Normalcy

April 10, 1945

Tom awoke to the sound of a draining bathtub and he watched as Rosemary exited the lavatory a few moments later in a thin robe that clung to her body and began packing her things for London. He was constantly awed by her ability to be seductive without even trying.

He cleared his throat, hoping that she might indulge some of the fantasies that had suddenly taken over his mind. When she continued to go about her business, he tried once more to make his presence known: "Good morning."

"Good morning," she replied, sounding distant.

He frowned slightly. Everything had seemed perfect the night prior; in fact, she had handled things even more gracefully than he originally anticipated. So what was all of this about?

"Come here," he told her gently, as he pushed the covers off of him and sat on the edge of the bed.

She refused to even so much as glance in his direction as she replied crisply, "I am supposed to meet Slughorn soon."

Tom was baffled, a most uncomfortable feeling for him. He had been in such a pleasant mood that morning. Didn't she know she was spoiling it?

Enough of this.

"Come here." This time, it was not a gentle request; it was an order.

He was pleased when she obeyed and felt his lips curl into his smirk as he slid his hand up her thigh, just passed the hem of her bathrobe. "Weren't you going to kiss me goodbye?"

"Sorry." She leaned down and just barely pecked him on the lips before going about her business.

"Something is wrong," he stated.

"Clearly," he could have sworn he heard her mutter as she continued packing her things.

"You will not be leaving until you tell me precisely what all of this is about." The idea of her leaving for London for a week in such a bizarre mood made him feel surprisingly ill.

"Rosemary," he said sharply when she ignored him.

Finally, she seemed to give in and looked up at him. "I'm just thinking through things…that's all."

He did not like the sound of that. "Such as?" he asked, even though he was quite sure he already knew the answer.

She sighed. "Well, it's still sinking in, but I do understand why you did what you did to Jasper…"

"What I did?" He interrupted, shaking his head as a small smirk appeared on his face. "I may have said the curse, but you were as much a part of it as I was. And rightly so – you needed to protect yourself, Rosemary."

She looked away from him and grew quiet for a while. "I suppose so," she answered finally. "But you weren't protecting me or yourself last week when you, er…"

Tom crossed the room to stand behind her, reaching around her to caress her delicate collarbone. "When I had the mudbloods killed?"

"Yes."

She really did seem to be stuck on this – certainly more so than he had expected. But while this reality was entirely discouraging for him before, it now bothered him little; Rosemary's acceptance of what they did to Jasper had renewed his faith in their second attempt at a relationship.

"That was different," he replied matter-of-factly. "I was protecting the integrity of Hogwarts and defending my ideals – ideals which, may I remind you, that you share as well. Unless I am mistaken, of course, but we both know that rarely happens."

He had expected a smile or at least a feisty retort, but instead she just sighed. "I do share your ideals and agree that mudbloods shouldn't be at Hogwarts…you are right about that. But murder, Tom? I just…don't understand. I can't –"

He turned her to face him, tucked her hair behind her ear, and said, "You will."

An emotion flashed through her bright blue eyes that he couldn't quite place – concern? Perhaps even fear?

He slid his hands down over her curves. "At least try, won't you Rosemary?" And then, in his most charming voice– the one that almost never failed to get him what he wanted over the years– he added, "For me?"

"Okay," she answered weakly after looking up at him just long enough for his confidence to begin to falter.

Tom kissed her forehead so she couldn't see him smirk.

Corrupt her, he would indeed.

Rosemary stared at the bucolic scenery from the window on the Hogwarts Express, though her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't seem to get her exchange with Tom that morning out of her head and her blood ran cold every time she remembered that simple phrase Tom had said to her:

"You will."

But what if she didn't want to? Indeed, there was a considerable part of her that didn't want to understand and simply banish the memory of what he had done to a dusty corner of her mind. Unfortunately, it appeared that this wouldn't be enough for Tom.

"Merlin's beard, are you feeling alright Miss Horton?" asked Slughorn suddenly, looking at Rosemary in concern from the seat opposite hers.

"Yes, I'm fine, Sir. Thank you." Rose attempted to force a smile.

Slughorn didn't buy it. "You're not nervous, are you? If you are, you shouldn't be…Blair appears to be very interested in appointing you to the vacant position in his ward. You'll be taking him up on his offer for an interview, I trust?" Slughorn's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Well, she hadn't been nervous, given that she had been so wrapped up in everything that had happened between her and Tom…but now she certainly was. It was absolutely essential that she impressed McHughes that week; if not, she could certainly bid adieu to her chance at the Healer-in-Training position.

"How do you know Healer McHughes?" she asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from her new-found anxiety. "Was he a student of yours?" Rosemary half-cursed herself then; asking about a prestigious prior student was rule number one of what not to do while speaking with Professor Slughorn – even if the student happened to be one that she idolized.

