Baptized by Fire-A Tom Riddle fanfiction

[Nicole]

Muh first fanfic! Here's the first three chapters. Enjoy!

Contains some violence and a wee bit of alcohol use. There are hints at sexual situations, and some very mild language here and there. I'd rate it at PG-13.

Chapter One: "Ignorance is bliss, cherish it." -So I Thought: Flyleaf

“Now that the Sorting has been successfully completed, enjoy the feast!” Headmaster Dippet exclaimed with a wave of his hands, and the once empty tables of the Great Hall filled themselves with food.


“It’s about time. I’m starving!” I muttered to my twin sister, Lysandra, and started piling mashed potatoes onto my plate.


“Me too. Hogwarts’ cooking is much better than mother’s.” Lysandra chuckled as I dropped a mound of potatoes onto her plate.


“Oh look, there’s Abraxas Malfoy!” She whispered with a blush, gesturing towards the other end of our table.
I simply shook my head and turned my attention back to my dinner.


My parents and the Malfoys had written a marriage contract for Abraxas to marry either myself or my sister. It was yet to be seen which one of us would end up being his wife in the end. My sister had always been intrigued by him. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so keen on the idea of being stuck with him forever. He was pleasant enough, but I always felt that there was always some alternate motive behind his charm.

I listened to Lysandra ramble on about how Abraxas was such a great match. I quickly finished my dinner, in hopes of getting away from her prattle sooner than later.
“I’m going to bed.” I said shortly to her when I was done, cutting her off mid-sentence. I got up and rushed down to the dungeons.


“Amphibian.” I ordered to the stone wall, and entered through the large oak door that had just appeared that lead to the Slytherin common room. I looked around, noting that everything was exactly where it was when we had left at the end of last term. I went up a small staircase leading to the girl’s dormitories, threw on my pajamas and soon found myself drifting off to sleep.


The next morning, I got ready for classes and went up to the Great Hall for breakfast.


“Ah, Miranda Peverell! Good to see you!” Professor Slughorn, the potions professor, exclaimed as he handed me my schedule. I looked over the parchment in disgust as he continued to hand out class schedules to my fellow Slytherins.


“Ugh. History of Magic with Hufflepuff first thing.” I muttered to no one in particular.


“Well you aren’t sitting with me this year.” My sister said sharply as she sat down, obviously having heard what I said. “I’m going to sit next to Abraxas. You may turn your nose up at him but he’s a good match and at least I know it.”


“You’re welcome to him.” I muttered as I finished my pancakes, picked up my bag and left for Professor Binns’ classroom.


As I entered the classroom, I noted that only a few other people had bothered to show up for class a few minutes early. I went towards the middle of the classroom and took a seat at an empty table.


I watched other students slowly filter in behind me. I saw my sister follow Abraxas to a table in the corner, giggling as she sat down with him.


I scooted over when I sensed that someone was standing next to me and getting ready to sit at my table.


“Sorry.” I muttered, not paying any attention to who it was.


“Settle down!” Professor Binns barked and started lecturing us about the history of ancient pureblood magical families. This was a subject in which I was all too familiar with, being a descendant of Ignotus Peverell himself.


“The three Peverell brothers, Cadmus, Ignotus and Antioch, were the main characters in the legend of the Deathly Hollows, as described in the story of the Three Brothers, from the Tales of Beetle the Bard, now regarded as a children’s story. The Deathly Hollows were three very powerful magical objects created by Death. Those three objects were the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility. According to the legend, whomever possessed all three Deathly Hollows would be the Master of Death. However far-fetched the story may be, the Peverell family truly is one of the oldest pure-blood lines in our history. While the male side of the bloodline has recently died out, female Peverells still remain.” Professor Binns droned lazily.


I doodled on my piece of parchment, pretending to take notes in case Professor Binns happened to notice by some miracle that I wasn’t paying attention. I knew my family tree and wasn’t worried about being able to explain it should I be called on. I jumped when the hand of the person sitting next to me discretely placed a piece of parchment on my lap. I looked at the note.


'You should stop scribbling pictures of flowers and pay attention.'


I scoffed and slid the parchment back to it’s original sender, just now noticing that the person next to me was Tom Riddle.


I tried my best to act as if his presence didn’t phase me and went back to my drawing. While I never knew for sure, there had always been rumors floating around about Tom wanting to become the most powerful dark wizard of all time. He wasn’t exactly someone you wanted to cross and everyone knew it.


As class came to an end, I packed up my belongings and headed for the door.


“Miranda, are you related to one of the Peverells?” I heard a cold voice behind me say. I turned around and looked into the eyes of Tom Riddle.


“Yeah, I am. Ignotus was my great-grandfather. Both my father and my grandfather were named after him.” I said indifferently, turning back towards the door.


“Interesting…” I heard him say quietly as I exited the classroom and went out to the greenhouses for Herbology.

Chapter Two: "When sin's deep in my blood, you'll be the one to fall." -Unholy Confessions: Avenged Sevenfold

'The first day of classes was just as boring as I had expected.’ I thought to myself as I took a seat on one of the couches in the common room and pulled out a stack of homework.

“Tell me about your family.” A voice from behind me suddenly ordered.

“Er…what?” I questioned, turning around to see none other than Tom Riddle standing there.

“Tell me about your family.” He repeated, moving from behind the couch to sit next to me.

“Why do you care?” I retorted, starting to get defensive.

“You’re from one of the oldest pureblood families. Why shouldn’t I be curious?” He said smoothly with a charming smirk.

“Fine.” I said with a sigh, deciding that telling him wouldn’t be much of a big deal.

“Ignotus Peverell was my great-grandfather.” I said simply as I looked over my potions worksheet.

“He married his cousin, Lucretia Peverell to strengthen the blood-line. The rest of the family just sort of trickles down to Lysandra and I.” I added after a moment.

“And is the story about the Deathly Hollows true?” He asked calmly.

“How in the world should I know? Ignotus died ages before I was even born and no one in my family has ever said anything about the story.” I snapped, starting to get irritated with him for asking such silly questions.

He simply nodded and stayed quiet, calculating his next move.

After a few minutes, he got up and straightened is cloak.

“Wouldn’t you like to find out?” He cooed softly.

“I doubt that there’s any truth behind that nonsense fairy tail.” I said with a shrug.

“Come with me.” Tom ordered and pulled me up off the couch.

I sighed and followed him out of the common room and into the corridor.

“It’s after curfew. If you get me thrown into detention I’ll hex you into oblivion.” I whispered, though my threat obviously didn’t worry Tom. He just gave me a cold glare, daring me to disobey him.

“Come on.” He snapped and lead me towards the library.

I decided my best bet would be to shut up and do as he said, not wanting to trigger an angry outburst directed towards me. I followed him up the stairs and into the restricted section of the library, staying close to him so he couldn’t surprise me with the attack of some sort that could be coming. I hated myself for following him so willingly into what might have ended up being some sort of a trap.

We walked down a long isle of books, Tom searching for a specific title. He stopped suddenly and I walked straight into him. He turned around and snaked his arm around my waist to prevent me from falling and creating a ruckus.

“And you were worried about me getting us caught.” He muttered and pulled a book off the shelf in front of him.

