FAN FICTION AU AND TIME TRAVEL
Flipped
Summary
Female Harry Potter (Juniper) wins the war but the cost is too much so she performs a ritual and performs dimension travel after much research when she is 24. Her counterpart is Cordelia Faye Black, the daughter of Altair Black and Adelaide Malfoy. Has memories of both the worlds. Lives in France. When Juniper (Harry) seeps into consciousness, she is 14. Born on Beltane. Thus even though she is a girl, she has a high standing among the Blacks. Has gone to Beauxabatons for her first three years. Born on May 1, 1927. Start school in 1938. Goes to Hogwarts in 1942. Meets Tom Riddle. (Romance and power play)
Disclaimer: The characters and the world in the story belong to J.K. Rowling. I am not earning any profit from it.
Note: I have been a fanfiction reader for quite a lot of years before I gave this fic a shot, so if you see any ideas seeping in that I do not openly acknowledge, just let me know and I will add the credits. I have read too many to keep a track of them but I will try my best.
1) The idea of totems belongs to Catsarecool who is writing A Maurader's plan .
2) The basic idea of dimension travel comes from Hollow Thunder, Vital Lightning by Aariya07. You will see quite a few similarities in the first couple of chapters but it diverges after that.
3) Harry was born a girl as Juniper Anastasia Potter. Everything is as it is in canon except for her romances and nineteen years later. This is not because I don't read slash or like it. You will see a lot of them in my favorites but because I don't think that I could do justice to that genre and because I want to do this. If you do not like such fics, do not read. Please do not flame. I will welcome criticisms, I know I am not perfect, just don't meaninglessly bash me for nothing.
For your references
"Talk"
"Thought"
"Parseltongue"
Chapter 21: Blood
Tom's POV
Blood had always fascinated Tom. The sticky, wet crimson liquid always caught his eye and never left it. There was something glorious about it, almost ethereal. Tom had first glimpsed it when he was 3.
Billy Stubbs had stubbed his toe in the playground and there it was, the blood. And apparently, flow of blood meant that Billy was hurting, that he was in pain.
Just at that moment, Tom thought Billy deserved it. Billy had killed his pet snake a week ago. Tom had not been happy and Mrs. Cole had said nothing. She thought Billy had saved Tom from the snake. Billy got a pat on his back for killing Tom's friend.
Even though Tom was tempted to make Billy hurt again and again because the boy kept antagonizing him, Tom had resisted. Simply because the fascination made him lose control and Tom did not like losing control.
Tom had been four when his fascination got limited. He had been in the church. Something had happened. Tom did not remember clearly. He had said something, disobeyed or laughed. Maybe laughed. Yes, he remembered now. Tom had thought that the sermons were boring and suddenly the pastor's voice had turned squeaky.
Other children had quietened quickly from a glare of matron. Tom hadn't and he had paid.
Caned. He had purple bruises all over the body but what had caught his attention were his fingers. They were not working. They looked mangled and broken and a couple of them had bones peeping out with blood. It had hurt, it had hurt a lot.
Tom still liked the sticky liquid. It was the only warm thing he had access to. But it hurt and so Tom was not sure about blood anymore.
His fingers were like new the next morning.
In the next couple of years, Tom was caned a lot and his fingers got mangled each time. Every time he missed a guitar tune, every time a fellow orphan complained about him, every time he just looked at something intently.
His relationship with blood grew complex. He liked it because it was warm and he hated it because its presence meant pain for him.
He liked it when somebody who was mean to him got bloodied. It meant they were in pain. He felt a sense of camaraderie with them because frankly, Tom was the only one who bled at least twice a week in the orphanage. And Tom did not think he deserved it.
All he had wanted was a little amusement, so what if he made the papers fly sometimes or made the spoons dance. Or what if he used a little extra force to make the ball fly higher in the playground.
It was all fun. Harmless.
They stopped him from playing guitar, they stopped his entry in church, they restricted his meals, and they gave him so many looks.
