The Girl Who Loved | A Tom Riddle Story

Chapter 20

"Can you aparate?" He asked calmly. She nodded, grabbing hold of him. "Hold on tight." Something grabbed her waist, jerking her forward as darkness swirled around them. She braced herself for the impact, lifting her leg up, careful not to put any weight on it as their feet met the hardwood floors of her living room. Off balance, she pressed both feet to the floor instinctively, wincing as pain shot through her leg again. Tom steadied her, helping her on to the sofa. She laid down, the nauseous feeling she had felt worse than before. "Do you have anything here for this sort of thing?" he asked, an edge in his voice that hadn't been there before.

"Essence of Dittany ... in the cabinet above the sink." She said through gritted teeth. Tom returned within seconds holding a small bottle. He opened it, pouring a few drops of the brown liquid on her wound. She winced in pain as it burned her skin, but as quickly as the burning had begun, it seemed to disappear, taking the stabbing pain with it. Tom sat the bottle on the end table and examined her leg. Glancing up at her, he gave her a stiff, reassuring smile.

"The bleedings stopped but there's going to be a scar. She nodded. She had known there would be. They had learned in their first year that all wounds inflicted by a werewolf, whether in its wolf form or not, would leave a lifelong scar. Standing up suddenly, Tom paced across the room, stopping in front of the window, leaning against its frame. The sunset shown through the glass, lighting up the entire room, and Tom's face, in an orange glow. So much had happened in the course of a day, and Tom's expression showed it. He looked tired. Strained.

"Tom..." she said, studying him intently. He ignored her. Ellison pushed herself into a sitting position. He glanced in her direction, doing a double take as she stood to her feet.

"You shouldn't be up," he said, concerned.

"Tell me what's going on," she said, limping towards him. Making his way towards her, he grasped her arms, gently leading her back to the sofa.

"Sit down."

"Not until you tell me what it is you're thinking," she argued. Tom stared at her, considering his next words carefully.

"I," he began, running his eyes over her face before meeting her gaze. "I thought I had lost you today." His words had come out flat. As if he were stating a fact. But his expression seemed even more strained than before.

"But-" she began, but he cut her off.

"And I don't know what I would have done if I had." He paused for a moment, searching her face. "And that fact terrifies me ... The fact that you hold that much power over me. The fact that I don't think I could stand to lose you." He was gripping her shoulders tightly, his words tumbling out as if they had been dying to escape for so long. He released her, retreating to the windowsill from which he had come. Silence filled the room once again.

"It's okay to be scared Tom," Ellison began, after a moment. "You don't always have to be so fearless." Tom's back was to her, but she knew he was listening. "It's a scary thing, caring for another person," she pressed on, taking a few steps towards him. "If it helps, I'm afraid to..." Tom turned his head, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What are you afraid of?" he asked flatly.

"Of being vulnerable..." she paused, thinking for a moment. "Of feeling too much - too strongly - about ... things." He glanced away, his eyes tracing the skyline.

"This morning," he began, training his eyes on the golden sunset, "you said you thought you were falling in love with me." A knot formed in her stomach. She had known this would come up eventually. "Did you mean that?" A moment of silence elapsed between them before Ellison answered.

"I think I've always been in love with you ... as a friend of course." She added quickly before continuing. "But ... something's changed. It's different now, and I don't know ... I don't know how to explain it." She stole a glance at Tom, who had turned around to face her, and quickly looked away, fixing her eyes, instead, on the hardwood beneath her feet. Tom made his way towards her, closing the gap between them in a few strides. She looked up from the spot on the floor she had been examining, and met his gaze.

"I've never loved anyone before," he began, his expression unreadable. "I don't think I would even know it if I were in love."

"You will - I mean would ... know it ... if you were." They stood in silence for, to Ellison, what felt like an eternity.

"What does it feel like ... falling in love?" Tom asked, finally speaking.

"Like finding part of yourself ... part of yourself you didn't even know you were searching for." she said softly, her voice little more than a whisper. Silence engulfed the room once again.

"You were certainly something I wasn't searching for," Tom finally spoke. She looked down at her feet, her heart sinking. This was it. "But something I'm so glad I found." She glanced up, unsure if she had heard him correctly. "You replaced a part of me I had lost ... a part of me I thought I didn't need, or want. But I'm starting to think I might've been mistaken." He paused, as if lost in his thoughts. "This is ... hard, for me-"

"I don't need you to feel the same way," Ellison began.

"But I do," Tom cut in, gazing intently at her. Reaching up, he tucked a curl behind her ear. She grasped his hand, giving it a light squeeze as she held it against her cheek.

"I've told you before... don't do this if you don't mean it."

"I most certainly do."

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MERRY (belated) CHRISTMAS! Here's Chapter 20!

I hope you're all liking the story so far! Let me know what you think about the direction its headed in (I'm always open to new ideas!)