Rising
Hadara slipped into a seat next to a tall brown boy with braids and a sharp nose that looked attractive from a distance, but the closer one got it looked more cartoonish. As if it was made. “Hey, I’ve never seen you before, you new?” the boy whispered to her.
Dara’s eyes bugged out in surprise. “I, um, I, yes?” she winced and then took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ve just joined.”
“I knew it, I’m Fran Nice to meet you” the boy stuck out his hand a smile on his face. His eyes bulged when she turned to him, and a sweet scent wafted to his nose.
“Hadara.” If Hadara could read minds she may have approached the young male with more caution.
The moment Fran laid eyes on Hadara he was infatuated. Her round green eyes looked oddly similar to a lost (Disney) lamb. Her cheeks grew redder when she sat down, she furiously brushed her curls out of her face. It was an odd attraction. Fran would say with no doubt that Hadara was beautiful, but it was one he would usually admire from a distance, one he would not want to touch and ruin. But she sat down next to him, she chose him, welcomed him in. He tried to focus on the rest of the seminar but found it nearly impossible because Fran like everyone else held a wish that he would go to university and find the love of his life, get married and live happily ever after. With Hadara she could be the missing piece to the puzzle. The moment they were told to split into pairs he had practised hundreds of opening lines. But things never go as planned and tried to burn the memory out of his mind in shame. After a minute of poorly explaining what they should be doing he gave up.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been paying attention” he chuckled rubbing his forehead.
“Oh, it is okay. It was part of my catch-up so” Hadara passed him notes.
The smile dropped off his face the second he saw a particular finger. “Oh”
“Is there something wrong?” she looked at him nervously, the friendly atmosphere gone instantly. Fran glared daggers at the sheets in her hand. “Sorry, I’m not trying to be presumptuous, I didn’t mean, you don’t have to.”
“No, it’s okay” The smile was back on, and he quickly took the sheets reading over it. “This is amazing work Hadara” she beamed under his praise.
X
“You fool!” James roared.
Albus chugged down the brown liquid from the bottle in his hand.
“Look at me Albus” James shouted at the man, who had aged centuries. His black Pyjamas mirrored funeral attire and his greying hair looked flat and lifeless against his face.
“What do you want me to do” Albus grumbled, he was huddled up in a red and white French chair, both men had spent hours in his study drinking their miseries away.
“I want you to get your son under control, I want my wife and daughter back and I want to never hear the name Riddle again” James had chosen to lay on the floor, near the fireplace instead of the identical chair opposite Albus. He downed the rest of his drink in his glass before sitting up.
The only light came from the fireplace and cast a dark shadow on Albus' face. “He has taken all control from me James” Albus sighed staring into space “He took it all, Grace isn’t with that vile sister of hers, I fear they never went there, a red hearing”.
James kicked Albu’s leg and slurred his words “So you take my business, your son takes my daughter, and your wife takes my Lily. Albus why shouldn’t I kill you now?”.
Albus chuckled “You could try, but I doubt you can even stand”. He stared down James for a frightful couple of seconds “I do have good news though” he shifted into the confession position.
James closed his eyes and rested his head on the seat of the chair. “Please”.
“I received a letter in the post from Grace this morning”.
James stood up in a start. “Where is it? Why didn’t you tell me?”. He grabbed the letter from Albus. He read it over at an impressive speed, but with all the alcohol in his system, he had to re-read several paragraphs again. “So the rat hasn’t even let Lily speak with Harry” He paused “Have you traced this?”.
Albus stood and if not heavily intoxicated James would have fought back the flinch that happened as the older man toward over him. Albus snatched the letter from his hand and staggered over to his desk “Don’t treat me like a fool, I’ve sent all of this to my PI, he is tracking down their location as we speak”.
X
Fran could barely hide his disappointment when Hadara denied spending lunch with him and his friends as she was going to spend time with her husband instead. He had spent a while conjuring up an image of what this supposed husband would look like, but he couldn’t pin down anything. But when he walked past the fields what he saw stunned him. Tom's riddle was supermodel handsome (the kind that a man can openly admit without being made fun of by other insecure men), this unfortunately caused the jealousy to grow more in his mind, of course, a girl like Hadara would be with a man like Tom. Then they will go off to have attractive babies and grow up to be attractive people to marry other attractive people and people like Fran would never have a chance.
He made sure to rush past so Hadara wouldn’t see the jealousy radiating off of him. On his way back he caught a glimpse of someone who looked as miserable as he felt staring at the couple. Fran assessed the girl, wild hair like Hadara but hers was brighter, she was beautiful (without a doubt) but had more of a fiery look to her. She was the type of girl he went for, she of course like others would brush off his advances, but he had a way of wearing them down (A/N I do not condone these actions, men like this are super creepy). He had seen her walking around the building once or twice, but the way she was staring at the couple drew him in, he never really needed a reason to talk to a pretty girl, but a common topic always helped.
