Blinded By The Past, Ignored In The Future

Chapter 10

TEN: More Dreams and Office Cleanings

Response To Reviews:

Emma Ackroyd: I have no idea how to spell Al Gore but my dad said that both Bush and Gore were morons. He said the key to picking a president is picking the one that is less stupid. So my parents don't like Bush (he and Gore are equally stupid). ARGH! Politics are annoying…let's just leave it alone 'till we're older.

Deadly Fate: I know that the dream scenes were kind of sad but a few of them will be happy memories. Just wait and see.

Miss Mina Murray: You're making me grin like Sirius! Stop with the flattery! *but really don't! Lol!*

Marauder1prongs: One story at a time, Prongs. One. You'll love this chapter but warning: it contains inside joke between you and me! *Falls over laughing*

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 Previous Chapter: Riddle wailed in his sleep. He tossed and turned, unaware that hours had passed and he had been asleep for four hours. For once in his life he didn't want to wake up. Just being able to be back in his time made him happier than he would ever let on.

Merlin forbid what had happened to his two friends in the future. But whatever it was Riddle didn't want to know for he was sure it couldn't be good

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 Dumbledore sat in his office, trying to forget the debate that he, Severus, Minerva, and Remus had earlier. Both Minerva and Severus thought that they needed to get rid of him some how, while he and Remus believe that Riddle deserved a chance and it wasn't fair that they should judge him when he wasn't in the right state of mind.

Then the matter of would he ever be in the right state of mind? Came up and Dumbledore admitted that only time would tell. Finally they had all decided that the matter was to be addressed during the next Order meeting.

Truth be told Dumbledore was a bit worried how Riddle would react when he learned that he, Dumbledore, had defeated Grindelwald, Ruby Rosewood (the girl had been friends with since he was barley older than eight) was dead, and Lucius Malfoy was indeed a living replica of his father.

The aged man rubbed his forehead and tried to relax. As much as it was true that Riddle wasn't Voldemort, Dumbledore couldn't help but see through his angry gaze when he was forced to do something and see that sometimes his eyes flashed scarlet. Of course he knew that Riddle and Voldemort were the same person, but inside of Voldemort he hadn't ever seen anything that reminded him of Tom Riddle.           

He stood up and grabbed his wand from the on top of his desk and headed out of his office door to the Hospital Wing. As much as he was sure that Riddle was fine here at Hogwarts, he had to get the other Order members agreement. Severus had a good point so maybe the others did to. As soon as he told Riddle to stay in the Hospital Wing he would be off. Once he was there he quietly opened the door.

Riddle turned over and grumbled something about Lucius going out with his girl. Dumbledore glanced at his golden pocket watch and saw that it was only six o'clock in the morning. Not wanting to wake Riddle Dumbledore covered him up and left the Hospital Wing, heading back to his office to floo to the Order's headquarters.

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(Dream)

The image of his confrontation with Grindelwald vanished and was replaced by another one. Riddle sat by the lake's edge and watched the water's smooth surface that was completely immobile. Ruby and Lucius were at Hogsmeade. Now that they were going out they barley ever talked to him during the day. Now they walked the halls together and sat together no matter what.

The sound of footsteps reached his ears and he turned around. "Hey, Star, Lu," he acknowledged his two dating friends.

"Hey, Rid," Ruby (or Star as they nicknamed her) replied. Her arm was locked with Lucius's.

"I need to get something from the castle. Star, why don't you stay here?" Lucius said, pulling his arm away from her.

"But, Lu!" she protested. Riddle could swear that she didn't want be left alone with him.

"I'll be back," he repeated. "Stay here with Rid." Without waiting for her to object again, he turned and headed to the castle. It took a while but she finally sat down next to Riddle.

"Umm…" she started. "Lucius told me something."

"Did he?" Riddle said, pretending not to care.

"Riddle! Don't be like that! I know how you really feel about me and him!"

"How?" he challenged her.

"You like me, don't you?" she asked in a gentle tone.

Riddle starred at her in surprise. "Lucius really did tell you, didn't he?"

Ruby nodded. "I mean it wasn't his fault!" she exclaimed. "I prodded it out of him and he-he-" her voice became shaky and a tear fell from her eye.

"What's wrong?" Riddle asked kindly, scooting toward her.

"Oh, Rid!" she cried. "It's Lucius's father! I went over to his house this summer and Lucius and his father had a big fight! His father was calling me a m-mudblood and L-Lu stood up for me! But his father-his father-" Riddle pulled her into a hug to comfort her. He wasn't sure if he really wanted Ruby to continue telling him about what happened. He knew from experience that Lucius's father was no good and he served the Dark Lord, Grindelwald.

"Having fun?" came Lucius's voice from beside them.

Riddle jumped up. "Lucius! It's so not what you think! I swear!"

However instead of yelling at Riddle, Lucius laughed to himself and smirked. "Rid, I know you like her. I've known for a long time. About since the first time I met her."     

"It was that obvious?" Riddle asked his two friends.

Ruby got up and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robes. "Yeah it was," she sniffed. "But thanks for listening to me for a bit. I feel a bit better. I can't wait till our match against Gryffindor!" The last statement came out of nowhere.  

The three sat down by the lake's edge together. Riddle and Ruby had a laughing fit when Lucius told them how he wanted to go out with a snobby, Ravenclaw girl that was a year younger than them, Narcissa Black. When Lucius pointed out that she was a pure-blood Riddle had to comment that even Ruby, whose father was muggle-born and her mother a muggle, looked better, which eared him a smack to the back of the head from both of them. 

