Hey everyone! Here is the newest chapter. I hope you enjoy it. A huge thank you to Sarah and Callie for your support!! This chapter is dedicated to you both.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."
Tom felt the cold fear flush through his body from out of his heart, quickly reaching his fingers and toes. His body was stiff and unmoving like he had been hit with a petrificus totalus. The fear he had felt at the idea of his death as a child was nothing compared to the horror he felt now as he watched his Horcrux, a part of his soul, put his children in danger.
The rumbling of stone against stone filled the chamber as the mouth of Salazar Slytherin started to slide open. He could dimly hear Blaise asking what was happening, the confused admittance of not knowing from Draco. Luna telling them they had to go, Severus calling for someone to hurry up and leave. Harry and Hermione stubbornly, shouting they wouldn't leave without their Father. Harry, Hermione. The mouth of Salazar was fully open now, he could see the outline of movement inside the blackness. Aziza. Harry. Hermione. He forced his leaden limbs to move, pushing all his strength into his legs.
"CLOSE YOUR EYES!" he bellowed, spinning around, feet finally moving and arms reaching out to his children, pushing them, face first into his chest. With his back to the statue and the appearing Basilisk, he lifted his eyes to make sure everyone had listened. To his relief, the other six children were grouped around Severus, all with their eyes closed. He could feel the large presence behind him, Aziza had her own magical signature, pulses of it reached out towards her human. Both the Horcrux and himself had the imprint of her familiar bond, he could feel her confusion as she flicked her tongue out, tasting their magic.
'Master?' Aziza hissed, her yellow eyes glowing in the Chamber. She flicked her tongue again, but like before she could taste the magic of her Master twice.
'Ignore them!' Horcrux Tom demanded. 'You are Salazar's last defence of Hogwarts. The Headmaster must die!'
'Don't do this!' Tom cried out, his eyes still clamped shut. 'Aziza, listen to me, I am the Heir of Slytherin!' He had to try, he had to protect his children.
'Two?' Aziza hissed, large head swinging between the two, their magic, while the same to taste, were different in texture, one was wild and untamed, the other strong and nurtured. She was torn between the two Masters that stood before her. She had to obey the Slytherin bloodline, but their orders conflicted with each other.
'No! Kill the Headmaster!' Horcrux Tom screeched.
'Aziza stop! Tom, Dumbledore will die! But now is not the right time!' Tom shouted again. 'You are risking your children, your bloodline and all the magical children inside Hogwarts with this plan!'
'He killed her!! He killed my Myrtle!' Horcrux Tom screamed, he could feel the madness creeping in deeper, unable to fight it. His already fractured soul breaking all over again.
'She is here!' Harry spoke up from his Fathers side, eyes still closed. Horcrux Tom went silent in shock, his magic stuttering like his heart.
'Her spirit couldn't move on. Her ghost is here at Hogwarts!' Hermione chimed in.
'She wouldn't want this Tom, and you know that. We will get our revenge but this isn't the way.' Tom tried again.
'I want to see her' Horcrux Tom rasped, his voice shaking.
'Call off Aziza from attacking. She will only listen if both of us are on the same side now' Horcrux Tom turned to see Tom was right, Aziza was confused, teeth bared but second eyelids down to prevent death.
'Calm, Aziza' Tom soothed, his magic washing over her.
'It's okay Aziza. Stand down' Horcrux Tom added, the giant snake slumped as if relaxing, the oppressive magic in the room fading.
"Her secondary eyelids are up. It is safe" Tom said loudly switching back to English for the sake of the others still in the Chamber with them. The second pair of eyelids would come up from the bottom, while the main eyelids would come down when she slept. Slowly and carefully, everyone's eyes opened and turned to see the mighty Basilisk for the first time.
"Hermione!" Theo broke the silence as he broke from Severus' hold and sprinted to his soulmate, taking her in his arms. He held on tightly, shaking from fear as he let their magic soothe each other. Draco grasped Harry's hand, glancing over his cousin to confirm for himself he was okay.
"Everyone is okay?" Severus asked checking over the kids, Daphne and Pansy still by his side, pale in fright.
"I want to see her!" Horcrux Tom demanded again.
"I sent a Patronus to her." Severus nodded when Tom looked at him. "Hopefully, due to your bond, the wards won't keep her from floating down. If she isn't here shortly I will go collect her."
