Zia clutched the cup with shaking hands. Christmas had come and gone again. That made two Christmases she'd spent away from Tom now. She looked around the house blankly. There was no life here. She woke every day of course. She took care of the snakes. Pozey. The phoenix. But it was still empty.

It had taken months for the first rumors to trickle through to Dumbledore, and through him to her. Grindelwald himself had Tom. Nobody knew why, all they knew was that he kept Tom with him everywhere he went. And it was definitely Tom. There was one picture, just one single picture, but it was clear enough to recognize him.

She'd been to so many different countries trying to track them down, but every time she thought she was getting closer, the trail went cold. Aurors from all over the world were tracking them, but it wasn't enough. Meanwhile Tom was being influenced by the current greatest dark wizard. Every day.

How much worse could he end up after spending so much time with a man like that?

"I've made a mess of things," she whispered out loud to herself. She thought of her parents. She thought of the Dawkins. Everyone around her died. She should never have tried to change anything in this world. She shouldn't even be in this world. She'd failed to protect her family and the future.

Magic can't fix this.

That was what Dumbledore had told her after they found...them. It was true. But perhaps there was something that could. She didn't know if it would work, but maybe if she removed herself from this world, things would go back to the way they were supposed to be. A future that was certain. Tragic yes, but with a guaranteed happier ending. And Mary and Charlie would not have to be involved at all.

She'd had the idea before. Many times. But she'd always held out hope that she could find Tom. Bring him back and fix all of this. Now she was fairly certain that it was impossible. She wasn't a great witch. She was hardly even a witch at all. She couldn't stand up to Grindelwald. She wasn't strong enough for that.

She stood, letting the blanket she'd been nested in fall to the floor in a heap. She ignored Pozey's question about where she was going and left the house. She didn't care anymore if Grindelwald's friends were watching her. She'd welcome them in fact. The cold outside hit her and she shivered, but she didn't break her stride. Even as her body got colder she continued her path to the cliffs just outside of the village.

It was a long drop into rocky waters.

When she reached the highest point of the cliff, she looked down. Freezing cold spray somehow reached high enough to sprinkle across her face. The waves dashed against the jagged stones below. She stepped closer to the edge.

"This isn't the way!" hands grabbed her arms and dragged her back away from the edge of the cliff. She fought them fiercely, trying to lunge forward towards the air before them. The grip on her tightened. "Zia. This is not the way." She fought fruitlessly for several more minutes, then drooped. She looked up to see who it was who had stopped her plan. Tom Riddle Sr.

"What are you doing here?"

"I followed you."

"Why?"

Riddle looked back at the edge of the cliff, and said nothing. Instead he practically picked her up off the ground and walked her farther and farther away from it. When they were several hundred feet away, he stopped. He let go of her arms, waited a few more moments as if testing whether or not she would run, then ran his hand back through his hair.

"When I first got back after my...marriage...it was...different. Everyone was talking about it. The entire town. Me running away with the tramp's daughter," his eyes weren't on her, but off in the distance. He spoke quickly, as if afraid that he would stop speaking if he slowed down. "I became a joke to everyone. My social standing, my reputation, and even my former fiancée were all gone. My parents treated me like I was rubbish."

Zia didn't say anything. She'd seen Riddle's memories. She knew what it had been like for him, to a certain extent, but as always the memories trickled away save for just a few prominent ones. She couldn't think his thoughts though, and this told her more about his feelings than even watching the events happen had.

"I planned to end it all, at that very cliff in fact. I was on my way out of the house to go get the job done when you showed up."

"I'm so sorry..." Zia began through chattering teeth, but he cut her off.

"Don't be. If you hadn't been there at that point in time, I would have done it. Now here I am for you." He pulled his coat off and plopped it over her shoulders, then grabbed her arm and dragged her quickly behind him. He headed straight for Regulus' house. Upon arriving at the door, he knocked seven times in a distinct pattern. The door opened and he pushed her through it in front of him, and steered her into the living room where a fire was already burning. Regulus rushed in without saying anything, and shoved her in front of the fireplace.

