CW: food, owls, mentions of war

Chapter Thirteen: Milestones and Muggleborns

Tom had already planned a trip to Diagon Alley after the visit, but at the time he had thought it would be to distract her from the meeting. Now, as they apparated into the alley, it felt like more of a celebration. Tom spontaneously decided that this occasion deserved a surprise for Merope. A milestone had been made, and he wanted to commemorate that somehow.

Merope held her cloak close to her body, the autumn air carrying a chill. She had forgotten just how busy Diagon Alley was in comparison to her village shops. She found herself wondering what Luke would think of the apothecary, smiling to herself as Tom assessed various ingredients.

Merope had gained a very positive opinion towards muggles as a result of all her interactions, but now Tom was hoping she could gain some positive interactions with wizardkind.

Besides himself, Jane Byrd, and the staff at St. Mungos, Merope had not spent any time with other wizards or witches. He was partially hoping they would meet people Merope's age on the outing - giving her a chance to experience magic with her peer group. The alley was certainly full of them, Hogwarts term must be about to start. He saw several young teens shopping at all the pit stops for magical supplies. Tom didn't suspect that the people in the book shops would be up for chatting though, most seemed to be on a mission to get in and get out as quickly as possible.

And so it was that Tom, much to his chagrin, stepped into an ice cream shop.

Merope's eyes widened to an unprecedented size when she realized what ice cream was - and couldn't take her eyes off all the different flavors open to her. Some she recognized, vanilla and chocolate and fruit flavors, but there were others she had never heard of before.

"I'm going to pick something up really quickly, will you be alright here?"

Merope just nodded her head, not taking her eyes off of the ice cream for even a moment. Tom shook his head, bemused, before walking out of the shop and down the alley. He was going to pick up an owl - partially for Merope as a surprise, but also so that they could get the post delivered. The newspaper especially would be helpful for Merope to learn more practical information about the wizarding world.

He stepped into the owlery, immediately bombarded by hoots and screeches of various owls. He grimaced at the noise and mess they made. But it was unavoidable, and he hoped to find at least one ruddy bird that would be tolerable. He wished snakes could be used for the post instead.

Tom browsed the options, looking for the quietest bird in the shop. He finally settled on a long-eared owl, whose tufts looked very comical. However, the owl was completely silent and its cage was surprisingly tidy in comparison to the others.

"What gender is this owl?" Tom asked the shopkeeper.

"Ah," The shopkeeper looked fondly at the owl. "This one's a girl. She's been with us since birth - charming little owl. Are you interested in her?"

"Yes, please. Would you be so kind as to hold her up front while I gather some supplies for her? We've never had an owl before."

"Of course!"

The shopkeeper picked up the cage and brought her up to the counter while Tom browsed the shelves for owl treats and various cage options. He had no intention of keeping her locked in a cage, but he did want one to house her pellets and as a place for her to rest if she wanted it. He smiled just thinking about Merope's face as he paid for everything.

When he entered the ice cream shop, he was both surprised and pleased to find Merope shyly talking to a wizard and witch her own age. They were all sitting together eating their ice creams - it looked like Merope had chosen strawberry. He smiled watching the scene, then entered the shop with the owl.

"Tom!" Merope beamed when she saw him, then gasped in delight when she saw the owl. "What's this?"

Tom walked up and set the owl on the table. "I thought she'd be good for getting the post. Would you introduce me, Merope?"

"Oh, right." She gestured to the wizard and witch. "This is William and Martha Little. They're twin muggleborns, so we've been talking about all the differences between muggle and wizarding shops."

"Pleasure to meet you both." Tom said politely. "I'm going to get an ice cream, I'll be back shortly."

He walked up to the counter, selecting a simple vanilla ice cream. He could not believe that his plan was working so quickly. He had hoped that she would meet people her age, but was surprised by how confidently she had approached someone on her own.