(End of dream)

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"Mr. Riddle, wake up. It's time for Lunch," came the nurse's voice.

"Noooooo," he groaned, pulling covers over himself. He didn't want to leave his dreams anymore than he wanted to see the inside of Azkaban. 

"It's waiting for you on the stand beside your bed if you want it," said Madam Pomfrey. Once she retuned to her office Riddle threw the covers off of himself and looked at the food. He really didn't want it. There wasn't even a reason that he should be in the Hospital. Dumbledore just didn't trust him.

Deciding that he wanted to cause the nurse, Professors, and Order members as much trouble as he could, he didn't take the food; he knocked it to the ground. Unfortunately Madam Pomfrey retuned at that exact moment. Just to anger her more Riddle pretended he didn't notice that he did what he did.

"Mr. Riddle!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "I didn't put it there so you could experiment with gravity."

"I don't believe in gravity," Riddle muttered. "It's just something adults made up to scare little children."

Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head. "Kindly clean the mess up."

"No," sneered Riddle.

The nurse however ignored him. She walked into her workplace and returned with a mop, broom, and a bucket of water that had an old rag in it. "Well?" she snapped at seeing his confused face "Get cleaning."

"You can't-" Riddle started but Madam Pomfrey cut him off.

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, young man," she said, scolding him. "You'll do what your elders tell you." Riddle grinned, seeing the smile on her face, as he got out of the bed and picked up the broken pieces of glass from the shattered plate. The nurse pulled a garbage can up by him and smiled as she left him alone.   

In truth Riddle didn't mind cleaning. He had been forced to do it his whole life so it became a strange hobby of his. Not to mention that he could get the nurse on his good side this way and maybe even the Order's.

Once the food was picked up and in the garbage can, Riddle began to mop the floor and soon he decided that if one part of the floor was clean why not do the rest of it? Following the moping he got down on his hands and knees and scrubbed the floors with the torn rag given to him by Madam Pomfrey. Riddle looked up when the Hospital doors opened and Dumbledore and a few others came walking in.

"STOP!" he yelled. The Order looked at him as if he was going to kill them all. "Get off of my floor! OFF!" Dumbledore looked down at the clean floors and was surprise to actually see his reflection on it's polished surface. When Riddle realized that it was the Headmaster (he hadn't been paying too much attention) he felt embarrassed beyond reason. His hair was completely untidy from when he had crawled under the Hospital beds to clean and his robes were torn in several places from being on his knees.               

"What in the Merlin's name have you been doing, boy?" growled the man he knew as 'Mad-Eye' Moody.

HOW MANY TIMES TO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NEVER TO TOUCH SOMETHING UNLESS YOU'RE TOLD TO?" The orphanage Headmaster's voice echoed through his mind. He flinched and backed up from the Order, not taking his eyes off of them.

"GET BACK HERE, BOY!"

WHACK! Riddle clenched the side of his face remembering all the times he had been hit for believing something good might actually happen to him; all the times he had asked about his father and hearing the denial of his existence.

Dumbledore's kind voice brought him back to the present. "Tom? What's wrong?" Riddle's hand dropped to his side, and his confused eyes turned to Dumbledore. He was breathing heavily and uneven, his eyes were cloudy and unfocused. Riddle shook the memories away and sneered at the old man.

"If you would kindly get off of the floor that I so nicely cleaned I won't have to hate you," Riddle growled. Dumbledore sighed and motioned for the Order members to follow him into Madam Pomfrey's office, right over the clean floor. He didn't see who, but someone spilled a drink they had in their hand onto the floor. Riddle looked at it in horror, his jaw partly dropped.

Riddle heard two members exchange laughs as he got down on his knees and to clean up the broken glass. As much as he wanted to use magic, cleaning the muggle way worked better and was more thorough. The Order walked into the other room and as soon as they did he threw the rag (that he had been using to clean the spilled drink up with) across the room.

"I hate the Order," Riddle muttered. "I wish they would just get up and throw themselves off of a cliff or at least a short pier." 

"Albus, we can't do that! He's not so bad if you give him a chance!" the nurse's plead caught his attention. Quietly he tiptoed over to Madam Pomfrey's office door.

"Please try to understand. We may have no choice, Poppy," Lupin said and Snape snorted.

"That's right," growled Moody. "The little menace deserves whatever we decide."

"Headmaster, I really must press this matter," Madam Pomfrey stated.

"Look the way we see it is…well there's no denying it. The boy isn't in his right state of mind," said Mr. Weasley. "He could easily be a threat to any student if angered."

"Which is why we must talk to him and get him to understand that," Dumbledore spoke over the argument.

"Then let's go talk to him," said Lupin. Little did they know that they wouldn't get the chance for Riddle was already out of the Hospital on his way to the Slytherin common room. He had knocked over the garbage can on the way out and threw the rag onto the once clean floor. The only intention that was clear in his mind was to get out of the school and never come back.

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A/N: Okay, reviewers, I need help. Vote for the one that you believe to be the best direction to go in and give a reason.

1) Draco defies his father and Voldemort by telling Riddle about the plan to get him.

2) Riddle leaves and gets caught or has an encounter by/with Voldemort (please keep in mind that if this one is to happen I will have to end the story a few chapters short).

3) Or you can give your own idea.