Harry Potter ascends on his Firebolt in the Quidditch Pitch. His mind was hazy and he was filled with the burden of remorse. He didn't mean to say what he did. First he was blazing with anger and then those words...What the hell did he do that for? Why was Vio- Hydra so hurt? What the hell happened? Ron and Hermione had visited him in the last hour accompanied with Tom. But since they felt his sense for solitude, they left without another word.
Harry was so into his thoughts that he didn't even notice two figures in black robes approach the Slytherin locker rooms near by. He just descends alittle and sees the figures clearly and for the first time. One had silvery blonde hair, and the other with long auburn hair. He immediatly recoognizes them as Draco Malfoy and Hydra Violet. As curiosity overwhelms him, he flies closer pretending to be circling the field. He withdraws his wand.
" Carriod Wodrus" he whispers, and the wind slightly changes against him. He could hear soft whispers, and then they grew clearer.
" How could he know?" Sobbing was heard. Harry wasn't sure if it was Hydra, because she had never cried in front of him before. However, he was certain about the next vioce.
" Don't say that, Hydi. He doesn't know," It was Draco Malfoy's voice, using, assumably, her nickname. " Because if he did, he wouldn't call you what he just did. Don't worry about it. He doesn't know...he'll never know. He can't."
Can't what, damn it!!?> screams Harry inside his head and stopps when he figures he should go no closer to hear better. He doubts either Draco or Hydra would tell him the problem anyway. His ears sharpen alittle as Hydra's sobbs rack horribly.
" He wouldn't know, Drake! D-Do you think th-that Riddle would say something?!" Hydra was shaking and holding herself tightly. " R-Riddle w-wouldn't t-tell him th-that he r-raped me!"
Harry froze all over. Riddle WHAT?! Did he even hear correctly?! Harry's eyes narrow as he steers closer to the couple.
" H-he wanted to -to try out his body a-and..."
" Stop it! Stop it now Hydrian Darken-Violet! " Harry watches as Draco holds his best friend tightly. " Don't think about it. Just move on. Riddle's with Harry now. And he won't hurt him; you know what Dumbledore said!"
Harry had heard enough. His blood was boiling as he fires up on his broom, and makes a bee-line towards Hogwarts. He flicks off the spell with his wand before leaving completely off the field. He didn't see if the Slytherins had noticed him, and he didn't even hear what they had last said after he took off. All he knows is that he needed to find Ron, Hermione, Tom, and Dumbledore.
~*~
Harry runs into the school, leaving his Firebolt outside by the entrance doors. He may need it later. His thoughts were blurred and didn't mind those who were staring at him as though he had lost his mind. The speed of his flight increases and he runs up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. He silently thanked God for Quidditch that made his stamina last forever, or almost...
As he reaches the Gargoyle, he sees Dumbledore exiting with the one and only Tom Riddle. The two smile at him, but as they notice Harry's angered expression, it disappears as fast as it had come.
" Harry," says Dumbledore. " What's the matter? Are you okay?"
Blazing green eyes were dead locked on ruby orbs, staring into them. His breathing was hard, and the icy air stung his lungs, but he didn't care. All he wanted right now was to find out what exactly Tom did, and get him out of this School and out of his face faster than anyone can say good-bye.
" Professor," Harry grinds out with hatred. " I just overheard something about five minutes ago from Draco and Hydra. It seems that they have an interesting story to tell." It's not interesting at all. Just hearing part of it is sick and twisted.>
Tom looks puzzled under Harry's glare, not knowing why the Gryffindor was suddenly so angry at him. " Harry, are you-"
" Shut up!" Harry breaks out, his voice suddenly cracking from the high pitched words. " Shut up. Just don't. Say. A. Word."
" Harry," calls Dumbledore softly, calmly. " Why so hostile? What is the matter?" He was suddenly growing fearful of Harry. He was never like this. Not once.
Harry looks at Dumbledore without as much hatred or disgust as he would at Tom. " Proffessor, Hydra has been raped. And Riddle did it."
Dumbledore turns to Tom, fearful that the revelation was true. " Tom, is this true?"
A hurtful and dismay gaze was set on Harry, before its attention was turned to Dumbledore. " No, sir. I didn'-"
" Don't lie, damn you!" Harry interrupts in an outrage, emerald embers flaring in his eyes. " Don't. You. Dare. Hydra's tears were too real for this bull shit."
" Harry!" Hermione's voice rings out from behind him. Ron is with her as they run to the trio. " Harry, did you see Hydra? She was a wreck." Hermione sounded alittle out of breath.
