Chapter 42: Make a Wish

Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Joelle was confronted with absolute confusion as she woke up. For some strange reason Tom did not leave her out of sight and insisted on staying with her wherever she went. She could barely convince him to let her be in the bathroom alone and had to agree to talk while she was away.

"Marvolo..." she sighed. "For heaven's sake. You disappear for weeks and now every second apart from me seems absurd to you? What- let go!" Joelle hissed when Tom grasped her wrist while she tried walking over to the closet. He didn't speak a lot ever since she woke up. Thinking of it, that was a strange moment, too. Tom was staring at her like an owl when she opened her eyes earlier this morning. It wasn't a normal stare, his eyes were widened and filled with as paradox as it sounded, focused emptiness.

"You scare me," Joelle admitted when Tom just stared away apathetically. No other reaction came from him whatsoever. He simply glanced out of the window, something he has been doing for a while, and then he suddenly looked at her. Joelle felt that it would end in a fight.

"We've been wasting time," Tom calmly stated. "You've been taking too long to learn!" He grabbed her shoulders with an abrupt motion. Joelle didn't know what was happening.

"But I suggested training yesterday in the tent. You said no, you said my magical signature wouldn't-"

"Quiet!" Tom yelled out loud with a red face. He inhaled deeply while she subconsciously walked away from him, looking at him in complete disbelief. She sat down. "What-"

"I said," Tom inhaled deeply, "be quiet."

And Joelle said no more. She had her face turned away from him but her eyes looked around as if trying to find answers on the blanket, as if they were hiding somewhere.

"Get up."

Joelle glanced over to Tom. Apparently she didn't get up fast enough because he already stomped over to her and ripped her along with him. They got out of the cottage.

"I am sick and tired of telling you things twice," Tom said darkly. He barely yelled, but his passive aggression always ended in a climaxing explosion of emotions; he wasn't able to cover them up completely within those years of training and bottling up what he felt. Joelle knew that being quiet was the only right reaction to his lingering wrath.

"If you had been as talented as I thought you were, none of this would have happened. Perhaps I was wrong," Tom still ripped Joelle along. "You are weak. In the end your magical talent doesn't exceed the ordinary. Weak!" Tom suddenly yelled and pressed Joelle against a tree, looking into her eyes with nothing else but sheer anger. Joelle's bottom lip quivered, she couldn't help but react like this, she was truly scared. Usually Tom's explosions were slightly more predictable - he tended to be provoked by something Joelle had said or done. But now? What did she do? What happened? What would happen next?

The upcoming few weeks were sheer horror. Tom trained Joelle in a way he has never trained her before. They barely talked about anything else that wasn't connected to magic, Tom's affectionate side has completely dissolved. He was so obsessed with defining her magical signature that Joelle thought she would puke it out at some point. Those weeks were rough and exhausting. It was the end of September, but not the end of Joelle's torturous training. Tom was merciless.

"Wand out."

"I can't," Joelle coughed. "I feel all dizzy-", this was the wrong thing to say, as Joelle realized the next moment when a jolt of red light was sent her way and crashed against her, causing her to tumble onto the wet grounds of the forest.

"Get up."

Joelle coughed and tried to get up again. Just when she was standing, another jolt of red light pushed her back. Tom looked at Joelle without any mercy. "I told you to get out your wand."

Joelle rolled on her back. She felt incredibly sore. She stared up into the sky, watching the remaining colorful leaves dancing in the wind. She couldn't move anymore, but she flinched when Tom was suddenly next to her, ripping her up. He was furious.

"I SAID GET UP!" He yelled, but Joelle slapped his hand away from her collar. She narrowed her eyes - her anger making her a lot more energetic again.

"Watch your tone with me, Marvolo."

Tom laughed mockingly. "Or else what? Are you going to curse me? You?" He snarled up his nose. "So weak."

Joelle looked at Tom calmly again. She was firm the way she stood, not emotionally shaken for now. They have switched roles for a while. Tom was so relaxed and controlled a year ago, but the more time he spent with Joelle again, the more he fell back into his temperamental self that he used to be as a child. He was not as predictable these days, however.

"Look at you," Tom started again. His voice was filled with naked disapproval.

"Yes, look at me. You've been trying to force feed me spells of sorts for weeks and still yet I haven't learned a thing. You act like that says a lot about me as a student, but what does it say about you as a teacher?," Joelle asked, not able to conceal her own anger any longer. Tom was furious, he aimed his wand at her and explosions of light shot out of the tip of his wand, Joelle managed pulling her arm up just in time - the spells dissolved into nothingness. Joelle's hand was grasped around her wand tightly, but her grip loosened upon what happened. She looked around. Was this really her doing? Tom did not expect this, judging by the dumbfounded look on his usually so waxy and smooth features. He glanced at his wand as if to doubt its function, then over to Joelle. They looked at each other in confusion for a while and the both of them shared the same thought: how did she manage this?

