Hermione riddle [Wattys 2019] [Dramione]

Chapter 64- Healing

Toms only response is a slight hand twitch. 

"My father told my mother he was thinking of me. You see he was protecting me. There was this prophesy, saying that a boy would hurt me, would kill me and my father he... he always did everything he could to protect me, regardless of his own safety. That night my father held me for what felt for the longest time. There were tears in his eyes." 

Hermione pauses recalling the crystal clear memory. It was one of the few Hermione could remember as clear as day. 

"I had never seen my father cry and I wish now more then ever I had realized why he was crying. Because I didn't see my father again for five years. Then another eight years. Because that night he left, to protect me, he lost everything. Because of that night my father spent thirteen years without a body. And when he did get a body, it made him weaker then ever." 

This causes Tom to slowly look over at Hermione. 

"Why are you telling me this?" 

Hermione swallows at Toms raspy tear soaked voice. 

"Because Tom.... Dad....You've always done everything you could to protect me. That never stopped. I wanted you to know that. The day I saw you, him, my father laying in that chair-" 

Hermione pauses, remembering the heartbreak at witnessing her father rudimentary body. 

"I swore I would do anything to protect you, that I would never hurt you. But I did just that. I hurt you. I'm so sorry tom." 

Hermione casts her eyes away when Tom lets a few of his tears finally slip. Hermione sighs before reaching into her robe pocket and withdrawing a locket. 

 "My father gave this to me tom. You gave this to me for my fifteenth birthday. You had it made for me when I was born and planned to give it to me for my fifth birthday but that never happened. I made some changes to it. I want you to have it." 

Tom says nothing once more. 

He was contemplating everything Hermione had just told him. And what she had called him. 

She had called him dad! 

She had called him father. 

When Tom doesn't move, Hermione gently takes his hand and places her locket in said hand. 

Slowly Tom opens the locket and what he sees destroys any conflict he had left from the fight. Staring at the moving picture, 

Tom feels his heart heal. 

Heal? 

Yes that's what happened. 

Looking at the image of his future self, holding a newborn Hermione was enough to heal the broken boys heart. 

Tom didn't even know how Hermione had gotten this, since he didn't remember seeing it in her memories, but Tom didn't care about that. 

The next thing Hermione knows, she's trapped tightly against Toms chest. Hermione finally releases her river of tears into Toms shirt. 

"I'm sorry." Hermione whispers. 

Tom lets out a shuttered breath and whispers "you call me Dad." 

Slowly Hermione looks up into familiar brown eyes, her eyes. 

And both sets of tear raged eyes matched each other's. 

As they stared into each other's eyes, Hermione knew that their bond would heal. And she knew exactly what to say next. 

"You are my father Tom. You will always be my father. And I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner. I wish I had before all of this. You were just trying to protect me." 

Toms only response is the tightening of his arms around Hermione. 

"I made this into a memory locket Tom. It means so long as you have your memories it will open. But once you take the potion it will become an ordinary locker. It will be important to you, you just won't remember why." 

Tom says nothing at first then looks down at and Hermione was heartbroken to see tears in toms eyes. Except these were tears of joy, once Hermione realized that she gives a sniffled smile. 

Tom can only choke out one thing. 

"Thank you." 

Hermione says nothing and rests her head on Toms chest. 

"I'm sorry tom. I'm so sorry." She whispers. 

Tom sighs. 

"I am too. I should have trusted you. I know you can do the spell I just..." Tom stops. 

"Don't want to risk losing me. I know. But you have to know it's the same way with me tom." Tom sighs and nods. 

"I know." Tom sighs tightening his grip once more on his daughter. 

Hermione lets tom comfortably hold her for quite a while longer until finally tom pulls away, slipping the locket over his head. 

Hermiones gift meant more to Tom then words could ever express and Tom knew that because it meant so much to him that the locket would become his next horcrux. Of course that was for Hermione to find out when she got back to her time. 

Tom looks at Hermione reaching over and gently wiping away the last of her tears with his thumb. 

The two share one more hug before breaking once more.

It was a comfortable silence as the father daughter pair made their way back to the castle and one thing became abundantly clear. 

This fight hadn't broken the father daughter bond forever, it had made it stronger then it had ever been and made it so it could never be broken again. 

No matter what came their way.