The Seers' Truth: Beyond the Darkness
By Lady Lestrange
Chapter 39
Wounds of War
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters and previous situations belong to JK Rowlings. No infrigement is meant or implied. No money is made from this Fanfic. Thanks JK.
Lady Lestrange
Special thanks to my beta, ennui de mort who always does such a good job being my extra muse as well as proofreading, moral support and just plain fun. Be sure and visit the yahoo group, TheSeersTruth for more interesting discussion questions. Ennui de Morte created and maintains the site with great insights into the story. Invite your friends. Come and discuss.
15 reviews: I really hate blackmailing you into reviewing, but hey, I'm a Slytherin. It's in my nature, so when there are 15 reviews for this chapter, the next one will magically appear. Love my readers and reviewers. Answers to the reviews follow the story. You guys are catching up to me, so maybe I should make it 20 reviews…
(A/N: I've been reading a number of fanfics in installments like this one myself, and find it is sometimes hard to remember exactly what has happened before-In a fic as complex as this one is, I thought having a reminder may be helpful for you. If you want to skip it, just page down.)
Up to this Point: Alternate 5th year book. Voldemort was uncertain which was the prophecy child, Samara or Ginny so he kidnapped them both. Beatrice made a mad dash after them in her animagus form. She has been since crucioed and rescued and returned to Hogwarts still in her bunny animagus form.
Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle to figure out how the prophecy might aid them. The trio travels to Hermione's house, Samara's house, the Riddle house and eventually the Snow Castle in search of the girls.
Ginny, who has a Dark Mark, is torn between the visions of Tom in her head and what to do to stay safe from Voldemort at the Snow Castle. Snape is an unexpected help to her.
Voldemort meanwhile has some unpleasant Christmas surprises in store for Harry and Neville. Neville's grandmother ends up in the hospital and the Dursley's are dead, leaving Snape as Harry's guardian.
Back at Hogwarts, the trio tries to ascertain how they will save the girls. They enlist Draco and Lauren's help.
Voldemort has some trouble within the ranks and sends Ethan to learn with Narcissa and Gloria. Meanwhile, the trio works out some differences with Draco, and miss a chance to save the girls. Now, Snape gives some timely advice and Harry invites Neville to their little planning gatherings, which ends in an altercation between Neville and Draco.
Voldemort sets his plans in motion by giving Samara the Dark Mark, but she is far from defeated by this. Ginny on the other hand is ready to give in to save her family. The plot continues as Volemort sets family members upon family members in a quest to destroy all who might thwart him.
Meanwhile, Harry considers the meaning of curcio and tries to puzzle out what Voldemort is doing by reading his scar pangs.
Ethan and Edward prove their worth to Voldemort and Beatrice is finally released from the bunny animagus.
Ginny, under polyjuice potion, is impersonating Madam Amelia Bones. She is following direct orders from Voldemort who is speaking to her in parseltongue from the small snake animagus she is carrying. She saves her father and her brother, but doesn't seem to be able to save herself.
However, Harry Potter and his trusty Gryffindor rescue squad is on the way. Unfortunately, they get waylaid. Ginny is unconscious and the girls are currently looking for the boys and wind up in Voldemort's dungeon with a slew of vampires and a three headed dragon. The boys, Harry, Ron and Draco are going to rescue the others from the veelas, but Valeriana and Narcissa get in the way-or not- Luckily the twins are armed with puppy puffs and a sense of humor. Now, the intrepid trio have some difficulty determining a course of action. It's no wonder! Perhaps, they should put it to a vote there are so many people involved in the decision. Well, as Dumbledore says, "it is the decisions we make, that make us the witches and wizards we are!" Such is never more true than in the case of Ginny Weasley. Will her decisions save her or damn her?
Ginny appears to have placed her trust in Tom. Is if for good or ill? At first glance it seems as if Tom is helping them, but he is also mercurial in nature and one can never be sure. At last they escape the Snow Castle for the safety of Hogwarts, but is anywhere really safe?
For further discussion, visit: YAHOO GROUPS, TheSeersTruth
Wounds of Warx x
They were finally all settled into the infirmary, in night clothes which Madam Pomfrey had conjured when she saw their torn and bloodied robes. It was a welcome lull from the adrenaline filled activities of the past few hours, including their arrival in the Infirmary.
Harry thought that Madam Pomfrey had nearly gone into cardiac arrest when she saw them; however it was Harry who almost went into cardiac arrest when he saw the Infirmary. It was divided into sections with opaque wards around a number of beds and no less than four healers were shuffling through the mayhem in addition to Madam Pomfrey. Red Auror robes were everywhere, many of them bloodied and torn. Two young Aurors jumped to attention and the pitiful little group, too tired to even think of defending themselves, were looking at drawn wands. For the first time ever, Harry saw the staid medi-witch with blood staining her always immaculate robes.
"No! No, it's alright," said Madam Pomfrey as she spelled clean her robes with a quick Sterili-Scourgify. "They're students." She regained her poise relatively quickly and in a matter of seconds had led them through the chaos to a back section of the Infirmary which had only four beds, three of them filled. She pointed her wand at the forth bed and multiplied it, twice pushing the existing beds closer together, and then she turned to the group. The most visible injuries of the group were actually the least serious, and Madam Pomfrey thought that Draco had been safely sleeping for the last two hours instead of Apparating across the Snow Castle multiple times. Harry peered around the corner of Madam Pomfrey's make-shift wall at the bustling infirmary and wondered which bed Draco might be in.
"Shouldn't they be in St. Mungo's?" whispered Harry, trying not to gawk.
"The headmaster prefers to have them here, so he can speak with them," said Madam Pomfrey in a terse tone, but she didn't say why, or if they were Order members. Harry supposed that might be the case, but with a sinking heart he realized that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't be talking to his Order members any time soon. Harry just wanted to lie down and sleep. Perhaps when he woke up it would all just be a bad dream.
Madam Pomfey triaged them by the fact that they were all standing, except for Hermione who had sunk immediately onto one of the beds. Although the twins' injury was probably worse, they were in little pain due to Harry and Samara's ministrations. Madam Pomfrey looked at Hermione first and then turned back to the twins, running her wand in front of both of their noses. She looked back and forth between the twins and Hermione, finally calling a Medi-wizard to help her, but he seemed to be occupied with another of the injured Aurors. "These look like dragon fire burns," she said to Hermione, but how would you"
"They are, Madam Pomfrey," confirmed Hermione, "But it was some sort of hybrid dragonlike nothing I've seen before."
