above her as he kicked at the crumbling pillar, barely missing Cordelia's leg.

"For your existence?"

Dread. That was the only thing she could comprehend.

The dread that accompanied her past, the dread that tainted her childhood and father's heart. She had been so close to doing everything she wanted; from winning the tournament and earning her father's respect, to beating Riddle and proving that she wasn't just a prissy pureblood, to finally being more than the Black sheep.

Cordelia was going to have it all, but in her quest to fix the future, she ignored the horrors of her past creeping up on her.

She tilted her head to the side as her gaze met Antoine's, noticing something other than the hatred and pain. She finally realised why his blue eyes were so familiar, for they were but a shade darker than her own. They were the eyes of a French man, the eyes of a traitor.

The eyes of their father.

"Ravenport. You're Blair Ravenport's son."

Antoine smirked at her as leaned forward, jabbing his wand into her throat.

"You were the reason for her depression, the reason my beautiful, kind mother had to take her own life because her husband was in love with another. You, and your wanton mother."

He dug his wand deeper, but even with the small drops of blood dripping down her neck, Cordelia didn't bother fighting. Why would she? After all, he was right.

Melania did have an affair with a French minister, except one of them fell in love and the other regretted the affair for the rest of her life. Regardless of their feelings, and Melania's continuous efforts to ignore Ravenport's pleads to elope, Cordelia's birth and Arcturus's anger couldn't be helped.

The affair had broken both of their families, but while the Blacks were blessed with Orion and learned to tolerate, if not love, one another, the Ravenports grew distant and their only son's life fell apart. While one family healed, the other broke.

Antoine had every right to kill her; the reason for his family's sadness, and Cordelia was fine with that. She deserved to face the broken French boy's wrath, and in a way, it was poetic how the reason behind her birth and death were the same.

"For what it's worth, I really am sorry on behalf of my mother."

Cordelia leaned her head against the pillar and let out a sigh as she came to terms with her fate.

Tom Riddle, however, disagreed with her thoughts.

She anticipated a harsh curse that would spread unimaginable pain through her body and kill her slowly, but Cordelia never thought Antoine would be the recipient of the curse.

A scream cut through the solemn atmosphere as a figure clad in black robes walked across the clearing, pausing right behind Antoine's shivering figure.

"The list of men in your diary, they were the men who attended the ball."

Cordelia opened and closed her mouth in confusion for a moment as she tried to recall exactly what Riddle was talking about, but eventually let out a nod, too shocked to respond with words.

For once she didn't bother interfering or stopping Tom as he kneeled to Antoine's level and muttered hexes that made the pitiful wizard plead for forgiveness. It was only when the French boy passed out that Riddle reversed the curses, replacing them with spells to mend his wounds and wipe his memory.

Cordelia didn't know what Tom planned to do with her half-brother, and was too busy coming to terms with the situation to bother questioning the spiteful Dark Lord.

Tom was surprisingly calm as he stood up and offered Cordelia her wand.

"Why would the Blacks mingle with French ministers?"

She sighed at his question, unsure whether her saviour deserved to know her life story. Cordelia knew it was dangerous to divulge in her deepest secrets, especially considering their hostility, but the pureblood princess wondered whether Tom would continue pursuing her if he knew the truth.

"My parents were Grindlewald's loyalist followers and threw several balls to gather allies during the war. Those balls resulted in my existence, and everything after."

She let out a sigh as Cordelia slowly began walking back towards Beuaxbaton.

"Father, and everyone else, chose to blame me for everything. It wasn't until Orion turned five and used magic for the first time that he began to forgive me for sins I didn't commit. Yet even then, he despised me; the bastard child, the black sheep, the stain on his perfect family."

Tom stayed quiet after that, too lost in his thoughts to ask any more questions, Cordelia didn't mind, in fact, she appreciated the silence. It gave her time to calm her racing heart while her mind ran a mile a minute, wondering whether it was wise to tell her enemy her darkest secret.

Their trip lacked conversation as the two made their way through the palace, the only sound being Cordelia's occasional sighs.

It wasn't until they reached the Hogwarts girls' dorms that Tom spoke, his voice carrying a gentle tone that was nonexistent before. His usual sneers and scowls were replaced with a soft smile and understanding look as Tom reached forward, playing with the tips of her hair as he spoke.

"I'm glad your mother had that affair. Hogwarts would be too dull without you as you are."

He gave her a kiss on her hand before walking away, leaving her all alone in the darkness. Usually, she would have cursed the egoistical Dark Lord and started a fight, but with her mind a mess and a million emotions coursing through her, Cordelia couldn't help but let out a small smile as she pushed open the door behind her.

The dormitory was empty, just as Cordelia expected it would be. She could have joined her friends in the Banquet Hall and forgotten about her worries as they danced through the Yule, having a happy ending to the ball of her dreams, but in a way, she was satisfied with the night.