Deal with the Devil

Chapter 48

It took years for Elena to finally agree to a date with Donal McKay. He was the perfect gentleman and they had dinner and a drink at the local tavern. He walked her back to her little home and laid a gentle kiss on her cheek before her bade her good evening.

That evening Elena had nightmares of the man being tortured by a monster with burning red eyes. She refused to go out with him again.

"Was it that bad?" he asked. "Ella, please tell me what I did to upset you."

"No, not at all." She was brewing in her back house and he had come to asked her once more to see him. "It's not that, Don. It was lovely and I appreciated everything."

His eyes were pleading. "Do you not like me then? I know I'm a bit older than you and I have children—"

"What? It has nothing to do with any of that." She sighed and set aside the knife she was using to slice liver. She owed him some kind of explanation. "Something happened to me when I was younger. It was bad. Terrible. It turned me off romance entirely and the night we went out I had horrible dreams." Elena finally faced him, the older man wringing his hands as he listened. "I thought perhaps that I was over it, but I'm not. I'm sorry, I can't be what you want."

"Ella." He stepped forward, laid a hand on her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere. If you can't be with me, we can be friends, yeah?"

"Alright," she agreed after a moment. "I can do that."

Her heart had started thudding so loudly in her chest when he touched her that she was sure he could hear it and would call her bluff; he didn't, but that was alright too.

--

"I'm interviewing teachers for Defense Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore said, stirring much more sugar than Elena deemed necessary into his tea. Albus had a sweet tooth to rival any child. "I've had a few applicants already."

"Oh?" Elena waited, seeing that he had more to say.

"On Sunday I'm interviewing Tom Riddle."

Her tea spilled across her lap and she blinked rapidly at him. It took a moment for her to regain her faculties and ask, "Why?"

"I will interview him because he may very well be qualified." Albus sighed. "And to see what has become of him. I have heard so little the last decade or so; I confess, I'd hoped he'd disappeared."

Elena worked to slow her pulse. She hadn't had any prophecies in years and had gone back to her habit of throwing them out upon waking without reading them. It was liberating. Now she wondered whether there was anything important in those visions. "Would you hire him?"

The older man sighed. "Not unless he's changed."

For the first time in a while, she fingered the scar at her sternum. "I don't think that's possible."

"Probably not," he said.

They sat in silence for a few moments before Albus decided to touch on another sensitive topic. "How is Donal?"

Elena blushed. "He's... well. We visit one another about twice a week. Now that his oldest isn't at Hogwarts anymore, he has more reason to be home. Janie comes here on her own often too. She likes brewing with me sometimes, says it reminds her of school."

"And how are things between you?"

"We are not a couple, Albus. I've made it clear several times." She rubbed at the back of her neck. "We care for one another, but we've not done more than exchange a few kisses. He's so patient, so understanding. They were all instigated by me. He would never..." She shook her head. "Every time we've come close to something, I'm hit with panic. It's gotten a touch better over the years, but if Tom is back..." The two were inseparable. She tried to lie to herself that she wasn't head-over-heels for him, that his children hadn't become hers over the decade since he had agreed to their strange friendship, but anyone who saw them together saw the truth.

"No marriage, no children." Dumbledore took her hand in his. Over the years they'd gotten more comfortable exchanging affection. She'd realized somewhere down the line that the man was just as lonely and starved for touch as she was. "You should be safe. Tom never said anything about relationships otherwise."

"How do you think he would react if he knew I became involved with someone?" She laughed bitterly. "I couldn't bear something happening to Donal or the children." Elena stared down at her teacup, eyes growing wide to keep the tears that suddenly formed from spilling. "In the beginning, I was more terrified of being handed to Lestrange. But the first time I went out with him, I had a dream that Donal was being tortured. I could still hear his screams echoing in my head when I woke up. No, the careful balance I walk now is risky enough. I'll not chance it."

The man rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand. "Perhaps Tom has forgotten? It's been a long time since you made that promise."

"I'll never know, will I?" The corner of her mouth tugged upward. "I have you at least."

"You always will, my dear."

--

"What's wrong?"

"What?" Elena nearly dropped the bottle she was holding.

"You're all over the place today, love." Donal laid his big, calloused hands over hers. "I haven't seen you so shaken before. What is it?"

"Nothing," she insisted.

As she placed the bottle on the counter, he slipped his hands to her waist, leaning to touch his forehead to hers. "I'd like to think we're close. As close as we can be given the circumstances. You know how I feel about you."

She shook her head, but he pressed on.

"Ella, I love you. I've told you I don't care about your past and I won't pressure you into anything you don't want. But I know you feel something for me too." Her eyes drifted shut, unable to look up at him. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. But I would like to at least be here for you. Let me do that?"

"I can't," she murmured. "I can't, Don. I'd tell you if I could. You must think I'm a fool, letting something from so long ago stop me from living. Gods, a middle-aged woman and I am driven to tears at the whisper of my past."

"You're not a fool." He laid his lips on her forehead. "But it is hard to escape a past one won't face."

"I don't think I can face this."

Donal pulled her to his chest. "Then I'll help hide you."