Chapter 36

"And - and the diadem?""It remained where I had hidden it when I heard the Baron blundering through the forest toward me. Concealed inside a hollow tree.""A hollow tree?" repeated Harry. "What tree? Where was this?""A forest in Albania. A lonely place I thought was far beyond my mother's reach."

HP7

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Evelyn glanced tiredly at her aunt. It's been just a couple of days that she said goodbye to Hogwarts and she was ready to leave with Tom for their journey in Albania.They lied saying they were going to Italy as a little graduation present, although they weren't in safe times and more people were dying in the wizarding war.Tom cared to plan the trip, finding a way to reach the country and get some muggle money. Sadly or luckily there were no magic communities close to that forest, so they would have been all on their own.Evelyn just hoped that the research wouldn't last too long.She rolled her eyes as her aunt kept insisting on finding a job after returning from their trip. The witch was more concerned with making her niece get an employment than with the idea that the girl was leaving for a journey alone with a boy to a far country for the first time.Her uncle joined the discussion, supporting his wife's point of view."I'm not ready to work at the Ministry. It's the Ministry that took my parents away" Evelyn said angrily."Your parents struggled to get the job they liked" her aunt replied firmly "They loved to make researches and to travel, so they got those missions. If that's not what you like, then find something that you like to do here".Evelyn frowned at those unexpected words. Travelling and researching was right what she and Tom were going to do. It sent a chill through her."I need this little journey with Tom. So I can clear my mind" she concluded firmly.Nothing was going to stop them. After years of researches, it was time to check if they had any chance to find the relic.

The impatience grew as she and Tom fled from England and traveled Europe on magic and muggle means of transport, until they finally reached the country called Albania.Their only way to get oriented in total strange places was using the maps that Tom carefully studied."This must be the forest she mentioned" he said confidently as they left the main road to walk amongst old trees "We just have to find a hollow tree"."If that tree is still there. Many centuries passed and there could be nothing left of that tree or someone could have found it in all this time" the haste that drove them there started to darken as they walked deeper into the forest.Tom rolled his eyes "We already argued on that. That diadem is magical, I'm sure it preservated itself somehow. We just have to detect its magic"."I do hope so. But we already roamed around the forest for hours and I felt nothing"."Maybe it's time we use magic" Tom took his wand and raised it "Accio diadem!".As expected, nothing happened.Tom tried some more advanced summoning spells and charms to detect magic objects, with no results.After the sunset, they decided to stop roaming to create a camp for the night.The most important thing was to take some rest in the safest way, so they focused on the protecting spells.Evelyn raised the barrier around their camp, then felt Tom at her back as he united his magic to hers to make the protection stronger."This should be enough" he said in the end, lowering his wand arm "Do you feel it's safe?".She smiled at him and teased him with her wand brushing his neck "I dare anyone to try to pass through it. Unless there are other magical creatures here we are not aware of"."I don't think any creature could survive against our barriers" he tried to pull her wand away from her grip, getting the result that he pulled the girl closer.She chuckled, enjoying the sensation of fear mixed with excitement, but she focused on other necessities "Aren't you hungry?".

The first night in the forest was quiet. Tom made the tent the most comfortable as possible, still they were so worried they had troubles falling asleep and spent hours talking about their plans.She curled up on the blanket, pulling Tom's arm closer around her, also to feel the comfort of his body's warmth. It would have been a nightmare to wake up alone.The next day was just the same. They roamed all around the forest, checking every hollow trees, but with no success. Evelyn's positiveness evaporated and also Tom became irascible, although she was careful not to cause him losing his temper.Tom didn't want to leave that forest without the diadem, but they didn't plan to spend more than a couple of days in that forest and they were running out of food.Tom offered to steal something from the nearest muggle village, but Evelyn insisted that it would just bring the wizards of the Ministry on them.The fascination for the forest was turning into hatred. Evelyn wondered how the Grey Lady could have lived alone in that lonely place just for the love of that diadem. Evelyn would have traded the diadem for some decent food and company without a second thought.

