New Colors of Life

Blame yourself

Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.
Joseph Addison

The day had just begun but it was too hot for her liking already, Hermione decided stepping outside a small bungalow and welcoming a new day.

The sun was so bright and hot that for a second Hermione thought she might get sun burns just from standing outside a couple of minutes longer.

With a heavy sigh, Hermione Riddle started walking towards the cold and unwelcoming caves where most of her time was spent digging, encrypting and debating with her dear husband.

Even after being married for more than two months, Hermione still felt that somewhat pleasant chill run down her spine when she used the word 'husband'. And she used it a lot.

Their 'wedding', at that word Hermione sneered- another habit she got from her dear spouse-, was more than she could have ever imagined. It was romantic, gorgeous, with white dress and cheering guests. Only not.

Hermione could bet that Tom had actually enjoyed that kind of a wedding- in the Magical Floo Airport; just after he committed murder; somewhat stoned; with Dumbledore's oh-not-so-twinkling eyes firmly fixed on Tom's smirking innocent face and her own horrified went-to-space-and-forgot-to-return expression; Walburga Black as the Maid of Honor and some Mexican drug-dealer as Tom's best man.

Nagini, Butterfly and Dumbls were their only witnesses, along side with the rest of travelers who were present in the huge lobby of the Airport.

Marvelous, was the only word Hermione could use when thinking about her 'special day', which she actually didn't remember all that well.

Flashback.

After the green light illuminated the empty street with three dead bodies on the ground, Hermione was dragged into the lobby of the Magical Floo Airport, since her own mind was simply not functioning enough at the moment.

The thought alone that she was responsible for someone's death was so horrifying and impossible to comprehend, that Hermione's mind decided to take break with the in-time help of the Imperius curse that Tom had cast on her right after he killed the witnesses. The thought that she had actually caused Harry's death and a complete change of the future simply didn't register in her pained mind.The flashes of green eyes, dead eyes, fogged the real world and dragged Hermione into her memories where Harry Potter was alive and well.

"Harry," whispered Hermione when Tom moved them towards the check-in.

"Shut up, Granger," Tom hissed looking around. There were so many people in the lobby- wizards and witches, their children, magical creatures and aurors.

The news about murder near the Airport made all the present aurors check all the passengers. And their wands.

Leaving Hermione stand like a statue with unseen teary eyes and vacant expression, Tom quickly turned towards their pets and their luggage.

Soon it would be their turn to give their wands for check-up, Tom had no doubts about that, so without hesitation, he drew his wand out and pointed at their possessions.

Nagini, Dumbls and Butterfly- all with the ultimately horrified eyes- stared pleadingly at their master, all the while forming a scaly ball with pink feathers- if they were going to die, they were going to leave this world together, as loyal pets to a crazy owner.

"Engorgio," and their carrier grew bigger.

"Alohomora," and the door of the carrier opened.

"Colloportus," and the cage closed again.

"Comfortus," and a very soft blanket appeared on the bottom of the carrier.

The pet trio could not believe their luck. With adoring eyes, they followed their master's wand movement, hoping and praying for something tasty to appear in their now huge cage.

With a final wave of his wand, Tom cast the fifth spell.

"Orchideous," and a gorgeous bouquet appeared from Tom's wand.

Making Hermione take the bouquet, Tom embraced her still unmoving form tightly and kissed her tenderly on the trembling lips.

Just when Tom felt Hermione relax a bit and lean into his touch, he heard the voice he hated the most just behind his back.

" Good evening, ".

Dumbledore.


"So, you are saying, Mr. Riddle, that you and your fiancée made it to the Airport without any problems and that you haven't seen anything unusual. Is that correct?" a tall, broad-shouldered wizard in the famous red auror uniform repeated the question for the third time.

Before Tom could open his mouth and state for the third time in row that "yes, that's correct, Auror Pineapple", Albus Dumbledore cut in.

"Maybe it would be better if you were to ask Miss Escada, Auror. Mister Riddle has already given his statement."

'Damn you to hell, Dumbledore,' thought Tom looking at the still shocked Hermione who kept rambling and rambling about friends, green eyes and destiny.

"You are right, Professor," the Auror said turning his suspicious gaze towards trembling and shivering Hermione.

Trying to take a stronger hold of Hermione's mind, Tom felt a very unpleasant chill run down his spine. Because of the shock, Hermione's mind was surrounded by very strong mind-walls, leaving him no chance to control her actions. It seemed that they were fucked.

"Miss Escada, I am Auror Pineapple, and I have a few questions I want to ask you," said the Auror noticing how bad Hermione looked.

"Are you alright, Miss?"

