The Game (Gift Fic for Serpent in Red)
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author's Note: Sorry about putting this up so late, it took me a while to figure out if we were even allowed to... XD Enjoy!
The Game
"Wow, Mommy was really pretty," the young girl said in awe. Her small fingers traced the features of her mother in the moving picture. A small smile graced the 5-year-old's face as she watched her mom laugh at something that her father whispered into her ear.
"You look just like her," her father replied, playfully tugging on one of his daughter's brown curls. The girl beamed at him.
"Can we visit mommy tomorrow?" she asked. Luckily, she didn't notice that her father's smile didn't reach his sad eyes.
"Of course, baby girl, let's go get her some books."
His daughter insisted on carrying the books that she'd picked out, the books also happened to be the two heaviest.
"Rosie," he said, trying to coax his daughter into giving him the tomes that she refused to hand over, "Do you want to be tired when you meet your mother?"
"No," she replied, "I'm still carrying it though!" The girl quickened her pace and he walked in amusement as she stumbled on the snow covered ground; When he pointed this out, she claimed that she was fine.
While she that, though, her tiny hand slipped into his own, much larger, hand and held on tightly.
Once they reached their destination, his daughter let go of his hand and moved towards the headstone. She wiped off the snow covering, not bothered by the fact that she wasn't wearing gloves. Once all the snow was gone, she stood up and stepped back, looking towards her father. He gave her a smile and the turned back to the headstone.
Hermione Riddle
September 25th, 1925-1952
She was everything but what she symbolized
-0-
"A transfer student?" he asked. His curiosity got the better of him and glanced at the girl to his right.
"I'm pretty sure that's what he said," she muttered, her voice low enough so that Dippet couldn't hear. A flash of annoyance passed through him upon hear her words. She didn't look at him.
"Yes, Tom," the idiot known the headmaster of Hogwarts said, "Hermione here is suffering from the loss of her family and she needs a home at Hogwarts. I know you are more at home with Hogwarts than our Head Girl, Miss Granger is in nearly all your classes." Tom could feel her eyes on him, but he didn't look over.
When he did, she turned away and he nearly smirked. But then the corner of her own lips turned up, as if victorious. A stronger flash of annoyance passed through him but he pushed it to the side.
When Dippet turned away to get Hermione's schedule, Tom allowed a scoff only loud enough for her to hear escape his lips. She turned to him and narrowed her eyes. Dippet was clueless at the forming animosity between the two students sitting before him.
"Are you trying to start a fight?" she asked, her voice still low in case Dippet's deaf ears somehow heard her.
"I'm not the one who started this game," he said, his calm voice laced with threat, "But you can be sure I will be the one who will end it."
She didn't- couldn't reply, for Dippet had turned his attention back to them.
-0-
Somehow, his followers managed to get Hermione and she was now locked in the room with him. Or, at least, she was locked in; Tom was able to enter and leave, and his knights were the only ones outside this room that knew to even existed.
She looked ready to kill him, but her smarts seemed to overpower the Gryffindor stupidity, allowing her to rationally figure out that attacking the heir of Slytherin would not end well.
"When can I leave?" she huffed. Obviously the books that the room had produced weren't enough for her, even though she'd asked for them.
"When you answer my questions," he replied simply.
"When are you leaving?" she asked after a pregnant pause.
"Miss me already?" He smirked and she glared.
"You wish," she stated, "Your idiotic followers would be fairly easy to take down, taken into account that their chauvinistic arses won't think a girl could surprise them. But you though..."
"Is that a compliment I hear, Miss Granger?" he asked, putting his hands on each of the armrests of her armchair and leaning towards her.
She paused for a second, staring right at him before answering. "Just because you're evil, it doesn't mean that you're a bad wizard." She didn't even react when he moved even closer.
"What makes you think I'm evil?" he said, close enough to her that their noses were almost touching. She barely moved. He began to notice a weird feeling settling over her, and, in turn, him. But he still didn't move and neither did she.
They stared at each other, silence surrounding them, until Hermione broke it. Her voice was soft, and more vulnerable than he'd ever heard anybody's voice.
"Because my best frie- no, my brothers were killed by someone just like you. Right in front of me, they were tortured and killed without mercy. Like my family was."
Without say anything more, she got up and moved to another armchair that she must have asked the room for. He stayed in that position for the slightest second before straightening and turning to leave.
Hermione seemed determined not to look at him so he didn't bother telling her that he unlocked the door on the way out.
-0-
"How did it go?" Abraxas asked, standing next to him. They were both standing on the balcony, overlooking the Malfoy Gardens where Rose and Lucius were playing while Victoria watched over them.
"Rose talked to her for hours," he answered, "I think that she's finally understood that her mother isn't coming back." Abraxas stayed silent for a minute before speaking.