"Perhaps you're not that bad of a teacher," Joelle then said swiftly. Tom frowned a slight bit. He put his wand away and walked over to her. "You've made progress. Let's go back to the cottage and have dinner. Then you will rest. It's late. You need enough sleep," said Tom, outstretching his hand to Joelle. She took it - and together they disappeared. The rest of the evening was rather unexciting, but the morning beheld a surprise.

Tom shot up when he didn't find Joelle next to him the other morning. He instantly grabbed his wand and rushed out of the cottage, inhaling deeply to yell for Joelle, but then glanced back over his shoulder and saw her walking out of the bathroom. She was fully dressed and she seemed to be in a very good mood. Tom closed the front door, then sighed. Joelle guessed that it only now occurred to him that he had put up magical wards around the cottage; she was sure she couldn't have escaped even if she wanted to, so what did he worry?

Tom walked over to Joelle, standing in front of her, his eyes scanning her a little suspiciously. "What do you have there?" He asked with a calm tone, gently taking a book from her. His eyes met hers and he shook his head, semi amused, he expected it to be the unicorn book, but it wasn't. "Where did you find this?"

"I found it over there," Joelle pointed to a dusty shelf with a handful of books. Tom flipped through the pages, it was a rather interesting but basic piece of literature. Joelle skipped to a specific page, pointing at something.

"I want to try that one out," she said.

"This?" Tom frowned. "That's very advanced, Joelle. I don't think you will be able to do it."

"M for motivation..." Joelle scowled. Tom looked at her, then chuckled and closed the book but Joelle pulled it away from him. "I'll try it. Without your help."

Tom frowned widely, chuckling even more. "Without my help?" He asked rhetorically. Joelle sighed and looked to the side.

"Without a wand, too? That would be very impressive," Tom mocked. Joelle crossed her arms. "Come on, give me my wand. I want to try it. I know you like having control over everything. But perhaps it might help to let me study on my own for some time."

Tom inhaled deeply, he was very obviously not too impressed by Joelle's suggestion. Joelle knew she had to convince him more.

"I know about my body better-"

"You don't know about magic," Tom interrupted. "You can't truly assess and estimate your progress because you don't know what your spells have to look like."

Joelle was almost impressed. Tom's quality of arguing was very straight forward and direct. The worst part was that he convinced her.

"Let me try," Joelle said again. "I will learn when I have room to try out some things myself, without feeling the pressure of you around," Joelle looked away. "It's not easy to satisfy someone who's so talented..."

Tom almost purred at the sound of those words. But he smirked. "Leave charming to me."

Joelle grinned but didn't look at Tom. After another minute of him inspecting the book, he nodded and handed it back to her.

"Fine. I will let you study on your own for some time. We will see what happens."

Joelle nodded with a smirk. She turned around with the book, walking over to the door, then stopped in her tracks and hurried back to Tom, holding out her hand with a sheepish smile. Tom looked at her amused but gave her her wand, watching how she walked off again.

It was a strange thought to think about what has just happened. Tom allowed Joelle to go outside, alone, by herself, with a wand and a book of spells - all those things could clearly be his downfall. Joelle, however, knew that Tom's arrogance distorted his perception of things; he considered her too weak a witch, too weak to stand a chance against him. Still yet, Tom observed Joelle training on top of the hill through the window, the sunlight shining down on her. It was a beautiful day, not rainy and not even too cold to be unpleasant enough to run back inside. Tom's attention was unshared as he evaluated her every move, commenting on it in his head. Joelle was a graceful woman, despite not exactly knowing what she was doing. Tom eventually turned around. He was relaxed, he knew she couldn't run. He had something else to take care of. He rubbed his chin as he sat on the couch, then glanced to his arm. He waved his wand and in front of him appeared the translucent image of a skull and a snake coming out of its mouth. Tom pointed the tip of his wand at it, then leaned back.

"My lord," came the sudden voice of black curly haired Lestrange. Next to him appeared blonde and steely eyed Avery. Both bowed from the neck, but the surprise of seeing Tom alone was written on their faces.

"Did you call us to find the girl?" Lestrange asked. Avery's chin raised at this, he was ready to do his job right, whichever would be given to him. But Tom shook his head.

"No," he said firmly. "She's outside. I want you to give me a report on latest events. Where is he?"

