A/N: Welcome back everyone :) If you're new, please read the first three parts of the series first, this part won't make much sense otherwise ;)

So we're already at part 4! From now on, the parts will be longer, this one will have around 23 chapters (I haven't finished writing the whole story yet, so the total number of chapters may be adjusted at some point). Many of the chapters are also longer than in the previous parts (not this one, you may consider it a prologue). I will not say anything about the title before chapter 6 is posted ;)

I guess you all remember that in canon book 4 starts with a rather dark chapter: Weird infant Voldemort, Pettigrew, Nagini and the gardener ... of course that is not part of this story, as you may have guessed, if you read the other parts of the series. Still the beginning is a bit on the darker side. Mind the "Morally Grey Tom Riddle" tag and the others warnings.

This chapter is dedicated to everyone who was disappointed that we didn't see Lucius deal with the Grangers. I hope this makes up for it. It was certainly satisfying to write, but maybe I'm weird.

Just a little reminder because it was only mentioned briefly and in part 2: The Grangers' memories were altered after Lucius and Narcissa took Magical Guardianship over Hermione. They remember that they had a daughter that they gave away. They do not remember the Wizarding World, Hogwarts and whatever McGonagall may have told them when she came to explain to Hermione's Muggle parents that their daughter was a witch.

Thanks to Sue for beta reading :)

Daniel Granger was having a quiet, relaxing evening with his wife. They were both sitting on a sofa, watching one of those game shows Carla liked so much.

He didn't particularly care for that kind of entertainment, but he also didn't particularly mind.

Most of all, he enjoyed the peace now that his daughter was gone. First, she had been accepted into a boarding school, which had been a nice start. He didn't even really remember the reason the deputy headmistress of said school had one day just knocked at their door, but did it matter? Strange things had kept happening around the girl and they hadn't been the only ones to notice, her teachers and schoolmates had noticed, too. He had been glad to be rid of the little troublemaker for most of the year and so had his wife. Even better, a day before she was due to return for the summer, some posh, rich-looking man had turned up, asking for permission to invite her to his home for the first week of the holidays because she had apparently made friends with his son, and Daniel had been more than eager to accept. And even better, the man had returned before the week was over and announced that they would keep her. Maybe Daniel had been slightly drunk, because he couldn't remember much of the interaction, but he hadn't heard from her since. The guy had probably paid the right amount of money to the right people to receive custody, but the Grangers didn't care, as long as she wasn't their problem anymore.

Daniel was just considering to provide some distraction from the game show, when suddenly all windows went dark. The glass became pitch black, just like that. He couldn't see the lights from his neighbours' houses anymore.

He looked at his wife in confusion, but she didn't seem to have noticed yet. He opened his mouth, but the next moment, a huge snake slithered in from the dark hallway, and that she did notice, because she jumped up screaming, and of course, as soon as he was standing, too, staring at the animal in shock and bewilderment, she suddenly was behind him. What the hell was he supposed to do against a fucking giant reptile?

When the snake was directly in front of them, it lifted its head and when its mouth gaped open, huge fangs were revealed. Carla behind him screamed again.

"Easy, Nagini," a smooth voice came from the hallway and a dark-haired man entered the living room, walking slowly, as if it he had not a single care in the world. "We are guests here, we don't want to be rude." He smiled, but his eyes were so cold it made Daniel shiver.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my house? What is that … thing doing in my house?" He had tried to sound threatening, but his voice was trembling.

A hiss came from the snake.

"Nagini does not appreciate being called a thing," the man chided gently.

Painfully slowly, he walked over to the fireplace, looked at the pictures on the mantlepiece. They were all of Daniel and his wife. Ever since Hermione had started to present these … unnatural quirks, they had stopped taking pictures of her and the ones that had been there had been taken down.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel repeated.

The man turned to him and … shit, those eyes. "I just came to talk." Slowly, calmly he came to a halt next to the giant snake, pulling a stick out of a halter on his belt, twirling it between his fingers.

"I'll call the police! Carla, get the phone!"

"No, you won't," the man said matter-of-factly.

"The hell I will! I'll fucking kick your arse!" It was an empty threat, with the snake still looming beside what seemed to be its owner, fangs still bared.

The stranger cocked his head. "Will you now? Of course you could try. But from what I heard, the only thing you are capable of is hurting little girls."

So that was what this was all about! "Are you a friend of that man who took her away? I don't care what she told you! I only did what I had to do! The little freak …"

When his ranting was interrupted, he almost didn't catch it, because the voice was still so calm, so gentle, when it said: "Crucio."

Next he knew, he was lying on the ground, next to his wife. They were both screaming, backs arching, as Daniel experienced pain far worse than he had ever thought possible.

The word was repeated again and again and again and again the pain started anew. He thought he would die, then he hoped he would die, and eventually he begged for death.