"Sadly, no. Blair and I are only slightly acquainted through various potion conferences. He didn't attend a magical institution – his parents taught him from home, actually. They're absolutely brilliant at magic, but rather paranoid, you see. Although, given the recent events at Hogwarts, the idea of home-schooling sounds a bit less farfetched…" Slughorn shook his head. "Tragic."

The recent events – Rosemary knew all about those. She let out a quiet sigh and turned her attention back to the peaceful landscape, hoping to Merlin that the days of potion-brewing solace ahead would aid in clearing her mind.

After Rosemary left, Tom reached over into his bedside table and retrieved the letter he had lifted from Jasper's cloak the night prior, just before they left Raoul's. He unfolded it and stared at it for a moment before breathlessly darting across the room to the desk drawer that held the singed corner of parchment that he had found in Dumbledore's office. Tom held the two side by side for comparison and a sinister grin crept slowly onto his face.

That one initial at the bottom of the page, with its distinct curl at the top, told him far more than the hour-long interrogation of Jasper had.

Of course, this also brought a couple of questions to mind as well. First, how was he possibly going to sit on this information, particularly given his face-to-face encounters with Dumbledore on a nearly daily basis? And, more importantly, how was he going to prove it? Obviously, a scrap of parchment and a letter that was supposedly from Grindelwald to Jasper Donohue would mean little to the Wizengamot.

But at the moment, these were mere details.

Even though it was just past nine in the morning and he rarely drank outside of what was deemed necessary for social convention, Tom poured himself half a glass of scotch in victory. He wasn't sure precisely how or when, but someday soon he was bound to prompt the fall of both Dumbledore and Grindelwald.

"Miss Donohue, we will need you to tell us everything you know regarding your brother's involvement with the illicit substance commonly referred to as ECB as well as the dark wizard Grindelwald."

Donohue just sat there, staring at the Ministry investigation panel blankly.

The official with the pointy nose, whose name Tom hadn't bothered to remember narrowed his eyes at her slightly. "Miss Donohue, may I remind you that the more you cooperate, the better the situation will be for you and your family."

"I know nothing of any of that," she told them in a quiet voice that was very uncharacteristic of her typical annoying, obnoxious tone.

"Do you have any idea where he is now?"

"No."

"Do you believe your parents might?"

Her voice raised slightly. "Of course not, which you should know, considering the Ministry spent three hours searching their house for him the other day."

The younger of the two officials, who had done little of the questioning that morning, shifted uncomfortably in his chair and Tom hid a snigger in a cough.

"Do you truly expect us to believe you know absolutely nothing of your brother's involvement in all of this? The drug has been getting into Hogwarts in one way or another, Miss Donohue."

"I've had enough." Faye abruptly stood from her chair and glared up at them. "If you want answers, speak to Markus Avery."

The Ministry workers exchanged glances. "Please escort her out, Mr. Riddle, and bring in Mr. Avery."

"When is Rosemary coming back?" Donohue asked him nonchalantly as soon as they exited the room.

"And why is it that you think I would know?" Tom answered automatically, both because he was still in the habit of denying any involvement with Rosemary and because Donohue's near-constant attempts to pry into his private life annoyed him considerably.

"Rosemary tells me everything, Riddle," the blonde said smugly, adding to the base level of irritation he already felt when speaking with her.

"I can think of a few things she hasn't," he muttered.

It wasn't until he saw the wide grin spreading across her face when he realized, if taken out of context, that what he said could be assumed that he was referring to something very different from the murder of her brother.

"I thought you seemed a bit livelier lately," she snickered.

He felt his face growing hot as he scrambled for a retort, but Faye had already skipped around the corner in the direction of Ravenclaw Tower. Tom balled his fists in frustration and set off to the dungeons to find Avery.

It turned out that he didn't have to look particularly hard to find the sorry wanker; the Slytherin common room was filled with green haze and in the middle of the pungent cloud sat Lestrange and Avery.

"Oi mate! Have you come to escape the Ministry fucks and have a smoke?" Lestrange held out the Gillyweed spliff in his direction.

Unbelievable.

Tom ignored him and looked at Avery. "The Ministry officials would like to speak with you."

"Well…I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment." Avery leaned back on the couch and took another hit.

"Get up," Tom growled.

Even in his ridiculously intoxicated state, it was clear that Avery knew not to test his patience too much.

"For fuck's sake, Avery, are you so pathetic that you couldn't manage to sober up for even a day?" Tom sneered as they made their way out of the dungeons.

"What's the point, mate? You know they're going to send me to Azkaban for this."

It was true – they probably were.

They strode in silence the rest of the way, until Tom paused as they reached the classroom where the Ministry officials sat waiting. "Well if you breathe a word about Horton's involvement, I can assure you that going to Azkaban will be the least of your concerns," he hissed while sporting his most menacing glare.

