Time Changes All Things: Now Complete

Here it is...Finally!! Thanks again to Nicole and also all of you still reading the story and giving me good feedback! I so appreciate all of your wonderful reviews that are such great motivation to write more!!

Chapter 25: “Follow the Leader”

“Lord Voldemort, I trust your judgment,” said Abraxas Malfoy, “I am always at your service and… I just wanted to ask if…”

“Malfoy, spit it out already!” Tom was answering in rather loud whisper. “The whole idea of a secret mission is that one is supposed to keep it covert.” He glared at Abraxas as he scolded him. Both men slid silently along the wall looking in all directions for interlopers. Several groups of Death Eaters were supposed to have blocked off this area, to only allow access to Lord Voldemort and Abraxas into Professor Dumbledore’s chambers.

“I really think, and I speak boldly here, but Hermione will be very angry when she finds out that you went on this mission without her.” Abraxas stood looking at Voldemort.

Tom turned around and put a fist into Abraxas’ chest, “You are not to worry about Hermione; she is my responsibility.” Abraxas tried to stand tall as he saw the fury in Voldemort’s eyes, “She is pregnant with my child and I will not put her or my child in harm’s way!” Tom still pressed into Abraxas’ chest, “Do I make myself clear concerning Hermione?”

Abraxas stood there dumbfounded at the news that Hermione was pregnant again. Lucretia had not said a word to him about her pregnancy. “Yes, my Lord,” Abraxas said gruffly, “I understand and congratulations about your child.”

Tom took a step back from Abraxas and ran his palms down Abraxas’ shirt and patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you. Now shall we go retrieve the article that could incriminate us?”

Abraxas nodded his head, “Yes, Lord Voldemort. “ They swiftly but quietly made their way towards Dumbledore’s chambers.

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Dumbledore looked down from the faculty table and glanced at the Slytherin table. It seemed to be fairly sparse despite it being dinner hour. The main Slytherins, who seemed to be missing, were Tom Riddle and his many followers, including Hermione. A tingle of apprehension went through him as he sensed that the Slytherins were up to no good. Excusing himself from the table, he left the Great Hall in search of the missing Slytherins.

The first place that he headed to was down into the dungeons. They seemed to congregate together often; probably holding secret meetings.

Unknown to Dumbledore, there were two Slytherins trailing him as he left the Great Hall. Radbourne and Casper had been assigned to follow Dumbledore all around the castle and not let him out of their sights. They also were ordered to stop him, at any cost, from going back to his own chambers. Both young men knew what was at stake and Radbourne especially had to prove his worth, once again, to Lord Voldemort. After his embarrassing display of serving Hermione during the Death Eaters meeting, he knew that the next time Voldemort would be doling out the punishment, not Hermione. Not wanting to take any chances, Radbourne disillusioned both he and Casper before continuing to follow Dumbledore.

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“I am so furious!” Hermione sat in the Slytherin common room. Pouting as she complained to Lucretia and Clarice, “I know that Tom and the others are off doing something important.”

“But why would they not tell us what is going on?” asked Clarice.

Hermione in a snit answered, “Tom and I argued, so now I am being punished.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance, “I was asking too many questions.” Lucretia glanced at Clarice, neither one knowing how to respond to Hermione’s rant.

“But I am not going to sit here all night. We are going to go looking for them.” Hermione stood up, “Are you coming or not?”

Lucretia followed, “I don’t want to go, but I will, only because I don’t want to see you hurt or in trouble.”

Hermione reached out and hugged Lucretia. “Thank you for coming with me.”

Clarice still sat on the sofa staring at her two friends, “You two go ahead without me. I do not want to face the wrath of an angry Lord Voldemort.” She sat with her arms crossed defiantly.

Hermione looked perturbed, “Fine, Clarice, you sit here and wait while we go thwart Dumbledore.” Hermione stormed out of the room while Lucretia turned and shrugged at Clarice and waved farewell.

Hermione and Lucretia left the common room and headed upstairs while Dumbledore stood in the shadows watching the girls depart. “Well, well,” thought Dumbledore, “Hermione is not attached to Tom’s side? What does that mean?” Dumbledore decided that following the girls would probably lead him straight to Tom Riddle, so he soundlessly followed a short distance behind. He was unaware of the Death eaters that were tagging behind him.

