Disclaimer: I don't own HP but I own Apollymi and all other Original Characters.


Tom suffered his first relapse when Billy Stubbs proved to be unswayed by the boy's developing charms. Which was strange to her because honestly, there was no way the boy suspected anything because Tom hadn't actually done anything but be a little creepy - so Apollymi knew this was a simple case of petty hatred.

See Billy Stubbs was a jealous little shit, Tom had gone from being the outcast of the orphanage to being its second little darling. And while Billy wasn't all that sweet hearted and well behaved, he was a fairly good looking boy who earned his favors because of that.

Essentially since Tom stole his thunder, Billy was doing his best to make the boy angry and Apollymi didn't need to be a genius to realize that Tom getting pissed off in front of anyone would ruin a lot - if not all - of her hard work.

And Billy Stubbs knew that too. Somehow. The asshat.

Deciding to run interference after watching the boy snatch another book out of Tom's hands - to which the boy glared angrily - Apollymi giggled and grabbed the older boy's wrist.

"Billy!" She chirped as she flashed the older boy a grin. "You promised to play with me today!"

And like clockwork, blue eyes veered towards her cherub-like face and she flashed him her patented guileless smile. It was entirely too sweet and uninhibited to truly be sincere but it was more than enough to fool children other than Riddle.

"Did you not want to?" She asked after a moment as she injected the proper amount of disappointment into her voice that made the matrons who doted on her do backflips in order to make her smile and bada bing, bada boom - Billy had been had.

"Of course I do!" Billy protested loudly as he puffed out his chest and sent Tom a dark look. "Let's go play with the blocks and leave this freak - I mean Tom -" He hastily corrected at the passing matron's look. "here by himself just like he likes it."

Apollymi lit up and beamed at the boy.

"Okay!" She enthusiastically agreed as she turned and pulled the older child to the opposite end of the room. "We gotta hurry before someone else takes the toys that we want!"

And like various incidents beforehand, the redhead had averted a sure crisis and was steadily getting annoyed with Billy's insistence in terrorizing Tom because sooner or later the boy was going to run out of patience and she hoped she'd have enough time to do damage control.

Although it tested her patience, she spent the rest of her recess giggling with Billy and was thankful when it was time for the older kids to be separated from the younger ones - seeing as how it was time for them to go to church - and she wilted.

Huffing quietly to herself as she cheerfully waved goodbye to Billy, she slunk over to Tom and groaned into her arms.

"I suppose you had fun with your new friend?" The dark-eyed boy said somewhat snippily and Apollymi snorted so hard it hurt.

"Tom, you know me well enough to recognize when I hate something." She told him with a sardonic glance. "And spending extended periods of time with Ol'Billy isn't something I particularly relish - he's not you so it isn't half as enjoyable."

Seeing some tenseness bled out of Riddle's form she quirked a brow and looked him up and down with a sly look.

"Well good then!" He nodded somewhat resolutely, looking pleased and she couldn't resist smirking gleefully. "As it should be!"

Surveying the boy closer, she could spot the beginning of a cheerful reddening of his cheeks and Apollymi was unable to stop herself from teasing him because as sure as her skin was brown Tom had been jealous!

Oh, she was gonna enjoy this.

"But I suppose he has his own merits." She began, making sure to keep her tone of voice perfectly conversational. "He's older so he has permission to do more things than I can't do and he's quite devoted to me already."

Apollymi smiled slow and she could practically feel Tom's aura - or maybe his magic - hiss and rear back.

"Actually he may work quite nicely." She purred as she stood and moved towards the door. "I think I'll go find him, don't wait up for me Tom."

And she had walked away, hide behind the stairway and snickered to herself as she heard the boy slam his book closed and storm up the steps to their room.

Pressing her palms over his mouth, she felt herself giggle to tears at how surprisingly childish Riddle could be! Resisting the urge to run upstairs, coo at him, and ruffle his dark hair Apollymi instead started to plot.

Oh, this would be her best prank ever and her favorite part about it was that Tom would learn a lesson about social manipulation if he played his cards right and followed her advice.

But she mostly just wanted to fuck with him for old time's sake.


Over the course of the next three weeks, Apollymi slowly distanced herself from Riddle in little ways - which he, being a stickler for details, noticed immediately. But that was what she wanted, Tom wouldn't believe it was real unless she took it slow.

And slow was how she did it.

It started off with saying hello to Billy more than usual, then with seeking him out of her own violation, and after a while, she started inviting the boy to sit with them at dinner which irked Tom so much that she found it hilarious.