All the while the cold, unblinking eyes of the snake were watching them.

He seemed to have lost consciousness for some time, and when he woke up, his limbs were still twitching from … whatever hell this had been. His wife was whimpering next to him.

For a moment he almost dared to hope that the man and the snake were gone, but when he managed to move his head to the side, he saw that the man was sitting in Daniel's favourite armchair, legs crossed lazily, holding a glass of his good whiskey, while he watched them with those cold fucking eyes of his. The snake was watching them, too, hanging from the backrest, its head right next to the man's.

"Back with us?" The tone was almost conversational.

"Why?" He croaked, his throat raw from all the screaming.

"Because I have never met anyone who deserved it more."

The man took another sip of the whiskey, calmly placed the glass on the table and rose from the armchair. Daniel flinched back, whimpering as his still aching, still twitching muscles protested. He wanted to beg, but his voice wouldn't obey him. Then he started crying.

The man towered above them now, looking down with something akin to disgust, the only sounds his crying and his wife's unrelenting whimpers.

He couldn't bear it again, he would surely lose his mind, if …

"I'll leave you now. Before that, I will take all memories of me and Nagini." What was the madman talking about?

The stranger went down on one knee, lifting the stick in his hand. "But you will always remember the pain."

Tom Riddle, Nagini wrapped around his upper body, appeared before the iron gates of Malfoy Manor. It hadn't changed much and it felt like coming home.

After faking his death over a decade ago, he had chosen to leave. The Manor would have kept him hidden, the wards were strong enough to ensure his safety, but it would eventually have felt like a prison. A huge, luxurious prison with more books than even he could read, but a prison nonetheless. Abroad he had been able to move freely, here he would be confined to the manor grounds. But that was alright for the time being. He knew Lucius and Narcissa would not mind having him here and he would be closer to Hermione.

He moved forward and the gates opened for him. During the war, Abraxas, before Lucius had become Lord Malfoy, had given him full access and obviously that hadn't changed.

Some of the peacocks were watching from the hatches, screeching in alarm as Nagini slithered down his body and along the pathway. "Leave them alone, Nagini. Remember, peacocks are friends, not food."

"I know." She sounded annoyed, probably because she still considered it a waste to keep those birds as pets.

As he followed his companion, he found himself looking forward to seeing his daughter. She had surprised him. When Lucius had informed him that she was his and Cyrelia's child, it had been a shock, but he had felt a certain kind of obligation towards her. Then he had met her. Considering her past, he had expected a timid girl, maybe someone who found it hard to trust people. Instead, she had been brilliant, talented, with all the best traits her mother could have given her: An open mind, kindness, curiosity. The stubbornness and cunning were traits she probably had inherited from both of them. And there was the pleasure she gained from learning and reading, the ability to talk to snakes, the bond she shared with these animals, magical or non-magical, and a certain tendency for callousness towards people she didn't care about. All this she shared with him. After the affair with Pettigrew, he had honestly been grateful for the last trait. She had understandably been shocked to see a man die like that, but all things considered, she had taken it well. He was certain it would have been different, if it had been someone she cared about, but Pettigrew's death in itself didn't seem to faze her much.

Still, after everything that had happened during the last year, he wanted to be closer and had become restless, continents away. It was new for him to feel that way. Dumbledore seemed to be convinced he couldn't feel love and he didn't know, if that was true. He certainly cared for his friends and their children, but it went deeper with Hermione and he knew he would do anything to protect her. Was it love? Maybe. How was he to know how it was supposed to feel?

He pushed the door to the manor open and Nagini slithered in with him. It was the middle of the night, much later than he had planned to arrive, but his little visit with the Grangers had taken longer than expected.

"Bimsy?"

The house elf, eyes drooping tiredly, appeared before him. Then, when she looked up at him, the little creature was wide awake. "Ohhh, Master Riddle, Sir! Welcome back!"

He smiled. "It's good to see you, Bimsy. I suppose everyone is asleep?"

"Bimsy is sorry, Sir! Masters are not home. They went to see the Quidditch World Cup. It's in England this year and Master Lucius bought tickets."

"I see. Well, I don't believe they will mind, if I wait for them here."

"No, of course not, Sir! Master Riddle's suite is always ready for him. Bimsy goes to make sure Master Riddle will have everything he needs. Is there anything else Bimsy can do tonight?"

"No, thank you."

"Alright, Sir! Bimsy will make sure we have breakfast ready in the morning! Goodnight, Sir."

"Goodnight."

The house elf disapparated and Tom, still with Nagini in tow, went upstairs and towards the suite he had inhabited during the war and for some time after, until he had decided to leave England, and Europe for that matter, behind.

"Don't tell me you're disappointed just because you have to wait a few days more to see her."

"I am not."

"Liar."

~tbc~