Zealous (Tom Riddle)

Chapter 35

Tom was terrified.

He didn't know how to be a father. He knew it'd be ages until he'd have a child that was actually in the world, but he didn't have a father figure. He had no idea.

He didn't share these insecurities with Elizabeth in fear of her leaving him. Surely she'd want a stable father for her child regardless of how much she may have loved Tom.

He was pacing around his dormitory, hissing at Lestrange whenever he complained that he was making too much noise. Of course, it was three in the morning but a man's got to do what he's got to do.

Tom felt himself begin to feel sick with the anxiety of the situation. While that mixed with excitement, Tom became an emotional mess - or rather, wreck.

Elizabeth had questioned him for weeks on end. She'd told him all about the side effects, too, and they just added to the war he was having with himself.

There was no Tom without Elizabeth. There would just be a spiral of confusion and anger until he became who he was before Elizabeth changed him.

Lord Voldemort.

Tom shivered at the name as if the man, the being, actually existed, as if he were someone that he feared. In all honesty, he was.

Tom was afraid of himself. The only thing stopping him from his greatest nightmares was his pregnant girlfriend who could die any moment.

Tom's eyes glistened in the moonlight. They were watery and the bright, aqua colour of his orbs were dulled by his sadness. He used to be this way. This was who he was when he was in the process of becoming the Dark Lord.

He had been lifeless and cruel. He was a monster.

Tom couldn't get Elizabeth out of his mind. Every time he thought he'd fallen into a peaceful slumber, nightmares of her peril flashed before his eyelids and he shot up in a cold sweat.

He sighed. He wasn't going to get out of the situation - it was unavoidable.