Daisy Riddle and the Fallen Angel (Alternative, Harry Potter ff 7b)

Chapter 1 - Forgiven

Even though he was the most dangerous man I'd ever met, or even knew about, I knew that I would not die at his hand. Not tonight, at least. I'm not sure what made me so certain, but I knew it as he came into view.

Every eye was fixed upon Riddle, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over his wand. His wedding ring glinted in the light of the fire. He might have been praying, or else counting silently in his mind, and I, standing still on the edge of the scene, thought absurdly of a child counting in a game of hide-and-seek. Behind his head, swirling and coiling, the great snake Nagini floated in a glittering, charmed cage, like a monstrous halo.

When Yaxley and his friend rejoined the circle, Riddle looked up.

"No sign of her, my Lord." Yaxley said.

Riddle's expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew his wand between his long fingers.

"My Lord -"

Bellatrix had spoken; she sat closest to Riddle, dishevelled, her face a little bloody but otherwise unharmed.

Riddle raised his hand to silence her, and she did not speak another word, but eyed him in worshipful fascination.

"I thought she would come." Riddle said in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames. "I expected her to come."

Nobody spoke. They seemed as scared as me, whose heart was now throwing itself against my ribs as though determined to escape the body I intended to cast aside. My hands were sweating as I pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it beneath my robes, with my wand. I didn't want to be tempted to fight.

"I was, it seems... mistaken." Riddle said.

"You weren't, bitch."

I said it as loudly as I could, with all the force I could muster: I didn't want to sound afraid. I raised my head high as I stepped forward into the firelight. At that moment I felt that nobody mattered but Riddle. It was just the two of us.

The illusion was gone as soon as it had come. The giants roared as the Death Eaters rose together, and there were many cries, gasps, even laughter. Riddle had frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found me, and he stared as I moved toward him, with nothing but the fire between us.

Then two voices yelled:

"DAISY-FLOWER, NO, RUN!"

"DAISY! NO!"

I turned; I knew that Draco had shouted, but Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby. His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate.

"NO! NO! DAISY, WHAT'RE YEH -?"

"QUIET!" Rowle shouted, and with a flick of his wand, Draco and Hagrid were silenced.

Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Riddle to me, her chest heaving. The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Riddle's head.

I could feel my wand against my chest, but I made no attempt to draw it. I knew that the snake was too well protected, knew that if I managed to point my wand or my hands at Nagini, fifty curses would hit me first. And still, Riddle and I looked at each other, and now Riddle tilted his head a little to the side, considering me standing before him, and a singularly mirthless smile curled the attractive mouth.

"Well, my love." Riddle said, very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "Would you like, perhaps, to beg for your life? If you got on your knees now and pleaded for forgiveness, I might reconsider what I am going to do to you..."