[2] after darkness → tom riddle

Chapter Twenty-Four: Disappearing Act

Emory's heart had literally broken. He couldn't believe what he had heard from his wife. It was something he never expected to hear. He shook his head and stood up. He left the living room and headed outside.

"Ophelia, I-" Dove was so shocked she didn't know what to say.

"Please, Ophelia," Harlen begged, "please tell me you're lying."

Ophelia shook her head. Harlen began to sob, he fell to his knees and Helen rushed over to him. Emory came back into the house but walked straight past the living room, he was holding both Emma and Nikolai in his arms. Ophelia watched Emory move his hand and the sound of the front door opening was enough to scare Ophelia.

Ophelia ran after Emory. Ophelia's heartbeat slowed when she realised Emory was only going to their house next door. She followed her husband and her children into her house. Emory had set down Nikolai and Emma in the living room whilst he went upstairs. Ophelia followed him up the stairs and into their bedroom, that's when Ophelia's heart broke all over again. Emory was using his magic to pack his trunk, a mixture of Emory's, Emma's and Nikolai's things were flying around the room as they folded themselves into the trunk that was placed on the couple's bed.

Emory refused to turn around and look at his wife, instead, he concentrated on looking through the window, focusing on their quiet street.

"Emory, please don't do this," Ophelia pleaded, "we can sort this out, we always do."

Emory's head snapped back and he turned around to face her, "sort this out? Sort this out? Are you fucking for real? You told me you'd never lie to me about Tom! I could deal with him suddenly popping out of nowhere, but the fact that something went on between you two that led to you having a son? That is way beyond sorting out! You've crossed a major line this time, Ophelia!"

Ophelia stepped back each time Emory stepped closer to her. When she had her back against the wall, and Emory's face was literally screaming into hers, that's when the fear really kicked in. Tears streaming down her face and her heart racing like mad, Ophelia began to have a panic attack. Her breathing increased rapidly as she struggled to catch her breath and the tears came out quicker.

"Oh give it a rest, Ophelia! You're not the victim in this, so why the fuck are you crying?" Emory yelled, "you lied to me, for 12 years. We've been back together for 12 years. And I find out about this secret son now? You're the fool who thinks we can work this out - we're done, Ophelia."

Emory looked Ophelia dead in the eye, he saw her heartbreak when she watched him pull off his wedding ring and toss it in the air. The sound of the ring hitting the floor scared her even more, she knew she had lost Emory for good.

Emory grabbed the suitcase off of the bed and stormed out of the room, slamming the bedroom door behind him. Ophelia heard him storm down the stairs, she heard Nikolai and Emma crying, she heard Emory trying to soothe them both. When the front door slammed shut, she sank to the floor. Crying her eyes out, she didn't know what to do. Her husband had left her and taken her children with him. She cried in her arms, knowing that she had lost all of her friends, her husband and her children in a matter of seconds.

Hours later, Ophelia woke to an empty house. She was still on the floor from where she fell asleep crying earlier. Ophelia stood up and checked the clock on the wall, 8:18 pm. She knew nobody would come to check on her, she knew she had lost them all. Ophelia saw Emory's wedding ring on the floor by her nightstand, she picked it up and placed it on the chest of draws opposite their bed. She looked down at her own rings, her promise ring, her engagement ring and her wedding ring, she contemplated it for a second, until she realised there was no getting Emory back this time. Ophelia took off the three rings and placed them next to Emory's.

In the top draw was a small bag, but years ago Ophelia placed an extension charm on it, enabling the tiny bag to add as many possible things in there. She packed the bag when Tom came back, it was filled with all the essentials that she would need for herself, Emory and their children. She used her wand to remove these items, placing them neatly on the bed. Instead, she added more of her stuff, and when she was going through her sock draw she found Tom's wand. The wand she only placed there yesterday.

With her small bag and Tom's wand in hand, Ophelia headed downstairs. Locking the front and back doors, as well as turning off the electricity, water and gas. Ophelia focused on the family photo of her and her family on the wall as she disapparated out of her house. She wasn't coming back, not anytime soon.

Apparating in front of the main door at Malfoy Manor, Tom peeked through the curtains in his quarters to see who it was. When he saw Ophelia, he looked at her, he noticed straight away she had been crying. To get that off his mind, Ophelia held up Tom's wand. Tom smirked to himself before opening the front door with his hand.

Ophelia walked in and Abraxas came to see who entered his house. "Lockwood, you were not welcomed in!" Abraxas exclaimed.

"I was!" Ophelia retaliated, "by Tom."

Ophelia stormed to Tom's room, barging in as if she owned the place.

"What can I do for you, Mrs Oliphant?" Tom asked. A low smirk had formed on his face, but quickly disappeared when he noticed Ophelia wasn't wearing her rings. "What happened?"

"They know," Ophelia said, chucking Tom his wand.

"About me turning up at Morgandy's?" Tom questioned as he caught his wand in his left hand, "I thought you would've told them straight away?"

"No, Tom." Ophelia shook her head, "they know about Fionn."

Tom looked at Ophelia, actually unaware of what she was on about. Until it hit him, she didn't have a girl, she had a boy. "You named him Fionn," Tom let out, "Fionn Riddle."

Ophelia nodded, she began to dig around in her bag, eventually pulling out a piece of paper, "here," Ophelia said, "it's a copy of his birth certificate."

Tom took the piece of parchment from Ophelia's hand, he opened it up and smiled when he saw Fionn's name on the piece of paper, just underneath it said his and Ophelia's names. Followed by their occupations, for Ophelia, it was labelled 'housewife', for Tom it was labelled 'veteran', deceased.

"I didn't know I died," Tom scoffed.

"I told the muggle couple who adopted him that you killed yourself after the war because you were suffering from nightmares," Ophelia told him truthfully, "it was for the best, couldn't exactly say you were sociopathic-serial killer."

"A sociopathic-serial killer you once loved, on more than one occasion," Tom joked.

"I have no time for jokes today, Tom." Ophelia said, "whatever you do, don't come looking for me, and definitely don't go looking for Fionn, he's fine on his own."

Ophelia stormed out of the room, heading back downstairs to leave Malfoy's house. Tom was left shocked, he chucked the parchment onto his desk and ran after Ophelia. When he finally caught up to her, Orion was trying to talk Ophelia out of something.

"Ophelia," Tom called out to her, "where are you going?"

But she didn't answer, she only looked at him shaking her head before she disapparated. Tom knew there and then that was the last time he'd ever see Ophelia. And it broke him, more than it broke him when he left her nearly 14 years ago.