Stolen Time A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Twenty-three

And there was no denying that he had enough business to attend to anyways. She had made it unmistakably clear that she wasn't going to give up teaching at that godforsaken school and he was very much aware that he wasn't able to stop her if he didn't want to lose her for good.

But before she returned to that school unharmed and continued just as before he had to take care of Lestrange, Rosier, the guards and the rest of those teachers. He obviously couldn't explain what had happened so he had to erase their memories. He suppressed a sigh and apparated back to the ministry.

Fortunately, it didn't take him long to find Rosier and Lestrange.

"My lord," Rosier said the moment he saw him. "We were already wondering how things were going..." His voice trailed off when he saw the look on Tom's face.

"Get the guards who accompanied you today," Tom ordered without paying attention to Rosier. When Rosier and Lestrange made to leave, he narrowed his eyes. "You stay," he hissed, gesturing at Lestrange.

Lestrange flinched just the slightest bit but he turned back to Tom and lowered his head. "About earlier....I'm very sorry, my lord, I don't know what got into me. I promise anything like that won't happen ever again."

Tom shot him a disdainful glare and waited until Rosier was out of earshot. Then he said, "You're very right. Something like today should never happen again. However, it seems like today's an extremely lucky day for you because there's no use in my teaching you a lesson which I'm unfortunately forced to make you forget again right away. I can assure you next time you won't be that lucky." He exhaled sharply and raised his wand. Lestrange winced at the movement and Tom sneered for a second before he flicked his wand and hissed, "Obliviate."

When Rosier returned with the five guards, Tom was standing alone in the room, his wand still in his hand and Lestrange nowhere to be seen. Rosier pressed his lips together and eyed Tom cautiously. "These are the guards that have been with us today, my lord."

Tom nodded and brandished his wand with a swift movement at the guards, stunning them. Rosier's eyes grew wide with surprise but before he had the time to say anything Tom had waved his wand at him as well.

A moment later Tom had obliviated Rosier, replacing his memory with the story he had made up. He turned towards the guards and altered their memories as well. Finally he strode along the corridor to the cell where the four teachers were still imprisoned. Tom was about to open the door when he heard them talking inside. Without thinking he leaned closer to the door and listened in.

"What do you think they did to her? Why isn't she coming back?" The woman's voice was thick with tears.

"She's strong, I bet she's giving them a hard time," one of the men said but he didn't sound very confident despite his words.

"I shouldn't have let her take my place," the woman whimpered again.

"Don't blame yourself," another muttered. "She knew what she was doing."

Tom clenched his teeth and threw the door open with a flick of his wand. Four pairs of eyes stared back at him, fear evident on every face. When they recognized him, he saw them shrink back even further, and he couldn't suppress a smirk.

"I guess you know who I am," he sneered, "if I interpret your expressions correctly."

"Where's Cynthia?" one of the men breathed, his voice full of worry. "What did you do to her?"

Tom looked back at the man, his face expressionless. Who did this fool think he was? It was none of his business what was happening between him and Cassiopeia. And if anything the question was rather what she had done to him. But his features remained even when he asked back,  "Why do you care where she is?"

The man, who had asked, replied, his voice determined, "Cynthia's our friend. She didn't do this alone. She shouldn't be alone now."

Tom eyed him for a moment. Then he shrugged. "She's not coming back." He saw the four of them gasp and slightly raised an eyebrow. "She never existed anyways." His voice sounded surprisingly bitter, and he raised his wand.

"Please don't do this," the woman pleaded, her voice trembling.

Tom eyed her for a moment, quirking an eyebrow. "You don't even know what I'm going to do." He twirled his wand in his fingers. "And as it is....it turns out that, just like for this brainless knight of mine, today seems to be your lucky day, too, because you're going to survive this." He paused. "Sadly you won't remember but you owe your life to her. If it wasn't for her, I certainly would never be doing this." He looked back at them, and a smirk appeared on his features when he saw the look of utter confusion on their faces. With a swift movement he brandished his wand, making their eyes glaze over. His smirk widened just the slightest bit as he flicked his wand again, muttering under his breath.

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Author's note: Thanks for reading! You are so great!