Madam Pomfrey muttered what might have been a mild oath and then she did a quick spell on the twins' eyes, telling them they would keep, before she started with Hermione who was in obvious distress, and had been for quite some time. After extracting the information from the reluctant group that the burns were indeed dragon in origin, Madam Pomfrey healed Hermione's dragon fire burns, and liberally slathered on orange burn goo. The medi-witch then gave her a potion, cursing the entire time about Hagrid and his unnatural obsession with large, deadly animals.
"It wasn't Hagrid's fault," began Harry, but Madam Pomfrey interrupted. "'Course not. It's never his fault is it?" she muttered as she touched the tip of George's nose with her wand. "Now, Hush," she told Harry as she incanted the spell and proceeded to measure drops to put in both of the twins' eyes.
"Drink up," she told Hermione impatiently, as she noticed the girl was still holding the flask of potion.
"What will it do?" Hermione asked and before Madam Pomfrey turned back to the twins she answered. "It will limit the dragon magic in your system and stop the magic from continuing to burn you. Now, just drink itall of it."
Only Hermine, thought Harry, Would want to know about Madam Pomfrey's potion before she drank it, even when she was in pain.
Madam Pomfrey didn't seem too concerned with George's broken nose, although it was a bloody mess. Instead she put eye drops in both of the twins' eyes before moving on to anything else. George yowled and nearly jumped off of the bed.
"That hurt as bad as the acid in the first place!" he snapped.
"You already had a very strong pain relieving spell," she said. "I didn't want to wait for another potion to work. The faster this is in your eyes, the better chance you will get all of your sight back."
"I might be blind?" whispered George, his voice cracking, as he reached instinctively for his twin. Ginny seemed to hesitate and then brought their two hands together. She started to back away, but Fred used his other hand to keep her close.
"Ginny," he said apparently recognizing her by her magic. "Stay."
Maybe because Fred was expecting the pain, he only sucked in his breath when Madam Pomfrey put the drops in his eyes.
"That's the worst of it," Madam Pomfrey said, to Fred, and then she patted both of their hands.
"We won't really be blind, will we?" asked Fred. They were all so used to Madam Pomfrey waving her wand and fixing everything in an over night stay, that the real possibility that the twins had permanently lost their sight was a horrible thought that none of them wanted to consider.
"There are new potions for Celian acid burns. I have every hope that your sight will be fully restored." Said Madam Pomfrey. "Worrying about it won't make it heal any faster." Then she healed George's broken nose.
"Are you sure?" asked Fred.
"No, worrying is a healing prerequisite," joked George with a pitiful attempt at levity. "Of course she's sure."
"The potion will restore your sight but it may be a while," she warned. "You're not going to walk out of here tomorrow!"
"How long?" asked George as she bandaged both Fred and George's faces so that they looked like identical mummies. "I'll be back in a little while to put ointment in your eyes, but for right now, you need to sleep." They all noticed that Madam Pomfrey did not give them a time frame for how long they would take to heal.
"She could have at least bandaged them differently so that I could tell them apart," said Ron.
"I can tell them apart," said Ginny shortly. "That's Fred. That's George."
"No I'm not," began Fred but Madam Pomfrey stuck a potion's flask in his hands and he drank it. Both he and his twin were asleep in moments.
She pronounced Neville's slashed arm one of the easiest to heal. "A nice clean Sectum," she said. "No poisons or venom or obscure hexes." She knitted the tissue together and told him to limit movement in the arm and no magic for twenty-four hours since it was his wand arm. She gave him a potion to drink for blood loss and sent Neville back to the dormitory, since she was short of beds. "I could conjure another," she said, "but it won't be as comfortable as your own bed, Neville. Come back and let me check it in the morning. Remember, no magic through it, or you will be right back where we started from."
Madam Pomfrey looked troubled when she saw Melisande, and after several glances between Ron and the Veela, she decided, Melisande should stay in the infirmary simply because she didn't seem to know where to send her until Dumbledore returned. Harry started to tell her that it wasn't Melisande who had attacked Ron, but Madam Pomfrey ordered his silence and handed Melisande a dreamless sleep. "Drink it now," she said, and watched while the Veela downed the potion. She was also asleep in moments on one of the newly conjured beds.
"Dumbledore—" began Hermione, but Harry shook his head, and she closed her mouth. Harry thought it would be better if Madam Pomfrey got everyone all fixed up before she learned the news about Dumbledore. After all, there wasn't anything she could do about that.
x + x
Suddenly the barrier that Madam Pomfrey had made parted, and Ginny's parents barreled into their corner of the infirmary followed by a tall, thin red haired boy that was obviously one of her brothers.
"It's Percy," Ginny said helpfully.
"Oh!" cried Molly Weasley, looking from one child to another as she stuffed a fist into her mouth, stifling a sob. Seeing that the twins were asleep, she enfolded both Ginny and Ron into a hug, heedless of Ron's bloodied robes and Ginny's reticence.
"It's not as bad as it looks," Ron joked as his mother looked wide eyed at his bloodstained robes and gently touched them. She let go of Ron and pushed Ginny to arm's length to look at her. "Oh, Ginny!" she cried.
"Your turn, Ginny," said Tom mentally. "You can have control of the body. I don't think this is going to be pretty."
"Oh no," Ginny smirked. "You wanted control of the body, Tom. You've got it. Anyway, didn't you always want a family? Well, now you have to deal with them."
"Ginny," snapped Tom. "You're getting entirely too Slytherin for your own good. Come out here and be that brave Gryffindor I know you can be."
"No."
Molly pulled Ginny into another stifling hug, petting her hair and sniffling. Arthur sat on the bed by Ron, but didn't speak since Madam Pomfrey began working on healing him. The extra brother stood stiffly at his side.
Tom seethed as Molly pushed her daughter to arms length, and without further ado, shoved up her robe sleeve. "Virginia," she snapped. "How did this thing get on your arm?" She tapped her finger impetuously at the edge of the Dark Mark, which caused Tom to try to shrink away from her. It was too much like the scoldings he got at the orphanage, but there it ended. No blows rained down upon him. Molly Weasley didn't wait for her to answer; she just went right on with her rant. "And your brothers said you went willingly! Willingly! Whatever possessed you?" Molly shook Ginny slightly.
Tom winced. "It wasn't really possession," he said hopefully.
"Then what happened at the Ministry?" the brother added.
"Percy," Ginny said helpfully. "That's Percy. You might remind him I saved him at the Ministry."
"I—He was a snake, in my hair," said Tom. "I didn't have a choice. I had to do what He said. I tried to help you." Tom looked at Percy and felt tears pricking at Ginny's eyes. Well, tears could be a good thing.