“Go away” was her response before a sound came out of his mouth. He was at the doors of the English seminar rooms in 5 seconds flat, too embarrassed to think of a response. His heart hammered in his ears so he didn't hear the rush of feet behind him “Hey, wait you're an English major?”, she grabbed onto his shoulder.
“What?” he responded with an equal amount of venom like she originally did.
She looked him up and down before smiling like a predator to prey. “Sorry about before, it just sucks to see your ex with someone else”. She a strand of hair and twisted it around her finger, lolling her head to the side and blinking up at him.
Thoughts of just walking away instantly vanished. EX? New information was always helpful. Deep down Fran knew how ridiculous it was to imagine breaking up a couple for what would probably be a one-night stand as he could barely keep a job not to talk about a girlfriend, but if they were to break up and he was just there to pick up the pieces. Well… his conscious could handle that.
“I’m Fran” he held out a hand.
She tutted and wrapped an arm around his “Hermione”.
X
(This is directly after the events of the last chapter)
“Tommy” Hadara wined for the hundredth time, she clung to her husband’s arm as he ignored her pleas for his attention. They had successfully spent an hour hanging out with her course mates and in the car ride home she had been talking off Tom’s ear, she slowly realised he wasn’t pleased as his grunts (that he typically communicated in) were less enthusiastic. “You have to tell me why you’re upset!”. She was worried about his reaction, but a part of herself was pleased to have not broken down into tears and apologised profusely regardless of not knowing what annoyed him.
He parked the car and she used that to poke his side. He tutted at her action, which was not the reaction she wanted. Tom as one would imagine was not ticklish, that action just annoyed him. She tried again, but he grabbed her hand just in time.
“Dara” he growled, his eyes bore deeply into hers. “Stop”. The worry she had disregarded started crawling back. He got out of the car and walked round to her side holding it open. She grinned, he was pissed (clearly) but he didn't hate her.
He held out his hand and she took it eagerly. “Are you seriously not going to tell me what happened?”. They walked into the lobby of their apartment, she waved at the security guard that she would typically share greetings with. She stopped walking, wanting to put up a stand, but she should have realised that would not be enough. She knew Tom’s strength when he was barely putting effort in. He continued walking, completely unfazed pulling her along. She stumbled, but he held out a hand to catch her.
She caught a glimpse of his face in the metallic reflection of the lift and grinned harder, he had his head turned to the side but was poorly containing a smile. The doors dinged open. “Let my hand go and talk to me”.
He slowly looked at her and quirked a brow “Or what?”.
She pulled as hard as she could but Tom was an immovable rock. She gave up instantly “I win anyways, you just spoke to me”.
“I’m not ignoring you” he reached to press their floor, but maybe that one cocktail she shared with Tom had gotten to her head, and was probably the one to blame as she pushed for the basement level. “Dara” his voice held more warning in it this time.
“Tommy, what happened? We had such a good night, I saw you smile twice” She poked his chest harder than necessary. He groaned staring up at the ceiling as the lift began to descend. “Fine then, don’t talk to me. I guess we can finally put the guest room to use”. She stood in front of him, arms crossed.
Tom tugged her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She felt his throat vibrate “Out of all the dumbest things I have ever heard, that Mrs Riddle” he kissed the top of her head “Is number one”.
She tried to fight out of his embrace “No, you don’t touch me” he chuckled pulling her closer. The lift finally reached the basement level, she tried to put up more of a fight, but the tiredness of the night had gotten into her and she had given up, deciding to lean into his embrace and they silently watched the doors open and close. Toms's head rested on hers. “Did I embarrass you?”. Her father hated it when she embarrassed him, he would say time and time again that he would rather die before she made a fool out of the Potter name. One time, when she was carried away by the energy of the Christmas party (At her dad's work) and made a joke that his board members found funny (about how he struggled to put his tie on properly and needed her help) he had excused themselves to grab something from his office. Hadara should have stopped the joke once she saw her father's face settle into a subtle scowl, once they reached his office he took off his belt and she instantly began to cry realising what was to come. she left the room with fresh lash marks on her back.
“You never told me Fran was a boy”. Dara’s jaw dropped.
She spun to face him and pointed a finger at his face “You’re jealous, no way” she jumped up and down and laughed.
Tom, who was still trying to hold onto the anger, couldn’t anymore. Dara had been so carefree and happy all day. Whenever he was in a murderous rage he typically needed to punch something to cool down, however watching his wife just live was more than enough. He had slowly come to the realisation that just because he didn’t stutter and could command a room with a simple look didn’t mean he wasn’t broken. It meant he could hide it better, but watching Dara heal was somehow healing him as well.
“It’s not funny” and it wasn’t, every time his mind tried to conjure up an image of the waste of air that was Fran all he could see was a tombstone with the man’s name on it.
Healing… not healed.
“Wow, Jealousy looks good on you” She was still laughing but had settled down. “Who knew all it took was to threaten to leave you for a night and you cave so easily”.
