Zealous (Tom Riddle)

Chapter 26

Tom Riddle could not love. It was undeniable; fated, and both Elizabeth and Tom himself were well aware of it. Tom could be infatuated, sure, but it would never be true love.

And that was what he felt for Elizabeth, infatuation. He ached to be with her every second and he felt the slightest flutter at the bottom of his stomach each time he saw her.

For Elizabeth, it was, of course, love. She didn't crave being with Tom as intensely as he did with her, but she felt complete when they were together. When he'd touched her lips for the first and only time, she felt as though her last puzzle piece had been fitted in.

But Elizabeth was falling - not for Tom. She was actually falling at a worrying pace from the Astronomy Tower and she had no idea why. It wasn't her own doing, she didn't even remember going to the tower in the first place.

She was soaring through the air that bit at her body. The frost of the cold night covered her, making her shiver. The bitter wind was catching her every now and then, making strands of her mud-coloured hair whip her in the face or making one of her limbs feel as if they were going to break. Fortunately for her, she was fairly unharmed other than the rush of blood that was going to her head.

Elizabeth was accepting for the first few seconds that she was going to die. If she wasn't in shock, she would've cried and shouted out Tom's name. She tried to breathe it out, and Tom's name only came out as a whisper. She wished he was there. She wanted to experience her last dying moments with him; she wanted to tell him that she loved him, that he could've loved her, she wanted to make sure that nothing bad would happen if she wasn't there to protect him or to stop him from doing anything too drastic.

She was plummeting closer to the ground every single second and inching closer to death. She tried to see any figures and saw a few but they all seemed to be heading back into the castle. Nobody would witness her death. Nobody would bother to find out why she'd died, they'd probably just make out that it was a suicide. And it really wasn't. Elizabeth wasn't ready to die. She wanted to tell Tom she loved him.

At the very last moment, just as she was going to die, she heard someone scream in a deep, powerful voice that bled worry and fear, "Arresto Momentum!"

In what she thought was going to be her last moments, she couldn't focus on who was shouting the incantations. She wished she'd paid more attention. Time was slowed down significantly and Elizabeth fell to the ground softly. Her saviour wasn't to be seen.

After recovering from the shock and adrenaline rush, Elizabeth got up. Almost falling over from all of the blood rushing to her head, she collected herself again and continued her journey.

But who had done it? And who had saved her?

Elizabeth knew exactly who would be able to find out. If she approached that person, however, the culprits were sure to be killed...

...for the only person Elizabeth thought capable of finding out was Tom Riddle.

She headed to the Slytherin common room, trying to bite her tongue about the incident. Her brain and thoughts were fuzzy and unorganised. The more she walked, the more lightheaded she became. Once she got to the common room, she saw Tom and her head failed her. He rushed over to her as he saw her delicate frame begin to collapse, and caught her just in time.

"Elizabeth, what in the name of Salazar is going on?" Tom asked, almost frustratedly. Her eyes were barely open, revealing almost lifeless brown eyes. 

"Somehow, I fell... from the..."

Elizabeth's eyes closed and Tom sprinted to the Hospital Wing. Elizabeth was light in his arms and he watched as her breaths passed her lips, creating puffs of a white, smoke-like substance in the freezing air.

But of course, Tom already knew. He knew that Elizabeth had fallen from the Astronomy Tower and he felt sick to his stomach that he didn't know who had done this to her. So his new mission was to find out who it was and kill them. All of his ideas about power and his evil plans were thrown aside and his focus was Elizabeth. He was completely infatuated by the girl in front of him to the point that he thought he was in love. And in a perfect world, perhaps he might have been.