Motivation ⌁ Tom Riddle ✔

ALTERNATIVE ENDING

The creepy old graveyard wasn't the only thing that gave off an unsettling feeling, for both Tom and Abigail. But a certain, shrilly, high-pitched, monstrous voice was another. He reached out habitually and grabbed Abigail's wrist a little rougher than he'd intended, and pursed his lips in annoyance and anger, before turning around, cautious of his steps.

Bellatrix was standing there, a few of her followers lingering behind her. She was cloaked in black - black dress, black shoes, black lipstick, and black nails. Tom thought she took the whole 'Bellatrix Black' thing a little too seriously. He noticed Lestrange and Malfoy behind her, as well as a girl he didn't recognise, and there was somebody else at the very back that he couldn't see.

They stared each other down - Bellatrix and Tom. He knew it wasn't him who she wanted. It wasn't his fault he worried a little too much and overheard Abigail's and Emily McKinnon's conversation by standing right behind them by the wall.

"What are you doing here?" Tom asked in a stern yet polite manner; he tried being as polite as he could without coming off as suspicious in hopes that she'd just move along.

But deep down he didn't believe that. She had no other reason for coming to the graveyard in Little Hangleton unless she knew he and Abigail were there.

Bellatrix let out a spine-chilling wail of laughter, urging her followers to laugh along with her. "Can't I come to visit the two of you?" she pouted, taking a small step closer while Tom moved back with Abigail. "You don't trust me, Tom?" she pulled a sad face, her pout growing. "Not even after all we've been through?"

"Where are all the others?" Tom ignored her, glancing around the area to see if anybody was hiding and planning on attacking them from behind. He felt Abigail clutch onto him and he saw her gaze around the graveyard herself. "Can't just be you five."

"Oh, but it is," Bellatrix replied. "Aren't you even going to ask the obvious question?"

Tom gave up looking around and threw Bellatrix and annoyed look. "And what would that be?"

"Why, how I came to find the two of you, of course!" Bellatrix exclaimed, a fake grin plastered on her face and her arms flying around all the place as she spoke. Bellatrix clicked her fingers and the person at the very back, the person Tom couldn't recognise from all the way over there, slowly moved around and walked forward, a sad smile on his face. Avery. "You see, Tom, while the two of us may disagree on many things, there was always one thing we shared in common."

Tom couldn't believe this...he just couldn't believe it. All this time he'd thought Avery was on his side, that he cared about Abigail. He couldn't even come up with a proper reason as to why Bellatrix hadn't just killed Avery on the spot; he gave Tom a lot of information, and he's the reason Tom knew everything to begin with. He'd cornered him in a corridor and forced him to spy on Bellatrix having a meeting with his followers. Had she known all along? Had that been the plan all this time?

"Avery?" Abigail choked out in disbelief, leaning forward slightly and shifting with a confused look on her face. "How could you?"

"Quite easy, my darling, you see, Avery was never the good guy here," Bellatrix said monotonously, slightly rolling her eyes.

"But...he's hated you all along! He always hated you, you treated him like dirt!" she cried, and Tom gripped her a little tighter, his lit wand still in the air, his palms sweating and his arm yearning to shoot a spell right into Avery's face.

At that moment, Tom wanted to crucio Avery much more than he'd wanted to crucio Bellatrix.

Avery looked back and forth between Bellatrix, Tom and Abigail, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, and he looked quite frightened of Bellatrix. Tom knew he wanted to apologise, but apologising wouldn't get them out of this.