For the Greater Good

August 25, 1944

It had occurred to her that this night would have been nearly identical to the night when Tom had first met her parents if things had simply gone the way they were supposed to from the beginning. They had eaten dinner and carried on a perfectly pleasant conversation, Basil had shown Warren his combined office and trophy room, and they had finished the night with a cocktail in the gardens. There had been no yelling, no shattered glass, and no late night reunion.

In fact, Rosemary had grown so used to the chaos of her life with Tom that such an uneventful night almost bored her.

Although, predictably, her parents loved it. Evelyn, who had met Warren once or twice after the Hogwarts Quidditch games that Basil constantly dragged her to, asked him dozens of questions about himself and her father talked Quidditch and Comet with him. Rose tried to keep up with the conversation as it probably would have made their deceit more convincing, but her mind was constantly being pulled in another direction: how on earth was she going to tell Tom? She had to figure it out soon – she would see him again in less than a week's time, after all.

What was worse, perhaps, was the fact that she knew she wouldn't be able to tell him on the train. No, this was something that required much more privacy than the Hogwarts Express would afford them…which meant she would have to pretend that nothing was off between them the entire train ride, all through dinner, and while they completed their post-dinner Head Boy and Girl duties. He had always been so good at reading her – how could she even hope to hide something so significant from him for that long?

Finally, Warren announced that he should be getting home and Rosemary led him to the front door along with her parents. He thanked them politely for dinner, but instead of turning to leave as she then expected, he placed a kiss on her right cheek.

"He's such a nice boy – quite well-mannered, too," her mother said later as she and Rose had another round of cocktails in the sitting room. "And my goodness is he handsome…"

Rosemary nodded. "It's hard to believe that he was there in front of me all along and I didn't even take the time to notice…I rarely think of Tom anymore." It was becoming easier and easier for her to lie.

"Well I'm glad that things worked out for the best," Evelyn said. Then, as she sipped her martini she added: "He seems quite fond of you, as well. I could see it in his eyes – it was so obvious."

Apparently Warren was an even better actor than Rosemary had originally given him credit for.

"Do you think Father approves of him?"

Evelyn snorted in amusement. "Of course. His favorite Quidditch team is the Falmouth Falcons and he works at Comet. Not to mention the fact that he comes from a very well-respected family."

Well, at least this meant there was one less thing for Rosemary to worry about. She finished her drink, told her mother goodnight, and was on her way to her room when she heard her father call her name as she walked by his study.

"Come here," he told her. There was a strange tone to his voice that she couldn't quite place. "And close the door behind you."

She did as she was told and crossed the room, taking a seat in the black leather armchair that was across the coffee table from his. Rosemary looked at him expectantly, but he just stared at her with a calm, unreadable expression on his face. The seconds that passed began to feel like years and she was tempted to say something and break the silence, but didn't trust herself to say something that wouldn't look immediately suspicious and unravel the plan she had so carefully spun.

Finally, her father said quietly: "Warren is a good lad."

She nodded cautiously, given the fact that she was unsure where this conversation would be headed.

"It would be a shame if he had his heart broken for no good reason," Basil said, looking into her eyes. "I might lose one of the most promising, up-and-coming employees I've seen in years. Surely, if things didn't work out between the two of you, he would be too uncomfortable to stay at Comet…"

"There's no need to worry." She gave him a small smile.

"Rosemary," Basil started, his voice suddenly turning quite sharp, "Why should I believe even a single thing that you tell your mother or I? Your word means absolutely nothing now."

She wished it didn't hurt to hear him say such a thing, but it did.

"The worst thing of all this is that you've lost our trust and you don't seem to care," he continued. "And if I find out that you're simply using Warren, I want you to know that you'll completely lose my respect. There are few things more dishonorable than using people."

It was quite tempting in that moment to come out and tell him the truth of it all, but she kept telling herself that she had to be strong. Besides, she had assumed that her father would lose respect for her when he found out…she just hadn't expected him to threaten her with it outright. Nor had she expected such an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Rose couldn't help but wonder if she truly had it in her to follow through with the new plan…

"So, seeing as I can't trust your word, I've spoken to a few professors at Hogwarts. They've agreed to keep an eye on you and make sure you're nowhere near him."

Rosemary's pulse quickened in dread. "He's Head Boy…we're going to be working together quite a bit this year."

