I knew the moment I first kissed him, that he would condemn me, that I would drag myself through broken glass for him. I just was not sure if he would stay long enough to pull the jagged pieces out.
I never imagined that instead, he would push the...
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The wind bellowed hopelessly through the maze of trees, wailing vainly in a warning of what was to come. The sky that usually hung above like a secure blanket now felt more like a veil shadowing the sorrows of the long night ahead of us.
I pulled my robes tighter around me, not necessarily to shield myself from the cold, but to calm my racing heart that was ready to plummet out of my chest. The sound of shuffling feet behind me, a reminder that I was not alone in the eery forest, did little to settle my nerves. Despite going through the whole plan in my head so many times that I had lost count, I was still on edge.
I had never willingly performed blood magic in my life, and now I was headed to break a rule of the universe that I had once vowed never to do. What was even more shameful, was that I was doing it so Aevume would not be able to reach me. I was acting against an ancient entity, a protector of the universe. More importantly, I was going against the one person who kept me whole after my parent's death, the sole person who gave me solace in my darkest moments, the woman who treated me like her daughter for over a decade.
When I kept asking myself why I was proceeding with this, I could not come up with a coherent answer.
It was not for Tom. No. It was not for anyone but myself.
Perhaps I desired to be in control of my own fate. Perhaps I wished to be unburdened from the fate of the universe for a little while and take things at my own pace without being depleted of my magical energy. I knew I could lift the spell once I felt ready to return to my own timeline, but the thought of Estelliel being without me gnawed at my heart more than anything.
But Dumbledore was of no help. He was holding out on the cure because of my hesitant participation in his plans. So I had to take things into my own hands. With Tom's help, I would direct my energy into finding— or even creating the cure for her without being sidetracked and worrying about the world. The world could wait. Estel could not.
Tom was desperate for me to remain at his side, and even if he did not say it outright, there was a part of him, however big or small, that cared for me. I had finally accepted that his infatuation with me ran deeper than just using me as a power tool in order to achieve his goals. And he would do anything to keep me at his bay.
It was earlier that day when he and I were going over the whole thing, that I had expressed my biggest concern. He had been going over the runic formula, a little frown on his mouth and hair tousled from all the times he had run his hand through it. I had been staring at him, taking the sight of him in, in case something would go amiss.
"Tom?" I had uttered his name in a tone that was only a little above a whisper.
"Hm?"
He had not raised his eyes from the text in front of him, his humming the only acknowledgement he had heard me. At my lengthy silence, he had finally averted his gaze from the book and gave me an inquisitive look.
