Harry Potter and the Magic of Souls

Chapter 11: Truths.

In honor of my move into a new apartment, I decided to update my most popular story. I'm sorry this has taken so long. I hope the wait was worth it. Also, I'm going to try and do more writing more often. I just got a twitter account so if you want to follow me there BixbiteQ I'll be posting a poll to see which story you guys would like to be updated next. Until next time, enjoy the story my sweet and patient gems. :3

Tom sat silently on the cool stone floor, still cradling the small boy in his arms. The boy who, it seemed, defeated him as an infant? The more Tom thought about it the less he understood how that was possible. Sure, Adrian was magically strong but an infant? And why the hell would he even target a baby, to begin with? His future self's explanation was...What?! A drunk seer spits out some words about a child born at summer's death and he decides to kill the kid?! What the actual hell!?

Tom gently sets Adrain in Serene's coil, stands up, and starting to pace with a furrowed brow. "This is what we become...because you decided to kill a toddler?" Tom asks, his eyes flashing dangerously. "This isn't...That shouldn't...What were we thinking?! I mean, killing a toddler? That goes against everything we planned to do in school!" The teen protests. The man remains silent, seeming to let him register what he's been told. Finally, Tom stops pacing and looks to the child he was slowly draining the life from. How was he any better than his monstrous future self?...No..He wasn't...He was worse!

"You're thoughts are being clouded with mercy, cast it aside. It will do you no good." The future him says coldly. Tom looks to the man he would one day leech off of for life and body. "This..." Tom murmurs. "This isn't us...We aren't like this! We want to make the wizarding world better not kill innocent children! We never would wish our life onto another child... Our goal is to protect children...To protect them..." he says, looking once more to little Adrian. "What was I thinking?" He growls. He walks over to Adrian and taking the diary from the kid's hands. "What are you doing?" the older him demands. Before Tom can respond there is a hiss from the entrance into the chamber. Man and teen both tense for different reasons. Someone was coming. Most likely Adrian's family. Tom hisses at Serene to retreat with Adrian, not wanting his family to get hurt by his dear friend.

The basilisk retreats into her nest with little Adrian still held gently in her warm coils. She vanishes just as five children rush into the room. For three of them just by looking at them, Tom can tell who is who. Asriel, Frisk, and Chara were just as Adrian described them. There were two faces he hasn't heard Adrian speak about with them as well. Twins by the looks of them. Weasleys perhaps., given their red hair and freckles. He'd had the pleasure of meeting some Weasleys in school. They had impressive magic and good hearts. They had been the top of his list of people to send orphaned or abandon muggle-borns to should he ever be given the power to make such a choice.

"Where's Adrain?!" Demands Asriel, black lines creeping up his face as his eyes darken dangerously. "He's safe," Tom says after a pause. "I'm sorry," he adds after a pause which causes the kids all to blink. "I made a grave error and had Adrian distance himself from all of you. Please don't be angry with him." He sighs, sitting back on the cold floor. "Who...are you?" Chara asks, watching Tom's every move carefully. Tom couldn't blame him. "My name is Tom Riddle. I was living as a spirit in the diary Lord Malfoy sent to Adrian months ago."

"You said you made Adrian distance himself...why?" one of the Weasley boys asks carefully. Tom moans, he should have expected that question. "Because, deep down, I knew what I was doing to him was wrong...also, this Sans person scared the hell out of me." He adds the last part as an afterthought. "Good to know I still have that effect." Snarls a voice from the entrance. The kids all look there and look sheepish at the sight of the furious skeleton. His right eye was practically aflame with blue light. Despite looking relaxed Tom could sense the tension in his body. "So...start from the beginning," Sans says, it wasn't a request.

Tom gulps, trying to steady himself. Sans was even scary in real life and the protectiveness he had for the kids in the room was practically palpable as well as his anger as them for running off without telling anyone where they were going, but Tom was sure they'd hear about that later. Taking a deep, shaking, breath Tom began to speak. "Fifty years ago, I attended this school. It was the best and worst time of my life. I loved it here, but there was one man who would make my life a living hell every chance he could. Not only my life but the lives of every Slytherin as well. No one else in the school seemed to notice..or if they did they didn't care." Tom growls.

Sans sits down in front of Tom to listen to him as the children slowly do the same. Tom continues "I tried to make things better...to prove to everyone Slytherin was as good a house as any other...then rumors began to spread about Slytherin being elitists and spoiled brats. The school turned on us even worse after that. No one would listen and people sneered at our accomplishments. One student, a girl named Mertle, added to the rumor saying our house was full of nothing but future dark wizards and criminals. I tried to confront her once...only once...It was a mistake...A horrible mistake..." he groans, holding his head.

Sans speaks in an even tone, seeming to calm a little. "What happened?" he asks as Tom began to shake. "...I asked her to meet with me outside the chamber. At the time, the second-floor girl's bathroom wasn't used much so we'd be alone and...if things went bad I could call for Serene, my great, great grandfather's familiar. I should have asked to meet somewhere else...We fought...I lost my temper and control of my magic. Serene sensed it and thought I was in danger. She came to my aid and..." Tom chokes. "It...It was an accident...I panicked...If they found Serene they would kill here!...so I pinned the murder on one of Hagrid's pets. I knew he'd be expelled...but I was selfish...still am it seems." Tom rubs his eyes to keep from crying.

Sans nods slowly but doesn't speak, allowing the boy to continue uninterrupted. "After that...things got worse...my housemates started acting the way everyone expected them to act...I even found myself behaving in a way most unfitting of me...I don't know what I acted that way...My memories come to an end after that...The last thing I remember is going to bed and waking up in my old diary...then I was passed around...used by almost no one...until Adrian." Tom concludes.

Sans hums "And what exactly were you doing to Adrian to make him feel sick?" he asks in a warning tone. "I was...Draining his soul...then when he asked me not to use that I drained his life force." Asriel lunged for Tom, but Sans stops him, though he was not pleased with this news. "Can the effects be reversed?" He asks. Tom nods slowly. "Good...do it," Sans says as Tom bows his head. He didn't go back into the diary, but he knew it was for the best. He hisses for Serene to bring Adrian back out to his family, which she does with her gaze down as Tom requested.

Tom hands Sans the diary, which the skeleton takes firmly. "I'm sorry..." Tom says again as he begins to fade away. The last thought that passed through his mind as he blacked out was 'Hey...What happened to the other me?'