[author's pov]

"It was just a dream," Victoria would tell herself on the nights she couldn't sleep. For the next few nights, she had the same recurring nightmare of Dumbledore and his office that grew darker each and every time. When she woke up, she was forced to come face to face with a waking nightmare.

She walked into the great hall alone, still aggravated at Druella. It seemed like the bond between them had been dented. They couldn't speak to each other in class let alone look at each other without breaking down. Though it was like that for her and Theo too but the tension was thicker.

As far as Theo knew, he assumed Victoria wanted space. Even if it meant he had to wait for weeks or months. Still, it was hard for him to not glance at her from across the classrooms. He looked for her face in crowds even though he knew it'd be against her wishes to involve himself in her secrets.

"She'll tell me when she's ready," Theo mumbled to Cygnus. The two sat at the Slytherin table, eating breakfast. Cygnus chewed slowly as he thought about what Theo had discussed over Victoria.

"Don't you reckon she's playing with your heart, mate?" Cygnus asked with a raised brow. "You're together but not on speaking terms? Sounds toxic if you ask me."

Theo eyed him. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm serious, Theodore!" Cygnus saw throwing both hands up at his side defensively. "We're practically brothers, it's best I let you in the know."

Theo's back stiffened as he saw Victoria's face pass by. She looked distracted as she sat down beside some strangers and quickly grabbed a plate of biscuits and honey. She looked unpresentable, yet perfect to Theo. She had always been.

"Listen, mate," Cygnus said. "Just look at the way you goggle your eyes at her as if she's Athena! I think you're blinded about the fact that she's been getting closer to a new man. Maybe what she told you was all excuses! You know she's a sweetheart and not a blunt person"

Theo broke out of his trance. "What?"

"I mean have you seen the chemistry between- hell, you can feel the tension between Victoria and-"

Theo's attention was caught off guard when Riddle entered the great hall.

"Riddle," he said with a low tone.

Riddle slowly approached Victoria's table and to his surprise, Riddle walked past her without a word. Despite this, the interaction made her stand up–as she had a look of discomfort on her face–and she left the great hall. Theo stood up and Cygnus grabbed his arm with haste.

"Keep your head, Theodore," Cygnus said. "If the woman implies she wants time, give it to her."

Theo's brows furrowed with disappointment as he forced himself to sit back down and pretend as if nothing had happened. He looked around and saw Riddle nowhere in sight.

[victoria's pov]

The next few weeks' events cause the school to buzz more than typical. With O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts arriving, there were students preparing at the last second. Serenity's disappearance has been spread beyond London in the Wizarding World. Her disappearance has even reached the muggles, but her case didn't seem as disturbing to them.

Of course coming as the daughter of a big family in the Wizarding World, The Daily Prophet has even been writing about her disappearance, declaring outrageous theories about how she ran away because of family inheritance pressure.

The Daily Prophet had even gone as far as saying how she's probably still hiding on school grounds, which is why the Ministry still had a strict curfew enforced on the school.

At night, I couldn't sleep as I thought about what her parents were going through. The distraught disturbed me not just in my head but at times I laid in bed, I could have sworn I heard voices telling me to go back and dig her up. Since then, I slept under my sheets.

On this specific night however, the voices grew louder... and angrier. I opened my eyes and swung the sheets off me. In my nightgown, I quickly rushed out of my dormitory.

"She's not alive anymore, she's dead," I mumbled to myself with great fear dragging down on my spine. "She's not alive, she's dead..."

Yet I found myself walking out the Slytherin common room and down the long corridor. And all I could picture was Serenity's digged-up grave... I wanted to believe her spirit was guiding me to find her. That she was still alive.

I stumbled up the stairs and heard a rearrangement happen in the wall in front of me. The bricks moved and the sight made my brain turn. I've spent my entire life living in a world of magic yet it never failed to impress me.

