Previously on "The Redemption"... Cho finds out the truth about Tom Riddle. On Christmas morning.

Chapter 20- Desperation

He found her eventually; sitting with her back against the dank bathroom wall with her scarf thrown in a puddle of water nearby. She huddled in on herself, her arms wrapped around her knees with the tips of her long black hair almost touching the ground. Tom tried to quell the panic rising in his throat as he saw the wetness on her cheeks and the redness in her blank eyes.

He moved away from the entrance of the bathroom, quickly glancing behind him to make sure that no one was watching. Clearing his throat slightly, Tom approached slowly while watching her expression with careful neutrality.

"Cho? Cho? What happened?" asked Tom lowly, his velvet voice lightly feathered with distress. Her hazy eyes met his and she looked oddly blank as she addressed him.

"Tom?"

Tom spoke with patience "Yes, I'm right here"

She surprised him by pressing her face against the outer robes of his uniform, her voice coming out muffled "I wish it weren't like this Tom" she murmured, clutching at him almost desperately with her small pale hands "I really do"

"Like what?" asked Tom slowly, fearing the worse from what the Grey Lady had said. Cho didn't respond, detaching herself from Tom with an odd look of fierce determination on her tear streaked face. Wiping away the dampness from her eyes, she withdrew her wand and pointed it at Tom who moved into a more comfortable standing position. Keeping his eyes on her, he adopted his most soothing tone.

"Cho, put the wand down"

She shook her head, "I can't"

He approached her slowly, "You can Cho, put your wand down"

"Or what? You're going to kill me?" asked Cho, her wand hand shaking as she brandished it towards him.

Tom recoiled, feeling angry despite himself "I would never do that" he uttered with a surprising amount of sincerity "You know I would never do that". His eyes bored into Cho's, so bright and blue. He meant everything he was saying yet Cho felt like he was twisting a knife through her insides. He genuinely believed he wouldn't hurt her now, but when he knew the things she did, Cho didn't doubt that those sentiments would change.

She laughed, the sound bitter and hysterical and so completely different to the warmth he was used to "Then you're lying to yourself Tom. That's all you do isn't it? Lie until you get your way?! No matter how many people get hurt?"

The word hung in the air between them, the tension palpable. From the venom in her tone, it was obvious to Tom that Cho knew much more than she had already let on. It was simply impossible for her to suddenly know these things by just talking to the Grey Lady about the diadem. He had always thought there was more to Cho Chang and the curiosity came back with a burning vengeance that refused to be tampered by his concern for her. The answers were so close and he relished at the thought of solving that little mystery. With just a few choice words and a cajoling tone, he will have the truth soon enough…

"It's not what it looks like. Whatever the Grey Lady told you, it isn't true" said Tom calmly, hoping to placate her but seeming to have the opposite effect as he watched an errant tear run down her face.

"Then are my memories a lie too?" shouted Cho, realising too late what she had said. With something akin to horror, she clapped a hand over her mouth to stop the torrent of words. But the damage had already been done and Tom's eyes narrowed in increased suspicion as he advanced towards her like a predator. It seemed that all pretences had dropped, only to be replaced by a hardened expression that oozed determination.

"Your memories of what exactly?"

Cho backed up; her wand still held defensively in front of her "Don't move any closer"

An ugly sneer married his handsome face, transforming him into her nightmare. The resemblance was undeniable now. She saw him as he was and would be, no longer the attractive and charismatic boy she had thought she knew.

"You wouldn't hurt me Cho" he said patronizingly, his head cocked to the side "Now, tell me what you know"

The steel in his voice scared her into being firm "Stupefy!"
He easily deflected her spell wandlessly, his motions as if swatting an errant fly "Tsk tsk Cho, do you suppose I underestimated you? Or is it you who has underestimated me? Expelliarmus"

Cho's wand flew from her hand before she had time to react and he caught it easily. Pocketing it, he cornered her against the wall "Now Cho, tell me about these memories"

"I will never tell you" she whispered defiantly, a flicker of hatred in her eyes

"Then how about I ask you a different question? Who are you really? Is your name even Cho Chang?"