And sometimes when she was feeling particularly ruthless, she went and sat with Billy and his friends instead - but she always made sure to tell Tom beforehand and to give him half of her extra desserts.

She was trying to tease him, not be an asshole.

But nevertheless it was working and Tom would openly - well openly to her - show that he was indeed jealous.

At first it was little things, like by accepting her regular invitation to come play with Billy and her and openly calling her Olly which Billy had no idea was her nickname. But then it evolved into more obvious things in which he would do her hair in public instead of in the sanctity of their room. Whenever the thick strands would come loose, Tom was there to braid it back up or to tie a bow in it. Which was something Billy tried to do one time but Apollymi artfully giggled and told him that 'her Tom' was her favorite hairdresser and that she could never replace him in order to make sure the blond boy kept his grubby hands to goddamn self.

And to top it all off the weirdest, most possessive thing he would do was hold her freaking hand.

Haha, it was simply delicious! Especially when paired with that smug little look Tom would get on his face when he saw how much his casualness with her pissed Billy off - and it was funny to her too but she couldn't tell Tom that.

Not yet at least.

It was entertaining to watch them quarrel - to a point. And pretty soon that point came up and the whole situation devolved into a metaphorical tug of war with her being the rope. Billy during this whole process had somehow come to believe that he had some kind of prior claim to Apollymi. It got to the point where her trying to play with the other children without Billy present, made the boy harass the others orphans like he did Tom. It was actually quite scary and the redhead briefly wondered if this was how obsessions were created.

At that point, Apollymi knew she needed to let the future Dark Lord in on the secret and end the farce before Billy tried to cut a lock of her hair off and put it on the shrine he probably had for her.

Which was why she was going to go find the boy and teasingly tell him that he had been pranked. Knowing he wasn't in the building because she couldn't feel him and recess was supposed to be outside today, she stepped out the door and froze.

Both Billy and her wayward witch boy were staring at each other and between them lay something grotesque.

"Tom?" She breathed as his dark eyes widened as they snagged onto hers and she watched as he flinched. "what in the hell?"

The moment her eyes fell onto the bloody twitching rabbit lying in a red heap in the middle of the courtyard, Apollymi had three simultaneous thoughts.

The first being a praise because thank god he hadn't hurt the boy, then the acknowledgment that there would be another child walking into the playground behind her in less than five seconds and if she wanted to salvage this situation that she would need to think fast.

And so she did.

Opening her mouth, she issued a scream that she could feel scratching at the delicate lining of her throat and with a shrillness that came from her genuine fear of what would happen if she didn't fix this - the young witch fixed her cold grey eyes at the boy across from her and damned him with one sentence.

"Billy Stubbs killed his rabbit!" She hollered at the top of her lungs. "Billy Stubbs killed his rabbit!"

And she kept screaming it even as, the other kids came into the room and starting echoing her and even as she was hastily pushed to the side in order for Ella to dash into the room.

And really, with all the blood smeared on Billy's hands from when she assumed he had picked up and cradled his dead rabbit to his chest, it made it easier to pin the blame.

"Oh, Christ Almighty!" Ella cried, hand flying to her chest as she fell against the door frame. "Oh God, someone go fetch the Head Matron! Hurry please!"

And without preamble one of the older kids went sprinting and quickly Apollymi darted forward and wrapped her thin arms around Tom's shoulders.

"Turn on the waterworks!" She hissed lowly into his shoulder as she rubbed as hard as she could at her own to make them water, swell, and grow red just as the new arrival appeared.

It was with stampeding feet that the woman in charge busted into the room and glared down at everyone inside.

"Ella take the unassociated children and bring them to the mess hall." Gertrude instructed firmly as she turned her shrewd stare to the three kids in question. "I'll be down shortly after this is all sorted out."

With a nod, the young woman did as she was told and soon there were no witnesses and Gertrude stalked forwards menacingly to which they all flinched at.

"What have you done boy?" The Matron growled out and Billy shrunk back in fear.

"N-nothing!" He insisted as he shook and shivered. "I swear, it wasn't me! That - that freak Tom Riddle did it!"

And at that she felt said boy give a full body jerk and she tightened her hold on him, fingers giving a comforting brush to his back as she cooed softly into his ear before turning to snivel and glare down at the blond.

"He is not!" She practically howled, making sure to sound as distressed as she could. "And it was not!"

Her lip trembled as she managed to squeeze out a few fake tears from her misty eyes and clenched her tiny hands into fists.

