Author's Note: Okay, so this was originally supposed to be a one-shot, but it was getting too long. Although, I think that now that this is a multi-chapter, the story will go a different direction than what it was before. We'll see. I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. I don't know, something happened with my Doc Manager. I don't know if anyone else experienced this problem, but I clicked on this document and suddenly all the paragraphs were clumped into one paragraph, with some of the words missing. I tried my best to fix it all, but I might have missed some things.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Hermione had always known that, if the war had ended unfavorably for the Light, things would only get worse. However, she never would have imagined that the outcome would be like this—His Lordship's reign extended well passed the confines of the Wizarding World; well passed the United Kingdom. Muggles, muggleborns, blood traitors, and half-bloods were hunted down all over the world. They were captured, tortured, and sold for various purposes—most of which she'd rather not think of. Families were separated or, worse yet, kept together only to watch helplessly as their loved ones suffered at their captors blood-stained hands. The Dark Lord's Taboo had been strengthened to the point that one couldn't even so much as think that damned anagram without His pawns coming for the perpetrator.
Hermione suspected that no one was truly happy with any of this—not even the purebloods and their precious Lord. For one, Hermione liked to think that some of them might have actually felt at least a twinge of remorse for their actions. It was doubtful, but still a possibility. However, there was also the fact that not even purebloods were safe from the tyranny. She had heard that the Zabini's, a prominent pureblood family said—though never confirmed—to have been descended from Rowena Ravenclaw herself, had their wands snapped for 'daring' to remain neutral during the war. As for He-Who-Must-Have-A-God-Complex, Hermione could tell from the influx of raids and public executions being held as of late, something must have angered him. Perhaps, she thought, he noticed just how much his own followers resented him: more than ever before. She knew for a fact that there had been more than one assassination attempt on his life from many purebloods—that's what the public executions were for anyway: to send a message to everyone that the Dark Lord was not to be trifled with.
A part of her feared what would happen if she was found. After all, she was the Mudblood, best friend of Harry Potter, the once-savior of the Wizarding World. Hermione felt a sharp pang in her chest, remembering her friend and his tragic end.
They had thought, during the Final Battle, You-Know-Who had finally been destroyed. It turns out that, due to his already weakened state and dark thoughts, added to his carrying of the locket for so long, the locket's Horcrux had managed to mostly transfer into Ron. They already had such limited knowledge of Horcruxes that the possibility never even occurred to them. After his 'death', his spirit must have latched on to Ron, mutating Ron's own, as opposed to giving him a second face on the back of his head like what happened to Quirrel.
Ron probably didn't notice at first: she figured the transformation had happened slowly, as Ron had seemed fine those first few months after the war. It might have started with a subtle taint to his thoughts, words, actions. It then must have progressed to downright malicious and/or violent tendencies—fantasies—or maybe even revealing some of His Lord's memories to Ron. It would certainly explain the dark circles beneath his eyes and his jumpy attitude, akin to Ginny back in her Second Year. She remembered seeing the changes, but she chalked it up to a combination of her own paranoia and Ron still mourning the loss of both Fred and Percy.
By the time Hermione realized that the changes were more than just grieving, the Ron she knew was gone, replaced with someone that looked and sounded like him, but was most definitely not him. In many ways, Dark Lord Ron was even more dangerous than either of the originals. Not only was he now human, he had the two joined magical cores of Ron and Riddle; the wit and cunning of the Slytherin Heir; Ron's strategic mind; and intimate knowledge of her, Harry, and the Order of the Phoenix.
Soon after Hermione finally took notice of how deep the changes in Ron extended, he disappeared out of the blue.
Two weeks he was gone, the Order having gathered to hopefully locate him and find out what was wrong, when he finally resurfaced—marching into America's capital, Washington D.C. with hundreds of Death Eaters at his side, destroying everything in sight. It was Snape, a man they believed to be a loyal Death Eater at the time, who informed the Order that Ron had apparated directly into Azkaban and freed prisoners, claiming to be their Lord. Snape said that when some Death Eaters voiced their disbelief, Ron somehow managed to Crucio all of them—at the same time. The Order didn't trust his words, but Hermione could tell from the look in Snape's coal-black eyes—the look of pain and fear and hatred—that he spoke nothing but the truth. He even warned them of how exactly Ron planned to finish his conquering of America, one of the strongest nations in the world—using the weapons they were so proud of against them.
The Order tried to gather their own army to fight against the Death Eaters but they were still outnumbered. And Harry, poor, sweet, foolish Harry, tried to reason with the Dark Lord. She couldn't blame him, though. Deep down, she had hoped that there was some part of her Ron somewhere beneath those cold red eyes. She refused to believe that Ron would have given up so easily, and she was reluctant to see him die. But when Ron merely killed Harry, swift and without a second thought or hesitation, as the Boy-Who-Lived died before their very eyes, she knew that her Ron was well and truly gone. Her Ron had died long ago.
The world erupted into chaos. The muggles probably still don't know why they're being hunted. Even wizards that aren't directly connected to the Order or Death Eaters don't know much—just that their Savior is dead, one of his best friends is now the Dark Lord and his murderer, and his other best friend seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. Hermione knew that some believed her to be dead as well, but was surprised that some believed that she was only in hiding, training in secret to one day free them from their suffering. It was even more bewildering to find that it was the popular theory, even among some Death Eaters. However, she guessed everyone needed something to believe in.
Even if it was just a bushy-haired Gryffindor bookworm.
And, that first year, that was exactly what she did. And, strangely enough, it was Snape that offered to help her. Skeptical though she was, she also knew he was the best person to help her. He was one of the most powerful wizards of his time, even she had to admit. So together they trained, strengthening her magical core and improving her stamina, learning different ways to manipulate magic: wordless, wandless, through runes, etc. They even managed to create a quite a few spells and potions that could prove useful.
But it was all for naught. They soon realized that without anyone willing to stand by them, no matter how powerful either of them became, they wouldn't be able to defeat all the Death Eaters that still protected the Dark Lord out of fear for their lives.
And so they planned again. They lightly touched upon the thought of going back in time to kill Riddle while he was a child, but Hermione almost immediately shot that idea down. It didn't matter who they grew up to be, she refused to murder a child. Harry would never have approved—it was too like what Riddle himself had done to him. It was then, thinking of time-travel and Riddle's childhood, Hermione thought of something. There were three things Tom Riddle lacked: empathy (especially for muggles), friends (real ones, not his followers), and a family (people who would actually love him). What if they could give him all of that? Obviously, Snape was opposed to the idea (Hermione herself had been doubtful as well), because really, after all the pain and misery the man brought them, they were actually going to reward him with the very things they were no longer able to have because of him? Hermione would admit, it wasn't the best plan, but it was the only one they had now.
Besides, when it came down to it, it mattered little what they wanted, what mattered was what was best for the whole of humanity. And if going back in time, changing the course of history, and showing little Tom Marvolo Riddle a little love and affection was what the world needed, consequences be damned, they were going to do it.
For the greater good.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my first Tomione. I've always wanted to write one ever since I discovered this pairing. Sorry to any Ron fans, I don't even know where the Dark Lord Ron thing came from... It's not like I hate him, but it just turned out this way. I hope you guys liked the first chapter of Mending Ways. By the way, I want to find a better title for this. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be happy to hear.