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Ginny Potter was sitting at the kitchen table looking distinctly stressed. Lily supposed that she would be a bit stressed too if her childhood nightmare popped back into existence and was now free to run around the school her daughter attended.
Lily sat down across from her mother where her mug of tea sat steaming. The table was strewn with rough drafts of her mother's article, but her eyes were automatically drawn to the strange, rune-etched basin. She knew the basin was her father's pensieve which he held under magical protection in his office. Lily felt a swoop in her stomach as she realized the possible reasons it could be sitting there. She looked at her mother expectantly.
"We need to talk about…" Ginny began before trailing off as though she couldn't verbalize what she had meant to say.
"You want to warn me about Tom Riddle." Lily said gently. Her mother nodded. Lily couldn't believe it: there were actually tears forming in Ginny Potter's eyes. Lily didn't know what to say, she had only seen her mother cry on a handful of occasions, usually on the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.
"I want to remind…I need you to be as prepared as possible…Tom Riddle…" her mother began disjointedly. Her mother was always the feisty quidditch star, but now she looked completely lost.
"You need to breathe, Mum." said Lily, suppressing a laugh. Ginny took several calming breaths then looked back at her daughter.
Lily had never seen her mother look more terrified. Not when James had fallen nearly a hundred meters from his broom. Not when Albus was hospitalized for a terrible case of Dragon Pox. Nor when Lily had been hit by a muggle car…Lily had always looked to her mum as the epitome of a strong woman and to see such terror on her face sent a shiver of pure fear down Lily's spine.
"If you're going to have to face him, Lily, I want you to know enough about him." said Ginny in a voice of forced calm.
"Mum, you're making it sound like he is going to challenge me to a duel to the death in the middle of the Great Hall-" Lily said with a short laugh. She recognized that her feeble attempt at humor had failed miserable as her mother became distinctly agitated and stood up.
"He may just, Lily! Look, he is going to be handsome. Very, very handsome. He is going to be irresistibly charming." Ginny said, looking rather wild.
"I'm sure Lord Voldemort won't be able to charm me, Mum. I know who he is, nothing is going to convince me to trust him." Lily said, trying to reassure her mother.
"No, Lily, you don't understand. You have to stay away from him. I know it won't be possible for you to avoid him completely but-"
"Mum, calm down, it isn't like I'm going to be swooning over the guy like some vapid idiot. I will be careful."
"Oh, Lily, I know you too well. You've got too much of the Potter impulsivity to be the proper amount of careful. Luckily, you'll have Hugo to balance your recklessness out."
"Yeah, he can be a real stick in the mud, can't he?" Lily said with a wide grin. Ginny giggled with her daughter for a moment.
"He takes after his mother in that regard. She was always the sole voice of reason to your father and uncle. They were-well I should say are-completely nutters. But Hugo and Hermione should be on their way over really soon."
"Hugo and Aunt Hermione are coming here?"
"We thought that the information was important for both of you." her mother said simply.
Lily took a long sip of her tea, thinking deeply on the situation.
"Where's Dad? I would think he'd want to be here if you guys and going to reveal all this stuff to Hugo and me."
"He's at Hogwarts right now with Riddle. Your father is now the legal guardian of Tom Riddle." Ginny said. Lily gaped like a fish, unable to speak for several moments.
"Oh my God. Why would he ever, ever think-"
"Your father is under the impression that Tom Riddle can somehow be reformed." Ginny Potter shook her head, "Without Harry's support and guardianship, Tom Riddle would be off to the highest security cell in Azkaban."
"It would serve him right." said Lily, with gusto. They were once again silent for a moment. Each took several sips of their tea. Ginny broke the silence.
"I may disagree with your dad about this whole situation, but he always stands by what he believes to be right. Something that I am proud to say that you and your brothers inherited." she said, placing her mug on the table, "Your dad interviewed Riddle under Veritiserum, asked him all sorts of questions. Riddle hasn't murdered anyone yet. He only very recently found out his father was a muggle."
"So, Dad thinks that he can be saved." Lily said with a sigh. She knew all of this from spying on her parents last night, but it was best to pretend she didn't.
"Yes, he does. And while I don't agree with his decision, I think that it is very important to your father."
The fireplace flared up and a grinning Hugo Weasley stepped from the grate.
"Hey, Aunt Ginny, Lils." he greeted.
"Merlin, Hugo! You're going to be taller than Ron at this rate," said Ginny, looking at her nephew. Hugo had shot up the past few months and was nearly six foot four. Hugo laughed, stepped forward and kissed his aunt on the cheek.
"I know. I can't wait to show him up. Mum'll be along in a minute."
