Belladonna

The first time that Potter and Rizzo had gone to the Slug’s Christmas party, they had been incredibly high and ready to mischief. Now, they were sober, staring at the guests waltz around the room. It hadn’t been easy, helping Monty sobering up, and they still had a long way to go, but they were doing all that it was on their hands. They had made a pact to be sober together: no more drugs, no more alcohol. The easiest way to help Monty was for him to be in an environment safe of drugs.

So, no drugs, no alcohol that night. Not even a glass of champagne to toast with Slughorn, who was so grateful Potter had decided to join his class once more. The Gryffindor lad was a potioneer prodigy.

“I’m surprised to see that you are accompanied by Mr Potter, having that you are in a beautiful relationship with the young Dumbledore.”

However, although these teenagers could lose the bad habit of drugs, their professor couldn’t lose the bad habit of gossip.

“How come?” one of the listeners grinned maliciously. “Are you dating your teacher, Miss Rizzo?”

“I knew there was a reason why she was so high up on the Ministry all of a sudden” his wife whispered to one of the ladies, loud enough for them to hear. “Merlin’s first class my arse” she snorted.

“How dare-?” they didn’t let her finish.

“How scandalous!” the same man exclaimed. “A student and a teacher.”

“No, no, I’m afraid you misunderstood me” Slughorn said, no worry in his frown. “I beg you not to dishonour Albus Dumbledore’s good name. Belladonna-she is dating Aberforth Dumbledore, the younger brother.”

But that didn’t amend anything. They were still discussing their age difference. Worse. They were criticizing how much of an underachiever Aberforth was. Such a waste of potential for her to be fooling around with England’s favourite bachelor.

And then, the gossip spread all around the room like a plague, until it was the only thing the wizards and witches could speak about for the rest of the evening. How she hated gatherings like these ones. She had almost forgotten why. All eyes were on her, and not in the way that she usually enjoyed. It was as if all the comments that the vicious female friends of Aberforth spat about her were intensified. Were dragged into her persona. She wasn’t Belladonna Rizzo, Grindelwald’s defeater, youngest Merlin’s first-class receiver, the brightest jewel in Slughorn’s pocket. No, now, she was Aberforth Dumbledore’s pet-thing.

“This is horrible...” she mumbled and Potter held her back in a comforting way.

“Of course, I never saw it coming” Slughorn continued blabbing like he was gaining something from this. “I always thought she would end up with Tom-Oi, Tom, come here!”

Bella’s heart might as well had skipped a beat. This is not actually happening. She saw the reason of her nightmares walk towards them and wondered when he had arrived. She checked if her mental shields were up, just as Dumbledore had been teaching here for the past month now in their private Occlumency lessons.

“Professor” he greeted him with his unreadable face as always.

“Tom, I was just saying how sad it is that you and Miss Rizzo were never together?”

Something glammed in his eyes. Amusement.

“Professor, you’ll make me blush” he called with his face as white as a sheet of paper.

“Were you in love?” one of the ladies found herself asking. “Or was it unrequited?”

“Neither” she answered before Riddle could. “Professor Slughorn just created a romance novel in his head that never happened nor will.”

“Never say never” her professor returned.

“We are family friends” Tom answered finally, flashing a smile at the girl. “Right, Ofelia?”

“I wouldn’t use the word friend.”

“Oh, why not?” the other man inquired so amused with their intervention.

“It’s a long stor-”

“I find him irritating” she interrupted him. “Arrogant, pretentious, cruel and condescending.”

“Because you are so humble” he glowered at her, and that overwhelming pain hit her head. She wasn’t going to let him in. He wouldn’t.

“I don’t suppose you would accept a waltz with such a loathed nemesis of yours.”

Of course, she didn’t want to dance with him, but all the eyes were on her. He knew that she had push hard enough. If she was to say no, then more gossip would fly around about her.

So, she didn’t answer. She just grabbed his hand and guided him to the dancefloor.

“I despise you” she growled between her teeth.

“I find you equally hideous.”

But the ache in her head kept on beating, which meant he was desperately trying to come in. She had to be mentally strong enough or he would get inside.

“Don’t lie to yourself. You find me so delightful you don’t know how to breathe if I’m not around you.”

“You’d love me to be like that, don’t you?” he hissed. “Just like your Dumbledore.”

They shared a look. Daggers coming from both of his eyes. “You know nothing about Forth.”

“Oh, but I bet Forth does everything you tell him to do. Go right. Go left. Eat. Sleep” he argued. “Like a dog.”

“Love is nothing like that, yet again, what do you know about love?”

