The Girl from Azkaban ~ Tom Riddle (18+)

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊

~✧~

Taraphina Malfoy watched the beautiful summer landscape pass her eyes. Meadows, forests and rivers provided habitats for various animals that could be spied individually by Tara through the glass of her train compartment on the Hogwarts Express from time to time. Tara had drawn her legs up and was leaning huddled against her brother Abraxas.  Her body was still sore and exhausted since last night. Abraxas was very worried about his sister, for he knew exactly who had caused her such suffering. His mother, of course, was convinced by Tom's lie that Tara had caught a cold and was now very weak; but he was not. He knew what Tom was capable of, he had felt it first hand, but never he would have expected Tom to take advantage of his sister. Like him, Tom's other followers were very horrified by this. Abraxas felt weak because he could not stand up for his sister and protect her. But if he had protected her, it would be a mystery whether Tara and he would still be alive....

While they all knew it was only a matter of time before Tom put Tara in her place, as she often disrespected or disobeyed him, despite this they were surprised at the violence he must have used on her....

Tara rose from her seat. When she felt a questioning look from Abraxas on her, she replied meekly, "I'm just going to the bathroom."

Abraxas just nodded and watched his sister open the sliding door of the compartment and close it behind her.

Tara walked quickly, heading straight for the train's ladies' room. She opened the door and went to the sink with a large mirror hanging above it. She looked terrible. Her eyes dull and her lips chapped. The skin on her face was paler than usual, but it burned terribly, not as much as the previous evening, but still it hurted. Tara opened the tap and splashed some cool water on her face, which soothed her skin a little. She dried her wet skin with a towel and looked in the mirror again.

The door opened and a blonde haired Hufflepuff, unknown to Tara, entered the room.

"Woah, you look awful," she uttered instantly.

Tara just gasped. She knew how awful she looked, there was no need to tell her that....

The Hufflepuff smiled at her and pressed a small bottle of translucent liquid into her hand.

Tara looked at her questioningly, "What's this?".

"It'll help you so you won't be so tense," the girl explained with just a wink and then disappeared into one of the cubicles.

Tara furrowed her brow questioningly. She wondered what kind of liquid it was. Would it really help her not to be so tense anymore? Her whole body ached and she just didn't want to bear this pain any more....

Tara unscrewed the cap from the bottle and stared sceptically at the liquid for a moment. 'But what could happen?' she asked herself and tipped the liquid down her throat. She was really desperate. The liquid tasted a little bitter, but not at all bad.

She threw the small bottle into the bin, then returned to the compartment as inconspicuously as possible. Tom looked up from his book briefly as she re-entered the compartment. Tara quickly scurried back to Abraxas and huddled against him.

Tara was still frightened and had not dared to speak more than a few words to any of the boys. She just looked out the window and let the passing scenery calm her a little. She didn't know what to make of Tom now. It was like he had different personalities, sometimes so sweet and sometimes so brutal. She didn't understand where the sudden changes in his emotions came from, but it scared her more and more. Something in her liked the dominant side of Tom, but still there was something about him that she loathed. Sometimes she thought she could call her feelings for Tom love, but she also knew it was not real love. She herself didn't really know how to call such a desire...