"Well, then I suppose you'd best hope that you can keep things professional." Basil's eyes grew dark in a way she had never seen before.

"I know my words don't mean anything to you, but I swear I'm with Warren now…Tom is nothing to me."

"Then you have nothing to worry about," her father said. "It's merely a precaution."

Shit. Shit. Shit.

So much for her plan. As if she wasn't nervous enough to tell Tom before, she now had to tell him that she not only had to pretend to date Warren in front of her parents, they had to pretend to the entire school.

"You may think that I'm going to a bit of an extreme, but this isn't just about our views of blood status any longer." Her father paused and looked down at his hands. "You've heard about Grindelwald in the papers, I trust? His efforts 'For the Greater Good'?"

Rosemary nodded.

"Well I'm certain it would prove to be a grave mistake to taint your blood status if he is to be successful. He plans to enslave the Muggles, you know…And anyone who is not a pureblood will be considered one step closer to them. I'd worry for your safety."

She wondered how much of this was actually true. Would she really be persecuted even though she was technically a pureblood? And what would persecution mean – would Tom be unable to get the job he deserved? Would they be exiled from certain parts of the wizarding world? Or was her father simply overreacting?

Even if he was, she couldn't ignore the fact that he seemed so genuinely concerned. Once again, she found herself at a crossroads in her thinking: would choosing Tom make her as incredibly happy as she envisioned it would or would she regret it for the rest of her natural life?

"If something happened to you because you were young and stupid enough to choose him…" Basil trailed off and for the first time in Rosemary's life she saw tears shining on his hazel eyes. It was so startling and triggered her guilt so profoundly that she too was soon fighting the urge to cry. For the first time in months she felt genuinely close to her father. Then, her father suddenly regained his composure, sitting up straight and clearing his throat. "I swear on Merlin's grave that I will not allow that to happen. You will marry Warren Cramer and that's the end of it."

In lieu of Rosemary, Tom's diary had become his closest friend. He realized that the fact he was essentially talking to himself probably made him a bit of a loon, but there was also something to be said for feeling completely understood. Well, perhaps not completely. That was the interesting thing – sometimes there was some overlap, but usually the parts that Rosemary seemed to understand about him contrasted sharply with his past self's understanding. This was to be expected, of course, given the fact that she didn't have the first clue about his past and his memory didn't have the first clue about his present...But it was rather nice to feel as though he would be understood by someone (even if it was himself…) no matter which side of his mind he chose to reveal.

It was also frustrating at times. When he had explained his relationship with Rose to his former self, the response had been:

Well isn't that nice. Now, how exactly is she useful to you?

Whenever Tom tried to explain anything about her, this was inevitably where the conversation went. The diary seemed unable to comprehend the fact that he would bother to have anyone in his life that wasn't being directly useful somehow.

But the truth of the matter was that Tom did find her useful and worthwhile to have around. She brought him such a sublime feeling of ease and his memory just couldn't understand as it had never experienced such a thing before.

Sometimes they quarreled like brothers, eventually agreeing to disagree.

Of course, they didn't only talk about Rosemary. After one lengthy discussion with himself in the form of his diary, Tom had decided to set up a meeting with the Minister for Magic. It was something he had been meaning to do for a while, ever since he had returned to London from the Tournament, but had gotten too caught up in his less-than-ideal circumstances with Rose's family to do much of anything besides focus on work.

In just the few weeks since he had last seen her, so much had changed. His focus and drive had been renewed, thankfully. And, at least to his knowledge, all of his memories had been fully recovered. Tom felt invigorated, ready to return to Hogwarts and take on the role of Head Boy that he so deserved. There was a new sense of confidence that had washed over him as well: he now trusted himself to come up with a legitimate plot that would allow he and Rose to be together once and for all...it just hadn't come to him quite yet.

But he was sure that it would – and soon. There would be no more surprises when it came to her parents (or anyone else for that matter); he would no longer feel as though he was always one step behind. He would be in control. All thanks to a little talent by the name of Legilimency.

It turned out that he had already been looking into Legilimency before erasing his memory and, thanks to his previous lack of a distraction, his fifth-year self had been become quite proficient at it. A little less than a week was all it had taken to regain his former progress. And now? He was damn good at it.

Tom had tested it on Mr. Burke a few days prior, scanning his thought processes and memories. That part was easy; the real trick was to do so without the person's knowledge of it. Tom knew just how far he had come when the older wizard gave no indication of knowing what had just happened to him.