She turned from him, clearly not willing to answer. Growing quickly annoyed at her lack of co-operation, he grabbed her wrist hard enough to bruise "Answer me" he hissed, "Or you will find me most disagreeable"

At her silence, Tom raised his wand, his lip curling in distaste. He didn't want to do this but it was necessary now she was evidently withholding important information. He couldn't take the risk of her running to Dumbledore if she did indeed know about his plans like she had said.

Steeling his resolve, he held his wand in front her "Legilmens!"

Tom was not at all surprised that she wasn't trained in the complex art of occlumency. The walls in her mind put up a feeble fight before being overpowered by his own. Her memories swirled randomly, a colourful mix of sounds and smells and places he had never seen.

She was dancing at a ball, dressed in an elegant silver gown and twirling around with a handsome boy whom Tom recognised as the boy named Cedric. She laughed at something he had said and he laughed too, adoration and love reflected in his grey eyes. Leaning in closer, she smiled into his chest and muttered 'I love you too Ced'

The scene dissolved into another, an image of her sitting with a curly haired friend donning Ravenclaw robes whom Tom had not seen before.

"I hate History of Magic" complained the friend, a sulky pout on her lips "Who cares about the past?"

Cho smiled at her friend, her tone patient "History is important so that people don't repeat other people's mistakes. And plus, the stuff on Grindelwald is easy enough"

"But it's so boring! All that matters is that Dumbledore defeated him and he was thrown in Azkaban!"

"There's more to it than that Marietta" explained Cho, writing notes diligently "Just read Chapter 19 and you'll be set for the N.E.W.T's"

Marietta gave her friend a dead panned look and took to filing her nails again, leaving Cho exasperated.

How did Cho know that Dumbledore was going to defeat Grindelwald? Rather than answering his questions, her memories created thousands more. Feeling her resistance against his prying, Tom quickly discarded that particular memory, before another caught his attention. It was different to the other one, dark and full of sadness and fear which drew him in like a moth to a flame.

The unmistakeable silhouette of Hogwarts Castle was burning to the ground, the smoke from the roaring flames so strong that Tom swore he could smell and feel it. The towers were crumbling and all sorts of magical creatures were roaming the grounds. Werewolves tore at the students and trolls lugged their clubs and swung at anything they could find. Acromantulas caught children and adults alike, entangling them in their spiny grips and venomous pincers. Tom watched as Cho fought against a man, her strange muggle clothing torn and dirty but fresh determination on her face even when standing in a sea of bodies. She dodged curse after curse, throwing herself behind a fallen pillar before skilfully aiming a few of her own. Eventually, a shot of blue hit the man in the chest, rendering him unconscious. Cho tucked his wand into her pants pocket and bound him, his arms behind his back. Tom only caught a flash of the familiar mark on his forearm before Cho's attention was caught by another spell and her memory faded into another.

A cold and cruel laugh echoed through the courtyard she was standing in, surrounded by other students who looked just as weary as her. They were facing a sea of darkly robed wizards and witches, some of their faces tired while others cackled with unbridled glee. An abnormally large man was cradling a limp boy in his arms, grief clear on his face. The leader of the group, a snake like man with bone white skin and slits for eyes caught Tom's attention. There was a sense of familiarity about him that he could not quite place. His movements, graceful yet deliberate as well as his slightly erratic demeanour. He was the epitome of a mad man and judging by the scene before him, he was as villainous as he looked. Tom wondered who he was, and as he was about to step closer towards him, Cho's memory faded but not before he heard the chilling, jubilant voice of the man.

"Harry Potter is dead!"

"Stop it!" gasped Cho, panting with exertion as she stopped Tom from further accessing her memories. A sheen of cold sweat covered her face, making her look sickly and exhausted. Tom gave her no reprieve, asking her the most pressing question on his mind.

"Who was that man in the last memory?"

She stayed in quiet, her form trembling against the wall like a caged animal.

Furious at her silence, Tom made himself clearer "If you do not tell me what I want, I will take the information myself" he said, the threat clear in his tone "So tell me the truth"

Her voice quivered, her breathy whisper full of resignation "It was you Tom"

Tom scoffed, clearly disbelieving but Cho pressed on, tears in her eyes "Don't you see? That is who you will become! All this hatred, the plotting, the obsession with immortality – it will kill you in the end!"

