Blinded By The Past, Ignored In The Future

Chapter 12

TWELVE: Past Friendships

Disclaimer: The saying in the diary doesn't belong to me.

Response To Reviews:

Deadly Fate: It's good to know that people think highly of my work even if I don't. I was reading though it just minutes ago and I thought it was horrible! I even found a grammar error! I feel really bad now! And I feel bad for tom! Dumbledore or Voldemort is his choice, what would you choose? Now one last question before you're allowed to read the this chapter…do you think I should let Tom escape soon?

Miss Mina Murray: I'm still so glad that you like this story!

Eth: What do you mean by jumpy? You mean like bad? I hope it wasn't terrible…

Marauder1prongs: Thanks, Kate. Sev said it was good too!

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Previous Chapter: Voldemort did not seem angry at what Avery told him; he seemed amused. "Then I'll make it all of the Death Eaters' duty to see to it that he has an attitude adjustment. Until then do what you have to and see to it that he understands the seriousness of what he has gotten himself into. But that will take place after we teach him something new." Riddle looked up for the first time since he had entered the mall and starred Voldemort I the eyes; the eyes held no pity for anyone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the men that stood in the circle pull out a knife and he knew that this session was going to be worse than the last.

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After seven rounds of the Cruciatus Curse, three Anguish Potions, and a few new cuts from a very sharp blade Riddle was forced down to a part of the dungeons that he had never been to. Not expecting anything good awaiting him, he gave the two Death Eaters an incredibly hard time while forcing him down the hall despite how much agony he was in.

Panting the two Death Eaters forced him into a room with an ordinary wooden door and threw him to the floor where he stayed, breathing rigidly. "You- (pant)-are such- (pant)-a pain!" The one he thought to be Jugson growled.

Riddle laughed despite the awkward situation and retorted, "Why don't you dump me off at the pound then? I'm sure someone would pay money for a freak show."

"Now you're just being plain annoying," said Rookwood. "I can't wait to-" he was hit in the head by his fellow Death Eater.

"Don't tell him what we're going to do to him, moron!" Jugson yelled.

"I'm not a moron!" argued Rookwood, pushing Jugson. Riddle raised an eyebrow at them both and smirked. It seemed that wizards in the future were still idiots to the core.

"You deserved it!" Jugson snapped, pushing Rookwood so he fell to the ground.

Immediately Rookwood jumped up and slammed Jugson into the wall. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I really don't care if you two sprouted wings and called yourselves angels, just don't forget what your orders are," came Lucius's voice. Riddle looked up at him, into his cold eyes behind the mask. Involuntarily Riddle flinched at the icy look his friend gave him compared to how he used to look at him. Both of the Death Eaters turned to Lucius, startled at his quiet but predictable entrance.

"Lucius?" Riddle broke the silence. "I-well-" Riddle couldn't hold it in anymore. "What happened to you?"

Lucius laughed coldly. "You're as pathetic as the master said you would be."

"But I thought…we're-we're still f-friends aren't we?" Riddle asked, afraid to hear the answer.

"There is no such thing as friendship you naïve little piece of dirt. No. I'm wrong. You're worse than the filthy mudbloods! You're a mixed breed. A half-blood!" snarled Lucius.

"What about Ruby?" Riddle demanded.

"I know no one by the name of Ruby!" Lucius hissed. "Chain him facing the wall so we can get on with this!" Lucius ordered, turning to the two Death Eaters that had been doing nothing.

"Of course, Lucius," Jugson said and Rookwood muttered under his breath. Riddle was in no condition to fight either of them off. Rookwood grabbed him by the hair and pulled him to his feet then both men slammed him face first against the wall where they chained him in place (after they stripped him off his old tore robes). Riddle was thankful that the chains supported his weight for he wouldn't have been able to stand on his own.

He heard Lucius talking, "our master gave us permission to do to you as we please but before you leave here you will obey every command given to you without question, is that understood?" Riddle didn't answer. This whole thing this seemed so unreal. To him, he, Lucius, and Ruby had been sitting by the lake just about a week ago, laughing and only a little far from carefree.

