Riddle and Grindelwald (book 2)

53. Deception, Disgrace

As Genevieve made her way over to Mathilde, her daughter got down from her chair to meet her.
"Everything has been arranged. You are to go with Dumbledore in a few minutes, and he will take you to Hogwarts, where you will be safe. For it is the one place on earth your father cannot enter. You will get to go to the school your ancestors built. You have the chance to do something your brothers never got to do" informed Genevieve.
"I don't want to go" whispered Mathilde.
Genevieve knelt to the ground and took hold of her daughter's hands.
"I know. But this is the only way I can keep you safe" sighed Genevieve.

"Will I ever see you again?" Asked Mathilde.
"I hope so, one day. Once all of this is behind us" answered Genevieve.
Mathilde sniffed loudly, "O.K then. I will go with Dumbledore".
"Good girl... Although you are going to have to hide who you are, for the forseeable future, I don't want you to be ashamed of who you are. While it's true that your father has done a lot of bad things in his life, I don't want you to be embarrassed that you are his daughter. My father; Gellert Grindelwald, and your ancestor Salazar Slytherin, may have also committed terrible acts, but I don't want you to be disgraced by them either. They did a lot of important things, in the midst of all their crimes. You should be proud of who you are" insisted Genevieve.

"I am proud. Father says I am important because I have so much powerful magical blood in my veins" admitted Mathilde.
"You do. But you also have Muggle blood in you too, for your grandfather on your father's side, was a Muggle" revealed Genevieve.
"I do? I thought we were pure-bloods" frowned Mathilde.
"Your father likes to pretend he is one, but it is not the truth. While I don't want you to feel ashamed of who you are, I don't want you to feel like you are better than everybody else either"
"I will try my best to be kind and humble, mother"
"I know you will".

Genevieve stood up, and hugged her daughter tight.
"I am going to miss you, so much" said Genevieve sadly.
"And I will miss you lots too" replied Mathilde.
"No matter what happens, you need to know that I love you, with all my heart. You are the one good thing in my life, and I am so proud of you" informed Genevieve, as she let her daughter go.
"I love you"
"I love you more".

"It's time to go" announced Dumbledore, as he looked at his watch.
Genevieve nodded her head, and tried not to burst into tears, for Mathilde's sake.
"Promise me that you'll look after her" said Genevieve.
"You have my word" reassured Dumbledore.
"Alright then. You can take her" replied Genevieve.
She kissed her daughter's head, before ushering her towards Dumbledore.
The headmaster placed his hand on Mathilde's shoulder, and guided her out of the pub, away from her mother.

The minute Mathilde was out of sight, Genevieve began to cry.
She knew what she was doing was right, but it still broke her heart.
Once she had composed herself she headed over to the bar, and began banging her hand on it until a figure came down the staircase beside her.
"Yes?" Questioned the man.
"You must be Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus's brother" said Genevieve.
"I am" replied Aberforth, firmly.
"I wanted to thank you for getting your brother involved, when you saw me stumbling towards that cave last week"
"You're welcome... I'm sorry for your loss"
"Thank you. I gave my dead son, you and Albus's names, in honour of you trying to save me"
"I'm delighted".

"I have a task to do now, but before then, I need a drink" informed Genevieve.
"Is that wise?" Asked Aberforth.
"Probably not, but I am about to try and deceive the most powerful wizard alive. So, I am going to need a boost. Firewhisky ought to do it" answered Genevieve.
Aberforth sighed, and poured Genevieve a shot of Firewhisky.
"Here's to my daughter. May she have a better life than me" announced Genevieve, as she raised the glass in the air, before downing its contents.

Genevieve cringed as the alcohol burned her throat on the way down.
She then placed the glass back down on the bar, before making her way to the middle of the pub.
"Good luck" said Aberforth.
"Thanks" mumbled Genevieve, as she removed the time turner from her pocket and placed it around her neck.
After taking a deep breath she took hold of the time timer, and turned the dial back by one hour.
She then watched as the room around her began to reverse at top speed.
Genevieve saw herself say goodbye to Mathilde, and then talk with Dumbledore. And she found it strange to watch everything happen in reverse order.

