Pick Your Poison | Tom Riddle |

Chapter Thirty Six: This Is Not the End

《 I added a picture and quote anyway guys (: 》

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
--Winston Churchill

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Fall was weeks away but when the auburn hue returned to the streets of Diagon Alley, Eleanor had yearned for that season to come.

Eleanor, Marcella, and Julius walked among the crowded cobblestone streets on the Friday before their first day of their last year. There was something bittersweet about walking into Madame Malkin's for the last time, buying her fresh robes and watching the first years walk into Olivanders for the first time.

"You'll definitely need new robes to match your Head Girl pin." Marcella nudged as they entered the shop, filled with mostly incoming First Years and their parents.

There was a tinge of white on their faces when they looked at her. But to her relief, Eleanor knew that these similar looks she was finding were not out of fear but out of shock; shock that the real Eleanor was standing there.

"I think they'll need to start putting posters up of you too." Julius slyly commented.

Eleanor stopped skimming through the robes and Ravenclaw uniforms to glare at Julius. His blue eyes fell like a sad puppy and he sighed. They had already agreed to have no talk of Grindelwald or the war just for this one singular day. Just the one.

"Hey I was there too ya know? Kicked the bastard right on his ass and sent him running." Marcella beamed proudly, looking between the two of them.

"And I dragged him out of that chamber by his hair." Eleanor chuckled, shaking her head at them. "But I'm serious. This is our last first day shopping for school. Let's just enjoy it."

The three of them all bought a fresh set of uniforms and Eleanor felt more eager to begin her year, sporting her new pin as well. Her mind was constantly going back and forth to dreading the year and being motivated to finish it, but sometimes it was a disaster that happened all at once.

But it was an honor to be yet another Head Girl from her family. She kept the one that belonged to her mother tucked away nicely too though.

"Come on, let's go to Madame Primpernelle's! They got this potion to clear bags under your eyes on sale!" Marcella said, grabbing her best friends arm as she pointed across the alley.

A soft chuckle came through Eleanor's lips, allowing herself to be the girl she was in her previous for a brief moment.

"No, please. No." Julius groaned.

But Marcella had already linked each of her arms with them and they merged into the hustle and bustle that was Diagon Alley.

It was like old times for the three of them and there was a glimmer of hope things could be normal from this point on.

As they began walking, Eleanor glanced up ahead to catch the eyes of one group of boys in particular.

Last year, they were merely Slytherins to her.

This year, she saw them as nothing more than Tom's servants and it seemed so much more fitting. It all made sense now, and while they all seemed like they were all friends at heart, now that she knew where Tom's intentions truly lied she knew that he had them wrapped around his finger.

Abraxas still looked as if a light gone out in him since his mother's death. But she watched him try to mask it with arrogance but when their eyes met, there was a knowing look that his secret was sealed with her.