Zealous (Tom Riddle)

Chapter 11

Elizabeth felt her body shake as she entered the bathroom. The sign read in large, red letters: OUT OF ORDER.

She recalled Tom's words, "No matter what you have to do, you have to get into that bathroom. It's the only female toilet and there's no females here - there has to be something there."

So she looked around despite her morals telling her not to. Elizabeth's eyes trailed to a light.

She had a feeling this would make her slight intrusion obvious, but the woman wasn't in the inn when they'd headed down to the toilets.

She pressed the light and after a few flickers, the room was filled with an ominous dark glow.

She shivered, covering her arms. Elizabeth wasn't particularly one to get that cold, especially when she wasn't inside. But this was a different type of cold.

She poked her head inside all of the stalls. It was to no avail; there was nothing in sight.

There was a heavy metal door at the end of the stalls. Elizabeth's mind wanted to pass it off as a cleaner's cabinet. She knew it wasn't.

Taking a deep breath, she put her wand to the door's lock and whispered, "Alohamora."

She'd already known it was locked just by looking at it. It wasn't the sort of door that was left open idly, especially when the entrance to the out of order toilets was unlocked.

But Elizabeth couldn't help her surprise when the door creaked open. Peeking in, she smelt something vile. Holding back a gag, she pushed the door open wide.

Inside wasn't what she expected. She was anticipating dead bodies.

All she saw was a bag. A large, shiny black bag. She considered bringing Tom - but then she thought about it. She wanted to prove to him that she wasn't weak. That she was capable.

So she slipped the sleek gloves that Tom advised her to wear as she lifted up the top of the bag. She inched closer to see what was inside; saying she was shocked would be way too much of an understatement.

Elizabeth cursed under her breath. She dropped the bag to the floor instantly, rushing out.

Once she left the bathroom, she bumped into Tom.

"Elizabeth," he whispered, then realised how she was reacting, "Are you alright?"

Elizabeth shook her head in response. She leaned against Tom, her head resting on his shoulder as she breathed in, out, in, out heavily.

"What is it?" Tom urged. He felt no sympathy for her.

Yet even Tom could see that Elizabeth had witnessed something traumatic - disgusting, probably. She looked like she wanted to vomit and cry at the same time.

"There were bodies," she shivered with fright and disgust, "But they weren't just bodies. They were torn to shreds..."

Tom felt a load of bile building in his own stomach - who ripped a body to shreds and hid it in an abandoned toilet?

"It's okay," he whispered. He suddenly felt as though he understood why Elizabeth reacted like she did. Even though he knew, deep down, that he would've felt nothing if it was him that saw the bodies.

"It's not," Elizabeth cried out, "Those are the same men that complimented me not so long ago. The same men you spoke to, Tom. The same men that we saw alive!"

"They're dead now," Tom retorted, uninterested in Elizabeth's whining, "Let's go back to Hogwarts now, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded, muttering about it already being eleven. They headed to Hogsmeade after collecting their bags and jumped on the first carriage.

The ride to Hogwarts was fairly silent. Elizabeth still felt sick. What normal human being wouldn't after seeing multiple bodies ripped to shreds?

Tom felt an urge to comfort her. He could feel her distress, her pain. He knew deep in his heart that it somewhat hurt him, too.

Even so, he couldn't help but look forward to being back to his normal routine - bossing around Lestrange, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle and being a teacher's pet. He wondered whether Slughorn had any more of his Slug Club parties since he'd had been gone - although, he probably would've been glad if he missed one.

"What are you thinking about?" Elizabeth asked quietly, rising from her seat, "We're here."

"Just about how I look forward to not being lumbered with your company," Tom said slyly, his eyes focused on the castle. His body language suggested that he was overtired.

Elizabeth felt it. She felt physically hurt. Tom was the first person she'd been really close to in a while - sure, Hazel and Eloise were good friends, but they just didn't treat her like Tom had.

She didn't realise it was something else she wanted.

"That's it?" She inquired, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She pushed them away, continuing, "You just used me as a friend so it was easier to solve it all?"

"Of course I did," Tom replied, "Did you expect something else?"

"I expected you to have meant it when you told me it was okay," Elizabeth said. The tears came all too fast, and she ran off with her bag slung over her slender shoulder as she realised Tom Riddle had seen that he'd made her cry.

That night, she didn't unpack. For once, she was thankful that Hazel and Eloise had visited their other friends in Slytherin. The reason being that she cried herself to sleep as images of Tom Riddle flickered behind her eyes.

She knew she'd miss him.