Author's Note: Written for Alys, who suggested I write a Merope lives!AU. Honestly, I'm surprised I never thought to do this before.
A Mother's Love
There was always sadness in his mother's eyes. She tried to hide it from him, but it was always clear to Tom.
It seemed to come out whenever he asked about his father, so he stopped asking.
It flared when her boss at the apothecary yelled at her for having to bring Tom in, so he learned to be quiet.
Sometimes, he thought he could even see the sadness when she looked at him, so he started running away.
He never got very far. Merope Riddle was not a powerful witch, but she would go through heaven and hell to be with her son.
"Oh, Tom," she would say, brushing the dirt from his clothes. "Why do you leave? You know I love you." And he would nod and allow himself to be led back to the flat above the apothecary.
Late at night he'd lie awake and listen to her muffled cries and wonder why she loved him if he hurt her so much. It was a question she could never fully answer, although she insisted that he didn't hurt her at all.
There was never a question of whether or not she cared for him. Tom always knew without a doubt that she did. Whether he loved her in return, he could never say. There was something there, something that saddened him to hear her cry or see that look in her eye. It was the same something that prompted him to run away; the promise that he would keep trying his hardest to make her happy.
Sometimes he wondered if he was even capable of love.