Epilogue
Hadara patted down Tom’s suit and adjusted his tie. He was engaged in a conversation with Draco at his side.
Cedric raced into his office “Your mum’s just go here” He caught his breath. “Looking good Hadara.”
“Thanks” She pulled Tom down into a kiss interrupting what he was going to say.
“If I only knew that the way to shut him up was to give him a big one, my life would have been stress-free for years.” Tom reached out a hand, but Draco dodged it just in time.
“What are you boys doing? Everyone is ready.” Lucius waltzed in; his blazer billowed like a cape behind him. The noise in the room started to build as Draco, Lucius and Cedrick's voices overlapped.
“I need a moment.” Tom declared.
“You're on stage in 5 minutes”. Lucius mirrored the mad hatter as he bounced on his heels.
“It’s okay, we’ll be done in time” Hadara’s soft voice instantly cooled down the chaos of the room.
“I’m trusting you, my dear” Lucius kissed her on the head and walked out.
Draco wriggled his eyebrows, but Tom picked up the plaque on his desk in a motion to throw it. Draco slammed the door.
Tom leant back on his desk, pushing the plaque that read:
MASTER TOM RIDDLE,
CEO of the International Space, science, and engineering administration.
“Come here.”
She was dressed in a stunning green satin dress that hung softly on her frame, he was matching in a black suit and shirt with a green tie and pocket square. He pulled her close until they were just a breath away “Say the word… say the word and I walk away, drop this and leave it all behind completely.”
“Tomm-” he kissed her gently, his soft lips on her own.
“Dara, I don’t want to become him.”
“And you never will…you won't because you have Lucius, Draco, Cedrick, Your S&SP group, and you have me. I hope that is enough?.”
“More than enough?”
“And it’s not like you’re running this whole thing by yourself… you have the board and-.”
“I fired the majority of them and took their shares the morning.”
“You did what?!” she turned to him green eyes filled with fury and surprise.
He chuckled pulling her impossibly tighter, he rested his head on her shoulder “Half of them are too old to drive, not to talk about making major decisions on a company on this scale and the other half I didn’t like”.
“Tom” he held her face with both hands “What are you going to do?”.
He pulled back and searched her eyes, “I never thought I would see the day that you would shout at me” She didn’t look apologetic at all “I love it you know” he lightly kissed her nose “I love you”.
“Stop with the sweet talk, what are you going to do about the board?” she tried to pull out of his embrace but he held her close.
“Guys” Draco poked his head through, but Hadara sent him a glare which had him slamming the door closed.
“Don’t worry, Lucius has it all under control. The plan was if you ever told me to leave this all, I would have people in there who I could trust. We will be announcing the new members of the board tonight”.
She hit him lightly “Never do that again, you got me worried there” He leaned in to kiss her and it took every strength in her body to hold up a finger against his soft lips. “You don’t want to be late on your first day” she tried pulling his arm to the door.
“I’m the boss, I’m never late”. He looked bored as she tried and failed to get him to budge.
“Look here, you know you can do this! You can make the changes you always wanted. You have proved yourself wrong so many times now, you proved to yourself that you can lead people, you’re strong enough to stand up to the evilness that controlled you for years, you’re worthy of love and you proved the same things to me. I believe in you. We all do”.
“Dara?” he had taken her hand in his. “I think we should get married.” She smiled like a silly teenager. “Again” He winked. He dropped down to a knee and pulled out a case, Hadara gasped at the tiny black velvet box. The ring wasn’t as flashy and big as one would imagine someone like Tom to buy. “Dara” he cleared his throat “My love, you have been the one good thing that my father has brought into my life” his eyes fell to the ground. Dara’s heart began to thump as she saw the small tear slip from his eye. He brushed it away quickly. “I may never be able to express in words how you make me feel, I can only show it to you, every single day for the rest of our lives. This ring will be my promise to respect, honour, love and lay down my life for you. Your beauty drew me to you, but your heart was the reason I will never walk away”. Her eyes began to fill with tears “I want to do it right this time”. He coked his head to the side “Is that a yes?” he smirked.
