Disclaimer: don't own.
That's what happened in chapter 14:
"Let's go!" Tom answered broodingly and pulled Hermione with him. "I know where they live."
In Little Hangleton, obviously. But in which house? How did Tom know? Hermione pushed the disturbing thought to the back of her mind and followed Tom through the icy darkness.
He came to a stop in front of a white mansion with wrought iron gates. It obviously belonged to wealthy people. The garden also seemed well-kept and expensively decorated and Hermione suddenly felt timid. She hadn't expected Tom's father to live that luxuriously.
Tom took a deep breath and squeezed hermione's finger, although she should have reassured him. "Let's go." she whispered and Tom rang the bell with trembling fingers.
On with the story:
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A tall, dark-haired man opened the gates. He gazed at Tom and Hermione enquiringly. "Good evening. Do you have an appointment with Mr. Riddle?"
Hermione and Tom looked at each other shortly, then Tom said smoothly: "No, we haven't. But you can tell Mr. Riddle that it is urgent."
The butler didn't seem to notice Tom's tone, but nodded and led them inside the luxurious mansion. "Who shall I tell him you are?"
"Oh… this will be a surprise." Tom smirked. "He'll see me and he'll know who I am."
The butler only raised his eyebrows, but took off Hermione's and Tom's coats without speaking. "Why don't you sit down here and I will fetch Mr. Riddle!"
Tom and Hermione sat down on the smooth velvet sofa in the entrance hall and looked around apprehensively. A huge chandelier cast a soft light over them, the floor was polished dark wood and white furs were scattered decoratively across the hall. Hermione shuddered at the thought of real furs.
"I didn't know, he had this much money." Tom said bluntly, interrupting Hermione's thoughts about the abuse of house elves.
"Yeah… well…" Hermione didn't know what to say, because at that exact moment, Riddle Sr stood in the doorway – and he looked exactly like his younger self plus more lines though. He stared at Tom Jr with a mixture of fear and surprise.
"Good evening." he said politely, recovering himself.
Tom pulled Hermione up and she smiled when they both stood. "We would like to talk to you. Do you have a minute, Mr. Riddle?"
Tom raised his eyebrows "A minute, Hermione?" He turned back to his father. "Good evening." Tom stared at his father with calculating eyes.
"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me?" Tom asked tauntingly. Hermione gave his fingers a warning squeeze.
Riddle Sr looked torn. "Well… you… you look like… me, I suppose."
"That's right, Mr. Riddle and you know why? Because I'm your son. My name is Tom Riddle."
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It only took Mr Riddle Sr two minutes to close his mouth.
After the initial shock, he led Hermione and Tom into his lavishly decorated living-room. Without a word from Mr. Riddle, the butler brought them, tea, gin and biscuits. Hermione was clearly impressed.
They sat down next to each other on the plush sofa next to the fire place and Mr. Riddle Sr sat down on his own armchair when everyone had their drinks.
"So… how did you find out about me?"
"I would like to ask my questions first." Said Tom Riddle Jr in an authoritative voice and Riddle Sr recoiled slightly.
"You were married to Merope Gaunt, right?" Tom asked coldly and Riddle Sr nodded unwillingly.
"And you left her, when you found out she was pregnant?" Tom said with cold fury in his voice.
Riddle Sr, however, looked confused – to Hermione's and Tom's utter surprise.
"Oh no, it wasn't like that. I didn't leave her when she was pregnant. In fact, I didn't even know she was pregnant." Riddle Sr answered earnestly and Hermione started.
"So, you didn't know that you had a son?"
"No, how could I?"
"Why did you leave her, then?" Tom bit out, but his voice was a touch softer than before; it sounded more curious.
Riddle Sr took another swig from his gin and then leaned back. "I was engaged to someone else – Cecilia – when Merope pleadingly asked me to help her with something that was too heavy for her. The gentleman I was, I followed her into the hovel. It was ghastly let me tell you. There was a snake nailed to the door and the place was full of dust and dirt. I helped her repair something and then she gave me a glass of water – and that was it. I fell head over heels for her."
"Because she gave you a glass of water?" Tom Jr asked frowning, completely forgetting to be rude to his father.
"Probably." Tom Riddle Sr mirrored his son's expression. "She hoodwinked me. There must have been something in the water, because after that I can't remember clearly what really happened. It was like dreaming and the only thing that I remember is that I was completely and utterly in love with her. A week later, we got married."
