Blinded By The Past, Ignored In The Future
Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO: The Road to Hell
Response To Reviews:
uNeArThLy eYeS: I'll try not to hurt them to much.
Liz: You had a dream about that? How exactly should I reply?
Isabella Black: If you want to read a better fic check out Everything I Know by One Crimson Tie.
inu lover: I'm updating as much as possible.
Starrylibra: I just don't like him. No reason or anything but I don't really go for rap. I'm sorry…
Emma Ackroyd: I'm scaring Clinton? How? Tell him I didn't mean to!
Marauder1prongs: No, Voldy won't feel the pain.
deathsoul-shinigami: I hope I won't have to torture them again. I'm trying to figure out a way around that.
***Quote for the chapter: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."***
****
Previous Chapter: "Rise," Voldemort said to them. Bellatrix forced him up as the Dark Lord spoke to the group, "My faithful Death Eaters I am sure that you remember Tom Riddle." He motioned to Tom whom looked to the ground as the Death Eaters gazes moved to him. "And I am sure that he remembers you all." Snickering from a few of the masked people could be heard. "Now that we've covered that let the fun begin," Voldemort said as he smiled a lipless evil smile. At that moment Tom would have given anything to have been just two inches tall.
*************
With the ropes binding his hands tightly Tom knew that even if he were to run he wasn't going to get very far. Tom looked to the ground knowing that the first curse, punch, or kick was coming soon. Voldemort had just given the Death Eaters the "okay" to start beating the shit out of him yet he was oddly still standing.
His heart pounded in his chest slowly, and to him if felt like time was standing still. He glanced to Hermione; the very girl that he had risked his neck to save, who had he been with at Remus's, and who had stopped him from harming himself while he was sure no one else would have noticed.
Her face was easy to read. She was terrified of the Dark Lord, but she wouldn't lose his Gryffindor stance. Bravery. The only trait that was going to keep them alive long enough to celebrate Christmas this year and next.
When Tom looked up the Death Eaters were seconds from him. He just had to think of a plan! Something…anything…Tom's eyes darted around nervously and as he searched for a solution he thought hard on something that could help.
"You coming here was a complete accident, but I suppose it's better than being Dumbledore's prisoner."
"He doesn't understand us…" Voldemort's voice range through his mind. Suddenly something in the back of his mind made sense and he said, without thinking, "You were right." The Death Eaters stopped advancing on him and waited for their master's reply to his unexpected statement.
Voldemort's red eyes flashed over him before saying, "And what might I be right about?"
"About Dumbledore," Tom said simply. Then he added in a revolted tone, "He's biased toward everyone except his precious Gryffindors."
Voldemort seemed pleased to hear Tom say this, but if it was exactly what he wanted to hear Tom wasn't sure. When The Dark Lord didn't say anything else Tom tried again, "I would be honored to assist you in you cause to destroy all muggle and mudbloods along with those that associate with them."
There was a moment of silence and then Voldemort laughed in a way that sent child up Tom's spine. "I must say, Tom Riddle, you had me fooled for a second but I can see right through you just as easily as I can see into Potter's mind" He turned to the Death Eaters. "Lock the girl in the dungeons. We will deal with her in the morning. However I don't think that our other guest would appreciate the comfort of a cell. Besides, I believe he left before we could finish out welcoming party." As two Death Eaters half dragged Hermione out of the hall, the rest of them advanced on Tom.
******
"Let go of me!" Hermione yelled in furry. If she had to spend another night locked in a cell like an animal then she wasn't going without a fight.
"Stop fighting you worthless mudblood!" Pettigrew snarled, raising his hand to strike her hard across the face. Avery had to twist her arms behind her back to keep her from lashing out. Both of them were surprised at how strong the girl, was but that didn't mean she could overpower them.
"Get in there!" Avery ordered. Hermione felt herself being thrown into a cell and from what she could tell it was different from the one that she had been in when she had last been here. There were chains hanging from every wall and even the ceiling but many of the looked old and unused.
