"And I told you. Over my dead body"
"Well then so be it." Tom Riddle replied to his son with a smirk before raising the wand in his hand towards Mattheo. Mattheo didn't falter, if anything he stood up even taller and even more straight, he desperately hoped that by the time his father had killed him, Harry Potter will have returned to save the girl behind him, whom he cared for so dearly.
Mattheo closed his eyes waiting for the blow, it was like everything around him went silent. "Stop" the girl choked out softly. Mattheos eyes shot open instantly
Her hands pressed down hard against the cold ground of the chamber as she pushed herself up off the ground, stumbling as she did so. She stumbled forward next to Mattheo and then stood in front of him, "You can take me, but, you have to promise you won't hurt Mattheo, Harry or Ginny," The girl choked out, black blood spilled from her lips and sweat escaped from her skin.
"No way, I'm not letting you go with him," Mattheo says and quickly grabs the girl and pulls her into his chest, he looked down at her, meeting her beautiful green eyes with his chocolate brown ones, "I'm going to try and hold him back while you get out of here, go find Harry and get the hell out of here okay?"
"Just shut up okay. I'm not leaving." She says and her legs gave out under her, making Mattheo wrap his arms around her tighter, holding her up off the ground.
"You heard her, now hand her over quickly and you can go" Tom smirked, but the fear was evident in his eyes as they kept looking down at her in worry. Suddenly Harry and the Basalisk came back into the main part of the chamber, the attention of the Hufflepuff and two Slytherins was changed over to Harry as he climbed the stone face of Slytherin, eventually driving the sword of Gryffindor into the roof of the snake's mouth. Harry climbed down the statue and quickly ran over to his sister, who was barely alive in Mattheo Riddles's arms.
"Kirra! keep your eyes open alright" Harry scolded
Mattheo carefully placed her down onto the floor with tears falling down his cheeks, "You can't leave me little badger, you're all I have left" the Slytherin boy choked out softly.
Kirras eyes slowly fell onto a tooth from the snake lying on the ground, it was the one that had cut through her side, she let out a small groan of pain before looking up at her brother, "Harry... the diary and the tooth," she choked out and Harry looked confused at first but then it began to click in his head, he quickly scrambled onto his feet and ran over to the tooth and grabbed it before running to the Diary and then drove the tooth right into the Diary
There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream and as soon as the Hufflepuff heard it, she was dragged back into another memory from a past life.
The walls of the room of requirement were covered in small flowers as 16-year-old Tom Riddle and Ophelia Winston lay on a bed in the middle of the room. Tom's hand slowly traced shapes into the girl's naked back as she lay on his chest listening to his heartbeat thumbing harmonically in his chest.
"Thank you, Oph" the boy muttered softly, the girl let out a small chuckle before lifting her head off his chest and looking up at his face as he looked at her with a loving look in his eyes, "For what?" the asked him with a beautiful playful grin on her face
"Before you... before us, all there was, was darkness and all I wanted was to rule the wizarding world, I never cared for anyone or anything, but then you came. There is only one thing in this world that I care about more than becoming the greatest sorcerer in the world, and its you" Tom told her and Ophelia accidentally let a frown slip onto her face as she thought about it, all the chaos and destruction that she knew the boy was capable of, she knew he was dangerous, but there was good in him too, "and thank you for giving me another chance," she knew he had done horrible things, but she didn't know just what he had done.
She didn't know that he was the one who unlocked the chamber of secrets or that he had killed people, or that he had made Horcruxes, or that he planned on making her Horcruxes so that they could be together forever. It was the last bad thing he was going to do, he didn't need to be the greatest sorcerer in the world anymore, he just needed her, he was going to be good... for her, but he had to make himself and the girl Horcruxes so they could cheat death and be together forever.
Suddenly the door to the room began to slowly appear, the teenagers quickly shared a look before using their wands to put their clothes on quickly and they jumped out of the bed which then disappeared and in its place, appeared a few couches. The door opened and in walked Albus Dumbledore, with his wand in his hand.
