The Patronus of Tom Riddle

Tom trembled with every cell of his body from the sensations he had experienced, holding his beloved tightly. His breath and pulse struggled to return to their usual rhythm. In place of satisfied passion came an all-encompassing tenderness — one that commanded him to touch the woman he had been devouring just a minute ago as carefully as if she were made of crystal. He quietly stroked her relaxed body, unwilling to let go. Feeling her warmth and weight was extraordinarily pleasant. He did not want to move, did not want to leave her — a languor spread through his entire body, to the very tips of his fingers. The tension was gone; his soul felt so light… Aola raised her head and looked at him. A slight smile played on her lips, swollen from kisses, and her gaze was clouded. Suddenly, it dawned on Tom — apparently, with the rush of blood to his head, the ability to think had returned as well — she was now HIS, entirely and in every sense. And it was he who had just given her pleasure; it was because of him that she was smiling so blissfully. The moral satisfaction turned out to be no less pleasant than the physical one. Tom felt on top of the world. The girl kissed him tenderly and lay down beside him. He turned on his side so as not to lose sight of her lovely face and embraced her again. “Is everything alright?” she asked softly, stroking his cheek. “Very…” he felt so many things at once, but suitable words, as usual in such moments, were lacking. Perhaps they were not needed? But Aola had no problem with that. She whispered such endearments to him that, from pleasure and embarrassment, Tom buried his face in her sweet-smelling curls and murmured that he loved her more than life. He was deafeningly happy. They lay embraced for a long time, kissing quietly and caressing each other. Then milady asked if her sweet boy wanted something to drink? And Tom suddenly realized he was dying of both thirst and hunger. The fruit, the sweets, and the cold sherbet all came in handy. And when Aola offered him a honey-transparent grape directly from her lips, he felt his desire returning. She did not object. Having satisfied the sharpest passion that had prevented him from even thinking, Tom could now try to stretch out the pleasure. Advice from “The Mistletoe Bough” crowded and climbed over each other in his mind — try me, and me, she will definitely like it! If the lad rushed to apply them too zealously, milady did not show it and allowed him to lead the first part of this sweet game, only tactfully guiding him with a gentle word or gesture. The leisurely exploration of each other’s sensuality brought so much pleasure to both, and the finale was so stormy that it deprived them of the last of their strength. The lamps went out. They lay in the darkness, intertwined like tropical vines. Outside the walls of the pavilion, the jungle inhabitants called to each other in dozens of different voices. Languor took over his whole body; his head was empty and light. His eyelids were sticking together. Fragments of thoughts floated in a thick drowsiness, without strain. Everything would be fine now… He just needed to earn money for a ring… For the most beautiful one… She loved him too, no doubt remained now… He wondered who the one she loved before him had been? Or perhaps she had fallen in love more than once? Jealousy stung unpleasantly when Tom imagined milady calling someone else “my sweet boy.” Kissing and giving herself to that person in the same way… It was foolish, of course, to be jealous of the past… and thinking that she had not loved once in so many years was even somewhat insulting to her… Aola would not have had sex with someone she did not love. She was not like that at all… “May I ask you, my lady?” he whispered. “Anything, my dear…” she replied. “Did you… ever love? Truly?” And Tom suddenly heard a heavy sigh. “Was it mutual?” “Yes.” “Why did you not marry that man?” the somewhat stung teenager asked. To be honest, he had hoped to hear a slightly different answer. That she loved like this right now, for example. “I did not risk ruining his life. Or my own.” “How could you have ruined it?” Tom was sincerely surprised. Aola sighed again and moved slightly away from him, as if that man had suddenly appeared between them as an invisible ghost. He already regretted asking… “He was a Muggle, Tom. I would have either had to lie all his life or stun him with a truth that even every wizard is not ready for.” “You loved a Muggle?!” Milady’s confession shocked Riddle. What could she, a demi-goddess, have found in an ordinary little human? “Oh, good heavens, where does all this snobbery come from? Some Muggles are not even fit to hold a candle to the best wizard,” she replied with irritation. “Can the heart be commanded? He was brilliant… a talented inventor, an archaeologist. And so cheerful…” It was dark, but his eyes had already adjusted, and Tom saw her smile, looking at the colorful fabric ceiling. “You asked, and I am answering sincerely.” “Forgive me… I did not mean to offend you. It is your right, of course…” He carefully touched her bare shoulder, offering a truce. “It is just that I do not like Muggle girls at all… nor witches, for that matter… I could never love anyone but you. You are special…” Instead of an answer, Aola found his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. “Do you not regret that you did not give yourself and him a chance?” Jealousy was already burning in his chest, and sleep had vanished, but Tom simply could not stop asking. “Sometimes,” Aola answered honestly. “And sometimes it seems to me that I made a terrible mistake. And sometimes — that I did the right thing.” “And now? How does it seem to you now?” Tom had apologized… but throwing that cursed Muggle out of his head — a man who might still be alive and even now makes her sigh so heavily — would not be easy! Go ahead, open your memories