To Revive a Soul || Tom Riddle

23. It's Always Sunny in Albania

Eleanor spat out dust as she tumbled out of the fireplace in Korçë. If Apparition was the thing that most wizards feared as a method of transportation, she was absolutely petrified by the idea of traveling by fire. But as she looked around, it seemed as if she had landed in the correct spot: the room she had landed in was quaint and cozy, adorned with old-fashioned paintings on the walls. A woman peeked her head over the edge of a large reception desk in the back, her eyes wide. "We have not had guests from the Floo Network in a very long time," she said with a bit of an accent, glancing around. "What can I do for you?"

Just as Eleanor was about to speak, Tom slid down the chimney and onto the wooden floor behind her. He was quick to regain his bearings, standing and dusting himself off with ease and poise before walking up to the counter. "I need one room for two," he said.

"Just for the night?" she asked him.

"We'll see," he said, looking back at Eleanor. "I'm in town on business. Not sure how long it'll take."

The receptionist nodded. "I will put you down for one night, then. That will be twelve Galleons." Tom brought out his wallet, searching for enough money to make it by. He quickly gathered the Galleons, placing them on the counter. "Thank you, sir. I will convert this to our currency. What can I write down for your room?"

Tom hesitated. "Uh... Riddle," he said, the fingers of his right hand rubbing together as if he was itching to take out his wand and use it.

"Perfect," the receptionist said, writing his name down on a small notepad behind the desk. "You will be in room 28. All of the inn's facilities will be available to you. Have a great stay." She placed a small key on the top of the counter, and Tom quickly snatched it up, wasting no time at all.

Eleanor followed Tom outside as he pocketed the key. "Are we not going to the room?" He shook his head. "But our suitcases."

"You can transfigure them, as can I," he said, condensing the contents of his luggage down to a small enough size to fit in his pocket beside the key. She followed suit, placing hers in her coat. She had argued when Tom had told her to bring a coat, but it turned out that, even in summer, Korçë managed to stay relatively cold. "I've only gotten a room in case we can't find the diadem before sundown. Let's go."

He held out his arm for her to take. "You know," she said, grabbing it, "you shouldn't have made me cancel my plans for the entire summer if you thought we'd be finding it on day one."

He didn't answer her, and Eleanor's complaint was lost to the winds of Albania as they apparated once more. It was difficult to trust Tom with something like Apparition, but she had little choice in the matter, and neither of them had been splinched yet—yet—so she figured that trusting Tom would be something she'd need to get used to.

When they landed, the air around them grew cold quickly. It may have been summer, but the thick nesting of trees around them blocked out most of the sun's light and heat. Eleanor looked around warily. "This place looks like it could be miles wide," she observed, walking up to a tree and resting a hand against it.

"You've got the right idea, at the very least. Helena said something about the diadem being hidden in a hollow tree."

"Still," she said, knocking on the bark of the tall fir tree before her, "it would take hours to search the entire forest, and you've brought us no food to keep us going."

Tom scoffed at her. "You truly believe that I didn't come prepared?"

Her hand fell from the tree as she turned around to keep walking. "I should've known you'd have a plan for everything." And then, cutting her voice off abruptly came the soft whisper of a bell, a quiet twinkling noise from somewhere deeper inside of the forest. She looked out at the dark depths in front of them. "Do you hear that?" she asked him as he came up behind her.