As time progressed, the days got much colder. The ice was now layered thickly, similar to a fuzzy blanket as it covered every visible plane. The Hogwarts populace buzzed with excitement as the holidays approached them, the prospect of going home after a long term reaching them.
Abraxas Malfoy, Theodore Nott and Hermione Granger were certainly not an exception to the holiday spirit. The said trio were sprawled across a transfigured couch in the Slytherin common room, gossiping amongst themselves. The atmosphere was still heavy with the weight of their last conversation, surely all of them trying to find a way out, despite having long exhausted all their options.
"Hermione," Tom's stern voice reached the three. Hermione sat upright with a jolt, turning back to find Tom stood behind the couch with his arms crossed.
"Yes?" She queried, her eyebrows raised. Tom sighed.
"Accompany me to the room, I need to discuss something with you," he eyed Theodore and Abraxas, who were both staring at him with wide puppy eyes, "Theodore and Abraxas will need to be there too, since they are involved."
Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard to hide her amusement, "of course, we will follow you out," she mumbled, hoping no one was eavesdropping. The boys were beaming with happiness at the prospect of joining in on a meeting.
Tom offered her a prompt nod, turning away to the portrait hole almost immediately. He was seemingly unbothered about catching the eyes of others.
The trio watched Tom retreat in a manner they thought would be discreet. Quietly zeroed in on the square of Tom's back. Though the boys were excited to be let in, they understood the gravity of the situation. Hermione heaved a sigh, "you two can still pull out-"
Theodore smacked her arm, making her pull away with a yelp, "look, I'm only saying this because I understand Tom-"
"Emotionally or verbally?"
"Carnally," Abraxas sniggered, high fiving Theodore. At her immense amusement, Hermione joined in on their high five, smacking them simultaneously on the cheek.
"Alright, dumbasses, time to leave," Hermione got up, not waiting for the two boys to recover from their residual effects of a smack on the cheek.
The portrait swung open, allowing Hermione to climb through with ease. She walked towards the staircase, particularly chipper after destressing (through physical violence). Abraxas and Theodore remained a safe distance away from Hermione, giggling amongst themselves, no doubt discussing how perfectly in sync they were regarding their tomfoolery.
Hermione rolled her eyes, nearly jumping as the pair zoomed by her, "calm down you two! Are you a dog on its first walk?" She snapped, breaking into a sprint to catch up with them.
Theodore stuck his tongue out at her, "live a little, 'Mione," his laugh filled the corridor, making Hermione stop in her tracks. She watched from behind as Theodore and Abraxas raced up the stairs, sharing looks of joy and friendly banter.
The pair reminded Hermione of the sun and moon. Abraxas being the sun and Theodore being the moon. They were destined to long for each other, yet remain apart forever.
Hermione's heart truly ached for them. For she knew they would not end up together. Yet she selfishly hoped she could change the entire course of the past. She would do anything to watch them keep their smiles. Whichever God is up there, I beg you to let them retain their smiles. But she did not believe she truly deserved their forgiveness. After all, her wish would mean one of her closest friends from the future, Draco Malfoy, would never be born.
"Oy! Why'd you stop?" Abraxas hollered, he truly was anything but discreet. Hermione rolled her eyes, walking briskly to catch up to the pair.
"Alright, now listen," Hermione broke the silenced the pair whilst they made their third round around the empty wall, "remain silent and well behaved, only address Tom as 'my Lord' when you are in the presence of other Knights- and no outsiders." She pushed open the door.
To Hermione's surprise, the room Tom prepared was quite... homely. It was like a minimalistic living room, where he sat on the middle of a long sleek white couch, in front of a long glass coffee table and three other couches on either corner of it. He leaned back in his seat, watching the trio.
Abraxas and Theodore immediately switched their faces to look passive, the happiness and excitement from earlier completely dissipated. "Welcome, my Knights," Tom greates with an unnervingly charming grin.
The three tipped their heads respectfully, "good evening, my Lord," they chanted in harmony.
Tom smirked, pleased at their remarkable submission. "I wished to discuss... my offer with Grindelwald with you, Hermione," Tom directly addressed Hermione. The trio remained stood awkwardly over the couch, awaiting permission to seat themselves.
Hermione had always known Tom had an interesting... liking to making others feel awkward.
"Yes, my Lord."
"You two, it would do you well to understand the rhythm, so just listen in for today," he ordered them. "I will be contacting Grindelwald and agreeing to work with him-"
"But-" Hermione interrupted, disbelief etched on her face. Tom shot her a look, making her snap her jaw shut. Stupid Tom, stupid, stupid, stupid, Hermione thought, purposely lowering her occlumency walls so Tom would listen in. The young Dark Lord caught on immediately, throwing a particularly nasty glare at Hermione.