“Whatever” he turned to the side, but he could not fight back the smile on his face.
“Whatever” she copied in a deep voice. That caused Tom to bark out a laugh. “Fran doesn’t even like me anyways” Tom gave her a deadpan look “No it's true, I was even the one to ask! I wanted to try something different on for you”.
“Stop trying to be cute”. For the second time in the night, her jaw dropped open, the doors dinged and he led them out. “I don’t like the way he looks at you, his beady eyes creep me the flip out, and no man, none, know the names of lipstick, you only learn that to impress people, if he didn’t like you that would have been red, not blood ash-”
“Wait” she stopped him from putting the key in the hole “You remembered the shade name?”.
He stared back at her stunned. “Is that what you took away?” he asked exasperation clear.
“If he likes me, he is bang out of luck, because you love me and you win, always.”.
She walked into the penthouse, he stared at the closed door. “always” he whispered. Out of everything he could have imagined to be behind the door of their home, what he saw was never even on the list. He bumped into a still Hadara “What are you- “.
His mother was sitting on the couch crying with Lily who was lying on her lap and anxious Cedric and Draco stood in the hallway. “Mummy?”.
“Dara” Lily sobbed louder, and they raced into an embrace. the only sound for a while was of the mother and daughter embracing and whispering sweet nothingness to each other.
“Mother? What's going on?” he crouched in front of his mother who looked soberer than he had seen her in her entire life, Yet She had an off-side look, staring deeply into nothing. he gently placed a hand on her back and rubbed it. “Talk to me so I can help”.
Lilly and Dara join but neither woman could speak.
“I was just leaving and Cedric and my dad came up with them two, they were causing a scene in the lobby, umm, your mum said something about he finding her”.
Those words caused the last strength in his mother to fail and she fell back letting out a gut-wrenching cry. “It’s okay Mother” Tom pulled her into an embrace “It’s okay”. He turned to Lily who looked worse than his mother, Dara’s eyes were filled with tears and promised to be bloodshot tomorrow. “Someone tell me what happened”.
X
Lilly and Grace had gotten into the car Tom had waiting for them and sat in silence as they drove for hours. They held onto the other hand, both had never imagined a life without their husbands, the freedom they felt in the car as it sped down the motorway was toxic.
They made several rest stops at places both husbands would not have even glanced at, they ate burgers that made them quezy and used the cash the driver had ready to buy and wear dresses their husbands would have burnt to a crisp. All of this in complete silence. Holding each other when it all got too much and the tears could not stop. After three days of that, they slowly pulled up to a coastline and walked onto the awaiting ferry. Lily stopped at the edge of the dock.
One step, that’s all it took and James, her James, was gone. One step and it all became real, she couldn’t do it. She slowly backed away from the line, James loved her, she was his, he loved her, she belonged to him, he loved her, she couldn’t survive on her own, he loved her? Three days of crying, being sick and wearing ugly blue striped shirts and cowboy hats had her pondering over years of marriage, how dare she?
“It’s okay Lily, one step at a time” Grace stood at the edge of the boat hand stretched out. The wind blew violently, throwing her hair around, the sharp whistle of the wind taunted her. “I know... I know”. Lily slowly walked towards the outstretched hand. Once in Grace's motherly embrace, she sobbed harder “It’s going to get better”.
They spent several months cruising on the ship, stopping only to replenish necessities, the crew was a small team of 6 who minded their business while both women spent their time reading, talking about the hundreds of ways they failed as mothers and attending weekly Skype therapy session Tom had set up for. Grace had thrown a fit once the woman had introduced herself:
“Hello, Grace my name is Doctor Yetunde Sola, I'm a clinical psychologist who specialises in trauma and domestic abuse.” Lily had taken it harder, barely leaving her room for days on end. But the crew were on strict instructions from Tom that if they refused to attend the sessions they had to convince them. The moment the ship had set out to sea both women had changed their minds, but it was too late, the crew had further instructions to not let them off unless Tom allowed it. They were also not allowed to use any phones or social networking services. Anything they could have possibly contacted their husbands with was gone. At first when concocting the plan Tom worried if this just made him like his father, forcing the women to be in a place they did not want to be in, forcing them to do things that he deemed good for them. But he let those thoughts lose, he was going to save them, even if it meant dragging them kicking and screaming.
X
“It was hard for a while, I, I, even began to hate you Tom, but then it got better, it’s been months and I haven’t even started my healing, she had to spend hours just helping us understand what we went through, but also what we have put you through.” Grace lightly touched Hadara’s cheek then looked sadly at Cedric. “I’m so sorry,” Grace said to Lily.
Lilly sniffled and Hadara pulled her mother into another hug. “No, it was my fault” Lily tried.
“Don’t you even, I was the one who wrote”.
“But I was the one who put it in your head”.
Lily had somehow convinced the staff to let her go for the monthly replenishment shop, the ship was docked for an hour as the food was carried on board, she had been quick and had raced to the post office and posted the letter, Grace had convinced her that their husbands had to have calmed down by now.
