"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

~Francis of Assisi

Chapter 15: The Dawn of a New Age

~Harry~

Harry was staring at the shattered man on the floor holding the corpse in his arms and a strange feeling swept over her. This was a man that had destroyed her, or at least his mistakes had destroyed her. She had loved him once, long ago, when the world had been new to her and the true horror of living had not sunk into her very soul like a drop of ink into a glass of clear water. She had loved him, his faults and all. Harry couldn't trace the moment, when love had turned into this burning hatred that tasted of ash on her tongue every time she looked at or thought of him.

She knew it had crept up on her slowly, twisting in her heart like a knife those first few painful, frantic, lives. It had hurt to hate him at first, because even as she had despised him Harry had loved him. It was a special kind of pain that only a loved one could inflict on you, and it had corrupted her as much as the endless looping lives had. The truth of it was that this man for all his faults, for all his mistakes, for all his arrogance…had utterly destroyed her with only the best intentions and love in mind. Harry couldn't know for certain but she had often thought Dumbledore had planned for her to have the Hallows all along. It had certainly looked and felt that way to her in hindsight.

Why?

So he could save her of course, Dumbledore was a man of faith, and he had believed whole heartedly that the Hallows were the only thing that could save her from the piece of Tom's soul in her forehead. Maybe that had not been his intention from the start, maybe had had tried to just let her martyr herself and comforted himself with the thought that it was necessary. Somewhere along the line though his plans changed, his feelings changed, perhaps interacting with Harry turned a chest piece all too human. Whatever it was, his eternal damnation of her had come from a place of love and selfishness.

Harry could understand that.

She just couldn't abide it, what this man had condemned her too was worse than death. Death was peace; he had condemned her to living hell on earth for eternity because he was too weak to go through with just killing her. Love for him had twisted and warped and blackened until there was no one and nothing Harry hated more than this man. He was a catalyst for all her pain and suffering. Seeing him suffer in turn the small fraction of the pain she herself had endured countless times was a small petty victory. It was a tiny thing the deep pit inside her that hungered for retribution.

What more could she do to him?

How could she hurt him more?

Now that Harry had indulged in the deepest pits of her darkest desires that hunger for revenge could not be ignored, it would not be silenced and it demanded it's due. Harry had once known Dumbledore in a way no one else had, he had filled his shoes after his death, knew his goals, his beliefs, his weaknesses and his prejudices. Harry knew Dumbledore's vices as well…that man as much as he wanted to pretend to be pious…to pretend to be humble…was the furthest thing from both. In the wake of Grindlewald's imprisonment the last time titles and postions of power had been bestowed on Dumbledore that he had in turn used for his light reform.

How fitting, that Harry was determined to take that from him with his lover's death. She would start here, this victory would be theirs and with it they would do some great things, terrible, but great. Harry felt some dark enjoyment from the thought. What better way to ruin this man than for him to see all the ways they would save their world; by doing all the things Dumbledore had been sure would destroy it. They would have to be careful, but with a little maneuvering it would be done. They would take over the magical world, one country at a time. It would be peaceful, France was begging them to take the role anyway and Grindlewald had paved the way so beautifully.

When Gellert had come to power he had killed or converted everyone in the magical governments he had taken over. Thanks to her little memory eating trick she knew most of their faces, and would soon be wiping out those loyal to him. This left many magical communities without a working government, seizing power that the people would beg her and Tom to take would be child's play. It would start 'provisionally' Harry decided; France was begging them to help and so they would take that seat 'reluctantly' and Harry was sure that the rest of the conquered Europe would soon do the same.

People need order after all, they want to follow and if they thought it was their idea…all the better. Consolidating the separate countries into one republic…no…one empire would take work and then of course they would need to wipe out the laws Grindlewald had made and in doing so have to pass new reformed ones. From there Harry saw it as clear as a picture, what she had to do, how she had to do it and like dominoes Harry knew how it could all fall into place. It started here in this moment, this victory; this was the turning point in everything. At the moment it looked like Dumbledore had vanquished the Dark Lord…now that wouldn't do.

