Time Changes All Things: Now Complete

Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you for bearing with me through chapter 14...the most difficult chapter to write and read for me. But now on to chapter 15...the aftermath of what happened on Halloween night.

Chapter 15: Asleep
Sitting nervously waiting for The Dark Lord to come to the dungeon, were his Inner Circle of men. The men sat, looking at one another, still in shock from what they had witnessed up on the mountain. They had never counted on finding Hermione being raped and beaten. They also had not counted on The Dark Lord going ballistic and killing so many of the Gryffindors. It had been a terrible mess to clean up and dispose of the many bodies that lay littered around the cave and the forest. The two boys, still lucky to be alive, had been Obliviated, and dumped far away in the Forbidden Forest. What was to come next? They were all concerned about Hermione, but were not looking forward to their leader’s display of anger.
A
s the Dark Lord came through the door, it was not like they had expected. Instead of an angry Tom, banging doors and throwing things, in walked a very quiet and troubled man. As he walked over to the table he looked around at his men and sat down.

“Your good work will not be unrecognized tonight,” said Tom getting down to business in a serious tone

“How is Hermione, my Lord?” Abraxas fearlessly chose to ask.

Tom continued talking; it appeared as if he hadn’t heard a word Abraxas had spoken.

Abraxas looked over at Radbourne with great concern. What did this mean? Was Hermione more injured than they had thought? Dear Merlin, please don’t let her have died from her injuries. He needed to know, Hermione was also his friend. Abraxas also felt responsible for the fact that he had been overpowered by a fucking Gryffindor, which delayed him getting Hermione the medical help that she had needed.

“Excuse me, but I must have my question answered…how is Hermione?” Abraxas pushed Tom for an answer.

Gritting his teeth and with his nostrils flaring he bellowed out, “They killed my child! They almost killed Hermione!” Tom with a red face stood there shaking in front of his men.

“I’m sorry, Tom,” Abraxas struggled to think of something more to say; feeling a little relief that she was still alive.

Alphard started to respond, “I didn’t know that she was…” and Casper quickly put his hand on Alphard’s arm to silence him.

“You do realize what this means, my loyal followers?” The Dark Lord questioned his Inner Circle.

No one answered as they all looked at one another, hoping that someone else would speak up first. Tom looked at each of his men sternly hoping that someone would realize what needed to happen next.

Rolling his eyes, Tom spoke briskly and firmly, “War was declared tonight on the chosen few of the house of Salazar Slytherin, by the Mudbloods, muggles and especially the house of Godric Gryffindor.”

Walking around the room he continued, “It is time for me to shed the name of my filthy- muggle- father,” he spat out as if he tasted something disgusting.

Using his wand he wrote his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle, out in the air. Rearranging the letters of his name he pronounced, “From this time forward, you, my loyal followers and the rest of the wizarding world will know me as Lord Voldemort.”

There hanging in the air were the letters: I Am Lord Voldemort, for all of his men to see.

“For our remaining time at Hogwarts you will address me as Tom in front of others not of our organization.” He sternly instructed his followers, “But in the presence of each other I will be addressed by the name, Lord Voldemort. My name will be feared among every being in the wizarding world.”

All of the Knights looked at one another to gauge each other’s reaction to this news.

“It is a name befitting one with power, my Lord,” Radbourne said with bowed head. “Or I should say, Lord Voldemort?”

A smile played over Tom’s lips as Radbourne made his pronouncement.

“As of this night,” Tom circled the room as he addressed his men, “the Knights will be no more.” Stopping his pacing, he looked to see what kind of reaction his announcement would bring about.

“What do you mean there will be no more Knights?” Alphard asked excitedly. “We can’t just dissolve; especially after what they did to Hermione.”

Looking squarely at Alphard as he would a child, he said low and firmly, “Did I say anything about dissolving our organization?” Tom was controlling his irritation, even though he wanted to lash out at anyone and anything within a 5 mile radius of him.

“There will be no dissolution, but there will be a name change as of tonight.” Tom began his pacing once more.

“I have told you before that Death is to be our mantra. Those who oppose us will die; they shall be with us or die,” Tom’s voice began to rise as he shared his ideas with his men.

“Those who oppose us will be eaten by Death; the snake will strike quickly and there will be no second chance given to those who go up against us.” There were many small grins starting to form on the faces listening to Lord Voldemort.

“I will find the way to conquer death so as to always rule supreme.” Standing at the front of the room, he placed his hands on his hips and with a piercing stare declared, “From this day forth, you will be known as my… Death Eaters!”

