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Tom Riddle's Redemption	By : SweetHoney Category: HP Canon Characters paired with Original Characters > Het - Male/Female Views: 1695 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights of Harry Potter and anything associated to it, and do not make any profit from this. My work is purely fiction.

Chapter List
- 1-Tom Riddle's Redemption
- 2-Wand
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 4
- 5
At midnight Honey lay on her bed staring at the ceiling, her hands folded together over her belly. Sleep was never easy for her, which was why she preferred instead to devote that time to doing her homework. She didn't like sleeping, because she would hear distant voices she couldn't understand and see unconnected visions that didn't make sense. Sometimes she didn't even have to be sleeping and scenes would appear. No one knew about these episodes she'd been having. The first time they appeared was when she was in the hospital and unable to tell anyone. By the time she could communicate again she no longer cared to tell. She still didn't.

She could hear Evie's light snores. Honey turned her head and looked at her bed curtains in the direction of Evie's bed. Evie was the only dorm mate she had. Those other girls she saw were not real. They were a part of her hallucinations. She'd figured it out when Evie spoke to her after she returned from her Quidditch lessons. Evie was musing about how nice it was to have a large room to themselves, just the two of them. Her words and the events that had happened up until now caused Honey to wonder what else was real and what wasn't.

She made a mental list of events and put the time and date next to them and realized something. It had all started with the cards. She needed to look at the cards. When she sat up and turned her body, the portrait of her sleeping grandpa caught her eye. She grabbed the portrait and crawled under her bed, where the silver trunk was hidden. She tapped the tip of her wand on the center of the stone floor. The stones began to vanish, leaving a dark rectangular opening. She had found a letter from her grandma explaining how to hide the trunk from others. There was a carving of a sun on the side, and when she pressed and spun the sun left and then right, it would melt into the floor and fuse to it. She crawled into the trunk and tapped a brick on the wall to close the entrance. Sitting on the staircase, she held up the portrait.

"Grandpa," said Honey, shaking the portrait lightly to wake him up.

He yawned, opening his eyes and stretching. "What is it?"

"Grandpa, do you remember when I got those cards?"

"From the Ministry."

"You mean the Ministry of Magic?" Honey asked. Yes, she remembered going there just days before she'd come to Hogwarts. Her father had taken her there to speak to the Minister about her condition and about Hogwarts. She had excused herself to the use the bathroom and got lost. The rest was a bit fuzzy.

"You got lost. Your father found you wandering the halls," said her grandpa. "I overheard him talking to your mother when you came home. He was concerned."

"Concerned about what?"

"When he found you, you told him you'd met a woman in black." Her grandpa paused, waiting for recognition from her, but when she didn't react he continued. "You said the woman was looking for her son. She mistook you for him and apologized. She gave you the cards as a gift."

"I don't remember."

Her grandpa blinked. "Well," he cleared his throat, "you haven't slept in days. It might've made you forgetful."

How could she have forgotten the memory of the woman in black and replaced it with something else entirely? Although, now that she thought it over, it was not unusual. While she was in her hospital bed, all she ever wished for was to go outside and play with other children. At least her experience with Tommy hadn't ruined her desire for friends. She would create these children in her mind: what they looked like, how they would talk, and how much they'd like her. She was so desperate to find relief from her situation that she would force herself to believe they were real. She supposed the children in her mind had morphed into the image of her real friends over time. It was the only logical explanation. At that time,Tommy was unable to put curses on her since he was trapped inside the crystal. It couldn't have been him.

Honey went further down the stairs and into her Grandpa Benjamin's room. She placed the portrait on a table and went to her bag she had left there earlier. She was going to look over her homework again and start the assignments for the next few months. All of her teachers had given her lists of everything they were going to teach that year in case she had to miss class for her routine checkups. She brought the list out to see what was left and was surprised to learn to that everything was already done. Not believing it, she examined the list again. She'd thought she had a few more essays to write, but she didn't. She had finished all of her work for the year. Putting the list away, she contemplated what she was going to do now that she no longer had homework to distract her from sleeping. She didn't want to sleep. Strange things happened when she slept. That was why she limited herself to sleeping only two hours every three days. She knew it wasn't ideal or healthy to sleep so little, but there was nothing more she could do. Then it came to her. She now had the time to plot to murder her Headmaster.

