"You knew! All this time you knew and you did nothing to help her!" Tom screamed.
"Tom, it is her responsibility to do this. I helped by bringing her to Hogwarts. If she wanted any further help all she needed to do was ask," Dumbledore said, trying to calm down a very angry Tom Riddle.
"Ask?" He scoffed. "You allowed her to put herself in so much danger, you knew of it all but you required her to come to you first?"
"Calm down Tom."
"I will not calm down because she has been taken! Taken by his men! God knows if we'll ever see her again."
"Trust me Mr Riddle, we will do our best to locate her."
"Your best is never good enough! It never has been!" He felt the urge to punch something, punch Dumbledore more specifically.
"I warned her to stay away from you. Perhaps if she had never been involved with you and your little gang, she might have trusted me more, felt comfortable to confide in me."
"Please." Tom leaned over the teacher's desk. "You stopped giving a single fuck the moment she was sorted into Slytherin." His face was deadly close to Albus'.
"Get out," Dumbledore said, flinging the door open with his wand.
"With the next chosen one who comes along, try not to leave them in an orphanage for 10 years."
"Watch your tone, Riddle. Oh and don't think the disappearance of Miss Black has been forgotten. You may have Dippet wrapped around your finger Tom, but trust me, I do not believe she just simply, disappeared."
"That's a rather large accusation Dumbledore. Why don't you prove it?" Tom cocked his chin up. Albus said nothing. "Exactly, you can't."
Tom was just about to leave the man's office. "Tom," Dumbledore called out to him. "I didn't know who she was until the orphanage called me. I didn't even know an Emeralds heir had survived."
"Maybe you didn't know, but you could of found out. Whatever you need to tell yourself to feel better. One day, and hear my words Albus. One day, you will pay for everything and everyone you have ruined in your lifetime." He slammed the door behind him.
Tom spoke words of parsletongue, the entrance to the chamber opened. He took Salazar Slytherin's locket and place it on the floor. He had many ideas for his horcruxes, the Gaunt family ring, his diary, the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. But the locket has been gifted to him by Briar, he wanted to make that his first one.
Screams filled the chamber, agonising screams. He laid on the floor, damp and sweaty. The pain was unbearable, like a never ending cruciatus curse. He felt barely alive, but he knew he was now the most alive he had ever been.
He tried to pull himself up, to rest in the common room or even the infirmary, but it was no use. He didn't have enough strength to even support his upper body into a seating position for long. His back crashed against the damp floor of the chamber.
With heavy eyes, he fell into a deep sleep. Tom was unaware if he'd ever awake from it.
____
Briar shivered. The stone she was lying on was cold and damp. The only light source came from a singular lit candle. Her wrists were red and bleeding from where the shackles gripped onto her wrists. She didn't know how long she'd been in this place, a few hours maybe. It was surely daytime outside.
She hoisted herself up and cradled her knees to her chest. With her eyes shut, she tried to imagine she was sitting in the common room. Casper playing the piano, she could hear the enchanting tune. Tom beside her, playing with her hair as he likes to do. It was nice for a moment, but then her mind wandered back to everything. Henry's words entered her train of thought, Perhaps the power to finding it has been with you all along, if you're only brave enough to seek it.
The door to the dark room she was in flew open. A man stood, the man who had taken her. "He'd like to meet you now," he said. He grabbed Briar by the wrist and pulled her out. "Smile sweetheart, you're on the winning side now."
The light shone brightly as she was taken up to an open tower. Flashbacks of her time with Tom resurfaced in her memory. His smooth hair blowing lightly in the wind as they overlooked her hometown, the view she saw when she was underneath him, feeling the most pleasure she had ever felt.
He stood there. Tall, white hair, hands behind his back. This was Grindelwald. He turned to face her, smiling brightly. His one pale eye sparkled in the sun.