"Would you like some tea, Hugo?"
"Sure, Aunt Ginny," he said, sitting down next to Lily. Ginny stood up and moved to the kettle to make more tea. Hugo made eye contact with Lily and they had a silent conversation as Ginny's back was to them. Both were champions at reading mouths, a talent they developed during their youth to spy on their older siblings.
"What's going on?" mouthed Hugo.
"They're lecturing us to try and scare us." Lily mouthed back, switching her eyes to her mother's back.
"Seriously?" he mouthed, rolling his eyes. Lily wasn't able to answer as the fireplace had flared once more and her aunt stepped out. Hermione Granger shook the soot from her robes and smiled over at her niece.
"Hello, Lily, Gin!"
After the all exchanged greetings, each settled with their cups of tea. Lily and Hugo had expectant looks upon their faces as they watched their respective mothers.
"Well, you are both up to date on what happened last night. Before you head back to Hogwarts tomorrow, we want…well we want to show you both some things about Tom Riddle so that you know exactly who he-" said Hermione.
"Mum, we honestly understand who he is. He's Lord Voldemort for Merlin's sake!" said Hugo. Lily nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, but he is also a handsome, charming, intelligent and highly manipulative young man. I can personally attest, as can your dad to how thoroughly disarming Riddle can be." said Ginny, leaning across the table toward her nephew and daughter.
"Mum, you were tricked and manipulated by him when you didn't know who he was. Hugo and I know who he is. He won't be able to trick us." argued Lily.
"You are underestimating him, Lily, and that is exactly what he'll want. That is exactly why he is so very dangerous." Hermione said, glancing at her sister-in-law.
"I think you're both being a bit paranoid." said Lily, looking at her aunt. Silence fell for a moment as the four relatives took deep sips of their tea. Hugo broke the silence.
"Lily is right, Mum. Riddle has little hope of tricking and manipulating us. We were raised in the family that had the most to do with his downfall." said Hugo.
"Your reaction to this is exactly why we have agreed to show you some…some memories." said Ginny, shaking her head.
"Memories? Like of the battle-" asked Hugo, he could not disguise the excitement in his voice. Lily and he quickly exchanged anticipatory looks. They had never been allowed to see the memories of the war. During the sixth year at Hogwarts, students were taken inside the selected scenes of the two wars and asked to examine them. Lily's father and sometimes other relatives came in those days to give guest lectures.
"No, no nothing like that…You'll see those in Defence this year anyways…These are memories of Tom Riddle when he was still…Tom Riddle." said Hermione.
"But you didn't know him when he was still Tom Riddle…did you?" asked Lily, glancing at Hugo looking unsure.
"No, no we didn't. He was much older than us, older than your grandparents. But your father was shown memories of Voldemort's upbringing to help him on his quest to find the horcruxes." said Hermione.
"And, I'll be showing you a few of my own memories from my first year at Hogwarts." said Ginny, a slight hollowness in her voice. Hermione glanced at her sympathetically.
"The Chamber of Secrets?" asked Hugo excitedly.
"Yes. Well, I suppose we should get on with it then."
Lily and Hugo stood over the pensieve and slowly lowered their faces toward the swirling mists and were pulled into the story of Tom Marvolo Riddle.
When Tom awoke the next morning, he quickly got dressed with the clothes he found in the wardrobe. As he dressed his mind continued to go over the unanswered questions he still had. There was a soft knock on his door just as he finished tying his tie.
"Come in."
Harry Potter stepped into the small room. Tom felt a strong resentment toward the man. Potter's green eyes moved around the room for a moment.
"I hope this room was comfortable enough for you."
"Yes, quite." said Tom, rather shortly. Potter didn't seem to notice the rudeness of his reply.
"Excellent. Well, we still have much to discuss. We wish to get you relatively acclimated to this time period by tomorrow when the students arrive back on the grounds."
"The students really are gone then, sir?"
"Call me Harry, or Mr. Potter if you must. And yeah, they will be returning tomorrow."
Tom said nothing, but continued to watch the older man.
"If you'll come with me then, Tom."
"Where are we going?"
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. I left my home without eating anything."
"So, we are going to breakfast, then?" asked Tom.
"Yes, but the Great Hall would be kind of ridiculous if it were just us in there, so I've arranged for us to eat in the kitchens."
"The kitchens, Mr. Potter?"
"Yeah, it will be much more private."
Tom and Potter continued down through the hallway, nearing where Tom knew the kitchens lay behind the painting of the fruit basket.
"Are you going to inform me why it was necessary to send all the students home?"
"I promise to tell you once we have had our breakfast. I don't think it would be a good pre-breakfast topic. I know how awful it is to have vital information kept from you, so you won't have to wait long, Tom."
