Extreme Unction (Tom Riddle saga)

Chapter 10

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same"
~ Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

~~~~~~~

Summer 1978

"He is joining his army on the seventh day of the seventh month. Light will bleed into a long lasting night".

Evelyn struggled to control her heavy breathing.
The more she tried to forget the crazy seer's words, the more she grew obsessed with stopping that prophecy from becoming reality.
She was alone in that fight against the two wizards she wanted to protect from darkness.
One of them could decide to betray her.
But she couldn't control both of them at the same time.
July 7th came like a dreadful day.

Richard agreed to join his grandparents for a tour in Europe that they planned as a gift for his turning seventeen.
Evelyn fought to delay that tour for some days.
Her parents were pureblood, maybe they had sympathies for the suprematists too, but they were too harmless and fond of their tranquil life to join any attack. Although that wasn't enough to call them innocent.
Evelyn also suspected that a tour could be a good cover up for some secret meeting of the suprematists.
She could imagine a group of hooded figures reuniting in the dark and electing a leader to start the war.

"Mother? You're not feeling well?".
Richard's voice brought her back to reality.
Evelyn raised her head and forced a smile to her bare chested son as he brushed a towel on his wet hair after his shower.
"I'm just tired. It was so hot today in Diagon Alley" she sighed, recalling the efforts to keep an eye on both her wizards as they wandered in London before moving to the muggle house in Great Hangleton.
"Do you need any potion?".
"Yeah" she replied, a new plan taking shape in her mind "And you need to dress up for dinner".
She picked two small cups and filled them with some potion, then followed her son to his room to watch him dressing up.
"Dorcas worked hard on this new potion. She was impatient to make me try it".
"Are you not worried about the side effects?" Richard grabbed a shirt but decided not to botton it up.
"Do you want to taste it for me before I drink it?" she teased him and handed him a cup.
The boy looked diffident, but his need to be helpful won over his hesitation. He grabbed a cup and swallowed the potion eyeing the witch who was staring at him.
"Not bad as I expected" he sentenced "I feel very relaxed and light now. So it should work".
She smiled and sipped from her cup, noticing how Richard started to blink more frequently.
"I think... It's too relaxing" he murmured and stammered trying to reach his bed.
Evelyn threw her cup and grabbed him before he could collapse on the floor.
Richard was already sleeping, so she paid some effort to make him lay comfortable on his bed.
"Sleep tight" she whispered kissing his forehead.
The Sleeping Potion was supposed to work until dawn, keeping him safe from any dark temptation.
One Riddle tamed.
Now she had to take care of the other one.

Professor Riddle would recognize a Sleeping Potion at the first sip as he would recognize any other trick, so Evelyn needed to play fair with him.
She found him in the dining room, checking the meal.
She sighed with relief, having feared that one moment of distraction was enough to find him gone.
"He's late again? I'm not going to wait for him. I'm starving".
"No, he was too tired and already fell asleep".
Tom looked taken aback, then scoffed "Good news. I'm eating his portion too".
He moved the chair for her, grinning at his own gentleman gesture, then took his seat next to her and assaulted his plate.
Evelyn bit some food too, glancing at his hunger, at his half unbottoned shirt and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.
"This muggle dinner isn't bad as I expected" he commented after tasting all the dishes.
She eyed him batting her lashes "So we can promote muggle dishes? Good food against the hatred and the racism".
He chuckled "I fear that's not enough to win. But the idea isn't bad. We are already labelled as blood traitor for just owning this muggle house and eating muggle food".
She moved her shoulders "I prefer being a blood traitor than betraying human rights. Isn't it also a part of your seventh year schedule? For dealing with the Darkest Arts?".
"I'll make sure Richard will know every bit of those rights" he assured placing a hand on hers on the table, then picked his drink "By the way he didn't fall asleep in our room right?".
Evelyn smirked and moved her feet under the table to tease his leg "No, he's in his room. And I locked the door".
Tom gulped while drinking "Perfect. I planned to come here with you while he was travelling abroad. Why did you insist in keeping him around?".
Evelyn lingered on her dessert, tasting it slowly "Because the weather isn't good enough in the continent. He's leaving next weekend, so why are you irritated?".
Tom wore that predator look that she knew very well "Because I'm not waiting until next weekend".