“Not much” he admitted, which threw her off. “But I do know that I would never be a dog” he confessed, “I would never be waiting by the door until you come home, Ofelia. Because that is what he does, right? He sits in Hogsmeade all week, waiting for you to sneak outside the castle and go to his house, so you can sleep together and then you may leave early in the morning for school.”

How could he know all that? He wasn't in her head. Unless, he had found another way in-No, there was no chance.

“I would never wait for you” he repeated like a statement. “I am no underachiever. I can’t sit around and let you be the hero, while I’m the damsel in distress.”

“You sure know a lot for someone that has never been in love.”

“Who said I have never been in love?”

“You did. Just a moment ago” she frowned. “Or have you talked for so long, you don’t know what you are saying?”

“I said I didn’t know much about love” he corrected her. “But I’ve been in love.”

In love? In love with who? With her? With Braulio? With someone that she didn’t know? Maybe he had met someone in this past two years. Maybe he was dating Eileen Prince after all, and she had been the other woman.

“And what happened?”

“I ripped that feeling right out of my chest” he smiled vigorously. “Because there is no place for love in my plans.”

And without saying anything else, he abandoned her in the middle of the dancefloor for everyone to gossip.

“He was implying he was in love with you” Monty assured her in one of the carriages of the train.

They were heading back to London for the winter holidays. Filipe was sleeping on her side. He had been like that for the past hour. Aberforth, who was going to join her and her family for Christmas, had gone to chase the trolly lady.

“Don’t say that. Please...”

“But you know deep down that’s the truth, right?”

“I don’t care” she said for the millionth time. “If he was in love with me, he’s dumber than what I thought him to be.”

“Why?”

“Because for a brief moment I-I might have fallen for him as well. He lost his chance” she declared. “No, scratch that. He decided to lose his chance.”

She couldn’t stop thinking about how he had declared he had forced himself into stop loving that person, whoever they were. He had put all his feelings aside for his personal interest. Well, too bad. She didn’t want someone like that anyways. Someone that didn’t love her enough to stay.

“Bella” Forth came into the carriage with a sour face. He was holding the Daily Prophet. “What happened at Slug’s party yesterday?”

To be fair, she did invite him to go, but he said no. Maybe she should have stayed as well. She took the paper. The article wasn’t in the first page at least. It was in the column of gossip.

BELLADONNA RIZZO, THE HEARTBREAKER OF THE SEASON

Today we bring you astonishing news for everyone that cares about the little star under Theseus Scamander’s wing. Belladonna Rizzo (17) and Aberforth Dumbledore (31) are in a long-term relationship. Apparently, the two lovebirds got together after Grindelwald’s defeat. Who said that a battlefield isn’t a great place to fall in love?

Rizzo seems to be madly in love with England’s favourite Casanova. The boy has finally settled down for her. Good job, Belladonna, for having him wrapped around your little finger! We sure want to know more about the inside of the couple and how they will be spending their holidays. Hopefully, with Aberforth’s brother, Albus Dumbledore. Mind you, he is the teacher of the girl and a workmate. Looks like we finally know how she got that Prevention Against Drug Addiction Clinic going. The shack belonged to her dear boyfriend. What else are they helping her get and what is she giving all these men in return?

“This is horrible!” she yelled waking her brother up. “They just called me a whore. They think I’m fucking my way up to the top.”

“Keep reading.

However, more scandalous news were revealed last night at Slughorn’s party, where someone close to the couple commented that they had always wished for Belladonna to be with bright, young wizard Tom Riddle. The boy was at the party, who seemed very pleased with such comment. Word says they had a heated dance full of whispered conversation and wild stares.

Who knew that Belladonna Rizzo’s love life was such a mess?

“It’s not what it looks like” she said immediately after finishing the article. “We were just bickering like we usually do.”

“Why, I don’t think it was just bickering if there’s an article written about it.”

“Hey, Fil!” Monty called her brother. “Wanna go for a walk?”

“Sure” they fled the scene.

“People see what they want to see” Ofelia assured him. “The only thing that it’s true about this article is the fact that we are dating. That’s all. The rest all are lies about my life and who I am.”

“I just don’t think I feel comfortable with him being at dinner now.”

“Do you want me to cancel?” she inquired. “We can spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron.”

“No, this is your family. This is the first Christmas without your father. You should be there” he expressed. “I shouldn’t.”

“I want you to be there. You are my family.”

“Okay” was all he could answer.

The journey to Clovelly took more than Ofelia had anticipated, as the snow forced her to drive slow. And what a piece of shits were Aberforth and Filipe as co-pilots. They spent the whole way home asleep.

