Metanoia~ Tom Riddle

Chapter 34

Moony watched as young Tom Riddle read through page after page, book after book, as he tore through Veruca's bedroom. She left behind most of her belongings, probably thinking she could trust Moony to keep his mouth shut about it.

He couldn't though. He was worried about where she'd run off to, what on earth she'd gotten herself into. And so, after a long night of silence between the two, unlikely friends that were Tom and Moony, the feline took the boy to the abandoned dormitory and let him search.

Tom had been having strange flashes, memories that weren't his, of people he didn't recognize. Over the last few days, he'd heard voices he didn't know and saw places he had never been. Honestly, it was freaking him out a bit.

As he tore through Veruca's room, looking for answers to questions he didn't know how to ask, he fought the panic that settled into his bones. He was horrified at what the cat had told him.

"You lose everything- you lose it all quicker than you gained it. Veruca and I were sent to try and help you lead a different life. Though, that clearly failed."

Tom didn't like the idea of failing he loathed it. But, deep down inside of the boy, his humanity peeked through somehow, and he found himself loathing even worse the fact that Veruca had come to save him and he'd been too cold to see it.

Veruca.

That girl had torn Tom Riddle's world apart.

And now, the boy didn't know if he needed to save himself or her.

"Tom?"

The boy hesitated at the sound breaking through his thoughts, but a moment later he had resumed his search without a word to the feline trying to speak to him.

"Boy!"

Tom stopped what he was doing. Moony had always seemed sarcastic and hateful towards him, but he had never sounded so furious.

"I think you should sit down."

Tom turned and looked at the cat, wordlessly sitting down beside it. They sat silent for a long time. and then, Moony spoke.

"What are you after?"

Tom didn't look up from the ground. He had been asking himself the same thing for over an hour and he hadn't found an answer yet.

"Veruca wanted to save you-"

Tom scoffed at this, trying to find his anger, but he couldn't.

"She did."

Tom looked over to Moony and the feline could see the devastation in his eyes, "Then why did she leave?"

Moony couldn't answer Tom. Not when the answer was so cold, and Tom had seemed so badly beaten. After a moment, Moony turned away from the boy and wandered over to Veruca's bed. He hopped up, and dug under her pillow, slowly dragging out a leather-bound journal.

Tom stood up, and grabbed the journal, beginning to flip through it he realized Veruca had documented her thoughts and experiences over the last few months. He shut the book and looked around the dormitory and the mess he had made.

"You let me tear apart her dormitory, just to end up handing me the one thing I might've been looking for?"

Moony nodded, "I tried to ask you what you were looking for."

Tom nodded, "I guess you did."

The two stood in silence for another moment. Then, Tom turned to leave. Moony watched him turn the doorknob, then pause.

Tom looked over his shoulder, "You coming, Moonwatcher?"

The feline mewed, "I guess I should, you couldn't read her handwriting if you tried, Riddle."

Tom chuckled, "Oh really? Is it that bad?"

Moony scoffed, "Of course not, you're just too slow for such elegance."

Tom's brow creased, as he stared hard at the ground. He could see Veruca in his mind, her every movement spoke of the elegance about her, "I think you're right."

*

The unlikely duo was situated in the room of requirement, Veruca's old sanctuary had become Moony's home, and Tom's occasional hiding place.

"So... this was her last journal entry?"

"I can only assume that is what lies inside of those pages, I do not have x-ray vision."

"X-ray? What is an x-ray?" Tom's focus was momentarily distracted by the muggle term.

"Let me re-phrase, I do not have the ability to see through solid objects."

"Oh." Tom seemed like he had wanted an answer to his question, but the book in his hands grabbed his attention, yet again, "Do I read it?"

"Why else would I have given it to you?"

Tom slowly opened the book and watched as the pages fell on their own, to reveal a single page, with a single message. Tom read it aloud to Moony, who didn't actually want to hear the last words Veruca had written before leaving him behind but, Tom rarely asked for permission.

"I must save him. I will do anything to give him a second chance. I will not fail you, Tom Riddle. I will not give up on you."

Moony looked to the floor. Veruca had found it in her heart to help Tom. Not because it was best for everyone, but because she finally felt like he deserved a second chance. She finally felt like he was worth saving.

"I don't know what to say."

"Of course, you don't. It's called guilt, Tom. You feel guilty."