14 Crimes & Suspicions
The next day Aileen decided to go to Tom's room to ask him if he would like to have breakfast with her. She entered the Slytherin common room and saw Draco sitting in
an armchair reading a book. Aileen could see the cover, it said: "The Advanced Skill Of Modifying Memories". She immediately thought about the plan he had worked out for
Elisa. She was determined to put an end to this and confront Draco. "You are such a little hypocrite aren't you." Aileen stood right in front of him looking down at his face.
"What the hell is your problem?" Draco answered with a sleepy voice. "You are my problem, or actually you are Elisa's problem!" Aileen yelled. "She finally found someone
she can be happy with and then you decide you want her back and you want her to drop everything!" Aileen was really angry and Draco got angry too. "You expect her to
give up her whole life for you while you broke up with her because you didn't get your parents approval!" Draco stood up in his full length and out towered Aileen even
with her high heels. "This is not just about my family's approval! They threatened to disown me!" "Oh so your money is more important than Elisa?" Aileen was outraged.
"No! I have to be able to give her a proper home and I want her to have everything she wants!" Draco was yelling so loud that Aileen was surprised nobody had come
down to see what was going on. "In a relationship you always have to make sacrifices and I will make my own too!" Draco yelled. "Besides it doesn't even matter she
made her choice." He said, sounding sad. "Yes and if you really did love her, you would respect that!" "Shut up!" Draco yelled while he smashed his hand on the table.
Aileen took a few steps back, she didn't expect him to get so upset. Suddenly Aileen heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "What is going on here?" Tom had put on his
authoritative voice again. "Nothing, we're done." Aileen said calm. Tom looked at Draco, who looked devastated because of his lack of sleep and the anger he had inside
him. "What did you do to Malfoy?" Tom asked pertinent. Draco's face was red of anger. "Make her leave!" Draco yelled. "Calm down Draco. Go to my room I have to talk to
you." Draco went upstairs leaving Aileen and Tom behind. "Did you hear about his master plan?" Aileen said sarcastic. "Yes." Tom said calm. "I'm helping him." "Well that
won't be necessary, she already made the right choice." Aileen said. "She will change her mind soon enough." Tom said cold. "Tom, do you know he is planning on erasing
the memory of everyone who knew her?" "Yes." Tom said. "That means that I will lose my best friend!" Aileen started yelling again. "I will make sure your memory of her
will not be erased." Tom said. "I still don't trust you. And I'm pretty sure she won't change her mind, so don't bother going through with your little plan." Aileen said calm.
"You can trust me, and as for Elisa's choice… we'll see." Tom said. "I'm going to have a word with Draco now." "Okay bye." Aileen said. Tom kissed her on the lips. "Don't
be mad." "I'm not." Aileen said, trying to convince herself that it was all Draco's fault and not Tom's. She turned around and walked away to the great hall. She really
needed breakfast after all this.
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Tom went upstairs to his room to talk to Draco. "Malfoy, next time keep you emotions under control." Tom said calm. "I can't! You don't understand Elisa means everything
to me." Draco said, still sounding upset. "I do understand." Tom said cold. "But we have a plan that will work and Elisa will come back to you soon enough." Draco calmed
down hearing that and he pulled himself together again. "You know you're making it difficult for me since I can't harm Aileen. Oh how I would want that bitch gone." Tom's
head shot up and Draco immediately regretted his mistake. "If you ever… talk… or even look at Aileen again… you're dead." He said calm and cold. "You do not talk about
her, you do not talk to her, you do not come anywhere near her and if you should ever harm her in any way, you will find your muggle on the bottom of the Black Lake."
Tom Riddle was the most dangerous when he was so angry, that he stayed calm. It was terrifying. "I am so sorry… Milord" Draco said quiet. "We are going to put through
our plans tonight, Draco, it is time." Tom said, still sounding calm, but Draco knew that on the inside Tom was raging because of his words.
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Tom knew Alphonse liked to hang out in the empty corridors, discovering new secret passages. This would be fatal for him this time. Tom stood behind a wall and pointed
his wand in the direction of Alphonse who was touching a few walls probably to find a quiet spot so he could take Elisa there. "Imperio." Tom thought so if a teacher was
around they wouldn't hear it. Alphonse showed no signs of being under the curse, Tom was that good. Alphonse stopped with what he was doing and turned around
towards the Hufflepuff common room. His assignment was simple, kill Charles Diggory. Tom and Draco were sitting at the Slytherin table eating when they suddenly
noticed Elisa getting up with a scared look on her face. She went over at the teacher's table and said something they couldn't understand. Suddenly the teachers got a
concerned look on their face while listening to Elisa. Headmaster Dippet, professor Dumbledore and madam Pomfrey stood up to leave the great hall. All the students were
looking at them, but no one moved. "No one can leave the great hall until we are back, please continue enjoying your meals." Headmaster Dippet said calm, but the look
of worry in his eyes didn't fade away. Elisa followed the headmaster and casted a scared look to Draco, who got up and followed them as well, along with Tom Riddle.