They were in for an awful shock when 5 days later they had to make an emergency stop due to the sea police believing they may be carrying contraband. As they pulled closer inland, the intimidating shadow of James Potter and Albus Riddler caused both women to realise they had been once again fooled. Once on land, they had avoided all eye contact with the men, fear racked through their bodies, and the words of Yetu rang in their minds 'It's not your fault, You're the victim here, What they did was wrong' The sight of the men caused a feeling of disgust to rise up in Grace but when they held out their arms for a hug, both women rushed forward. They breathed in the musky and oaky (respectively) scents of their husbands. This was home.
"Let's go home my dear" James tugged gently on Lily's arm and her house of cards shattered, she turned to Grace with fear on her face she silently shook her head and Grace who in the first decade of her life could hold a conversation and did not slur as the world slowly moved by in flashing images, instantly understood what that meant. Both men were ignorant of the invisible conversation happening before them. "I will not thank you until I have my daughter" James's grip on Lily's waist tightened. Beneath his cologne, she could smell the chemical scent of alcohol, his nine o'clock shadow was another indication that James had been thrown off his strict routine.
"Not so fast" The nasal voice of a young freckled police officer called out "They both still need to head into the station for questioning".
"Boy! You do not know who we are" Albus growled, his tall frame intimidating Grace but the officer looked at him uninterested "If this is your way of making a name for yourself then-".
"Ladies, would you join me?" He rolled his eyes at Albus, used to dealing with men like him who thought they could throw their weight about.
"Hey!".
"Torringotn and Wasp, some assistants here please." he turned to the men "You can follow along behind" and then walked off. Both men had thrown a fit worthy of a toddler but followed closely with 4 cars filled with guards.
The police car pulled to a stop, as there was a disturbance up ahead, a car had crashed, and the owner was arguing with the victim. The other cars were directly behind them. But Lily had directed Grace to duck and crawl to the front of the car (not a police car, but undercover), once at the front she crawled out of the passenger side and with thumping hearts and the grace of God made it to bus stops, once out of view they ran like mad men, throwing off their sandals and distinctive scarves and hats. Until they reached a coach centre and pawned off their jewellery to the driver who willingly took both wedding bands.
Lucius was the least surprised when he was met with their soaking faces. Grace had bashed down his door until he opened it stunned, Grace thought that if Tom loved the man and Albus hated him, he would be perfect. Lucius held the door open wider “Come in” he said without even thinking.
X
Lily turned to Tom “He didn’t stop complaining about how you were having him followed. His car and house were broken into, they didn’t take anything, but he couldn’t even go to the Country Club, they had rejected his membership. I know what he has done is wrong but you destroyed him, his old friends won't even look at him”.
Hadara looked at Tom with so much hurt in her eyes. “Did, did, no, Tom, Did you, do that to him?”.
If it was any other person they may have apologised profusely, begged for forgiveness or even tried to right some wrong but this was Tom Riddle. “Yes”. That was not to say that the moment Hadara started to stutter did not pain him. “Dara” he tried to approach her but she shook her head at him, leaning further away. “Make me into the villain then, but remember Lily I was not the one who let my child be emotionally and physically abused for all 22 years of her life, and I wasn’t the one who stood by and did nothing”.
Lily and Hadara had a mirror image of horror on their faces. Grace slumped into the couch and Draco and Cedric cringed back.
“On second thoughts, I think the guest room would be perfect” She stared back at him fiercely, her mother wrung her hands, shocked at how her little girl was speaking to Tom.
He tutted “How many times do I have to say, you’re not sleeping in the guest room”.
She stood up, helping her mother to her feet. “You're right, I am not. You are.” Hadara helped both women into the main room, directing Cedric and Draco for help. Tom sat on the couch and watched them in disbelief.
Both boys joined him once the women were settled in “Everyone’s just really tired, you need some sleep and we can figure things out tomorrow” Draco reasoned.
“I'll kill them”.
“Wow, calm down, this is not a movie. Tom. I am being serious.” Cedric spoke.
“I thought that would be enough, they would lick their wounds and disappear, how foolish have I been? Men like that never give up, they think the whole world belongs to them and should bend to their will. I did this. I messed this up”. He ruffled his hair violently.
“You couldn’t have predicted it would turn out like this”. Draco said.
“I should have! Because I’m responsible for all of them! My mistake means they suffer! How can I run a company if I can’t even take care of my family”.
“Look at me, cousin! Look at what a real screw-up is! My stepdad can’t even stand my presence so all I’ve ever known was money and unlimited freedom, look what I have to show for it. You have gone through war and pain and have been refined by the fire. However, you're not alone in this, we’re in this together”.
“You practised that in the mirror?” Draco spoke after the silence. They all smiled slightly, the smile not reaching their eyes.
“Go home guys” Tom whispered, “I need to make it up to my wife, my mother-in-law and my mother”.
“Good luck”. They said at the same time.
