Ten years later, 1981
Tom returned to his lair in the late afternoon, when his gaze fell on a piece of parchment that lay crumpled next to the fireplace. He furrowed his brow and stared at the paper for an instant before he drew his wand and flicked it at the crumpled piece. The sheet soared into the air and smoothed itself out. It was empty.
Tom slowly walked closer, muttering different incantations under his breath, trying to make the parchment show its content.
None of them worked.
He looked at the paper for another moment before following on a sudden impulse. He carefully cut his hand with his wand and let his blood drip on the empty sheet. Then he healed the wound and watched the parchment expectantly.
Slowly a neat handwriting started to appear. It immediately caught his eye. It was his own handwriting.
Tom felt a hint of excitement in the pit of his stomach. He threw a closer look at the note. There were a place and a date written on the paper. Forbidden Forest, November 2nd, 1981.
Tom frowned. He stared at the writing for another moment. Then he went to his armchair and sat down.
It was almost two months until November 2nd. And yet he had to admit that he felt excited thinking about the adventure that lay ahead. It was finally going to happen, he was going to switch places with his other self.
Involuntarily, a memory popped into his mind. He leaned back in his chair, reluctantly recalling the promise he had made so many years ago.
He pressed his lips together. He had spent months searching for her, he had done everything he could think of to try and find her, but all his effort had been in vain.
At first he had signalled her through the mark, countless times, but she had never reacted, not even once. He had tried it until, finally, he had had to accept that obviously she didn't want to respond.
Subsequently he had tried every locating spell he had ever heard of. But she had given him no chance, and none of them had worked.
Even the enchantment he had put on her mark had been of no help. It had not been activated once in all those years, and while he knew that, luckily, this meant that she had never been in any severe danger, he had still regretted that, thus, he hadn't been able to find her.
At least, with her gone, there had been nothing left to stop him. He had smashed the revolutionary movement, violently and mercilessly, once again securing his power and ensuring that the world succumbed to his order.
Tom looked back at the note in his hand. He flicked his wand at the paper and sent it flying into the fireplace, lighting it with a nonverbal Incendio. Leaning forward, he propped up his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his hands, absentmindedly watching the flames.
After a moment the flames slowly started rearranging themselves. Tom sat up straight and furrowed his brows.
The flames were clearly forming the image of a house. He stared at the fire, unconsciously holding his breath. Following on a sudden intuition, he flicked his wand at the shelf behind him and summoned a map of the British Isles. He caught the map and walked closer to the fire. Sparks flew out of the fireplace and burned a hole into the map.
Tom narrowed his eyes, memorizing the location. Then he threw the map into the flames and watched it burn to ashes.
Tom stowed his wand, looking at the fire for another moment. There remained no trace of the previous happenings.
Taking a deep breath, Tom made up his mind, grabbed his cloak and left the room, disapparating to the place he had been shown on the map.
He reappeared at the coast, in the vicinity of a cosy cottage. His gaze lingered on the house for a long moment. It was the house he had seen in the flames. It looked warm and inviting. He cocked his head.
So this was where she had fled to. This was her idea of a life in peace. He slowly walked closer. When he reached the fence along the property's borders, he sensed the presence of strong magical protection wards. A smile tugged at his lips. It was her magic, there was no doubt about it. He would recognize it anywhere. He exhaled slowly. It felt like home.
He was just contemplating how to proceed when he heard voices approaching from the opposite direction. He quickly cast a disillusionment charm on himself and watched as two figures came into sight. It was a man in his early to mid twenties and a girl of maybe ten.
When they came closer, he recognized Ben. Involuntarily his gaze travelled to the girl. With slight astonishment he realized that she resembled Ben a lot, with her pale skin and wavy dark hair. But something about her strongly reminded him of Cassiopeia and the way she had been, when he had first seen her so many, many years ago.
Meanwhile Ben had reached the door. He opened it with a flick of his wand and turned to the girl who had stopped at a small bush and bent down. "Come on, Grace!"
The girl, Grace, looked up. "Just a moment, ok?"
Tom squinted across the distance, trying to see what Grace was doing. She was crouching next to a bush.
Finally, Ben called again, and Grace got up and followed him inside.
When the two had left, Tom quickly strode along the fence, just outside the protective wards, until he was the closest to the bush that he could get without entering the wards.
There was something moving under the bush, and he flicked his wrist at it, casting a summoning charm.
His eyes widened just the slightest bit when he saw what he had summoned.
It was a snake.