"Why would I bring up Rose? She has nothing to do with this," Markus said coolly.

Apparently the git had learned something from being a member of the Knights: when to keep his bloody mouth shut.

Avery's questioning went into a bit more depth than Faye's had, but not by much, which Tom thought was rather odd. It was only near the end when they really began to even try pushing him to give information:

"We have several witnesses that link you directly to the distribution of ECB. It's foolish to continue denying your involvement."

Avery just shrugged. "He said, she said…It doesn't prove anything."

"Mr. Avery, we are far less interested in the fact that you dealt ECB than we are in the information you may have regarding Jasper Donohue. His sister certainly seems to think you know more than you're letting on."

"Oh, Faye's just upset. You know how girls can be." Then Avery made a show of sizing up his "interrogators" (if they could even be called that). "Then again, maybe you don't."

Tom smiled internally, wondering how hard Rosemary would slap Avery if she heard him say that.

The officials ignored him. "So your claim is that Jasper simply delivered the product to you and you sold it at Hogwarts. You didn't have any questions for him regarding this arrangement?"

Avery smirked. "I was getting paid, so…no."

The older of the two investigators removed his glasses and massaged the spot on his forehead just between his eyes. "Alright, Mr. Avery, we believe you."

'That's it?' Tom was rather appalled. 'No Veritaserum? No Cruciatus Curse?'

No wonder the Ministry was so inefficient.

"Unfortunately, your connection with Jasper Donohue and the ECB distribution to a huge proportion of Hogwarts students cannot go unpunished…Markus Avery, you are hereby expelled. Please surrender your wand."

The investigation seemed to conclude as quickly as it began; apparently, they were satisfied with Markus' expulsion. Two days later, the news of Grindelwald's plan to use ECB appeared in The Prophet, creating a predictable sense of pandemonium throughout wizarding Britain. The timing of it all as well as the pathetic attempt to question Avery made Tom wonder if the entire investigation at Hogwarts had simply been a move of public relations to give the impression that the Ministry had always been one step ahead of Grindelwald.

The timing of the Ministry informant had also been ideal; clearly, they knew that Grindelwald's plan wasn't quite ready. If it had been, after all, he would have set it into motion already – the development of the antidote had only been announced that morning, another day after Grindelwald's utilization of ECB was reported.

Tom was filled with pride when he saw Rosemary's name in the article, crediting her for her work on the antidote, and saved the clipping. He was also pleased that this meant she would soon return to Hogwarts, as Tom was entirely bored by the time their four days apart had passed. He wasn't used to having so much time off from classes and found that he was quickly beginning to loathe it. He had re-read his entire collection of books regarding dark magic, thought through at least a hundred different schemes to bring down Dumbledore and Grindelwald, and organized a Knights meeting with Dolohov for Saturday evening. After all, he supposed it was about time that they celebrated their recent success in ridding the school of five mudbloods – and getting away with it, too.

Tom was pacing around his room for nearly an hour as he waited for her return, and quickly dove across the room to his desk when he heard the doorknob turning in order to look busy.

When she entered, he glanced up and pretended to be surprised to see her. And for another reason, he was surprised at what he saw; Rosemary looked entirely revitalized. There was a stark contrast between the stressed, overtired look in her eyes before she left and the brightness in them now. Apparently, a bit of distance from the situations involving the mudbloods and Jasper was all she needed to gain some perspective.

"How was St. Mungo's?" he asked, after she greeted him with a kiss.

"Oh Tom, it was amazing," Rosemary told him, while beginning to unpack her things. "You should have seen their cauldrons and brewing equipment – all state of the art, of course."

"I can only imagine." He truly would have enjoyed the chance to see it…

"And Healer McHughes…Merlin, he's just as brilliant as I imagined from reading his publications on potion theory. Did you know that he never actually received a formal education? His parents taught him from home. Remarkable, isn't it?"

A flare of jealousy shot through him at her clear admiration of the Healer, but he knew better than to fall down that rabbit hole again. It was best to change the subject before he got a bit too fixated…

"Any mention of the interview? Or did he just hire you on the spot?"

"It is scheduled two weeks from tomorrow," she beamed. It was one of the first genuine smiles that she had given him in a while.

The sight was such a welcome one that he almost stopped himself from telling her what he did next: "This came for you while you were away."

Tom watched her carefully as he handed her the envelope, the contents of which he had been quite curious from the moment he recognized the Horton family crest in the wax seal.

She stared at it emotionlessly for a few moments before tossing it into the fireplace and lighting it aflame with her wand.

He grinned internally; this was most certainly the Rosemary he had fallen in love with.

"So…what else did I miss?" she asked him as she watched her father's parchment smolder.

"Avery was expelled," Tom replied nonchalantly, seeming a bit distracted for some reason.