The second night was worse. That forest reminded her of her adventures in the Middle Ages, where she had to feel dirty and stinky and she missed the comforts of a bathroom. Mentally she prayed the Founders' spirits to help them find the relic for their memory's sake.In the darkness she also turned aware of sinister noises that she ignored before and she imagined that the forest was trying to tell them to leave as soon as possible.Tom curled up on the opposite direction, so she had to get some sleep feeling also cold.Suddenly she woke up worried and took her wand out from under her pillow, making light to understand what was going on.Tom looked like possessed in his sleep.He was mumbling some words. Evelyn moved closer and heard him repeating 'mother' in a desperate way.She tried to calm him down and to stop his movements as his arms were flailing in all directions.She took his warm hands and felt something hotter than his skin. She realized that his ring was burning. Evelyn shivered, fearing that something was wrong with his horcrux.Finally she decided to shake him hard enough to wake him up."What the hell happened?" She asked when his eyes opened, his black pupils retreating at the light of her wand and he calmed down."What? What are you talking about?" He wiped a hand on his forehead, surprised to find his skin sweaty."Were you having a nightmare?" She sat with some distance from him.He opened his mouth but hesitated."I don't remember" he said, but she felt it as a lie."You scared me" she complained.His eyes narrowed "Why?"."It never happened before, not when we slept together" she sighed "You were talking in your sleep".Tom's face turned paler as his eyes widened."What did I say?" He asked coldly.She shrugged "I couldn't understand"."What did I say?" He repeated, sounding dangerously as an order.She felt a pressure in her mind. He was trying to use the Legilimency to find his answers, so she focused hard on raising a solid wall against his unfair attack."You were calling your mother" she replied rigidly jumping up to move away from him."What else?" He insisted standing up as well."I don't know. I couldn't understand. You were hissing. I think you were speaking Parseltongue".Tom's burning eyes lingered on hers for a while, then he accepted her reply and he stopped interrogating her.He walked out of the tent to let the cold breeze of the night wake him us fully. She carefully followed him."This forest must be haunted by some sinister presence" he looked around, as if he expected to see some ghost appear "Well, I wouldn't be surprised if the diadem is protected"."So what shall we do?" She asked in a whisper."We keep researching tomorrow" he said firmly, then glanced at her "I'm sorry for waking you up. You need some rest".She accepted the hand he offered her. She was glad to feel that his ring wasn't burning anymore, but she didn't want to ask him about it "You need it too".They moved back into the tent and Tom wrapped his arm around her as they laid down together."It's harder than I imagine" he confessed tiredly "But I don't want to give up yet. Maybe it was the diadem that was trying to leave us a message. But I can't truly remember anything of the dream or the vision I had".Evelyn tightened her lips, not believing that he would call the diadem "mother".She fell asleep into the flood of questions that were tormenting her.

They woke up when the sun already rose, after some hours of rain. Evelyn realized that they were running out of food and she could find anything to eat around them."Take my portion too" Tom offered her when they were about to have their little breakfast "I'm not hungry"."Are you sure? Tom, this is going to be our last meal if you want to stay here until we find the diadem" she warned him.He nodded and placed his food on her lap "I'll think of something to sort it out. For now I just want to keep searching".Uncomfortably, she ate to calm down her aching stomach and wondered if Helena Ravenclaw had a shelter or a small house when she lived in that forest. And specially how she fed herself, unless wearing the diadem saved her from the human need of food.

They started to roam again around the forest side by side. Tom always rejected her suggest to divide to cover a wider area. She suspected that he feared that she would find the diadem and run away with it.Evelyn was losing hope. The quest was turning pointless if they were about to starve in that bloody forest. She felt tired and weak, so also some wild animal could become a big problem."We should get out of this forest to get some food" Tom decided wrapping an arm around her waste and helping her drink some water. She was feeling dizzy so they sat down."I'm sorry" she mumbled "I feel like I'm an obstacle"."Don't be. I'm the one who's sorry. Because I dragged you here and I underestimated the efforts that we were going to face" he pulled her closer to kiss her forehead, then he stared at her intently."What is it?" She asked softly."I was remembering Rowena wearing that diadem. And also you wearing that same diadem when you played her at Hogwarts years ago" he sighed "I wonder how we can't find the real diadem here after all the links we had to it"."Do you mean that since I was able to make a realitic copy of it, I should be able to sense the real one here?"."No, I didn't mean it. It's just that when I saw you wearing that copy, it felt so real. And I knew that I wasn't the only one to sense it. It was so finely elaborated and perfect, that it was like emanating magic and wisdom from it"."I know, I felt the same. But I can't feel that sensation here. There must be some strong magic around it"."Or simply, as you said before and I didn't think it was that relevant, it is buried under layers of leaves and dirt from all these centuries. It's harder to sense buried magic, since we are not used to seek what's underground"."So we need a new plan"."I know" he exhaled, then hissed something.She glanced at him worried, then noticed that a small snake came out from the bushes.Tom spoke to it and the beast slithered away."Why don't give it a try?" He explained to her frown "The snakes are the only allies we have here and they know the forest better than we do. I should have thought of it earlier".She agreed and they waited for the snake to come back. When finally it appeared, Tom looked encouraged by whatever the animal whispered to him.