When the door clicked close, Tom called the Lobby to heighten its security and stared at the door of the guest room that they had turned into a closet, but it still had a pull-out bed that fell into the middle. The only fight he had ever lost to was with his father, now his Dara was on the list. Even he knew he had a lot of grovelling to do with her, but that would all have to wait for tomorrow.
He changed into his black joggers (shirtless) and sat down on the bed, he tried falling asleep but after an hour or two of staring up at the ceiling, a thought rang clear in his mind. “No”. he quickly walked out and headed straight into his bedroom. He pulled the door open and was met with a shocked Hadara, her hand outstretched for the handle.
He could see the shadow of their mothers asleep on the queen bed. “Tom,” she said with a warning tone. He scoffed and used one hand to pick her up, throwing her over his shoulder. She shrieked with surprise but as he made his way to the guest room she started to kick and beat his back. “Put me down” she whispered, but he had gone back to ignoring her.
He threw her gently onto the bed and closed the door, he stood menacingly “Down”. She bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back a smile, in reality, both older women had played devil’s advocate for him the second the doors closed. Once they had fallen asleep she was making her way to the guest room, but seeing him made the determination disappear instantaneously.
“Tom William Riddle, You were so rude to my mother, even though you're upset, you had no right to speak to her like that”. He still guarded the door.
“I’ll apologise tomorrow,” he said flippantly, as he stepped toward the bed.
Hadara’s frown deepened “Well until then, I won’t speak with you”. He took another step “Stop”.
“Make me” another step.
She threw a pillow at his face and he easily caught it. Another and he dodged it. Hadara backed into the headboard. “We’re still fighting” she wined.
“Are we?” he was almost at the foot of the bed arms crossed.
Hadara’s anger was almost gone. However, there was something enthralling about arguing with Tom. If she had it her way, she would wish it never happened ever again, but when it did, she learnt something new about herself each time. This time she learnt that that Tom was besotted with her and would always come back. “Forgive me, I was horrendous out there”. She got onto her knees and waddled over to where he stood on the foot of the bed. “I’ll fix this”.
“I know, just promise me that you won’t hurt my dad again”. Tom looked down on her, even though she knew he would never do anything to hurt her, she was still intimidated by his gaze. “Please”.
“I won’t physically harm him. Does that work?”. She arched a brow, pleased with how he was negotiating, that meant her voice mattered. “Fine, I won’t physically hurt him or Albus. Happy?”.
She nodded and the hardened line of his mouth curved into a grin. “Ecstatic”.
X
It was nearing 9 p.m. and pitch-black outside, the only light came from the streetlamp 5 feet away. Fran and Hermione often crossed paths after their initial meeting, Hermione had found it was pretty hard to carry on a conversation about destroying someone’s marriage, the times they did meet, they spent the majority of it talking about Fran as the boy never knew when to shut up. “I don’t know what you want me to say, Hermione. She has barely spoken to me since the bar thing, plus you didn’t tell me that her husband is Tom Riddle” They were sitting on the cold concrete steps in front of the library, they had bumped into each other as she was coming and he was leaving. “She defiantly said something about the lipstick thing, I knew it was dumb”.
Hermione narrowed her eyes “Why are you saying that like it wasn’t your idea to do that in the first place?”.
Fran groaned and curled in on himself “Look Hermione, you’re hot, like really hot, and I would love to get to know you more, but I know when I’m beaten. Hadara will never leave that guy and he wouldn’t allow it. I’ve enjoyed your company and would love to spend more time with you, but If it's anything else to do with Hadara then I’m out”.
“Wow, how noble of you!” in all honesty, Hermione had been wavering in their plans for a while. She had wanted to be the first person to call it quits, but the way he said it with the condescending smile and the I know what best tone infuriated her.
He leaned in, eyes zeroing in on her lips. Unfortunately for Hermione, she had sat right next to the concrete wall so when she jerked back, she hit her head. He immediately shuffled forward, carefully cupping her head “You, okay?.” His tone had morphed and became more husky, when she had spent her first night with Tom and he had done this she had felt as if she was with the man of every woman’s dreams. But with Fran, it was as if he had spent years watching YouTube videos of how to be an alpha male and get any woman of your dreams, in four simple steps.
One was natural and the other overly manufactured.
She pushed him back “Get off me you loser” she began to laugh “You think I’m going to just go out with you?” he blinked at her owlishly “I know I’m hot, I have options Fran” she said his name with pure disgust and then stood up “You don’t even make the bottom 3”. She began to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.
“You think you’re so smart don’t you.”
“Let go.”
“You may be hot Hermione but if you’re not careful, you’re going to die alone.”
“I said let go.”
“There are millions of women like you” he pulled her forward, causing her to trip on a step and land in his chest “And they have-”.
She slapped him with her free hand, it surprised him, and his grip loosened on her arm. She took that as her moment and made a mad dash to get back inside. He was hot on her heels.
