Riddle and Grindelwald (book 2)

54. Unhappily Ever After

Tom kept his promise to Genevieve, and searched high and low for Mathilde.
But despite his best efforts, he could not find their daughter.
Dumbledore was protecting Mathilde too well, and ensuring that no one ever found her.
After several months of non stop searching, Tom was forced to give up, and he had to accept that the last heir of Slytherin would be him.
Since Tom had given up looking, Dumbledore could move Mathilde from Hogwarts, and place her with Arabella Figg, after altering her memories.

Although Genevieve knew her daughter was safe and happy, she couldn't help but miss her.
And since she knew Mathilde could no longer remember her, she became rather depressed with her new way of living.
Tom blamed her at first, for Mathilde being kidnapped, but in the end he admitted that Genevieve couldn't have known that Dumbledore would be in Diagon Alley on that day, so he stopped blaming her.

Tom had his death eaters interrogate everyone who had been in Diagon Alley during the duel.
Luckily Genevieve had played her part well, and everyone backed up her story.
It also helped that a death eater had been there as well, as Severus could confirm that Dumbledore had taken Mathilde.
Tom did not suspect at all, that Genevieve had had something to do with it, for he trusted her.
He felt sure that she would never betray him, so she was never put under any suspicion.

The loss of their last child ended up being the breaking point for Genevieve and Tom.
They no longer slept together, and Tom spent every night in another room of the house.
This bothered Genevieve at first, but in the end she realised that she didn't care about being close to him any more.
She was also glad that she had an excuse not to help Tom conquer the world, for she swore to him that she would not go against Dumbledore, while he held her daughter hostage.
Genevieve no longer cared about pure-blood supremacy, and she hoped that Tom never succeeded in over throwing the Ministry of Magic. But this was an opinion that she kept to herself.

"I'm sorry that I failed you. I promised that I would get Mathilde back, but I have been unable to do so" apologised Tom one evening during dinner.
"It's alright. A part of me knew that I would never see her again, no matter how hard you tried" admitted Genevieve.
"How did you know that I wouldn't be able to find her?" Questioned Tom.
"Because nothing ever works out for us. Everything in our lives has been bad, ever since the day we killed our mothers during our births. We were never going to get our happy ending. The villians never succeed in story books. Bad guys always lose everything, while the heroes come out victorious. That's just the way life is, and I was a fool to think that we would be the exception to the rule".

"You think we are the villians then? Are we not the heroic rebels, trying to free the world from the tyrannical rule of the Ministry?" Asked Tom.
"There was a time when I thought that, but a lot has changed since then" sighed Genevieve.
"So, you no longer believe in our cause?" Quizzed Tom.
"Stop pretending that you are doing this for anyone but yourself. My father's catchphrase was for the greater good, but you are not doing this for the same reason as him. You want to take over the world, to fulfil your own selfish needs, because you believe you are better than everyone else. You are not doing it because you want to free people from oppression. We both know that the magical community would be even more oppressed if you were in charge".

"I do care about setting the enslaved people of this nation free" insisted Tom.
"You want to make this world better for pure-bloods, and only those who believe in your ideas. There are pure-blood families who do not agree with what you are doing, and if you win this war, their lives will certainly not be better than they were before" admitted Genevieve.
"If I win, don't you mean when I win?" Frowned Tom.
"No, I don't. You have been planning this since we were at school. And now we are nearly 50, and we are still no closer to overthrowing the Ministry".

"We are closer than you think. I have a spy in the Order of the Phoenix. He has started passing me information on what Dumbledore is up to. He is also telling me information about all of the members in the Order of the Phoenix. And soon I will be able to pick them off, one by one" revealed Tom.
Genevieve's heart skipped a beat, as her thoughts turned to Mathilde and her guardian Arabella Figg.
"But you can't. Dumbledore will hurt Mathilde if you cause too much damage" warned Genevieve.
"I am not like you. I cannot hold off on my plans, just because Dumbledore is holding our daughter hostage. I will hit his Order so hard, to make him regret taking Mathilde" replied Tom.

"What is the point in trying so hard? You know that we can't win. Dumbledore beat my father, and one day he will challenge you to a duel as well, which you will lose. This is a fight we cannot win, because we are the bad guys" insisted Genevieve.
"Dumbledore is getting old, he can't stay strong and powerful forever, as he doesn't have any Horcruxes. I am also better than your father. You said yourself that he was just a good orator, and really no more powerful than anyone else. But I am the greatest sorcerer to ever live, and when the time is right, I will defeat Albus Dumbledore" announced Tom.

"You are more deadly than my father, it's true, but Dumbledore is still more powerful than you" informed Genevieve, who knew that Dumbledore was in possession of the Elder wand.
"I find your lack of faith in me, disturbing" frowned Tom.
"Perhaps I've become used to you making the same speech over and over again. Face it, we are never going to win, and get our happy ever after" admitted Genevieve.
"You forget, that we are immortal. We will live forever. And if we don't take over the world right now, we can do it in the future, when Dumbledore is dead. There is no deadline for us, for we will be alive until the end of time. And one day, we will rule this world"
"Well, I guess we will see in the end, who was right".