She dropped to her knees and shuffled into him. “A thousand times yes.”. They spent a couple more minutes in each other’s embrace, soaking in the silence. When they walked through the empty hallway and into the auditorium, it fell into a quiet hush. Lucius’s murderous expression turned into one of glee and Draco raced to the stage, the flash of the cameras stopped once the couple sat down.
Grace patted Tom’s chest lightly and he turned behind him to pull her into a hug. She looked at him surprised before returning it repeating it with Lily.
X
Once introductions were over, he took the stage to a roar of cheers. The auditorium was filled with thousands of people, he wanted everyone there even the ‘foot soldiers’ to the operation. He looked to the middle row and smiled hearing the whoops of one Ron Weasley and the rest of his old internship group. He recognised some other faces and smiled pleased.
“…But most of all, I would like to thank the person who carried me through to the end. I don’t think I would have been able to do any of this without her. She is a little camera shy so please join me in thanking my beautiful wife Hadara Riddle.” Dara flushed red, stood and turned to the back waving. The loud cheers and shouts from the reporters caused her to blush more. He introduced the new board members which drew louder cheers from the back (where the regular work folk were in this case engineers, mechanics and admin workers ). He had specifically hired a manager who was the people's favourite to sit on the board, she would act as their voice. He smirked at the annoyed face of Peter Pettigrew, his father was the oldest member of the board and had nearly had a stroke when Tom had found a way to take away his shares, the only way he would walk away without a fight was if his son took his place. Tom knew that Peter would cause problems in the future.
“Finally, not only do I have the pleasure of introducing to you the new members of the board, but I also have the greatest pleasure of announcing the new charity we will now be working closely with, founded by my beautiful wife: Hope Of Girls and Women Asking for a Revolution To Start, it’s a long one isn’t it” chuckles sounded around the room “To keep it short and sweet we decided to go for HOGWARTS” whoops were heard around the room “Hopefully the first in hundreds of domestic abuse shelters which will provide victims from all backgrounds with shelter, education, therapy and guidance to next steps and an opportunity into STEM.”. The cheers got loud. “Our new mission statement is closely linked to this….” He continued.
Lily hit her daughter lightly “Is this what you were getting up to?” she whispered in her ears. Hadara nodded, blinking back tears. Hadara could barely make out the words he was saying, even though she was staring directly at him. He caught her eye and smiled softly.
X
The couple were lounging in the living room of their new home, Hadara had made breakfast (the only meal she excelled at) and they were causally watching what turned out to be their favourite TV show. She screamed as something popped on. She gripped Tom’s arms; he just rolled his eyes not taking his eyes off his book “Dara, if it scares you, turn it off”.
“But it’s so fun” Tom had to admit that he had stopped reading several times as some of the shows drew his interest, but like a true man, he would never admit that fact or that he had spent the majority of his time ‘reading’ peeking from underneath his book.
His phone rang, and he kissed Hadara’s cheek “Not a work call don’t worry” he headed to his study shutting the door. “Update?”
“You were right the second they realised you were on their tail they headed for that island in Barbados.”
“I knew it” he sighed falling into his brown leather chair. He trumped his fingers on the desk, his eyes shot to the door when he heard the light laugh/scream from Hadara.
“This could be a good thing; they’re backed into a corner. The second they step foot off the island they’re ours.”
Tom tutted “That’s not good enough.”
“Everyone wants to get on your good side, which means helping Albus and James would blacklist them to you.”.
“But you forget Ms Lestrange, they have money. There is always someone desperate enough to do depraved things for cash.”
The woman cackled “Like me?” she took his silence to continue “I have a hundred per cent satisfaction rating for a reason, my team have already started to smoke them out, they have enough food and backup energy to run for a couple of months, but we have intercepted all radio signals and routes that run food and amenities they need.
