Riddle's Little Problem

by Batsutousai

An accident has separated Tom Riddle from Lord Voldemort. What will the Dark Lord do now that he's free from Tom's conscious? How much will Tom have to suffer at the hand of his other half? And what can Harry Potter do to help?

4. Failure?

Title: Riddle's "Little" Problem
Author: Batsutousai
Beta: Me. -smiles innocently-
Rating: hard R
Pairings: Voldemort/Tom Riddle(non-con)
Warnings: Rape(non-graphic), physical violence, serious death threats, war, slash
Summary: An accident has separated Tom Riddle from Lord Voldemort. What will the Dark Lord do now that he's free from Tom's conscious? How much will Tom have to suffer at the hand of his other half? And what can Harry Potter do to help?

Disclaim Her: -poke, poke-

-/-

Failure?

-/-

I wake in the dungeons. It's cold down here, and the thin night-robe I've taken to wearing is certainly not keeping me warm.

Where's Voldemort?

I glance up and see a pale, pointed face looking back at me. The Malfoy whelp.

"Severus!"

His voice is loud in the silence and I can't help but wince. I'll bet my life that there's dried blood on the back of my head. Damned monster.

Hurried footsteps sound and Severus comes into sight. There is concern in his eyes, though the rest of his face is a mask of indifference. I can't help the patronizing smile that I feel at my lips. Severus doesn't care about anything. Except maybe the whelp.

"My Lord, how do you feel?" he asks.

I frown at the concern in his voice. "I've been worse. Where's Voldemort?" I respond, wincing at how my voice cracks. It would figure that I'd get sick while locked up in my own dungeons.

"He went for Potter," Malfoy replies.

My eyes widen and I reach out for the thread of light that connects me to Potter. It's still there, but I can't touch it. So he's found a way to block our chats. Lovely.

"My Lord?"

I glance back up at Severus tiredly. "Go back to your duties. He'll murder you if he catches you here," I point out. Morpheus seems to want me back, and he isn't this cell, so he seems a much better decision.

"As you wish, my Lord," Severus bows, then leaves.

Malfoy takes up a position to one side of the cell. So he's here to guard me.

Not that I need the guarding. He blocked my magic too.

Curse him.

-/-

"Fuck you all!"

I glance up tiredly and find that Weasley's been thrown into my cell. "Fabulous."

"This is all your fault!" he screams, turning on me.

I offer him a bored stare. "Feel free to beat me to a pulp while you're busy accusing me of shit, Weasley."

"You-you-you..."

"I what?" I sneer at him. Three days of being locked up in a dungeon cell with only enough food to keep me alive has not left me in a very pleasant mood.

"You-"

"You talk too much, Weasley," he calls from the other side of the cell's bars.

"You!" Weasley turns on my other half.

I hurry to my feet and grab Weasley. The last thing we need is him attacking Voldemort. "What do you want now?" I ask him evenly.

Voldemort smirks and beckons to me. "Come here, pet."

"You le-"

I slam a hand over Weasley's mouth. "Shut up before you get yourself killed," I hiss in his ear.

"That's cute. You're trying to protect him, aren't you, pet?" Voldemort calls through the bars, smiling at us patronizingly.

Only my hand keeps Weasley from replying, I believe, and I offer my other half a scowl. "What do you want?"

"Come here," he repeats, motioning for me to walk up to the bars.

"Tell me what you want," I shoot back, narrowing my eyes. If he's not going to tell me what he wants, I'm not moving.

His mouth curls into a cold smile. "I want your little arse in my bed. Now get over here."

I stare at him in shock. Is he insane!

"Fuck off, you sick bastard!" Weasley's voice drags me from my shock. I find that he's gotten out of my grasp and is standing in front of me protectively, shockingly enough.

Voldemort aims his wand at Weasley and I quickly move between them, giving my other half a cold look. "Go away."

"Crucio," he intones. I easily keep from screaming, he's not trying very hard. "Now, get over here," he orders once he's lifted the curse.

Weasley kneels next to me, placing himself between Voldemort and myself. "Here." He slips something into my hand, then glares up at Voldemort. "Sick fuck."

"Crucio."