“SLAG” he yelled as she scanned her pass into the library, he madly searched his body for his ID card.
Hermione ran straight through to the girl's toilets ignoring the surprised calls from her group that was sitting around a table. Her heart thudded in her chest as she slammed the door of the toilets closed. She made her way to the mirror, and only then did she realise how much she was shaking. She typically hung around older academic men so she was used to unwanted advances, but in 75% of the cases they always stopped when asked, this was the first time in years when she had feared for her safety.
“Are you okay?” she whipped round and faced with a worried Hadara; she had just walked out of a stall. Hermione had gotten accustomed to the brunette's features from a distance, but up closer she could not deny the charming beauty the girl held. Hermione shook her head slowly, then quickly until the tears fell and fell and fell. Hadara rushed forward and pulled Hermione into a tight embrace, they both sank to the floor as Hermione crumbled under the embrace.
She knew Fran wasn’t going to do anything (right?), he wasn’t stupid, it may have been dark and quiet outside, but the library was packed with students and there were hundreds of CCTV cameras outside. But she could not understand why she had felt so afraid, so shaken in that moment. But what made everything worse was that she currently felt safe in the arms of the woman she had been planning to ruin’s life. “I’m so sorry”. She choked out.
“No, it’s okay, it’s okay” Hadara gently rubbed Hermione’s back until the sobs subsided.
There was a gentle yet powerful knock at the door “Dara? You have been in there for quite a while. Is everything okay”. Hermione recognised the voice instantly.
Hadara looked at Hermione and then at the door “That’s my husband, if you want I can call him in. He can help, I promise”. Hermione shook her head. The odds they would be both her. Hadara looked unconvinced but turned to the door “Ah, it’s alright Tommy I’ll be out in a minute, just a little thing popped up”.
Hermione expected Tom to bristle and complain about being referred to as Tommy, but instead: “Do you need me to get a pad or tampon?”.
When she had first called him Tommy his response was immediate and blunt: “Never call me that, I don’t find it cute or charming”.
Hadara smiled softly “I’m good, I’ll be out in a minute”.
“Thank you, I’m okay now” Hermione wiped her face and stood up “I think I should go”.
“You sure?” but Hermione had rushed into a stall and locked it. Hadara sighed defeated and cleaned up.
When she walked out Tom was leaning on the opposite wall. He stood up straight away worry clear on his face “You sure you’re, okay?”.
She leaned in for a hug “Yeah, just some girl… I think, I’m not sure what happened but she was crying, I think she’s on your course”.
“We can send in someone to check in on her”.
Hadara nodded. “What about our mums? Did they get on the plane okay?”
“Yeah, just landed. We won’t be able to contact them for a week or two until they get settled. That’s the shelter rules”.
Lily and Hadara had spent the entire morning together, trying to ignore the inevitable. They both realised how much they had grown in several short months. Lily’s biggest realisation was how much she had taken part in the hurt of her daughter, no matter how much she was told that she was an unfortunate product of her environment, she had thought James had been a breath of fresh air from her father and mother (now they were a piece of work). Looking at her daughter all she could see was the damage she had done by doing nothing at all. Hadara wanted her to stay, Tom was even okay with it (slightly), but she knew she had to go. He had booked her and Grace a flight to England. They said their goodbyes with tears and promised to stay in touch. They were off to a place where James and Albus would never find them.
X
A month later their lives of peace were once again shattered, Tom was reaching the end of his ISSEA course and was barely at home, Hadara’s workload had also slowly increased, so the only time they spent together where when they had woken up or were going to bed, so they cherished those moments for as long as they could. They also had weekly video calls with Lily and Grace. At first, Tom showed no interest so Hadara had to threaten to sleep in the guest room again and when that didn’t work she turned on the waterworks. She always found it hilarious how big his eyes got the second a tear made its way down her face.
Tom and his mother will never get to the point that Lily and Hadara were fighting too but they were in a much better place than they had even imagined possible. Tom genuinely cared for his mother, but all he could offer was money and protection, seeing her grow was more than enough to satisfy him. Hadara could not ignore the frown and downcast eyes from Grace whenever they spoke and Tom was either not present or left immediately after generic pleasantries. Grace had then turned her energy toward Hadara, with the girl she had a second chance to be a better mother and she took it, however, her heart ached every time she saw Lily and Hadara interact, oh she wished that would be her and Tom. But not everyone got a fairytale ending sometimes things ended on an alright note instead.
“Mum I don’t think it should be smelling like this”, Hadara had her iPad propped up as she stirred her stew and her mother and Grace were lying in a beautiful garden with a view of a lake with a giant stone swan fountain behind them. Her mother was lying on her stomach grinning at her daughter.
“I’m pretty sure they said when in doubt add more garlic” Lily turned to Grace who was lying on her back reading a book.
“My dear, no matter how much those puerile ladies push me to attend those cooking classes I will never go” She turned to the screen and smiled softly at Hadara “However, whatever you have put in that pot must be splendid my love” she turned back.
