Tom Riddle, the son of the Dark Lord, has always been burdened by the weight of his lineage, destined to follow in his father's footsteps as the heir to a reign of terror. Yet, in Rosie Hart, he found a glimmer of hope-a love that made him dream of...
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THE WINTER MORNING AT HOGWARTS WAS BRISK.
As the crispness of the January air filtered through the castle's ancient stone walls, Rosie shivered slightly as she wrapped her Slytherin scarf tighter around her neck, its green and silver threads a stark contrast to her pale skin. Despite the warmth of the classroom, a chill seemed to style deep within her bones — a chill that had little to do with the weather.
She sat beside Tom in Charms, her eyes focused on Professor Flitwick, who was animatedly demonstrating a complex spell to the class. But Rosie's mind was elsewhere, tangled in the web of thoughts that had haunted her since her seventeenth birthday months ago. The letter from her parents, which she had received on that day, still weighed heavily on her heart. She had tried to push it to the back of her mind, to bury it beneath the routines of school life, but it refused to be forgotten.
Tom's presence next to her was a comfort, though she hadn't told him about the letter. She hadn't told anyone. There was a part of her that wanted to open up to him, to share the burden that was slowly crushing her spirit, but another part of her — the part that had been shaped by years of living under her parents' strict control — kept her silent. She couldn't afford to show weakness, not even to him.
Tom glanced at her, his dark eyes narrowing slightly as he took in her tense posture. "You're distracted," he murmured, his voice low enough that only she could hear.
Rosie forced a smile, hoping it looked more convincing than it felt, "Just thinking about the spell, that's all."
Tom didn't look convinced, but he didn't press her. He simply nodded and returned his attention to Professor Flitwick, who was now instructing the class to pair up and practice the spell they had just learned. Rosie felt a pang of guilt for lying to Tom, but she pushed it aside. There were bigger things to worry about.
As she reached for her wand, her hand trembled slightly, and she cursed herself for it. She needed to focus. She needed to keep it together, at least until she could figure out what to do about the letter. But as she raised her wand to practice the spell with Tom, her mind wandered once again to the words her parents had written.