"Did that girl talk to you?" Tom hissed in Parseltongue.
The snake wound around his hand and turned its head to look at him. "Grace? Yes, she's my friend."
Tom pursed his lips and lowered his hand, letting the snake slither back to the ground and watching it disappear under the bushes again.
Then he turned his attention back to the house, a strange mixture of excitement and irritation swirling through his body. He lifted the disillusionment charm and slowly approached the entrance. When he reached the door, he raised his hand and knocked.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then the door was opened and Cassiopeia stood there, her wand pointed at him. The moment she saw him, her hand fell back to her side and her eyes widened. "Tom?"
He hadn't heard anyone calling him that in over a decade. He looked back at her, his face expressionless.
Her voice was exactly the way he remembered it, and she looked not even one day older than when he had last seen her on the stairs of Houlton Manor so long ago. But then again he had known she wasn't aging anymore.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, stepping outside and carefully closing the door behind her.
"I came, intending to keep a promise I made a long time ago.... Though it looks like you don't mind living with secrets these days." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
A faint smile crossed Cassiopeia's face. "I suppose you've seen Grace."
Tom made sure that his face remained the blank mask he was so good at producing when he asked, "Who is she?"
Cassiopeia looked back at him. "I think you already know who she is."
Tom's gaze locked with Cassiopeia's, his dark eyes boring into hers. "She is mine, isn't she?"
Cassiopeia held his gaze, a sincere look in her eyes. "There's no one else whose she could be."
Tom felt a long forgotten warmth spread inside, and quite unexpectedly the subliminal irritation that had been burning in his veins disappeared.
There was a long moment of silence before he said, "I saw her talking to a snake."
Cassiopeia eyed him thoughtfully. "She's a lot like her father, except for the empathy and love she's capable of." She paused. "Would you like to meet her?"
Tom pursed his lips. "Does she know who I am?"
Cassiopeia shook her head. To her surprise she saw something akin to disappointment flash through Tom's eyes, and she added, "But there's no doubt that she's going to know it once she's seen you." She smiled. "Just as I said, she's a lot like her father."
Tom looked back at her, and the years they had spent apart seemed to crumble to mere minutes. So much had happened, and yet so few had changed. Being with her felt just the same as before. His magic felt whole again, and he felt alive again in a way he had thought he had lost a long time ago.
"I've been looking for you, time and time again, for all those years. I've signalled you over and over again. I've tried to find you. Why didn't you answer, not even once?" He didn't quite manage to keep the accusation out of his voice, although he really tried.
Cassiopeia swallowed. "After I had left I realized what life could be like when there are no reglementations, no persecution, no war I never wanted. I realized that the world I had left behind wasn't the world I wanted to raise a child in, much less your child."
Tom averted his gaze. He took a long time to reply. When he finally looked up again, his eyes were burning intensely. "Yes. I want to see her. You see, I came to tell you it's finally going to happen on November 2nd. I want to have seen her, before I go."
Cassiopeia drew a sharp breath. Then she nodded and opened the door behind her, stepping inside and letting Tom pass her.
Tom's gaze swept over the small living room they were standing in. The fireplace was lighted. In front of it stood a sofa and two comfortable armchairs. One of the armchairs was currently occupied by Grace who raised her head when they entered and looked back at him with curiosity. She didn't say anything, just looked at him, and he had the weird impression that she was looking right through him.
For the first time in his entire life Tom suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and yet his voice was still strangely hoarse when he said, "Hello, Grace."
Grace continued to look at him, her eyes as dark and bottomless as his. After a moment she said, "Mum can't speak it, but you can, can't you?"
A smirk crossed Tom's features when he answered, "Yes, I can."
Grace's eyes sparkled with excitement. "Mum doesn't like me talking in the snakes' language. I think she doesn't like not knowing what I say. But I like it."
Tom's smirk grew wider. "Don't worry, it'll be our little secret. How did you know I can speak it?"
Grace's lips pulled into a smirk of her own, very much matching Tom's. "I saw it in your eyes."
Tom's eyes widened almost unnoticeably, and he quickly closed most parts of his mind, only shoving one thought to the front of his mind. He quirked an eyebrow and watched Grace curiously.
Grace giggled. "You want to know if I can see that? Yes, I can. You know what? I like that game."
Cassiopeia cleared her throat. "I think it's time to switch back to talking English, Grace. You've had your fun."
Grace pulled a face, and Tom grinned.
"You're right, she hates it. She always has," he hissed.
Grace giggled again, and Cassiopeia shot Tom a glare. "Same goes for you," she said drily.
