Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor to I own his magical world.

The Collaborator

Chapter III

It was certainly it. The room was dark and sinister. The dank walls smelt of mold, but that did not entirely block out an unidentifiable sweet smell. A roughly made, also burnt, wooden table stood in the middle, but there was only one chair, which was broken in the corner.

Karkaroff was still collapsed in the doorway, so Moody pulled him up roughly and pushed him into the room. Tonks took a careful look around. It did not look like the room had been used in years, but that did not mean anything.

Tonks saw a cupboard above a rusty old stove and decided to take a look. Perhaps there was something important hidden in there. She opened it slowly, but jumped back with a yelp as hundreds of snakes pour out of it.

"Vigilance, Tonks, vigilance," reminded Mad-Eye.

Tonks ignored this comment and reaprroached the cupboard. She looked into the back, softly prodding with her wand.

"Blast it. That nasty bugger!" shouted Tonks as a snake bit into her hand. She started trying to shake it off, but it just gripped tighter. Finally, she managed to fling it into the wall. She stared. The snake had literally gone into, or through the wall.

Mad-Eye was staring too, as well as Karkaroff. Tonks approached it curiously, forgetting anything and everything about 'vigilance.' Before Mad-Eye could berate her for this foolishness, she was reaching out for the charred wallpaper. Tonks found that her had gone right through. Instead of recoiling, this intrigued her more. Soon she had disappeared completely.

This was odd, very odd. Tonks cursed her stupidity. She really had no idea what had come over her. She looked around and was fairly sure that she was still in the orphanage. Perhaps it was a portal that led upstairs?

There was an odd noise from behind her and Tonks turned to see Karkaroff coming through the wall looking slightly disgruntled.

"Where's Mad-Eye?" she asked.

"Back there. He sent me to come after you," said Karkaroff resentfully.

"Right. I think we are upstairs, but just in case, can you get back through the wall?"

Karkaroff tried but the wall was solid.

"I suppose we will just have to make our way down," sighed Tonks.

It did not take Tonks long to realize something was not right. They were not where they thought they were. She was sure that they were in the orphanage, but as they walked through the halls, she was not quite sure that it was the right orphanage.

They rounded a corner and nearly collided with two other people. "Excuse me!" cried a woman. "Just what do you think you're doing wandering up here?"

Tonks' eyes widened. Before her stood a middle aged woman, slightly reminiscent of Minerva McGonagall and none other but a much young Mr. Higgins. Tonks saw Karkaroff blanche out of the corner of her eye. Tonks wanted to panic, but her Auror mindset did not allow for such. She thought fast.

"I am so sorry! My husband and I want to adopt a child. We came in and didn't see anyone so we started looking around," said Tonks, pulling Karkaroff close much to his disgust.

The woman eyed them. "Husband? You're a little old for him, aren't you?"

Tonks was about to say that he was probably almost twice her age, but then remembered that she was morphed into an old woman. "Well, love conquers all, as they say," responded Tonks cheerfully. Karkaroff now looked really disgusted.

The woman brightened a little. Mr. Higgins smiled politely, "Yes, well, the children are this way if you would like to see them."

Tonks and Karkaroff followed Mr. Higgins down the hall, Tonks receiving glares from Karkaroff the whole way. She looked innocent and shrugged.

They were lead into a room, which had children all over it. They were all playing, laughing and in a general state of merriment, despite their less than ideal conditions. Except one. One boy, no older than eleven sat in the corner, surveying the rest of the children with distaste. His icy black eyes sent a shiver down Tonks' spine. She looked over to Karkaroff. A grin had spread across his face. Tonks then realized who they were looking at.

Voldemort, then known as Tom Riddle, sat in the corner. Though he lacked the age and glowing red eyes, his aura was the same. Tonks wondered why the children weren't afraid.

"This is perfect," murmured Karkaroff.

Tonks sent him a glare. "The future Dark Lord is sitting a few feet away and you see this as 'perfect?'"

"Yes," said Karkaroff. "I can make him more powerful than he could ever hope to be on his own. He could learn faster, thereby learning more. He could rule the world."

"Right, and you tell that to the Auror with a wand standing next to you? I don't think you could teach the boy anything useful. But there is something we could do," said Tonks ignoring Karkaroff's glare. "If we are permanently stuck here, we could adopt him. Stop him from turning evil."

Karkaroff laughed. "He is already evil! It is in his blood! No one from such a family could be any different. The Gaunts have always been dark as have the Malfoys, the Parkinsons and the Blacks—"

"Not too bright are you? You forget that I am part of the Black family and I wasn't the only one to fight for the Order."

"That's not the point—"

"No, that's exactly the point—"

Mr. Higgins interrupted, although he had not caught the conversation. "You are welcome to visit with the children and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask."

"The boy in the corner, what can you tell us about him?" asked Karkaroff sharply, probably habit from his headmaster years at Durmstrang.

Mr. Higgins looked nervous. "That's Tom," he said. "He is a queer child. Been here all his life, but always seems a stranger. Odd things always happen around him. He needs a good home though. Are you interested?"

"Oh, yes," said Tonks. "He's an adorable child." Again, Tonks earned herself a disgusted look from Karkaroff. Apparently, he did not find 'adorable' a suitable term to describe the future Dark Lord.

"Well, I suppose you better go and talk to him. Perhaps he'll warm up to you," said Mr. Higgins. Tonks looked shocked at this. Go up and strike conversation with Voldemort? A few minutes ago, the thought would have been laughable. Nonetheless, Tonks and Karkaroff approached the boy, slowly and curiously, his eyes burning into theirs with skepticality and a hint of malice.

"What do you want?" demanded Tom. Ever the boy with a bad attitude, thought Tonks. She was slowly realizing that it would be foolish to be afraid now. Yes, he was the heir of Slytherin, but he was also just a scared boy, not knowing what was happening to him or why.

"Hello, Mr. Riddle," said Karkaroff in a voice that dictated his right to authority. Tonks just rolled her eyes.

"Tom, we were wondering if you could tell us a little about yourself," said Tonks kindly.

"Who are you to ask?" Tom demanded once again.

"I am Ms. Tonks and this is my husband…Karkaroff."

"I assume you are in the market for children, then?"

"It's a possibility."

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A/N: I apologize profusely for the delay and must say that the next delay may be even longer. As for good news, I do have a general direction to the this story. Thank you to everyone for reading and everyone for reviewing.

---Perplexity