He turned on his heels and lead me into the corridor just outside the library.

“You dragged me out after curfew just to retrieve a book?” I snapped.

“You would do well to read this book. It’s a shame you aren’t even aware of your own family’s history.” He snapped back with a certain coldness that told me to mind my attitude before he made me regret it.

He grabbed me firmly by the arm and dragged me back to the now deserted Slytherin common room.

I thought about making a run for it, but quickly decided that even if I had a head start it would only be too easy for him to catch me. I sighed and sat down on the couch next to him as he thumbed through the pages of the old, tattered book.

“The story of the Deathly Hollows says that Ignotus Peverell was given the invisibility cloak.” He started and waited to see my reaction before continuing. When he saw the blank look on my face, he continued. “The story also says that he avoided Death for so long by wearing the invisibility cloak. When he got older, he took off the cloak and passed it on to his son, your grandfather, and peacefully died when he was ready.”

“Well they’re both dead and the cloak probably never even existed so good luck finding out anything about it.” I said simply and stared into the fireplace.

“I’m telling you, the stories are true.” He said coldly and looked down at the ring he was wearing. I looked at the ring too, noting that it had a very large black stone. He pulled the ring off and slid it onto my finger. Suddenly, I saw a tall, dark haired man standing next to me. I jumped when I realized it was my father and scrambled to pull the ring off.

“What kind of dark magic are you playing at?” I asked frantically, pulling out my wand and pointing it at him.

“Don’t be stupid.” He said icily as he gazed at me. “It’s the resurrection stone. My mother descended from Cadmus Peverell. When she died it was left to me. So you see, the Deathly Hollows are, in fact, real.” He explained with a charming smirk and gracefully pulled my wand out of my hand.

“You won’t be needing this.” He said quietly as he tucked my wand into his pocket.

I stood in front of him, frozen with fear in my now wand-less state. He stepped closer to me and pulled my chin up so he was looking into my eyes.

“Don’t disgrace your heritage by claiming your family legacy is a hoax. Don‘t you realize how powerful someone could be if they possessed all three Deathly Hollows? They‘d be invincible; Able to escape Death at any given moment.” He whispered, and gazed down at me.

I was too shaken at seeing my dead father just moments ago to say anything else.

“Who did you see when you were wearing the ring?” He asked after a few moments.

“I…I saw…” I started before breaking down into tears right there in front of him. I still missed my father terribly and seeing his face again after so many years had definitely hit home.

“Who was it?” Tom asked in a whisper as he wrapped his arms around me. I don’t know why I didn’t protest. I just stood there and let him comfort me.

“My father.” I choked in between tears and pressed my face into his chest. I don‘t know how long we stood there, me wrapped in Tom‘s strong arms. I finally calmed myself down and pulled away from his embrace.

“I told you. I have no way of knowing where that ruddy old cloak is.” I said quietly, having just figured out why he was so interested in my family heritage. He wanted the invisibility cloak. I started to walk back towards the girl‘s dormitories, Tom following behind me. He gently took hold of my arm and turned me around to face him.

“I won’t ask you about it again.” He told me with a hint of charm in his voice. “I was honestly just curious.” He added as he wrapped his arms around me once more.

“Come with me to Hogsmeade next weekend.” He pleaded, but it was still obviously an order, not a request.

“I…” I started, trying to figure out what kind of twisted game he was trying to play with my mind.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered, assuming that he had some form of bad intentions.

“Just you.” He answered with a boyishly handsome grin and started to lean down to kiss me.

Red flags started shooting up in my mind and I grabbed my wand from his pocket, pulled away from him, rushed back to the girl’s dorms, and magically locked the door behind me before stopping to take a breath. I looked around the room and saw that all the other girls were lightly snoring. I sighed and moved towards my bed, knowing that it would have only been too easy for him to catch me when I ran if he had wanted to. I didn’t realize it then, but that night was the beginning of the end of my life as I had once known it.

Chapter Three: "It's the me that I let you know, 'cause I'll never show. I have my reasons." -Blood on my Hands: The Used

The next morning, I awoke to Lysandra yelling at me.


“Where were you last night, Miranda?! You should know better than to sneak around with Riddle!” She snapped, yanking the covers off of me.


“What were you doing with that filthy half-blood, anyway?” She asked as she sat down on the edge of my bed.


“He wanted to know about our family. He thinks that nonsense about the Deathly Hollows is real. He took me to the library to get some ratty old book about it.” I said with a groan as I sat up, deciding to leave out the part where he proved that the Deathly Hollows were real and I had seen our father the night before. I put my feet on the cold floor and walked over to my trunk to pull out a clean set of my Slytherin robes and quickly got dressed.


“And he wants me to go to Hogsmead with him.” I added after a moment, not sure how my sister would react to that last bit of information.


“Seriously?! What did you say when he asked?!” She demanded, grabbing a hold of my shoulders and shaking me frantically.


“I ran for it before I answered him.” I snapped, yanking myself out of her grip.
“Come on. Lets just go to breakfast.” I muttered and pulled her out of the Slytherin dorms and upstairs to the Great Hall. We sat down at our table and started eating a light breakfast, neither of us being in the mood for stuffing ourselves full.


“Good Morning.” I heard Tom’s cold voice say casually as he sat down across from Lysandra and I.


Lysandra and I both just sort of gave him a nervous nod in return, keeping our eyes fixed on the food in front of us as he started eating his own breakfast. After a moment I looked up at him, hoping that he wouldn’t want to hex me after I ran away from him the night before. Surprisingly, his face didn’t have an angry expression on it. Just his usual blank unreadable look. This didn’t ease my mind any. I knew how he kept himself calm and collected at all times in public. Suddenly, the bell rang, signaling that all students were to report to their designated classes. I sighed and collected my books from under the table and walked upstairs to the Charms classroom.


I looked around for a seat, noticing that the only open spot was by Tom. I looked at him cautiously as he gazed out the window. I slid into my chair, hoping that he wouldn’t notice my arrival. If he did notice, he didn’t do anything to show it as the Professor began the lesson.


Rather than paying attention in class, I spent the entire hour trying to figure out what Tom was up to. I had never seen him with any girls over the years. He seemed to spend most of his time by himself. Occasionally, he would spend time with a few of the other Slytherins in our year. But why had he taken such a sudden interest in taking a girl to Hogsmead? There could be some alternate motive behind it. At the same time, the idea of a boy being infatuated with me was very new, and I caught myself almost hoping that he really did like me.


I noticed the other students rushing out the door passed me, knocking me out of my train of thought. I collected my things, swung my bag over my shoulder and started to walk towards the door. Suddenly, I tripped over my own feet, spilling the contents of my bag onto the floor.


“Bloody hell.” I muttered to myself and scrambled to collect my things. I stopped when I saw a pale hand pick up one of my books and place it in my hands. I looked up, only to find that it was Tom.


“You really should be more careful.” He chuckled icily as he helped me stand back up.


“Yeah…thanks.” I said awkwardly as I looked up into his dark eyes, somehow feeling hypnotized by them.


“May I walk you to class?” He asked with a debonair-looking half grin.


I simply shrugged, deciding that if I kept him happy he wouldn’t do anything to harm me after I refused to give him an answer about the Hogsmead trip.


