Chapter Ten: Lumos

It was the day before Midsummer and some of the hess students were relaxing on the grass outside of Hagrid's hut. Several of them were working on signs for their upcoming protest. Professor Riddle could make out various slogans like 'equal rights for all magical folk' and 'our magic is the same as yours'.

Noticing Luna Lovegood leaning over a yellow sign, carefully shaping some black letters, he decided to walk over and say hello. "Good morning Miss Lovegood" he began formally.

"Good morning Professor" she replied.

"Lumos your life" he read out loud "that's an interesting choice for your sign."

"We're trying to educate people, enlighten them" she had switched to green paint and was adding some vines as a border "I wanted something that would make people stop and ask questions."

"I think you've achieved that" he smiled proudly. It was always a nice moment when he was able to learn from one of his students.

"Are you coming to the protest?"

"No, as an educator I have to remain neutral on these things. I don't want to upset the ministry."

"That's too bad" she sighed "the anti-hess teachers have no problem voicing their opinions or lecturing about the sins of long dead muggles."

She wasn't wrong, he thought to himself. Moving away from Luna he began walking towards the small hut where Hagrid was setting out some morning tea.

"Good mornin' Tom" the Gamekeeper greeted him cheerfully.

"Good morning Hagrid" he replied "lovely day for it?"

"Splendid day" the large man nodded towards a group of students "jus' look at Fang over there, sleepin' lazily on the grass."

Tom looked over to see a large, old dog sleeping soundly next to some students. They had brought some sandwiches out and were calmly chatting among themselves. It was weird to think that the Ministry's position on muggle borns is that they were inherently violent. Most of the violence he had seen in his life had come from those with magical ancestry.

"You chose well" Delores was sitting across from him on the balcony of the Three Broomsticks. From there they could observe the Midsummer festivities without getting caught up in the crowds.

"Thank you" he replied, nervously taking a sip of his butter beer. "I haven't done this much, most of my life revolves around work and I was always quite shy during school."

"You're doing well" she complimented "and don't worry, my own dating experience is also quite limited. I wasn't shy, but I did have a hard time during school."

"And look at us now, we spend almost all our time in a location where we felt out of place during our youth."

She suddenly laughed out loud. It was sweet, but he wasn't sure if what he said had been that funny. She saw his expression and explained "you're always so perceptive Tom, yet you never noticed when I was flirting with you."

He felt himself blushing now. "I guess I just never considered that you would be interested in me."

She reached across the table and laid her hand across his. "And what are you considering now?" Her touch was electric and his thoughts were... he felt... drunk? Intoxicated by her presence? Is this what all those love songs were about?

"I..." he started "I'm having trouble considering much of anything right now."

She leaned forward, her yellow summer dress was low cut. He forced himself to look up, trying to focus on her eyes, losing himself in the moment. "That's a good answer" she spoke softly "let's be in the moment, nothing else matters right now."

An hour later he was still living in the moment, but it was a very different moment. The hess protest, that had started in Hogsmeade, had been met with strong resistance by the Ministry. A fierce battle had broken out between the Aurors and the protesters.

Still unwilling to choose a side, Tom had found himself trying to keep the peace. Because of this, several of the hess had turned against him, accusing him of siding with the system, taking the easy way out. If he had had time to think, he might have realised that they were right.

Taking a moment to look around he found himself standing in an old ruin outside of the village. He sensed a presence behind him. Turning around he saw a hess girl with bushy brown hair. She was holding a wand and had a determined look on her face.

"That's an Olivander's wand" he said without thinking "who did you take it from?"

Wrong question, he thought, watching as her expression went from determined to hateful.

"The wand chooses the witch, professor" she spat venomously.

He tried to lift his wand, but his arm felt heavy. His whole body felt heavy and somehow, damp. Looking down he noticed spools of blood appearing all over his pale green summer robes. A non-spoken spell? Where could a hess learn that?

He looked up, but she was already gone. His body was too heavy now and he fell to the ground. Midsummer, a time of endless light, was fading as he fell into unconsciousness. His last thoughts turned to those he cared for most: his recently found mother, his favourite student and the woman he loved.

Author's note. That's it, at least, for now. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I have some ideas for future stories within this alternate universe as well as a possible sequel. Sorry that I am (very) slow at writing/uploading chapters and thanks again for your patience. I would also like to thank Xandra the Witch (creator of heroine training dot com) for the phrase 'Lumos your life' that was used in this final chapter.