Extreme Ways ( A Tom Riddle fanfiction )

Chapter 34

"And then on the summer outing — we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or to the seaside — well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they’d gone into a cave with Tom Riddle. He swore they’d just gone exploring, but something happened in there, I’m sure of it"

HP6

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Evelyn knew that she had to face her sins someday.
Her cousin Milly was just an empty shell of the proud, lively girl that she was used to be. Her screams echoed into Evelyn's mind. She recalled all the energy she had to use to perform that kind of magic. It was like the Cruciatus was sucking her magic away as it was sucking it from Milly's sanity. She did it because Tom told her to.
Milly was moving her low head back and forth.
"I'm so sorry" Evelyn whispered, her heart aching.
Milly ignored her mumbling something.
Evelyn leaned closer to try to catch something "What are you saying? Can I help you?".
"No" abruptly Milly raised her head to stare at Evelyn with wide head. For the surprise Evelyn retreated so fast that she lost balance and fell sitting on the floor.
"You chose it" Milly stood up from her bed and walked to her scared cousin, suddenly her sanity seemed back "That's also your name. Evelyn. Not so lovely, but evil! And he was born in New Year's Eve! I don't need to be Merlin to notice that!".
The light started to tremble and flash, Milly's voice raised so loud to echo strong like a thunder.
Evelyn wanted to scream and felt unable to stand up and move away. The light died and darkness engulfed her.

Evelyn jumped up on her bed, her heart beating fast, her skin sweating cold.
It was just a nightmare, she realized thankfully. But her relief died when she noticed a shadow in her room.
Before she could react, the shadow moved and a candle was lit. So she could see the face of the shadow and her heart calmed again.
"Are you alright?" Tom asked with a confused frown.
She sighed with relief and struggled against the blanket to reach him, but he prevented her and approached her to hug her.
"You're back" she breathed wrapping her arms around him and smelling the smell of the sea on him.
He went on a trip on his own for less than a day but she had already feared that something wrong happened to him.
The world was on fire. The muggles were into a fierce world war, just like the magic world was collapsing into the global wizarding war led by Grindelwald.
"Of course I am" he said giving a peck on her cheek "You were already missing me, weren't you?".
She smiled unlacing his cloak "So will you tell me now where you've been? And why I couldn't come with you".
He sat on the bed cuddling with her "I already told you that I wasn't sure it was safe for you. I will take you there tomorrow, I promise. Can you handle with your curiosity for a little while?".
"I can still kick you out of my bed for this suspence" she teased him.
"Try it" he challenged her undressing himself "Seriously, you need to sleep now. We have a tiring trip tomorrow. I won't take you there if you'll be sleepwalking".
"I hate you" she snapped "As if I can sleep while you're doing a striptease in my bed!".
He chuckled and slithered under the blanket pulling her down with him.
She felt his skin was cold and wet and wondered if he was going to take her to a beach to enjoy the sea in those hot summer days.
It was a lovely idea, but her heart was darkened by her recent nightmare and her backstabbing to her uncle to cover his dangerous revelations.
She wished she couldn't just enjoy her boyfriend, but an unpleasant scheme was taking shape into her mind. Too many coincidences menaced to blow up the utopic romantic relationship she was dreaming with Tom.
She recalled when she used the memory charm. A dangerous spell she wasn't used to perform and that could destroy the relative she loved the most. All because she needed to protect him and herself. And she performed it in a coldblooded way. She felt she was becoming like Tom Riddle.

It was late in the morning when she woke up. It was a cloudy day and the curtains covering the windows made her lost the cognition of time.
Tom was already up and ready, waiting for her for some breakfast. Then he instructed her how to dress and they waited for her uncle and aunt to leave them alone.
"Be ready for a Side Along Apparition" he said offering her his arm.
"Can't you just tell me where we are going?" She disliked the idea of apparating with him.
"You don't know that place" he explained patiently "I couldn't apparate either yesterday because I forgot how it looked like so I had to use muggle means of transport to find it. That's why it took me so long. Now it will be quicker. Come on. Deep breath".
She obeyed and grabbed his arm. She closed her eyes until the unpleasant pressure of the Apparition abandoned her.
When she opened her eyes she inhaled salty air.
She rarely visited the coast, so seeing the large sea was a lovely experience for her.
"Where are we?" She asked smiling at Tom.
"Wales. We can't attract attention. There's a muggle village right there".
She followed his nod and saw a small group of houses.
"We are not here for that village" he explained to her confused look "Let's go to the cliff. There's a cute sight from there".
Evelyn followed him, imagining how the sea would have been on a sunny day. On that day everything seemed grey.
"So how do you know this place?" She asked him.
After a long silence, he replied a bit coldly "When I was a child, they brought us here in some summers. The only trip we had".
It made her speechless. She wondered why he would visit a place linked to his hated orphanage.