Rebecca clutched the toilet rim. She looked away, frightened by her sudden health. She could hear footsteps coming up, and the landowner's wife was in the bathroom.
"Oh my goodness," she said kindly, and Rebecca was glad that Tom chose a nice place to stay.
"Miss Becka?" the woman said, and Rebecca nodded miserably. She looked up to see John looking over at her, a concerned look on his face.
"Let's get you to the bed," she said, and she helped Rebecca up. Rebecca trudged to the bed, and she felt the thick quilt cover her.
"Please…" Rebecca said, sitting up. "I feel perfectly fine." The woman waved away the protest and set the kettle on the fire.
"Please," Rebecca pleaded, getting out of bed. The landowner's wife took a chair and sat down next to the bed.
"Mr. John, if you could leave us alone for a moment?" she asked, and John nodded, closing the door on his way out. The landowner's wife looked at her from head to toe, and Rebecca wished she could scrunch to become a ball. The landowner's wife gently placed a hand on her stomach and nodded.
"Miss Becky?" the landowner's wife said, sounding calm and taking Rebecca's hand.
"You are so young to understand this, love," the woman began, and Rebecca nodded in agreement.
"But these news will give you happiness. Hopefully, that is," the woman continued, and Rebecca nodded again, confused about what was going on.
"Becka, you are with child."
--------------------------------
"Tom?" Rebecca asked, turning to her side to face Tom. He opened his eyes and looked at her through the darkness.
"I-I dunno how to say this," she said, sounding hesitant. Tom nodded and looked at her.
"Umm…I think…what I mean to say is…that…erm…"
"You are pregnant," Tom finished for her, and Rebecca fell onto her back in shock.
"H-How did you k-know?" she asked him, looking at the ceiling. She could sense he was looking at her intently.
"The landowner's wife told me," he said, and she nodded.
"She told me, too," she said in agreement. She felt Tom stroke her hair.
"Rebecca, I think it's time I confess something," he admitted all of a sudden, and she turned back to her side to face him.
"What is it?" she asked in a concerned voice.
"I-I'm a Parsletongue," he admitted, and she rolled her eyes.
"You already admitted that, and I don't find anything wrong about that," she said, smiling broadly. "You just wanted to get that off your shoulders?"
"Not only that, Rebecca. I know how to read minds," he said, and Rebecca stared at him.
"That's how I know what you are thinking of. In fact, that's how I can answer all of your sentences," Tom said, and Rebecca sat up in the darkness, clutching her head.
"Gosh, Tom, you always scared me when you could read my mind," she said, turning to face him. He smiled and nodded.
"Is that all?" she asked him, lying back down on her back.
"No. I-I-I…I want to talk to you about it in a place that no one will ever find us," he said, grabbing her hand. She squeezed it back, and they had Apparated into a small clump of woods.
"Tom?" she asked him, but he kept grabbing her hand. He led her up a country road and to a small creek.
"Tom? Where on Earth are we?" she asked him, and he pointed to a village below.
"That's where my mother is from. Where I'm from," he said. When he used to say that in the past, a lump would come to his throat. But now, nothing had come up.
"I see," she said, clutching her nightgown tightly around her. Tom hugged her, and she leaned her head against his neck.
"Can you tell me now before we both turn into icicles?" she asked him, fiddling with her wedding ring.
"It started years ago," he began, looking into her eyes. She nodded.
"My mom was a Squib. She was also the descendant of Slytherin. A Muggle man apparently fell in love with her, but he left my mom before she had me. I never lived to see my mom, and since then, I was brought up in an orphanage. That's where I used to go during the Summer Breaks, until now. I swore to get revenge against my Muggle dad, and I hate him-"
"Tom," Rebecca said silently, and Tom said, "What?"
"You know that hate is a strong word, right?" she asked him, and he raised his hand to slap her cheek. Instead, with an act of love, he held her cheek and kissed her on the cheek.
"I know, silly," he said, and looked out to the village again. "Can I go on?" Rebecca nodded.
"Since that moment I…umm….highly disliked my father, I swore to revenge all the Muggles that have ruined my lives," Tom finished, and before he could restrain Rebecca, she had leaped out of his lap and looked at him, a wave of sadness and anger in her eyes.
"Does this mean that you're trying to kill everyone who's a Muggleborn too?" she asked calmly. Tom nodded, standing up.
"You know this means you want to kill me, too," she quietly said, and that sentence struck Tom through the heart. He had completely forgotten that Rebecca was a Muggleborn.
"You know this means also killing a part of you," she quietly said, and Tom slapped her across cheek.
"DON'T TALK ABOUT THAT!" he yelled at her angrily, but her face remained calm. He relaxed and took a step back. She held a hand to her mouth, and Tom could see silent tears streaming down her cheeks.
"T-This also means y-you could k-kill your o-own child," she said, sobs trying to escape from her mouth.
"Our family is a different story-"
"Tom, this world is originated from Muggles! If you think about it, there is NO such thing as pureblood! There is NO such thing as being a complete witch or wizard! This means killing everything from the past, from the present, from the future! This means even killing yourself," she pleaded, and Tom looked at her, his face impassive.
"Do you think I give a damn about that?" he asked her stubbornly.
"T-Tom, I-I knew s-something was w-wrong since I-I met you," she admitted, and Tom looked at her. "Something was wrong about you. I didn't know what, but the way your eyes sparkled suggested something not pleasant. The red eyes that show up more nowadays are even giving it away more."
"The red eyes are just bloodshot-"
"Tom! I'm a GIRL! I stay up late doing schoolwork and everything! I know what bloodshot eyes look like!" she shouted at him, almost falling into the creek. She looked behind her and slowly turned her head to face his head.
"T-Tom, please change yourself. Please, now. It's not late to change yourself," she pleaded him, her voice desperate. Tom shook his head angrily, and she heard a sob escape from her throat.
"Please say you will," she pleaded him, tears falling off her cheek.
"I knew I shouldn't have told you!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air. She knew he was frustrated.
"T-Tom, I love you too much," she said, showing her sadness. She was crying quietly, but she was trying not to show it. "I-I assumed I was using first impressions to guess who you were. B-But I knew six months ago, I started loving you. You seemed to love me back, and I let myself go. I-I know I now made a mistake, the biggest mistake of my life. I-I don't want to say this, but I-I wish w-we never fell in love."
A/N: I know…it's depressing…so if you cry easily and begin tearing up in this chapter, I give you full permission to use all the Kleenexes in your house.