He took my bag from me, slung it over his shoulder, and led me towards Professor Dumbledore’s classroom. Our exchange was normal enough, but I couldn’t help but feel like I was doing something wrong just by being seen with him. Not only was he rumored to be meddling with the Dark Arts, but he also wasn’t a pureblood, despite his brilliance when it came to magic. I knew the majority of my peers and family wouldn’t agree with me seeming to be so friendly to a half-blood.


When we arrived at transfiguration class, he handed me my bag and allowed me to leave him at the back of the classroom. For once, I was grateful for having assigned seats in some of my classes. I sat down and almost immediately became consumed in my thoughts. I was confused about what was going on with Tom, and I had no idea as to what I should have done about it. It was like no matter what I did, he would get to me. If I went along with what he wanted, I would be disgraced by my family, not to mention the fact that I would end up being sucked into whatever his dark intentions were. On the other hand, if I rejected him, I surely would end up on the receiving end of his anger, which would be equally dangerous. I could see no way out. Suddenly, I realized that Dumbledore was looking pointedly at me, as if he had asked me a question.


“Er…I’m sorry, sir, could you repeat that?” I answered politely.


“I asked you, Miss Peverell, if you could repeat the spell I was just explaining.” He said merrily, looking at me over his half-moon shaped glasses with a knowing look in his twinkling blue eyes.


I simply shook my head no, silently admitting that I had not been paying attention to a word he said.


“Very well. See me after class, Miss Peverell.” He added before returning to his lecture.
When class was dismissed, I remained in my seat as the other students filed out. When the last student exited the room, Professor Dumbledore shut the door and walked up to my desk.


“Yes, sir?” I asked politely, feigning innocence for whatever it was I was about to be lectured about.


“Is something troubling you, Miss Peverell? I couldn’t help but notice that you were quite…distracted throughout class.”


I was dumbfounded. Something inside of me told me that Tom would be furious if I told Dumbledore a single word of our talk about the Deathly Hollows.


“No, sir. I just didn’t sleep well last night.” I lied, with a slight shake to my voice.
Dumbledore looked down at me, disappointed, but his calm demeanor didn’t change.


“Very well.” He said quietly after a moment.


“Should you need help with anything, I am always here and willing to be of assistance.” He added, as if he knew exactly what was going on. “And you would do well to get more rest. You’ll need to be alert for classes. You may go.” He said merrily before returning to his desk.


I tried to make a point to casually leave the room, and sauntered out into the hallway as if nothing was wrong. I shut the classroom door behind me and was suddenly grabbed from behind.


“What did you tell that old fool?” The voice behind me hissed as I was directed into an empty classroom. I was slammed against the stone wall and looked into the face of my attacker: Tom.


“I…I didn’t…” I stuttered, suddenly unable to finish my own sentences.


“What did you tell him?” He demanded again, livid anger coursing over his face.


“I…just told him that I didn’t sleep well last night.” I said shakily, hoping that would be the end of this less than ideal exchange between Tom and I.


He just looked at me for a moment, his jaw clenched tight, as if calculating whether I was telling the truth or not. I just stood there slumped against the wall, waiting for whatever was about to happen. Suddenly, he was calm and helping me stand up straight.


“It is very important that you don’t tell anyone about my…research…on the Deathly Hollows.” He said quietly after a moment, his composure fully re-collected as he brushed a few stray locks of hair out of my face.


I was shocked by the sudden attack, followed by the sudden gentleness. I simply nodded in agreement, not knowing what to say to him.


“Did I hurt you?” He asked after a moment as he inspected my arms where he had grabbed me. Dark hand-print shaped bruises were starting to form on my fore-arms.


I shook my head no, not wanting to push him any further than I already somehow had. He unrolled the sleeves of my white blouse to cover the bruises and fastened the buttons on the cuffs of my shirt.


He never actually apologized, but I somehow felt that he had regretted being so rough with me. Too scared to do anything, I didn’t dare flinch when he reached up and placed his hand on my cheek and gave me a look of what almost looked like longing, before quickly leaving the room. I stood there for a moment, now feeling more alone than ever. What the hell was going on? One moment Tom was ready to kill me and the next he was asking me if I was ok.


‘Tom Riddle will be the death of me.’ I thought bitterly to myself before picking my bag up off the floor and heading to the girl’s dormitories, instead of to the Great Hall for lunch. I threw myself onto my bed and started to quietly cry. I didn’t understand how I could have let myself get mixed up with Tom in the first place. And now that I knew that he was searching for all three Deathly Hollows, there was no way he was just going to leave me alone and forget about it. I was already in too deep to get out of this mess that I somehow stumbled into.

[Nicole]

Chapter Four: “The more you take, The more that I give in.” -The Hunger: The Distillers

The next day, I made a point to avoid Tom at all costs. If I saw him walking towards me in the hallway, I turned right around and fled in the other direction. I had started skipping meals regularly so I wouldn’t be stuck sitting near him. He at least didn’t seem to be looking for me, and that brought me at least a little bit of relief. The only time I was unlucky in avoiding him was during classes when the majority of time, the only seat left was next to him. I certainly didn’t want to sit next to him; Why should anyone else? During these brief encounters, I made a point to not come to class early and leave right away with the crowd so I wouldn’t end up having him corner me alone again. I started spending more time with Lysandra in between classes. We had never really been all that close, despite the fact that we’re twins, but she didn’t seem to mind having me around. I went on like this for a few days, and had almost completely forgotten about my previous encounters with Tom. And then reality knocked on my window. I heard a tapping sound on the window of the girls dormitories and rushed over to let the owl inside and out of the gusting wind. The owl swooped in and dropped a letter onto my bed.

“Who’s it from?” Lysandra asked as I picked the letter up to inspect it.

“I don’t recognize the seal…” I muttered as I tore the letter open and looked over it apprehensively.

‘Miranda,
You still have not given me an answer about Hogsmeade. I’d really like it if you would join me.
T.R.’

“Well, what is it?” My sister demanded, placing her hands on her hips expectantly.

“Er…It’s from Tom Riddle…asking me for an answer about going to Hogsmeade with him…” I said quietly, having no idea if I was even going to answer his letter.

“Say no, of course! He’s not even a pureblood, not to mention the fact that he’s completely insane about all that Dark Arts nonsense.” She exclaimed, as if the answer was obvious.

“I’m just not going to write him back. Maybe he’ll just forget about it.” I mused, hoping that it would be that easy, but knowing better than that deep down.

I tossed the letter into the trash bin, sent the owl back to the Hogwarts Owlery, and went back to the previous conversation Lysandra and I had been having before the letter arrived.

A little while later, we left our dormitory and walked up to the Great Hall for dinner. We sat in a small cluster of people, me in the middle so Tom couldn’t sit near me. If there was anything having a twin was good for, it was having her know who you were trying to stay away from without having to come out and say it. We may have disagreed on a lot of things, and we didn’t always get along, but when it came down to it, Lysandra would do anything in the world for me and I would certainly do the same for her.

I listened to Lysandra and the other girls gossip about different boys in the school and who the new couples were while I silently ate my dinner.
I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around. Standing there, directly in front of me, was Tom. I started to tense up and apprehensively waited for him to say something.

