Innocence

Chapter 118

1 WEEK LATER...
CAMILLA'S POV

Today I checked out of the hotel and left early this morning to head to the orphanage. I knew from Harry that it was called Wool's Orphanage so it wasn't hard to track down. When I arrived, I walked up to the door and knocked. An old woman with a cane opened the door and glared at me. "Who are you?" she snapped. "I'm here for information about my father," I said. "We don't disclose information without a court order, sorry," she snapped. She started to close the door and I stuck my foot in it. "His name was Tom Riddle." I said. She froze. Then she opened the door and looked me up and down. "Tom Riddle- he's your father?" she asked. I nodded. "My name is Camilla. Camilla Riddle." I said. "He had children?" she said nervously. "Unfortunately," I mumbled. I could see the terror on her face. I recognized the fear. People are always afraid when they hear my last name. "You knew him?" I asked. She nodded. "Did you know what he was?" I asked. She looked around and then nodded. "I never told anyone, I swear. If you are here to kill me-" she started. "I'm not." I said sharply. "Why are you here?" she asked. "Because I'm one of the only people that can stop him." I said. She paused and was quiet. "Come in," she said. I walked through the orphanage and she led me to an empty room. There was a bed, a closet and a desk. "Was this his room?" I asked. She nodded. "It hasn't been used since. The new kids hear stories that it's haunted and refuse to go inside. Eventually, we just gave up." she said. I walked in and sat on the bed. "Were you here the whole time my father was?" I asked. She nodded. "He came to us a month after I was hired. I was only 19 and working part time. Now I'm the head caregiver." she said. I nodded. "What was he like? As a child?" I asked. She sighed. "Do you really want to know?" she asked. "It can't be worse than who he is now," I said. She nodded. "He was quiet. Then as he got older, strange things happened. He could- he could do things. Hurt the other children. Then Mr. Dumbledore came when he was 11. I was the only caregiver that was told the truth about him. That he was a wizard." she said. "Did he come back during summers and stuff?" I asked. "Yes. And every year, I began to fear him more and more. His talents grew and he became more dangerous." she said. "Did he ever- ever kill anyone?" I asked. "No, or at least he was never caught." she said. "What does that mean?" I asked. "When he came back from his magic school during his 6th year, a boy almost died of a snake bite. The doctors told me the boy said Tom told the snake to attack him. I spoke to Dumbledore and he said that's impossible." she said. I stared at her. "That's not true." I said. "What?" she exclaimed. "It's an uncommon gift, called Parseltongue. You can speak to snakes. Only two people I know have it. My father and the boy who is meant to defeat him." I said. She nodded. "Is there anything else I can tell you?" she asked. "Yes, I need to know if there were any items he had. That he guarded very closely or always had with him. It could be anything." I said. "He had a diary, he one time injured a boy very badly for touching. It." she said. "Yeah, anything else?" I asked. "There was a crown." she said. "A what?" I asked. "Like a tiara. With a blue gem. He said it was for his friend but she stopped by and he didn't give it to her." she said. My heart skipped a beat. "Was this the girl?" I asked, showing her the picture of my mother. "Yes, I don't remember her name." she said. I smiled. "That was my mother." I said. She smiled. "Oh, how is she? That girl was so sweet when I met her. I was surprised that she and Tom were friends." she said. "Me too. Especially since he killed her." I said. Her face fell. "I'm so sorry, dear." she said. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm going to kill him." I said standing up. Then I started to leave. She just stood there and watched me walk away. I walked out, looked around and apparated away. I decided to go back to the pub to see Gavin. I wanted to see if he had any new information and I needed a place to stay. I walked into the pub and before I could take a few steps in, Gavin saw me. His face dropped and he ran over. "You need to leave, right now. You can't be here." he said. "What? Why? What's going on?" I asked. "You have to go, now!" he said. He started to pull me towards the door when I heard a voice that shook me to my core. "Well, well, well... if it isn't my dear sister," Nathan said. I turned around and drew my wand. "I'm leaving, Nathan. Don't try to stop me." I said. He laughed. "Look who's got some fire in them." he said. "Sir, maybe you should just let her go-" Gavin said quietly. Nathan glared at him. "I should have known. Did you fuck him too?" he spat. "No- no, Sir. I didn't-" Gavin stammered. "I wasn't speaking to you," Nathan spat. "Don't talk to him like that. You may be our father's heir but you aren't king yet." I said. Nathan narrowed his eyes on me. "Emphasis on the yet." he snapped. "Let me leave, Nathan and you can go back to your drinking and bragging about being a killer." I said. "Oh, you wish. Father wants to see you." he said. "No," I said sharply. "It wasn't a request." he said and he walked toward Gavin. He grabbed him and held the knife to his throat. "No!" I yelled. "Come quietly, and I won't kill him," he said darkly. I looked at Gavin and he shook his head. "Run" he mouthed. I stared at him. "Fine, I'll go with you. But let him go first." I said. "You don't make the rules. Now take my arm," he said. I glared at him and grabbed his forearm. Then we were there. Riddle Manor. Fuck, I'm screwed.