I have changed this bad I know. Tom Riddle was in fifth year, not seventh when he opened the chamber of secrets, I'm sorry for this mistake. I have just put the opening of the chamber of secrets in the same year as the dark wizard Grindelwald's defeat, so I'm going to have to change this. I think I'm going to have the chamber open in this story, just to stem any outcries of angry cannon-lovers. Sorry if this is a problem for some of you. I can't just be like, oh ya, Hagrid got the wrong year that Riddle opened the chamber, because then he wouldn't be a student in this story and he wouldn't like Tom. So I'm changing this. Got it… okay, to the story.
Ginny fought the pain hard, struggling to her feet, looking around her. The people walking around her were just a blur. She shrugged off the robes, and muttered a wand-less incinerating charm (she had had to leave her wand in her own time as part of her story that they had broken her wand and destroyed their books when they found out she was studying on her own.)
She stumbled to her feet, very dizzy and light-headed and toward the end of the alley. She made it to the sidewalk before falling to her knees. She stayed close to the shadows as people walked briskly past her.
A man tried to stop and help her but she pushed him away, forcing herself to her feet, hoping none of the muggles saw how bad she was bleeding and their morals kicked in. She saw the door, looming wonderfully ahead of her, and she stumbled towards it.
Once she put her hand on the door, the people who had been looking at her looked around confused. They couldn't see her. She summed up her energy and opened the door, falling, like a limp doll through and to the floor. She tried to get up and felt the bustle about her as people came to her aid.
One voice commanded them all to move, a voice that was painfully familiar. She felt herself lifted up and looked blearily up at the face of her rescuer, perfect it was him.
"Is she a witch?" another voice asked.
"Of course she is you dolt, how else could she have gotten through the wizarding barrier," the eloquent, annoyed voice said. She felt a table beneath her as she was laid down upon it.
"Who did this to you?" the voice said, softly in her ear.
"They-they did," Ginny forced out weakly.
"Were they muggles?" he continued. "Was it a spell or a knife?" he pressed.
"Knife… muggles," she uttered, before fading into darkness.
Hagrid sat, happily discussing the wonders of the Nymphs of the Dark Forest with the handsome Tom Riddle. Tom was the only one who listened to Hagrid, who seemed interested in the creatures he loved so much.
Tom sat back, casually, listening to the eager boy, four years his junior explaining the healing properties of a nymph's song. He wasn't much interested in what the boy had to say, but Hagrid was the only one of his "friends" who could have a polite conversation with him without jokingly calling him "My lord," or "Mr. Voldemort, sir." He imagined the many ways he would get them back if… no when, he stopped himself; yes when I become the most powerful wizard in the world I'll give those imbeciles what's coming to them. "When indeed," he mumbled, sipping his butterbeer as he listened to Hagrid.
"There is a green nymph in the forest, ye' see? Oi she's a beau'y tha' one. I 'eard 'er voice and followed it. She was a-singing to a werewolf, she was… calmin' 'im down is what she did," Hagrid said.
"Thirteen and you're already tracking werewolves in the forest are we Hagrid," Tom laughed at his friend, who blushed, shaking his shaggy hair out of his face. A few girls looked at Tom as he laughed and swooned, watching him longingly. Tom was used to this however, and just kept his attention on his friend.
"Did you find out who the werewolf was?" Tom asked. "I'll bet it's that putrid-smelling apothecary manager," he added, idly.
"Pro'ly is, Tom. Ye' ne'er know though. For all I knows you could be that werewolf," Hagrid smirked.
"Hardly Hagrid. Honestly, you know me better than that, my friend," Tom said. Hagrid beamed at being called Tom's friend. This was one of the times that Tom was reminded how very Gryffindor Hagrid truly was.
One of the reasons Hagrid had so few friends was his oafish, clumsy nature. Tom had no problem with this because his naturally graceful nature, easily evened out their relationship. Hagrid would trip over his own feet, while Tom would use some quick footwork to sidestep his monstrous friend and laughing good-naturedly at him while helping him up.
