The Absurdity of Time│Tom Riddle

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ROSAMARIA'S VISIONS ALWAYS COME BY UNEXPECTEDLY.

The first vision she had was when she was five years old. She had been sitting in the garden with her governess, learning all the different Herbology terms, when she suddenly felt as if the world was spinning. She had closed her eyes, cried, and trembled as lights fluttered against her closed lids.

And then, she Saw it.

She had Seen this tiny little butterfly, newly hatched, floating in the air before landing on her governess's shoulder. The little five-year-old had quickly dismissed it until three weeks later, under that very same tree, her vision came true.

It had started like that. Random visions during random times, something connected, sometimes not.

Like all Seers, Rosamaria doesn't get to choose when or where her visions appear. It's not like what the muggles portray in fairytales or pictures. There are no glowing balls or summoning spells- it's just nature.

Rosamaria has learned early in life that the Sight is a mysterious gift- or a curse depending on the way one looks at it- so she had never been truly frightened by anything she had Seen.

Until today.

Rosamaria had been having a lovely day. Yes, the British weather is a lot more dreary than she's used to but in a few short days, she's come to like it. It feels peaceful and calm, like a little oasis trapped within a gloomy snowglobe.

The girls from Ravenclaw are nice to her- wise and clever- and they're witches she can see herself being friends with. When she first arrived, they were a little surprised by the sudden addition of a Seventh Year student, but that quickly changed the second she opened her mouth. She hadn't done it maliciously, but she had charmed them nonetheless. They caught her up on all the gossip around the castle, of the teachers that allowed them time to finish their scrolls in class, and of the best hours to hit the library.

The few boys she had met fawned over her, but that's nothing she's not used to. They were all respectful with their words, but their eyes betrayed them. Some were sweet, some were aggressive, but overall they were harmless. She had been able to tell that they thought of her as some unique foreign flower just begging to be plucked. She was kind to them all nonetheless, but she hadn't given any one of them a second thought.

That is until she saw Tom Marvolo Riddle.

Even though she has only been at Hogwarts for a few days, she's heard much about him- jealous whisperings from boys in other houses, declarations of admiration from every girl within her house.

When she saw him, the only thing she could think of was just how beautiful he was. 

That isn't a word she typically assigns to men- beauty- but that's what he looked like. Those high cheekbones, curly brown hair, plump lips, and long lashes, were all such feminine traits, but he made them look like the epitome of masculinity.

She saw him as some sort of male siren, a mythical creature that uses its wiles to lure women to their deaths. 

If her looks had any impact on him, he hadn't shown it. Nott and the other boys had been rather obvious in their fawning, but not him. No, he was too grand and too untouchable for something that obvious.

However, when she had touched him- when skin grazed skin- his beauty had been quickly forgotten.

Because she Saw something.

It hadn't been abundantly clear, it was hazy, disorienting, and nearly knocked her off her feet.

The scene was dark, surrounded by rubble and ash, cloaked in screams and blood, and there had been a man there at the very center of it all. The man was something otherworldly. He had serpent-like red eyes, a cruel decaying smile, a missing nose, the palest skin- a monster.