From Her Reflection {tom riddle}

part xxxviii - what could have been

a/n: thank you for your patience! after getting covid, having a massive writers block, and other events, i am finally publishing the last three chapters of the story. i would recommend rereading the last chapter or at least the last bit so you can jog your memory :)

The train rolled to a slow stop and Y/n felt her body slightly lunge forward.

She opened her eyes, suddenly remembering where she was. On her lap was Tom, whose eyebrows were knitted in exhaustion. Fleamont, who was sleeping besides Nagini in the opposite compartment, promptly stood up and stretched his arms beside him.

"Let's go, you two."

As they stepped onto the platform, Y/n felt the cold air nip at her bare skin. She suddenly realized how severely underdressed she was in her tank top and trousers and rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm herself up.

Tom nonchalantly slipped his own coat onto her shoulders, and Y/n had to bite the side of her cheek so she wouldn't make a fuss of it. Now wasn't the time for arguments, she supposed.

"I have to find a place for Tom and Dumbledore to meet," Fleamont adjusted his collar and cleared his throat. "So Y/n, try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

Y/n pursed her lips at the thought of having to roam a castle - one where she was considered a traitor and fugitive- alone and completely vulnerable. But even though she was still unsure about Fleamont's plan and if it would work, she complied and nodded silently.

As Fleamont began to make his way down the south side of the platform, Tom turned to look at Y/n, his face expressionless per usual. Her eyes searched his for a hint of disappointment, but it seemed that their split did not affect him as much as it seemed to affect her.

"Bye." Y/n tried to smile as best as she could.

"We sure say that a lot, don't we?"

She drew in a deep breath and bit her lip. "Hopefully we won't have to anymore."

Tom slightly nodded and smiled back as his eyes fell to the floor. Y/n shifted towards him and wrapped her arms around his body tightly, throwing him off guard. Tom, who wasn't used to physical touch unless it was in bed, uncomfortably patted her back and internally begged for the hug to end. Even though he hated intimacy,  he would have rather dealt with a touchy Y/n than an irritated Y/n.

Then Y/n withdrew, an odd smile on her face. And in one swift movement, she slipped behind the staircase and entered the bush that surrounded the platform, leaving Tom puzzled and slightly agitated. He rolled his eyes and slipped his hands into his front pockets, furrowing his eyebrows once again before turning on his heels and trailing behind Potter.

Once Y/n could see he was out of sight, she pulled out the black leather journal she had stolen from him and gripped it tightly in her hands. She bit her lip slightly in anticipation, her heart beginning to beat madly.

Concealed by the bushes, she tried to navigate her way up the mountain, her pet snake following closely behind.

Throughout the journey, she could not tear her eyes off the diary. The gold embellishments of Tom's names seemed to make the memory of Myrtle and her visions flash rapidly throughout her mind. Tom, her Tom, was not someone who would get out of this unscathed, so what damage could this really do?  And even though it would hurt her to hurt him, Y/n always turned to her better moral judgment.

She could already hear Fleamont scolding her about how he told her to 'stay out of trouble', but Y/n had a job to finish.

She headed towards the girl's bathroom, the one outside the Astronomy tower that she had stood in several months before. The air in the room was thick and heavy, the moisture heaving through her nose as she inhaled deeply. Tom's jacket began to stick to her skin as Y/n started to sweat from the paranoia of getting caught; she had to reassure herself that no one in their right mind would want to go into a bathroom like this, not after what happened in there.