A/N: :D Yay! I've been feeling a lot better so I was able to squeeze this out of my brain between classes. :) Thank you to Julie. fjad for the encouragement, too!

Chapter 7: What's Done in the Dark…

It was a very cold afternoon on January 9th. A blizzard had made its rounds a week ago, and the town was covered in snow. Tom watched as a silver fluff zoomed around. Back and forth it went about, flipping and flopping around in the snow.

"Aren't you cold? You've been out here for hours. And I made soup."

The silver fluff turned around and looked at her brother. She gave him a toothy grin. She had lost four teeth in the first two weeks that she had been with her brother. Rosette had to explain to the hysterical Tom that she was fine and this was normal. Since then, he had begun to make softer foods for his teeth-lacking sister.

Rosette ran inside and put her coat, gloves, and boots away before racing to the kitchen. He brother had outdone himself today with the stew. She could smell so many different and delicious things going on in that pot on the stove. She waited patiently as he got out two bowls from the cabinet and ladled a generous sized portion into each bowl.

"There we are. Alright, be careful. It's still very hot. Did you have fun in the snow?"

Tom waited for Rosette to respond. Despite his earlier warning, she still decided to shovel a large spoonful of soup into her mouth. He chuckled as she panicked and let the soup run out of her mouth back into the bowl.

"Ih wah okay," she said with her tongue still hanging out. She grabbed her tongue and cast a small cooling charm on it. She decided to do the same with the soup. "I made snow angels and built a snowman!"

Tom smiled at her. "Oh really? That sounds like fun"

The two talked for a long time as they ate their lunch.


"Happy birthday to me," the black haired boy sighed. He there was no point in leaving his room and had been sitting by the window for hours watching the snow fall. His father had probably forgotten about his birthday. It wouldn't really matter, either. His father cursed the black haired boy's existence any chance he got. His father would probably thrash him if he mentioned his birthday. His mother…she knew today was his birthday, but was probably too afraid to bring it up. She would just get another beating on top of the ones she usually got daily. The boy wished that Lily could play today, but she was in muggle primary school and her parents were taking her to see a movie afterward. Hours went by and he eventually moved from the window to his bed. It was only four in the afternoon but it he didn't really expect anything to happen. Just as he was about to close his eyes and go to sleep, he heard a faint knock on his door. It had to be his mother, because his father would have kicked the door down. Sure enough, his mother quietly walked in. The boy feigned sleep. He wasn't really in the mood to talk. His mother thought that he really was asleep and sighed crestfallenly. She set something on his nightstand, kissed his head, and promptly left in a hurry. When she closed the door, the boy opened his eyes again and looked at his nightstand. She had left him a small chocolate cupcake with green frosting and a little candle on top. He took the cupcake and noticed that she had set it on top of a letter. He took one good look at the seal on the envelope and almost shouted with joy. Thankfully he stopped himself before he did and ate his cupcake, full of content for the first time in months.


It was January 20th, and Tom finally realized that he had no idea when Rosette's birthday was. She was turning eight this year. He really wanted to ask, so he decided to find her and do so. He found her jumping from couch to couch in the living room. He caught her mid jump, causing her to shriek and giggle. He carried her over his shoulder around the house.

"Hey, Rosette? When is your birthday?" he asked as he walked into the foyer, poking her in the side every so often to get a squeal from her.

"January 30th!" she finally got out. She squirmed as Tom continued to tickle her mercilessly. "When is yours?" she asked through laughs.

"It was on December 31st."

Rosette stopped laughing instantly and wriggled free from Tom's grip, landing on the floor. "What?! That's already past! Why didn't you say anything!?"

Tom was startled by her apparent anger, "I-I…My birthday has never been important to me. It's never been celebrated, so I've never cared." He looked at her with apologetic eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, we can have a small party for the both of us."

Rosette pondered for a moment. Having a double party could be fun…

"Ok! But, next year, we're gonna celebrate your birthday on YOUR day of birth," she proclaimed as she ran off.


A few days later, Rosette was sitting her room with Apep. It was late at night and she had originally gone up to her room to sleep. That is, until she picked up one of her new Charms tome. She was a quarter of the way done with the book when she realized what time it was.

"It's nearly midnight, Apep." She turned to look at her friend, only to find him fast asleep, as usual. She huffed at him. "Lazy Lizard"

He woke up to snicker, before falling right back to sleep. Rosette was about to flick him on the tail, when she heard voices. Multiple ones. Brother is having company over this late? She was thinking to herself when she heard a loud growl. She looked around to see where it came from, only to hear the growl again. She stopped and laughed. It was her own stomach.

"Guess I better go and get a snack."

Rosette tiptoed down the stairs. She could still hear the other voices. They were coming from her brother's meeting room. She had only been in there once, but didn't enjoy it. The aura of the room seemed off, and it scared her. She didn't want to stay downstairs too long, so she quickly ran to the kitchen. There were plenty of things to choose from in the kitchen now that Tom constantly kept it stocked at 100%. Rosette finally settled on a chocolate muffin and bottle of water. She was about to leave the kitchen, when a hand grabbed her tightly by her hair.