"Why didn't you tell us this was happening?" asked Arthur. "It didn't all happen overnight. Why didn't you tell anybody?"
"I couldn't," sniffed Tom, now blatantly making use of the tears. "I couldn't because of Him and because—because I was scared. I was dreaming of Him."
Molly sucked in her breath and her hug tightened.
Tom sniffed, and continued. "The medi-witches at St. Mungo's said there was nothing more they could do for me anyway. You know that." Tom took a deep shuddering breath as he thought of the medi-witches at St. Mungo's. He didn't have to fake the panic in his voice as the words tumbled over each other in a rush.
"Please don't send me back there," he sobbed. "It hurts. It hurts so bad and they said I might go crazy anyway, and maybe I am, but don't send me back. Please. They don't even know if they did any good, and they didn't. They said I would still have flashbacks, but they couldn't help it, and I couldn't let you send me back there. I just couldn't." Tom was clutching at Molly's robes now, practically in her lap, sobbing hysterically. "I couldn't tell you and I made the boys promise they wouldn't tell either."
The last line was a bombshell. Tom felt the attention in the room immediately shift to the boys. The twins were already asleep, and Ron caught the immediate wrath of his parents.
"You knew?" said Molly, looking at Ron.
"You didn't tell us!" said Arthur.
With the attention on Ron, who Madam Pomfrey was trying to heal, the medi-witch suddenly turned, deciding she needed privacy. "Out," she hissed. "This is a hospital. I won't have my patients brow beaten." She shoved a potion into Tom's hand. "Drink," she demanded as she shooed Ginny's parents out of the room. "Out. Out. Out."
"But the twins?" said Molly plaintively as she looked at their sleeping forms.
"Are sleeping," said Madam Pomfrey. "How they managed to even get the exact same injury—" She shook her head. "Celian acid in their eyes—"
Arthur gasped, but Madam Pomfrey continued, "There's an antidote for it now, Arthur. It's bad, but not as bad as it used to be. I've stopped the burning and we've several potions to grow new tissue—" She was leading them away as she spoke. "I expect their sight should be back in a week or so. If you wish we can send them to a specialist at St. Mungo's as soon as the eye tissue re-grows. We won't know if they will need glasses or any kind of corrective vision spells until that time. In the worst case scenario, there are several different types of magical eyes available now."
With the attention diverted from herself, Ginny hissed mentally at Tom. "That is not what family is about, Tom. I don't think I liked you playing Mum like that! It was justjust"
"Slytherin?" Tom provided.
"Oh, I suppose so," Ginny agreed reluctantly. "And I don't like it, but I have to admit, it was an Academy Award Performance, Tom."
"What? Which Academy?" wondered Tom.
Ginny jumped at the chance to show off her knowledge of all things Muggle, learned of course, from her obsessed father. At last something she knew more about than Tom did. "What?" she scathed. "Didn't they have fellyvision at that orphanage of yours?"
"No, actually," Tom said. "And that's television. I was twenty years old before even rich Muggles could afford television in their homes."
"Oh," Ginny replied weakly, forcibly reminded that the age Tom grew up in was very different from her own."I think I could get used to this family stuff though," Tom told her.
He sniffed at the potion Poppy had given him. He recognized the smell: Dreamless Sleep. It might give Ginny a few hours rest even though she was pretty much immune to its effects. "Mediwitch? Could I have something to eat first?" he asked, thinking he would wake up hungry in an hour or so anyway.
Madam Pomfrey sighed. "I will order something as soon as I have had time to check over the others."
"Thank you, Ma'am," said Tom politely, placing the Dreamless Sleep Potion on the nightstand.
x + x
Once the Weasleys had left, Madam Pomfrey tsked over Ron's wounds, saying that she hadn't seen such Veela wounds since the last night of the Tri-Wizard tournament when some of the Beauxbatons Veelas got a little carried away with several Durmstrang wizards. She gave him a potion to build up his blood and used the last of some other potion to neutralize the poison, but promised that she would ask Professor Snape to brew more on the morrow. Before anyone could comment about Snape, she had Somnused Ron, saying the sleeping spell would be the best thing to allow him to heal. "I will have to work on reversing those scars. Who was the incompetent that tried to heal him?" she snapped, looking at Samara.
"That would be me," said Harry, looking at the floor. "He was bleeding pretty badly, and I didn't know what else to do. I knew I was leaving the poison in him, but—"
"Harry?" said Madam Pomfrey. "You healed those?" She looked like she was in a state of shock. "I've never taught you any healing. As many times as you have been in here, you've never asked. How did you know what to do?"
"I've picked up a little Muggle first aid. I knew I had to stop the bleeding," he said with a shrug. "I had to heal cuts and bruises on myself before."
"When?" she said scandalized that he hadn't come to her.
"Well, when I was at the Dursleys. I wouldn't want to go to a Muggle doctor over the summer, would I?" Harry shuffled from one foot to the other, but said nothing about how often those injuries were inflicted by Vernon or Dudley. He had heard somewhere it was bad luck to speak ill of the dead, and he certainly had enough bad luck of late. Those wounds had been much harder to heal because he couldn't use his wand over the summer and had to just rely on his concentration to do the task, but Madam Pomfrey didn't seem to think of the fact that Harry had to use wandless magic to heal his summer hurts.
"I should say not," she spat. "Muggle doctors! Cutting people open with knives to heal them, and sewing them back up like old robes." She shivered. "The only thing you should have done differently was share some of your magic with him to dilute the poison if you didn't have the potions—"
"Oh—" said Harry.
"He couldn't," Samara said. "He had been bitten. It would have been dangerous for Ron."
"Bitten? What could be more dangerous than Veela poison?" scoffed Madam Pomfrey, just as one of the other medi-witches called for her help.
Harry didn't answer, but Samara stepped forward with a smirk on her face. "Basilisk venom," she answered. "Which reminds me, I really need to feed—" opening her robe and revealing the slithering mass of basilisks, "—them," she finished lamely.
The totally unflappable Madam Pomfrey took one look and gasped, stumbling backwards into one of the other beds.
"Madam Pomfrey!" called one of the medi-wizards from outside their little alcove as the hissing sound of magic hitting a ward was heard along with muffled whimpers. "Poppy! We need you!" the medi-wizard sounded a little panicked.
The whimpers escalated to mad cries.
"Poppy!"
"I'll be right back," the hassled medi-witch promised as she dashed from the bedside, the basilisks seemingly forgotten in her rush to aid the sick and injured.