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Abraxas stood shifting nervously looking down the hallway. Tom had been trying to lift the protective wards on Dumbledore’s chambers for the last fifteen minutes and so far he had not been successful. Frustration was setting in as he had thought that this would be something he could accomplish easily.

“Do you see anything, Abraxas?” Tom asked with a slight tinge of concern in his voice.

“No, my Lord, the sentries have been successful at keeping the stragglers away from this area of the castle.” Abraxas was grateful for that small thing this evening.

Tom knew that he only had limited time to beak in and search for the Gryffindor tie pin. It was of the utmost importance that this item be retrieved and quickly.

Trying once more, he used a long forgotten spell that someone of Dumbledore’s magical experience would employ. As he uttered the spell, Tom felt the wards shift and a strange vapor escape from underneath the door. Tom was feeling very smug that he had outsmarted Dumbledore.

“Malfoy, stay here and alert me immediately if anyone is approaching.” Tom disappeared into Dumbledore’s private chamber.

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Hermione and Lucretia had been searching for over an hour and still had not seen a sign of Tom or Abraxas. Where could they have gone? Both girls were getting irritated that they were wasting their whole evening with no results.

Hermione leaned against the castle wall, “You don’t think that they were going to go and retrieve the…item tonight do you?” The fury started building in Hermione; she was supposed to be the one to accompany Tom with that mission. “Why is he doing this to me now?” She threw her hands into the air with frustration.

“I know why he is doing this,” Hermione sniffed back her tears in annoyance, “He thinks I am weak… now that I am pregnant again.”

Lucretia felt helpless in not knowing what to do or say to make Hermione feel better. In reality she was probably right, now that Hermione was carrying Lord Voldemort’s heir he would do anything to protect his child.

“Hermione, maybe we should go back to the Common Room. I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby.” Lucretia was almost begging Hermione, “Please, let’s go back and wait for Tom and Abraxas to come back from their mission.”

Hermione could sense the fear in Lucretia’s pleading. With a heavy sigh Hermione gave in, “Oh fine, let’s go back. I am sorry if I was pushing you too much.” She recognized the look of relief on Lucretia’s face.

“Thank you so much, Hermione. I know that we won’t regret doing this. “Lucretia seemed happier at the moment than she had all night long. The girls’ turned around and headed back down the corridor.

Standing quietly in the alcove was a dumbfounded Albus Dumbledore. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard; Hermione was pregnant again with Tom Riddle’s spawn! This child should never be allowed to be raised by Tom Riddle; in fact this child should never be born. He should have realized that Tom would make sure that Hermione would conceive again soon. Narcissistic people like Tom only look after their own wants and needs and be damned to what is good for anyone else.

Dumbledore knew that he needed somehow to come up with a plan to protect Hermione from Riddle. There was only one solution and he had been working on it for the past month. He needed to get Hermione away from Tom and the key to accomplishing that was well hidden in his own chambers.

Slipping quietly away from his hiding spot, he looked around, stopped, and sensed a presence. As he looked up and down the hallway he spoke aloud, “It must only be a ghost wandering the castle.” Seeing no one, he continued on his way.

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Radbourne and Casper both let out gasps of relief as soon as Dumbledore turned the corner.

”I can’t believe that he almost caught us,” Casper spoke breathlessly.

“He didn’t and we need to be more careful.” Radbourne tugged at Casper’s arm, “Come on, he is getting away from us. We can’t let Dumbledore get back to his private chambers. What if Lord Voldemort is still there?” Casper had a frightened look on his face.

“Yes Casper, all hell will break loose if Dumbledore finds the Dark Lord snooping about.” Radbourne started walking away, then turned back around “I can tell you one thing, Dumbledore will be stunned at what a formidable opponent Lord Voldemort has become. “ Radbourne whispered sharply looking at Casper, “Come quickly. I am not going to be responsible this time for fucking things up.” Casper ran swiftly to Radbourne’s side and they left to follow Dumbledore through the castle.

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Hermione stopped abruptly and pulled Lucretia to the side, “I think someone is following us, “she whispered to her.

Lucretia tried to convince her otherwise, “I think that you are nervous…I mean, after what happened to you.”

“No, Lucretia, “Hermione’s hands roughly grabbed Lucretia’s shoulders, “I know someone has been following us all night.” Hermione broke away from Lucretia, like she had just stuck her hand into a burning fire. “I am not going to be a victim again. I need to find Tom now! Come on!”

