Blinded By The Past, Ignored In The Future

Chapter 18

EIGHTTEEN: Remus's Surprise

Response To Reviews:

Sorry if I missed you at any time before. It's all crazy now. But I really am sorry!!!!

DeadlyFate: Yeah! You're back! I haven't heard from you in a while. *Throws a party* Now on with the story!

Emily-Dufleng: I sort of like Madam Yeah too. She is a nice nurse. If English is your second language, what's your first? Sorry I'm noisy. *sniffs* And thanks for making me feel better about the Hpfan person. I don't like mean people but at least she left an e-mail address.  Oh and I *cough* hope you like Remus Lupin…*smiles evilly*

deathsoul-shinigami: So I suppose you like the chapter? I'm joking. I can tell you thought it was good. A lot of people miss the title and connection with the story but you got it: he's blinded by everything because of his past and his emotions are getting ignored by himself and the Order. About him going crazy if someone doesn't help him out…I'd be prepared to say that he's already mental. He is having a pretty bad life in this story, isn't he? I think I'm being too mean to him. But I really want people to feel empathy for him instead of sympathy. I'm not trying to make the Order seem bad but that's just how we'd believe they would react. Thanks for the long review. It makes me think that I'm not all rubbish. Happy (or Merry) Christmas to you too! : )   

Miss Mina Murray: I sincerely agree with both things that you stated. There should be a house for the Gryffindor/Slytherins and poor our Tom hurt himself!!!!!

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Previous Chapter: Finally Dumbledore gave up and got to his feet. "Rest, Mr. Riddle. You need it more than you think." He didn't mean to sound rash but Tom's attempted suicide had scarred not only him but also quite a few of the Order members. Not to mention Madam Pomfrey had gone ballistic trying to get his wrists to stop bleeding. Any fool could see that the school's nurse thought highly of the young wizard as a friend. She was angry when Dumbledore had suggested that Tom go to St. Mungo's but she knew that it was truly his only chance.

Dumbledore left the room and shut the door as quiet as possible. Tom needed all the help he could get. As soon as he could return to number 12 Grimmauld Place he would be sure to call another meeting to get this entire thing organized. Heaven forbid the teen ever go near a wand again.

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Tom listened as Dumbledore left and the door closed behind him. He couldn't believe Dumbledore had the nerve to try and tell him what to do. Voldemort had said he had killed Ruby. But then again why should he believe the Dark Lord? If Tom was able to he would have slammed his fist down in frustration with himself. Why hadn't he been able to tell if the monster was lying?

"Mr. Riddle?" Tom turned his head and saw Madam Yeah was watching him. "I told you to go to sleep." He shook his head indicating that sleeping was the last thing on his mind. She sighed. "Professor Albus Dumbledore has given us an order for you to rest until tomorrow." Again he refused. "So I take it you want me to give you a Sleeping Potion?" Still Tom shook his head clearly not wanting one. "Sleeping Potion it is."

The nurse strolled over the in the corner cabinet and searched through it for the familiar potion. "Here it is." She returned to Tom's bedside and said, "Well? Open up." Stubbornly he preferred to shake his head 'no'. "If you promise not to tackle me again I'll let you up to take it, okay?" He finally nodded and she un-strapped him before handing over the potion. Like he promised he drank it in one gulp.

"Let me see," Madam Yeah commanded adding a bit more force to her tone. Tom raised an eyebrow at her and hesitated before showing her that he swallowed it. "Very good, Mr. Riddle. Sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow." She left the room as he yawned and was able to get comfortable without being tied down to the bed.

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It was another boring fall day (it was in fact getting a bit cold out) and nothing out of the ordinary was happening at the school. Hermione sat by the edge of the lake on Hogwarts grounds; a familiar little black book lay in her lap. Her hands fumbled with it a bit and she flipped through it a few times before returning her gaze to the water.

Nothing…

She had no idea how she could get the book to work. It had showed her one memory…but wouldn't that mean that there were more? There had to be. She flipped through it one more time and to her annoyance still found nothing. 