Early in the morning Honey was in the Library's history section researching information on her Headmaster. She still wanted to gather information on Tommy but decided to put that aside for later. He was currently disabled and was not about to go anywhere soon, which gave her the opportunity to focus on Dumbledore. She took out a journal where she recorded the information her grandpa had given her and everything else she had gathered so far. She already knew the basics about Dumbledore: his full name, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; his date of birth, July nineteenth, eighteen eighty-one, which made him currently a hundred and fourteen years old; and his many titles and achievements. What she needed to know about was his personal life, of which he didn't seem to have one. It appeared his life was devoted to the school.

Honey had only met him once and he did not seem at all as her grandpa had described him. Dumbledore had an aura of serenity and composure around him and seemed to have a caring nature. It made her wonder: could Albus Dumbledore really have abandoned her great-aunt while she was pregnant with his child? Her grandpa claimed it was true. In their youth, Dumbledore and her great-aunt were lovers. He discarded her after falling in love with his best friend, Gellert Grindelwald. Her great-aunt's heart was broken. She fell into a deep depression and could no longer use her magic, and she died during childbirth.

As Honey looked over the information she reflected on her plan. Murder was something she had never considered before. She didn't want to murder her Headmaster, but every time she thought about how he had made her family suffer it caused her blood to boil. Her rage was far more intense than what she felt for Tommy. It was an all-consuming sensation that cried out for blood to be spilled. Her rage was like a living being with its hands wrapped around her heart and throat, squeezing. The curious thing was, she had felt this way before. It was familiar, but she couldn't recall when she had felt it.

Honey was pulled from her thoughts by voices from the other side of the large shelves. She put everything away and followed the sounds. It was Saturday, when students normally slept in. Today might be an exception since it was the first Hogsmeade weekend. Honey found Fred and George huddling in a corner with their backs to her. She remembered the card with the twin jokers. Energetic group...they're good for you.

"Hello," said Honey.

Fred and George turned their heads to look at her. "Hello," they said and turned around fully. They were behaving suspiciously, both with their hands behind their backs. It prompted Honey to wonder what they were doing in the potions section.

"You're up early. Studying for your O.W.L.s?" said George.

"Doing homework?" asked Fred.

Although they were identical, Honey could tell which brother was which. George had a mole on the side of his neck but Fred didn't. She'd seen it when she grabbed George's collar, preventing him from stepping on William. She saw that Fred didn't have one when he was carrying her to the Hospital Wing.

"No, I'm finished with my homework for the rest of the year," she replied.

"What?" said Fred.

"You're finished already?" George asked in astonishment.

"I rarely sleep. I spend most of those hours doing my homework and double-checking it." She told them what she'd told Evie. All her homework assignments weres done; now it was just a matter of turning them in before the deadlines.

"Should we introduce her to Hermione? Something tells me they'd get along great," Fred whispered to George.

George shook his head in disagreement. "We'll have two of them on our backs, nagging at us."

"True," Fred agreed, and he turned back to Honey. "That only leaves studying for the exams, then," he said in a normal tone of voice.

"Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to O.W.L.s," said George.

"Don't exhaust yourself," they warned.

For a split second they looked at her with sympathy. It was the same look she'd seen so many times from her Healers. She knew she should not be upset at them for giving her that look, but it brought back the painful memory of when she was an invalid. That was going to change. She was not going to allow herself to become like that again. Never.

"Fifth year is a nightmare of a year," George said happily. "If you care about exam results, anyway."

"George and I managed to keep our spirits up through ours," Fred said reminiscently.

Honey stared at the brothers. It was as if they shared a single brain. They were always in tune with each other, finishing each other's thoughts and sentences.

"How so?"

Fred and George grinned, gesturing for her to come to them. Honey closed the distance between them. The boys guided her to stand against the wall, their tall figures blocking anyone from seeing her.

