The Dawn of Darkness || T. Riddle

Chapter 20: Dementors and Ghosts

Now he just needed to manoeuvre his way around them somehow. He didn't want to just barge up to them – that would be foolish. They may not be paying any attention to him now, but who knows what would happen if he got too close and threatened to deny them their kiss.

But his time was up. Because the dementors deemed him unworthy of their time and turned back to their original target - Estela. And Tom watched as they both raised their rotting hands – and lowered their hoods.

He almost screamed at them as he felt his anger rise, but that would do nothing to stop them from getting to her.

He cast his patronus again, the large serpent darting towards them, but it was too weak. His memory wasn't happy enough.

And for a split second time froze as he watched Estela being pushed back onto the cold floor, her body dragging along the shards of glass scattered across the marble, and it was as though he felt his own skin being ripped and shredded as hers was. And the only thing he wanted in that moment was to get to her.

So he made towards her, the two large figures looming above her, their faces and gaping holes for mouths moving in on her own.

But he could do nothing, he realized. He looked over towards Alden who was now slumped against the wall, his wand hanging limply in his hand as the large group sucked the air around him.

And he knew there was nothing he could do but try to cast the charm again - stronger this time, somehow. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sounds of the rattling breaths that encircled him in every direction. And he thought. But he realized he didn't need to think, because the thing that had once made him happy – or rather the closest to being happy he could possibly become – was right in front of him. And was the very thing he was trying to save.

Her.

He despised the thought of one person being able to do that to him, but he pushed the thought away as he thought about her. Really thought about her. His mind raced back to their past. Back to the days in the room of requirement, in the inn in Little Hangleton, in the forests of Albania and the moment he saw her for the first time after all those years apart – which was the only time in his life he experienced his heart skipping a short beat.

And he didn't need to think any longer, because the room was glowing. Glowing a bright blue as a vast snake rocketed towards the cloaked figures looming over Estela, before it twisted and twirled and darted towards the group of dementors who were slowly draining the life out of Alden. And the dementors retreated, though they tried to fight against the snake, but they failed. And as the light shot around the room and towards the ceiling, Tom watched as the dementors growled in fury and were forced to flee out of the windows they shattered.

He watched them fly away through the clear, starry sky – the curved moon shining down at him like a feline smile. And he may have been imagining it, he may have been somewhat drained by the spell, but he was sure the moon wavered.

He let out a long breath before returning his gaze to the meeting room. Around him, lying unconscious were his death eaters, and he didn't know how many of them had been kissed by the dementors. He ran a hand through his hair as his eyes fell to the floor by his feet. And when they did, his chest constricted. For in the pile of shattered glass where Estela had been just moments ago, was nothing but an empty space. And he felt something dark and dangerous writhe within him when he realised she was gone.

***

The smell of smoke and incense filled her nostrils, her lungs and her head. Her eyes were still tightly shut, and she wasn't sure whether or not she was dreaming. Whatever sounds met her ears seemed distant and muted, but she was sure she could hear echoes of creaking wood and a strange and constant low hum around her.

Her mouth was dry and her head was heavy. She tried to move, but it felt as though somebody had sliced her skin in a thousand different places, and she winced in pain as she tried to keep her body still.

She didn't dare open her eyes. She didn't know where she was and she wasn't sure she wanted to. She could be anywhere. She could be in a cell somewhere being held for questioning. She could be being kept a prisoner by Fawley. But one thing she was sure of, was that she wasn't at Malfoy Manor anymore. And that could only mean one thing. That the dementor attack had been successful.

Her mind raced to Tom and Alden, and the only images that replayed over and over in her head were that of Alden being forced backwards to no escape as his patronus became weaker and weaker, and that of Tom, desperately trying to cast the charm to protect her before the world went black.

She stilled as she heard a noise close by. It was the rasping sound of wood creaking beneath someone's feet. Someone was in the room with her. And as the footsteps grew louder, and whatever she way laying on started to wobble beneath her, she knew they were making their way towards her.

She didn't dare move, breathe nor even think as the footsteps halted, and she felt the strange sensation of someone standing over her.

"You are awake." Came a melodic voice that was distantly familiar to her somehow. "Open your eyes, child."

And when she did, she found herself staring up into a pair of magnificent amethyst eyes that seemed to glow like two marvellous, beaming stars. And she knew those eyes. They were unmistakable.

The woman standing over her smiled, her red lips twisting upwards into a beautiful curve like that of a crescent moon, and Estela couldn't mute the gasp that escaped her lips as she stared back at Cassandra Vablatsky.

"Hello, Estela Markorp," she said in a voice like velvet, "It's been too long."