The Ultimatum

May 6, 1945

"Hello, Father." Rosemary entered the room cautiously, as one might approach an untamed animal.

But instead of greeting her with the stern, disapproving look that she anticipated, Basil stepped across the room pulled her into an embrace.

"You hadn't responded to any of our letters for weeks…your mother and I were beginning to worry."

Rosemary was surprised at the lack of anger in his voice. Surely he was here because of Warren or St. Mungo's (most likely both); if he was merely concerned about her lack of reply, he would have just written a staff member to inquire about her wellbeing.

Perhaps he was simply trying to catch her off-guard. But Rosemary had little patience to play games or to allow her father to ruin her mood. It was best to get whatever confrontation they were inevitably going to have over with as soon as possible. "I haven't responded because I have nothing to apologize for," she told him crisply.

The corners of his mouth turned upward into a gentle smile. "Clearly you hadn't read them, Rosemary. If you had, you would know that we forgave you for ending your engagement with Warren weeks ago."

The statement completely blindsided her, so much so that she wished she hadn't burned the letters so that she could have indisputable evidence that he had actually said this to her. "You do?" she asked, unable to hide the disbelief in her voice.

He nodded. "While it was upsetting– especially to your mother– and considerably puzzling at first, it all began to make sense once Dumbledore notified us in regard to how shockingly improper Warren had been acting toward you after you broke off the engagement. It is a shame that I seemed to misjudge his character as well as his motivations…I've revoked his job offer at Comet as a result."

This was perhaps even more shocking to hear. As far as she could tell, Warren had been the son that Basil could never have because of her mother's inability to conceive after Rosemary was born.

And then suddenly, Rosemary understood what exactly Warren's comment in the Great Hall had meant. It was revenge: she took Comet from him and he would try and take St. Mungo's from her. But despite her broken friendship with Warren and the bitterness that now lay between them, this news made her feel incredibly guilty – if anyone deserved to work at Comet, it was Warren Cramer. She had broken his heart and cost him his dream career…no wonder he wanted revenge.

"You know about St. Mungo's already, don't you?" she asked Basil.

He nodded with that same, gentle smile. "Yes, it seems that Mr. Cramer made some assumptions about myself as well. What an ignorant prick."

Something in her father had clearly changed; a year before, he never would have admitted how wrong he had been about Warren. This was the man she had known as a child, the one she had admired so profoundly.

"Anyway, enough about him…I owe you congratulations, Rosemary."

"Thank you." The pleasantry came off sounding more like a question than truly genuine, as she was still caught up in the shock of it all.

"Though I think I might hold off on telling your mother for now and leave that for the right time. But you should know that above all else, your mother and I want you to be happy. The ending of the war with Grindelwald put things into perspective…it reminded me that family and doing everything we can to preserve it is truly the most important. I always expected something along these lines might happen anyway – you've always been an exceptional witch, you know."

Basil wrapped her in his arms again and suddenly she felt like crying. "I love you, Rosemary."

"I love you too."

After the tension that had existed between them for over a year, she had almost forgotten what it was like before. Sure, she had always been at odds with her mother, but her father used to be her ally (as much as he could while still preserving his marriage, anyway). And now, she felt as though they were on the way to regaining that relationship.

It made her wonder if she should bring up Tom, right then and there. After all, wouldn't her father feel far more deceived if she waited to tell him until the day she and Tom graduated? The thought made her feel incredibly guilty. But even with the regained alliance with her father, she knew there was going to be a line drawn somewhere – certain things would continue to be blatantly unacceptable in his mind and she had a strong feeling that Tom was it. So was it worth it? Should she jeopardize their momentary resolution or just enjoy it while it lasted because she would probably lose her father as soon as she told him anyway?

Enjoy it, she thought sadly, you have the rest of your life to disappoint them.

Shortly after seizing a table from a few third-year Gryffindors in the crowded pub, Avery arrived and Lestrange nearly fell out of his chair in surprise. It was obvious that Rosemary was happy to see Avery again as well and for the first time all week, she seemed to be her usual, animated self. But toward Tom, of course, she remained utterly cold and indifferent; she was even interacting more with Rebecca Orion than him.

