Authors Note:
So I haven't been able to write because I was hospitalized, apparently it's frowned upon to ingest an entire bottle of xanax. I was taken to a rehab center where I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and extreme manic depression...essentially the same thing except for a few more extreme mood swings. I'm currently on an ungodly amount of medication and am trying to cope with everything that's happening to me. This chapter was a little bit of everywhere because I had half of it written before said events and the rest written after. I also had to take a semester off because of the stress of what happened, so expect more writing more often. I'll have nothing else to do.
Anyway, keep up the reviews and the helpful tips and comments. I love them and it's honestly some of the more positive things I hear during my days. I know this chapter isn't very interesting, but it definitely gives you a good hint at what Dumbledore is and everything. Enjoy!
The room was hidden mostly in shadows for the few candles that floated around the room and a slowly dying fire. Outside silent lightning lit the sky from dusty paned glass windows. The stone floors were cold and dusty with the faded red Persian rugs that lay across the floor doing nothing to give the room a feeling of warmth. A fire place stood at the front of the room, the fire that once was held in it a forgotten memory, embers burned softly in it's pit. Crack's and hisses came from the corpse of wood that remained, giving shadows the man's face that suddenly appeared in the room.
A loud crack resonated across the house, echoing off the dusty stone walls. His face was scarred, marred all over his features. His eyes were bright blue, their pupils large and wild. His features were covered in matted hair that sprouted from all over his body. His shirt and trousers seemed to have no purpose at all but to serve for the purpose that it would be wildly inappropriate for him to be naked. His shirt was at one point a long sleeved black oxford that was now ripped up to the shoulders to accommodate his protuberant muscles. Matted grey and black chest hair unfurled all down to his torso where his rather threadbare trousers sat loosely on his waist. His clothes were so worn and tattered that is if it was the only set of clothing he owned.
"News Fenrir?" The voice came from a chintz armchair that sat facing the fire.
"News from Joseph, he's reached Egypt. The items have been received and they are being put in place as we speak." Fenrir Greyback's voice matched his appearance, it was almost a growl, deep and animalistic.
The man who sat in front of the fireplace rose suddenly, Fenrir flinched taking a step back. The man turned to face Fenrir, his face was severe and seemed impossible to read. His bright blue eyes that might have at one point held a twinkle seemed lifeless behind their half-moon spectacles. His face was old and lined and his large white beard hung down, tucked neatly into his dark blue robes.
"Do you have Ivan?" His voice was flat and his eyes seem to travel through the large beast of a man who stood before him.
"He's in the other room sir, he's ready for you." Fenrir eyes avoided Dumbledore's.
"Go get him." He turned back towards the fire, watching the embers crackle and hiss their last wisps.
"Yes sir." Fenrir turned and left the room, the wooden doorway creaking as it hit the wall.
"No, please, I've done nothing! Please! Let me go! I've been nothing but loyal!" The screams carried across the hall into the room where Dumbledore stood. Scraps and dragging could be heard and finally a loud thud that was followed by a low groan.
Fenrir returned dragging a man in his wake as though he weighed nothing, tossing him onto the floor on the bedraggled rug. The man groaned loudly, holding his stomach curled up into a small ball. Fenrir came up and kicked the man again, eliciting another loud groan.
"Get up then!" Fenrir growled, lifting the man by his collar and standing him up as he coughed, blood spitting from his mouth as he attempted to stand. He fell to one knee, his hand weighing on his leg to support his heaving body.
"Do you understand why you're here Ivan? Certainly you knew much better." Dumbledore's voice was quiet and he remained facing away from the man who now had begun sobbing, his breaths coming in hysterics. "Silence!"
The man quieted, but his cries still rang softly in the room. Dumbledore now walked over and stared silently at the man, a small pity seemed to come into his eyes. However it was gone as quick as it seemed to have appeared and Dumbledore raised his hand at the man and his body began to rise, his body floating into the air so that he looked Dumbledore into the eyes. His eyes watered, tears trickling down his face onto his stained dirty clothing. The man's face was pale and bruised, as though he had already received relentless beatings over the past few hours. It was a revelation that the man's eyes could produce tears at all for how swollen they were.
