Under Darkness

Chapter 3: The Kiss

A/N: See the awesome manip sandra-sempra made on my Tumblr page crochetawayhpff! Also, drop a line and tell me your thoughts! Finally some Tomione action happening in this chapter ;-).

Tom Riddle stalked through the Under after leaving Granger and Harry at the school. He couldn't believe the stupidity of Harry. He was a smart kid and had some potential, but did dumb things now and then. Taking an overly curious Muggleborn like Hermione Granger to the Upper on his own was one of them. Tom had never felt his heart pound harder than it did when Ollivander had summoned him with a Patronus. Ollivander was one of the few merchants who sold both ways, and as a half-blood himself, had more loyalty to the Under than he did to the Upper. In fact, the Upper only tolerated him because of the heritage of the Ollivander name in wand-making.

Stepping out into the revolving street of the Upper, Tom couldn't see anything over the crowd. He'd only known that Harry and Granger had been outed. He hadn't even known who he was up against. Potter and Black were very influential leaders in Upper politics. When he saw Granger pressed against Black, Tom's vision went red as white-hot rage coursed through him. Granger belonged to him. She was a tool to be used for the Under. Not some captive for the Upper to play with.

It had been easier than he expected to defeat both Potter and Black. He hoped that meant the war he was planning would be easily won. While Potter and Black were leaders, Dumbledore was the leader. Tom hadn't met Dumbledore, but he had heard stories. Minerva had dueled him a time or two, as had Severus.

Tom had been very interested in where he came from as a young teenager. He'd coaxed Minerva into letting him look at the registry. It showed his mother, Merope Gaunt. Tom had a lead at least, to figure out where he came from. He knew he was destined for greater things. It's why Tom fought so hard for the Under. When he'd found out that the Gaunts were descendants of Salazar Slytherin, Tom had been so angry and hurt. Slytherin was half the reason for the divide in wizarding culture. Slytherin had waged a war on keeping Muggleborns and half-bloods out of Hogwarts a thousand years ago. Dumbledore was the other half of the reason for the divide. After Severus and Lily had begun their uprising, and after they had stolen the registry, Dumbledore had led a massive crackdown on the amount of contact between the two communities.

The registry was the only good thing to come out of the rebellion from twenty years ago. Before the registry, they had to hunt and search for Muggleborns, group-casting spells over whole cities to find them. Now, they had a book with a name and a birth date. It made their recruiting process so much easier. Especially, when it showed the runes of their talents, any leader was more effective when he knew where his people's innate abilities were.

Tom found Severus at the White Wyvern, having lunch, and decided to join him. Tom chose to drink his lunch though. It calmed his nerves after a duel. Something he needed right about then.

"What's got you in a knot?" Severus asked as he finished his meal and accepted the glass of Firewhisky Tom poured him.

"Your son," Tom snapped.

"Merlin, what did the idiot boy do now?" Severus asked, sipping at his Firewhisky.

"Took Granger, the new Muggleborn, to Ollivanders to get a wand. By himself and started a fight with Potter and Black. Thank Circe, Ollivander summoned me to rescue them. I shudder to think what Black would have done to Granger had I not arrived. Harry was stunned on the pavement."

"Fuck," Severus muttered. "He needs to work on his dueling. That'll be top priority over the next few years. You said, Potter and Black?" Severus asked.

Tom nodded.

"Double fuck," Severus murmured. Tom knew there was some bad blood there, but he didn't think it was his right to ask.