A/N – I'm happy with the response I got from the last chapter. There is a good reason it is Tom the barman, no wait, Tom Riddle and not anyone else. That's explained in this chapter. Parts of this chapter were a bit harder to piece together for me since I'm filling in some of the clues from previous chapters. I just want to thank all the people who left a review and also all of you who have an alert on this story. Anyway – on with the story.

Chapter 9 – Riddle Me This Riddle Me That

/Flashback/

Lord Voldemort was resting in his private study. "I haven't been able to shake this headache since that damn Potter brat threw me out of his head," he muttered to himself.

He had spent most of the past few weeks in seclusion keeping his own council – not that he had much of a choice though. Those pureblood sycophants who surrounded him had never done anything but agree with him. Maybe the Crucio curses he threw whenever they disagreed had something to do with it, but he only punished them because most of their ideas were downright stupid. Oh well, what could he expect from a group of historically inbred purebloods.

The only one who managed to sway his opinion at times with well-thought arguments was Severus. But then again, he was a half-blood who had a gift for being able to see the long-term consequences of any action. Too bad he was also Dumbledore's man.

The light in the room changed and Voldemort stood face to face with a silvery glowing stag.

"Tom, its Harry Potter. Let me ask you a few questions:"

"Did you ever wonder why your Death Eaters prefer to throw stunners at purebloods and more dangerous and deadly ones at half-bloods and muggle born?"

"How come Albus Dumbledore and his feathered friends and the Ministry Aurors don't use anything more than stunners and non-lethal curses even faced with killing curses coming back at them?"

"All Death Eaters get trials. Others are thrown in Azkaban without trial or due process. Ever wonder why?"

"Azkaban is supposed to be a secure prison. Tell me then why soon after you came back the it has become no more than a weekend getaway for Death Eaters the Ministry manage to capture when the other prisoners are locked securely away?"

And finally on a more personal note to you, ever wonder why when you were four years old everyone at the orphanage started hating you?"

"I know the answers to some of these questions. Tom, if you wish to discuss, I will be contacting you tonight. We've both been deceived by the old coot Tom."

The patronus dissolved away. Tom was stunned. He had assumed the answer to most of those questions was that it was because he was Lord Voldemort. However as he thought about it, that fact did not explain the actions and inactions of the 'side of the light'. And how the hell did he know about the orphanage and when they started hating him.

"Potter knows something," he thought, "and he didn't seem confrontational. Very well, I will give him an audience tonight. I can always torture him later."

He didn't have much time to reflect on Potter's words when he felt a familiar stirring in his brain. A familiar voice sounded inside his head, "Tom, I'm here." Tom closed his eyes and fell into a meditative state.

He was in a hallway leading into a sparsely finished room. There was old table with four chairs lit by two very strange candles.

"Potter. Why have you summoned me here? I don't have time for your games."

"But yet you came. You know why you came. I know why you came. You came for answers to the questions I posed to you. You are just as curious as I am about the reason why many of the things that happen around us happen the way they do. You want to know why your life has been manipulated and why you continue to be manipulated to this day. I have some of the answers with me but I these answers I will share will only lead to more questions for now." He handed Voldemort a letter. "You remember my mother Lily? Of course you do. She and my godfather dug up some information working as Unspeakables. This just scratches the surface."

Tom read the letter. In it Lily highlighted things that her and Sirius had found and every sentence confused him further. Much of this was their interpretation of events and records they found throughout the Ministry. Any one piece of information was innocent, however once put together, the story slowly revealed itself.

'The Pureblood Conspiracy' was what they called it. For generations the Dumbledore family and their cadre of some of the most influential pureblood families had set the stage for this takeover of the Wizarding world. Albus had been raised to bring this to its conclusion. He masterfully manipulated both the dark and the light sides in a chess game of deception. The families Malfoy, Black, Fudge, McGonagall, Sprout, Prewitt, Sinistra, Slughorn, Rookwood, and Lestrange were instrumental throughout the years. Family members would be let into the secret once they had proven trustworthy. This oaths and rituals used to guard this information were the reason that family members who married outside of the family would never know or be able to reveal what the other side of the family knew and many times these people were officially disowned as well. The Potters, Longbottoms, Weasley and Bones families were never trusted. For a different reason the Gaunts were never trusted once it became clear that they were too unstable.