They started to wander again in the forest, following the snake. Tom was positive, while Evelyn just wished to delay the research. Until they climbed a hill and somehow the difficult climbing gave her new hope.It took a bit longer to find what was left of an ancient tree, hidden behind new trees.Tom kneeled and started to dig with his bare hands, somehow forgetting that using his wand would have made the task easier.Evelyn used her wand to make light, her expectations rising again.Finally her wand lit something that wasn't just rotten leaves, dirt nor water.Tom grabbed it into his hands with extreme delicacy.Evelyn was so shocked, excited and incredulous that she barely noticed she waved her wand to clean that treasure, that was buried for centuries into that unworthy ground and finally was illuminated again by the sunlight."That's it" Tom whispered with devotion, raising his hands to admire the relic."We made it" she laughed with happiness wrapping her arms around his neck while staring with awe at the diadem."It was worthy. It's ours now" he toom his wand and placed some protection spells around it "We should also make sure that only the two of us can touch it".He cut his index finger to let some drops of blood fall on the relic and he invited her to do the same.Evelyn didn't want to involve the diadem with some little dark magic, but she'd rather use dark magic than letting that valuable thing be an easy prey for thieves. They couldn't afford to lose it.Tom cut her finger, letting her blood melt with his on the diadem, then healed her wound and completed the spell that secured the diadem to them."It's getting dark. And we ran out of food" he took his attention away from the relic for a moment "I had promised that I would sort it out".He glanced at the snake that helped them, hissing something. Evelyn made a bad face at the idea that he could think of cooking his friend to feed her."It's alright. We can camp here tonight. I'm too happy to be hungry now. We'll leave tomorrow morning" She hugged him and pressed a hand over his ring. They had two authentic relics. They succeeded when she had already lost hope."As you wish" Tom agreed and raised his wand again to create the camp and set the protecting spells.

Later they sat in front of the fire to keep examinating the diadem. It was mesmerizing watching the light from the fire dancing on the jewel.Tom decided to place it on Evelyn's head."My queen" he said leaning back to admire her "How do you feel?".She inhaled keeping her head steady "I really feel like I don't deserve to wear something so valuable".Tom caressed her cheek with dreamy eyes "You are more valuable than anything in the world".She smiled flattered, watching the dancing flames of the fire reflected in his dark eyes.It felt so good being victorious after so many efforts and years of seeking.Some noises distracted her. The snake was still around, since Tom wanted it. Evelyn wasn't scared: on the opposite, she was so enthusiast that she could even try to hug that beast."Evelyn, would you marry me?" Tom asked suddenly.She looked at him, at his serious face "Is it some trick to try if the diadem works on me?".Tom sighed and took the diadem from her head "No, I mean it. Would you marry me, here and now?".She checked into his eyes, but she couldn't find any hint that he was joking, so she started to be very worried. She always postponed that idea, thinking she had all the time she wanted to think about it. And now she was trapped. He didn't look like someone who would agree to delay and ask that question again. And she didn't dare to try what a "no" could cause."Yes" she sighed throwing her arms around his neck "Of course yes".He hugged her back and her worries were washed away by the feeling that her answer truly made him happy, if that wasn't already the joy for finding the diadem."We have time for all the formalities" he said excited "But are you really sure? I mean, marrying someone from a low status..."."You're not a low status" she scoffed at him."And you know about my blood status as well" he added stubbornly "Do you think your family would agree with your choice?".She laughed nervously "I don't think they would dare to disagree. And anyway, I don't care of whatever the others think of us. I know you are still worried about me being wealthy and you being poor, but I don't care. You asked me and I gave you an answer".He genuinely smiled and pulled her closer to kiss her, then stood up making her do the same."So... Do you, Evelyn Clarisse, take me, Tom Marvolo, as your husband?".She couldn't believe that he spoke those words. And specially, that he used his birth name and not the one he liked to be known amongst his close friends. A rush of emotions overwhelmed her as she beamed to him replying "I do. And do you, Tom Marvolo, take me as your wife?".He nodded and took her hand, placing his ring around her ring finger "I, Tom Marvolo, take you, Evelyn Clarisse, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health... This is my solemn vow. So I declare us bonded for life".Evelyn couldn't believe that he also knew the ceremony words. She forced herself to believe that whatever they were doing was real. To control her emotions and hide her teary eyes, she looked at his ring, his piece of soul around her finger."I don't have a ring to give to you" she realized."I don't need a ring to be reminded that I'm yours and you are mine" he touched her chin to make her look up at his dark eyes "So are you my wife now?".She smiled, getting another silly question "So now how am I called? Mrs Riddle?"."It doesn't matter how you want to be called" he replied patiently "I call you my wife and that's enough for me. Lady Evelyn suits you tho".She tried not to laugh, she was unsure on how to react. They were getting married on their own, in a foreign forest, at night, with no witnesses, except for a snake. Evelyn inhaled deeply and looked back at Tom's hungry eyes, reverting his question "So you are my husband now?"."I am" he grabbed her hands stepping closer "Can I seal our vows with a kiss?".She nodded but deep inside she felt the heaviness of that moment. It wasn't like any other kiss. For Tom it meant much more and she had to accept the importance of the ceremony they've just been through, instead of seeing it as a childish game.Tom placed his lips on hers in a tender way, like completing the rite that he had been carrying on. Then he melted and turned the kiss into a more passionate one.He broke the kiss for a moment to allow them to catch their breath and to put the diadem into his bag, then he pushed her into the tent to consume their marriage.