"What happened?" Draco asked, although he knew it must have had something to do with the killing. "I don't know, Aileen didn't give me any details, only that she
needed help" Elisa paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "And that someone was severely injured." She finished, sounding scared. Draco looked at Tom, whose
face was even paler than usual. What was Aileen doing wandering through the corridors during dinner time? Did she see it happen? They got up to the third floor and
what they saw there was terrifying. Elisa screamed out loud in agony.
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Aileen was wandering in the corridors. She wasn't hungry and she felt like taking a walk. She was thinking about the night of Tom's birthday and all of the things he had
told her. His life hasn't been easy, just like hers wasn't. He had lost both of his parents and he didn't even have a home. She felt sorry for him, even though he loathed
that. One day, they would have a home together, a future. But she would have to stay here, in this time, she couldn't go back then. But she was willing to leave her old
life behind for him. Besides, she could always go to the future to pay a visit to her friends and family. Tom Riddle was her destiny, and she would never leave him, she
couldn't. When she was about to turn the corner she heard a voice: "Bombarda!" There was a flash of red light and Aileen heard someone screaming and falling to the
floor. She turned her head around the corner to see who it was and what she saw there was unbelievable. Alphonse was walking away while Charles Diggory was laying
on the floor, bleeding to death. Aileen ran towards him and kneeled by his side. She took off her jumper and laid it over his body, pressing hard on it to try to stop the
bleeding. There was a hole in his body, the blood kept coming out and Aileen knew she needed help as soon as possible. She grabbed her cellphone and dialed Elisa's
number. When Elisa picked up the phone she heard Aileen's panicking voice: "Elisa! Get headmaster Dippet!" Aileen was breathing heavily. "And madam Pomfrey too. He's
wounded Elisa, I think he's going to die!" "Aileen calm down." Elisa tried her very best to stay calm herself. "Where are you?" "Third floor. Not far from the staircase,
hurry!" Aileen put away her phone and started dipping Diggory's chest again. Suddenly he took her arm and looked at her with his eyes widened. "Help me, please" his
voice sounded dry and soft and Aileen could hear his fear. "I don't want to die." "You'll be fine, madam Pomfrey is on her way, hold on." Aileen said soft, trying to sound
calm and comforting. Suddenly Diggory started coughing up blood and his eyes were almost shut. "Stay with me!" Aileen yelled. Diggory started fading away and Aileen
grabbed his head and turned it towards her. "Look at me Charles! Hold on, you're going to be okay!" Aileen was panicking. "I'm sorry Aileen." Diggory said, his voice was
slowly fading away. To her great relief Aileen saw headmaster Dippet and madam Pomfrey coming towards her. "See, they're here already, you'll be fine." Aileen smiled at
Diggory but as she saw his face, she noticed his eyes were shut and his grip on her was gone. "Charles! Wake up!" she shook his body and turned his head, but he was
already gone. Suddenly she felt two hands pulling her away from Charles Diggory. "No let me go, he needs help, he's dying!" Aileen yelled, trying to stumble her way out
of the grip. "He's already gone Miss Vesper. There's nothing more we can do for him." It was madam Pomfrey's voice. She sounded calm, but also sad. Aileen was
breathing heavily, but slowly calming down. Madam Pomfrey loosened her grip on Aileen and finally let her go. "I must ask you, miss Vesper, what happened? Did you see
anything?" headmaster Dippet asked. Aileen looked at him with a shocked expression and tears rolling down her face. Her shirt was covered in blood and so were her
hands and her face. "Alphonse Weasly." Aileen said. She heard someone gasp loudly. "What do you mean?" professor Dumbledore asked. "Alphonse Weasly killed him."
