Chapter 49 – Deterioration

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In her room, Hermione was suddenly afflicted with a pounding headache, possibly the worst she had ever experienced. She walked down the stairs, holding tightly to the banister, and went into the kitchen.

"Hokey, do you have any potions for headaches?" she asked, rubbing her temples and wincing.

"Yes, Miss. Hokey will gets one right away," the elf said, scurrying into a cupboard.

Hermione downed it the second Hokey gave it to her, but if anything, the headache only got worse. She wearily climbed back up to her room and lay down upon her bed. Consciously, she tried to relax, but just when she felt some of the tension in her neck and head ease, a stabbing pain spread throughout her whole body. She shot up, gasping. The pain died away, but she couldn't understand where it had come from. It had almost felt like it came from someone else, and the sense of despair and regret it carried with it took her breath away.

She wondered briefly if it could have come from Tom, but that was impossible. Their marriage was over and their bond broken. There was no reason for her to feel anything from him.

The pain faded to a constant ache behind her eyes but neither it nor its emotional edge completely left her. It was unlike anything Hermione had ever felt. As she lay there, she could no longer ignore the possibility that it had come from Tom. After all, she had been religiously blocking their bond for what seemed like forever and hadn't even remembered to stop after she had thought their bond no longer existed. She couldn't actually say with any certainty that it had been severed, no matter how much she wanted to believe it.

Figuring that she wouldn't be able to rest until she at least checked, she cautiously dropped the mental walls that had separated her from Tom.

The wave of pain rushed through her instantly. The desolation that she had felt earlier came back with renewed vigour. The physical and emotional anguish was almost enough to make Hermione weep. Hermione blocked the bond off as soon as she could think through the pain. It faded once again.

At first, Hermione was tempted to think that it just another manipulation on Tom's part. It wouldn't be much worse than some of the other things Tom had done during the course of their relationship. But that was too cynical, even for her. She chastised herself. Tom had never been able to actively lie through their bond, a fact that was probably the root of his decision to block it. That was why she had thought that their marriage would help them fix the flaws in their relationship, since they would be able to trust each other with every thought and emotion.

This realisation threw Hermione into action. If Tom was feeling anything like the pain that had come through their bond, he needed help. Hermione considered that he was being tortured with the Cruciatus, but that wouldn't explain the desolation she had felt from him.

She grabbed her wand from the nightstand and Apparated just outside the door to the flat they had shared. Cautiously, she tried the door and finding it unlocked, opened it.

The entryway was empty, but on the floor next to the space that had served as their living room lay Tom. Hermione rushed over to him.

"Tom?" she called, kneeling beside his prone form and gently touching his face.

He groaned at her touch, voice hoarse as if he had been screaming, but did not respond in any other way.

"Tom?" Hermione repeated, desperately searching his face for signs of consciousness. When no such signs appeared, she began to run through all the spells she knew that might help.

"Ennervate." The spell did nothing, nor did any of the others Hermione tried. Having exhausted her own skills, she grasped Tom in her arms and Apparated them both to St. Mungo's.

The people sitting, waiting more or less calmly to be seen, stared at the newly arrived couple. Hermione released her grip on Tom and scrambled up from the floor, intent on the Healer who had just entered the room. But the instant Hermione loss contact with Tom, he moved. She dropped down to her knees, hoping that he had awakened, but when his limbs began to jerk and inhuman sounds emerged from between his locked teeth, she realised that the opposite was occurring.

"Help him!" she demanded, even as she was nearly overcome by a rush of pain. Her words spurred the Healer to action. He Levitated Tom's still convulsing body and rushed the body out of the room, calling out for additional Healers.

"Emergency, unknown cause. I need Class III antidotes and muscle relaxants immediately. Have one of the Curse Specialists come to the Critical Ward, third floor," he directed a frozen assistant Healer as he strode past.

Hermione pushed past the Welcome Witch and followed the wizard through the halls, fighting the almost debilitating throbbing that passed through her body with each step. Her emotions were too volatile to allow her to maintain the mental barrier that had been present for the past weeks. Finally, they reached the third floor, where they were met by several other Healers. One began casting diagnostic spells immediately, while another stripped Tom's shirt and trousers away, inspecting for physical anomalies. A third took control of Levitating him, leaving the original Healer to turn to Hermione.

