The Dawn of Darkness || T. Riddle

Chapter 12: Cooperation

Chapter 12

Estela didn't bother knocking before she entered Tom's chambers, and she saw him in the corner of the large room, sat by his desk which was scattered in papers as always. He didn't move a muscle when she entered, not even when she shut the door loudly behind her. He was slumped over, leaning against the desk on his elbows, his hands entangled in his mess of black hair.

She knew his stillness, his unwillingness to move, and his total unresponsiveness meant he was caught up in something very important. With the recruitment gathering taking place that night, Tom was probably up to his neck in plans and tactics. But that could wait – because she was here for an even more important reason. She was here for the first of their weekly sessions – where she would attempt to make even the tiniest hole in his strong, and well-built barriers that kept out the world.

A hefty task, but she'd done it once before. And though things were different now – much different – she could do it again. At least that's what she told herself, over and over, repeating in her mind like a chant as though saying it a hundred times would make it true.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

But no matter how many times she repeated those four little words, the tiniest part of her, a part that she had tried to extinguish for some time now – the part of her that doubted her every move, that told her she wasn't strong enough, that told her she was weak – kept repeating the same things over and over like a distant echo.

You can't do it. You're not strong enough. You won't succeed.

And whenever that distant part of her willed her to give up, she had to force herself to answer:

I can. I am. And I will.

She cleared her throat as she made her way towards the sofas and sat down, but once again Riddle didn't move. She rolled her eyes.

"Tom," she said. No reply.

He was in that strangely intriguing zone of his where the outside world didn't exist. He was currently in a state where everything existed entirely in that brilliant mind of his – and she wondered how it worked. She wondered how his marvellous mind functioned and how something so superb could cling onto such bad thoughts and dreams.

She sighed and glanced around the room – as lavish as ever – but what else could she expect from Tom Riddle?

She looked over towards the mantelpiece and saw Tom's wand sat there – right within her reach. She grinned and made her way towards it. She glanced over her shoulder towards Tom who hadn't moved an inch since she last looked at him.

Her fingers were centimetres away from his wand when a voice like the slow, deep rumble of a storm made her stop. "Don't even think about it."

She smirked and turned towards the thunderous voice, and Tom had turned in his chair to watch her. "Thank you for giving me the gift of your acknowledgement." She sneered.

"I was busy – being a Dark Lord isn't all fun and murder, you know." He replied smoothly, leaning back against his chair and lacing his fingers together.

"Well at least it's nice to see that you really put your soul into your work." She quipped, and she couldn't for the life of her stop herself from flashing him a winning smile, and she caught the glimpse of his lip twitching upwards into the slightest beam of amusement that made her smile even more.

"Clever." He replied monotonically as he got up from where he had been sitting and began making his way over towards her. She grinned.

"Are you ready for our first session?" Estela asked as she took a seat on the sofa opposite him.