Shrouded Nights

By: xxlostdreamerxz

Summary: Morfin Gaunt leaves his newborn bastard, Hadrian, on his nephew's doorstep.


Chapter 1: A Hiss in the Night


Morfin Gaunt pressed the bundle against his chest in a halfhearted attempt to shield it from the elements as he trudged towards the decaying, gray shack. He rapped his knuckles loudly against the door and waited. At first he could hear nothing but the sound of his own harsh, raspy breaths…but then, there. He heard and then caught sight of a large, vicious serpent slithering towards him.

He released a mad little hiss. "Take me to your master, worm," he ordered.

The snake shifted hesitantly, before dipping her head in acquiescence. "Follow me," she hissed, ducking behind a low, worn fence, of which the wizard promptly blasted to shreds. She then led them to the backdoor, which was shrouded by vines.

For the first time that night, Morfin shifted uncertainly.

With a strangely careful air, he placed the bundle on the doorstep. Almost as an afterthought, he shifted back the blanket and stared at his son's face. Familiar feelings of disgust, madness, and…a twisted sort of fondness…welled up inside of him.

"Goodbye Hadrian," he hissed, meeting his son's sleepy, emerald green eyes. And with those last words, he pounded loudly on the backdoor, grinning wildly as he heard someone curse inside. Just as the door slammed open, Morfin met his nephew's surprised gaze and offered him a vicious, toothy smirk before apparating away.

After all, his mistake, his dirty little halfblood son would undoubtedly be happier with his dead sister's bastard.


Cursing softly under his breath, Tom stared down at the gurgling bundle with mixed emotions. It was rather ugly - all baby fat and pudgy limbs - but undeniably of Slytherin descent. Those bright, clear green eyes with hints of gold clearly marked the boy as kin. The boy had to be Morfin's bastard and most likely a half-blood at that; it was the only reasonable explanation as to why Gaunt would choose to dispose of his only heir in such a manner.

Tom's eyes darkened in disgust. He should have gone through with his plan and framed his uncle for the murder of the Riddles.

If only he hadn't slipped up.

Before he'd even really gotten started on torturing the Riddles, Tom had caught the telltale cracks of apparition and quickly AK'ed his family. He didn't know who had tipped them off, but a whole squad of Aurrors had arrived on site to investigate. He was completely surrounded and was hesitant about fighting his way out. Anti-apparition wards had come down and though Tom was sure he could escape unscathed, he was not ready to shed his facade as Tom Riddle, the model student, and don on the one as Lord Voldemort. He was still too young and far from experienced enough to stand alone against the wizarding world and win. He had plans and he refused to allow them to unravel before his very eyes.

Gritting his teeth, Tom had prepared to fight.

However, before he was forced to take drastic measures, his mad uncle had shown up...and had began driving the Aurrors into a frenzy with his hissing. For a split second, the man met Tom's gaze and...winked before giggling madly with delight.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Tom escaped completely undetected.

He hadn't even looked back to see what had become of his uncle. It wasn't any of his business after all.

Tom hadn't expected to see the crazy Gaunt ever again.

And he had never even considered in his wildest nightmares of having a newborn cousin thrust into his life...

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Tom awkward bent down and lifted the bundle off the ground. He wasn't so cruel that he would allow his own blood-related, magical that is, cousin to die in the cold, freezing rain. He would give the brat shelter for the night and come morning he would drop off the little menace at a magical orphanage.

And then he'd completely wash his hands of the brat.

However, unknown to him, the moment Tom crossed his threshold with his cousin a rune activated on the boy's skin...

A rune that signified adoption.

Formal, uncontested, blood adoption.

The Riddle family had, at that very second, gained a new member...


TBC...

A/N: I hope you guys all liked it! I've had this idea floating about in my head for awhile and I just had to get it out on paper. I know that I made Tom a bit OC but I figured he would be a tad less homicidal and a bit more sane since he hadn't created his horocrux yet. Plus, I need him to start caring for Harry later on as the plot develops so I can't exactly let him be an evil, calculating sociopath. I am hoping to actually plan out and outline this fic before I start writing it. This way I won't make the same mistakes that I did in DT and Icy Destiny and get completely sidetracked and confused since each of my chapters seemed to be like a mini-story.

Anyways, on a completely unrelated note. I'll FINALLY be graduating from college in approximately 2 weeks! I've missed fanfic a ton and would definitely like to get back into writing now that I'll actually have some time to myself & no deadlines hanging over my head. If I can, I will definitely try to update DT and Icy Destiny something within this month or next. I feel really bad for making you guys (the ones who have actually stayed with me all these years) wait so insanely long for an update. I know I'm pretty bad at keeping promises when it comes to updates, but I will try! If I don't succeed, at least I will update for sure sometime this summer. I'm really really blessed that so many of my readers have stuck by me after all my stunts and disappearances. I promise I'll try to be more accountable in the future.

But for the time being, PLEASE REVIEW!