He sat back in his chair, eying them all broodingly while sipping his glass of scotch perhaps a bit too quickly. It had only been ten minutes and his mood was already soured; why had he even bothered to come? He should have just stayed in and tried the second batch of the Power-Summoning potion he had attempted.

"So what have you been doing with all your free time?" Rosemary asked Markus, who promptly ordered them all a round of Firewhiskey shots while Professor Thurston glanced over at them from a nearby table with a weary expression.

"Nothing, really. My mother is still trying to reform me and telling me I should seek employment, but my father has given up entirely and sees to it that my vault receives its weekly allowance. For the most part, I sleep all day and go out on the town just about every night…Tuesday in Paris, Wednesday in Barcelona, and Thursday back home in London. I swear, I should be thanking you, Faye. Getting expelled is one of the best things that has ever happened to me."

Tom rolled his eyes. Lazy fuck.

Avery continued to ramble on about his many conquests, which quickly lost Tom's attention. As he turned it toward Rosemary, he noticed once again that there was something odd in her expressions and the way she refused to glance his way. Though barely perceptible behind her façade of sociability, he knew that she was hiding something from him.

"Markus I've missed you terribly." The shots were delivered and Donohue raised hers while quickly distributing the others. "We should toast: to renewed friendships and to Rosemary, for her upcoming position at St. Mungo's!"

Tom lifted the shot and smirked proudly at Rosemary. Of course, when she told him the news earlier, it came as little surprise. From the moment she informed him of her ambitions to become a Healer, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she would make it there.

She smiled and turned slightly red, but his stomach fell when, once again, she refused to look his way. When would this torture end? Orion then began to painfully flirt with Avery, twirling her raven-black hair around her finger and letting out a shrieking laugh at just about everything he said.

Of course, his mood continued to worsen through the entirety of the trivial conversation, which he largely removed himself from. Why had she even invited him along if she planned to ignore him the entire time? Was this her way of getting back at him for how preoccupied he had been lately?

There was no way that he had the patience to spend the rest of his afternoon like this. But thankfully, he could see her frustration growing at Orion's obnoxious behavior. Even if she was angry with him, surely it wasn't to the degree that she would rather stay here and witness Orion's desperate attempts at reconciliation. "Let's step outside for a moment," he prompted her after watching her finish her gin martini, tapping her arm with a pack of cigarettes.

"Okay," she agreed quietly after a moment of hesitation and followed him out of the noisy pub.

"Allow me." Tom snapped his fingers and lit the end of the cigarette she had just placed between her two pleasingly shaped lips.

"Thank you."

A silence loomed and he just stared at her, watching her continually fight to avoid his eyes. "You're acting off," he blurted plainly, unable to stand another second of this.

"How so?"

"Well for starters, you have been ignoring me for the last half hour." He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at his face.

"I've just been distracted – I haven't seen Avery for ages, after all..."

He laughed. "You were miserable in there, listening to Orion make a fool of herself. I can tell when you're pretending, Rosemary."

"I'm not pretending," she grumbled.

He gave her an even, knowing look and she was quiet for a few moments, breathing in a long drag from her cigarette. And then: "My father came to visit."

Oh bollucks.

"What happened?"

"I still can hardly wrap my head around it, but he came to tell me that he and my mother didn't blame me for ending my engagement with Warren. Apparently, Dumbledore informed them about how Warren was acting…My father even decided to renege his job offer for Comet as a result."

Well, what a pleasant surprise – not that it explained why she seemed so upset, of course. Tom raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And what did he have to say about my defending you?"

"He didn't know. Or if he did, he didn't mention anything."

"You didn't tell him?"

"No."

Tom couldn't explain why for the moment, but this rubbed him entirely the wrong way. Still, that wasn't nearly at the moment as important as discovering the reason for her standoffishness. "Did he know about St. Mungo's?"

"Yes – he was very supportive of it, actually."

"Then what is bothering you so much, Rosemary?"

"I'm not bothered per se; I've just been thinking."