Aileen said, her voice trembling. Then she heard a scream and looked up to see Elisa standing there, her hand over her mouth, with Draco holding her and Tom was
standing right next to them. "Are you absolutely sure?" Dumbledore asked. "I saw it with my own eyes." Aileen said. "It was Alphonse." There was a silence that seemed
to last forever and then madam Pomfrey broke the silence. "Can someone escort miss Vesper to her room and make sure she calms down? She shouldn't be alone right
now." Aileen was just standing there, looking at Charles Diggory's body. He had treated her like crap, but she didn't wish this on anyone. While she thought that, a scary
thought came running to the surface: Tom Riddle had sworn that Diggory would pay for what he had done to her. Aileen tried not to think about that, she was shocked
enough already. Someone grabbed her softly and pulled her farther from Diggory's body. Aileen's gaze was torn away from it, and as she looked up she saw that Tom was
holding her and leading her to the staircase. When they arrived at Aileen's room, she immediately went to the bathroom, took off her clothes and went into the shower.
The hot water running over her body calmed her down a bit. She put on her nightgown and when she got out of the bathroom, Tom Riddle was sitting on her bed. "Are
you all right?" he asked worried. "I'm fine." Aileen lied, sadness was sounding in her voice. Tom stroked her face and gave her a smooth kiss on her lips. He stroked her
hair and then he held her face in his hands, stroking her cheeks with his fingers. "What were you doing there?" Tom asked calm. "I was just taking a walk. I wasn't that
hungry and I wanted to take look around in the castle." "Something could have happened to you. What if Weasley had seen you?" Tom said, still stroking her face gently.
"I… I don't know." Aileen replied. "And now something else." Tom said, his voice sounded harsh now. He let go of Aileen's face and stood up. "Why did you help Diggory?"
"Because he was dying!" Aileen said, she didn't understand why he was even asking this, it was so obvious. "He violated you." Tom said calm, but there was edge to his
voice, the anger was tangible. "So what? I should have let him die because of that? He needed my help, and I gave it to him. No one deserves this fate." Aileen said,
feeling angry about Tom's lack of humanity. He could be so harsh sometimes. "You're a fool Aileen." Tom said, as if it was a common fact. "Yeah guess I should just let
people die and suffer like you'd do!" Aileen yelled. "You haven't changed a bit, you're still the same sadistic and evil jerk!" Aileen was so angry, she was trembling and she
was losing herself. Why couldn't he be more supportive? She needed him now. Tom took a few steps towards her until he was standing only fifteen centimeters away from
her. "At least I can take care of myself." he said, still sounding harsh, but Aileen knew he had to restrain himself from yelling. "Maybe next time I should just let them
violate you, maybe that will teach you a lesson." Aileen was scared of him again, he seemed just the same as in the beginning, and that was not the Tom Riddle Aileen
wanted to know. She felt tears pouring in her eyes as he was looking at her with anger on his face. "You are weak, Aileen. You need to toughen up a bit. He wasn't worth
saving. He violated you and he was a blood traitor." Aileen's expression showed true fear. She couldn't believe he just said that. "What am I to you Tom? Just a muggle
you mess around with to show people how stupid we are? Besides this muggle versus wizard thing is getting really old." "I am trying to deal with the fact that you are a
muggle! I have all these feelings towards you and I can't fight them, I tried but they always come running to the surface when I'm near you." "You hate the way you feel
about me." Aileen said soft, tears were pouring in her eyes. "All you want is for those feelings to be gone." A tear rolled down her cheek and Tom catched it with his finger.
Aileen turned away from him. She promised herself never to cry over a guy anymore. She wouldn't let him break her. "That would make things a lot easier for me." Tom
said. "You need to know that I'm never going to change, Aileen." Aileen felt the anger and sadness boiling inside her, but she tried to stay calm on the outside. "Fine." She
said calm, but the tears in her eyes were more present than ever. "This thing we have, it's over." "It's not over until I say it is." Tom said pertinent. "Just get out!" Aileen
yelled. "Leave me alone!" As always when someone tried to order him to do something, Tom felt the urge to show that he didn't take orders from anyone. Aileen had
opened the door and was waiting for him to leave. Tom smashed the door and grabbed Aileen's arms. He held her tidily when he spoke to her. "I will leave when I want to
leave. And you will watch your tone!" "Let go of me." Aileen said. "Please. You're hurting me." He let go of her immediately. "Only because you asked so nicely." He said,
while rolling up Aileen's sleeve and looking at her arm worriedly. He stroked her arm, which looked reddish where he had held her. "And if you really want to stay, that's
fine." Aileen said. "I'll leave." "As head boy I can't allow you to do that, especially after what just happened." Tom replied calm, while standing in front of the door so Aileen
couldn't leave. Aileen was so angry now that she forgot about everything for a moment. She just needed to get out of there, she needed some time alone. She tried to
push him away with all the power she had inside her. But Tom was so much stronger than her, he just grabbed her and pushed her across the room onto her bed. "Did
you really think you could push me away?" he asked, while smirking at her. But Aileen could see past the smirk and she saw anger in his eyes. "You know that if anyone
else had done that, they would have suffered, do you?" Aileen just nodded, she was scared that he might fall back into his old patterns. "But not you, you see, I'm not
fighting the feeling anymore. And you do not get to push me away. You made a promise." Aileen was crying. He was lying on top of her and he looked at her worriedly.