"I asked you a question, you worthless vermin! You will answer me!" Riddle cried out as a whip made contact with his bareback. He struggled to get free but remembered that he was chained in place. Crack! Lucius hit him in the same place. Riddle gritted his teeth, not wanting to give the Death Eaters the satisfaction of another sound. Riddle strived to ignore the pain, hit after hit.

"I'll give you one more chance," Lucius hissed in his ear. "Answer me or this will continue because I assure you my arm needs the exercise."

"Go to hell!" Riddle growled, biting his lip to hide his pain.

"I will," Lucius said, raising the whip again. "And so will you." Riddle couldn't help but cry out as the whip made contact with his bleeding skin. He yelled out as loud as he could and because of it he was hit again and again. Soon he lost track of the number of times that he had been hit. He felt Rookwood unchained him from the wall and they allowed Riddle to fall upon the floor in a heap, choking as he tried to keep himself from crying.

Jugson moved toward him but Lucius held his arm out, blocking his way. "Don't. We'll deal with him later. Leave him in here and let's go." There was something different in the blonde's tone. Without another word the three Death Eaters left.

Riddle wiped his face with the back of his left hand and accidentally smeared blood that was from his face on his hand. Shaking from shock and the cold, he felt his back unsteadily and winced. He pulled his hand back sharply and saw that it was covered in blood. Gritting his teeth in pain he forced himself to crawl over to his torn, bloody clock and he somehow managed to pull it around him with one hand.

He heard Draco being pushed down the hall, yelling, "I wasn't associating with the mudblood! I was making sure Riddle didn't do something stupid! Come on guys! Father!"

"Keep your mouth shut, Draco," Lucius replied coldly. Riddle looked at the door and to his surprise the door was wide open; he could escape. With all of his willpower, he heaved himself to his feet and limped to the door. Down the left hall he could see the shadows of Draco and his father, their shouts getting quieter. Down the right was nothing except a torch that lit the way.

As silently as he could he stumbled down the hallway, his left hand feeling along the wall and his right clutched tightly to his side. Not paying attention to the ground, he tripped over something and fell to the ground.

"Great!" he yelled in a raspy voice.  "Add another bruise to my many others!"

"Hello there, baby boy," said Bellatrix, standing over him. "I may be wrong but were you not just trying to escape?"

"Yes," Riddle growled. Bellatrix kicked him hard in the stomach and he put a hand over his mouth, trying not to throw up.

"Get up, boy," ordered Bellatrix.

Riddle got to his knees but before he could try and stand up he doubled over and vomited on the ground in front of him. Bellatrix laughed at his weakness and kicked him onto his back.

"I don't care if you have to crawl. You will follow me," she sneered. Riddle, clutching his stomach, got to his feet and tried to keep up with Bellatrix. He eyed the wand grasped tightly in her right hand as he continued to walk right behind her, not daring to fall behind. Surprisingly she led him to his cell, not to Voldemort and locked him in.

"Next time I will alert the master but since you so sweetly obeyed my directions I'll let you off this one time," said Bellatrix before she disappeared. The single torch that lit the room was still burning, allowing him to see. He fell to his knees within arms distance of the diary. Riddle looked around for a quill once he had the diary in his lap but found nothing upon looking the first time, but then he spotted an inkpot half full with a quill next to it, near the corner.

He grabbed it and unscrewed the top slowly. Then he dipped the quill in it and began to slowly write, as best as his shaking hand would, not a diary entry but something else:

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again.

Then he sketched a picture of him, Ruby, and Lucius, all laughing, smiling, in the middle of the Great Hall as they planed their futures. Absentmindedly Riddle smeared blood across the page where Ruby's red hair was blowing in the wind.

Suddenly angry, he closed the book and threw it across the room as hard as he could. "I hate you!" he yelled. At who he wasn't sure. "Ruby told me not to make you and if I would have listened this whole stupid thing could have been avoided!" He buried his head in his arms and sob, "everything…"

I must look really stupid. I'm a fourteen-year-old baby. He thought miserably. Once again the cell door opened. He looked up and saw the last person he would have suspected to be there, standing in the doorway.

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A/N: Sorry if I took too long. I started another new story called Dansmesyeux Riddle. Maybe you all could check it out. PLEASE!!!!

~Moony~