[2] after darkness → tom riddle

Chapter Thirteen: Ending of Secrets

Orion disapparated shortly after he finished his tea whilst everyone remained in the Oliphant's living room. Ophelia walked back into the living room and was met with angry expressions from all of her friends.

"I'm sorry, but it sounded like you just said we're going to do nothing about Tom..." Nicole pointed out.

"Yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do," Ophelia shrugged, "nothing."

"I don't see why we can't make the first move, it worked---," Raine was cut off by Ophelia's devilish look.

"It most definitely did not work," Ophelia argued.

"It most definitely did," Harlen challenged.

Ophelia scoffed as she rolled her eyes, Emory gripped her forearm to get her to calm down, but it was no use. Ophelia handed Nikolai over to Emory and stood up. "Oh yeah, my mistake, it certainly worked last time, isn't that right, Starr?" Ophelia looked around the room as if Starr was still there, "oh that's right - she's dead! Just like Abner! They're both dead because of me, and I don't want to lose any more of you, nor do I want my children to grow up without a mother or father."

Everyone remained quiet. They all looked at one another, each of them knowing that Ophelia knew something they didn't, but they weren't too sure if she knew what she knew from Tom or on her own account.

Rune coughed and stood up from where was sat next to his wife and Daxten. "I agree with Ophelia," Rune announced as he sent a supportive smile over to her, "if we make the first move again - which Tom is most definitely expecting us to do - we'll lose more of you. I've already lost a brother and sister to him - I don't want to lose more. We're all in the same boat, we've got each other, we're a family, and families stick together."

Michael also stood up, supportive smiles given to both Rune and Ophelia. "I know I may not be as much use to any of you. I'm not a fancy wizard with a crazy-weird name - I'm a muggle, and my only superpower is sarcasm, so I may not be as much use, but just know this; no matter how tough things get, no matter how painful the past may be, we're in this together. Like Rune said, we're a family - a crazy, problematic one - but we're a family, and we don't leave anyone behind, and we no longer hide any secrets from one another."

"I agree with Michael, no more secrets, that goes for you as well, Lia," Morgandy picked herself up, "you're my best friend, Lia, you were my rock after I lost Starr. And know, I feel like I don't know you that well anymore, yeah sure you're still Ophelia Lockwood deep down, but you were fierce, loud-mouthed and obnoxious, and that's what I love about you. So, you're gonna tell us everything you know about Tom, and don't spare us the details."

"I know Tom's future," Ophelia spoke honestly.

"What? How?" Emory asked from where he was sat.

"I've seen it myself," Ophelia announced, "when Tom grabbed my arm and we disapparated out of my office, I saw something. Something horrible and evil, it was him alright, same piercing eyes, except they were red, he didn't look like himself, but it was him."

"You had a vision," Dove stood up, "Ophelia, this has never happened before, and the fact that it happened when you disapparated, you could've seriously harmed yourself, you most definitely don't know what to do when you have one."

"Hang on a second, Ophelia has never had a vision or even predicted anything in the past, so why all of a sudden have you got the same voodoo abilities as Starr and Morgandy?" Edison asked as he looked over to Morgandy to see if she had any clue.

Morgandy stood shaking her head as she gripped onto Michael's shoulder for support. She tried to comprehend the situation, she herself was confused as to why this had happened. Ophelia wasn't a seer, she was magically gifted, yes, but not in the art of seeing.

"It's happened before," Morgandy pondered, "there's been cases in the past, someone who wasn't blessed with the gift of sight having a vision. It's very rare but it can happen, it makes sense for Ophelia to have it though. She and Tom have a connection, they have history, and it makes sense that Ophelia will be the result of Tom's ultimate downfall."

Emory smiled brightly and stood up before Ophelia could even speak, he opened his mouth, "I'm mad about the connection bit, but my wife is gonna cause Tom Riddle to cease to nothing, the strongest witch I have ever known!"

All the friends cheered and raised their practically-empty teacups to raise a toast to Ophelia. They celebrated and hugged one another as Ophelia stood there and watched. She shook her head and began rubbing her arm, how was she going to tell them she wasn't their saviour?

Nicole noticed Ophelia's dull face among all the happy ones. She watched as Ophelia's eyes remained on the floor. Ophelia felt a pair of eyes on her and she looked up over to Nicole who was still staring at her. Their eyes met and in that moments Nicole knew, she saw the pain in her eyes, it wasn't Ophelia that was to save them, it was someone else. "Who is it?" Nicole asked.

Nicole's question caused the group to avert their attention back to Ophelia. They saw the perplexed expression on Ophelia's face as she struggled to get her words out. They knew she was struggling to get her words out, but they wanted to know.

Emory walked back over to Ophelia's side and as he towered over her, Ophelia looked up and met his worried eyes. He nodded and gave her a small sympathetic smile to encourage her. She reached for his hand and he gripped it firmly, pulling it up to face and kissing it softly. Ophelia quickly tickled Nikolai's face before she turned back to the group.

"I saw a boy," Ophelia said, "he was barely seventeen, but they were fighting - at Hogwarts, and he..."

"What did he do, Lia?" Nicole asked softly.

"He literally destroyed him, a seventeen-year-old boy, who's barely finished school, killed Tom," Ophelia said softly, "we can't take any action, as I know it won't be our problem anymore."

"What do you mean it won't be our problem?" Iakona asked.

"You can't being saying we're dumping our Tom problem on a seventeen-year-old boy," Dove yelled.

"I'm saying we don't have a choice, I don't know who this boy is, I've never seen his face before, but all I can say that it's not going to happen for a long time, his clothes, they're different, Hogwarts was different," Ophelia shook her head.

"If that was Anwen, I wouldn't want anyone to place a problem as big as that on her, so what makes it any different to this boy?" Dove asked, she was angry, "what if that was Nikolai? Or Emma? What would you do?"

"Dove, for Christ's sake, please don't argue with me right now," Ophelia stood her ground, "I love my children with all my heart. I love Anwen with all my heart, and I would do anything in my power to protect our children. Our children are the most important people in this situation. And I know for definite you're not going to like what I say next, but we need to be selfish and thankful that it isn't our child. That boy is seventeen, yes I get it, but he's capable, he's strong. You all seem to forget we face Tom at seventeen, eighteen and nineteen."

"I don't want to be persistent about the fact it could be one of your children, but Ophelia, how can you be so sure it's not Nikolai? Or Nikolai's children? Or anyone's in this room grandchild?" Jaron asked, as looked around the room.

"I know for definite that it's not Nikolai, Nikolai has brown eyes, this boy had blue," Ophelia said as she recalled the boy's face, much to Emory's delight, "but I know that doesn't mean it can't be any of our children, but he doesn't look like any of us and I need you all to understand and respect me when I say that I have a gut feeling that he isn't ours, but we must protect him at all costs."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Rune asked.

"There's going to be a bigger prophecy, by a proper seer," Morgandy spoke up as she looked to Ophelia, "I had a vision of a young seer making a prophecy, she's a Trelawney."

"When did you have this vision?" Michael asked.

Morgandy looked at her husband and smiled, "when we got Gethin arrested."

"That was seventeen years ago."