Sometime later I awoke with a start still lying beneath that lone tree not realising that I had fallen asleep a while ago. Rolling onto my side I checked to see if Riddle was awake but he wasn't there and all his clothes were gone too, except his cloak which was wrapped around me.

I stared at the evening sky starting to feel slightly hungry; it must be close to dinner. Worry began to flood my system; I should have been home ages ago.

Where was Riddle?

Carefully I removed the cloak and got back into my dress all the while thinking the worst. Had Riddle abandoned me? Was I left to walk home?

All the while I waited these thoughts chased themselves around and around inside my head making me feel slightly sick. The sky was slowly darkening and my hopes were too.

Then when I looked up next I saw a figure approaching and I immediately recognized the outline of the figure to be Riddles. Relief washed the worry away.

"I thought you would still be asleep" he smiled walking up to me "I went for a walk then I realised I had better come back and wake you as its getting late but I see I didn't need to wake you at all"

Though I was happy to see him again I had just realised he had walked from the direction of that large manor and something inside me squirmed with discomfort.

"We had best get home before there's a panic" I mumbled picking up his cloak and handing it to him.

He smirked and pulled me into a quick hug, kissing my forehead gently before taking my hand and walking me back down the hill.

A few uncomfortable seconds later we appeared around the corner of my house.

"Will you not come inside?" I begged, giving him the 'puppy dog' eyes.

He stroked my cheek avoiding my gaze "not today but I will come and see you again I promise"

"You better" I smiled.

He laughed lightly and kissed me softly "I had a wonderful day"

My cheeks grew very warm and I gave a small giggle but I couldn't say much more. He winked and walked away and I watched as he turned and disappeared with a swish of his cloak.

***

A week later as I waited for breakfast to cook I sat in excitement as Riddle was coming over again. He had visited a few times this week already but they were brief as he said he had other things to attend to but today I would have him all to myself again.

Sighing deeply, I sat myself down at the table and picked up the newspaper that had been sitting there since yesterday. The paper never really interested me and so I contented myself by flicking through its pages looking at the images. One image caught my eye rather quickly and I realised with a ping of shock that it was the huge manor I had seen in Hangleton a week before.

A caption beneath it read:

'The Riddle manor where the gruesome discovery of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Riddle and their grown up son Tom, were found dead'

"Riddle manor? Tom?" I whispered to myself and I automatically plunged into the story; the article was very small and was shoved in beneath an add which exclaimed that everything was 50% off.

However the article itself was very vague. The family was found in the drawing room by the maid and that the gardener was suspected and was arrested for their murders and that the police were awaiting autopsy results as to the family's precise cause of death.

Yet the exact date of their deaths knocked the wind from my lungs as it only happened a week ago.

My heart was beating fast and everything was a blur to me. The Riddles lived in that manor…he was related to them…we went there the exact day that family was murdered.

There were too many coincidences.

It wasn't hard to put two and two together. But the idea would surely kill me.

"Tom's here!" called a voice as I heard movement from the hall.

With the paper still clutched in my hand I raced to where Riddle stood removing his cloak and the whole time I watched I was preying that he didn't commit murder while I slept but somehow I already knew; Riddle had it in him; he had shown me that years before.

He frowned at me "Beth are you alright? You look pale"

"Come" I grabbed his wrist and took him into the nearest parlor closing the door behind us.

"What is it?" he asked looking puzzled.

Wordlessly I handed him the paper pointing at the article. His eyes moved over it rather quickly and he cast it aside looking up at me; his expression unreadable.

"We were there that day" I whispered feeling sick.

He said nothing.

"You disappeared; you didn't come back until late evening….until dinner" my voice was shaky as my hands trembled; I didn't want it to be true.

Again he said nothing.

"Please say something! Just say you weren't there-just don't stay silent!" tears built in my eyes.

"I can not say I wasn't there because I was; I will not deny you the truth Bethany" he spoke without any hint of any emotion in his voice but his words made me cry out as if I had been burned.

"No! I wont-you cant-why!?"

"My mother was in love with that family's son; my father! I was named after a useless muggle! And he abandoned my mother; he abandoned me!" spat Riddle his face twisted in rage and disgust.

"That doesn't justify murder!" I cried as the tears ran continually down my cheeks.

He moved toward me speaking quickly "no one will know it was me because the magic I used doesn't leave a mark and even if I somehow manage to be suspected-" here I let out a cry of anguish "-my day was spent with you"

I shook my head over and over as it slowly sank in that Riddle had committed murder "don't you care!? Isn't there some amount of-of guilt or-or anything?"

He grabbed me quickly pulling me into a hug, which I reluctantly allowed him to do.

"Bethany" he whispered "I don't feel guilty about killing them but my main concern now is that you can see it in your heart to forgive me as I can not live without you."

I took a long shuddering breath which made my throat burn with cold and I wrapped my arms around him, sobbing into his chest, "I will forget this"

"Thank you" he mumbled holding me tighter.

But as I stood there hugging the person I loved so much I couldn't help but feel as if Riddle was slowly turning into something that frightens me down to the core. For the first time in a long time I had finally seen the true Riddle appear and sadly it did not remove my love for him but it made me aware that what ever I did now I was at the mercy of Tom Riddle.