CHAPTER 7: The Unbearable Truth
A soft breeze curled Hermione's form like a mother cradles her child. She longed to stay asleep for just a moment longer, but felt her mind willing her body to awaken from a deep and peaceful sleep. Her eyes unwillingly cracked open and she saw the sun rising just above the horizon. It started growing higher in the sky and casting a ray of light over the blue lake outside her window. But suddenly, the light began the retreat. She saw the darkness of the sky begin to take hold once again and the sun slowly disappeared behind the hills. At first she thought her weary mind was playing tricks on her until the stars became visible again through her glass framed doors. The curtains wafted in the soft breeze once again, giving the room an atmosphere that made her feel at ease. Then she heard a voice from around the corner.
"Forgive me, but you just looked so peaceful. I did not want the sun to ruin the only time we can truly call our own," said Tom. His voice was sincere and comforting to her. She understood his meaning. The dark of the night was the only time they had been able to meet when she was in despair.
He slowly walked towards her and sat beside her on the bed. He gently stroked her face and gazed into her eyes. She knew that his power over her was greatly influenced by the power of nightfall. It was resonating off of him. Rather than feeling intimidated and disturbed, she felt safe. She gave him a small smile and felt euphoria in his touch.
"Rest for a little longer, then come downstairs after you have washed up. A nice hot shower will help to wake you up. Eat in the guest dining room through that door there and I will meet you in here when you are finished." He pointed to a large smooth wooden door with golden vine lining engraved through it. Hermione simply nodded her head and gazed into his eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead lingering just long enough for her to breathe in his scent. As he stood up and turned towards the door, Hermione felt her eyes growing heavy again. Before she even knew she was nodding off, she fell into a light sleep. It was just light enough for her to feel well rested and prepared to finally make her way out of bed. She walked to the bathroom, undressed, and stepped into a perfectly warm shower. The crystal like reflection of the glass on the walls made a wintry rainbow through the shower. Feeling the heavy water fall on her body like raindrops soothed her skin and helped her mind to wake from a deep slumber. When she stepped out of the shower, she noticed that her robes were laid out and waiting for her. She quickly dressed and made sure that she was refreshed and ready to see Tom. She walked back into her room to find that the sun had surprisingly risen for the second time that day. Upon opening the door to the dining room, she saw a beautiful breakfast before her eyes. As she sat the large chair that slightly resembled a throne, she began to think back on the events of the previous day. But the more she thought, the less she wanted to remember. She had a strong feeling that all would be explained in time. She found it difficult to be angry with Tom. As much as she knew that she should be frightened and devising a plan of escape, she felt no need to think back on what happened. But after realizing that she had no desire of leaving, she could not help but wonder why. Why was she compelled to stay with someone she once though was evil?
As she took the last bite of her meal, she stood up and walked back into the main room. She saw Tom waiting for her at the opposite door. When she approached him he took her hand in his.
"Are you ready, my dear? There is still much I need to tell you," he said. Hermione looked at him straight in the eye and knew she was about to have her questions answered.
"I'm ready."
He opened the door and led her down the long hall the long spiral staircase and along the long hall they came through only hours ago. Tom found Hermione glancing at him from time to time. He responded by simply smiling at her. As much as she wanted to smile back, all she could do was stare at him with curious eyes. There was still something in her eyes that she could not read.
Then without warning, Hermione stopped in her tracks. She stared directly ahead and could not move a single muscle in her body. She felt her mind telling her to move, but her body refused to receive a signal. Before she knew she was even growing weak, her body caved in and she fell to her knees. Tom immediately tried to pick her up, but she just grabbed him by the arms and stopped him. Her breaths came in heavy heaves and her eyes became blood shot. All Hermione could see before her eyes was darkness, she felt Tom's hands trying to lift her, but she struggled with him to stay where she was. Her entire body felt like it was on fire and she began to scream. But soon the sensation of being burned alive ceased and was replaced by a flood of dark memories. She no longer saw a loving Tom who cared for her during her darkest nights. As her mind began to slip, she felt Tom grab her and hold her close. But she began to struggle when a vision ripped through her thoughts and memories. Women and children screamed in terror, Harry ran for his life, Death Eaters were destroying everything in sight and her own step parents were sent to cause her misery by the very man who held her. She suddenly saw it. It all made sense now. He had set her up with the Death Eaters for her foster parents. He had laid a trap for Harry to come and rescue her from him in the past. She tried as hard as she could to get away, but Tom's arms refused to release her. Hermione felt her world come back with a thunder that shook her to the core. She was pinned against the wall once again by the man she had hated since she was a child. She felt nothing but hatred when she looked at him. She kicked and tried to scream but her lungs still ached from what she had just experienced.