The girl sighed and stood up. She would have to research it in the library as soon as possible. Just as she headed off a voice called, "Hey, Hermione! We've been looking all over for you." She looked ahead and saw that Harry and Ron were running toward her. A bit reluctant, she made her way to them so she could reassure them that she was fine for the thousandth time.

"We haven't seem you all day, 'Mione," Harry started. "And you have been avoiding us since the incident in the common room last night."

Of course Hermione could barley call it an 'incident'. The Gryffindors had swarmed her the moment she had returned to the tower from the Hospital Wing, asking her what had happened, how horrible 'that mysterious Slytherin boy' had been, and, the most annoying, if she had met You-Know-Who personally. Hermione was sickened by the way that they treated her like some sort of hero when Tom was really the one who had helped them survive. Heck if it wasn't for his Slytherins smarts Hermione was prepared to say that she would be back in Voldemort's clutches, half alive or even dead.

Then breakfast that morning had been horrible. The Slytherins kept shooting her glares and didn't bother to keep their mean comments to themselves. Altogether, just that morning, Slytherin had lost one hundred points. For once she was very thankful that it was Saturday and they didn't have classes. At the moment avoiding all contact with others seemed like the best solution.

"I've been busy," Hermione lied, tucking the diary into her robes.

"Mind if we sit with you?" Ron asked her. 

"Actually I was on my way to the library," she said, trying to get past them.

"Come of it," said Harry. "The last thing you need is to burry yourself in books for the rest of the day. Just relax for a bit." The tow boys forced her to sit down and she decided that maybe they were right. After all Tom's diary wasn't going anywhere. She could do the research tomorrow.

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Remus Lupin yawned as he made his way into the Order's meeting room. He hadn't bothered to mess around with his hair (not like he did anyway) and he sat down in one of the chairs. Mrs. Weasley looked at him sympathetically as he put his head in his hands, prying himself to stay awake.

Over a ten-minute period more people filled into the room until finally there were no chairs left. Remus took a glance to his right and saw Charlie Weasley had made it to this times meeting.

"Hello, Remus," the young red head greeted pleasantly.

Remus looked up and returned a smile to him. "Hello, Charlie. How has your job been going in Romania?"

"Fairly well really. Though I've been having a bit of a problem with a few of the younger dragons. They're restless as of lately."

Remus nodded in response as he went back to having his head in his hands, not having anything else to say. He had a major headache and just wanted to go back to his home in the countryside. Remus looked up as he heard Dumbledore begin his speech.

"I presume you all have an idea of what we need to discuses?" he asked.

Most of the Order nodded. "I have a guess," muttered Snape who was across from him.

"Then let's get down to the most important part. We have to figure out where Mr. Riddle will be staying while he mentally recovers from this experience for he's made it perfectly clear that St. Mungo's isn't a good choice at all," explained Dumbledore.

"Well he certainly can't return to Hogwarts, Headmaster," McGonagall put in. "He'd be a danger to himself and not to mention the other students."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully as Tonks decided to give her opinion, "He could just stay here." A few people around Remus muttered their opinions.

"And why would we volunteer to let him destroy our hideout?" Snape sneered viciously.

"He won't blow the place up!" Tonks snapped.

"Like hell he wouldn't!" said Mundungus sarcastically. He glanced up at Mrs. Weasley and grinned, "Sorry 'bout my language, Molly."

"Then let's kill the little bastard," spat Snape. He obviously couldn't care less about the boy. Remus felt empathetic towards Tom Riddle for a moment. Here they were, the Order, a group dedicated to stopping Voldemort, trying to plan out the fait of Voldemort's other side.

Remus sighed as the boy's words rang through his head, "Get away from me werewolf!" He didn't blame the boy for reacting the way he had but he couldn't understand how he had known without anyone telling him his secret.

"Then it's settled." Dumbledore spoke overt the noise and not to surprisingly everyone fell silent. "Tom will come here to get better after he is released from St. Mungo's."

Remus looked up at the Headmaster for the first time during the meeting. "But, Professor, don't you believe that it would be rather boring for him to be here without anything to do?"

Dumbledore seemed to ponder that little fact and finally, eyes twinkling mischievously, he said, "You're absolutely right, Remus."

