Not long after Tom had been taken away by Aurors to Azkaban where he would remain until his trial in a few days time, Charlus had taken me and Penelope back to his family's house in Godric's Hollow. They had offered me dinner, which I had refused, then Penelope had suggested that we visit Diagon alley to take my mind off of Tom; which I had also turned down. After hours of trying to get me to talk, Penelope and Charlus headed up to bed, leaving me alone downstairs in their living room, my legs pulled into my chest, and my head resting on my knees as I gazed at the flickering of the small fire Penelope had left me to keep warm. Out of all the times the Aurors had to have captured Tom it had to be now; when we needed each other most to seek the comfort from one another which no one else could offer. The fire slowly died away to embers as the starry early spring night transformed into day, the first sounds of Penelope and Charlus awakening sounding above me. 

The stairs creaked loudly as I made my way upstairs, making for the small guest bedroom I had stayed in before. I turned to shut the door and was greeted by a very sleepy looking Penelope, shivering in the hallway with her nightgown pulled tightly around her small frame. "Good morning...I take it you did not get any sleep" When I shook my head no, she nodded silently, averting her eyes to the floor in thought. "I don't suppose you are feeling hungry" 

"After staying up all night I think I could just do with some sleep, but I will most likely be able to stomach some food later" Penelope's face lit up, by the look's of it, she was pleased that after hours of not speaking to her I had finally said something. "You know, I do believe that is the most you have said to me since you returned" I sent her a weak smile, shutting the door and climbing into the single bed, snuggling into it and after finding Amber's floral shampoo scent still lingering within the pillows, falling asleep. Hours later, I sat up in the bed, Penelope and Charlus' voices echoing up to the room from the kitchen beneath me, along with the smell of cooking food which made my stomach rumble in anticipation. Pushing the covers away from me, I headed downstairs and joined Charlus at the table, who was leant back in his chair reading the daily prophet with such interest that he barely took any notice of my arrival; the only greeting I was to expect from him being a glance over the top of the newspaper at me before his attention returned to the news, Penelope however, seemed determined to get me back to normal as soon as possible. 

"Clara...you look better! Do you feel any better?" I sighed and shook my head no to which Penelope resumed cleaning up the dishes from the night before. The memory of the previous day's events flooded back, as my eyes wandered over to the front of the newspaper Charlus was reading,  the headline having Tom's name in bold writing just above Hogwarts picture 'He who must not be named found in Hogwart's school grounds'  At the sight of it an idea popped into my head, Azkaban prison now allowed visitors, if I could speak to Tom maybe we could find a way to get him out."I want to go and visit Tom" The newspaper that Charlus had been so absorbed in was flung onto the table in seconds, and Penelope's still soapy hands grasped mine."No, Clara, you can't, you need time to heal and process everything. If you go there now you will only find Tom to be in the same state as you!" I pulled my hands out of hers and stood from the table, crossing my arms over my chest. 

"Don't you see? That is exactly the reason why I must go! I need to see Tom just as much as he needs to see me. Now, are either of you going to join me, or am I to take myself to Azkaban?" Penelope stilled, remaining where she was with a worried look on her face, Charlus however, stood from his seat and moved towards me. "I will go with you, if only to prevent you from doing anything you will regret" A grateful smile broke out onto my face, as I flung my arms around Charlus' neck, pulling him into a hug in glee. "When do you want to leave?" Charlus asked, gently pulling away from my embrace. "How about now?" He nodded in agreement and made for the door. "Oh no, you don't. Neither of you are leaving without some food in your bellies!" Penelope called from behind us, placing two bowls of tomato soup onto the table in front of each of our seats. "Eat this, and then you can go" 

