Ironically, she felt the same as Tom towards their given name, though their reasons were different.

She didn't like it because she wasn't 'Mary'; she was someone else, someone whose name was given by parents who loved her.

While Tom had been given his name by the dying Merope, 'Mary' was something the caretakers gave because they could not go around calling her 'baby'.

"You were caesarean, child. By the time you were born she was already gone," they'd explain, "Fortunate the doctor noticed you were in there or you'd follow her to the grave as well,"

To the caretaker's consternation, the girl burst out laughing, "You mean?" she wheezed, "I didn't have to live at all?" and continued to laugh until Mrs. Cole sent her to her room.

Tom came later, his eyes narrowed with confusion, "Why do you want to die so badly, Mary?"

"Because I'm not supposed to be here," she replied tiredly.

There was a pause and she heard him mutter, "No, we're not."

#

Magic came to her when some of the ignorant social mores reminded her that the past was terrible place to be.

She was left-handed and never had any problems with it, except for the usual "Oh, you're left-handed," comments. She forgot that for some time, being left-handed was a something to be embarrassed about.

The teacher warned her to stop using her left hand and when she persisted, actually tried to tie her arm to the chair. The unfortunate man nearly ended up blind when suddenly his glasses cracked and exploded on his face.

Horrified, she didn't even protest when Mrs. Abernathy scolded her and caned her before sending her to her room without supper.

She wasn't surprised to find Tom later, nearly tearing the door of its hinges, face flushed with excitement.

"You – you can do it too!" he cried excitedly, ignoring the look of disgust on her face. "I always, I thought I was the only one! Oh, Mary do you know what this means?"

"Is Mr. Smith alright?" she asked, she didn't like most of the people at the orphanage or at school but that didn't mean she wanted to hurt them.

Tom waved his hand aside, "That fool is fine. Just got cuts all over him, but enough about him, you have powers Mary, powers just like me! Do you know what this means?"

Her stomach rolled unpleasantly as she looked at her hands. Tom didn't wait for her to reply "We are destined for greater things, sister, great things, just you wait!"

She had thought that having magic would be the only bright thing in this life, but as she replayed the scene where Mr. Smith clutched his eyes, blood streaming down his face, shrieking in agony, she realized for the first time she didn't want them.

Then as she watched as Tom's face twisted with delight she realized she didn't have a choice at that as well.

#

Tom's magic was, surprisingly, elegant.

She read about how wandless magic, though possible, was unwieldy and extremely difficult to control. They were supposed to be more like bursts, so quick to come and faded just as well. Trying to do something more substantial was like trying to capture water with a sieve.

Instead, she watched as he made Stubbs' rabbit, twirl on its paws, its partner a stolen doll from one of the children. His hands waved gracefully and his face, though smiling, was tensed with concentration.

It was a macabre situation, truth to be told, but better a cranky rabbit being forced to dance than what Tom originally had planned.

What happened was so clichéd that it was almost insulting. Bullying – or 'teasing' as they called it in ignorance – was the norm at Wool's.

She didn't see the foot, just heard the laughter as she fell face first onto the floor. Stubbs was the new kid on the block and found his that he liked tripping unsuspecting victims in the hallway. He thought it was funny and found it even funnier when said victim yelped when she tried to pick her things up before he kicked them away.

He didn't notice that he was the only one laughing or that the children were scampering away, leaving the halls empty despite the fact that it was break time. As he skipped off, he didn't see the pair of blue eyes glaring at his back.

Stubbs spent the evening at the nurse's room, sporting boils on his skin. Then she found Tom once again in her room holding a terrified rabbit in his arms.

"No," she said before he could open his mouth.

"He needs to learn his place. Boils could be explained away but if his stupid rabbit –"

She gritted her teeth, "Leave the damn rabbit alone, Tom," The boy raised an eyebrow and dropped the animal onto the floor. It dashed straight under her bed.

"You're using bad words," he said.

"You're doing bad things," she retorted but he smirked, "I'm not the one who gave Billy Stubbs boils so bad he couldn't sit down," Tom said.

"It was an accident and you know it, Tom," she spluttered, feeling her cheeks reddened at that smirk, "You know very well I can't control my powers like you do," she continued rather pathetically before glaring at him, "The rabbit didn't do a thing to me. Stubb's a jerk but you shouldn't punish his pet for it," she argued.

Tom's eye twitched and for a moment they only stared at each other, the rabbit rustling beneath her bed as though sensing the tension.

After a while, she took a deep breath and spoke, "Besides, being Stubb's pet is punishment enough. Remember that ugly sweater he made it wear?"

There was a snort and Tom dissolved into laughter.

"Yes, you're right," and Tom hopped onto her bed, not realizing how relieved she was.

"But I went through a lot of trouble to get it. The least we could do is have fun," he grinned.

Without warning, he held out his hand and the rabbit flew from underneath her bed, struggling against his unseen grip.

"Tom-," she cried out but the boy, sensing her discomfort, gestured once more and placed the rabbit gently onto her lap, as though he was making a peace offering. The furry creature seemed stunned at the action and the girl quickly gathered it into her arms.

"I wish you were gentler, they get scared when you do that," she said, stroking the rabbit's fur, eyeing how it seemed to droop. She didn't need to look up to know that smile was on his face, "I know."

#

A/N: I want to thank you all for your kind reviews, favs and follows. I really appreciate it. As for your questions, Mary takes after the Riddle side of the family and if this would be a twincest fic I could not say. This fic is short but I'm hoping it will get longer as it goes along.

A/N 2: I didn't realize that Mary was also the name of Tom Riddle Sr.'s mother's name. That was purely coincidental.

A/N 3: Edited for some minor errors and word flow.