"How fucking big is that thing?" Blaise asked as he took in the Basilisk which was curling up to doze, trusting her Masters Heirs to take care of her.
"Language!" Severus snapped.
"I think it can be ignored considering the circumstances." Tom laughed.
"What are all these children doing here?" Horcrux Tom asked as he seemed to finally click that the others weren't of his line and yet still here in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Cambions stick together." Harry shrugged as everyone else looked startled as they were looked over by the younger version of their Lord.
"They are our children's inner circle and family, named themselves the Cambions" Tom rolled his eyes.
"After the muggle myths of Half Demons?" Horcrux Tom asked quizzically.
"All of us only have one Death Eater parent, my Lord," Luna spoke with a curtsy. "We thought it was appropriate." Horcrux Tom was opening his mouth to speak again, but a soft delicate voice interrupted him.
"Tom?" His brown eyes shot up, filled with hope and the insanity slowly fading from them.
"Myrtle" he gasped in pain. "My Myrtle, I am so sorry. I couldn't stop him." His hand reached out for her own, shaking.
"Oh, my darling. It was never you. You cannot carry the guilt for the moves that the chess master made." Myrtle soothed, her hand touching his, smiling at the contact. In his half corporal form, it was as if they were both alive. Able to touch each other and feel the other's magical core.
"You have to release the child Tom," Myrtle added sternly as she looked towards Colin's body.
"Dumbledore must pay! How will that happen while I am stuck in this diary?! This way I get a body and I can fight him again!" Horcrux Tom growled.
"He will pay Tom." Myrtle soothed her agitated soulmate. "Your main soul will make sure of it. Unlike you he isn't running with a freshly fractured soulbond, he is playing the long game." Tom nodded with a sour expression on his face as he let the bond to the Gryffindors magic break. If it had been anyone but Myrtle he would've continued to fight. But he trusted her to explain and to have a reason. It only took a second before Colin's body started regaining its colour and breathing easily. Thankfully Severus had the forethought to cast a sleeping charm on the first year, preventing the boy from awaking and ruining their plans.
"Speaking of," Harry spoke up hesitantly. "Something else is going on, he seems less in control than the shard I spoke to in the diary this year."
"I am always in control!" The Horcrux snarled trying to step towards his insolent son.
"Tom!" Myrtle scolded, immediately the 16-year-old Dark Lord shrunk back to her side. Letting her grab his hands again. "There is a taint." She gasped.
"I wonder," Severus mumbled as he walked over to the sleeping first year and cast a diagnostic charm. "Meddling old fool." He cursed. "Dumbledore placed a compulsion charm to prevent Creevey from coming forward when he got suspicious of the diary. That combined with Colin's light magic mixing with Tom's dark magic and broken soulbond has caused instability in his core. We are lucky he didn't blow up the castle when he lost control."
"Is there anything we can do?" Myrtle asked as she tightened her hold on the Horcrux to prevent him from moving again, cutting him off from anything he would've said in his fury.
"He has to be absorbed into my main soul again," Tom said with a shake of his head. "Once he is reunited with me, it will be like a fresh start, all compulsions and taints wiped clean."
'I won't leave Myrtle!' The Horcrux hissed in parseltongue, although the non-snake speakers got the idea from the way he clasped the ghost in arms.
"Tom you can't stay here," Myrtle whispered reading his body language correctly. "You will just get more and more unstable until you fall into full insanity again."
"She won't be alone," Hermione spoke soothingly. "We will visit regularly.
"I knew the cost of staying behind," Myrtle whispered. "I chose to stay in the hopes of saving you. I didn't succeed the first time. Let me save you now." She pleaded.
"Myrtle," both Toms whispered, heartbroken.
"I would do it all over again if I had the choice. You are my soul." She smiled sadly as she kissed the Horcrux softly, pouring all her love and happiness into it.
"Okay. If it is what you want for me." Horcrux Tom nodded stiffly as he held her close. "I love you more than magic knows." He whispered so softly in her ear that no one else heard.
"I am sorry we didn't get the life we planned, but I am happy knowing you are happy." She said with a smile towards the main soul of Tom. "You deserved to find love again."
"I love Cassi, and I can't imagine what I would be without these two, but I never stopped loving you, I don't think I ever will," Tom admitted as he pulled his twins close, both hugging him tightly.
"You have enough room for us all in that heart of yours, even when you thought emotions made you weak" Myrtle smiled. "Those twins of yours are beautiful and strong. They will make you proud."