“We there?” Filipe woke up, once she had parked in front of the house.

“What do you think, you son of-?” she started saying, but he was already out of the car running to the door.

“Someone needs a little sleep.” Aberforth stroked her cheek.

She tried to answer, but a yawn interrupted her. She was tired. After all, it had been a 4-hour journey that it had turned into 5.

“Would you get the luggage while I deal with my brother?”

“Sure, darling” he kissed her cheekbone. “What am I if not your luggage boy?”

“I hope who I’m going to bed with tonight.”

“Ah, the night is uncertain when your ex is on the house” he tried to joke, but Ofelia didn’t laugh.

“Whatever you do, do not fall for any of his provocations” she insisted.

“I know.”

She knew that her warning was worth nothing. The chances of the evening ending in disaster were close to 100%. At least, she would take revenge on Riddle by showing him how good of a boyfriend her dog was.

“Hello, Braulio” she smiled at her brother, who had already started dinner.

He turned around, uncertain if he could hug her. They hadn’t spoken since that fight they had have at the end of summer. Now, the fight seemed dumb. She didn’t even remember what it was for. So, she hugged him because she had missed him.

“Had a nice ride?”

“If driving with snow and two snoring men is considered a nice drive...” He smiled and went back to the cooking. “Where’s your dog?”

“Who?”

“Riddle. Where’s Riddle?”

“He had some things to deal with. He didn’t appreciate his name in the paper.” He pointed a sample of today’s Daily Prophet that was on top of the kitchen counter. “He said he’d be back when the moon was up.”

With some luck, maybe he would miss the Christmas dinner.

“I’ll go and take a nap” she changed subjects. “I’m exhausted.”

The next thing she knew she had woken up in the middle of the evening. Laughter came from downstairs, so she followed it. The table was already placed, glad to know she hadn’t missed the dinner yet. It was very important for them to stay united, after their father passing away. She found Filipe and Aberforth laughing at whatever they were talking about. Braulio was waiting by the door... waiting for him.

“There’s my sleeping beauty” Aberforth called, and she rolled her eyes.

A sudden knock on the door startled the four of them. Braulio smoothed his hair next to the door, but it was Belladonna the one to open. Of course, he had dressed to impress, wearing his best suit.

“Well, this is too bad,” she sighed, “I was sure you have lost yourself on the way up.”

He smiled wickedly and leaned to her. “You look like you just woke up. Such a shame you did wake up. Next time, do me a favour and don’t.”

“Don’t worry, Forth” Filipe said standing from the living room. “They always bicker like that.”

“Since we were kids” Tom added still grinning at Ofelia and then turned to Dumbledore. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.”

He showed him his hand and Dumbledore accepted suspiciously. Oh, no, we’re dealing with the fake nice-Riddle tonight. Merlin, help us all.

“Tom, you are not going to guess what I discovered in the woods the other day.”

“Tell me, boy” he said while taking off his coat.

“What were you doing in the woods?” Braulio questioned his little brother.

“Good question” Ofelia joined him.

Then, they jumped onto dinner. Tom explained to Braulio, though loud enough for everyone to hear, how his meeting with the Daily Prophet counsel had gone. He had threatened them amicably to not publish any more rumours about his love life. Though he didn’t go on detail on how he had threatened them and succeeded equally.

“They won’t publish any more gossip” he stated now looking directly at Bella.

“If you are expecting a thank you from me, I suggest you buy yourself a nice couch to lay in while at it.”

“Such manners. You are giving your dog-boyfriend a bad example.” He didn’t seem to have intended to make a mistake like that. But she didn’t like to believe Riddle did anything by mistake. “So... Aberforth, what do you do for a living?”

“I have an Inn at Hogsmeade. Full of customers” he answered with a forced smile. “How about you?”

“I work in one of the shops on Nocturn Alley. Part-time.”

“Does anyone want to know what I’ve been doing for a living?” Ofelia questioned.

“No” they all responded at the same time.

“The tabloids keep us all updated” Braulio buffed.

“And you speak about it enough at school” Filipe laughed.

“And at home” Forth added and they stared down at both of them. “She’s all Theseus Scamander this, the Ministry that.”

“Are you still obsessed with Theseus Scamander, sister?”

“I’m not obsessed” she declared. “He’s my boss.”

“I don’t think your boyfriend appreciates your fondness for your boss” Riddle observed.

It was obvious he was trying to provoke Forth.

“Ha, he is a funny one” Aberforth chuckled, catching Riddle’s attention.

“You must miss your nomad life, I bet. Remaining at Hogsmeade must be extremely dull for a man like you.”

