REVERIE

reverie /ˈrɛv(ə)ri/ - a state of being lost in one's thoughts; a dream that feels almost real.

Gisèle Mortaine was born with a gift that felt more like a curse, necromancy ran through her veins like poison. The Ministry called it a condition, her family called it a legacy. The rest of the world simply called her dangerous.

Monitored. Controlled. Experimented on. She grew up learning that power was never hers to keep.

Tom Riddle was different. Power didn't haunt him - he hunted it.

He watched her from the shadows of Hogwarts, fascinated and furious that something so ancient, so forbidden, could belong to someone other than him. He wanted it, her magic, her knowledge, her undoing.

And so began their quiet war: brilliance against brilliance, manipulation against manipulation.

Hate dressed as fascination. Obsession mistaken for destiny.

Because sometimes, to possess power, you must destroy the one who holds it.

And sometimes, what begins as a reverie - a dream - becomes the nightmare you cannot wake from.