George gave her a parchment with the words Weasley's Wizard Wheezes written on it along with some other writing.

"We are inventors," he said.

"Creators of all things necessary," said Fred, and they began taking curious-looking items out of their pockets.

"We're going to use your last years here to do a bit of market research," said George, "find out exactly what the average Hogwarts student requires from a joke shop, carefully evaluate the results of our research, then produce products to fit the demand."

"See here, these are Extendable Ears," said Fred, holding a flesh-coloured pieces of string. "You put this end in your ear—"

"—and put the other end, say, under a door, and you can hear the conversation as clearly as if you're a foot away," finished George.

Honey touched the string to inspect it. This might be exactly what she needed to gather information on her Headmaster. Dumbledore was far more powerful than she. There was no way she could murder him as her grandpa wished, but what she could do was ruin his life.

"How much?"

Fred and George were all too happy to sell her their Extendable Ears. They showed her more of their inventions and explained their uses.

"They're amazing, your inventions and your dreams. I have never seen anything like it," said Honey, eyes filled with admiration.

"If only we could make them work properly," said Fred.

"The Nosebleed Nougat will make you bleed till you shrivel up, but we haven't got an antidote yet," confessed George, which explained why they were there. "And thes Fainting Fancies. We can't seem to get the dosage right."

"We also can't see how you could eat the antidote when you're unconscious. Unless you've got a friend with you," laughed Fred.

"You can use cayenne to stop the bleeding," Honey told them. Her Healers had often suggested she eat cayenne pepper to stop her internal bleeding. "Cayenne pepper reacts with the body to equalize blood pressure. For the Fainting Fancies, you can put a label on the wrapper to tell buyers to eat it at the middle, where the two colors meet. When they eat at the middle there is a better chance of them waking up since they're eating the antidote, too."

"As for the dosage," she continued, "you have to be very careful since your products are aimed at students. Everyone reacts differently, especially young children. They have a lesser ability to metabolize potions than healthy adults and are likely to overdose and develop bad side effects. Healers calculate dosage by weight for infants and children. You should consider that factor." She stopped talking as she began to feel uncomfortable with them staring at her with their mouths open.

"That's brilliant!" Fred and George exclaimed.

"How do you know all this?" asked George.

"I-I was very sickly when I was little and always had Healers around." She didn't tell them the truth about her hospitalization because she didn't want them to treat her differently.

Fred and George told her about other complications they were having with their inventions and asked for her advice. They moved to sit at a table, and Fred took out some parchments and a quill to write their problems and her suggestions. While they were busy with their discussion, Lee Jordon, a black boy with dreadlocks, arrived and joined them. He was as open and friendly as the twins and also had a hand in helping them create their products. Honey found that they were doing great with their inventions so far; only a few minor details needed to be addressed. She was happy she was able to help them using her experience and knowledge. She was enjoying herself until a student came and handed her a note. After she opened and read it, she excused herself from the lively bunch.

Standing outside of Professor Flitwick's office a few minutes later, Honey knocked lightly. When she heard his squeaky voice telling her to come in, she opened the door open and was greeted by the sight of her Uncle Adam with his back to her. Recognizing him immediately in his dark green robes, she ran into the room and hugged him. He chuckled and hugged her gently, handling her as if she were still the fragile little girl she had once been.

"What are you doing here?" asked Honey. "I thought you were in still in China."

During the First Wizarding War Adam had surprised his brothers by bring a woman home and announcing that she was his wife. The woman in question was a Chinese witch name Lin who was deaf and mute, but she had the ability to read lips very well. They were childhood friends who had remained in contact with each other through letters. When he didn't receive her letters as usual, Adam feared for her safety. He'd grabbed his broom and flown nonstop to China to see her. Upon seeing how poor conditions were there, he brought her back home with him and married her days later. The couple now lived in Lin's childhood home, farming the land that her family owned.

"I've come to see you, of course!" He released her and kiss her head. "Sit," he said, guiding her to a chair. He took the one beside her and turned to Professor Flitwick.

