Riddle was still eying Adrian with some sort of fond affection. Riddle stepped forward, bending slightly and with one hand touched Adrian's cheekbone. Then his jawline, he pinched his chin and turned his head side to side to observe it better.
"You do look like me." Riddle hummed, "So strange, I never thought I would ever have…"
He trailed off, and then he smiled. It was a wide breathless smile which somehow made something in Adrian's heart stir.
"Has my older self taught you spells?" The younger asked excitedly, "I could feel you when you walked in here- why is that?"
"You can feel me?" Adrian's jaw dropped, "How?"
Riddle shrugged and offered a sharklike grin, "Would you like to see Adalonda?"
"The basilisk?" Adrian asked excitedly, looking around the chamber.
Riddle turned, looked up at the statue and hissed loudly, "Speak to me Salazar Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
The stone mouth slid open, and from the empty cavern something slithered from within.
"Adalonda," Riddle spoke, "This is a friend of your noble kind. He speaks and is of my blood."
The basilisk hit the ground, its eyes were greyish and clouded by an extra eyelid. It's girth was amazing, it's hiss was loud enough to echo.
"Another speaker?" It spoke, voice much more intelligent as the rest of its body landed and began to slither between them, "So young. So fresh." It hissed, jaws opening to reveal a row of multiple fangs in its mouth, pointed and needle sharp like a python or a boa.
Lutain slithered out of his pocket and up to see the basilisk, "Your scales are like sun on water." Lutain prattled out, nearly wriggling in excitement, "Your teeth could sink many prey."
The basilisk hissed, tilting its head curiously, "A little one," It cooed, "So small, are your fangs sharp?"
Lutain hissed eagerly and slid off Adrian onto the ground to rear in front of the mighty basilisk. He was a tiny twig in the wake of an ancient Oak tree.
"What is your name, little one?" It tilted its head, "You are not Nagini."
Adrian looked at Riddle who stood with his leg resting on the deathly still Ginny.
"You had Nagini when you were at Hogwarts?"
"She's still around?" Riddle looked interested, "She had just hatched."
"Nagini is wise." Lutain hissed in glee, "Master! The mark! Summon the mark!"
Oh, that was actually a good idea.
Riddle blinked in alarm, "I finished the Dark Mark?"
"A different one," Adrian explained, removing his cloak and unbuttoning his shirt. He pressed his fingers to his collarbone and hissed directly at his skin "Nagini."
He grimaced at the sensation and Nagini pulled her way out of his skin. Riddle's eyes widened and he smiled at the sight of his familiar moving around Adrian's body, "Nagini," Adrian addressed the mark, "Tell father that the diary has taken a body."
The snake hissed and dove through his skin again.
"That's brilliant," Riddle smiled, glancing down at Ginny, "I think she's comatose."
Adrian nodded, staring at the Weasley girl.
Her breathing was low, barely anything. Her eyes had opened at some point and were rolling around in her skull, clouded and desperate. She made desperate whimpering noises, tears ran from the corner of her eyes.
"She's going to die," Adrian breathed, lowering to his knees. The sound of his kneecaps hitting the stone was muffled yet sounded loudly in Adrian's ears.
He felt Riddle behind him, peering over interestedly. His presence washed soothing black waves over Adrian's mind; he felt it go cloudy, everything tinted by the inhales and slowing exhales.
"She doesn't have to," Riddle spoke, there was a soft tone in his voice, one hand resting on Adrian's shoulder, "You could take her with you if you want. She'd live."
He could, he could take her with him. Be declared a hero and carry Ginevra Weasley to safety from the Chamber of Secrets...
But how would he explain how he knew she was down here? How would he explain how he snuck down here? How would he explain how he saved her from the basilisk?
Then what would the story be for how Ginny had been opening the chamber?
"No, no I can't." Adrian breathed, the soothing dark around his shoulders was fogging his mind, "She can't live."
Adrian almost heard the phantom whispers of something inaudible hiss 'yessss' deep in his skull.
"Are you sure?" Riddle sounded so concerned, "I can pull away now, not become tangible."
"You can't." Adrian breathed, "You can't kill her entirely. I have to sneak you out in the diary."
Riddle exhaled with a smile somewhere between resignation and pride, and with the sound of a taught wire snapping, Ginny let out a choked gasp and a cry. Tears began cascading as she started sobbing wildly.
"Master?" Lutain asked, slithering over and looking at Adrian concernedly.
Adrian didn't hear him- whispers were gathering in his head.
"You should let her live," Riddle whispered, his mouth by his ear.
Something was thrumming 'Kill her, kill her.'
"Let her live," He murmured once again,"She's in pain."
'Kill her Adrian,' Riddle's voice was clouding his ability to breathe, like smoke in his lungs, 'She can't live.'
Adrian jerked forward and grabbed the diary from the ground.
Ginny turned her head towards him, her eyes met him and he could see her begging. Tears ran from her eyes.
"Lutain, we're going." Adrian spoke, feeling like he was watching the scene from outside his body, "Adalonda, I must go. Go to sleep, I'll be back when I can. It may be months."
Adalonda gave a regal nod, and turned towards a tunnel on the side.
"She'll wake up, now that I'm not attached to her," Riddle warned, looking at the scene with some sort of half lidded amusement- like everything was coming to fruition.
'Leave her be,' Something whispered, its voice enticing. He almost didn't feel his own lips moving, "Leave her in the Chamber."
"In the Chamber?" Riddle looked almost alarmed, reaching around in some sort of mock embrace, his touch felt like smoke, "In the Chamber? All alone?"
He was breathing in the clouding poison...
"Let her starve to death." Adrian exhaled almost dazed.
He turned and stumbled out of the Chamber, Adalonda's scales slid smoothly over the stone until she too, vanished.
Somewhere faintly over the sounds of Tom Riddle laughing in his head, he heard Ginny sobbing.
....
Join my P*atreon to enjoy 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/ScarletRosee (Remove the *)
Free members can get 2+ advanced chapters FOR FREE.