“I’ve had enough nomad life this summer, and once Bella finishes school, I’ll take her to China, right?” he turned to look at her and she smiled in response.

“And does she want to go to China?” Tom questioned.

“I’ve never been to China. I would love to go.”

“Yeah, and where will he take you after?” now, he spoke directly to her. “Where will he go once you move on from your little trips? Where will he wait for you while you are succeeding at the Ministry?”

“Oh, you think I will succeed at the Ministry?”

“I don’t know why you are so worked up by what me and Bella do. At the end, it’s for us to decide what we do with our lives.”

It was too late. Riddle had done it. He had managed to piss Aberforth off. Although she had warned him, it hadn’t been enough.

“I care because I’m part of this family.”

“You care” Aberforth corrected him, “because you don’t like that Bella is with me now, and not with you.”

Both faces of Ofelia and Tom became a poem. They collapsed into a sea of fears, as they stared down at Braulio, who was frozen in his seat.

“What?”

“What?” Aberforth repeated, noticing his mistake.

“Why would you want to be with Bella?” he spoke to him directly. “Tom, why would you want to be with Bella?”

“Braulio, this is not what it looks-”

“Shut up, Bella!”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” Forth intervened, but Braulio was too focused on them.

“Has something happened between the two of you?”

“Braulio...” Tom sighed and that was enough of an answer to the eldest of the Rizzo bloodline, as he slammed the table with his hand.

“You fucked Tom?” he accused her. “You fucked him?”

“Braulio...” was all she could say.

“Stop saying my bloody name!” He stood up and left the room, bursting with rage.

There was silence all of a sudden, after listening how Braulio left the house. That was the end. She knew it. Braulio’s trust was broken now. She had finally lost him. She hated Riddle. For playing with her back in the day. For playing with her brother as well. For provoking Forth all evening. For putting themselves in that situation. She was mad at Forth for spilling the truth, but she was much angrier at herself because she should have told him, she should have warned him that it was a secret. Forth couldn’t know that it was a secret, especially since Ofelia had spoken so freely about it with him.

Riddle met her eyes and that pressure irrupted her brain again. Her wall was down. It had come down by the anger and surprise of the situation that had just happened. Go look for him, she begged him, please solve this.

Like she had given him an order, he stood up and let his napkin in the table. “I’ll go and talk to him” he announced and then he left. “Merry Christmas.”

“I don’t get it” Filipe said, who had been awfully quiet. “Was it a secret that Tom had feelings for you?”

“Okay,” she turned to see his brother, “A. He doesn’t have feelings for me. B. Yes, it was a fucking secret.”

“I read it on Tom’s diary two years ago.”

“HA!” Those were huge news. “You stole his diary?”

“He left it open, so I read it.”

Now, that wasn’t right. The time that she and her friends had tried to read his diary, it had some kind of charm in it, so that it appeared blank. There was no chance that Riddle had left his personal diary unprotected. He had let it there on purpose for Filipe to read, but why?

“And weren’t you mad?” she wondered.

“Mad?” he inquired. “Why I should be mad? Love is a wonderful thing, sis, and you’re lucky to be loved. No one should mess with that.”

And this was why. This was why Tom had let Filipe read that fragment of his diary, of his thoughts. He knew it was the perfect way to get her little brother into liking him, and that it was how he got him in his pocket for two years. Because her little brother was a good boy, who only wanted her sister to be happy.

“Come on, fratellino, let's go to sleep.”

Filipe smiled and left Aberforth and Ofelia alone. He couldn’t smile; he felt like he had fucked up everything.

“This is not your fault” she whispered to him. “I should have told you it was a secret.”

“He’s right.”

“Riddle?”

“You deserve to have a future, Bella...”

“No, no, Forth” she said, grabbing his face. “Don’t listen to him. He knows nothing about us, nothing. I have a future and it’s very bright. But I won’t be happy if you’re not in it. We’ll have a beautiful summer in China and then we’ll work, save and go to Greece next summer.”

Forth forced a smile into his mouth. “Why don’t you go upstairs and get ready for bed, while I’ll clean everything?”

Ofelia leaned in and left a soft kiss in his lips. “Fine, but don’t take long.”

When she went into her room, she was surprised to find Braulio and Tom outside the house arguing. She could see them from her window. They were standing on the snow, in the dark, but she could still notice her brother was crying desperately and that Tom seem frustrated. He tried to reach out to her brother, but he didn’t let him. Braulio was too upset, so upset that he pointed down the street, like kicking him out. But Riddle didn’t move. Instead, his eyes went up to her window and it looked like he stared at her, even if she wasn’t sure he could see her from the distance. Then, he turned around and started to walk down the road.

