Disclaimer: these characters are not mine – they belong to JK Rowling
AN: Hey everyone! I hope I haven't lost any of you! If you're still reading and enjoying this, let me know!
Chapter 11 – A Shift in Priorities
"Harry?" she called out as she walked onto the pitch. Harry was alone flying around up there chasing after the snitch. He finally spotted her, and flew down to land.
"I think we need to talk." Hermione said walking up to him.
His face still looked angry, but she'd known Harry a long time. If anything, she was sure he was embarrassed more than anything else.
"Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" Harry said accusingly.
Hermione sighed, "Harry, I would have if I'd had a chance. I was trying to figure out whether or not you knew at lunch the other day, but clearly, you didn't. It wasn't as if I could tell you in the Great Hall." Hermione reasoned.
"Well you should have tried harder! Merlin, I snogged her! My own grandmother!" Harry said, his face twisting up in disgust.
Hermione tried her best not to laugh, but she chuckled despite herself.
"It's not funny, Hermione. At least that explains why Fleamont has been glaring daggers at me all week. I thought he was going to kill me during the quidditch match."
"Well, you know what you have to do, don't you? You need to find a way to get Effy and Fleamont together. Isn't there a dance coming up soon?" Hermione asked
"Yeah, the Halloween ball is next month. What do you think we should do?" Harry asked needing all the help he could get.
"Well, she'll be expecting you to ask her, but you can't. Ask one of the Slytherins to go to the ball with you instead. Then, ask Fleamont if he would meet you on the Astronomy tower to go over your Astronomy project. Ask Effy to meet you there on the same night, just before Fleamont is due to show up. When she shows up, initiate an argument with her. Tell her that you're sorry, but you don't feel the same way about her, and that you are going to the ball with someone else. She'll be devastated, surely, and you can storm off and allow Fleamont to console her. If they don't show up to the dance together, my name isn't Hermione Jean Jones."
Harry just stared at her in disbelief.
"Hermione, I think you truly are a Slytherin. That's bloody brilliant!" Harry laughed, "So who should I ask to go to the dance with me then?" he asked.
"Well, I happen to know that Dorea Rosier is still single…although admittedly not for long. She will be engaged to Cygnus Black before Christmas." Hermione said matter of fact.
"Dorea Rosier? Wait a minute…is she…"
"Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Andromeda's mother, yes. Not to mention dear Lucius Malfoy's mother in law." Hermione said sarcastically.
The look Harry gave after learning that bit of information could have rivaled one of Tom's more sinister expressions.
"Excellent" Harry smirked, "Are you going with Riddle, then?" Harry asked with an edge of disapproval in his voice.
"I would assume, so, yes. Harry, there's something I need to tell you..." Hermione said nervously not wanting to meet his eyes.
"What is it?" he asked picking up on her nervousness.
"Please don't freak out." She pleaded, holding up her hands
"Hermione, you're freaking me out. Spit it out already." Harry said anxiously.
"Okay. Riddle and I….we…that is to say…" Hermione stumbled over her words not knowing quite how to say what she needed to say.
"You what, Hermione?" Harry prodded
"We're sort of…together." Hermione finally spit it out.
"Together. You and Riddle. Voldemort. You're together with Voldemort." Harry said incredulously.
"I know how it sounds, Harry, but it all happened rather fast." Hermione tried to explain.
"He's the Dark Lord, Hermione, You're dating the bloody Dark Lord! That doesn't exactly happen fast!" Harry shouted.
"Look, some things happened the other night, some of which I can't tell you all the details about, but I will say that he saved my life. It was unexpected. I wasn't in my right state of mind after that and I slipped up on some of the details of our cover story. Tom noticed. I tried to back-peddle, but it was too late. After the Slug Club dinner, he took me to the Chamber of Secrets and-"
"He WHAT?!" Harry roared, "Hermione, you do know what's in there, don't you?!" Harry asked angrily.
"Yes, Harry, of course I know. I've had to listen to you re-tell that stupid story a million times to all your little fangirls." Hermione rolled her eyes. What did he think, she was stupid?
"So why the hell did you agree to go with him? Or did he force you?" Harry said taking a step towards her.
"No, he didn't force me, not exactly. We had a small argument in the girl's lavatory, but we came to an agreement, and I went in willingly. That's beside the point."
