Of Monsters and Men- Tom Riddle x OC

1

"Al?"

A small girl stood on the edge of a wind-beaten porch, the wood peeling off in large chips that were scattered about the lawn. Her frail form was painfully evident beneath her white nightgown and the frayed hem tugged about the tops of her feet.

The boy in front of her looked down in shame. A stream of tears trickled along the edge of his nose, which was swollen to an ugly purple. His crystal eyes were shattered, akin to the cracks in ice that has been stepped on too harshly.

The girl took another step closer and her pale hand extended hesitantly before it came to a rest on the boy's shoulder. His cloak was tattered and bloodied, but still he made no motion to move. Strangely, the space between the girl's fingertips began to glow, a bright light that pierced through the grey sky. It seemed that nature was eager to share in the boy's pain and a faint drizzle began to fall from the clouds, making the flowers nearby sag under the water's weight.

"Don't, Ani." The boy shifted away, although his voice was no more than a whisper.

Ani's expression shuttered and she immediately withdrew her hand, clutching it to her chest as if it had been scalded. "Where's Gellert?"

It was the wrong question to ask. A flash of rage leaped into the boy's frozen gaze as he swung onto his feet and whipped his wand violently. Behind them, the front window of the house shattered, sending jagged pieces of glass flying through the air. Several found their way across Ani's bare arms, but the girl barely flinched as beads of crimson began to well beneath her pale skin.

"Albus?" The boy's full name tripped tentatively from her lips. Ani was accustomed to loud bursts of violence, but she had always known Albus as a sort of protector. What her brother should have been.

At this, the boy burst into heaving sobs as he sank to the earth, the blood beneath his nose mixing with the tears on his face. Tilting his head to the sky, Albus willed for the stinging raindrops to bury him. To burn his skin away until there was nothing left. Only then, perhaps, would he get what he deserved.

The clouds above grumbled in response, the rain beginning to turn into ice as Ani watched still, stepping down from the porch carefully. She winced as her movements sent an emptied bottle of whiskey skidding across the parched earth. The remnants of her father seemed like they would never leave.

"Albus?" Ani tried once more, feeling her heart pound in her chest as she stood above the golden-haired boy, who was just on the cusp of adulthood. Water streamed down his chin, slicking his dark bangs to his forehead as Albus allowed himself to be pummeled by the worst of the storm.

Finally, he gasped in a shuddering breath, looking up just enough to realize that Ani was still there. His gaze caught on the scratches on her limbs and another swell of guilt erupted in his chest. As if it was possible to feel anymore. "What have we done?" he whispered, eyeing the hesitant girl in front of him, her violet eyes an aching reminder of her brother's. His best friend. The other half of his soul.

In that moment, Albus let down the walls he had so carefully crafted and he allowed himself to recognize what he had denied all along. Gellert was falling. And his was taking that half of Albus's soul with him.

Not allowing himself a second to doubt his actions, Albus tugged at the golden chain around his neck. His hands were slick with sweat and blood as they fumbled with the clasp. "Ani, come here." If there was one miracle today it was that he had not told Gellert of the Time Turner's existence. He had planned on it. It was key to their schemes. But then Aberforth had confronted him and Ariana...

Albus shook his head. Think on that later. He had a last chance to do a decent thing. He looked up once again, noticing that Ani still hadn't moved form her precarious stance in the dirt. "Animo, come here." The words burst from his throat as a harsh command and Ani flinched, but obeyed, shuffling up small piles of dirt as she approached. Albus cursed himself, knowing how similar he must have seemed to her family. "Please."

Ani knelt to meet him on the sand as Albus offered the Time Turner, clasping the chain around the back of her neck with shaking fingers. It took him two tries to do so while Ani ran a curious finger over the hourglass, her pale eyebrows narrowed in contemplation. Gellert had exposed his sister to enough magic that Albus knew that Ani recognized the relic.

"Ani, listen to me," Albus's heart ached as he pressed both hands to the sides of the girl's neck, tilting her chin up. "You have to get out of here, or it will be the end for you." A sharp pang of grief hit his chest while he scanned the innocent depths of her eye's. So like Ari's. "Be safe. We will meet again."

Ani opened her mouth to respond, but Albus had already flicked the hourglass, murmuring under his breath as the turner began to move of its own accord, spinning with greater intensity with each passing second. He couldn't risk sending Ani to any time that Gellert would be a part of.

The girl's outline began to flicker as Ani's eyes took on an edge of fear. Albus watched her blink one last time before she disappeared entirely, leaving nothing but the sea of waving heather behind her.

Letting out a last sob, Albus sank back on his knees, finally allowing the wave of guilt and sorrow to sweep him away.

Thus began a long history of Albus Dumbledore meddling in the affairs of others.