Jonquils And Lightning

A Two Sided Portal

Tom woke with so much pain radiating along his side that for a scrambling, heart-freezing moment, he thought someone had cursed him. He had used the Muscle-Cramping Curse on older Slytherins who had bullied him often enough, once they began to have to acknowledge that he wasn't a Muggleborn.

But the pain faded, and Tom frowned. For a moment, he closed his eyes, wondering if he could go back to sleep. It had to be around four in the morning.

But behind his eyes, a vision promptly unfolded. It showed the hillside some miles from Godric's Hollow where he had located the portal to his world. The portal had resembled a faint red circle hanging in the air the last time Tom saw it. Now it was twisting and blinking like an eye, flares of red light shooting out of it.

Tom opened his eyes and shot to his feet, Summoning his wand with a twist of his hand. Now he understood the pain. The portal was connected to his magic, so the pain had acted as a warning of its behavior.

And he couldn't stand the thought that he would be trapped here just when he had begun to make some real progress with Harry.

He skidded down the stairs, using Silencing Charms to make as little noise as possible. He didn't know how he would explain the situation to the Potters, which meant long conversations, which meant that he might not reach the portal before it closed.

If that is what is happening. Tom allowed his mind to tick over the idea as he made it out of the house and past the point where Anti-Apparition wards lurked. The portal wasn't supposed to be able to close until he went back through it with his chosen Potter.

But things could always go wrong, especially with oracles and blood sacrifices that weren't widely used or understood. Tom spun on his heel the second he could, and Apparated to the hillside.

Closer to the portal, he felt the pressure hanging about it like the air that got pushed in front of a thunderstorm. Tom shielded his eyes from one of the flares of random light and stared at the bloody thing. "What's wrong with you?" he shouted, of course not expecting an answer.

"Nothing that a good cup of tea wouldn't cure."

Tom stumbled back before he could help himself, and looked wide-eyed at the portal. His first thought was that the oracle might have neglected to tell him that the thing was sentient, along with so much else it had kept hidden, his second that asking for a cup of tea was a rather weird request even if the portal was sentient-

And then Dumbledore stepped through the portal and dusted off his robes. Behind him, the portal flared one more time and settled down, fading to the dimness it had assumed after Tom was through it.

You weren't supposed to be able to do that, Tom thought. You weren't supposed to be able to come here. He licked his lips and said the only thing he could think of that wouldn't betray some of his secrets. "I don't think I've ever seen you without a guard of Aurors and Ministry workers, Minister."

Dumbledore looked over his shoulder and shook his head, although Tom could tell nothing from his neutral expression. "They did not follow me? A shame. I would have liked them to be able to see a new world." He faced Tom again and smiled, the perfect, shallow smile that he used when reporters tried to demand answers of him he didn't want to give. "Hello again, Mr. Riddle. What an unexpectedly powerful and talented young man you've turned out to be."

Tom bottled his panic. Dumbledore couldn't actually have him arrested here. The Potters hadn't mentioned who their Minister was, but Tom was also sure there would have been a comment from Harry if Dumbledore's counterpart here was Minister. Tom nodded, instead. "What brings you to this world, Minister?"