Lestrange and Avery both seemed to swallow a particularly big piece of wood. They avoided Tom's eyes, but the tenseness filled the room.

"To be truthful," Avery cleared his throat," we haven't been able to keep track of him since his visit at Riddle manor. The last thing we heard is that he is at Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts," Tom scoffed. He paused a little before he continued to speak. "That's where the old man is hiding, of course. The walls are well protected."

"We hear he was in to become the new headmaster, so Nott reported. But he declined taking over the position," said Lestrange. This caught Tom's attention. He looked up.

"Declined? Ones thoughts must be guided towards believing he is too busy a man to fall down to such banalities as becoming a headmaster," Tom purred, sipping on his tea. Only now he waved his hand and the other two men sat down upon the offer.

"Black said the same, almost," Lestrange informed, "said Dumbledore's not interested in becoming a headmaster yet. Perhaps he's seeking another exciting task after Grindelwald. Someone he hasn't yet caught."

Tom nodded. "That is beyond the obvious."

"He knows she is with you, my lord," said Avery. "He knows it's not a coincidence that she cannot be found by any means. And that nobody knows where you are."

"That's no news either," said Tom with a scowl. "It was clear the moment he entered Riddle manor."

"Perhaps, the demon," Lestrange started, Tom's eyes narrowed upon the word. "Perhaps it scared him enough to hide at Hogwarts?"

"Fool. You're almost as naive as my Joelle," said Tom coldly. "Overestimated though Dumbledore may be, let us not underestimate his intention of playing the brave nobleman. Have I really sent you to spy, yet all you have for me is nothing but silly obviousness, is that really all after more than six weeks?" Tom asked with his voice growing darker. The two other men grew positively nervous, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. Avery opened his mouth to speak.

"We believe-"

"But what do you know."

Avery cleared bis throat. "The theory we try to prove right is whether or not Dumbledore is planning something, perhaps some sort of arrangement, making looking for the girl public, just like it happened in the muggle world."

Tom glanced at Avery in concentration, then slowly dragged his eyes towards Lestrange who spoke next.

"That would mean she could be recognized in both worlds. We have been trying to find proof for this but Dumbledore isn't easy to-"

Tom raised his wand. The both men flinched as he stared into their eyes before he continued to speak. Tom merely magically filled his cup.

"Unfortunate circumstances. However, none I can't take care of," Tom said while his eyes swept out of the window. Joelle kept on waving around her wand, still trying to make a particular spell work. Both Avery and Lestrange followed their lord's intense gaze, seeing the obsession that has fallen over him.

"Of course everything is highly hypothetical," Lestrange broke the silence. "We don't know for sure. Nott is pulling strings at the ministry for some leaked information from the offices, the Daily Prophet, anything. None so far."

"But I can assure you that we are attentive," said Avery in a voice filled with determination and longing for recognition. Just before he could receive an ego-stroking answer, the door opened. Joelle walked in.

"Urgh, this is frustrating. I'm going to drink something and then-" she stopped with a frown once she closed the door and looked to the lot. "Oh..."

"Lady Joelle," said Lestrange with a smile. "I hear you have been eager to learn magic yourself."

Joelle smiled shyly.

"Were you successful?" Avery asked, but something in his tone told Joelle that he knew the answer and was particularly fond of hearing that she failed. She didn't comment. Instead, she waved her wand and some cups of tea floated their way. Tom smirked, but Joelle did not even do that, despite feeling a strange sensation of satisfaction seeing Avery's dumbfounded expression.

"Would you like to try these?" Joelle asked and opened a jar, putting some cookies on a plate that she offered to the guys. The two men reached for a cookie each, despite Joelle believing that Avery never truly considered eating it. He did nonetheless and Joelle inwardly grinned at how much he loathed not being able to sincerely display his repulsion.

"How are you?" Joelle asked them.

"Just fine, don't worry about us," said Lestrange, biting into the cookie, "mhm. Good."

Joelle smirked. This situation was so incredibly awkward that it was beyond amusing to be performing in it.

"Joelle, dear," Tom then said with a drawn out sigh, smiling as he rubbed her thigh affectionately, "don't you want to train some more?"

"Why, your puppets are eating on my command, that's funny to watch," she said colorlessly. Lestrange coughed and Avery's mouth turned more upside down as he slowly gritted his teeth with the cookie. He eyed her up, then cleared his throat. "I believe that was an order, Lady Joelle," he said with a thin smile. Joelle smiled back warmly. "Oh. I'm not as good as you at recognizing orders, darling."

