Author's Note: Thank you to Aalyrial for your wonderful support as usual. And also a warm thank you to Ilovehappyendings for adding this story to their favorites list. It makes me very happy to see things like that in my inbox.

I also realized that I kept putting 'McNair' in the chapters instead of 'Mulciber', which was the last name of one of Tom Riddle's "friends" back when he was in Hogwarts. I apologize for that error, I have corrected that in this chapter

I used some lines in here from chapter 16, She Will Love You, because that memory is from this part of the story in a different timeline.

Things are going to be ending soon for this arc. There'll be 3 arcs for this story, arc one was this one. Arc two will be the Marauders Era, and Arc three will be Harry Potter's Time. There's going to be maybe one or two more chapters left of this arc before I proceed into The Marauders Era arc.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters and my plot line. Tom Riddle and the rest of Harry Potter's world belong to J.K. Rowling.

Song of the chapter: Revealed Truth- Nobuo Uematsu from the Final Fantasy X soundtrack. I would advise listening to this song as you read this chapter. The melody heavily enhances the atmosphere of this chapter.

Ashley kept her eyes on Tom and his friends Avery and Mulciber, as well as Nott and Lestrange over the past couple of weeks. Auxiliadora was still broken, but she seemed more alive whenever Tom was around. However, her tone became icy when she spoke to Avery and Mulciber, even going so far as to slap the both of them. She would have smiled had it not been for the loss of her friend. Never once did she smile at Ashley, or wave to Penelope, Isabella, or Audrey. She never acknowledged them, it was as if they never existed.

The hollowness in her heart pained her with each passing day as Ashley watched in constant fear of everything that Tom Riddle did. His smirk would always be directed to her when he saw her looking, a warning of things to come. She narrowed her eyes at him and tried to go about her day until horrific news was overheard. A student had been petrified out in the corridors, sending panic through the school. Headmaster Dippet tried to keep everyone calm, making them go back to their dormitories. It was becoming unsafe in Hogwarts and Ashley couldn't let go of the fear that overtook her body with each passing second. Her friend was at risk, and she couldn't help her.

There was another attack the next day, causing the panic to rise to an unhealthy level. Ashley's eyes scanned the crowds, looking for any sign of Auxiliadora or the others but was shocked and horrified to find not one clue. Fear gripping her heart, she rushed to the Hospital Wing and nearly collapsed when she saw the students lying in the beds had been none other than Penelope and Isabella. "No..." she muttered softly as she tried to keep her tears from falling. "I am sorry Ms. Greene, I know how close you were to them" said the healer. "Any news on who did this?" she asked. "No, I'm afraid not" said the healer and Ashley felt as if her heart had been ripped out.

It was Audrey who was attacked the following day. The fear that resided in Ashley now overtook her life as she tried to keep her eyes peeled around each corner to see who was the attacker. There were still no signs of Auxiliadora and Ashley panicked more, hoping that she wouldn't be the next to be attacked. When she opened her Care of Magical Creatures book a note fell from it. The writing was inexplicably familiar but she found she could not place it. Before her read the ominous words : Her body will lie in the chamber forever.

'Chamber?' she thought as she tried to figure out just what that meant. It wasn't until she remembered Avery mentioning something about a chamber just a few weeks ago. Her hands balled into fists as she pieced together who was behind the attacks. Running out of the classroom, she was determined to find Tom. As she turned the corner towards the second corridor's girls bathroom, she was met with a harsh hissing sound and the body of a large snake met her vision. Shaking, she rose her head and met the gaze of the serpent.

Death was instantaneous and she found it did not hurt. Looking at the snake, she cursed her stupidity as she realized that the snake before her was a basilisk, having read about them when she had chosen to read her Care of Magical Creatures book for fun. Diamonds streamed down her face as the snake retreated away from her. 'I failed you Lia...how could I have been so stupid?...'

She stirred from her slumber as she came to find she was in a very familiar cavern. Glancing around she was met with the looming statue face of Salazar Slytherin before noticing the rows of serpent heads lining the walkway that led to the larger chamber.

Watching Tom, she saw him stand in the middle of the large chamber as she wondered through the area. Water sloshed as she waded through the puddles gathering in the chamber, hoping to remove some of the grime from the rooster bones that were further back in a giant pit. Tom began hissing in Parseltongue, as if he was summoning something. The sound of the mouth opening from on the face statue caused her to turn around and face it.

Out came a large snake and before it could completely look at her, Tom snapped. "Close your eyes" he snarled. She did as told and listened to the giant snake hiss as it rapidly approached her. Feeling the stench of its breath on her face, she took a step back and hit the wall. Embracing the fact that she was about to die, she stood there waiting for it to attack. It never came as Tom began to hiss again.

The snake moved away and, as she listened closely, it left the giant chamber. "You can open your eyes" said Tom as she could hear his labored breathing from her position. Opening her eyes, she saw him in the middle of the chamber. His hands were balled into fists, his jaw clenched tightly, and his eyes were red. Walking hesitantly over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head rested on his back just below his shoulder blades and she tried not to smile as she felt him calm down.

