Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Aftermath
October 31, 1981- Wizengamot Chambers, Ministry of Magic
If he had known how much a headache this would give him, Tom felt that he wouldn't have blown up Godric's Hollow the previous night. Well, almost. The light wizards that were now running about like headless chickens were going to drive him insane. Even the so-called Leader of the Light couldn't placate those under his power, which in Tom's opinion just solidified his views that Dumbledore was an incompetent fool. Tom's annoyance was so great that even most of those of the Dark Sect could sense the growing ire behind Tom's indifferent mask.
Luckily for the petty light wizards, Amelia Bones, the neutrally aligned witch who was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had also reached the end of her patience. She illuminated the room with her wand tip in an adapted Patronus, temporarily blinding those who were discussing the murder of Lady Potter and her son. Tom barely refrained himself from snorting in disgust of their plebian actions. This was one of the reasons he had aspired to become the Dark Lord in the first place, after all. For if the sheep believed themselves to be the shepherds then the wizarding world would be dragged backwards instead of the slow crawl forwards that he was trying to encourage as of late. An image of Dumbledore as a shepherd coaxing some sheep backwards twirling like a ballerina and in a pink tutu popped up in his mind and he fought back a snort. He could not afford to snort; Dark Lords do not snort. He forced himself to pay attention to what was going on in front of him, as it seemed that Amelia finally had everyone under control.
"-Nothing we can do about it. You saw Grindelwald's mark, this was another attack from a deranged witch or wizard who still believes in the 'Greater Good'." Amelia's logical viewpoint seemed to calm the previously frantic members of the Wizengamot. The idiotic little sheep nodded along to her statements, seemingly seeing the logic in her statements. Even James Bloody Potter seemed to be subdued, choosing to stare at the pristine marble floor morosely.
After all, who could argue their logic? The aurors had found two charred bodies and their blood matched those of Lily and Harry Potter. On a completely unrelated note, Polyjuice Potion was permanent if the taker died while the potion's properties were still in effect. It also helped to have one Severus Snape, potions master extraordinaire at your service to tweak the potion to duplicate the form's physical information as well. It really was a shame that the Ministry was as incompetent as ever to make everything that much easier, Tom thought to himself maliciously as he gazed over the assembled witches and wizards of the Wizengamot with a masked sneer of disgust.
As he swept his gaze over the décor of the chamber and caught sight of blood red banner, he was reminded one of the reasons why he was so annoyed by this meeting in the first place. For the first time in years, he had his Lillian all to himself but he was stuck in this bloody emergency meeting for the Wizengamot because the fucking light wizards couldn't keep their calm over murder. Pathetic. They were all sniveling cowards, shaking in fear behind their sheep-turned-shepherd while they all believed themselves to be valiant, brave Gryffindors. They were not even worth his disgust in his opinion. Why should they be worthy of such a negative emotion from him, the Dark Lord, when they couldn't keep any semblance of order in the face of such a minor attack? Tom didn't think such a thing could or would ever be able to evoke such an emotion from him, no matter the circumstance.
In the end, it took over two hours for them to decide that there was nothing else they could do about "The Potter's Demise" as they were now dubbing it. Even by the two-hour mark, Tom was ready to start Crucio'ing the lot of them just to make them stop their irrelevant squabbling. When the meeting was adjourned, Tom gracefully swept across the chamber and through the halls to the nearest apparition point where he turned on the spot and vanished.
When he arrived at Slytherin Manor, he mentally nudged the ambient magic that occupied the estate-much like the active magic of Hogwarts itself-and stalked to the library where the ancient magic of the manor directed him. Sure enough, as he stepped into the doorframe, his wife's magical aura twined with his, radiating delight at his return as his own aura wrapped hers in a protective and reassuring embrace. He stood in the doorway a few moments to observe his Lillian, his reason for being.
She was sitting in one of the many plushy armchairs situated around the ancient library with her dark blood-red hair cascading down as she pushed a strand behind her ear as she read contentedly. Her pale skin glowed slightly as a strand of sunlight snuck through the windows and slowly travelled across her hair, lighting up single strands in a fiery hue that reflected her magical core and being; wild, untamable, mesmerizingly beautiful and most of all, free.
She paused in her reading, looking up at him through her dark eyelashes as her chaotic swirling pools of green pierced through him, shining in happiness that he, Tom Riddle, reflected. They were finally free of the burden of putting up an act for the bloody Light just to cover their less-than-innocent tracks. She slowly uncurled from her position on the armchair and a small smile was curled upon her lips as she leisurely strolled towards him. When she reached him, Tom gently pulled her into his side as she looped her arms around his middle, nuzzling her face affectionately into his robes.
Cautiously, Tom prodded their long-neglected mental connection with a small, reminiscent smile curling over one side of his lips. His smile grew as Lillian stiffened in surprise and then prodded the link back, opening her mind up to him once again. He rejoiced at the closeness that he had been missing while his Lillian was spying on the Light. A mental link was not an uncommon thing to have between those married of a dark pureblooded house. In fact, a century or so ago, it was a common thing to do with the majority of pureblood Lords and Ladies, yet it was something that most of the Light forsook in their effort to accept and reassure mudbloods of their right to belong in the wizarding world.
A mental link between a couple was normally formed between the two during an older marriage ritual in which blood was exchanged between the couple, forming a bond which then could be expanded upon depending upon how much physical interaction the couple were to have and how much effort was put into expanding the bond. Marriage Bonds were originally used between contracted purebloods to assure those involved that no blood would be shed between the two and so that they could become better adjusted to being married to someone they have no real knowledge of or companionship with.
When his Lillian had been spying on the Light, they had closed off the connection due to mutual agreement on the likelihood of Dumbledore 'subtly' probing her mind to be convinced of her innocence. Neither had wanted to risk the consequences of the Leader of the Light finding one of 'his own' having a blood bond with the Leader of the Dark. The consequences would have been disastrous. Nevertheless, now they did not have to hide anything any longer and could re-open the neglected bond. It would take a little while to have it at the strength it used to be, but it would be worth it in the end.
"Hadrian is sleeping currently, but should be awake soon enough. He has missed enough of his father's presence in his life so far and you have time to make up for, for both him and I." Lillian's voice interrupted his inner monologue as he put his finger underneath her chin up so he could look straight into her sparkling eyes.
"How do you propose that I make it up to you, love? Because I have quite a few things in mind and personally I would love to get reacquainted with every single part of you." His voice came out as a low and silky drawl that was heavy with suggestion and desire. In response, her eyes hooded slightly as she looked up into his handsome facial features that reflected the same desire that coursed through her veins.
"My Lord, what a wonderful suggestion. It just so happens that I left something of mine that I think will help this… reacquainting… of ours in our bedchambers. Won't you come and retrieve it for me?" A little known fact about his Lillian was that she was just as fiery, violent and mischievous as she was in every day life as she was when they were in bed. As Lillian sauntered around him, breaking through the hazy cloud of lust that had descended over his mind, and sashayed in the direction of their bedroom, Tom thought to himself that it was his duty to make sure his Lady's wishes were fulfilled, was it not? Besides, it had been far too long since he had properly, ah, acquainted himself with his wife, or more importantly her body.
His appreciative gaze was cut short as d minx looked back over her shoulder and called, "Are you coming, my lord? I'm sure that I can find other ways to entertain myself otherwise."
He cursed as he stalked after her retreating form as she still had him wrapped around her little finger, and they both knew it.