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"No, Hermione, you can't go with into the middle of a battle in your condition," Ron insisted as he made her sit down once again. "Listen, if it will make
you feel better, I'll bring my Hermione along to help in the fight."
"Yes, it would make me feel a little better--but only just," she grumbled as she removed his grasping hand from around her elbow. "It's a good thing Tom
didn't see that, either. He's very protective of me."
"I still can't get over the idea that you ended up married to the Dark Lord," Ron scoffed. "I mean, you and I aren't even married yet in this dimension. I
hope she's not having second thoughts, too."
"Ronald, there's no way for me to tell you that when I have no idea what events happened here as compared to the ones that happened there," she told him
firmly. "Now, go on and get my other me and save my husband."
"Oh, and the Ministry and all the people, too, right?" he asked pointedly.
"Yeah, them too."
"See you soon," he said then, and gave her hand a squeeze. "And don't look so worried. I'm sure he'll be just fine. He didn't get to be a Dark Lord for
nothing, right?"
With that, he turned away and climbed through the mirror that was still open to her world. Harry took her arm and led her back to his office, insisting that
she stay there if she knew what was good for her.
"Everything will turn out, Mione," Harry insisted. "Just you wait and see."
"I hope so, Harry," she answered. "For all our sakes."
Tom didn't know how long he'd been out, but he could still hear the sounds of a battle raging as he came to. Looking around, he saw Harry off to his left,
desperately fighting off three wizards as someone else carried him. He turned his head to see that it was Harry who carried him as well.
"Have I died and gone to bloody Harry Potter hell?" he wanted to know. It hurt a lot when he shook his head, so he decided not to do it again.
"Can you walk, Riddle?" asked the Harry who was carrying him.
"'Course I can," he grumbled. "I'm not a bloody infant. Speaking of infants, I've got to get my wife back. I told her I would come for her as soon as
possible."
"Well, it's not possible just yet, mate," said Ron Weasley from his other side. He was firing his wand as he spoke, and then Hermione joined him.
"Hermione?" Tom growled. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? And where's our baby?"
"That's my Hermione, mate," Ron informed him, his tone somewhat jealous. "We're part of the reinforcements your Hermione sent in to save your bloody arse. And
from the look of it, it definitely needed saving."
"If I wasn't half out of my gob right now, I might take offense to that," Tom informed him.
"Lucky for me, then, isn't it?" he pointed out. "Now, if you'd like to get out of here in one piece, I'd start using that wand of yours for something besides
an ornament."
"So, my other me is married to you?" said Hermione appreciatively. "Lucky girl."
"I heard that," Ron grumbled. "There'll be no living with her after this."
"It can be a challenge," Tom agreed with a grin as he stood up and started lobbing spells into the fray. There were so many people crowded into the hall it was
difficult to tell who was who, especially since so many duplicates were running around.
But there was no mistaking the new figure that suddenly strode into view across the hall. Suddenly, the world grew silent, and every person other than Tom and
Dolores cleared the area. Tom shook his head again, this time welcoming the pain to clear out some of the cobwebs.
"Hello, Riddle, so nice of you to still be alive," Dolores said with her sickly sweet smile.
"Happy to oblige," he answered, smirking at her in return.
The pair of them sized each other up for a moment or two, and then as if by some hidden cue, each lunged for the other, shouting curses. They gave each other
no quarter, and soon they came very close together in the middle of the hallway, onlookers cheering them on.
"It seems you've got a fan club," Dolores sneered. "But how many of them would be cheering for you if they knew that you've not yet given up your ideas for
overthrowing the Ministry?"
"You're wrong again, Dolores," he said. "I've adapted that plan to a new one. You see, my problem isn't with the Ministry necessarily, but rather with their
stubborn refusal to change with the times--very much like your own. But now that I've realized what the problem really is, I've devised a better way to combat
it. I intend to teach the Ministry the value of changing with the times."
"Ha! That'll never happen," Dolores said.
"Anything can happen, Dolores," Tom admonished her. "If a half-blood orphan without a penny to his name can convince a huge group of purebloods to follow his
lead, then that same orphan should easily be able to convince the entire Wizarding world to accept the inevitability of change."
"You're a fool, Tom Riddle," Dolores told him. "You were a fool back then, and you're a fool now. Surely you must know there is always a division in any
society. Those who rule, and those who do as they are told. Where's the change in that, hm? You'll see soon enough that my way is better."
"You're not going to live long enough to find out," he told her. Then he reared back and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
The full blast of his green light shot forth, but impacted her very powerful shield rather than the woman herself. Disgusted, Tom held the spell, twisting his
wrist as he gave it more power. The shield surrounding Dolores began to weaken, until at last the spell made its way through, and the woman made a startled
little squeak before she fell to the ground, dead.
Every one of the people in the room, be they Pureblood, Half-blood, or Muggleborn, just stood there staring at each other. After witnessing the display
they'd just seen, there didn't seem to be a point to starting the battle up again.
Aurors stepped in from all sides and began to gather up the followers of the Goyles, and not one of them put up any resistance, not even Goyle himself. He glanced
over at Dolores's body briefly and muttered, "Well, we had a good go, anyway."
Tom turned around and looked right at the two Harry's, Ron and his Hermione, and all of their people, and said imperiously, "Now then, where is my wife?"
"Come on, Tom, we'll lead the way," said one of the Harry's, which he assumed must be from the other dimension simply because he was leading the way. He followed
along behind him, head held high, for he knew that today he had scored more than one victory, and he couldn't wait to tell his own Hermione all about it.
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