The Dumbledore's had followed the Gaunts for a very long time and Albus saw the opportunity with Tom. As a half-blood he would make an excellent figurehead for the 'Dark' and was completely expendable. The Malfoy and Black families would enlist others and act as the 'Dark'. They would also recruit undesirable magical creatures like giants, werewolves and vampires as the expendable forces.

Dumbledore manipulated his way into the Supreme Mugwump position and became the leader of the 'light'. The light side consisted of some of the core families, and it was seen as a way to weaken and perhaps eliminate the Potter, Longbottom, Weasley and Bones lines. Albus also rounded out the forces with half-blood muggle-born members who were expendable.

All of this was calculated to swing the majority of the magical population to accept new regulations and a society where the rigid class structure and its hierarchy of rights would willingly be accepted into law. Regulations were introduced to register and track the non-human magical creatures (purebloods did not consider werewolves as human anymore) and these passed with ease. Eventually the pureblood Death Eaters would have a change of heart and turn on Tom. Once he was dead, they would use the aftermath to push through the final legislation to establish a firm class structure with associated rights with purebloods at the top, controlling the monetary, governmental and legislative facets of wizarding life as guardians against the non-pure threat.

He read the section with the prophecy, "So this is why Potter came to me," he thought. This was all so confusing and Tom did not like to be confused.

Once he was finished, he looked directly at Harry, "If this is true…"

"It is and, yes, I know what you are thinking about our glorious Headmaster right now. I have one other item I have brought with me here. It is a memory I viewed in a pensieve." He smirked, "If I remember correctly, you dabble in legilimency. After having read what you have and seeing your expression, I am inviting you into my mind to see this memory and this one only. If we are going to work together, we have to get over our past differences and try and trust each other. This is the first test."

Tom looked into his eyes (which wasn't actually necessary since they were each other's minds already but it helped maintain the illusion of the room they were meeting in) and the memory bubbled to the surface. This was a strange sensation – looking at the memory of a memory.

A young boy was sneaking through the halls of what Tom remembered as the initial hell he lived in. He recognized the boy as David one of his so-called best friends. The boy had come upon an open door. He looked in and quickly pulled back before he was spotted. Mrs. Gaines, the woman who ran the orphanage was talking to a bearded man in a smart business suit.

Ton thought. "He cleaned up well. What the hell was he doing here though? I was only four."

He overheard the conversation between the two.

"Madam, I am here about a charge of yours named Tom Riddle."

"Oh yes, Tom is such a lovely boy. He is intelligent, witty and very likeable. He doesn't have too many friends but he is fiercely loyal. He's usually got a smile on his face and loves playing with his friends."

A wand appeared in Dumbledore's hand and David heard the word "Obliviate."

"Madam, you will think of Tom Riddle as the most vicious boy ever to come into your care. You will ensure that he is isolated from any friends and that the older charges enforce this isolation. He is to be physically and psychologically abused."

With that Albus turned and left. David barely had time to duck into the shadows as Albus left.

Tom emerged from the memory. Now thoroughly confused. He felt the feelings of betrayal and confusion as his life changed at four years old to the worse. He felt the anger that started to develop in him in the later years when he could fight back. He now knew this was what Albus wanted. By continuing down the path he was on he was playing into the old coot's hands. Could he change? Could this boy in front of him be the key?

"What's the next step Potter?"

The four of us will meet in a safe location Wednesday evening at 8pm. There will only be the four of us plus my house elves.

"Where is this place?"

"If I told you about it now you would not understand or even hear me. It is an unplottable location and I control access. Wednesday I will grant you access and will send you another message via patronus to verify. You will be forced to come alone. Only those with explicit permission can get anywhere near the location. If I remove your access you will forget about the place once more. Dumbledore already doesn't know he used to have access."