“Can I have a word?” He asked gently, obviously making an effort to not come off as threatening in any way.

I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by my sister.

“No, you cannot have a word with her. My sister does not fraternize with filthy half-bloods, like yourself.” She spat, disdain and malice dripping from every word she said.

“Your sister is capable of speaking for herself.” He said in a surprisingly calm manner, before turning back to me and waiting for my reply.

“I…”I started but cut myself off, not knowing what to say to him.

“Please?” He asked quietly so only I could hear, speaking even more gently to me than he had to begin with.

I looked to my sister before turning back to Tom.

“I can’t.” I stuttered finally and looked up at him. A look of sorrow swept across his face only for a moment, before he regained the usual composure. I turned back to my meal as he walked away. Suddenly, I found myself feeling guilty for shutting him down and making him feel like I thought I was better than him because he wasn‘t “pure enough“. While I was a pureblood myself, I didn’t believe in the radical ideas about “tainted blood” that my relatives believed in, nor did I think that I was better than anyone because of their heritage. The look of pain that I caught a glimpse of was what did it. I silently decided that I would send him an owl later and at least hear what he had to say.

After dinner, I went to the Owlery and I scribbled a note to Tom on a spare bit of parchment.

‘Lysandra shouldn’t have spoken to you the way that she did. I didn’t want to make it worse by agreeing to speak with you in front of her. I will, however, at least listen to what you have to say. Meet me in the common room at 11 if you still want to talk.
-Miranda’

I read over the letter one more time and then sent it with one of the school owls before heading back to the Slytherin dorms. I amused myself by reading a book on the couch until eleven o’clock rolled around. By then, all the other students had gone to bed. I sat alone in front of the fireplace, anxiously waiting to see if Tom would show up or not. A few minutes later, I heard footsteps coming from the boy’s dormitories. I looked over at the staircase. A moment later, Tom appeared and walked over to where I was sitting and took the empty place next to me on the couch.

“Hey.” I said awkwardly and waited for him to speak.

“I haven’t seen you around much.” He said casually and started pulling at a loose string on his sweater.

“I’ve been…busy, I guess.” I shrugged and waited for him to continue.

“I would really like it if you went to Hogsmeade with me.” He said gently and looked up from the string to look into my eyes.

“Er…I don’t know…” I replied doubtfully, remembering our last encounter, when he had gotten rough with me.

“I didn’t mean…” He started and then ran his hand through his hair nervously. “I had no intention of hurting you…that time after Transfiguration. I just lost it for a minute. I promise it won’t happen again.” He gave me one of the most sincere looks I had seen cross his chiseled features, and I couldn’t help but believe him.

“Ok…I’ll go.” I said after a moment, unsure of why I was so quick to trust him all of a sudden.

Then, a genuine smile spread across his handsome face, and I felt my heart start to melt. He really could be the sweetest person on earth, when he wanted to be. I hoped his dark side that I had encountered was a one time only thing, and that I would get to know this new, caring, and sweet Tom.

“Thank you.” He said quietly after a moment, and kissed my hand.

“My sister…she shouldn’t have said that. At dinner, I mean.” I burst, all of a sudden.

A look of disdain flashed across his face for a moment, and I questioned whether I should have even brought it up.

“I wouldn’t care to talk about it.” He said through gritted teeth, fighting to keep his temper in check. I simply nodded, and left it at that. We sat there for a few minutes, just looking at each other. In that moment, I would have given anything to know what he was thinking about.

“I’d better get to bed. I have a few tests tomorrow.” I said with a sigh, and stood up. Tom also stood, looked at me for a moment and started to walk towards the staircase to his room.

“Goodnight.” He called behind him as he descended the stairs.
I went to my bedroom, relief washing over me as I changed into my pajamas, and almost instantly fell asleep for the first time that week.


Chapter Five: “And somehow you‘ve got everybody fooled“ -Everybody‘s Fool: Evanescence.

The weekend arrived sooner than later, and that meant I was going to Hogsmeade with Tom. I hadn’t told my sister that I had agreed to go with him; I had every intention of keeping it that way. I chose to wear a mint-green sweater and a pair of jeans. It seemed casual enough and it had been chilly the passed few days. I quickly brushed my hair and went down to the courtyard to meet Tom, hoping the entire way there that I wouldn’t run into Lysandra during my outing. Upon arriving in the courtyard, I looked around nervously, trying to spot Tom.

“Hello.” A cold voice said from behind me. I turned around, expecting it to be Tom, but instead found Abraxas Malfoy.

“Hello.” I responded, less than happy to see him.

“Would you care to join me at the Three Broomsticks for a drink? I’ve already spent quite a bit of time with your sister, and we both know I have a decision to make.” He said darkly, referring to the marriage contract.

“I have plans.” I said shortly before turning away from him.

“No matter.” He said with a chuckle, finding the fact that I wasn’t impressed by him very amusing.

“Perhaps I’ll make my decision easy and marry the both of you.”

That suggestion made me very angry, and he knew it.

“I will never marry you, you pig-headed fool.” I snapped, quickly becoming tired of being civil toward Abraxas.

“You will if the contract dictates it,” He retorted, his face becoming very flushed with anger.

“And you would do well to show me more respect. Your fate is ultimately in my hands. Apparently, you don‘t realize how difficult I can make your life.” He added maliciously.

I opened my mouth to answer him, but was cut off by a hand on my shoulder.

“Is there a problem, Abraxas?” Tom’s cold voice drawled from beside me.

“Just Miranda’s attitude towards someone who may very well be her future husband.” He responded before turning and walking away. Although he had tried to seem brave when confronted by Tom, I could tell he was intimidated and knew better than to mess with Tom. For once, I was relieved that Tom had shown up when he did.

“Come on.” Tom ordered before grabbing my hand and leading me towards Hogsmeade. I could tell he was aggravated by his brief encounter with Malfoy, and I hoped that his bad mood wouldn’t last very long.

Upon arriving in Hogsmeade, Tom lead me down an abandoned alleyway which lead to a street adjacent to the main street of the town. I was unsure of where exactly we were going, but I knew better than to argue with Tom. I followed him into a small, dirty looking pub called the Hog’s Head. We sat down at a table in one of the corners of the room.

“Care for a drink?” Tom asked shortly and ordered two fire whiskeys before I could even answer him. When our drinks arrived, he took a gulp of his whiskey like it was nothing. I, on the other hand, wasn’t used to such a strong drink and nearly choked from the burning sensation left in my chest and throat after I took a sip. I started feeling a little bit tipsy rather quickly as I continued to sip my whiskey.

“I need your help with something.” Tom said quietly after a moment.
“I’m looking for a…chamber…in Hogwarts. It’s location is very secret and my research on it’s whereabouts hasn’t been very useful.” Tom paused after he said this, and looked at me to calculate my reaction before he continued.

“Yeah…I guess I could help you find it.” I replied with a hiccup, having no idea what “chamber” he was talking about.

Tom simply nodded and finished his drink.

“There are tons of maps of the school. It has to be listed on at least one of them.” I slurred, thinking it was just some random room that no one cared about except Tom.

“I’ve checked them all. It isn’t on any of the maps.” Tom said, seeming amused by my ignorance on the chamber he was talking about.