She moved to follow as they moved Tom into a ward, but the Healer's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Do you have any idea what happened to him?" he asked, not even taking the time to give his name or ask for those of Hermione or Tom.

"No," Hermione shook her head, almost disbelieving what had just happened. "He was like that when I Apparated to the flat. I have no idea what happened."

"Is there anything you can tell us about him that might be important?" the Healer persisted. "Any job hazards or potion use that we should be aware of?"

"He's an Unspeakable," Hermione answered, trying to see where they had taken Tom, "but this happened after he arrived home." As she finished speaking, she nearly bent in half as a particularly intense spasm passed through her.

"What's the matter?" the Healer asked sharply, looking at her for any sign of illness or injury.

"It's because of him," she ground out. "We're...bonded. That's how I knew that something was wrong."

"But you don't know what is wrong with him?"

"No! All I know is that he is in pain, worse the Cruciatus and Dementors combined. I have a barrier up on my end because the pain is intolerable. Please, let me go see him," Hermione said, jerking her arm from his grasp. Without waiting for an answer, she ran into the ward, immediately seeing the Healers crowded around Tom, who was now on one of the beds.

"He's not responding to any of the antidotes, try a Calming Drought for the seizures," one of them ordered.

"Already done, no effect."

"Is he suffering from any curses?"

"Not that I can tell. His ring gives a strange reading, but no curses."

"O'Donnell, any ideas?"

"His spasms are similar to the aftershocks of the Cruciatus Curse," he answered as he walked into the ward behind Hermione. "Try treating for nerve and brain damage."

At the same time that Healer O'Donnell was speaking, Tom's seizure ended. His body settled, muscles completely lax, onto the bed.

"Spasms have stopped. It looks like he's stable for now, but still unconscious," one of the Healers next to the bed said.

"Well, try to find what caused them in the first place before it happens again," O'Donnell ordered.

As the Healers stepped away from Tom, Hermione rushed forward, gritting her teeth at the lingering aches.

"Tom," she murmured as she took in his bloodless complexion and gripped his cold fingers in hers.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Healer O'Donnell said, "I need to ask you a few questions about the patient."

"Fine," Hermione replied, not moving her eyes away from Tom.

"What is his name?"

"Tom Riddle."

"You said that he works as an Unspeakable?"

She nodded.

"Do you know what he was working on?"

"Yes, but I can't tell you. It couldn't have caused anything like this."

"Do you have any idea what could have caused his current state?"

"No."

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Mrs Riddle."

"It's Granger. Hermione Granger."

O'Donnell's expression betrayed his surprise. "You said that you have a bond that enabled you to tell that something was wrong."

"We're not married anymore," Hermione said, answering the question that she knew he had wanted to ask, "but the bond is still there. I didn't realise until today."

"How is that possible?"

"Does it matter?" Hermione bit out. "Just find out what is wrong with him!"

"Can you tell if he is still feeling pain?" O'Donnell asked professionally.

Hermione focused on the part of her mind that was connected to Tom and lowered her mental walls slightly. The pain was instant. She gasped and braced herself on the bed.

"Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, he's still feeling pain."

"Can you tell the intensity?"

"Somewhere between being burned alive and the Cruciatus," she snapped, trying to block out the effects of the short connection.

O'Donnell turned to one of the other Healers and murmured something. The Healer nodded and left the room.

"I'm going to give you a potion to help with the pain. We'll do our best to help Mr. Riddle. Healer Martin will take you to another room to rest."

The Healer returned and handed Hermione a small bottle filled with a dark blue viscous liquid that Hermione recognized as a moderate pain-reliever and a strong sedative.

"I don't need a sedative," she protested angrily. "I'm staying here."

"Fine, you don't have to take the potion, but you can't stay here. We need to be able to do our work without worrying about you," O'Donnell said. "You can either leave your address and go home or stay in the Visitors' Tearoom until we have more information for you."

"But I'm the only one who can help!" Hermione argued. "No one else knows anything about him!"

"All right, but if he gets worse, you're out," he relented.

O'Donnell did not enforce his words. Only forty minutes later, Tom was in the throes of such a violent seizure that one of the older Healers had suggested that they Petrify him, even though such an action hadn't been considered acceptable treatment for twenty years. After Tom stilled, O'Donnell approached Hermione again.

