THE NEW TERROR
"The stone!" Tom opened his eyes. That was the first word to come out of his mouth when he came around. He looked around he was in a big white room, lying on a bed wearing a light blue patient's dress. Around the corners of the room, where there were tables, there were flowers. He was at St. Mungoes hospital. For a second he was blank and then everything came back to him with a razor sharp memory. Riddle...plotted them...he duelled with him...the stone...slipped out...The snake...Harry...Hermione took him...Riddle got the stone...the snake struck...Ron...brought me here and Kingsley...dead.
He suddenly sat up in bed and felt his ribs aching in protest. Greyback's claws in his sternum were nothing short of torture as well. Although he didn't want to get out of the warm bed with its comfort, he, with great effort, pulled himself off the bed and stood up, a little lopsided but he did. Though, it was really hard to walk with a thick roll of bandages around his waist. He looked at his side table and saw his wand lying there. He didn't even know why they had put bandages over him as the wound would have healed. He took his wand off the table and pointed it at his waist, "Relashio" the bandages tore apart and he suddenly knew he had made a mistake. Blood started pouring out of his wound. He fell right back onto his bed as everything around him turned black again.
"Tom, Tom." This time when he came around, he heard a soft voice, saying his name, "Tom." He opened his eyes and found himself in the same room though beside him sat someone, closer than his soul.
"Estella." he said, when he saw tears slipping down her pink cheeks. "Don't, please, I'm fine." He sat up a bit, this time very careful. He looked at the bed which was white now, and he knew which would surely have been dripping red in blood when they had found him.
"Oh, Tom, thank God, you're alright. Where did you go? You didn't even tell me and then suddenly Professor Potter tells me you're in here and when I asked why, he said he couldn't tell me, it was something only between you and him. Tom, when I came in here, I saw you lying on the bed drenched in blood, I was so shocked! Please be alright, please,..." and she started crying.
"Estella, please don't cry, you know I hate to see you cry. I'm really fine, I just got myself into..."
"Oh, Tom, please don't say you got yourself into another duel. That's what you said the last time. There's definitely something wrong. Why can't you tell me? That's the second time something so severe has happened to you and don't try to comfort me with that duel tosh." She added as she saw him open his mouth to argue. "I heard the healers, they said "the fangs were poisonous," and they are unable to heal it. Tom, what have you been doing when you just disappear without telling me?"
"Estella, I love you very much, but..." Tom looked at her for a second, he didn't want her to know about Riddle and his relation with him. But what if he did tell her, she understood him. In that one moment, Tom wanted to tell her everything but the next moment he remembered the consequences of revealing himself to the Army and stopped. Everyone who had known the truth had been in danger and had died for the most part. He could not do that to the love of his life.
"I will tell you all that you want to know... in time." He said wiping tears off her face. "All you need to know now is that I am fine." He smiled but saw her tearful expression again. He knew she didn't believe him. "And by the way," he added trying to lift her mood, "this was the third time, not the second time." He winked smiling, exposing all 32 of his teeth.
"Tom!" She poked him in the chest.
"Ouch!" He exclaimed for real. He hadn't realised Greyback's claws were poisonous too but to his relief Estella thought that he was pulling her leg and she finally smiled.
She hugged him, wished him a fast recovery and informed him that everyone else wanted to come and see him and so she left saying she'll be back once everyone else will have visited. She went outside and then came in Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Everyone was Ok except for Harry who was holding his hand differently.
"Splinched." Harry said when he saw Tom staring at his arm.
"Very well deserved I say." Ron chuuckled, trying to lift everyone's mood.
"How're you doing?" Harry asked.
"Well, fine if you don't count Greyback's claws and the bleeding when I take off the bandages."
"Greyback's claws will be fine but you will have to take strict medication until they do. For the next four moons, you'll have to exercise caution. Skip one dose of the prescribed potion and no one would be able to stop you from turning. You might be turning as we speak but if you continue the medicine you'll be ok. And you'll need to keep wearing these bandages for some time. The healers have given you stitches now. It'll heal up all too soon just don't take these off."
"I didn't know werewolf venom hurt and destroy altogether..." Tom tried a failing attempt at a smile. "Well, now I do. At least, I didn't become Greyback's three course meal, right? Tom smiled slightly as he saw their lips twitch a little then finally plucked up the courage to ask, "Kingsley..." but he couldn't bring himself to ask about the funeral.
Harry nodded who understood what he meant, "We've arranged his funeral, at his hometown, he would have liked it."
"I want to come."
At this all of them looked uneasy.
"Tom, you're really not in a position to do so." Ginny said.
"No, I'm fine, as long as I don't take these bandages off," he smiled and saw none of their lips twitch.
"What's happened?" he asked.
"Nothing, Tom, I think you should rest, it won't be good for you to walk around so quickly." Harry said.
But there was something wrong, Tom could feel the insistence in Harry's voice with a concern deeper than his wound.
"I could use a wheel chair." Tom said.
But at this Harry seemed beyond reasoning.
"And who would drag you around!?"
"I don't need dragging around, I'm a wizard, remember?' Tom replied calmly, seeing clearly now that something was wrong.
"But---_, Look you need to res---_"
"No, I don't! I need to know what's going on? Why are you so insistent on not letting me go to the funeral?"
"You want to know, FINE! I don't want you to be at the funeral because---____"
"Because there's no point of you to be there!" Hermione shouted cutting across Harry, she suddenly looked angry, "You hardly knew Bolt!"
"Hermione, I was there when he died and he died because of ..." Tom couldn't bring himself to say "my brother" but he knew they understood, or did they?
"So, what?! Why do you want to bring yourself into the spotlight by appearing at the Minister's funeral?!"
"SPOTLIGHT! Hermione how coul---_argh--" Tom suddenly stood up momentarily forgetting how bad he was hurting and experienced a sharp pain in his ribs. He staggered a bit and Harry made to grab him just when Ron caught his arm tightly. Harry understood what they were doing, and he thought it was better, better at least then when Tom would know.
"Hermione how could you? I would never do anything like that, you know it. I just want to pay my last----_"Tom started again gaining control over himself. He couldn't believe what Hermione had just said. But before he had even finished she strode out of the room. And to Tom's astonishment Harry, Ron and Ginny followed her. Did they think that too?
"Why did you do that? It would have hurt him." Harry said as they reached the reception.
"It wouldn't have done any better had we had told him the truth!" Hermione said her eyes watering. She felt really bad at what she had said to Tom yet it was better than the truth.
All four of them without further ado disapparated to the funeral.
Cricket
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