Death's Daughter || Tom Riddle

Changes | 9

She paced the seventh floor in circles waiting for the dark-haired boy to appear. To her pleasure, the boy turned up early and led her to a black wall. She watched him pace around the wall in circles three times and a door appeared. Riddle opened the door and gestured for her to go in first. She hesitated, thinking of all the alternatives he could possibly do to her inside a hidden room no one could find. "I'm not going to do anything awful to you in there if that's what you're thinking." She pondered on his words and decided to trust him just this time and entered the room. There was an audible sound of a click meaning he had shut the door.

The room was large but not that large. It was enough to fit four elephants maybe. There was a warm fireplace crackling with two armchairs and couches facing the fire, and a wooden table with a few books scattered and piled on it.

Riddle walked over to one of the armchairs and sat down, motioning for her to do the same. She took an armchair opposite of him and waited for him to start. "I've decided I don't want the Resurrection stone and the Invisibility cloak anymore. I want the Elder Wand." He started, getting to the point immediately. "I told you, the wand is with Grindelwald. Unless you've revised a plan to steal it from him?" She questioned back. "Your father is Death, can't he make another one?" Silence. And more silence. Nyx stared at him wide-eyed. How did he know who her father was? She's never let slip of it to anyone. Not even her best friend, Caelum.

"How do you know-?"

"It doesn't matter how I know of your father. Just answer the question."

"I find it to be important to know how you knew. You're not supposed to know."

"Just answer my question and I'll answer yours."

She wondered if it was just a fluke. If he wasn't sure if her father was Death himself and she had just confirmed his theory. No. He knew or else he wouldn't be so confident in declaring it.

"If I meet him then maybe I could ask him to make one." But she quickly added, "But there haven't been any deaths going on so I can't really communicate with him." It could have been the fire giving an illusion to his eyes but she could've sworn that something flickered in those cold brown eyes of his. Whatever it was, she didn't really like it. She thought she heard a sound saying 'that could be arranged' but it must've been her imagination. "Surely, you're not thinking of something illegal?" His eyes flickered again but were quickly replaced by his usual cold and emotionless eyes. "Of course not. You think so lowly of me." It was a convincing tone but she felt like he was lying. "Anyways, you haven't told me about how you found my real heritage." She said trying to change the subject.

"I first noticed the necklace you wore," his eyes darted to the visible silver chain hanging around her neck but the symbol was hidden underneath her shirt, and quickly drew his eyes back to meet her onyx ones.

"The color of your eyes seem soulless, dark, and are black,"

"And yours are not?"

"Mines are dark brown, Raven." She raised her brows at the nickname but didn't question it further.

"Your hair is as black as the night sky and you're as pale as a sheet of paper, you're obsessed with Death, Omens, black cats, and ravens. It's hard to ignore the signs."

He had a point there, she must admit but the thought of him knowing so much about her already unsettled her.

"You know so much about me, tell me about yourself." It was a demand and she left no space for him to argue.

"Maybe another time."

With that, he got up and opened the door for her to leave. It was hard at first, she had gotten comfortable in the chair and didn't want to leave but leaving Riddle's presence was tempting so she did that in the end.

It was well past curfew now and she knew, that if she got caught, she'd be sent to detention and that was on her 'not to do' list. It didn't help that her footsteps were making sounds when she took each step towards the common room but the shadows gave her a place to hide her form.

Nothing eventful happened on her way to the common room unless you count the encounter with an albino moth she found while walking. It was when she reached the common room had she realized how cold the outside was. The room was warm with the fire burning and the calm sound of the fire constantly crackling. She walked up the stairs to her dormitory trying to keep as quiet as she could. She succeeded in changing into her dark nightgown and crawled into her warm and cozy bed before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

~——————————————~

A scream awoke her from a nice good resting sleep. She was grumpy about being woken up but curiosity won over anger. She looked over to see one of her roommates sitting straight up with sweat covering her face whilst her other roommate was rushing over to check on her friend. The girl who was sweating suddenly broke into tears. Ugly large tear drops poured down her face whilst the other girl hugged her tight and gave her reassuring and comforting words, trying to cheer her up. It didn't seem to be working though, because the girl continuously cried and cried it was like watching a waterfall pour out of her glossy eyes.

Now that her curiosity was fed, her anger seeped back. She was tempted to throw the pillow she was clutching at the two girls and start complaining but decided against it. Abigail Feather, the girl crying, she had just remembered her name, was in no shape to shout back at her if she shouted at her and perhaps it would make the girl continue weeping, causing her to get even more mad and probably do something bad. She let Feather finish her crying until it was reduced to only hiccups and sobs. She turned to the alarm clock set on the nightstand and read 04:26 am. There was still time to continue sleeping so she went back to bed, hoping she wouldn't be awakened again.

~——————————————~

She was sitting alone under a tree near the Black Lake when a shadow caught her attention. The shadow moved towards her and finally, it stopped in front of her. Hunter Grooves sat next to her and stretched out his legs and used his arms to support his body. "Hi," he said to her. For some reason, ever since the crying encounter with him, she had softened up towards him and didn't seem to be annoyed with his presence at all. "Hey." She greeted him back and gave him a smile she hoped reached her eyes.

They sat in silence and listened to the breeze and the sound of the rippling water. There was no awkwardness in the air, no tension, and most importantly, just two friends sitting together peacefully. She wished the silence to last longer but Hunter broke it. "Have you ever felt out of place?" The question left his lips before he could even process what he was saying. Perhaps it was too early in their friendship to be asking her personal questions but she answered him nevertheless. "A few times but I stay strong. I feel stronger as a loner." She watched him nod his head in understanding. "But I don't. I'm not built to be alone. I'm built to socialize. But no one likes me, I only have my pet owl, Harvard, to speak to. He can't even talk back! How pathetic I am." He shook his head in defeat. "You're not alone. You have me." She gave him a reassuring smile and he smiled back. His soft hazel eyes were warm, completely the opposite of her onyx ones.

It was funny. He was able to change her into a softer character whilst she was able to change him into a more confident character.

He was bringing the small amount of light out of her and she was bringing out the hidden armor he hid.

He was changing her for the better, and she was helping him change for the better too.

He didn't know it, and neither did she, but this friendship was going to help her redeem the monster that sought power and immortality.