He wished they would not have done that. Not after what they did to him in certain nights. The candles, the chanting, tying him to his bed. Tom went through all of that quietly, hoping that complying would make things easier. Even after all that, they would not let Tom be. Tom was still evil. Devil, one of the sisters called him.
Tom did not mind. He was used to being alone, he was used to being a recluse, playing on his own. He was used to people stealing his meals, tearing his books, killing his snakes. He took it all in stride. It hurt, sometimes a little more than it hurt when he bled but Tom made do with it.
The first time Tom made someone bleed was accidental. That horrendous boy, Simon… He was not from the orphanage but he lived nearby.
He had taken Tom at the top of the building and threatened Tom. He had taken off his pants and was asking Tom to do something. Tom had not understood. He was but seven. But he remembered that Simon had taken other little kids from park and they had all been crying afterwards. He had also seen him do something with one of the other neighborhood boys. It had distinctively sounded like something Martha did with the old Mr. Wool. Although, she never appeared that hurt.
All Tom knew was that it hurt, so he refused. Simon had not been happy. He had picked Tom and threatened to throw him down from the building. Tom had been scared and he reacted. He landed on the roof safely and Simon flew and hit one of the large metal pipes and broke his head. There was so much blood. Simon never woke up so Tom ran away.
That was when Tom realized that by making others bleed, he could stop them from hurting him. He started using his powers as defense. Slowly to offense. If they tried to bully him, he attacked even if they had not touched him. It felt so nice to be not afraid.
Slowly Tom matured. He understood concepts like fear, attack, hurt and pain better. But it did nothing for his primal survival instincts. He always fought back.
Tom was still used to being hurt. His own blood did not faze him. He was afraid of being hurt and in pain but he expected it. He could tame physical pain. He was so used to it.
The first time he realized that was after one of the bombings of London Blitz. After a horrific night, Tom had went out to explore and he had stumbled on a sight of bombing.
Body parts lay strewn, blood all over. It did not faze him. He had never cared about people much.
But as he was exploring, a giant piece of glass had cut across his palm and out came blood. It did not bother him. It stung, yes. But it did not bother Tom.
The first time anyone's blood had bothered Tom was Cordelia's.
Her body falling and blood coming out from the back of her head…and….the faint smell of salt. It was the first time that blood made Tom feel sick. He did not take anything to sort it. No, he deserved the discomfort for not being able to save her.
But wait a minute, where was he?
A white room…Lights blinked…went out and came back on.
The corridor with the Transfiguration classroom. None was there and next second, he saw Lia falling, falling.
She hit her head and blood, so much blood.
Tom rushed to her, "Lia…Lia…" Touching her blood horrified him.
Soon, her nose began bleeding and then her eyes began bleeding and Tom began hyperventilating. He saw a dark shadow lurking.
He yelled, "Stop…" It did not stop and began running away. Lia disappeared from his arm. Tom began running after the shadow. It was a maze, a maze full of displaced Hogwarts corridors. Eventually he caught up with the shadow, holding him with the nape of his neck.
He did the only thing that comforted him. Spilling blood of those responsible. But the shadow was just a shadow. It dissolved. No matter how hard Tom tried to find it, he couldn't.
Tom was restless and he woke up with a feeling of hollowness, like he had not achieved something.
He glanced to his side. Lia was sleeping peacefully and it was still dark. He knew he had barely slept for a couple of hours.
He touched one of her hair curls gently and pushed it behind her ear. He slowly kissed her forehead and her cheek.
He could not describe how relieved and happy her sight made him. She was alive with her usual cheeky smile.
He thought he would go insane because of her absence. His mind had no clarity, he was on edge, he was just….He went back to his primal state.
He especially lost it after what Adler told him. Renatus, Renatus was going to suffer. That was all he could think in his rage.
He again glanced at her innocent face. He wondered if she would be sick if she discovered what he had done. She came from a dark family but Tom had never met anyone who loved people more.