He wasn't sure what that meant, but the feeling it gave him was not pleasant. "About?"

She sighed. "I dunno…my parents…us."

"Well that clears things up remarkably," Tom told her dryly, the bad feeling beneath his skin quickly becoming worse.

"What do you want me to say, Tom? I'm just not sure about some things right now."

"You're just 'not sure'," he echoed incredulously, his temper suddenly sparked.

"It's just…after speaking with my father this morning, it appears that I haven't been giving them enough credit. Given the way things have been between us lately, surely you can understand a bit of hesitation."

"And how exactly have things been, Rosemary?" he demanded, the heat rising to his face. "You are the one who has been acting differently. Where is this sudden change of heart coming from? Because the last time I checked, you were pretty damned sure you wanted this."

She looked up at him sadly. "You're so quick with your temper, Tom. So quick to say things you don't mean – things that hurt me."

So that was what this was all about: she was still upset over something he hadn't even meant to say to her? "I already apologized," he growled.

"I know. But when my father visited and said all of those things, it made me wonder if it was really a good idea to completely cut my ties with them."

Tom just stared at her for a moment. What on Earth was happening? First the Grindelwald and Dumbledore incident and now this? Was nothing safe and within his control any longer? Just a week ago, he was quite sure that Rosemary would do just about anything he asked her to; he had her full loyalty. "So you wish to have a clean way out, you mean. From me. In case I hurt you again."

"You're twisting my words," she glared at him. "Even ignoring any issues that we have, I'm not sure if I want to lose them. They are my family…and they actually seem to care more than I thought."

In his rage, he sneered at her thoughtlessly once again: "Don't be a fool, Rosemary. Do you really think your parents care about you?"

She just stared back at him for a moment, first appearing shocked, then as though she had been slapped, and lastly, as though she wanted to slap him. Her voice chilled him to his core when she finally replied: "Well you certainly know what it's like not to care. You're too good, too strong to need anyone, isn't that right? Then again, maybe you're just a proud fool." With that, she threw her cigarette to the ground and marched away toward the castle.

How could she do this to him? He told her he loved her – didn't that have a shred of meaning?

But he watched her go and his anger quickly melted into panic. She was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. Even more distressing was the truth that occurred to him next: he was losing her.

All of this was larger than his pride; the prospect of things ending between them all over again was unthinkably painful. Every plan that he foresaw in his drive toward greatness now inextricably involved her. Tom knew he couldn't allow himself to lose her, especially not over a few stupid comments he had said blindly out of anger…once again.

Indeed, their argument had sufficiently spooked him, especially in regard to her parents. Though they seemed to be on her side at the moment– surprisingly enough– they would never approve of him being with her. Especially not after Tom's last encounter with her father. As his thoughts grew more paranoid, he wondered if they might even tell her they approved at first so they could manipulate her into leaving him later. Of course, this was a risk he was not willing to take.

How could he fix this? How could he secure things between them, once and for all, and put an end to this madness? There was too much to do, too much he had yet to accomplish, to allow himself to become derailed by another emotional blunder. This needed resolve, and quickly.

He poured over thought after thought in his mind, wondering what lengths he would have to go to in order to win back her affections. It was then that an idea struck him– a risky, quite mad idea that might cost him a great deal of pride– but if it worked as he hoped she would be completely his. For good this time.

And if not? Well…he could always Obliviate her.

"Wait," Tom caught up to her and grabbed her by the arm. She glared up at him and tried to wrangle herself free from his grasp, in utter disbelief at his gall.

"Haven't you done enough already?" she snapped.

"There is something I need to show you," he told her. "Something that nobody else alive today has gotten the opportunity to see."

"I have no interest in your games at the moment."

"Give me an hour." His grip around her wrist tightened. "An hour, and if you want nothing to do with me after, I promise to leave you alone."

It was a substantial promise, which inevitably made her all the more suspicious of his intentions. "A half hour," she tested him.

"Forty-five minutes."

"Forty."

"Fine. Follow me."

