Not Broken, Not Yet | Tom Riddle

Chapter Twenty-Four

He was a very thin man of medium height with a scruffy brown beard and shoulder length hair that was unbelievably greasy. His beady brown eyes looked watery and his mouth was thin. Not by any means was he ugly, but he wasn't good looking either. Simply plain. The sort of face you'd easily lose in a crowd. The only thing that really stood out about him was his apparel. He was dressed in rags. A dirty brown cloak that had several patches, like it had been sown several times and the hat on his head was of a similar state. Quite frankly he looked homeless. Not by any means did he look dangerous, simply... weathered. Like he had seen the rough edges of this world and lived to tell the tale.

I let go of the wall, following behind Riddle and stopping right next to him. I could feel his warmth next to me, our arms almost touching, it became a sort of comfort as I looked at the eyes of the man that had murdered my friend.

"Who are you?" Riddle demanded to know, eyes fixed on the man.

No answer. I wasn't even sure if the man had heard him.

"Do not deign to ignore me, filth! Who are you?" Riddle repeated, eyes flashing with fury as he drew his wand. "Answer me."

Finally the man looked up. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the two of us. I had the strange feeling that he hadn't really noticed us before that moment. A pleasant smile formed on his lips, as though he was pleased to find himself in company. His eyes travelled over my face before finally landing on Riddle.

"Why, a murderer of course." He said, voice eerily soft.

"What is your name?" Riddle demanded to know.

"My name..." The murderer mumbled, still smiling as he looked at us. "Archibald..." He then said, smiling wider as he revealed it. "Archibald... McDougal."

"Archibald McDougal." Riddle spat, walking closer to the bars.

Archibald's smile softened as he looked at him. "Yes?" He asked.

"Why?" My voice burst out. "Why did you do it? Why did you kill her? Why?!" I didn't realise I was shouting, or that I had walked right up to the bars before Riddle placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Easy now." He mumbled in my ear, pulling me back as he too waited for an answer.

Archibald slowly looked back to me, still smiling, as he seemed to think of an answer. Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Because of what they are of course. Mudbloods." His smile widened. "Dirty blood. Sullying the wizarding kind." He gave us a far away look. "They screamed when I cut them open. The first one begged for her life, and the second, she just cried."

"Bastard!" I hissed and drew my wand, pointing it at him. My vision had become blurry as I looked at him. My eyes flashed. My head was spinning. My heart pumped furiously. "You had no right, you-

"Amberly." Riddle mumbled again, lowering my arm softly as he took a tight grip around my shoulder. "Not here."

"They all had it coming." Archibald continued softly. "Thieves and scum. Rats sullying our legacy." He took a step closer, eyes looking dreamily into the distance. "I would have carried on. I will carry on. Until every last one of them is gone. Until all of them are dead." He smiled at us. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

I saw red. I felt my entire body starting to shake. The world stopped. I don't know how but somehow I managed to break free from Riddle's grip. I raised my wands, my vision still blurry. "The only thing beautiful will be the sound of your screams." I hissed. "Cruccio!"

But he didn't scream.

Archibald fell back, landing on the cold floor. His whole body was convulsing and saliva spewed out of his mouth, yet he was still smiling. His lips drawn back even through the sea of saliva and as his whole body shook. Even his eyes looked calm, even throughout the torture. Because I wanted to torture him. I wanted him to hurt. To feel the very same pain that had haunted me since the death of June. But it never came.

Even as I focused all my power, all my magic, on this one single man the screams never came. The pain never seemed to come. He shook, but his smile remained. I don't know how much time passed, all that existed was me, Archibald and the smile.

Then suddenly a hand was placed on my shoulder, and my trance was broken.

I looked up, meeting the calm eyes of Tom as he looked down on me. "Enough, Amberly." He said softly. "Professor Merrythought will be here in three minutes. We must go."

I realised that I was shaking, but I lowered my wand slowly. Archibald breathed slowly, and in that moment I realised that the only tears had been from me. For as the moment passed I felt the burning hot tears still streaming down my cheeks. It had only been me that hurted.

Tom gave me an inquisitive look before slowly raising his hand to my wet cheeks. His hand was just above my skin, he hesitated for a moment, then he slowly wiped my tears with great concentration as his eyes studied my flushed cheeks. His hands were chilly but strangely comforting. My eyes remained fixed on him, and as he finished his hand lingered for a moment on my face as his eyes wandered over me. There was a look of wonder in them.

"You will have your revenge." He said slowly before lowering his hand. "Now we must leave."

That night Archibald McDougal died mysteriously.

Published: 10/5/23

Hi all!

I hope you enjoyed today's chapter. I had a fun time writing it. Lots of things being set up in this chapter. All is not as it seems ;) Stay tuned. You don't want to miss the upcoming chapters. 

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Much love,

Mustang