"She's fine, sir. She would be even better were you finally satisfied with the statement I have already given you. Thrice," Tom said in a very polite, but cold voice, understanding that in no way they were going to get off the hook were Hermione to speak.

"Harry," Hermione whispered.

"I beg your pardon. Did you say Harry? Who is he, Miss?"

This annoying auror was starting to drive Tom nuts. He also didn't know who this 'Harry' fellow was, but no way was he going to let the auror and Dumbledore know that. They certainly didn't need to be questioned under Veritaserum in the main Aurors' office with the old coot asking the questions. No, thank you very much.

"I killed him," Hermione whispered and started sobbing again.

'I will make you pay for this, Granger,' Tom's words echoed in Hermione's mind.

"You killed someone?" Now it was Dumbledore asking questions.

"Ye-yes," sobbed Hermione and Tom could have sworn he saw Dumbledore's eyes twinkle again. "But I didn't mean to, I really didn't. Didn't…Did not want this to happen. I'm so sor-rry, Harry".

"You didn't mean to, but you killed Harry, is that right, Miss Escada?" like a good old grandfather, Dumbledore kindly smiled. A good old grandfather that wanted more than anything in the world to catch his favorite grandson on the crime scene.

"Ye-yes. Green ey-eyes," quietly answered Hermione looking around with unseeing eyes.

"And was Mister Riddle present at the time of the accidental murder?" sweetly asked Albus Dumbledore and dared Tom to say anything.

Tom knew very well that were he to interrupt the interrogation, very soon both Hermione and he would be sitting in a very cozy room with very pleasant people around and a very nice drink named Veritaserum in their hands. Still trying to get to Hermione's brain, Tom heard the answer to the question.

"Y-yes".

Tom could almost feel the waves of happiness coming from Dumbledore. Of course, the old fool thought that Tom was now tied by his hands and legs.

Taking a glance at the very quiet pet-trio, Tom inwardly smirked.

"Mister Riddle. Is everything Miss Escada said true?" asked Dumbledore smiling slightly.

The smile disappeared from Professor's face when he heard an innocent 'Yes' form his favorite ex-student.

"Yes, it's true sirs. I am very unhappy that even though you have seen in what state my fiancée is, you still interrogate us as if we were some criminals," calmly stated Tom looking at the suspicious auror.

"Yes, Hermione indeed accidentally killed Harry. And that is the reason for her behavior now. And yes, sir, I was present at the time when the 'murder' ", Tom actually sneered at that word, "was committed".

"And who is this Harry that Miss Escada murdered?" the auror asked and Tom already knew they made it.

Idiots. All of them. No wonder that he would become so famous, the Dark Lord thought smirking slightly.

"Why…It's our hamster. Or better to say was our hamster before Hermione stepped on it while packing," Tom had a hard time keeping his face straight when he saw the look on Dumbledore's face. It was priceless. 1-0, Slytherin wins.

"Har-ry," whispered Hermione again. "He was my friend, but he abandoned me. But I didn't mean to, I didn't".

Tom hugged his fiancée lightly and kissed her tenderly.

"I know, my sweet, I know. It's not your fault. He was a good hamster, but he had to go," gently said Tom to the sobbing in his arms Hermione.

'What the hell am I saying?' he thought.

He just hoped that no one would ever hear about this. What kind of a Dark Lord would he be if he had a…hamster as his pet? Nagini was the only one eligible for such a noble task- a pink crazy parrot, a swaying and singing snake and a hamster did not qualify, Tom thought while the auror was trying to decide what to do.

"A hamster, Mister Riddle?" asked Albus Dumbledore barely keeping his anger in check.

"Yes, sir. A hamster. A small, fluffy, friendly hamster with green eyes who loved to run in his favorite wheel all night long. So tragic!" sighed Tom and hugged Hermione even closer.

He really deserved an award for his brains and acting skills.

'Wake up, Granger! Or I promise I'll kill the first muggle kid I see when we leave this place. Slowly and painfully,' the Dark Lord promised in Hermione's mind.

Tom could feel that Hermione overcame the shock and was now somewhat functioning.

"Is that true?" the auror asked gently.

"Yes, sir. What Tom said is true. Har-rry died because of me. And he was a good hamster," like a dutiful girlfriend, Hermione repeated what Tom had said. She definitely didn't want to cause another death. And she wanted to stay alive as well.

Now that her mind was functioning, Hermione tried to get a grip of her emotions. Tom was right, she had to do her part and then, only then, when they would be safe in some part of Mexico, she could mourn the loss of a long-time friend. No matter that Harry and Ron abandoned her in the end; they still had been friends for five years. She just had to over come the pain for now. She must do it.

