Back on track with the story. I now know where it's going! Yay! This is probably not what you guys expected… :) but all be become clear in time! Now read on!
The rumbling noise of the students leaving from the feast in the Great Hall reached me, even though I was in the dungeons, lying on the couch in the common room. The same couch that Tom and I…
But it was no use lingering on that now, even though all I seemed to be doing these days was thinking of him. I had tried to resign myself to the fact that I was no longer sure if I could ever return, but I was sorely unsuccessful.
I couldn't stand the fact that one simple action had stripped me of almost all my power, the power that I had once had. I still retained my abilities, but not the same reputation. People had feared me then, and rightly so. Their fear made them easier to manipulate, easier to control. Here, no on even knew my name.
In addition to that, I missed Tom. I had never fully appreciated how much I needed him until we were separated. It left me crippled, curling in on myself, refusing to come out, yearning for the way things once were. The way that they could have been. I began to lose the last shred of hope that I still held on to. The hope that I would see him again.
The concept of love had always barely escaped my grasp. I never understood what it meat to have people care for you. Until that day, that cold, foggy day before we went back to Hogwarts. I knew then that I trust him with my heart and soul. It was very dangerous, and it made me weak. Love made me weak, but in some ways, it made me stronger also.
Now, I was learning to understand another phrase that I had always thought foolish. One that lent me no strength. A broken heart.
Months came and went, and still Dumbledore refused me the time turner. He was convinced that I still had answers to give him. He was wrong. I there was plenty more that I knew, but nothing more to tell him.
It was three weeks into the start of my sixth year. The summer had passed quite uneventfully, mainly due to the fact that Dumbledore had forbidden me from leaving the grounds. I had become bitter and angry, spending my days setting trees in the forbidden forest on fire, soully out of spite for the old man.
Dinner was over, and people began to slowly trickle back into the common room. I sighed and stood. I didn't want to be bothered by their incessant noise, their meaningless chatter now. No one understood what I had been through, what I was still going through. I felt as though something inside of me was dying, drowned in its own tears and the blood from its self inflicted wounds. I simply sought to be alone with my thoughts and memories.
Exiting the common room, I meandered through the castle aimlessly. I felt as though I was searching for something…but I knew not what it was. It always remained cloaked in a haze, just beyond reach of my concise thoughts. Several times, I would feel as though I could almost touch it, but it slipped through my grasp, and I was again left wondering what it had been. It was like I was in search of the darkness that resided with in Tom, that lay dormant, the thing that attracted me to him. I did not understand what I looked for, and no matter how I tried, I could not quite put it into words. Not that it made much of a difference, for as long as I searched, I did not find it.
I was so wrapped up in my musings that it took me several minutes to realize that the bottoms of my robes were completely wet, and my shoes soaked through. They dragged behind me, heavy, trailing the tears that I could not weep.
I looked down at my feet, dazed. There was a good-sized puddle that covered much of the floor in the corridor that I patrolled. I noticed that it leaked from the bathroom containing the entrance to the chamber of secrets.
My gaze fell on something reflected in the water. Red. Like blood.
Memories of a knife slashing the air, ripping at my flesh. The red that had soaked my dress, and the rug with its scarlet stain of despair. Tom's arms around me as I shuddered, to weak to stand.
My eyes traveled up the wall, to the dripping writing. "THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE."
The three first years, now second years I suppose, whom I had overheard talking in the great hall months ago were standing opposite me. Harry Potter and his… friends. But I paid them no attention. I was staring up at the letters, a small smile growing on my face. I knew what this signified. He had finally come back to Hogwarts. This time, I knew where he was. I would see him again. Joy filled me at the thought, pure elation. We would be together again. And this time, nothing would stop us.
By this time, a good-sized crowd had surrounded the wall. Murmurs, whispers of horror broke out, hissing up and down the corridor like oil in a frying pan. Rumors, I knew, were already flying, sped on the wind of fear.
"HE KILLED MY CAT! I WANT TO SEE SOME PUNISHMENT!" shrieked the caretaker, lumbering forward. Everyone turned as one to stare up at the feline who hung suspended by her tail from a torch-bracket. While the teachers swept in, to attempt to cover up this mess, I slipped, unnoticed, into the bathroom behind me.
Inside, the water level was much higher. About and inch deep pool covered the white tile floors. It was deadly silent, save for the steady drip of a faucet. The room echoed ominously with every one of my movements. I cautiously took a step forwards.
