Pretence
The owl flew in through the window dropping the Daily Prophet in his lap. He smiled as he put the money in its leg-pouch. He watched it fly out the window and the opened up the newspaper. 'Celebrating the One Year Anniversary to the End of the Dark Reign' the headline flashed. He let out a stifled laugh.
"What does it say?" the other person asked. He gave it over to him, smiling.
"It has to be something really funny, you don't smile very often," the boy in the same room said.
"Well, seems like you were right," he finally let himself laugh. He passed on the paper to the boy.
"Right about what?" the boy inquired.
Not getting an answer he said, "Fine, I will read it. Let's see, it says here: 'Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would like to invite you on a festival reminding us of the independence we got from Voldemort, last year all thanks to the famous Harry Potter, who indeed turned out to be the Chosen One….'"
The boy was cut off by a laugh from the man opposite to him.
"The…they said…Voldemort," he seemed like he was a minute away from rolling on the floor.
"I don't see the joke," the boy glared at him.
"You see," he explained, pulling back a laugh, "They never used the name, they always called me 'You Know Who'. That is what I find funny."
"You find almost everything funny Mr. Tom Riddle," the boy couldn't be less bothered about the situation, "And let me repeat; right about what?"
"You were right about them forgetting about me so easily. I think this is the first article with my name, in months," Mr. Tom Riddle took the paper back, looking at the huge decorated Hogwarts castle plastered near the headline. He let out another laugh.
"You sure laugh a lot more than before, it gets really annoying," the boy sounded agitated, "I wish you could be like before."
"You wouldn't say that if you knew me from then," a shadow passed over Mr. Riddle's face.
"Tell me again; why did you decide to leave your past life?" the boy sat down on the opposite chair.
"The death of my first ever….well you can say…umm…mentor, had more affect on me than anything I have experienced before. I didn't know until after his death that I was emotionally attached to him, in any way. He began to haunt me, when I was dreaming, when I was awake…until I had had enough. I went over and talked to him…sorry, his portrait. After that talk I decided to turn back from that kind of life. You know my mentor is…was very convincing," Mr. Riddle gave a sad smile. The lights dimmed.
"Really? Okay," the boy looked unsure, "Why did you have to pretend then? Why couldn't you have just told everyone that you were going to change?"
"Nobody would believe me. I don't have a trustworthy personality, or a normal past. I have done so much bad that I am completely stained by it and nobody in their right minds would ever believe that I would change…because I am a villain. I don't blame them either," Mr. Tom said in defense.
"Ok, then why did you not just disappear?" the boy pushed on.
He seemed ready for this question, "Because I knew they wouldn't rest until they finished me off for good, especially Harry Potter. I know how that kid feels since I can feel it too."
He pointed to his head.
The boy nodded, "How…."
"Aren't those too many questions?" Mr. Riddle sounded a bit impatient.
The boy stopped, he stared at him for a while and then got up. Tom sat there staring into space.
"Tell me again, why do you help me?" he asked the boy.
"You already know," the boy answered.
"That is why I said again," Tom smiled.
The boy sighed and said in a bored voice, "My father was one of your followers….a Death Eater. And he was really devoted to you, he died because of you. When I grew up my mom told me all about you and my father and I sought you out and did what my father would have wanted for me to do. Help you."
"Usually when someone's parent dies because of me they want revenge," Mr. Riddle commented.
"I don't. I know my father could have still been living if he wanted to. You didn't force him to get your horcrux out," the boy replied.
"True, true. Regulus did do that on his own accord. He was one of the most faithful follower of mine," Tom seemed to be in a better mood now.
"Changing the topic; are you going to go to the celebration?" the boy was at the door now.
"No, I want to be as far away from the Wizarding World as I can," Tom shook his head.
The boy nodded and then left.
A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Tom Marvolo Riddle is a property of J.K. Rowling, the boy was my idea. This fanfic is just an idea I had so if you didn't like it I totally understand.
There might be spelling mistakes.
