A/N: The writing style of this chapter will be drastically different to what I have written so far- this is the junction between Tia being in the past and her being in the future. It will gradually get easier to read since Tia will be in a vaguely modern setting. And the time! My God, the gap between the last chapter and this was ridiculous! I will be doing a double update for sure!
J.F.C: It was :( But I suppose Voldemort sort of had it coming- the way he obsessively controlled everything Tia did meant she would be glad to be free of his grasp, or at least until he calmed. I was pondering on that idea, but then I though that I needed a strong incentive for Tom to hate the Muggles. So, the Nazis bomb Tia- and Tom gradually first hates them, then branches it out to all Muggles. Thanks *blushes* and he will be considerably darker than canon, so you got that one right.
The last lines... Well- you'll find out soon.
Ah, here is where I will be a little loose of tongue. Tom Riddle Sr is a separate entity from Tom Riddle. If you read back, I stated that Katherine and Tom were illegitimate (they aren't, Tom and Merope eloped, but he wants to forget that. Kathy and Tom already believe that they were the product of a one night stand since the staff convinced them that their mother was a prostitute). The fact that they were born out of wedlock- and with Merope, no doubt- means that Tom Riddle Sr would want to censor the documents as soon as possible (silence the report). Tom Riddle Jr, or rather Voldemort, censored all details about Tia because he didn't want to look weak, as you said yourself :)
I will try to keep things as canon as possible- so I will try to keep to the canon deaths. But I am not above the idea of having a friend help Tia (Spoiler: At least one will).
I would want to, but I've already got so much on my system on this story that I am almost hesitant to halve it. My story is a little eccentric, so people may not want to read it, but I am perfectly content that way :) Thanks for going through all the trouble to write a long review yet again- it really is a treat when I see them
fish337: I'm not! LOL! Here's the next chapter, sorry I annoyed you :(
My eyes snapped open.
The landscape around me was a foggy one. I looked down at my knees and saw a white dress- one identical to the flowing outfit I wore in my dream of the meadow.
Was that dream symbolic?
Was the meadow meant to show that my nightmare is just beginning?
Is Tom going to be Voldemort?
I stood up, suddenly feeling dizzy when I instantly remembered.
I'm dead.
Oh God. I'm dead.
I collapsed to my knees, screaming out in the foggy white landscape.
" No!" I shouted. " NO!" My voice screamed my horror in a hoarse voice. " TOM, NO!" I scrambled to my feet and searched through the blinding white. " TOM! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
It's just me.
I'm dead.
Tom lived.
" No." My voice was despondent and I sank to the floor in disbelief. " I am alone." I whispered. " I am alone." Tears starting to snake out of my eyes.
" Are you okay there?" Someone asked, cautiously. I whipped around, my wavy black hair flipping onto my right shoulder.
A girl was standing before me, her age around eighteen and her curly brown hair all over the place. She was leaning against a pillar that had suddenly materialised out of nowhere. She was wearing the most peculiar clothes I had ever seen- ones that clung indecently to her body and gave little imagination to what she might be like under all of it. Her jeans were the tightest I'd yet to see in 1937 and she was wearing a Gryffindor scarf around her neck. A wand was held gently in her hands. She was smiling.
" Who knew that I-" The girl paused. " Katherine Merope Riddle looked cute as a little girl?" She corrected herself, as if though she was itching to pinch my cheeks. Perturbed, I blinked owlishly at her. The girl laughed.
She was holding my wand.
" What are you doing with my wand?" I asked, frowning. The girl looked down.
" Whoops. Forgot to tell you. I'm the image projected as of what you will see in your future. My name's Hermione Granger. Yours?" She asked, passing me my wand. I felt a trill of power surge through me, but ignored it in favour of responding.
" You know who I am. I am dead. You are a fragment of my imagination." The girl shook her head, sadly. " Surely this must be purgatory? Am I to go to hell, like Mrs Cole always says?" I asked, my voice suddenly becoming quiet. The girl looked a little shocked, but answered my question.
" You think this is purgatory?" She asked. I bit my lip and bowed my head. " Wow. You're so... different. I remember you being... Well... Uptight."
" And you aren't?"
" I used to be. But living with Ronald caused me to slack off a little. My language is ruined because of him." She rolled her eyes and I briefly wondered if she used to speak like me.
" What kind of attire are you wearing?" I asked, as politely as I could put it. Hermione raised an eyebrow.
