Tom Riddle - Downfall

Chapter 58: Horcrux

Tom approaches my bed and takes my hand. He strokes my head. "Hey Tom," I say softly. Tom looks down at me, looking a bit relieved to hear my voice again. He smiles gently as he strokes my hair, and he says gently: "Hey, love. How are you feeling right now?"
"Shitty, but better now that you're here. The nurse said I was poisoned ... Can you believe it?" Tom's face darkens and he says "I swear to you, no matter who did this, I'll find him and kill him for what he did to you" I shake my head and tears run down my face.
"No, it's not worth it. I'll make it okay? I can't leave you alone. " Tom looks down at me, and his expression immediately softens as I try to prevent him from doing anything irrational. He wipes away my tears with his hand, and he kisses me on the forehead. His tone becomes more gentle as he answers me back: "I can't just let it go, dear. I know you're going to be okay, but the person responsible for this can't get away with this. I will make sure of it. You must promise me that you'll leave this to me..?" I nod and kiss his hand."I can't stop you anyway" and laugh lightly."Will you stay with me tonight?" Tom smiles slightly as his hand is being kissed by me. He nods his head when I ask him to stay with me for the night, and he looks directly at me.
"Of course, I will. I'll stay by your side all night, dear." and he did.

Tom stayed with me all night, and we talked. Then he fell asleep with his head on the bed in the chair. In the morning, he wakes up in a panic and wakes me up to see if I'm still breathing. Tom jolts back awake when he realizes he dozed off. He looks at me frantically for a moment when he checks to see if I'm breathing. Thank God, I'm safe and breathing strongly. He gently touches my hand, and he's relieved when he notices that I'm still alive. He sighs in relief, and he whispers softly while stroking my hair:
"You're still alive... you're okay..."
"Of course I am. Without me, you'll only get yourself into trouble. " I laugh, and Tom starts laughing with relief, too. The sound of me laughing softly seems to warm Tom's heart, and he couldn't resist laughing along with me. For a moment, there seems to be a brief wave of happiness, and he smiles at my comment. "True...without you around, I would just go into some type of madness," He jokes back, and then he strokes my hair once again. "I should probably worry about that." I kiss his hand, and he strokes my head. "Maybe you should," He says with a smile. "Because now that you're awake and you seem to be feeling a lot better now, I'm going to ask you something serious. And I want you to answer me honestly."
"Can't avoid you, ask," I say, still smiling
Tom takes a deep breath, and he looks at me directly in the eyes.
"I just want to know exactly what happened right before you started to feel unwell. How did you get poisoned? Who could have done this to you? Can you remember anything before you started to have a fever?"
"Tom, let it go for now. I don't want to think about it. " Tom pauses for a moment when I tell him to drop the subject for now. He looks at me, looking deep into my eyes, and he finally agrees to back off.
"Fine. You need to recover first. But we will come back, and we will figure this out. Okay?" I can't stop Tom anyway, I know him too well for that. So he'll probably have already started researching to find out who might be responsible. I'm totally tired, so I nod "Yes Tom...go to your dorm. I'll be fine here, okay? Get some sleep too. "
I can really see the concern on Tom's face when all he wants to do is stay and continue asking me all the questions he has. But, when I ask him to leave and I assure him that I'll be alright, he gives me a gentle smile, and then he nods his head.
"Okay... you're right, I should probably get some rest as well. I'll come back to check on you. I promise."

A few days later, I'm discharged from the hospital wing. I've actually made a full recovery and am now ready to start the school year. Tom is already waiting for me in front of the hospital wing, and his expression seems to light up when he sees me finally walking out of the door. When he sees me looking so much better, he breathes a sigh of relief, and he smiles warmly at me.
"You're looking much better!" He says softly, and then he looks at me and says with a playful tone: "You're not going to leave me all by myself again, are you?"
"Never," I say jokingly. "You'll only get yourself into trouble." I hug him tightly and take his hand.
Tom smiles a little as he feels the hug and as the warmth of my body comes to his. He can't stop the feeling of feeling relieved from seeing me healthy and in good shape. He chuckles softly as I say that he's going to get in trouble, and he gives me a playful look.
"You're the one that keeps me from getting in too much trouble, love," He says, and then he squeezes my hand gently.
"At least I'm trying." I smile at him, and so my school year began.

