No time to love (A Tom Riddle gothic story)

9 - Crow/ned

Chapter 9
Crow/ned

She had never been more impatient for the summer break.
Her messy family was nothing compared to Tom and his dark plans.

"You did a wonderful job" he said after checking the results of her exams "Just some motivation and you can work very hard. Reaching the highest ranks in the Ministry will be easier since you will deserve it, but it doesn't mean that you have to slow down. You have plenty of time this summer to keep studying. And also practicing, if you want".

"Yes, my Lord".
She stiffened when she felt his fingers brushing her cheek.

"Do you truly agree with me now?".

"There's one matter I can't totally agree with".

"And what is it?".

She swallowed hard "The attacks. You want to stay here for the summer break, but the staff is thinking of closing the school".

His eyes narrowed "And how do you know that?".

"Filch heard it from Dippet himself. You told me to make Filch useful".

His lips curled in a smirk of approval "Well done. I'll see you after dinner".

They parted ways and Morgana walked with her mind lost in the review of her last conversations with Tom.

Abruptly she halted.
On the edge of the corridor a crow was croaking from a windowsill.

The night earlier Morgana had a nightmare where she was paralyzed and a crow flew to her head, grabbing her scalp with its claws and lowering its head to peak her eyes.
Morgana shivered at the fresh memory of that awful nightmare.
And now bumping into a real crow was the last thing she wanted.

Was it bad omen?
At least if the beast attacked her, she could use her wand against it.
But would she kill it?
Would she become like her master?

Morgana shook her head and turned to another corridor.
She was losing her friends in her attempt to protect them. She didn't tell Larry about the cruel destiny of his beloved cat. She felt too guilty.

For a moment she feared she started sobbing like a child, then she realized that someone else was crying in a dark corner at the bottom of the Ravenclaw tower.

Morgana approached carefully the petite figure, recognizing a younger student. Myrtle.

"What happened?".

"Nothing" but it was clearly a lie.

Morgana pursed her lips, respecting her need of being alone.

Myrtle startled when the cry of a crow caught them by surprise.

Morgana muttered some curses at it, then turned back to the frightened girl.

"You should go back to your room or go to dinner. It's not safe to roam in these days".

Myrtle nodded and didn't enter their common room, but moved downstairs, probably to reach the Great Hall.

Feeling her stomach grumbling, Morgana decided that also she deserved some food.

She was halfway, when suddenly all lights disappeared.
Morgana held her breath, but she grew used to Tom's wicked training.

She pondered if pulling out her wand, but she wanted to understand what kind of game it was.
She tried some steps, when suddenly a light appeared, showing a shadow sitting on a chair behind a pillar.

"You!" she snapped, when she realized that it wasn't Tom as she expected.

Lestrange smirked at her "So it's true that you improved your self control. That's good. But you've been warned".