Like father, like son
Chapter 02 - Tom Riddle Jr.
"Mrs. Campbell told me you would come… So, you want to see Tom Riddle, is that right?"
"Yes," the man whispered, starting to feel uncomfortable with the way the old woman kept staring at him. Ever since he had arrived at the orphanage, Mrs. Cole had kept her eyes glued on him, analyzing every move he made, and it was beginning to bother him. "I don't need to talk to him, you see… I just want to look at him."
"I understand." The woman raised an eyebrow and got up from her chair. "Come with me, please."
The man followed the matron, feeling a weird sensation starting to build up inside him. It was the kind of sensation he used to feel when he was a kid and was anxious for something. It was weird, but he tried to ignore it and kept walking behind Mrs. Cole until they reached an old room filled with bookshelves and a few tables; maybe it was an old library.
The woman stood still by the doorstep and pointed at something inside the room. When he looked at what she was pointing to, Tom found himself staring at a boy who was sitting at one of the tables, reading a book he was holding in his small hands.
He felt as if someone had sucked all the air from his lungs as he looked at the other… The child was an exact copy of himself. They had the same pale skin, the same blue eyes, the same dark brown hair… The boy even bit down on his lower lip while reading, something that Tom himself had the habit of doing.
Taking a deep breath and looking at the boy one last time, the man turned around and looked at the matron. "I… Thank you, Mrs. Cole, but I'm afraid I have to go now."
"What…?" The woman stared at him blankly, before following him quickly. "Is there any problem, sir?"
"No, really, everything is alright." He gave her a fake smile. "But I really have to go now."
Mrs. Cole stood in the middle of the entrance hall, staring at the man who was now leaving the orphanage as quickly as possible, not looking back as the walked down the street.
Ellen Campbell knew that eavesdropping was a horrible thing, but she couldn't help stopping by her drawing room when she heard Tom Riddle speaking in a quick and nervous tone at the other side of the door. The woman guessed he was at the phone, as she couldn't hear anyone talking back to him, and tried to understand the conversation.
"What are you doing?"
Mrs. Campbell gasped as she felt someone touching her arm and turned around quickly to see her husband standing behind her with a playful smile on his lips. "For God's sake, Charles," the woman whispered. "Do you want to kill me?"
"You shouldn't be eavesdropping. You know that, right?"
"I know." She took a deep breath, looking at the door in front of them. "What's going on?"
"Tom went to the orphanage today," the man explained. "He saw his… son."
"Oh…"
"He came to talk to me after he left the orphanage, and I must say I've never seen Tom as disturbed as he was today." Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair. "He wanted to know what he was supposed to do…"
"And… What did he decide?"
"Well, he's going to keep the boy." Mr. Campbell smiled as he saw his wife sigh in relief. "I bet he's doing it only because he feels he has to, you know? Guilt, maybe…"
"But at least he's taking that boy out of that orphanage," Ellen whispered and smiled. "Tom may not think of that child as his son, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before he starts to act like a father."
"I hope you're right, darling." The man laughed quietly before kissing her.
"And what is he doing now?" She pointed at the door.
"Talking with his parents," Charles explained. "You know how…"
"Shh!" The woman put her finger on her husband's lips, keeping him from talking; she was trying to listen what was going on inside her drawing room. "Let me try to listen…"
"No, I'm not mad… Father! I am not mad! What? What do you mean we have no money to take care of a child? God knows we have enough money to take care of at least five of them! You don't have to look after him, we have what, three or four people working in that house, they can look after him… Alright, let me talk to mother, please? … Mother? Hello… Yes, his name is Tom… What he is like? I don't know, but he seems to be pretty quiet, I'm sure he won't disturb you… Yes, mother, a grandson… I know…"
Ellen smiled, turning to look at Charles. "He's doing well, I guess."
"I know I wouldn't be able to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Riddle like that. "The man laughed.
"Don't be mean!"
"I'm just saying the truth!"
"So you're Tom's father, right?" Mrs. Cole asked, raising her eyes from the bunch of papers that she was holding in her hands, and saw the man in front of her nodding. "That's what I thought; the similarities between the two of you are almost scary… Well, everything's done here, do you want to talk to him before…?"
"I just want to end this as soon as possible."
The woman's face contorted into a serious expression as she stared at him, not approving his rudeness. Ignoring the other's behavior, Mrs. Cole got up and went to the boys' room, asking his father to wait for them in the entrance hall of the orphanage.
Riddle kept looking around nervously while he waited for the matron to come back. What was he supposed to say to the boy? "Hi, Tom, I'm your father and I'm taking you home. Oh yeah, I'm sorry I only came to get you now." No, that wouldn't do.
It didn't take too long for Mrs. Cole to get back, now with a small suitcase in her hand and a child following her. The boy's stare instantly fell on the man and Riddle felt totally exposed as he was being analyzed by those cold blue eyes.
"Here it is." The woman practically threw the suitcase into Riddle's arms, before kneeling down in front of the child. "Take care of yourself, Tom, please."
The boy didn't say anything and didn't show any emotion as the matron hugged him tightly. When the woman let go of him, her eyes were shining with tears… She had never demonstrated it too much, but she always felt something stronger towards the Riddle boy, after all, she had been taking care of him since he was born.
"Good bye, darling." She pecked him on his forehead, before getting up and walking with them to the front door. "Take good care of him, sir."
The older Tom, just like his son, didn't say anything, only giving a curt nod before walking out of the orphanage and entering the car that was waiting for them.
"Who are you?" That was the first time he heard the boy's voice.
"Your father."
"You adopted me, then of course, according to the law, you're my father," the young Tom mumbled and the man couldn't help but ask himself if every six year old spoke like that. "I want to know what you do, sir."
"I live in Little Hangleton. It's a few miles from here, and I help my parents to take care of some of their business," the man answered. "And, by the way, I was already your father before entering that building and adopting you…"
"What do you mean?"
"Your name is Tom Riddle, right?" The boy nodded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tom… I'm Tom Riddle."
A/N: Another chapter (: I truly love that scene where Tom Sr. is talking with his parents on the phone... For me it shows a lot of the rest of the Riddle family (:
Thanks everyone who left a review until now :D
Beta read by Shadow6116.
Hope you enjoyed it. Please, tell me what you think about this chapter :)
Ari.