Avery and Joelle looked at each other intensively. Whereas Tom was amused, Lestrange felt incredibly uneasy, he cleared his throat and pulled on his collar, as if an invisible rope was slung around his throat and took his breath away.

"Joelle," said Tom firmly next. She sighed and got up, putting down the plate of cookies. "Fine, fine," she grabbed her wand and walked outside again. Tom inhaled deeply, but his eyes followed her until she was out, then he looked back at his visitors.

"Any orders?" Lestrange asked more professionally. His playful tone was gone the moment Joelle was out.

"More efficiency," said Tom slowly and with a warning tone. "I want to be sure."

Lestrange and Avery nodded.

"What are your plans?" Avery then asked. Tom raised an eyebrow. He was above answering. "I expect a more promising report soon. You are dismissed now," he said rather coldly before getting up and walking over to the window. The two men understood that this was the moment to leave, Tom did not even bother responding to their goodbyes as he watched Joelle with his eyes narrowing steadily.

The air was fresh and cold, but it smelled like a beautiful mid-autumn day. Joelle felt the presence of somebody behind her and she stopped practicing the moment she saw Tom.

"Marvolo-"

"What was that little show just now," he asked in a way that didn't even sound like a question. Joelle knew that his reaction depended on her answer.

"I could ask the same," Joelle scowled. "What are you plotting?"

"Nothing of which you and I wouldn't profit."

"I expected to hear that" Joelle scowled.

"Then asking was most pointless."

"You know what? I don't need to discuss this with you."

"Yet you are," Tom whispered as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Focus on your studies instead. What you have picked out will take a lot of energy and effort to master," he kissed the nape of her neck. Joelle rolled up her shoulders in order to part herself from him. It worked.

"You're doing it again," she said unamused. "Those secrets again."

"No secrets, my dearest," said Tom, wrapping his arms around Joelle from behind once more, squeezing her against his body. "Now quit pouting," he whispered. "You have such a loose tongue lately."

"And don't you like that?" Joelle asked over her shoulder.

"Haven't quite decided yet." Tom said, then looked ahead. The sun began to set as the two of them were standing there together, witnessing the enchanting magic nature could perform. Tom started to nip on Joelle's neck, causing her to squirm around a little. "You're so affectionate today. First you're letting me train all alone, with a wand even, then you're accepting that I'm laughing at your little puppets, and now you're glued to me. Tell me, what did I do to deserve this?"

"You were born today, some time ago," said Tom simply. Joelle's eyes widened and she whirled around fast, looking up to Tom. He grinned, still having his arms around her.

"Indeed," Tom chuckled. "It's the first of October. Today is your birthday, Joelle."

Joelle still looked at him all surprised, then suddenly scowled. "Twenty-five. Five years and twenty years, twenty-I am so old."

Tom laughed out loud.

"Why are you laughing at my misfortune?"

"Because age will become something we won't even bother to keep track of," Tom murmured, tilting up Joelle's chin to look into her eyes. "Make a wish and tell me."

"A wish?" Joelle asked as if to be sure she heard him right. Tom nodded, waiting patiently. There were many things on Joelle's mind, so many that saying nothing at all seemed like the only right choice.

"Well?" Tom inquired and tucked some strands of hair behind Joelle's ear with his wand; only now she realized that he charmed a flower along. She smiled at the feeling of it, then pulled the flower away to take a look.

"A black rose?" Joelle asked. "Red was too romance novel, wasn't it?" She winked when Tom grinned, taking in the scent of the velvety petals. It smelled like any other rose. "Marvolo," Joelle started. Tom looked down to her, waiting patiently with his face not showing any kind of emotion. Joelle's eyebrows twitched together in a slight greeting of despair, she didn't dare give her wish a voice for she knew how Tom would react.

"Bryan," Tom said knowingly, colorlessly.

"You can come with me," she said. "He's my friend, Marvolo, I just want to make sure he's okay. It's been a long time."

"You can send a letter," said Tom, raising his chin a bit in a way to show that this matter was done and dealt with. Joelle knew this was about as charitable as he would get, but she wanted to try it more.

"What are you scared of?" Joelle asked suddenly. Tom's eyes narrowed for the split of a second. "Scared. Don't make me hostile," he warned. Joelle thought about this for a moment. This was so typical of Tom to say; if he were to react in a way that would hurt her, he made sure she was the one to blame. She was the one making him hostile. It wouldn't be his fault. As always, nothing would be his fault. Joelle turned her face away only to look into his eyes again.

"What would you like to have for your birthday?" She asked. Tom seemed a tad surprised at this question, at least he didn't expect to hear it. But then his face turned back to its normal, cool handsomeness.

