Riddle's Plea

Revelation*

(T.M.R. November 7th, 1943)

    The stupid girl had been right. I had stood in the freezing rain for over an hour, surely catching a cold in the process, before making my way to the Slytherin dorms. I was less angry than what I was before, still very much seething, but yet more calm. The Slytherin monster was dead. I now had to come up with another plan to get rid of the filth that lived within Hogwarts. Due to my late night adventures, I had slept right through breakfast the following Sunday morning, and had to therefor wait for lunch time to be able to eat anything. Stepping into the library, I immediately caught sight of Malfoy, who was chatting merrily to a Hufflepuff girl. I huffed at his ridiculousness, before striding over to the tall blonde, causing a dark shadow to fall upon the table they were sitting at. Malfoy tensed at the presence, knowing exactly who had disturbed his attempts at wooing yet another female. "Excuse me for a moment Anna." He says to the Hufflepuff girl, who was staring at me wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. I mentally rolled my eyes at the girls reaction to me, completely immune to the fact of every girl in Hogwarts seemed to have this reaction. Well....almost every girl. My face involuntarily scrunched up at the thought, just now realizing that Vienna had never acted that way towards me. Odd. 

    I pushed away any and all thoughts of Vienna, as I led Malfoy away from his badger and further into the depths of the expansive Hogwarts library. I came to a halt, far enough away from prying eyes and ears, and took a deep breath. The smell of the old worn pages of the books surrounding us brought a little peace to my swirling mind. Knowledge had always been one of my favorite things. I craved it like an addict, and due to this craving I spent a lot of time here in the library. I turned my hard gaze onto Malfoy, who was standing in front of me with his head bowed in respect. I smirked at the boy, silently praising myself for getting them all to respect me in this manner, and cleared my throat to gain his full attention. "The basilisk is dead." I stated, not hiding the anger from my voice, and causing Malfoy to look up at me in shock. "What?" He asks me, his storm grey eyes growing wide in confusion. "Don't make me repeat myself Malfoy." I snarl the words, and am slightly disappointed at his lack of fear. "How?" He asks me, eyeing me warily, as if I had killed the thing myself. "Someone killed it. Recently." I say to him. His eyes turn more confused and his gaze flickers around the space around us. "Who?" He asks finally. "Like I bloody know. But once I find out, they will pay."  I had begun pacing as I said the words, racking my brain for anybody who could have done this. "Do you think Dumbledore..." Malfoy begins, and I completely cut him off with a sharp look. "No. I have been extra careful to make sure no one finds out of my plans." I say to him, and he nods his head at my words. 

    I continue my pacing, my brain swirling with possibilities. Who could have done this? With what weapon? How did they do it? There were too many questions unanswered and it absolutely infuriated me. "I can assure you My Lord, that none of the Knights spoke of this to anybody." Malfoy says to me, stepping away from me in the process in fear of retaliation. "I know that idiot." I say to him, not even glancing in his direction. He began rubbing his hands nervously on his trousers, being around me for this long makes him nervous, it tends to make everyone nervous. I come to a screeching halt, almost as if I had run into a wall, and causing Malfoy to jump for a moment. "Vienna." I whisper, more to myself than to him. "Vienna?" He questions, making sure he heard me right. My face had grown deathly pale, and my heart had seemed to start stuttering. No. It can't be. I whirled around to face Malfoy, his eyes grow large in fear, and he takes another step back away from me. "Think about it Malfoy. It doesn't make sense." I say to him, and watch the look on his face carefully. "Vienna suddenly appeared out of bloody nowhere. She doesn't act the same around me like everyone else here does. She's not scared of me. She's not obsessed with me like the other girls. She doesn't get nervous when she's around me. She's full of secrets. Nothing about her makes sense. I was supposed to open the Chamber on Halloween, but she distracted me. She was out in the courtyard, standing in the rain last night when I found the basilisk, just to bestow some weird wisdom upon me. She's been acting stranger than usual since Halloween, almost like she was racked with guilt. Vienna Marcus knows more than what she lets on." I say almost hurriedly, staring wildly at Malfoy and waiting for him to react. "She does have almost weekly meetings with Dumbledore as well." Malfoy says, his eyes glazing over in deep thought. "What?" I ask him, stalking up to him and grabbing his shoulders. Malfoy flinches at the contact, and I could practically hear his heartbeat start beating harder in fear. "I talk to her Ravenclaw friend sometimes..." He starts practically stuttering out the words, "she tells me Vienna meets with Dumbledore a lot." 

    I let go of Malfoy and take giant steps away from the boy, my back hitting the bookshelves behind me causing them to sway. It feels as if my brain was going to explode with the revelation. Could Vienna be the cause of my failure? There was a part of me that was saying to destroy her immediately, to take her out of the equation and for everything to go back to normal. That part of me was absolutely seething, and the air around me seemed to crackle with power at my almost uncontrollable rage. But there was a much more quieter part of me, that just couldn't believe it. Why would she do it? Why could I not accept it? Why? I begin taking deep steady breathes, trying to calm the power around me and the thoughts in my head. After what seems like an eternity, I push myself off the bookshelf, causing the tower to sway once again, before giving Malfoy a deathly stare. "Where is she?"