Nonetheless, Tom had done it and he did not regret it one bit. He would do it a thousand times in a flash.
After he came back from the infirmary, he had tried going to Renatus' room but it was warded. Tom could have destroyed them but that would have caught attention. And even though, Tom was in a furious, primal mode, he had managed to reason that it was not the best idea.
Revenge was a dish best served cold. Now, Tom did not have the patience of sitting for longer. But he could wait till morning. For the sake of Lia.
In the morning, he bid his goodbyes to the Blacks and Abraxas, saw Lia leaving through the entrance hall on a stretcher and caught Renatus watching Cordelia with a gleeful expression.
Tom was ready to set his plan into motion. He wandlessly compelled Renatus to come to the seventh floor after Dinner.
He spent the day moving about. He was still feeling broken but he had a purpose. All those who saw him thought him to be grieving.
He did not attend any meals instead choosing to slowly rewind the torture he had in store for Renatus.
He could not use too dark a spell. The school was on an alert. He would be caught in blink. No, it had to be legal, painful and time consuming.
When Renatus came to Seventh floor, he was stunned, gagged, bound and taken to the room of requirement which had taken the form of a dark dungeon.
First, Tom did a complicated mind magic. Lia had pointed it out to him as a mental torture technique that people used to decree someone insane.
The spell was not torturous. What it did was simply manipulate the memory of the event. Renatus would remember none of it unless Tom willed him to, and he would forget as soon as Tom let go. He would never understand why he was scared or paranoid.
Another spell Tom did was a pain heightening one. It apparently stimulated the pain receptors of body. Tom did it multiple times to exponentially enhance the effect.
The torture was simple.
Tom woke Renatus and spent the rest of the night casting neat Diffindos all over his body.
Renatus had wanted blood. He would get it.
And he gave Lia pain, so he will get it, hundredfold if Tom could pull it.
Next he used a simple moderate acidic potion they brewed in first year and gently dropped it in each of the cut.
Renatus soon passed out of pain.
Tom healed him in one spell, leaving the acid inside the body.
He did it once again through the night, healed Renatus again, fed him a lot of befuddlement draught and willed him to forget it.
He disillusioned both of them and dumped Renatus on his bed.
Renatus woke up with no memory of it but completely disoriented and confused. Though, everytime he met Tom's eyes, he felt the pain of all the cuts and remembered all of it. Only to forget it within a few seconds before he could comprehend or make sense of it.
Secondly, if he had a single ill thought about Cordelia, his body felt momentarily that he was on fire. Enough to make him forget about Cordelia. Next moment, he was completely fine.
Tom made Renatus question his own sanity.
He did this for all the three nights and played with his mind during the day.
He glanced again at Cordelia's face, turned himself over, wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer, and pecked her hair. Renatus deserved everything he got and more. With that thought, Tom closed his eyes and let Cordelia's scent distract him to slumber.
Tom's POV
When Tom woke up, he felt well rested. Gone was the exhaustion and the wariness of the past few days.
His hands were away from Lia but he could smell her and he could feel the weight of her body over him. He glanced down. She was using his chest as a pillow. He could not help it, he smiled. He raised his hand to touch her head and as soon as he did, she rose a little and greeted him with her big, green eyes. She had a small, self-indulgent, lazy smile. She rose from his chest and placed her head on the crook of his shoulder and resting her palm on his heart, "Sleep. We still have some time."
"I am fine." Tom shook his head.
"I woke up a little earlier. The snow is worse. I swear it is like 4 inches here." She nodded and informed him lazily.
"Well, it is warm here." Tom said, "It is warm beside you." He muttered in his head.
"I know…" She tightened her arms around him.
He could not pinpoint it but something had changed between the two of them yesterday.
For example, he still felt a relentless urge to brush his lips on hers. He did not think that she would mind but Tom wanted to get a handle of his feelings before he made any sudden move.
