the devil's redemption [tom r.]

42|| Late Night Confessions.

Upon the contact, the trunk appeared to be dissolving slowly, and that's when the blinding light of the orb woke her up from her vivid dream.

Rosalind was panting in bed when she awoke. It must've been a vision. No dream had ever felt so real to her before. But then that meant. . she knew where the Diadem of Ravenclaw was. A tree, a humming melody, a glowing orb. . Those couldn't just be coincidences.

She looked at Tom, who was long asleep beside her. Her stomach fluttered when she remembered the way he'd held her beside him all night.

She crept slowly out of the bed, trying her best to leave the tent discreetly. She followed the exact same steps from her vision, hearing the same melodic whirr that seemed to bewitch her.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she reached a clearing. The same tree was there. But there was no glowing orb this time. It would've surely attracted a lot of unwanted attention.

Rosalind placed her palm on the trunk, and to her astonishment, the wooden material dwindled gradually, showing the mighty Diadem that laid within.

She couldn't comprehend what was happening around her. She found it, an artefact that had been lost for centuries.

Rosalind took hold of the velvet box within which the tiara laid, running her finger over the carved words on the historical artefact.

It was then that she heard the slow applause behind her, causing her to whip her head in the direction of the noise. There stood Tom Riddle, adorned with his dark cloak, leaning against a tree.

"Well done, Rosalind. I knew you'd find it," he murmured, the power hungry spark ever so evident in his eyes as he spoke. The way he looked at the diadem made her skin crawl. It was one of those few moments that she saw the pure evil in him.

"I don't want to give it to you," she hid the box behind her back, as though he wouldn't be able to take it from her anymore. Rosalind contemplated her choices. If she were to start a fight, maybe even a duel, everything she'd said and done the previous night would go to waste.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his temper. "You know you'll give it to me anyway, love. So better do it quickly."

She took a few steps backwards, her back colliding with the hollowed tree that had concealed the diadem. "I know what you'll do with it, and it's too precious to be defiled with your wicked soul!"

Tom tutted mockingly, slowly reducing the space between them. "Give it to me."

His tone was final and demanding as he pronounced every syllable slowly, but it didn't affect her. "It's rightfully mine, Tom. I'm a Ravenclaw, and I found it. I was the one discovering that it's in Albania in the first place!"

"Oh honey, did you really think you'd be able to come here without me?" Tom was now inches away from her. "Give me the diadem, or you'll suffer the consequences, Rosalind."

He was so close to her face that she could feel his breath fanning her cheek. She tried ignoring how tempting his neck looked, and how the vein on it seemed to be protruding due to his anger. His scent bewitched her entirely that she didn't notice when his hand snatched the diadem from hers.

That was it. She'd proven herself to be too weak to stand up against him, too weak to control her emotions and body when he was close. He'd completely manipulated her, and she hated him for it.

"It seems you're not so immune to me, after all," he whispered, "Also, keep in mind that I won't forget your betrayal, blondie. We'll talk about this later." He twirled a long strand of her hair around his finger, smirking when she sneered at him.

She sighed, pushing past him and entering the tent with a loud flap. What was she expecting? That she could resist him? She'd pathetically given up to him and she loathed herself for her pitifulness.

***

Tom didn't set foot into the tent for the rest of the day, and Rosalind didn't bother getting out.

She kept questioning her reasoning all day. Why did she think she'd be able to keep the diadem from Tom? She wasn't thinking properly then, that's what she was sure about. When she saw the diadem all she could think of was how she would protect it from his evilness. But she failed. She failed miserably.

It was in the early hours of the evening that Tom decided to show up, not with the most exciting of news.

"So, you're not going to like this. ."

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