" Ah yes, you're from 1937, aren't you?" She turned around and the previously foggy world around me shifted into focus and became a cleaner, larger version of King's Cross station. She walked up to the bench and gestured beneath it. I hesitated, something telling me that whatever I saw there wasn't going to be pleasant, but looked anyway.
Beneath the pristine white bench lay a flayed body, one that resembled Tom when he was nine. It looked like a victim of brutal mutilation. I gasped in horror and scrambled backwards. Hermione just stood there, looking at me grimly. The child lifted a shaking, weak hand.
" Help me." It's voice was raspy, like the sound of an old man's dying breaths. I stood there, transfixed, staring at the being in utter horror. Hermione placed a gentle hand on my arm.
" You cannot help him." She said, softly. I swallowed.
" But-"
" Listen to me, Katherine." Hermione span me around and placed her hands on my shoulders, lowering herself so that she kept eye contact with me. " That being is something full of evil. It is something that I doubt you have heard of, but I'll tell you anyway. It's a horcrux." The mere word sent shivers down my spine. The groaning of the body behind me suddenly seemed malicious.
" And define what... a horcrux is?" I whispered. Hermione sighed.
" A piece of a soul. Something that can only be fractured once you have committed a murder. I'm fairly sure that you recognised who the perpetrator is, but what I'd like to know is if your brother, Tom Riddle, has killed anyone." I swallowed.
I was dead anyway.
Tom would never find out.
" Yes. A man in his late forties. Greasy, thick blonde hair. Had an appetite for young girls. Blue eyes. His name was Duncan Dursley. He was the resident drinker of our town." Hermione looked a little surprised.
" Must be the father of Vernon, then." She murmured. I frowned in confusion, but she pushed along. " How old was Tom?"
" He was nine." Hermione froze.
" Can you repeat that for me?" She asked, her voice disbelieving. I licked my lips, feeling nauseous.
" I said, Tom murdered Duncan Dursley on the day after his birthday- my birthday. We turned nine on the thirty first July, 1935. That was the day that Tom pushed Duncan down the stairs. We slept in his room that night because I feared that a recreation of that event may occur yet again." Hermione glanced to the bench, and I could tell that she was thinking furiously.
" Yes, it makes sense... You were in close contact. There's no other reason for why your brother's soul is latching onto you." I immediately felt worried when she used the word 'latched' instead of 'is in'.
" You mean it is a parasite? It is sucking my magic from me?" Hermione nodded grimly.
" I can't take it away, though, that would require your death. And if you die..." She trailed off. " No, we can't afford you to die. You're too valuable. I'm afraid that the horcrux will have to remain." She ended with a sigh. I bit my lip. " Anyway, that is not the reason why I am here. I am here to present you with three choices. Often, people only have two, but it seems that Lady Hecate and Lord Kronos appear to favour you. I'm almost jealous." Hermione smiled. " Almost."
" What do you mean?"
" What I mean that you are going to have a load of things thrown at you, but you mustn't lose hope." She turned around and grasped my hand. I held on and she seemed surprised. She smiled at me.
I gave a hesitant smile back.
" W-will I see Tom again?" I asked. Hermione pursed her lips.
" I can't answer that. Sorry." I bit my lip. We finally arrived in front of the wall that was the barrier between the Muggle world and the Wizarding World, the sign 'Platform 9 3/4' hanging proudly above it.
" What are we doing?-" At that instant, two trains suddenly rushed into view, sending twin gusts of air into our faces. Hermione clung onto my hand and I didn't let go, and eventually, the rush of air dissipated and then stopped.
" You see Kings Cross, like most people do, as a junction between one world and the next." Hermione explained. She gestured toward the wall. " You see that wall as the gateway to hell, a life of fear and constant pain. Well, let me tell you something. This wall leads to a destination that isn't that bad." Hermione let go of my hand. " This train," Hermione motioned to her right. " Leads to death. Choose that one and you will never awaken again. Your body, right now, is in a moment of stasis. Time is looping over and over again to prevent you from dying until you make a decision. Choose death and the loop will be severed. The bomb will explode and you will become naught but ash and dust." I swallowed- that didn't sound particularly tempting to me.
" And the left train?" I asked, my voice soft. Hermione tilted her head.