"I will agree to cooperate but I fully intend on leaking every piece of intel he gives us- he knows we are an organisation but not what our goal is nor how many members we have got. It seems Rosier only named four of us- Tom, the leader; Hermione, the annoying likely half-blooded bitch that shags Tom for a standing; Dolohov, his best friend; and Carrow, his one true love." Hermione could tell her friends were angered. The way their stances changed, fists balled and jaws clenched. Of course, Tom had to have noticed too. Hermione pleaded with the gods that they would not have an outburst here and put her in a difficult predicament.
Sure they made their own dirty jokes, but it was heartwarming to see them trying to protect Hermione.
"So you intend to tell him the organisation is built upon only five people?" Hermione frowned, "it seems unrealistic."
"Indeed. So instead, we need some decoy members momentarily. Target girls specifically, I will trust you to recruit them. Your Galleon idea- implement it immediately. But create two separate sets of coins. One for the actual Knights; another for the fake members and the two of us. Make it so both of our coins can notify the others." Hermione nodded, frowning. It seemed as if everything was already set in stone. His plan had many holes in it. Tom should have realised as much himself, anyway.
"My Lord, if I may," Hermione interrupted.
"Go ahead," Tom gestured for her to continue.
"Rosier is well known for being loose lipped. We have not been able to track all his letters either, so he may have revealed more information and could be withholding that intel to reduce his punishment-" Hermione explained, though she was interrupted quite rudely when Theodore coughed loudly, his hand raised as if he were waiting for permission to speak.
"I do not believe what Hermione is saying is correct. It would be difficult to hide such details, Rosier may be stupid but he would not lie once caught. Not again."
"Yeah, but we can't trust him either," Hermione argued.
"Not having a reason to trust him is not a good enough reason to distrust him, Hermione."
"Theodore, this is more than just distrust. So far all Rosier has accomplished is failing his task at recruiting Druella Rosier and accomplishing his personal agenda of being being an uncontrollable chatterbox."
"You guys are forgetting an important detail," Abraxas interrupted the pair. Tom raised an eyebrow, propping himself up with one hand against his head.
"Yes, Abraxas?" Tom questioned, quietening the quarrelling friends immediately.
"There is no guarantee we are the only recruits here at Hogwarts. Neither are we sure there are no other little groups, you know?"
Tom grinned. "Precisely, so instead I will be weeding out the liars. I am glad to see the three of you so passionate about the Knights," he gestured towards the door. "You may leave, Theodore, Abraxas. I look forward to seeing your formal initiation." The two boys shared a glance, before bowing their heads in farewell and exiting the room. Once the door clicked shut behind them, Tom tugged at his tie to loosen it.
"Take a seat, Hermione," he offered, waving his hands and magically placing a letter on the table between them. "Go ahead," he offered, following her body movement closely.
Hermione chewed at her bottom lips before reaching out for the letter.
Dear Tom,
I apologise for contacting you directly, but I am afraid my patience is wearing thin.
I have long sent my proposal to Hogwarts; and I wish for you to know that the Dark Lord does not plan to harm Hogwarts. With your cooperation that is. A little birdie once told me you could control a beast in the castle.
The Dark Lord simply wishes for you to... help out a little from a inside. We would never do anything to jeopardise your little after school club. Nothing you have not done before, Tom.
With much love,
Druella Rosier
Hermione physically recoiled from the bitter taste the letter had left in her mouth. She glanced up at Tom, to find his eyes already set on her. With a cough, Hermione put the letter back down.
"You knew?" Tom questioned, with an ill concealed smirk.
"Knew what?" Hermione played dumb, "I did not know the plot you were speaking of in front of Abraxas and Theodore were false."
"Why do you evade me so, Hermione? Very well, tell me, do you know which beast Druella speaks of?"
Hermione scratched her chin, to seem as if she was thinking hard, "cannot say I have heard of it."
Tom laughed dryly, "go ahead, tell me how you found- no, deduced, this."
Hermione bit her lips, "well, I've known you were the heir of Slytherin and there are many books talking of Slytherin's secret chamber that houses a beast."
"Is that so?" Tom bemused loudly, though he had a pleasant grin on his face. I have got to stop acting to nonchalant about these things, Hermione cursed herself. "Well, either way, I was not lying when I said I would agree to Grindelwald's conditions."
Hermione's jaw dropped, "m-my Lord you have to think this through, even if we do follow Grindelwald's orders, there is no absolute way of knowing he will not harm Hogwarts. Above all, Tom, Grindelwald is weak. He is nothing save a smooth talker." Not to mention the losing end of this war!
Tom rolled his eyes at the witch's rant, "Merlin, Hermione, let me finish. I also actually plan on leaking intel regarding Grindelwald; and simultaneously leaking falsified intel regarding the Knights- please close your mouth," Hermione snapped her jaw shut, her eyebrows twitching as she glared on, awaiting a chance to speak. "Hermione, you win some, you lose some. For the time being, this is our best option. Obviously I will protect the Knights to the best of my abilities," he sighed.