Honey greeted Flitwick professor politely and apologized for her behavior. Flitwick smiled and said it was fine.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Honey said to the tiny professor. He was rumored to be part elf, but she didn't know for sure.

"Yes, I have a few concerns I want to address with you. I was planning on speaking with you alone, but imagine my surprise when Adam her, owled me. He told me how you were related and asked if he could come visit you and me." Flitwick cleared his throat and continued. "Is it all right with you if he is here during our discussion?"

"I don't mind. Not at all," replied Honey.

"I have been observing your performance in class and noticed a very peculiar thing."

Honey stiffened in her chair, preparing herself for whatever he was going to say.

"Is your wand working properly for you?"

"No, it's not," she admitted. "I can only perform small, simple charms with it."

"Nothing to be ashamed of," Adam said quickly. "You started late. It's natural. These things take time."

Honey appreciated his words of comfort, but it stung her deeply to be reminded of the past. She supposed it would take time to adjust. What had happened was unfortunate and traumatic, but she had a new life now. She didn't want to dwell on the past. She needed to focus on her present and future, on positive things.

"I got a new wand," she informed them. "It's working much better than the old one." She had been diligently practicing her wrist exercises, rotating, flexing, and stretching them. Her wrists were not moving as fluidly as she desired, but she could feel her movements improving.

"That's great," said Adam. "I think with practice you'll be able to master your wand in no time."

"I see great potential in you., said Flitwick. "With a bit of tutoring I promise you'll pass the practical area of your O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in no time."

"Thank you." Honey took out her daily journal to see during which hours she would have time for Charms lessons. She took out her quill and bit her lip at the small pain in her right hand. Having been over-used from writing so many essays, it was throbbing. She transferred the quill to her left hand to write on the parchment while shaking her right hand to ease the stiffness.

"You're ambidextrous?" said Flitwick.

Honey looked up from her journal. "Yes."

"It's very uncommon to be able to write with both hands," stated Flitwick. "When did you develop such an ability?"

Honey shrugged. "Ages ago."

Flitwick and Adam exchanged a look. Honey observed the two and realized they were having a wordless conversation between them.

"Which hand did you start writing with first?" asked Flitwick.

"My left, actually," answered Honey.

"Honey, which hand do you hold your wand with? Left or right?" asked Adam.

"Right."

Flitwick and Adam exchanged another look.

"Why do you not use your left hand?"

"Mrs. Wilkes, my old writing tutor, didn't approve of me using my left hand and told me to use my right. It was challenging, but I managed. I suppose I got used to using my right instead of my left." Honey didn't understand why, but whenever the elderly woman had caught her writing with her left hand she would snatch the quill from Honey and placed it in her right hand.

"When you write, which side is faster?" asked Flitwick.

"My left."

"Have you ever used your left hand to cast a spell?" asked Adam.

"No, Mrs. Wilkes told me not to. She said I must use my right."

"Can you cast an Avifors spell?" asked Adam.

"Of course," replied Honey. Avifors was a transforming spell that transfigured objects into a bird or a flock of birds. It was a simple spell, taught in first year Transfiguration class.

Flitwick pointed to an inkwell on his desk and asked her to show them.

Honey took out her wand. "Avifors!"

A vivid blue light escaped from the end of Honey's wand and went to the inkwell, which transformed into a tiny glass bird. Black ink could be seen floating inside its transparent little body as it chirped and flew around the room. Honey sighed. If the spell had been performed correctly the inkwell would have been transfigured into a real bird and there would have been a flock, not just one.

"Do the spell again, Honey," said Adam. "This time use your left hand."

Honey put the wand in her left hand and cast the spell. While the tiny glass bird flew above their heads it separated into blue pieces, which formed into a flock of birds. Astonished, Honey ordered the birds to come to her. The flock obeyed her command. They flew toward her and landed on Professor Flitwick's desk, chirping with enthusiasm. The three leaned over the flock to examine them. The seven blue birds were not made of glass, nor was there any hint of ink anywhere on them, and they were fairly large.