He wrapped his left arm around her and took her palm in his with the right, squeezing it slightly, "What time is it?"
"It is a little after six. We aren't due at Gringotts until eight so we have time. It is not like that we are going to bath in such a cold weather. Grooming Spells it is " She shuddered.
"You don't like the cold." Tom guessed.
She pinched her nose and shook her head. She added thoughtfully, "Though it is not so bad with you beside me."
Tom could not help but let out a chuckle at her antics. He had missed her. He kissed her hair again.
"We will have to come up with an arrangement for the rest of the holidays." She was thinking hard.
"You are not sneaking to see me again. I will not be called a bad influence." Tom gave her an ultimatum.
"Believe me, I am the bad influence, not you." Cordelia snorted, "And as for sneaking, that is my favorite hobby. I am not going to change it for you. The thrill is amazing." She said cuddling closer, although there was literally no space between the two of them.
Tom laughed lightly and she joined him eventually, rolling her eyes.
He tried to tighten his arms again and he turned on his side, taking her with him. Their legs entwined and Tom just looked in her eyes.
Now, he knew what had changed. They were touching each other more than usual, without even realizing. Tom was not that surprised. He hated touches from other people besides Cordelia. More like, he was not used to their touches. But ever since Cordelia had hugged him, he had become more and more comfortable with her touches. Not just comfortable, he basked in her touches.
"Feeling better?" She asked, glancing at him with her eyes.
He nodded, nuzzling her nose.
They lay quietly for a few moments.
"We should iron out a few details." Cordelia began.
Tom nodded.
"I would have done this properly in Hogwarts but we have an hour and a short summary will have to suffice." She looked at him with concern.
'I grasp things rather quickly." Tom said with a dry smile.
She hit him on his shoulder and he gave a cheeky laugh.
"First, it might be a little weird but I will be cold and distant in the Alley initially. I need to play the pureblood bint and it is an insurance against the goblins. They respect me and are ready to help me but goblins are class A manipulators. They like to have compromising information. The only way they could do it today is through you. If I pretend that you are a stepping stone, they might just let us do our thing our way. Once you have your inheritance, they cannot really do a thing because Goblins swore fealty to the Founders' line. They would never admit it publically but it is a fact and we will use it once you have your ring." She informed.
"Okay… and how are you so sure about the inheritance?" Tom asked.
"Remember that thing about something in Black blood. Well, it makes me sensitive to magic. I can hear the magic in the blood of people sing on different frequencies, I guess. Yours is pretty darn similar to the blood wards of Hogwarts." She informed with a guilty look, "And I will you more about it once you have your ring and your inherited mental barriers are in the place. It makes me powerful but so very vulnerable. My magic keeps warning me to not risk it."
"Then you shouldn't risk it," Tom said decisively.
"But you are getting your inheritance, by hook or by crook." She said adamantly.
"We will see." Tom said, noncommittedly.
""Okay. A few things we need to remember. One, your family magic will give you mental barriers as long as you wear your lord ring. Which is a good thing since the rings are cursed against anyone who tries to remove them. So, we can remove the mind arts from the urgent list and take it on an easier pace. Two, your family ring is an anchor for your family magic. Until you can accustom yourself to the magic and attune itself until it becomes second nature to call upon it, you will need to focus on your ring to call it. Third, do not call the family magic in front of the goblins. It will be an ancient totem and will likely be more temperamental. In fact, the first time, you need to call it when you are alone so that the magic does not try to harm someone else since it very well cannot harm you. Fourth, there are two inheritance tests. One is genealogical and is based on blood. The other is based on blood and family magic. We won't do the genealogical one since it requires a sacrifice, which will be your blood. Since Slytherin is very old, it is likely that the test might just drain you entirely. Too dangerous even though it will tell all your familial relations. We will do the family magic and blood one. In that test, Goblins will ask seven drops of your blood to put in an old magical goblet. That goblet has stored all the family magics in it or a trace of them so it can identify the magic of your blood and tell if you are eligible for any. It won't go generations back, but it will tell you all the families you are related to, not how you are related but just their names and whose lordship is available to you. If you choose to claim the lordships, the magic will judge you and you will be given your ring. I am expecting Slytherin and Gaunts. Gaunts is a disgraced name but their wizangomat seats have not been discarded. It might prove to be useful and we can create a new reputation for the house of Gaunt. It is better leadership or something. Gaunts did not marry outside the family a lot so I am not sure who else you might be related to. Fifth, you will not be able to explore the vaults in a day. I suggest that we take a Gringotts endless supply bag and shop. You need to look the part of a pureblood lord. We can return back in the vacation. I have to scour the Black vaults. I can do that while you check the Slytherin ones."
