Moonlight caught in the strands of her hair as she slept, her body rising and falling evenly as she was curled up in the sand.
Tom sat holding the elderwand, watching her and trying not to let his mind go back to earlier. How could he be so stupid? Never in a million years did he think those words would have left his mouth. But in a mangled mess of blood and adrenaline, she had been standing in front of him looking so— just her. It felt like, in that brief moment, like they were hurtling through space. Just the two of them.
Like the world had dropped from beneath their feet and there they stood. Surrounded by nothing but stars and each other's company and the words had come rushing from his throat in an instant- like if he didn't say them then he would choke on what little oxygen was left.
He sighed, dropping his head into his hands and the wood from the wand pressed into his forehead. The thrum of magic low and nearly soothing, yet equal parts electrifying. One thing he was having trouble grasping was her reaction. Now, Tom was no romantic, but the last thing he was expecting to see in her eyes was horror.
She looked so frightened.
Tom looked at her again, even though she was asleep, exhaustion still clung to her features. Did she not believe him?
Did he believe himself?
He threw his head back, annoyed. Nothing felt real at the moment. His world had completely turned on its axis when he met her. Originally, he was supposed to be in London right now, getting a job at Borgin and Burke's. Hunting down more artifacts to potentially use. He was supposed to be creating more horcruxes.
He was supposed to not be caring about anyone but himself. And oh how much easier that would all be.
A glint of light then caught his eye, and in the distance he saw the door to the house opening for a brief moment before closing. The form that had exited moving briskly.
Tom sat up a bit, eyes narrowing in an attempt to see a bit better in the dark. The moonlight only gave so much away as clouds passed under it.
Once he realized who it was, he saw red for a moment before having to reel himself back to where he sat.
Aleksander had snuck out of the house.
Tom stood, watching the boy weave himself through the tall beach grass carefully. Though he didn't seem like he was in a rush. He wasn't running. More so it looked like he was going to something. Tom's eyes tracked ahead and his stomach sank a little bit.
Elio's grave.
His jaw clenched and he looked down at Delilah, who he hoped was dreaming of happier times. Before all this shit blew up in their face. Lingering one last glance on her, his grip tightened on the elderwand and he began walking. His shoes sank into the sand making his steps uneven. He hated sand. Nonetheless he was careful, feeling like he was stalking prey as he watched Aleksander come to a stop a few yards away.
Once he was close enough, Tom crouched a bit so he wouldn't be seen so easily. Watching Aleksander from a shorter distance, but his own eyes trailed down to the headstone in the sand for a brief moment. All that was written on it was Elio. The group made the collective decision not to add his last name. Given his own kin had killed him.
Tom looked back at Aleksander, who had an unreadable expression on his face as he stared at the grave. He looked gaunt, had lost weight, and scars littered his body. Familiar scars only a certain curse could leave. One only a blonde girl knew.
He couldn't help the small smile that tugged a bit at his lips before he snapped out of it.
The boy wasn't allowed to mourn him. Then again, Tom didn't feel he had that right either.
After a few moments of silence, Aleksander sighed. Eyes not wavering. "I know you're there."
Jaw ticking, Tom debated on moving. Maybe it was a farce? Maybe he was just paranoid.
"Riddle, enough with this." He sounded exhausted.
Tom stood slowly, making his way out of the grass and into the opening where the grave was. Their eyes met and there was nothing in Aleksander's eyes but regret. Walking closer, Tom came to stand beside him, both silent for a little while.
"Why are you still here?" He asked, his whole body feeling heavy. Aleksander could've ran at any point, far away from the house full of people who hated him.
He shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. "What would be the point? I stay here and get murdered in my sleep? I go into hiding for the rest of my life always looking over my shoulder? I turn myself into the ministry and face hell in Azkaban? Grindelwald finds me and kills me? There are no options."
Tom looked at him then, his face hard and full of jagged edges as he glared at him. "And whose fault is that, Eques?"
Aleksander flinched, still not looking at him. "I have no future left. I know that. I fucked up. In an extremely horrible way with life long consequences."
Tom hummed, thinking for a moment. "Why Grindelwald? What could he have possibly offered you?"
His jaw clenched for a moment, eyes flickering back and forth over Elio's name. His voice was a whisper when he spoke, "everything." His head then dipped and he rubbed his eyes, "what I thought had been everything."
