Crimson || Tom Riddle [1]

𝖘𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓

Arabella's heels echoed down the empty hall as she walked towards the astronomy tower for her midnight class. The moonlight from the full moon was bright that night, illuminating the corridors of Hogwarts.

It had been three weeks since she had arrived at Hogwarts and everything was going smoothly; Tom was in almost all of Arabella's classes and had been ignoring her. Arabella was now top of class, being praised by all the professors. It aggravated him. It was like he knew Arabella was intentionally showing off that she was, in fact, better than him in everything.

She would sometimes catch Tom in the library where she knew he was researching into how she had survived the killing curse and anything about her family lineage. She also caught him reading books about Slytherin history; Salazar, the Chamber of Secrets, Parseltongue. That further pushed Arabella into figuring out what he was up to.

Looking out the windows, she suddenly noticed something moving outside. A figure. They were walking quickly, practically running towards the Forbidden Forest.

They were shivering and were holding a heavy bag. Arabella zoomed in with her vamaprism, focusing on the figure, and realised it was Edmund Nott. What is he doing? she asked herself.

She decided to follow him. Why would a student be going to the Forbidden Forest at this time? Especially dragging a hefty bag along with them. Arabella sped out of the castle and into the forest, hiding behind a tree.

She saw Edmund take off his shirt and dig into the bag, pulling out four large chains. He wrapped them around a tree and then clasped them on his wrist. He did the same with three others; one more on his wrist and two around his ankles. He then stood up in the middle of the square of trees and looked up at the full moon with fear evident in his eyes and his body shaking with angst.

Arabella suddenly noticed the huge gash on his left shoulder and her own eyes widened in realisation of what Edmund was doing. Trees were not a strong enough restraint for what was about to happen.

She stepped out from her spot and revealed herself. Edmund quickly turned his head at the sound. "Chambers?" he said. Arabella could clearly hear the fear in his voice as it quivered. "What are you doing here? Get out!"

"I know what you're doing," Arabella said, slowly walking towards him. "I can help you." Her voice was calm and soothing, but it didn't relax Edmund.

"Get out, Chambers!" he shouted at her. "You shouldn't-" but he didn't finish. The moonlight shone on his bare stomach and he let an ear-splitting scream as his back hunched and his spine stuck out. "Leave! Before I hurt you!"

"No!" Arabella shook her head. "I can help you!" She said over his screams.

Edmund fell to his knees, his hands landing on the floor. His fingers started growing into sharp claws as they scraped the ground. His bones started snapping into new positions, hair starting to sprout all over his body. The chains broke off and the trees they were attached to fell with loud crashes. He was screaming in pain, tears falling down his face. "Make it stop!" he shouted. "It hurts!"