Chapter 1
It was quite obvious that Lucius, Narcissa, Cassius, Maeve and Snape didn’t like what they heard when Hermione and Draco told them about the conversation between Potter and Weasley they had overheard. Especially the fact that Dumbledore told Potter that ‘Voldemort’ was going to come back.
Hermione agreed. Dumbledore was up to something and the last time he had been up to something the Wizarding World had experienced the most devastating war of their entire history.
When Draco and Hermione had come back, Theo had come over with his parents to spend some time with her before she went to Sri Lanka together with the Malfoys for three weeks. Snape, too, had come for dinner.
They had taken this opportunity to tell their story and now dinner was more or less forgotten.
Except for Draco and Theo, who did look at the adults attentively, but still managed to shuffle food into their mouths.
“That’s troubling,” Lucius finally said. “I don’t know what he’s planning and why he has told the Potter boy all this, but him talking of Voldemort coming back can’t be good.”
“What are Horcruxes?” Hermione asked. “Do they even exist?”
“They do and they actually work like Dumbledore said. But anyone having seven Horcruxes is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t even imagine what that would do to a person, if it’s possible at all.” He sighed and exchanged a look with Cassius, before looking back at Hermione. “But there is something I’ve wanted to tell you before we go to Sri Lanka tomorrow and now is as good a time as any. Tom does have one Horcrux.” Hermione’s eyes widened, but Lucius continued. “Not seven, one. Obviously, he never died, so him having no body is ridiculous, but you would have noticed something is amiss. He is almost 70 now and looks like he’s no older than 25. I told you that one of the main goals of the Knights of Walpurgis was to cheat death, remember?”
She nodded slowly. “You said he did some things in his youth he regrets. Were you talking about that?”
Lucius thought for a moment before answering. “I don’t think he regrets making the Horcrux, maybe the way it was made. But that’s something he should tell you, if he wants to.”
“But how can Dumbledore know about that?” Draco asked. The existence of the Horcrux itself didn’t seem to shock him, so he probably knew about it. The same was true for Theo.
“He can’t, at least I don’t think he can. He obviously knows that Tom didn’t age, but there are other ways to achieve that. I think he’s spinning another tale and if you want someone to look as horrible as possible, you don’t say maybe he has a Philosopher’s Stone. You say he made seven Horcruxes and is barely human at that point.”
“Does anyone else want a Horcrux? If you want to kill Dumbledore for that purpose, I’m all for it.” Snape took a sip of his wine.
“I just don’t understand what he wants to achieve. He can’t know where Tom is. He may suspect that he’s alive and even that is a stretch. Why does he build up a story about him returning?”
“Does it really matter, if he’s alive or not, Cassius?” Lucius looked his friend with a raised eyebrow. “Dumbledore created a whole mythos about ‘Lord Voldemort’. That mythos has very little to do with Tom Riddle as a person. Voldemort doesn’t even look like him.”
Hermione stared at him. “You mean, he doesn’t even need him. If he finds a way to make it believable, it doesn’t even matter whether he’s coming back or not.”
Lucius gave her a nod and then Snape spoke up once more. “He would have to pull it off really well, though. For one, Tom is an incredibly powerful wizard. He almost killed Dumbledore once in a duel, sometime during the war. If he hadn’t fled, the bloody coward.” Snape sounded bitter. “Dumbledore would have a hard time finding someone who could create the impression that he’s back. And then there’s us. The Death Eaters wouldn’t gather around a fairy tale Dumbledore created. And don’t get the impression that it’s just about the ones you already met. If there was another war and Tom would call, many would follow, not just his closest circle. Dumbledore would have a hard time faking that.”
“It would be interesting to know how many actually stand behind Dumbledore,” Lucius said thoughtfully. “I’m not talking about the Order of the Phoenix. The Order members actually had good intentions. They thought we were the enemies and fought us. Dumbledore used them like tools. Or pawns on a chess board.”
Hermione shuddered.
“The question still is, how does Harry Potter fit in?” Narcissa chimed in. “He’s just a boy, what does he want with him?”
“He’s the Boy Who Lived. The great saviour Dumbledore wanted to be. He’ll fit into his story somehow.” Lucius sighed. “We need to keep a closer eye on both Harry Potter and Dumbledore.” He looked at Draco, Hermione and Theo. “The rules still stand. If you hear anything, you tell Severus. But you will not actively seek information or take unnecessary risks. Leave it to us to handle the situation, don’t give Dumbledore any reason to focus on you. Is that clear?”