"Professor Dumbledore" Ophelia muttered, her cheeks were red in embarrassment, "sorry we were out of bed Sir" Dumbledore looked to the girl with a small smile but it quickly disappeared
"Miss Winston, would you mind leaving Mr Riddle and I to have a quick word alone, it will only take a moment, if you could just wait outside, that would be much appreciated," Dumbledore told the girl, and the tone in his voice made her gut fill with worry as a sickening feeling filled her chest
"Sir-"
"Sir, I know the attacks ended quite a while ago, but I still don't feel comfortable with Ophelia walking around the halls by herself this late in the evening" Tom Riddle spoke back politely, in his usual charming voice, but Dumbledore had had enough of the boy
"I'm not sure that you want Miss Winston hearing what I have to say to you, but if you want her to stay, then she can," Dumbledore said and raised his eyebrows but Tom still insisted on the girl staying there with him, "very well. Tom I have come to talk to you about your behaviour. I am concerned about the path that you are heading down. Your interests in the dark arts it's concerningly extreme"
The teens stayed silent but the transfiguration teacher continued, "I have decided that the best decision to save the wizarding world... would be to eliminate the danger"
"Eliminate the danger?" The Hufflepuff asked in confusion, "Sir I'm afraing I don't understand" she muttered but Tom understood what he was saying right away.
"Oph, go back to the Hufflepuff common room, I'll talk to you tomorrow alright?" Tom said with a blank look on his face as he stared at the headmaster.
"Wait what?" She said in confusion and began to look between the two males, the tension in the room became so thick that it could be cut with a knife, "Tom what's happening?"
"Tom is the one that opened the chamber and framed Hagrid" Albus Dumbledore stated with a blank face, "he is evil and has been manipulating you, he doesn't love you, he can't love anyone," Dumbledore explained and the Hufflepuff's eyebrows furrowed as she let out a small scoff and a laugh, thinking that he had to be joking, but then the look on the mans face told her that Dumbledore was not trying to joke
"I'm sorry Sir but you're wrong, Tom would never do something like that, sure he's done some bad stuff but he isn't a bad person, he wouldn't kill Myrtle" Ophelia defended her boyfriend, "and he does love me, I know he does," she told him and then turned to Tom, "right?" she whispered out and Tom finally looked away from the headmaster and down towards the girl
"I do love you Ophelia, no matter what anyone tells you, I do," he told her sincerely and it was the truth, he didn't know how and he didn't even really know why he was able to love her when he was so sure he could never love anyone, but he knew he loved her
"And you didn't open the chamber of secrets right?" she asked with a positive voice and a desperate look on her face but when Tom didn't answer this question, she already knew the answer and she felt like she was going to be sick, "Oh Helga" she choked out "no. This is some kind of joke."
"I'm afraid this is no joke, Miss Winston, now I believe you should go back to your dorm" Dumbledore explained to the girl but she didn't move, she couldn't, she didn't want to believe that any of it was true. "Leave Miss Winston, or I will have to make you leave myself"
"Stay away from her" Tom Riddle spat out and pulled out his wand, Dumbledore raised his wand, the two wizards glaring at each other while the Hufflepuff shook softly, not even 10 minutes ago, the night had been beautiful and it was just her and Tom, lying together enjoying each others company, neither of them expected that it would be the last time.
Dumbledore shot a spell at Tom but the teenager deflected it with a spell, it went on for another five minutes and Ophelia noticed that Tom wasn't attacking, he was just defending and making sure that no spells hit her.
Dumbledore stopped suddenly and put his hands up in surrender causing the teens to look at him in surprise. "Very well, I understand that I made a mistake," he said, which only seemed to confuse the teens even more, what had changed his mind?
Then he leant down towards the ground and placed his wand on the ground and then kicked it away before standing back up, "The two of you may go, and we can forget this ever happened"
"Seriously?" Tom and Ophelia said, but the Hufflepuff seemed annoyed, "You just came in here and began to attack him and now you are saying that we forget that this ever happened?"
"Come on love, let's just get out of here," Tom said softly and turned his back on Dumbledore to walk over to the girl who had backed away a bit during the fight, but this was the boy's mistake as Dumbledore pulled a muggle device from his pocket, it was small and sharp, it was a dagger and he threw it right at the Riddle boy.
"TOM!" The girl cried and then apparated as fast as she could in between the blade and the boy, and just before it impaled him, she appeared in front of it, the blade digging right into her chest. Tom and Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock and everything moved in slow motion as the girl's eyes widened in shock and a small yelp left her lips.
