TORMENT (Harry Potter Sequel)

Chapter Twelve

'Why are you here?' a small voice called out inside Tom's head, 'Go back to bed! What are you even doing?'

Tom knew he should agree with the voice. He knew that there was no good reason for him to be here. But he was here. He didn't even know if he could get back to his dorm. Besides, he was already here. Might as well just stay for a bit.

'What would happen if you went out there,' whispered another voice inside Tom's head. This one was much more like a hiss. It's tone wasn't necessarily sinister but certainly more mischievous. It was the same voice that guided him through the castle. Tom breathed out slowly, not releasing that his tiny body's shivers were growing more intense. What if he did go out there. He kind of wanted to now.

'No,' Tom thought, 'I'd die,' he reasoned.

'And?' hissed the voice.

'But-'

'Go on...' it egged him on, 'Who would care?' Tom sighed to himself, 'Just do it.'

Tom stepped in front of the entrance, the wind now blaring against him. He almost instantly regretted it, now he felt the weight of the cold but knew he had committed to it now so there was no going back. Tom pushed forward, taking each step one at a time. Clutching the small robe and covering his face against the freezing wind, Tom went on. He walked slowly out through the grand doors and out into the grounds.

When he had left the castle, it somehow only grew even more cold. Wind now attacked him from all directions, as did the snow. But somehow Tom found it easier to move on. He just kept moving forward, not sure of where he was going but still moving nonetheless. He kept pulling his whole weight into the increasingly cold and snowy environment. The snow steadily got deeper and Tom's small body steadily got heavier. He began to feel his hands go numb. He shut his eyes to stop the wind from blowing into them when his arms could not protect them any longer and fell uselessly to his sides. The freezing cold infected his body and Tom found his movements getting slower and slower. When he turned around he couldn't see anything around him. Behind him, there was no trace of the castle and to his sides, there was no trace of anything either. So he just kept going forward. Kept going forward. Kept going forward.

Tom's legs buckled beneath him. He fell down into the snow on the ground. The cold was just too much for him. Why the hell did he even come out here in the first place? Was his mind in that bad of a mental state that he thought this would be a good idea? As Tom slowly felt all feeling leave him, he also felt the bizarre feeling of his brain shutting down. As he tried his hardest to stay conscious, he wondered to himself whether he was going to die. And in that moment, as Tom lay there in the freezing snow, a snowstorm surrounding him, he couldn't help but think he was.

And then everything went black.

Even before he opened his eyes, the first thing Tom felt was warmth. All around him. He was surrounded completely by it. Right now he was so comfy he never wanted to move ever again. He also found he was tired. His whole body was still achy and he found that he couldn't move even if he wanted to. He knew that he wasn't outside anymore, that much was obvious, but where then was he? Could he have died?

His hearing was coming back now and he was beginning to get more feeling over his body. It felt like he was covered in pins and needles and despite his warmth, he shuddered. He still couldn't open his eyes but he could clearly hear a loud, shrill noise. Finally, he mustered the strength to open his eyes and glanced blearily around him. He now knew that part of the reason he had such trouble moving was that he was covered and wrapped in large blankets. His vision was still bleary though and he couldn't quite make out his location. All he could tell was that wherever he was, it wasn't too big. He certainly wasn't in his dorm, that's for sure.