The dim light from the flickering torches cast long, wavering shadows on the cold, damp walls as footsteps echoed through the narrow, serpentine passage.
The long corridor was adorned with snake motifs on both sides and it led to a massive statue of old Salazar Slytherin himself.
As the girl with a small frame walked closer to the statue of Salazar, her movements grew slower, more labored.
Her eyes rolled back, and with a soft, almost inaudible sigh, she collapsed to the cold, damp floor, her red hair fanning out around her like a fiery halo.
From her fallen form, a dark mist rose, solidifying into Tom Riddle. Tall and slender, with cold eyes and a cruel smile, he stood over her, draining the air of warmth.
Tom Riddle took a deep breath, "Haah~"
He was feeling alive again, but not fully yet. The process of sucking all the life energy from the girl would take a bit of time, a couple of hours at the maximum.
But then, he heard another set of steps from behind him... it was Hadrian... walking towards him with a calm gait.
"We meet again, Voldemort, or should I say, Tom Riddle?" Hadrian said with a smile.
Tom's eyes furrowed in a nasty scowl, his teeth gritted in fury, but then he calmed himself down. There was nothing Hadrian could do to stop his resurrection.
So, shifting his scowl to a grin, Tom greeted Hadrian, "Hadrian bloody Potter, why is it that whenever I am close to my goals, you are always there for some bloody reason!"
Hadrian stopped, "Huh... you're actually right Voldemort. I also wonder about this... It's almost as if we are bound by fate or something..."
Parting his hair with his wand, Hadrian showed Tom the famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead, "And I think that it's your fault we are connected."
Voldemort narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"
Hadrian sighed and walked towards the fainted figure of the little Weasley girl. He inserted his hand in the girl's robe and pulled an old, dark book.
"This is... a Horcrux, right?" Hadrian asked, waving the book.
"Yes," Tom smiled, "It's honestly a surprise that such a young boy knows about this but... it doesn't matter, you cannot destroy it Potter, Horcrux is the darkest of the dark magic, it's indestructible."
Hadrian nodded, "I know, but I don't actually want to destroy the diary... but I wanted the Heirship of the Chamber of Secrets from you..."
Tom scoffed at Hadrian's ignorance, "That's not possible, Heirship is soulbound, not something you can give and take..."
Hadrian hummed, "Ah, I see... you still didn't get it."
Tom raised his brows... and then his eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
Voldemort realized everything... the reason the boy showd him the 'mark', the reason he talked about Horcruxes... Hadrian was a Horcrux as well.
A part of Voldemort's soul resided in Hadrian as well... which meant he was partially an Heir.
And in his broken form of Tom Riddle, Voldemort held just as much command of the Basilisk as Hadrian would since both of them had 1/7 of Voldemort's original soul.
But if Hadrian managed to remove Tom Riddle somehow then the Basilisk would be his.
And since there was no way to destroy the diary, there was only one thing that would remove him from the equation.
Tom rushed towards the weasely girl, 'I need to protect her body until I can extract all the life force from her! I need her alive to get revived! I need her wand! I need to kill that bastard bloody Potter!'
"Wingardium Leviosa" — the levitating charm. One of the most basic of the spells cast by Hadrian caused Ginny's body to float upwards, as her form reached near the ceiling, and then, he canceled the spell, and her body fell on the ground headfirst with a sickening thud.
Splat!
Ginny's body lay crumpled on the cold stone floor, her limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Her brain matter strewn around. Blood pooled beneath her, seeping into the cracks of the ancient floor.
"Gasp No!" A small girly gasp, filled with terror fell on Hadrian's ears. Before he could identify its source, Tom Riddle let out a chilling scream of fury.
"HADRIAN POTTAAAAARRR!!!!"
With a burst of energy, Tom's form dissipated into thin air.
"Hm..." Hadrian mused as he froze Ginny's corpse. 'Well, for some reason the ministry already suspects Hagrid for the recent events. Perhaps, pinning this on him would make sure he's never out of the Azkaban.'
"Lord Hadrian," Evelyn's voice interrupted, drawing his attention. She approached with Hermione Granger levitating behind her, restrained by a full-body bind spell.
"She witnessed everything," Evelyn stated plainly.
Hadrian clicked his tongue in mild annoyance, considering the implications.
He looked at Hermione's spell-restrained form, her eyes were wide with frozen fear.
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