"What?"

As soon as this came out of her mouth, she wondered why she was even remotely surprised. After all, Markus had been fairly open about the fact that he dealt ECB and had even bragged about it on a few occasions. Still, it was difficult to imagine Hogwarts without Markus there. "Did he already leave?"

Tom nodded. "On Monday afternoon."

Rosemary's stomach sank in disappointment; it would have been nice to at least tell him goodbye. But at the same time, Markus was far less concerning to her at that moment than her best friend, whose brother she had happened to kill. "How is Faye doing? Did she and Adam make up?"

Tom stared at her blankly.

"Never mind." Rose forgot sometimes that Tom paid exceptionally little attention to anything even remotely related to gossip. "Does she…know?"

"No. And there is no need for you to worry about that."

Despite the inner conflict that had persisted at the forefront of her mind all week in regard to what she had been a part of with Tom and Jasper, there was at least some comfort that came with knowing Tom was in control of the situation. She had done her best to ignore the dilemma and focus solely on her work, and it had indeed helped to some degree, but perhaps that wasn't the best way to move forward. Maybe she would have to try and understand, like Tom had requested.

After all, Tom was just about the furthest example from a predictable, black and white person that she could possibly think of. He was not merely a cold-blooded murderer – he was her protector, lover, and closest friend as well. She was thankful for their week apart, as it allowed her to see this larger picture more clearly and brought a few things into perspective.

"I missed you, Tom," she told him softly while pulling herself close enough to his neck to smell his pleasant aftershave.

He tilted her face up and kissed her. From there, of course, it was off to the races.

His hands ran all over her while she reached down and stroked his member in the way she knew would drive him mad. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it so much that he completely stopped his work on her body for a moment and let out a rare groan of pleasure. When he brought himself back to the present, he looked at her with playful revenge in his eyes.

With that, Tom inserted a finger in her, which caused her to gasp in both surprise and pleasure. He leaned his head back against the headboard and smirked up at her. "I do enjoy the sounds you make." He suddenly pushed her onto her back and spread her legs. "In fact, I think I'd like to hear more of them."

He kissed the inside of her thighs, allowing his teeth to graze her skin, and she closed her eyes. Why had she ever bothered to hope that Warren could make her feel this way?

But he had sparked playfulness in her as well and she wondered how far he could push her before she finally broke and allowed the feelings of pleasure to take over completely. If he kept doing what he was doing with his tongue, she assumed it wouldn't be long.

After a few minutes of this, he looked up at her and let out a short, amused laugh when he caught her doing everything she could not to make a sound. "Oh, you really want me to earn it, don't you?" He smirked and tsked at her. "Such a fucking tease."

Rosemary loved that the only time he allowed his properness to fall by the wayside was when they were having sex; it was unspeakably attractive…Just about as unspeakably attractive as the moment when he suddenly flipped her around and positioned her on her hands and knees.

He ran a hand down her back and over her bum while telling her sensually, "Well I trust you know by now that I am not one to shy from a worthy challenge."

She was about to reply with a playful quip when he pressed himself into her fully without warning, forcing her to bite down on the corner of her pillow to avoid screaming out in pleasure.

"No?" She could hear the smirk in his smooth voice. "Perhaps faster, then."

And faster he went. Harder, too. He pulled her hair, forcing her to arch her neck. "Scream for me, Rosemary," he commanded her.

Her restraint disappeared with his assertion of dominance and out came a shameless moan of his name. Shortly after, she gave in to the release her body had craved all week and then felt him tense while another inevitable groan escaped his lips.

It had been shorter than their typical romp, but Rosemary didn't mind; clearly, they were both a bit overdue. And, when he collapsed beside her and pulled her body close to his, she realized the pleasure wasn't even the part she had been craving the most – more than anything, Rosemary just wanted to feel close to him again.

This was good. This was what they needed: a little slice of normalcy…A reminder of what they were and what they could perhaps become once more.

His lips brushed against the back of her neck as he said, "I have organized a Knights meeting for tomorrow evening and would like you to attend."

Or, perhaps not.

"And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." ― Friedrich Nietzsche

I know, another late update...it's that busy time of the quarter again! My apologies. However, I will be updating again this weekend to make up for it and keep things on schedule!

On a quick side note - in between my midterms and finishing this chapter, I've been thinking about a possible side project for this summer/later this year and would love to hear your thoughts on it. Basically, it would be a prequel to TDLR and would give a glimpse of pre-Rosemary Tom through entries in his diary. I've thought about doing it a couple of different ways, the first being chronological and the other being chapters that skip around between years. Sooo what do you think? Is this something you'd like to read? Let me know via a PM or in your review!

Thanks so much to you all for reading/following/favoriting/reviewing! :D I promise you'll hear from me again soon with the next update!