"Do you understand why you've been brought before me?" Dumbledore twisted his fingers and the man's leg snapped as it was nothing but a mere twig. The man's screams bled out into the air, Fenrir's lip broke into a small smile as the man's leg bent at an unnatural angle.
"Please, I did exactly as you asked. I didn't mean for the wolves to see me, please!" The man's voice was anguished with pain.
"A yes or no will suffice Ivan." Dumbledore turned to face the fire, he twisted his hand again, the man's other leg snapped loudly. The man screamed, the sound coming garbled and hoarse from his throat cracking. His mouth and necked stretched so that it was almost as though he was going to rip his own throat in half.
"Yes, yes GOD PLEASE!" The man sobbed, his voice was beginning to sound as though his throat were being rubbed with sandpaper. His body slowly sank onto the floor.
"Bring in the other's Fenrir, I'd like to show them something." Dumbledore stared deep into the fire as if he were reading it.
Fenrir left and returned only a moment later with a large group of men, all looked in different variations of Fenrir himself. Large burly men with large quantities of hairy skin showing beneath their tattered clothing, mumbling with large unnatural wild eyes staring at the broken man who lay upon the floor. A few men however wore expensive dark robes, remnants of Grindlewald's army. Dumbledore turned swiftly and walked to the man, staring up into the eyes of the men who quickly silenced themselves. Dumbledore's austere blue eyes held a grave and dangerous glare that held a power that no man dared question.
"I will not have my actions questioned. I will not have mistakes in my midst nor traitors in my wake, is this understood Ivan?" Dumbledore turned rose his hand, the man floated up again, his sobs raking the room. "You will serve as an example to those who can't follow a simple order."
"No please! I'll do better! Please-" Dumbledore's hand tightened into a fist and the man's sob's broke off suddenly. His face began to swell, his eyes bulging heavily out of his head as though they would pop out of his head. His face began to turn a grotesque shade of purple, veins protruding from his neck to span across his face and forehead. A small trickle of blood leaked out of his eyes in place of the tears, trailing down his face, sliding along the protuberance of veins. Blood began spilling from his nose, dripping onto the faded rug and soon the man's ears and eyes both seeped creating an outlandish image as though someone had splashed the man's face with thick dark red paint.
Dumbledore released the man, he collapsed the floor his body twitching and gargling, his legs splayed away from his body in an incongruous fashion. The man's eyes lay wide open, still bulged slightly, blood dripping slowly onto the carpet.
"Am I understood?" Dumbledore stared up at the silent group of men who stared nervously at the body in front of their feet. "Go back to your posts, Felix, clean this mess. Fenrir stay, I have another job for you."
The men quickly left, a small muscular man who seemed to have almost more hair than body quickly withdrew his wand and levitated the body out of the room. Fenrir stepped around the now ruined rug and came up to Dumbledore, his nose twitching slightly at the smell of fresh blood.
"Tom seems to grow impatient. I don't plan on writing him, not until I'm sure of his intentions. Keep an eye on him, take care of him as necessary, don't hurt him, he's too important to me as of now. Make sure he knows to keep me updated on what's happening at the school, just because I'm not there doesn't mean his job has stopped." Dumbledore turned and stared at the blood pooled on the rug.
"Is that all sir?" Fenrir stared at his master curiously.
"Keep you and your men posted around the school till I say otherwise, I want you to make sure Tom doesn't make any mistakes like Ivan here." Dumbledore walked over the window, staring out onto the rolling green pastures that lay in the moonlight.
"Yes sir." Fenrir bowed stiffly and left the room.
Dumbledore stared out the window, a small twinkle fading back into his eye as he stared at his own reflection in the window.
Tom Riddle's Diary No.389
I may have abused the power that I hold over this Granger girl, It would be a lie to myself to say that things might have gotten out of hand. I won't allow myself to make the same mistake however. I must not allow the girl to distract me from the task that soon lays ahead and I won't allow Dumbledore to win because some young girl can't help herself around me, though it doesn't help to provoke these feeling. It will save me much trouble in the future to keep her in the palm of my hand. I will do better to control myself around her in the future, to lose myself in skin and lust won't win the war.
