kneel | Tom Riddle

𝔢𝔭𝔦𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢

70| epilogue

Draco Malfoy held an enormous admiration and respect for his father. He had always been his role model during his eighteen years of life. But after the battle of Hogwarts, Lucius Malfoy finally became more attached to his son and even tried to involve him more in family matters. He started by giving him some of the family's old registries, which included old documents, books, and diaries.

The younger Malfoy found something truly precious in those old gifts. He found nine of his grandfather's diaries and he was interested enough to read all of them detailedly. Abraxas Malfoy had been considered one of the closest people to the Dark Lord. He wrote about his first day of school, his first ball at Hogwarts, and many other occasions. The strangest part of those registries was the presence of Tom Riddle, a brilliant boy admired by everyone.

Now Tom Riddle was an important character in his grandfather's life, but what Draco also found interesting was the constant description of a girl who seemed glued to the hip of Tom Riddle. The young wizard frowned at his grandfather's words. He wrote many times about Seraphina Vevrain with loving words, for she was Abraxas' best friend since a young age. However, he also wrote about how much Seraphina loved Tom Riddle. Apparently, she followed him everywhere he went and defended him when he did unspeakable things.

How could someone ever love Voldemort that way? How could Seraphina Vevrain, an apparently caring girl (Draco doubted it, but those were young Abraxas' words), cherish someone as evil and wicked as Lord Voldemort? He didn't understand and neither did Abraxas.

In most of Draco's grandfather's diaries, there were several mentions to Seraphina, but there was one particular diary that caught his attention. Its pages were mistreated and quite ruined, not due to decades that it had survived, but due to the many wet spots on the pages. The pages were ruined because his grandfather cried while he wrote. It was a weird vision, to imagine a Malfoy crying while journaling, but Abraxas must have been a sensible person.

In those old pages, tales of fury, sadness, and vengeance were written. Draco found its content more and more addicting as he kept reading, not believing someone could ever love Lord Voldemort the way Seraphina Vevrain did. It was obvious the girl had powerful feelings for him, but it was even more obvious Tom Riddle didn't return them, at least according to his grandfather's words.

But most of all, those words were heartbreaking.

"6th of august

Dear Seraphina,

There are so many things I wish I could tell you before you left us. I'm late and I don't know why I'm pretending I'm writing to you, but it makes me feel better if that's even possible.

It's been two weeks since I wrote my thoughts for the last time. Two weeks ago, I helped you steal from your parents. We had fun and I missed spending time with my best friend. But the next day you left me. You left me forever. I don't know what to do. You didn't deserve it. What should I do? My poor Phiny, taken from the world when she still had so much to live.

It's been two weeks since that day and yet I haven't recovered from the shock. In fact, it's like I'm getting worst and worst with time. I just wish this was all nightmare. It's hard to believe this is real. You are gone, buried under the ground. You will never talk to me anymore. I will never hear your laugh again. I will never see you again. How can the world be so cruel? Why couldn't you stay a little longer? I just want to wake up.

I'm tired. I haven't slept in days. I can't even write properly because in my head there are no organized thoughts. I just want you to come back. I want to hug you and tell you this is all over."