A flash of magic from the infirmary beyond caused Madam Pomfrey to pull her wand as she approached one of the other beds where presumably someone was having some sort of seizure. Magic was pouring from whoever the poor afflicted person was, and Harry found himself edging towards the doorway to find out what was happening, but one of the young guard Aurors shooed Harry back into the alcove, and suddenly the doorway closed. Opaque and silencing wards went up around their section of the Infirmary blocking out the sight and sound of the seizure.
"Samara, you really shouldn't be showing the basilisks around. They're not puppies," said Tom with one of Ginny's infectious giggles. Harry was hard put not to laugh himself. He was so tired he wasn't quite sure if it was because he thought it was funny or because he was exhausted. With the state of the infirmary and the number of people in it, nothing should be funny, Harry scolded himself.
"I do need to feed them," Samara protested. "They've had an eventful day too, and there was no time to feed them. I was just going to tell her."
"Ah—now we aren't going to get any food—for them or for us," complained Tom. "And I was so looking forward to tasting food again." Truthfully Ginny's stomach was growling and rumbling so loud it could be heard across the room.
"And, she didn't heal the rest of us," said Harry.
"All the rest of us really need is sleep," said Samara. "You will continue to assimilate the basilisk venom and Ginny and I are just exhausted.
"Sleep!" complained Tom. "I need food. I should just go tickle the pear—"
"Do you think you can get by the Auror guard?" said Harry. "To say nothing of Madam Pomfrey?"
"Do you know how long it's been since I've eaten?" said Tom.
"Well, if you had come to dinner you wouldn't be so hungry," said Samara.
"Fifty-four years, trapped in a book!"
Samara shook her head and walked towards the curtained area of one of the beds in their alcove. "I wanted to check on Draco," she said, and Harry was amazed that Samara was right in choosing the bed Draco occupied. She pulled open the curtain to find a very pale and still Vincent Crabbe still sitting on the foot of Draco's bed. Draco was sound asleep. Vincent gasped as Samara pulled open the curtain.
"I believe that's my seat," she said softly, and Vincent stood.
"Of course. I would have went back to the dorm sooner, but Madam Pomfrey—"
"I know," interrupted Samara. "Oh wait a minute, Vincent." She rummaged through Draco's robes and pulled out a bit of shiny material. It was the Invisibility Cloak. "You can use this," she said. "On one condition—you do not give it back to Draco." She glanced at her shoulder at Harry. "Is that alright with you Harry?"
"No," said Harry. "It was my Dad's. It's mine. I"
"You could put a curse on it," suggested Vincent simply. "If I don't have it back to you in timeyou knowthat's what Draco does. I could start puking or break out in boils or start itching"
Harry gaped at him. "I couldn't do that"
"Oh I could," said Samara pulling her wand.
"Nothing on my feet," interrupted Vincent. "It's really hard to run with boils on your feet"
Samara nodded and began muttering an incantation. "You will give it back to me, then, and I expect it back tomorrow morning. I don't know how soon we will need it, before noon should be fine."
"Hey!" said Harry, but Samara laughed at him as she handed Vincent the cloak, and snuggled next to Draco, pulling his sleeping body close to hers. When Ron protested that she couldn't do that, she grinned and said, "Look at this place. Poppy might need the extra bed." Samara magically closed the curtains around herself and Draco.
Tom laughed and picked up the Dreamless Sleep Potion, swirling it around in the flask and frowning. Dreamless Sleep was ineffective if used too often. Wizards and witches, just like muggles, had to dream. If the dream cycle was continually interrupted the dreams would eventually draw on the innate magic of the wizard and the dreams would just break through the potion. After several times breaking through the potion, the dream cycle became stronger than the potion and higher and higher dosages were needed to suppress the dreams. If the potion was increased enough to suppress the dreams at that point, the witch or wizard would revert to having waking dreams, which of course interfered with their schedules and eventually their sanity.
"My sanity" began Ginny.
"Oh, your sanity is already in question, Ginny," Tom thought as he sighed and drank the potion. He immediately began warding one of the beds. "At least if I'm asleep, I won't be hungry."
"Do you think we will sleep?" asked Ginny.
"For a little while," said Tom.
x + x
Vincent left and Ginny and Harry climbed into the last two beds, Ginny still grumbling about being hungry and Harry being very thoughtful. Harry had no idea who was in the other beds. They had all been warded, and it would be rude as well as dangerous to try to see. Besides he was just too tired. "Hermione?" Harry had called softly after a few minutes, but apparently exhaustion had taken its toll on her too. She was asleep. Harry just started to doze off himself when there was a pop of an Apparition, both he and Ginny sprang forward, Harry with wand drawn and Ginny clutching handfuls of fire in both hands. The ward around her bed was crackling madly with her contained magic.
There was a crash as a laden tray fell to the floor and a terrified squeak as Dobby cried. "Harry Potter! Don'ts be hurting Dobby. I comes to bring food. Vincent is saying Harry Potter is hungry."
"You got through the wards," said Harry dumbstruck
"Hogwarts House elves is not barred from any of Hogwarts," said Dobby reasonably, and then his eyes filled with tears. "Harry Potter is not wanting Dobby here?"
Harry put his wand away, and hugged the ugly elf. "Dobby, you are a sight for sore eyes." Shesha tasted the air curiously, "Nice magic," she said and Dobby looked at her.
"Oh Harry Potter," said Dobby. "These is basilisks. Powerful magic," he said with awe. "Old magic that wizards have forsaken." He didn't seem to have any fear of the basilisk and even reached up to pet her.
Meanwhile, Tom had Accioed the tray of goodies and was picking his way through it.
"Hey," called Harry. "Aren't you going to share?"
"No," he said. "Elf, bring another tray, and some more hot chocolate to replace what was spilled, and you forgot the marshmallows. Bring more marshmallows, and some raw meat."
Dobby looked up from cleaning the mess on the floor. "Raw meat? But Miss Ginny doesn't like marshmallows," said Dobby confused.
"She does today," said Tom, waving the house elf away. Dobby disappeared with a pop.
"That Dreamless Sleep Potion didn't last very long," said Harry.
"Never does," Tom agreed. "She's immune to it."
"She's—" said Harry, realizing that Tom was referring to Ginny. "Accio!" said Harry, but Tom caught the errant cinnamon bun that had lifted from his tray and stuffed the entire thing into Ginny's mouth.
"Fo'get it Harry. I have fif'y years t' make up for," he said, speaking around the food in his mouth. "And I don't care about your hips, Ginny," he muttered, sucking the icing from his fingers. "Do a slimming spell—"
"Of course it lasts more than an hour. Who taught you to do the spell?"