The two seemed perfectly pleasant too, which was a perfect for Merope's personality. Ever since he entered her life, Merope seemed to draw people to her. Tom wasn't sure if this had always been part of her character or if it had been his influence.

It felt strange, watching his characteristics play out in both Riddle and Merope. He hadn't known much of anything about his parents in his old life. But watching them now… Merope clearly had more magical talent than he had ever given her credit for. On top of that were clear indicators for charm and persuasiveness. Riddle, on the other hand, had demonstrated all of the superiority, physical attractiveness, and lack of compassion Tom used to value.

"Thank you." He said kindly to the cashier, paying for his ice cream and walking back over to the group.

"She's such a lovely owl." Martha cooed, gently petting the owl's chest.

"Yeah, any ideas on a name?" William asked as Tom sat down at the table.

"I'm not sure," Merope looked to Tom. "Do you have any ideas?"

Tom shrugged and said. "I'm going to leave that up to you, Merope."

"I love her little tufts!" Martha said cheerfully. "Ours is just a simple barn owl."

"We named him Bugsy because he really enjoys eating insects." William looked slightly abashed. "We were only eleven, but it stuck."

Merope laughed. "That's an adorable story! Do you both go to Hogwarts then?"

"Oh yes." Martha spoke first. "We love it there, but it was also difficult fitting in because we are, well, you know…"

"Muggleborns." William finished.

Merope frowned. She knew only too well the Pureblood purity rhetoric - she resented it thoroughly.

"Yeah, but we were both sorted into Hufflepuff so it wasn't as bad as it could have been." Martha pushed on, determined to stay positive.

"What about you? I don't remember seeing you at Hogwarts." William asked Merope.

"Oh, well um," Merope blushed. "I was homeschooled, and Tom has been teaching me too."

"Ah that makes sense." He accepted Merope's answer without judgment, something she was very grateful for. "Would you like to try my ice cream? It's got caramel in it."

"Um, what's caramel?"

"What?!" Martha dropped her spoon in shock. "You haven't had caramel before?"

Merope blushed and shrugged her shoulders. There hadn't been any caramel in the village.

"Then I must insist you try some." William said confidently, pushing his ice cream dish towards her.

She looked at Tom for approval that it was polite, and then took a small spoonful. She smiled dreamily as the caramel melted on her tongue, while both William and Martha grinned at her reaction.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Martha said cheerily.

Merope only nodded, closing her eyes to savor the flavor. She made a mental note to tell the baker the next time they visited about caramel.

William and Martha laughed, their voices harmonious with each other. Even Tom gave a modest chuckle looking at Merope's clear bliss.

"So, Tom," William said once the laughter had subsided. "How are you related to Merope again?"

"I'm her uncle." Tom lied smoothly. "Although I did not know I had relatives until very recently."

Merope nodded in agreement. "Yes, I had no idea we had family either. But it's been such a blessing." She smiled fondly at Tom.

"Well I don't know about that." Tom said modestly. "But it has been nice to be around family again."

And it was true, he had missed this sense of family his whole life. Although he had repressed it after no one came to adopt him and he realized the truth of his parentage. The remorse he had felt for Merope that had healed his locket scar had forced him to acknowledge that pain, and now he had been able to make peace with it.

"I'm sorry you lost your family." Martha spoke gently. They didn't question him, assuming it had something to do with the muggle war or with Grindelwald's terrorism in the magical world.

Tom simply nodded and smiled slightly, going back to eating his ice cream. The other three followed his lead, returning to the lighter topics and enjoying the simple pleasures of ice cream and new friendships.

Notes:

I don't know why this has just been decided in fan fiction, but Tom is an ice cream person. Whenever there's a scene in Diagon Alley, he always gets *pushed* to go into the ice cream shop. This is even more cute though because in his original time, he likely didn't get the chance to have ice cream until he got to Hogwarts. Then in this time, ice cream still wasn't a common commodity.

I dunno, that kind of stuff makes me happy.

Happy Reading!