A/N : No, I won't write any disclaimer this time. I'm tired of repeating they don't belong to me, it depresses me.
December 1943 - January 1944 - Bir-Hakeim
Finally, maybe one could get used to this country, Tom thought as he lay down on his bed. The day had been rather nice, and felt almost like holidays. He had had little to do, as Rommel had left in the morning for an inspection of his defenses in the south, and would not be back until the next morning.
After they had met general Loewy, who had been bewildered - and slightly ashamed - when he had seen that the Feldmarschal had not lied to him and had indeed vanquished the Allied troups, they had come back to Headquarters. But such a challenge would certainly make Montgomery strike back, and the germans had better be ready.
He looked at the window ; the night had already fallen, and everything inside was silent - everyone seemed to be asleep. Today, that was New Year's Eve, his birthday. He was eighteen, and he felt all at once young yet so much older than most eighteen-years-old boys. He was more or less a spy, though he had not yet had any occasion to give a report to the minister. He was pretending to be a german in a building full of soldiers who would shoot him on sight if they ever learnt who he was. He should have been afraid. Maybe he was stupid, to have even volunteered in the first place. Yet, oddly enough, he was glad he was here. He could do things, there, that would maybe change the course of the war. He had what he craved for ; power.
He had too much on his head to even think of sleeping. Shrugging, he grabbed a book he had borrowed to Rommel. Well, the Feldmarschal did not know he had lent it, but what he didn't know could not hurt him. It was a book from Alexandre Dumas, that Riddle had found between a copy of Sun Tzu's art of war and Xenophon's anthology, and that he would not have expected to find there. Of course, Rommel could not afford to keep books where magic was mentioned when anyone could find them. All because of these bloody muggles.
Suddenly, Tom stiffened. He had heard some noise outside, some sort of clatter taht had sounded out of place. With a frown, he rose from his bed and went to glance through the window at the garden. It was dark and quiet, the trees stood and cast their shadows on the ground, the scenery was lit only by the moolight. Baaah, probably the wind. Tom cursed himself for being so paranoiac.
He was heading back to bed when he heard once again a noise ; but this time, it seemed to come from the inside of the house. Well, certainly someone was a little hungry and wanted to make himself a snack. That was the most blatant explanation.
But he still felt uneasy. Suddenly, the atmosphere was heavy, sweltering, and Tom could just not even imagine going back to bed to read that stupid muggle book.
He bit his lower lip. He did not like giving way to these childish fears, yet... oh, well, he couldn't sleep anyway. Finally taking his decision, he took his wand and tucked it in his pocket, which was the easiest way to hide it from muggles. He had only his pants on, because it was so hot even at night, and furthermore his sunburn, though almost healed, was still itchy, and having some fabric rubbing on his back was just insufferable. He did not even put his slippers on, his bare feet would make less noise and he would be less likely to slip on the polished floor.
He opened the door of his room, not even bothering to take a candle. If there was someone, the light would be too conspicuous. He felt the cold wood under his feet, and noiselessly slid in the corridor, before heading toward the stairs. Everything seemed fine, and he could not hear anything weird anymore. Well, he would go down the stairs to indulge his paranoiac tendencies, and then he would go back to bed and read some more.
But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a shadow move. No, that had to be a curtain move by the wind.
But the windows were closed.
His heart pounding in his chest, Tom sticked to the wall as if he wanted to melt inside it. But he needed only a second to steady himself. All right, there was someone in the house Rommel used as Headquarters, and that someone was hiding, which meant he was inevitably an ennemy. And if he was an ennemy, he would shoot him on sight.
He had three solutions, when he thought of it. Either he went back to bed, as if he had not heard anything, or he tried to neutralize the man himself, or he called for help. He immediately discarded the first option ; he was as likely to be killed as anyone else in this house. And shouting to warn everyone else was not a very good idea either, because then he'd be a likely target, and he wanted to live past his eighteenth birthday. A lot longer.
He drew his wand and aimed it at the shadow he still saw, ready to use it. When he saw another shadow catch up with the first. He should have think of it. They were obviously no vulgar thieves, so they certainly had a mission. And if that was the case, no one in his right mind would have sent only one man to carry out an assignment that involved the germans Headquarters in Libya.
And where were the sentries ? There was supposed to be several patrols all around the building, and sentries outside and inside, days and nights. Why had not anyone raised the alarm ?
Then Tom saw the tip of the boot that went out of a closet, and he did not need to be Merlin to know just who it was. Seemed like they were highly efficient ; they had taken care of the sentries without a single sound. But still, they were mere muggles, no match for Tom.
His wand still in hand, he muttered a Silencing charm, and a Discretion charm. That would not grant him total invisibility, if he started firing hexes and curses against them, but it would make him damn harder to shoot.
