Rosie ⎮ Tom Riddle

Nineteen

His Soul

  Tom watched as Rosalie's eyes began to flutter open.

  She felt the warmth of Tom's bed around her, embracing her with a warm touch against her ice cold body. She felt wrong- different. Tom looked down on her dotingly as she began to regain her consciousness.

  Rosie's mind was blank for those first few seconds that she found herself waking up. Until her mind wasn't blank anymore. Harsh memories came pouring back into her head. The feeling of a spell devoid of any kindness, the look of desperation on Tom's face, her last cry, begging him not to do what he had done.

  She scrambled off of the bed, holding her hand to her heart as she backed herself against the wall of Tom's room. She looked at him as though he were a monster. Rose felt the very place the spell had entered her, right above her heart.

  "What the fuck did you do?" Rosalie whispered, dropping her hand to the doorknob, desperately trying to get it open, though she found it locked.

  Tom emerged from where he stood on the other side of the room, a calmness pushed over him by the relief that she was still alive.

  "Just, take a seat Rosalie. I'll explain." He spoke, as calmly as he could in this situation. He knew that she would react like this, but he was confident in himself that somehow it would make them stronger than ever.

  He just wanted her to see that.

  "I don't want to take a seat for merlin's sake! What did you do to me!?" She screamed, hitting her hand against the door, taking long strides to where he stood as she grabbed her wand from her robes and held it against his throat.

  "Did you make me into one of your fucking horcruxes?" Rosalie swallowed, her hand shaking, her eyes unforgiving.

  Tom remained calm, reaching for the hand Rosalie held her wand in.

  "Yes." He whispered, lowering the wand held against his throat.

   The sound of the wood dropping to the floor was the last time that he saw any sign of significant life in Rosalie. 

  "Why?" She swallowed, her face already puffy from crying. 

  Before he could respond, tears welled up in her eyes once more, reigniting the fire of anger within her.

  "Why would you do that to me?" Her voice trembled with a mixture of hurt and betrayal, her gaze burning with the same intense hatred he had seen in her when they first met. Tom felt a pang of sadness, realising that he might have to start all over again to rebuild the trust he had just shattered.

  Tom remained silent, his gaze fixed on her face, emotions swirling within him like a storm.

  "How dare you use that kind of magic on me," Rosalie continued, her voice laced with fury and sorrow. They stood close, yet there was a palpable distance between them, neither daring to reach out to the other.

  It felt as though every ounce of progress they had made in their relationship had been erased in an instant. Trust, once so carefully cultivated, now lay shattered at their feet, leaving nothing but a void of uncertainty and pain.

  Tom couldn't resist reaching out to her, his heart aching at the sight of her tears, though she didn't appear to be crying outwardly.

  He held her gently yet firmly, despite her attempts to push him away. Leaning his chin on her head, he pressed soft kisses against her hair with each breath.

  "I'm sorry, love. It was the only option I had if I wanted to protect you," he whispered.

  Rosalie huffed incredulously. "Protect me?" she questioned, her breath warm against his chest.Reluctantly, he released her from his embrace, allowing her to inspect where the spell had struck her.