Seven Devils ★ T.M.R ★

Chapter Twenty

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THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS
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"DO YOU WANT the general overview? Or an itemised list?"

Dumbledore tilted his head slightly. "I was hoping that we could speak plainly, Marina," he said calmly.

"Alright," Marina nodded recklessly. "How about when you cut me off after I made it clear to you that I valued Riddle's privacy more than your favour? Or when you refused to change your opinion on Riddle even after the both of us went through hell to go along with this plan? Or when you ditched me in Diagon Alley and didn't give a second thought about how it would affect me? Or when you showed up expecting me to drop everything and fling myself back into harm's way?" Marina's hands were trembling, partly from anger and partly from fear at being so confrontational. "Or how about," her voice grew louder, "how about the fact that not once have you tried to help me get my memories back?"

"Would you like me to address each of those individually?" Dumbledore responded, infuriatingly calm.

Marina was too angry to reply. Dumbledore nodded, taking her tense silence as affirmation.

"You first mentioned that I distanced you from our discussions after you returned from 1948," he said, assessing her with a composure that felt like an affront. "At the time, I thought it best to give you and Tom space from the context of our plan. I thought that it would encourage Tom to speak with you personally, without the implication that he was required to do so."

Marina's hands hadn't stopped shaking, but she felt a chill slash through her anger. She had the horrible feeling that Dumbledore was about to make a long series of frustratingly good points.

"Secondly, you accuse me of reluctance to change what I think about Tom. This could not be further from the truth. I am incredibly willing, perhaps more than anyone, to believe that Tom has changed" – Marina opened her mouth indignantly, but Dumbledore raised a swift hand to silence her – "however, what you and I consider adequate proof of true change is significantly different... you could say that my bar for Tom is much higher. Considering my personal experience with him, I believe that this is understandable.

"Thirdly, the matter of leaving you to your own devices in Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said. "I admit that I failed to explain to you why distance between yourself and Tom was necessary, let me do so now. You must have seen yourself that Tom growing closer with you was leaving him increasingly distant from the rest of us. If he developed a singular dependence on you, I feared that Tom would begin to associate his relationship with you with his ability to grow. It would only take losing that relationship to revert him back to his original mindset. More importantly - as you said yourself when we first spoke - one person alone could not help Tom accomplish this task. This has always needed a strong team and you cannot bear that burden alone. Tom needs to nurture relationships with all of us, not just with you."

"You only think about the plan," Marina breathed, "you didn't care how it would affect me –"

"I do care," Dumbledore said quietly, "I was simply unaware."

"Unaware?" Marina repeated unsympathetically. "You didn't know that cutting me off from everyone I know would make my life significantly more miserable?"

"I did not know how you felt, Marina," Dumbledore said, looking appropriately sombre. "Perhaps there was more I could have done to seek out that knowledge, though I confess, I assumed that you would be fine."

"Why would you assume that?" Marina asked fiercely.

"You are strong," he said simply, "you will not find me underestimating you."