I wince, but use the distraction I know Weasley caused on purpose to hide the small tracer in one of the pockets of my robe. Granger must have thought that one up, since I doubt Potter or Weasley would have been creative enough.

"Now, pet," he orders once he's ended the curse, leaving Weasley laying on the ground of the cell, breathing heavily.

I rest my hand on Weasley's shoulder for a brief moment before standing and walking up to the bars of the cell. This is our last chance.

Voldemort lets me out, then forces me into a kiss - probably to tick Weasley off. I allow it - he's pissed off enough as it is - then follow him when he drags me from the dungeons.

On our way up, I see the Malfoy whelp and give him a quick look before we pass. I can only hope that he catches the message I tried to pass through it. Weasley could do with an ally down here, even if it was an ally that didn't like him in the least.

Death Eaters stop to stare as he drags me past. I know they're wondering who I am. Very few know what I looked like in my youth. If not for Dumbledore, Severus never would have found out, most likely.

But none dare to ask. Only fools question Voldemort. Fools and Gryffindors, like Weasley. And myself, I suppose.

The half-blood fool.

He pushes the door to our bedroom open and throws me in. I wince as I hit the floor with a fair bit of force. Oh, he's certainly not pleased.

The door slams behind him. "You dared to question me?"

I glare up at him. "Am I not allowed to question myself now?" I shoot back viscously.

"I'm nothing like you, you little Mudblood!" His foot connects with my side.

I scoot away from him, holding my side carefully. Yay for suicide missions! "You are me, you bastard!"

"Crucio!"

I thrash under the curse, doing my damnest to swallow my screams. Great. It actually hurts this time.

The curse ends suddenly and he walks over. "I know what you're trying to do, pet," he offers in a honeyed voice, leaning over me. "It's not going to work, you know."

I spit in his face.

His hand slams across my face and I can't help the hiss of pain. "I am going to make you hurt so bad for that," he informs me before pulling away. "Get undressed."

"Make me," I call, grasping the tracer in one hand. Once it leaves the area of my body heat, it will activate. Hopefully, Potter will be watching so he can activate it on his side right away. I really don't care to be raped again, thanks.

Voldemort grabs my throat and pulls me to my feet. "You're only making this harder for yourself, pet," he informs me.

I throw the tracer with one hand as I kick out at him.

He apparently decides to ignore the kick, since he starts pulling my robe off instead.

The moment my robe falls to the ground, Voldemort freezes, eyes on mine. Pain dances in the scarlet eyes for a long moment before he sinks to the ground.

Potter stands over my other half's body, a dagger in one hand. Granger is standing behind him, one hand over her mouth. I glance down at Voldemort's dead body, not sure whether I should be celebrating or crying.

"Tom?"

I step around Voldemort and walk over to my wardrobe. Mine. Not ours. He's dead now. It's just mine. Not his, not anymore.

"Tom?"

What to wear. What to wear. I could wear that green robe. It looks better on me than it does on him. Did. He's dead.

"Tom, are you oka-"

"No, I'm not okay," I murmur before Potter can finish his question. I pull the green robe from the wardrobe. It will do.

"How can we help?" Potter asks quietly, setting a hand on my shoulder.

I pull away sharply. "For the last fucking time! Don't touch me!" I glare at him.

Potter just purses his lips. "Come off it, Tom."

I slip into the robe quickly, then push past the brat to his dead body. His wand is in his left pocket, as I'd expected, and I turn to Potter with it raised.

"No!" Granger immediately jumps in front of Potter.

I give the Muggle-born a bored look. "Either I cast a Glamour on him or let the Death Eaters kill him. Move."

Granger shifts to one side warily. "Only a Glamour."

I consider casting the Glamour with the wand movements for the Cruciatus, but decide against it when I see Granger's wand poking out from the sleeve of her robe. "Glamourie," I intone, then smile to myself as it works. I'd almost expected my magic to still be blocked. Of course, I can now also touch the line of light that passes between Potter and myself, so it would be only logical that I could cast spells again.

Potter points his wand at me and I freeze. "Sanesco."