She stared ahead at Dumbledore with wide eyes, blood beginning to fall from the girls lips, followed by a small whimper as pain coursed through her entire body. The girl fell to the floor, Tom fell to his knees next to her and tried to use all the healing spells he could think of as tears poured down his cheeks, yet nothing happened
Dumbledore stood in the room frozen in shock, guilt and disbelief.
"Damn it damn it why won't anything work!" Tom cried out angrily as yet another spell didn't do anything to the girls wound" Dumbledore couldn't believe his eyes, how could he have been so wrong? Tom Riddle was not a monster with no feelings, he was a boy who needed help, a boy who had sought an antidote for his darkness in the light of Ophelia Winston, and Dumbledore had just stomped that light out.
Ophelia's shakey hand slowly lifted and rested on Tom's face "T-tom it's okay" she choked out as he sobbed over her, "No don't tell me it's okay! It's not okay, I need to save you, you can't leave me! I need you! You're all I have! Please!" Tom cried as his body shook. He looked up at Dumbledore, "help her, I beg you" he pleaded, "i'll... I'll do anything. I'll turn myself in. Please just help her!"
"I can't - The dagger, it's cursed" Albus Dumbledore choked out softly, all colour had left his face.
Tom looked back down at the girl, "Don't you dare leave me! Not now" he said as he shook his head, tears slipping down his soft skin.
"I love you Tom, a-and im sorry" she whispered out and she struggled to keep her eyes open but it was getting harder and harder as the crimson liquid drained from her body "I'm sorry that you went through all that you did and that the gods chose to separate us so early. Yo-you're a good person Tommy and I love you. It's not your fau-ault okay" Blood coated her lips and ran down her chin
"It's okay, you're going to make it through this alright?" Tom told her in a pleading voice
"Don't forget me okay? And be the good person I know you can be" she told him as the lightness she had sparked in the boy was dying along with her, "and remember I love y-" Her breathing stopped and her hand slipped from his face, her eyes fogged over.
"Hey, you're alright. Get up" Tom told her but the Hufflepuff girl didn't move, "Please get up Ophelia. Get up!" he ordered her and then pulled her into his chest, cradling her as he rocked back and forward slightly, "you're alright love, you're alright. Come on love, open your eyes. Youre okay, youre okay. Please Ophelia! PLEASE!"
He burried her head in his neck as heis hand gently held onto her head, his other arm around her waist. He cried into her neck, sobs loud enough to be heard throughout the halls of the castle.
That night marked the death of two teenagers who loved each other more than anything and the birth of the greatest dark wizard in the wizarding world, Lord Voldemort.
Kirra's eyes had opened slightly just in time to see Ink spurt out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then —He had gone.
Then came a faint moan from the end of the Chamber. Ginny was stirring. Harry had somehow forgotten about his sister and ran to Ginny while Mattheo Riddle sat on the ground cradling the girl in his arms as he held her against his chest, tears pouring down his cheeks.
"Thank you, Mattheo" the girl choked out softly, "Tell Theodore that I'm sorry and look after him for me"
"Don't. Please don't," his voice broke a little at the last word as more tears fell down his tanned cheeks. "Hey, stop that. You're going to be okay, you're going to be just fine"
He forced himself to smile softly, but it was shakey and both of them felt their hearts break, they weren't ready to leave each other yet. The girl reached up and touched the side of his face gently and the boy leaned into it, her usual warm hand was now freezing cold and she watched as his tough icy facade disappeared completely, leaving only desperation, panic, and heartbreak.
"Don't you dare give up on me? Do you hear me? This is not over!" He wrapped his arm around her even tighter and then used his other arm to cup her face in his hand and wiped away a tear from her cheek with his thumb, "please don't leave me"
Her eyes were fluttering shut as she was drifting in and out of consciousness, taking her last few breaths, she couldn't speak anymore, she was using all her energy to try and stay awake.
The edges of her vision turned black and her hand felt like it weighed a tone, it fell into her lap, leaving the boy's face and her eyes finally shut completely, she gave in to the overwhelming tiredness.
Mattheos eyes widened as they looked at her.
"I love you, do you hear me, Potter? Fight it god damnit! I'm so sorry. I know i should have said it earlier but this is not the way to make me say it! Damnit, wake up! I love you!"
And then there was nothing at all.