The drunken spinning in my head turned the once harsh flavor of the whiskey into a more enjoyable flavor, and I began to gulp it down just as easily as Tom had.

Shortly after finishing my drink, I realized that for the first time I was properly drunk, and with Tom Riddle of all people. I attempted to stand, but swayed, unbalanced, for a moment.

Tom raised his eyebrows at me, but didn’t try to prevent me from standing.

“Are you ok?” He asked after another moment of watching me attempt to regain my balance.

“Just peachy.” I slurred sarcastically, suddenly very angry for no apparent reason.

It seemed as if Tom didn’t know how to react, and obviously hadn’t expected me to become so intoxicated off of one drink.

“I’m leaving.” I said with a very demanding tone and headed for the door. Tom immediately got up, wrapped his arm around my shoulders and lead me back to the table.

“You can’t go back to the school like this. I thought you would have had whiskey before.” He muttered, trying to keep me from making a big scene.

“Just sit down with me for a little while.” He added after a moment.

“I don’t like it in here. It’s ugly. Can‘t we just go somewhere else?” I said in a disgusted tone as I inspected the pale, cracked grey walls and the thick layer of dust on the tabletops and counters.

“And where do you suggest we go?” Tom snapped, starting to become irritated with my current lack of common sense.

“I don’t know. Just somewhere else.” I muttered.

Tom thought for a moment, before seeming to come to a decision.

“Come on, then.” He ordered and helped me stand back up.

“Where are we going?“ I demanded. Due to the alcohol, I was feeling braver than usual.

“Do you want to get out of here or not? Just come on.” He snapped before taking my hand and leading me out of the pub. I stumbled alongside him down the street for a few minutes before he secured his arm around my waist to keep me from falling. We walked down an abandoned path that went along the edge of the Forbidden Forrest all the way up to the castle. When we were safely on Hogwarts grounds Tom lead me towards a fairly large hut, which currently served as a shed which housed unused things from the castle, such as random chairs and other miscellaneous items. He held the door open for me as I stumbled inside, and he followed after me, locking the door behind him. I swayed for a moment before sitting down on the cold floor, feeling very dizzy from the long walk.

“I’ve never been in here.” I mused after looking around the room. You could tell that no one visited this shed very often, but it was at least cleaner than the Hog’s Head had been. Tom walked over and sat on the floor across from me. I shivered, starting to get very cold on the floor. I looked to the fire place and pulled out my wand.

“Don’t light the fireplace. Someone will know we’re in here if they see the smoke from the chimney.” Tom said as he pulled an old glass jar off a shelf and magically lit a small fire inside of it before setting the jar down next to me. “You should have worn something warmer.” He said irritably, reprimanding me for not taking better care of myself.

“So you’ll help me find the chamber?” He asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I guess so. But why does it even matter?” I asked, starting to become more curious about the reason as to why he wanted to find some old chamber in the first place.

“It just does. That’s all you need to know about it for now.” He snapped, glaring at me as if to say that I didn’t need to ask any more questions about it.

“You don’t look so good.” Tom added, having noticed that the affects of the alcohol were wearing off. I was starting to feel a throbbing headache in the back of my head.

“I just have a headache.” I said after a moment, starting to feel a little bit sick in my stomach.

“You should lie down.” He answered, gently pulling me towards him. He pulled off his outer cloak and draped it over me.

“Thanks.” I muttered and laid down next to him. He pulled an old tablecloth off of the shelf next to him, bunched it up into a makeshift pillow, and slid it under my head.

I couldn’t wrap my brain around why he was being so nice to me. I was still completely and utterly confused by his attitude towards me, but at least he wasn’t throwing me against a stone wall, so I knew better than to question him about it.

I looked up at him from my position on the floor. He seemed to be staring off into space, looking at nothing in particular.

I started to doze off and jerked myself awake a little while later and sat up, starting to feel better already. I had no idea how long I had been asleep. It felt like it had only been a few minutes, but I noticed it had to have been longer than that when I saw how dark it was outside.

“We should probably go back to the castle.” Tom said from the corner when he noticed that I was awake. He replaced the book on the shelf that he had been looking at and walked over to me and helped me stand up.
“How long have we been here?” I asked, not seeing a clock anywhere in the room. Tom just shrugged and lead me out of the shed.

“I think we missed dinner.” He said quietly when he heard my stomach start growling.

“It’s alright. We can just sneak into the kitchen and get some food.” I said as if the answer were completely obvious. As we walked, I thought about the dangerous position I had put myself in, first by drinking with Tom when I wasn’t used to alcohol in the first place. Second, by allowing myself to be drunk and completely alone with Tom. I put more thought into that last point. In all honesty, he could have done anything in the world to me in my inebriated state, yet he didn’t. Ultimately, he had taken care of me. I was surprised with the fact that he never tried to harm me, and seemed almost pleasant at times. Maybe he really did like me after all.

“What are you thinking about?” Tom asked after a minute, noticing that I was slightly spaced out.

“Nothing, really.” I lied with a shrug. “I’m just still kind of groggy from my nap.”

Tom nodded, not seeming to truly believe me, but he didn’t push the matter any further.

We walked into the castle and towards the kitchens, where I tickled a green pear on a painting, and turned the doorknob that suddenly appeared.

House elves scrambled to us from all different directions, obviously pleased to have some company.

“Is the Miss and Master hungry?” One house elf squeaked as the others started scrambling for plates and utensils so they could feed us.
Tom and I both nodded appreciatively and began to eat the food that was presented to us quietly.

“The house elves is not to be allowing students in the kitchens but Miss looks simply dreadful and in need of nourishment. Is the house elves not presenting the Hall with good food, Miss?” The small elf continued.

“Oh, no. I just missed dinner. The food is always wonderful.” I assured the elf in between bites of chicken.

Tom and I quietly finished eating after the elf scampered off to wash dishes. When we were stuffed full, we walked out of the kitchens. Much to my surprise, Tom lead me away from the Slytherin dorms, towards the library.

“Do we really have to do this now? Can’t we just…” I started, but was cut off by Tom.

“I need to find that chamber as soon as possible, so yes, we do have to do this now.” He said shortly, with a note of finality to his voice as he lead me into the dark library and towards the restricted section.

“Are you sure the chamber even exists? If it isn’t on any of the maps of the school it probably isn’t even real.” I said grumpily, wishing I was crawling into my bed.

“Shh.” Tom ordered, already growing tired of listening to me complain. We looked over the titles on the shelves for what seemed like hours, much to no avail.

I could barely keep my eyes open, and Tom was starting to look rather tired as well. He sighed in frustration once we finished looking over the last shelf and turned towards me.

“Are you sure you didn’t see anything that might have been helpful?” He asked accusingly, as if I wasn’t right there with him searching for an answer.

“Yes, I’m sure. Can we just go to bed now?” I whined and rubbed my eyes sleepily.

“I suppose so. I’ve been through the rest of the library already.” He muttered and pulled his cloak off of my shoulders, which I had been wearing since he had given it to me hours ago back in the shed.
I nodded and followed him out of the library. When we were passing through the doors that lead out of the library, the clock in the tower chimed two in the morning.

“Ugh.” I groaned as we trudged downstairs to the dungeons.