"Don't cry." He said, while he got off her. "I'm staying here tonight." Tom said. "Whether you like it or not." Aileen nodded again. She couldn't speak because she knew
she would burst out in tears and cries if she did. "Aileen are you okay?" Tom asked. "Seriously? I witnessed a murder today. I tried to help Charles but he died anyway
and now the man I love is saying that he hates the way he feels about me." Aileen sighed. "No Tom. I am not okay." Tom didn't know what to say. Maybe he had been a
little too hard on her. He really did love her, and he didn't regret it that much anymore. But he was Lord Voldemort, he was planning on purifying the magical world from
mudbloods and muggles and now he was in love with one. She had no idea how difficult this was for him and how much of his credibility he had sacrificed for her. He
couldn't explain her right now, it was not yet time for that. He put his arm around Aileen and kissed her lips softly. "You should go to sleep." He said soft. "No I'm not tired
yet, I'm going to read a bit." Aileen replied. "Aileen…" "Just give me some time Tom. It has been a long day." "Fine" Tom said, a little pissed. Aileen grabbed a book and
started reading. Tom did the same thing. After a while Tom noticed that Aileen had fallen asleep, her book laying on her lap. Tom took her book and put it on her
nightstand. He put his arm around Aileen and laid her down while covering her with the sheets. He kissed her forehead and stroked her face. "Goodnight my love." He
said, and then whispered: "You are everything to me." He put out the light and laid next to her in the bed.
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The next morning Tom woke up early. Aileen was laying there next to him, still sunken in a deep sleep. He watched her closely; she looked so fragile, he knew he had to
protect her from any harm. He did a good job by getting Diggory killed. He got what he deserved. Tom just couldn't understand why Aileen had helped him. He had hurt
her, humiliated her… She needed to be more like him, so she could take care of herself, at least partly. He decided to get up and take a walk outside. As he put on his
clothes he heard Aileen moan in her sleep. "No" It was Aileen's voice, soft but still sounding clear. "Aileen?" She didn't answer. "Are you awake?" Still no answer. "No!"
She was sounding louder now. "Aileen what the…?" Tom didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Aileen started to scream and breathe heavily. Her body was
shaking and she had started sweating. Tom walked towards her and sat next to her on the bed. He saw that her eyes were closed, she was having a nightmare.
"Nooooo!" she screamed, as she suddenly sat up straight with a shocked expression written all over her face. "Aileen calm down, you were having a nightmare." Tom said
calm. Aileen turned her head towards him and he saw tears pouring in her eyes. "I couldn't save him, I couldn't…" "Aileen it was a bad dream." Tom said cold. It was clear
to him that the dream was about the events of last night and he couldn't believe she still felt sorry for Diggory. "Do you think it hurts… dying?" Aileen asked softly. "You
don't have to worry about that, you won't die as long as you're with me." "Everyone dies Tom." "I won't, and you won't have to die either." He said. "I can erase it if you
want." "What?" Aileen didn't understand. She was still processing the previous information. "What happened yesterday. I can take it away." "No, I don't want anyone
messing with my mind." "Fine that's your choice. But don't think about Diggory anymore. He got what he deserved." Tom said with edge to his voice. Aileen remembered
the scary thought she had when she was looking at Diggory's body yesterday. She had a feeling, but she tried not to think about it. But she couldn't ignore it: Tom had a
motive to kill Diggory and Draco had a motive to harm Alphonse. Something was wrong about the whole situation because Alphonse had no motive to kill Diggory. Aileen
shook the thought and turned towards Tom. "Tom no one deserves to be killed. I know he hurt me, believe me I do, but he didn't deserve to die." "You really need a
change of attitude." Tom said cold. Aileen stroked his cheek and kissed his lips softly. "You do to." Aileen said. "You scare me sometimes." She felt mixed feelings inside.
She feared him; she had seen the old Tom Riddle again yesterday and she couldn't shake the feeling that he had something to do with the murder. She kissed him again
and stood up from the bed. As much as she wanted to kiss him more and never stop, she did have to get ready for breakfast. He looked so hot with his hair all messed up
and those blue eyes filled with passion. "I need to get ready for breakfast." She said. "I'll see you later?" "Yeah." He said, while leaving the room. As he closed the door
behind him, Aileen was glad she had time to think.