She continued with her update, Tom listened while strolling through LinkedIn. He chuckled at the new notification. Hermione requested a connection, he was invited to join the 2023 S&SP group and the S&SP alumni group.
Deny
Deny
Accept
He interrupted her. “I know you think getting Albus down for domestic violence, imprisonment and maybe tax avoidance charges would be good, but there are two problems with that. 1. I don’t want to put my mother through what would come with that. 2. He will probably get off with a lenient sentence or end up in a facility that mirrors the privileges of a Norwegian prison. No! I want them to hurt”
“Now you’re talking”
His grip on his phone tightened “I want someone I can trust on the island”
“That’s going to be hard”
“I pay you enough to make it happen.”
“I said hard, not impossible.”
“Get them into the kitchen so they can slip them something r-”
“-Murder is not on my list of skills-”
“Relaxing, something relaxing. I’m not a killer.”
“Go on”
X
By the time they realised what was happening to them, it was too late. Liked planned Astoria Greengrass had altered their special tea. The men were too consumed with trying to enjoy their forced retirement they did not pay attention to what was going on under their noses. Yes, they both missed their wives and wanted them back, but that did not stop them from finding joy in the now. The island was typically filled with girls who were willing to face any form of humiliation for a check and a paid-for holiday. Getting Astoria on the island was the hardest part. She went through months of interviews and background checks that barely held through, but she knew she was in the moment she reached the final interview, which was with James and Albus face to face. They knew Tom was coming and took no risk.
But Astoria was trained by Ms. Lestrange herself, she had worked with her team for five years, and she knew all she needed to do was flutter her lashes, laugh at their inappropriate jokes and make no mention when their hands lingered on her for too long. They had commented her hair looked better up so she instantly put the brown hair in a bun, they were pleased by this.
Whenever she bought them their daily supplements (typically on separate parts of the island as both men could barely stand each other) they would crack the overused joke about her blue/green eyes. The fact they couldn’t stand each other helped, if they were together they probably would have been able to put two and two together, they got more sluggish, tired and slurred in their speech.
Tonight was the night. A new set of girls had arrived on the island last night. She woke up to the military alarm in her room with a beautiful pecan view. “Worth it” she smiled as she put on the (way too) tight top that caused her cleavage to show, and her tight shorts that hugged her figure perfectly (this was the standard uniform). Ms. Lestrange only gave her the background of a mark when it would encourage her to be more efficient. What she read made her blood boil.
She ran down to the grounds where all the staff would assemble for their daily briefing and breakfast. On her way there Astoria passed your standard Instagram model (boobs, bum, cheeks, lips and teeth done) she was a regular on the island. Astoria stopped once she realised that the woman was limping and had tear tracks on her face. “You okay?” she whispered, checking her surroundings for anyone nearby.
The girl nodded violently.
“Are you sure?”.
She sniffed holding her arm with a fresh bruise close to her chest.
“Which one?”
“James” she whispered.
“Marbella, there you are.” Dylan, a man who helped the island run came jogging down. “What are you doing here Astoria?” he glared at her.
“Sorry,” she ran off, but ducked down and trailed them, hiding within bushes was something she was used to.
“James would like to say sorry for what happened last night, he knew he took things too far. He left you a present on your bed, just sign this… Marbella” he said with a warning in his voice. The woman sniffled and Astoria watched her sign what she rightly assumed was an NDA. The false sweetness in his voice disappeared. “It’s 20k, that should be more than enough for you” he stormed off. Once out of view Marybella fell to the ground and sobbed quietly.
Astoria knew today was the day. The 20k and everything else Marbella had been gifted would be enough to cover the therapy she needed.
X
It was 7 pm and she headed to the east beach, flaming sticks led the way. It was one of those rare days when both men were in the same part of the island. They had a guest they wanted to entertain. He was a fairly unknown man throwing his luck in to run for president, ObMahil needed some friends with wide pockets.
