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𝖊𝖞𝖊𝖘 𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓
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3 January 1943
The new year had brought with it a change in the atmosphere at Hogwarts. The students returning from the holidays would find the castle to be colder and more dangerous, thanks to the efforts of one Tom Riddle. The last three days Elena helped him research his lineage, if making sure he wouldn't find anything relating to the Gaunts could be considered helping. As his frustration grew so did his ambition, and as he dived into why Slazar Slytherin had created the chamber, he began toying with the idea of unleashing the beast within it. His plans would've had to wait however, as their primary concern at the moment was Tojo Rin.
Elena fixed her gaze on the crowd getting off the train, trying to find Orion and Abraxas. The blonde girl rushed to her, pulling her into her signature hug, almost causing Elena to lose balance.
"Oh, Elena! I have so much to tell you!" The girl said excitedly, ignoring Elena's pleas to let her go.
"You know I'm not really a hugger-"
Orion finally let go, mumbling a 'sorry'. She looked around, spotting Abraxas behind them and started walking as if she was running from him. Elena could spot in the distance Rin joining the other Ravenclaws and she joined Orion in running to the nearest empty carriage. They sat down across a timid girl from Ravenclaw.
"Why didn't you wait for Rax?" Elena asked.
"Why didn't you wait for Rin?" Orion was impatient. As soon as the carriage started moving, she let out a deep breath and continued, "Rax and I had a fight."
"Why?" The two of them fought a lot, but never to the point of not talking.
"He... He told me not to tell you this..." Orion sighed, "He caught me eavesdropping on our parents and their guest. It was weird, the whole time I was home they wouldn't even let me out of my room."
"Who was the guest? You said it was a distant relative."
"It was Vivian Mortem, your mother."
Elena's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be. Her mother was last sighted in America with Grindelwald. If she was back here, could she have been the one who wrote the letter the last summer? "Why was she there?"
"I don't know. Abraxas came before I could hear anything else."
Her mother wasn't worth the two of them fighting. "Go and apologise to Abraxas."
"What?" Orion couldn't believe what the girl was saying. "He's the one who's keeping secrets, not me."
"He's trying to protect you." Elena sighed, "I don't care about my mother, you don't have to push him to tell you the truth."
"Are you sure?" Orion was still uncertain. Elena nodded.
"Let's change the subject." Elena's gaze wandered around searching for something to talk about before landing on the Ravenclaw girl.
Orion had also had the same idea. "Hey, I'm Orion Malfoy, and this is Elena-"
"Mortem." The girl said with a shaky voice. "The Slytherin prefect."
Orion's attempts at calming the scared girl with her smile were failing. "Yes. What's your name?"
"Myr- Myrtle Warren."
•❅────✧❅✦❅✧────❅•
Classes weren't to start until the morrow and Elena had spent the rest of the day helping Orion unpack. Today wasn't simply the return of the students however, it was the day her and Tom would carry out their plan. As Elena descended the stairs of the dormitory, she could see Tom sat next to the fireplace, reading the book they had found about the four founders. He stood up when he realised Elena was the one approaching, a sly smirk playing on his lips.
"Are you ready?"
Elena nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."
"I will be there if anything goes wrong." Tom looked her up and down, his eyes proudly resting on her necklace.
"Do you think he will notice?"
"He will." Tom closed his book shut, turning to the fireplace. "You go ahead, I will be close behind."
Without another word, Elena left for the Great Hall. There was comfort in knowing that Tom Riddle was on her side, if she had feared him at one point in her life, other people would too. When she arrived at the gates of the Great Hall she took a deep breath, directing her gaze to the Ravenclaw table, where Rin was already sat. She put on a smile, running to his side.
"You're back!" Elena sat down next to him, pushing him a little.
"Someone's in a good mood," Rin smiled, "Everything alright?"
"Yes. I've been working on my spell. How was the orphanage? Be honest, have they missed me?"
"Everyone asked about you," Rin joked.
Elena hated this. It was as if nothing was wrong, it was how they were before the winter break. This was normal, the normal Elena had gotten used to. She tried not to let her disgust show.
"What happened to your necklace?" Rin asked, his brows knit.
"Oh, the chain broke. I am going to get it repaired soon."
"Why don't you do it with magic?"
Touché. "I don't want it repaired perfectly. I want to see where it broke."
Rin raised an eyebrow, deciding to let it go. "Did you find anything else? About the Hallows?"
The Hallows... Elena tried so hard not to roll her eyes. "No. Do you want to go out? Like now? I am a prefect, we won't get caught. I want to show you what I've been working on."
"Alright," Rin said hesitantly.
Elena half-dragged Rin out of the castle and onto the path that would lead them to where the Knights of Walpurgis had been meeting up in the Forbidden Forest. She felt the safest knowing that only the three of them would be there, if Tom would keep his word that is. She talked about random stuff on the way, about old Christmas celebrations and rambled on about her new spell. When they made it to the clearing in the woods, Elena decided to try reading his mind one more time.
Nothing.
When she turned to Rin, his smile had faded. The unfamiliar look in his eyes made Elena shiver. It was cold, colder than she had ever felt with him.
"What are you trying to do Elena?" Rin spoke coldly. "Do you think I can't tell?"
"What are you hiding?" Elena managed to say. "Why are you lying to me?"