"They're real!" Honey exclaimed after touching one of them. "Real birds!"

"That proves it!" Adam declared gleefully. "Honey, don't you see? You're left-handed!"

"You've been using the wrong hand all this time!" said Flitwick.

"Really? But Mrs. Wilkes said—"

"Never mind what the old bat said," said Adam, "She was wrong. You are left-handed. Your left hand is your dominant side. That's why your spells and charms weren't coming out properly."

"Look at them," said Flitwick, petting one of the birds on the head. "Your right hand is fine, but your left is brilliant."

Honey couldn't believe how significant the difference was. All this time she merely had to switch hands. She couldn't thank the professor and her uncle enough for helping her figure it out. It was just like when she'd helped Fred and George with their inventions. The solutions were there, in front of their face. They hadn't detected it before because they were so used to seeing it one way. A fresh pair of eyes was all they needed.

After they were done agreeing on which hours their tutoring lessons would be, Adam announced that he had to leave soon. Flitwick bade him good day, and Honey walked him off the school grounds. When they were alone Honey asked Adam about the crystal necklace he'd given her.

"It was yours," he said. "You were clutching it in your hand when...when you were found. I thought it was something important and held on to it for you."

Honey thanked him and kissed him goodbye, promising to owl him when she could. After he left, Honey wandered the corridors, lost in thought. That was how her group of friends found her. They questioned where she had been and she told them that she was going over her lessons with Flitwick. Although it was revealed that she was able to cast spells, she thought she needed more practice using both hands. She wasn't going to tell her friends about the tutoring lessons. They had complained about her flying lessons and she didn't want to worry them.

They went to the Great Hall for breakfast before lining up to go to the village. Meredith and Becky stood side by side while Honey and Evie stood behind them.

"Hermione Granger came up to me," Becky whispered to Meredith.

"Me too," said Meredith.

Honey's ears perked, having heard Fred and George mention the name earlier. Although, she reasoned, it might not be the same Hermione. She kept her eyes on something else and her ears on the two girls in front of her.

"Are you going?" asked Becky.

"Of course. They might finally tell what happened to Cedric."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I do."

Becky glanced at Honey and Evie, then back at Meredith. "Should we invite Honey and Evie?"

"No," Meredith said harshly. "If Umbridge catches us I don't want them to get in trouble, too."

Hogsmeade was a colorful little wizarding village of thatched cottages and shops. Honey had passed through it before but hadn't had the time to fully enjoy it. She thought it was very lovely. The first shop Honey was taken to was Spintwitches. It was a shop that sold sporting goods. Her friends wanted Honey to look at new Quidditch equipment because they knew the things she was using were a little too big for her. Meredith, who was very knowledgeable about Quidditch, led them through the shop, explaining what Honey needed and why. The standard equipment and uniform consisted of a cape, fingerless gloves, shin and arm guards, and goggles. Players in different positions may have different equipment; for example, Beaters carried bats, and Keepers wore protective headgear. Honey already knew this information from Zacharias but didn't interrupt Meredith.

After making her purchase, Honey stepped out of the shop and into the road. Her gaze found a small boy who was leaning against a tree, his hands over his mouth. A slight turn of his head revealed to her that he was blowing on a mouth organ. Honey stared at the boy as his body suddenly became smaller, thinner, and paler. The end of his long brown scarf billowed in the cold wind. As she closed the distance between them, the world around her became still, the sky darkening and becoming cloudy.

0o0

"OH, DEAR GOD!" Mrs. Cole screamed when she saw the boy hanging from the tree.

John's eyes were bulging out, as was his tongue. His face was blue from the black scarf that was twisted tightly around his neck. His lifeless body swung back and forth from a branch, tangled with the other end of the scarf.

Mrs. Cole looked around and spotted the other children playing nearby. "What happened?" she demanded. The children stopped playing and looked at her. "Well?" she shouted. "Tell me what happened!" The children blinked and glanced at each other, confused as to what she meant. Mrs. Cole huffed and pointed at John. "What happened?" she repeated.

The children looked where she was pointing and spotted John.

