Only one more chapter to go! I can't believe this is coming to an end! I tried my level best to make things as in-character as I could for my characterization of Tom and the progression on his behaviour. If things look a little awry, please let me know by comment or DM!

A/N: Also, anyone want to try speaking to Tom Riddle as a character AI? I have been OBSESSED with working over these models and I think I can make something up! Lemme know!

Reviewers:

ajmaru - Thank you for reading! The thing with Tom is that he considers emotions weakness (at least for the moment.) I am completely doing away with the whole "he can't feel love because he was conceived under love potions" plotline. Mainly because it sets a VERY BAD precedent and because if such was the case then love potions would be under investigation by Mungo's AND there would be a HEAVY regulation on it. With the date-r*** dr*g type qualities, it already possesses, it was entirely unethical to stock it in any joke shop or to be brewed and bragged about by Mrs. Weasley. So yeah, sorry, kinda went on a rant there. But to answer your question, Tom (when he becomes a little more comfortable to display his feelings) would still consider feelings such as jealousy to be beneath him. If he does get jealous, there would have to be some SERIOUSLY subtle displays of it.

The hole in the ground led into a huge, slimy, hellish pipe slide. My back and hair pressed into the muck as I tilted backwards, skating downwards into the abyss. I tried hard not to scream, not to attract attention in case the Death Eaters were watchful for any other attendees. I couldn't help it at the end. One second there was only pitch black and then the pipe was straightening out, a greenish light at the exit.

I cried out when I was thrown out, landing roughly onto crunching brambles. The sharp edges slashed away at me, making me quickly get to my feet to avoid the prickles.

Only when I stood that I realized they weren't brambles at all. Small bones crunched under my feet as I tried to back away, right into the wall. Mice, fish, other rodents, some bigger animals…all bones…

"Oh Merlin," I whispered looking up. The ceiling barely brushed my head, low in the atrium before it turned cavernous through the tunnel leading inwards.

Lighting the tip of my wand I ventured forwards. Further in the tunnel was indeed part of a cave, cold, wet and dark. Things squelched under my foot that I had no interest in knowing and just when I was going to give up, something loomed up front.

Enormous, slithering and slinky, I froze when I saw what could only be a gigantic snake. I stood absolutely still, wondering if I should extinguish the wandlight. Only, it didn't budge. The snake lay there, unmoving and for a split second, the courage I got from the thought that it could be asleep had me moving forward. The gleam of the Lumos lit up the reason why the snake wasn't moving. It wasn't a snake at all.

It was the snake's skin!

I pointed the wand downwards, shining light on the fact that what I'd been stepping on had been indeed shed skin. I clamped a hand on my mouth to suppress the nausea instead thinking of how big the snake must be - at least fifty feet?

Backing away, I chose the first branching tunnel I found and entered it, walking onwards.

The tunnel led me straight down a long hallway, fringed with scaled walls. And at the very end, a set of stone double doors loomed. The doors were locked with entwining snakes and they were shut with no inch between them. I couldn't possibly blast it open. Even if there was a chance that the Death Eaters or Tom himself didn't catch that, I didn't know what repercussions such a blast would have on the geography of the place. The whole thing could collapse, trapping us in.

And Dumbledore didn't know where I was…

I backtracked, went back to the snake skins…and chose another tunnel.

The tunnel winded, circling what seemed huge portions of the cave system and after a long while the mouth opened up into an exit. The tunnel let me out behind a tall statue, going right up to the ceiling of the room. The stone snake reared, mouth opened and I recognized the sigil of the coiling snake holding up the roof of the Chamber.

Greenish light exuded from the walls, low braziers burning green flames. At the very end, the statue of a man presided, somber and frowning.

It was heavily Slytherin, was my first thought and I immediately recoiled from the ridiculousness of it.

Yes, of course it was Slytherin, it was Slytherin's room! Spoke Ron's sarcastic voice in my head, snapping me out of my reverie.