" Poor thing," adds Ron. " Malfoy kept insulting anyone in their way if they even glanced at them. Do you know what happened?"
Harry raises a prompting eyebrow atr the Headmaster. He answers Ron's question with spite. " Yes, Ron. Unfortunetly, I do."
Ron and Hermione look at him with concerned eyes. Harry wasn't like this...never like this. Even from beside him can they see the intensity of those emerald orbs.
" Let's talk about this inside my office." Dumbledore mutters unaudibly the password and the Gargoyle springs to life and moves aside. The Company enter.
Harry kept his glaring eyes on Tom's back. This was all unbelievable. Just when he thought he was actually liking the guy, he turns out to be a rapist. That's not right. And Harry didn't want to spend the rest of his life with someone who took-stole- the innocense of a friend in the making.
They enter the office and spread out in places in the room. Dumbledore went behind his desk as Tom went to look out the window, almost mournfully. Harry felt no remorse, however. Tom deserves everything bad that is about to come his way.
" Now, Harry, please explain this predicament in full detail." Dumbledore was obviuosly trying to find out what exactly was happening. And as much as he'd like to call Hydra and Draco to him, he really could not. And Harry's words are just as good as hearing them from the mouth of the victim. He wouldn't lie...not about this at least.
" I was out in the Quidditch pitch," begins Harry as he still kept his glare on Tom for a while. " I was flying around and then I spotted Hydra and Draco over by the Slytheirn locker rooms. Hydra looked distressed, and I was curious. So I used a spell, and I overheard their conversation." His suddenly sad eyes look at the Headmaster. It was all the truth, and there was no sense in lying from that point on. He knew he would get into trouble for using magic out of classes. " Hy-Hydra was crying, and Draco tried to comfort her...and that's when I heard her say it..."
" Harry, what do you think drove her to that confession? Or at least remembering the...unfortunate event?"Harry closes his eyes for a brief moment. He could get a months detention at the most for what he called Hydra, but he had to say it. " We were exchanging insults, sir. I was angry, and then a name slipped off my tongue. She was very mad and uncomfortable. I...guess that's what it was. But I apoplogized, sir! I said I was sorry, and she still felt bad."
Dumbldore nods in his belief, and did not dare ask what the name was. He knew it was something bad, for he had heard the names himself from other students. " Very well, Harry. Thank you for bringing this to my attention." He turns sadly to Tom. " What do you have to say all about this, Tom?"
Looking as though he had made a silent decision with himself. He turns his anguished ruby eyes at Harry, who didn't bother to look at him, but at Fawks, the loyal phoenix of Albus Dumbledore. A soft sigh escapes his lips. If he had lost Harry to this misunderstanding, then how long could Harry last as his? He guesses he won't be able to find out, as he had already lost the Golden boy.
" Since Harry believes this all too true. I guess I have no other option, but to leave here, Dumbledore."
Ron and Hermione look at one another, and then at Harry. What would happen now without Tom? He was sent here for a reason, and now after all this, Tom will just leave? That's not right. The reason was important-is very important. He can't just leave because of Hydra. Surely something can be done.
" But, Professor," says Hermione. " Don't we need Tom? Doesn't he need us? Doesn't the whole Wizarding world need the two? Don't we-"
" Hermione," Tom looks at the Gryffindor girl, and shakes his head. " We can't change anything that happened. But if my departure eases the pain, then I will go. There is no use for me if I am being ignored."
" Harry, you are so selfish," Hermione whispers as she notices the glazing of tears in Tom's eyes. Who the hell knew that Voldemort was such a nice and understanding person? But no, he wasn't Voldemort anymore. He was Tom Marvolo Riddle, a person capable of emotions as Harry came along.
" Well, excuse me for acting on my emotions," mutters Harry. His voice held hidden remorse but everyone in that room bets that if they were to look into his eyes, they would automatically see what the teen really felt. He just felt so upset and enraged that Tom would do such a thing. How can someone like him be trustworthy? And if the whole case with Hydra is all true, maybe the way Tom is acting now is just a mask; something to be used to get within the trusting barriers.
Harry wouldn't let this happen, and that was why he was doing all this. Tom would have to leave before something serious happened. And that something was close to happening.
" It's settled then," says Dumbledore resentfully. " Tom, your stuff is in the spare room in the Gryffindor dormitory. You may get it, as you know the password."
Tom nods and whispers something, flicking his wand. His trunk appears in front of him, as though he had just got off from the train or something. " I'll take the next Express to Egypt. From there, I'll go to wherever my mind leads me." A sad smile appears in his face as he looks at Ron and Hermione. Ron shakes his head, silently telling him not to go, and Hermione's eyes were glazed in tears, asking him not to leave either.
