Kitten Troubles

Chapter 13

The next several days Tom and Harry studied how to magically track someone with a magical object-in this case Lily's blood. When they were fairly certain they had gotten that down to near perfection they moved on to seeing if they could combine that with Harry's ability to walk through shadows. Eventually they came across a breakthrough, enforcing the idea that Tom's plan would work.

Two weeks after the letter had been delivered, Harry called upon Tom and Severus.

"Alright, we've gone over this a few times but I want to be absolutely sure we know what we're doing. Obviously I can't just waltz right on in, knowing Dumbledore he'll have some sort of trap waiting for me. So I'll take the three of us through the shadows to a fair distance away from him, that way we can sneak up on him. Severus, he trusts you. You can go ahead of us, distracting him so we can sneak up from behind. Once I'm close enough, I'll make sure the bastard is dead once and for all."

With that out of the way, he grabbed the two men and started walking to his destination.

When they stepped out of the dark they saw they had appeared behind a maple tree. Other than a few other trees there was one building. It wasn't that large, but it was definitely a decent size for Dumbledore to be hiding in. It wasn't like him to have such a large hiding spot, all his others had been rather cramped.

Severus took the lead, striding to the building and walking through the front door with his wand drawn. Eventually the other two could hear voices.

"Severus, my boy! I haven't seen you in ages, I was wondering if you were even looking for me." Their conversation continued, words blending into one another as the two silently hastened to the back of the building. The voices grew louder as they rounded the corner.

A small window was the only hope they had of looking inside to see what was going on. Tom took the lead, peeking around the side of the window. Inside was a large, empty room. The entire place was devoid of shadows, except for one spot in the corner. It had just enough of a shadow to allow Harry to have stepped through. From his position, he could see Severus facing his direction, with Dumbledore facing the corner.

"Rather brilliant don't you think? See, he'll come walking through that shadow any minute now and when he does this sensor will activate all these other lights that will effectively rid the place of shadows. I can't have him using them against me, you see."

"And what do you plan on doing with him then?"

"Why Severus, I thought that was obvious. I'm going to kill him. He can't be allowed to wander freely, he's much too dangerous for that."

"Albus, if I may be so bold, are you not aware that him being so...unstable is partly due to you? He never had guidance in life, in fact he had the exact opposite. He came to you with problems, and you shunned him away. Someone who values loyalty above all else like him would be offended when they find out that someone they trusted with their life had been lying to them for years. I'm sure, since Harry's much more loyal than your average person, that you can at least imagine the kind of resentment he must hold because of that."

At this small outburst, Dumbledore took pause. He didn't seem to know what to say for a moment, before his posture relaxed.

"My dear Severus, the boy was supposed to eventually hate someone. It just wasn't supposed to be me. He was supposed to have died in the graveyard, and if he had come back he was supposed to hate the bastard that tried to kill him, not me! He was supposed to hate Voldemort and kill him years ago, not prance around in gardens with him!" Tom flinched at the callousness in which the rant was given. He knew that Dumbledore was manipulative, but he had no idea he had willingly sent a boy to his death.

"Albus, you of all people know just where my loyalties lie. Why continue to fight when it seems they are so clearly the winners in all this? The Order has completely disbanded itself with most of the members either defecting to their side or simply renouncing their involvement in this any longer. We are the only two left." His voice took on an oddly pleading tone, as if he was trying to get the older man to just give up.

Tom snuck under the window and crept through the back door. Severus was keeping Albus talking, preventing him from hearing the door click open.

Harry stayed behind to watch through the window.

Tom managed to creep up behind Dumbledore, stopping just a few feet away.

"And you know how the boy was destined to be the one to have to kill him. I simply couldn't tell him what he was, he would have started finding out how powerful he really is. Obviously that didn't work, since he figured it out on his own anyway. I just cannot fathom why he just couldn't die."

"You know, I believe I used to say that exact thing when face to face with the man." Dumbledore started and spun around in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw in front of him.

Tom Riddle, looking like he did when he was in his late teens, was stood before him. He had his wand out, poised to strike should Dumbledore move.

"It would seem, Albus, that you have underestimated your enemies yet again. But then again, one can't expect an old dog to learn new tricks."

It was then that he felt ropes snake their way around him, binding his arms to his sides. Severus walked to his side from behind, grabbing hold of the ropes.

"And exactly what are you doing here, Tom?" Dumbledore was visibly having a hard time trying to stay calm and collected.

"Well, I'm here to protect Harry to put it bluntly. You see, I have come to care for him and I'm rather offended that you'd want him dead. Seems a bit of a waste to me."

"You're supposed to be dead." The last part was practically spit from the old man, disdain dripping from his voice.

"And so are you." Shadows engulfed the room as Harry walked in.