"I'm not lying." Rin said, grabbing her arm and squeezing it. "Stop trying to get into my mind."
"Rin... You're hurting me." Elena spat on his face, pulling back her arm. Rin wasn't going to tell her anything. She needed to distract him somehow, break down the walls of his mind.
Without thinking a second more, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She grabbed his tie, pulling him to her, smashing their lips together. Before Rin could comprehend what she was doing, Elena focused all her attention into entering his mind. This time she succeeded. Rin's memories came flooding to the surface.
The late summer breeze hit Elena's face as she found herself back in the orphanage's garden. It was earlier in the day, the sun had just set. Rin walked around, as if he was looking for something or someone. When the caretaker entered the garden he rushed to him, his wand ready at hand. Elena could hear him whisper 'imperio'.
After the sun set, she saw herself entering the garden. The caretaker left Rin's side following after her. She saw the man corner her, the night she remembered all too well played out in front of her. She saw herself try to reach for the shovel, the man noticing and pulling at her hair. That was when Rin rushed to her aid and hit the man in the head.
The setting shifted into a dark room where Rin was pacing anxiously. The man she had seen in Hogsmeade entered the room, slapping him across the face.
"Are you mad? What were you thinking taking her to that rally?"
"I thought you wanted me to teach her about our mission! You said it was Grindelwald himself-"
"That doesn't mean you can endanger her like that!" The man spat, making Elena shiver. "You knew Vivian would be there. I already covered up what happened in the orphanage! If you make one more mistake I can't protect you!"
"I understand." Rin looked down. "She trusts me. She'll be suspicious if anything happens to me."
"You can't possibly be naïve enough to believe that a Mortem would care about someone like you. Now go before I make you return to the battlefield at home."
"Get out of my mind!" Rin shouted, pushing Elena off of him and drawing his wand.
A voice from the dark shouted 'Expelliarmus!' and Rin's wand flew out of his hand. Tom ran out into the clearing, punching Rin to the ground.
Elena was about to faint, it hadn't been easy mustering up the focus to fight his mind. Tom helped her stand, his wand pointed at the boy. She couldn't even really process what she had seen. Vivian... her mother was there. She was the one who had warned her. At the orphanage... The caretaker was spelled.
"It was you!" She cried out. "You made that man attack me! You tricked me!"
"I had to." Rin said between his teeth. His gaze shifted over to Tom, his eyes burning with hatred. "Do you think he's any better?"
"Stop it Rin." Elena was holding onto Tom for dear life. She took out her wand, shooting curses left and right, none of them hitting the boy. She took a deep breath, "Don't cross my path ever again. If you do, I promise you, I won't miss." She felt anger burning in her, but she was too weak to duel. She could feel her heart break, in her chest, leaving a cold emptiness behind. "Tom, I want to go."
Tom complied, accompanying the girl away from the scene. Elena couldn't bring herself to look back. How could she have been so naïve? Of course it was all a game, a game to get her closer to Grindelwald and his ideals. The question still left unanswered was why. Why was Rin the one to do it?
As they walked in silence towards the castle everything started to fall into place in Elena's mind. Since the first day they had met Rin had only had one plan. He had gained her trust and introduced her to the fight for the greater good. He had taught her about the Deathly Hallows and had helped her with Grindelwald's task. Betrayal would be an understatement for what Rin had done.
•❅────✧❅✦❅✧────❅•
4 January 1943
Elena hadn't slept, she hadn't even closed her eyes in fear of meeting Grindelwald again. She had had enough time to think, to process everything she had seen. She had so many questions, but one thing was certain. She couldn't deal with Grindelwald alone and so she waited impatiently for the sun to rise and headed to Dumbledore's office.
She hesitantly knocked on the door of the Transfiguration classroom, it was early and Dumbledore could still be at breakfast. When she heard his voice from the inside, she opened the door. The professor was there arranging his books.
"Elena, what a surprise. I don't think I have class with you today."
"No, sir. I wanted to talk to you about something else." Elena took a deep breath. "I need your help."
"What do you need help with?"
"It's about Rin... He works for-"
"He works for Grindelwald," the professor interrupted her. "Were you also going to tell me that Grindelwald has tasked you with finding the Hallows? I am disappointed Elena."
Elena couldn't say a word. She froze in place as the man before her changed shape and morphed into the man she had been running from. Grindelwald stood in front of her, the clearest she had ever seen him. She could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "This can't be real. You can't be here."
"I am not in Hogwarts," said Grindelwald, "I am in your head. Now Elena... Why did you decide to betray me all of a sudden?"
"Do you not know what Rin has done? Didn't you task him with it?" Elena's voice was shaking. "He made a man assault me to get close to me!"
"What did he do?" His eyes glimmered with rage and his voice echoed in the empty classroom. "I will take care of him. But I am warning you, I will let this go for once, and only once. If you ever step out of line again I will find you. I will find you and do much worse than kill you. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Elena could barely speak.
"Don't make me regret trusting you and don't believe Albus can protect you. After all, he couldn't even protect his sister."
Elena opened her eyes. She was on the floor, with tears rolling down her eyes. She didn't understand how he had done this. Why was her mind so vulnerable to him? After all those years of training, why couldn't she protect her mind while awake? She knew now that talking to Dumbledore wouldn't save her. She needed to keep going, but she didn't know how. She didn't feel safe, even with eyes open.