Metanoia~ Tom Riddle

Chapter 6

It was two hours to go. Two hours until she would time travel -leaving behind all she knew- for a mission that could be suicide. She paced anxiously in her almost empty dorm, muttering things under her breath. Things she had packed, things she might've forgotten, things she still needed to pack, things she should pack more of- and the list goes on.

"What on earth was I thinking?"

"Maybe I need more books."

"Did I pack the green satin dress?"

"The silver one?"

"How should I dress for my arrival?"

"Where would I arrive exactly?"

"How am I even going to get there?"

The last few thoughts worried her most, and she realized that she hadn't even thought about talking to Dumbledore about it. Would she use a time turner? That was likely, but then she wouldn't have to 'give up everything here' as Dumbledore had said. She would have a way to come back if she used a time turner.

"So, what am I going to use?"

And so, on her worries stampeded, consuming her. The difference now though? She wasn't completely alone, there was a black cat, one she had just gotten, that sat on her bed purring soothing comments.

When Veruca had bought him- nearly two days earlier- she decided she should be able to communicate with something about her years here, in this time and place. She had bought a necklace to match the cat's collar and enchanted them both. The spell she used allowed her to bridge her mind to the cat's and vice- versa. So, if either needed to talk, they could, only telepathically.

She had become rather close to the feline since she had first used the enchantment and explained to him how he could use it. She had named him Moonwatcher. Not only because he had some queer fascination with the moon, he did, but she decided on Moonwatcher because his eyes were wide and round and silver, like the moon's surface.

"You need to stop pacing. You are making me sick, and soon the floor will be uneven." It was Moonwatcher, truly sick to his own stomach, talking through their mind bridge.

"I can't help it, Moony. I'm going back in time and staying there! And you should be sick to your stomach, you're coming with me!"

Veruca paused, "I'm going back in time." She mumbled the words quietly. As if, even after all her pacing, the harsh reality of what she was about to do had hit her for the first time. She would be going back in time to the year 1942, and she would stay there to either live out the rest of her life or die trying.

"I realize this, and just as I told you yesterday, I am confident we will survive and complete the mission successfully."

She sighed at the cat, "But this isn't just a mission, Moony. I hold lives in my hands, and a child who has been through everything I have, maybe worse."

Moonwatcher rolled his eyes and bounced down to sit before her on the floor, "I understand that, however, you must stay logical. Emotions are not your strong suit."

Veruca scoffed, "That's easier said than done."

"Not really, you are an outsider heading into an unknown place, however, you are three steps ahead." At Veruca's questioning stare he continued, "You are observant, and while controlling your own emotions is not your forte, you can still sense and manipulate logically. And from what you've told me of Tom Riddle, I can foresee that emotions are not his strong suit either and therefore you must do what you have always done best- be logically active at all times."

"Okay, I can do this... oh, merlin, I hope I can. Thanks, Moony. I'm glad you're coming with me."

"Yes, yes, as am I."

***

A little while later, Veruca stood in Dumbledore's office staring at the vial in his hands. She couldn't quite believe she was going back to 1942. She had read up on the war and everything else, so she knew she was set, informationally. Emotionally, though, she felt as if she might explode. She was leaving, really leaving, never to come back.

"I understand the magnitude of what you are about to do, Veruca, however, we have very little time left and my arm is getting rather tired."

She stepped forward and, as if she were scared that she might leave just by touching it, gently took the vial out of his grasp. With one last glance at the clock, she stepped back and looked Dumbledore in the eyes- his blue, forever twinkling eyes.

"So long professor."

"Goodbye, Veruca."

The dark-haired girl left the office and walked. She walked down the corridors she had come to love, passed the portraits she had come to love talking to. Veruca hummed a little tune as she walked, on the verge of tears, before arriving at the great oak doors of the castle.

"Goodbye." She mumbled, and without looking back, she opened the doors a crack and left, out to the dark, forbidden, forest.

She walked cautiously with her wand at the ready, the dark forest was forbidden for a reason- a reason she didn't care to investigate. She came to the same clearing where she and Dumbledore had dueled.

Here, here is where it must be.

Uncorking the vial, Veruca fell even further into the pit of doubt and fear and uncertainty. She swallowed the potion inside before she could act on her feelings and then, the world around her was spinning.