Evelyn recalled their time into his cave and realized that she enjoyed travelling with him and finding corners of the world that could belong only to them.She wondered if they could turn it into a job."Are you sure you can survive until the dawn without food?" Tom distracted her from her thoughts while his fingers ran softly over her sweaty body.She didn't want to fall asleep yet, but his touch was worse than a lullaby."I'm fine. If I'll get an irresistible attack of hunger, I'll bite you" she teased him, getting a malicious smirk from him."I didn't bite you because I was hungry" his fingers massaged the red marks on her shoulders "Tomorrow we can go to Italy. So we can take something to prove that we've been there. And specially, we can have some decent meal"."Italy?" She repeated incredulous "Like a honeymoon?".He smiled "Yes, a honeymoon. We can make it last as long as you want".She lingered for a moment in that pleasant idea, her eyes watching his ring around her finger, then she forced herself to be more rational "I'm not sure we can afford to delay this trip much longer. What will we say anyway? That we got married in our trip by warning nobody?"."We don't need to declare it to the whole world now, if you don't feel ready. All that matters is that we know what we are now" he cupped her face into his palms and she nodded, getting a quick kiss, then they laid down to get some sleep.

The joy of the discovery and the secret wedding was mixed with worry. Evelyn couldn't get rid of the anxiety that the events brought on her.Cold wind blew on her naked skin, although she was sure she had something to cover herself. Still she couldn't find anything.Suddenly she felt something warm giving relief to that coldness.She opened her eyes and saw a female figure next to her. She was placing a blanket on her to protect her from the cold breeze.Evelyn's heart sank. Her mind recognized that face, that smile, those eyes."Mum?" She called incredulous and when she got an affermative nod, she pulled up on her elbows and threw her arms to hug the witch. The contact felt weird, but she didn't let her go. She noticed that there was also a wizard stadind close to them and watching with a warm smile."Dad" Evelyn moaned and stood up to hug him too.Her heart ached for whatever was happening. She struggled to remember her parents' appearance and all of a sudden she was seeing them in front of her, looking clearly as they looked like the last time she saw them, many many years before.She wondered if she was dead, but she didn't care as long as she could have that moment with them.All the words and questions she wanted to tell them couldn't come up in her mind. She just drowned herself in that happiness.It was the dream she wanted to have for so long. But that was all. Just a dream.

When Evelyn opened her eyes, she retreated from the light of Tom's wand."Are you alright?" He asked worried "Why are you crying?".She brushed her hands on her cheek and realized that he was right. She didn't even notice that after such a long time she was able to shed tears again. "It's nothing. I didn't even realize it" she reassured him, but she desperately wanted some moment alone to focus on the weird dream or vision that she had.Her eyes lingered on Tom's ring in her hand and she recalled that he experienced something unusual too. "You're sweating cold" he didn't allow her to focus on her hypothesis "I knew that it wasn't healthy letting you starve. And we also had..." He exhaled "We are leaving now".He jumped up dressing himself and waving his wand to undo the camp."Husband!" She called to get his attention and it worked "All I need now to warm up is a hug".Tom lowered his wand arm and walked to her, pulling her into a long embrace.