"John!" one shouted. "What are you doing up there?"

"Is he playing some sort of new game?" asked another.

"Looks fun. Can I play, too?"

"NO, YOU CAN NOT!" screamed Mrs. Cole. She was angry yet frightened. She tried to look away from the awful sight of the boy hanging there, but her eyes kept wandering back to him of their own accord. The children were too young to understand the concept of death and had not been taught about the subject yet. She knew this would surely traumatize them and cause them to misbehave when the inspector came that month to check on them. Selfishly, for her own benefit, she was glad they did not understand what they were seeing—like with that rabbit the other day.

Taking deep breaths, she asked, "What was John doing up there?"

"He wanted that snake."

All heads turned to the new voice and they saw Honey emerge from behind the bushes, holding something in one hand and pointing to the tree with the other. Mrs. Cole peered up into the leaves and after a short while she saw the scaly back of a snake. She gasped and took a step back.

"He wanted to see if it could really speak," Honey said matter-of-factly.

"What nonsense," mumbled Mrs. Cole, and she ordered the children to go back inside.

"Mrs. Cole?"

The elder woman looked down to find Honey staring up at her while the other children did as they were told and marched toward the stone building.

"What do you want?"

"He looks rather ill," Honey said innocently. "Are you going to call the doctor?"

"Yes...yes, I will," Mrs. Cole answered in a tight voice.

Honey looked down for a moment and was moving off to join the others when Mrs. Cole suddenly stopped her.

"Tom!" Hearing their name, a number of boys turned their head to Mrs. Cole. "Riddle! Come here!"

Mrs. Cole leaned close to Honey's ear to make sure no one could eavesdrop on them. "I-I...need to fetch the...the doctor. Stay here and make sure no one disturbs John." She needed to find someone to help get John down and dispose of his body. She had no desire to touch a corpse, even if it was recent, and she had to destroy all records of his ever being under her care, as well. Having a child die would attract attention from the authorities, and she did not want that.

Honey nodded and held up John's mouth organ.

"It's yours," Mrs. Cole said immediately when she saw it, using the item as a bribe.

Honey put the mouth organ in her pocket and asked, "Is he going to stay with Red at the hospital?"

Mrs. Cole blinked and then remembered she had told the children the rabbit hanging from the rafters was ill. She'd told them she had to take it to the hospital for recovery and had thrown it into the first trash bin she came across after leaving the dining hall.

"Yes," she said. She looked left and right; seeing no one, she quickly strode away, leaving Honey alone with John.

Honey turned to John. "You'll keep Red company for me, won't you?" she asked as she stepped closer to him.

"Of course you will," she answered for him, pretending to take his silence as a yes. "Remember, Red likes it when you break the carrots into little pieces for him—and lettuce, you must feed him lettuce." Honey looked up at John as the wind blew him back and forth. "And don't feed him any porridge. He'll get a stomachache," she said as she recalled Red staying in the corner of the wardrobe and refusing to eat anything, no matter how hard she shoved the lettuce in his face. She'd later found that the porridge she had given him had caused him to become ill. She never fed it to him again. "I hope you can remember all that. I know how forgetful you are."

0o0

"Honey, what are you looking at?"

Honey blinked a few times and turned to Evie, tearing her eyes away from the boy hanging from the tree. The dark clouds had cleared and the sun was shining bright once again. There was still wind, but it wasn't as cold as before.

"That boy," Honey replied, nodding to the boy playing the mouth organ. She went to the boy and knelt in front of him. "Hi there, little one. Do you want to know how to sound better?"

The boy looked at her with wide eyes and nodded. Without asking, Honey unwrapped the scarf from around the boy's neck and told him to blow. The boy smiled, causing his round cheeks to grow even rosier as he was satisfied by the improved sound.

"Don't wrap it so tight," she said, handing the scarf back to him. "It makes it hard for you to breath." She patted the boy's head and returned to Evie.

"Meredith and Becky had to go somewhere important. Said they'll be back soon," said Evie.

Honey nodded, her gaze wandering back to the boy.
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Tom Riddle's Redemption