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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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She jolted in bed and her eyes popped open. "Tom? I—oh no! It’s morning!" The realization was instantaneous. She threw the heavy cover back, revealing a sleep robe that was open all the way down and bunched around her waist. She quickly fastened it, covering herself as she stumbled out of his bed.
"No, don’t dart out," he said, the plan forming in his mind as he spoke. "I should go first. I will go to the little dining room and wait for breakfast. If Mother is there, I’ll keep her distracted. Then you can come down separately."
Hermione halted, considering. Tom watched as the tension seemed to evaporate from her body, her frantic desperation dissipating. She nodded slowly and walked back to his bed, sitting down on the mattress again. She faced out the window for a bit, the sunlight catching her hair and making it shine like bronze and amber—a veritable goddess of magic to him. Almost involuntarily, he reached for her waist.
She turned in his arms to face him. "Not so urgent?" she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"It’s a bad idea," he agreed, kissing her as he lowered her onto the mattress, "but...."
At the breakfast table, Merope did not act as if she suspected anything. She merely gave Tom and Hermione mild smiles as the elves served them. The young people themselves were self-conscious, though. Hermione was certain that Tom’s mother could see behind her brown eyes and divine her secret. Tom was wondering if they had waited too long before making their separate exits from his bedchamber. As a result, Merope was the one who had the most to say during the meal.
"Lord Severus is going to be at the castle today," she said, grimness suddenly filling her voice. "He is going to bear witness to a document I must sign."
That got Tom’s attention. "Must sign?" he repeated. "Mother, I hope this has nothing to do with the Malfoys or the Wizards’ Council’s new laws."
"It does not," she said. Her tone was darker than Tom had ever heard from her lips, and he fixed his gaze on her in interest. "The Carrows have sworn fealty again to the Lestrange family, this time with the full knowledge that you and I are alive. They formally repudiated their oaths to this family on Hallowe’en night. There are many witnesses. They are traitors and oathbreakers, and the document I am going to sign today is an execution order."
Hermione and Tom both set down their cups and stared at her. Her eyes, usually confident and steely in a maternal way, were full of a much colder steel now.
Hermione understood that nobles had to take a firm hand sometimes, and death was the punishment for treason—but Lady Merope had become a second mother to her. It was difficult to consider a parental figure doing this because she had never seen or heard of her own father ordering the execution of anyone... though perhaps it was because they never had to deal with traitors, murderers, or other criminals who should get death, she thought uncomfortably. Her father had shown mercy to thieves from the local village, ordering sentences in the dungeon in lieu of hanging, and that was basically the worst kind of crime that ever occurred in his fief. It was a peaceful place. It did not seem likely to Hermione that the Carrows would actually be executed any time soon; the Lestranges would protect them, but this was still very different to what she had known as a young girl. Death sentences, oathbreaking, treason, attempted assassination—the wizarding nobility were almost at war with each other, it seemed to her.
Tom was impressed with his mother’s resolve. He had not known of the Carrows’ perfidy, but if they had repudiated their oaths and sworn to the Lestranges while knowing full well that their rightful liege and her heir lived, then it was the only logical thing to do. To ignore that act was to display weakness to the foul Norman usurpers.
"I realize how this will be seen in the Wizards’ Council," she continued, "but they cannot punish me for enforcing the law of this country. Even if Rodolphus Lestrange and the Malfoys choose to ignore it, oathbreaking is an act of treason."
Tom digested this. "You say nothing of Arcturus Black."
"I...." Merope hesitated, studying Tom and Hermione, deciding something. "I have reasons to think that he alone of the Wizards’ Council may have slightly different views."
"He did not seem quite as averse to Hermione’s attendance at Hogwarts," Tom agreed. He scowled. "Of course, he is of an actual English family. Maybe, even though he has been a toady for years, he finally realizes that these vile foreign invaders have taken power away from the rightful wizarding lords of England." Disgust seeped from his words.
Hermione gave him an uneasy look before speaking. "Lady Merope, you don’t think that the Malfoys and Lestranges could simply declare the Carrows’ prior oaths to you null and void?"
"They probably will," she agreed, "but the oaths were made with the Carrows’ own magic. They were not Unbreakable Vows... but they will suffer the consequences of their faithlessness."
