That night, I didn't get much sleep. I lay awake in my bed in a little room above the pub, thinking of the decision I had just made. Tom Riddle Jr. asked me to marry him, I kept thinking to myself, and I agreed. It seemed as if all the reasons I shouldn't marry Tom that I couldn't remember at the time came rushing at me as soon as I was alone. They haunted me, plaguing not only my every waking moment, but every second of my dreams in the brief minutes when I managed to get some sleep as well. He is the most selfish man you have ever met, my conscious sneered at me, clearly displeased with the choice I had made. I rolled over and tugged at the blankets, He is using you, and since you so foolishly agreed, he will continue using you for the rest of your life. The truth of that statement shocked me to my core. It was like when you suddenly find the perfect statement to describe why you are crying, and you find some bitter sweetness in finding the root of the problem. I would spend the rest of my days being manipulated by Tom.

My feet were too hot, that was what was wrong. I kicked until my feet found their way out from under the bottom of the blanket. "There," I said out loud to myself and shut my eyes. About three seconds later it came back, He didn't even offer you anything in return. You promised this man your life for a 'favor'. I was suddenly very uncomfortable again. After not seeing or hearing from him in six years, Milly. I gave up. I threw the covers off and climbed out of bed. I grabbed a glass off the bedside table and walked over to the sink in my closet of a bathroom. I let the water run for a few seconds before putting my glass under it and letting the steady stream fill it up. I turned off the water and took a sip while walking to the window that overlooked the dreary alleyway on the side of the pub. I stood there, looking at nothing in particular- just thinking.

I had never been a romantic. I had never needed anyone's love or support, and frankly, I was uncomfortable with the thought of having to provide that love or support to someone. Maybe that's why I could see myself married to Tom, because while I respected Tom as a person and found his company to be very interesting, I certainly did not love the man. Just the same, I was certain that he did not love me. Strangely enough, there was some comfort in that. There was no ambiguity, no doubts. We were walking into this marriage with no love, no promises- nothing but respect for the other person, and I considered that to be more than what most marriages had these days. It could work, I supposed.

I took another sip of water, and my brain went to our years at Hogwarts. Tom ran the school through a strange mixture of charm and intimidation. He had everyone wrapped around his finger. All of the girls wanted to be with him, and all the boys wanted to be him, yet everyone was afraid of him. Almost everyone, at least. I had seen Tom vulnerable too many times- whether it was seeing him be bullied for being different or watching him go down the difficult path to acceptance that his parents had either died or didn't want him- to be afraid of him. I knew his upbringing had made him colder. I knew in that particular orphanage, that you learned to deal with your own problems and trust no one. I knew because I wasn't immune to the consequences of growing up there either. Certain things should bother me, like the fact that he kills for a living or that he runs a cult, for Merlin's sake, but they don't. At least, not as much as they should.

In our seventh year of Hogwarts, Tom and I were in something of a romantic relationship, and it was surprisingly easy. Sure, there were a lot of secrets, but that never really bothered me either. Tom would disappear periodically and would talk about having "productive" and "unproductive" days that had absolutely nothing to do with school work, but I couldn't find it in me to care enough to ask what exactly he was up to. It was like he had a hobby that bored me to tears, and try as I might, I just couldn't pretend to be interested. That's the thing most people don't understand about Tom's rise to power; it was an awful amount of boring politics, making connections with strange and uninteresting people, and tiresome, three month long planning periods for very small and seemingly worthless missions.

Ultimately, the relationship between Tom and I ended simply because he was in too deep with the Death Eaters to lead a normal life and that was all I had wanted. It was an easy break up, I guess you could call it. Tom didn't want me holding him back and I didn't want him holding me down. The strange thing about it was that we never sat down and talked about it being over, as I understand most couples do. As we were leaving on graduation day, I looked at him seriously and said, "It's been a pleasure, Tom."

Something like relief washed over his features, ever so slightly, and he looked at me with equal seriousness, "It has, Milagros."

And that was it. There was no goodbye kiss in the rain or lingering feelings. It was all the closure I needed, and it seemed as if Tom felt the same. I would think of Tom every now and again, and sometimes I would miss having him around, but never enough to regret the decision to part ways. I sighed, and watched a stray cat run down the alley. Tom was right about one thing, I could be happy anywhere. I was happy here, I was happy at Hogwarts, and I would even consider myself happy at the orphanage. I could be happy with Tom. Comforted by this, I set my glass of water down and crawled into bed. I fell asleep with the sun nearing the horizon and the memory of Tom's kiss in the pub playing over and over behind my closed eyes.

