Means To An End || Tom Riddle Story

Thirty-One

She couldn't return home. That wasn't an option. In the split-second she had made up her mind to Disapparate, she ended up where nobody would even think to look for her.

Hensley Hollow. A small secluded wizarding village in the mountains of Austria where Cosette's mother used to take her and brothers on vacation when they were young children. Their father never joined them on this excursion so he would never expect Cosette to be hiding out in the family cottage high up in the mountain tops.

Cosette Apparated on the front porch of the cottage. It was completely dark and all she could hear were the sounds of animals rustling leaves in the woods. She clutched the locket tightly in her hand as if she feared it would disappear at any minute. She could hardly believe she finally had it in her possession. She tried picturing Tom's face once he realized that she had stolen it, but she was too cold she could hardly focus on anything except her chattering teeth.

"Alohamora," she whispered as she unlocked the door with magic.

The door slowly creaked open. She could see, even in the darkness, that the house was in a right state. She lit the lanterns as well as the fireplace. The room illuminated a cozy orange glow and for the first time in hours, she felt like she was finally safe.

She stood in the main living room which was covered in cobwebs and dust, but her family's furniture remained undisturbed. She couldn't even remember the last time she was here. The kitchen was off to the left and down the hallway was the main master bedroom. She walked slowly towards the stairs and was hesitant to look around. The last time she as here was probably when Theo was alive, and she couldn't bear to look in his bedroom which was the first room to the right at the top of the stairs.

She sighed and looked back down at the locket.

"What am I going to do now?" she muttered to herself.

She had no clothes, food or supplies. The only money she had was a couple of Galleons and Sickles at the bottom of her handbag. How long could she remain in hiding?

"And where were you going to go once you found the locket? Were you going to flee the country in hopes I'd cut my losses and forget all about you? And you'd live happily ever after with your family far away from Lord Voldemort?"

Tom's voice echoed inside her head. She glanced over her shoulder out the window as if she half-expected Tom to be standing there watching her.

A chill ran down her spine. There was no way he would find her here... would he? She supposed he could somehow get to her family and eventually figure it out. He was smart, and he knew how to get information out of people.

She paced the room for what felt like hours until she flopped down on the living room couch in front of the fireplace. She wished more than anything she wasn't completely alone. Honestly... she wished Tom was here with her. Even though he probably wanted to kill her. However, something inside of her told her that he wouldn't. He couldn't. Not after everything they've been through.

If he wanted to kill her he would have already done it.

She lolled her head back onto the couch as she stared at the cobwebs on the ceiling. She knew she had to stay here until she thought of a plan... or at least what she was going to do next.

***

Tom waited and listened for the sound of the shop's door to close, only it came later than he anticipated. What had taken Cosette so long to leave? In the moment, he didn't dwell on it. What he was mainly concerned about was everything that had just unfolded minutes prior to Cosette's departure.

Tom was unfamiliar with this feeling and he didn't understand it. When Tom didn't understand something, it sparked a rage inside of him.

In a fit of fury, he pushed all of the paperwork and empty liquor bottles from Mr. Burke's desk onto the floor. The sound of the bottles shattering made him angrier as he picked up anything he could find and threw it against the wall. It wasn't until the entire room was in shambles that he was finally able to calm down and catch his breath.