"Why won't you say 'Hermione' anymore?" the blond asked, "It's been 2 years, Tom; When are you going to tell Rose?"
"Tell her what?"
"What actually happened- you know, Hermione was never killed, that she's still alive, that you faked your wife's funeral-"
"And that her mother left us?" Tom interrupted. Abraxas fell silent. "Rose doesn't need to know that."
-0-
It took Tom and Abraxas 20 minutes to make sure that their kids wouldn't try to kill each other again.
"She called me 'Lucy'!" Lucius yelled, struggling to get away from his father. When the boy understood his father wasn't taking him seriously, he ran to his mother.
"Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" Rose yelled and everyone bit back a chuckle. Abraxas cleared his throat, trying hard not to laugh and went over to wear Victoria was trying to calm their 4-year-old son.
Tom didn't miss he envious look in Rose's eyes when Victoria placed a kiss on Lucius' cheek.
"LUCY!" Rose yelled, making her father wince from the pitch of his daughter's scream. Again, Lucius yelled in frustration. This time Abraxas called for house-elves to take away the kids. Once they were gone, the parents dissolved into laughter. Though Tom couldn't forget the look on Rose's face, he could have sworn that he heard Hermione's laughter.
-0-
Ever since that day they'd been in the Room of Requirement, Hermione and Tom had avoided each other like the plague. That is, until, they ended up getting detention by Slughorn's substitute. Since they weren't talking, much less looking at each other, Hermione hadn't known that Tom already added the porcupine quills. And then she accidently added them, and mixed the potion, not realizing her mistake till the said potion exploded all over anyone in a 5 foot radius and splattering anyone in the room.
They didn't even look at each other while the substitute scolded them. They didn't even move when they were told it (the detention) would be in the Forbidden Forest so they would help the teacher collect loose unicorn hairs and blood acrons. They didn't even blink when they heard it was a 'they' meaning that the detention would be done together.
-0-
He was too close, far too close. But what else was he supposed to do? She'd worn a red cloak for some reason and that stuck out against the dark green underbrush, the darkness only made darker by the faint moonlight.
He had no choice, otherwise she would been spotted by the giant troll (Merlin knows how a troll even managed to get into the ground in the first place!) and, more than likely, killed by the said troll. That's what he kept telling himself at least.
At least he towered over her. If he was even two inches shorter, than her uncontrollable brown hair would be spotted against the black tree. He turned his attention away from her and tried to figure out how to get his wand, which he'd dropped when he fell.
"Do you still have your wand?" he asked, making his voice as low as he possibly could.
"What?" she asked, "Why would you want my wand?"
"I dropped mine," he hissed, "I need your wand to get it back!"
She glared at him for a minute before reaching into her pocket. While she was getting her wand, Tom looked around them and just at that moment, the roars of the ogres could be heard.
Roars, he thought, panicked roar-s. There are more than one?
"Now would be an excellent time to give me your wand, Granger," he hissed, inwardly flinching when the roars became louder.
She mumbled something but he couldn't hear. "What?"
"I can't find it," she said still mumbling, "I must have dropped or something; Maybe when we fell or wh-"
"I didn't ask for a damn explanation." She immediately fell silent. He let out a frustrated sigh and, again, inwardly flinched when the roars seemed closer. Hermione physically flinched.
He tried to figure out a way to get, at least, himself (though it would probably be better if it were them both) out of this situation.
"When I say, you have to run," he said, and when she tried to say something, "No buts. Just run and follow me." She nodded in response.
They stayed like that for another few minutes before Tom heard the ogres nearby. He made sure that they weren't within seeing distance before speaking.
"Run." He grabbed onto Hermione's hand and ran. They both heard the creatures running behind them and ran faster.
Once Tom reached the place in the forest where him and his followers once met (before he discovered the Room of Requirement), he pushed Hermione between the roots of one of the hollow trees, the one where he'd made his horcrux potion last year. Once she was inside, he followed her. He was just in time for right after he did so, the ogres entered the clearing where the tree was. Immediately, Tom pulled Hermione towards him and covered her.
It seemed hours before the creatures were gone and that whole time, Tom was holding onto Hermione as tightly as she was to him.
Somehow, he never was sure, but his lips were on hers. That was all he was sure of, that he'd started the kiss. She was hesitant for the longest time, but then she responded happily. It seemed to go on forever, in a good way, while it was happening but once their lips separated, it seemed too quick.
"That substitute is going to be sacked for sure," Tom said after a minute of silence. He couldn't help but smile when he heard her laugh.
-0-
Since that day in the forest, Tom and Hermione made no romantic public gestures. Everything they did was merely kisses between classes, usually in a broom closet away from prying eyes, and occasionally Hermione sneaking out during Tom's patrolling shift to meet him. They both liked it that way.