Hermione studied the lines on his face, the way he furrowed his eyebrows as he spoke and the way he chewed on his lips when he stopped. "Very well, Tom. I trust you." And she did. She trusted that Voldemort would outsmart Grindelwald.
For all she knew, he had done it once before anyway.
•••
"Good evening, my Knights. Take a seat," Tom greeted, a grim grin set on his face. He stood tall and proud in front of his chair, looking down on those before him.
The Knights stared with fixated eyes at the witch beside Tom Riddle, the fierce bushy headed witch, Hermione Granger. She had as much of a stone cold look plastered on her face as Tom Riddle; and that concerned them.
"Before we begin our meeting, I want you to all come forth and receive a coin from Hermione," he gestured to the witch standing tall beside him. The Knights shared a look, hesitating though Abraxas Malfoy and Theodore Nott approached her easily enough. They were an infamous trio. The boys stuck their hands out, each receiving a glimmering gold galleon from Hermione.
Filing after them, the Knights all walked forth to retrieve one galleon each, despite their apparent confusion. "Keep these galleons on your person at all times, they will display the timings of all our meetings henceforth. Each time a new date is set, the coin will heat up and make itself known to you," Hermione explained coolly.
They put their coins away, no further questions asked. Hermione marched up to Tom, standing on her toes to whisper something in Tom's ears. Tom nodded, his face was too stoic to give anyone an idea of what they spoke of. He cast Hermione away to seat herself amongst the rest of the Knights. "Today, we will begin our greatest operation yet. Any sort of other tasks will temporarily be put on hold unless I personally instruct you otherwise." Many of the Knights shared inquisitive glances amongst one another, but none dared to utter a word and break the silence.
"As many of you may know, Grindelwald has made an effort to recruit us," his lips tilted upwards, "let me ask, Knights, who do you serve?"
"You, my Lord," they all answered alike. Tom locked his gaze on Dolohov.
"Dolohov, would you dare to betray me?" He grinned ear to ear as his follower squirmed, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and fear. Hermione could not say she felt bad for the man, despite knowing what was to come.
"Never, my Lord. I am only loyal to you," he sounded meek.
"Hermione, would you please demonstrate what can happen to those that lie to me?" Tom called out. Sure, he could torture Dolohov himself, but he would much rather watch Hermione get her hands dirty. It was rather satisfying. He loved sullying the witch's gentle, soft hands.
Hermione strode to the centre of the room, just a little shy of the raised platform Tom stood upon. "Dolohov," she called, her voice eerie and calm. She sounded nothing like her herself. Dolohov walked to her, towering over her in height and build, yet cowering under her fierce gaze. She raised her hand, cupping Dolohov's jaw aggressively, she pulled his face down to match her height and dug the tip of her wand into his temple.
Dolohov maintained eye contact, not wavering or pulling back. With no more than a soft, gentle whisper, Hermione entered Dolohov's mind- his memories.
His eyes turned milky white, as if he had lost all consciousness. Except he continued to scratch at Hermione's direction, panting and yelling. Hermione could not help but curl her lips with delight, for the man who would torment her friends in the years to come was at her mercy completely. She dug her wand deeper into the folds of his skin, allowing the magic to flow off her fingertips and penetrate his oldest memories.
"PLEASE!" Dolohov fell to his knees, his head between his hands. He shook violently with each sob. Hermione pulled back, impressed at her own handiwork. All I did was alter his memories to believe he was being hurt. Magic is a sweet, sweet thing. Dolohov cried, unable to stop his incessant convulsing.
"Great job," Tom mumbled. Goosebumps rose down Hermione arms at the unexpected proximity. She feared if she turned around right now, his face would be mere inches from hers. Or worse, she was afraid he would see the delight in her eyes. "Go back to your place, Hermione," he instructed, his breath fanning the side of her face.
Hermione merely nodded, walking back to her place in between Theodore and Abraxas without looking at Tom's direction.
It was almost surprising how well Theodore and Abraxas were mixing in with the Knights of Walpurgis- though it made sense as they were children of the sacred twenty-eight.
"As you all have seen though Hermione's gentle demonstration, I will not be tolerating anyone that dares to betray me. You may all leave, I will be contacting you soon regarding this matter. Someone carry this disgusting lump away," Tom kicked Dolohov's cowering body disgustedly. Rosier ran up from his place to carry his friend, glaring at Hermione. "Fawley, Granger, the two of you stay." The Knights filed out of the line, leaving the spacious room even emptier at their exit.
The three stood at an equidistance. Hector Fawley, Hermione Granger and Tom Riddle.
- "Fawley's memories have been locked. He is hiding something."