I'll have to hold myself back and lighten my approach, I found my dreams plagued by the way her body moved beneath mine. I can't have some petty girl get in the way of the plan. I received word this morning from Fienes that Dumbledore has his damn wolves guarding all his horocruxes. I have no problem killing two dogs with one stone, but I won't have those bloody mongrels getting back to Dumbledore and ruining all that I've worked for, it's already difficult enough trying to trick that daft girl with Draco and his idiotic friends watching my every move. Dumbledore is suspicious enough, I've no doubt that the boy is in close contact with Fenir and his pack.
I've no idea how I'm supposed to take care of the stupid boy and pay attention to all that's happening at this damn bloody school when Draco and his stupid friends run around threatening and harassing all the other students. I will have to speak with him personally, teach him a lesson. He's going to attract too much attention and cause too many questions. I can assure that once I take care of him, he won't be speaking too much anymore. The last thing I need is for Draco to say one thing that crosses the line, Dumbledore warned before he left, one toe over the line and he will send the damn wolves to fix it.
I must be careful not to attract any attention with leaving to attain the horocruxes, I'll have to wait until Christmas break to leave so as not to not gain any unwanted notice. By then I'll have the girl obeying my every command, not that she isn't now. As of last night, I've got her in the palm of my hands but revealing my true intentions and gaining her assistance with the book and the work it contains might be another problem all in itself. Simply having the girl melt in her panties every time I walk by won't necessarily be enough to having her commit highly illegal acts, though it is entertaining to watch her get flustered. She's so innocent, It was almost as if she had never been touched in such a way. How funny it is to me, that the girl who knows everything knows nothing about being touched by a man.
Maybe once I've won and killed Dumbledore once and for all I can keep the girl and teach her something useful.
- Tom Marvolo Riddle
Hermione woke up with a sense of dread clinging to her all over. To say she was mortified at her actions from the previous night was much more than an understatement. She was used to breaking the rules, being friends with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley called for rule breaking on an almost daily basis but Hermione knew that she had crossed a line. There was a brick wall of sorts rather than a line when it came to the difference in stealing a book from the restricted section or sneaking out of bed at night and committing sinful acts with an older man, her professor nonetheless. The scene seemed to be playing on an unsolicited replay through her head. There was no use in lying in saying that she had no reciprocated the affections but the manner in which she chose to do so was shameful to say the least.
"Hermione," She nearly jumped out of her skin at Ginny ripping her curtains apart on her bed. "Bloody hell Hermione, you look like shit."
Ginny appraised Hermione who had no doubt she looked utterly dreadful. She found herself tossing and turning all throughout the night and was positive it looked as though she had poured ink beneath her eyes.
"Honestly Ginny, your compliments flatter me." Hermione sat up, her body felt tight and pained from tossing and turning all night.
"Did Riddle keep you up all night? You look like you barely slept." Ginny walked over to her bureau removing her pajamas.
Hermione felt her throat restrict at the mention of last night and felt a small heat pool in her body with a feeling of nausea that countered the heat. She didn't want to talk or think about last night if she could help it, but she knew it would be in her head all day.
"I've just been up late a lot. I'm ready for these detentions to be over, I'm not sure I can take another night being alone with To-Professor Riddle." Hermione caught herself, her cheeks burned slightly. The last thing she needed to do was start calling her professors by their first names to her friends that would hardly seem suspicious at all.
"I'm ready for you to be done, you know how god awful it is to sit up here alone listening to Lavender blab on and on about the dumbest things. You honestly wouldn't believe half the gossip that comes from her mouth." Ginny turned and look around to see who was around, seeing the other girls had ether already made their way to breakfast or gone to the shower she walked over to Hermione's bed where Hermione had begun to remove her night gown. "Lavender swore up and down to Katie Bell last night in the common room that Seamus was feeling up Nina Chibbar in the divination room the other night. Can you imagine? It's only the first week and school. Parvati is just beside herself really. Could just be gossip but you never know really, Seamus can be quite a dog."