" Now that one is a peculiar one. Most people either ignore it or don't get this option. You, on the other hand..." Hermione trailed off. " This train is the one that leads to reincarnation. Step through that one and the loop, like death, will be severed, but your soul will leave your body before it is destroyed. Your soul will enter an embryo that dies and your soul will utilise it to gain a new body. However, you will be memoryless. And there is no saying that your brother might not kill you if you happen to be reborn into a Muggle or Magical family." I weighed out the options so far. Obviously, reincarnation looked a lot more favourable to me, but I wasn't prepared to make a split second decision.
" I would like to see what will happen of the body I will be placed in, first." I commanded. Hermione nodded. The doors of the reincarnation train slid open and I saw what was to happen, much like a television screen, except it was in full colour. I stared at what would happen.
I was running through the train's hallway, grasping Tom's suitcase with a wild look in my eyes.
I was set back three meters.
It repeated five or six times until, eventually, time resolved itself and the bomb hit the train. I perished in a fire.
I shuddered. Hermione laid a comforting hand on my arm.
" It's alright." She said, softly.
•••
A normal girl was born into a normal family. Unlike me, she was to have blonde hair and brown eyes. Her name was Violetta Enfield and she had the only gift that my reincarnation had given her- magic. She used it to levitate books, or do whatever she wanted. Violetta was envied by her brothers for this reason, of whom plotted against her. She got her Hogwarts Letter and had a vision of the past- of my past that refused to remain buried. Violetta went into Hogwarts, got sorted into Ravenclaw and gained these premonitions and visions from everything she saw until the day that she entered her second year. She watched Ginny open the Chamber of Secrets and took the diary off her. She became fast friends with Tom, but his only motive was to manipulate her visions and make her open the Chamber of Secrets.
The Chamber was opened, and Violetta; still possessed by Tom; walked in and laid down on the floor. Tom's spirit rose like an inky smoke and condensed into the body of a handsome teenage boy- with a beautiful face and perfect hair that (I noted with a stabbing of my heart) still curled around his left eyebrow in the way that mine did also. But Tom gave her a speech. Violetta saw herself in Tom and tried to empathise- until Tom shows her that he is Lord Voldemort. Violetta regained her memories as me, but before she could tell him, Tom had already killed her by unleashing the basilisk.
Harry Potter was too late.
The younger form of Tom Riddle- AKA Voldemort- was free and roaming, still raw from the loss of his sister.
And that was what made him so dangerous.
Voldemort was killed by Tom Riddle a couple of years later when he tried to rise out of the cauldron with next to no magical casualties, but the Wizarding World did not rejoice. Tom's obsession with black haired, green eyed girls was what made him to become Minister for Magic, and if any girl who fitted that colour scheme was seen in Hogwarts or anyplace else, then she was abducted, brought to Tom to examine before being killed once he picked out flaws that marked the girls as different from myself.
One such girl, an unfortunate Muggle named Clarissa Lefevre, happened to look almost exactly like me. Tom spotted her personally and kidnapped her before he took her into his office and spelled her eyes green instead of blue. She looked like a copy of me.
Convinced that Tom had found my reincarnation, he imprisoned her in his house until she grew insane. She believed Tom to be her husband and kept throwing herself at him. Disturbed and heartbroken, Tom threw the almost-me girl out and, instead, chose to remain detached.
A repeat of Voldemort's reign of terror ensued and an old, wizened Harry Potter faced off against an immortally teenaged Dark Lord. Potter won, and slew Voldemort.
But everyone fled Britain due to the sudden killing of the Magical Gene pool. The Purebloods had no choice but to leave in order to keep their bloodlines pure- unless they wished to marry their own family members- by marrying into foreign Pureblood families.
Scorpius Malfoy married Indira Kaur. Their chidren were beautiful, tanned, black haired and grey eyed girls and a single boy who had a mixture of dirty blonde and black hair, accompanied by dark brown eyes.
Rose Weasley married Tsan Chi. Their son inherited his father's genes and good looks, but also his mother's blue eyes.
Lily Potter, Albus Potter and James Potter all married the American Smithson sisters once it got out that Lily Potter was attracted to girls. Albus had two daughters with Jaimee- Elizabeth Smithson who'd inherited their mother's blonde hair and their father's green eyes. James Potter married the ginger of the family- Emily Smithson- and had three sons and one daughter with her, all of whom looked like clones of James Potter 1 and Lily Potter 1. Lily Potter married Kaleese Smithson and adopted a mixed race girl and a Scandinavian boy.