"Stop this insufferable nonsense. Don't you see what he is trying to do? Dumbledore is trying to trick you again. Just like he always has. And your buying it!" he said in a stern and angry voice. His anger not only startled her, it stopped her from struggling. She realized that he had her in a very compromising position. She was tempted to fight for her life, but as weak as she was, she knew that his force upon her would be too great.
"My love," he said as he took his hand off her arms and caressed her face with his hand. "Are you so convinced that this little world he has built around you is real? Has he really twisted your mind that much? You promised you would never let that happen. His hold on you can't possibly be stronger than what we have."
Hermione simply looked at him now. Hot tears were running down her face and her voice was stuck in the bottom of her throat. She had no idea what his meaning was, but she knew somehow that they had had this conversation before.
When he had her calm enough to the point were she was breathing steady again, he stared deep into her eyes. He placed his hand on her forehead and closed his eyes.
Hermione felt the same sensation she had had the previous night, only this one was not nearly as frightening. She was able to feel the warmth in his touch again. She felt her mind slip deep within his once more. It was not long before she understood that his anger towards her was completely rational. His frustration towards her was completely understandable. She felt reborn again just as she had been before. Only this time, she was reborn in her original state of mind. It was the same state of mind she was in when she first met Tom Riddle in that god-awful orphanage. She had been an orphan just as he had been. They had met there after his fifth year at Hogwarts. She, a self taught witch who chose not to attend school with other wizards, and him, a wizard at the top of his class at Hogwarts. Both had their eye on the prize. Both aspired to be great wizards. Their opposite nature would make their love for one another seem unlikely, but their attraction to one another was undeniably strong from their first meeting. She could not make out the scene of their first encounter or the memories which sparked the passion she now felt, but she knew it was still there, locked deep inside her memories.
Then she had a feeling of another kind. Lose, suffering, unbearably pain. It was a kind of pain that eats away at your insides. A longing and yearning that could not be cured. She then realized that this pain was not her own. It was Tom's. It had been the pain he had felt upon loosing her. She knew in that moment that she did not leave Tom willingly. It was not her choice. She didn't even know what they had had until this moment. The life she had once known had been replaced with one of a false kind. He…he who she had respected and admired had taken her away from him. He had kidnapped her and brought her to the future to keep a watchful eye on her. He who thought that it was Hermione's fault for Tom becoming the Dark Lord… he who thought that Hermione's influence on Tom had been of a bad kind. But he had been wrong. It was the lose of Hermione's love and compassion that set free the evil inside Tom Riddle's soul. He had looked for her everywhere. He had made sacrifices of many kinds to try and find where that man had kidnapped her to and kept her hostage without her even knowing it. And finally, once he found her, he took her back.
Hermione's faint visions began to clear and she was looking into Tom's gentle and yet serious eyes once more.
"I found you. After all these years, I found you. But I never knew what it would cost me to see…to see what I had become from loosing you. Lord Voldemort would never have come to be had it not been for him kidnapping you. He erased every memory you had of me in hopes that you would not look for me. He thought that you and I were the cause of so much pain. That we had hatched all Voldemort's evil plans together and planned only god knows what. But he was wrong, Hermione. It was the lose of you that drove me over the edge. That is why I am here now. I came to find you to try and stop it all. You have to help me, Hermione. We have to change it."
Her frustrations and anger began to rise just as Riddle's had upon their meeting in the girls' lavatory. But her anger was not directed at Tom, but at another. Another who had kidnapped her from the natural state of things…the cause of it all. Dumbledore…
A/N: I admit that I am not good at this whole 'updating' thing. But I have said it once and I will say it again. I intend to finish this story.