From the landing of the stairs, he had a good sight of the ground floor, but he had to act quickly, because in no time they would come his way. Eyes wide with excitation, he aimed at the closest shadow.
"Stupefy !" he hissed.
A red ray went out of the tip of his wand and hit the shadow in the chest. Propelled backwards, the man shoved the occasional table that stood behind him, and they both crashed on the ground in a deafening noise. But the other shadows, understanding that they had been discovered, stopped caring for the noise - besides, everybody had probably already been awaken - and one of them cast a grenade in the approximative direction the shot had come from - in other words, in Tom's direction.
"Yack !" the teen yelped when he saw the explosive device.
He could not think of any charm that could neutralize it, had not any time to try to remember one, so he just jumped forward and tumbled down the stairs. His Discretion and Silencing charms could not hold with that much gesticulations, and he was a blatant target, even in the dark.
Fortunately, the noise had awaken everyone, and half naked german officers started to come out of their rooms, lügers in hands. In the confusion, Tom crawled downstairs and managed to find a dark spot in which he could lurk. From that safe place, he watched the fight between the germans and the intruders. Two more grenades flew, and shouts of pain in both german and english could be heard. So, these men were Allies, probably Americans or British.
Well, that made sense. Rommel may be an ennemy of Grindelwald, but he was still a danger for the Allies, and it was only logical they would try to stop him by any means necessary.
There had been more of them than Riddle had originally thought, and he shuddered slightly. Had he known they were so numerous, he might have tried to rouse the germans rather than fight them himself. Well, too late, and besides he came unscathed out of the skirmish. The two or three commandos that had not been killed or wounded by the germans fled outside, followed by several german soldiers. Tom discreetly cast an enervatum, for he did not want the germans to wonder why he would not wake up, on the one he had stupefied, who woke up just in time to be taken prisonner.
Some light was put on, and general Loewy stood on the first step of the stairs.
"Please, gentlemen, calm down !" he called, and the noise settled down. "I want the prisonners taken in separate cells, they are to be interrogated later, but there will be at least three guards for each. Someone takes care of the corpses, too. Who raised the alarm ?"
Some silence answered him, as everyone exchanged an unknowing look. Tom hesitated, but after all that was the noise he had made that had warned them. He could take the credit. That would maybe make them prone to be a little less suspicious with him.
"I did", he said loudly.
All glances turned toward him, as he hoisted a satisfied smile on his lips.
"You did ?" the general slowly repeated. "How did you discover them ?"
"I could not sleep", the teen shrugged, "and I heard a noise, so I went to check what it was."
"Very well", Loewy said abruptly. "I shall see to it that the Feldmarschal is acquainted with these facts, once he comes back."
At that point, the german soldiers who had been chasing the fugitives came back, with a corpse and a prisonner. Loewy cast a harsh gaze at the prisonner, who seemed to be wounded, but the Allied soldier ignored him, and sent a desperate glance at Tom, who was the nearest.
"Please, tell me... did we get him ?" he uttered in a hoarse whisper.
Riddle did not need to ask who was "he", and he ruthlessly smirked. He did not care much for that muggle, and even took some delight in the man's forlorn look. That made him feel powerful. Anyway, he did not matter anymore than his despicable father, of whom he disliked till his name.
"Are you joking ?" he laughed. "He was not even here."
The commando opened his mouth in disbelief, as the germans laughed at him too, and when he saw his friends' bodies, he closed his eyes desperately. Then, general Loewy motioned for him to be taken away, and he did not try to fight when the germans brought him away. He seemed almost... broken. Too bad for him, Tom thought, and he forgot the man as soon as he was out of his eyesight.
"Gentlemen, now is the time to go back to bed, I believe", Loewy said firmly. "I will have security doubled ; this will not happen again."
That may be so, but Tom still cast a warning charm on his door when he went back to bed. One could never be too careful, obviously. Yet, he slept soundly for the remaining of the night and in the middle of the morning.
He woke up, warned by the charm he had cast on the door, when someone entered his room. Before even thinking, he had his wand at the ready and aimed at the short blond man who stared at him with a smirk. He heaved a sigh of relief when he recognized the intruder.
"Good Merlin, never do that again !" he groaned, as he sat back on the bed.
"Oh, so sorry", Rommel replied mockingly. "But from what I heard when I arrived, this morning, you are right to be careful. I really have to do something about security."
"Well, I seriously doubt the Allies will try again anytime soon, if that reassures you."
"Except if they knew we'd believe that, of course", the Feldmarschal snorted. "But four of my staff officers were wounded, and one killed", he then added with deadly seriousness. "I can't, and won't, allow something like that to ever happen again."
"Now, you're warned", Tom shrugged.
"Thanks to you", Rommel pointed out. "You did not have to do that. You should not have to fight against your fellow countrymen, even if it is to better face Grindelwald."