Harry smiled. She heard the sounds of the teams getting closer, the ICW or her own, Harry was not sure. Still, it did not matter because it meant the same thing…she could not revel in the victory. Not yet. So with one eye on her worn Tom, Harry moved until she could kneel down close to Dumbledore and breathed harsh words into his ear. "You will say nothing about this night to anyone, not one word; you will never take credit or try to shine a light on anything that happened here. Because the moment you do I will rip the heart out of you. I will destroy everything in your life and leave you with nothing but ash and despair. Do not think my threats idle or boastful old man, sister-killer, Dark Lord Lover, coward…I know all of your dirtiest darkest secrets and I will only be too happy to use them." Harry hissed and watched with growing satisfaction as Dumbledore grew whiter and whiter with every word.

"Tom, be a dear and take that filth's head." Harry said turning to look at her husband. Tom was pale from blood loss and weak from his injuries but smiling at her in a way he had never smiled before.

"Of course my dear," Tom said casting a severing charm at the body and Harry felt a dreadful amount of satisfaction as Dumbledore (coated in his dead lovers blood) began to heave on his hands and knees. Harry conjured a spear and stabbed the floating head Tom presented her with glee. Then she handed Tom his new walking cane, Gellert's head on a spike.

The mob soon arrived, everyone was clamoring to know what happened and Harry happily pushed Tom into the limelight. Who then only claimed that together Harry and Tom both had defeated the Dark Lord and that Dumbledore had arrived only after the deed was done. It was awe inspiring and filled the people who discovered them with equal parts horror/wonder.

~Dumbledore~

DARK LORD DEFEATED BY THE RIDDLES: EUROPE REJOICES

….the Riddles have vanquished the Dark Lord Grindlewald in a grueling battle last night. The ICW was has not commented on their involvement on the raid of GRindlewald's compound or their plans moving forward for the European Magical community.

France Magical Monarchy Formed!

In a surprising turn of events the Riddles have finally conceded to the ceaseless demands of the French Magical Community to take the helm and lead their people. The Riddles had rebuffed France countless times since their liberation from Grindlewald on taking over their government but in a stunning turnaround they have agreed to take that responsibility on with the conditions of reestablishing the monarchy. France has agreed and the new King and Queen of Magical France are set to be coroneted in the coming week.

The Wreckage of Grindlewald

…experts agree that due to the actions of Grindlewald reformation of the governments of Magical Europe is nearly impossible. When Grindlewald took power over the various European Magical communities he executed and subvert almost the entirety of the governments therein. What we didn't know was that he had crippled them so completely that reformation is nearly impossible without outside influences. There are simply too few people who know how to run the government now that remain. The ICW is continuously being rebuffed by the remnants of the remaining populous for various reasons. Chiefly among them is that there is a pervading resentment towards the ICW continuous inaction in face of Grindlewald's crimes. What this means for the Magical communities spread across continental Europe remains to be seen.

The Riddles Form New Magical Empire!

The whole of Magical Britain is left stunned as the Riddle announce the formation of a new magical empire. Following in the wake of their French Coronation the Riddles were approached from the various shattered communities that they had saved from the Dark Lord's Tyranny and asked to take up the mantel of their protectors once more. Tom Riddle had this to say on the matter, "In the wake of the terrible tragedy that was Grindlewald's rein the Magical World needs someone to step up to help all those who had been most affected by the Dark Lord's campaign. There is still the very real and present danger from the mirrored war currently occurring in the Muggle World, and though our War is over their war has no end in sight. The Dark Lord had managed in his time on Continental Europe to conquer all the magical communities here, leaving them shattered and vulnerable. We can only be thankful that he had not yet expanded his path of conquest beyond these borders. As it is our world is in a terrible state and now more than ever we must stand together as one people. Borders do not matter, blood does not matter, all that matters now is that we are one magical community that must rebuild or fall. For these reasons and with the continued urging of the people we liberated we have decided to shoulder this responsibility. Grindlewald had reformed Europe into a shell of itself through various laws past and by crippling the people who had run it before. We felt that there was no choice left to us but to abolish everything and start anew from the ashes. We are now one people, one voice, one Empire and we shall overcome!"