And the other Weasley cousins died trying to save their parents as they were killed at wand point by former Death Eaters.
All that happened to those living families were well.
However, all that happened to my brother was evidently not well.
•••
" NO!" I shouted. " I SHALL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN TO TOM! NEVER!" Hermione looked at me with a pitying look in her eyes.
" Then I suppose you have only one choice left." She said, softly.
I looked back at the wall that suddenly seemed welcoming.
" What happens if I choose that?" I whispered.
" You travel in time." Hermione responded. My head snapped up.
" You mean, actual years? Not hours?" My voice was saturated in disbelief. Hermione smiled.
" What I'm wearing is pretty much what everyone wears over in 1998." Hermione gestured at her indecent clothing. " But you will be travelling back to 1991. My childhood. Your destiny." Hermione extended a hand. " So, what do you choose, Katherine?" I swallowed, looking at the wall nervously.
" I-"
" We don't have much time. When I step through that time portal, I return to my own time. You need to choose now, Kathy." Hermione said, softly.
" I choose time." I responded. Hermione smirked.
The bottom of my stomach fell.
Hermione is a Gryffindor.
She never smirks.
" Good choice." Her appearance flickered.
It wasn't Hermione who was standing before me.
It was a tall, black haired boy with perfectly coiffed hair. He was wearing a white blouse and a pair of dress trousers with a white bathrobe on top. He was modest, and covered most of himself up. He was holding a tweed jacket in one hand- tweed? Really?- and his wand in the other.
But what struck me was that he had green eyes.
He looked down and saw the bathrobe.
" Oh for goodness sake, must I appear in a fluffy white bathrobe? Really?" He asked the heavens.
" Tom?!" I asked in disbelief. The boy looked down and gave me a smirk worthy of Salazar Slytherin's approval.
" No. Katherine."
" Yes, I know I am Katherine-"
" That is not what I am trying to say." I paled.
He didn't shorten 'that is' to 'that's'.
Only I speak like that...
" Oh my-" The boy bowed.
" Hello." He said, once he stood straight back up.
" But why dress like that?" I whispered. He gave me a cocky grin.
" Well," His voice returned to normal, instead of it being a male voice, an irrefutably female voice answered me. " I was going to go to a fancy dress party and I decided, why not stir things up a little? I chose to dress up as an old professor following Hermione's remark that I would make an excellent one. Everyone had the same reaction as you and had their wands out, believing me to be my- or our- brother. It took them a while to calm down, and by the time that they did they had a good laugh about it."
" Well. You make a handsome boy. For a girl." I said. He- or rather, she- smiled at me.
" Genetics." She tossed her coat in one hand and caught it. " There is only one thing I regret from doing that, and that would be cutting my hair. It took me an aeon to grow it. But now it is long. I am merely wearing a wig, for now." I snorted. The other me pulled off the wig and her hair cascaded out, thick, black waves falling out like a waterfall. I marvelled at it once it eventually settled around her arms. It was shorter than my hair, but the quality of it was much, much better.
But one thing hit me.
I was going to look like that.
I was going to look... pretty.
Like Lily Abberth.
" So. You are me-"
" And I you. It is quite simple, truly."
" But why is there not a paradox?"
" From us touching, you mean? Well, you see, I am dreaming right now. Who you are seeing, as I said before, is a projection of me." The other me responded. I nodded, hesitantly.
" So, if I go through that portal then I travel through time and you-"
" Wake up, yes." The other me said. I stood in front of the portal, my back to her.
" Will it be difficult?" I whispered. The other girl responded.
" Yes. But is it not worth it? Living another life?" She asked, softly.
" If that was what I wanted, I could have chosen to reincarnate. No, I want to save my brother. I want him to be safe." I whispered. The other me hummed.
" Good point. I suppose you must travel in time, then."
" Oh?"
" Time is unstable." The other me said, nonchalantly. " If you choose to travel in time, then you could change your future based on what decisions you make. You could die and I would cease to exist. You could become Dark Lady and I would be Dark also. Or you could kill your brother." A shiver went down my spine.
" Never."
" Then, I suppose," She said, walking toward the wall. " You have no choice. Accio wand." I gasped. My wand flew out of my hand.
" What are you-"
" I'm so, so sorry." She said, softly. The other me had bent slightly to my level. She gave me a sad smile. I stared at those eyes that were just as green as my own, pleading with her not to push me back- into a world that I didn't know.
