I do not own Harry Potter, no matter how much I may think about it. That right, and all reserved rights, belong to J.K. Rowling and her publishers, etc. etc.
Familial Ties
Of course amongst the older wizarding families everyone is related to everyone in varying degrees and relations. Some are connected through marriages, and other are connected by blood, though distant.
It would makes sense that in some muggle families the same goes for people used to living in smaller areas, close-knit communities and such.
It would makes sense why Lily Evans parents never talked about the strange and eerily un-gruesome murder of her great-uncle and great-grandparents. The killing curse is surprisingly humane, all things considered. It also begins to explain many things.
Tom Riddle and Harry Potter could have easily been twins or brother, save for the differing eye colors and era each was born in.
That relation comes again from the Potter family, or the once Peverell family, though not as ancient or noble as the House of Black or the House of Slytherin/Gaunt, who had a distant aunt marry directly into the Gaunt family line (which was surprising then for the inbreeding that usually took place) way back that it becomes distant memory only to family matriarchs who have a mind for family history and that sort of thing.
In either case many pure blood families had to admit that the Peverell/Potter genes were strong and that anyone who wished to protect the blonde did best not to marry someone from them, because the Potter genes would always show up, sooner or later, like Draco Malfoy's grandchild who had black hair and startling blue eyes compared to his father's light blonde hair and gray eyes, and his grandfather's light blue eyes and light blonde hair, and his great-grandfather Lucius who had light blonde hair and light blue eyes. It would go on, except that Narcissa, from the Ancient and Noble House of Black, was third cousins to James Potter, and somehow passed those genes on, ruining the perfect blonde Malfoy family line.
Draco Malfoy held his grandchild before cursing a certain black haired git, and somewhere Harry Potter sneezed.
In either case, being related by blood does not mean that you are descended from them.
Like in the case of Lily Evans' grandmother, Petunia Riddle, who was the sister of Tom Riddle, who turned out to be Senior Tom Riddle, unwilling father of Tom Riddle Jr, (a.k.a.: Voldemort). Though, under that love spell potion Tom Riddle (Sr.) was anything but unwilling to do the deed with Merope Gaunt.
So, if following along correctly it is easy to see that Tom Riddle, Jr. and Harry Potter (I... ?) were distant cousins. It explains why they looked so similar, at a point in their lives, because you have to admit that the creepy red-eyes were a new development, and why it was so easy for them to share similar cores for their wands.
Aside from temperaments, certain families also have a tendency to stick to a certain number of basic cores for their wands. The shock present in Ollivander's face and voice when he presented Harry Potter with his wand was not just the knowledge that he just linked the boy to his worst enemy, but also the realization of what this could mean in terms of family ties, because Blood Magic is amongst the most powerful forms of magic available, in fact it could be considered the most powerful, second only to Love (which is damn near difficult to master except for extreme cases).
Often times a ghost of a family member finds it easy to attach itself, in terms of haunting and possession, if there was once a blood tie between the two of them, no matter how distant.
So Ollivander presented that wand with fear, because it is sometimes impossible to say whether evil will ever truly die.
Ok, so I wrote this out of a spur-of-the-moment type thing. This is partly AU and partly based off of what I can remember from the books. The AU part is definitely Lily Potter (Evans)'s grandmother being a sister to Tom Riddle Sr., because if you look at Voldemort's family tree T.. was an only child.
Ok, so maybe this is almost completely AU because the Voldie Family Tree was the only thing I actually looked up, the rest I might have just pulled out of thin air.
I hope some people will actually understand the several references I've made in it at the end, mainly because I was alluding to Harry having a part of Voldie's soul in him, and the distant Peverell-Gaunt relation he inherited along the Potter Family line.
Like everything, I thought three was a good number and threw in an Riddle-Evans relation to spice things up, and make the whole cousins bit come around full circle for Harry.
Please review, if you should feel so inclined. It would be appreciated, especially seeing as this is my 14th fic posted.
Yes~! I just broke past unlucky number 13!!!\
And in case anyone wonders, Harry's relation to Voldie is an even square, because squares are easier broken than circles, or geometrically sturdy triangles (think of architecture and building bridges). Harry inherited blood from his father, blood from his mother, a piece of Voldie's soul, and that wand match-up.
And remember, I do NOT own Harry Potter. (sniff, sniff, tear, tear)