Riddle's Plea

The Date*

(Vienna. February 19th, 1944)

    What am I doing with my life? The question had been ringing in my brain all morning, along with Olivia's non-stop chattering and excited squeals. Most of my wardrobe was thrown carelessly around my room along with some of Olivia's. "I mean this is practically unheard of! Tom Riddle asked you out on a date! This has never happened before!" Liv broke through my mental questioning once again. "Yes. I know Liv." I let out a deep sigh, running my hand through my hair in pure panic. "I don't think I can do this," I tell her, gesturing around the messy room and trying not to hyperventilate. "Vienna! You can do this! You have to do this!" She grabs my shoulders and gives me a good shake, snapping me out of my near mental breakdown. "In all my years of Hogwarts, Tom Riddle has never taken any interest in anybody. He cares for you....in a weird kind of way. One date with him won't hurt." She lets go of my shoulders and spins on her heel, her black curls swirling with the movement and stalks over to the armoire in the corner and continues to rummage. I let out a sigh again with her words. Olivia is right. One date with Tom Riddle won't hurt...hopefully. "Alright fine!" I throw my hands up and Olivia gives me a knowing smirk. "Now hurry up woman! I've got 20 minutes!" 

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    Exactly 20 minutes later, Olivia and I were walking up towards the Great Hall. Liv was still chattering excitedly, whilst I was trying very hard to keep my heart from escaping through my chest. "Everything will be fine Vienna. Calm down!" She pulls my hands away from wiping anxiously against my green sweater dress and takes them into her own hands. "You can do this. You're smart and gorgeous and if you can survive Grindelwald than you can survive Tom Riddle." I let out a strangled laugh with her words. If only she knew. "You're right. I don't know why I'm panicking like this." I take a few deep breaths and calm my nerves. "Maybe because there's a chance you like him too." Liv was once again giving me that 'I know all your secrets' smirk as I scoffed. "Good morning ladies." My mouth snaps shut with the voice and my eyes grow wide with panic. Calm down Vienna! I slowly turn and face the young man behind me. "Good morning Tom! It's a lovely day today!" Olivia perks up behind me and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her positivity. Tom looks immaculate as usual, his hair only slightly tussled and his brown eyes twinkling in amusement. Why is he so...pretty? "Yes, it is. Miss. Marcus, are you ready?" His eyes find mine and I find myself only nodding, not trusting myself to speak. He holds out an arm for me and I have to physically force myself to take it without shaking, sending him just the smallest of smiles. "Ooo! One more thing! Tom, you don't mind if I borrow her around lunch? I need her help picking out a birthday present." My eyebrows scrunch in confusion with Olivia's words and Tom looks to the girl. "Not at all, Miss. Matthews." A rush of anger fills my veins suddenly. "I am not an object!" Tom let's out a low chuckle and gazes down at me. "Ah! There she is. I was wondering when you'd show up." I send him a half-hearted glare, causing him to chuckle once again and proceeding to lead me out of the Great Hall. "Have fun, you two kids!" Olivia's voice fills the room and I flinch, causing Tom to downright laugh heartedly. 

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    Hogsmeade was quiet, snow blanketed the small village and only a handful of people were wandering through the street. I gazed around in awe at the village, taking in the laughter from within each shop and the snow as it reflected off of the roofs. "I forgot this was your first time here." Tom's voice snaps me from my trance and I swallow heavily. "It's...quaint." He chuckles with my words and leads me towards The Three Broomsticks. It didn't look that different from my time if anything it looked a little newer. The floors had fewer stains along with the tables, the windows were still more see-through and the bartender wasn't the same as the one from my time. Tom led me through the pub, past other students that had managed to find the best seats already and dutifully avoiding the Gryffindor's hiding in the corner. My heart clenched painfully when I met Septimus' eye, and I managed to give him a small smile that he returned. We finally managed to find a small booth towards the back of the pub and Tom gestured to my wool coat. "Can I take your coat?" He gave me a hesitant smile and I nodded. "Yes thank you." I shrugged out of it and slid into the booth, noting that it didn't creak like normal. I watched as he gracefully shrugged out of his own coat a hung them on a nearby coat rack, weaving expertly through the crowd and back. "Can I get you something to drink?" I opened my mouth to retort that I could very much get my own drink, before realizing that it would be no use to argue over it. "Surprise me." He chuckled before making his way over to the bar and I allowed myself a few deep breaths, trying to calm my nerves and think of a conversation topic. I couldn't very much start out with 'so you want to be an evil overlord? will you offer good life insurance?'  I find myself chuckling at the notion and smother it quickly when Tom returns with two butter beers and giving me a strange look. I mutter a small 'thanks' as he slides into the seat across from me. He rests his elbows on the table and focuses a heavy gaze on me as I go to take a sip of the sweet liquid. "Tell me about your family?" My mouth drops open with his words and my brain tries to comprehend his question like a demand. "What?" I finally manage to croak out and I give him a questioning look. "You never talk about them. You seem to know all about mine, it seems only fair that I should know about yours."

