Perfidy | Tom Riddle |

34.

Riddle and Nott occupied their days outside of class seeking whoever had slipped the poison to Lyra but no one turned up. Mulciber didn't bother to attend class and mainly spent his days by her side sitting silently with Alexander on the other side. The two barely saw one another and it troubled Alexander to see him in a state like this. But he knew how close the two friends were and didn't want him to be alone at the moment, though he can't comfort him in the way he'd like, just being with him was good enough.

The Slytherin common room once filled with hearty laughter and drinking was now replaced by silence and profound sadness. A brutal week had passed by, and Lyra was in the same condition, not dead but also not alive. Anyone who scarcely dared to mention any word of her was silenced by Nott with a simple threat. He stopped going to see her on the third day when her unconscious body began seizing. It occurred more than once after that and he didn't want to see her like that again.

Riddle, on the other hand, had become different, he barely spoke to the others aside from Nott. Though he concealed his excessive worry very well, there was still something off about him. He felt outraged at himself for not being able to find whoever did this. He did visit her a few times late at night, making sure they were absolutely alone with no one to spot him there.

"If this happened to someone else, you would know she'd have some potion brewed up by now," Nott slightly laughed while he and Riddle sat on the astronomy tower stairs sharing a smoke, "that girl has the solution to everything."

Riddle let out a small laugh as well knowing he very well was right, "Surprised she hasn't come up with the vanishing potion for dragon pox yet." he took a drag from his burning cigarette looking out into the lake."You stopped visiting?"

"Ya, after seeing her seize I thought her heart stopped again. I just..." he glanced at Riddle, "I just want the next time I see her be when she's awake and well."

He silently agreed, "Mulciber spends all his time there."

"You know how he is. After the death of his sister, he feels like he's reliving everything. Remember third year? We barely bought him back from the brink of madness."

Their conversations were always short, ending with one of their silence.

"Should we see her tonight? I heard Podmore kicked Mulciber out because he isn't attending classes"

"Thought you said the next time you want to see her when she is awake and well."

"Well, she's alone right now. I don't like that"

Riddle shrugged then the two flicked their cigarette standing up. Before exiting the tower, they heard a screeching scream echo throughout the halls.

"Lyra." they both instantly said looking at each other.

Lyra had woken up in an utter mess, shaking and frantically looking around the infirmary. "Neville, where's Neville?" she kept asking Podmore.

"Dear I'm afraid I don't know who that is. You can't stand yet you're far too weak!"

"He's dead." she with difficulty kept mumbling over and over again, "They're dead! Because of me, because of me!" she stood backing away from Podmore moving her hand over her sore chest and stomach, tears flowing down her frightened eyes. She watched Draco crucio Neville repeatedly before stringing his battered body up the tower, then using the killing curse. It felt like she was watching a memory unable to touch or stop any of it. She couldn't breathe, and the burning pain hit her chest even harder with every violent sob. She held her head forcibly pulling her hair with Neville's screams filling her disordered mind. The instant regret she had at that moment listening to Draco, coming here and accomplishing nothing. Could this have been Dracos plan all along? To trap her here while he wiped out the entire order? She couldn't hold it in anymore and violently pulled her arms to her side and reluctantly let out a deafening scream.