It was an accident, like all of the greatest romances are. It was forbidden. It was wrong. It was impossible. And yet… it happened.
Dark and light, good and evil, Harry and Tom. They were so different. And yet, when they were reduced to the mere fabric of what makes us human, they were the same.
Abused, lost little boys, searching for some kind of acceptance in the world. But one found fame and one found infamy. One struggled to step out of the spot light and the other struggled to gain it. But, at the heart of things, they wanted the same thing; someone, one person, to see them as who they were, not the Gods people made them out to be. And, in the end, it was the least likely person to see that who did.
When they first met, Tom tried to kill Harry, like he did the second, third and fourth times. In fact, Tom made his whole world about Killing Harry. That was how he came to know who Harry really was.
Like any good murderer, Tom researched his victim quite thoroughly. He went to Harry's childhood home and saw what had been done there. He walked past the cupboard and sensed the past that lay, dormant but troubled, within its walls. He saw the chains and the bars and the cat flap in 'Dudley's Spare Room' and he knew. Tom watched Harry interact. He saw his prey in day to day life and perhaps he wanted to kill Dumbledore a little more, perhaps he crucio'd Snape a little more often. And, perhaps, he felt a little more warmly to a specific Weasel and Mudblood.
Tom felt no remorse when he cried out Avada Kedavra, with his wand pointed at Harry's chest. He held no guilt, but the wince when the green light hit Harry, it was not only because it, too, killed part of him. For there was some part of Tom that was sad that Harry had lived such an awful life. There was some part of him that hoped that Harry could have a happier time in the afterlife.
When Harry arrived at King's Cross he saw two people. He saw Dumbledore and he saw the shell that once might have been called Tom Riddle.
Written: 27th December 2009
Chances of continuation: possible
Feel free to use this piece of writing for whatever the hell you want, so long as you credit me (either this account or my main one - Calistabelle) and let me know what you do with it.
Much love,
Cal