The aftermath of the battle was horrific.
The loss was unbearable. Hermione felt like she was wading through fog, as she wandered the empty castle halls. Her mind couldn't focus too long on one person they had lost in the battle. Every time she thought too long on it she would begin to cry and had to force herself to turn her thoughts to other things.
But there were no distractions.
Not even Tom was there by her side. It was as though she had lost him too. She left Harry and Ron to their own devices. And she needed some time on her own as well.
We had won. But nobody had been able to prepare themselves for the cost.
Moving on from here. Going home and picking up the pieces of my life seemed impossible. And I could never tell anybody about what happened to me.
About Tom. And how my heart throbbed with pain when I thought of him.
Hermione wandered through the rubble and the dust from the destroyed concrete. She swallowed the lump in her throat, fighting back the insistent tears.
She left the castle and wandered out to the castle grounds. A cool humidity filled the morning air and as she stepped through the grass the dew clung to her clothes and shoes.
Even in the peaceful morning, the green grass as burnt black in places and there was an eerie quiet that she could not shake.
She wondered how he was.
What is he doing? Is he happy I am gone?
She could not stop the tears now. She let the sobs rack her body as she sat down heavily in the damp grass of the lake bank. The only sound on the grounds were her gasping chokes and the sniffles she let out involuntarily.
Finally, she wiped her eyes and stood up. Hermione took deep breaths with each step as she trudged back up to the castle. She took her time as she approached, after all nobody was waiting for her.
People had begun to venture into the corridors as well. They shifted the rubble as they walked to find the dead or injured, or simply to get away as she had.
Hermione kept her head down, hiding her teary eyes. She made her way up the broken steps to the level above the Entrance Hall where she could sit and just breathe for a while. She wasn't ready to pull herself together.
The corridor where she sat was dark and dusty from the battle, with sections of light streaming in from the decimated windows and classrooms.
There was no way Tom would find me and no way I could find him without risking so much more.
The finality of it made her suck in a shaky breath and she put her head in her hands. She heard the rubble shift down the hall and immediately attempted to compose herself. If someone was coming this way she didn't want them to see her broken.
As the footsteps drew nearer she raised her head to look to the sound, a bout of irritation passing over her. Couldn't I have a moment of peace?
But her breath caught in her throat at the sight she saw. She stood up suddenly and stared at him. The shock made them both immobile. But suddenly she was running, leaping over the rubble to get to him.
He came for me.
"Tom." Hermione breathed his name and fell into his waiting arms.
Her shoulders shook terribly and she buried her face in his chest, breathing him in. He held her tightly, his arms strong around her. But she could hear the race of his heart in her ear, and she could feel his panting breaths.
Hermione felt his head rest against hers and he whispered, "I'm here. I found you."
Hermione raised her head to look at him and he looked back down at her. His face was soft, full of emotion. His brows creased at the intensity of it and she could understand how he felt.
"How did you-"
Tom shook his head, stopping me gently. "We'll talk about how later. Right now, I just…I just need this." he murmured, eyes warm as he stroked back her hair from her face softly.
"I can't believe you're alive." Tom whispered. "I was so terrified…" He trailed off, his eyes searching her face.
Hermione lifted her hands to rest on his chest and she managed a small smile of reassurance. "I'm fine." she whispered.
Tom returned the small smile and chuckled faintly, the familiar sound sending calmness through Hermione.
"I thought I had lost you. I couldn't... I couldn't believe you were gone." Tom whispered and pressed his lips to her forehead.
Hermione sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, their bodies pressed together. "You sent me back." She replied and she saw Tom wince.
"I know." He murmured, his face close to hers. "I only did it to keep you safe, 'Mione. I'm so sorry." he whispered.
She shook my head and cupped his cheek in her palm. He softened at the gesture, even leaning into her touch.
"It's fine. As long as you promise you'll never do it again. I don't think I could bear it." She smiled softly.
A moment of silence passed between them and Tom took a deep breath, his hand rising to stroke over her cheek gently.
"I love you, Hermione." he whispered and in his eyes shone both fear and honesty. Hermione could barely breathe.
Her heart jumped, then stilled, then raced and immediately the words were on her lips. And she knew it was right to say them.
"I love you, too."
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his in a tender kiss and she felt his hands in her hair as he responded almost desperately.
Hermione pulled back first and smiled up at him. "I suppose I'll need to tell everybody what happened. And they'll want an explanation for your presence here." she said and wrapped an arm around his waist as he did the same around her shoulder.
He held her to his side and his lips pulled into a subdued smirk as they both began to walk down the corridor. "I don't think your friends will like that Tom Riddle is suddenly back from the dead." he chuckled.
"But how did you get back, Tom?" Hermione asked, stopping them where they stood.
Tom sighed and met her gaze, "Dumbledore sent me here. He and Abraxas, who was forced into it, they re-enacted the curse." He turned his head slightly, eyes distant as he thought. "At first I couldn't get through. I'm assuming it was because Voldemort was still alive. But once he had died, I was here. Two of us couldn't exist at the same time. And now that he is dead it won't make much difference. I'm not him."