"Well, 's far as I've 'eard, the 'eadmaster's gonna let me take Care of Magical Creatures a year early, and drop potions. 'veryone thinks it's for the best, since las' year's accident," Hagrid said. He was of course referring to the incident where he blew up the entire potions classroom. No one was killed but many were badly injured, the potions professor included.
"I think I'll even feel safer without you in a potions classroom," Tom said, jokingly.
"You know Tom…" Hagrid didn't get to finish his sentence as the door slammed was pushed open and there was a thud, then a clamour of voices. Hagrid jumped to his feet, tipping over the table, but Tom caught and righted it, before walking briskly to the door, pushing past people.
"All of you, move now!" he shouted in a commanding voice, upon seeing the broken form of a young girl in ripped and torn clothes, fresh blood leaking from various wounds on her pale skin to the ground. Everyone leapt away at his order. He loved it when people listened to him.
Tom turned her over to see her green, unfocused eyes. Her flaming red hair was a stark comparison against her porcelain skin. He knelt beside her, and slid a hand under her knees and another behind her back, lifting her effortlessly from the ground. "Clear that table," he snapped. The innkeeper quickly waved his wand, clearing the table, watching him in awe.
"Is she a witch?" the innkeeper frowned.
"Of course she is, you dolt. How else could she have gotten threw the wizarding barriers," Tom snapped, on his last thread of patience with this crowd. He muttered a quick, dark chant and her right hand flashed brilliant blue for a millisecond, long enough for him to confirm that she was a witch, a pureblood witch to boot.
He set her gently on the table pulling out his wand. He brushed her hair from her eyes and looked into them, trying to force her to focus. "Who did this to you," he whispered, gently, as everyone in the room held their breaths.
"They-they did," the pale girl said, deliriously.
Tom wasn't stupid, so his next question wasn't who "they" were. She was obviously too disoriented to state that. Being practical, he asked, "Were they muggles? Was it a spell or a knife?"
"Knife," she got out, painfully. Tom clenched his hand around his wand in anger as he already knew the next word that was going to pass her lips, "Muggles."
He let out an angry growl as she slipped unconscious.
"Abscondoctos Velumus!" he stated, with a complicated wave of his wand. A magical blue curtain was constructed around the table, hovering about an inch off the ground. "Hagrid, get in here!" he ordered. Hagrid opened the curtain and stepped through at Tom's order.
"Get a Subsisto Cruor potion from the apothecary. Tell him it's for Tom Riddle," Tom ordered. "Give him this and he'll believe you," Tom said, pulling a chain with the Slytherin snake from around his neck and handing it to Hagrid, who ran off. He used a cutting charm to end her green shirt where the cut was drawn across her skin. He winced. It wasn't a pretty wound and the one across her cheek wasn't too nice either. The two on her shoulders looked as if they had been two quick chops at the shoulder, not deep, but probably painful.
He cast a spell to see if that was all that was wrong with her. There was bruising on her face that he healed with a flick of his wand. He ripped off a long strip of his robes and pressed it against her stomach wound which was pouring blood very heavily.
"Fucking muggles," he muttered, angrily.
She opened her eyes, and blinked several times, "Tom?" she asked blearily.
Tom froze. "How do you know my name?" he demanded.
"Tom," she whispered, distantly, before falling unconscious again. He frowned, no she couldn't have known his name. She must have been dreaming about someone with his name. It was a very common name.
Tom frowned, moving his hand towards her head to read her mind, but stopped. He'd deal with that later.
Tom concentrated on stopping the bleeding. Hagrid took that time to push past the curtains, holding the bottle of potion triumphantly.
"Dumbledore's coming," Hagrid said.
"Of course he is," Tom muttered. Wherever Tom was concerned, Dumbledore was sure to be watching nearby, making sure he didn't make a mistake that the old man could exploit. He scowled deeply and snatched the potion from Hagrid. He removed the cloth, dropping it aside.
