the devil's redemption [tom r.]

40|| Blissful Murk.

Sheets of empty canvas

Untouched sheets of clay

Were laid spread out before me

As her body once did

All five horizons

Revolved around her soul

As the earth to the sun

Now the air I tasted and breathed

Has taken a turn

~Black by Pearl Jam

¤¤¤¤¤¤

THIS WAS ONE OF the few times in his life, in which Tom Riddle felt helpless. The patronus charm was one of the very few spells –if not the only one– that Tom was never able to perfect.

The dementor was nearing them gradually, sucking away any bit of happiness they had. The layers of clothing were useless all of a sudden, because the freezing weather was nothing like the chill dementors evoked.

Tom wasn't affected thoroughly by dementors, for obvious reasons. His coldness and emptiness came to his favour once, and thus he remained in tact, his only fear Rosalind's wellbeing.

The latter was almost unconscious on the ground, shivering and spasming as though she was possessed. He was sure that not everyone was affected that much by dementors, which led him to wonder the cause of her reaction.

A blood-curdling scream erupted from the girl laying on the grass, which sent a shiver down Tom's spine. He'd never heard her scream that way, and he didn't like the sound at all. He was used to hear people's screams of agony, which was something he enjoyed, but hers triggered him in ways he couldn't describe.

Tom held his wand tightly, trying to dig up any happy memory that would possibly make his patronus charm work. That was the only thing he could do, since the dementor was approaching them quickly.

The Slytherin prefect thought back to the day he opened the chamber of secrets, when he saw the Basilisk for the first time. He'd been so proud of his ancestry. "Expecto Patronum!"

As expected, it didn't work. Tom groaned in desperation. He tried raking his mind for anything remotely happy that'd ever happened in his life. He thought back to the time he killed his father. He was satisfied then. But that wasn't happiness, it was cruel pleasure. And once again, the spell didn't work.

The dementor seemed to take particular interest in Rosalind, seeing as the creature barely had any effect on Tom. This caused the boy to panic. He had to protect her. He always promised himself that nothing bad would happen to her with him around. He believed that he was powerful enough to shelter her from any danger.

So he went back in time once more, and he reminisced the time he first found out he was a wizard. Dumbledore had told him in the orphanage. Tom knew he was special, he was different from all the other kids. That made him genuinely happy. Finding out that he had a home waiting for him sparked joy in his heart that day.

"Expecto Patronum!" A blinding light was emitted from Tom's yew wand, but no animal appeared. The light, however, was enough to repel the dementor far away. Tom took action quickly, grabbing Rosalind and heading to the castle. He left his stuff behind.