She didn’t know what her brother did next, as she closed her curtains and got ready for bed with a sour taste down her throat.

The sound of soft snow hitting her window woke her up in a halt. She wasn’t sure how many hours she had slept, but it hadn’t been long since it was still night time. It was already Boxing Day. She turned around in her bed searching for the loving body of her boyfriend. She found nothing. There was no one in bed with her.

“Forth?” she called, but she was alone in her room. “Where is he...?”

There weren’t even signs of him coming back to bed at all. This was weird.

She was about to get out of bed when she caught the image of what was happening outside her house. Riddle was standing on the same spot as before, but now Aberforth was with him. They were having a chat.

I must be dreaming. She pinched the skin of her right arm, but she didn’t wake up. So, she wasn’t dreaming then. With her eyes closed, as she still was half-asleep, she put some warmer clothes on to go downstairs.

“You sure don’t want to hurt her...” was all that she heard, as soon as she came out of the front door. Riddle had said that, in his characteristic monotone voice that drive her crazy, but he stopped himself when he saw her.

“Forth?”

Her boyfriend turned around, half surprised. He looked angry, even though that didn’t come as a surprise since he was speaking with Riddle after all.

“Bella, I thought you were asleep.”

“I was” she explained, “but I woke up and saw you through the window.”

She pulled her eyes from her boyfriend to give Riddle a question look. Of course, he didn’t even look back at her.

“Go inside, Aberforth.”

“Bella.”

She didn’t respond, so he decided to make his way up to the house without even saying anything else. Leaving her alone with Riddle, without looking back at her.

“I thought you left” she said once they were finally alone.

“I didn’t feel like going back to the city yet.”

“He is mad, isn’t he?”

“He is mad at me” he corrected her. “I made sure of it.”

She couldn’t help by cracking a smile at what he had just implied. He had convinced Braulio that it had all been his fault. Just like she had asked him to: he solved it... for her, not for him.

“How long have you known?”

“Known what?” she inquired.

“That I can read your mind.”

“Oh, you mean that you are a leglimen” she nodded. “Yes, I figured that out, and I don’t really appreciate it, you see. Next time I catch you doing it, I’ll burn your ass.”

“Don’t worry” he showed her his devilish mouth. “It was fun while it lasted. I mean it did took you six years to figure it out-”

She didn’t let him finish by punching his arm.

“I bet you enjoyed it, don’t you?” she hissed. “Well, no more. I won’t let you hurt me or my family anymore. From this moment, I want to you out of our lives. I want you gone.”

For the first time in her life, she had left Tom Riddle without words. It wasn’t like he wasn’t talking because he didn’t care. He just didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to convince her to let him stay.

In a couple of hours, his life-the people he called family-had crumbled down. Braulio didn’t want to see him anymore because he had betrayed his trust, he had betrayed him. And although Ofelia didn’t know yet, Braulio had told Riddle that he wouldn’t come back to the apartment after holidays because he didn’t want to see him again. On the other hand, Ofelia and Filipe didn’t seem to care if he was around or not. Because there was another man now. Ofelia’s boyfriend could easily take on his place and it would have been the same for the Rizzo siblings. And that wounded him completely.

But it had been his error. His miscalculation. And now, he ought to pause and rearrange.

“I’ll leave” he declared.

She couldn’t believe his words. “What?”

“I’ll leave and won’t come back” he said with such complexion that she trusted his words. “I won’t bother you or your family anymore.”

“Okay-”

“But that won’t change the truth, Ofelia,” he continued, “and the truth is that Aberforth Dumbledore will ditch you the second he understands you are destined to be much more than the girl that sings at his pub.”

“He knows what I want to do with my life.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t understand” he explained, but she couldn’t buy it. “Well, I guess maybe he just did.”

He went forward and grabbed her cheeks, though she tried to break apart. “Listen, I won’t come back... until you look for me.”

“I won’t go to you.”

“You may do whatever you want” he breathed. “But if you do, if you look for me, I will come back. I want to you to know that I will come back.”

Those words were so distant from the character she had created in her mind. That wasn’t the monster that she knew. Because those words come out as a promise. A promise that should have been scary, but somehow it brought reassurance.

“Goodbye, little one” he left a kiss in her forehead and then turned around.

She walked back into her house and went upstairs to her room. Forth was already lying in bed, pretending to be asleep. She pretended to fall asleep too, but she couldn’t.

And although there was no actual reason for Riddle to keep his oath, he did. He stayed away from all of them. For the next seven years, Ofelia didn’t hear a word about Tom Riddle, and she almost forgot his name.