The Beginning of the End ? Tom Riddle

Chapter 30

" You see dear, Little Hangleton, as you might have noticed, is a rather small and rundown town, an extension of Great Hangleton just 6 miles East of us. Now here, the most prominent and wealthy family has been the Riddles for decades. They own over half the establishments in town and hold a great amount of influence. In the middle of the night, the entire family was murdered. Tom Riddle and his parents, Thomas and Mary. The Riddle Manor that's perched atop the tallest hill in Little Hangleton now sits, cold and empty." She explained leaving me at a loss for words, Dot continued.

" Granted, there's a fair amount of locals who are jealous of the family's wealth and power, but in my mind there's a clear suspect, Frank Bryce, the Riddle family's gardener. 'S'far as I'm concerned, he killed them, and I don't care what the police say. And if he had any decency, he'd leave here, knowing as how we knows he did it." Dot concluded, clearly convinced the man had committed the crime.

A/N: that last bit, " 'S'far as ... he did it." Is a quote I found from Harry Potter Wiki while doing research for the book, so credits to whoever wrote it!

" What happened to him?" I asked before taking another sip of my Dandelion and Burdock.

" He's been taken in custody, the police took him to a station in Great Hangleton. I had always known he'd be trouble. I've lived in this town for a long time, and I remember Frank as a child. He had a terribly hot temper." She concluded as she took one last long sip of her English Brown Ale, placing it down on the counter and signaling the bartender for another. Seeing as I got the information I needed, I took this as my cue to leave.

" Well thank you for the clarification Mrs. Graham, I must get going, but I hope you stay safe and healthy." I told the woman with a smile as the bartender took my empty bottle and set another down for Dot. She returned a goodbye and with that I weaved my way back out of the pub, not entirely prepared to meet back up with the others, or really Tom.

I walked back down the main road towards the alley, not getting far before I bumped into Xander.

" Isla, where have you been? We've been looking for you for 20 minutes, and Tom's furious." He reprimanded as I scoffed and brushed past him.

"Well then I guess you haven't done your job very well, seeing as you'd lost me." I told him sharply, not in the mood to deal with the man. I heard him grumble incoherent words as he followed behind me. Shortly reaching the alley, I turned the corner to find everyone regrouped.

" Isla-"

" Enough Tom. Let's go." I cut his anger fueled speech off before it could begin. His eyes sent daggers my way but nonetheless directed the group to the port key out of here, an old clay pot sitting on the cobble. We placed our hands on it and the familiar tugging could be felt again as we were spun into the portal.

The first thing I heard was a chorus of thuds and groans, this time I successfully floated my way down, so I took the liberty to laugh at my friends ungraceful landings.

" It's not funny Isla." Aldus complained as he pulled himself gingerly from the ground.

" It most certainly is Aldus." I replied laughing as he scowled. I took in our location. Being a Dublin native, it wasn't hard for me to recognize where we landed.

We were in the alleyway next to the cities main post office. Once the group had picked themselves off their feet, we made our way out of the shadows and blended into the crowd walking on the streets.

With large strides I weaved through the death eaters and the other passers by until my steps matched Tom's as best as they could.

" Why do I have a hard time believing the gardener is guilty, Tom." I spoke quietly as I sent a look up to him. He met my gaze as his hardened. We stared at each other for a moment, eyes locked in a battle of sorts, before he broke eye contact.

" I have no idea what you're referring to." He spoke with his eyes focusing ahead of him as we navigated Dublins streets. My brows furrowed. Granted, the others likely hadn't heard about the Riddle family murders, but the interaction Tom and I had with his father set off alarms in my head, he also seemed rather eager to leave this morning.

Before I could interrogate him further, he turned and entered another hotel, this one named The Setter Inn, the sign including the outline of an Irish Setter. Abraxas held the door open for the group as we thanked him and filed in. Compared to The Seven Swords Inn, this was much nicer. Marble floors sat beneath us, various portraits of famous philosophers, musicians, and artists hung on the walls with bronze frames, and an intricate molding ran around the ceiling.

" Hello, welcome to the Setter Inn, how can I help you today?" The man behind the front desk asked Tom.

" We'll take 7 rooms on the top floor." Tom spoke as the man nodded and began checking the keys for rooms that matched his request. I watched as Tom pulled out € 330 , eyes going wide, seeing as I had no clue where he got so much money from.

A/N: about $346 (usd)

Tom grabbed the keys from the man and we took our trunks, following him to the rooms we'd be staying in. I watched as he handed each person a key, everyone getting their own room for the duration of the stay. Once there was one key left, I raised an eyebrow at him, but he simply unlocked room 13 and held the door open, waiting for me to enter.

I sighed before trudging into the room, which was quite large. There was a queen sized bed with silk sheets, 2 wardrobes, a large desk and chair, and an additional chair in the corner of the room. Two windows offered a rather beautiful view of Dublin's skyline, and an on suite bathroom had a shower, double vanity, and toilet along with a rack of fluffy blue towels.

" Why did everyone else get their own rooms but I'm stuck sharing one with you." I asked Tom, crossing my arms. He looked over at me before turning back to hanging his clothes up in his wardrobe.

" So I can keep an eye on you." He responded shortly to which I scoffed.

" It's not like I went bar hopping Tom, I went to one bar, and I had a Dandelion and Burdock, I could've ordered Balkan Vodka." I reasoned as I too began to hang up my clothes in the other wardrobe.

" That's not the point Isla. I don't know how much I can trust you." He replied.

There it was, the real root of his reasoning to keep me close by. Figures.

" Likewise." I replied. Giving him the cold shoulder, I brushed past him and headed for the door. I made my way downstairs and through the lobby, pushing open the doors and taking a deep breath. I decided I'd head to my favorite spot in the city, St. Stephens Green.