Dylan and the rest of the staff were surprised to see how inebriated both men were. Astoria had sensed he was getting suspicious, but she knew how to cover her tracks. She would either send in some girls directly after who silently appreciated this and would push them to drink some more (So Dylan thought the women were to blame) or she would play drinking games with them, so they never put two and two together.
“We can’t let him see them like this” he hissed at the staff members who were stood in 4 rows. Astoria hid a smile as both men were wheeled off the beach, “Someone get the doctor and nurse, somethings off here and Kelly move ObMahil to the south side of the island find a girl or two to keep him busy”.
Astoria joined Dylan in the shack, she headed to the kitchen and pretended to be busy, a close enough distance to hear, but inconspicuous enough to not have been spotted. The doctor shook his head at Dylan “We need to get them to a hospital. I don’t know what is going on! It's remarkable, they’re experiencing the same symptoms.”
“They made it clear that even in the worst-case scenario leaving the island should not happen.”
They argued back and forth “Is there no next of kin? They can’t even sit up, not to talk about forming a coherent sentence. It may be a virus which means we could all be in danger.”
“Fix it, you get paid more than enough to.”
“Legally if they can’t make a decision themselves and the next of kin is not available it falls on my head. I won’t let them die”.
Dylan scoffed “You want to talk about legal? You've seen what happens on this island.” He stormed off. Once gone the doctor and the nurse slumped into a sofa. They were discussing and checking in on both men.
It was time for Astoria's next move “Excuse me sir I couldn’t help but overhear what you were talking about. I may know a way to help these poor men” She brushed a gentle hand over Albus's face. Now it is important to mention that what Astoria had been feeding the men only dulled their movement, they could hear, see and process everything just fine.
She had spent months getting their body used to the concoction so that when she delivered the full dose it wouldn’t kill them but put them in a much more terrifying position. A living coma. It would only last a couple of hours so she had to move fast. If they woke up from it they would kill her. The glare they sent her made her know that was what they thought.
She feigned innocence turning to look at the beach where Dylan had marched off towards. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”
The nurse took her hand gently and led her to the sofa. “It’s okay, we promise to make sure Dylan doesn’t know it was you” She glanced to the doctor who nodded with encouragement.
She opted for the soft shaky voice “Well. Poor Albus would tell me about how much he missed his son and wished they would rekindle their relationship” She stared at Albus as she spoke, watching his eyes widen at the mention of Tom. “But when he got sick he could no longer keep searching, so I decided to find Tom” She smiled at Albus and then at James who looked like she had named the dark lord. She handed the nurse a slip of paper “This is his details”.
“Thank you, my dear!” The doctor ripped it out of her hand. “You may have just saved their lives”.
Tom of course had to play the part of a doting son, constantly calling and emailing to make sure his father and father-in-law were okay. He had them on a boat to the closest hospital on the mainland. The emergency ambulance was followed by on-sea police – Dylan and all the guards on the island could only watch in horror as the men were carted away. All James could do was let out a moan of terror the moment they were on land.
Acting as guardian for both men Tom had them moved to the VIP suite in the closest hospital. They were put in a room together. They tried to communicate with their eyes, but to the staff, they just blinked slowly over and over again.
Astoria was led in weeping with the nurse from the island “Trust me! She saved their lives, let her say her goodbyes, go in love” The nurse shut the door behind her.
Once shut Astoria wiped her teary face and it morphed into a blank stare “I read your files” she pulled out a needle “You must be coming down now right?” as if to agree both men wiggled their fingers, eyes darting to the alarm button to the side. She sighed “It took you 8 hours to move your fingers, it’s going to take you 2 more for the arm." She held the syringe up and flicked it, "So close”. She smiled “Sorry”.
The rhythmic beeping in the room sped up but their eyes fluttered close just in time to see Astoria throw the syringe to the ground and the door slam open.