"Briar Emeralds, at last we meet." His voice was smooth and charming, it reminded her of Tom's when he was being manipulative. "Hungry? Cold? Apologies for my terrible hospitality skills." He clicked his fingers at a pretty witch. She had short blonde hair that was styled to perfection and her lips were a deep pink shade. "Queenie, can you fetch our guest some lunch? A warm cup of tea as well perhaps?" She nodded once and slipped off down the stairs.
Briar said nothing, she stared at the man. "You've done marvellous job hiding for 18 years, I had no idea you existed."
"That was the point," she finally spoke.
"But why exactly were you hiding?" he asked.
"You used my people, tortured them, controlled them to do your dirty deeds, locked them away."
"Oh no my dear, you have it wrong. Those are all just stories, your people came to me willingly."
"Liar," she said, struggling with her shackles. The witch returned with a sandwich and a cup of piping hot tea.
"Remove her shackles," Grindelwald spoke.
The man tried to protest. "But-"
"She has no wand, silly little faerie threw it away before you caught her." He frowned at Briar. He clearly thought she was stupid, but she knew she'd made the right choice. She could not have him knowing she has the stones.
Her shackles were removed. She wanted to protest and not eat the food or drink the warm tea. But she was starving.
After a few painfully awkward moments of the three of them watching her eat. Grindelwald spoke again. "Join me Miss Emeralds. Help me. We can move you into a nicer room, with a warm bed and a full bookshelf. Everything you have ever wanted, we can achieve it together. All you have to do is agree to serve me."
Briar finished the last mouthful of her tea. "Thank you for the food," she placed her teacup down, "but I will never serve you," she hissed.
Grindelwald tutted. "I tried to play nice. But who was I kidding, nice gets you nowhere. I should have remembered that." He turned back around to stare at the mountains. "Take her back to the basement. We'll start enchanting her tomorrow."
"What?" Briar asked in a panic. She resisted as the man returned the shackles to her wrists. "What do you mean enchant me?"
"You'll learn soon enough gorgeous," the man snickered taking her back down the stairs. Her brief moment of sunlight was gone. She was back in the room with the only company of a nearly burnt out candle.
A few hours passed, the door opened again, waking Briar up from an uncomfortable sleep. It was the blonde witch from earlier. "I brought you some apple strudel. It's real delicious," she spoke in a highly feminine American accent.
"Thanks," Briar said coldly, she didn't touch it though. "What do they mean by enchanting?"
"I'm really not s'pose to say." The witch frowned.
"They want to enchant me like the did with the other faeries. To get me to do his bidding. Don't they?" The witch gave no response.
"He really ain't that bad. He helps people," she said.
"Queenie isn't it?" Briar asked. She nodded. "Did he help you?"
She nodded again. "I had to lose a few things, or people, but it's for the greater good. I can be with the man I love."
"Love." Briar smiled at the wall mindlessly.
"There someone you love?" Queenie asked. Reluctantly, Briar moved her head up and down in a slow nod.
"The right person will always find their way back to us." She straightened her skirt. "Now eat your strudel, before it goes cold." Briar watched as the witch locked the door, her heels echoing up the steps.
That was exactly it. The mark on her arm. It was time to see if Tom's magic really worked.
Briar rolled up the sleeve of her jumper. She concentrated hard and moved her hand over the tattoo. She called for him. The ink moved around on her skin like it did the night he gave it to her. This was all she had, it had to work.
_____
Tom was woken by a pulsating sensation. He was damp and his body temperature was below freezing. He glanced around at his surroundings and discovered he still was in the Chamber of Secrets. He had created his first horcrux, he felt tired and weaker than usual but he also felt something he hadn't in a few days. Her. He could feel Briar reaching out to him, calling him to her. He knew he had to go.
"Riddle, you okay mate? You look like you spent the night in the sewer," Casper said as Tom approached the table.
"Because I did Rosier," he spat. "I know where Briar is. But it's not close. We have to leave now."
"Shouldn't we tell someone, like Dumbledore or Dippet?" Julian asked in a panic.
