Disclaimer: I am making no money out of this, it's just entertainment. All the characters you recognise are from JKR's wonderful world, the ones you don't recognise belong to me.

White blinding light surrounded him, groaning, he rolled over on to his back and wiped the perspiration that had gathered in beads on his forehead with the sleeve of his robe. His eyes were starting to come into focus but all he could see was himself, covered in dirt and blood, in a white mist, and nothing else, just pure nothingness. He struggled to get himself up into a sitting position, straining his ears to listen to a soft tune, one that he vaguely remembered, that he could now hear resounding all around him, through the whiteness, but where was it coming from?

"Hello, can anyone hear me?" he uttered at first in a deep, strong but very calm voice. Then went he didn't get a reply, he started to get annoyed. "Why am I here?" And finally a feeble "Where is here?"

The boy moved slowly to a standing position, feeling the bruises under his robes and the grazes scattered across his pale skin. Carefully he brushed all dirt off his robes, then straightened them and finally unrolled his sleeves. As a last thought the boy ran his fingers through his messy dark hair, trying to smooth it down, and followed it by patting his pockets gently. Well gently at first, but then his hands began to work more furiously, and as his hands shook, he was getting more and more aggravated. That is when he first realised something was seriously wrong.

"Where's my wand?" He shouted, frantically looking around, but it was no use, all he could see was the same whiteness all around him. He closed his eyes, concentrated with all his might and wordlessly thought, Accio Wand. But nothing happened. The boy started to wander around, walking in one direction and then the next. He didn't make any progress, all he found was more nothingness, and he was starting to get frustrated and was becoming dizzy with all the energy it was just taking him to stand up. By now he was getting very angry. Normally his magic would have responded to him but wherever he was, magic didn't seem to...work.

"You're in a place I like to call limbo," a serene voice in the distant said. Blinding white light startled the boy and he collapsed to the ground, his arms weakly thrown in front of his eyes to protect them from the brightness. It didn't work, pain coursed through his head. After what seemed like hours he was finally able to drop his hands back to his sides and what he saw startled him.

A women was standing in front of him a little way away from him, talking in a very smooth voice that seemed to compliment the soft tune that was still sounding, but just a little quieter. She continued "Others call it purgatory, the 'tween place, it has many different names in many different languages and cultures. But I like to call it 'limbo'. And your magic won't work here either, so therefore there is no point in having your wand."

The women wearing a bright white robe trimmed with gold was standing in front of him, at glance he thought she was around twenty years old, and she had long wavy brown hair with red and pink roses entwined into strands. Her eyes were the same chocolate brown as her hair, and little brown freckles dusted her dark olive skin. She was a little shorter than the boy but they way she held herself and the confidence and power radiating from made her appear ten feet tall.

"You don't recognise me do you?" the girl inquired. "No matter, you will do soon enough." she added with a sly grin.

The boy began to ask, "how did I..."

"Get here? Well, I think it's a very confusing concept but pure and simply, you died. And I'm here to try and help you move on." The girl replied carefully. "Little good it will do, but I promised them."

"I did NOT die! It's impossible, you're lying!" The boy screeched, pulling himself up with what little energy he had, and ran at the girl, his robes bellowing between his legs and quickly tightening his hands round her throat. Blood rushed through his body and pounded in his ears; suddenly it was deathly quiet and very cool. Under his long fingers her dark skin felt warm and smooth, while his hands were cold and clammy, causing the girl to wince and her eyes to narrow but strangely not to choke, gag or gasp for air.

But before he knew it his hands were grabbing nothing, the girl had vanished. The boy turned around and suddenly she was in front of him. With a quick swish off her hand she sent him flying backwards, and she no longer appeared serene. There was a fierce look on her face and as he stumbled to the ground exhausted, she frowned.

The girl rubbed her throat and adjusted her hair that had been slightly mussed, the next time she spoke her voice was full of gravity and venom, "I wouldn't try that again, if I were you. You know I'm telling the truth. Tom Riddle, you finally died." Her tone eluded bitterness and her words where laced with spite as she delivered the sentence she he knew he had been dreading and fearful to hear all his life.