Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Severus double checked his pocket once more before leaving. It wouldn't do to lose the portkeys that had been given to him. Satisfied that the two portkeys were safely in his hands, he apparated directly to the bedroom of one Ronald Weasley.
He landed right in the middle of a circle of redheads, plus one Hermione Granger. Ignoring the older Weasley brothers, he pressed one charm into Hermione's hand and another into Ron's before activating them. He only heard a brief moment of outcry before apparating back to Hogwarts.
Harry jumped up when he saw Hermione and Ron land in ungraceful heaps on his bedroom floor.
"What the bloody hell was that bat thinking?! I ought to-"
"Ron! Hermione!" Ron cut his own tirade off upon seeing Harry standing before him.
"Harry? Oh Harry! It's so good to see you!" Hermione made to leap at him with the start of a hug, but she pulled herself back at the last moment. "Oh, I'm sorry Harry, it's just been so long since I've seen you," he held out his hand to stop her from fretting.
"I think I'd like a hug from my best friends, thanks." Beaming, his friends embraced him before Hermione cut to the chase.
"Why is it that you had Professor Snape kidnap us? You could have just owled, you know."
"Yeah mate, I was this close to winning a game of chess against the blasted twins!"
"Sorry guys, but owling wasn't going to cut it this time. You see...I need some help."
"I guess I sort of need to explain a few other things first though, otherwise this won't make sense at all. You know how I asked you two about your thoughts on the Order's side versus...well, the other side? I was shocked when you two told me that maybe Voldemort's side isn't that bad. Absolutely blown away. Because you two were right.
"Voldemort went a little off the deep end the first time around. Excessive use of dark magic will taint your mind, especially so in his case. So after he lost his body he essentially created a new one. One without the mass amounts of dark magic to corrupt it. He reversed a few of the things he had done and now is just as sane as you or I."
"Well that settles it mate, because you're downright bonkers." A moment of silence passed before the three of them started laughing at Ron's joke.
"That's besides the point, you wanker. Voldemort called off all the attacks and started focusing on ministry doings. He started moving his death eaters up the political chain and focused on pushing for change. Didn't you ever wonder why the ministry was suddenly so efficient at making laws and enforcing the immediate effect of new regulations? What few attacks happened after that weren't that of death eaters. The Order has a lot of connections in the crime world and started all of them except one. And those responsible for the single death eater attack have been dealt with, by the way. It wasn't planned, they went rogue."
"Harry," Hermione spoke softly, concern furrowing her eyebrows. "How is it that you know all this?"
"That's where I'm hoping our friendship goes deeper than prejudice. You see, I'm sort of dating-"
"Oh come off it mate! You can't tell me you're dating a death eater?"
"Ronald!" Hermione punched Ron in the shoulder. "Inappropriate! You simply must tell me who you're dating Harry! I've been wondering forever when you were going to tell us who it is you've been seeing."
"Well...I'm sort of dating Tom. Tom Riddle." Hermione's mouth dropped while Ron looked confused.
"Who the bloody hell is Tom Riddle?"
"Ron, that's...well…"
"It's Voldemort, Ron. I'm dating Voldemort. I've...actually sort of fallen in love with him." At this, Ron's eyes practically bugged out of his head.
"You're in love with the man who murdered your parents? Have you gone mad?"
"No, I haven't gone mad. Look, shortly after he came back he sent me this journal-anonymously of course-and a box that he could send things through. He sent nutrient potions, healing salves even food. The journal had the same charm on it that we put on our scratch parchments when we're in class. He talked to me, he even opened up to me a little as well." Harry then went on to talk about the shared dreams and the mental link they shared.
"Wow...so you two can just talk to each other mentally? Like, you'd never have to say another word to one another ever if you didn't want to?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Wicked. I'm assuming this has got something to do with why you had the overgrown bat kidnap us?"
"So here's the thing. The ministry has essentially been running itself since Malfoy was elected. I've sort of convinced him to allow me to kill Voldemort so that Tom and I can lead a relatively normal life...well, as normal as I can live anyway. I wanted your opinions and ideas." Harry could practically see the wheels turning in Hermione's mind.
"I've got an idea."
"Do you really think that will work?"
"There's no reason it won't work. And with Harry suddenly feeling safe enough to bring his significant other into the public, it'll be the perfect story. With one article-written by myself, of course-you could so easily convince the world that Voldemort's dead and that we're all safe. Now, I have just one more question."
"What's that?"
"When am I going to meet Tom?"
"Well, I wasn't planning on that today but if you'd like to meet him, I'm sure that can be arranged." Hermione nodded and Ron didn't argue so Harry got up and knocked on the door to Tom's room.
"You can come in, Harry!" Harry opened the door and made his way to the man sitting by the fireplace. Suddenly feeling particularly shy, Harry rubbed his left arm with his right hand.
"Tom? They wanted to meet you." Surprise flitted across Tom's face and he stood before gathering Harry up in his arms.
"And are they meeting Tom or are they meeting Voldemort?" His voice was hesitant.
"They want to meet you, Tom." He shivered when Tom crooked his lips up, ever so slightly more on one side.
"Well, then let's go meet your friends."
Hermione turned when she heard footsteps approaching. The man behind Harry certainly didn't look that much older than Harry, and he was rather quite handsome. The red eyes were a bit off putting to her, but she supposed it was something she could get used to over time.
"Guys, this is Tom. Tom, this is Ron and Hermione." Tom bowed to Hermione, making a blush creep into her cheeks.
"Hermione, I presume. A beautiful name to accompany a beautiful woman. It's a pleasure to meet someone that always seemed to help Harry stay one step ahead of myself. Thank you for always stopping me, by the way. I would be, and would have been, quite lonely without him. Even if I didn't know it at the time." He then turned to Ron.
"Pleased to meet you, Ron. I'm rather happy that you agreed to meet me. I wasn't sure you'd even be willing to be in the same room given everything that your family stands for."
"Yeah, well, you'll find that Harry's reasoning is sound and he's always got an extremely good reason for doing what he does. Just do me a favor, would you?"
"If it's within my power, I shall." Ron nodded and grabbed Tom by his collar to pull their faces together.
"You've managed to get him to be comfortable with himself and others again. If you're playing some sort of sick, twisted game with him, I swear I'll make dearest Bellatrix look like a walk in the goddamn rainbow park for toddlers. Understood?" Hermione and Harry looked on at the scene unfolding in front of them in shock.
"I understand. But Ron, let me just say this. When I first started talking to him, I had the intent to lull him in so I could kill him. But then I got to know him. Really know him. I've lived out some of his worst moments with him to help ease the pain of the situation. Against all odds, I have fallen in love with him. If I were to hurt him, it would surely kill me." Seeming pleased with the answer he received, he let Tom's collar go.
"Good. Now that that's settled, we've got to plan your murder."