"I am?" Remus asked aloud.

"Yes indeed. He'll have to go to a place where he won't be alone mentally and physically, he'll need someone who can relate to loosing his or her best friends to this war, and most importantly he'll need to go to a place where he can be given tasks to keep his mind from wondering too far." Remus nodded, not sure where this was going. "Then we all agree."

"Umm…Headmaster what are we agreeing to?" Tonks asked unsurely.

"Well it seems clear to me that Mr. Riddle should stay with Remus until after Christmas break," Dumbledore said. Remus's jaw dropped in surprise and a few Order members (Snape and Mundungus among them) looked at each other with raised eyebrows and amused faces.

Remus was lost for words. Temporality forgetting about his headache, he looked at Dumbledore, trying to find a sign that wasn't serious but there were none.

"When will he arrive at my home?" inquired Remus, giving in.

"That depends on him. Right now, as you know, he is at St. Mungo's and having a hard time coping."

The werewolf fought the urge to say 'well who would have an easy time doing so?' Riddle had plainly been though about the same amount as Harry had in their small amount of time living in this world.

"I'll do it," decided Remus. Dumbledore nodded, beaming at him.

Snape shrugged. "At least he'll be out of my hair."

"Oh, Severus, I almost forgot," Dumbledore started. "Since Remus will be looking after a child I believe that he will be needing the Wolfsbane Potion every month." Snape shot the werewolf a death glare and Remus smiled innocently in return.

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Even after a week had passed Tom hadn't been allowed to get out of bed unless he had to use the bathroom, which he could never go alone anyway (to his embarrassment). Madam Yean would never gave him anything too heavy for a meal. Usually it was some broth but that didn't bother him. He didn't really eat much of it anyway.

He was, at the moment, trying to fall asleep. There was no way he was going to take another potion to help him fall asleep. As the door opened he turned over in his bed, not wanting to see whom it was.

"It seems that there is a barrier between us to which I can not penetrate without your help," he heard Dumbledore say. Tom grumbled and then soon after he heard someone grunt. He raised an eyebrow to himself and turned to see a member of the Order who's name slipped Tom's mind.

He had brown hair that wasn't only messy at the moment but prematurely gray. His robes were old and even ripped in one place. And that wasn't it. He seemed a bit pale, a sick/tired look upon his face that couldn't have been missed even with the friendly smile he was giving.

Tom sneered at him when he remembered that he was starring at the stranger. Without saying a word to either of them he went back to relaxing.

"We've come to bring you back, Tom," Dumbledore said when no one spoke.

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," mumbled Tom.

"Then it's a good thing we've made other arrangements." Tom raised an eyebrow again and turned to them. "You will be staying with Remus Lupin here with frequent visits from me."        

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A/N: How many of you saw that coming? Oh and don't worry Hermione will be back into the main story soon.

ARGH! I was looking back at the previous chapters and I have one thing to ask you all: How could you lie and say that the chapters were good? They were horrible! I feel so pathetic now! Damn! If I weren't in the middle of this story I would stop it. Although if you guys don't have a problem with that I will and believe me I will. Don't forget to read the good song by the band everyone likes (or at least I think they do):

 Linkin Park

"My December"

This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear
This is my December
This is my snow covered home
This is my December
This is me alone

And I
Just wish that
I didn't feel
Like there was
Something I missed
And I
Take back all
The things I said
To make you
Feel like that
And I
Just wish that
I didn't feel
Like there was
Something I missed
And I
Take back all the
Things I said to you

And I give it all away
Just to have somewhere
To go to
Give it all away
To have someone
To come home to

This is my December
These are my snow covered dreams
This is me pretending
This is all I need

And I
Just wish that
I didn't feel
Like there was
Something I missed
And I
Take back all
The things I said
To make you feel like that
And I
Just wish that
I didn't feel
Like there was
Something I missed
And I
Take back all the things
I said to you

And I give it all away
Just to have
Somewhere to go to
Give it all away
To have someone
To come home to

This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear

And I give it all away
Just to have somewhere
To go to
Give it all away
To have someone
To come home to