“Amphibian.” Tom ordered when we arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin common room. We both slid silently through the doorway.

“Good night.” I said with a yawn before turning towards the girls dorms.
Tom didn’t answer me, and I turned back around to see if he was even still standing there. He was, and when I stopped he walked over to me and gently put his hands on my arms.

“Are you to marry Abraxas Malfoy?” He asked after a moment, as if it had been bothering him.

I was shocked by his question, and I didn’t really know what to say.

“Er…well, his parents got together with my mother over the summer and they’re working on a marriage contract. It hasn’t been decided yet if he’s going to marry me or my sister.” I said sadly, just now realizing how much the situation with Malfoy really bothered me.

“And what is the point of this arrangement supposed to be?” He asked irritably.

“Well, it’s really about bloodlines and power, I guess. Being from the Peverell family means a lot of power and money within the wizarding world, and the Malfoys are as close to our equals as we’ll ever find. Arranged marriage is sort of a practice to maintain power and blood purity within the family.” I said with a shrug.

Tom didn’t say anything in response, and simply kissed me on the cheek and went down the stairs to the boy’s dorms. Before he left, I saw a flash of jealousy in his eyes, and quickly realized what that jealousy meant. I touched my burning cheek where he had kissed me just moments ago, and felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into my own feelings towards him. I knew he was a dangerous person, but I couldn’t help myself. I knew in that moment that I was starting to really fall for Tom Riddle.

Chapter 6: “Come crawling faster. Obey your master.” -Master of Puppets: Metallica

Over the next few weeks, I spent my spare time trying to find any information about the chamber that Tom had been searching for. The biggest problem was, I didn’t know anything about the chamber besides the fact that it’s location was a secret. I didn’t have any way of knowing where to look. Blindly, I searched through the entire school library, and through the book stores in Hogsmeade on weekends. I didn’t know why it was so important, but Tom had asked for my help so I continued the search. One winter Thursday evening, Tom and I were searching the library yet again. I was looking through the old, tattered pages of ‘Hogwarts, A History’ for the millionth time when I came across a passage that somehow I had failed to notice before.

“Tom!” I called down the row, and waited for him to rush over to me to see what I had found.

“The Chamber of Secrets was said to have been built by Salazar Slytherin. The purpose of the Chamber was to house a monster that would leave only pureblood students unharmed. Only the true heir of Slytherin could open the chamber and control this monster. No one has found any information leading to the knowledge of what this monster was said to be. While many searches have been conducted over the years by a series of professionals, no such chamber has ever been found inside of Hogwarts.” I read out loud to Tom. After I read the passage, I gave Tom a quizzical look.

“Is this the chamber you’re looking for?” I asked after a moment.

“It is.” He said quietly.

“That doesn’t even make sense, Tom. Why would you be looking for that particular chamber? You aren’t a pureblood and even if the chamber did exist the monster inside it would kill you if you went inside.” I said shortly, starting to become irritated with the fact that I had been helping him look for information on a chamber that probably didn’t even exist.

“It wouldn’t if I was the heir of Salazar Slytherin.” He said with a gleam in his eye.

“You’re telling me that you think you’re the heir of Slytherin?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“I don’t think I am the heir. I know it.” He whispered to me.

“And how do you know that?” I retorted, thinking it very unlikely that a half-blood was the true heir.

“Family trees, mostly. And I can speak Parseltongue. That was one of Slytherin’s trademark gifts, as you know.” He said quietly, making sure know one could hear him besides me.

“You’re insane. Do you realize that technically, according to Salazar Slytherin, you aren’t even “worthy” of being at Hogwarts? Anyways, if professionals have tried to find the chamber and were unsuccessful I don‘t know why you think you could find it.” I said doubtfully.

“You underestimate me, Miranda.” Tom said coldly. For a moment, I thought I saw his eyes flash an evil shade of red.

“This is completely ridiculous. I’m going to bed.” I said quietly, feeling spooked by the gleam in his eyes. I turned on my heels and went downstairs to the dungeons and crawled into bed.

Christmas was drawing near, and everyone was beginning to make plans to go home for the holiday. One cold winter morning, I went down to breakfast and sat in my usual seat next to Tom. Today was the first day that we didn’t have classes to attend, and I was glad. My grades had begun to slip over the course of the semester, due to my “research” with Tom. The teachers didn’t seem interested, except for Dumbledore. He seemed to be watching me whenever he was near. It creeped me out, and made me wonder if he knew that Tom had me helping him search for the chamber throughout the school year. Then again, how could he possibly have known? Tom and I didn’t speak to anyone about what we had been doing, let alone Albus Dumbledore. I decided that I was simply being paranoid and pushed the worry out of my mind.

As soon as I had finished eating my breakfast, Tom grabbed my hand and practically dragged me out of the Great Hall and down a corridor. He didn’t stop until we reached the girls bathroom at the end of the hallway. I had no idea what was going on.

“Er…what exactly is it that we’re doing?” I questioned as I followed Tom into the empty girls lavatory.

“Just be quiet. I have to show you something.” Tom whispered as he walked over to a faucet that I knew had never worked. Suddenly, he hissed something in what I assumed to be Parseltongue, and the faucets starting rolling apart, revealing a large, gaping hole in the floor. Tom wrapped his arms around me and pulled me with him down into the hole. I screamed as we slid down the long and winding tunnel, and clung to Tom as if my life depended on it. Suddenly, the tunnel ended and we both fell onto the floor. I looked around, and saw piles of bones scattered over the floor.

“Where are we?” I asked as I shakily stood up, starting to get very scared. I almost choked from the stench of rotten and disintegrating bones.

“I won’t let anything happen to you.” Tom assured me, placed his hand on my cheek for a moment, and then took my hand. He lead me down a long corridor and into a large, empty room. It was very cold, and I realized that we were probably miles beneath the school. After a moment, it dawned on me where we were.

“You found it?” I asked frantically and started looking around for a monster.

Tom seemed to read my mind, and turned to me.

“The basilisk won’t come until I call for it. It obeys my every command.” He said proudly.

“I found the chamber two days ago.” He added.

I was completely baffled. I then realized the dangerous situation I was in. While I was a pureblood and supposedly “safe” from the basilisk, I was scared out of my mind and obviously wasn’t keen on meeting the monster face to face. I turned to Tom and buried my face in his chest, wanting more than anything to be anywhere but there.

“I told you, Perseus won’t come until he is called. There’s no need for you to be so afraid.” Tom mumbled into my hair.

“Perseus?!” I exclaimed, completely bewildered that he had actually given the beast a name.

“Yes, Perseus. It means to destroy or conquer.” Tom said with an icy chuckle.

“I want to show him to you. He really is a magnificent creature.” He added after a moment.

“What?! No! I don’t want to see it!” I said frantically and clung to Tom even tighter than I had before.

“He won’t hurt you. Just trust me. And keep your eyes closed until I have his eyes covered. You must never look into his eyes. Not even a reflection of his eyes.” He said knowingly as he pulled away from me.

“Please don’t bring it in here.” I begged, starting to get more and more frantic by the second.

“Close your eyes.” Tom whispered in my ear and wrapped his arms securely around me from behind me.

