Paradox | T. Riddle ✔

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The dingy little pub reeked of alcohol and drunken laughter, the lanterns lit up in the place offering an ethereal yellow light as the witches and wizards stumbled in and out. The place was crowded except for a secluded corner in the dark where a woman in a deep green dress sat alone, her equally green eyes dimmed as she stared ahead aimlessly.

She was back at The Leaky Cauldron, her finger hovering above the spoon in her cup that twirled within, stirring the tea that had gone cold long ago. She knew everything that was going to play on repeat from then onwards.

It always played on repeat.

No matter what she did, no matter what she changed, at the end it would be her and Tom and that wretched killing curse.

Avada Kedavra.

And right next moment, she would wake up again to that gloomy day she met Tom Riddle for the first time. It had been the same for so long that she had almost lost count of it.

The first time she had killed him and woken up to the day she had met him had terrified her because her time turner was gone and she had no idea what to do next. But by then, it had been countless times of the past repeating again and again, tormenting her slowly yet painfully.

When she had realized that she was stuck in a time loop, she started looking for ways to break it. Each time she woke up to the same day, she would think of changing things slightly, hoping that change would be enough to alter the dynamic timeline she was stuck in.

But as she sat there at the corner table in the wizarding pub for what seemed like the hundredth time, she couldn't help but think that she was stuck in there forever.

Perhaps there was no way to break the time loop.

Perhaps she was going to spend an eternity killing Tom Riddle over and over again only to find out that it had been of no use at all.

Her thoughts would often wander to the life she had had before Lord Voldemort had destroyed every single person close to her, thus forcing her to take the decision to go back in time and kill him in order to prevent her loved ones from getting tragically murdered at the hands of that vile monster.

She had lost her family, her friends and even her lover, all due to the monster she had set out to kill. But even if she killed him, nothing would go back to normal, instead she would wake up to the horrifying reality of finding out that the time loop was still intact.

While she was stuck in the never ending cycle of the same actions repeating over and over again, her thoughts would often wander to Regulus.

Regulus Arcturus Black, the young man she had loved from the depths of her heart and lost in the war inflicted upon them by Lord Voldemort. He did not deserve to die so young, he did not deserve to sacrifice himself for a cause that would not even acknowledge his efforts.

He did not deserve to be devoured by the Inferi in the Dark Lord's cave that were put on guard for one of his horcrux. A horcrux that he had intended to destroy but got destroyed himself in his attempts of bringing the Dark Lord down.

Regulus, the biggest reason she had chosen to murder the evil in the bud.

Yet where had that gotten her?

Back at the Leaky Cauldron knowing that a few minutes later, the devilish wizard she was sick and tired of not being able to get rid of, would enter the pub and choose to sit across from her.

Right on cue, the distinct sound of the chair across from her being pulled out was heard yet she chose to ignore it, willing herself not to kill him then and there. The temptation was strong but she resisted against it, she did not want to mess up any more than she had already done so.

"Terrible day, love?"

She looked up reluctantly at the all too familiar voice, internally seething upon seeing those chiseled features and that annoyingly handsome face. His voice had a thick accent with a smooth drawl, and if he wanted he could charm any soul with words alone.

Any soul but hers.

"Ah pray do not leave too soon," he insisted as she rose from her chair, leaving the tea cup untouched at the table, "I was hoping you would stay."

"Why?" Her voice was firm, irritated even because the thing she had decided to change that once was leaving the pub instead of staying.

"Let's just say I haven't seen you around and would love to know about you."

"I would rather not," she snapped back, retreating from the table further, "have a lovely day without me, Sir."

A light chuckle passed his lips and his grey eyes sparked in amusement, "oh I sure will. Can't say the same about you though."

She chose not to reply as she walked over to the counter, feeling his eyes scrutinizing her even then. She paid for the tea and walked out of the pub into Diagon Alley, not wishing to face those deceptive features anytime soon despite knowing that it was inevitable.

Walking alone down the cobblestoned streets, she passed by the shops she used to come to in order to buy school supplies, old memories resurfacing again.

She couldn't even say those memories were of her past, because she was stuck in the past herself. And the years she was thinking about were yet to come if she succeeded in breaking the time loop.

Though as she walked down the street, she thought of what to do next; she had made the first change in the chain of actions that led to the final moment. She had left the pub instead of allowing Riddle to try and charm her.

But what would happen as a consequence of changing that one thing was yet to be revealed.

She hoped that change would be enough to break the time loop. She couldn't alter a lot or else she would risk creating another dynamic timeline.

All she could do was hope that it would be the last time she would say the killing curse and the last she would ever see of Tom Marvolo Riddle.

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