Rosemerta almost skipped to her pub that evening. Severus had found her a girl to shop with! He really was an outstanding boyfriend. As much as she enjoyed Severus' wards, she missed female company. She rarely had the chance for female conversation. The occasional words in passing at the pub when someone took their girlfriend there for a drink just weren't enough.

Rosemerta's mother had died when she was young, and the witch her father had married preferred Rosemerta not visit often, wanting Rosemerta's father to concentrate on her own children, instead of the daughter from his late wife. She had no sisters or female cousins. All the friends she'd had at Hogwarts had drifted away after school. She'd hoped for a daughter, back when she'd been engaged to Aaron. That dream had died with the curse she'd taken.

She sighed as she thought of the scarcity of women in her life. She hoped that this Petunia Dursley was friendly. Rosemerta would like to be able to visit Dragonsrest during the school year, to keep in touch with Harry and Dudley, and she hoped the visits would be enjoyable, and not filled with hostility.

Rosemerta liked Harry, and Severus was definitely much more attached to him than he was willing to admit, even to himself. Rosemerta had been a few years ahead of Lily and Severus & the marauder gang, at Hogwarts, but she did recall them. Lily had been someone you didn't overlook or forget easily. At first glance Harry seemed to resemble James a great deal because of the hair and glasses, but on further inspection his facial features were as much Lily's as James', and his eyes were all Lily. He might have a bit of James' recklessness, but he had Lily's common sense and intelligence as well.

She expected many would wonder how she could welcome the son of the women her boyfriend had once loved so very much into their lives. She felt that it was foolish to envy a dead woman, and Harry was a wonderful lad - the connection to Lily had simply given Severus the little push to care for him.

Rosemerta had always feared that Severus would, one day, tell her that he needed to break things off with her, that he wanted children of his own. When questioned, he said he felt no need for an heir, and had his fill of children at school. Perhaps Harry would fill any void he might have for a child of his own, a void that he perhaps had not even known he had.

She got out some parchment to write on, while waiting for the pub to become busier, and started listing places to take Cho Chang.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Yuan and Cho approached the pool, Yuan smiling happily. He was delighted that the problem had been solved with one owl sent to Professor Snape, especially since Cho had arrived hard on the heels of Severus' return owl.

Cho had been relieved that, although she would sleep at Yuan's, her relative had arranged for her to spend the days with Professor Snape's wards and their friends, and a lady would be shopping with her for the list of things Hogwarts had sent her to obtain for school.

Yuan introduced her to Professor Snape and a friend of his, Lucius Malfoy. There was also a ‘Tom', who was, apparently a close friend and the boy's tutor. They seemed nice, or at least, polite. They then turned to the three pre-teen boys - Yuan had said they would all go to Hogwarts next year. They were all eating like most of the boys she knew - with gusto.

Yuan introduced Draco Malfoy, who she would have pegged as Lucius' son even without the introduction. He smiled and bent over her hand in a rather suave manner. Then a Dudley Dursley was introduced, he had taken the time during Draco's introduction to mop up any stains on his face and hands, and managed a ‘pleased to meet you' and handshake without smearing anything on her. The last boy hadn't needed quite as much cleaning up, and smiled happily when introduced to her. "This is Severus' other ward, and Dudley's cousin - Harry Potter."

She had shaken hands automatically, and managed a "Pleased to meet you" in response to his. She was apparently spending much of the next week with Harry Potter, it seemed quite surreal. Cho managed a shy smile, and hoped she hadn't acted too awestruck. Cho sat at the table with them, and was soon engrossed in a conversation regarding Quidditch and was holding her own on an argument about the Holyhead Harpies vs. the Kenmare Kestrels, and whether the British Team had a chance to go to the World Cup this year. Cho soon forgot any shyness, or that Harry was a celebrity.

Yuan had brought a Dailey Prophet with him, and he sat in a chair near the other three. "Your three lads certainly photograph well." He held up the front page. There was a large picture of the Minister, surrounded by the boys, all of them laughing merrily.

