antebellum [t. riddle]

xiii.

november 1944

"where the hell have you been?" riddle's deadly calm voice caught rosier off guard as he walked through the door of the abandoned classroom they used for meetings. his brow furrowed.

"what? i walked-" he stopped after looking around the room and his eyes landed on lestrange. "how'd you get here before me?"

"mate you're the one who's late." lestrange shrugged.

"what? i left the same time i always do. you saw me leave before you."

"enough with the games, rosier," riddle leered. "i don't appreciate the tardiness, and this is the last time i'll ask. where. were. you?"

rosiers eyes looked across his friends faces for any hint of a laugh. fear started to creep up on him. riddle was volatile normally, but he could be downright malevolent when he was angry or thought he was being lied to. "are you all playing a joke on me?"

"legilimens," riddle wasted no time invading his friends mind. he didn't need to cast the spell to see into his friends mind, but something about knowing what was going to happen a split second before it did made all the difference. it was cruel and cunning, but riddle didn't care about any of that when he was angry. if rosier didn't want to tell him what had happened, he would find out for himself.

he was bitterly disappointed. he looked at rosier directly in the eyes and saw nothing out of the ordinary in his memory. he saw rosier look at the clock, and leave at the exact time he was supposed to. he saw him walk down the hallways and turn corners and arrive in this very room. riddle pulled out of his friends' mind and drew his wand and rosier flinched half way across the room. riddle only rolled his eyes at his friends reaction before casting a curse detection spell over his friend. the only magic he saw active on his body was a small trace of a barely lingering spell that had something to do with his brain. he arched his eyebrows and his friends just stared at him as he worked, not daring to make a sound.

"it's blank." he concluded. his anger clouded by his confusion.

"what?" the other four said in unison.

"it's blank. his memory, it's blank."

rosier raised his brow at his friend. "mate, i remember everything just fine. i know who you all are-"

"no, you idiot," he interrupted fiercely. "there's a gap in your memory. a blank spot."

"what like he was obliviated?" malfoy suggested but riddle shook his head, staring at a small table in thought.

"false visions replace memories. obliviation masks them. this though... it's like nothing was even there. it's completely blank. there's no curse signature for a memory charm either."

"what are you talking about? i remember everything. i left the common room at 11:40 and walked the way here." rosier fumbled, not seeming to understand. "i don't understand why it took so long."

"look. venite videte visionem." riddle sighed as he cast the projection charm over his friend.

all five of them were then able to see rosier from a third person point of view as a projection before them. they saw rosier leave the common room and the clock said 11:40, they saw him walking down the corridors, and then they saw a bright flash of white light for a few seconds, and then it went back to him stumbling then walking, but almost ten minutes had passed.

"i don't understand," nott finally spoke. nobody seemed to pay attention to him though, they were all lost in their own minds, searching for some kind of explanation.