Of course, he had to be careful; if Burke had been a better wizard he might have known exactly what Tom was doing. He knew he had to keep himself in check to some degree, but it was difficult – it truly was quite fascinating to have access to every single (though usually inane) thought that passed through someone's mind. Obviously it was exceptionally violating, but the only person he actually felt conflicted about potentially performing it on was Rose. As tempting as it may be he believed that he simply would never be capable of degrading her so momentously.

The Minister for Magic, though? Well, he was another story entirely.

While Tom had been rather interested in politics for several years, he also had a rather conflicting disrespect for nearly everyone that worked at the Ministry. Considering the fact that it was so terribly inefficient (almost laughably so), how could he not? He had learned quite early on that very little actually got done. Even so, the Ministry had one thing that the public so clearly did not: information.

Tom arrived at the Ministry about twenty minutes before his appointment, but the receptionist led him into the Minister's office right away anyway. This came as a bit of a surprise – now that the looming threat of Grindelwald was public knowledge, he would have expected Minister Spencer-Moon to be a bit busier.

Then again, he was a now-famous Tournament competitor. So perhaps the fact that the Minister had made time for him was really not that surprising after all.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Riddle," he said as they shook hands. He gestured for him to sit in the chair across from his large mahogany desk and Tom did. "Are you ready to return to school? Your final year, isn't it? I thought I had seen somewhere that you had been made Head Boy."

Tom nodded and attempted to look modest as Spencer-Moon congratulated him.

"Well, Hogwarts is certainly in for a few changes this year," the Minister said slowly. "It's very important that the school remains a safe place, even in the dark times that are upon us."

"What sort of changes?"

Spencer-Moon hesitated. "Well, I really shouldn't be saying anything…but as Head Boy you'll be one of the first to know anyways…"

"Know what?" Tom prodded again, though he was somewhat dreading to hear what these daft bureaucrats were planning on putting Hogwarts through.

"Well not everything has been decided yet," the Minister said, clearly attempting to sound nonchalant. "But I have placed one of my most trusted friends in charge of safety for the school."

"Who?"

"Professor Dumbledore."

Tom had to keep himself from curling his lip in disgust; just hearing the wizard's name left a bad taste in his mouth. "I see. Why not Headmaster Dippet?"

"Albus knows considerably more about what is going on in terms of this blasted revolution effort than Dippet. Anyway, I should hold my tongue and allow him inform you of the policies he is planning on enforcing at Hogwarts this upcoming term. I'm sure he'll be working quite closely with you and the Head Girl to ensure that things continue to run smoothly."

Well that certainly sounded as though it would be excruciatingly irritating.

For the remainder of the meeting, Tom attempted with little success to rid his mind of the disappointment that had come with the Minister's news regarding Hogwarts. This was supposed to be his year. This was supposed to be the year when he didn't have to worry at all about meddling, overbearing professors and could do just about anything he pleased at his every whim. Now, Dumbledore would be on his case constantly: surely even more so than before.

But, before he left, he had to pose this question…the one that would utilize his newfound Legilimency talents: "Sir, if I could have your honest, confidential opinion, do you believe Grindelwald will be successful in his efforts?"

"Of course not," Spencer-Moon said with a seemingly uncaring wave of his hand. "It's only a matter of time before our Aurors track him down."

Tom had expected him to say something along these lines, which was why he wanted to use a further measure to validate the answer. While it was too risky to perform a full Legilimency on the Minister for Magic (given that the practice was very tightly regulated and considered illegal in Tom's case), he at least trusted himself to look at the forefront of the man's mind. As he had just prompted the Minister with a question on the subject, his answers were easily within his reach without fear of being discovered.

What he saw was that the Minister lied. Although in reality, Tom hadn't really needed to perform Legilimency to know this. For the second time that morning, he felt a sinking disappointment mixed with a trace of dread. Spencer-Moon could have been overreacting to the threat of Grindelwald, but Tom saw him as a quite rational person (well, considerably, at least – he didn't know how rational one could actually be if they trusted Dumbledore and held him in such high regard) which made him believe that his concern was at least somewhat based in reality.