X
X
“Bath time Albus, you have a guest today!” Alastor his career knocked on his bedroom door, and his sickeningly sweet cheery voice made Albus shudder.
“A guest?” Albus turned to the door in surprise as Alastor walked in with Hagrid one of the helpers.
“I know right, isn’t that exciting?”.
It had been a year already, and Albus and James were transferred to a special facility. They were living large with people at their beck and call, all day and night. The only issue was they could never leave. They were surrounded by other disgustingly wealthy men and women, but the issue was half of them were either insane or were moved here by friends and family who could not be bothered to care for their sick mum and dad. As James and Albus came by force the sane guest had lumped both men in the insane category. They were treated that way by the staff as well, being strapped into bed at night and dressed in white clothes to distinguish them from the other guests.
the worst of it all was the activities they had to take part in. In other words, they were trapped in a golden cage. James and Albus typically ignored each other on the grounds only shooting heated glares at the other. They had been warned if they were caught in another fight they would be placed in the cooling down room (white walls, arms strapped to their sides and heavily drugged).
James took it the hardest, he was only 55 and had years of his life to live, he felt as if he was on a cramped bus and could not get off. However, Albus was old (ancient) this would have been his life sooner anyway. But he always imagined it differently. First of all, he wouldn't be infantilised, his wife and son would be with him and he could do whatever he desired, rather than attending knitting workshops. This naturally caused him to experience weekly breakdowns. The home was slap bang in the middle of nowhere, if he was to escape he would have to walk for months until he even found a road, but by then he would have either died from dehydration, starvation, the elements or been eaten alive by wildlife.
They strapped Albus into the stair lift seat. He had given up fighting the humiliation. The walk to the visitor’s room was one he was not used to, only a few of the patrons had family and friends that would visit them, and this would typically decline from once every month to once every other month or so. It was clear this was a place where people sent their loved ones to die. Maybe in another life, Albus would have been able to appreciate the beauty of the home it was like a palace after all! But to him, it felt like a coffin.
“Are you not going to tell me who it is?”
Alastor smiled and held the door open.
X
The air was sucked out of his lungs. There she sat, like a porcelain doll, no different to the last time he saw her. His Grace. “My dear” he moved to embrace her, but she cringed back. He was gently helped into his seat. He blinked back tears of embarrassment as he was strapped into a grand French chair (one like he had in his study – which felt like a lifetime ago). Both of them watched as the men left the room. “My dear”.
“Stop it, Albus, I am not here for long. I only wanted to deliver a message.” He nodded. “You destroyed the best years of my life, you ruined my only dream, to raise a child and then you did something worse. You did the same to him.” He studied her carefully; this was the woman he first met when he was twenty-five or so and she had just turned 18. This was the woman he moulded into something better. “When Tom told me what he did. I, I. I was so confused, but it makes sense. You would always find a way out of prison and you would do anything you could to take me back" She took in a deep breath "he knows who runs this place a Bellatrix I think. In other words, you'll serve your time justly.”
“But”
“No! you've been speaking for years! It's my time my voice is heard. You deserve this. I hope you realise that one day. Everything you did and stole from Tom and me; this is your retribution.”
“My dear, all I wanted to do was help my family.”
“You destroyed it instead.”
“Don't you dare! You know I did everything I did because I love you and our boy" Grace pulled a face of horror, she realised that he truly meant that, in his sick and twisted way. " Enough of this, I understand you're both upset. Let's sit and talk about it like adults back at home."
“Your time is done” she chuckled wiping tears away from her face with a manicured hand. “Look at this” She lifted her sleeve to reveal a snake tattoo. Albus’ eyes bulged out from his scalp. “I know right?!” she grinned letting the tears flow freely “You always preferred lions.”
“Grace” he pleaded “Please my love.”
“I am thinking of cutting my hair as well. You always liked it down.” She fiddled with the long locks.