"Why did you try?" Riddle asked as Regulus dried her hair off using a towel. She was still shivering despite being in front of the fire.

"I was trying to fix things," she said, staring into the fire.

"And losing you would fix things how?" Regulus asked next. "When we get Tom back, how do you think he'd feel returning to find his mum and his grandparents gone?"

"It's not like that," she muttered as she shivered with cold. She moved closer to the heat.

"Oh? Would you like to try explaining that?"

"Not really." She pressed her lips together, refusing to speak further, but her chattering teeth ruined the effect. She wasn't going to drag any of them into this. It was her problem, not theirs. Besides, what would they think of her if they knew what she'd done? Who she was and who she wasn't?

"Zia, you need to talk to people about things. You try to do everything on your own, but it hasn't ever got you anywhere has it? Maybe it's time for some help. What would you tell Tom?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I'd tell him." She started crying. She missed her son. She missed her parents. She missed Nana Mary and Papa Charlie. She missed having a family. Regulus threw one arm around her and pulled her into a side hug. Riddle patted her back awkwardly.

"Look. You helped me when I needed to change my perspective. You helped me find me friends and a chosen family. You've seen my past and all the good and bad that went with it. Regulus feels the same I'm sure. Now it's your turn. Let it all out," Riddle said firmly. Regulus nodded beside her in agreement. She focused on calming her breathing enough to speak again. Maybe Riddle was right. Maybe it was time to let them in on her secret.

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you," she said, once she could speak without sobbing. She started from the beginning. The whole beginning, not just the beginning of her life in this world. Both men sat mostly silent as she spoke. Neither of them looked repulsed, so she supposed that was a good thing. She wondered if they thought she was insane.

"This all seems completely impossible," Regulus said slowly.

"But at the same time it makes sense," Riddle murmured thoughtfully.

"You believe me?" Zia asked, looking between them for any trace of dishonesty. There was none.

"Of course," Riddle said. Then he made a face. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about my former life as the father of an insane dark wizard."

"At least you were in the books," Regulus protested. "I was apparently not important enough in my former life to be much of anything."

"Well at least you didn't end up murdered by your own son, then used to bring him back to life," Riddle jabbed back. Zia sighed.

"Alright well...now you know everything. It makes sense why I would try to...you know...fix everything right?" she took a deep breath as she looked back towards the door. Both men immediately sobered and looked back at her incredulously.

"Not at all," they both said simultaneously.

"But...I...I'm the reason Nana Mary and Papa Charlie are dead. Tom is with the former most evil dark wizard learning who knows what and possibly becoming worse than before. And the future of everything is completely unknown now! None of this is good!" she was on her feet, melted snow dripping across the carpet as she paced. "I shouldn't even be here! I don't belong here! I don't belong anywhere!" Riddle caught her by the shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes, then gently but firmly shook her once.

"You raised Tom to be better than that. He's a good kid, no thanks to me obviously, and that's because of you," he said. His expression was fierce. "Even if he's with Grindelwald, I doubt even that man can undo all the years of love and care Tom had with you." Tears gathered in the corners of Zia's eyes again.

"We need to find him," she whispered, trying to blink the tears away before they escaped.

"We will. I think it's time to pool our resources," Regulus said next. "It's time to bring Tom home. Grindelwald has had him far too long."

"But even the Aurors haven't found anything," Zia said weakly. Regulus marched through the room and into the dining room, then reappeared with several blank rolls of parchment and quills.

"I don't mean the Aurors. Dumbledore's been keeping an eye on things, and he usually has leads before anyone else. I have contacts at the ministry and in some...more unsavory places too," Regulus said. His cheeks tinged pink for just a moment, but then he was businesslike again. "Time to write some letters."

"Ah. Well at least I know how to write. Otherwise I'm mostly useless in all this," Riddle sighed and released Zia's shoulders. He grabbed a roll parchment and quill. Zia followed suit.

"Time to put together the Order of the Phoenix," Zia muttered under her breath as she began to address her first letter.