Sorry if it's short but it's just an interlude. The real Chapter 1 will be longer and we'll see Tom and Jade find out about the Wizarding World. Prepare for the entrance of Severus and Sirius into the story because it will happen next chapter. And we'll see what happened to Matthew Potter. Hope you like this 'Interlude' though in the meantime. Please tell me what you think!
Interlude
31st December 1976 - Wool's Orphanage
Mrs Cole looked at the woman before her in pity, already convinced she would not survive the night.
"What's your name dear?" She asked her in the most reassuring tone she could master. The woman looked at her from the bed she was lying on, her forehead and hair completely covered in sweat, trying to breathe through the pain of the contractions.
"Merope...Merope Gaunt" She answered at last in a whisper.
"Well Merope, now I need you to breathe deeply, in and out, and when I tell you to, push with all the force you have, okay? Can you do that?".
The woman merely nodded in reply. "Okay, now push!" Merope did as she was told, gasping for the effort.
Mrs Cole was interrupted in the delivery of the baby by Betty, one of the girls who helped her at the orphanage, who made her way into the bedroom, a baby in her arms.
"Mrs Cole, Mrs Cole!" She said to catch her attention. "We found this baby on the doorstep, we don't know how much time she has spent outside. She's sleeping now but she's slightly cold to the touch. What should I do?"
"Don't you see I'm a little busy right now? Put her in a cot and try to warm her up" Mrs Cole answered in a irritated tone.
"There are no more cots Mrs Cole" Betty said, her tone calmer now but also cautious, probably afraid to irritate her more "Only the one here but it's so old I'm afraid it's going to fall off at the slightest weight".
"Put her there for now, then we'll think of what to do".
Betty nodded and gently put the baby inside the cot near the bed, trying to find more blankets to cover her up with. It was an old thing, eaten by woodworms and with a wobbly leg but it was the best they had at the moment.
She returned her attention towards the woman that was in the middle of another contraction. They were more and more frequents, it wouldn't be long now.
"Do you know what name are you going to call your baby?" Mrs Cole asked the woman to distract her from the pain.
"If he's a boy: Tom after his father and Marvolo after my father. Tom Marvolo Riddle".
"And if she's a girl?" Mrs Cole asked, thinking to herself what strange names this woman and her father had. Maybe they were from the circus.
"Jade after Tom's mother and Morrigan after my mother" She said with a small smile. "But I hope he's a boy and that he looks like his father". Mrs Cole didn't comment on the fact that it would have been better for the baby to look like his father since his mother wasn't certainly a beauty. She kept her mental musings to herself and continued helping her delivering the baby.
Less than two hours later the baby - now named Tom Marvolo Riddle - was born and Merope had just the time to hold him in her arms for a few precious moments before she died.
Mrs Cole fed Tom while Betty was feeding the girl, her big green eyes looking curiously around her. Then Mrs Cole put Tom near the baby girl on the cot and noticed that they immediately seemed to reach towards each other until it seemed like they were hugging each other while sleeping. Betty noticed the same thing, if the small smile on her face was any indication.
"Mrs Cole" Betty said again "This baby girl has no name. How should we call her?"
Mrs Cole had the strangest idea in that moment "We'll call her Jade Morrigan Riddle and we'll tell everyone who asks that they are brother and sister".
"Why?" Betty asked confused.
"Because, even if no one will adopt them, they will still have a family in each other".
July 1984 - Wool's Orphanage
Jade was reading, sprawled on her bed in the room she shared with her brother when said brother entered the room with a thunderous expression and a cried "I hate them!". This was not an unusual occurrence so Jade merely rolled her eyes, closed her book and turned to look at Tom.
"What happened this time?" She asked patiently. Tom, unlike herself, was often impulsive and too easy to anger - especially because he often saw it as a direct hit against his pride - while she was colder and more rational, even in the face of extreme humiliation. Tom still needed to learn to mask his emotions and that often, the sweetest revenge was that which came when no one expects it.
"They called me a freak again" Tom said, a little petulantly.
"And you, of course, screamed at them that it was not true and they hit you" Jade said in boredom and Tom glared back at her.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you need to stay calm. Soon, we'll master control of these strange things that we can do and no one in this wretched place would dare harm an hair on our heads".
"When? When will this happen? I am tired of being treated like this, looked at with scorn and suspicious and being called names when these...people" He said the word 'people' like he would say 'cockroaches' "are less than us. We are better than them. We are smarter and we can do things that they have never dreamed of".
"I know Tom, but you must be patient. Soon, they will fear us. Soon, no one would dare utter a single word against us if they don't want to face the consequences".
Tom looked at her with a nod before sitting in the bed next to hers. "Now, have you done like I told you?" Jade asked him in a slightly reproachful tone.
Tom nodded before taking a deep breath and staring fixedly at the book she had left on her bed when Tom had entered the room. A moment later said book was floating a few centimeters above it. Jade smiled at him brilliantly and Tom blushed slightly in pride. He liked it when she was happy with him and likewise hated when she became annoyed when he did something stupid she disapproved of. And unfortunately for Tom, it was rather often.
"Good. Now look at what I've learned and try to replicate it". Jade concentrated on the book still floating on air and a moment later it went crashing against the wall with a loud bang before falling on the floor.
"Wow" Tom looked at her in awe, a look Tom directed often towards Jade. Tom didn't look up to a lot of people - actually he didn't look up to anyone besides Jade. The other people were just too stupid and ordinary for him to ever give them the time of day. Jade was different. First of all, she was his sister, the only family he had ever known, the only person he had ever felt love towards, the only person who knew him completely because the two of them were the same. Second of all, while Tom was incredibly smart and could do things normal people couldn't, she was even smarter and she was the one always teaching him new, strange things, like making objects float without touching them.
Though they were twins, Tom and Jade didn't look identical, though it was obvious they were related. They had both the same pale skin, dark hair and light eyes but Jade's hair were raven black, a shade darker than Tom's; Tom's hair were short and straight while Jade's were long and always styled in perfect waves; Tom's eyes were a deep blue while Jade - like her name said - had jade green eyes.
They were both extremely attractive, even from such a young age. Tom thought that was just another proof that they were simply better than everyone else around them.
Jade was just beautiful, there was no other word for it; beautiful in a flawless, almost inhuman way. Tom had never seen a girl half as pretty as her in the whole of London, even girls older than her.
Tom was aware of the fact that he practically worshipped his sister, that in his eyes she was the epitome of perfection and that he would do anything she asked of him without question.
Maybe a lot of people would think their relationship was not normal. They were too close, too codependent of each other, living in a world made of just the two of them that no one else was allowed to touch. But Tom didn't care. He wouldn't give up on his relationship with his sister for nothing in the world. It didn't matter if the rest of the world hated them as long as they were together.