to me and show me how wonderful it was for you together! “Now it seems to me that someone is about to burst with jealousy and splatter my whole pavilion,” she chuckled affectionately and embraced him. “Stop it, Tom… you should be more wary of Mr. Weasley; his grandfather used to court me quite extensively in his day. And Robert has long been gone. He died along with a friend while testing a flying machine.” A flying machine… imagine that. Yet for her, flight was as simple and natural as breathing. Tom suddenly felt terribly ashamed for tormenting his beloved, making her remember what still caused her pain. Surely she regretted not opening up to him, to this Robert… On the other hand, a weight had been lifted from his soul — the competitor had been in the other world for a long time, and he was here, nearby… Trying to make amends, Tom began to kiss her fingers, and he did not notice himself getting worked up and getting her worked up too… And after this time, he had no strength left for any foolishness — he did not even have time to catch his breath properly before falling into a deep sleep. In the early morning, just before dawn, when the night is pitch black and almost all living things sleep soundly, a large spotted beast emerged from the thicket toward the pavilion. It tilted its broad head, sniffed the ground wet after a sudden tropical downpour, and growled quietly, not daring to cross the protective spell. Standing for a while, it walked around the pyramid, looked at its summit, turned, and vanished into the thicket. Somewhere high in the trees, in the crown, a small monkey woke up and shrieked, warning the jungle about who wandered in the darkness by the temple of the ancient Feathered God today. Tom and Aola slept too soundly to hear it. Morning brought Tom not only a mass of pleasant memories, which immediately made his stomach ache sweetly, and breakfast on a beautifully set table, but also a puzzle to be solved. Milady was not in the pavilion, and when Tom washed, dressed, and went outside, he did not find her on the pyramid either. The sun had long since risen and was already warming everything through the lush tropical foliage. The jungle steamed, giving off the moisture gathered overnight, and for someone unaccustomed to it, breathing in this natural steam room was no easy task. Seeing how high the sun was, he thought that in Hogwarts it was already noon, and they must have missed him! Why had Aola not woken him, not hurried him back to school? Where had she gone at all? Thinking it over, Tom decided that since there was a pyramid here, there must have once been a settlement. And where there is a dwelling, there must be water. A river, a stream… surely she had decided to take a swim. Yesterday, surveying the area from above, he had not noticed a river. That meant it was a small stream, overgrown with greenery along the banks. After some thought, Tom performed a simple Mosaic spell to find water and followed his wand, which pulled him in the right direction like a compass. He turned out to be right, and although making his way through the thickets proved difficult, quite soon he heard the muffled sound of a small waterfall. Everywhere around him — left, right, above, and below — life teemed in various forms. You certainly would not find this in the Forbidden Forest. Seeing a human, a flock of bright parrots threw a real fit. Tom brushed off the noisemakers and went further, orienting himself by the sound of falling water. A large snake, a boa it seemed, crawled right under his feet, but after exchanging a few polite words, they parted as equals. Pushing aside thick, carved leaves the size of a large fan, the lad nearly fell into the water — the plants hung directly over the bed. And there he saw his beloved. She was standing on a flat stone under a small waterfall that jumped down from a low cliff. The tight streams caressed her bare body, churning up a sparkling foam in the basin worn into the rock, and then, having calmed down, flowed unhurriedly on. Tom froze, admiring her beauty. And this was his woman, HIS, damn it! He would have watched for eternity, but he decided it was not quite proper, as if he were peeking, and made himself known. Aola was delighted and beckoned to him. He did not need to be persuaded; Tom quickly jumped out of his clothes and tested the water, which turned out to be surprisingly cold for such a hot place. “Do not fear, I will not splash you,” milady assured him, innocently blinking her wet lashes. And then she immediately doused him with a cloud of spray as soon as he stepped toward her. His skin immediately broke into goosebumps; his breath hitched. “Oh, you… well, watch out!” Aola giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. She jumped off the rock. Tom tried to reach her and, slipping, went underwater head-first. The basin, washed by the flow, turned out to be quite deep. Surfacing and sputtering, Tom rushed in pursuit. Feints, dirty tricks — everything was used. Splashes, laughter… However, Lady Meroving did not use magic against an unarmed opponent. But she bit Tom’s hand quite painfully when he almost caught her. Of course, the game ended as it was meant to — he captured his Peri and demanded a kiss as ransom. “You lie without blinking an eye…” Tom purred, reluctantly tearing himself away from her lips. “It happens,” the girl agreed easily. “I had to tell Headmaster Dippet a whole string of lies about wanting to show you the Genie Museum in Shahrestan… because you are the best student and tra-la-la. So we still have a whole day ahead of us. Do you want to go to the Caribbean? Or to Florida? There are wonderful beaches and a warm ocean there.” “I do…” “The world is so huge… there is so much interesting in it! I so want to show you everything I love,” Aola wrapped her arms around his neck and gently rubbed the tip of her nose against his. “And this is how Indians kiss. Did you know?”