"I have everything that I want," he said. The way he said it while staring into Joelle's face resembled the likes of a threat.

"So there's nothing else?" Joelle asked. Tom's lips pursed while his eyes narrowed again, he must have felt provoked for a reason Joelle didn't understand. But then he nodded slowly.

"There is something. But it will have time until then," he whispered audibly enough for her to hear; she was still in his arms after all.

"What if...I agreed to make your wish come true if you make mine come true?" Joelle asked. Tom raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know my wish involves you?" He asked arrogantly. Joelle scowled. "Now you, don't make me hostile," she said. Tom couldn't help but smirk. "Hnn..." he glanced to the side, then back at her. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. "I just don't like to see you with him."

"I am with you," said Joelle. Tom looked up to her on an instant. His thumb caressed her bottom lip. "To gain my trust and permission she says everything."

Joelle glanced to the side. "You can't just put me in a mason jar and expect me to glow for all eternity. You need to set me free at some point, Marvolo."

"Joelle," Tom started calmly, "saying this while it's about meeting another man is not the wisest of choices."

"To you it's just another man, to you it's a rival. To me it's a friend. Someone I can always count on, someone who would help me anytime."

"He couldn't free you from myself, could he," Tom asked mockingly. Joelle knew that Bryan is and would always be a sore topic; Tom had to put him down to feel above. As always.

"I agreed to stay with you," said Joelle. "Or didn't I? Didn't I tell you I would try?"

"You did because you had no choice," said Tom slowly with narrowed eyes.

Silence.

Instant panic fell into Joelle. Tom, maybe now, realized that she wanted to see Bryan a lot more than she ever wanted to stay with Tom. Bryan was still his rival after all this time. This realization, Joelle knew it, was a bad, bad thing. He turned around and walked off, Joelle was after him on an instant.

"Marvolo, don't-"

"Such devotion just to make sure Bryan remains unharmed. You have not shown me that kind of devotion yet," said Tom while entering the cottage. Joelle closed the door, then whirled around.

"Lies," she exclaimed. "You had more of me than Bryan ever had."

Tom looked at her curiously now. Joelle nodded. "I remember your question from back then."

"And I remember the slap I received," said Tom bored.

"Bryan and I never..." Joelle cleared her throat. "Never."

Tom was a lot calmer hearing this. Bryan, his rival, has never gotten what he got from Joelle. Tom narrowed his eyes in delight. In the end she did know how to charm him, knew just the right things to say, the right buttons to push. He underestimated her, but this realization did nothing to the feeling of euphoria that lit up in his stomach. He had Joelle before Bryan. To a man, whose mind was strong but body weak, this was a great feeling.

Joelle never moaned Bryan's name. Never.

"I will change my choice. I still have a wish free," Joelle said.

Tom looked at her. "Go ahead then. What's your wish?"

"Before I say it, I want to explain something to you. You wonder why he still means so much to me, right?" Joelle asked when she watched Tom's concentrated gaze.

"When I see Bryan I think of a time I was truly happy. No, don't get me wrong," said Joelle when Tom's eyes darkened. "Not because he made me happy. Because he was there when I was. Wool's orphanage was more of a home to me than my own home. I was so happy to come there everyday, to see you, to see the others, to bake and cook, to be welcome. He was a part of a time I hold dear to myself, like you hold it dear to you. Marvolo, you above all would understand how precious those memories were, you above all would understand devotion to preserve that, you above all would understand the fear to lose it."

"I above all," said Tom calmly. "So you finally understand me."

"I always have, Marvolo," Joelle said. Tom followed Joelle to the bed, sitting down next to her while the both of them ate some of the cookies. Joelle looked at Tom and something in her felt easy and good for once, maybe it was just the flames dancing in the fireplace and the nice scent of burnt wood, or perhaps it was something entirely different.

"I am still waiting for your final words," said Tom calmly. Joelle nodded. She sat upright, her voice changing into a very serious but soft tone.

"Never kill him. No matter what."

Tom looked into Joelle's eyes. In the end, Joelle's final wish was to preserve memories, memories of a time she held dear to herself, memories he, Tom, held dear to himself, memories that included him. Bryan was the last other remaining inhabitant of Wool's orphanage alive, Bryan was a living fossile of a time that caused Tom's today's actions. Joelle was right when she said that he above all would understand. Joelle never took the memories from him, and he would never take them from her.

"So be it," said Tom at last. "Bryan will not die on my hands nor on my command."

"Thanks, snowman."

Tom spun his head towards Joelle so fast that it almost hurt. That nickname, that name. Precious memories.