The two men continued on, Tom glancing at the other man every so often, trying to get a read off of him. From his face, Tom could see that Potter was lost in thought. Clearly, what Tom had grown up to do was rather awful in the man's opinion. Tom could not imagine someone becoming so pensive about a life that was normal…
After Potter tickled the pear, they were greeted by a horde of house elves, all clamoring to provide the men with food. Tom noticed, with a bit of shock, that the vast majority of the house elves were wearing tidy, clean uniforms. The uniforms had the colours of the houses and were made from a soft velvet material.
Harry Potter led him to the large, weathered table that stood off to the right hand side of the cavernous kitchen. The two ate breakfast in relative silence. Tom could tell that Potter was trying desperately to think of some sort of conversation starter, but after the night before, he seemed to be having a great deal of trouble.
Finally, Tom broke the silence.
"Why are the house elves wearing clothes?"
"Ah, that is actually an achievement my sister-in-law Hermione would love to chatter on about." said Harry with a laugh, "Most of the credit goes to her, of course, though she wouldn't say that. The house elves have largely liberated themselves and most are being paid wages, albeit rather low wages."
"So, the ones wearing the uniforms are free elves?" asked Tom.
"Exactly. The ones still wearing whatever they can find refuse to take money for their work. Around sixty percent of house elves are now freed and it's illegal not to offer a house elves decent wages. The number of free elves is rapidly increasing."
Tom processed this information in silence. How strange that someone would care enough to liberate the house elves who were so happy to be enslaved.
"Are you done eating? If you are then I suppose we might as well get down to bussiness."
"Yes, sir. I am."
"The best way for you to understand, Tom, is to just come out and say it." Harry Potter drew a deep breath and once more aged rapidly in front of Tom's eyes, "You became a very, very powerful Dark Lord. You made your first bid for power in the 1970s, killed many people, but you were stopped in 1981. Then around fourteen years later, in the 1990s, you resurfaced. You took over the Ministry, murdered countless people and destroyed many lives."
Tom was silent for a moment, trying to take it all in. He had done it: he had taken over the Ministry. From what Potter had said, he had gained ultimate power in the wizarding world. It was then that he realized that it was very unlikely that Harry Potter would be the Head of the Auror Department if he was in power. And it was even less likely that he would have been treated in the manner he had been the last night and morning.
"And was I defeated or am I still at large?" asked Tom, attempting to appear nonchalant, though his mind was gushing at the information.
"You were defeated thirty years ago, Tom, but not after a battle that nearly destroyed Hogwarts." said Harry Potter, the sadness positively pouring out of his eyes.
"A battle here? At Hogwarts?" Tom was shocked at the very thought. Tom respected and cared about his school, more than he had ever respected or cared about anything or anyone. It was hard for him to imagine trying to take the school by force…But he supposed that his older self had succeeded where even Tom had failed, he had cut the bond between himself and the worldly place of Hogwarts.
"Yes, there was a battle here. A great many died…including Lord Voldemort." Harry Potter's emerald gaze was now piercing Tom with its intensity. Tom felt his throat close up at the man's words. Death. Ignominious, shameful death.
"I-He died?" Tom sputtered.
"Yes."
"How?" Tom asked, his voice shifting back into its emotionless monotone.
"A rebounded Killing curse."
"Nothing can rebound the Killing curse." Tom said, very seriously. There must have been some sort of mistake. The Killing curse was the epitomie of magical energy: nothing could block nor rebound it.
"Yes, actually, at least two things can."
"And what are those things?" said Tom, leaning forward with interest. Harry Potter examined Tom's face for a moment.
"Love, the exact opposite of the Killing curse. The strongest force in the universe." Tom's face showed his disbelief. "And to answer the other we'd have to get into wand lore, which I am rather weak in."
"Love?" Tom could barely keep the skepticism and contempt from his voice.
"Yes, love, Tom."
"You are claiming that love is the strongest force in the universe?"
"Yes." said the man simply.
"Off of whom, may I ask, did the curse rebound?" Tom asked, trying to keep the hatred out of his voice. Harry Potter's face showed a deep sadness.
"It rebounded off of me, Tom." he replied.
Tom just stared at the man. So it was Harry Potter, the kind faced auror defeated him. That is why they had sent him to decide Tom's face.
"You killed me." Tom said, trying to let the words sink in. Trying vainly to keep the hatred out of his voice. Potter stood up and paced for a moment, then turned back to Tom.
"Lord Voldemort killed himself." he said.
"The curse rebounded off of you, so you killed me." said Tom tonelessly. Harry Potter shook his head and moved across the table, nearer to Tom. Tom felt himself recoiling for the man.
