The World is Yours | Tom Riddle

chapter xxviii.

You win some, you lose some.
Except for me.
I always win.
-unknown

Atarah.

I hit the ground hard and my hand automatically moves to my arm. Causing a strangled scream to leave my lips. My eyes move to the source of the pain and I have to hold back another sob at the sight of the gashing wound. Suddenly I hear the sound of footsteps rushing toward me and without thinking I begin moving backwards which only tears at my wound more.

"Atarah-" My name is spoken in a worried voice- one I would never expect to hear, especially from him. And as I recognize the voice I stop moving and maybe I shouldn't trust that voice so much in that moment but I don't have much more energy.

The corners of my vision are beginning to close in- banishing me into darkness. Suddenly I feel my body begin to lift from the ground. The motion makes my arm burn more- and as the pain overwhelms me I find myself begging for the dark.

"Hold on, we are almost there." The voice breaks through and I try to open my eyes again but cannot hold them for more than a few seconds before I begin to feel my body drift into unconsciousness. Abruptly he speaks again, "Keep your eyes open for me." I keep hearing those words and for some reason I cling to them.

"Dammit, Atarah." Then too soon the words begin to fade and the dark has come to claim me once more.

...

A ringing noise comes from all directions around me, and I begin to open my eyes. But the small action sends a pulsing pain throughout my head. I take a deep breath and try again, going slower this time. Starting off by moving small parts of my body and soon I am in a sitting position. Finally able to take in my surroundings.

I am not familiar with the room I now sit in, and by the way dust coats most of the surfaces I would assume this room has not been used for quite some time. I begin to lean my arms forward to help me stand up but when the action sends a numbing sensation through my left arm I immediately stop so I can use my other arm to clutch it.

Just then a door to the room opens and in an instant I stand up ignoring the pain and push myself against the wall opposite from the sound. Though when I see who the source of the sound is from I find myself relaxing slightly. Tom is moving across the room cautiously and I notice he is carrying a tray topped with food and water. I watch as he sets it at the table in the corner of the room.

As soon as he sets down the food he then directs his full attention to me, looking me from head to toe and finally settling his attention on my left arm. "Does it hurt?" I let his words sink in for a few moments until I finally find my voice to reply, "No, it just feels a bit uncomfortable." Tom nods his head at my answer.

"It should feel that way for a few more hours." I look over Tom again as if seeing him in a new way, because this is not the Tom I have known these past several months. Making me wary of him and his intentions. "Please eat, you've been out for some time."

I walk forward carefully to not pull too much at my arm but as soon as the warm smell of soup hits me I realize how long its been since my last meal. I sit down swiftly and begin eating, not paying much attention to anything else. After I am done with my bowl, I draw my attention back to Tom who has now seated himself in the seat across from mine.

"Where are we?" I look around the room and notice that Tom has spelled the room clean while I was eating. "This is a safe house I acquired in my fifth year- for situations such as this." And with those words images of the past day come crashing back again- reminding me of how I got to this moment. And what I have lost.

"Thank you- for healing me, and for getting us out of there." I speak the words softly but I know Tom heard them. I look up after a few seconds and see that Tom is studying me. "I should have known something was wrong the minute we saw the house. I should have acted faster-"

I stop Tom from continuing his sentence, "There could have been no way of knowing how far Dumbeldore would go, or that he could be so evil." And I am again drawn back to the images of his cruel smile and the blood of my parents all over him.

"Atarah-" His words bring me back as if sensing the direction my thoughts were going. "Dumbeldore tried to kill you, and if I had waited even another few seconds your injuries would have been so much worse." My breath catches at that, and my gaze is drawn to my arm. And without pausing to consider what I was doing I began to lift up the sleeve.

My sleeve is halfway up my forearm when the beginning of a reddened scar comes into view, and with a quick pull the rest of it comes into view. Extending all the way up to the middle of my upper arm. A scar like this will never go away- always reminding me of who made it.

"What do we do next?" I speak the words as I drop the sleeve back down- covering my scar. "While you were asleep I sent out a message to the others, letting them know it is not safe at Hogwarts anymore." My heart breaks at the words, Hogwarts has always been my home. And now I cannot return for fear of my own safety.

"I gave them a location for us all to meet in two days. In the meantime I have some stuff to do."

"Let me come." The words are out before I can really think about what I am saying, but even if I had let myself consider them I would have still said the same thing.

"No."

"I am going to help, he killed my parents Tom. They died and even though they were shitty parents- they were still my mum and dad. I cannot let them die without Dumbledore paying for what he did. And I know you only care about the power and I will help you find it, as long as Dumbeldore does not get anywhere near it." The words come out in a rush and Tom's eyes search mine as he listens.

"Fine, we will leave first thing tomorrow. For now you need your rest." Tom stands up in a fluid motion and makes his way to the door. I watch him stop in the doorway as if he is about to say something else but he only shuts the door.

I make my way over to the bed and crawl under the covers, and I am surprised at how tired I really am. I fall asleep only minutes later- dreaming of my parents.

...

A hint of sunlight hits my face, causing me to wake up. I lay in bed for many minutes before realizing how thirsty I have become. I sit up and make my way towards the door, opening it slowly before making my way down the short hallway until I reach a large room. Which contains a kitchen, dining space, and a sitting area. I scan the area quickly and realize this house is much smaller than I was expecting.

There only appears to be one bedroom, and by the looks of the couch it seems Tom slept out here overnight. Although I cannot see him anywhere here. Finally I make my way to the cabinets and pull myself a glass to fill with water.

The water is halfway gone by the time I move again to explore the rest of the area, there doesn't seem to be much here except the bare necessities. I lift my gaze and a figure outside catches my eye. And before I can think much on what I am doing- I am out the door and moving to stand next to Tom in a few short seconds.

We stand in silence for a long moment until I speak a thought that has come to mind often during the last several hours, "I really thought you would have taken Dumbledore's offer." I feel him straighten next to me and I immediately regret speaking. Just when I think he is going to ignore me- he begins talking, "Why did you stop to help me when you could have gotten far away. Especially after what I had put you through." His question shocks me- and as much as I want to give him an answer I cannot.

"I don't think I can answer that yet."

"Neither can I."