"A week…" Tom Jr echoed, appalled.
"Half a year later, she had to leave me for a few days– her father was in prison or something like that – and I suddenly 'woke up'. I noticed that I had been hoodwinked and she had only used me. My love for her didn't exist anymore." Tom sighed sadly. "Unfortunately, Cecilia's love ceased too."
Tom Jr looked startled. He hadn't counted on that.
"What do you think was in the water?" Hermione asked quietly.
"I don't know. I would say it was like a love potion, but of course that doesn't exist." Riddle Sr said confused.
Hermione and Tom glanced at each other and both hid a smirk. Muggles were blissfully ignorant, even if they were married to a witch.
"Did she tell you what she was?" Tom Jr whispered.
"What?" Riddle Sr scratched his chin. "Well – she was a tramp who lived in a hovel."
"Didn't she tell you, WHAT she was?" Tom continued, but Hermione stopped him, by putting her hand softly onto his arm.
"Don't." she mouthed. "Obviously, she didn't. Now is not the time. Later."
"To clear everything up… I never knew I had a son. To say I'm surprised is a bit of an understatement." Riddle Sr gave a slightly watery smile. "How is your mother doing?"
Tom's face became hard. "She is dead." he said harshly. "That's why I grew up in an orphanage?"
"Excuse me? You poor boy."
"And I suppose you never came looking for him, because you didn't know of his existence?" Hermione supplied.
Riddle Sr nodded eagerly. "Of course. My son shouldn't have grown up in an orphanage. Merope should have told me that she had you. You could have lived here – with me. My parents would have been thrilled to have a grandson."
Tom and Hermione agreed and for the first time since his visit, Tom smiled at his father.
"So what do you do now? What are your plans? Tell me all about you. After all, I missed sixteen years of your existence."
Hermione and Tom leaned back more comfortably. It was going to be a long night; especially since the father – son – bond wasn't damaged, Tom could tell him about the wizarding world since now Tom Riddle Sr was officially part of his family. Hermione was happy to say that the mission had worked out fine. Too bad that she would have to leave soon.
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Later that night, when they were lying in bed after a fantastic session of love-making, Hermione snuggled closer to his muscular chest. Tom sighed happily.
"Thank you for helping me getting to know my father." Tom said earnestly, giving Hermione a light peck on her forehead. "I've always thought of him as the bad one and I pitied Merope. However, it was the other way round."
"I'm glad you found out the truth then." Hermione yawned.
"More than glad. He asked me to stay over at his place in summer." Tom's eyes gleamed. "Would you like to come and stay too?"
Hermione's heart swelled at his words. "Yes, I would love to." A tiny part of her, however, knew that she, Harry and Draco would probably be back in the future before the summer holidays. That thought made her extremely depressed.
"Let's go to bed."
"Let's." Hermione agreed. She loved going to sleep in the Dark Lords arms; she felt safe. How ironic was that?
"I love you, Hermione." Tom said with so much emotion that Hermione nearly wept.
"I love you too."
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The next morning, Hermione awoke in Tom's arms before his alarm went off. When she looked at his bedside table, she noticed that it was 5 o clock.
'Why am I up so early?' Hermione thought disgruntled. 'We went to bed pretty late.'
Sighing, she got up and suddenly felt nauseated. Without further ado, she sprinted to the heads-bathroom, emptying her stomach of the contents. Ugh. Disgusting. To her horror, she felt a hot body behind her.
"Go away, Tom. You don't need to see this!" Hermione moaned.
"What happened?" Tom asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "It's the crack of dawn. Are you sick?"
"Yes. I don't know why though."
"Too much alcohol, yesterday." Tom grinned.
"No, you know perfectly well, that I only had a sip of gin." Hermione felt faint again. "I feel terrible."
"You look terrible." Tom shook his head. "All pale and… even green. Let's go to the nurse."
Hermione nodded; she rinsed her mouth and Tom carried her to the hospital wing. It was no use that Hermione kicked, and screamed and threw a tantrum; Tom was so much stronger than her, that eventually she gave up, trying to tell him that she didn't need to be carried.
When the nurse gave her a potion to cal her upset stomach, Hermione immediately felt better; she felt as if she hadn't vomited this morning.
Cuddled into Tom's arms, she fell asleep fast; and woke up, completely healthy and happy later in the morning.