"Well be back for you later," Pettigrew promised, grinning evilly as he made the torch in the hall go out. Darkness fell across the dungeon and she sank to her knees, feeling completely helpless once more.
Suddenly she remembered something. Tom's diary! She still had it in her pocket. Furiously she reached in her robes' pocket and pulled out the small leather book. For what relief it gave she held it close, knowing that she had to get it to Tom somehow.
******
"Crucio!" Tom wasn't sure how many times he had heard that word in the four minutes that it took to lock Hermione in her cell. Unfortunately Tom was aware of the skin piercing pain it caused. It was like millions of knives that were one fire and stabbing him over and over, everywhere on his body. The curse was lifted and he gasped for air.
"You useless Gryffindor-tainted piece of filth!" one of the Death Eaters shouted, kicking him hard in the side.
"I bet you can't wait until we have our fun with your girl tomorrow. And don't worry I'll be sure to tell her that you said goodbye," Lucius hissed in his ear before forcing his head hard into the stone floor.
"She's not my girl," Tom said though clenched teeth. He spit out a mouthful of blood that came from him biting the inside of his mouth and his eyes locked with Lucius's.
"I'll make you sorry that you ever back talked me," Lucius promised, voice full of hatred.
******
It has to have been hours, Hermione thought. Why else would it feel like it?
Nervously she traced her finger over Tom's diary which was in her pocket and she prayed again that he was alive. He had to be. He was after all Tom Riddle, the heir of Salazar Slytherin. Besides…why would Voldemort kill himself?
That wouldn't make sense at all.
Hermione was bent on filling herself with hope that Tom Riddle was OK even though she knew he wasn't. She had to keep telling herself that they were going to escape again and that they were going to be able to celebrate Christmas.
Unless of course he feared that Tom would join up with the Headmaster.Of course! That had to be it. The Dark Lord was afraid that his younger self was going to side with Dumbledore.
The only question left to answer was why would Tom do such a thing? He was, after all, a heartless Slytherin. Then again that wasn't entirely true. Wouldn't Tom have felt trapped or scared to try and commit suicide all those moths ago? Wouldn't he have to be able to feel in order to be able to be desperate enough to ease his pain by inflicting self harm upon himself? Did it take an emotionally disturbed person to do what Tom had? Or did it depend on the person behind the actions to pass judgment on the matter?
If it was one thing that Tom had taught Hermione it was that the world wasn't black and white; it was grey. There is more depth within a person the just good or evil just as there are reasons behind every action that a person makes. Tom seemed to be a person that planned out a lot of things. He didn't like to be surprised and he also liked to think that he was in control. But he also was a wonderer. He really didn't know what his second chance at life was going to be like or if was even going to get a fair chance in the world.
"All that is gold does not glitter, not all who wonder are lost."
Hermione frowned as she once again traced the edge of Tom's diary. A warm tingle spread through her finger. Slightly confused as to why it was warm she pressed her palm against it and felt that it was indeed hot so she pulled it out and set it on the cold floor. A sudden breeze blew open the book to a page that was glowing with a familiar, faint, white light. The light engulfed her and she knew that it was showing another one of Tom's memories.
******
His head throbbed and his ears trapped the ringing of the Death Eaters' laughter within them. He felt as if he was going to throw up any second, and he was getting sick of tasting his own blood.
It took him a few moments to realize that the pain had stopped. As he sat up on a stone floor he glanced around, holding his head with one hand. At first Tom thought that he had gone blind but he quickly realized that there was no light in the room.
Tom strained his mind to think of when he had been taken here. Had be passed out?
He lay back when his strength came to an end. There was no way he could even think about escape tonight…he just had to hope that Hermione would be fine until then.
******************************************************************
A/N: I'm sooooo sorry about the long wait and the short chapter!!! I've been working on I Am Dan Riddle and a few of my own fics with my own characters. Feel free to hate me.
~Moony~
Oh and sorry about any mistakes.