" I'm sorry," he whispers, and then turns to Dumbledore. " We'll meet again, proffessor. I assure you that. " His ruby eyes settle on the object of his affection. Who knew he would become this attached? And who knew he would have to say good-bye just after he had actually got to earn the boy's trust.? " I'm sorry that this ruined us, if there was ever going to be one. " He makes his trunk float beside him as he approaches Harry. The Gryffindor still refused to look at him and turns his head, afraid he might be found...afraid Tom might know that he didn't want him to leave.
But he already knew
However, he didn't know just how much
" Take care, Harry. I will miss you." Tom kisses what he could of Harry's scar, and then turns to leave the room. The door clicks, and a tear falls from emerald eyes.
Who knew he would miss Tom already? And who knew he would have fallen in love so fast...?
~~*~~
RTwo figures watch as Tom boards a Hogsmeade carriage. The teen looks up at the School one more time before the door closes, and as he is being moved away from its presence.
" We have done well, Artowlim. Voldemort is gone from the boy's heart. Now is the time." The same voice. It was the same one from the Great Hall.
" Yes, but let us wait until our late master has returned to Greece. Then will we make our move." The voice is that of a man's; revengeful and triumphant.
" Whatever you say..."
~~*~~
Evening fell slowly over the sky, and dinner time came. Harry Potter acknowledged this, but he was too bust sulking in his bed to care. His soul mate was gone, and the bonding wouldn't be complete. This was crucial. If all this was really important, Harry just ensured the death of everyone in the Wizarding World, and maybe even the Muggle as well.
But then he assured himself that he would deal with everything that came his way.
Right after Tom left, Hermione broke apart, Ron looked like the world was to end, and Dumbledore looked remorseful. They tried to keep Tom back. They asked him, but he still said no.
Why?
Did he really do that Hydra, and he knew he had to face the consequences?
Or maybe he didn't want to be around a bunch of bleeding hearts?
Harry shakes his head. No, that wasn't it. Tom just left because...because...Harry wanted him to? Harry was nothing compared to him! Why should he heed his anger? His emotions? His concern or sorrow? Tom could have killed that all if he really wanted to...if he really wanted to...
Was Tom just so sincere? So sincere as to respect Harry's wishes and leave? He didn't deserve this. Such kindness to someone who was out to stop him four years in a row as they met. When you display too much kindness, you hurt no one but yourself. Tom only left because Harry decided that he should. He left without a retort, a complaint, a come-back. Nothing! He just merely left as though nothing that he was leaving mattered...
But Harry knew better, he knows that Tom hated to leave. And now Harry hates himself for letting Tom leave.
~~*~~
" Harry, you should eat something."
" How will you through the day of classes without brain power?"
Harry appreciates his friends' antics the following day at breakfast. Ron and Hermione try to make him feel better even through their own mourning. > his mind complains. you saw fit
Harry didn't blame his thoughts. He did. But it felt right! He raped the girl, for goodness sake! Why would anyone lie about that?
" Where's Tom?"
" Hydra." Harry stands up to greet her, compassion in his eyes. " What do you mean?" But there was also confusion. Why should she care?
" We haven't seen him all morning, or the remaining of yesterday," says Draco.
" Are you okay, Hydra?" asks Hermione, kindness and sympathy dripping in her voice. " I mean, I'm real sorry about yesterday..."
" Why, what happened?" Hydra was puzzled.
" Crying? Err...Draco insulting everyone who saw you?" Ron looks on in disbelief.
" Crying?" Draco repeats. " She stopped crying when she was five."
Harry shakes his head to clear things up. " The Quidditch pitch. " Hydra, you were saying how Tom...how he..."
" Look, just forget about it, okay?" Draco semmed to be hidding something, or wanting to avoid something. " We'll be around." The Duo leave the Great Hall.
" What was that all about?" asks Hermione.
" They just jumped from one thing to another," adds Ron.
Harry just stared at their retrieving form. What was that all about? What was happening?
Outside of the Great Hall, Draco and Hydra burst into hysterical laughter.
" They don't know the better, Artowlim. They never did get a chance to know the real Draco Mafloy and Hyrda Violet."
Draco has a cynical smile on his face. " They didn't even notice how dramatically the additudes changed during the next two hours. What's worse is that they don't know that we're not the real Draco and Hydra."
They are not the Duo of Slytherin, but Artowin, and Denity, traitors of their Lord Voldemort.
A soft giggle. " With such ease did the Fate fall to corruption..."