Eventually time had finished reversing, and Genevieve found herself in the pub, an hour before the events that had just occurred.
She walked back over to the bar, and placed the time turner behind it, so that Dumbledore could collect it later that day.
Although Genevieve knew it was a useful item to have on you, she had no intention of breaking her promise to Dumbledore after everything he had done for her.
So, she left the time turner behind, before back apparating to Diagon Alley.

Genevieve watched from the shadows as her and Dumbledore dueled in the street.
When Dumbledore reached her past self, and disapparated, Genevieve prepared to apparate herself.
Once Dumbledore, Mathilde, and her past self had disappeared, Genevieve apparated to the exact spot they had just vacated. Making it look like Dumbledore had pushed her aside, before taking Mathilde.
Since everything rided on witnesses watching the scene, Genevieve knew she had to play the next part well.
She began to scream and cry in despair, which wasn't hard to do as she missed her daughter greatly.

To Genevieve's surprise, a figure made his way over to her, and kneeled on the ground beside her.
The figure wore a hood over his face and black robes, which Genevieve recognised as death eater robes.
"Are you alright, my lady?" Questioned the man.
As Genevieve looked closer, she realised that the death eater was more of a boy than a man, for he seeemed so young.
"Shall I help you get back to the dark lord?" He asked.
Genevieve simply nodded her head, and allowed the death eater to take her hand.
Together they apparated back to her home, and since she was with the man, they were able to arrive inside the building.

"Thank you" mumbled Genevieve.
"You're welcome" replied the death eater.
"I don't even know your name" admitted Genevieve.
"It's Snape, my lady. Severus Snape" revealed the boy.
"Well, thank you Severus".
Severus placed the tip of his wand against the dark mark on his arm, and a moment later Tom apparated into the room.
"My love, are you alright?" Asked Tom, as he strode towards Genevieve and Severus.
"He took Mathilde" mumbled Genevieve.
"Who?" Frowned Tom.

Severus bowed as Tom looked at him.
"My lord, there was a duel in Diagon Alley between your wife and Albus Dumbledore. The old man was able to beat your wife, and disapparate with a young girl. The duel was over before I could intervene and defend your wife" informed Severus.
Genevieve's knees buckled, as the weight of what she had done, overwhelmed her, and Tom ignored her.
"Dumbledore took Mathilde? Whatever for?" Questioned Tom.
"I don't know. He must hope that holding her hostage will keep you from committing any more crimes" replied Genevieve.

"He clearly doesn't know me very well. For he should know by now that there is nothing I wouldn't sacrifice to achieve my goals" announced Tom.
"He knows me though. For there is no way I will help you on missions now. I'm not doing anything while he holds my daughter hostage" admitted Genevieve.
Tom looked away from Genevieve to face Severus.
"Thank you for what you did today, Snape" Tom said curtly.
"You are most welcome, my lord" bowed Severus.
"Go now. Your work here is done" informed Tom.
Severus nodded his head, before disapparating.

"How did this happen? How did Dumbledore know where you were going to be? And what were you and Mathilde doing in Diagon Alley?" Demanded Tom.
"I was taking Mathilde to get a wand. I thought it was time she started to learn magic, since she is going to be important in the future. My father bought me a wand before I turned 11, and I wanted our daughter to have the same advantage in life. I didn't tell anyone where I was going, so I've got no idea how Albus Dumbledore found out we would both be in Diagon Alley today" lied Genevieve.

Tom knelt down onto the floor and placed his arms around Genevieve, holding her tight.
"We will find her, don't you worry. I will move heaven and earth to get our daughter back to us. I will leave no stone unturned. I have dozens of death eaters at my disposal, and I will make sure all of them are searching for Mathilde. We will raid every Order members house until we find her" promised Tom.
"You mustn't hurt anyone though, Vee. Mathilde is all I have left, and I don't want Dumbledore to harm a single hair on her head. She must not be harmed because of us" insisted Genevieve.
"Don't worry. My spies will move quietly and discretely. And they will not stop until they find her. I swear to you, that I will bring our daughter back home safely. You just have to trust me"
"I do".