“Venhhhaaa, Persssseussssss. Obedecccce ssssseu messssstre.” Tom hissed. I heard something large and very heavy plop onto the floor in front of us.

“Don’t move. And keep your eyes closed.” Tom ordered quietly into my ear and moved in the direction that I assumed the monster was sitting in. I kept my eyes tightly closed, my knees shaking and I was starting to feel like I couldn’t stand, I was so scared.

I heard more hissing noises coming from Tom and a moment later, he returned to my side.

“I blindfolded him. You can open your eyes.” He said reassuringly into my ear. Curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t help but open my eyes.
Sitting a few feet away from me was probably the biggest snake I had ever seen in my entire life. The basilisk was easily twenty feet long. I could see the giant, sharpened fangs protruding from its mouth. My eyes were so wide in fear that I felt like they would pop out of my skull. I gasped and clutched to Tom, hoping that he really was able to fully control the monster. Thankfully, the monster didn’t move at all. It just stayed where it was, unmoving, as if it were following its masters orders.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” Tom mused, appraising the large snake before us.

“Lovely. Now can you please make it go away?” I begged, turning away from the monster so I could only see Tom, and buried my face in his chest again. I knew it was very childish, but if I felt like if I couldn’t see the it, then maybe it wasn’t really there.

Tom simply chuckled, told me to close my eyes again and went back to the basilisk. I heard more hissing sounds. I heard the beast slither away, and when Tom returned to my side, I opened my eyes. “Perseus” was gone and Tom was folding up the large cloth that he had used as a blindfold.

“Can we go now?” I asked shakily, my face completely flushed and feeling nauseated by the whole ordeal.

“In a moment.” He turned to face me and pulled me closer to him. “I’ll be sending Perseus out after Christmas. You must stay in the dungeons when I tell you to do so, without question. Do you understand?”

I didn’t know what to say. I was still getting over the fact that Tom had actually found the Chamber of Secrets and was, in fact, Slytherin’s heir. My shock was magnified when it dawned on me that Tom was actually going to use the monster to kill people.

“You can’t!” I exclaimed, trying to reason with him. “This is insane! You can’t just go around killing people!”

Suddenly, Tom turned on me and backed me up against the cold, dripping stone wall.

“I must. And if you do anything to get in my way or tell anyone about this, the consequences will be severe.” He said menacingly, his face inches from mine.

“You wouldn’t k-” I started, but was cut off by Tom.

“Kill you? Of course not. What lies ahead for you if you betray me will be much worse than death, I can assure you that.” He whispered with a sadistic grin.

I was frozen with fear, not to mention completely speechless. Tom had been so wonderful to me in the passed couple of months, and now he was threatening me. Obviously, I had been foolish enough to think that I could change him; Make him forget about the Dark Arts and turn him into just another sixteen year old boy. I had been so wrong and now it was far too late for me to escape him.

“Just do as you’re told and everything will be fine.” He added in a lighter tone as he wrapped his arm around my waist and lead me out of the chamber and back up to the girls bathroom. Tom closed the chamber, dusted off his robes, and turned back to me. I was still shaking uncontrollably and I didn’t dare move unless Tom told me to. I stayed as still as stone as Tom looked me over.

“You look awful.” He said after a moment. He grabbed a towel and soaked it with cold water from one of the working faucets. When he had the towel ready, he stepped closer to me and gently started to wipe my face. Tom seemed to be back to his “normal” self, and that helped ease at least a little bit of my tension. Once I was cleaned up, I looked at Tom’s watch.

“I have to go. My train leaves in an hour.” I said quietly. I had briefly forgotten that it was the Christmas holidays and I was to be taking the train from Hogsmeade back to King’s Cross to go home for our break. I felt a pang of guilt when I remembered that Tom didn’t have a home to go to over the holidays, and he certainly wouldn’t be going back to the orphanage unless he had to.

Tom simply nodded and left me standing alone in the bathroom. I thought for a moment, and decided that he probably left the way he did because he never seemed to be able to say goodbye to me. I rushed down to the girl’s dormitories and packed my things. At eleven o’clock, I boarded the Hogwart’s Express with Lysandra and left for London. The first few days at home were simply horrible. I spent most of my time moping around, missing Tom. While I was scared of him in some respects and unsettled by his future plans, I couldn’t help but feel like I had to be the one to love him and show him a better way of life. The more I thought about it, the more I thought I understood why he acted the way he did. His mother had died and his muggle father had abandoned him, leaving him with no one. If I had grown up without anyone to care for me, I suppose I would want to kill people and prove my power to the world too. I knew that Tom desperately needed me to save him from himself, and I was up for the challenge.

Chapter Seven: “But you promised her next time you’d show restraint…” -Love the Way You Lie: Eminem feat. Rihanna

I awoke to the delicious smell of what I already knew was going to be a very grand breakfast on Christmas morning. I decided to lay in bed for a while before getting up. While resting in my warm bed, I couldn’t help but think of Tom, alone on Christmas day with no family or close friends to share the holiday with. I felt guilty, mostly because I was at home with my family and didn’t think twice about the fact that Tom would be alone when I had made plans to come home for our break. I also felt ashamed for not thinking to get him a gift, whether he had gotten one for me or not. I decided that I should at least send him a letter wishing him a happy holiday. I already knew that it would more than likely be the only thing he received for Christmas, and that solidified my decision to write to him. At least he would know that I cared and hadn’t forgotten about him on what was supposed to be one of the most joyous holidays of the year. I leaned over to my nightstand and dug through the drawer. After riffling through the drawer for a few minutes, I found a blank piece of parchment and a quill. I sat up, placed the parchment on top of the nightstand and began to write.

‘Tom,
I just wanted to say that I miss you and hope you have a happy Christmas.
~Miranda’

I read over the letter, noting how clingy it made me seem by saying that I missed him. In all honesty, I did miss him, and hoped that he would appreciate the fact that I told him so. I carefully folded the letter and put it in an envelope, before putting on my slippers and going downstairs to the parlor. Upon reaching the parlor, I gave the letter to our family owl, Amalthea, and sent her out into the blistering cold.

Christmas was uneventful enough. I spent the day in the parlor opening presents and laughing and telling stories with the rest of my family.
I never received a letter back from Tom, although Amalthea returned later that morning signaling that the letter was delivered. I wasn’t all that surprised that I didn’t hear back from him. At times, it seemed like he couldn’t express his feelings because he probably didn’t understand them.
On New Years Eve, Lysandra and I returned to Hogwarts. My sister had yet to realize how much time I had been spending with Tom, and I was grateful that she was still ignorant on the subject. While I was anxious to see Tom again, I was also fearful of the events that would soon be taking place at Hogwarts. As Tom warned, I didn’t dare speak a word about the Chamber of Secrets or the Basilisk to anyone.

We arrived in Hogsmeade early in the afternoon, and I went straight to the Slytherin common room, hoping to find Tom there. I felt my face fall as I walked into the room and saw that Tom wasn’t there. I sighed and went with my sister to the dormitories to unpack our things.

“What is with you lately?” Lysandra snapped, suddenly, as she put the last of her clothes away. “You’ve been acting rather…odd. Are you in love or something?

“What? Of course not.” I lied, trying to act indifferent. “I’ve just had a lot on my mind with school and everything. My grades have slipped a bit over the semester.”

