The Girl from Azkaban ~ Tom Riddle (18+)

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖞-𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗

~✧~

She had woken up again and was no longer exposed to the cold. She found herself in the same bed she had woken up in before dinner with her father.

She eyed the room cautiously before deciding it was safe and no one was here. She wanted to jump up and look for a way to escape, but just as she threw the covers aside, she realised she was hooked up to a strange IV.

Panic-stricken, she tore at the tube attached to her hand with a needle and wondered what was being fed into her. The tube fell dully to the floor and some of the clear red liquid dripped onto the dark wooden floor. Her eyes followed the tube with a horrified expression, up to the plastic bag with 1/8 of the liquid still in it. Whatever it was, too much had already fallen into her system for Taraphina's liking.

Unsure of what to do now, stressed and frightened, she ran through the room she already knew, looking for any way to get the elexir out of her.

She ran into the bathroom and rummaged through every possible drawer, pulling whole inserts off their hinges and throwing them across the room without a care. The brunette was overwhelmed. Tears began to form and trickle down her face, the strong façade she showed to her father beginning to crack. She knew she wasn't strong enough to be unbothered by all of this all the time. It was time she processed all that had burdened her before. Starting with the attack on the Ministry, leaving behind her previously normal life, the acquaintance with her father, the torture, the pain, the suffering. And the loss of all her friends and Tom. She didn't know what was wrong with them, the only thing she knew was that something had been happening with them. She wanted to be strong for them, to find out what was wrong with them, but she couldn't find out anything from her father. Her self-pity tried to tell her, they were probably dead, otherwise her father probably wouldn't have been so calm when she brought it up. Then she had no more reason to fight, then she could finally lose herself in herself. Death was not an escape for her, she knew that and hated it at that moment. Eternity only sounded tempting when Tom stood next to her and whispered sweet promises to her about everything and nothing.

A silent scream escaped her throat and she whimpered as she slid to the floor against the tiled wall in the bathroom. The world was being ripped from under her feet over and over again and she was unsure how much longer she could take it. Her heart was pumping wildly. Despair, hate, anger and love were four strong emotions that could be a danger to everything and everyone around her. She knew she was strong and she was about to find out how strong she was.

At Hogwarts she had been taught never to act out of emotion and harness her strength, but watching Tom she was fascinated by what strength he could demonstrate when he conjured magic. It seemed supernatural what he did and that was exactly what she could do.

She would tear down the house her father had built. It was only a house, not a home.

For a moment she remained on the ground, trying to get her breathing back under control. She tried to get her rational thinking going again and began to listen to her body first. Whatever was fed to her did not seem to cause her any discomfort, at least for the moment.

Slowly she rose. Only at that moment did she notice that her dress had been changed into a nightgown. Sighing, she left the bathroom and went to the dresser where she had been finished the other day. She looked in the mirror at her own reflection. She had become thinner, her cheekbones showed more prominence and her long hair was filthy, the tips crusted with blood.

She walked on to a cupboard beside the door. She hoped to find new clothes behind the flower-adorned wardrobe fronts and she was rewarded too. She found a black knee-length skirt and a black elegant top hanging on the clothes rail. There were also matching black shoes at the bottom. A little happy that at least she didn't have to fight the battle in an almost transparent night gown, she took the clothes. She reached for the shoes and suddenly heard a hiss. She was startled and withdrew her hand in a flash. A snake crawled out of the shadows from the corner of the wardrobe.