Tom looked up, interested. "How does that work?"
"Wizarding oathbreakers are cursed," Merope said firmly. "It is not possible to predict specifically how, unless a formal mechanism is used like the Unbreakable Vow... the idea behind that is indeed to harness the magical power that underlies all wizarding oaths... but if we swear something and then break our word, our own magic will punish us in some way."
Tom seemed surprised to learn this. "That’s interesting," he murmured. "Is that true for all contracts, or just those that we imbue with magic?"
"The effect is much greater for magical contracts." Merope gazed at him. "I have to ask, Tom, where these questions tend?"
"You swore fealty to Armand Malfoy," he said.
"I did," she agreed, "but I am not breaking my oath. In fact, I think he is the one who has done that, with this recent usurpation of power. I swore to him under the Codex of Wizarding Law, but he has essentially declared that he is the law now. I think even a noble can act in a lawless manner. That was the point of the old Wizengamot: the Codex, which it devised over many generations, has legitimacy because all of the lords and ladies could help shape it but also agreed to be bound by it."
Tom nodded firmly. "And this sentence that you will sign is a statement that we still recognize that, and that this new order is not legitimate."
They finished their breakfast in silence. Hermione considered what she had just heard. Tom could not help but speak venom about the Normans, but she approved of his last statement about the primacy of law under the old system. If he concentrated on that, she would feel better about his political interests.
After the meal was over, the family removed to the castle library. Hermione was surprised to see Merope following her and Tom. In fact, the lady seemed to want to speak privately to her; she was slowing down her pace so that Tom could get ahead of them.
Tom gave the ladies a quick look before darting off toward a specific section of the family library. Merope guided Hermione to a window on the other side of the room, out of his hearing.
Hermione was suddenly nervous. Her early-morning activities with Tom surged to the forefront of her mind again.
"Hermione," Lady Merope said in a quiet tone, "I wanted to ask you if my son has mentioned his idea of early marriage to you again."
Hermione was startled. She racked her brains to try to remember. "I cannot think of any instances," she finally said. "At least, not in a serious way. He may have alluded to it as an idle reference to the time when he did want it seriously."
Merope gazed at her face. "You understand what would happen if you did, right?"
Hermione very much wished at this moment that she could perform Legilimency. Did Tom’s mother know? "I do," she said slowly. "I would have to leave Hogwarts, and I would not ever be a master."
Merope nodded. "There is a potion to prevent conception, of course—but yes."
She flushed deeply, almost certain now that Merope knew what was going on and was sending her a message. She considered her words. "Yes, I know about it," she said. She met the older woman’s eyes. "In fact, I can make it."
Merope looked satisfied. "Good." She moved away, heading toward the library doors.
Hermione stood there, thinking about the discussion. It seemed all too obvious to her that Lady Merope did know exactly how intimate her engagement with Tom had become, and had been relieved to hear Hermione’s implication that she was taking the needed precautions. That was embarrassing... but Lady Merope seemed not to have a problem with their intimacy in and of itself.
She took a deep breath and went to where Tom was reading. He needed to be told too.
The title of the book that he was reading became clearer as Hermione drew nearer. Verbum Magus, it read. Tom was perusing it intensely, his brow furrowed. When he saw her coming, he closed it and placed it back on the shelf.
"I saw it already," she said, an eyebrow raised.
"I wasn’t trying to hide it," he said defensively. "I just saw you approaching and wanted to give you my full attention."
"What is it about?"
He looked for a fraction of a second as if he wanted to scowl, but he did not. "Magical oaths and contracts," he said. "What Mother said at the table interested me."
"Well," Hermione said, a wry smile on her face, "I think you will find what she just told me even more interesting." She explained to him what Merope had just discussed with her.
Tom was staring at Hermione, and color was creeping into his cheeks. It was a rarity that he ever blushed, and she noticed.
"I suppose we should not be quite so... frequent... in our affections," he said reluctantly.
"I did not get the impression that she disapproved, necessarily," she objected. "She seemed to want to find out, without asking outright, if I was taking the potion to prevent pregnancy. The last thing she said to me was "good.’"
Tom considered. "Very well," he said. "I certainly don’t want to keep away from you." He smirked.
She returned the smirk.