Albus Dumbledore did not know what to do, the world was changing rapidly all around him and there was no end in sight. Tom Riddle had created an Empire, with Gellert's daughter…and the world was rejoicing. Applauding them for their fortitude and uniting the nations behind them. It was madness and he dared not speak against it. Harry Riddle…she knew everything somehow…and she would burn the very heart from his chest if he dared to even utter a word against them. She held him in contempt and would not hesitate to destroy everything he cared about in retaliation.

The worst part was that even if he did speak out…who would believe him?

All he could do was watch as Gellert's ambitions were realized by his daughter and no one in the world protested.

The Irony left a bitter taste in his mouth and would haunt him for the rest of his life.

~Tom~

No one talks about the tedium of becoming an Emperor when they speak of conquest. It all sounds nice, power, wealth, unlimited possibilities at your fingertips. No one ever talks about the paperwork, or having to establish a brand new charter of law, of hiring officials and organizing your military to police your people so they follow your laws. It seemed like there was always too much to do and so little time to do it, time turners helped but even with that establishing their Empire was exhausting work.

Harry was no help at all she was more concerned about securing their immortality and their minds against eternity. She had already made four people into vegetables that had to be quietly euthanized with her various experiments and the body count did not seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Tom was still recovering and dealing with his relationship with Harry was also very stressful. Love was a terrifying feeling, he wanted to shower her with gifts and he never wanted to see her again. Harry now had this power over him, all she had to do was look at him and he felt weak. So Tom avoided her, but then he missed her so much it ached and then he sought her out.

It was a vicious cycle of avoidance and wanting to chain her to his side so that she would never be parted from him. It was confusing and sorting that out took a backseat at the moment because he needed to finish the formation of his Empire. The muggles were fighting all over his territory and there were muggleborn witches and wizards in Concentration Camps that needed to be rescued. Plus there were multiple cities that had magical districts that needed to be moved because of bombing. There was in fighting from people that didn't want to be a part of their Empire and wanted independence. Those people had to be silenced and tucked away in Grindlewalds prison before word got out that this wasn't a peaceful take over.

Then there was the ICW breathing down their necks about joining and how the formation of the Empire would affect the officials from Europe. That was another can of worms Tom was not keen on dealing with before the Empire was on steady ground. Then of course…there was the matter of the Nukes that were set to be detonated in Japan in a few months. Those two nukes virtually wipe out Japan's population of Magicals and their government. While this is a tragedy for Magical kind it did present an opportunity for the Empire. Russia's magical community was small and ruled over by Tsarina Anastasia who was very insular. China was in the process of killing out their own magicals and the rest of Asia just as untouchable.

Tom wanted to establish their Empire before he looked to conquer anything else but that didn't mean he wasn't looking at weakening potential targets. Japan was a great launching point and if their governments were wiped out then it left that country open to him. However, if too many were killed by the nukes…what would be the point? It would take generations before their strength was returned to them…if ever.

To help or to hinder.

Now that was the question.

The muggleborn and their families in the concentration camps were more of a priority for him. They were an untapped resource that would be very loyal to the ones that liberated them from there…but in order to ensure loyalty that would mean saving their families as well. Tom wasn't sure what he would do with those muggles…they wouldn't be able to live in a magical world they didn't contribute to after all and there was so little they could give to this community.

Then again, Harry had spoken of the many advances of the muggle world in the next few decades. Advances that the Magical world had failed to match and that was a major problem for Tom. The Magical world's stagnation was a major issue that Tom wanted to see resolved as soon as possible and if the muggle's science could be applied to magic the possibilities were endless. Harry had spoken of the space program and Tom was already looking to the stars in contemplation.

The Magical community was outnumbered, every year more magical creatures go extinct and the wizarding communities are hemmed into smaller and smaller places. Soon there would be no hiding from the muggles and what then. They were outnumbered, they had no magic that could destroy the world…not like the muggles have…or will have. Tom did not want to be trapped to this place and he looked at the stars and saw a universe of possibilities.