Tom processed her words, his mind mulling it over. It couldn't be true – how could his quest to power result in the ramblings of a mad man? The scene he had witnessed was not what he had in mind – killing students, destroying the only home he had as well as chasing down a mere boy and acting as if it were the greatest victory in the world. It was pathetic – worse than what Grindelwald was doing.

"How do you know this?" asked Tom, already knowing the answer but needing to hear it from her lips all the same.

"I was there"

"And now you are here" finished Tom, his eyes calculating "But how did you do it? A time turner? Did you come back to kill me?"

She shook her head, only answering one of his questions "I had no idea who you were" she said, a small wry smile on her lips "But then it slowly came together. The talk with the Grey Lady was the confirmation I needed"

Tom stayed in silence, contemplating her words. It made sense now – her sudden appearance in his life as well as her odd behaviour. He wondered exactly how long she had known – were the past few weeks' just a tool to get closer to him? And had she told Dumbledore anything already?

And more importantly, what was he going to do with her now? She knew far too much but it would be callous of him to obliviate her. People like Dumbledore would become suspicious of him, and all that would be left of Cho would be an empty shell of who she once was. Memories and experiences were what shaped her personality and that was what Tom liked most about her. He couldn't stomach the idea of a Cho who didn't laugh and smile or even remember his name. But he also couldn't let her go with the knowledge she had that could potentially destroy him.

Bending down to her eye level, he brushed a lock of her hair from her pale rounded face. He pretended not to notice her flinch or the way she would huddle closer to the wall as he spoke "I can't let you tell other people of what you know Cho. You understand that don't you?"

She shivered, not meeting his eyes as he continued to speak, his tone melodic and surprisingly soft "And I don't expect any promises from you. It would be too much to ask. But I do have a question for you"

She looked up; the tiniest spark of curiosity in her dark eyes which prompted Tom to continue.

"Do you want to be with me?"

Cho pondered the question, her heart hammering as his eyes burned hers. It wasn't a question of what she wanted anymore. She couldn't be with him even if she wanted to because every time she would close her eyes, she would see the snake like face with demonic red eyes as well as the countless other nightmarish scenes she had forced herself to forget over the years. She wouldn't be able to look at Tom and see him as the slightly unpredictable, yet brilliant Head Boy. The two were the same person – the man who was and will become the most evil wizard of all time.

Tears ran down her face, crystalline droplets that shimmered on her skin "I could never forgive you Tom"

It was all he needed to harden his heart. He had to do this and while he knew it made him no better than his foolish mother, there was no alternative. He would do anything to keep her. At least this way, there was a semblance of truth to their relationship. It would be based on their shared moments together and not spoiled by her memories of who he would be.

But even as Tom justified his actions to himself as he gripped his wand tightly in his hand, he had never felt as much of a monster as he did in that moment. It felt inexplicably wrong to spoil the only one good thing he had, it was sacrilege. If only he had never met her, things would have been easier. But Tom knew that easier didn't necessarily equate to better and Tom could not deny that he had felt better since meeting her. Not just better, but for once in his life, genuinely cared for. He had gone too far to lose that feeling now, he simply couldn't.

Steeling his resolve and staring into her frightened eyes, he raised his wand.

A/N: Damn expelliarmus! For such a simple spell, it seems to be everyone's downfall… ;) And I know that Tom's a jerk but it seems a bit like something a young evil overlord would do right?

And what do you guys think of Cho's character at the moment? I know she isn't explored much in the books other than being represented as a pretty Ravenclaw girl, but I thought that she wouldn't be trained in occlumency or be super skilled with wand work. It would be a bit weird if she could actually defeat Tom Riddle. I hope you guys didn't think she was being 'weak'…. (Feel free to let loose with your opinions though)

On another note, thank you guys for following/favouriting/reviewing and reading (and your patience with my slow updates!). Even if you don't drop a review, it makes me happy that people are invested enough in this story to follow it :)

- DecoyDream x