When they arrived at their destination, it seemed quite evident that he had gone entirely mad. She had speculated that he might take her to the Room of Requirement, their spot in the library, or some other place with some sort of meaning, but instead, she found herself in the lavatory Myrtle haunted. Tom stunned Myrtle as soon as they entered, before she even got the chance to catch a glance at her intruders. Then he strode over to a sink that had clearly fallen into disrepair quite some time ago, leaned down, and whispered something indistinguishable.

She gazed on in shock as the circular collection of sinks spread apart to reveal a trap door – or hole, rather. Tom looked down with his hands in his pockets, a rather satisfied expression glazed across his handsome features. Where they were headed next struck her instantly.

It also struck her that the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was here, where Myrtle died.

The possibility that Tom had been behind Myrtle's death had occurred to her before, but this all but confirmed it in her mind. She was sure that Hagrid was innocent and had probably just been a sorry bloke that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course, if Rosemary was correct, this meant he had killed at least one mudblood before she even knew him.

But either because she had grown so accustomed to the thought of his violent tendencies or because she rather loathed Myrtle, she found herself surprisingly unbothered. And if she was bothered, it was the least of her concerns at the moment, considering that a very upset Tom Riddle was about to take her into the Chamber of Secrets. Perhaps taking him up on his offer had not been such a good idea after all…

Before she had a chance to take her way out of it, however, he grasped her hand and pulled her with him into the entrance. A substantial pile of bones greeted them upon arrival, crunching and snapping under the weight of their bodies. She leapt to her feet, glancing around at her surroundings in disgust when Tom placed his hand over her eyes. "Hagrid's acromantula may be gone, but another beast continues to reside here. Keep your eyes closed."

She could tell from the smirking arrogance in his voice that he knew what she had deduced about Myrtle.

He stepped away from her and she waited impatiently in relative panic for what felt like hours but was probably two minutes. "Tom!" she called, her voice ricocheting off the cavernous walls. Where exactly was he going with this? Was he trying to terrify her into submission in order to get his way? If so, it seemed likely to work…

She jumped as his hand found hers "As the Heir of Slytherin, the Basilisk follows my command without fail. It's safe to open your eyes now – his are closed."

The Basilisk?

Until now, she thought this creature only existed in folktales. Her mouth flew open to scream, but he clasped his hand over it. "Don't. You wouldn't want to provoke him, right?"

She nodded and he guided her hand to reach up and touch the beast's slimy, scaly side. Rosemary had never been afraid of snakes but wasn't particularly fond of them, either. The one thing she did appreciate about them was their tendency to keep away spiders…

"It's surprising that Hagrid's Acromantula and the Basilisk could reside in peace," she commented pointedly, running her hand along the side of the fifty-foot-long beast.

Tom's eyes danced with hers and his smirk slowly deepened. "Most curious, isn't it?"

She was beginning to feel nervous again. "Why did you bring me down here, Tom?"

He put his arm around her waist and led her through the Chamber, the Basilisk slithering behind them like some twisted version of a dutiful dog, until they finally reached a long pathway lined with pillars with a massive carving of a man's face she assumed must be Salazar Slytherin. She recognized it immediately as the place he had taken her after the Sweethearts' Ball over a year ago. Now she understood why he had been so insistent that she keep her eyes closed; not only did he want to keep the location of the Chamber undisclosed, the scenery prior to this room left much to be desired.

Tom said something else in Parseltongue and the beast slithered by them to curl up beneath the carving, eyes still closed.

"Have a seat," he told her, gesturing to the ground.

"I'd rather stand," Rosemary said defiantly, eyeing the Basilisk and then quickly looking away from it once more, remembering what a quick blink of its eyes would instantly do to her. "Now tell me: why did you bring me here?"

He squeezed her hand. "Because I want to share things with you, Rosemary – everything. You are the only person that has ever given me that particular urge. Speaking of, I have a bit of a story to share." Tom began pacing in a slow circle around her. "Have I ever told you about the night I met my family?"

She shook her head. "I never knew that you did."