Almost jumping from his seat in excitement Alphard exclaimed, “I will be your most dedicated Death Eater, Lord Voldemort.” and he knelt down at Tom’s feet with a bowed head.

Looking around at his others followers, they quickly followed suit and dropped to their knees and proclaimed their loyalty to Lord Voldemort as one of his Death Eaters.

“You will be the leaders of my army to rid the world of the filth that pollutes the pureness of the wizarding world.” Tom raised his fists in the air as if in triumph. “We will leave our mark on the world!”

“What is to be done next, Lord Voldemort?” asked Abraxas.

“That is what we will be discussing next, my faithful followers,” The Dark Lord motioned for his Inner Circle to rise and be seated again.

“You need a way to be identified as one of my Death Eaters. There will be no one who will infiltrate our ranks, we will know.”

Up in the air, the Dark Lord conjured up a picture of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. Tom had been inspired for this design by the hiding place of the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. When he summoned the Basilisk it would emerge from the mouth of Salazar Slytherin. This was one more way to honor the great wizard that was his ancestor.

“This will be the mark that my true followers will be branded with.” Walking to Abraxas’ side, he shoved the sleeve of his shirt up exposing his forearm. “This mark will be located on the inner left forearm of every Death Eater. I will use this mark to summon you to my side.”

Slamming his fists on the tables he shouted, “If we had only gotten to Hermione faster she would not have suffered so much,” his face twisted in intense rage, “This mark will bring you quickly to me. When I activate the Dark Mark by pressing my wand to any Death Eater’s inner forearm, the mark will turn jet black and you will feel a burning sensation.”

As he made eye contact with all of his Inner Circle his powerful gaze made them all squirm, “Once you feel this burn, you will immediately apparate to my side. No more waiting for everyone to gather…and wasting time when you are needed to come to my service.”

The Dark Lord became silent and looked over his shoulder at the door. “What happened tonight will never happen again!” His sudden burst of fury made all present jump in their seats. “We will never fail one of our own again…” The Dark Lord’s voice drifted off into a whisper. They all remained silent as they pictured the bloody and beaten Hermione, almost dead, lying in the cave.

“I need to go to her.” all the rage gone from his face leaving only emptiness. “Think about taking the mark. If you want to fully commit to me, this will take place two nights from now. But realize, this again is a lifetime commitment, once you take the mark you will be in my service for life.” The Inner Circle all glanced warily at one another.

Turning towards the door, the Dark Lord, the new Lord Voldemort, quietly left the room; leaving a stunned group of men who contemplated the serious change and commitment they would soon make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione could not make out the sounds that were buzzing around her head. Her body ached so much and she did not want to wake up. If she was conscious, she would have to acknowledge the horrors of what had happened to her. The only way she would wake up is if someone would tell her that her being abducted, humiliated and raped had all been a cruel nightmare.

She wanted to see Tom because she knew that she had to tell him about the baby. Her head was so fuzzy and she couldn’t open her eyes. The truth was she did not want to open her eyes. It was a much safer place, here in the dark, where no one could hurt her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slipping into the hospital wing, the sun was just beginning to rise, and Tom glided over to Hermione’s bed. Gently putting his hand on Lucretia’s shoulder he nudged her awake. Lucretia jumped, arms flailing and screamed, “Oh!”

“Shhh,” Tom comforted her. “It’s fine…I just came to check on Hermione.” He looked gloomily over at the still figure lying on the bed. Lucretia sat back down and Tom sat on the edge of Hermione’s bed.

“Has she woken up yet?” Lucretia looked up at Tom, noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the mussed up hair. She knew that Tom had been up all night with the Knights meeting in the dungeons. She had missed the meeting, having been assigned by Tom to stay at Hermione’s side.

Tom stared at Hermione, gazing at the multiple bruises still lining her face and the handprints encircling her neck. Even he could not believe what torture Hermione had endured last night. Tom reached out and placed his hand softly on her cheek and brushed his thumb back and forth across her cheekbone. Hermione stirred and rolled closer to Tom, but still remained unconscious.

Tom knew that as soon as she woke, it would be his place to tell her that she was no longer pregnant. Resting his hand on Hermione’s stomach and lower, where the baby had been growing, he drew small circles around and around her pelvis as if to make Hermione whole again.

Lucretia had noticed the sadness crossing over Tom’s face. Never before had she seen Tom, more specifically, The Dark Lord, show any sadness over another’s loss. Yes, it had been his baby, also, but Hermione would suffer more physically and emotionally.

“Tom, would it be all right for me to go freshen up?” Lucretia hated to disturb Tom as he sat so lost in his thoughts.