Suddenly, there was a whoosh, and I felt as though my body had been drenched in a torrent of ice-cold water. Atranslucent, whiny looking girl with glasses appeared, inches from my face. She would have looked remarkably like a seal, if it weren't for the murderous expression on her countenance.
"Come back to bother me again?" she shrieked in my face, "come back to make mock my death? Oh yes, pretending to restage it is very witty. Lets all make fun of Myrtle!" with a wail, she soared backwards over my head, and plunged, head first, into a toilet.
Well, there was something that I didn't expect. Apparently the girl who the basilisk killed elected to stay behind. How irritating. Poor, poor unsuspecting first years. Everyone else knew not to use this bathroom. What a nasty shock that must be, sitting down to do your business, then hearing a gurgling moan from the stall next to yours.
Smothering a chuckle, I settled down to wait.
I lingered for several hours, never moving from that spot where I stood. I cast a disillusion charm over myself and waited. Nothing moved around me, except for the continuous ripples of water.
Eventually, a small girl entered the room. She stood by the sinks, a vacant expression on her face. I wasn't quite sure if she was bewitched, or just a very confused first year. I was just about to ask if she had lost her way, when she opened her mouth and spoke. No words passed her lips, only a harsh hissing. Parsletongue. The sinks all began to move apart. She was the one who was opening the chamber, not Tom himself. She was his pawn, only a tool for manipulation in a much larger game of power.
She flicked her wand, and began to descend downwards. I paused for several breathless moments before I dared follow.
The slimy walls were just as I remembered them. Nothing had changed, though many years had passed. Well, almost nothing. The only difference was the deep carpet of bones that paved the walk-way. Remains of mice, birds, other little creatures. The smell was overwhelming. The bones crunched under my feet as I made my way forward, echoing like gunshots in the silence.
Moments later, I stood before the main room of the chamber. The girl had left it open, so I was able to slip inside. Typical Tom, planning everything so methodically and so perfectly down to the last detail, and is so confident in himself that he assumes no one will dare follow his pawn. He forgets to shut the door? Really.
I could see the girl now, lying in the middle of the room, apparently unconscious. I didn't care. I was looking around desperately for him, hoping that he might…
"She wont wake. Not for another hour or two."
I whirled around, to find myself face to face with him. I had waited so long to be reunited with him, but it was not how I expected it. His wand was pointed directly at my chest.
"Tom." I gave him a half a smile, not quite sure how he would react. There was no recognition in his eyes, only wariness.
"You know who I am."
I couldn't help but be confused. It was one of his sly questions, addressed to me in a form that I could interpret and answer in one of two ways; that he expected me to know or that he was questioning how I knew him. But I knew that it was really the second question that he wanted an answer to. What was going on?
"Tom, you don't remember me?" my voice was high-pitched and slightly panicky, and I desperately fought to control it. I had been away from him for so long. I longed to touch him, be with him again. I wanted for him to reach out to me, embrace me, hold me in his arms like he did before. But he seemed… different now. Unfamiliar in his attitude towards me, like he hadn't known me as long as he did. Almost as if I was a stranger.
I approached him cautiously, reaching out to touch him, but he backed away sharply, keeping his wand level with my heart. His face appeared impassive to most, but I could read the fear and confusion buried there.
I saw what was coming seconds before it did. In a flash, I drew my wand from deep inside my robes, and countered the jinx with a shield charm. It happened so fast that I had acted purely on instinct, and had to pause for my thoughts to catch up with my actions.
Tom stood in front of me, a mildly surprised expression on his face. I had blocked his hex. Probably the first to do so in a very long time.
I had waited so long to go back to him, and it wasn't at all like I had wanted. Instead of, I don't know, welcoming me back I suppose, he tried to kill me. Worse, he didn't even appear to know who I was.
"I'm here to help you, Tom," I said lowering my wand. It was all I could do until I could find out the reason behind his lack of recognition.
There was a loud bang, and I was thrown backwards off of my feet, my wand slipping from my grasp. I crumpled to the ground, beginning to lose conciseness.
Tom rummaged through the girl's robes and drawing out a small vial of a clear liquid that looked all too familiar to me. "Veritaserum." I whispered.
He crouched down next to me, turning my face towards him with his light touch, just as he used to. But now, his face held an evil looking smile. "Now lets see who you really are," he smirked. Then I was gone.
Review please, and tell me how assssssstonished you were!