Many nights of the next two weeks were just like the first- full of doubts and vacant of sleep. I put in my notice, telling the pub owner, Rolf, that estranged family had shown up and needed me to move out of country with them. I deemed it unwise to tell anyone that I was getting married to Lord Voldemort, surprisingly, and due to my lack of sleep, that was the best story I could come up with. If I was being honest, I was never a very good liar, regardless of the amount of sleep I got. That was always Tom's area of expertise.

The day my two weeks was up, I packed up all my clothes and my few belongings. Mostly they consisted of potion books, ingredients, cauldrons, and a few alchemy items that I had started dabbling in. I put on my nicest dress, a light purple knee length A-line with thin straps and dark blue trim. I was hoping today would be the day Tom would come to get me as otherwise I would have to rent out a place to sleep for the night, but just as I was wondering what my actions would be if he didn't show up, I heard a definite crack from below me. Nobody Apparates in this early in the morning. It had to be Tom.

I hurriedly grabbed my things and headed downstairs when I saw the silhouette of none other than Abraxus Malfoy talking to Rolf, and I couldn't decide if I was relieved or disappointed to see him instead of Tom. Then I remembered that Tom said he was sending someone and felt stupid for even thinking he'd be here.

"…yes, I am her… cousin," Abraxus's smooth voice rang in my ears as I walked over, carrying my things.

"Abraxus, it's been a while," I said, deciding it's best to spare Abraxus of any further interrogation from Rolf.

"Ah, hello, Milly," Abraxus said greeting me.

"Rolf, it has been lovely working for you, but I think my dear cousin has it from here," I said, shuffling my things to shake his hand.

"Sad ter see ya go, Milly, but family comes first. Tha's somethin' I understand," Rolf said, shaking my hand.

"Best o' luck to ya," he said. I thanked him as he turned and walked back toward his office.

"Is that truly what you are wearing to your wedding?" he asked looking down at my simple dress. It was pretty plain, but it hugged my curves perfectly. I was actually quite fond of it.

"It's all I had that was decent," I said with a bit of a smile, "Tom- I mean, the Dark Lord won't mind, though."

He cocked his head, "What makes you so sure?"

I wanted to inform him that if Tom had a problem with it, he could stuff it, but I decided to just leave it with a simple, "I suppose I don't."

"Well, nothing we can do about it now," he sighed and held out his hand. I took it and cringed as we Apparated. I had always hated that feeling, and Side-Along Apparition always made the anticipation so much worse. Next thing I knew, I was stumbling forward into a simple room with a desk. I looked to my right and saw Tom standing there looking incredibly handsome in dress robes with two other Death Eaters. In front of me, there was man behind the desk looking terrified. Obviously hearing the crack of the Apparition, Tom turned and said, "Ah, Miss Rodriguez is here to sign. I expect that once that is completed, everything will be taken care of?"

"Y-yes," the man sputtered, fumbling with his papers, "you two will be legally wed. Now, Miss Rodriguez, if I could just have you sign here."

"Of course," I said approaching the desk and quickly skimming the document. It was a basic marriage license, from what I could gather. I grabbed the pen, wrote 'Milagros', but then paused and turned to Tom.

"Do I sign Riddle or Rodriguez?" I asked him, stupidly.

"Rodriguez," he answered.

I finished and handed it back to him. He looked absolutely flustered and began to organize the paper work.

"Now, Miss Rodriguez," Tom said extending his arm, "we have a ceremony to attend."

"Thank you very much, sir," I said to the man and saw him pause for a second to shoot me a look of sheer pity. Confused, I took Tom's arm. I also didn't fail to notice that Tom still referred to me as 'Miss Rodriguez' in front of others, but I decided that this wasn't the time or place to discuss that.

Everything was happening so fast. I was legally married to Tom. Just like that. Till death do us part. And I had no time to reflect on that fact before we had to leave for a ceremony. I turned to see Tom gesture with his head and the two other Death Eaters Apparate. Half a second later, we were Apparating, too. I clenched my eyes shut as my stomach lurched. When it was over, I opened my eyes to find myself in a stone hallway that reminded me very much of Hogwarts. Two giant, elegant, and very intimidating doors stood to our left that I could only assume led to the ceremony.

It was sensory overload, and everything was completely overwhelming.

No, Milly, get those weak thoughts out of your head. Pull yourself together and get through this, my conscious scolded. Right. I looked skeptically at the doors. One thing at a time.

"My lord?" I asked almost hesitantly. It was my first time ever addressing him that way. It was foreign and strange, but he looked down at me completely unfazed. I guess he was used to being called that. "Just how large of a ceremony is this?"

"Small. Close followers and people that I want to think are close followers," he said with a hint of a smirk. Of course, this was a political stunt. That also meant this was my first test.

"Shall we?" he asked gesturing toward the doors.

I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders back. I looked up at Tom and nodded. Tom waved his wand to open the doors, and I put on my best fake, but professional, smile as we walked into the room together.