"Looky a' wot we got here! Wot you think you're doing in here? You done broke in, thinkin' you can jus' take food?"

Rosette gasped and tried to turn to see who her attacker was. He was a tall man with dirty brown hair, brown eyes, a big nose, and ugly yellow teeth. He lifted her up by her hair, eliciting a cry from her.

"My my, ain't you a cute 'un. Lil' chocolate drop, eh? Wot do you suppose I do with you?" he muttered in her ear. His breath reeked of sardines and alcohol.

"Let go of me!" Rosette snarled. She tried to break free, but her flailing only made the man tighten his grip on her hair. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

The man snorted. "Ah! Now you're cryin'?" He began to drag her into the meeting room where the others were. Tom had not arrived from his errand yet, so they were waiting for him.

"Look! I found this gal in the kitchen," the man said proudly. The others circled around them. Rosette looked around wildly as the other people conversed and touched her.

"Very pretty"

"Look how little she is"

The man holding her by the hair let out a chortle. "I wonder if she can suck my di-"

The man never saw the green light heading towards him. The light hit him in the centre of his forehead, killing him instantly. The others backed away with haste, and Rosette, hair finally released, fell to the ground. She then, began to cry profusely.

"I'm in a terrible mood right now…" Tom said as red lights flew from his wand, hitting every Death Eater in the room. He walked over to Rosette, staring daggers at everyone he passed. "We will discuss things tomorrow. Leave. Now," he seethed.

He picked Rosette up in his arms and carried her to her room. She was still crying when they got to her room. Tom sat down on her bed with her still in his arms. He held her until she cried herself to sleep. His emotions were out of control. He felt pure rage and sadness for what had happened to Rosette. How dare they touch her! Their filthy hands on her. Talking to about her like that. I should just kill them all. In the middle of Tom's angry inner ranting, a thought came up. Oh my god…I'm going to have to explain everything to her, now. All because of that sodding- His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Rosette's light snoring. At least she's sleeping well. Tom wasn't going to leave her side for the rest of the night. He carefully positioned her on his chest and laid back against the headboard. He too, was soon fast asleep.


Rosette slowly opened her eyes. It was still early in the morning. She gripped tightly at her blanket, only to find that it wasn't her blanket she was gripping at all. A shirt? She looked up to see her brother still sleeping. I guess I fell asleep on him. She didn't want to wake him. She could tell he had been very tired from the dark circles under his eyes, looking especially dark against his pale skin. To keep herself occupied until Tom woke up, Rosette attempted to recite every spell she knew in her head alphabetically. She got all the way to Protego when she felt Tom stir. The first thing he saw when he opened his dark eyes were violet ones, calmly staring back at him.

"Good morning," he whispered timidly. Last night's events were still fresh on his mind, and he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt and responsibility over what had transpired.

"Good morning, Brother!" she replied cheerfully, completely throwing Tom off. Her next question made him want to vomit out of sheer anxiety. "Who were those people? Why were they in the house?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair with such angst. I may as well start from the beginning.

"Ok...Well…So…" For the first time ever, Tom would have rather died. "They work for me…" He looked down to see Rosette's face contorting into one exhibiting the utmost betrayal.

"Tom, they're bad."

"I know-"

"Tom, they're bad."

"Yes, I know that…They're Death Eaters," he waited for her to put two and two together.

Things suddenly began to click for Rosette. "Tom…Riddle?"

He nodded.

She began to tear up. "You've killed people…"

Tom's heart sunk to depths lower than he thought possible. He had never felt remorse until now, and he didn't like the feeling. "Yes… I have. But, it's for a good cause. By birth right, Purebloods should be able to reign over this land, unhindered by muggles and halfbloods."

Rosette just stared at him, processing what her brother said. She had read bits and pieces of newspapers. She knew the magnitude of her brother's destruction. He was evil. He was Voldemort. She should hate him, but she could bring herself to do so. He was the only family she had left in this world. She loved Tom too much to even begin to hate him.

Tom began to fidget from her lack of reply. He was sure she would tell him that she hated his guts and would want nothing to do with him.

"Rosette, I-"

"Shut up," she commanded sharply. He stopped immediately and waited for her to speak. She took a deep breath and looked directly in his eyes. "You've done terrible things. Countless people have been killed by your order. You're probably the one responsible for Kingsbridge, too. You're a murderer," she paused. Tears streamed down her little cheeks. He was on the verge of crying himself. "You're a murderer," she repeated, "But… you're my brother first. My friend second, and a murderer third. I don't agree with what you're doing…but I won't hate you for it. You have you're reasons. As long as you continue to be my big brother above all, that's all that matters."

Tom couldn't breathe. He couldn't believe what she had just said. He finally came back to reality when he felt a tightening around his midsection. Rosette was hugging him. She wasn't running away. He wrapped his arms around her, for it was all he could do.

"Thank you, Rosette," he whispered.

A/N: He's got such a soft spot for his little sister C: Favourites, Follows, and Reviews are appreciated! Until Next Time!