" No." I whispered.
She pushed me backwards.
•••
I fell, tumbling through time as it whistled around me. There were hues of violet, blue and pink around me- almost misleadingly pretty.
The tunnel around me was composed of gaseous substances that felt like ice to my skin. I found the entire experience agonizing- the day that Mrs Cole left Tom and I outside during the winter when we caught hypothermia paled in comparison to the blistering cold of this place.
My hair whipped at my face like snakes and my clothes froze, creating a cast of ice and fabric around my body.
Despite this, however, I was drawn to the seductive mystery of time.
But I knew how dangerous Lord Kronos was.
Lights danced before my vision before everything went white.
After what seemed like a millennium of tumbling through the vortex, the play of unusual colours ceased.
The vortex closed above me and the black sky greeted me.
I looked around.
And gasped.
The moon was shining bright above me and the sun was reaching out with its rays like a loving mother. I could see Mars in the distance, its distinctive red colouration catching my eye. Venus was just ahead of me, the peach tinted planet...
Spinning backwards.
I floundered for a bit before realising that magic was the only reason why I hadn't been squashed into oblivion. Magic was the reason why I was still breathing.
Thank God for magic.
I kicked my legs and flipped around in the gravity-less vacuum. No stars could be seen- they were too far away. All of a sudden, I wondered if this was how people like Darwin felt.
Ridiculed. Trapped. But in awe of what they knew. Almost as if though they wanted to keep it for themselves forever.
Because I wanted to hold this moment to me for all of eternity.
But suddenly, I felt a sharp pull before I- literally- got back to Earth.
The blue atmosphere was supposed to be welcoming, but I didn't want to leave this beauty behind.
Something caught my eye.
There was a huge expanse of lights across the darkened side of the Earth. Judging by the shape of the lights, it was happening over Europe. I could make out my Mother Country, England, just at the North. The whole world looked... Extraterrestrial. It was completely alien to me, a common girl from 1937, to witness such a touching, beautiful sight.
To see just how much humanity has progressed. This fact made it feel all the more real to me.
Oh my God. I have time travelled.
I am not in 1937 anymore.
I am fifty years into the future.
I am in 1991.
Staring at those beautiful lights made my low opinion of Muggles soar sky-high and my respect and admiration of these seemingly insignificant people blossomed.
How much are these people, of whom we look down upon, truly capable of?
How could they achieve so much in the space of fifty short years?
I saw bubbles of water in front of me and I knew that they were tears.
It pulled at my heart, seeing this all.
It is home and yet it is not home. Tom might be dead. Who knew how much had changed and how much had stayed the same?
But despite all of this, I still felt more tears coming.
Is it normal to feel so insignificant after witnessing how much Muggles had done without knowledge of the Wizards? Is it normal to want to stay here forever, for all of eternity, just to watch over mankind and see how much more beauty they could make?
I noticed the distinct lack of air raid planes and a watery smile spread upon my face.
It is peaceful.
There is no more hatred.
No more war.
I closed my eyes, capturing this moment behind my eyelids.
It is time to go home.
I spread my arms and my hair lay suspended around me like an inky black halo, my face showing pure bliss.
Do I look beautiful?
Somewhere in my mind, a whispered 'yes' responded, sounding eerily like Tom.
My orphanage uniform was still frozen, but I didn't care. I loved all of this.
This is the meaning of life.
The utter beauty and complexity of science and mankind intrigued and confused me. I knew I was going to study science the second my feet touched down on the ground.
World, I love you.
Abraxus, I love you.
Alphard, I love you.
Charlus, I love you.
Tom... I cannot even express just how much I love you.
I hope that you are alive.
Tom. I love you.
With that last thought, I started to drift toward my home planet. My speed started to accelerate the closer I got to the surface until-
Fire and smoke broke out around me.
I laughed- insane. Exhilarated. Utterly free.
" I love you, Tom!" I shouted, on the top of my lungs, determined to make the whole world hear it and know it.
My uniform heated up and flapped about me uselessly, magic's shell still surrounding my form.
I am coming, World.
I am returning.
And this time, I will bring Tom to the right path.
The shell of magic sparked and turned silver. I knew I was going to hit the ground in about a second when-
Pain.
Everywhere was black.
A/N: Hi! I hope you liked this chapter! Next one will be up tomorrow, if things go according to plans.
~ Annika