"They already do, every day." He nodded as he kissed their heads.
"So how will this happen?" The Horcrux asked reluctantly.
"I can't absorb you here, the magic is extremely powerful and dangerous. I will be weakened for a few weeks. I have a ritual chamber attached to my office at home, Cassi and her sister Narcissa are both trained in ritual healing and recovery so it's the safest place to do it." Tom said with a shake of his head.
"This isn't goodbye Tom. By the time I see Tom again, you will be absorbed completely and be one whole again." Myrtle grinned, kissing him again.
"At least after that, we won't have this confusing mess of Tom and Tom." Harry piped up. "Hermione!" He snapped, flinching as she smacked his arm.
"Have some awareness of the situation!" She spat with an eye roll.
"Both of you stop it!" Tom groaned. He didn't know how he didn't have a full head of grey hair already.
"Sorry Father." They chorused as they shot each other glares from around their Father. Myrtle let out a tinkling laugh.
"This is karma for how horrible you were as a child and teenager" She giggled, her laughter only grew when he sent her an unimpressed look.
"Alright, I will take the real diary home and await to either be called in as your Father or as the Chairman of the Board," Tom said shortly. "Do you remember the plan?" He asked the children.
"Yes Father" "Yes Sir" the eight Slytherins chorused.
"Good. Harry, Hermione stay close behind me." Tom nodded at them as he picked up the real diary from the floor and placed it in his enlarged pocket with anti summoning and notice-me-not charms ingrained in the material. He then took the fake from Harry and walked towards the resting Basilisk.
'Aziza' he hissed softly. 'Keep the eyelids up'
'Master Tom?' She hissed sleepily.
'I need a favour my dear' he hissed soothingly. 'I need you to bite this book, and push as much venom as you can into it.' Tom hissed. Because Basilisk Venom and Fiendfyre were the only known ways to destroy Horcruxes this would hopefully mean Dumbledore would never dig deeper.
'Strange Master Tom, but Aziza will do this.' She hissed. Tom held the diary open above his head bracing himself for the pressure of her bite. Even so, he still stumbled under the force.
'Thank you, my dear.' Tom hissed, running his hand over her snout as he passed the destroyed diary back to his son.
'Now, you will go back to sleep shortly. But before you do, I want you to meet my Heirs.' He smiled as Harry and Hermione stepped forward excitedly.
'Neonates? Two? They smell of you' Aziza hissed, her massive tongue coming out to taste the magic around them.
'I am Hartford.' Harry smiled as he reached his hand out to stroke her scales.
'It is so great to meet you, I am Hermione' Hermione added softly.
'Speaking Heirs!' Aziza hissed happily as she nudged her massive nose into their hands eagerly.
'They may come down to visit, but you must keep your eyelids up and they will have friends with them occasionally.'
'Extra scents are strong. Nestmates more than companions.' Aziza hissed nodding her head in agreement.
'Yes, they are our family.' Harry hissed.
'Go on Aziza, go back to rest. We will come back.' Tom soothed. Smiling as she flicked her tongue again, imprinting the scent like a large blanket before sliding back into her tunnel.
"Time to go," Tom said in English as he looked towards his younger self who was still yet to let go of his soulmate.
"I love you Myrtle. Never forget that." Horcrux Tom whispered kissing her reverently, tears falling from both their eyes.
"I love you too, go be complete and happy." She whispered, with a choked sob the teen Dark Lord nodded as he let the diary's magic pull him back into the pages. "Take care of him." She demanded of Tom getting a sad nod of agreement.
"I will be back to see you." He whispered wishing more than ever he could hug her as his Horcrux had. With one last look at Myrtle, he turned and hugged his children goodbye before leaving with Severus on his heels. Myrtle let out a choked sob before breaking down completely, Harry and Hermione felt at a loss. Before they could do or say anything the teenage ghost floated away to grieve in peace.
"Let's do this." Hermione sighed as Theo stepped up to hold her hand, eyes shining with unshed tears. The grief of Myrtle and Tom hitting them all hard.
"This is just the start of our revenge," Harry growled. "Slowly we will destroy Dumbledore's kingdom, starting at his reputation and foundation." A dangerous smirk growing on each of the Cambions faces.
In the Headmasters office, Dumbledore felt a shudder make its way through his body. Dread in his heart as the floo fireplace lit up green.