Tom thought to the future as he looked at Aleksander. What did Voldemort offer his followers? Hell, what did he offer the people who follow him now? Or then. Were they still his followers?
"What changed?"
He laughed, finally looking at Tom. "It's the same as any story, mate. A girl."
Tom's brows furrowed, "Olive?"
"I know you two used to— well I supposed that doesn't matter now that you have Delilah but. Yeah, Olive."
Tom struggled to see how that would change anything but Aleksander started to laugh again, looking at Tom like he was the slowest person in the world.
"It happened to you too, you know. A girl. The right one comes along, wreaks havoc on your life and turns everything you thought you knew right on its head— and it feels like you can breathe for the first time. Only just realizing you've been suffocating your entire life. I can tell. You're different from how you used to be. I knew the moment I saw you look at her at the ball. Tom Riddle was screwed."
Tom searched his face, trying to figure out if this was some sort of trick to garner just an ounce of sympathy that didn't exist. But no, Aleksander had nothing left and he meant every word he had said.
Could it have been true, even then? He had despised Delilah at that point, finding her presence a nuisance because, well, because he couldn't seem to get his thoughts in order. She was infuriating, acted like she always knew better than him, was dreadful at dancing, and he could never get her out of his head. His organized thoughts went up into flames the moment his eyes landed on her.
He thought back to the ball, and how she had looked walking down those steps in her dress with her wild hair all done up. He wished she wore it freely, liking the untamed mess of it more but she had still looked— she had looked beautiful. Tom just never allowed the word to take form then.
He remembered them being out in the snow, how she looked twirling as flecks fell in her hair and landed on her lashes. And how she had given him his gift, the cigarette box currently in his jacket pocket suddenly feeling warm against him at the memory.
"That's the look," Aleksander muttered and it brought Tom out of his head, blinking away his thoughts of the girl currently asleep a few yards away from them.
Aleksander then pulled something from his own jacket pocket, the air falling even heavier on their shoulders as Tom caught the glint of a blade. "There's nothing left for me."
Disgust pooled in his chest as he watched Aleksander offer him the dagger. "Do it. I'm dead anyway."
Tom began to step back. Why should Aleksander get a say when he dies when Elio didn't? No matter how much he wanted to kill him. "Do it yourself, you coward."
Then he turned his back, not missing the panic that took hold of Aleksander's face. He couldn't do it himself.
"I'm the coward?" He yelled, though his words were an obvious plea in disguise. "What about you, huh? What the hell did you do? You dragged all of them there knowing the risk. Every second you're with her, you're putting her at risk. Elio is dead because—"
Aleksander was then yanked forward by the collar of his shirt as Tom turned back around, his eyes suddenly alight with a calm fury.
"He's dead because of you."
Aleksander looked at him with a deadpan expression, "we both know that's not the whole truth." He searched Tom's eyes for a moment before seeming to find what he needed. "Maybe I was wrong." Another breath. "He's dead because of her." The blade glinted. "And she dies because of you."
The blade seemed to drop into Tom's free hand, his mind going blank as it cut through the space in front of him. More blood spattering on his face, joining Bellatrix's from earlier. There was a heavy sound that hit the sand, as well as gurgling and Tom's black eyes trailed down to see Aleksander grasping at his slit throat.
"No," Tom said, his voice like ice. "You die because of me. Never her."
Aleksander went still, blood seeping into sand beneath him.
They watched as their past selves left, Delilah stealing a few glances at him as they waited. Did he have even more blood on him? She was too exhausted to ask and she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know.
"Come on," Tom said after he deemed they were in the clear and set off towards the house.
They stopped in front of the door, looking at each other for a moment before Tom took the lead and opened it.
Pyrrhus blinked at them as they walked in the kitchen, his mouth frozen open as he was about to bite into a sandwich. His eyes taking in how they were covered in blood, "blimey, that was quick."
Delilah couldn't help it as she ran towards him, tackling him in a hug and they fell back off the chair, landing in a heap on the floor. "Merlin, Delilah—"
"Gods I missed you!" She exclaimed, not at all feeling bad for the bruises she probably just gave him.
"It's been five minutes," he laughed, hugging her tight and not at all caring she was covered in blood and sand. Completely ignoring the glare Tom was sending his way.