"Well, your mother obviously doesn't know. Look at her hips," said Tom.
Harry burst out laughing.
"Oh criminy," said Tom as he looked at Harry. "I was talking out loud again, wasn't I?"
Harry nodded, a smile still on his face. "Don't worry about it. Nothing could have convinced me more that Ginny is still in that body with you."
"She says I'm not to talk about her hips to you," said Tom as he picked up an orange from the tray and then put it down again. "What's taking that house elf so long? It needs a shoe up its arse to get it moving—"
"Don't let Hermione hear you say that," said Harry.
"Noted," said Tom as he put away several more pastries in huge, distinctly unladylike bites, a rapturous expression on his face. "Do you want the orange?" he asked Harry. "My stomach seems to be filling faster than I remembered it filling."
Tom rolled his eyes. "I'm not supposed to talk about her stomach either," Tom confided to Harry, and with a smirk on his face he continued, "How about your tits?" he asked out loud. "Can we talk about those? Or you're A—OW! That was uncalled for," he said.
"Can we talk about the potion you mentioned earlier," Harry asked softly. "And the spell my mother cast?"
Tom didn't answer. He popped another cinnamon bun into his mouth and sat silently staring as if he were a long way away.
With another groan, Harry rolled over and punched his pillow. "I am so sodding sick of Voldemort."
"You and me both," snapped Tom, still looking into the distance.
"Maybe I should have just faced him," said Harry.
Tom shook his head. "There will never be a good time to do it," said Tom. "But attacking him in his own castle puts you at a disadvantage. You were right to wait."
"Oh yeah, and you know that how?" asked Harry. "Every moment I wait means more people are going to die."
"Yes," said Tom.
"You are one unfeeling bastard," said Harry.
"I am not going to tell lies because the truth is impalpable to you," said Tom.
"Why not? Everyone else does," Harry muttered. He grew very quiet, brooding and turning away from Tom. This was such a nightmare! He just wished he could wake up.
"I'll tell you what I know about your mother," Tom said calmly.
Peering up from his pillow, Harry stared. "You will?" he said. He wished he could believe it would be the truth.
"Can't have you thinking I'm an unfeeling bastard," said Tom blithely.
"Why should I believe anything you say?" Harry blurted the first thing on his mind.
"And I don't lie as a general rule, and even unfeeling bastards have mothers of their own—it is fathers they are missing."
x + x
A few minutes later, Dobby returned with a new tray of food and hot chocolate, as well as raw meat for the basilisks.
Tom wondered just how much Harry knew about the spell his mother cast or the potion. Obviously not much if he felt the need to ask him.
"Dumbledore wanted to keep him in the dark," said Ginny.
"Yes, well it's a wonder that isn't where he pushed him," thought Tom.
"What?"
"Dark. Nevermind," said Tom. "You said that Dumbledore didn't tell him anything? Not even that he is of Meridius' line? Or the reason for all these protections? Why would Dumbledore keep this from him?"
Mentally, Ginny shrugged. "Power unknown, remember? Speaking of power unknown, we should try to find the Emerald," said Ginny.
"It's given to us, not found," Tom reminded her. "That's Salazar's Imperio speaking not you, Ginny. Forget about the Emerald. I have control of the body and we aren't going anywhere tonight."
"Yes, but—" Ginny tried to shake her head, and remembered that wasn't under her control either. She was trying to rid herself of the Imperius Curse as she attempted to resume the previous conversation. "Knowing the power exists within yourself doesn't mean that you know how to use it! There's lots of room for interpretation there."
"Apparently Dumbledore didn't think so, at least that's what Snape said," Tom added.
"I still think we should try to find the Emerald, Tom."
Tom sighed.
"So—" said Harry, "Snape told you something about my mother."
"She had green eyes," said Tom. "Emerald green."
Harry frowned at Ginny.
"Green eyes like you, like the eyes of the basilisks—" Tom continued.
"You can't see the eyes of a basilisk," argued Harry.
"Stone basilisks," Tom corrected, his own eyes showing a rather glassy far away look in them.
Harry frowned, thinking that this conversation was going no where. He led it back to his original topic. "You were telling me about my mother," Harry insisted.
"Was I?" asked Tom.
"Yes," said Harry. "There was something Snape told you—"
"Yes," said Tom, turning back to Harry, "but Dumbledore didn't want you to know."
"Dumbledore is dead," snapped Harry. "It doesn't look like he made the right choice does it?" Even as he said the words, Harry felt his stomach clench with the thought of Dumbledore being dead. A huge gaping hole seemed to open inside of him when he thought of the man. Yes, Dumbledore had manipulated him at times, but it was always for good, and now he was deaddead.
"Touchy, Touchy," said Tom.
Harry shook his head, and buried his face in the pillow, the implications of Dumbledore's death rolling over him in huge suffocating waves.
"I really don't know why you are all broken up about Dumbledore," said Tom. "He was a manipulative old bastard. He's been playing you for years, setting you up to be the savior of the wizarding world," Tom sneered. "You would have been well rid of him and his scheming if Snape had actually had the guts to kill him ages ago."
"Well, that's what I'm destined to be, isn't it?" Harry said bitterly. "I was the Boy-Who-Lived before Dumbledore was ever in my life."
"Dumbledore was in your life before you took your first breath," Tom argued.
After a few moments Tom spoke again. "You mother was an Auror. It was perfectly within her power to use Avada, and that would have killed my body, but—"
"She wouldn't," began Harry, his face still muffled in the pillow.
"She would," corrected Tom sharply. "Don't interrupt."
Harry closed his mouth, so surprised to be ordered around by the unassuming Ginny Weasley he was startled into silence, and Tom continued.
"The reason she didn't use Avada," Tom said as he took another sip of hot chocolate, "is that it wouldn't have destroyed Salazar. Remember, it was common knowledge at the time that he was immortal, at least through the rumor mill. He didn't bother hiding the fact. He rather liked that people looked at him with awe. Still does. Of course, the fact of his immortality had not been tested since Salazar's time, but I'm sure those in the cult didn't doubt that he was immortal.
"From the Ministry side though, the prophecy said your power would work to destroy him. They obviously didn't know what they were doing or who they were dealing with, or how to actually succeed, but in typical Gryffindor fashion they decided to wing it. I don't know how Severus got dragged into this. He must have been head over heels for your mother."
Harry lifted his head from his pillow. "What!"
"Oh—" said Tom softly. He took a deep breath. "That, of course, was not common knowledge, her being a Mudblood—"
Harry had his wand out, but Tom continued as if he hadn't moved.
