"True pain is looking at someone you love in the eyes and they look away... it hurts"
-Anonymous
Flora looked at the man with pure hatred in her eyes. Tears threatened to fall as the icy wind attacked her exposed arms... it was unexpected. After all it was suppose to be a Summer Solstice.
"Take me back," Flora ordered, her brown eyes set on the time traveller in front of her. Andrei only raised an eyebrow in return. "Do it, take me back!" Flora shouted, her cheeks red.
"Why would I?" Andrei rhetorically asked, his figure moving to the splintered tree to the right. It once looked like a healthy tree, but was destroyed. She didn't know how it got ruined, but she didn't know she was the main cause. After all, it occurred on a trip to Hogsmeade where Tom Riddle was infuriated.
"Because I said so..." Flora trailed off, her fists tightening.
"He doesn't love you Flora Marie Nightingale, and you need to get that through your head."
"How would you know? He was changing," Flora opinionated.
"Of course he was changing... changing into a monster," Andrei cunningly pointed out.
"That's a lie!" Flora defended.
"It's not a lie. He made 2 more horcrux's than what was expected. He's killed two men since your presence and one of them was your father," Andrei tried to convince her.
"I forgave him though," Flora justified.
"He's been lying to you Flora. He's lied about everything," Andrei sighed.
"...and I've lied about a lot too," Flora reasoned.
"He's deluded you." Andrei stated. Flora started walking away at that comment, her mind set on getting back to Tom. Her feet stomped on the crisp green grass, as her arms swung defiantly side by side. "Where do you think you're going?" Andrei questioned angrily, his body swivelling around a tree to catch up.
"Going back obviou-LET GO!" Flora yelled, her voice echoing around the forest.
"Stop acting like a brat, I'm protecting you. Your Step-mother is protecting you!" Andrei snapped, his voice firm.
"Tom will protect me!" Flora shouted back, her wrist flinging from his right hand.
"Oh please... if he really cared then he wouldn't have plans of convincing you to do the same," Andrei huffed.
"What do you mean?" Flora questioned, her eyes diverting to his orbs. She shook her head quickly and started marching ahead again.
"Flora, I could see it coming..." Andrei replied, his body moving around the trees to follow her. Flora remembered about her wand, her fingers anxiously wanting to rip off her dress to get to it.
"It's not like I would agree to it," Flora mumbled back.
"Are you sure? I'm the one with the time-turner..." Andrei called out. Flora's feet stopped dead in its tracks, her frame swivelling around in a split second.
"Stop IT!" Flora proclaimed, her hands waving around in frustration at the time-traveller in front of her. She would never-ever do such a thing...
"How about you 'stop' acting like a brat and come with me. He's not getting better Flora, he's getting worse. You FAILED. Do you want to be a part of his plans, or do you want to help save the Wizarding World?" Andrei questioned.
"No... can't you send me back to the start of the year? I could try harder," Flora mumbled, her voice soft as tears threatened to fall for the third time that day.
"Flora," Andrei sighed, shaking his head in reply, his red hair following the movement of his head.
"Please," Flora begged. Andrei turned away from her, his back to her. He was racking his mind for a way to get her to come closer to him, so he could act and make her go back to 1998. He consciously felt his time-turner and a grim smile made its way to his features.
Andrei turned around, walking a couple steps towards Flora, before he grabbed onto his heart. He shuddered as he fell to the ground in a clump, his features portraying discomfort. Flora ran up to him quickly, curiosity and worry filling her stomach as she asked him what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Flora questioned worriedly.
"Time Travelling C-curse," he stuttered, his fingers reaching out for her arm. Before Flora knew it, her whole body felt the familiar whooshing sensation of being dragged into another time dimension. Flora sat there for a while, her head throbbing. She quietly let go of Andrei, her mind dangerous.
"Give it," Flora ordered, her voice low.
"No."
"GIVE IT TO ME!" Flora shrieked out in fury and wrath.
"NO!" Andrei shouted back. Flora screeched in reply, her fingers latching onto his robes in vengeance.
Her ferocity got the better of her, as she tried to latch her fingers on the time-turner around his neck. Andrei tried to pry her latched fingers off of him as they wrestled on the ground. Flora's viciousness dwindled down after a while, her body giving up as tears fell from her eyes. Before long she was a sobbing mess in a ball, her mind set on Tom Marvolo Riddle.
"You lied," Flora choked out.
"I actually didn't, I am suffering from Time-Travellers Curse. If we gave it a few more minutes it would've been the same thing," Andrei muttered quietly. Flora's brown red eyes met his and she gave him a glare, her sniffles filling the air. "It's true Flora. It takes a toll after you travel constantly through time. I'm dying, slowly, but surely." Andrei sighed. "You're alive though, and healthy. All I ask is for you to help the Wizarding World," Andrei hummed.
"Why? Is it because it's my fault?" Flora inaudibly murmured.
"No."
"How many months earlier is it?" Flora asked.
"2 months. It was in July, but now it's in May..." Andrei answered her.
"Are you going to help?" Flora questioned, her voice raspy.
"I can't. I'm literally running away from the Time-Travellers Curse," Andrei grimaced.
Flora nodded numbly in reply...