Masquerade¹ → Tom Riddle [Rewritten] ✓

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Evelyn was unsure what her desires were, what her burning passion was, but at that moment, none of it mattered. "Yes," she breathed out heavily as the rain began to pour down on them.

At that moment, she could no longer resist, she turned to face him and as she did, their lips collided. He kissed the droplets from her lips, sweeping her hair away from her face as the rain began to fall harder. As Tom pushed his lips in more, the wave that ran through Evelyn was intoxicating, intoxicating enough that the outside world simply faded away. She could no longer feel the cool chill of the droplets running down her spine, her soaked through clothing was simply a passing thought. At that moment, it was just the two of them.

When the pair pulled away, Tom's eyes were like every fantasy Evelyn could ever imagine, every moment she wished they had shared and every moment she wished she could forget.

"We ought to head back," she spoke softly, searching for her breath.

Tom nodded, "yes, it's getting late."

Without another word, the pair made their way back into the castle, traipsing leisurely as though the rain were merely an inconvenience. As soon as they entered the castle, Evelyn spoke again, "why did you let her do that?"

He furrowed his brow, "Astrea did nothing, you won."

"I mean before, when she used the unforgivable." She shuddered at the thought.

"Evelyn I was unaware at the time, I simply asked her to make sure you would stay quiet, I had no idea of the lengths she would go to," his voice was silky smooth.

"Would you have done the same?" She looked into his eyes with a sigh.

"No," he stopped in his track, placing his fingers under her chin, "I would not," he lifted her chin up, "I would not, I promise you."

And Evelyn made the mistake of believing him. "Goodnight Tom," she pulled away from him and headed back to the Ravenclaw Tower. As silently as she could, Evelyn made her way back into her dormitory and into her bed, sighing once she felt her body hit the bed.

"Evelyn, is that you?" She heard a quiet voice calling from opposite her, lifting her head, she spotted Lily staring sleepily at her from her bed.

"Go back to sleep Lily, it's okay." Evelyn spoke with such softness in her voice she was unsure she was capable of, she sounded exactly like Lily.

"What are you doing awake?"

Evelyn whispered, "Lily, go to sleep. Go to sleep"

And then, as though she had commanded herself, her eyes began to flutter shut and she slipped into a carousel of dreams.

Darkness surrounded her. Stepping into the forest robbed Evelyn of one sense and heightened the others. It was disorientating to be almost blinded but given the ears of a wolf. Blackness nurtured a sense of claustrophobia inside her that she was unaware she possessed, although the woodland stretched unbroken for miles, Evelyn felt trapped inside the darkness.

Ahead of her was a narrow path, which was made uneven by the knotted roots that crossed it, branching at intervals: there was no map to follow, but even if there was, the perpetual dark prevented her from even considering using one.

Evelyn wished to stay still, but an invisible force pulled her forward, deeper and deeper into the forest. Silence was broken by a piercing metallic screeching in her ears, causing Evelyn to let out a muffled scream. Something or someone was calling out to her, demanding to be heard, and Evelyn had to oblige.

She traipsed through the darkness, using only her hearing to help her navigate herself toward a tall tree. As soon as she looked up, she saw the source of the noise, she spotted a sapphire glow emerging from atop the tree, a sapphire glow she knew she had to explore, it was calling out to her and she had to listen.

With the light from the glowing sapphire, Evelyn could finally see her surroundings, hundreds of trees surrounded her, but this one was different. Whilst everything about it seemed usual, upon closer inspection, Evelyn saw it. Hidden within the grooves was a shape, a shape she had seen in her common room for six years, the shape of Ravenclaw. She ran her fingers across the markings with a sigh, she had done it.

Looking up, Evelyn knew what she had to do, she had to climb. Her hand latched onto the first branch and she used her strength to pull her body up, grasping onto another branch and continuing the climb to the source of the light. Whenever she felt as though she could carry on no longer, she simply glanced at the glow and felt revitalized, it was calling for her, begging her to come and Evelyn was willing to oblige. She simply had to.

As she got nearer the top of the large oak, she noticed a silvery peak peering out from the tree, a diadem. A diadem she had been seeking, a diadem that for some reason, she needed to find, she simply had to do it.

She kept climbing until the diadem was within arms reach. Extending her dainty fingertips, she shivered as she felt the cool metal against her skin. "I did it." She found herself whispering, and just as she reached out to grasp the diadem, she felt a sharp stab in her back and she fell. Her hands lost any grip they had on the diadem and her body was flung to the ground like a rag doll.