Grace’s change had been the biggest, she had spent the majority of her adult life on whatever drug Albus could get his hands on to make her more pliable. Tom's eyes had bugged out when he realised how brash his mother truly was.
Lily and Grace's relationship was the best thing to come out of the situation, they were in a facility with many women who had gone through the same situation as them, but for some reason only they could understand each other. Lilly was 15 years younger than Grace but they acted as if they had been best friends for years.
Hadara smiled as her mother chastised Grace lightly. Her mother had gotten rid of her horrible habit of wringing her hands together and biting her nails. She smiled more and had an odd laugh that sounded as if she was struggling to breathe.
“Tom won’t try it though” she sulked as she stirred the pot “He always has an excuse”.
“Didn’t you say today was his deadline to submit his final project, there is no way he could back out” Lily rested her head on Grace’s shoulder. The older women shifted to make Lily more comfortable.
“That’s true”.
“Chin up my dear” Grace spoke with authority, “The only way to get better, is to continue to fail until you cannot”.
The sound of the door opening caused her to perk up “Oh he’s here! Perfect timing”. Both women blew kisses at her, and she hung up.
“Tommy” Hadara was surprised to see several faces from Tom’s ISSEA course their cheeks were red as if they had been running a marathon. “Um hi?”.
Tom walked behind the large group of 20 or so people, Tom never looked flustered or stressed. But even he had a slight red twinge to his cheeks. “I tried calling, but you didn’t answer” he turned to everyone, “We can take the study, everyone else can try and use the space in here” They all split into their groups while Tom led Hadara into their room by her waist. “Out of all days possible the labs and the library were closed tonight due to a leak or something” he checked his watch “The deadline is in 48 hours, I told my team they could work here as we needed a space big enough, but the others heard and begged me to let them tag along, it’s just my group and two more”.
She knew everyone in his team, they had spent several nights and weekends slaving away in Tom’s study and library together. They also had firsthand experience with her cooking, Hadara did not notice how they soon started bringing takeout with them whenever they came to study.
“That’s great then, 'cause I think I’ve made dinner to feed an army”.
The tenseness in Tom’s face dropped and he looked at Hadara in surprise “Oh you’ve been cooking again… That’s amazing”.
After an hour Hadara went around serving bowels of her soup to the famished students, Tom had made it clear that they were to finish it all and complement her skills. Just before the spoon came to mouths River received a text that the lab leak was reported to be nothing but a horrid smell and they raced back, thanking Hadara for the uneaten food.
She frowned in disappointment as everyone made their way out. “It smells amazing, give me a bowl to go” That made her perk up. Tom (even though he had improved significantly) was not a saint and the second he was on the street he threw it in the trash can and then raced to meet his team. He may have also called Draco and Cedric over promising them an expensive dinner. He chuckled at the angry text messages from them. Draco and Cedric could not deny Hadara anything either.
Tom and Ron were the unlikely pair in charge of reading the results, they stood together awkwardly at the back of the lab. The only machines that could read the results were clustered together so the pair sat with other students on the course (who had been given the role of reading results) they all looked dead on the inside
“Hadara’s food smelt lovely” Ron tried, he was slumped over a table, and his hair clung to his face with beads of sweat as he could barely keep his eyes open.
“Be my guest to eat it anytime” Tom mumbled without looking up from the screen on the table, he was diligently taking notes. More silence ensued.
“Hey I do want to apologise for my first impression, you must have thought I was this massive clown who lucked into the course”.
“Think Ronald, think”. Tom jotted some notes down, and so far the programme was running perfectly.
“Oh,” the younger man looked at the floor in defeat.
“But it was your maths that were able to break the error in the coding”.
“Thanks, man” he cleared his throat and Tom looked up at Ron whose cheeks were flushed red “I will only ever get better and in a couple more years, I will get onto my Ph.D. and join ISSEA”.
“Or you could just work under River and Malcolm as a funded assistant?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because we’re funding their AAE PhD course and guaranteeing them placements/full-time roles in any department of their choosing, if you can prove yourself in a year, we can offer you the same thing”. Several loud gasps erupted from others around them, the dead bodies of students were all awake and alert.
“WHAT! YOUR BEING SERIOUS RIGHT NOW” Ron's loud outburst got the attention of everyone in the lab, groups looked over to glare at the pair, Tom could feel the pleading eyes of other students, but tough luck. They had to go through the general interview route. Even though he would not call his team friends, the late nights and early mornings had helped him to grow to learn about them more and he may slightly, maybe, partially like them.
Ron raced to the others and declared the news to Malcome and River (and the whole room). Loud gasps and swears ensued. Malcom and River looked over at him sharply. Tom sighed “They didn’t know Ron” his lips curved up slightly. The twins raced to him with tears falling down their faces. Malcolm attempted to pull him into a hug but stilled and held out a shaky hand.
“Really?”
Tom took it and smiled “It’s been a pleasure working with you both”.