"Evanescoe," he waved his wand at the wound, before uncapping the potion, careful to keep his wand tightly in his hand.
He poured the potion along the wound and it completely stopped the bleeding, leaving only the thin, but deep cut. He repeated the sequence on the cut on the side of her face and the two on her shoulder.
"Mr. Riddle, I don't believe you are a registered healer," Dumbledore said.
"I'm not," Tom spat, glaring at the man, who had suddenly appeared inside the make-shift hospital.
"Then step aside lad. I will take care of this," Dumbledore said.
Tom glared at him, but stepped slightly away from the girl's side.
"It was good work I'll grant you, however. You may want to, when deciding a career, choose a profession in medi-wizardry," Dumbledore complimented.
Tom didn't reply, watching Dumbledore closely as the man healed the girl's wounds, leaving only thin scars.
"Ah, much better," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling happily as he looked on the girl's face, he placed his wand to the center of his forehead, stating, Enervate. She jerked awake, sitting up quickly, and nearly falling off the table, but Tom quickly caught and steadied her on her feet. She looked at him in shock. He returned her deer-in-the-headlights look with a very darkly curious one of his own.
Tom noticed she was shivering. He shrugged off his black cloak and dropped it over her shoulders. It was much too large and she looked much smaller beneath it.
"Hello, dear, a good day to be alive, is it not," Dumbledore said in a sickeningly cheerful voice. To Tom's surprise she threw her arms around the old wizard, holding tightly onto him, letting out a soft, childlike cry of, "Professor!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you too!" Dumbledore laughed. Tom rolled his eyes. "I believe you have quite a story to tell!"
Tom dropped the curtains and turned to leave. "Wait!" the little voice cried, distraught. Tom turned and found the girl hugging him tightly. "Thank you!" she whispered. Tom hesitantly hugged the girl back and saw a flash of light.
"Reporters already," he thought, rolling his eyes. Tom sighed releasing her and stepping back, awkwardly. "Dumbledore," he muttered. "I will speak with you later, Hagrid."
He glanced once more at the girl, who was hiding behind Hagrid, now, trying to hide from the cameras. Hagrid was a good foot and a half taller than her so he easily hid her from the cameras, his chubby face beaming at the fact there was a pretty girl hanging on his arm.
Tom inwardly chuckled at that thought. The thirteen-year-old half-giant, for Tom had no doubt that was what he was, had as little chance with a girl that pretty than Dumbledore did. Tom disappeared among the crowd, ignoring the pats on his back from congratulatory wizards and witches. Only as he slipped into Diagon Alley, did he realize that he hadn't gotten her name. "Damn," he muttered.
I hope this is all good. Please, if you see any mistakes, not spelling and such, but mistakes in timeline, feel free to complain. I really am sorry, but I forgot that the chamber was opened in '43 not '44.
Tina: OMG! I absolutely adore you. I'm shocked. You follow me to any pairing I even venture to follow! You are so awesome. Seriously! Thank you and I hope this very sketchy era doesn't mix you up. What do you think Grindelwald should be fighting for? I mean, Dumbledore beat him, sure and it was supposed to be what he was most famous for, but the cannon never goes into what Grindelwald really was fighting for. I doubt he was fighting just to rule the world… I mean that's unrealistic, but he had to have been fighting for something… I don't know what to do about him. He's the big bad in this era, so I can't just ignore him can I?
Rainbow: I'll think about that
Txgirl88: Review again please and if you have any suggestions they would be much appreciated. I'm mostly looking for suggestions about what to do with Grindelwald…
Ewa: Um… thanks… er… spock? Hehe. Jkjk. Thanks for reviewing.
Nasta1970: Thanks, I'm still in the process of thinking, but I rely on reviews to get through my stories so I put that chapter up. Thanks for your review!
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