When he turned around, she saw that his eyes were calm but still slightly red. "I am a filthy half-blood" he snarled, pressing her up against the statue, his gaze burning into hers. "My father was a filthy muggle!" he roared, pressing tighter. She gasped in pain but tried not to wince. Tom's face came close to hers. "Little one, why did you follow me down here?" he asked, his tone gentle but his words vicious. "I was concerned" she muttered.

Tom let out a cold laugh. "Concerned? You should be more concerned for yourself little one. I am the Heir of Slytherin" he boasted. A sense of deja vu overtook her, alarms warning her of the memory that had played in her head months ago. Taking a step back she saw him smirk. "Did you ever wonder how your family died that night?" he hissed, pushing her backwards with each step forward. It was as if they were the same ends of a magnet trying to come together only to be repelled. "Or are you truly that foolish and never once thought about it?" he asked, taunting her.

"I killed them" she said softly. Tom's menacing laughter filled the air and his eyes flashed red. "No you foolish girl, I killed them" he hissed. Auxiliadora stared at him wide eyed and in fear of the words he spoke. "You see I had to kill them. I needed to break you, morph you into the puppet I wanted you to be, but you...no matter what I did you were still a distraction" Tom snarled, letting his demon take control. "Love, friendship, trust, these only make one weak! One needs no one but themselves" he hissed at her. "Your precious friends are probably dead by now. Salazar's pet will make sure of that" said Tom.

"I separated you from your friends, hoping that it would break you faster" said Tom, revealing his plan to her. "I made you see Koh that day, knowing that it was the one thing that would break you react in a fashion that would bring you to me" Tom said. "You will find I can be very...persuasive" he explained. "These past few weeks I played the part of a caring friend, acting as if your mental health and emotional decline mattered to me, but you were nothing more than a silly little girl" he said. "You thought that your pathetic Flower language would tip your friends off to your emotional state. Witch-Hazel means a magic spell doesn't it? And rue is regret? Eglantine Roses mean a wound to heal? Cypress trees mean death, despair, mourning, sorrow doesn't it? And marigolds have the meaning of pain and grief while love lies bleeding means hopelessness. You somehow knew my plan, didn't you?" he snarled.

Auxiliadora sobbed as the truth was painfully revealed to her. The boy before her, the one she had fallen in love with despite the warnings, had killed her family and tried to manipulate her. The despair almost wrecked her, she was so close to spiraling back into the pits of sorrow when a spirit appeared before her. It was the ghostly form of Ashley who stared at her sorrowfully. "No...Ashley...why? why must everyone I love die violently? Unnaturally? Why go on? I'll only hurt others!" she cried out as she crumpled to the ground. "Lia..." said the ghost of Ashley with a sorrowful tone. "Please don't blame yourself. This is not your fault...I was stupid...I should have known that it was a basilisk in the corridor based off its large size" she said.

"But I still met its gaze. I'm sorry I failed you, I couldn't protect you like a good friend" she said as she walked towards Auxiliadora's crumpled body. Tom watched the scene with a sneer. "How pathetic" he hissed, causing Ashley to whirl on him. "How dare you! You used her and abused her mentally! How could you? You knew she would fall for you if you acted all sweet and caring, especially in her time of need. You killed her family, you killed me! The only good thing is that Penelope and Isabella are only petrified!" she snarled as the red gleam faded from Tom's eyes.

"Lia..." he muttered. "HOW DARE YOU CALL HER THAT! AFTER ALL YOU'VE DONE?" screeched Ashley as she flew up to his face. "I would've killed you had your precious pet not done the dirty deed itself. You've been planning this for weeks now, you've been trying to purge this school of all Muggle-born students. But you started with Lia's friends, knowing it'll weaken her mental state more, leaving her to be easy pray for you" she snapped as she turned when Auxiliadora rose to her feet.

A fire burned behind her emerald eyes, all signs of the tragedies she had faced washing away as strength coursed through her blood. "I trusted you...I loved you...and this is what I get? How many more lives must you steal from me Riddle?" she cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "All this for your quest of power? Are you really so desperate to avoid death that you would play at a chance to get the Ouroboros Ringlet? You used me, knowing that only I could remove the spells on the Ringlet in order to activate it" she said, her head now turned towards the ground before she ran towards him and slapped him.

It echoed around the chamber and his icy gaze bore into her fierce one. Leaning down, he kissed her softly. It was a light kiss that soon became more passionate as he held her close to him, as if preventing her escape. The sound of the basilisk returning met her ears, but she paid it no mind as her eyes closed instinctively. His tongue battled for dominance with hers as he pulled her tighter. Her senses finally came back to her and she slapped him again, glaring at him through her tears. "How dare you...! You feel nothing for you are no more than an evil, sick, twisted, maniacal, demented man who lusts after power. I am nothing more than a pawn in your game and I will not stand by and let you use me anymore Tom Marvolo Riddle" she said as she kept her eyes closed and walked back through the chamber. "Stop" commanded Tom.

She froze and he began to hiss as sounds of the basilisk moving met her ears. When all was silent, he made a sound to make her open her eyes. The basilisk was gone now and Tom stood there, an odd look in his eyes. It was as if he was sad, and was there a hint of regret in his eyes? Auxiliadora shook her head, turning away from him as she walked back to the entrance of the chamber. A single thought ran through her head over and over, but she was never close to finding an answer.

'Why had Tom sent the basilisk away?'

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.