Blinded By The Past, Ignored In The Future

Chapter 15

FIFTEEN: A Bit Of A Surprise

Response To Reviews:

Marauder1prongs: Are you sure they'd be cute together?

Miss Mina Murray: I'm happy that you like this fic that much! I act the same way. My world revolves around Harry Potter things. And Sev says thanks for not ignoring his comment.

Emilia-Deflung: I don't know…is it good? 

Emma Ackroyd:  Hehe. I haven't heard the word chum for a bit. That was a fun thing to come home from school to. Too bad Sev couldn't catch a ride over here today. I'm bored now. Oh! I figured out what year America got its independence! I think it's 1776. Damn I'm good! Actually Sev told me.  

deathsoul-shinigami: I agree fully that Tom Riddle didn't start out as a monster and for all we know he could have bee a victim of circumstance. I too find Tom charming. 

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Previous Chapter: He rubbed his head, still feeling the after effects of the Cruciatus. When he looked up he realized that it was getting dark. Voldemort would surly send his Death eaters out again now that there was almost no light. Making sure the fire was out he left the campsite, motioning for Hermione to follow, which she did. 

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Hermione hurried after Tom, tired due to the lack of sleep the previous day. "What's with the big mystery?" he asked him once she caught up.

"Voldemort only sends his Death Eaters out at night meaning that we're traveling from here on only during night that way we can sleep without danger during the day," Tom explained, his voice giving away that he was annoyed. "And if you move any slower I will leave you behind. Make no mistake about that."

Hermione glared at him for the last comment. She sincerely hoped that he was joking for she would never be able to make it to Hogwarts alone…especially with Death Eaters after them both. Deciding she wouldn't risk it she forced herself to continue being nice, "So is there something that Voldemort wants you to do?"

He looked back at her as they walked, "Yes and no. Do you have the wand I gave you still?"

"Oh." She pulled it out and he snatched it from her roughly. "Hey!"

"No, that's for mules and horses," Riddle sneered.

"I was unaware that you liked muggle terms," she muttered.

"Just because I use them doesn't mean I like them," retorted Tom, pocketing the wand.

"I don't see why we don't just use a bit of magic to help us," Hermione said.

"Use your brain, mudblood. If we did that Voldemort would be able to find us a lot faster. Though I agree. We can use magic for simple spells; ones that he can't track down or when we absolutely have to. Like in an emergency." 

Hermione had to admit she was impressed with his street smarts. Then again he was Lord Voldemort and would therefore know how to act against their enemy. Tom abruptly stuck his arm out in front of her, stopping her. He looked around them as if he expected someone to jump out of the shadows, not letting Hermione move an inch.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"Shhh!" hissed Tom. "Someone's coming."

"I don't hear-" but never got to finish. He tripped her and a jet of red light missed her by inches. She watched from the ground as Tom starred up into a tree's many branches.

"What's wrong, Tommy?" mocked a girl voice. Hermione recognized it as Bellatrix Lestrange from the incident in the Department of Mysteries. "Thought you could escape us did you?"

"I figure I already did," replied Tom, smirking as he pulled out his wand. Both wizards had them pointing straight at their enemy, not daring to blink. "Well?"

"I'm waiting for you, little boy," Bellatrix sneered.

"Liar," accused Tom darkly. "Voldemort instructed you not to hurt us; to bring us to him unharmed." If she was surprised by his response, she said nothing. Her Death Eater mask hid her facial expression from view. 

Next to him, Hermione (who had gotten up) looked at him skeptically, "How did you know that?" she whispered.

"I'm a master of Legilimency," he replied quietly, still not taking his eyes off of the woman. Then he said to Bellatrix, "You might as well leave now. A surprise attack might work a bit better." He raised an eyebrow at her. Then, in the blink of an eye, she disappeared from the tree. Tom let his left arm fall to side, still clutching the wand tightly. He let a minute pass before finally pocketing the wand. "Let's go." He began to walk ahead.

"Where did you learn Legilimency?" Hermione asked him and she ran to catch up with him.

He stopped walking to smirk at her. "I'm an orphan. I improvise." With that said he walked on, leaving Hermione to star at him, sort of horrified he could say that in a normal tone. Guess he is not as sad about it as he wants people to think, Hermione thought. Well I hope he figures out that I'm not falling for his I'm the victim act.

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The encounter with the Death Eater woman made Tom's mind race. She didn't seem at all stupid so out smarting her was indeed going to be hard. But then again Tom loved a good challenge. He mentally shook his head. What is wrong with me? This is a person I'm trying to return to Hogwarts. It's not a game…or is it? Absentmindedly he felt his neck as he reflected on the events of the day before…or at least he thought that was when it had happened. 

His own best friend…the person he had known since he was seven had literally beaten him. And why? Because he, himself, Lord Voldemort, had told him to. He couldn't blame Lucius really…. after all they were Slytherins and survival was their main instinct. Trivial things such as friendship, happiness, and fighting for what was right didn't matter when the bigger picture of life took up their entire sight. 

He looked back and noticed Hermione was watching him. She blushed? Tom shook his head. No, that couldn't be it. Why would she blush? Then finally she looked away. Tom looked at the path ahead, trying to rid himself of a bad migraine by shaking his head again. He repeated the process and was overwhelmed by a feeling of dizziness.

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Hermione had to look away when she noticed that Tom had turned around to reveal his handsome face. Handsome? Where did that come from? She shuddered at the thought of falling for the Dark Lord.  

She heard a groan and looked back to where Tom was. "Tom?" she asked unsurely. He was on his knees and she watched as he collapsed upon the ground. Hermione ran to his side. "Tom?" she tried again. Hermione managed to get the wand out of his pocket and shift him onto his back.

She muttered a spell (hoping this classified as an emergency) and a small jet of water shot out of the wand's tip, splashing over Tom's face.

He groaned again opened his eyes. "What are you doing?" he grumbled, trying to sit up and nurse his pounding head at the same time.

"Lay down!" snapped Hermione. "You should have let me finish healing your back. I bet your suffering from too much blood loss."

"Nonsense," he replied. "I've dealt with whips and belts before. I've never had this problem." He realized what he had said and groaned even louder allowing himself to fall back to the ground.

"Why would people do that to you?" Hermione asked friendly but her concern showing. 

"If I wanted you to know I would have shared that with you a while ago," Tom sneered. He looked at the wand in the Gryffindor's hand and said, "Here's a long shot. I'm guessing you used magic?" She noticed that the stolen wand was still pointing directly at Tom and she put it in her pocket.

"Wanna know something?" Tom asked, grinning like a moron. You'd make a lovely mother."

Hermione gave him an offended look. "And what exactly was that supposed to mean?"    

Tom smiled mischievously. "Just what you thought it did." And he left it at that. Hermione raised and eyebrow the way Tom would and he realized that she had been spending too much time with him.

"Are you gonna let me help you or do I have to force you to let me?" Hermione asked him. 

"Go figure," he drawled lazily. Before Hermione had time to blink Tom's eyes widened and thick cords shot out from behind Hermione, tying him up tightly and gagging him too. Hermione tensed and a cold voice from behind said in a deadly whisper, "Now turn around nice and slowly, you filthy mudblood, and give me that wand."

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A/N: Sorry if that was a bit to short. I had to end it there because I-well I just had to. I'll try and post soon.

~Marauder3Moony~