Chapter Five: Realize…

The rain pattered on the roof like the staccato notes of a well-played violin. Inside, the room was still and quiet except for the sounds of breathing and two separate heartbeats that seemed completely in sync with each other.

The radiant perjurer rested her head on the stomach of her victim and her head rose with his chest every time he inhaled. She looked up at his face, every inch of it etched with admiration, and smiled lovingly up at him. He returned the smile and stroked her hair. She squirmed a bit until she was comfortable again and he put her arm around her.

"I've never been happier in my life," Geoffrey whispered.

"Neither have I…" she said with a wistful sparkle to her eye.

As they watched the sunrise together over the moist green grounds of Hogwarts, Geoffrey softly stroked Lucy's smooth, pale arm. Lucy reluctantly stood up.

"I have to go," she said to him, throwing on the shirt and skirt she had worn the day before. "I have to meet Tom."

"Why?" Geoffrey asked, startled.

"Because I promised him I'd meet him," she replied, her rose-red lips straight and her eyes inscrutable.

"When do I get to meet this tom?" Geoffrey asked. Lucy looked long into his soft, loving blue eyes and something jumped in her heart. Startled, she looked away.

"Soon," she said, gathering her things quickly. "You'll meet him soon."

"Is something wrong Lucy?" Lucy looked up at him again, concern written over his face like invisible ink and felt that little jump in her heart again. She instantly turned away.

"No," she said, hastily but convincingly. "I'm just in a hurry, that's all. This was great, Geoffrey. I can't wait to do something like this again."

"Lucy…" Geoffrey said as she made her way to the door. "I… My uncle. I want you to meet your uncle." Lucy turned to him with a smile.

"Geoffrey, I'm a student here. I know your uncle!"

"Yes," Geoffrey nodded. "But I want him to know you. Come to the masquerade a week from Friday. Please. My uncle will be there. I want him to meet the woman I'm in love with." Lucy's heart jumped a third time at his last words. Quickly swallowing the lump forming in her throat, she muttered a quick 'goodbye' and was gone.

Lucy was stunned as she walked slowly down the hall. Why was it her heart always quivered whenever she looked at him? Surely she couldn't be… No! The idea was preposterous! He was a victim; she had to lure him into Lord Voldemort's trap… Why did the thought of betraying Geoffrey sound so horrible to her all of a sudden?

Lucy shook her head to clear it. All these ideas… they were outrageous! And certainly untrue. She wasn't… She couldn't… no. No, it was impossible. He was a victim and only a victim. He wasn't even a friend. He couldn't afford to be her friend… Then why was she feeling so guilty? He was in love with her. But that was what the plan was, wasn't it? To make him fall in love with her? Then why did it bother her so much?

"I'm not in love with him!" Lucy mumbled to herself. "I am NOT in love with him!" She was already in love. She was in love with Tom… Wasn't she?

All these years, she had thought Tom was the only person she could ever love. He was so intelligent and so sophisticated and so devious… And yet, he treated her like a possession. What she felt towards him… It wasn't love. It was lust. Lust mixed in with admiration and envy. Tom never made her heart twinge like that. Tom never asked her to tell him what she was thinking. Tom never wondered how she was feeling. Geoffrey did. Geoffrey cared. Someone cared. Someone cared about her! When had anyone ever cared about the trouble-making Lucy?

Tom.

Tom had once cared about the trouble-making Lucy. But that was before he changed, before he became power-crazy. He was obsessed with finding immortality. He was obsessed to prove that he was better than everyone else. He had been overlooked for so many years, teased for so long… No one saw what he was really capable of except Lucy. She had seen it in his eyes when she was thirteen and he was fourteen and he was torturing a poor puppy. The maleficent insane glint he had in his eyes as he gleefully hurt the poor thing.

It had died. It had bled to death.

Lucy shivered. She remembered for a while she had shared in Tom's power-seeking dream. He hypnotized her with tales of absolute control, of making everyone bow down to you and heed your every command. He entranced her with stories of how much she would be admired by every man and woman in the world like the goddess Aphrodite for her incredible beauty and strength and power. How everyone would love her and adorn her with gifts like a queen. She would be his queen, his Lady Lucy. Lady Lucy and Lord Voldemort.

But then she remembered all the people who suffered to make this dream a reality. All the families who cried over a lost loved one Tom had killed just for the fun of it. All the muggles and muggle-born wizards he murdered to emphasize that they didn't belong here.

Lucy stopped walking and thought clearly for a moment. Being a Slytherin, she had never really liked mudbloods or muggles. She had never really thought they belonged in this world either. She kind of pitied them and believed she was above them. Though she never thought they were low enough to deserve to die. No one deserves that.

For the first time in her entire life, Lucy felt as the veil Tom had placed over her eyes had been lifted and she could see for herself what was going on. She realized with horror that Tom's heart was made of ice. Tom didn't care who lived or died, as long as he had power. But that wasn't the Tom she had once known. The Tom she had known was dead. And in his place there stood the frightening shadow of Lord Voldemort.

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"Can anyone tell me why the Rolag Giant Clan and the Inglid Giant Clan could not live side by side together? Why was peace an elusive dream?" Lucy raised her hand and Professor Binns called on her.

"Yes, Lucy?"

"The Rolag Clan refused to give up land for the Inglid. They didn't think the Inglid were good enough and wanted to exterminate the Inglid Clan for good. The Inglid's believed the Rolag Clan were selfish and clumsy and blamed them for everything that went wrong in their lives. Even when the leaders wanted peace, there were always those who wanted to continue to fight."

"Well answered, Lucy," the old professor nodded. Lucy wondered how old he was and if he would die soon. Growing up with Tom, wondering if someone would die in the near future was a thought that came to her mind often. "And Mr. Riddle. You haven't said anything the entire class. What solution do you think could have helped the matter?" Lucy looked at Tom, who was sitting at the back of the room, his light hair combed back.

"Let them fight," Tom said, evenly. "What's a giant to the wizards? Less killers if they kill each other. I say they fight. Let them kill each other. No one will mourn them." There was silence. No one had expected this answer, especially not old Professor Binns who stumbled.

"Well, er, yes, I suppose… That is, after all, how things turned out… The giants ended up ending both clans and killing each other… But that wasn't the answer I was expecting."

It wasn't the answer anyone was expecting. Leave it to Tom to see the unpleasant truth.