The creepy old graveyard wasn't the only thing that gave off an unsettling feeling, for both Tom and Abigail. But a certain, shrilly, high-pitched, monstrous voice was another. He reached out habitually and grabbed Abigail's wrist a little rougher than he'd intended, and pursed his lips in annoyance and anger, before turning around, cautious of his steps.

Bellatrix was standing there, a few of her followers lingering behind her. She was cloaked in black - black dress, black shoes, black lipstick, and black nails. Tom thought she took the whole 'Bellatrix Black' thing a little too seriously. He noticed Lestrange and Malfoy behind her, as well as a girl he didn't recognise, and there was somebody else at the very back that he couldn't see.

They stared each other down - Bellatrix and Tom. He knew it wasn't him who she wanted. It wasn't his fault he worried a little too much and overheard Abigail's and Emily McKinnon's conversation by standing right behind them by the wall.

"What are you doing here?" Tom asked in a stern yet polite manner; he tried being as polite as he could without coming off as suspicious in hopes that she'd just move along.

But deep down he didn't believe that. She had no other reason for coming to the graveyard in Little Hangleton unless she knew he and Abigail were there.

Bellatrix let out a spine-chilling wail of laughter, urging her followers to laugh along with her. "Can't I come to visit the two of you?" she pouted, taking a small step closer while Tom moved back with Abigail. "You don't trust me, Tom?" she pulled a sad face, her pout growing. "Not even after all we've been through?"

"Where are all the others?" Tom ignored her, glancing around the area to see if anybody was hiding and planning on attacking them from behind. He felt Abigail clutch onto him and he saw her gaze around the graveyard herself. "Can't just be you five."

"Oh, but it is," Bellatrix replied. "Aren't you even going to ask the obvious question?"

Tom gave up looking around and threw Bellatrix and annoyed look. "And what would that be?"

"Why, how I came to find the two of you, of course!" Bellatrix exclaimed, a fake grin plastered on her face and her arms flying around all the place as she spoke. Bellatrix clicked her fingers and the person at the very back, the person Tom couldn't recognise from all the way over there, slowly moved around and walked forward, a sad smile on his face. Avery. "You see, Tom, while the two of us may disagree on many things, there was always one thing we shared in common."

Tom couldn't believe this...he just couldn't believe it. All this time he'd thought Avery was on his side, that he cared about Abigail. He couldn't even come up with a proper reason as to why Bellatrix hadn't just killed Avery on the spot; he gave Tom a lot of information, and he's the reason Tom knew everything to begin with. He'd cornered him in a corridor and forced him to spy on Bellatrix having a meeting with his followers. Had she known all along? Had that been the plan all this time?

"Avery?" Abigail choked out in disbelief, leaning forward slightly and shifting with a confused look on her face. "How could you?"

"Quite easy, my darling, you see, Avery was never the good guy here," Bellatrix said monotonously, slightly rolling her eyes.

"But...he's hated you all along! He always hated you, you treated him like dirt!" she cried, and Tom gripped her a little tighter, his lit wand still in the air, his palms sweating and his arm yearning to shoot a spell right into Avery's face.

At that moment, Tom wanted to crucio Avery much more than he'd wanted to crucio Bellatrix.

Avery looked back and forth between Bellatrix, Tom and Abigail, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, and he looked quite frightened of Bellatrix. Tom knew he wanted to apologise, but apologising wouldn't get them out of this.

"Be that as it may," Bellatrix stated, a smirk on her face, her eyes flicked over to Tom this time, and she said, "but as you can tell, Benjamin, people can change."

When Bellatrix moved to step forward, Tom stepped back, his hand gripping his wand a lot tighter this time. "Stay back, Bellatrix. I mean it. I don't want to fight. Look, why don't we all go down to the pub and talk this out? We don't have to fight."

"Oh, yes because that'll make everything so much better!" Bellatrix shouted gleefully, throwing her arms around herself and scrunching her face up. "But there is one thing you are right about..."

