RIDDLES PROPERTY

chapter 40

1 YEAR LATER

"Fred!", Emelia yelled. She woke up to her child screaming. Fred was likely at his shop with George. These nights they had to work late. She got up and went over.

"Shh, shh. Mamushka's here."

Her child quieted down. All of a sudden Fred stumbled in through the front door. He had a faint smell of alcohol on him. He was stumbling on the furniture and smiling, drunkenly.

"You're drinking on the job, again?", she asked.

"Erm, Emelia y-you've got to understand", he slurred,
"that it's a rough job and l-lots of business."

He smelt of perfume, as well, but she disregarded that.

'It's probably a love potion he dropped and it spilt on him...yes.'

They'd been married for a few months and she had to drop out of school. After Tom there was no use. Draco was ignoring her too. Her parents thought she was spending summer at school to help other children. Little did they know she had a child.

"Look at yourself. You reek of alcohol and your words are all slurred. Even your hairs messed up.", she fussed.

Their marriage was quite average. She felt like she was drowning every second she was with him, but the drowning was okay. It was somewhat stable. She didn't have to worry about her grades or any tests. The only thing was her heart ached for the one man who was in Azkaban. Fred placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek (and Ophelia's) and slipped into the bathroom. The shower started.

She sighed.

"Emelia!", he yelled.

"Yes?"

"Could you get me the newspaper?"

Emelia put her child back down in it's cradle and went into their living room. The paper sat there and she took a double take when she saw who was on the front page.

"Tom?", she whispered.

He was gripping his plate number and giving a devilish grin while winking. She slowly read through the article written.

_____________________________________

"TOM RIDDLE, MASS MURDERER, HAS ESCAPED AZKABAN!

Tom Riddle, ex-Hogwarts student,
has managed to escape Azkaban.
He claims he's looking for
a girl who's name he will not reveal, but
says she has 'great power'. If you are
his accomplice, turn yourself in.
Last seen at Hogwarts looking
for the mysterious girl.
Please be careful."

_____________________________________

Her eyes widened and she quickly ripped off the page so Fred couldn't see. She stashed it in her pocket and went to the bathroom to hand him the paper.

"Oh wow, Rita's getting a bit old it seems. The paper seems poorly cut."

She nodded and walked back to her room. Her clock showed the time, it was nearing 4 AM. She was laying on her bed when Fred came out of the shower. He laid down with her, sobered up this time, and hugged her.

"Thank you for understanding why I've been coming back these...late nights.", he mumbled.

"It's fine."

He planted a kiss on her cheek again before going to sleep. He was snoring as she thought of Tom. Her heart was racing.

'Go meet him!', said the voice in her head.

"I can't!", she whispered to herself.

'You know you killed them. An innocent man was in prison for nearly a year because of your actions!'

"Shush, I didn't do anything."

It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself. She needed closure. Emelia looked back at Fred. He was sleeping peacefully. She looked at her child.

"I love you, Ophelia", she whispered, "I'll be back before you know."

She kissed her child's hand before grabbing a backpack and stuffing a few things in. She left their flat, quietly. He twitched in his sleep, but was still knocked out (for the most part).

Emelia got her wand and apparated once she was outside. She went to the first place her mind thought of.

The muggle hotel she stayed at during break.