Turned - Tom Riddle

Chapter Thirty Four

Elizabeth was deep in her own hole of misery. She had set so much up for herself and she was regretting every decision she'd ever made. She regretted kissing Asher, she regretted going to Joshua's room that night, and most of all, she regretted attending Hogwarts.

Matilda had noticed Elizabeth's troubles and had made it her mission to cheer her up. "Beth, why are you so down?"

"Just a lot is going through my mind, that's all," Elizabeth told her honestly. It was the day after her birthday, and Matilda and she were studying in the Common Room.

"Boy problems?" Matilda guessed.

"You could say that," she shrugged, leaning her face on her hand. "I just wish everything could be as it was during Christmas," Elizabeth reminisced.

Matilda nodded, "I know, but you can't dwell on the past. Think of all of the good things that lay ahead of you."

Elizabeth sighed and directed her eyes back down to her Charms notes. She flipped through them and barely comprehended the words. As she read the pages, her mind trailed off to other thoughts.

"Beth," Matilda spoke. "It's about two in the morning, I think we should get some sleep before the exam tomorrow."

"I have a couple more pages left, just go on without me," Elizabeth told her.

"Alright, love you," Matilda gave Elizabeth a hug before she stacked her books and walked out of sight.

After she was gone, Elizabeth took another sip from her cup. She sighed and slumped over in her chair, rubbing her eyes. She was sure to fail this exam. With fluttering eyelids and her attention slowly drawing away from the material, she kept reading. Every new word on the page brought a new amount of tiredness. She'd never felt this groggy in her life.

"Still studying?"

The voice made Elizabeth jump. For the first time in two months, she saw Tom, leaning against the wall behind her. Of course, she'd seen him in her classes, but he never spoke. She didn't know what to say. She had so many questions for him, but decided to turn her head and calmly say, "Of course."

"I must be honest, I am surprised to see that you aren't more delighted to see me," Tom confessed with a small smirk.

"You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" Elizabeth questioned, ignoring his comment.

Tom walked around and sat in the chair beside her at the table, "I have been very busy."

"Doing what?"

"That isn't your concern," he replied. Even though he was so cruel and manipulative to her, she still felt herself so drawn to him.

Elizabeth bit the inside of her lip. She hadn't made eye contact with him yet. "So... that day when you said you'd... take care of Joshua... what did you do?"

"Don't sound so nervous," he said with a maniacal laugh. "We're friends, aren't we?" Tom avoided her question.

"Tom, what did you do?" Elizabeth asked, exasperated and tired. She finally looked into his eyes, and once she did, she felt herself falling again.

He looked to the side and looked back at her, "You really don't need to know."

"I want to know."

"Alright," Tom leaned back in the chair. "After you told me what he did, I went to the Gryffindor Common Room, but nobody would let me in. I was on my way back to Transfiguration to see if he was there, and I ran into him on my way. He looked... afraid, when he saw me... like he knew I would do something," Tom explained.