"We were able to get better readings of his brain and magical aura during the seizure, but we can't find anything that could cause this sort of reaction. Can you think of anything that could be causing this?"

Hermione shook her head, unable to speak for a moment.

"I hate to ask this, but is it possible that he did something to himself, something that he knew no one would be able to figure out? As an Unspeakable, he would no doubt be intelligent enough to come up with something that we probably wouldn't be able to recognize in time to save him."

"Tom would never do that!" Hermione rebutted.

"You said that you are no longer married, how would you know what he would do? Maybe he has changed since your separation," O'Donnell said, a slight chill creeping into his voice.

Hermione bristled slightly at his insinuation, but her concern for Tom soon won out over her indignation at O'Donnell's comments.

She stepped over to the bedside and took Tom's hand in hers.

"Something he could have done to himself? He would never try to kill himself. He's always done the exact opposite." She straightened the ring that had gotten turned around on Tom's hand and noticed that the stone had come out of the setting, leaving behind only a plain gold band with brackets sticking up like thorns.

"Did one of the Healers say something about his ring?" she asked, spinning around to look at O'Donnell again.

"Yes, it gave off a strange reading, but he didn't think it was anything suspect."

"Could you check it again?" she asked, an idea forming in her mind.

"Of course." The Healer stepped briskly to the side of the bed and waved his wand over the ring. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"It's strange. I'm not getting any reading from it at all now. All enchantments leave behind at least a trace of themselves, even after they are removed. Maybe the initial reading was wrong," O'Donnell surmised, though he didn't look convinced.

"Or maybe not," Hermione said with renewed determination. She pulled the ring from Tom's finger and gasped at the violent red burn on the skin where it had been.

"The ring caused it?" O'Donnell questioned. "But we didn't find anything when we did the diagnostics, and curses are usually among the most obvious causes of seizures like his."

"I need to go," Hermione said. "I can't do anything to help him here." She practically ran from the room, desperate to get to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. At this point, there was only one person who could help, and she could only hope that he would be willing.

As she had expected, Dumbledore was in his office marking essays. When he caught sight of her, he appeared taken aback.

"Mrs. Riddle, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked, quickly catching himself and standing to greet her.

Hermione ignored the mistake. "'I need your help. It's Tom," she began, trying to come up with a coherent explanation of what had happened over the last few days.

"What has he done?" Dumbledore asked, peering at her worriedly. "Nothing too terrible I hope."

"I don't know! He's in St. Mungo's," Hermione said, some of her composure deserting her.

"Calm down and tell me what you do know," Dumbledore instructed her calmly. He conjured a plush chair in front of his desk and sat down.

"It started on Saturday, no, it started long before that, but I only realized what Tom was trying to do on Saturday. I wouldn't have found out except he made a mistake because he was angry with me. He came here, to Hogwarts, and used the Third Portal, the last of the three that go along with the Deathly Hallows."

"He had all three?" Dumbledore asked, eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.

"Yes, he stole the Cloak of Invisibility from me," Hermione replied bitterly. "I don't know where he got the other two. He used them to go through a mirror, knowing that he would be leaving me behind. I got here too late to stop him. But as soon as I got back to our flat, he appeared. The portal sent him back. He blamed me for the mistake, so I left. I've been staying with Minerva McGonagall since. Going through the portal destroyed our bonding, at least I assumed it did, since our rings disappeared, so we're not even married now. Today, while I was out with someone, he tried to apologize, but I wouldn't let him. I don't know what happened to him after that."

"Why exactly did you come to me?" Dumbledore asked when she paused in her narrative. "I'm sure you have others in whom you could confide."

"A few hours ago, my head started to ache. I took a potion, but it only worsened. I wouldn't have thought anything of it if it were not for the emotions that came along with it. They weren't mine. As I said, I had assumed that my bond with Tom had been destroyed. I had been blocking it, almost like using Occlumency, anyway because I found out that he had been blocking it as long as we had been married to keep me from finding out about the Deathly Hollows and the portal, but I couldn't think of any other cause, so I stopped blocking. It was almost as bad as the Cruciatus, but the feelings that came along with the pain made it even worse. As soon as I could, I Apparated to our flat. Tom was on the floor unconscious. I Apparated us to St. Mungo's, but as soon as we arrived, he started to seize. The Healers couldn't find any reason for his pain. The only anomaly was this ring. When they first did the diagnostic spells, it had a slight magical reading, but after the seizure ended, there was no magic left. It did leave a burn on his finger, though." Hermione set the ring on the desk.

