Aileen looked at the two little kids in front of her. Her kids, her and Tom Riddle's. They were the only things in that huge world which kept her alive. God knows how many times she had thought of commiting suicide, saying goodbye to the mortal world, and welcome the immortality on the Other Side.

Right after their graduation, Aileen had broken up with Tom. You might think it was because of how evil he was, right? However, many years ago, Aileen had given Tom a promise, a promise that was a reminder of how fool she was. She had promised Tom that she would stay by his side, considering Tom would never leave her. She had united with his darkness, and almost lost in it. Until that very day, when everything was changed...

*FLASHBACK*

"Tom?" Aileen called out, entering the Riddle Mansion, and closing the door with a little spell, while holding the shopping bags tightly. She had visited her one and only friend, Hestia, and then shopping. It had been for so long since she last visited any of her friends, Tom didn't want her to be out of his sight, Tom...

They had just graduated from Hogwarts, only 1 month or so. To be honest, Aileen wasn't really fond of living together with Tom, a little 'accident' could occur and she would embarass herself, not only herself but her family's name. But Tom had insisted on staying together and he could be very persuasive at times. So she said yes, she HAD to say yes.

When she heard a muffled noise, she assumed Tom had just woken up. He must be very tired, she thought, placing the shopping bags onto the first thing she saw, which was their dining table.

Tom had been working on some 'business', as he recalled, for almost one month now. He, Abraxas Malfoy, Avery and Black were working together with this and even though she couldn't say it outloud, she was worried. Not that Tom was weak, no, but even with the slight ark magic experience she had, she knew that Tom had gotten into a huge mess, and every night, at 11 p.m to be exact, hearing the loud crack the door made was just a relief for her. Sometimes she wondered, what would happen if Tom wasn't like... this? How would their life change?

"You know," she started speaking, as if Tom was there, " They say Grindewald gave a little visit to Ministry last night," She started placing the ingredients she bought. Tom had told her to find a house elf, but Aileen had insisted on having none. She liked taking care of the house, it was the only normal and safe 'activity' she had been doing for so long, "Of course, not himself but some of his helpers. Oh, and by the way, Abraxas wanted me to ask whether if you have a meeting or not tonight," Even though she didn't like the business Tom was into, that didn't mean she couldn't socialise with his friends. At first, Malfoy seemed to be an arrogant fool, well he WAS, but also, he was fun to have around.

With that, she entered their bedroom, "Do you have-" But before she could finish, she tripped over something and fell. "What is...this?" It was a shirt, but a women's shirt. Aileen looked at the piece of clothing in her hands, she was quite sure that she didn't have something like this, she didn't like shirts at all...

She stood up, fixing dress and entered their bedroom... And soon found out that it wasn't their 'room', not anymore...

"T-tom..." She mumbled, feeling light-headed. No, no this couldn't be happening.

There Tom was, lying half-naked (or naked, she could only see his bare chest) with a cherry blonde witch by his side. His hair was messed up quite much and by looking at the mound on their pure, white sheets (which didn't seem to be so pure after seeing the blood stains on them) Aileen could see what they had been doing while she was missing.

"Aileen?" Tom mumbled, opening his eyes slightly, and those eyes got widened. He stood up fast, taking the sheets with him and ran to her. But Aileen had already stepped back and closed the door."Colloportus," She casted the spell, and hurried. She knew it wouldn't take long for Tom to unlock the door and trail behind her.

She wore her jacket, and heard a loud crash. Yes, he had unlocked the door. "AILEEN!" She could hear Tom shouting behind her, but it was too late. Aileen had already taken her broom and started flying.

"Bye Tom," was the only thing she said before heading to Hestia's house.

*END OF THE FLASHBACK*

Of course, Aileen had forgotten the fact that there was a reason why Tom had allowed her to only talk with Hestia. Hestia was also Tom's friend, and Abraxas Malfoy's fiancée. So, after staying for a few weeks, Aileen had to leave her fellow friend, leaving nothing behind. Ever since then, she hadn't left her house. Well, except when they moved from one house, to another.

