The trip to London was long and dull. Miriam slept most of the plane trip there, but upon landing, felt like she hadn’t slept a wink. She knew the dangers that awaited her, and she felt exhausted from all the anxiety. Since she had left Hogwarts, Miriam had been able to completely shut Tom out from her mind, but now it was different. Now she was going to make herself come face-to-face with him for the first time in ten years....
Upon leaving the airport and exchanging her currency, she called a taxi and told the driver to take her to Little Hangleton.
She was filled with fear, anxiety, and nausea. If it wasn’t for the fact that she was going to save her friends, she wouldn’t even be here... especially alone. She patted her pocket, her hand feeling the lump caused from her wand. With it, Miriam felt a little calmer, but not much. Tom would probably know all sorts of Dark Magic and spells that she wouldn’t be able to block. The thought of this made her nervous again. What if this was all simply a trap?
~*~
“But, sir, are you sure this would be a good idea?” Lestrange asked, bowing his head. Tom Riddle sat upon a high-backed chair, glaring at the man who bowed before him. They were inside a large dark cavern - a place where Tom had often gone to escape the authorities.
"Who are you to question my motives, Lestrange?" he replied, rubbing his chin with his long fingers.
The man gave a small twitch as though from being attacked.
"Brothers and sisters, especially twins, share a special bond. Call it a magical connection, if you will. It's a special ability to know what the other’s thinking... feeling... or doing.” Tom Riddle’s face twisted into a cruel smile.
“What shall we do then, Master?”
“I think a trip to Little Hangleton is in order."
~*~
Her trip through London proved to be an interesting experience for Miriam. So much in the city had changed since she'd last been there; it was like she was looking at it for the first time. Her drive through the city was like looking at an old scrapbook: Memories long since forgotten, came back instantly to her. Though Miriam remembered a few of the places, her thoughts were so deep in memories, that most of the trip was spent inside her own mind.
Miriam was finally snapped out of her thoughts when the taxi had stopped at the little town she thought she had left forever. After paying the driver a hefty bit of money for the trip, she headed down the familiar path to what was once Madam Westyn’s Home for Orphaned Children.
As she walked along the dirt path, a feeling of a deja vu engulfed her. Pulling out her wand, she gripped it tightly for protection. Every sound of crackling twigs and the rustling of leaves sent a chill down her spine. With every moving shadow she saw, she prepared to shoot off a curse.
When she made it to the site of the orphanage, she let out a loud gasp. What was once a large, two-story building was nothing more than rubble and overgrown twigs now. Cautiously stepping forward, her feet hit the broken bricks and glass causing her to stumble forward.
"Not very graceful, are we?" came a voice from out of the shadows. In an instant, the cold shallow voice was breathing heavily in her ear. “Miriam,” came the haggard voice in her ear.
“No, it can’t be," she mumbled, her body feeling like it was giving out on her.
“How pleasant it is that you remember me after all this time."
Miriam’s vision was slowly clouding, but she could make out the dark shadow before her. As her vision blurred, her eyes fell upon the figure’s face. There stood her brother, Tom Riddle, holding his wand against her as her body gave out.
A wave of suppressed memories came flooding back to her as she passed out....
--
"They’ll never catch me," he replied smirking, his eyes beginning to show an eerie, reddish gleam in them. "Those Muggle fools are too stupid to catch me, Lord Voldemort."
--
~*~
“No... no... it can’t be,” she mumbled slowly, opening her eyes cautiously. Her clearing vision revealed two eyes that had the permanent stain of blood red to them, and a face pale and gaunt.
“Tom? Is that you?” she asked slowly sitting up, while watching the thing as it moved in front of her.
“Yes, Miriam, my dear sister,” he hissed again. “How good to finally see you again after all these years" He gave an evil laugh as Miriam’s eyes widened in fear, for she hadn’t seen such an ugly creature since Grindelwald had captured her. Miriam stood up from where she was laying and took a tentative step backwards, hoping to get away from this monstrous creature.
"Amazing how you are able to still recognized me, sister." Tom gave another high-pitched and cold burst of laughter, causing the hair on the back of Miriam’s neck to rise.
“Tom, what... what... happened to you?” Miriam asked, remembering the once handsome face of her brother.
“Don’t call me by that name,” he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "I go by a new name now... or have you forgotten that?"
--
"Lord Voldemort," he replied again casually. "It’s a name I created for myself while still at Hogwarts. It’s only known to a few of my closest friends, of course. You didn’t think I was going to keep our filthy Muggle father’s name for all eternity, did you?"
--
"What have you done to my friends? Where are they?" she asked, eyes widening.
"Here. With you."
Miriam looked around, wondering where exactly 'here' was. The cavernous walls told her she was underground somewhere as a faint dripping sound met her ears. Her eyes traveled across the 'room' and to two unconscious bodies lying on the other side. Miriam actually felt her heart stop beating then. Running over to them, she crouched down and looked upon her friend's faces. Sophie's pale peach skin was almost the color of deathly white, while Marcella's usually milk chocolate colored skin was the shade of weak brown. Pushing the blond hair away Sophie's face, Miriam placed her palm upon her friend's forehead. It was icy cold. Marcella was the same. They both were very cold to the touch.
Checking their pulses now, Miriam could detect a small but faint heartbeat. Slightly relived that her friends were still alive, she looked back at Tom.
"What did you do to them?" she yelled, her temper rising, but Tom remained quiet. Tears began pouring from her eyes as Miriam faced her two friends again. Their eyes were pressed shut, as though they were trying to block something horrible from their sight.
"If you can hear me, everything will be all right," Miriam whispered.
Standing up, she reached into her pocket to curse Tom, but her fingers only felt an empty pocket. Her wand was missing....
"Did you think I would actually let you keep your wand?" he asked, twirling his sister’s wand casually between his long fingers. "I couldn’t run that risk, knowing how temperamental you can get." He grinned, infuriating Miriam even more. With a simple flick of her wand, Tom shot out a red light toward her. A violent headache erupted inside her head. It was like someone had just cleaved her head into two pieces. A weak, tormented mumble escaped from her mouth as Miriam fell back down onto the place she had just lain, every part of her body feeling like it was on fire. The pain was too much to bear; she cried out loud, almost wishing she would die right away so the pain would finally end.
After a moment, Tom lifted the spell, though Miriam’s breath was still ragged and shallow, her body twitching with convulsions. She lay on the ground, sweat slowly beading up on her temples. Weakly, her green eyes pleading with him, she looked into his hateful gleaming eyes. He turned on his heel and left the room, leaving her there, and very much alone.