The story had detailed their visit, and the Minister's obvious chumminess with ‘the Boy Who Lived'. The reporter had said the Harry Potters whereabouts were ‘secret, due to security', but implied that of course the Minister knew all about it. The story had been well padded with irrelevant details and recounted the old tale of ‘You Know Who' killing Harry's parents and Harry ‘triumphing' over the Dark Lord.

Severus grimaced. "Harry didn't know whether to be thrilled or horrified. He finally kept the picture because it had him and Dudley and Draco in it. I don't think he actually read much of the article."

Lucius laughed, "Draco read the whole article, dismissed it as a poorly done piece, and kept the picture - for much the same reason. He's still waiting for the pictures he took of everyone and Yao to be returned from the wizarding photo shop."

"Well, you've obviously made a friend of the minister; I just hope he isn't too fickle." Yuan said.

"He's definitely against Voldemort, and I think if we ensure that he feels the Dark Lord is defeatable when he returns, he'll stay behind us." Lucius answered.

"His main problem will be that he remembers how bad it got in the first conflict. We need to make sure it doesn't get that out of hand again. Goading Fudge into action - action that is actually effective, will be the biggest obstacle with him." Severus sneered a bit. "Cornelius is really a better peacetime minister than wartime - but at least he listens to advice."

Yuan sighed, "I hope you are able to hamstring him before he returns." He shook his head. "I do recall how grim it all looked, just before ‘He Who Must Not Be Named' was gone."

"Oh, we intend that he has a very short stay, upon his return." Severus hissed. He would prefer the Dark Lord to not return at all, but doubted they'd be that lucky.

Yuan nodded, and rose, calling to Cho. "Shall she arrive after breakfast, tomorrow?" Severus nodded with a smile.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Later that evening, after supper, Tom retired a bit early to his room. Remembering all his hatred for his father had dug up more memories, ones than he really preferred to keep buried. He wasn't sure if Yvane truly had accessed all his memories, he usually tried not to think about that it was embarrassing to think that someone had seen every moment in one's life.

Most of his hatred for his father had been due to his total desertion of his son. Couldn't he at least have paid someone to care for him as an infant, and then sent him to boarding school? It was obviously not due to a lack of money that he hadn't. Did his rejection have to be so complete? He'd never know why, now. The other - Voldemort perhaps knew. He wondered if he had asked, or had just killed them all.

He had hated the orphanage, never in his memory did he recall liking it. He could recall no friends. If a new child had played with him at all, or acted friendly it wasn't long before the others had warned him away from Tom - ‘the freak'. Mrs. Cole had been no help, she had been afraid of him and his horrid ‘unnaturalness'.

His episodes of angry accidental magical outbursts had made things much worse. It always ended with someone hurt, with no explanation that would satisfy anyone. And then there were the more deliberate actions on his part, when he'd learned out of necessity to control his ‘gift' a bit.

He'd been nine, if he remembered right when he'd first put his control into actual practice. Amy Benton and Dennis Bishop had been teenagers - and they liked to steal from the younger and easily intimidated children, and in an orphanage with few belongings that was something not easily forgiven. They'd taken the Christmas money that some kind soul had given to the children.

There had been a trip to the seaside; he'd lured the two of them to a cave with a tale of finding a hoard of money. He'd learned he could make a doorway disappear for a few seconds. He'd taken them down a passage and made the entrance to it disappear. He then had terrified them into believing he'd leave them inside forever if they didn't give him either his money or the equivalent in goods. He'd let them out after he had Dennis's mouth organ, and Amy's yoyo. They'd never stolen from him again.

But, Billy Stubbs - he still recalled that person with a fury he could barely contain. He hadn't enjoyed killing the rabbit, but Billy had never tried to touch him that way again.

"You could have tried to tell Mrs. Cole, instead of taking him on, yourself." Yvane broke in calmly.

"Mrs. - ‘you're the spawn of the devil' - Cole? She'd have washed my mouth out with soap and then beaten me for talking of such things ever occurring in her orphanage." Tom answered heatedly. "I was on my own, like I always was at that place. I was only ten; I just knew I couldn't let him do that..." Tom was sure he was hyperventilating.

