Assyria

1

"Can't repeat the past?... Why of course you can!"
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, the Great Gatsby

My eyes were fixated on a rock out in the middle of the ocean. It's grey color stood out against the blue waters. I was sitting just meters away from a cliff. The me from the past - or would I say future - would have been scared. But Tom was always behind me. He thought I didn't know how he tracked my every move. I knew. I also knew that he wouldn't let me fall.

"Tom," I said. "You can come out now."

He came out from behind a bush, a smirk plastered on his face. "How did you know I was there?"

"I just had a feeling," I lied. "You know how gifted I am at Divination."

"You're the only reason I passed in the third year," he said, sitting down right next to me. "Could you possibly give me one eensy weensy little prophecy right now?"

I sighed. Tom was always asking for these. I saw things. Scary things. So I told him made-up things.

I took my mini crystal ball out of my bag and put it in my lap. I stared at it intensely. A lightening bolt. A green eye. That was it. Nothing involving death this time.

"I saw a lightening bolt and a green eye," I said. "I don't really know what the green eye means, but lightening bolts mean a loss of ignorance."

"That's very vague," Tom frowned. "Could this possibly mean that Abraxas Malfoy will stop being dumb and join us?"

"Abraxas is very intelligent," I said "He doesn't have to join the... He doesn't have to join us." He was in fact very smart for not joining us. But he would give in soon. I had seen it in the crystal ball last year.

"You're right, we don't need him," Tom stated. "We have you."

I looked him in the eyes for the first time that day. He was gazing at me intensely. I saw a flash of red in his eyes. I was seeing that more and more often now. It used to scare me, but I learned to ignore it. I looked away.

"Why are you out here anyway?" he asked me.

"I like to come out here and think," I said.

"You sure do think a lot Assyria," Tom joked.

I wasn't really thinking. I guess you could say that I was mourning. Mourning the loss of the life I could have had. There was a chance that I could go back to 1996, and I threw it away. The life I had right now was much more meaningful though.

Before Tom had gotten here, I took the time turner off and threw it into the sea. I was supposed to go back at some point, but I didn't want to anymore. Things were going to get hard soon, and I didn't want to tempt myself by going back to the future. I couldn't solve anything by running away from my problems.

One of the hard things about this life was that I knew what was going to happen. I wish I didn't, but I just had to live with it. And they weren't pretty things.

"I can't believe we're going into our last year at Hogwarts," I said to lighten the mood.

"I can," Tom scoffed. "Hopefully we can start learning some useful magic."

"Like Horcruxes?" I said, looking at him and arching my left eyebrow. "I doubt the we'll be taught that. It's seriously dark magic."

"You're right, but I already know what they are anyway," Tom mused.

"Tom," I started. "I know what you're going to do."

"And what is that?"

"You're going to make a horcrux."

"A horcrux?" Tom said. "Why make just one? The more you make the greater chance you have of living."

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. You have to kill seven people."

"And?"

I didn't know what to say. Tom was seriously considering making a Horcrux. Multiple, even. He scared me so.

He could see the tears forming in my eyes because his face softened. Tom said that he hated to see me cry. He put his arm around me and I closed my eyes, my head on his shoulder.

"Someday you and I are going to live in a large castle," Tom said. "I'm going to be king of the world and you will be my queen. No wizard will have to hide their powers again. And everything will be alright."

I gulped. "Tom?"

"Yes?"

"Will you love me forever?"

"Of course. Will YOU love ME forever?"

"Yes." I wasn't sure if that was a lie or not. Tom was an intimidating yet beautiful soul. He looked a little too perfect. His brown hair curled at the ends and he had intense dark eyes. Tom was like a fallen angel. A dreamy man with a bad temper. Born in Heaven, raised on Earth, destined for Hell.

"It feels like just yesterday that you stole my diary and wrote profanity in there about Professor Dumbledore," Tom said.

"I was doing you a favor!" I laughed. "If any of the boys had seen you with a diary, they would tease you to no end."

"It doesn't matter, they worship me now."

The only sound after that was the crashing of the waves against the rocks. Finally I said, "Tom, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yes, I've never been more sure of anything in my life," he reassured me. "And I'm doing this for you. You always said how you hated that wizards had to hide from the muggle world. I don't want you to hide any longer either. You have immense power that you deserve to show off to the world. Power like that... it's beautiful. It's amazing, the things you can do."

I was flattered, but feeling guilty that Tom was going to all this trouble just for me. If I wanted something, Tom would go to great lengths to make it happen. Just like he would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

"It's getting late. I need to cook dinner for myself and I haven't even started packing yet," I said, standing up. "My parents won't be home to help until tomorrow morning."

"Well, if your parents aren't home, may I spend the night again?" Tom asked.

"No, Tom," I sighed. "I'm sorry, I know you hate the orphanage, but I actually have things to do this time."

"Please? I'll make dinner while you pack. And I don't just want to spend the night just because I hate the orphanage."

Like I said, Tom would stop at nothing to get what he wanted.

"Tom," I sighed. "I want you to so badly, but I'm not allowed to have you at the house when my parents aren't home."

"That didn't stop us over the Holidays."

"But then we got caught and I got in trouble." I thought about it. Tom could easily get out of the house now that we could legally apparate. And Tom would be there whether I wanted him to or not.

"Please?" he begged, his hands clasped and his lips pouted.

"Fine," I said, trying to act aggravated, even though I was smiling. "But you have to make dinner AND help me pack AND its your responsibility to leave in the morning."

"Deal." Tom grabbed my hand and smirked before we were whisked away into the black hole.