Save the girl ... Save Tom Riddle

Chapter 25

"I think the previous one was better" Ophelia scanned herself at the big mirror while Susan felt lacking of helpful comments.
For her all those wedding dresses were the same.
She craved for the other girls to join them soon.
"It's hard to choose since you are stunning with each and every one, Mrs Lestrange".
"I'm not yet Mrs".
"Future Mrs Lestrange" Susan corrected.
They both laughed.
"I take a break now. This makes me so easily tired" Ophelia pressed her hand protectively on her belly "But why don't you try some dress too, Susan? We have plenty of time and I never saw you wearing something white".
Susan simpered "Maybe because Black doesn't suit with white".
"Hush. Black and white are always cool together. Come on, don't make me force you".
Susan sighed loudly and obeyed, losing herself between all those dresses.
Minutes later she watched at her reflection with uneasiness. She felt almost blinded by all that white.
"Amazing" Ophelia giggled standing next to her wearing the same colour "We could go roaming dressed like this. What?".
Susan tried to hide her nervous expression, but under her friend's penetrating gaze she decided to be a little honest.
"It's just that I don't think I'll ever wear it for the right occasion".
"Oh" Ophelia cleared her throat with uneasiness "Oh, well, I think you don't have to be so negative. You're already the luckiest girl because you are with him. Perhaps someday he'll ask you too. But trust me, it's just a ceremony. All that matters is that you two are bonded inside".
Susan crossed her eyes on their reflection and smiled gratefully, then they went back to check the other dresses.
Walking by the windows, she noticed someone familiar walking in the road outside the building and that someone saw her back.
She winced like she had been caught committing a crime, but she desisted from the will of hiding when she understood his gaze. Tom was staring at her mesmerized.

They didn't talk about it, like they were both stubbornly avoiding that topic.
Susan was determined of staying away from wedding dresses and wore just the usual green or black.
She knew Tom disliked mundane stuff like parties and weddings, but he pulled his followers to follow the traditions.
The ceremony was simple and restricted to few chosen people.
Susan followed the rites nervously, standing still with the worry that could begin to tremble. She had never been to happy ceremonies like marriages, just funerals.
The many happy faces around her were celebrating, maybe in a naive way, love. Those who knew better the couple knew also that they were destined to end up together. Susan missed most of her friends' romantic stories, having been busy with her own problems. And since she was considered their leader, she couldn't afford to appear too friendly and concerned with their love affairs.
She already had to intervene once to make closer Gatlin Fawley and Mulciber, the next couple to get married, and it was so awkward.
Susan didn't need the help of anyone to solve her problems with Tom and ended up with him. They never needed help from someone else. They just needed each other.
Susan held her hands tightly together while listening the end of the speech.
"..then I declare you bonded for life".
Ophelia and Lestrange kissed happily under the loud cheers of the people around them.
Susan clapped her hands wishing for everything to be over. She barely could bear what she was witnessing.
The power of love. She didn't know how else to describe it. But it was an oxymoron, thinking of the dark ambitions of most of the selected guests. Tom wanted power, rejecting love. He would have never understood that the power of love existed too. And its magic could have been more powerful than his Dark Arts.
"What's in your mind?".
His voice made her wince.
She turned to faintly smile at him "Nothing. I'm just happy to see them happy".
Tom took her hand with a satisfied grin. His plans were going as he wanted, he felt his powers growing. He was patient, and gradually he would have conquered the whole world. And he was confident that Susan would have followed him into everything, even if sometimes they hardly understood each other.

Susan didn't expect him to comfort her. She knew she had to fight that weird sense of grief that was haunting her alone.
She took someone's life and it wasn't easy to get used to it as Tom tried to make it seem.
She already caused the death of someone else, but indirectly, using potions and didn't witness the victim's last breath. And that someone started to haunt her back.
Got to be alone in her house, Susan unlocked a door that had been closed for a long time. Her grandmother's bedroom.
She didn't dare to enter that room for years, sure there was nothing interesting hidden there.
Instead Susan felt deeply uneasy, her senses filled with memories and guilt. Her hatred  blinded her young mind. She caused the okd woman's death, manipulating their house elf to give her the poison. Her hands were dirty with her blood too.