    Tom's eyes were curious and imploring as they looked at me. One eyebrow raised and his long fingers locked in front of him. "Well...um...are you sure you want to know?" I tilt my head to the side and try to search my brain for any ulterior motives he might have. He nods his head in encouragement and I let out a sigh. "Well...my parents are gone. They passed when I was three. I don't really remember much about them, but I do remember that they were brave and they loved me very much." My gaze had shifted over Tom's shoulder as I remember the faces of my parents. "You resemble your father." My eyes snap back to Tom's with his words. "That day with the Boggart..." He trails off and I nod in understanding and give him a tight smile. "Yeah...that wasn't the best day." I let out a choked chuckle, taking another sip of my drink before continuing. "I miss them. All of them. One second they were here and the next they were gone. I never got the chance to say goodbye to them." I look back to Tom, his expression blank with my words and clear my throat. "My parents were tortured and murdered. Fred...Fred was crushed by rubble right in front of me. I couldn't do anything to save him. It was the middle of a war zone, there was so much death and destruction. The others I'm assuming are dead as well, I was sent here before I could find out. I was too badly injured. Sometimes I still catch myself smelling the smoke and the scent of death out of seemingly nowhere. I'll probably spend the rest of my life with those memories." I repress a shudder with my words. If all goes well then I'll be the only one with those memories. An easy price to pay for their lives.

    "You're incredibly strong Vienna." Tom's eyes were more honest than I think I had ever seen them. It caused the breath to catch in my throat and my heart to quickly accelerate. "Can I ask you a question?" His head tilted to one side and he gave me a smirk. "You just did." I roll my eyes at him causing his smirk to turn into a chuckle. "Alright, what is it?" I take a deep breath and prepare myself. "What brought this on?" I gesture to him and I and then the atmosphere around us. "Half the time you want to kill me and the other half you want to protect me and it's quite confusing. Not to mention you ignored me all week, just after I thought we were going to be...I don't know...friends?"  The smile was gone from his face and he was looking down at his crossed hands. The minutes seemed to tick by as I watched him try to get his thoughts in order, but finally, he lets out a deep sigh and looks back up at me. "I've spent most of my life wanting one thing and one thing only." His face was serious and his eyes were darker than before. "Power. I wanted to rule the world. To make those who did me wrong pay for hurting me, for abandoning me and for looking down upon me. I didn't care about what I had to do to achieve it. I never bothered with friends because I thought they made you weak. I merely collected followers and that was it. But then you arrived." He was leaning over the table now, his eyes burning and I found myself not being able to breathe.  "You suddenly appeared. The only person to not cower away from me, the only one to question me and to make me see change. I hated you for your wisdom and for making me question what I was doing. You made me forget about my grand plans and then you stopped me from taking my revenge against my pathetic excuse for  a father. Then suddenly the incident with the Boggart happened, and I realized you were trying to stop me from becoming a monster. Because you had met a monster and survived. You had lost everything because of him and yet you still carry on. You were trying to save me." He leaned away quickly and took a deep breath, calming himself down and refocusing. "I was avoiding you this past week because of Potions on Monday. I smelled something in the Amortentia." He stopped again and refused to meet my eye. "What did you smell Tom?" The silence stretched on for quite some time and I watched him as his jaw clenched and unclenched and my heart feeling like it was trying to escape. He meets my eye again, his brown orbs almost glowing and his face set like marble. "You."