Turn to Stone

*~*~*

Selling out
Is not my thing
Walk away
I won't be broken again
I'm not
I'm not what you think

Dream away your life
Someone else's dream
Nothing equals nothing

Letting go
Is not my thing
Walk away
Won't let it happen again
I'm not
I'm not very smart

Why should I feel sad
For what I never had
Nothing equals nothing

Turn to stone
Lose my faith
I'll be gone
Before it happens

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Chapter 6 - The Art of Klausbatils and Second Chances

Silently Tom turned away from the view, his servants giving surprised looks at his face. Suddenly a strange grief had come over Allura's brother and his eyes looked desolate. "Take Karkaroff back to where we were. Then have your fun." He pushed them out of his way, rushing out the door and flying down the stairs. Tom seemed to be ignoring everything around him, going outside and searching for her body. Finally he found her, Tom falling on his knees.

"Please, Allura, wake up! Say something!" He shook her body, waiting for her to move. But her head fell backward with cold blood dripping from her mouth, Allura's body still and limp. "What have I done," he said slowly, "to deserve this!" He felt himself holding her, tears falling from his eyes, landing on Allura's face. Suddenly the place where the tear fell disappeared, the skin turning more invisible as more tears fell on her skin and clothes. After a moment Tom looked around in bewilderment, feeling something in his arms suddenly being lifted from him. "Allura?" he said softly, groping around for a feel of her. "Where are you?" he cried, standing up and searching for her. "She couldn't've lived and run that fast. What happened to her?!" He cried out in anguish.

Suddenly behind him he heard crying, sounding much like a baby. Tom turned around, looking for where the sound came from. Where he had last held Allura's body in his arms, there lay a newborn child wrapped tightly in a pink blanket. Confused, he walked towards it, finding the baby stopped crying as he approached it. The child looked up at him silently with big brown eyes, examining him. "Where did you come from?" Tom whispered, touching its arm softly. Suddenly the child disappeared, Tom jumping in surprise. "What did I do?" he murmured aloud, wondering what was going on. All of a sudden he felt something tugging on his robes, and he turned abruptly to find the same child standing behind him, this time looking to have grown three years in age. It made the Muggle side of Tom's brain think of it as some sort of "magic," but the wizard in him knew this was wrong. "That's impossible!" Tom thought aloud. "I just found her behind me looking only a day old!"

The child blinked, her big brown eyes sparkling slightly. "What's ... imposdel mean, mister?" She said softly, tilting her head slightly to look up at him. She had black hair like him, and as she spoke, it continued to grow rapidly down to her knees.

Tom blinked, staring unbelieving at her. What's going on? the Dark wizard thought confusedly. "What's your name, kid?" he said suddenly, now getting curious.

She blinked again, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know. Are you my daddy?"

Tom jumped back in surprise, and some disgust. This child was calling him her Daddy! "No way, kid! Quit getting ideas!"

"Oh." The child paused, confused. "Are you my mommy?"

He started to get very annoyed of this game. "NO!" Tom yelled, his face turning red. This scared the girl and she moved away a couple of steps, looking at him in fear.

She hung her head as if in apology. "Sorry, mister," she mumbled, staring at her shoes. "I didn't want to make you mad."

Tom sighed irritably; he really didn't like having to deal with children - especially ones that called him Mommy. "Listen, kid," he started, making the girl look up, "I'm not related to you. Can you get that in that stupid brain of yours? I don't even know you. Now will you leave me alone?" He glared at her, crossing his arms defiantly.

The girl looked at him tearfully, looking like she was about to cry. "Yes, sir." But before she turned around, the girl stared at him curiously. "Who are you, then?"

Tom sighed, getting frustrated. "What does it matter to you. Why don't you go back to where you came from or something."

"Umm ..." She looked around. "Where was that?"

"What? You don't know why you're here? What's happened to you?" Suddenly a word came into Tom's mind. Klausbatil, he thought, gasping suddenly. It's Allura! She's just reincarnated! I can't believe I didn't think of that in the first place! Quickly he walked close to her, putting his hand on her face and smiling. "Is your name 'Allura,' girl? Do you recognize that name?"

The girl paused, surprised by Tom's sudden change of character. Her hair looked like Allura's now, the length of her hair longer than her body. "Um ... it sounds familiar ... but I don't know where. It's not my name, though. I know that."

"Really?" Tom thought a moment. "We'll call you Allura for the time being. Will you come with me?"

But the newly named Allura shook her head, staring at him in bewilderment. "You said you weren't related to me. Why should I come?"

He muttered under his breath a moment, kneeling down next to her. "Allura, do you remember me? Think for a second. Do I look familiar?" The girl's eyes widened, looking him over. Tom waited patiently as he heard the words he thought would come.

"Um ... are you ... my ... brother?" She said slowly, wondering if he was going to yell at her again. Tom sighed in relief, picking the girl up, tossing her in the air once. She laughed at this, both sharing a smile. "I have a feeling you'll remember more before we're through. Welcome back, Allura."

* * *

So little Allura met the Death Eaters one by one, remembering a few of their names and surprising Tom. Her memory grew quicker by the weeks, obtaining her old wand and remembering spells she had learned in her past life. Soon Tom's family became hers, and she stayed with her brother for many years, finally recovering all her memories on her fifth birthday.

Tom knocked on her door softly, Allura waking up. She opened an eye, watching her brother walk in slowly, thinking she was still asleep. Lately her brother had been acting strange; talking harshly to her, ignoring her, sometimes even hitting her. He's changed so much since we met, Allura thought, clearing her throat. Tom spun around suddenly, hearing her. His mouth formed into a small grin, Allura returning it. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night? Are you getting ... um ... what do you call it ... insomnia?"

"Yes, it's called that, and no, I don't have it. Actually, I was hoping you'd be awake," he answered her awkwardly, walking over to her. "I wanted to show you something."

"Oh?" Allura sat up in curiousness. "What is it?"

Tom smiled. "Come outside. I'll show you." Allura obeyed and followed him out to an empty field, a lake nearby reflecting stars in the midnight sky. Allura watched them silently while she sat down, Tom going elsewhere and saying he'd return with something. Allura glanced at him curiously as he came back, something moving in his arms. He dropped it in front of her, soon a snake slithering around Allura's wrist. "Her name's Nagini; you could say she's a birthday present. I found her a while ago. Do you like her?" Tom gazed at Allura hopefully.

Allura thought a moment, watching the snake as it looked up at her with a tranquil stare, blinking a few times. "It's like she knows what I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking?"

She looked at Tom. "Why you're giving her to me."

"Oh." Tom thought a moment, glancing at Nagini. "That's another reason I wanted to talk to you. We're going to be moving on -"

"Again?" Allura interrupted, giving a pouting look to him.

Tom sighed. "Again. You know we can't stay in one place forever, Allura. I have some business in India to attend to. You can come along this time, if you'd like. Nagini, too."

"Really? I can go?" When Tom nodded, Allura jumped for joy. "Great! I never get to go anywhere. Thanks, Tom!" After a moment of jumping again Allura hugged her brother and went back to her bedroom to sleep.

Tom sighed and glanced at Nagini, who was watching him knowingly. "Too bad I couldn't tell her the whole truth of why we're going. She doesn't have any idea I'm going to be leaving her there. She's going to remember too much if she sees me killing again. Oh well; I guess that's how it is sometimes. Sisters ... can't live with em, can't live without em."

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