"Mother?" The boy exclaimed worriedly, shaking her shoulders. Thomas, yes he was named after his father, was a real sweetheart, just opposite of his father, he was just like his mother. Only the names were similar, that was it.

On the other hand, Leilana was more like her father, which scared Aileen most. Just as if she was the copy of her father. The way she talked, she acted around people, the way she lied, they were just same. Only she couldn't lie to her mother. Aileen had gotten used to Tom's lying face so much, that she could say when Leilana tried to lie her. Hopefully, Leilana would not get involved with Dark Magic.

"I'm...okay,cicaro," Aileen said, caressing both of her children's hair. Even though they were different, it was so obvious that they were siblings. Both of them had taken Tom's raven hair and their mother's big, colourful eyes. Also, Thomas had inherited her mother's freckles as well.

"Did you have fun?" She asked. Since the kids were 11-year-old, they had started to their education at Hogwarts. Thomas was chosen to Ravenclaw while Leilena was a surprise at all.

It was the mid-term holiday and although they had come just for her, they had been spending all of their time with Haylee and Lee, two muggle-born witches. They were, unfortunately, their only friends.

"Why don't you rest? You must be tired," Aileen said, after seeing Thomas trying to control another yawn of his. Despite of their mouths telling that they didn't need to, Aileen saw that their eyes had another idea. She grimaced and kissed both of her children's foreheads.

"Now, you should go to sleep. We'll need to pack your clothings tomorrow." Aileen said with a sad smile afterwards, thinking about how the house would get cold after the children's departure.

The kids, now feelin a bit sleepy but still aflame, hurried to their beds, with their mother following them. As she watched her children to get dressed, a little flashback of how her life was changed just 11 years ago appeared in front of her eyes. She had never imagined to see her children, their children to grow into these two witches and warlocks in front of her.

The kids lay to their beds, their eyes heavy and their face flushed. Aileen first kissed Leilana's cheek, who had already fallen asleep, and tucked her in. Unfortunately, she wasn't lucky enough to have Thomas asleep. Thomas' face was as calm as usual, no expression shown on his face. He had really reminded of his father, in a frightening way.

"Mother?" He called out, her angelic voice was only for her mother to hear.

Aileen crouched down to her daughter's level, "Yes honey," she whispered,

"Are we going crazy?" he asked, a sudden calmness taking over his voice. And Aileen hadn't like that.

Aileen raised her eyebrows, what kind of a question was that? "Why did you ask such a question, Thomas?" she asked worriedly.

"Today, Leilana and I visited Lee's pet shop, you know, which is close to 's shop," he said, "And there, we saw a beautiful snake." Aileen's eyes got widened, as the realisation slowly hit her. She knew where this conversation was heading to, and didn't like it at all. "As we went by to pet the snake, it talked to us. Both of us heard it, but Leilana told me not to tell this to anyone. Still..." he said, a yawn interrupting him.

Aileen tried to control her hands shaking, and plastered a fake smile onto her face. "You were probably buffled at that time, snakes cannot talk," she said and, before Thomas could say anything else, she stood up. "Goodnight, Tom,"

She left the room, closing the door behind her. She collasped onto the sofa in her living room, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, the questions started clouding her mind. There was no doubt that her children had inherited their father's ability to talk to the snakes. Aileen had expected it to appear, but not this early. What if the kids would decide to search on this ability and find about their father?

It was easy to keep Thomas in control, but Leilana was who Aileen feared most. She seemed to know about this, otherwise why would she warn her brother to keep his mouth shut? How had she known? What else did she know about this? Did she know the connection between this and Salazar Slyhtherin?-

Her heart almost got out of her chest as two loud knocks were heard. Who could that be? For the last 11 years, Aileen hadn't received any visiters so far. Maybe it was their neighbour, inviting her for a tea party? Or maybe someone else...

However, Aileen couldn't help but handle her wand tightly. It was very calming to feel the cold smoothness of the wand in her hand.

She moved towards the door, with anxiety boiling inside her. She raised her hand to grasp the door knob, and twisted...

"Hello, Aileen."

It was her old friend, Hestia with a big smile on her face.