Not About Angels (A Tom Riddle Story)

Chapter 26

Whispers spread through Hogwarts again, as another student was sent to the nurse, then transferred to St. Mungos.  

This time, the student was paralyzed, thankfully still alive, although barely so. 

"Did you hear?" Cassie said, waking Abigail up in the dead of night. 

"Wha-what?" Abigail mutters rubbing her eyes and adjusting to the opened light. 

The other girls were also up, whispering. 

"George. George Maren is in St. Mungos! I'm so scared, Abi. First Myrtle, then him. Oh my!" Cassie exclaimed, collapsing dramatically on her bed. 

"I heard he was paste white." Penny added. 

"His eyes were still open!" Cassie cried. 

"The-Thats terrible." Abigail said, her knuckles turning white as she clutched on to the side of the four-poster bed for support. She felt sick to her stomach. She knew the perpetrator, yet her lips were sealed. 

Could she have prevented this? 

Hadn't he promised he would never do it again? 

"Are you alright? You don't look so good." Cassie asked. 

"I-I'm just a little sacred, thats all." She said, adjusting herself, wiping tears away from her eyes.

Penny raised an eyebrow.

...................................................................... 

She tracked him down in the owlery, demanding an answer in the early morning. 

"Why, Tom?" She asked again. 

He smiles, and shakes his head. 

"Abi, don't you see how busy I am." He responds, tying a letter to the brown owl's leg. 

"But you promised me..."  

"I did. No one will die." He said, his voice smooth and gilding as ever. 

"Stop this, Tom! Can't you see it's hurting people! It's a matter of time before they-before they realize that you-that you..." She said nervously, looking around to make sure no one was -resent. In her agitation, she raises her arms, giving him a punch in the arm. 

He grabs her arm and gives a soft chuckle. 

"Aren't you feeling feisty today? How was your morning, love?"  

"Don't laugh! It's not funny!" She cried, stomping her feet. He smiles, holding her arms down at her sides, calming her down. She felt his wonderfully cool fingers on her skin. 

"Don't you see, Abi, it's all for a greater purpose. Look at me, Abi. Don't you believe in me? Believe what I'm doing. You'll understand one day, I promise." He said, forcing her to look into his dark eyes, controlling her impulse, her emotion. 

"A greater purpose? You're sick." She whispers, reluctantly prying his cold hands off. 

"Perhaps. but so are you, Abigail." 

"Stop it! Stop this!" She cried, shaking his arm, as if she could shake it all away. 

"Don't you see, Abigail, we are the same. We are. We're similar in so many ways." He whispers. 

She shakes her head.  

"Someday you'll see." He assures her, placing a hand on her shoulder. His touch instantly softens her. Someday she will realize how rare this moment was. 

How rare was it to see the great Tom Riddle seeking her approval. How she should've cherished this while it lasted. 

She knew deep down then, that she should walk away. A monster lived inside him. It was ready to attack at any moment. If she left now, she might still live unscathed. But she chose to stay, despite the warnings. 

.............................. 

Abigail shut herself out. She shut herself out from the truth. The attacks didn't stop. They only multiplied. Tom stuck true to his promise. Nobody died, but they were paralyzed, in living death. 

A boy was finally arrested, expelled, and taken away for this. Abigail bit her lip, knowing so clearly that the boy Hagrid was completely innocent in this. Guilt swallowed her, constantly distracting her.  

"What's up with you?" Gabriel Delicious yelled, angry at her for the second game they've lost in a row. She had allowed the Ravenclaw seeker to fly right past her and grab the snitch.  

He throws his broom onto the field, frustrated. 

"What in bloody hell is wrong with you, Abigail? That was a easy win. You could've had the snitch and we would've beat them. It was literally right past your ear! Right in front of you! And You fucking MISS it!"  

She stumbles back, and falls onto the grass, taken aback by these harsh words.   

"WHAT WERE YOU BLOODY THINKING!" 

She cries. 

Unaccustomed to seeing crying girls, Gabriel steps back, feeling guilty.  

Tom Riddle bursts into the field, his fist slapping right across Gabriel's face. He would not allow anyone to bully her anymore. 

She was his, and his alone. 

"Bloody hell!" Gabriel yelps, clutching his cheek in pain. Avery and Estrange stand faithfully behind Tom Riddle, overpowering Gabriel. 

"What the fuck, mate?" Gabriel yells, steadying himself. Glaring furiously.   

"Stay the fuck away from her, Delacioriux." Lestrange yelled. Tom needed not open his mouth. His entourage did it for him. 

Gabriel shoots Abigail a look of disbelief, and walks away in defeat. This was not his fight. Not yet, anyways.  

Tom picks Abigail off the ground, and without a word, leads her away.