Merope's Pov.
He left me.
Does he even know I'm pregnant with his child? The thoughts don't let me fall asleep, adding to my father's curses and Morphin's laughs. I knew this would happen… It was a potion. It can only make you think that you're in love. But it felt so real… When he smiled at me, whispered words of love in my ear, when he told me he loved me… It all felt so real.
"See what that filthy muggle did to you?" My father seethed. Even though his words were barely a hiss, they felt as if he had screamed them. Morphin's venomous laugh was just the magic touch to make his words mark their way into my heart.
Now I can only remember the good times; when I would run to the river in the mornings, watching my reflection in the clear water. I always knew I was the ugly one, the scars around my eyes reminding me how much of a failure I was. That's when I would see him, riding his horse gracefully, laughing carelessly. The horse's chair had an inscription in silver, which I could read whenever I was close enough. Thomas Riddle. The name resounded in my head over and over. That angel with pitch black hair, vibrant hazel eyes was named Thomas Riddle. I started to go out to see him more often, barely standing a foot in the gross shack I called home. This would ignite my father's rage, and the beating would be horrible once I came home. It didn't hurt, really, because a glance of his elegant figure and his angel-like face was worth the worst torture.
The first time my heart broke because of him was when I saw him with Cecilia. It was early in the morning, the time where Tom would go on a horse ride. I ran to the river and watched the surroundings, until I heard the familiar galloping. My heart swelled with joy, hammering in my chest. When he got close enough so I could see him, I smiled widely. He looked even more handsome than usual, if that was possible. But then I saw another horse, with a girl. She looked his age, and definitely looked as rich as him, wearing very expensive clothes. They were chatting joyfully. My heart shattered. However, that was the only day I saw her around, but judging by how she looked at him (with a dreamy expression), I could see she liked him. But I'm as sure as I can be that she didn't love him as I did.
It all changed once he saw me. He must have heard of me, or my family, probably bad things, so he knew who I was. I was lying in the grass, trying to feel a little alive, and I was so into my thoughts that I didn't hear the galloping.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice broke me out of my trance. I opened my eyes and saw him, leaning over me, a worried expression on his face, which seemed to deepen when I didn't make a sound, just stared at him. If I thought he was beautiful from afar, he was it even more when you looked closely.
"I – I am." I stuttered. He frowned, his eyes scanning my battered face. He reached a hand and touched the bruise under my eye, making me wince in pain, barely feeling how good his touch felt.
"Who did this to you?" Tom asked. My heart swelled with joy at the interest he seemed to have in me, but there was an annoying voice in my head that seemed to hold me down. He is just being nice to you. You're just a fool to believe he would lay his eyes on you, it said. Then, I realized I wouldn't be able to live without him, and started thinking on a way of making him stay with me. A love potion. Yes, that is the answer. Me being a skilled witch, it would be easy for me to prepare one, and now that we knew each other, I would make up a plan to make him drink it. "Who was it?" He interrupted my thoughts.
"I fell. That's all." I lied, poorly. He shook his head.
"It's impossible. Look at these bruises…" He reached his hand again and touched the bruises that covered my cheeks and forehead. My eyes closed in pain. I took his wrist and put his hand away from my face.
"Let it go. It doesn't matter, I can heal them." I said, with a reassuring smile. He shrugged.
"If you say so. Just be careful next time, okay? By the way, my name is Tom." He said, offering his hand to me. I lifted my hand and took his. The contact felt right and soothing.
"My name is Merope." I said, letting go of his hand reluctantly.
"Well, Merope, I have to go back, see you around." He said, with a smile. I never felt more special in my whole entire life. Once he got onto his horse and galloped back and I lost the sight of him, I felt like something was missing. If I got him to drink the potion, I would never feel this way again. The thought made me smile.