Aside from the reprimanding voice in my head, there were other voices echoing in the chamber. I turned my head away from the statue, sneaking behind another snake statue to see the dreadful group of boys. They stood at the base of a stone serpent right near Slytherin's own.

At the very center of their jumble stood Tom Riddle, proud and puffed up. He looked around his group of minions and then spoke, seemingly continuing a speech he must have already been making.

"...and tonight we bring the vision of the great Salazar Slytherin alive…" He said. "We shall take back the school from the ones who have attempted to hide away the wizarding kind and attempt to pander to the muggles. Do you know why the wizarding kind is so regressive, so backwards and so under-developed? Because our kind was afraid - of the muggles who persecute us, who burn us on the stake, who dismiss our practices, gifts and existence as a mistake. We are an abhorrent anomaly to them, we always have been. And instead of fighting against this slander, instead of standing up for our own rights - we have given the world over to a breed that is monstrous right down to its core. They pollute, wage wars, they defile and loot."

He cast his eyes over to the statue of Slytherin.

"My ancestor saw the inclusion of muggleborn for what it was. A mistake, one that would bring the muggles to the doorstep of Hogwarts. It is only thanks to the many protective measures taken by following Headmasters and Headmistresses that we are still undiscovered. There are plenty of documents stating how atrociously the muggleborn were treated in the ancient times."

"How do we assume that things are better for them now? We have no measure, no orphanages, no asylums for our abandoned children, our fellow outcasts."

"Tonight…all that changes, we will fight for freedom from muggle dominion, we fight for the rights of the left out society of the wizarding kind who is forced to scrounge amid the ones who deem themselves elite."

I leaned against the statue, mouth agape. For the very few seconds of my life before everything would go to the dogs - I could see where Tom Riddle was coming from.

We were wizards and witches, we had to live in a muggle orphanage. Even in my mother's time, my time, nothing had changed.

We lived in a much more natural way thanks to our gifts while the muggle world continued to pollute the world. We still were the most regressive despite our closeness to the natural order.

I blinked in surprise when Tom turned his back on the others, dismissing them. "I must do this myself." He told them.

I watched the boys file out and finally things were silent. Tom still had his back towards where I stood and I knew then that time was running out. He would start summoning a snake, or the boys would discover Rosier and come straight back.

I had to step in now.

The very first step I took forward was punctuated by Tom hissing. It sounded like he had been scalded as he stared straight at the Slytherin statue. I recognized the parseltongue from when Harry had accidentally spoken it in our second year. He fell silent and I stood there petrified. Moments passed but there was no movement anywhere.

Could it have failed? Had he said something wrong?

Tom still stood there with his head turned up expectantly and I couldn't wait anymore.

"Tom." I stepped away from the protection of the statues and shadows, walking towards him slowly. It was a brief moment only in which Tom Riddle was caught off guard, his head snapped around towards me, eyes widening and then a scowl was twisting his beautiful features.

"Revel," He snarled, "What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing here?"

I shrugged, looking up at the stone face of Slytherin. "I told you I'd always be here, didn't I?"

"How did you even know to come here? What do you know of the Chamber?"

His wand was out, the tip prodding into the base of my throat. I glanced down at it, surprised. "What are you going to do? Kill me and leave me here as a trophy?" I asked. Even I could hear how silly my impulsive words were, but at the moment they were the best I could wield. I had pocketed my wand to appear harmless, and reaching for it now would definitely result in a curse.

"I had warned you once before that your mouth would get you into trouble. You act so brave and mighty yet your actions beg for an agonizing death." He growled, irritated but thankfully he removed his wand from my body.

"That may well be but we can discuss that later…" I placed a hand on his arm. He looked down at it. "Tom, we need to leave now."

He stared at me. "No." He said coldly.

"But -"

The wand was back. "You think you have any sway over me? That you would touch me, play with words and have your desired outcome? I should kill you now."

I managed to enjoy the look of surprise in his eyes again when his wand shot clean out of his hands, a silent expelliarmus from my now drawn wand leaving him unarmed.