"How can I trust you?"

"I think based on our history a better question is how can I trust you? I've already thought of that – watch." Harry raised his wand, "I hereby swear on my magic that there will only be the four people involved and my elf staff at the meeting on Wednesday night should it come to pass. I also swear on my magic that I will not actively cause harm nor seek to cause harm to any of the other three people at the meeting should it come to pass." Harry was surrounded by a glow as the oath took effect. He smirked, "your turn. I will also make sure the other two say the oath before the meeting."

"There will be no others present?"

"The only other person who has permission won't be there. Wednesday is the full moon and you may remember his furry little problem."

Ah, the werewolf Remus Lupin. He was the last of his parents' true friends alive.

Tom thought it over and raised his wand; "I swear on my magic that I will not actively cause harm nor seek to cause harm to any of the other three people at the meeting should it come to pass." He was bathed in a golden glow as his oath took effect.

"You must really be starting to believe this. That oath was a bit too freely given."

"Potter, I have to admit you have given me something to think about. I await your message on Wednesday. Until then I have things to think about."

With that, he left the room and opened his eyes back in his study.

/End Flashback/

Tom entered the room and sat at the table.

Harry said, "Tom, I would like you to meet Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood. We are the prophesied four."

"Are you sure?" Tom asked.

"You are familiar with the Ostendo Meus Prosapia spell?" Tom nodded and Harry continued, "Well it's time we revealed to each other who we are."

In Unison they cast the family-revealing spell. Family trees appeared in front of all four of them. They all scrolled up to the appropriate entry.

Harry stated, "I am the last of the Gryffindor line and thus Lord Gryffindor."

Tom followed, "I am the last of the Slytherin line and thus Lord Slytherin."

Hermione spoke, "I am the last of the Ravenclaw line and thus Lady Ravenclaw."

Luna was the final one; "I am the last of the Hufflepuff line and thus Lady Hufflepuff."

Tom said, "Ladies, you are the biggest surprise. It has been common knowledge that the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw lines disappeared over 700 years ago"

Luna spoke up, "My mother was the first in 700 years to know she was a Hufflepuff heir. She researched it and found the magic went dormant in the line until it was needed again and the family appeared to be nothing but Muggle. I suspect that is they same story as Hermione."

Hermione said, "That explains part of what I'm wondering, but why were you two sorted into the houses you are heirs of but Luna and I weren't."

Harry answered, "I wondered about that myself."

Luna spoke up, "My mother was sorted into Ravenclaw. She suspected that if the heir of a house becomes part of it, the signs would be quite noticeable of their status. She thought the hat tried to put the heirs in different houses for their protection. The same thing happened to me and I told the hat I would be happy wherever it put me."

Tom added, "In my case, the hat wanted to put me in Hufflepuff. But I convinced it otherwise."

Harry said, "The hat wanted me in Slytherin but I insisted Gryffindor."

Hermione admitted, "I was surprised with Gryffindor, I had always assumed I'd be in Ravenclaw."

Harry said, "Now that we have that settled, we should decide what to do about the prophecy." He unfurled one of the pages he got from Sirius and quickly added, "Oh yes, Tom Riddle can read the documents provided to me by Sirius."

Tom looked at him strangely. Harry shrugged, "they were charmed and I'd rather you didn't try to read them." Hermione and Luna visibly shuddered.

A time of turmoil will befall the world and those considered of pure blood will hasten its destruction. Only the four can change the outcome. They must once again unite under a common banner and awaken the powers of the Lady.

The sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes Tom spoke, "It seems like we have to vow to work together. I fear I may be to far gone though."

Hermione spoke, "Tom, we know about the horcruxes."

Tom was shocked, "I had told no one."

Harry spoke, "My mother got a memory out of a professor Slughorn. It detailed your question about one versus seven. What it also had was a discussion between Slughorn and Dumbledore were Albus was happy that Horace had passed on the information he told him to. Apparently Dumbledore made sure you found the information about them in the first place."

Hermione asked, "How many did you end up making? I mean we know about the diary, but where are the others?"