"It's been months, actually." Tom said, leaning against the counter as he watched them sit up. Truth be told, he supposed he was appreciative of being in Pyrrhus' company again. The familiarity of it was a comfort.
Pyrrhus furrowed his brows as he looked back at Delilah, "what happened?"
After getting everyone in the kitchen, Delilah hugged each of them— sending Lolita and Olive to the floor in a tackle as well— and they laid everything out that had happened.
"And what about the Hallows?" Abraxas asked, looking between the two. It was clear they had been through a lot, not by the sight of them. It could just be felt.
Delilah looked at Tom, and he sighed for a moment before setting the wand on the table. "The elderwand." He then took his ring off, setting it next to the wand and everyone's eyes widened. "The resurrection stone."
"And we know where to get the invisibility cloak," Delilah added, gnawing at her bottom lip as she observed the two items on the table.
"One issue though, Grindelwald is a Seer. So we need to somehow be unpredictable. Be two-faced in every action henceforth."
"Well that's not going to get complicated," Cain grumbled. Though he was glad to see them in one piece, there was still a lot of work to be done.
Aurora then ran into the room, a bit out of breath as she looked at everyone, "Aleksander is missing."
Panic only rose in the room for a moment before Tom's voice rang out like a bell, making everyone fall silent.
"It's been handled."
Olive whipped around, staring at him for a moment and every possible emotion appeared on her face in a second before she went still. Tom met her eyes, and as he thought about it, he could tell how much she's grown. She had changed. All of them had.
Her voice was steady but quiet, "did he suffer?"
Tom bit his cheek, watching the girl he had known for eight years fight a battle of grief behind her eyes.
"Not as much as I would've liked."
They stared at each other a moment longer before she nodded once, going back to her tea and Pyrrhus slung an arm over her shoulder. She closed her eyes at the contact and the chaos inside her seemed to finally become still.
Exhausted, Tom went back to their room after a whole day of catching up. Brief plans were discussed, but they needed a bit more time to work out the intricate details that had to be laid.
Walking in, Delilah was curled up on the bed reading a book. Her bottom lip was drawn between her teeth and he watched how her eyes flicked over the ink.
"What are you reading?" He asked as he began to shrug off his shirt. Though he had cleaned his face and hands, his shirt was still stained crimson as it fell into a bundle on the floor.
"Nothing you'd waste time on," she hummed, flipping a page.
"Ah," he said. "Romance, then."
Delilah rolled her eyes but there was a small smile on her face. Good. That's all he needed.
Walking to the bed, he positioned himself on the empty side and continued to watch as she read. Though as time passed, it was obvious she wasn't taking in a single word it said and was trying not to notice him.
Tom bit his cheek, thinking about those three stupid words. "Are you going back?"
Delilah went still, finally looking at him and her eyes glowed in the candlelight. "I don't know."
"Do you want to go back?" He rephrased.
Shutting the book, Delilah allowed herself to finally think about it. Of what he had admitted earlier. The omission seemed so.. outlandish. Her body and mind didn't know how to handle it.
Truth be told, maybe she went into shock? Delilah had never actually expected him to ever say it to her. And she had been okay with that. But now after hearing it, seeing how he looked when he told her— she wanted to hear it every second for the rest of her life but knowing him.. would he ever say it again?
"Please answer me," his voice was soft and she shut her eyes.
She needed him to say it again, but on his own accord.
Her choice had been made months ago. "I want to be by your side, Tom." She opened her eyes again, watching how his brown ones studied her and the warmth held in them as he did so. "Wherever you are. I want to be with you."
Coming closer, she rested her forehead against his, smelling the fresh tobacco on his breath and how warm he was. "But I can't have you being afraid of me anymore."
His brows creased and his hands wrapped around her wrists, her hands holding his face in their cool touch.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"No that's not—" she let out a breath, frustrated that she couldn't find the right words. "I thought I could settle for what it was. What it had been. But now after,
.. after what you said I need more. I need everything. I don't think I'll be able to breathe any longer if you never say those words to me again."
"Delilah I.." he took a moment, trying to get his thoughts in order but everything felt fuzzy with her so close to him. "This is new territory for me." His hand moved from her wrist to her jaw, running his thumb along the edge. "But I'm mapping it out, I'm trying. I promise. I am."
Their eyes met, and like before, the world fell away. She was his existence. What he breathed. What made his heart work in his chest.
"I'm not afraid. Not anymore."