Seven Devils ★ T.M.R ★

Epilogue

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EPILOGUE
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Marina gripped Tom's hand a little tighter. "Alright," she said firmly, "do it."

Tom nodded and his eyes slid from her face to the huge, circular door before them. Parseltongue slipped from his lips and Marina watched wide-eyed as the stone snake slowly encircled the edge of the door, sliding out of view again as it swung open with a metallic moan.

"Are you sure about this?" Tom asked quietly.

Marina nodded. "I want to see it."

He gave a small, slightly tense sigh and stepped forward, pulling her with him as they passed through the door and into the huge chamber within. It immediately defied her expectations.

The Chamber of Secrets was cavernous and dim, their footsteps echoing across the huge stone serpents lining the walls as they walked deeper, water pooling everywhere and at the far end loomed a face she recognised without knowing.

Marina stared up at Salazar Slytherin, blank-faced and impassive. She wondered what he'd think if he knew that there was a Muggle in his precious Chamber. If he knew his Heir was at that very moment, holding hands with said Muggle, his eyes trained intently on her face looking about as close to nervous as Tom was capable of getting.

"So this is where you did it," Marina said quietly, looking around. "This is where you tore your soul out."

Tom nodded slowly, expression very guarded.

Marina hummed thoughtfully. "Strange," she murmured, "to think of you doing that to yourself."

"I was not who I am now," he said, muted and reserved.

Marina met his eyes. "Why are you so worried?" she asked curiously, stepping towards him and absently placing her hands on his chest. "I already knew about all this, it's not like I'm going to scarper now that I've seen your dumb secret chamber."

A smile broke on Tom's face and he huffed a laugh as his eyes dropped to the damp floor between them. "Your way with words is truly unparalleled," he said very dryly, glancing back up at her.

Marina smiled too and leaned closer, coming up on the balls of her feet. Tom's arms immediately wrapped around her and he met her lips softly, dizziness engulfing her as she breathed slowly, every thought consumed by the feeling of him against her. She pulled back a little to look at him, and Tom's hand lifted to brush her hair back. "I thought it might make it more real to you," he said quietly, "seeing where I did it."

"That's why I wanted to see it," she said calmly.

Tom frowned, looking around the Chamber too, his arm still tightly holding her and his hand cupping her cheek. "It's strange to be here again," he said, tone suspiciously even, "though I suppose really, very little has changed."

"Are you joking?" Marina deadpanned.

"I still only have part of a soul," he said colourlessly, not looking at her. "My fate is quite unchanged from when I was last here."

She exhaled hard and let her forehead fall against his chest. That fact had not escaped her, but it seemed too exhausting to consider after the scale of their victory mere hours beforehand.

"Marina," Tom said quietly, "I... have something to tell you."

She lifted her head, frowning at him. "What?"

"Dumbledore was not entirely honest with you," he began carefully.

Marina snorted. "No shit."

"About how you came to be here."