Looking up, red-eyed and somber, Tom nodded his head yes,
“You need some rest from your own injuries, Lucretia,” and Tom gave her a tired smile. “Thank you for being a good friend to Hermione.”

Lucretia glancing down at her frail friend couldn’t hold back the tears. “I wish I could have done more, Tom,” she said between sobs, “If only I had stopped them before…”

“Enough, Lucretia,” Tom interrupted her, “we can’t change what happened in the past, but we do have power over the future.” With a hard look on his face Tom continued, “There will be many who will pay for Hermione’s pain and her…loss,” his voice cracking at the end.

Lucretia felt a chill run through her at seeing the glint of revenge in Tom’s eyes. She knew the Dark Lord well enough to know that he would show no mercy to those responsible for the atrocities that had taken place last night.

“I will be back later this afternoon,” Lucretia bent down kissing Hermione on the cheek and then she quickly left the room before she started crying again.

Tom stared angrily back at his woman, his life, and his future; lying there, in oblivion, in the bed. The fury began to rise in his chest once again remembering the words the Gryffindor leader had so smugly shouted out to Tom before he was disposed of,


{Laughing the laugh of the insane, the Gryffindor spat out, “I beat and fucked your woman, Tom,” and he sneered at him. “She is damaged goods, no one including you will ever want her again.”

Spitting blood out of his mouth, the Gryffindor continued his taunting, “I also forced her to take a very old potion…she is not a very powerful witch anymore…Shame.”}


Would Hermione ever recover from this? Would their relationship ever recover from what happened? This had all happened because she was his girlfriend. What would Hermione think about his new title and the new name of his followers? The many questions running rampant in his mind made his head hurt.

Tom breaking away from his thoughts; realized he needed to contact Flamina with his new plans and guidance about Hermione and trying for another baby. Flamina had been right; someone had tried to take Hermione away from him, permanently. If he had only taken that warning more seriously, but Hermione would never go for him babysitting her every second. He had done what Flamina said when it came to getting Hermione pregnant, but what good did it do? His heir had been killed and he, the great Dark Lord, could not save him.

Hermione stirred again, moaning in her sleep, “Save me, Tom…they are hurting me…where are you?” She started thrashing about again.

Tom had to hold down her arms and whisper words of comfort to her, “It’s fine, my love, I am here.” Her words were like a punch in the gut, why hadn’t he gotten to her in time? As he had told his newly named Inner Circle of Death Eaters, he would never allow this to ever happen again.

Tom brushed the hair back from Hermione’s face, the sweat dripping down her cheek and landing on her pillow. He could only imagine the terrors she was reliving in her dreams.

“I wish that you would wake up…Hermione, please…” he begged her, wiping her pale face with a cool cloth. “You are safe now and I have so much I need to tell you,” and he bent down to kiss her.

Clarice came through the door, just in time, to see Tom speaking softly to Hermione and bending down to gently kiss her on the lips. This soft side of Tom was staggering to her.

“Tom, I am here to stay with Hermione now,” she said with a soft voice.

He looked up at Clarice and yawned, “Forgive me, I need some sleep,” and he put his head in his hands. “I haven’t slept in over 26 hours.” Looking at Tom, you knew his words relayed the truth.

Tom stood up, “Please watch over her closely, Clarice. If she awakens, send word and I will be here straight away.”

Clarice smiled at Tom, “You go get some rest, I will let you know if…I mean when Hermione wakes up.”

“Thank you…remember, I want to be woken up if she shows any sign of coming round.” Tom commanded.

“I promise…now go, you are about ready to drop,” and in a surprising move Clarice embraced Tom in her arms and he hugged her back. She could see why Hermione felt safe in his strong arms.

Tom leaned down and kissed Hermione on her forehead, “Come back to me, love,” he spoke quietly and turned to leave, glancing back one more time before heading off to his own bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione felt Tom’s warm lips pressing on her forehead. His strong, magical presence could even be felt in the dark place she was currently hiding in.

She still felt so weak and had no desire to come back to the living. There was something terribly wrong with her and her magic. Something had occurred that had damaged her powers, but she could not remember what it was. She tried desperately to reach out to Tom through their mental connection, but something was blocking their communication. She knew that Tom would be able to figure out what had taken place; he would make it all right again. He was a powerful wizard and at this point, she was glad that he was on her side.

She had found out the hard way who her true enemies were in this time period, and it was not the House of Slytherin. Now though, the blackness seemed to be calling her, and this is where she wanted to stay…at least for awhile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter End Notes:
**Some info about the Death Eaters was found at this site... www.harrypotter.wikia.com