"Tom - he just wanted to p-play him!" She stuttered as if she was trying to speak and cry at the same time. "And then - and then I s-saw you with t-the rock and -"

And she cut herself off with a fairly convincing wail as she thanked her years of drama club and acting in plays for helping her give a worthy performance, else she might've been fucked.

It took skill to cry on demand and it was one she relished.

Immediately Tom was by her side and she turned to huddle into his arms as her nails dug into his shoulder in a clear message of 'don't fuck this up'.

There was a sort of whining sound coming from behind her and she didn't need to guess to figure out from it came.

"P-Polly?" Billy asked, sounding so positively heartbroken that said girl felt uncomfortable with her own deceptions for a moment. "Are you playing a j-joke?"

She ignored him in favor of visibly cringing away from his words into the crook of Riddle's neck.

"Is this true?" The Matron asked sharply and Tom with tears streaming down his red face as he hiccuped softly, nodded.

"I j-just wanted to pet h-him." The boy whimpered out softly as he rubbed one hand at his dripping nose and Apollymi had to hand it to him. He was a great actor even now under duress. He looked so suitable pathetic and heartbroken that even she was swayed into believing him and she knew he had something to do with it.

"The Stubbs boy has been terrorizing poor Tom for weeks now!" Edna - one of the caretakers - said gravely. "And I know I'm not the only one who has realized that he hated sharing with the other young ones."

"Aye," Another one with a Scottish brogue nodded. "and if he didn't get his way he would oft - break the toys so no one else could have it."

Someone hummed.

"And I've seen how ugly he would get about dear Apollymi if she decided to talk to anyone besides him, let along Tom!" Miss Wybie exclaimed. "Now him fancying her I suppose I can understand, but to the lengths of which he would go at times just to be near her? It's not healthy for a young, growing boy."

And there was a moment of silence where the adults turned to him with a judgmental and damning eye, before Billy leaped up and started screaming his defenses and excuses but the idea was already in the air and unless God himself came down from the heavens and told the matrons otherwise, both Apollymi and Tom's words were to be taken as gospel.

So it wasn't a surprise when they were escorted from the room, leaving a sobbing Billy behind but it was a relief.

Both of them were taken to their room and once they were inside, Ella tried to smile comfortingly at the two of them.

"I'll be back with some hot milk and cookies," The young woman murmured. "and though it's early in the evening, I want the two of you to try for some sleep."

Neither of them made a sound and with a soft thud, the door closed.

Apollymi waited until she heard the footsteps fade before she turned, grabbed Riddle's hand and pulled them both onto his bed. Settling onto her knees she faced the boy and stared pointedly at him.

He was avoiding her gaze.

"Well," She began in a hushed voice. "I suppose this might've been my fault."

Tom's dark incredulous eyes locked onto hers and she shot him a dry look.

"I was trying to prank you." She admitted mirthfully. "Though it was all blown to hell and back, so it wasn't a good one especially considering just what my prank caused and so I'm sorry for being a dick to you for the sake of a practical joke."

"And," She began. "I actually am repentant for the fact that I got Billy so involved and left him to a fate he didn't exactly deserve despite how annoying he was."

Apollymi shifted.

"But you were also a bit to blame since you didn't need to react quite the way you did, so I guess this was a joint effort." She sighed as she held open her arms and beckoned Tom to fall into them. "Nevertheless I'm here to reassure you that you're my one and only and that I will be your bestest friend forever and ever."

Riddle looked vaguely disgusted with her words.

"Now bring it in." Apollymi cooed as she wiggled closer to the boy next to her as he wiggled away. "Don't be shy, my jealous little witch boy, let me comfort you."

"I'm not jealous!" He practically squawked. "I'm not!"

Apollymi she saw that exact moment Tom was going to make a break for it and she lunged.

Grappling with the hissing boy, she flinched as his stray hand smacked her in the face.

"Ow!" She yelped and instantly Riddle froze.

Not being a person to miss an opportunity, she quickly pinned him with a hug and smirked but it faltered at Riddle's next utterance.

"Sorry." He muttered lowly but clearly enough to hear and Apollymi started.

Sitting up she stared wide-eyed down at Riddle and blinked. Weighing her words carefully she knew that trying to get him to repeat it wouldn't be wise and instead went a different route.

"For what?" She asked softly and Tom's eyes flickered to her face - to her reddening cheek before he looked away again - she felt taken back.

"For hitting you." He clarified and for a second she considered laughing it off but with how serious Tom was being, she felt it would be a disservice and so she nodded.

"You're forgiven." She told him and all at once, the tension in Tom's body melted away.

Cocking her head to the side, the redhead moved away from Riddle with a snort.