Tom glanced at where his wand was then glanced at mine but I had already put it away. "I don't want to fight you here." I said.

"No? I once recall you telling me your best was a phenomenon I had yet to witness. You disarmed me. You have me at your mercy." He spread his arms. "Do your worst, Roselle Revel."

"For Merlin's sake!" I grasped the front of his robes bringing him closer to me. "Listen to me, Riddle, we need to leave this place - it's not safe."

"I am trying to achieve something!" He spat. "I am trying to make a better world. Can you not see that? If you want to stop me, you must kill me."

"I can't! I can't kill you! You should've finished me off for good when you had the chance!"

Hot tears had escaped the corners of my eyes by now, the both of us sweating from the exertion. Riddle didn't answer back, his eyes had gone back to the statue, almost pleading. I drew my hand back, slapping it across his cheek hard.

"Snap out of it, Riddle!"

Tom gripped my neck barehanded in retaliation, breathing hard, his eyes red tinged. And then his mouth was on mine.

It was so sudden that for many moments my brain refused to comprehend that the pressure on my lips was his own. He gasped against my mouth, inexperienced and unknowledgeable in this one act. I closed my own eyes, in spite of myself and returned the pressure, hands pushing against the other's.

It wasn't meant to happen like this. This wasn't…this wasn't what I was supposed to do…

Was it?

Tom broke away first. His lips were red, swollen, cheeks sporting colour high on his cheekbones. Some of the frenzy had melted from his eyes, replaced by an emotion I could only describe as 'shellshocked.'

We both stared at each other, each taken aback by the kiss - both the initiation, and the reciprocation.

And then I had to open my mouth.

"I thought you hated me." I whispered.

The shock vanished from Tom's face, replaced by his usual resignation and frustration by my antics. He rolled his eyes, sighing. "I thought we could not be allies." He bit back, sounding like his usual self - composed and stoic, not like the delusional fanatic he seemed like before.

His arms were still wrapped around my waist, I noticed while mine clutched his robes. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to detach himself so I didn't comment.

"Tom," I said. "We still do need to leave. Whatever you want to do - we can find another way to accomplish it."

He looked at me then, eyes narrowed and suspicious.

Before he could speak however, the ground began to shake. The rumble began around us first, before the whole floor shook. Tom and I looked around ourselves, looking for the cause of the quake before together, our heads whipped to the stone statue.

The face of Slytherin, closed before, was opening. The lower jaw dropped and from within, in the pitch darkness, moved something that - quite frankly, I could see why a giant spider would fear it.

A lengthy body unfurled itself in the air as it left the mouth of its master. Dust and rubble dropped from the cave roof, shattering and scattering at our feet as the monster of Salazar Slytherin came alive.

Tom and I stood, watching as the beast slowly crept its way down the body of the statue. The weight of the snake landing on the Chamber's floor shook the place again. My mouth was falling with each passing moment, refusing to believe what I was seeing.

And then there was a hand clamping onto my eyes, shutting the lids so tightly it sent sparkles across the darkness of my vision. Tom's hold on me had tightened, almost painful now and I could feel him backing us away.

He hissed again, his voice sharp, commanding. He must be ordering the snake already.

"Keep your eyes closed, Roselle." He told me, his voice urgent. "Go back the way you came. Do not look back for anything. You will need to float your way back up to the bathroom."

"Wait! Come with me." I struggled against his hold but he only increased the pressure on my eyes.

"I cannot. I need to bond with her." Tom murmured. "If I don't, she will not trust me. I won't be able to control her."

Her!?

"Tom," I managed to wiggle his hand off my face but kept my eyes on his neck. "Just stop ok? I am not going to leave you here alone with…the snake."

"Basilisk," Tom corrected, infuriating as ever. "And she's out of hibernation now, so yes, you will leave me here to speak to her."

The ground began to shake again and I knew instinctively that the Basilisk was coming straight at us. Tom backed us again, spitting out commands in parseltongue again. Only, it didn't stop and that left only one solution.