"I volunteered", Riddle reminded him pointedly. "And I do not have the same conception of patriotism as yours, so just stop trying to feel guilty for the both of us."
The german wizard cast him an amazed look, but did not insist. Instead, he cleared his thorat and carried on.
"Yet, I am grateful. You saved the lives of my officers", he said, thoughtfully gazing at the window. "By the way, I believe it was your birthday, yesterday", he added off-handedly.
Dumbfounded by the change of subject, Tom blinked.
"How do you know that ?" he queried, more agressively than he wanted to sound.
"Dumbledore told me", the german replied, shrugging. "Anyway, I guess you earned a birthday present, last night."
He tossed him a small square box, and Tom's reflexes made him catch it. He impatiently opened it, and stared at the object inside, astounded.
It was an Iron Cross.
December 1943 - January 1944 - South of Libya
Major Merhoff wiped the sweat off his face, heaving a sigh of relief as the prisonners entered the prisonners of war camp he had taken them to. Setting these camps as far as possible from the front was only logical, for that would make an escape quite more difficult, but he did not have to like these baby-sitter duties.
As the last prisonners entered the camp, he nudged his friend Aldinger, and they both made a move toward them.
"You !" he called in english to an Allied corporal, easily recognizable from his large ears that made his head seem too small for his neck. "Come here !"
The man looked all around, as if he expected someone else to be called, but he finally understood he was the one supposed to come, and he approached the two germans officers, shuffling his feet. Merhoff tried to hide his contempt at that sight. He had observed the man during their walk, and just how he had become anything more than a mere private was still a wonder.
"Your name, corporal", he asked when the man finally reached him and Aldinger.
"Wilkinson, sir", he answered nervously. "serial number 58772..."
"I don't care about your serial number", Merhoff snarled, hoping the petty officer wouldn't stick to the "name, rank and serial number" policy. He really wasn't in the mood for that.
"Oh", Wilkinson just said, and kept quiet.
"I want to talk to you about that young man you were talking to, when we were in camp", the major resumed. "The one with black hair and green eyes."
"Oh, you mean, Riddle ?"
Merhoff frowned when he heard the name. He could not be sure, with that horrid accent the corporal had. The two names sounded more or less alike, but still...
"Ritter, you said ?" he asked, to be sure.
"Riddle, Ritter, whatever the way you pronounce it", Wilkinson shrugged. "Whaddya wanna know about him ?"
"Tell me everything you know about him", the german major ordered.
"Ah, well, I met him in... but you are sure that's all right with regulations ? I wouldn't want to be punished for talking too much, it happens to me all the time", the corporal said doubtfully.
"Wouldn't have guessed", Aldinger sneered.
"Of course it is all right with regulations" Merhoff asserted. "Now, speak."
"Well, if you're sure... but after all, he seemed to be on your side, so I s'pose 'tis all right if I tell you 'bout him. Or at least, I think it's him, but he didn't seem to recognize me, so maybe he's just a look alike..."
At that point, Wilkinson saw the two german officer's darkening look, and clearing his throat, hastily carried on.
"The name's Tom Riddle, I met him at school, in Scotland. He was not a very nice or very talkative fellow... always lurkin' in shadows, and doing his stuff, without anyone knowing what it was... but very clever, yeah. Allways first in everything. 'Twas the first time I ever saw him since I left school."
"I see", the major said, slightly disappointed.
He had not really learnt anything. He had suspicions, but no evidence of any kind. In the end, this Ritter fellow could be a gestapo officer who happened to look like a British, but he could also be a British traitor, or even a British spy. And Merhoff had absolutely no way to be sure.
"Fine", he finally said. "You may go into the camp, now."
As Wilkinson left, he shared a disappointed look with Aldinger. For now, they could do little but go back to Headquarters as ordered, and keep a watchful eye on this Ritter boy.
Ending note : This assassination attempt against Rommel really did take place, and after they were thwarted, the commandos (or at least the few survivors) discovered that they had missed their target, for Rommel was not even there but at a staff meeting. The dates might not be the same, but I thought it'd be interesting to use that anecdote.
About the Iron Cross, here is a description I found on the web :
"The German Iron Cross in its various grades was awarded to all ranks of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine to recognize officers and men for acts of bravery, heroism and leadership. It was first introduced on March 10, 1813 by King Frederick William III of Prussia, who was then at war against the French under Napolean. Since then it has gone through many evolutions and was reinstitued again by Adolf Hitler on 1st September 1939, in readiness for the Second World War."
Among the various grades of the Iron Cross, the second highest was the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. "Awarded only to the most highly decorated and heroic figures of the armed forces, only 27 servicemen had receive this award, one of which was General Field Marshall Erwin Rommel."