All three of them nodded.
The next day the house elves packed what they would need in the next three weeks while Hermione sat outside on the stairs to the entrance, waiting for Noodles to return from hunting. She had brought some berries for the peacocks and they had gathered around her and ate them out of her hands.
She hadn’t slept much, still nervous about meeting her father, coming to terms with the fact that he indeed had a Horcrux and worrying about Albus Dumbledore’s plans.
When all berries were gone, one of the peacocks pecked her hand, interrupting her thoughts. “Hey! I don’t have any more!”
The peacock looked at her like she had offended his mother. She had no idea why she liked those birds so much; they had a terrible attitude.
She smiled when she saw something blue slither through the gates. Somehow, the wards didn’t have any effect on Noodles, so when he wanted to go hunting when she was home, she just had to let him out of the door and he found his own way off the manor grounds and back in. On Lucius’ insistence she had made it very clear to him that the peacocks were off limits, although realistically, he wouldn’t see a grown peacock as prey. They were too big for him. He probably caught rabbits, rats and other critters around that size in the woods surrounding the grounds.
The peacocks still scattered when he approached Hermione and slithered onto her lap.
“Full?”
“No, I just had a little snack. I want to taste what there is to eat where we go.”
Hermione giggled. “In the mood for something exotic?”
“Yes!” The snake eyed her. “Are you still nervous?”
She nodded. It was easy to admit it to him. While he was very smart and understood everything she explained to him that was going on, he still wasn’t human. He didn’t think like a human, not exactly at least. Hermione had grown up with no one validating her feelings. It was different now, in her head she knew that, but she also knew that for the Shinohebi instincts and feelings were the most natural thing in the world. He would never judge her, no matter what she felt or thought.
“I liked him.” Noodles slithered up, around her shoulder until his head appeared on the other side, just to nuzzle her cheek with his snout. They had become close in the last few months and she couldn’t imagine being without him anymore.
“You did?”
“Yes, he asked me, if I wanted to become your familiar and didn’t just catch me. When he sent me to you, he made sure I was comfortable while travelling and that I had fed well before I was sent on my way.”
Hermione smiled. “That was nice of him.”
“Yes.” His tongue tickled her cheek, a familiar feeling now. “I’m glad I came here.”
She smiled at her friend. “Me too.”
Narcissa opened a window. “The portkey will activate in less than ten minutes. Please come in.”
She hadn’t noticed that she had taken so long. Noodles still around her neck, she went inside, where the three Malfoys had gathered in the entrance hall, where the portkey in form of an old music box stood on the mantlepiece of the fireplace.
Draco looked excited. “Are we going along to the ruins?”
“Your mother and I are going to the ruins with you and Tom with Hermione,” Lucius said while Narcissa took the portkey, held it out and Hermione put her hand on it, as it had been explained to her.
Draco wasn’t done. He frowned. “Can’t we all go together?”
“We’re going to spend enough time together. The main purpose of this holiday is for them to get to know each other, without catering to your needs all the time.”
“No one is catering to my needs!”
“I’ve done nothing else ever since you were born.”
Narcissa spoke up before Draco could even open his mouth. “If you two don’t touch the portkey now, you don’t need to worry about the ruins, because other than Hermione and me, you are not going to be anywhere near them.”
They did put their hands on the portkey, while both Lucius and Draco held their luggage with the other hand. Noodles was wrapped around Hermione more tightly than strictly necessary, but he was a bit nervous about this new way of travelling and she understood.
However, travelling by portkey turned out to be more comfortable than apparition and before Hermione knew it, they stood on a hill with a holiday home on the top, away from any cities, towns or even other houses. All Hermione could see was the way up the hill, palm trees and the beach. It was getting dark here, but it wasn’t quite night yet. The sun was just going down over the sea, bathing the water in red and orange. It was beautiful.
She turned to the house. It wasn’t huge, but easily big enough for five people and it had a nice veranda with view to the sea.
The door opened and Hermione had to remind herself to keep breathing, to be calm, as the man came into view. He was tall, about Lucius’ size, slender with black hair, dark brown eyes and aristocratic features. Lucius had been right, he did look like he was in his mid-twenties, although Hermione knew that wasn’t true. The biggest snake she had ever seen was coiled around his feet, watching her intently. Lord Riddle, her father, was dressed all in black, like Draco and Lucius almost always were, whereas Draco at least wore a shirt with short sleeves now.
