Pairing: Tom Riddle x f!reader
Status: Completed
Total word count: 45k
Synopsis: In this story, Tom didn't grow up as an orphan, but with his grandfather and uncle. Reader's sister got very sick and the Gaunts offer their help. But not without askin...
So the two of you went there that same night, in a cloak and dagger operation, levitating the cauldron behind you. You had covered it with a white sheet so that if someone saw you, they at least wouldn't know initially what you were doing. The disguise was weak and you knew if Dippet or any other teacher would spot you, you would be screwed.
Luckily none of them were around when you rushed through the halls, aside from Warren O'Connor, a Ravenclaw fifth year, who patrolled a corridor next to their tower. He was too far away to detect the poorly hidden cauldron and didn't even seem to look at you once he recognised Tom.
When you had finally arrived, chest heaving, thoughts rushing from relief and tension, Tom instructed you how to summon the Come and Go Room. You walked past the stone wall three times and imagined, very carefully, what you needed. An airtight room that allowed you to keep on brewing your potion in peace, that no one would be able to find unless you wanted them to. Suddenly, a door appeared. You looked at Tom and he nodded before you took the handle and opened it.
The small room behind the door was, simply put, perfect. Your very own Potions laboratory. Dark and nifty, it offered enough little cabinets to store all the ingredients for the antidote, as well as a worktop to put the cauldron on. Everything looked as if it had been custom made, just for this purpose. Which it was, you had just created it all yourself.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Now that the cauldron was in a safe place Tom felt more at ease and actually thought that the semester break could turn out to be enjoyable. Why did that relax him, though? A question he had asked himself more than once. He didn't have to care, nor did he have to help his fiancée to save her sister. Then why had he done it?
He didn't have a logical answer to that question, even though the illogical one seemed to wave at him from the back of his head. He shrugged it off. But there were so many questions of the same kind running through his mind. Why did he care? He had never cared before. For anyone. That girl wouldn't bring him where he wanted to be just by marrying him. Sure, her family was respected. Of course, they were purebloods, which was why his Grandfather had taken notice of them. But it had never been Tom's wish to marry her. So why didn't he mind the thought anymore? The idea of seeing her walking down the aisle had repelled him immensely when he had found out what Marvolo's plan had been. And now it didn't. He had gotten used to the idea. It even bugged him to think about the fact that the marriage wouldn't happen by chance if the antidote was finished soon enough. Then why did he help her?
There was something inside of him, something that he couldn't just pinpoint yet. Something that made him do the things he had done, even when it had gone against his own benefit. Something that made him care less and less about himself. It must have turned all of his morals upside down, because somehow, and he couldn't explain why, the most important thing was seeing her happy. He didn't even know when his priorities had changed. When he had stopped putting himself first. But it had happened. And that irritated him beyond belief.
