Zealous (Tom Riddle)

Chapter 12

Tom felt unnerving guilt for what he'd done. He felt sly, he felt smarmy. For once, he wished he had just the slightest emotion.

That was when it came to him.

It had been weeks, perhaps even a month since he had even dared to speak to Elizabeth. He acknowledged his wrongs - but what if he were to tell Elizabeth the reason behind why he couldn't be nice?

He smirked. It was going to be so easy to win her back. Not that he wanted her personally - it was just an excuse to get rid of the pain he felt when she walked past him. Guilt, he told himself. It was guilt and the undying need for power.

The power he didn't think he could achieve without her.

"Elizabeth," he called as he saw her begin to scale the steps to the Slytherin girls' dorms.

She turned, looking him dead in the eyes. In that moment, he knew his task was going to be harder than he thought.

"I need to speak with you," he almost whispered. He held a hand out to her.

Instead of taking it, she whisked past him and waited impatiently. He took in her presence - an average length, black night gown and black slippers were all she was wearing and her hair was tied up.

"Well?" She asked.

Tom sighed, "Come to my room."

After kicking out his cronies, Tom invited Elizabeth to sit with him on the floor.

"There's something I haven't told you," he said quietly.

Tom was pretending to be as nervous as possible.

"It's the reason why I was so mean to you," he added, trying to seem remorseful. Of course, he was but not to the extent of apologising wholeheartedly.

"Go on," Elizabeth replied. She was still infuriated by him, he could tell.

"I was conceived under a love potion," Tom announced, "And as you may know, children conceived under a love potion can never truly feel emotion. I cannot love. I cannot feel."

Tom felt even worse as he spoke. He didn't know why but he felt awful. Guilt was eating at his insides as he told her he couldn't love, he couldn't feel.

Elizabeth scoffed, "That's got to be a myth."

Tom stared at her in surprise. He didn't know how he'd thought she would react but it wasn't like that.

"Why?" He inquired.

Elizabeth laughed again, louder this time. Tom felt his heart race at the noise. Placing a hand to his chest, he looked towards Elizabeth.

"What are you doing, Tom?" She asked, gesturing towards his odd movement.

"I don't know," he said, instantly taking the hand away from his chest. His frosty blue eyes met her warm brown ones and they both felt some sort of reaction - they were the snow and the sun. They could coexist, but they would destroy each other eventually.

One always had to win. And each of them were determined to be the survivor.

"I'll forgive you," Elizabeth decided to say. "I'm still hurt, Tom. Please don't say anything like that again."

"I didn't mean it," he told her calmly, his eyes still in contact with hers, "I don't feel but I have instincts. I know I didn't mean it."

For once, Tom Riddle actually believed his own words. He wasn't spouting things he didn't mean to impress people, he wasn't reciting words he'd read over a thousand times to impress teachers. He was saying what he wanted to say.

Elizabeth was the only one capable of bringing that out in him. He knew that.

"Okay," Elizabeth nodded, "Okay."

She reached her hand out to meet with Tom's. He was unsure of what her actions meant, but he felt in his heart that it was right to reach back. Their hands met like the sun meets the moon - briefly, but it was the only thing both of them wanted at that time before Elizabeth, the sun, rested and Tom, the moon, became more alive as they bid each other goodnight.

He was alive because of her touch.