If they could get their numbers up, if they could conquer the sky…then maybe their race had a chance. A chance to leave Earth and find a home where they did not have to hide. Where they could grow and flourish.

Death did not frighten him anymore…not since he had tied his soul to Harry's, but having to watch his world diminish and fade…that was terrifying. So as Harry unlocked the secrets to saving their race Tom looked to their world and sought to unify it. Tom truly believed that if they didn't become one people…well they would not last long.

So Tom dealt with the tedium of it and plotted.

Eventually Tom decided that maybe the muggles could have use after all since the muggle governments were a threat to them. He would send teams in to save the muggleborns and their families and then give them a choice. They could stay with their children and teach or become spies for them in the various muggle governments…or they could forget their children. Absolute loyalty or nothing. This way he would have teachers for the primary schools he wanted to establish for mandatory early education and eyes and ears in the muggle world that could help them avoid detection.

The path to Immortality would have to be earned. Anyone wanting it had to prove their worthiness through innovation, through great works or through acts of securing the safety of the magical world. Tom already had plans with Harry, of course, that ensured that they would be able to kill any whom received immortality from them. A kill switch for traitor and anyone who crossed them would be implanted into the potion to ensure that they did not immortalize their enemies. True immortality would only be in their own hands and no one else.

First they would establish their Empire, put down any naysayers and enact their own charter of laws. Tom intended to make sure that Magical Creatures and Beings were treated fairly and on mostly equal ground with their wizarding counterparts. Blood status had to be abolished to make sure their bloodlines stopped dying out and incentives had to be made so people had more children. Tom was thinking mothers who gave birth to seven children would be fast tracked to immortality and father's who served in their police force or military would also be fast tracked.

There were schools he had to build and hospitals as well. They needed funding desperately and the Nazi had stolen whole hoards of treasure. He was sending team into concentration camps anyway so their secondary tasks would be to track down those caches and secure them. A couple of teams would have that be their sole focus, of course they would be under many loyalty oaths and contracts to ensure that no one skimmed off the top.

It wasn't paranoia if people were garbage.

Then of course once those funds were secured he would have to hold off any new construction until this damnable muggle war was over. It would be a trying time, they would have to set up places where the muggles they were rescuing could recover in and be trained. All things were easier with Magic but still some things do take time and setting up a spy network for both the muggle world and the magical world would take some time. Operatives have to be trained to avoid discovery and how to gather real intelligence. Children have to grow up and more children needed to be born.

Time was a factor that could not be dismissed.

Then there was his own desire to know Harry in every way, as they had not consummated their own relationship in favor of holding off until the time was right for a power boosting ritual. They would need to have children eventually, as detestable as that idea was, because as leaders of their people they had to set the example. Seven children would ensure no one could complain about their policy for requiring that of others. Tom hated the idea of children.

Children were whiny, needy, disgusting things that required constant attention and investment in order to become anything close to being useful. Tom had no intention of being around the things until they were old enough to talk but he just knew Harry would want to be around them from their beginning. This meant she would have less time to spend with him and he would have to share her affection…that was nearly intolerable. It wasn't like he could order her to love them less…before he knew what love was he might have demanded that. Before he knew that love answered to no one and was an unstoppable force that could not be dictated to…he might have asked for that.

Now he knew better.

Now Tom knew you could no more choose who you loved than you could choose whom you were born to, it was not something you had a choice in. One of the reasons he detested love so much.

Choice, was very important to Tom, your choices defined your existence.

Tom chose to strive for greatness and nothing and no one would keep him from his choice.

That was why he wanted people to choose them as their leaders, why he wanted people to choose to have children and make advances.

A person withered under tyranny and Tom needed his people to bloom.

Still having children with Harry did have some appeal in that it brought into the world beings that were half of him and half of her. A physical representation of their bond for the world to see, if only they could be programmed to behave accordingly at birth…

Tom looked up from his desk as Harry hurried in from wherever she had been before this moment. Her hair was in a constant state of disarray these days and she was more…lively lately. Harry sat herself down on his lap and draped herself over him like a cat that had found a particularly sunny spot. "You've been hiding from me again," Harry said as she laid her face into Tom's neck breathing the words onto his collarbone.

