O r p h a n ● Tom Riddle [Harry Potter Fanfiction]

⑮ Quinze - Fate has its hold.

Her gaze was on a young man at the foot of the hill. He had the darkest hair she had ever seen, a colour she could only describe as obsidian, and eyes as dark as the abyss. He was a tall and thin young man who wore silk robes and extravagant gold embroidered sleeves. He was from a wealthy family and he dressed to reflect that. He had a single red rose in his hand as he stood at the edge of the lake. The sun was far from setting, it was mid-afternoon and the grass couldn't have been greener or the sky bluer. The sound of a galloping horse broke her gaze from the man and she saw her smile fade into a grimace. On the horse was an angelic beauty with voluptuous waves of platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, it was her sister, Cecilia. She turned her gaze back to the man, who was transfixed on the angel on the horse galloping towards him. She couldn't bare the sight. Both of her own heartbreaking and the sight of her sister with the man of her dreams. It was cruel to make her watch the moment in third person. She still remembered what she felt as she stood there in the moment and now she was forced to watch herself ache.

The vision blurred. The day had turned to dark and she now watched herself in the stables, sitting atop a pile of hay and a bucket of water fresh from the well beside her feet. She had her diary resting on her lap, a navy, leather-bound book with a rose engraving on its spine. The ends of her favourite dress were muddied and ruined but she couldn't care less. She listened to the sound of her sister humming nearby as she ran her fingers through her tangled brown hair. She wondered why her sister was blessed with silk-like hair, while her own appeared to be of dirt and mulch. It wasn't fair. It's not fair.

She brushed her thumb along the spine of her diary. So many years of living in her sister's shadow, so many years of never once getting what she wanted had been poured into the book. Her parent's constant disapproval of her, from the way she dressed to how the tip of her nose just wasn't quite sharp enough. How the boy she'd grown up loving had simply forgotten she had existed the moment he met her sister. He was almost her first kiss. Years ago, their lips barely brushed before Cecilia came waltzing down the hill towards the lake, she watched him freeze as his gaze was captured by a glowing goddess floating down the hill. It had been sunset and the reflection had made Cecilia's hair look of warm honey. It was the perfect time of day... the perfect time of day for a first kiss and for her sister to steal her love away.

She closed her eyes, quickly dozing off as the night turned silent. Her sister had stopped humming. Perhaps, she'd gone to sleep as well.

"Vivienne?"

A warm whisper slithered through her ear. She remembered what she was thinking in that moment; Does she respond? Does she pretend to have fallen deep asleep?

"Vivienne, I know you're awake." There was no menace in the way he spoke, but his very presence threatened her peace.

Why was he here? What did he want? Were only a few of the questions swimming through her mind.

She felt the weight shift against the hay as he sat beside her. His warmth blanketed her, she'd almost fallen back asleep, but an abrupt attack to the knot between her brows brought her jolting up and wide awake, "Holy bells! Tom, what on earth?!" she yelped.

He'd painfully flicked her forehead and it had stung like 10 ants. She was now wide awake, staring deep into the abyssal eyes of the young man who wouldn't leave her mind. She noted that they hadn't spoken in years, they hadn't even set foot in the same room. Yet, here he was. Tom Riddle, dressed casually in an airy white top, his bare chest exposed to her hungry eyes, his body almost touching hers as he sat beside her. Is this a dream? She remembered thinking. If I kiss him now, will I wake up? "Tom, what are you doing here." She bravely questioned.

His lips turned into a playful boyish grin, he almost looked smug as he left her gaze and laid himself flat on the hay. "I'm here to enjoy your company, Vivienne."