That afternoon, Merope gathered the people of the Muggle village to the castle courtyard. Severus Snape stood near her in a subordinate place, and Tom and Hermione were on her other side. She held up the judgment that she had just signed.
"Amycus Carrow and Alecto Carrow have forsaken their vows," she called out in a strong voice. "They have forsworn their duties and broken faith. They have also pledged their faith to others with full knowledge that their rightful and lawful liege lives."
The townspeople jeered and roared disapproval.
"I hereby name them oathbreakers, criminals, and traitors," she proclaimed, "and sentence them to death!"
Another burst of noise came from the townsfolk, interspersed with applause. Hermione reflected on how easy it was to whip up a mob against someone. Even if the cause was just, it was a little unsettling.
"May death take them wherever they may be. Though they may attempt to evade justice, sheltering under the arms of those who have accepted their unlawful oaths, they will suffer the natural and unavoidable fate of those who forsake their solemn vows."
Tom suppressed a smirk. Yes, there would be consequences of some sort to the Carrows. He had finished half of that book in the library, and that much was very clear.
Merope paused, as if trying to make a final decision about something. The pause went on longer than such a gap normally would, and Tom started to turn his head toward her, when she spoke again. Her voice was a bit nervous. "Furthermore, I name Lord Rodolphus and Lady Bellatrix Lestrange as enemies of this family, household, village, and fief, for claiming to accept the traitors as liege man and woman."
Tom’s mouth fell open, but he instantly shut it. His eyes were wide with shock as he turned to look at his mother. He noticed as he did that Hermione had also turned sharply to look at her, and her eyes were so wide that the whites almost fully encircled her irises.
"The barony of Hangleton hereby declares that a state of enmity exists so long as Lord Lestrange harbors the oathbreakers. To speak, correspond, or otherwise conduct any transactions with Lord or Lady Lestrange or a Lestrange vassal without our leave is to name oneself a traitor in turn. Should he render the Carrows unto us for justice, this state of enmity shall be dissolved. So let it be." She rolled up the scroll that she carried, and turned back toward the castle, followed by the young people and Severus.
Once they were inside and had their privacy, Tom spoke up. "I did not realize you were going to name the Lestrange family as our enemies," he said, awe and approval in his words.
She gave him a thin, resigned smile. "I had little choice. They accepted the word of known traitors. They are just as culpable, and if I had not called them out, they would have made note of it and assumed that I was too cowardly."
"This is an escalation," he remarked.
"Yes, it is," she agreed, "but I did not choose this. They resented our contract with Hermione’s family, and our appeal of their first decision regarding her Hogwarts admission, far more than I realized at the time. And then there is the fact that you and Hermione took vengeance on their daughter for that vile attack last year... not that you shouldn’t have," she said at once. "You did right."
"May we speak to her?" Tom asked, grinning. "And curse her if she tries anything? I would not want to be a traitor, and I am sure that she will speak to us."
Merope managed a grin herself. "Yes, you and Hermione may." The grin faded from her face. "But... there is the possibility that the Carrows will tell the Lestrange family false things about your deceased relatives. They may already have," she conceded, "but before, they were hiding from my brother—who was a bad lord and did wicked things. They may claim worse things occurred. It might be that anything Lady Adelaide repeats from them will seem believable, since you know that he was wicked. I must ask you not to believe the words of traitors, repeated by an enemy. If you want to know something in particular, ask me."
Tom nodded firmly. "Of course. I know that Adelaide Lestrange is a foul liar."
"I considered mentioning her attack on Hermione as well today, and Lady Bellatrix’s attempt on Hermione’s life, but I decided not to do so. The girl might have acted alone, without her parents’ leave, and the only proof that Lady Lestrange tried to murder Hermione is the word of... sources... who cannot be exposed. But yes, this is an escalation."
"We have to fight them, though."
Merope sighed, the smile—grim though it was—vanishing from her face. "Yes, we do. I hope that it does not become more than a battle of words and declarations."
Hermione glanced surreptitiously at Tom. His mother was not looking at him, but it was very clear to Hermione that he did not agree.
Despite that dark and foreboding beginning, the remainder of the holidays passed peacefully and pleasantly. On Yule, Merope lit the new Yule log with the remnant of the previous year’s, again bearing the ancient staff of the Gaunts. Snow fell that night, appropriately, and Hermione escaped to Tom’s bedchamber when the flakes started falling. There was just something about snow that made her want to be close to him.