“I’m sorry okay” That cut her short and maybe it finally hit him that this was not something he could get out of, he had no more cards left up his sleeves. “I may have realised it too late that I was too harsh, but-”.
“If you want a therapist to offload too talk to the man that will change your diaper once you become senile.”
He could no longer hold the tears back. There was a knock at the door. “Come on Mother.”
His head snapped up to Tom. He cringed back in fear, at the blank stare but fiery eyes Tom had. Was this how his son felt growing up? But he could not shake off the fact that he was Tom's father, he had to forgive him! After all, everyone makes mistakes.
“I win” Tom grinned. He helped his mother up as they walked out. Albus could barely form a sentence, it was all drowned out by his sobs. Tom chucked an envelope at him and slammed the door.
He blinked awake, realising he was now in his room. The room was large with a double bed (and straps that hung off the frame), he had a view of the woodland but of course, the windows did not open. His desk was filled with clutter, notes and paintings that he was sticking up on his wall. He must have become erratic again and they gave him something to calm down. He held his head in pain as he slowly sat up. Once aware of his state, he scrambled to his desk where the envelope lay. He opened it with shaky hands.
It was pictures, a lot of them:
- Tom and Hadara getting married again.
- Grace getting her tattoo, she held her mouth back and her eyes were bulging. Lily was in the background laughing with Tom.
- The whole family with Lily at a picnic.
- All of them on holiday
- Hadara being caressed by Tom as he held her swollen belly.
He could not see the rest as his eyes began to blur. He threw the pictures to the ground.
X
James was ready for his turn.
He sat down in the chair. His Hadara had aged into a mature woman in a year. Her beauty more defined like his Lily. His sweet innocent Lily, she had been transformed. She had cut her red locks and seemed different, less tense. He did not know what it was. He ignored a smirking Tom who sat in the middle of both women.
“My darlings-” he started.
“Don’t James”
He bristled at the tone from his Harry.
“Harry?”
“My name is Hadara” Lily smiled at her daughter pleased. Hadara squeezed her mother’s arm gently and looked away. She slumped into Tom’s chest.
“We agree with Tom that this would be best-”
“Lily flower? Look at me. I am sorry okay, I, I, just want to go home. Go back home and forget about this. Forget about everything.”
“It would be best for you to serve your time here. Like Albus you would probably not face a serious enough sentence in jail so” she shrugged “We thought this would be best”.
“I can’t do it” Hadara shook her head violently and raced out, followed by a concerned Tom.
“Harry! Baby girl! My HARRY NO MATTER WHAT HE SAYS I LOVE YOU” The door slammed, the sound of Hadara’s heart-wrenching sobs gone. His eyes fell on Lily, he reached for her hand, but she stood up and jerked back. “You still wear the ring.” He smiled sadly. James stared at his wife, they had both grown up with strict parents, and he believed his way was liberal compared to his parents. “I don’t think I can excuse what I put you through, both of you” he glanced at the door. “But I'm sorry okay. I didn't know”.
She scoffed “You didn't know that every time you hit me and my baby it was wrong? That when you held me DOWN IT WAS WRONG! You did not- look I’m not here to duke it out with you. We all decided that 14 years for what I went through and an extra 5 for the abuse may not be enough, but it will have to do, you won’t be getting out for good behaviour. You’ll be out when you're 74 ish years old and if you’re unlucky by then you would need a place like this”.
“I deserve it.”
She nodded. She stood “No photos for you. Tom and Grace said it would torture Albus, but it would be a treat for you”.
“I please, you have to let me say something, please Lilly.”. Lily walked to the door. Tears slowly falling. She froze at the desperation in his voice “What is the baby's name! Tell me that at least.”
She turned to him and wiped the tears. “We named him after his grandfather”.
He looked shocked “Why! Really? I, I, Thank you. I know I may not deserve it, but thank you”.
She laughed “Don’t.” She flashed her hand “His name is Severus. After my new husband”.