Pure

The Book That Binds

I woke to the sensation of blood pulsing in my ears. It was another restless night. This had plagued me since I arrived here. I was never more tired. The constant fear of being alone without Harry and Ron encompassed me more in my subconscious. I had no choice but to endure it when I was asleep.

I looked around my room for a distraction. It was fairly bare. It only possessed the items Dumbledore had given me, and the book. I frowned, not really wanting to see what the shopkeeper had given me. I hadn't even looked at it yet. All I remembered of it was that Riddle commented that it was an interesting selection when he saw the title. I scoffed at how idiotic I had been to never even look at the title. The old shopkeeper had shaken me enough, and my encounter with the young Voldemort heightened my fear.

I turned towards where I knew the book was in my dormitory-- the corner of the room where I had flung the copy last night. It was facing away from me so I couldn't read the title from my bed. I stood and made my way to and picked it up, removing the few pieces of packaging that managed to remain on the face of the book.

My face shifted to puzzlement when I saw nothing on the title. I opened the book's cover in confusion. There was a single notation scrawled diagonally across the page

Without darkness, there will be no light.

I scrunched my eyebrows at this. It was obvious what it meant-- that without darkness, meaning evil, there could be no light, the goodness-- the contrast of the two is what makes them special. It is what makes light and darkness so appealing-- the mystery of their connection, but I was confused as to why this was in the book in the first place. The book was blank other than the writing, which both intrigued me and frightened me. Tom Riddle had seen something of the book that I could not... yet another thing to research in the library, I suppose.

I pushed the questions to the back of my mind, too overwhelmed to think about the answers, and placed the book into my book bag, moving to get dressed. I wore new clothes that I had gotten in Hogsmeade with Abraxas the day before. The fashion of the 1940s suited me even more than my modern style of dress in the 90s. I felt more comfortable, not that I cared much of clothes anyways.

Abraxas had forced me to buy black clothes along with different variants of green, his favorite, obviously. I did not object to him solely because I knew it would further my plan to become noticed by the young Dark Lord.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and left the safety of my dormitory for the library, another safe haven. The walk there was comforting, nothing out of the ordinary happening. I didn't run into many people since it was early that Sunday morning. I peeked out of a window to see water droplets on the glass. It was misting outside, a sign for the coming of winter. It seemed as if yesterday would be the last day of sunshine for the year.

When I got to the library, I sat at my table in the back and pulled the blank book out of my bag. I set it on the table and wandered through the nearby shelves. It was time to get answers.

I skipped breakfast and lunch that day, completely immersed in research. The immense information crowded my already busy mind that seemed to always find space enough for whatever new idea I became interested in. I didn't notice when someone slipped into the seat across from me a few hours before dinner until I moved to return to the many shelves of the library.

"Where did you get that book?" He asked, pointing at the blank covered but book that was still untouched on the table.

I jumped, reaching for the protective mask that slipped from my features hours ago. Even though I was lightening fast at retrieving my cold demeanor, he still witnessed a few seconds of me, the real me. His eyes narrowed.