The bricks created a doorway. A very broad and wide set of doors stood eerily in the castle's dimly lit corridor. No one in their right mind would step inside without thinking of the consequences.

But then again, I wasn't in the right mind.

One foot led the other and I fell through the doors. I had fallen and found my knees buried in the snow.

"Snow?" I wondered.

My hands gripped the grass and trees around me surfaced as I looked around. The moon above was as real as the numbing cold the snow imprinted against my skin. I peered into the distance but there was only darkness.

One step forward and I found myself on the edge of a reflective pit, inches from falling into the earth.

I stared down at my feet and my breath quickened with a rush of surprise. I backed away and cautiously neared the hole in the ground. There seemed to be no end as the snow that fell continued to fall into the pit.

"Hello?" I called out from the above.

Not a moment later, a face emerged from the darkness. A hollow faced woman with familiar eyes crawled onto the side of the pit, pulling herself out like a spider.

I yelped and crawled away, frightened by her sudden presence. Blood was splattered across her chest like...

"Serenity?" I whimpered, recognizing the white nightgown.

She stood up and her short hair flew toward the sky. Her eyes were fixated on me with a bloodshot red coat of hunger. Serenity's corpse muttered under her breath.

"Wha-?"

"You killed me," she whispered sadly. Her eyes flashed with realisation. "You killed me!"

She leaped towards me and I screamed, crawling away. I instinctively shield myself with my arms. My wand fell to my side and I cried, trying to wake up from this waking nightmare.

The voices grew again and whispered new thoughts... things I could never repeat.

There was a bright green flash and the voices were hushed. The air felt lighter as I hesitantly lifted my head and saw what had once been a pit, trees, and a field of snow-covered grass was now a regular storage room.

A large one, not to mention. Mountains of furniture were destroyed and thrown across the room. Dust fell from the air and what had been the sky above, was now a roof with cold chandeliers.

"Fascinating."

I whipped my head with a jump and saw the familiar lean figure. He stood over me, inspecting me from head to toe. I couldn't find myself to move. I felt like a petrified lab rat.

Serenity's shallow face was burned in my brain and I turned my head, frightened she'd come back. Her thin limbs and shaking corpse... it was terrifying. Death.

I turned my head and met Riddle's eyes as he kneeled before me. I first thought it was a trick of the light, but there was a gentle tenderness to his eyes.

"Riddle..." I whispered, afraid to be heard by anyone else. "I just saw her."

"I too," he said, still in awe.

I looked around, feeling all eyes on me. All the faceless voices were watching me. I felt it. It pierced through the back of my neck and I sensed it faster than a spider.

"Riddle, Serenity's alive," I said, tears welling in my eyes. "There was snow on the ground and- and the pit we buried her in! I was just in the forest and somehow- I- I don't know who else to turn to, but she's been calling for me. We have to save her or else-"

I paused. I sounded mad.

"Or else-?" he questioned me. His face was inches from mine, trying to get an answer.

I took a breath. "Or else the voices won't leave me alone."

His eyes stared into mine for a long time, trying to read what was happening. Yet I had a feeling he knew more than I did.

"It's all happening in your head," he said almost hushfully. His hands were clasped over mine, I had come to realise. "But you seemed to have brought your vision to life."

"It might be all in my head," I started with tears daring to fall down my cheeks. "But it doesn't mean it's not real."

He didn't say a word, speechless from my perspective.

"What is happening to me?" I demanded. "You associate with the darkness more than anyone I know! You've snuff out the light in your life and you've taken the lives of others... you must know what's happening to me!"

I hadn't been looked at like how Riddle looked at me at that moment. His eyes were fascinated by my hysterical and anguished self. He cocked his head.

"The voices," he said. "Your erased memories... they're resurfacing. It's no wonder you're struggling to control it and your emotions."

"Controlling what?" I demanded.

"Well isn't it obvious?" He leaned in closer with a grin.

"You're an obscurial."

-------

December 23nd, 2023.