Extreme Ways ( A Tom Riddle fanfiction )

Chapter 38

"So Voldemort went off to Borgin and Burkes, and all the staff who had admired him said what a waste it was, a brilliant young wizard like that, working in a shop. However, Voldemort was no mere assistant. Polite and handsome and clever, he was soon given particular jobs of the type that only exist in a place like Borgin and Burkes, which specializes in objects with unusual and powerful properties. Voldemort was sent to persuade people to part with their treasures for sale by the partners, and he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this."

HP6

~~~~~~~~

Caractacus ducked on a silver ring with an emerald stone on it. He examined it with his monocle, muttering pleasantly.
"Very well, boy. This is a valuable heirloom. We can double the price you paid for it" he said to Tom, who was waiting patiently.
Evelyn glanced at them from the counter. That evening Tom arrived with a bag of new interesting artefacts and a box of jewels. He kept that ring as last surprise.
"I want to keep it" Tom said suddenly, catching the old wizard by surprise "You can take the amount of money of it from my wage".
Caractacus frowned "Are you sure? This is very valuable".
"I'm sure, sir" Tom replied firmly.
Mr Burke glanced at his niece, who was following their discussion with more attention, then rested his fierce eyes on the young man "Sorry, boy, but how will you pay the rent if you won't earn a coin anymore for months or years? Do you want to become dependent on my niece's generosity?".
"I will find a way to keep my promise and get the money that we need. I found this ring, I want to keep it" Tom said stubbornly, trying to take the ring from Caractacus's fingers, who retreated from him.
"Maybe we can bargain. Why don't you show me your ring? It can be a fair trade".
It sent a chill through Evelyn. She felt the tension growing in the air.
Tom retreated as well and covered his ring with his hand "This is mine. It's the only thing I have from my family. My wage will pay that ring".
His resoluteness made the old wizard grimace. He agreed to the deal, although he grumbled about it for days.

Evelyn waited for the two of them to be alone in their flat to bring out the question.
"Why did you do that?" She asked crossing her arms.
Tom raised an innocent look at her, then pulled her arm to take her hand and placed the old ring around her ring finger "I'm just keeping my promise. I told you that I would find a ring that suits your hand".
"But it doesn't need to be this valuable" she sighed feeling uncomfortable to wear something so precious.
"You are more than valuable, priceless. And you are my wife" he kissed her hand, then leaned to kiss her on her lips but stopped seeing so hesitant "Are you not?".
"Yeah, but is it necessary? He will make you work extra hours to pay this. I don't want you to stay away for the whole day".
"Don't worry about that. This will remind you that I'm always with you after all" he took her hand to admire the ring, then intertwined their fingers.

His new missions filled most of his day, so Evelyn could only see him mainly at night.
Hydra became her only company when she was alone at home. Evelyn didn't dare to invite her few friends, she could only plan hanging out with them in Diagon Alley during the weekend.
"Do you understand the price of this?" Evelyn showed her ring to the snake, that slithered to her feet "He is away for the whole day just to pay this. When I would gladly give this ring away just to have him back here".
Hydra didn't reply of course. She just curled at her feet.
Evelyn sighed with sorrow, then some loid noises came from the corridor. It sounded like the world was under attack and her first thought was that Tom's fear became true and muggles were destroying the whole London.
She jumped up grabbing her wand and ran out of her flat, attracted by the voices of her screaming neighbors.
In the corridor there was smoke, but she couldn't tell where the explosion happened.
She saw a tall, dark figure moving away from the grey cloud.
Tom lowered his wand and walked towards her.
"What happened?" She asked confused.
"I don't know. I'm not involved" he marched to their open door, clearly unwilling to speak about it.
She glanced at the witnesses, who hurried to hide into their flats, then she followed the wizard and closed the door behind her.
Tom patted some dust away from his cloak before unlacing it.
Evelyn noticed Hydra hissing in a menacing way, something that never happened before.
"So how did it go?" She asked eyeing the young man, her fingers nervously caressing her ring.
"Well" he said simply, hanging his cloak to a nail on the wall.
Evelyn scanned his handsome features carefully. He looked like usual, but her instinct told her that something was wrong. And she wanted to trust Tom's little snake.
"Did the goblins agree?" She kept asking.
He nodded, but he clearly had no idea of what he was talking about.
Evelyn took it as a proof. She couldn't know who was standing in front of her, but she had to deal with it.
After hesitating, she decided to warn her real husband.
"Would like something fresh to drink?" He offered her a cup. She wondered what liquid was that and accepted it, just to take it away.
"I'm not thirsty now. But thank you".
"So, did you miss me?" She was surprised to feel him wrapping his arms around her. Everything felt wrong. Evelyn understood that she could blindly recognize the real Tom from every little detail that whoever was using Tom's body, expression and voice was missing.
She took her wand and pointed it against the impostor's neck, turning to face him.
He looked surprised and scared, something impossible on Tom's face, but soon he tried to look playful.
Evelyn kept feeling deeply uneasy to face someone who looked just like her Tom. It was worse than facing a boggart.
"You like it rough, as always" he said trying to be provocative, but it just irritated her more.
She pushed him quite violently, making him lose his balance and fall on his butt. She waved her wand making his wrists trapped into handcuffs chained to the side of the fireplace.
"Evy? What are you doing?" He said trying to sound menacing, but he sounded like a trapped mouse. Evelyn wondered if to call Hydra to have some fun, but she wasn't in the mood to torture someone who looked like her dangerous husband. Although it meant leaving all the fun to him.
"Evelyn, wait! Let me explain!" The fake Tom begged, but she cut him off by making appear a gag around his mouth. It was a unique sight, but she was too nervous to enjoy it.
"Tom, I need you at home as soon as you can. It's quite urgent" she mentally said, then waved her wand to the fireplace, sending her magic to deliver her message.