"You won't be coming with me." Tom broke the silence with this point,. He was alright with everything up until now.
"Well, vaults, especially family vaults are secretive places. You don't just give access to anybody." Cordelia said nonchalantly.
"You are not anybody." Tom said quietly.
"Yeah well, I never said I am. But it is your legacy Tom. You will be seeing it for the first time. I am not sure I want to pile on…and I did not want to assume as well…" She began.
"You are coming with me unless you have an extremely busy break and cannot take out the time. Actually, I will wait until you can take out the time and we will go together." Tom said adamantly.
"Don't do it because…Tom…" She made a face.
"Lia, we have been sharing everything, spells, potions, those secret chambers. I trust you and I would rather not do it without you since I won't be getting the inheritance without you." Tom argued.
"You could…I just moved the plan a little quickly." She said a little hesitantly.
"Whatever, this is my wish. I would really like if you came.' Tom requested.
She nodded, " We will come between new year and Yule."
"Also, we will have to live in the Black manor for the rest of the break if you choose to come. The Blacks have decided to boycott all the parties and will be celebrating Yule quietly. Malfoys will be joining us in the Black manor. The Longbottoms were all set to join us but they had plans of leaving the country for the break. They will join us after New Year's Eve. We can visit Malfoy manor but that is about it." She said a little dimly.
"You are not happy with that?" Tom asked, a little amused.
"Not really. They will all be together and too many people. They won't let me have a moment's peace. Malfoy manor would have been quieter. Abe knows when to leave me alone. Uncle Rion gives me space as well. Now, all of them and the attack. It is a classic mix of bad situations." Cordelia made a face, not childish but a cross between mature disdain and a blast of cuteness.
He did not know how she pulled it.
"I think I can brave your family." Tom muttered.
'So, you will stay…" She asked hopefully.
'Yes, can't leave you alone to the wolves, can I? They may just pay you less attention now." Tom rolled his eyes.
"You would do that for me…"Cordelia batted her lashes with mock adoration.
"You are reminding me awfully of Aimee Parkinson right now. I would rather that you don't," Tom said dryly.
Cordelia pretended to be mock affronted with wide eyes and an open mouth, "How could you be so cruel?"
Tom did not look amused.
"Okay, I was just trying to cheer you up." Cordelia dropped the act and Tom begun laughing at her defeated expression.
"You like seeing me miserable, don't you?" Cordelia narrowed her eyes.
"You look adorable. I could not help it…' Tom began hiccupping.
"Glad I could be of your amusement." She muttered.
Tom let out another roll of laughter.
"You are mean…" She said miserably.
"Err…I am sorry…' Tom muttered, as he went into another fitful laughter.
Cordelia stuck out her tongue.
"That is very mature." Tom said after his chuckles halted somewhat.
"Alright, you win this time. Now back to business. I have one important thing then you can go back to laughing as if you are watching Dumbledore dance in a tutu." Cordelia sniffed.
Cordelia's POV (Scene continuation)
That send Tom in another fit of laughter. That was when Cordelia realized that he was not simply laughing. He was hysterical.
She grabbed his shoulders and shook them, "Tom…"
Tom kept laughing. She lightly slapped both his cheeks, brought his head forward and looked at him, "Look at me. I am fine. You are fine. We are fine."