Hermione heard Ginny talking but didn't find herself following along. She knew she needed at least pretend that she cared about the things she was telling her. Her mind wandered slowly as Ginny walked away from Hermione's bed side still telling Hermione all the things she had heard. Honestly her mind was still reeling from her previous night, that wasn't something her brain nor any other parts of her body was going to let her just forget. She was thankful tomorrow was the last night of her detention, she was considering forcing herself to be sick just before and avoiding the detention altogether. She wasn't going to put herself back into that situation, no she was simply going to end it.
"Did you hear me Hermione?" Ginny asked waving at her from the bathroom door. "Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale."
"No, I actually feel quite sick." Hermione wasn't exactly lying, her stomach was twisting itself into such intricate knots behind her skin that it was making her nauseous and she felt as though she might vomit if she continued speaking.
"Maybe you ought to skip class today." Ginny said tying her tie around her neck.
"I think you're right." Hermione nodded, her head felt heavy from all the thoughts that swirled around inside it.
Hermione had no intentions of going to class, she had every single intention of going straight to the library and spending the whole day there, free of Tom Riddle and full of any type of knowledge she could get her hands on. Ginny, promising to come check on her later, left and went down to breakfast leaving Hermione sitting alone with her thoughts in the dormitory. Hermione lay her head back down, dying to go back to sleep, praying for it though she knew it would not come. She sighed heavily and resigned herself to sitting up and dressing, though she took her time. The thought of skipping class did nothing to help her already souring mood.
It wasn't so much the fact that it had been her professor that was bothering her now but the fact that she had enjoyed herself to the point where she hadn't even been able to push him away. If anything she had provoked him for more, she even jumped to wrap her bloody legs around him! Hermione closed her eyes and could feel it all over again, as if his hands were digging into her hips. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes as hard as she could, as if rubbing hard enough would rid her head of the memories.
Hermione closed her eyes as she settled herself into the small cushy chair that faced out towards the Great Lake, taking a deep breath to quell her nerves. She'd slept through her study period and was now skipping her first class. The book that lay in her hands made her feel more at home and made her heart slow slightly, no matter what situation that she seemed to face, a book always seemed to comfort her to an extent. She felt time pass slowly as the book consumed her mind, the words seamlessly flying off the page but she couldn't absorb them as usual. Her mind kept finding a word in the book, touch, breath, voice, deep, they all made her think back to last night.
"Skipping class Hermione? That could buy you another's week detention." His voice came into her ear, Hermione jumped so suddenly she flew out of her chair, flying onto her hands and knees.
Her face burned from humiliation and memories of the previous night, she turned to glare at her professor, making sure he knew his presence wasn't exactly welcome. She pushed herself up and stood up, her knees burned from the carpet and her hands scrapped.
"Don't you have a class to teach, professor?" Hermione laid heavy emphasis on the word.
"Don't you have a class to be in, Hermione?" His tone quickly thick on her name, a small smile played on his lips.
"You know Professor, some might find it highly inappropriate in the ways you serve detention." Hermione's face flushed slightly at her boldness.
"Whatever do you mean?" His face looked falsely curious, a wicked gleam held in his eyes.
"Do you always make sexual advances on your students professor?" Hermione looked him straight in the eyes, doing her best to keep her hands from trembling.
"You're much bolder than you were last night Hermione, tell me. Do you always allow your professors to touch you in such ways? Is that why your marks are so high?" Her professor smirked, trailing closer to her.
Hermione gasped at his insinuation, her face hot with rage. She found herself biting her cheek so hard she could taste the bitter acid of metallic blood. Her hand itched to palm itself across his cheek, wiping his bloody smirk off with it.
"You were so eager and easy to control last night Hermione, you can't be as innocent as you seem." He came around and pressed her back onto the table that sat in front of her chair. "Did you not enjoy our time together last night?" Hermione felt her breath hitch as his hand grabbed her wrist, he could feel her pulse beating wildly in it. He brought it to his lips and trailed his tongue across it, his eyes staring straight into hers. She stared at his lips on her wrist, she could feel her blood pumping heavily in her veins.