"You know," he murmured softly in her ear afterward, "I think that you and I need to start making preparations too."
"Preparations for what?"
He hesitated. "I was thinking about what Mother said a couple of days ago. I fear that this is not going to remain "a battle of words,’ and we need to take precautions."
"Tom, what exactly are you talking about?"
"The Chamber of Slytherin," he said. "I believe there is a great weapon living in the bowels of Hogwarts, and it rightfully belongs to this family. We will probably need it, too."
"Tom, this again?" she said. His eyebrows narrowed, and his grip on her became tighter. "No, please, listen to me. If there really is a great snake there, and it is a basilisk, it is a deadly creature—even to you. How exactly are you going to get it out of Hogwarts and to this castle, and where would you keep it if you did?"
"I could put it to sleep and blindfold it," he said. "And I could keep it in the dungeons. We need all the weapons we can get, and we need allies, too. Formal allies, bound by oaths on the part of the ruling lords, not just their sons’ oaths to me. I would like all of my friends’ families to swear oaths of alliance to my mother."
"That would be seen as a declaration of war by the Wizards’ Council."
"Maybe war is inevitable. Maybe it ought to happen," he added. "Armand Malfoy has to die. You do realize that, right? After what he has done, the power he has arrogated to himself?"
Hermione closed her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "But he is old. Perhaps he will die a natural death—"
"I don’t think he will."
Her eyes popped open again. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"There is something wrong with him. I will never forget how he looked at the Wizards’ Council meeting. He looks half-dead already. I have a theory...."
"I did notice that, but what do you mean?"
"I have read things that would shock my mother," Tom confessed. "She already knows that I’m aware of these subjects, but I doubt she realizes how much I know about them. Malfoy has all the signs of a drinker of unicorn blood, according to what I have read of it."
Hermione considered this. Suddenly the snowflakes falling outside the castle were not so cozy, but instead, were just cold and lethal. "I have heard a little about that," she said. "It is the slaughter of an innocent creature, a creature representing purity, and it curses the person."
"It curses the person for the rest of their life. Nothing can lift it. But... it does provide health, even to one at the literal point of death."
"Does it protect the drinker from curses?"
"No," Tom said, a dark smile spreading over his face. The gleam of the magical flames atop the castle watchtowers reflected on the blanket of snow, casting an eerie glow into the room and making him look sinister. "It does not. So, yes, he could die of unnatural causes. Unless...."
Tom hesitated again. "Hermione, in all your reading, have you ever come across the term "Horcrux’?"
"I don’t want to discuss it in detail right now. I will give you a book about it tomorrow in the library. But it involves the soul, and it is the method that witches and wizards can use to evade death."
"I think your mother briefly mentioned both of these things to me on my first visit to Diagon Alley. You were showing off for me," she said with a wry smirk, "and she explained in greater detail. But she did not use the name."
"I remember that," he said. "In any case, I don’t think Malfoy has one, but I cannot be sure. I did not know what the telltale sign was when we were at that Wizards’ Council meeting. I have read more about it since I last saw him, though."
"What is this telltale sign?"
"Flashes of red in the pupil of the eye. So, yes, I think he could die, and he needs to. And so does Lord Abraxas, in my opinion. In fact, the Wizards’ Council needs to be dissolved."
"You want the Wizengamot reinstated?"
"I want the Wizengamot reinstated, and we need a wizard king. In the ancient Celtic clans, the priest had more power than the chieftain, and it was real power, official power, not merely the power of a wizard advisor whispering in the king’s ear in private like Merlin," he said, snarling. "We have been ceding power for centuries, and since these Normans came, it has been even worse. If it does not stop, we will have to hide the very fact that we are witches and wizards. The Malfoys and Lestranges do not even care as long as they can keep power in their own families."
Hermione was uneasy, and a little frightened, if she were honest. "Tom, you need to go to sleep," she urged. "Getting angry and upset like this will not solve anything."
"You’re right," he said abruptly. He pulled her close. "Hermione, my mother’s actions a few days ago will have consequences. I do not know what, but there will be some. Promise me, if things get very bad...." He trailed off.