The throbbing in both my side and my cheek disappear. I blink a few times at smiling green eyes before turning to Granger and casting another Glamour. "Let's go get Weasley," I grumble before turning from both Gryffindors and walking from the room.

When the Death Eaters stare at us this time, I give them deadly looks and they look away. I may not look like Voldemort, but I can certainly glare like him.

The Malfoy whelp and Severus stand outside Weasley's cell, arguing with a couple of cloaked Death Eaters over torturing the boy when we get there. Seeing as how I hardly care about doing anything but getting out of this damned building, I aim my wand at the two backs and whisper, "Avada Kedavra."

"Tom!" Potter's voice comes from behind me as the two Death Eaters fall to the ground in a heap.

"Don't you 'Tom' me, Potter," I hiss over my shoulder. "Open that cell," I add to Severus, who moves quickly to comply.

Potter's hand falls down on my shoulder and he swings me around. "I'm going to break your wand next time you cast that spell."

"I'm going to break your neck if you don't stop touching me," I hiss back.

Potter lets go immediately. "Give me your wand."

"What! No!" I hide my wand behind my back. I don't really care if I'm acting like a child. I just got this back, I'm not letting go of it again any time soon. Not even for Potter.

Nimble fingers pick my wand from my fingers as Granger hurries past us to check on Weasley. "Ron!"

"Give that back!" I call, spinning.

Severus gives me a strange look. "What now, my Lord?"

"He's not anyone's lord, now," Weasley points out with a crooked grin. I glare at him.

Potter steps up next to me, expression flat. "Snape, Malfoy, I'm giving the both of you a head start. I'd suggest leaving the country, personally."

"What about Lor-Tom?" Malfoy asks, looking lost.

"Without his help, we never would have gotten rid of Voldemort," Granger murmurs. "He's a hero."

"He's as much the Dark Lord as the man you killed," Severus points out.

Potter turns to me. "Do you want to take over the world, Tom?"

I stare at him. Do I? Not really. Voldemort was always the one who wanted that, now that I think about it. I just want to read some books. Who cares about the world? I shake my head faintly in response to Potter's question.

Potter turns to Severus as Granger speaks up, "Tom Riddle and Voldemort are two halves of the same person. Tom's the half that doesn't care so much about taking over the world and would prefer studying while Voldemort is the half that wants to hurt others and destroy everything in sight. Together, they are pretty much unbeatable, as Tom can strategize and find new spells while Voldemort has the drive to act on the knowledge and doesn't care so much about others' lives. Right?" She glances over at me.

I nod. "You got it in one."

Granger shrugs. "Harry's the one that figured it all out."

"It didn't make half as much sense when I said it earlier," Potter mutters, looking down at his feet.

Severus nods. "Very well. Come, Draco. We need to find your mother and let her know we're leaving," he decides before bowing to me. "Good luck with these...Gryffindors, my Lord."

I nod. "Go."

Severus leads Malfoy past me with hurried steps and I turn to watch them leave.

"What are we going to do with Tom?" Weasley asks in a poor version of a whisper to his friends.

"Tom?"

I glance back at the three. "Yes, Potter?"

Potter smiles. "Would you like to return to Hogwarts with us? I'm sure you'll find that there's a Defence Against the Dark Arts position there for you if you'd like to take it."

I blink a few times before shaking my head. "Minerva will never agree."

"You don't know until you try," Granger points out, also smiling.

"I mean, we'll vouch for you," Weasley agrees, grinning.

"Come on." Potter motions for me to come over to them. "Wouldn't you like to come home?"

"Fine. But only because Granger still has my wand," I decide. Then I cross the distance between us and allow Potter to take my hand. Together, we Apparate away.

-/-

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A/N: It's not over yet, my friends - and you're all going to hate me soooooooo much next chapter... XD

That was anti-climatic. -.-

On another note:
AHAHAH! I laugh at you ALL! All those panicked reviews about me having to kill off Tom made me laugh so hard.
Think about it this way: when Tom and Voldemort split, they would have both received half of their original soul(about 1/14th of a soul, for those of you who are as good with math as I am...), making them each other's Horcrux. So, yes, Tom was Voldemort's Horcrux, but, in the same manner, Voldemort was Tom's Horcrux.
Feeling better now?

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