A Deeper Connection: A New Beginning

Trials

"Now that we have agreed on most points," the Dark Lord said, the words smoothly rolling off his silver tongue, "would you mind if we have a quick lunch before we start the negotiations for the exact wording of the contract?"

Much like he had expected none of those present objected.

"Lord Malfoy, is Draco not home?" Neville asked some time later, looking up from his plate which was filled with a wide array of the most exquisite French delicacies, "I had hoped to talk to him today."

"Draco is out of house," the Lord of the Malfoy family answered, his voice smooth and silky, "he is accompanying my wife to Parkinson Manor. I do not expect them to be home before sunset since Lady Parkinson has the tendency to... drag things out. Should you leave before his return, just write an owl and you can arrange a proper meeting."

"Thank you, Lord Malfoy," Neville said, a faint smile gracing his face. Once Lucius Malfoy had acknowledged his words with a nod of his head, the heir of the Longbottom estate was about to turn his attention back to his meal, when his movement halted, "Gran, may I ask a question?"

"Of course, my dear," Augusta smiled while shooting the Dark Lord an apologetic glance for disrupting their previous discussion.

At first, it appeared like no word would cross the lips of the nervous young wizard. Still, much like during the previous negotiations, Neville took a deep breath and straightened his back, "Gran, how do you know each other? This clearly is not the first time you have spoken."

"No, it is not, Neville," the Dark Lord chuckled, "we have spoken before. Augusta, I grant you permission to explain... our illustrious backstory."

For a moment, the Lady of the Longbottom family appeared to be lost for words before she cleared her throat, "Are you allowing me to tell... everything?"

"Yes," Tom said, a smile gracing his face at the thought of one of his greatest achievements, "while a decade spent in the company of abusive Muggles might not have been the most pleasurable thing I can imagine, it gave me time to come to terms with a few of my... shortcomings, especially my childhood. Therefore, I no longer feel the need to hide it from those I trust. Hence why I trust everyone present to not spread any information without my permission."

"I am glad that you have finally come to terms with your past," Augusta spoke up, thus breaking the silence, as she stared at Tom, clearly uncertain about the depths of information she was about to reveal. In the end, encouraged by the words of the Dark Lord, Augusta began to illustrate how their unconventional backstory had started, "Neville, I was in third year when a boy in second-hand robes with a common name that spoke of his Muggle origins was sorted into Slytherin, a boy by the name of Tom Riddle. As you can imagine, the entire school, teachers, and students alike, were rather upset since never in the castle's long and illustrious history a Muggleborn student had been sorted into the house of snakes."

"I thought you said that you were a Halfblood?" Neville asked, although avoiding eye contact with the Dark Lord.

"I am," Tom spat despite trying to sound neutral, "but I discovered that part of my past only much later. When I started at Hogwarts, I was unaware of my heritage, having grown up in a Muggle orphanage where my mother, a witch and descendent of Salazar Slytherin himself, died giving birth to me, penniless, as she had been left by my Muggle father."

Feeling the soothing touch of his equal on his arm, Tom calmed down, while Neville silently nodded his head in apparent understanding. After a few seconds, Augusta continued, "As much as he was unaware of his heritage, so was the rest of us. Since I was not a member of Slytherin house at that time, I can only imagine how unpleasant it must have been for a supposed Muggleborn being sorted in a house full of Purebloods and sharing living quarters with them."