"Okay, so you, a muggleborn, willingly went into the chamber of Secrets with the Heir of Slytherin who happens to keep a giant muggleborn-eating snake in there, to do what exactly?"
"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad!" Hermione retorted.
"Newsflash, Hermione, it is as bad as it sounds. Now continue." Harry said crossing his arms over his chest.
"So we went in there to talk privately, because as I said, he knew all along that we were hiding something, and when I had slipped up earlier, I had no choice but to tell him the truth." Hermione explained.
"Great. that's just great, Hermione, so he knows we're from the future then? Let me guess, he wanted to hear all about how evil he turns out to be." Harry said rolling his eyes.
"Well, I'm not completely daft, I did get him to make the unbreakable vow before I told him anything." Hermione sniffed, "And for your information, he seemed pretty disturbed about how he turns out in the future."
Harry looked up at her sharply, "Do you think he'll still do it?" harry asked quickly.
"Well, that I don't know. Only time will tell, but no doubt things have already changed, since we're here. I do think it's possible that things could go differently." She said
"What sort of vow did he make then?" Harry asked curiously.
"Well I knew he would never agree to make a vow that would prohibit him from becoming the Dark Lord, but, I did get him to agree to not do any of it sooner; at the very least, it will preserve the integrity of the timeline, should he still go ahead with it." Hermione explained.
Harry nodded. It seemed reasonable enough.
"Have you found any leads yet on how we can get home?" Harry asked changing the subject.
Hermione sighed. Not yet. I've been using my free periods to do some research, but so far, nothing. I'm going to try to sneak into the restricted section, maybe There is something in there that will help." Hermione said thoughtfully.
Harry nodded. This whole thing was like some awful nightmare that he couldn't wake up from; what would be next, being naked in class? The thought made him shudder.
~~{0}~~
Later that night, Tom sent his followers to meet in the 7th floor corridor. Now that he knew were the room of Requirement was, he decided it would be a much safer meeting place for his knights.
He paced back and forth in front of the wall thinking of the perfect place to hold a meeting. He made sure it would be ill-lit, with an unwelcoming feel to put his followers on edge; he wanted to make sure that they knew exactly who was in charge.
"My Lord, this is…" Malfoy looked around with trepidation.
"The new meeting place. You will report here when you are told to do so, and await my instruction." Tom snapped.
Once all the Knights were assembled in a semi-circle surrounding their Lord, Tom spoke.
"My Knights, there has been a slight change in plans; I have come by some rather interesting information, and it seems that eradicating muggleborns is no longer the way forward."
A few gasps could be heard around the chamber, and Tom's head turned sharply towards Lestrange.
"Edmund, is there something you wish to say?" Tom said silkily in a tone that didn't bode well for Lestrange.
Edmund Lestrange sneered, he knew exacly what caused this change in plans.
"It's that muggleborn whore, Jones, isn't it. She's making you soft." Lestrange spat venomously.
Tom's jaw clenched at the open display of defiance. He would have to teach him a lesson
As fast as lightning, Tom's wand was pointed at Lestrange, "Crucio" Tom whispered
Almost instantaneously, Edmind Lestrange dropped to the ground writhing in blinding pain. His screams echoed off the cavernous chamber walls. After a few moments, Tom lifted the curse and leaned down towards Edmund and whispered into his ear
"Disrespect me again, and I'll kill you."
Edmund whimpered and began to pull himself back up to his feet shakily.
"Does anyone else have a problem with this change?" Tom sneered, and looks at the faces of all those assembled before him.
Abraxas Malfoy swallowed and spoke up, "Forgive me, my Lord, but what is our goal moving forward?"
Tom inhaled through his nose. He wouldn't punish Malfoy, at least he'd been respectful.
"From now on, we will be focused on power and ability alone; not blood status. If we are to take over the Ministry, we need the most powerful wizards and witches on our side. I have come to see that power, no matter the source, is still power, and we would do well to welcome it." Tom said smoothly.
He saw some heads nod in understanding, while others stood remaining stoic. This would be a test to weed out those who are most loyal to him, and those who will be stripped from the ranks.
"You are dismissed." Tom said and with a flick of his wrist, the door opened and they all began to file out.
Tom didn't see the glare that Edmund Lestrange sent his way before he shuffled out of the room.