He held himself in the same regal manner Lucius and Narcissa did and now stepped out of Nagini’s coils to walk towards them. He first greeted his old friends. His mannerism wasn’t exactly warm, but he still didn’t give the impression that his smile was fake. He was obviously pleased to see them, even made a joke about how fast Draco was growing. He had indeed had a growth spurt within the last few months; Hermione had stayed behind a little in that regard, but not much. Tom Riddle’s voice was smooth and pleasant. He spoke in the same accents of all of those in his closest circle, Hermione’s friends and their parents, but if she listened closely, she could hear that some words came out in a slightly different pronunciation. Probably the accent he’d grown up with. Would that have been cockney? Hermione wasn’t sure. She only knew for sure that a boy growing up in a shabby orphanage in Muggle London had not always talked like that. Then he turned away from the Malfoys and towards her, smile still in place.
She looked up and panicked a little, she hadn’t even thought about the proper way to address him! “Lord Riddle …”
She was interrupted by a soft chuckled. “I don’t think that’s necessary.” He didn’t envelope her in a hug like Cassius had, but he bent down to kiss her cheeks. “It’s good to finally meet you, Hermione.”
She relaxed, just a little, and finally returned his smile. “You too, father.” Noodles, still around her neck, moved a little to lift his head. It had become so normal for him to be there, she sometimes didn’t even take notice anymore, until he moved. “Thank you for him,” she said sincerely with a side glance at the Shinohebi. “He’s amazing.”
“I’m glad you like him.”
“I like her, too,” Noodles, who understood some English by now, chimed in. “I can be with her all the time, she takes me everywhere she goes. Except when her teacher takes me out to hunt when she’s at school. He’s always grumpy about it.”
This brought a little laugh out of him. “Severus grumpy? I can’t imagine.”
Hemione’s smile grew into a grin.
He switched to English again. “What did you call him?”
Yes, that question had to come at some point. “His name is Noodles.”
To Draco’s credit, he spoke up. “I came up with that. More as a joke because she’d been looking for a suitable Japanese name for hours, and he liked it.”
Another soft chuckle. “Snakes can be quite headstrong when they’re set on something. Can’t they, Nagini?”
Hermione had been so focused on him, she hadn’t even noticed Nagini approaching them.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she claimed and lifted her massive body to climb up on her master. Unlike Noodles, she wasn’t just wrapped around his neck, but his entire upper body. Now, that she was at eye level with Hermione, she addressed her directly. “Hello. Tom told me about you.”
“Hello, Nagini. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Speaking about snakes,” Lucius drawled. “How about a little warning next time you are planning to send a highly venomous creature to my home?”
Narcissa laughed. “You should have seen him backing out of his study, slamming the door and sealing it with magic.”
Her father grinned. “Lucius, you should know I wouldn’t send anything that would potentially harm you.” He didn’t sound offended, just amused.
“Sure, you also would never send a snake outside to hunt without telling her the difference between pets and prey.”
“I was not aware she didn’t know.” His smile was perfectly innocent. Hermione could see why Lucius had called him charming. He probably could talk his way out of most trouble. When it had mattered, however, he hadn’t been given the chance.
“So now it’s my fault.” Nagini, still wrapped around Tom Riddle’s body, turned to Hermione. “How am I to know that all these delicious birds are not for eating?”
Soon after, they went inside. The house wasn’t anywhere close the luxury of Malfoy Manor, but it was comfortable and tastefully furnished.
“I hope you like it. I thought you and Draco would enjoy the proximity to the beach and we’re close enough to the forest for the snakes to go hunting whenever they please.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Have you ever been out of Britain?”
“No, this is the first time.”
“Then we should make the most out of it. Sri Lanka was a good choice.”
They stayed up long into the night that first day, since Sri Lanka was over five hours ahead of Britain and none of them were tired.
It turned out, her father did indeed care about her having full marks in all of her exams. He praised her and even looked proud. He also seemed impressed by the number of advanced spells both she and Draco had learned from Lucius and Narcissa during holidays.
He shared their worries when it came to Dumbledore and what they had heard Potter and Weasley talking about and insisted on Lucius keeping him informed, but agreed to not take any action just yet. There wasn’t anything they could realistically do, before they knew more.
When they finally said their goodnights, Hermione was far more relaxed in his presence and was looking forward to the next three weeks.
~tbc~