"Meant that their relationship was doomed from the get go. I wouldn't use that wand," Tom cautioned. "The ward is reflective," he gestured to the magic surrounding his bed, "and you probably feel beat up enough don't you think?" A confused look crossed Tom's face and he paused. "Anyway, I'm helping you, what—Oh." He smirked. "Mudblood," he said finally figuring out what he had said to put Harry off. "Muggleborn," he corrected softly. "Personally, I've always been more offended by the word Muggle," he said, taking another sip of chocolate. "Muggles are vermin. Mud on the other hand is a mixture of two of the great Elementals. Mud is a thing of power. Muggle is a thing of filth."
Tom paused, rolling his eyes and pantomiming mouth movement with his hand.
Harry felt rather nervous. "Can Ginny—I mean will you—" He stopped, frowning when he realized that Tom was paying no attention to him whatsoever. He seemed to be completely engrossed in his mental conversation with Ginny, and to Harry's surprise, he was smiling.
x + x
Ginny had launched into a tirade that would have done her father proud about Muggles being thinking creatures. Most of the speech Tom found vaguely amusing.
"Ginny there are days I doubt you are a thinking creature and you are a witch," he told her. "Muggles are certainly not thinking creatures. They are animals, and they should be slaughtered with the same methods that you would kill a pig for your bacon, or an opossum rooting in your trash. I don't agree with some of Salazar's cruelty, but the world would definitely be a better place without them. You cannot argue that fact."
"You were saying?" Harry interrupted his internal conversation with Ginny.
"OhThat Snape fancied your mother," said Tom simply.
"Tom, you shouldn't have told him that," said Ginny. "Snape really didn't mean for that to slip."
"Ginny, don't be naïve. Snape doesn't let slip anything he doesn't mean," Tom said to Ginny.
"I don't believe you," said Harry.
Tom shrugged. "In any case, that has little to do with the spell that was cast: an enchantment that allowed your mother to take your magical essence, to take all that made you little Harry Potter. It would leave you worse than a dementor sucked body, dead in any way that mattered, but the spell only lasted a moment. Wizards are resilient creatures even as babies. Your magic would automatically seek to come back to the wizard it belonged to. Instantly upon completion of the spell, your magical essence would begin to seep back to your body. There wouldn't be time to use this wonderful magic you had.
"That is where the potion came in. The potion was to extend the time that your mother could use the power, and keep your unoccupied body from harm. After Voldemort was dead you would get back your magic. It would trickle slowly back to you. It wasn't like you really needed much—you were only one. No harm no foul—unless they botched it, which they did. They weren't ready when Voldemort came, and that was the end of them. They didn't follow their own rules."
"But that isn't what happened," said Harry. "I don't understand. Why did they go through this elaborate plan in the first place?"
"I would think that was obvious," said Tom. "To save you from what you are going through—have been going through—a childhood throughout which Salazar would try to convert or kill you. Of course when that failed, all Dumbledore could do was prepare you. You didn't for a moment think that he hired my alter-ego for a defense teacher without knowing exactly what he was doing?"
"Quirrell?" Harry's eyes were wide with disbelief. "You think he knew? Dumbledore knew? He couldn't have."
"When did he not know what was going on in his own school, Harry?" Tom shook his head. "However, I do think he planned to be back in time to help you."
"But if he knew it was Voldemort—" Harry shivered. "How could he? I was eleven."
Tom nodded. "You had to face him sometime, and the prophecy states you would still be a child when you faced him. Besides at that point, Voldemort had only Quirrell's dubious magical talents. You weren't in too much danger. It was probably more dangerous hiring Lockhart, the stupid git."
"Lockhart," muttered Harry.
"Of course, Dumbledore has obviously kept a tight watch on what was taught, regardless to who was doing the teaching. Lupin had no choice but to obey and Moody was one of Dumbledore's best friends at one time. I find it very strange indeed that Dumbledore didn't recognize the effects of polyjuice. Tell me, could anyone impersonate your friend Ron for very long?"
Harry shook his head. "No, I would know. Even that little time we used polyjuice in the Slytherin common room in second year. I'm sure Malfoy suspectedThere were just so many things that Malfoy expected his friends to know. We were lucky that Crabbe and Goyle are stupid."
"Exactly," said Tom. "and neither Moody nor Dumbledore are stupid."
"True," Harry agreed.
" Dumbledore made sure that you had virtually no defense teachers, at least until Severus."
"But why wouldn't Professor Dumbledore want us to know true Defense Against the Dark Arts? Why would he keep that from all of us by hiring"
"Morons?" Tom supplied. "No. Not from all of you—from you Harry. You were the only one he needed to keep the defense spells from, because if you had nothing else to use, you would fall back on that which Meridius gave you. That which is inherent in your blood and magic—not taught, but a talent—magic unknown."
"But I wasn't the only one in the class! The whole school—Oh Merlin!" Harry groaned.
"Tom!" snapped Ginny. "The boy has enough guilt on his shoulders without you piling on more."
"I'm not Ginny," thought Tom. "I'm just telling him what he should have been able to figure out for himself if he had half a brain."
"Don't start with the Ravenclaw superiority thing," spat Ginny. "It's getting old."
If I weren't surrounded by imbeciles, thought Tom, and then he continued, aloud,
"Now Harry, there wasn't much point in worrying about the school if the next age was bringing the greatest reign of the Dark that the wizarding world ever saw, now was there?"
Harry felt sick. "He wouldn't do that," said Harry. "Dumbledore wouldn't. He wouldn't risk other people's lives to train me—"
"Oh really," drawled Tom. "What about Ginny? Not that she was really in any danger with me there, but he didn't know that."
"Liar!" spat Ginny.
"Harry doesn't need to know everything that goes on between us." Tom told Ginny, before continuing aloud for Harry Potter's benefit. "So tell me, why did he let you fight a basilisk at the tender age of twelve?"
"I killed it didn't I," snapped Harry, and Shesha hissed indignantly at Harry's neck, demanding an explanation.
Harry soothed her as he whispered, "Fawkes. Why did she bring the Sorting Hat?" Harry wondered, finally sucked in by Tom's reasoning.
"Indeed," agreed Tom. "A bird, even a smart magical bird, would not think to bring something like the Sorting Hat unless it was given to it. Especially since a phoenix is quite the equal of a basilisk without any help from a little boy with a magical sword."
Harry bristled at the condescending way Tom said little boy, but he didn't rise to the bait. "McGonagall said, 'Dumbledore wasn't there.' He had gone to the Ministry—but he hadn't, had he? He gave Fawkes the Hat—" Harry broke off. "No," he rejected. "Professor McGonagall would not lie to me like that."