I plunged my hand into my robes for my wand, remembering that I had disarmed Tom and he didn't have access to his own. My hand shuffled in my pockets and I pulled out the first thing it touched.

The knife from Eric and Billy.

I tossed it in the direction of the snake without looking, hoping to injure it enough to slow it down. Or maybe I would only anger it and it would devour us.

The basilisk did neither.

"What are you doing, you foolish girl?" Tom snarled again, shaking me a little but the deed was already done.

The monster changed directions, slithering away somewhere into one of the tunnels in the darkness. But then, I supposed it knew the Chamber better than any of us, having grown up in it.

Tom let me go and we distanced ourselves unconsciously, looking in the direction the snake had vanished into.

"It just…left?" I asked Tom for confirmation.

Tom glanced at me, more out of courtesy than anything. "You threw a knife at it, I do not believe that is considered polite. It was impulsive and ludicrous, she could've attacked you."

"Us," I said.

"You." Tom smirked. "She belongs to the Slytherin bloodline. She could smell it in me."

"Yes, well right now we both smell of something very unpleasant. Will you please come up with me now?"

He sighed. "Yes. I don't think you will be able to leave this place without me."

I glared at him as he scooped up his wand and followed him out of the main door.

Suffice it to say, the Death Eaters were hilariously flabbergasted when Tom and I emerged from the entrance, soiled and wet and covered in things I did not want to think of. Riddle had actually used Wingardium Leviosa to hover the two of us back, to my utmost embarrassment. And considering the Eaters must have had to do the same, and were also dirty like us…and happened to be surrounding a still unconscious Rosier…

Let's just say they were not very happy.

"Why am I not surprised that it was you in there?" Abraxas drawled in that Malfoy voice, my fist itching immediately to ball up.

"It wasn't a bloody professor, after all. Riddle, why is she here?" Lestrange asked.

"It's better she is here." Avery stood up, his wand pointing at me. "You vile half-blood; attacking purebloods right under our watch? First Walburga, Olive and Druella…now Rosier? I'll curse you to smithereens."

Yeah…he wasn't very happy either.

For a tense moment no one moved. The other Death Eaters only stared at Avery, clearly debating attacking me so blatantly and me, well…

"The basilisk is awake and free. She wandered off by herself and is currently within the walls of the castle." Tom said.

The moment ceased. The boys turned to gasp and gape at their leader, varying degrees of glee to guilt to genuine horror on their faces.

"I will go back and get her under control." He finished.

"How did…it just went off…?" Lestrange asked.

Riddle's eyes flickered to me for a split second, annoyance clear in his dark gaze. "I was distracted. It doesn't matter. She is not a threat if not ordered to be. All of you, go back to the commons. Nothing awry has happened tonight as far as we are concerned."

"What about her?" Abraxas pointed at me. "Is she part of us now?"

My skin crawled and I definitely made a face.

"If she fares well tonight, we will see what is left of her to be a part of us." Avery sneered, pocketing his wand and following Tom's orders.

"Don't worry boys, I am totally not going to breach your little band there. You can roll your strings as much as you want." I called behind the rest of them.

"Revel!" Tom snarled, snapping me around to face him. "Does your stupidity know no bounds? You attack a pureblood, damage a plan envisaged by the supreme upholder of pureblood ideology and then heckle the supporters of said ideology? Are you suicidal?"

It was the longest rant Riddle had ever let out and by the end of it, color soared high in his cheek, making me smile just a little.

"Feels good to let all that out, doesn't it?" I asked.

He immediately dropped my arms in disgust. "Pathetic, stupid, suicidal and reckless; you are utterly devoid of any redeeming qualities, Revel." He spat before turning on his heel and sinking gracefully down into the opening of the Chamber.

I had SO MUCH FUN with this chapter! I enjoyed even for a few minutes getting Tom Riddle to show that behind his older beyond his age visage he is still just a sixteen year old boy.

Lemme know how you like it! I will see you for the final chapter and if you guys want a Tom AI I will link it there!