Riddle's Salvation

~Distant Memories~

(T.M.R July 19th, 1944)

    "Can we take a break? My feet are killing me." Vienna pulls away from me and begins to walk towards the drinks, not even pausing for an answer from me and causing me to chuckle. We had spent a good hour dancing in the middle of the dance floor and I was secretly glad that Vienna wanted to pause. I catch up to the white-haired young woman and steal away the drink she had just poured. "Hey!" She smacks my arm and reaches for the beverage but I've got a good foot and a half on the petite woman. "You should have waited for me." Vienna sends me a glare but pours herself another drink and looks back onto the dancefloor. "Tom!" She nudges my arm in excitement, nearly causing my drink to spill in the process and is pointing to the dancing couples. "Look! Ab asked Liv to dance finally!" I look towards where she's pointing and find Malfoy and Matthews awkwardly dancing together. "Just looking at them makes me uncomfortable." My comment warrants another smack on the arm, causing my drink to actually spill this time and I glare at a giddy Vienna. "Whoops sorry! You should be a nicer person and these things wouldn't happen." She sends me a wink as I roll my eyes while pouring myself another drink. "I'm plenty nice. Did I not just spend an hour twirling you around a dancefloor?" Vienna scoffs at my words and turns towards me. "That wasn't you being nice. You did that because you like me." My heart beat skips with her words and I look towards Vienna whose staring at me expectantly. "Maybe I do." Her eyebrows rise and I let out a chuckle. "You have to admit that those two are being more awkward than first year's trying to make friends." I wave a hand towards our two friends as Vienna rolls her eyes again and shrugs. "Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with them lately." She sighs before pulling me further away from the dancefloor and towards a group of tables set apart from the rest of the party.
     Longbottom sits alone at one, his head buried in a book and I bite my tongue from making any rude comments. "Hey, Nev. What are you doing over here by your lonesome?" Longbottom looks up from his book and gives Vienna a shrug and a small smile. "You know I've never liked parties. Except for the Yule Ball of course. I think Ginny had made it less uncomfortable for me, she was a good friend like that." He looks thoughtful for a moment and I watch as Vienna's face falls. "Ginny could make anything better." She lets out a sad laugh and gives Longbottom a nudge. "Remember when she found out that Fred and George had practically abandoned me with Umbitch? Fred complained for weeks after she got ahold of him." Longbottom chuckles and nods his head. "Is Umbitch an actual name in the future?" Olivia's voice seemingly pops out of nowhere causing Vienna to jolt and me to chuckle. "All of you need to quit scaring me!" Vienna places a hand on her heart and steadies her breathing again. "To answer your question, Umbitch is actually a horrible woman named Umbridge," Longbottom answers Olivia's question and Abraxas hums in contemplation. "I do believe there was an Umbridge that graduated not too long ago." Beside me, Vienna takes an excited breath and leans forward in her seat. "Nev! Do you think we could maybe place a nasty curse so that there would be no more Umbitch's?" Longbottom snorts at her question and shakes his head causing Vienna's face to fall. "No. That's a bad idea and you know it. Whose face will Fred and George blow up fireworks in?" Vienna leans back into her chair and sighs heavily. "I guess your right. Although, since technically I've already changed the future, doesn't that mean Umbitch won't be teaching?" Quite suddenly Vienna turns pale and her eyes go wide. "Nev. What if Fred and George aren't Fred and George anymore? No pranking? No tricks? No joke shop?" I gather Vienna into my arms before she has a full blown panic attack as Longbottom gives her a curious look and glances at me for a moment. "Vienna. Fred and George will always be Fred and George. They were Hogwarts most famous ridiculous pranksters even without You-Know-Who. The twins never changed, even before I got my memories back they were the same."