"Yes," Tom murmured as he brushed his hand through her hair to pet at her; it was not as if they could lie to each other anyway. "Feeling, as I do for you disturbs me, I don't like feeling so out of control of myself."

Harry hummed, "I feel like I'm waking up after being such in a very long nightmare, feeling anything is disturbing for me. Being away from you makes it worse…stop hiding I don't like it."

Tom gritted his teeth as a rush of defeat washed over him, he could deny Harry nothing and he loathed that he could not. The power she had over him would never cease to disturb him…if she had wanted to kill everything on this earth and walk off into nothing…he would go with her in a heartbeat. Love was such a confounding thing, all his ambitions meant nothing next to her happiness.

"I will not hide from you anymore, but you must allow me my alone time…the depth of my love for you is overwhelming in your presence," Tom said as he tilted Harry's head so that he might kiss her lips. This was another disturbing development, how much he wanted to touch her now, to taste her and hold her. Before, he had kissed her for dominance and to assert his rights to everything she owned. Now, when he kissed her it was like he was drowning in his feeling for her. They became one, expressing their love physically and like their love it consumed them.

The kisses from before were a pale shadow to what their kisses were now.

Tom had trouble stopping himself from taking things further now, where before it had never been an issue, now it was harder to pull back from her. Now Harry had to be the one to pull away…Tom had not the strength to part himself from her lips.

"I love you," Harry whispered against his lips.

Tom never said the words back, even though they both could feel his answer within their very soul, he just kissed her again. Plans could wait for a little while, this moment was more important to him.

When he was away from Harry again and could think more clearly Tom wouldn't know how to feel about his various revelations. Mostly he would brood and give into the hopeless feeling of knowing he would never again be the one fully in control again. He didn't know why this thought made him feel so light and refused to contemplate on that feeling as soon as it made itself known.

Love was really a disquieting force of nature.

A.N.: hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I have added a chapter. I try to write but my baby makes things difficult sometimes, seriously try to write when you have a 3 year old singing the abcs in your ear because they want to be a part of whatever magic your doing. Lol sweet but not exactly muse inspiring. I thought I would take the time to address some things that I haven't been able to inside the story. So, first off the whole souls having a gender thing, I went with this because to me that would explain so much about the trans gender movement. If your soul is that of a woman but you're born as a man or vise versa that would explain a lot. I also wanted to remind everyone that I changed Tom's birth year to 1928 because it fit better for my story so currently they both are 16 sincethis chapter takes place in 1944. Also the coming chapter will address some minor characters that have been ignored up until now, we'll be seeing what the heck happened to Eileen Prince and Hagrid for one. Also, we have some major things coming our way. The atomic bomb, concentration camp raids, the further development of the Riddle Empire and then of course there are some major births we are going to be seeing soon.

The original parents of Harry potter for one, how the whole of the magical world is gonna change in the wake of the formation of this new empire is something I'm very excited about writing. I am thinking I might have 3 or 4 more chapters until the conclusion depending on how much I write for the coming chapters. Please have patience with me I will see this through until the end and then hopefully I will be able to finish some of my other works after. I am determined to see my other works completed as well once this one is finished. I decided to focus on one work at a time so I'm not spread too thin. It is a challenge because I am taking care of my baby full time and I still have some health issues. But I will finish them! I promise.

Thank you so much for all your reviews, your support and encouragement means the world to me. I honestly don't know if I would have come back to writing without all of you being here. Knowing that so many people out there actually love to read my stories has been…well I can't tell you how amazing it is to me that you guys take the time to tell me how you feel about my stories. It rocks my world!

Also to the guest reviewer that reviewed under "Nice Note For You" Thank you for reviewing, and I read every review and every single one means the world to mean. Yours was funny and appreciated. Lol see you guys next time.

P.s. please ignore the grammar and spelling mistakes I tried my best. ^_^; but sometimes I have issues since the hospital stay. I was never great at either but now…well it's a real issue now and not due to any laziness or anything. Sorry if it sucks!