"You still have some calming draught; take some so we can continue." Yvane said firmly.

Tom thought about refusing, so they would have to stop. Instead he sighed and then downed half the vial and waited for the artificial tranquility to envelope him.

"You were able to escape this Billy's numerous attacks, and attempts to corner you. I realize that those encounters scarred you a bit. You seem to always have been immune to any sexual advances - are you repulsed because of what was done, or attempted by Billy?" Yvane asked.

Tom was glad he'd taken so much of the draught, without it he was sure he'd have come unglued at this. Even with the calming draught he felt the strain from trying to answer calmly. "I don't know, partly any ‘advances' did always make me think of him, and then I get sick. And partly I don't trust relationships like that - none I've ever seen at school lasted long."

"Those were school romances - they don't always lead to anything." Yvane chuckled, and then abruptly sobered. "However you need to not compare Billy's assaults to someone who is honestly trying to get closer to you."

"I suppose, but I just don't really think of people that way very often, and the one's I notice - well, it doesn't seem worth the trouble." Tom complained.

"Well, you're only sixteen, as yet. Perhaps you've yet to find the ‘worthwhile' one." Yvane laughed.

Tom snorted. "Can I get some rest, now?"

Yvane snickered and let Tom rest. Privately he mulled over the revelations. He could view most of Tom's memories if he wished, but it would be difficult to look at the whole sixteen years of Tom's life minute by minute. Finding relevant memories was important, and he needed to take his cues much of the time from Tom.

Yvane had known that the orphanage was important. Those years had been his formative ones, which his life at Hogwarts had been based upon. The scarcity of happy memories and total lack of friendships had taken their toll. He had been taught to only rely on himself by the staff, who had feared and disliked him. The older children's thefts had made him wary of other's motives, and the near-rapes from this ‘Billy' had been a final blow to Tom's trust in anyone else.

Yvane was glad that Lucius and Severus had been able to gain Tom's trust, and he had learned that friendships could be a good thing. With any luck Tom would also learn what love was, as well.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The following morning Rosemerta arrived bright and early, while the males were still wandering around, looking for clothing. Severus was only on his first cup of coffee, and stared at her blearily. There was something he needed to ask her and he needed more caffeine to remember what it was. Lucius and Draco arrived on his third cup, and the boys started talking about Quidditch, which jump-started his memory.

"Ah, Rosemerta, I hate to spring this on you..." Severus looked at her warily. "I know you were expecting shopping today, but perhaps you could do that tomorrow? Lucius, Tom and I have something unavoidable to do. The boys have a Quidditch lesson at Malfoy Manor and someone has to be there with them. I'm told that Cho is quite an avid fan of that, as well, and would like a lesson from Mr. Higgs, and Terrence will be there as well." Severus trailed off, sweating at Rosemerta's look of surprise.

Rosemerta laughed merrily, "I'll somehow resign myself to being pampered at the ‘Malfoy spa / gourmet restaurant that Lucius claims is a home. We can shop tomorrow, of course. It might be better to go over her list, today - while snacking on canapés and caviar - that way we'll be sure to hit every shop we need to."

Lucius and Draco snickered, and Severus rolled his eyes and sighed. He shouldn't have worried about her being invited to the Malfoy Manor. With more caffeine intake he would have realized she'd find a way to make that work for her.

Tom entered the room, making the adults stare. He looked pale, and poorly rested. One whiff of the food, and he turned an interesting green, and left hastily. Severus was disturbed by this, and followed him and stood outside the bathroom listening to the sounds of a stomach rebelling.

By the time Tom reappeared, Severus had summoned several potions. Tom glared at the innocent vials and snarled, "Potions don't cure everything, you know."

Severus gave him a look of mock astonishment. "They don't?" He asked in a shocked tone.

Tom gave him a reluctant almost-smile that was more grimace than anything. They moved to the nearby library and sat. Tom took the stomach calming draught gratefully. "I didn't sleep well - too many dreams about the orphanage, and how much I hated my father, some were about talking to my Slytherin cohorts and making plans." Tom took a sip of the calming draught; he needed to be alert for today. "I still can't believe we enacted any of them, I must have developed a lot of arrogance to actually want to try to take over the wizarding world."

