A/N: Albus is tempted during his search for Tom Riddle's horcrux.
Submission for:
Missing Moments Competition: Dumbledore hunting Horcruxes
Hogwarts Writing Club Competition: Round 7 - deed
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
"Leave. The place is haunted."
Albus ignores the whisper at his ear, another one of Tom's little tricks, as he walks among the tall grass towards the remains of the dilapidated shack. If his suspicions are correct, considering the importance to Tom's history and how hidden he thought his history was, this was the perfect place to plant the artefact.
The splintered wood creaks beneath his feet as he steps over the threshold of the shack, the dim light of the hidden moon shining through the fallen roof. He takes a deep breath, inhaling the dust of several decades. The home hadn't seen a living soul since Morfin got sent to Azkaban, so many years ago.
He moves across the rotten floorboards, measuring his steps carefully, lest he fall through, when eventually he comes upon a strange area. Whereas the other boards definitely show their wear, this spot is clean and tempered, the surface slightly glittering in the light.
He draws his wand and begins to undo the enchantments, some harder than others, when finally, the last is removed. He bends down, moving the floorboard aside to reveal a gold-plated box.
"Always one for theatrics, Tom," he thinks as he lifts the box out of its hiding place. However, there seems to be no enchantments on the box itself. Strange.
He opens the lid slowly to reveal the treasure which lay within - the Gaunt Family ring. He reaches into his robes and pulls out a handkerchief, carefully wrapping it around his hand before removing the ring from its home. The ring was wrought from almost pure gold, slightly clumsy and unattractive for such a precious heirloom. However, in the dim light, Albus can almost make out a symbol etched into the stone.
"No, it can't be," he breathes, but it was - the Resurrection Stone. For years, the stone had been thought destroyed, but it had been fitted in this old ring the entire time?
He had read about the Stone and all the disasters which surrounded the artefact and its ability to bring back the dead. Stronger men had succumbed to its power and he knew better. He should just take the ring and run, but his heart weighs heavily on his mind. The guilt had been eating away at him for so many years. He has to see her one more time.
He places it on his right hand, spins the stone three times and waits. At first, nothing happens and he wonders if he had done it properly. Then, there is a shooting pain through his right arm. Black tendrils travel across his skin from beneath the metal, infecting his fingers and slowly rising past his wrist. He grabs at the ring with his other hand, trying in vain to pull it off his finger, but it refuses to release.
His vision begins to fade as his throat narrows, restricting the passage of air to his lungs. But then he finally sees her, her large eyes watching him and her arms outstretched as he falls to his knees. With his last strength, he withdraws an old cork from his cloak and disappears from the old shack.
"...carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?" someone says as a strange liquid burns his throat. He feels heavy and weak, his arm hanging over the edge of his chair. Where is he? How did he get here? He doesn't remember anything after...
His eyes open as he slowly recognizes the dark-haired Potions Master moving about him. They are in his office, and it is still dark. A faint glimmer catches his eye and he sees the ring on his desk, the stone cracked with the sword nearby.
"I... was a fool. Sorely tempted..." he explains.
"Tempted by what?" Severus asks.
Her eyes. The same ones, so wide and panicked as she streaked across the backyard. The same ones which stared up into the overcast sky, never to twinkle again.
He says nothing. It doesn't matter anymore. The deed is done, in the distant past and in the most recent. He raises his blackened hand, inspecting the curse slowly infecting his body. Within a year's time, he will die, and he accepts his fate. This is the price he pays for his temptation.