Her pace quickened as she crossed corridor after corridor, knowing full well that he was close behind, following her.

"Eleanor, stop! Wait..."

But she paid no heed as she ran further, finally entering the cold dark dungeons of Malfoy Manor.

Her heart sank realizing it was the final moment, the dungeons were where she was supposed to kill him.

She hoped he hadn't seen her step in, but not long after, the stone door shifted and Tom stepped in.

"Eleanor?"

She had retreated into the shadows, holding her breath and kept as silent as possible. Her fingers had closed around her wand tightly, counting his approaching footsteps.

She was anxious that the second she would say the curse, she would be thrown back to that dreaded day and she had no strength left in her to tolerate everything all over again.

Especially not the torture she had suffered that time, if it repeated, she would not be able to bear it.

"Do you want to play hide and seek, love? Where are you?" His voice echoed in the dark dungeons and she retreated deeper inside, not wanting to face him just yet.

There was a tiny hope that the time loop would break because that once, almost everything had changed in between her and Riddle. But if nothing changed even after she killed him, there would be no hope that she would ever break free from that paradox.

"There you are," he stood right in front of her and she was caught off guard, features paling in anxiety, "why did you run away?"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"But have I ever given you enough liberty for what you want? I want to talk to you, love, and that's it. You're going to talk to me whether you like it or not."

"You're insufferable," she seethed, "and step back. You are not supposed to come any closer."

"And since when did I start taking orders from you?" His voice had an amused lilt to it, "I recall no such agreement between us. But the agreement I do recall clearly is that you belong to me now in return for all the lives I have spared on your request."

An irritated huff escaped her as she gave in, "what do you want to talk about?"

His reply was immediate, "Regulus."

"No..."

His grey eyes took in the change in her demeanor. She turned very defensive upon the mention of that name as if he was someone very important to her and talking about him caused irreparable pain.

"You said I killed him but I recall no such thing. I haven't even known anyone named Regulus," his lips were pursed into a small frown as if recalling each and every victim of his, "no, I don't think I've killed anyone bearing that name."

Not yet, the words resonated in her head and it seemed as if he had read her thoughts again.

"Not yet? Are you a Seer, love?" He joked but then the color from his face as well as the smile faded, "or are you from the future?"

She froze and he knew he had struck upon the right answer as his brow furrowed, indicating he was deeper in thought.

"Who is this Regulus then?" He resumed as if totally not bothered by the fact that he was talking to a woman who had come from the future, instead he was more interested in finding out about the man who ensued such a severe reaction out of Eleanor just by the mere mention of his name.

"None of your business," her jaw was clenched and so was her grip around her wand, it was getting harder by every passing second to hold herself back from saying the killing curse.

"Oh but if I am to kill him in the future then it is my business," he remarked lightly, ignoring the flash of rage in her marble green eyes. "However, if you don't want to tell me exactly, leave it. Just answer one question."

He paused, grey eyes taking each flicker of emotion on her face.

"What question?"

He spoke in a calm yet calculated tone, "who was he to you?"

A jolt of lightening seemed to have struck her as she froze again, eyes in conflict and features a painting of mixed emotions.

Who was Regulus to her?

He was everything.

"You think about him all the time," he resumed as if the answer didn't matter just now, instead he would rather have her hear what he thought about the situation, "you were thinking about him today when I found you, you were thinking about him the night I... Damaged you..."

The words were cautiously selected though having an unfathomable effect on the fiery woman in front of him.

"What is Regulus to you that you can never let go of him? A family member? A friend? A lover, perhaps. Definitely a lover..."

And that was the limit to her holding herself back, "shut up. Just shut up..."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll kill you," the words left out of their own accord and both Tom and Eleanor were equally surprised to hear that.

"Kill me? No... That's too much," he spoke up at last, an amused smirk on his face, "try using the Cruciatus curse on me first. I bet even that wouldn't work and that's really bold of you to assume the killing curse would-"

But he was unable to complete the sentence as intense pain shot up his body. He realized she had used the Cruciatus curse on him and that too was done non verbally.

