Over 50 years ago...
"Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore!" she shouted. Her Slytherin tie was thrown over her shoulder as she made a mad dash across the corridor.
"Wha-" she panted, "Is it another attack?"
Dumbledore had turned around, frowning down at her, "Yes... it seems so. Fortunately, it seems you won't have to worry much longer... this being you're 7th year and all, however... It is quite a troublesome problem indeed."
The cot, carrying the corpse away, continued moving past them. It drifted farther and farther from them as she asked the wizard, "Who was it this time?"
"Myrtle Warren, I'm afraid... Another muggleborn."
"I see," she murmured worriedly, her eyes still looking towards the direction of where the corpse was being disposed of.
Dumbledore had a glint in his eye. It wasn't a sparkling, ingenious look however, more of determination, "It will be stopped soon, I believe..."
She clenched her fists over and over, how she usually would when thinking,
"Yes, I agree."
_
BANG!
"Tom!" she shrieked as she kicked the door to the 2nd floor girl's bathroom open, "What the bloody hell have you done!?"
Her eyes were watery, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Did you- did you kill someone?"
He swiveled around, no longer leaning over one of the porcelain sinks, "Estelle?" For a split second Estelle found triumph at his stunned face from her dramatic entrance, but it was quickly washed over with betrayal.
"Did you!?" she momentarily dug her arm into her robes, retrieving her wand from its holster.
"That's absurd!" he scoffed, though his grip on the edge of the sink seemed to tighten.
It was silent. Completely silent. Estelle's heavy breathing stopped. Her eyes narrowed.
There was a reason that friends had always called her 'A small dose of Veritaserum' and she was quite proud of such a talent.
His dark brown eyes clashed against her blue ones.
"You did..." she said slowly. Then the tears came back, "Merlin's beard, Tom!"
"It had to be done," he said softly, then louder, "It had to! For the sake of our cause!"
"What cause, Tom?" then through gritted teeth, "Do tell..."
"A cause for all wizards and witches! Mudbloods infest our streets, our Ministry, our schools, I shall be like - like holy water which cleanses the world! And we'd be at the top... don't you see?
Out of all people you should kno-"
"Murder is not justice, Tom! Don't you see?"
"I do! I see harsh choices which need to be made to better our world... To purify it! I am merely pledging my dedication to this world, proving myself better than my father!"
His tone was dangerously low, now, "You should too. That sorry excuse of a mother has tainted your family blo-"
She slapped him across the face.
It was silent again. Estelle paced the floor, her hands over her head as she clenched her hair tightly, desperately grasping onto it as she silently sobbed.
She froze, taking one last look at him with disgust, "You are not the Tom Riddle I have known. This is some sick disease... madness-"
"Is it?" he grinned slyly, "Why can't you see?"
She began to storm out of the room-
"Where are you going?"
"Far away from here!"
"Really? In that condition?"
Estelle stopped at the doorway, a trembling hand slowly resting on her stomach. With one hand leaning against the stone arch, she looked over her shoulder and gave him the most venomous glare she could possibly muster.
And he thought he had won. He was quickly proven wrong after seeing her face.
"I-" he began to stand up, shouting louder, "I'll find you! Believe me, I will!"
She was already gone.
_
Estelle was distraught. Betrayed. Alone.
She continued to sob as she walked along the Hogwarts' Express railroad tracks. She had to get out of there as soon as possible, even if that meant walking. It had been 20 minutes or so, and she was proud to say that the view of the Black Lake had vanished from sight.
Estelle had always enjoyed the trees. It seemed to be her sanctuary.
At this point of the tracks, if the train would be driven on them, the Hogwarts Express would have been weaving through the trees; thick pine trees taller than some of the towers even in Hogwarts.
That was when she grit her teeth, and faced the harsh reality.
As a Slytherin, she was always ambitious.
So, if being hidden from Tom Riddle for the rest of her days meant snapping her wand in half, and turning her back on the Wizarding World forever, she would gladly be obliged.
She never doubted herself since her wand hit the rubble, the leaves, and the earth floor.
It was broken in two.
________________________________________________________________________________
Estelle Jackson is Perseus Jackson's grandmother.
WORD COUNT: 800