Means To An End || Tom Riddle Story

Two

The world is riddled with evil. Cosette Travers had known that since she was very young. Ever since she witnessed her older brother's suicide when she was eleven years old, she concluded that there was no God. How could there be? How could God just sit and watch her suffer an indescribable pain?  Nobody was watching after her. Nobody cared about her. Nobody understood.

    During her years at Beauxbatons, she excelled in her studies. She knew, in order to get away from her elitist family, she would need to earn top grades so she could flee the country. She would miss France, and she would miss her friends, but she knew she needed to seek an opportunity to be part of something greater.

    Her father, Laurent Travers, was a vile man. He was a secret follower of the Dark Wizard Grindlewald until his defeat in 1945. His presence amongst the french wizarding community was very well-known, yet nobody knew of his secret crimes. It was all to protect his image. Murder, robbery, assault, extortion and kidnapping were a shortlist of her own father's crimes. Yet, few people knew about it.

    By the time Cosette was fifteen, she began to grasp and understand her father's wrongdoings. However, her own curiosity and questioning was quickly silenced after her father had used the cane. Young witches were to be seen, and not heard. It had finally made sense why her own mother had never spoken out against her husband.

    Alora Travers was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about that, but was the furthest thing from a great mother. On the outside, she was elegant, personable, highly praised and seemingly the perfect wife and mother. Yet, behind closed doors, Cosette witnessed her alcoholism and relentless abuse from her father. The smile she bared at public events was a facade. The only true shape of her lips was that of them being pressed against a bottle of firewhiskey. 

    When Cosette turned sixteen, she heard of a boy who had been a well renowned student at a different school. Word had traveled across all of Europe about the brilliance of recent Hogwarts graduate, Tom Riddle. He had shocked thousands of people by taking a menial job at a small shop as a salesclerk in London. That little bit of information struck a chord with Cosette. None of it was adding up. Why would a wizard of such high caliber subject himself to a job such as that? Surely, he had greater ambitions.

    Seven years later, Cosette found herself at Borgin and Burke's. She watched Tom Riddle through the dusty window, marveling at his demeanor. She must have waited outside for hours, not being able to muster up the courage to enter the shop. She knew she would have to eventually, for there was a chance that the artifact she was seeking was right inside.

    Upon meeting Tom Riddle, nothing about him surprised her. She had heard of his greatness, and she knew he was handsome, but she had a secret that she must take with her to the grave. Tom could never know her true intentions for coming to London. She feared if he knew what she was truly after, he would not hesitate to stop her.

    She began frequenting the shop for the next couple of weeks, and she could tell that he was growing irritated with her, as she would not tell him what she was looking for. 

    "You're not the only one who's allowed to have secrets," she teased, once again browsing the shelves inside Borgin and Burkes. 

    "What makes you think I have secrets?" he inquired.

    "Everyone has secrets, Tom."

    He contemplated her words, as he studied her profile. 

    "Perhaps. But I do not believe I have given you any reason to suspect I am hiding something. After all, you don't know me."

    "And you don't know me," she countered. "So why should I tell you specifically what I am looking for?"

    Tom clenched his jaw. She took amusement in his frustration, but he was normally very good at his job. People opened up to him because he appeared trustworthy. He had the face of someone you could confide in, so he couldn't understand why his charisma was failing on him now.