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"We succeeded!" Harry barely concealed a grin. "Hermione, you are a genius."
"Great. We can go back!" Draco clapped Hermione on her back and giving Harry high five. "I wonder what the future'll be like."
"How will we get back?" Hermione asked worried.
"Time turner." Harry grinned. "Dumbledore gave it to me, before we left. It goes forward in years, not hours."
"Well, let's go then." Draco was about the snatch the time turner from Harry's grip, but Hermione held out her arm.
"We can't just leave. We have to say good-bye and tell them WHY we are going to leave…" Hermione muttered.
"No, we don't." Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't make this harder for any of us."
Hermione broke down on the floor crying, positively bawling.
Draco looked disgusted. "You are crying over the Dark Lord? Please, Hermione. You can't be serious."
But she just sobbed harder. "I really, really love him. I can't just leave."
"You have to." Harry said softly. "You don't belong here."
"But… but I love him. And he loves me."
"Enough with that nonsense, Granger." Draco harshly pulled her over to Harry.
"Put the time turner around us and get us out of here, Potter."
Harry nodded and in a swish of colours, the trio left the forties altogether.
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Dumbledore's office resembled the office in the future and Hermione was glad about that. When she looked out of the window, it was dark outside, so it must be night.
However, Dumbledore wasn't smiling; his eyes had lost its twinkle.
"We succeeded, professor." Harry smiled. "Hermione made Tom fall in love with her and he even got to know and like his father."
"These are good news, Harry." Dumbledore said emotionlessly, "but I'm afraid to say that they didn't work."
"They… they didn't?" Hermione trembled.
"It's chaos, here." Dumbledore whispered. "The sky is always black. Always. No matter what time it is, no matter what season. Inferi, bad ghosts, dark creatures, giants, acromantulas and basilisks; you aren't safe from anything."
"What about this school, then?" Harry asked horrified.
"This school is called 'SNAKE's institute for DARK MAGIC.'" Dumbledore said sadly."It's compulsory for every wizard and witch to attend this school."
"My god." Hermione groaned. "And you are the headmaster?"
"No." Dumbledore smiled wryly. "Professor Snape is the headmaster. I'm merely a poor soul who has to teach transfiguration. If I disobey, they are going to kill me."
"Who… who is they?" Draco asked trembling.
"The dark side. The side which owns this school. The side that teaches here. No one knows who the actual 'boss' is. It's a man who changes his name and appearance approximately every two days." Dumbledore sighed. "Miss Granger, it's not safe for you to be here around much longer. As a muggleborn at least."
Hermione nodded, tears in her eyes. And she had thought they had succeeded!
Dumbledore smiled slightly at her and pulled out a vial with a purple potion. "Take this potion and you'll officially be a halfblood. There will be test methods to check if you are a pure or a halfblood, all the muggleborns are executed."
Hermione felt her stomach churn and she down the vile tasting potion in one go. "Am I supposed to feel any different?" she wondered.
"No. Being a pureblood doesn't feel different. However, I brewed the potion myself, so it will most definitely work."
"So… do you want us to go back and change something else?" Harry asked cringing at the thought of going back to the forties.
"You can't travel through time – through years – that recently. You'd have to wait at least two days. But why don't you have a look at the current status of the world? You might get some ideas what you did wrong." Dumbledore especially eyed Hermione warningly.
"Now, off you go."
Harry, Draco and Hermione quietly crept out of the door and came face to face with a seventh year Slytherin who glared at them. Draco protectively took Hermione's hand. The Slytherin 7th year took in their robes and his glare suddenly became confused.
"I've never seen you before." he barked curiously. "New students?"
"Uhm… yes." harry nodded. "We are new here."
"And I see you've been sorted into Slytherin." he nodded approvingly. "Still… procedure is procedure. I have to test you, if you are purebloods or at least, halfbloods. No muggleborn in this school." he said proudly.
He pressed his wand to Harry's chest and it glowed green. "Pureblood." the boy mumbled.
The same with Draco; it glowed even greener than Harry's.
When they boy neared Hermione, her breath hitched in fear. What colour would it have? She swallowed convulsively. Did Dumbledore's potion work?
The wand glowed blue. "Half-blood." The Slytherin spoke. "Well, don't worry… still better than a muggelborn. Now, I'll show you to your dorms. Follow me, please."