Riddle's Plea

Willingly Taken*

(T.M.R. February 19th, 1944)

    "They should be finished soon." Abraxas says to me as we walk out of Honeyduke's, a bag filled with different types of sweets and an annoying smile on his face. "Although, Olivia does enjoy her shopping." He finishes offhandedly, giving me an annoyed but fond look at the mention of the girl he was currently fancying. I roll my eyes at him before focusing my attention on a few huddled figures at the end of the street. There were eight in total, all disgustingly filthy and their heads were bowed as they appeared to be murmuring to each other. They kept casting weary glances at the shop across the street, wands clutched tightly in their hands. I put a hand out to stop Abraxas and gesture towards the group. "Are they acting suspicious to you?" He snorts at my question but casts them a gaze. "Yes. But there are always suspicious figures in Hogsmeade due to the Hog's Head." I open my mouth to retort but an ear-splitting scream rings through the street and I watch half horrified and half transfixed as a man flies through the window of the Quill shop into the snowy street. It takes moments for Abraxas and I to react, pulling our wands out and pointing them down the street towards the group. It also only takes moments for the group of huddled figures to begin firing spells rapidly  in all directions, and more gangly figures seem to appear within distinguishable cracks of apparition. 

    Chaos ensues as different Hogwarts students pile into the streets, screaming and trying to defend themselves. Abraxas and I find ourselves pushed back into the wall by terrified students and the occasional adult. "We need to help!" Abraxas' voice fills my ears and I nod at him, both of us pushing off of the wall at the same time and into the hoards of people. "Get to the castle!" I yell out, gaining the attention of some students trying to hide in the alleyways. "Hogwarts is safe!" A gangly man appears in front of me with a pop, turning his wand on Honeyduke's whilst shoving a young girl down to the ground. "Stupefy!" The red jet leaves my wand and he's blasted away into the side of another building. I quickly gather the young girl off the ground, trying to calm her cries and failing. "It's alright. Hold on." My eye catches Al Lestrange appearing from within the crowd and my fist grabs his coat to stop him from retreating. "Take her with you." I gesture to the little girl wrapped around my mid-section and he nods, his eyes wide with fear and disbelief. I hand her off to him and watch as they disappear within the crowd again. "Tom!" My head snaps to the sound of the voice and find Theo and Evan. "What the bloody hell is happening?" They make their way to me and I repress the urge to roll my eyes at them. "Hogsmeade is being attacked. Either get to safety or start defending." Without another word I rush off again, finding Abraxas on my way and blasting another man through the storefront of The Three Broomsticks. "We need to find Vienna and Olivia!" He nods his head in understanding and we continue to shove through the crowd, trying to make our way to the other end of the village whilst keeping a lookout for any sign of the two girls. 

    The smell of smoke begins to fill my lungs as we practically shove our way down the street, black plumes could be seen rising above the hoards and bursts of light from different spells seemed to reflect off the snow. "Ab! Tom!" The both of us stop and catch sight of Olivia. Abraxas practically flies to the girl's side while my eyes continue to search for Vienna along the way. "Liv! Thank Merlin you're alright! Where's Vienna?" Abraxas searches the girl for any visible wounds and finding none he brings her into his arms. "Vienna's down fighting. They tried to t-take her. Grindelwald......he wants her." Both Abraxas and I freeze with her words and I pluck her out of his arms and look down onto her tear-stricken face. "What?" She lets out a sob and rubs a hand over her face, trying to clear some of the gathering soot from it.  "Grindelwald sent some of his followers to kidnap her. She told me to run and get help. She's down there fighting off those men." Without even stopping to think I take off towards the sounds of battle. My heart beating franticly in my chest and my throat constricting in panic. I finally manage to break free from the crowd and freeze. 

    The spells are being fired wildly, streaks of green, red, yellow and blue. There were bodies along the street, blood soaking through the snow and debris filling in the rest. In the midst of it all a blur of white and forest green catches my eye. "Vienna...." She's firing off spells at 8 burly men, tucking and rolling expertly amongst the ruble and remains. Her hair is in complete disarray, her coat long gone and her dress singed. Her eyes are wild and frantic, blood splattered across her face and her breath coming out in gasps. She doesn't say a word as she continues to fire off spells and cast protective shields over the group of innocent's huddled behind her. It became quiet clear that when I dueled her at Riddle Manor she was trying to not hurt me, but now she was letting her full wrath out. An avenging battle-worn angel. A hand grasps my shoulder causing me to break out of my awed trance and I turn my gaze to Abraxas and Olivia who had managed to catch up with me. "Where did she learn to fight like that?" Abraxas scoffs at Olivia's question and I give him a confused glance. A shout stops me from furthering any questions with him and I look back upon the scene, watching as Vienna throws 3 curses one after another, taking out 3 men along the way and managing to keep a shield up all at the same time. It wasn't until the distinguishable green jet of light flies towards her that I realize the situation she's in and I find myself breathing a sigh of relief when she managed to tuck and roll just in time. "VIENNA!" Olivia's scream breaks through the chaos and Vienna's violet eyes snap to our location, growing wide in fear and panic. "RUN!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING??!" With the distraction a bolt of yellow catches her shoulder, sending her flying back into the snow and her shield disintegrating. "VIENNA!" It was my voice that fills the air this time and quickly my wand is gone from my hand along with Abraxas and Olivia's. A man is standing upon us, his own wand pointed directly at my head. 

    "NO! STOP!" Vienna was rushing towards us, her hand covering the bleeding wound on her shoulder and her eyes filled with tears. "STOP! I'll go with you!" She manages to squeeze herself in between the man and me. My arms instinctively wrap around her, trying to pull her behind me but she fights me off. "I'll go with you. As long as you stop this madness." She's out of breath and panicking. "No. Vienna. Stop." I'm tugging at her again, trying to get her behind me. She spins around so quickly it almost knocks me over. "Tom it's alright. I'll be alright. Don't worry." She looks over my shoulder at Abraxas and Olivia giving them a sad smile before meeting my gaze again. "I can't let you do this." I pull her into me, my hand finding it's way into her angry hair and my eyes stinging painfully. "You have too Tom. I promise. I'll be alright." She stands on the tips of her toes and plants a gentle shaky kiss to my jaw before stepping out of my arms and turning towards the ugly man. "Take me to Gellert Grindelwald." He let's out a chuckle before spinning her around and wrapping an arm around her neck. My eyes meet hers and she gives me a slight nod before multiple cracks echo around the village, and then she's gone. 

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Author's note: Some of you may wonder why Tom wasn't all 'bang. bang. bang. you all dead.' It's because he's inexperienced when it comes to dueling in an actual life or death situation. Basically he's kind of in a state of shock of what he sees and is slightly panicking. That's why this chapter is quite fast paced and sudden, everything happens so quickly for him he doesn't really have time to process. Along with Abraxas and Olivia, the three of them don't seem to fully realize what kind of situation was happening and will struggle later on with the fact they distracted Vienna (an actual avenging angel tbh) from saving lives and herself.