"We apologize for the inconvenience, Miss Escada, Mister Riddle," said the auror taking a glance at the pet-trio. No wonder that they used to have a hamster, the auror thought. It seemed that they loved animals. Even snakes, he noted looking at the scaly serpents.

"We missed our flight because of this 'inconvenience', as you mildly put it, Auror Pineapple and we are late for our wedding ceremony," said Tom looking into Dumbledore's eyes.

"Well, we could make it up to you".

'Dumbledore, why don't you go and eat some lemon drops, you old fool,' irritated thought the Dark Lord.

He just wanted to piss Dumbledore off. Well, a little more off, since it was pretty clear that Professor Albus Dumbledore was not having the best day of his life. And now, Tom had a feeling that they were going to pay for his arrogance.

"And how is that, sir?" asked Hermione quietly. She wanted to hide in a dark room and cry, cry, cry. She had changed the future, the Dark Lord was now invincible and she was responsible for a death of a young woman and four unborn children- Petunia, Lily, Harry, and Dudley.

"We could marry you right now, right here, if you, of course, wish it," said Dumbledore in his happy grandfatherly mode.

'Fuck,' thought Tom.

'Fuck,' thought Hermione.

They couldn't step out of this now. Otherwise unnecessary suspicions will be arisen and that was not good. The reason why everyone would have expected them to accept the offer was the impossibly long and tiring routine necessary for the marriage- huge amount of paper, documents, blanks, applications, petitions, tests. In one word- this was a very good offer for those who indeed wanted to get married.

Hermione knew very well that magical marriages were very important and serious things. One could ask for divorce only after a year after the marriage was written down in ministry books.

The worst part was the fact that only if a person was really interested in marriage and really wanted to marry his second half, only then the bonds were sealed and written down.

Now that was a problem.

Tom was thinking along the same thoughts. Damn you, Dumbledore.

There was no way he was backing off. Never.

"Tooom!"

Everybody turned around to see a beautiful female quickly walking towards the couple.

'Very good,' smirked Tom when he saw Walburga Black.

'Bitch,' fumed Hermione when she saw the pureblood witch.

Just when Walburga made it to the small group, Tom hugged her lightly, shocking everyone around.

"It's so good that you made it, Walburga. Unfortunately, our wedding in Mexico could not take place because of a small 'inconvenience', but we decided to accept the generous offer made by Professor Dumbledore and Auror Pineapple and wed here. So, you can still be Hermione's Maid of Honor," sweetly said Tom to the shocked to the core Walburga.

Jealousy, just like that night flamed in Hermione's heart when she saw Tom hugging the witch. Only after she made herself turn away and look at Dumbledore, Hermione's mind registered the words Tom had actually said. They were going to get married.


They were in the entrance hall, surrounded by some random people who just wanted to see such an uncommon in an airport event, gawking at the young couple- nervous young witch and a very calm and determined wizard.

The Ministry worker, who was called by Auror Pineapple, went on and on with his usual pre-wedding speech about love, care, loyalty, friends and other stuff that made Tom's wand-hand twitch.

A sulking, but quiet Walburga stood behind Hermione who looked as if she was getting ready to get kissed by a Dementor and not marry a handsome male she was in love with.

A determined and angry Tom stood in front of the priest with a very weirdly looking strange man behind. Since Hermione had a Maid of Honor and Tom didn't, he had to look for a willing witness. And he had to do it fast. So, the result- a weird fellow that reminded Hermione of a Mexican drug-dealer- was now Tom's Best Man.

The only question that seemed to dig into Hermione's and Tom's minds was: What happens when the bonds fail to appear?

"Do you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, bond your body, soul and magic to Hermione Jean?"

'For Salazar's sake!'

'Oh Gosh!'

"I do".

"Do you, Hermione Jean Escada, bond your body, soul and magic to Tom Marvolo?"

'Come on, Granger!'

'!'

"I do".

When a shining bright light appeared between their wands, it was difficult to say who was shocked more- Tom or Hermione.

The bonds were sealed.

End Flashback.

Playing with a pretty golden band on her wedding finger, Hermione wondered if Tom was ever going to give her a 'special ring'- the one that really symbolized their union.

It was so difficult at first- their arrival at Cave Waters and the first serious conversation they had after Hermione spent a week sobbing and blaming herself. Then it turned out better- they started looking for the sacred book that would lead them to the special place where the ritual must be held and the pleasantries of having the Dark Lord as your husband.

Stepping into the cave, Hermione was about to call for Tom when she saw him emerge from the deeper levels.

Hermione marveled at the beauty of her husband, stressing the her husband part when she noticed that Tom was holding something in his hands.

Taking a ragged breath, Hermione looked in his eyes.

Yes, her first guess was right.

He had found the sacred book.