Tom glared and started to shake his head at Bellatrix, but she kept talking even though he knew he'd disagree.

"...we really don't have to fight, Tom," she sighed, chuckling afterwards. "You just do what we say and everyone will get out of this OK." Bellatrix's eyes flickered over to Abigail. "Well, most of us."

Bellatrix may have believed that Tom could be fooled tonight, but she was far, far from right. He watched, and he listened more than any human would have. Lestrange began to unsheathe his wand like a sword, slowly and carefully while Bellatrix kept talking to distract Tom, but he wasn't that much of an idiot.

"Stupefy!" he growled, watching Lestrange shout as he went soaring away and crashed into a tree.

The other two followers, one of which was not Avery, whipped out their wands, too, ready to fire at Tom. Bellatrix went wide-eyed and barred her teeth, shouting, "Not Tom! The girl! Get the girl! Tom is mine!"

Three spells shot at once, over and over again, and Tom forced Abigail down behind one of the gravestones, even though she struggled against him.

"Come on, Tom," Bellatrix taunted, her wand pointing right at him as his was back at her. "You against all of five of us? I don't think so."

"Expelliarmus!" a voice spat, and Bellatrix's wand flew right out her hand, only to be caught by Malfoy who chuckled and shook his head, handing the wand back to Bellatrix, who looked absolutely horrified.

"Not very smart, Benjamin," Bellatrix glared, her rotted teeth showing as she did so. "Avada Kedavra!"

Tom wanted to gasp; he felt his stomach churn and his throat went dry. Luckily enough though, Abigail had dived down behind the tomb stone, and he nearly breathed out in relief had he not seen her jump up again, sending Bellatrix's wand flying toward her this time, and she caught it quickly, throwing it away into the long grass behind her.

"Stop," Tom said loudly, his wand still pointed. "Turn around, walk away, and leave Little Hangleton, Bellatrix."

"You aren't so powerful any more, are you, Tom?" Bellatrix said quietly, but her voice was loud enough to carry over to Tom, as though it floated with the wind. It was deadly and filled with venom, like she'd kill anything that stood in front of her. Unfortunately, both Tom and Abigail were in front of her this time. "You used to be...you know? But then you met this filthy, cancerous little vermin and now you seem to have lost your touch. So, no, I'm not going to walk away."

It was silent after Bellatrix spoke. No birds crowed. Nobody moved. They barely even breathed. It was only Tom and Bellatrix, speaking with each other's eyes though Tom couldn't understand what Bellatrix was saying. Her eyes were too clouded with darkness and he couldn't make out a thing.

Tom stared at Bellatrix viciously, wickedly, with as much hatred as possible, but he didn't even need to try. Avery appeared to be the only one who looked as though he wanted to back out of it - he had trouble deciding which side he'd take, but he must have known that Tom wouldn't allow him back ever again.

There was a fire lit in Tom's eyes and it made Bellatrix jump back a little, but she still didn't wipe that god awful smirk from her face. And before Bellatrix could do or say anything else to Tick him off, Tom took the first shot. Malfoy launched in front of her and used the Shield Charm quickly, the spell overtaking Bellatrix's gasp. She quickly snatched Malfoy's wand and shoved him away, but Tom didn't wait for her to jump into her dueling stance, as this wasn't pretend. This was real. And he was going to kill her because she'd never stop, she'd never leave, and she'd never stop trying to find him.

Spells shot back and forth between the two, jumping back and forth as though dueling with a sword. Bellatrix cackled with laughter and dashed off into the long grass, but Tom didn't run for her, ignoring Abigail who was attached to his side, her wand pointing behind him at the others who were staring at the scene, unable to fight with their master for she had not commanded them to. Tom's eyes glared into the grass, gazing everywhere, not slowing down and continued to stare toward her laughter, his wand held tightly and he feared it would snap in two at any moment.

"Cruico!" Tom grunted when he spotted Bellatrix's frizzy hair, but she turned and ran, darting back into the grass, and reappearing at the other end where she soared out of the forest of grass and back near the graves, avoiding Tom's spells with such ease.

