Stolen Time A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Thirty-six

When Tom woke up, it was in the middle of the night. He cast a glance at Cassiopeia who was sleeping soundly, her head resting against his side. He carefully pulled away and sat up.

When he had got fully dressed, he looked at her sleeping form and fumbled for his wand. Then he noiselessly opened the door and went to Grace's room.

She was obviously fast asleep. For a moment he watched her, a bunch of dark hair sprawled on the pillow, her blanket drawn all the way up to her nose. A smile crossed his face, and there was an inexplicable feeling of pride deep inside of him.

He pointed his wand at her and silently brandished it with a fluid movement, muttering under his breath. A silvery light left his wand and encased her body before it died away. Grace stirred in her sleep, and Tom quickly retreated to the door.

He went down the stairs and left the house, disapparating as soon as he was outside the protective wards.

****

Cassiopeia woke to the sound of the ocean splashing against the cliffs. She opened her eyes. The sun had barely risen and the sky was a beautiful violet.

She sat up and glanced around the room. Tom's clothes were gone and so was he. Somehow she wasn't surprised.

Suddenly a thought came to her mind and she jumped up from her bed and hurried to Grace's room, quickly opening the door and looking inside. When she saw Grace sleeping quietly in her bed, she relaxed and exhaled slowly.

She closed the door again and went downstairs to prepare breakfast.

Grace appeared in the living room a while later, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Ben entered the room behind her and stifled a yawn.

"Where is he?" The excitement in Grace's voice matched the one gleaming in her eyes.

"Yes, where is he?" Ben asked, his voice a little wary.

Cassiopeia shrugged. "He's gone."

Without looking at Grace she could sense her daughter's mood change.

"What did you say to him? What did you do to make him go away again?" Grace asked accusingly.

Cassiopeia turned around and raised her eyebrows. "Nothing."

"I only had one evening and you scared him away. That's unfair."

Ben nearly choked on his bagel but he tried to cover it up with a cough.

Grace glowered at him. "What's so funny about that?"

Ben swallowed. "It's hard imagining anyone scaring him away." His voice trailed off when he saw Cassiopeia shooting him a glare.

"You know him?" Grace's voice suddenly was full of excitement again.

"Who doesn't?" Ben retorted before he could stop himself, earning him another glare.

"Tell me about him." Grace eyed Ben curiously.

When she narrowed her eyes at him, Ben shook his head. Ever since they had come to live in this cottage, Cassiopeia had taught him Occlumency, and he had become really good at it. Originally meant to keep them safe in case anyone followed them, it had turned out to be extremely useful when Grace had shown the first signs of being able of doing Legilimency.

Ben shot her a stern look. "Stop it, Grace. Stop trying to read my mind. It's not up to me to tell you about him." He turned to Cassiopeia. "But I think it may finally be time to put the cards on the table. Grace is old enough. She ought to know who he is. She ought to know why we left. It would only be fair, don't you think?"