"You're a strange kid, did you know that?" She chuckled as she quirked a brow at him. "I half expected you to apologize for killing the rabbit, not for accidentally clipping me in the face."

Tom scowled.

"I'm not apologizing for what I did to Billy!" He snapped and she rolled her eyes.

What a drama king.

"And I'm not asking you to," She said drolly. "but I would like for you to recognize what you did wrong in this situation - well besides murdering a rabbit like a budding sociopath."

But the look he was giving her told her that the boy didn't see the problem with his actions and she growled to herself.

"Okay then Tom," She huffed out as her eyes flashed a bit in anger. "let me break it down for you."

Crossing her arms she glared at him.

"For the very beginning you didn't even try to get along with Billy," She pointed out. "for all the charm and schmoozing you do, you never turned it to him."

Tom bared his teeth menacingly at her and she smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"And there's payback for the smack." She snarked. "And don't growl at me you little shit, I'm hardly frightened of you!"

Scowling Tom lifted his lips to expose his teeth for a millisecond before she threateningly raised her hand and he mulishly closed his mouth.

"Now," She said primly as she narrowed her eyes at him. "you may defend yourself."

Tom glared.

"I said," Apollymi growled out. "you may defense your goddamn self."

And he practically spat the words out.

"Why should I be nice to that arsehole," He began begrudgingly. "when he's never been nice to me?"

And in response, Apollymi looked at him for a few seconds before she sighed.

Long and hard.

"We've been over this Riddle!" She told him as she looked to the heavens as if for patience. "If they don't like you, you try and try and try to win them over any way you can using the nice way and then you use fear if all else fails!"

Waving her hands through the air she shot him a peeved look.

"You skipped steps one through three and went straight to four!" She growled out. "You can't just do that!"

The look on Tom's face was staunch and she rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"So then," He began, entire body rigid. "I suppose you're no longer going to teach me?"

Abruptly Apollymi snorted and shot him an astonished glance.

"Oh hell no," She ground out. "I'm still gonna teach your ass and I'm gonna make sure my lessons shape you into a top motherfucking gentleman of the finest persuasion."

And in order to do that, maybe she needed to break a few of her personal rules because she didn't think she could stunt his potential growth under her wing just because she was afraid to teach him the things she knew that by all logic, she shouldn't.

Besides, reincarnation might not even be a big deal in the wizarding world for all she knew. They probably did that shit every day.

Footsteps towards their room drew her attention away and she glanced to the door and back at Riddle.

"We'll finish this conversation later because you'll need to tell me exactly what happened out there." She told him on a promise before her gaze turned determined and she set her delicate jaw because an insecure boy like Tom needed assurance. "But remember that despite all the technicalities of our relationship, that we are friends - no matter how unorthodox said friendship may be."

And with that Ella opened the door.


Here's the new chapter and it's really my longest one yet omg I'm so happy! I've been a little stuck with trying to plan it out but I finally sat down and started writing!

I decided something new needed to happen and viola!

Tom's a jealous little shit and next chapter will be Tom's point of view of the whole situation because Apollymi didn't see a lot of things that happened because she wasn't there all the time.

I'm a little excited to write Tom's PoV again because it's interesting to write him as a young child who's just a bit too abnormal and intelligent to fully be the average kid but is still ruled by immaturity/impulsiveness at times.

And the chapter after the next one will focus more on Apollymi's thoughts about how Tom reacted to her getting close to another person and she's gonna address that and have a serious talk with him.


Question 1: What do you think about the Billy Stubbs situation? Did you like it? Did I handle it okay? (Also keep in mind that this is from Apollymi's PoV so the situation will be told differently. It's definitely unreliable and ignorant to a certain point because she has a skewed view of things/an iffy sort of molarity. So Tom's PoV will show more and a different take on things because he is more observant than her.)

Question 2: We kinda know that Tom killed Billy's rabbit because of jealousy concerning Apollymi so what do you think that means for their future relationship? And how do you feel about Apollymi's reaction? Or the lack thereof? What do you think this will change in their relationship?

Question 3: What are looking forward to seeing in Tom's PoV of the situation?

Question 4: How would you guys feel about Tom ending up as a Hufflepuff and Apollymi landing in Slytherin? Because with how my story is going, Tom will have a shit load of well-earned loyalty/trust towards Olly and vice versa, whereas Olly will develop a stronger cunning and thirst for success due to Tom. I think it would interesting because both of them would think the situation should have been switched - as in Apollymi as a Hufflepuff and Tom as the Slytherin lmao.


Thank you for reading! (Also when did the bombing of England start during the war?)