t o u c h

f i f t e e n

"Maybe I was wrong," Dumbledore stated desperately, thinking not only about the girl but about the memories he kept hidden in his office. Memories he would have never obtained without the help of Alexandra far in the future.

"In all my years of knowing you, you have never doubted yourself," Minerva assured. "The plan will work."

"Then why haven't her memories changed?" Dumbledore asked, handing Minerva the orb that reflected the death and distraction that followed the Second Wizarding War.

"Albus," Minerva muttered, not believing what she saw.

"We must return the girl," he panicked. Minerva interrupted him.

"No, she must remain here, or you will-"

"Stealing a life from a child to save my own?" Dumbledore asked, unable to comprehend what she was suggesting. "That is something I will not do."

In the Room of Requirement, Alexandra looked at Tom, wondering why he intended to send her home so quickly. According to his plan, they still had a few days before she was meant to be sent home.

"Tom-"

"Don't make this difficult," he warned. She pulled the necklace out from his hands before he could turn it.

"I'm not going home. Not yet," she insisted. "This isn't the plan."

"You are going home, love, and our plan is going to be executed. You're going to kill Dumbledore, or I'm going to kill you," he told her. "And the Malfoy boy."

"You read my mind," she glared, taking a step back as her heart fell to her feet. "When?"

"A few nights ago you were particularly distracted. It was quite easy, actually," he bragged. "He looks just like his grandfather. I'm sure he's just as weak."

"You're jealous," Alexandra pointed out, chuckling lightly. "You know about a number of my friends, yet you single him out."

"You're wrong," Tom stated sternly. Alexandra shook her head.

"I don't think I am."

"I suggest you be quiet before I change my mind," he warned once again, ripping the necklace out of her hand. "Year?"

"1996," she said softly. "Tom-"

She was interrupted when she felt herself being pushed back against the wall. Tom magically held her so she couldn't move, careful not to touch her, and the look in his eyes was one Alexandra didn't recognize.

"This isn't you," she said, afraid of what he was going to do.

"You don't know who I am!" He yelled.

"You're Tom Riddle, born from a muggle father who abandoned you before you were born and a mother who died shortly after. You grew up in an orphanage where the kids made fun of you for being different, until you showed them what being different meant. You tormented them, but they never knew it was you because they didn't understand," Alexandra began. "You've never felt love before, and now that you have-"

"My mother died seeking love, Alexandra, a love that could never be returned. Love is weakness. I am not weak. I am going to be the most powerful wizard in the world, and love isn't going to stop me from achieving that," Tom told her. "You mean absolutely nothing to me, don't you understand?"

"Tom-"

"Nothing!"

A bright light filled the room, and Alexandra fell to the floor. He watched her as she lied peacefully on the cold marble floor, before holding the necklace in his hands and beginning to turn it.

"Love is only a weakness," he whispered to her, starting to count. "One... two..."