"What brought on the nausea? That's not a usual response to your dreams." Severus asked quietly.

Tom paled a bit, again. "The kids at the orphanage, most of them I just disliked - but some of them, some of them I truly hated. They...he..." Tom shuddered again. "I really can't talk about it."

"Are you talking about it to Yvane?" Severus watched him nod, and relaxed. As long as he spoke of whatever this was to the dragon, they could wait it out a while longer, he felt. Severus shoved one more vial toward him. "If you feel you can't face food, take this nutritive potion. It will hold you until tonight. We'll argue over supper at that time."

Tom smiled gratefully and downed it with a grimace. "I happen to know that you can mix cherry flavoring with nutritive potions without ruining them, Severus."

Severus sniffed and glared at him. "And encourage the little pests at Hogwarts to skip meals, because the nutritive potions taste alright?"

Tom laughed and they headed back to the others. Lucius looked at them both closely, but Severus just nodded at him easily, and he relaxed. It must not be serious - or at least there was nothing to be done at present.

Cho had arrived and she and Rosemerta were already consulting lists of school things and shops to find them. With Tom returned, Lucius hustled the three boys and two ladies off to Malfoy Manor with an admonition to his head house elf to ‘indulge Rosemerta's every whim'. Rosemerta grinned in thanks and Lucius returned to Dragonsrest.

Lucius, Tom and Severus apparated to the co-ordinates that Albus had given them. They landed in a lane with overgrown hedgerows, across from a barely discernable path. They had to walk down it in single file, and finally reached a very broken down hovel. The walls still standing were moss covered, and most of the tiled roof was gone.

They came to halt in front of it. "This is the place Albus described from Bob Ogden's memory. When they arrested Merope's brother Morfin for hexing a muggle - your father, Tom Riddle Sr, as a matter of fact." Severus said uneasily, watching Tom for his reaction to viewing his parents past. "He lived up the lane a half-mile, at the Riddle Manor."

Tom looked at the tumbled-down hovel, with a sense of unreality. All these things had happened over forty years ago, although it seemed more recent to him. Knowing that all the people he had planned to confront, to ‘have his say', and to get answers from were all dead, dead for decades - and by...well not his hand, but the hand of the person he would have become if these wizards with him hadn't intervened.

Tom took a deep breath, and stepped forward and the other two followed close behind. At the door they paused, casting revealing spells and spells to disarm any traps. There was a flash from the center of the floor, and a ring appeared. They cast a few more spells, and the ring lit up.

"There's a curse or two on it. We need to secure it and study them a bit." Lucius said. He hovered it into a bag to dampen magic, and protect them from dark magic. He and Severus waited patiently outside while Tom looked around the small house.

Tom had always dismissed his mother as useless. For a long time he had assumed that his father had been a wizard, and his mother a muggle. Why else would she have died? He had thought magic solved all problems, and had expected a sick witch or wizard would have no difficulty healing themselves. When he had learned that Tom Riddle was a muggle, and had abandoned he and his mother because she was a witch, he had been stunned.

He still didn't understand why Merope had given up. She had magic! He knew he didn't understand love, but it seem weak and stupid to give up on life, and desert a newborn son for a muggle who hadn't even loved her in return.

"She may have been weak, but look around - even when they lived here and it wasn't so run down, it must have been a very rough life. Severus described her father and brother as harsh brutes, who mistreated her." Yvane mused. "Your father must have seemed like a prince, and she a ‘cinderella'; and when he rejected her it likely crushed her spirit. The one dream she had - shattering that way - it would have been overwhelming to her."

Tom shook his head, he would never have stayed in such a place - or he would have at least turned it into a nicer home, after all - wasn't that what magic was for? Why had they settled for so little? He sighed, he might never really understand it and it was long ago, now.

Tom turned and left with his friends. He smiled a bit - he had actual friends.