"Yes, because Dumbledore has been such a great help all year, hasn't he?" Casper scowled at him.
Casper and Julian stood from the table, ready to accompany Tom. "I've called for Malfoy and Lestrange. They'll meet us there," Tom said.
The trio walked down to Hogsmeade in a hurry. They were gone in a crack when their hands touched.
They arrived in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but mountains. "She's here. This is where she is, I felt it," Tom said, his fists clenched with anger.
"Relax Riddle, perhaps they're just...hidden," Casper said, taking out his wand. A light white wisp came from the tip of his wand. The air became foggy and thick. Julian held onto his boyfriends shoulder as the fog continued to build thicker and thicker. When the views of the mountains were completely covered by a glistening white fog, Casper broke his spell.
In front of them stood a high built tower. "Well done!" Julian shrieked out of excitement, proud face beaming.
"Quiet down would you!" Tom whispered with aggression. And then, a loud crack came from behind them. Abraxas and Gabriel.
"Hello," Gabe said loudly with a smirk.
"Would you shut it!" Tom hissed. Lestrange have an apologetic shrug as Tom continued to shake his head in disapproval.
"Rosier and Potter," Tom began, "you will stay out here. Keep watch and ready for a clean escape once we have her." The pair nodded. "Lestrange and Malfoy, you'll enter with me. Gabe will keep watch inside the halls and Abraxas will accompany me to retrieve Briar. Got it?"
"Oh of course, leave me to fend for myself. Everyone else gets a partner but I'm flying solo?" Lestrange complained.
"Stop being such a whiny brat," Abraxas elbowed his friend.
"Put your masks on, like we've practiced. No one can see our faces," Tom said, waving his wand over his face. A silver mask appeared with black skull detailing. When all three boys had been masked and cloaked, they headed off to find and entrance to the tower.
"How will we pass the time?" Casper asked Julian.
"I've got a few ideas," Julian smiled and their lips met.
_____
Everything was spinning. Briar could not get a grip on reality. Nothing felt real. She had grown so accustomed to the cold and damp atmosphere that it did not even bother her anymore, she just felt tired, exhausted, ready to give up.
She had called for Tom last night. Desperate and longingly, but it had been hours and there was still no sign of him. The threat of enchantment still loomed over her head. Grindelwald said they'd start her enchantments today. Was she truly ready to say goodbye to everything, or everyone she's ever known.
Briar hoped Tom would forgive her for being unable to stop Grindelwald. She should have been thinking of escape strategies but instead, all that entered her mind was him.
There was a dirty cup of water and a cold bowl of soup sitting beside her. She didn't touch them. Instead, she listened carefully to the footsteps as the passed her door. Trying to imagine the person the rhythm of each footsteps belonged to. Did they have a family? Were they old? Young? Kind? Cruel? Did they know she was even down here?
After a few moments of picturing the lives of others. She picked up the grimy cup of water, she pressed the rim of the cup to her mouth. As she was about to drink she heard something coming from the halls. A voice. "I'm the new...chef, oh yes, the food here's terrible, definitely could use an upgrade." It was Lestrange. Sounding as dim witted and charismatic as ever.
"Why is you wearing that stupid mask?" Briar heard one of Grindelwald's men ask.
"New protocols in the kitchen. Speaking of, you must come this way and take me to your kitchen." As she heard Gabe's footsteps travel further away from her, she began to feel as if her only hope was slipping away from her grasp. She wanted to yell, tell him to come back. But she didn't. Briar retreated away from the door, convincing herself she must have been imagining things.
There was a swift flick at the door. It creaked open slightly to reveal two tall figures standing in black cloaks and wearing funny masks. They were quite intimidating, Briar was scared for a moment, until she heard his voice. "You don't lose hope that quickly, do you darling?"
A hand swiped over the mask and it was gone. All Briar could see was Tom Riddle's beautiful fucking face.
He came for her. Just as he had promised so many times.