A bit turbulent but the next few weeks are pretty normal. Until one day, Tom wants to meet me in his dorm.. When I walk in the door, his otherwise tidy and clean room looks totally chaotic. There are notes, books, and objects lying around everywhere. Tom is standing in the middle of it, and I look at him, puzzled, "Tom, what happened here?" I say slightly jokingly.
"I need to talk to you, I... I was so scared for you. I can't lose you, do you understand?" he comes closer and holds me tightly
"You won't lose me." Tom can't help but feel a touch of excitement as he pulls me close to him, and he holds me tightly in his arms. He stares into my eyes, and he looks so eager to share something with me.
"I have something important to tell you, my love. Something that I've been working on recently because I realized just how precious and valuable you are to me. And I also realized that I don't want to lose you, ever, " He says softly, and my eyes instantly widen in surprise.
"Do you know what horcruxes are?" he asks me excitedly. "I've heard of them once...but I don't know exactly" I look at him confused and don't understand what he's getting at "With a horcrux you split off a part of your soul, in an object or something. It's kind of like an extra life. Professor Slughorn told me all about it."
"What are you getting at, Tom?"
Tom seems to become more excited when he mentions the word "horcruxs" to me, and he continues to explain to me how it works. He seems really eager to get me to understand this concept that he's trying to communicate to me.
"And the point is," He says with a slight pause, and he looks at me. "What if we create one? An object that will protect us both. A horcrux where we can both share part of our souls. That way, if one of us dies, then we will have each other, right?"
"Wait, what? That sounds like dark magic, Tom..." I look at him worriedly and hold his face, but he seems determined. The fear he had must have gotten to him. His eyes narrow in determination, as he refuses to even consider that I'm not agreeing with the idea. It's clear that his mind has made it up, and I can't really change his mind.
"I know it's dark magic, but I have a plan that will make this work. I really do believe it can work. Because I refuse to let you die." He says softly, looking at me with his eyes filled with determination.
"Tom, I won't die, I promise." I look through all the books and wonder where he got them from. Probably from the forbidden section in the library.
"That is not a promise that you can ever guarantee," He says firmly. This is one thing that he just can not accept. He's not going to change his decision about this. He seems to have spent days preparing and researching ways he can protect me.
"And these books..." He looks down at the books that I'm looking at. "If I remember correctly, these are all books dealing with the dark arts and dark magic. I've been studying the topic for a while now."

"Tom... then tell me the truth... how do you create a Horcrux? What's the catch?"
I turn to him with a page in my hand and look at Tom seriously. Tom hesitates for a moment, and his expression darkens when he finally realizes that I'm not going to back down. He sighs softly, and he admits the truth. "Yes, there is a catch... In order to create a horcrux, it's an act of murder. You need to kill a person in a very specific way, and then you take part of your soul and put it in a chosen object. That object becomes a horcrux."
"Never! Tom, how could you think that I would do something like that? You know what it does to you!" I look at him in shock and pull my hand away. I can't believe what he just said. Tom's look immediately darkens when I start questioning his suggestion, and I can see it on his face. He seems to have expected this reaction from me, as he shakes his head, and he says softly:
"Please, do not misunderstand me. I never thought you would do anything like that...ever. I am not asking you to do that because I would never want you to kill anyone. But you must understand that I am very afraid something might happen to you. So I was thinking that I could do it for you."
"No, I don't want anyone to die for me at all. Tom, killing changes you.." I look at him worriedly and stroke his cheek while he holds me tightly. At the sudden touch of my hand on his cheek, Tom freezes for a moment, and he becomes a little uneasy with the situation. He can't help but feel my touch, and his heart starts hammering inside his chest when I caress his cheek. But he gathers his thoughts, and he says softly:
"Okay... you don't want anyone to die for you. I can accept that..but I can't accept that if something bad happens to you, you'd be alone. If you died, what would happen to me? I don't know if I could survive without you."
"Tom..." Tears well up in my eyes because I can see Tom's despair and how much he is suffering.