Tom left the Ministry, feeling rather troubled after his meeting. The looming threat of Grindelwald clearly meant change to both Hogwarts and the wizarding world – essentially everything he had ever known – and Tom did not like change. Unless it was on his own terms, of course. He briefly wondered if he shouldn't just leave it all behind and live instead in some remote location; he might be miserable, but he didn't know if he was genuinely capable of living in a place where muggles had anything to do with the wizarding race (even if they were enslaved).

Then there was the issue of Rosemary, though: he couldn't just leave her behind of course. At least if he brought her with, they certainly wouldn't have to worry about her parents any longer…That sounded quite nice actually. Just he and Rose: no more distractions or irritating people. But he also couldn't even imagine how bored he would be.

At any rate, it was perhaps a bit premature to be thinking such things. Grindelwald hadn't actually been successful…yet.

In an attempt to stop dwelling over such things, he made a quick stop at Gringotts to access the vault that he had opened the summer prior. It was completely empty, except for the ring and about a hundred Galleons which he had taken from his uncle Morfin's house. He slipped the gold ring onto his middle finger, admiring for a moment the black stone that it was set with. From that moment on, it would serve as a reminder of the admirable deed he had done for himself: ridding the world of any trace of his repulsive muggle relatives.

Tom left Gringotts and started on his way home for the night. As he turned the corner and walked down the backstreet that led to Knockturn Alley, he passed by several shadowy, cloaked figures. He didn't think much of it (cloaked figures in Knockturn Alley were not necessarily a rarity), until someone grabbed his arm and he was suddenly being Apparated.

The next thing he knew, he was in a forest somewhere and there were perhaps ten or twelve nearly identical-looking cloaked figures standing around him in a circle, wands raised. Tom went to reach for his own wand, but realized it had been lifted off of him.

He wasn't stupid enough to be afraid. It was clear that they wanted something – it wasn't as though he had been brought here just to be murdered. But what? This all seemed a little overkill for a mugging and the only potentially valuable thing he was even carrying was the ring, which was still wrapped around his finger.

"You're Tom Riddle," one of them said finally.

"Yes," he responded with a trace of annoyance in his voice. He was already growing impatient with this nonsense.

Thankfully, they got right to it: "With your upcoming role as Head Boy of Hogwarts, your participation in the Continental Wizarding Dueling Tournament, and your connection to the Minister for Magic, our leader believes you would make a valuable asset to our efforts."

He wasn't exactly surprised. In fact, he had begun to wonder when this exact moment would occur. "Well, you can tell your leader that I'm not interested."

The circle was quiet for a couple of seconds before the same wizard spoke again. "Very well…However, you should give it a bit more thought."

Tom let out a small laugh. "There's no reason to. Your cause is laughable at best…Dealing with muggles 'for the greater good'? I've never heard something so ridiculous."

"Give it a bit more thought," the wizard repeated, stepping toward him. "Things will change drastically once we've succeeded and you should ensure that you're on our side…half-blood." He practically spit the final word before tossing Tom's wand on the ground next to his feet.

Tom stared at him for a few moments, his rage boiling to the surface…how in the hell had they even known he was a half-blood? Then he dove for his wand, ready to do something drastic and take out his fresh anger on them, but they had Disapparated before he had even touched it.

Although he could barely admit it to himself, he was beginning to feel the itch of panic crawling beneath his skin. He knew it was true that, if Grindelwald was successful, there was no possible way he could even hope to be equal to the pure-blood class that he so genuinely deserved to belong to. And judging from the Minister's reaction earlier that day, the success of the revolution effort no longer seemed unrealistic.

It was then when he knew that, no matter the cost, he had to bring down Gellert Grindelwald.

"If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table." – Beau Willimon

A big thank you to Mrs. TomMarvoloRiddle, CharlotteBlackwood, A regrettable decision, How910, and RosiePosie15 for your reviews!

Remember that contest thing that I mentioned? More details, here! So, first off, like I said before: if you've submitted 5 or more reviews for this story, you'll be entered in the drawing. Basically, for every 5 you submit, you'll get another entry (ex. if someone has written 20 reviews, they will get their names in the drawing 4 times - sort of like buying raffle tickets). I've also decided on the prizes! There will be two people that will win a spoiler and one that will win an early preview of Part II!

Again, I'm not trying to be annoying or pressure any of you into reviewing (although I do LOVE the feedback), I just want to thank those of you that regularly do because you are sooo appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In the next one, Rose and Tom will be on their way back to Hogwarts. :D 10 more chapters until the end of Part I!