That afternoon I worked all I could in the potion, making it perfect. The pink smoke oozed from the yellow-ish liquid, which I put in a bottle. My plan was to give it to him once I saw him, once he looked thirsty. The next day I ran to the forest, sitting underneath a tree, waiting for him. At the same time as always, I heard the familiar galloping of his horse, making my heart speed up. I waited patiently until he noticed me, smiled, waved at me and ran his horse towards me. He climbed down and tied up the rein in a branch.
"Hi Merope. How are you?" He greeted, sitting down next to me, then, he looked down at the bottle in my hands. He looked definitely thirsty. Even though we were a little more acquainted with each other, his closeness still made me nervous.
"I- I'm fine. And you?" I said, fiddling with the bottle in my hands. "I'm okay…" He trailed, and looked down at the bottle again. "I'm really thirsty… Would you give me some of that, please?" He asked with a sheepish smile, signaling to the bottle. I smiled widely.
"Sure, Tom. You can drink it all if you want, I brought it for me, but I'm not thirsty at all." I said. He took the bottle and started drinking it, taking big gulps of it.
"It's tasty. What is it?" He asked, pausing his drinking.
"It's orange juice." I lied. He shrugged and kept drinking, downing it. He put the bottle aside, and frowned. The potion was making effect on him already. He met my eyes, then. His expression softened immediately.
"You look beautiful today, Merope, I hadn't noticed." He whispered. I looked at my lap, not used to people telling me that I was beautiful. He touched my chin to lift my face, looking into my eyes. "I meant it." He whispered, leaning his face closer to mine and set his lips against mine in a mere brush. It took me a nanosecond to register the moment, reassure myself that it was real, and close my eyes.
That's where all started. We would meet in the same place everyday, we would kiss, lay in each other's arms and just talk. He told me he'd kill whoever was hurting me, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn't tell him it was my own father. When we were together, I tried to reassure myself that he really loved me, that it wasn't the potion anymore.
"Do you love me, Tom?" I would ask, lifting my head from his strong chest to look into his eyes. He would smile, and run his hands through my thinning black hair.
"Of course I do. There's nothing better than you. Even if I was offered the whole world, I wouldn't change it for you. No one can compare to you." He would tell me. My smile would widen even more, and I would rest peacefully in his arms again.
Then, something happened. The potion's effect had lasted so much that I thought he was really in love with me, but it was nothing more than the potion. It was getting late, but neither Tom nor I wanted to go back to our homes. That's when we decided to spend the night together. We used Tom's father's stable. We gave into the passion we felt for each other, and one thing led to the other. It was the most glorious moment of my life.
But the morning after, I woke up alone. Tom was nowhere to be seen, and I couldn't risk being seen there by his family, so I put my dirty clothes on and got back to the shack. My father was waiting for me, ready to make me suffer for spending the night away from home, and with a muggle. He used legilimence to see through my eyes everything that had happened between Tom and I, and found out through that way that I had gotten pregnant, something that I didn't know. He couldn't beat me, because the child I was expecting was Salazar Slytherin's heir, and he wouldn't risk harming it. But his words were enough punishment. I went to the forest and waited for Tom in our spot, but he never appeared. I did that everyday until I heard distant galloping. I instantly got excited, I would finally see my love again. But it wasn't him; it was Cecilia. My heart felt let down. I did all I could to not be noticed by her, but she saw me.
"Are you waiting for Tom?" She asked with a scowl. Of course she saw me as trash, nothing more. I nodded, hoping she would tell me that he would come. "Well, I am sorry to be the one who tells this to you, but he left. He is in Liverpool. And he's not coming back" I gaped. I couldn't believe Tom would leave me. Not like this. The tears welled up in my eyes. She galloped back, without saying a word. And I waited, trying not to lose faith in Tom. If I was mistreated before in my house, now it was even worse. I couldn't stop crying. My only source of happiness is having the honor to carry his child within me. And maybe it might seem masochist, but it is enough. I like to believe Tom loved me enough to let me have his child, and I would treasure him with my life. Thomas Marvolo Riddle.
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