"Oh, I ended up making seven. I was going to try for thirteen, but when I tried to make my eighth, the curse rebounded off Harry's forehead and I never was able to perform the ritual. As for where they are, I knew when I "misplaced" the diary many years ago I though someone may have stolen it. Now I'm sure it was Malfoy and that Dumbledore was aware. So anyway, as I created the others I found silly locations that I had history with and used various special spells and curses to protect cleverly fashioned decoys."

"Decoys?" asked Harry.

"Yes, remember I grew up in the muggle world too. I know about the stereotypical evil genius that figures out uselessly complicated ways of hiding his secrets. Knowing how wizards think, I hid decoys at these locations. No, the real horcruxes are in a numbered safety deposit box in Geneva. All six are there. No wizard would ever consider a muggle hiding place." He smirked.

Hermione and Luna started giggling and Harry could not help but help but laugh out loud. Even Tom chuckled a bit.

Hermione looked directly at Tom and said, "Tom, you have been abused and manipulated all your life to be who you are today. You have a choice, you can continue life as it is and walk out the door. Harry will remove your access to this Manor and you will forget this place and this meeting. You will most likely be killed in the next 1-2 years and the wizarding world will begin to disintegrate."

"Your alternative is to join us and use the power and influence of the last heirs of the four founders. We will need to find the spells and rituals needed to re-integrate your soul fragments back into yourself. My guess is that it will not be pleasant."

Tom asked, "Before I answer, who is The Lady mentioned in the prophecy?"

Hermione smiled, "Why the Lady Hogwarts of course. The ancient wards and powers can only be reactivated by the joint request of the four founders. There is even evidence the castle is slightly sentient."

Harry looked, "Hermione, where did you learn this?"

She pulled out the old book, "In this version of Hogwarts a History," she looked at Tom and continued to explain, "Dumbledore has engaged in altering history. This is probably one of the few editions that was not destroyed or altered. For instance, did you know that Godric and Salazar were great friends? How about this one, Slytherin house accepted any wizards with the cunning personality – even muggle born. Dumbledore wrote the history of the pureblood-only, dark wizard training ground."

She passed the book across the table. "Here, if you want you can read it. I'm done".

Tom had a lot to think about, " May I take some time to think about this overnight? This has been a lot of information to take in."

Harry said, "I think I speak for the ladies when I say that we completely understand. If you wish, I have had the house elves prepare a room for you, or you could leave if you wish and maintain your access to the manor.'

Tom felt emotions he hadn't since he was four. "Thank you Pot.. Harry, I think I will stay. I need to know one thing though."

Hermione asked, "What is it?"

"You are all sitting here with me like we are allies and equals. We have never been either and yet you treat me that way. Why?"

Luna reached over and patted his hand, "Tom we have all seen what you have suffered at the hands of Dumbledore. You were controlled and manipulated until you had not enough soul or conscience to control your own actions. We know in order to begin to reverse this damage you will probably go through some of the toughest things you've ever had to. In order to follow through you will need a reason why. That reason is that we will from now on trust that you will make the right decision and help you get to the point where we can work as a team to make this world right again."

Tom looked at the three people at the table and knew they were all in agreement. I think I shall turn in now and read what this book has to say. With that he stood up with his robes impressively billowing in some unknown breeze.

Harry could not resist, "Tom, how do you do that with your robes? The only other person whose robes act like that is Snape."

Tom smirked, "I had always wondered how he did it and one day I asked. I just like the look. If you are good, I'll teach you three." With that, he added a bit to the billowing and left.

Harry, Luna and Hermione sat around the table.

Hermione voiced what the other two were thinking, "Well, this has certainly been one of the weirdest evenings in my life."

A/N – I don't know how many times I rewrote the prophecy. I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, but I needed to move on. I'd also like to have ideas of which character should end up on which side of the fence. For instance, which of the Weasley children will be more like Prewitts and which like Weasleys? Also what you think of the idea of the redemption of Tom Riddle?

Next update will come as soon as I can write it.