Across the pond
Little Hangleton
Tom Marvolo Riddle, also known as The Dark Lord or Lord Voldemort, awoke from his sleep with a searing pain in his body. He gasped for air, tumbled out of bed and made it just in time to the bathroom, before he puked his guts out. He had never felt something like this. It closely resembled how it felt when his soul shards were put back into place, but even that had not felt so intense. Hurling and feeling drained he laid down on the cool tiles to ride it out. It took him several minutes to feel well enough to sit back up. What the hell just happened?
‘Tom?’ A voice called out to him. ‘In here,’ he mumbled. The door opened, revealing a slender woman with bushy hair and a concerned expression. Hermione knelt down and reached for him. ‘What happened? Are you ill?’ She touched his forehead. Even after being with the Muggleborn witch for several years now, he still had trouble fathoming that they were together.
If someone would have told him that someday, he would practically rule Wizarding Britain, not as a Dark Lord with followers, but as a former Dark Lord with allies and even friends, he would declare them insane, tortured them and eventually, he would have killed them for stating such nonsense. But not only was this the truth, he was also romantically involved with Hermione Granger, Brightest Witch of her Age, Muggleborn and the witch had an unexpected cruel streak.
Seven years ago he once again had a corporal body, with the help of Barty and Wormtail. His plan had succeeded, but the Potter girl had escaped from the graveyard. Fully intended to kill her later, Voldemort first needed to be healthy again. Wormtail was by no means a Potions Master, the Potion had not failed, but he was more snake than man, so he called Severus Snape, who, together with Lucius Malfoy restored his body to resemble the handsome man he once had been. Around that time he found out his nemesis could also speak to snakes and was most likely one of his Horcruxes. That changed everything. Deciding to let the girl be for the time, he focused on claiming political power. He gathered his followers and told them his plans. He carefully waited and planned, to make sure he could get the title of Lord Slytherin. He was the last descendant of that line, so he had every right to claim it.
When he went to Gringotts in secret, to do an inventory of his possessions and to claim the Lordship, they offered him the chance to restore his soul. He still didn’t want to die, but he also didn’t want to be insane anymore, and he had been insane. Splitting his soul so many times had been foolish. He had become unstable and he understood why he had failed. He went after a baby over a prophecy. His original plans were never to kill Muggles and Muggleborns. He simply wanted magic to flourish and to be practiced without fear of conviction. Shame was not an emotion he liked, but nonetheless, he was ashamed of how far from his original goal he had wandered. The Goblins told him to bring his Horcruxes, so the ritual could take place.
Two weeks before that ritual was to take place, Alexis Jane Potter disappeared from the face of the Earth. It was like she simply vanished. Even he, with his connection to her, could not find her. After all, it had been a good thing, because if she wasn’t with the other Horcruxes, a piece of his soul would remain in her, meaning he was still immortal.
And then the shit had hit the fan. It turned out that the girl had been abused by her relatives. The Ministry had sent people to investigate what happened to the girl. Dumbledore had tried to stop that, but Lucius had pushed and bribed enough people to investigate. They discovered that the girl had been beaten, starved, mistreated, raped from the age of six and that her owl had been murdered by her uncle. They found the cupboard, the cat flap on her room. The bloodstained mattress. They also discovered several compulsion charms placed on the Muggles, by non-other than Albus Dumbledore. The charms made sure they hated the girl and that they would hurt her.
The last will of Lily and James Potter had been read, something Dumbledore had tried to stop. Both wills clearly stated that Peter was the Secret Keeper and that Alexis should have gone to Sirius of Severus. Sirius was declared innocent and in a gesture of good-will, Voldemort had Peter arrested after he had modified his memory. Peter was kissed not long after that.
Learning he was to be the girl’s guardian and what had happened to her, it was Severus Snape who cut all ties with the headmaster. He had confessed to Voldemort that he was a spy and begged him for forgiveness. He explained his reasons and that Dumbledore had him under an Unbreakable Vow. Voldemort had used Legilimens on Severus, learning that he was also under several compulsion charms. He broke them and welcomed Severus back into his most trusted followers. Together they learned the prophecy was false, created by Dumbledore to get rid of Tom. Dumbledore knew Tom was more powerful and had plans within plans to make sure he could beat another Dark Wizard. That caused a ripple effect.
More and more people came forward, and one dirty secret led to another. People openly chose sides and to his astonishment, people chose him. Now that he was sane, held political power and wanted to reform Magical Britain to its former glory, Dumbledore lost everything. With the help of Rita Skeeter, Dumbledore was further discredited, when she dug up that he used to share the beliefs of Grindelwald.
They even tried to get him into Azkaban, but the bastard escaped before they could arrest him.
The Order of the Phoenix was now considered a terrorist organization. The members were few, most older members had changed sides. The Ministry had been reformed, Lucius was made Minister and Hogwarts changed with that. Minerva was named Headmistress. She too had been under compulsions. More and more people got cleansed by the Goblin healers, so more and more people no longer trusted Dumbledore. In Hogwarts new classes were introduced, standards were upped and all of that happened within four years. Purebloods, Halfbloods and Muggleborns all worked together. There were still families who believed that Muggleborns should not be accepted, and it was only after he started something with Hermione that things settled down. She was a Muggleborn, who was now engaged to the former Dark Lord. It showed people he really had changed.
He still searched for the Potter girl, together with Severus, Hermione and Lucius. He wanted to make amends. After all, he killed her parents, tried to kill her multiple times and used her to restore his body. He violated her just as that swine of an uncle had done. He needed to make that right. Severus helped him for his own reasons, as did Hermione and Lucius. Severus had treated her badly and knowing Lily wanted him to be the girl’s guardian, made him want to be a better man. He was still the Hogwarts Potion Master, but without the compulsions, he was more accessible and even enjoyed teaching.
Hermione had been a terrible friend to Alexis. She had chosen Ron’s side after Alexis was named champion. True, she was compelled to behave a certain way, but that did not erase her guilt. She wanted nothing more than to have her first real friend back.
Lucius helped because he felt guilty that he tried to kill the girl when she was only twelve years old. It was a good thing Dobby stopped him that day.
Tom knew she wasn’t dead. She simply didn’t want to be found. He was also convinced the old coot looked for her. That fool still wanted her to fight for the light.
‘Tom?’ Hermione asked again. ‘Do you want something?’ She looked at him, frowning. His brown curly hair was disheveled. His eyes looked troubled and she worried for him.
He shook his head. ‘No love, it had passed. I feel fine now, a little shaken, but otherwise fine.’ Hermione nodded and helped him off the floor. They went back to bed. He needed sleep. In the morning he would call Severus. For he was sure that what he had felt, had something to do with Alexis. Getting under the covers, he curled himself around his little witch and dozed off.