Shadow of a Girl
"He turned too evil," said a voice. It echoed on and on, sounding and resounding until it at last broke through the fog in Eris's mind, and she heard the words.
She looked through the color, past the blues and purples, greens and reds, blacks and whites. She looked and looked until she saw the shadow of a girl.
"What?" Eris whispered back.
"He turned too evil. He was incapable of love, even when you knew him." The figure was drawing closer as she spoke. "That was why you betrayed him that night. It was the right thing, not a mistake. You knew, even if you continued to obey his every wish, he would never love you."
Eris and Hermione faced each other for a long time. Slowly the swirling color faded, and they were left standing in a white blur.
Eris saw, seemingly for the first time, her Lord as he truly was. And she saw everything she had done to save and protect him. And she saw all the harm, bitterness, and pain she had caused in his name. And she cried silent tears.
"Please," said Hermione as she grabbed hold of Eris's shoulders. "Please, I have to save my friends. Please."
Eris tried to speak, but only a gasping sound emerged. Slowly she nodded.
"Please hurry!" Hermione begged.
Eris closed her eyes on Hermione, and when she opened them again she a Dark man on a decaying throne in an ancient ruin in an abandoned castle. She drew a deep breath.
"Tom Riddle," her voice sounded with amazing clarity. His head snapped up, his red eyes filled with fury.
"What did you called me?" he spat in rage. "Shut up and stay there. You are nothing but a plaything to me!"
"Not any longer, Tom. No longer. I will not be your puppet any more!" she repeated the words from another confrontation years and years ago.
Suddenly, they were the same couple, the same little boy and the same little girl, standing against each other, just as they had been in the past.
The girl struggled to get the ring off. The boy stood up and advanced toward her. As she pulled and pulled against the ring, it glowed with impossible radiance.
For a moment, the girl feared this battle might end as the last one had. But then a new presence rose up. It was stronger and powerful.
Together, Hermione and Eris pulled the ring off. And alone, Hermione watched it fall. It fell down, down, down, until it hit the stone floor with an earth-shattering clangor.
It settled still and soundless on the floor for just a moment, until it started to smoke. Black vapors were rising out of the ring, twisting, swirling, and turning until they formed the figure of a girl. She seemed to be made of black, except for two jeweled eyes that glowed green.
Only one in the room recognized the girl, and it was towards this one that Eris turned.
His red slits called eyes opened in horror as the figure raised an arm and pointed to him. With a shrieking howl, a great wind blew through the ruined castle, extinguishing the torches and throwing everything into darkness.
All Harry, Hermione, and Ron could see was blackness. And the only thing they could hear was a high-pitched, shrieking howl. But then, from very, very far away, two voices came.
"Silly girl. Idiotic fool. You were never
strong enough to be a useful servant!"
"No, I was never weak enough to completely obey
you!"
"How dare you defy me?! Do you realize you are making the same mistake twice?"
"I have seen you at your best and worst, Tom, and I know
you enough to say you will never triumph!"
Then they screamed again, as they had all those years ago, and a bright flash lit world.
When Harry, Hermione, and Ron could see again, Voldemort, Eris, the ring, Wormtail, and the Death Eaters were gone.
The dawn broke the next moment, and a red-gold sunlight shone on the ruins where the three stood.
"Hermione," said Ron, speaking at last, "What happened?"
"I was possessed," she said simply.
"By- by that?" Harry asked shakily.
"Yes."
"Do you think she destroyed him?" asked Ron with a slightly hopeful tone.
"Not likely. A ghost can rarely kill a human," Hermione said with a refreshingly normal scholarly tone, "However, it most likely cost him a great deal of power to destroy her. And most importantly, she got him away from us."
"Oh." For a long while, the three of them just sat there, in the new orange sunlight, breathing and happy to be alive.
At length, Ron spoke again. "Who was she?"
Hermione paused, and thought. "A friend," she said at last. "A very confused friend."
Everyone was too tired to question her further. It was decided they should rest, and then find a way back to Hogwarts.
Just as Hermione was about to find a place to lie down, Harry noticed something. "What's that on your finger," he asked.
Hermione glanced at her hand. On the right ring finger was a thin, white scar.
"Oh, great," proclaimed Ron loudly. "Now you've both got scars!"
Hermione stared giggling, and Harry snickered. Finally, even Ron chuckled. They howled and hooted and doubled up until they were rolling on the ground.
They didn't laugh because it was particularly funny, but because it was the kind of situation where a person could cry, or they could laugh.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron chose to laugh.
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A/N Wow, a story I wrote with a happy ending! Call the historians! Mark the date! :-) j/k
Anyway, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for reading
--Tigerlily :-)