    Vienna nods her head at his words and manages to calm down. "Wait. Fred? As in, your past boyfriend Fred?" Olivia's questions cause Vienna to flinch slightly and give me a guilty look. "Yeah. Fred and George were twins. Practically identical. For someone reason, I could always tell them apart though. Even Molly couldn't tell them apart." A soft smile grace's her lips as her eyes grow distant. "I met the twins on the Hogwarts Express our first year. We hated each other up until our third. The boys always wanted to play tricks and cause a ruckus in the common room and I just wanted to study in peace." She chuckles at the memory as a new feeling fills my chest. Is this regret? "What happened that made you three friends?" Malfoys voice was soft as he looked between Longbottom and Vienna. "A boy. Harry Potter was his name. I guess we all came together for Harry. Not to mention the twins younger brother Ron became best friends with Harry, so that helped." Longbottom smiled fondly at Vienna's words, his own eyes beginning to get teary with the memories that played through his mind. "Anyway. Fred and I got together in our sixth year, due to the Yule Ball of course. I wasn't his date but one of our usual fights ended up with the both of us getting kicked out and a week's worth of detention. We...just clicked after that." She shrugs her shoulders as Longbottom chuckles. "I remember that fight. McGonagall was absolutely furious and spent all night lecturing the two of you." Vienna let's out a soft laugh and leans back into my arms more. "So you and Fred were together all that time?" I send Abraxas a glare over Vienna's head but he's curiously looking between Longbottom and Vienna. "From our sixth year up until he...died I guess. We had already been out of Hogwarts for nearly two years when the Battle happened and then I came here." I couldn't see Vienna's face but judging by Olivia's look of pity I knew she was close to crying and I squeeze her just a bit. "I'm sorry Vienna. I shouldn't have asked." Abraxas begins to apologize profusely but Vienna holds up a hand to stop him. "It's alright Ab. It's not good for me to dwell on my past. It's actually quite relieving to talk about. Like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders." She turns her head and glances up at me. I give her a small smile and watch as she returns one before turning back around.
    "You would like Fred and George Ab. I think you would have appreciated their talents for causing mayhem. Hell, they even got Peeves on their side and yet still had time to study and pass classes, albeit barely." Malfoy chuckles at Longbottom's words as Olivia looks curiously towards Vienna. "They were Weasleys weren't they?" Vienna stiffens in my arms before taking a deep breath. "Yes, they were. How did you know that?" Olivia shrugs her shoulders and gives her a sly smile. "Your boggart resembling Sep so much and then you just describing them kind of made the pieces click." Vienna chuckles and takes a sip of her drink before replying. "All the people you saw were people from my past. Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, Molly, and Arthur.  Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks along with Sirius Black."  Malfoy sputters a bit at the last name, his eyes wide and curious. "Black? As in the Blacks?" Vienna hums at his questions before answering him. "Walburga Black is Sirius' mother. She turns into a nasty woman somehow." Vienna shudders at the distant memory of Walburga as I shift forward in my chair. "So I had managed to get the Black's on my side?" Vienna gave a quiet snort before turning around to face me. "Eventually you would. But now, I'm going to be the one to get them on our side." Her head tilts the side quickly in consideration before she leans forward ever so slightly. "Did you think about what I said? About your father?" Apparently, she wasn't quiet enough though because Olivia's voice pops in again. "What about whose father?" 
    Vienna lets out an exasperated sigh as I chuckle before answering Olivia's question. "Vienna went and had tea with my father a few weeks ago. Now, he wants me to sit down and have a chat with him." Besides Olivia, Abraxas' eyes blow wide open in surprise and his jaw drops in shock. "But to answer your question Vienna...I've decided I'll go visit my father..." Abraxas sputters at my words while Vienna narrows her eyes at me. "But?" I give her a smirk and tug on a strand of her hair. "But I want to go see Uncle Morfin first." This time, it was Longbottom who started sputtering and I watched as Vienna's eyebrows rose to her hairline.  "Are you sure Tom? The man is insane and dangerous." I sigh at her words and run a hand through my hair. "Yes, I'm sure. You're forgetting I already had a nice conversation with him, I'm sure he'd be absolutely thrilled to see me again." Vienna didn't say anything, she just stared at me curiously, Olivia on the other hand quickly rose from her chair and addressed the group. "I'm going to tell Mum that we're going for a walk. Someone go fetch Professor Dumbledore." Both Vienna and I's heads snap to Olivia in question. "What?" She sighs overdramatically and puts her hands on her hips. "I need some fresh air. Plus, we promised we'd all stick together. So, if we're going to see the best Uncle ever we're going altogether." She pushes in her chair with a flourish and sends Vienna a glare before sighing again and continuing. "You're not alone in this anymore Vienna. Neither are you, Tom. We're your, friends. So get up, get ready for a walk, fetch the Professor and prepare for a happy family reunion!"