Pinned
SUMMARY:
“Harry Potter.”
The cold burrowed into his flesh, the scent of cloying death and molding earth clogged his senses.
“The Boy Who Lived.”
A strange sense of loss and disappointment rose within him. That brilliant, yet cruel boy could’ve been so much more if he’d not stepped down this bloodied path.
Terrible, but great. He pitied this creature.
“Come to die.”
Harry Potter faced the flash of green light with the bravery of a Gryffindor and the broken heart of a Hufflepuff.
—
When Death gives Harry a third option, one that can save everyone he ever cared about, he takes it unflinchingly. Even when that means doing the impossible: falling in love with the enemy, Tom Riddle.
—
FIFTY-FOUR EXCERPT:
“What did you wish to discuss?” asked Tom.
“Well, you’re in a world of trouble for one.”
Tom’s mouth slowly dropped open. “I… I beg your pardon?”
“You. You, Tom Riddle, are in big trouble, young man,” said Tina, reiterating herself in a firm tone. “And we’re going to talk about it and make sure this doesn’t happen again. Understood?”
“Uh… Y-Yes, ma’am,” whispered Tom, completely caught off guard.
He still didn’t know what this was about. It couldn’t just be about missing Sunday dinner, right? Had he done something more… Wait… Is she angry about my missing classes and assignments? Surely not. Tina wasn’t a teacher. It wasn’t her concern at all whether or not Tom missed his classes or failed to turn in assignments. Why would she care?
But…
That was the only explanation for Tina’s behavior. What else could it be? Tom had never felt like a little child around adults and especially not like a naughty child who deserved to be scolded. But as Tina gazed down at him with disappointed, yet soft brown eyes, Tom was overcome with that childlike feeling. He shifted in his seat; his ears heated up.
“Tom, I know the attack was traumatic,” said Tina, her tone softening. “It was… very difficult to find both of you covered in blood and…”
Tom’s mouth went dry.
A head exploded. Blood splattered; bone and brain coated his robes.
Tom blinked. He inhaled greedily. The images faded away, but the scent still lingered in his senses.
“And, well, Newt and I are so grateful that you’re both doing okay. If anything happened to either of you, we’d…”
What?
Tina shook herself. She put her hands onto her hips, “But your behavior this past week and a half has been unacceptable, Tom—and you missed our family Sunday dinner.”
Wait, family—
“You avoided Newt and I, no matter how hard we tried to talk to you—” Tina took to pacing back and forth in front of Tom’s desk, wringing her hands together and gesturing wildly through her gentle, yet firm tirade. “—you always ran off and wouldn’t listen to us when we called you back. Your grades have tanked—don’t think I don’t know that,” she added sharply, giving Tom a look. He shrank back in his seat. “I’ve heard you’ve missed eight of your assignments—eight,Tom!”
He sat there, frozen. Embarrassment swirled in his gut and heated his cheeks with shame. Tom swallowed against the rising bile in his throat.
“On top of that,” continued Tina, still going strong. Tom was met with the full force of her kind frustration. “You’ve gotten two detentions and you skipped both of them. You missed seven of your classes. You obviously haven’t been sleeping well or eating much—you haven’t bothered to hide the dark circles beneath your eyes this time and I can tell you’ve lost some weight.”
Tom had to refrain from touching his cheeks beneath his eyes.
Tina sighed and stopped pacing. “So, what’re you doing, Tom?” she asked. “What’s going on with you? This is so unlike you.”
He couldn’t move. He opened his mouth, but he had no response for her. The heat in his ears flooded into his cheeks. Tom had never been scolded like this before. He’d been yelled at plenty of times when he’d been a child at the orphanage, but he’d always maintained a perfect record here at Hogwarts.
Well, until this year, of course.
Harry, you’ve affected me, for better and for worse, I fear.
This expression on Tina’s face, what a strange thing it was. It wasn’t the condescending look of judgment that came from Dumbledore nor was it the disapproving looks from his teachers he received recently. What kind of expression was this… oh, she wasn’t angry at him.
Tina was disappointed in him.
Oh…