 *** 

Having eaten Penelope's tomato soup, Charlus and I apparated to Azkaban, arriving just outside the heavily guarded doors. The sure force of the coastal wind made both mine and Charlus' hair become exceedingly messy in the few moments it took to get past the guards and through the gate. Entering the old fortress we followed behind one of the guards who led us up the numerous set of stairs to near the top of Azkaban, where we were led past loud groans of pain and screams to be let out by many of the prisoner's cells we passed. A few of the prisoners had their arms stuck through the cell bars, dark circles surrounding their eyes; many of them having lost hope of ever leaving, whether that be due to the length of their sentence or the presence of Dementors I did not know. "It's the up there, on the very end. You can't miss it" The guard stumbled past us, all but throwing himself down the stairs in an attempt to leave as quickly as possible. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" Charlus asked, turning his head to me questioningly, as I weighed the pros and cons of taking him with me. "Thank you, but no...I think it best if I do this alone" He nodded understandingly, and took a seat on the top step of the spiral staircase while I moved on through the hallway, eventually finding the very end cell. Out of all of the prison cells I had passed, this one had to be the coldest and smallest of them all, the cold wind being let into the fortress through medium sized holes in the walls seemed to make the place even more uncomfortable than it already was. "Tom?" My voice echoed off of the walls as I hesitantly inched toward the cell door, afraid of what I would see when I did reach it. The sound of shuffling from within the cell and Tom sticking his hand through the bars pushed all of my fear away. Running to the cell door, I dropped to my knees, taking his frozen hand into mine. 

"Clara, you are such a beautiful sight to behold! You do not know how much pain and torment just the thought of never being able to see you again has put me through." I sobbed, tears blurring my vision as he reached through the bars and gently brushed my cheek. "I'm here now aren't I? There, already your fears have been proven wrong." I sent him a watery smile, as he weakly inched closer, having to use the cell bars to support himself. Having spent just one night in Azkaban the place seemed to be having an effect on him. "Yes but you shall leave me alone again soon, and I shall be left to ponder how many days of my miserable existence I have left...Clara, I want you to know that everything I own will be yours upon my death-" I cut him off, frowning and furiously shaking my head in protest. "You don't need to tell me any of this, you aren't going to die, I changed the past, there are no longer any crimes that they can use against you!" Tom's hand went up to silence me, as he rested his head against the cold stone, shutting his eyes in fatigue, it seemed that he too had not slept last night. 

"There is still one crime that I can be held accountable for...one that you did not change...that you never thought of simply because I never told you" I furrowed my eyebrows at him in confusion, just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about Tom Riddle, you found out that he had in fact been keeping things from you. "You better tell me quickly then so I can go back and change it" He huffed, shaking his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "No, I forbid it!" He opened his eyes and looked into mine pleadingly, taking my other hand into his through the rusty bars. "So just because you forbid it I am not allowed to go back and save you?! Tom, I think you forget you are in prison, you have no control over what I do. I will find out what you did and go back; do not try to stop me, you would do the same for me and you know it!" I stood, wrenching my hands out of his ever tightening grip, heading back the way I came. "CLARA, DON'T DO THIS! CLARA!" 

"Everything alright, miss?" The guard who had just arrived at the top of the staircase to fetch me inquired, his gaze moving to down the hall where Tom was still screaming profanities at me, this prison and the Dementor's combined seemed to be driving him mad. "Yes, everything is perfectly alright. When is his trial to be held?" 

"They decided on tomorrow, we told them of his unwillingness to cooperate with us, they think it would be better if his trial was done in the early stages of his stay here...to be honest, I think they have the right idea; leave anyone in this prison for too long and they turn too loopy to understand what you are even asking em'!" The guard began to chuckle to himself, and I looked to Charlus for help in escaping the conversation. He swiftly obliged, looking as though he too was eager to leave. "Well, we will be leaving now, thank you for letting us in!" Charlus guided me past the guard who at the moment we were at the top of the staircase his laughter ceased, the hallway turning eerily silent. "That would be wise, you don't want to stay here too long or you will never leave!" I shared a look of shock with Charlus who simply nodded with his head down the stairs, the guard's laughs starting to sound once again until they were left behind as we arrived at the gates. Upon the gates being opened, we stepped outside, and Charlus took my hand apparating away back to Godric's Hollow. If what Tom said was true, the Ministry would still have proof of his crime; if I don't find out what he did and change it, our unborn child will growing up without a father, and that I would never allow. 

AN: Hey guys, don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it and please feel free to leave a comment! What do you think of the new cover?