"Harry's right, Tom. McGonagall would not lie, even for Dumbledore," commented Ginny.
"Perhaps not," said Tom, "but she wasn't privy to Dumbledore's every move, and since I'm sure Dumbledore knew there were gifts from the Founders in the hat, he may have speculated that you could pull at least one out. He may have told the phoenix to bring it to you in times of danger. He may have indeed been at the Ministry, but nonetheless, he knew more than he told you."
"Anyway, Tom, don't you think you are a bit biased on this topic? You've never liked Dumbledore."
"The man is a menace," Tom said and then his thought continued, trying to convince Ginny of his sincerity. Even you have to see the way he exploits people to his own ends, Ginny. No doubt he would claim it was for the Greater Good, but I see nothing good about what he has done to me or to Harry or even to yourself.
Harry's voice shook as he breathed, "Waswhatever he washe's dead now."
Tom allowed a respectful silence to reign until Harry next spoke, "Then the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" he whispered.
"Most certainly planned," Tom continued. "Oh, I quite believe Dumbledore could have pulled enough strings to release you from the competition if he wanted to, but he didn't want to, did he? He wanted you to compete. After all, you had to defeat Voldemort while you still held the innocence of childhood. At the very least, he wanted you to learn from the tournament. He knew that there was foul play, but he thought you, being the Boy-Who-Lived, would triumph anyway, and he not only gambled your life, he gambled all the contestants that way, not just the ones from Hogwarts, but every one of them. Cedric was the unfortunate victim in his scheming. Salazar had no reason to kill the boy. It was Dumbledore who put him into the line of fire."
"I told him to take the cup with me," said Harry, miserably reliving all that happened that fateful night.
"Ah, just like a good little Gryffindor would," said Tom. "But in all fairness, I do think Albus was fooled into thinking that the attack would come on Hogwarts' grounds where he could protect you if the need arose. I do not think it crossed his mind that anyone would charm the cup into a Portkey and whisk you away to parts unknown. And now," Tom shrugged. "Who knows what his latest gambit is."
"Maybe Snape," said Harry.
"Maybe," Tom agreed. "But I'm quite sure that Albus Dumbledore isn't dead. He's still scheming."
Harry didn't answer for a long time, and Tom began to wonder if he had fallen asleep.
"Perhaps," said Ginny, "But I doubt it. You have given him a lot to think about." She paused. "You shouldn't have told him about Snape. He hates the man enough as it is."
Tom mentally shrugged. "I see no reason to keep the truth from him. Dumbledore is a fool."
"You seem to think everyone but yourself is a fool," commented Ginny.
"You are getting much more perceptive," said Tom.
"I would like my body back now," said Ginny.
"Why?"
"Because it's mine."
"Oh no, the fact is, it's ours," said Tom. "Anyway, you aren't going to do anything with it. You were going to go to sleep. Weren't you?"
Ginny's stray thought about Samara and Draco curled up in the same bed, followed by the memory of Harry's tousled hair and sleepy eyes as he listened to Tom's explanation of the events that happened fourteen years ago caused Tom to growl at her, "Go to sleep."
"I can't help my thoughts," complained Ginny with a teasing giggle. "Anyway, Harry looks so much like you—"
"He's nothing like me," Tom fumed. "Anyway, Ginny Love, I can't believe you would want to go back to your insipid little Gryffindor crush. Fairytale heroics would bore you to tears—I know you. It would frustrate you no end. Do you really want to spend your life second best to his cause? He will always be the Boy-Who-Lived, or the Boy-Who-Killed-Voldemort, or the Boy-Who-Died-At-Voldemort's-Hands—"
"Don't even think that!" Ginny said appalled.
"But he will never just be yours. Harry Potter will always belong to the world—"
"When are you planning on letting me have my body back?" Ginny insisted.
"Perhaps after breakfast," said Tom.
"Didn't you eat enough tonight?" asked Ginny snidely.
"No," snapped Tom.
"Touchy, aren't you?"
"No," said Tom again.
Ginny let her thoughts wander, and she found herself coming back to the same one that was nagging Tom. "How did you know it would work?" she asked, at last, speaking of their bonding.
"I had nothing to do but read. I studied the Old Magics. I knew the bond would strengthen the magic like nothing else could."
"There should be a way to break it," said Ginny.
She felt Tom suck in his breath. "Possibly."
"You would think that the medi-witches would have found it though—" said Ginny.
"Do you really want to do that?" asked Tom. "Twice we have beaten Salazar. Why would you want to try to end it?
"Bonding is about love, Tom."
"No it isn't," hissed Tom. "It's about power."
"Spoken like a true Slytherin." She didn't mean the comment as a compliment and Tom knew it. Ginny was silent as one by one she sifted through the thoughts until she reached the one they shared in the Chamber. "This is so jumbled," she said, "Confused by the medi-witches' interference. I need to see my memory. Not yours. Mine."
"At some point in the Chamber, they merge you know," said Tom. "I haven't kept this from you, but I have no desire to revisit these memories either." He shuffled uncomfortably. "I will help you to find it," he said. "The bonding spell drew on Old Magic, back in time when magic alone was enough to forge the bond. Blood bonds were preferred, but not necessary, and I didn't have your blood. Salazar did."
"I remember," said Ginny. "The paper cut I got from the diary."
"Yes," said Tom. "I had your kisses and your tears. I knew it wasn't enough, not after he got your blood. I needed your consent. You needed to voluntarily allow me to possess you. Only consensual magic would be strong enough to break his hold on you."
"I see that," said Ginny. "You have kisses and tears and consent, but what did I have? Empty promises. What do I still have?"
"Be reasonable," said Tom. "I have no body that is mine in this time. Even in the Chamber I had no body—"
"There's blood," interrupted Ginny. "In the Chamber potion's room—when you needed your own blood for a spell—"
"Yes," Tom agreed. "There is some of my blood, but given the current circumstances, I don't think it's a good idea to use it—not until he's dead."
"What? Worried about binding me to snakeman?" sneered Ginny. "I don't know who is worse of a sneaky snake. To tell the truth, looking at these memories, it is hard to tell which was you and which was Salazar. You were so different Tom."
"I never thought I would survive. It was me or Salazar and I wanted you to choose me—"
"So you could kill me—"
"I—I would have been merciful."
Ginny interrupted with an incredulous thought.
"I would have! Even then I was having reservations. I liked you. I had to get close to you to get your consent. I didn't realize what was happening to me until it was too late. Your soul was wrapped as insidiously around mine as mine was wrapped around yours."