“What about Ryan, Yinka and Tracy” River asked. That was another thing he liked about her, she always pushed the line a little. Ryan, Yinka and Tracy looked up at him hopefully.
He rolled his eyes “I mean none of you have shared any interest in joining a PhD-”.
“No, but if you’re giving out jobs like candy, we will gladly take it”. He chuckled at Yinka’s brazenness.
“Sure” he shrugged the rest of his group raced towards him with shouts of excitement. He could not take all the praise it was Hadara’s idea. Since he would take over ISSEA he should start to hire people he liked and trusted and who were better than the people he had worked with for 6 months.
In the moment of tears and laughter, all other envy-filled faces faded away, and some mumbled in frustration “I told you that we should have got him on our team”.
“Wait I’m going to go and print my CV”.
“This is not fair”.
“Hey Tom my man”.
The door to the adjacent lab opened and Ginny and several other people peered through “What's going on? It's 5 a.m.”.
“Did someone's result come back as negative?” Another person asked.
“No Tom’s just given everyone in his team either a fully funded PhD offer or a damn job at ISSEA!”.
More loud noises could be heard as people from that lab came in, shock decorated on their faces. Ginny raced to her brother, and he threw his arms around her.
Hermione slumped against the door frame.
X
Tom did not attend the closing completing ceremony, he had given his speech to Draco to read as he had something more important to do, he had to make up for the missing days with Hadara. The majority of people had passed the internship and were grinning from ear to ear as they already had companies and universities calling them left right and centre, there were recruiters from the top companies that swopped around like vultures. With a pass from the most prestigious internship in the world, they were all on cloud nine. Families had packed out of the auditorium wearing traditional clothing and waving their country's flags. Even yet there was one team that stood out above the rest. Tom’s team even though blatantly missing a member was beaming ear to ear, the envy others felt on the lab day had been taken over by joy the second they received the email telling them they had passed.
Hermione walked to the bar at the back of the auditorium, tired of all the day's interaction “Hey Ron” she joined him at the bar, he was beaming from ear to ear. Since getting the job offer he had made sure to announce every detail of his contract to everyone once signed. He had constantly found a way to mention the perks ISSEA offered (a bunch of them were complaining about the transport and Ron mentioned the fact that he would soon be getting a fully paid for company Range Rover, he had even worked into the conversation about his fully paid for healthcare). Only three other people got onto the AAE PhD but they were not funded by ISSEA.
“Oh hi” The spark dimmed in his eyes “You good?” he glanced to the side, searching for a way to get out of the conversation.
“Yeah, I just wanted to apologise for the way I treated you in our short-lived relationship”. She tried smiling but it did not hold.
He nodded stiffly “Well it’s all in the past now, so” he raised his glass “We’re good”. She smiled softly and clinked their glasses together. “I’m glad to hear that that frank guy got suspended”.
“Fran” she corrected. Her ears flushed and she covered them with her hair. Turns out burning bridges was the worst thing a person could do, especially when you were in trouble. The only person Hermione could talk to was Ron. He had encouraged her to speak up and she was able to take it to the student support department. They had kept it as hush-hush as possible.
“He shouldn’t try anything like that with someone else now, and he shouldn’t bother you anymore”.
“Well, he couldn’t even if he wanted to. Tom got me a job”.
Ron spat out his drink “What! That’s amazing?” he said with a tone that meant the exact opposite, truly even though he felt bad for Hermione he never wanted to see the girl again, he had been played a fool for 4 months and wanted to bury that memory.
“Don’t give me that look, the job is a permanent role in Australia, and it’s not with ISSEA either” Ron busted out laughing, “Yeah…”.
“I thought you hated spiders and snakes and anything else that starts with an S”.
“I do, but” she shrugged “With a reference from the CEO of ISSEA and a passed internship from here I was offered a salary only a fool would turn down”. She did not have to mention the elephant in the room, Tom wanted her as far away from him as possible and halfway across the world was the best he could get. Hermione had scoffed at the offer, she wondered how many of his past beaus she would bump into at her new job. She chuckled at the idea of Australia being filled to the brim with his exes.
“Well, good luck then” he firmly patted her back and walked away. The bartender passed her another drink and Hermione smiled at him grateful, she didn’t even need to ask. She studied everyone in the room and deep regret swirled in her belly, the girls she did her project with were grinning ear to ear taking thousands of photos with one other and everyone seemed to be surrounded by family, sharing each other’s joy. She had invited her dad, but he responded the morning of, apologising as something more urgent had come up.
The S&SP internship was a unique experience only a tiny fraction of people in the world had gone through. Alumni of the course had banged on about the people they met on the programme had become their family and the majority of them would stay in contact. These people were the only ones who would understand the pain and stress they had experienced, these people were the few who also held a burning passion for the same course that they did, these people were the ones they had opened up to at 2 am with tears running down their face as they considered dropping out. And she threw it all away for a man. Hermione choked back a sob and raced out the grand doors.