JUNE TWENTY-FOURTH, NINETEEN NINETY-FOUR

I couldn't get to St. Mungo's in a long time. It was so busy, what with that school having the triwizard tournament on and everyone being fearful of the Death Eaters on the rise. I was so busy. Finally, however, on the last night of the tournament, I was able to get out and see Cassius again. He was never far from my thoughts, especially how lonely he was. I was able to learn that his wife, Octavia, she separated him shortly after he went insane and was put in St. Mungo's. It must have been his kids who paid for the small palace he lived in, and visited him occasionally before they were put in Azkaban or died. Poor guy, he was all alone now. The elevator ride down was silent. No one had come with me, no one had really acknowledged my presence. I didn't mind if no one wanted to come down with me, though I kind of wondered why. Was it out of fear? Loathing? Discomfort? I could never tell with hospital people. They are trained to take anything.

When I opened the door, there was Cassius looking as normal as ever, all in white today, sitting on the couch and watching the fire crackle in his fireplace. I was grateful for it, as I was getting the shivers recently. "Thank goodness," I said as I flopped down into place beside him. "I fear I'm catching on with a cold." Cassius regarded me strangely for a moment. "You thank goodness?" I nodded. "Queer." he said after a moment. There was a silence as we both watched the fire crackle, both of our feet up on the coffee table warming up. "I'm guessing the last bit of the story, before my stupid insanity fell in, is due yes?" Cassius asked me quietly, eyes not leaving the flames. I nodded, pretty sure he could see the movement in his peripheral vision. While he thought on where to start, I put my quill and paper out, as I always did, and waited. It had been a year or so, I expected one long pause before that quill would start scratching away.

The pause was so long, I jumped a bit when he finally began. "When we graded – oh calm down girl, you'd think a gun went off – Tom tried to become a teacher at Hogwarts. He was turned down. I don't really know why that happened, but I do know why Tom did it. Firstly, then he would be right next to the chamber, and be able to open it whenever he wanted to. Secondly, he would be close to all those ideas we had for horcruxes, and ease to get at them. You see, we wanted to make sure those horcruxes would last for eons if we needed them to, so we would go after things like a treasured artifact, or many other important items. The diary was a trial really. I kept that safe, until I went mad. Then I think one of the Malfoy's took it, I have no idea. I hope so. Good people, the Malfoys. Anyway, that didn't happen, and Tom went to work at Borgin and Burkes. I had to go work for my father, as was intended for me, to be his right hand – I was everyone's right hand, wasn't I – at the Department of International Magical Cooperation in the Ministry, where I was to take his place as the Head of Department when he retired. Some people didn't like that, but I won them over, seeing as that is one of my more interesting talents. It was the perfect job for me, I could go in, learn practically anything I wanted to that was of use with no questions asked, walk out and repeat it with my wonderful memory in perfection to Tom. I was stupendously useful." There was a sigh, and Cassius continued. "A couple years later, Tom killed Hepiziah Smith, somehow managing to make it look like her house elf had done it. He took Slytherin's Locket, and Hufflepuff's Cup, which both went into my care in my own state home. And to your knowledge, Tom Riddle disappears for a decade or so."

"That didn't happen?" I asked quietly. "No." Cassius said with a snort. "You just all have very bad looking skills. He was everywhere, and he was here all the time. He just traveled abroad a lot. It slowed down in the early 1950's…." Again, the long silence. "What about you? You didn't go away for a decade." Cassius stared at me a little. "You're suddenly interested in me?" I nodded, having always been interested in him to begin with. One of his eyebrows cocked at me, and he continued with his story. "Well, there isn't really a lot to tell. I was married to Octavia, we had our first son, Rudolphus. Father retired not too long after I was getting the hang of everything down and I was made the head of that department. In a couple of years I got this." He put his hand over his darkmark, and then looked up at me. Immediately he recoiled. "Wha-" I was startled.

"You're... spontaneously bleeding." He stared at my neck. My hands went flying to it, bewildered. I was bleeding. All the way down my shirt, pooling on the couch. I was bleeding everywhere. Cassius just stared at me, repeating "spontaneously bleeding" over and over. I was panicking, trying to lap it up, trying to figure out where it was I was bleeding from. Then I felt my heart starting to weaken. I was bleeding too fast! Where was the wound? Where was the-

Suddenly I had no use of my arms. I was weak, though completely painless. Before me, as I slumped backwards and slid down the couch, Cassius went into shock. Slowly my eyes closed...

REALITY, JUNE TWENTY-FOURTH, NINETEEN NINETY-FOUR

My eyes opened to see two of the nurses standing over my body, I could just see them, just, as my eyes were hazed over. It was the nurse that always looked off center, and the really kind one who was a muggle. I hated her. She was staring at the frizzled nurse I had never cared for bewilderingly. I had seen enough. I closed my eyes.

"You're just going to let him die?" the mud blood called out, screaming uselessly at miss frizzle.

"Yes. He's terrorized my crew enough. Look at my arms! You can take away the guy's wand but you sure as hell can't take away any of his weapons." I assumed she was talking about all the times I had gouged my hands into their arms, trying to get their filthy hands off me.

"What about the writing on the walls?" Muggle asked.

"'He has risen?' oh it'll probably be there forever. I can get that new girl to try and clean up this room, but there's blood everywhere. Funny. His hero rises, and this guy kills himself. Luckily for him he's been hallucinating since the second he put that pen thing in his neck. Go on, take it out, let him attempt to rest in peace, if there is such a thing for his kind." This was it. My release from my constant hallucinations of Tom. Finally.

"I... I couldn't do it." Mudblood coward.

"Then get that girl down here! Where is she?"

A very timid voice came out from behind them. A voice I recognized and a voice I shouldn't. "Here, ma'am." I dared a hazed look through my eyes, even though it caused me pain to move. There, standing before me, was the girl I had hallucinated about.

"His eyes are open..." Said Arianna, staring at me sadly.

"He's been doing that for the last hour. He isn't glaring at you, means he can't see you." Miss frizzle speaks wrong again, as usual. "Pull that pen out girl. Put him out of his misery." I could see Arianna's face fill with horror. She leaned down, and pulled the pin out of my neck.

TIME OF DEATH: TWELVE THIRTY TWO AM, JUNE TWENTY-FOURTH, NINETEEN NINETY-FOUR