Avery was biting his lip, his wand shaking by his side. This was why Tom taught himself not to trust anyone. Why he had such trust issues before Abigail showed up. Humans were the only monsters around. Tom had only just let his guard down and it'd given him enough time to see it.

Kill her...kill her...kill her...Tom kept thinking, over and over. And he noticed that the advanced spells he and Bellatrix were shooting were not doing much of a difference.

"Expelliarmus," Tom shouted, and the wand in Bellatrix's hand left it, and Tom ducked and let it fly off into the long grass. He didn't hesitate on what he'd done next.

Tom's clenched stomach relaxed as he watched Bellatrix's soul shatter into nothing but ash - he was quite surprised to see she even had one, which only meant she hadn't started her Horcruxes.

Her followers departed into nothing but black smoke, leaving the area as they no longer had somebody to follow, to look up to. Half those Slytherin's knew nothing but to follow and now that they had no one they were most likely lost. But Avery remained. He looked back and forth at Tom and Abigail helplessly.

"Leave, Avery," Tom spat, his green eyes glaring up at Avery.

"But, Tom, I -"

"LEAVE!" Tom screamed the loudest he'd ever screamed, and Avery toppled down from his kneeling position and his bottom landed in the dirt and he scrambled onto his feet quickly.

Tom heard Avery Disapparate, but he didn't care. His breathing was heavy and uncontrollable and he felt like a fool.

"This was a terrible idea," whispered Abigail from behind him, but he barely had the strength to turn his head and nod at her. He should have been able to take Bellatrix out as easy as ever; he'd never had so much trouble before. "I'm so sorry. If I had known -"

"Let's go," he grumbled, and he grabbed Abigail's arm and dragged her out of the graveyard.

"Tom - wait," she argued, and Tom went to reach for her again but she suddenly bent over, toppling whatever food she inside of her out onto the dead grass. Tom scrunched his nose up in disgust and looked away toward the streets, where he could still hear the laughter of the drunk men at the pub. "I want to tell you something before we leave...before I never see you again, maybe."

Tom's head snapped back toward the blonde, who was using her wand to clear away the mess on her face. Never see her again? She was his Horcrux, she had no choice but to be stuck with him. Their connection had a kind of fondness that Tom had a slim chance of admitting.

"What?" he said.

"I...I don't know how to say it - I mean," she mumbled, her eyes glued to the ground. Her hair was a nest for leaves and her face was quite dirty, but it didn't make her any less prettier than Tom had ever seen her. "Do you remember how we were in the Room of Requirement that one time?"

"Oh, here we go..." Tom muttered. He had a feeling she would suddenly confess her love for him and it would be as awkward as the first time she'd done it. "Well, what about it?"

"Well, er...I kind of um...I...I -"

"Am I going to have to force this nonsense out of you, Abigail, what is it!?" Tom demanded, growing frustrated with the Ravenclaw. But all made sense when he saw her hand rest on her stomach, her eyes watching him for any sort of a reaction. No words could describe what Tom was feeling, but it wasn't anything good. He didn't want this...he was so young. He'd never even given any thought to it. But he must have looked horrified because Abigail suddenly looked worried.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you," she grumbled, kicking at the dirt. "I should have waited."

Tom forced himself to swallow. There was a girl standing in front of him whose stomach contained his baby. His baby. How weird of a thing it was to admit in his mind but it was easier than admitting it out loud.

"Let's go," Tom finally said, disgruntled as many thoughts were racing through his mind. His wand flicked at the men across the street who wolf-whistled at Abigail and made very dirty gestures and comments, and they were silenced by their tongues trying to down their throats. He expected Abigail to scold him, but she remained quiet by his side.

"Push - come on just one more."

And with one deafening roar from the blonde in the hospital bed, small, childish cries overtook her whimpering cries of pain. The nurse left the room for the mother to bond with her child for a moment, and a middle-aged woman took the patch off her mouth to wander over to the bed and grinned down at the baby.

