Invictus [Tom Riddle / Tomione]

Ghosts from the Future

Maximillian Dolohov, Abraxas Malfoy, and Walburga Black sat like the points of a triangle at the Blackwood table in the center of the Druidic eye, which was located in the dungeons of Malfoy Manor.

Otherworldly flames crackled menacingly in the fireplace, seeming to be possessed by a sinister magic from the ancient world.

"You spoke with him?" Walburga asked. "What did he say?"

Malfoy sighed. "The engagement is real, and... he called our blood purity standards a joke."

Walburga gasped. "I don't believe it."

"It's true."

A look of disgust bloomed on her face, twisting her red lips into a snarl. "I promised him the loyalty of the Black family!"

"You should be smarter about the things you pledge from now on," snapped Malfoy.

She narrowed her eyes and looked pointedly at his arm. "That's a bit like the cauldron calling the kettle black, is it not?"

"I already knew that the engagement was real," said Dolohov quietly.

Their eyes cut to him, waiting for him to continue.

Dolohov sucked in a deep breath. "Tom risked his life to save me-"

"So that he could have the loyalty of my family, never forget! He doesn't do anything for anyone unless there's something in it for him."

"Nevertheless," he continued. "He nearly died. The dementors were performing the kiss. It's strange because I was with him at Azkaban once before and the dementors never seemed to affect him." He swallowed. "I saw her. She came out of nowhere and cast the patronus charm... She sent nearly a hundred dementors flying into the night. Then she-" He flicked his eyes at Walburga. "She helped him. She's an auror, it was her duty to stop him... or at least she could've tried. But instead, she helped me escape."

Walburga narrowed her eyes. "You sound as if you might actually admire her now. Are you also falling prey to her poison? Would you like to cast me off and fuck her too?"

Dolohov arched a brow at her theatrics. "Of course not."

"Do not forget that this witch has poisoned Tom with her lies and her disgusting mudblood propaganda. If they marry, he will be gone for good. She cannot be allowed to win this election."

Malfoy scoffed. "How do you plan to stop her?"

Walburga grinned. "I have a plan. Besides, Tom is campaigning also. We simply campaign for him, convince the Wizengamot to pull for him as well... and then we expose Hermione's secrets to the public. She will lose, and Tom will win. Perhaps he will even be done with her also."

Malfoy gripped the head of his cane with one hand, and brushed his blonde hair back with the other. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I searched high and low. I dug very deeply into her past. All roads are dead ends. Someone covered up her past very, very carefully. However..." She took a sip of the dark wine in her crystal goblet. "I came upon something rather interesting in an interview once, Dumbledore mentioned a short-lived summer romance with Hermione's mother, Eleanor Dagworth-Granger. We all know that to be... surprising ." She arched a brow at the two wizards.

"Go on, and quickly," Malfoy interjected.

"I combed through years worth of records on Eleanor Dagworth-Granger. I found nothing that hinted at her having a daughter, besides a few photographs that seemed to have been transfigured... But, on a hunch, I remembered a potioneers summer camp that Ciggy once attended. It was held in Germany every summer. I checked the logs for the summer that Dumbledore had indicated and it seems that Eleanor was an instructor there that very summer. Dumbledore, on the other hand, was in France at that time, practicing alchemy with Nicolas Flamel."