Pick Your Poison | Tom Riddle |

Chapter Nineteen: Midnight Talks

Eleanor stood in place, frozen and constricted to the one spot in her living room. It was older and her family looked younger. Both her parents and Aunt and Uncle sat there in place while the two children on the floor played by the Christmas tree.
It was the night Marjorie came and she did.
In the blink of an eye, she was sitting on the couch with the baby cradled in her arms.

But when Eleanor blinked again, everything blurred and a scratching noise dragged at her ear as she watched her exit through the door.

With a newfound surge through her body, Eleanor impulsively took off but not as fast as she wanted to.

It was as if there was some force that was teasing her, allowing her to move but not fast enough to catch her mother.

Eleanor's vision blacked out as she stepped out through the door and when she turned around in circles trying to find her way, she then found herself suffering from the bitter cold in the air that nearly sucked the breath from her lungs. Her home was now dark without a single flicker of light in the windows and around her was a black abyss where the snow on the ground continued into.

"Marjorie!" Eleanor shouted, her voice feeling quiet.

Time seemed to slow to a normal tempo in which the moment felt as if it were really happening. The cold, the feeling, the helplessness.
She experienced the tear in the bond with her true mother now the same way the baby felt it sixteen years ago.
It was a gut wrenching feeling that shot up to her chest making her feel suffocated.

"Mom!" she finally cried, just barely able to choke up the words.

Then, there was a slight sound in the silent night that made Eleanor straighten up and turn around.

It was not the woman from her living room back in nineteen twenty seven.
The woman who stood before her had slightly longer and darker curlier hair that shone in the moonlight on them. Her cheeks were more defined and her face was sharper and less plump with hazel eyes surrounded by a shadow. She was absolutely stunning.

"Oh, you're so beautiful. I see you every day and you never fail to amaze me." Marjorie smiled sadly, her eyes turning to glass as she gave an admiring look to her daughter.

"How can you see me every day?" Eleanor asked, feeling more control over her voice. Her mother was a mystery. She disappeared that night. Probably died too. But Eleanor felt the feeling deep in her chest that it was real and she wanted to believe it so.

"You're not safe in Hogwarts." she said, seemingly ignoring her question which caused a look of confusion on her daughter's face. She peered at Marjorie, overwhelmed by the flash of green light in her eyes while she ran down a street, clutching an infant. Eleanor had just seen a memory of her mother. It couldn't be possible in a dream. It couldn't be.

"How?" Eleanor desperately asked, wanting to know how she knew and how she was doing all this. It had to be more than just her imagination. Eleanor delved into her hazel eyes once more, her energy thriving from the hope she had in her chest as she tried to look.
Then, she could see her mother standing on this very lawn but behind her was a white haired man that sent a shudder through Eleanor, causing her to draw back.

"You must protect yourself." Marjorie sighed, still wearing a sad smile.

"Are you really here? How do you know I'm not safe?" Eleanor begged, watching her mother stare without saying a word. "Please! I need answers. I need you!"

"I'm always with you, Eleanor. Haven't you noticed?" Marjorie asked, raising an eyebrow with a knowing smirk that left her feeling more empty than before. The pain of unanswered questions swirled in her aching mind and she felt the pull away from her real mother once more, crying out for her help and begging for her not to leave.