Tom did not stop. She took his fingers and bit two of them hardly.
Tom began hiccupping, and large tears began coming out. Cordelia hugged him tightly, "I swear, I will never die on you. I swear that Tom, I won't."
She began rubbing circles on his back.
"That day you said that I won't be able to tackle when I felt too much. I couldn't…I couldn't tackle it. I was going insane Lia, insane." He cried, hugging her tighter, "I stopped, I just stopped functioning. I did not want to do anything. I just wanted to see you in front of me, happy and fine. I couldn't think anything else…"
He sobbed.
Seeing him like that, Cordelia could not help it. Her eyes became wet too. She wished she could tell him that she understood. He had literally been dead to her for six years. She had not known if she would ever see him. She had cried, wept and done everything, dealt with every form of sorrow or grief to reach to him, so that she could make him happy.
She pulled his head and just kissed the top of his head, letting her tears flow unrestrained.
Tom held on tighter, putting his face below her neck, pressing into her bosom.
It was a solemn moment for both of them.
Tom eventually quieted down, but not before wetting the top of Cordelia's blouse with his tears completely.
"I am glad that you felt something…" Cordelia murmured, "But I am sorry that it was sad."
She kissed his forehead lightly. Tom looked at her, 'I don't know if I can tackle if something happens to you." He admitted.
"You think I will be fine if something happens to you?" she questioned with a forlorn smile.
"It is a side effect of being with people, Tom and caring for them. If you care, you can't see them hurt." She muttered.
Tom nodded gingerly.
"It can quickly become a weakness too." She cautioned lightly.
"I would still not exchange them for anything." Tom said decisively, "They might not be nice, but they fill a, they fill a hole inside." He swallowed, "Frankly, I am proud to have a weakness such as you, one who doubles as my strength. I won't be here without you, Lia." He looked seriously in her eyes.
"You will make me cry…" She said, tears escaping her eyes.
She did not think she would ever see the day when Tom would accept an emotional weakness like that, accept her like that.
Tom hands got hold of her face and gently wiped her tears. He rested his forehead against hers and shook his head.
Cordelia took it to mean that he did not want her to cry.
She was about to say something when an alarm blared from her wand.
Her sadness vanished, to be replaced with alertness, "We should get going. There are only 30 minutes to our appointment and Goblins do not appreciate tardiness."
Tom nodded.
They got up.
Cordelia turned around to face him again, "Just one last thing."
Tom gave her a questioning look.
"I know we discussed this a bit but I have one advice. You are free to take it up or not. It is upto you." Cordelia sighed but she knew she looked dead serious. She was hoping that Tom would take the advice actually.
Tom nodded.
"We need to keep the inheritance or the news of it under tab. Not just for the first 10 days when your emancipation can be reversed but until we really need to announce it. Grindelwald is looking for allies. He has been dragging up old black magic and monstrosities. I am sure we will find such magic in Slytherin vault and if he realizes that the vaults are accessible. He won't leave you alone. I can give an oath on behalf of my family. They won't betray it unless they all want to be squibs." She said drily but went on with her concerned look, "As for Hogwarts, we can call for secrecy since you are the heir. Everybody in the school will be ties to the oath by magic or life. We just need to keep it from outside newspapers. Everybody else can technically know if they take oaths to not reveal it."
"Why would I not go with it, Lia? It is a sensible advice." Tom shook his head, "You are too careful around me." He complained.
"Well, you are pretty Moody." She shot back.
"Says the woman who flips moods like ripples of water." Tom shot back.
Cordelia could not hide her grin. But she shook her head, let the argument go and dragged Tom to one of the bedrooms.
Another update. Hope people liked this one.
This is the first time that I have actually given Tom's perspective on his childhood. And there was a lot of fluff.
Sorry for not getting back to most reviews. Will do it this week….But I read all of them, multiple times. So PLEASE REVIEW.