Tom sighed, still plagued by the idea that he would have become that monster. He ran his free hand through his hair. "Dumbledore explained that through Voldemort's creation of his Horcruxes his very soul was altered. It made him a completely different man from me. My soul is the same as his used to be, a little flawed-" he chuckled at Hermione's raised eyebrows. "Alright, fine. Very flawed." he breathed out, smiling warmly at her.
His face softened to match his eyes. "But you saved me from it all." he whispered.
"I am grateful.. To you, my love." he whispered and took Hermione's hand in his own, squeezing gently.
Her heart fluttered a little in her chest and she leaned up to kiss him sweetly again.
"Would have been horrible to have an evil wizard as a boyfriend." she winked at him and Tom burst into laughter, his head falling back.
Hermione chuckled and they began to walk again once Tom had calmed down.
"Now, come. We better get your boyfriend," he appraised her with a sly grin, "introduced to your ever so understanding friends who will not kill him on sight."
"You're underestimating my ability to keep you safe." Hermione teased.
"I'll never underestimate that." Tom spoke softly and kissed her temple as they walked to the Great Hall.
"Tom?" Hermione called out as she set down her briefcase by the door. She had had such a long day and it showed in the sheer effort it took to shrug off her coat and remove her shoes by the apartment door.
It had been over a decade since Voldemort's defeat and Hermione was working at the Ministry of Magic. She did enjoy the strain it had on her, because it was an important job, and she liked the feeling of being useful. But for a while now she had been especially tired. A similar feeling had plagued her before in the first few months of her pregnancy.
"Hello, darling." Tom's low voice responded from the kitchen. He walked into view and moved to embrace her.
She relaxed in his arms as he kissed the top of her head sweetly. He was still in his work clothes, a white dress shirt and slacks. His socks bore green and silver stripes, which he had bought simply to annoy Hermione whenever she would see him wearing it with his work attire and protested that it was inappropriate.
"Where's Aidan?" She asked, already knowing that their five year-old son was 'hiding' behind the armchair in the living room. She could see his dark tuft of hair sticking out around the side as he peeked at his parents.
Tom grinned and sent Hermione a wink. He walked over to the armchair and let out a yell, catching Aidan around the waist and lifting him up into the air. Tom and Aidan laughed together as Toms at on the armchair and Aidan settled on his lap, still giggling.
"Hi, mama!" Aidan called, waving his hands at the same time, before he turned and began to clamber over his father, pulling at his shirt to get up. Tom chuckled and let him paw at him until he set him down so he could get off the chair.
"Papa!" Aidan yelled and both Hermione and Tom jumped before Tom laughed and looked to him. "Okay! We have to-uh, we have to play now. Okay?" Aidan said, brown eyes wide as he looked to his father.
Tom nodded, "Okay, Aidan. Go get your toys then." He smiled and ruffled his son's black hair as he ran off to his room, still babbling about his toys.
"How was work?" Tom asked, looking to his wife curiously. "You look tired, darling." Tom's brow furrowed in concern.
"It was especially busy today. We had some trouble with a few underage wizards. I told Harry and Ron that kids nowadays were worse than we were back then, but they refused to believe me." Hermione smiled.
Tom smiled as well and walked to the kitchen. Hermione followed him, watching as he rifled through cupboards for food.
"How was your work?" She asked.
"Terrible as usual." Tom huffed, glancing back at her before returning to his rifling. "Some of the kids are getting it and others show no interest whatsoever." he rolled his eyes.
Hermione held back a laugh at his irritation. He often got frustrated with the young children that he trained at a small centre in the middle of London. He had almost gotten into Hogwarts to teach, but the school still had their doubts about Hermione's husband.
"Tom?" She spoke up, watching him sigh and bend over to search the lower cabinets.
She leaned on the kitchen counter and Tom looked up, hearing the insecurity in her tone.
"What's wrong?" he asked and strode over to her. "Are you not feeling well?" He raised a hand to touch it to her forehead, but Hermione shook her head.
"Nothing's wrong. I just have something to tell you." she said, shrugging one shoulder to seem nonchalant.
"Go on and tell me then, before I explode from the anticipation." Tom smiled, but his eyes were worried.
Hermione managed a small smile and cupped his cheek in her palm to calm his worry.
She decided to spit it out. "I'm pregnant." she murmured.
Tom took a moment to register her words. Then his face lit up and he grinned wide. " What? That's wonderful news!"
He pulled her into a tight embrace and Hermione couldn't help but grin and return his embrace just as enthusiastically.
"I hope it's a girl." he said suddenly, making Hermione blink. "We need another girl around here. Aidan and I will gang up on you when he gets older." Tom teased, stroking Hemione's cheek softly.
She looked up at him, smiling warmly even as she said, "Nonsense. We both know he loves me more."
Tom laughed and kissed her then. Hermione forgot her weariness as his lips pressed against hers and made her insides flip.
He smiled against her lips, pulling back only a little to whisper, "I love you, Hermione."
Hermione looked up at him, her heart full of joy. She lay her head on his shoulder, intertwining their fingers and watching as they matched up perfectly.
"I love you, too." She whispered back.