"Two summers ago, I pieced together that I was of the Gaunt lineage, a long line of purebloods. After a bit of research, I found the address of the family home in Little Hangleton. I thought…well, it sounds foolish now, but I thought that I would be going home to a family just like Avery's, Lestrange's…or yours. I thought there had to have been some sort of misunderstanding and that was how I ended up in that dreadful orphanage. Imagine my disappointment when my Uncle Morfin informed me of the truth: that my mother dishonored her family and tainted my blood by marrying a muggle – a muggle that didn't even want her." He paused and shook his head in disgust. "My father was from the village and it just so happened that he still lived there with my grandparents. So I decided to pay them a little visit."

Rose felt awful, not to mention at a loss for what to say. She couldn't imagine how Tom, with his unbeatable arrogance, had handled the news that he was a half-blood – one from an illegitimate marriage at that.

"I killed them all, Rosemary: my father, my grandfather and grandmother, and I my Uncle Morfin rots in Azkaban for the charge. I did it without thought - without a shred of guilt. Even if I had the chance to go back and react differently, I wouldn't. In that moment, I had a decision to make and I chose to start anew. I swore to myself that I would realize my rightful pureblood status and dispose of all traces of those whose mistakes had previously defined me."

Despite her horror at his confession, it clarified so much about him. Being born a half-blood, she now realized, had never been the path he was destined for. His need to fight against the unfortunate reality was not only understandable – it felt justified. He had been slighted, cheated out of the life he was meant for by his own mother.

Rosemary didn't bother to ask why he hadn't told her sooner; she knew she wouldn't have understood early on. Until recently, she didn't know him well enough to have the capacity to.

"At any rate, this is all to say that I never had a family so I suppose I cannot understand your wish to continue including them in your life, especially considering the number of times they chose to stand in the way of what you want." He placed his hand on her cheek. "The truth of the matter is that I'm certain your parents care about you – who would be fool enough not to?"

"Then why did you say all of those things earlier? And being angry is not an acceptable answer." She narrowed her eyes at him.

"The way you were talking…well, it concerned me."

"Concerned in what way, exactly?"

"If you fail to cut the ties with your parents, they will inevitably try to come between us. And I trust you, Rosemary. You proved it once and for all on the night we went after Grindelwald, when you stood by me in a duel, healed the Knights and my injuries, and were still willing to help me after the cruel things I had said to you. But if you question things between us after one conversation with your father, what will happen after years of them? There will come a day when I will no longer be able to trust you…and that is not a reality that I am particularly comfortable with. In fact, I cannot even consider it as an option." He kissed her cheek. "I love you, Rosemary. But I need to trust you entirely and for that to happen, you will need to choose: your parents or me."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. "There is no other way. But before you make your choice– and you won't hear me admit this often– I was wrong that night. I do need you. And I am sorry, truly sorry to have hurt you. Rosemary, this is your choice but you know just as well as I do that there is only one right answer.

She suddenly felt as though she might cry, knowing how difficult all of this was for him to say. As soon as he finished speaking, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself against him, feeling all her bitterness from the week prior fading away into nothingness. It was then that she finally understood: just as he brought darkness to her, she brought light to him. He did need her. They balanced each other.

She gazed at him for a long time before finally saying, "Promise me, then. Promise me that you will stop keeping secrets, pulling away from me when something awful happens, and saying cruel things you do not mean whenever you are angry. Promise you will not forget that you need me."

He swallowed and nodded. "I promise."

A shadow of distrust passed over her features as though she believed these promises too good to be true. But he was so close and after all of this effort, all of the pride he had sacrificed, he could not afford to lose her now. His plan to win his way back into her favor had worked marvelously so far; there was only one thing left to do.

In one last show of grand, ego-leeching devotion, he fell to his knees before her, his heart beating like a caged animal against his ribs. "But in return, promise me that you'll be mine and mine alone – forever. Marry me."

"I am because you are…you are, I am, we are, and through love I will be, you will be, we will be." – Pablo Neruda

Thanks so much to everyone for reading and to RainbowKitteh13, broslyn137, MissVolturiKingsFan, slacker4life, x2leoj, alexc123, and Oksanallex for taking the time to review as well!

We are quickly approaching the end of Part II! Any thoughts or predictions?