Dumbledore picked it up cautiously. "Do you know what happened to the stone that the ring was set with?" he asked.

"I think a black stone, he always wore it, but I never really got a good look at it. Do you have an idea?"

"I might. One of the Deathly Hallows was rumoured to have been passed down through Slytherin's line. Tell me, did Mr. Riddle have the cloak and wand when he reappeared?"

"No, I would have seen the cloak, at least," Hermione said confidently.

"Then I feel safe in assuming that the ring held the Resurrection Stone, and that the stone was lost when Mr. Riddle went through the portal."

"But what does that have to do with Tom's condition?"

"Maybe nothing. Could you tell me more about the feelings you experience through your bond?"

"It was...horrible. Complete desolation. The pain was bad, but the feelings were almost...incapacitating. Like you had lost everything that had ever mattered to you all at once, and it was completely your fault."

"You said that Mr. Riddle had tried to apologize?"

"Yes, but you don't think that rejecting him could have that kind of effect, do you? He obviously didn't care about not being with me before," she said, trying, and failing, to be flippant.

"The portal sent him back to you. I will be the first to admit that I do not understand the workings of the Peverell's creations, but I don't think they are likely to malfunction. Let us imagine that Mr. Riddle did feel regret, wished that he had made different decisions. Is there any reason that his feelings would have this effect on him?"

"I can't believe that they could. I doubt that Tom is capable of feelings strong enough to have much effect at all."

"But you just said that you felt extremely strong emotions through your bond," Dumbledore pointed out.

Hermione shrugged helplessly, her acerbity draining from her.

"So would you say that his emotions were uncharacteristically potent?" he prodded.

"Definitely. The strongest emotion he ever seemed to have was anger. He certainly never felt very sorry for anything. Do you think it means something?"

"I think it might. And Mr. Riddle always wore this ring?" Dumbledore held it close to his eyes, as if he could see what it was or had been.

Hermione nodded.

Dumbledore seemed to be mulling something over in his head for a moment. He set the ring on his desk again and folded his hands.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, how much do you know about Horcruxes."

"They split your soul, preventing you from dying. You have to kill someone to make one."

"That is correct, but there more to it than that. Horcruxes have more effects than merely preventing death. A person who has split their soul is handicapped, in a way. He loses some of his ability to feel emotions like compassion, joy, and love. The conscience is dulled. He might know that something is wrong, but it won't feel wrong. It is possible for someone to mend their soul after it has been split, but it requires the person to feel completely genuine regret for their actions. Very little has been written about it, since very few have ever made a Horcrux and far fewer have regretted doing so. However, if, as I suspect, Mr. Riddle had a Horcrux, likely this ring, it seems possible that something happened today to make him regret the actions that created it. The Horcrux would have reconnected with his soul. I think it likely that his seizure was caused by the process."

"But he was still feeling severe pain after the seizure ended."

Dumbledore frowned, looking down at his desk. He looked up at Hermione, his blue eyes piercing. "Is it possible that he could have had more than one Horcrux."

It didn't take Hermione long to answer. Between his relatives and Myrtle, Tom had more than enough opportunities to create Horcruxes. "Yes, it is."

"Then I suspect that you will have quite a bit of difficulty if you truly want to help Mr. Riddle," he said, "and I'm afraid that you probably don't have much time. That burn on his finger was from his soul rejoining with his body. If you cannot bring all his Horcruxes, however many there are, into physical contact with him, he will die. I will admit that this is only a theory, but I can think of nothing more likely."

Hermione nodded. She would have her work cut out for her, but if Tom truly regretted what he had done, she could do no less than her utmost to save him.

AN: It's been an age, hasn't it? I hope that I haven't lost too many readers, though I would probably deserve it, and this chapter is far from the wonder that it ought to be after all this time. That said, please review, since the constant reviews over the last few days from new readers have done a lot to motivate me to finish this chapter, which has been languishing partially done for weeks. As I've said before, I won't abandon this story, especially when the end is so near, but neither can I guarantee that updates will be regular or timely.