"Professor…please." Hermione begged, but half of her wasn't sure for what.
"Don't worry, it's much too public here." He released Hermione and stepped back, pointing his arm to the chair behind her.
Hermione took a seat and felt her body release a small sigh of release. She didn't think she was capable of handling a reprise of last night's events. She didn't think she could even handle the next three detentions. Her professor leaned back against the table giving Hermione an interested gaze.
"You shouldn't get so huffy when I'm around you Hermione, people will begin to suspect something." He brought his wrist up to look at the time.
"Maybe if you treated me like a normal student, I wouldn't act that way, professor." Hermione continued to lay emphasis onto the term, almost as a self-assurance.
"Still so high on that horse Hermione, it would do you good to have that confidence in situations like last night." He brought his wrist up to glance at his watch. Her professor's voice was blank giving the effect that he wasn't as affected by these thoughts as Hermione was. "I would avoid skipping class again Hermione if you aren't hoping for nighttime extracurricular activities with your favorite professor."
"Last night was a mistake To-professor." He looked up, a small smile played on his lips. He hadn't missed her slip of the tongue.
"Let me tell you something Hermione. I, in no way, forced myself upon you last night. Sure, I held your hands above your head and got a little rough, but you liked that. You never pushed me away, don't you remember Hermione? Don't you remember how you moved your body against mine?" He moved closer, walking behind her chair and crouching to speak into her ear. Her body became a statue. "Don't you remember the way you said my name as you came? Have you ever came like that Hermione?"
His voice spilled into her ear and her eyes closed, her legs crossing of their own accord at the heat that was building in her body. Her body stilled further when his lips brushed her ear and neck, waiting for her response.
"I'll take that as a yes." She felt him stand and her body exhaled again, she'd been holding her breath. "Tonight at seven, don't be late."
She didn't open her eyes until she was sure he was gone. His scent lingered around her and she felt the sudden urge to run until she couldn't feel her legs anymore, to get as far away from the scent as possible. She stood up, leaving the book behind and grabbing her bag walking as quickly as she could to her second class.
Cormac walked into the classroom, smiling as he caught her face. It took every fiber of willpower she had to resist rolling her eyes at his stupid dreamy smile. She had no doubt it worked on every other girl at Hogwarts but Hermione was too smart and he was simply just too stupid, unlike Tom. She angrily chided herself, trying to remind herself not to think about him.
"Missed you first period Hermione, I've never known you to miss a class." He sat unreasonably close to her. Hermione thought about moving away, but knew he would just scoot over and just dealt with it.
"I wasn't feeling well, had to go to Nurse Pomfrey." She didn't look at him, she felt that allowing him to sit too close and looking at him would give him false hope. Something she didn't feel up to giving.
"Given any thought to a date for the ball? I'm still open?" He smiled at her devilishly.
"They haven't announced the ball, hardly seems fair to not give the other girls a fighting chance." She shrugged, annoyed by how stupid the question was. She hadn't asked anyone to the dance because nobody knew there was a dance.
"I wouldn't wait too long, I'm in high demand." Hermione almost gagged at his confidence.
"I'll definitely keep that in mind." Hermione felt relieved as her professor walked in silencing everyone. There wasn't any way this day could get any worse.
"Geez Hermione, you look like a train wreck." Ron's mouth was filled with food, it was a wonder he was able to speak with his mouth that full. Hermione wanted to sew it shut and let him choke on it all.
"You and your sister, you have so much in common." Hermione snapped angrily, sitting down so hard it hurt her bottom. "I don't understand why everyone feels the need to point out how ghastly I look today."
"Bad day?" Harry asked, elbowing Ron giving him a look.
"I don't know if I can handle another night with Riddle, he's killing me." Hermione suddenly felt a savage hunger and began eating so quickly it was as if she was inhaling it.
"You can't let him get to you, he'll ruin your last year if you let him get to you every night." Ginny said comfortingly.
"I know, it's just. He's so difficult! I don't understand why he hates me so much!" Hermione looked at her watch, only thirty minutes until detention. She wasn't ready. She didn't think she would ever be ready.