Catharsis [Tom Riddle]

Chapter One

In a sense, it was calming.

The air was cool, the night was still, and the hushed voices of the remaining members of the Order above them served as a subtle reminder that at least they were not alone.

    Avalon quietly hummed a lullaby through closed lips, trying to quell the violent trembling in her hands as she gently ran her fingers through the tangled mess that was Hermione's hair.

They sat before a mirror, but she could barely recognize the two people staring back at them. The two best friends who had met first year on the Hogwarts Express were long gone. In their place, stood two people with the ghosts of their loved ones swimming in their empty eyes.

She couldn't look at her friend's eyes anymore. It broke her whenever she did.

    Two brown eyes that once belonged to the brightest witch of her time...

    Empty.

    She thought about the things she would do to just see her friend smile one more time. Or to hear her voice.

    Even though they were sitting right beside each other, she felt as though Hermione was already dead. And quite honestly, a part of her, a rather selfish part, almost wished that the witch had died along with the others. Perhaps a quick death would have been a less painful end than to lose her mind after hours of the cruciatus curse.

    She couldn't brush through her friend's hair any more. Her fingers were shaking too much and she feared she would accidentally yank out the poor girl's hair if she tried any more. She stopped and started to quietly pound her hands on the wooden floors.

    Silence scared her. Silence meant that there was something that needed to be hidden from.

    So, she made noise. Not too much. Never too much. But just enough to hear something.

    "Tomorrow is your birthday, love," she said to Hermione, her voice nearly failing her as she choked on the last word. Her friend just stared blankly ahead of her. She never replied, but Avalon still held hope that one day she'd hear the witch's voice once more.

    Perhaps she was being delusional, but she didn't care anymore.

    "I'm so proud of you," she said, her voice just barely a whisper. And that was the truth. She was so proud of her friend. And she would continue to remind her of that every chance she got, even if she wasn't sure if her friend could understand her anymore. But as she watched the silent girl before her, her mind strayed towards the last time they had all been able to celebrate a birthday together.

    It had been Ginny's birthday and they had all gathered at the Burrow to surprise her. All she could think about was the sound of their laughter. Beautiful, carefree, and joyous.

    She felt her head start to throb as the memories of their laughter quickly faded to more recent screams. The sound of Hermione's screams as she was tortured at the hands of the Death Eaters was something she knew she would never be able to get out of her brain.

    Every night, she would lie awake on the concrete floor of the makeshift safehouse that they had been hiding in and stared at the ceiling as the memories of her friends being abused before her plagued her subconscious.

    She hadn't noticed that she had begun to rock back and forth on the ground. In that moment, she'd do anything for someone to comfort her. To hold her, and tell her that things would be okay. Even if that was a lie, it was one she needed to hear.

    The door at the top of the staircase opened, startling her, but it was just Luna. "Hello," the blonde greeted her. Her voice was still as soft as before, but she no longer spoke with the same curiosity embedded into her words. Even she had lost faith, it seemed.