Motivation ⌁ Tom Riddle ✔

42

The novel remained nameless and coverless, coated in at least a thousand or so pages. It remained plotless yet it caught her attention which had led her to leave her common room all the way up to the seventh floor, welcoming her to the end.

It was risky, yes, but nothing serious could happen within the castle where teachers were about and portraits strayed to witness. It was terrible of her to stay hidden and have no freedom for the last month of her schooling. She was safe here; it couldn't be that dangerous as to how Tom and Avery liked to put it. But, then again, a boy did die in the boys bathroom not very long ago, and just a year ago a girl named Myrtle died in the girls bathroom on the second floor, as Abigail had remembered the conversation between herself, Emily and Brianna when they returned from Hogsmeade. Remembering these particular events did not calm Abigail whatsoever and only made the hairs on her skin fly up, a shiver rolling down her spine causing her to shudder straight after.

She relaxed a little when getting into the depths of the novel, her back straight and her face pressed against the book, as though the book would scream all the details at once. The blue eyes couldn't keep still, until, finally, she couldn't handle the suspense of the book and she snapped it shut, deciding to just revise over her homework notes for the upcoming exams; they were nearing with every breath she took and every second she counted.

Even though nobody had passed away recently at Beauxbatons, Abigail still felt that Hogwarts was for the better. The most recent death and Beauxbatons would probably be a Quidditch accident, or quite unlikely a potions disaster, yet Hogwarts was still much more welcoming even though two horrific deaths had occurred not very long ago. Not to mention the killings of the Muggleborns just the year before, even prior to Myrtle's death, that Abigail had heard rumouring itself around the school, and it only confirmed as a fact to Abigail when Tom revealed that killing off all those who were not Purebloods was originally his idea. Abigail found it hard to focus just thinking of Tom doing such a thing.

Her heart fluttered as his voice echoed in the back of her mind, repeating those five words over and over. 'But then I met you...' Tom didn't even seem to notice the words he was using at the time, as though it was his mind talking and not his supposedly large brain.

Abigail was so deep in thought as well as focused on her homework that she had not realised that the door to the room of requirement had opened, until she flinched and grew wide-eyed at the door creaking until it was slammed shut. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. And she couldn't think any more. She already knew that her face was growing more and more pale, and it was very hard for her to swallow. And to top things off with the worst matter here, Abigail's back was to the door. Her eyes were widening with much more fear due to the unsettling silence apart from the other person's breathing as well as her own.

Her hand gripped her wand laying beside her.

"Tsk tsk tsk," the person tutted, and she could tell that this person was not Bellatrix, but it was a male. Footsteps pounded against the floor. "Didn't I -"

Abigail spun around and clenched her stomach, preparing for the worst. Her eyes watered against her will and she let out a shaky breath. "Oh... it's you. Of course it is."

"Abigail, for heaven's sake, I escorted you to Ravenclaw for a reason! I for one despise those who pay no attention to the warnings I rarely give out, and here you very well are! The one place where those traitors are well aware of."

She had calmed down a little, but the fear was still there, punching her stomach over and over. That feeling, the fear of death, the fear of it being so close to happening, it was hitting her and she didn't know how to make it go away. It was much different to the time she slipped through ice and knew she was going to die in the lake, the ice had numbed it away. But nothing was going to numb it away this time.