"Listen to me, Tom," the man looked rather emphatic, "I did not kill you. I killed Lord Voldemort. You do not have to be him."
"With all due respect, sir: I am him." Tom said, his voice heavy with irony.
"No, Voldemort was…Voldemort was not a man." Harry Potter leaned over the table toward Tom. Tom had to stop himself from recoiling: there was such raw emotion in the older man's eyes. "He sacrificed his soul for a flimsy immortality. He killed himself the day he ripped apart his soul. You are still a man. still have your soul, intact and whole. You can still feel love and compassion, no matter how deeply it is buried. You are not him. You will not become him."
For some reason, Tom could not look away from Harry Potter. At that moment, Tom almost believed in the words the man was saying. That he could make a change, that he could live. But then the moment passed and his hatred returned.
"So you told him, then?" asked Ginny, from her place on the large bed. Her husband was undressing for bed near the wardrobe.
"Yes, I told him, but only the bare minimum." Harry replied, pulling off his shoes. Ginny could see the agitation and stress in the movements.
"Did you tell him that you defeated him?"
"Yeah." said Harry, not looking at his wife.
"I can't imagine he took that well."
"He kind of just stared at me for a minute or so. Then asked me some questions."
"Was he angry?"
"He was so…emotionless. Detached, you know. I wanted to shake him…" Harry paused for a moment as he unbuttoned his shirt, "And you know, the sick part is, I think I could tell exactly what he was thinking. Exactly how he was feeling. I could tell that he was trying to get information out of me so that he could benefit from it in the future. How did things go with Lils and Hugo?"
"As good as I hoped. The two looked horrified when they got out of the memories and we explained each one in detail to them, so they could understand." Ginny said "Lily cried when she came out of the memory of the chamber."
"Did she?"
"She was very upset by the whole thing. It really made a solid impact on her."
"Well, I just hope that this whole thing doesn't have the opposite effect on her." Harry said, finally stretching out beside his wife.
"What do you mean, Harry?" Ginny asked, turning over to face him. Harry sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
"Do you remember when she was seven and we forbade her to go into the hall closet? Or how about that time we told her that going into the forest behind the house would be dangerous? Or how about the time we warned her not to stick her finger in you cousin's light plug thing and she got shocked? Or the time-?"
"Alright, I get it, Harry." said Ginny with a worried laugh. They were silent for a minute as they contemplated their youngest daughter.
"She gets curious about things and doesn't think. Rushes right out into trouble." said Harry with a sigh. "Even having an auror for a father doesn't deter her."
"For some reason, I am getting a flashback of a little boy running to protect the Philosopher's stone." remarked Ginny with a smirk.
"Shove off, Ginny." Harry said, with a grin. They both paused.
"Well, at least Hugo'll be there." said Ginny, sounding slightly anxious.
"Yeah, and Teddy will be there to watch her as well."
"Teddy?"
"He's taken over the professorship for Defence Against the Dark Arts."
"And you arranged that?"
"He's a full-fledged auror and has been interested in the position for a while." Harry said a bit defensively.
"That makes me feel a bit better. Teddy has always had a good influence over Lily. Much more than James and Albus."
"That's my hope, at least. Teddy's the next best thing if I can't keep an eye on her myself."
Lily lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling of her green room. All the memories she had witnessed in the pensieve were swirling around in her head, keeping her from sleep. Flashes of Tom Riddle's degeneration into Lord Voldemort kept forcing themselves into her mind. It was incredibly difficult to think rationally at the moment.
She felt overwhelmingly sad for the poor baby that was orphaned because of his father' abandonment and mother's weakness. But then they had seen Dumbledore's memory of meeting the eleven-year-old Riddle and had been horrified by his cruelty and power. How could some one so young be so cruel and so in control of their magic?
The memories of Tom Riddle had given a face and story to her father's nemesis. Like all of her generation, Lily had known the general story of Lord Voldemort, but after seeing the memories, she understood more fully how utterly ruthless he had been. Lily had never thought about the human element of Lord Voldemort. She had never considered him as a baby, never thought about his parents. Nothing.
Lily began to drift off to sleep again, she shivered as her mind moved unconsciously to another memory. No memory had been more terrifying to watch than the memory of the incident in the Chamber of Secrets. The torturously handsome face of Tom Riddle as he cruelly mocked her father with her mother's death was haunting and terrifying. And he was only sixteen, only her age, when he had opened the Chamber and unleashed the basilisk upon his classmates.
Lily would see Tom Riddle again tomorrow. She didn't know how she was going to handle the whole thing.
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