His body twitched in pain as he sank to his knees but fought back against it, snapping out of it immediately. His breathing was erratic and his eyes disheveled as he panted, "what was that for...?"

"That was to prove a point. Crucio."

Again, the pain struck him until he braced himself against it, overpowering the curse though it was visibly weakening him.

He hadn't been in the best state already, some Dark Arts feat he had been involved with in the past few days had already left him drained. So it was taking him longer to fight back against the curse.

"And this was for that night you, as in your own words, damaged me." Her voice was terrifyingly steady and it seemed as if she was letting the monster inside her take hold to avenge the torture she had suffered due to him.

She retrieved the curse at last and he shakily stood up, but instead of lashing out at her, a bitter laugh poured out from him. The laugh was so terrifyingly cold that it seemed as if even the stone walls of the dungeons shook with its sound.

"Why the fuck are you laughing?" She demanded, wanting to cover her ears to block out the terrible sound, "shut it!"

His laughter died down at last and he uttered the sentence she knew by heart because she had heard it countless times.

"You can not kill me, Eleanor."

And from then onwards it was like deja vu, everything playing on repeat even though a lot of the things earlier had been much different.

"I can. You said I couldn't torture you but I just did."

"Yes you just did and that was absolutely impressive," he remarked, "but killing is still not your forte, my lovely little monster... Why? Does it anger you when I call you that?"

Her eyes flashed and her wand was aimed right at his heart, all that was left to do was say the two words and then hope it would break the time loop at last.

But he stepped closer despite the fact that her wand was pointed straight at him, the curse right on the tip of her tongue and her features not faltering even for a second in front of his manipulative gaze.

His hands closed onto her wrists as he pushed her back against the wall, watching the flicker of anger and hate cross her features.

She was disgusted by him and even though he would never ever admit it, that hurt just a little bit. A stab of pain creating a crevice in his stone cold heart.

A tiny crevice that no one was meant to see, especially not the beautiful yet threateningly fierce witch standing in front of him with the tip of her wand denting his chest.

"Tom, I am warning you... Back off or I will kill you," she spoke with resolution.

She was not going to play any more games with him. She had taken her decision and it was final.

"Try it, love, but to kill me you really have to mean for me to die. Go on, let me see if you hate me that much or not," his voice was a chilling whisper, his lips so close to her ear that it tingled her skin.

She had done it so many times before, she wouldn't hesitate to do it again. He didn't know that but she truly hated him enough to kill him.

And especially after the way he had treated her the night he had stormed into her room at Laverne's place and forcefully taken her away, that hate had increased tenfold.

No word escaped her mouth and the evil smirk on his face grew as he leaned closer, his body pressing against hers and his mouth fastening on to her jawline. He left a trail of kisses down her neck, his lips tainting her silken skin and though she tried to push him away, she found herself unable to do so.

He had always been so damn irresistible.

And he had always used that to his bloody advantage.

With his mouth placing kiss after kiss on her skin until he finally locked their lips together, she couldn't help but melt under his deceptive yet firm grip.

He knew very well what he was doing, he felt her squirming body come to a halt and her lips finally press back on his own in a lingering kiss, making the grey eyes twinkle in triumph.

It was the first time she had willingly kissed him back. Little did he know that kiss was tainted with lethal poison far worse than any he could imagine.

But when she pulled apart as if to catch her breath, the words that escaped her cherry pink lips stunned him.

"Avada Kedavra," she chanted the curse in a breathless whisper.

Right that instant a jet of green light struck him square through the heart, a numbing sensation spreading through his veins. His grip on her wrists was slackening and his agate grey eyes looked at her as if genuinely surprised.

He had not expected her to say the curse but more so he had not expected for it to work.

But as he felt his heart come to a fatal stop, he realized that unlike what he had expected, she had succeeded in killing him.

He had underestimated her and dying at her hands was the price he paid for it.

***