"Do you think he'll come?" asked the middle-aged woman, caressing the baby's head.

Abigail smiled when her blue eyes connected with the baby's. They would be a dazzling green that would break many hearts, as she had just given birth to a baby boy.

"I'm not expecting him to," she admitted truthfully, her heart giving a saddened thump against her chest. She had not seen Tom Riddle for many months now, and she knew he must have been scared off. Part of her actually believed that he wouldn't leave. He showed up a couple times before he disappeared completely, though. She looked up at her mother, Iliana. "You did send him the message, didn't you?"

"Yes, of course I did," Iliana tutted, standing at her full height to pull over one of the chairs that was in the back of the room. "But goodness knows where he is and how long it will take for the owl to reach him. He could be anywhere."

Abigail wasn't worried. "It doesn't matter," she smiled, her fingers tracing the newborn's cheeks. "He'll come eventually."

Her mother remained quiet, watching as Abigail focused on her child. It seemed the green eyes that he inherited from Tom Riddle really tugged on her attention, and would not allow her to look away. She could not see the green at this moment, but she got a small flash and peeked into his future where she was met with his charming green eyes. His hair colour was tied between blonde and brown, but it was more to the blonde side.

"Come up with any names yet?" Iliana broke the silence.

"Well, yes, I was thinking maybe -"

The door suddenly burst open, and with a disturbed grunt, Tom slid in through the doors that would not open all the way for him. Abigail's stomach lurched. When Tom finally squeezed his way in, he stood there for a moment, staring at the scene before him and distracting himself by fixing his coat.

"That was quick," Abigail breathed in amusement. She sheepishly watched him stand over her by the bed, staring at the newborn in her arms. His face was blank, but eyes full of wonder. She nodded for him to take the bundle, and he did so rather reluctantly. Tom looked a little awkward and lost at first, as though he didn't know what to do. "Never thought I would see you holding one."

"I'm going to go outside for a minute," Iliana excused herself, and Abigail stared at her mother until she disappeared.

"What have you thought to call him?"

Oh, how she missed his voice.

"You don't want to decide together?" she asked him kindly, unable to take her eyes off Tom Riddle who was actually holding a baby. Tom's eyes looked up and he shook his head.

Abigail was angry at Tom most nights while trying to fall asleep, but somehow she found it in her to understand. He had changed his way in no more than a year and most of it must have been himself trying to be convinced that he was no fool. His mind was tugged into two directions at once. He was probably lost most of the time, but she understood.

"Have you got any idea?" he asked once more.

She nodded, but was still quite unsure whether she wanted to say it or not. The very oddest things offended Tom Riddle and most the time it was rather surprising. "I was thinking, maybe, if you don't mind, that I name him after my dad."

Tom stared at her for a moment, and Abigail was happy to see that she no longer felt he would do anything dangerous or unforgivable. Her senses were back along with her gift. He nodded for her to go on.

"His name was Jack," she said cautiously. Tom didn't react, but she still felt a little bit uncomfortable with it. "I know, I know. It's short, plain, stupid -"

"Jack works," he said suddenly. "Short, plain and stupid. Just like my name. It works."

Abigail laughed quietly, and nodded. They would name him Jack.

"He's got your nose," Tom commented. "And hair."

"He's got your eyes," Abigail said, watching Tom's eyes look directly into a smaller pair that would soon resemble his own. Tom wouldn't have been able to see it, but he understood what Abigail meant. And Tom probably didn't understand it, but Abigail could see that he was definitely falling in love with the bundle in his arms.

______

A/N: Boom, happy ending. Unlike the ending where Abigail died, I used this ending for Tom to see love through a baby...however weird that sounds >.> in the last ending, I really was going to make Abigail admit to Tom that she was pregnant, but I decided to not because I thought it would be too stupid and too sad cause, you know, dead baby ...Anyway, hope this wasn't too bad. Buh-bye!