Hermione took off quickly leaving Lucretia standing there as if Hermione had gone mad. Hermione didn’t know where she was running, she just knew that she had an overwhelming feeling that she needed to get away from the danger threatening her. As she ran through the halls, Lucretia was right behind her, “Hermione…Hermione, slow down!”

As Hermione darted around another corner, she went flying down the stairs, as she slipped and lost her balance. Lucretia heard her scream and then saw Hermione land on someone.

Hermione was being held tightly in someone’s arms and was stunned at who it was. She was looking up into the beautiful blue eyes of Charlus Potter.

“Hermione, are you all right?” Charlus looked rather worried, “You came flying around the corner so fast I didn’t even notice you. I am so sorry.”

Hermione moaned as she suddenly felt intense pain in her ankle. She tried moving it but it only made the shooting pain even worse. “I can’t move it very well,” she said pointing to her ankle.

“We need to get you to the hospital wing,” Charlus started to help her up.

“No, Charlus, I will be fine.” Hermione tried to stand up but she fell back hard on the stairs.

“You cannot do this on your own. Why won’t you let me help?” Charlus was getting perturbed by Hermione’s resistance. Lucretia was standing by the side, shifting back and forth in nervousness, not sure what she should do to help.

“Charlus, please don’t take offense. I can just do this on my own.” Hermione tried to soften things with him.

“Is it because of what I said to you the last time we spoke?” he spoke with great sadness. “I have been beating myself up regretting those words to you.” Charlus reached up to brush Hermione’s cheek with his hand. “Please say that you will forgive me, Hermione?”

Hermione’s insides melted as she looked into the pleading face of Charlus Potter. He so closely resembled his future grandson, Harry; it brought tears to her eyes. She knew that she couldn’t be angry with him any longer. Hermione threw herself into the arms of Charlus and hugged him tightly. Charlus responded back in the same by squeezing her firmly. To the side, Lucretia was hoping that the Dark Lord would not round the corner any time soon, or there would be blood spilled this night.

“So, are we friends again?” Charlus asked hopefully. Hermione nodded her head enthusiastically at his question.

“Yes, most assuredly…oh, that hurts!” Hermione leaned forward again in pain.

“So will you let me help you now?” Charlus swept her up once again in his arms.

Hermione put her arms around his neck and tried to smile up at him, “Yes…you may take me to the hospital wing.” Hermione groaned again as another shooting pain ran down her leg and to her ankle.

As Lucretia followed them, she silently murmured to herself that she hoped they would make it to the hospital wing without running into anyone from the house of Slytherin. Voldemort would not be pleased that his woman was being taken care of by another man, especially a Gryffindor.

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Abraxas felt like he would vomit any minute. His insides were so tangled up in knots, from worry that they would be discovered by Dumbledore. He kept pacing up and down the hallway, looking around corners until he knew every tile and brick in this area.

The door was flung open as an exasperated Dark Lord stormed towards him. “There is something wrong with Hermione!” He walked away quickly, “I could tell by my tattoo, it was inflamed again.”

“Where is she? How do you know where to find her?” Abraxas was getting riled as he realized that if Hermione was in harms’ way then Lucretia would be right with her. “Wait, my Lord, did you find…it?”

Tom looked back at Abraxas like he was insane, “No, I did not and right now I could care less. My woman and our child could be in danger and I need to go to them.” Tom started running down the hallway with Abraxas right beside him.

“What will you do now? What if he knew we were coming?” Abraxas continued with the questioning.

“Abraxas,” Tom stopped unexpectedly, “Dumbledore’s chambers have so more spells and magical wards than anything I have ever encountered in my life. We will have to come up with another plan.” Abraxas could see the total aggravation in Tom’s eyes and knew that this was a total disappointment to him.

“I am not giving up, but right now Hermione is most important and I wish to not discuss this other matter any further,” he said curtly.

Not wishing to further anger his master, Abraxas nodded his head in acknowledgment, “Yes, my Lord, and let us be off to find Hermione.”

Tom could sense where Hermione had been and knew if she and been hurt she would probably had been taken to the hospital wing. Not letting any more time go by, he and Abraxas made their way to the hospital wing quickly.

Rushing through the doors of the hospital wing, Tom’s blood ran cold at what he saw before his eyes, there sitting by Hermione’s bed was Charlus Potter holding her hand. All heads turned quickly, Hermione, Charlus and Lucretia, as they looked up into the stormy eyes of a very irate Tom Riddle.

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More to come very, very soon!
Retur