"But even as a twelve year old, I went into this with a feeling of—of caring at least if not love. You—You didn't go into this as a bonding at all, you just wanted a means to an end—exclusive right to murder me and take my life force for your own: not a binding, possession."
Tom sighed. "You see the memories Ginny. I can't lie to you. You can see now why when you ignored them, I wasn't anxious to open your eyes." He took a deep breath, "But I swear to you Ginny, it's different now. I'm different. Perhaps living these last few years in your body and associating with Gryffindors has changed me. I would do things differently, now, I think—I don't know." Tom was silent for a long while. "I—I don't know what you want me to say."
"I'm sorry would be a good start," spat Ginny.
"I am sorry," said Tom. "I should give you back your body now." He hesitated and seemed very pensive, his thoughts obscured from her. "I could leave," he whispered at last.
"What?"
"I could show you the spell—it's not that hard: lengthy, but not hard. You could do it."
"Do what?"
"Bind my memory to an object," he said softly.
x + x
Be a responsible reader. Review! It's the only pay I get.
Answers to Reviews:
Silverfox1
Yes, there will be more of Darla. Not so much in this book but in the next. As far as floo powder, Salazar, arrogant arse that he is, thought anyone who was uninvited wouldn't get into the room, and if they did, He would be there or Nagini would be there.. He just left the floo powder where it would be convenient for himself, in plain sight on the mantle.
Sugerplumfairy Yes we will see more of Darla, mostly in the next book. This one is almost finished.
Herentas Meridiae
Wow I think yours was the longest review I ever got. Sorry about your computer.
Glad to hear my story is addicting and you are reading until 2 in the morning. LOL. I'm sure you can achieve the same. Yes, I do change the pace momentarily. We have had a lot of stuff happening since the Ministry and then the whole rescue. Now will be some time for reflection, but that doesn't mean the psychological action will decrease.
Neville will continue to surprise you I'm sure. He is indeed a Gryffindor. As far as his being the first to help Tom-in-Ginny-body, Gryffindors don't generally engage in revenge, but they do have a very developed sense of justice, and it certainly isn't just that his parents tormentors are free and they are still in St. Mungos.
The interaction with Ginny and Samara is rather like sisterhood: a very close friendship. Partially it may have originally been because they only have older brothers, but more recently, it is because they have both been forced to grow up a little. They have been under siege so to speak at the Snow Castle. They are Death Eaters, but they are both light and they are both dealing with Slytherin "boyfriends". Finally, there are the basilisks to join them, but I'm not going to say much more about that. You will have to read on.
Reminder: the basilisks' eyes are not open yet. They are born with eyes closed, like puppies.
About the slash scene: What slash?I let the DE come into the room at that time on purpose. For those who enjoy slash, the imagination is much more vivid than anything I could write, and for those who were swicked, they could end the chapter, saying yuk Voldemort is so creepy. I do have to say, Voldemort did nothing more suggestive than touch Snape's face. What you saw was carefully created to happen in your mind, not on the computer screen. Shame on you!
Thanks for this note: "I've found a couple of canon references forced –or it forcible the right word? You worked on the story way before OotP came out, and you clearly state it, you don't have to force canon where the plot doesn't need it. This is a general advice: write what the plot requires, nothing less, nothing more."
I have indeed struggled over some of the canon things that came out with OotP. They weren't their originally, but since this is soooo long chronologically in the writing after OotP, I'm sure some folks tend to find that a liability. Thank you for your vote of confidence.
Check out Yahoo groups, TheSeersTruth, to find a cookie, The Fire Elemental. What happened in the Chamber of Forever.
LifeIsOrange
Thanks for your vote of confidence. I always update soon after I have 15 reviews. Try to find more folks to read and you will have updates sooner. Glad you like Tom.
Sayuri-Kikio
Since you missed the cliff-hanger last time, I hope you are happy now. Evil laughter. The forever rose and Sal and Darla will be addressed more in the next story. Lily's potion is rather important, but it is addressed later for those who skipped over these details. As far as Lauren, well someone had to go you know.
cronenus
Yes, Darla is the vampire in the book shop in Knockturn Alley where they got the pensieve and the books. You are not confused. You remembered perfectly. Now the question is, how did she end up at the Snow Castle?
Jager
Faster updates are entirely up to you. Find some friends to read. If I get a flood of reviews on the first book, The Broken Beginning, I may feel nice and update this one sooner. If you answer the questions on group, I will also feel nice…
Elbereth
Yes, I was going to kill off Dumbledore and Snape objected. "He'll damned well stay and suffer this cursed life with me!"
fire-sprite16
We haven't gotten Voldemort's reaction yet, at least not directly. Next chapter, don't worry. And yes, Ginny's still under Voldie's Imperio
Tiamat Warcraft
Yes, the Darla /Salazar interplay brings back the point that this is Salzs in the body.
You ask, When will Tom have a body? He has one…Ginny's…The question is, will he keep it? The most popular meaning for the Lavender rose is Enchantment. Another meaning is love at first sight. Lavender rose is also for the truly Unique, Rarity. And since any shade of purple is associated with royalty, thus Majesty.
Wormtail
Glad you are still reading. Thanks for the review.
Virginia Riddle-Malfoy
Tom does have his sweet moments, but don't count on them. As far as Ginny's bodywell Tom says, it's "ours".
Lirael
I think Tom has thought much about how his life would have been different if his mother lived. What you have to remember in my fic, she didn't die in childbirth. She was killed by the wizarding cult because of her "attachment" to him. I know, sounds like Tom and Harry have one more thing in common. I too like Ginny/Tom but am less attached to Ginny/Voldemort. Of course, my Voldemort is Tom/Salazar so I can't see that happening. Remember Ginny did make Tom that promise to free him from the Evil Dark Wizard. So far she hasn't done a bang up job, but that doesn't mean she's going to quit. Remember she has that Hufflepuff loyalty streak. (Did you know Garth Nix wrote the "Wednesday" book. Why isn't the next Abhorsen book out? Grr.)
You asked: "Maybe I missed something, but have you said yet what Salazar is planning with Dumbledore's body and Snape's polyjuice?" I haven't said yet.
Riddled-Slytherin
Glad you liked the Salazar/Darla stuff. Hope you get moved soon. I know how long it took us to get things back to normal after we moved. It will be 2 years in October and we still have some boxes…
kittybro
You wrote: "NO! What do you mean he'll (Tom) be here for a while longer! He must live and whoop Salazar's ass! And stay with gin forever and ever!" I'll consider it, but know there are some things that even magic has difficulty fixing.