Tom smirked back at her and Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow in return.
***
When Cassiopeia had gone to Grace's bedroom later that evening to say goodnight, Tom followed her. Outside Grace's door he stopped. He wasn't intending to listen in, but when he caught Grace's voice he couldn't help it.
"Why has he never come here before?" he heard Grace ask.
Tom raised an eyebrow and moved a little closer to the door, curious to hear Cassiopeia's reply.
"I'm sure you remember what I've always told you whenever you've asked about your father?"
"He's living in a place that's too far away, and he's very busy."
"Well, that's still true," Cassiopeia said quietly.
"But then why don't we go live with him?" Grace asked stubbornly. "I like him."
"Merlin knows, I like him, too. But it's not as easy as it sounds. You can't just go and live with him."
"Why not?"
There was a long silence. Just when Tom thought Cassiopeia wasn't going to reply anymore, he heard her saying, "You must understand that the way he has been tonight, the way we see him, that's not what he is always like. He is different when he is in his world, very different. And his world is just as different."
"But I don't want him to go away again." Grace sounded disappointed.
"I know, dear, I know," Cassiopeia said soothingly. When she continued talking, her voice was so low that Tom couldn't hear her anymore.
He pressed his lips together and walked a few steps along the corridor before he leaned against the wall, waiting for Cassiopeia to finally leave the room.
When she closed the door behind her, he said into the silence, "She's right. You should come back with me."
Cassiopeia gave a jerk and turned around. Seeing him standing in the corridor, she slowly walked over to him and leaned against the opposite wall. She shook her head. "No."
"Why not? You're my family." He arranged his features into a look of innocence.
"Obviously you never wanted a family." Cassiopeia raised an eyebrow.
"But obviously I still have one," he retorted.
"Obviously you're not living the kind of life that's compatible with having a family," Cassiopeia said drily.
Tom smirked. Then he pursed his lips. "No, honestly, come back with me."
Cassiopeia looked back at him. There was sadness ringing in her voice when she said, "We can't, Tom. I don't want to return to that world. I don't want Grace to live there."
"But she'll be living there anyways as soon as she'll be going to Hogwarts." Tom shrugged.
Cassiopeia didn't reply.
Tom raised his eyebrows. "You don't intend to send her to Hogwarts, do you? But it's obligatory."
Cassiopeia cocked her head. "I know, but I'm convinced that her father is in the position to make an exception."
"Why should I want to do that?" Tom asked, his voice full of surprise.
"I can think of many reasons. But the main one surely is that being your daughter is extremely dangerous. I won't send her anywhere where I can't protect her." She paused. "You can come visit whenever you like, you can stay as long as you like. There's only one condition. You have to keep with the rules. I don't want her to believe that it's more important to know how to cast an Unforgivable Curse than to know how to love." Cassiopeia looked him straight in the eyes, daring him to contradict her.
Tom held her gaze. He wanted to retort something about power and weakness but deep inside he knew he didn't believe it anymore.
There was a long moment of silence.
Then he pushed away from the wall and leaned forward against the wall behind her, one hand on either side of her head. His voice was rough when he said, "I've been waiting for this moment so long. Honestly, I hadn't been expecting we would be talking about the future of a child, but I don't mind. I just want you back. I've been missing you for too long."
Cassiopeia looked into his eyes, into this beautiful darkness that had kept haunting her in her dreams so many nights this past decade, and she knew she wanted him back just the same.
She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him close until she could finally feel his lips on hers, tasting their warmth and softness again, wondering why she had deliberately chosen to live without this for so many years.
The moment his lips finally touched hers, Tom knew he was never going to let her leave again. He pulled her away from the wall, deepening the kiss before shortly pulling away.
"Where's your bedroom?" he breathed.
Cassiopeia nodded towards the door at the end of the corridor. Tom pulled her close, his lips back on hers, his hands around her waist, and steered them towards her bedroom.
As soon as he had closed the door behind them, locking it with a flick of his wrist and casting a non-verbal silencing charm with another, he pushed her down on the bed, his breath hot on her skin.
Cassiopeia felt her heart beating in a way she had never felt it beat before, and she was longing for him to get closer. She pulled off his shirt and ran her fingers over his bare chest while he pushed hard against her, stripping off her clothes.
When their gazes met, they could see the passion and desire burning in each other's eyes, and it felt like they had never been apart.
****
Author's note: Thanks so much for reading!! Thanks for voting and commenting, you really make my day!!