“If you say so…” Lysandra replied doubtfully, knowing that I had never been too interested in maintaining good grades.

“I’m going to go see if there’s any left-overs from lunch.” I said after a moment, dismissing her concern and headed for the Great Hall. I wasn’t really hungry. I was basically just looking for Tom. I walked into the Great Hall, scanned the Slytherin table, saw that he wasn’t there, and turned around and left. I checked the library, and out by the lake (even though it wasn’t likely for him to be outside freezing his brains out). I simply couldn’t find him anywhere. I finally decided to give up and went back to the Slytherin common room. I sat on the couch with a disappointed sigh, and just stared into the fireplace, waiting for Tom to show up. Every time someone walked into the common room, I looked at the doorway, hopefully, but it never was him.

A few hours later, Tom finally strolled casually into the room. I jumped up as soon as I saw him and rushed over to him. When I finally reached him, I didn’t know what to say.

“Er…did you get my owl?” I asked after a moment of awkward silence.

“Yeah, I did.” He answered quietly, and left it at that.

I simply nodded. We stood there quietly for a moment, before I gave up and threw my arms around him, not caring if he would approve of this public display of affection. He stiffened when I hugged him, and pulled away after a few seconds.

“Not here.” He said quietly, and gently took my hand and lead me out of the Slytherin dorms and towards the girls bathroom that was the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets.

“Tom…I don’t want to…” I started with a look of complete and utter fear spreading across my face, not wanting to go anywhere near the Chamber or “Perseus”.

“He isn’t there.” He said simply, knowing how scared I was of the Basilisk, and pulled me towards the entrance to the chamber. As he had done the last time, once the chamber was open he wrapped his arms around me and we slid down the tunnel together. I fell onto the floor when we reached the chamber. Tom gracefully landed on his feet, as if he had a lot of practice lately. He helped me up and lead me into the main room of the chamber. I looked around anxiously, expecting the monster to come slithering into the room at any moment.

“I already told you. Perseus isn’t here.” He reassured me as he slid his arms around my waist.

“I just wanted to be alone with you for a little while.” He added with a charming smirk.

I leaned against him and returned his embrace, perfectly content for the first time since the holidays had begun.

“Please don’t send the basilisk out into the school.” I muttered into his chest after a few minutes.

“I have to. It is my duty.” He responded quietly. “Those of muggle heritage threaten our very existence. Do you know about the persecution wizards and witches have been exposed to because of muggles that knew about us? The safest solution is to not allow those who aren’t from all-magic families to know about it and have the ability to tell other muggles about us, nor should muggle-borns be educated in magic. I have to do this. For the safety of our world. It is what I was meant to do.” He said quietly, his voice slightly muffled by my hair.

I didn’t know what to say. In some respects, his explanation did make sense, but ultimately, I didn’t want Tom to become a killer, nor did I want to see some of the people that I knew get killed off.

“There has to be another way.” I said with a sniff, tears starting to form in my eyes.

“For now, there is no other way. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be a better alternative later.” He whispered into my ear.

“I have been thinking about another plan. It would, however, require the use of the Deathly Hollows. All I have is the resurrection stone, and that isn‘t quite as useful as the other objects.” He said silkily.

“We know the Hollows are real. We just have to find the Invisibility Cloak and the Elder Wand. Having that kind of power is the only other way to protect our world.”

I nodded, knowing what this conversation was going to lead to.

“I’ll see what I can find out about the cloak.” I said quietly, finally giving in to helping him find the item that my family had been in possession of at least at some point. I figured the sooner he had the cloak and the wand, the sooner the basilisk could be locked up in the chamber forever and forgotten about.

“Thank you.” He said and tilted my chin up towards him.

“Perseus should be back soon.” He admitted quietly. My bubble had been officially burst.

“Can we leave?” I asked frantically and pulled away from Tom, starting to get anxious at the mere thought of being near the monster.

Tom chuckled, but lead me out of the chamber. After Tom sealed the chamber, we walked out of the girl’s bathroom and out into the corridor. We decided to just walk around for a little while. We didn’t dare hold hands, in case someone (namely, Lysandra) saw us. We walked out of the oak front doors and out onto the Hogwarts grounds.

Our casual conversation was cut short by none other than Abraxas Malfoy.

“Ah, Miranda. Just the person I was looking for.” Malfoy said in a cocky yet charming tone.

“What do you want?” I asked impatiently, putting my hands on my hips to show my annoyance with him.

Tom just stood there quietly, waiting to see what this was about.

“You will be pleased to know that the marriage contract has been finished. You and I are to be married, shortly after graduation next year.” My jaw dropped and I felt the color from my face drain rather quickly. Malfoy was obviously very pleased with himself, and attempted to brush Tom aside.

“If you don’t mind, Tom, Miranda and I have a few things to talk about.” He said silkily and started to take hold of my arm and lead me away.

Suddenly, Tom snapped, and yanked me away from Malfoy.

“She has yet to sign that contract. Now, if you don’t mind, Abraxas, you are interrupting.” Tom hissed through clenched teeth and lead me towards the shed just near the forest.

Malfoy looked simply enraged at being openly defied.

“I will deal with you two later.” Malfoy hissed, venom dripping from every word he said, and turned on his heals and went back into the castle.
Tom dragged me to the shed, opened the door, and threw me inside. I cowered against the wall when he came inside, instinctively knowing what was coming.

Consumed with rage, Tom beat me to a pulp that evening. When it was over, he only said one thing:

“If you sign that marriage contract, I’ll kill you.” And then he walked out of the shed, leaving me alone. I was laying on the floor, aching, with blood streaming from my now broken nose. I sat up, too shaky to actually stand on my own two feet, and began to sob uncontrollably. I didn’t understand why Tom had taken his anger out on me. Obviously, I didn’t want to marry Malfoy. And then it hit me: Tom already claimed me as his in some respect, and would rather see me dead than with another man. In his eyes, he owned me, and would never let me go.

I pulled my wand out of the pocket of my robe, and did my best to clean myself up. While I fixed a lot of the damage, I still had a very prominent black eye that I just couldn’t get rid of. I inspected my reflection in an old, dusty and cracked mirror in the corner. I couldn’t even recognize myself. I didn’t used to be this girl that would allow myself to be beaten down by some guy. In that moment, I felt that Tom needed me now, more than ever. The glimpses of humanity that I had seen from Tom were too much for me to ignore. I would keep his secrets to avoid another violent attack from him, but I would not participate in any more of his plans. I couldn’t encourage his actions, which would result in him slipping farther and farther into the darkness.

I walked up to the castle and entered the dungeons, relieved to see that everyone else was still at dinner. As I crossed the Slytherin common room, I felt my broken ribs throbbing underneath my robes. I slouched onto my bed, and drew the curtains around me so I wouldn’t be bothered when the other girls returned. Still, I thought I understood Tom. I knew it was in my best interest to stay away from him, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to. He needed someone to show him that there was some good in the world, and he could be a part of that greater good. Eventually, I fell into a deep but restless sleep. Still to this day, I don’t know why I didn’t do everything in my power to end my relationship with Tom that night. I just couldn’t walk away and leave him with no one.