Then of course, they were caught in one of the broom closets after dinner by a prefect. Tom obliviated him.
Though Hermione protested when he used the spell on the prefect, he shushed her with a kiss.
-0-
While Rose went to her primary school, Tom took a day off from his Auror duties to visit Hermione.
For hours he stood there, not moving, not speaking, barely blinking. And elderly couple, who'd entered the graveyard when he'd been there for 3 hours already, waited 2 hours before approaching him.
He didn't notice- didn't care that they stood behind for nearly 20 minutes. He didn't react when he felt the old man's hand on his shoulder.
"It's okay," the old man said softly, "She'd want you to move on." Again, he didn't say anything.
"You must have loved her," the old woman said.
Tom silently pulled out one of the pictures of Hermione in his wallet, one of the muggle pictures.
"That was her and me 1 year into our marriage," Tom said, his voice flat. Then he pulled out another picture, Rose's most recent school picture. "That's our daughter."
"Just like her mother," the old man commented. And that's when Tom crumpled to the ground, hidden sobs now rising to the surface. The elderly couple tried their best to comfort him. He kept saying one word over and over. Why?
-0-
"Then you may kiss the bride," the minister said. Tom turned to Hermione, lifted her veil and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. He still couldn't believe how lucky he was that she was standing here before him.
When she'd begun walking down the aisle, his breath hitched. Her white dress was simple and beautiful, just like her. There was only one thing that he didn't like and that was the fact that it wasn't her father walking her down the aisle.
But, it wasn't the right time to dwell on that. After they kissed on the altar, the party had begun. Abraxas was serious when he said he would get everything for them (though he'd only said so because of Hermione, and that too because it was her that got Abraxas and Victoria together). It wasn't long before everyone was either drunk or in full party mode. Hermione pulled Tom away from the madness and out into the hallway.
"So?" she asked, "What do you think?" She wrapped her arms around his neck and he could smell a bit of alcohol on her breath.
"I think you're tipsy," Tom chuckled. Hermione's laugh only made his smile larger.
"Remember when we first met?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered, with a fond smile, "We hated each other back then."
"Hate is a strong word," she laughed, "But if anyone had told we that we'd get married in 3 years, I would have had them checked into 's."
"If anyone had told that we'd ever get married, I would have cursed them."
"I don't doubt it."
-0-
"What?" he said, shocked about the news that Hermione just announced. Her smile widened and so did his. "Are you serious?" When she nodded, he immediately picked her up and spun her around. She let out some protests, but they soon turned into laughs as she too was filled with joy.
"I'm going to be a father!"
-0-
Tom was 20 minutes early to picking up Rose. The secretary in the front office let him wait inside, away from the rain. More than once, he caught her staring at him.
"Daddy!" He looked up from his magazine and it was just in time since Rose was running at him. He opened his arms and caught his daughter when she jumped into them.
"How was school?" he asked, already half-way out the door.
"Come again, Mr Riddle," the secretary said. He didn't look back but waved a hand as a sort of good-bye.
"It was great! But Marie took my crayons and then Jane broke them and then-" Tom tuned out of his daughter's rambling and only listened while he buckled her into the car.
"-and Carla spilled the blue paint all over Kyle and me but none of it got on me even though I was closer and Kyle was completely blue!" He smiled at her unknown magic and didn't comment except for a 'Good thing.'
-0-
While Rose was at the Malfoy's, hopefully not trying to kill Lucius, Tom visited Hermione again. The elderly couple was there again, but all he did was give a nod of acknowledgement to the old man.
Again, he stood in front of her grave for hours. The elderly couple didn't bother him.
"When we met," he started, his voice slightly shaky, "We started a game. Actually, you started this game. You started it and I'd said I would finish it. I was so confident that I would; I'd never been wrong before. But there is always a first to everything. So congrats. You've won and I lost." It took him nearly a half-hour before his voice stopped shaking.
"Why would you leave?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't an answer, "Why would you leave Rose? Why would you leave me?" His voice immediately started shaking again, but he continued.
"I went as far as to even fake a funeral so that she wouldn't realize you left!" But, again, there was no answer.
He let out a frustrated yell, but no one paid attention to him. He stayed silent for a few minutes before pulling out the picture of Hermione from his wallet. He stared right at her name on the headstone as he tore it into pieces. And then he burned those pieces. He let the ashes settle into the snow over her grave, turning part of it a gray color. He clenched his jaw, not knowing what he was expecting. He stayed like that for another hour.
He suddenly turned and left. "Screw the bloody timeline," he muttered. Had Hermione been standing where her grave was, she would have heard him.