Poison A Tom Marvolo Riddle Fanfiction completed

Chapter Fifteen - Poison

Back  at Houlton Manor, Cassiopeia was still feeling cold and empty. She lit  the fire and sat close to it but it didn't help. The coldness inside of her didn't subside. Tom had taken the cup and the locket. He would make them his Horcruxes; probably, he already had. The shattered  piece of soul that remained inside his body decreased with every Horcrux, and the consequences grew more significant with every split. Already the creation of the third Horcrux had changed his magic in a dangerous way, turning it even more violent and insane. Naturally, Tom had been as powerful as ever, but his magic had been cruelly lashing out, until Cassiopeia had finally had to admit that it was a lethal poison that was burning deep inside her veins. It condemned her as much as it fuelled her. Two more Horcruxes would turn his magic even more merciless and poisonous, just like him. And still she longed for his presence even though she knew that it would ruin her.

Cassiopeia wiped a tear from her eye. It was obvious that Tom had not only torn his soul. He  had consistently destroyed what little humanity had ever been inside of him. With every Horcrux he had made, he had become less human. He hadn't had feelings in the first place, and with all the damage he had done to himself, Cassiopeia was convinced there was no chance that he  would ever even come close to understanding their significance. She had loved him so much, and still she hadn't been able to prevent this disaster from occurring. She knew her love was going to destroy her. With a bitter smirk she noted the irony that, after all, she was going to prove him right in the end, that love was a weakness.

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Cassiopeia  was standing on the platform of the tower of Houlton  Manor. It was New  Year's Eve again. The night was cold and clear. Cassiopeia relished the quiet peacefulness. So much time had passed. Tom had never returned. Cassiopeia had lost track of the days, months, years since  she had last seen him. Her gaze fell on the Houlton's family coat of arms engraved on the stone wall. The words above the crest were lit by the pale moonlight. Semper fidelis. The ghost of a sneer flickered across her face. Always faithful. At least she had always lived up to it, she thought bitterly.

She desperately missed Tom, and her magic missed his. There was an emptiness inside of her that consumed all the happiness that had ever existed for her. No one could ever compensate for the void that Tom had left. With him, her magic had been complete. Without him, it lay in  pieces. Even though his blinded strive for immortality had altered him and his magic, she was still addicted to it. She yearned for him and his poisonous power, and it felt like withdrawal that she couldn't be with Tom.

She still couldn't believe how Tom had deliberately destroyed everything she had loved by ripping his soul apart time after time. She had grown aware that even if Tom ever returned, things would never be the same again. His magic wasn't the same anymore; he wasn't the same anymore. After he had disappeared, she had cried until there were no more tears left, mourning the inexplicable loss she had suffered. She knew that he had damaged his soul beyond repair. She knew she had finally lost; all hope was dead, as was the person she had held so dear.

When she was standing there, the cool air around her, she felt at ease. She confidently moved closer to the rim until she was right at the edge, only one step away from the ground so far below. She took a deep breath and looked at the stars above. Suddenly, the air around her  changed. Instinctively, she knew she wasn't alone anymore. She turned around and saw Tom standing on the platform, a few feet away from her.  She shortly wondered how he had broken through the many protective wards that made apparition impossible. However, Tom had always been inventive, and if there was anyone she would think capable of breaking through   impenetrable wards, it was Tom. Cassiopeia didn't say anything, and neither did Tom. They only stood there, staring at each other. Cassiopeia found that she hardly recognized him anymore. He had changed so drastically. Finally, when the silence got heavy, Tom offered with a slightly higher-pitched voice than he used to have, "What are you doing there?" Tom stared at her with his piercing gaze before he continued as if answering some unspoken assumption, "You won't". His voice was emotionless and commanding.