Author's Note: After writing and posting the beginning of this chapter a
while back, I finally got around to finishing it. Here ya go!
Chapter One
Time: Ten years later
Ten years-close to eleven-had passed since the babies had last been together at the orphanage. And for ten years, Tom Riddle had lived in that orphanage, silently hating it and always knowing, with absolute conviction, that he deserved and would someday achieve better than this.
He ran away for the first time when he was seven. Didn't get far-his nerve failed him and he was back at the orphanage before they realized he'd gone. In the three attempts he'd made since then, it had always been aching feet and an empty stomach that betrayed him. In the end, when the cold and the dark and the hunger got to be too much for Tom, he had nowhere to go, nowhere to return to, but the orphanage.
But this time it would be different. He was ten, he was clever, he'd made it all the way to London, and this time, he was not going back. He was also, however, exhausted and sore from the trip, and walked with his head down through the dusty London streets. His silky black hair, which had grown almost chin-length since the last time they'd given him a haircut, hung down in front of his face, obscuring his sharp emerald eyes. And perhaps it was simply this ordinary reason that he bumped into the girl on the street. Or perhaps it was because she was gazing up at the cloudy sky, not watching where she was going. Or perhaps, as many who know this story believe, it was something more than chance that caused their collision.
In any case, they both stumbled and fell, the girl's parcels tumbling from her arms and scattering about them. Still looking down, Tom began to mutter an apology and help gather up the boxes she had been carrying, while she, after a surprised "Oh!", began to assure him it was alright. Then they both looked up, and the words died on their lips as they stared at one another with undisguised shock and wonder.
Tom could have been looking at a female version of himself. Her hair was long, clean and brushed, and clipped back with a pretty barrette, and her face was a little less thin than his, but aside from that they were mirror images of each other.
"Who-who are you?" she stammered after a few seconds.
"Tom Riddle." he replied in the same wondering tone. "Who're you?"
"Elaina Conahagn." She paused, blinked a few times as if to assure herself he was really there, then tried to think of questions to help her figure out who he was and why..."Do-d'you live in London?"
"No...I came from an orphanage in a village a couple of miles from here. I ran away..."
Something sparked in her emerald eyes. "An orphanage?"
He nodded. "Why?"
She paused, brows furrowing, then looked up to meet his eyes again. "I'm adopted."
His eyes widened in surprise. "You don't think...?"
"Well, it seems a little farfetched, but...what else could explain this?"
********
"Why didn't you ever tell me I had a brother?!"
"Sweetheart, we're just as surprised by this as you are-"
"We didn't know, Laney."
Elaina leaned against the polished oak surface of the table, still fixing her adoptive parents with an unforgiving emerald glare. "How exactly did you not know something like this?"
Her father reached across the table, touching her hand. "We never knew because no one at the orphanage ever told us. We told them that we were interested in adopting one baby girl. So they described the infant girls that were there, we chose some to look at, and from those we found you."
"They never said anything about you having a brother..." her mother interjected, "we thought you were an only child."
Elaina studied her hands for a moment, mulling things over. She was still angry at the thought of Tom-of her brother, her twin brother-spending ten years alone in an orphanage while she grew up in a comfortable, happy home. But if her parents were telling her the truth-and she couldn't believe they wouldn't be-it wasn't their fault. The orphanage administration? She knew that siblings left in orphanages often got split up if no families would take them together, but had they even tried to keep her and Tom together, or just handed her off at the first opportunity?
A sudden realization hit her. "Do you think Tom's a wizard?"
Her parents exchanged a glance, then her father shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. We don't know if your parents were Muggles or wizards-Tom could be a normal Muggle, or if your parents were wizards, he might be a squib."
"If he has magic in him, it'll probably be showing by now." Her mother pointed out. "You're starting Hogwarts this fall, Laney...if this Tom shows any signs of magic ability, they'll find out one way or another, and send him a letter."
******
As Elaina confronted her parents, Tom had returned to the orphanage, bursting into the administrative offices, and angrily demanding to know why he'd never been told he had a sister. In the following weeks, they communicated through letters and met again in London several times, making up for ten years of estrangement and forming a close friendship.
During this time, Elaina often wanted to tell Tom about their wizarding heritage, find out if he had any magic talent, but didn't know how or where to begin. What if he didn't believe her, and they ended up at odds after being apart for so long? Or what if he was a squib, and her telling him about the wizarding world only built up hopes that would be crushed when he failed to develop any abilities? Elaina didn't know what to say, and so she said nothing.
But all that changed-everything changed-the day Tom woke up to find an owl with a letter in its beak tapping at his window.
A.N.-Aww...little Tommykins, off to learn magic and become the embodiment of pure evil... *sniffles*
Next Time: Sorting hats, new friends, and the obligatory prophecy, complete with liberal amounts of foreshadowing! Yaaaaay!
Chapter One
Time: Ten years later
Ten years-close to eleven-had passed since the babies had last been together at the orphanage. And for ten years, Tom Riddle had lived in that orphanage, silently hating it and always knowing, with absolute conviction, that he deserved and would someday achieve better than this.
He ran away for the first time when he was seven. Didn't get far-his nerve failed him and he was back at the orphanage before they realized he'd gone. In the three attempts he'd made since then, it had always been aching feet and an empty stomach that betrayed him. In the end, when the cold and the dark and the hunger got to be too much for Tom, he had nowhere to go, nowhere to return to, but the orphanage.
But this time it would be different. He was ten, he was clever, he'd made it all the way to London, and this time, he was not going back. He was also, however, exhausted and sore from the trip, and walked with his head down through the dusty London streets. His silky black hair, which had grown almost chin-length since the last time they'd given him a haircut, hung down in front of his face, obscuring his sharp emerald eyes. And perhaps it was simply this ordinary reason that he bumped into the girl on the street. Or perhaps it was because she was gazing up at the cloudy sky, not watching where she was going. Or perhaps, as many who know this story believe, it was something more than chance that caused their collision.
In any case, they both stumbled and fell, the girl's parcels tumbling from her arms and scattering about them. Still looking down, Tom began to mutter an apology and help gather up the boxes she had been carrying, while she, after a surprised "Oh!", began to assure him it was alright. Then they both looked up, and the words died on their lips as they stared at one another with undisguised shock and wonder.
Tom could have been looking at a female version of himself. Her hair was long, clean and brushed, and clipped back with a pretty barrette, and her face was a little less thin than his, but aside from that they were mirror images of each other.
"Who-who are you?" she stammered after a few seconds.
"Tom Riddle." he replied in the same wondering tone. "Who're you?"
"Elaina Conahagn." She paused, blinked a few times as if to assure herself he was really there, then tried to think of questions to help her figure out who he was and why..."Do-d'you live in London?"
"No...I came from an orphanage in a village a couple of miles from here. I ran away..."
Something sparked in her emerald eyes. "An orphanage?"
He nodded. "Why?"
She paused, brows furrowing, then looked up to meet his eyes again. "I'm adopted."
His eyes widened in surprise. "You don't think...?"
"Well, it seems a little farfetched, but...what else could explain this?"
********
"Why didn't you ever tell me I had a brother?!"
"Sweetheart, we're just as surprised by this as you are-"
"We didn't know, Laney."
Elaina leaned against the polished oak surface of the table, still fixing her adoptive parents with an unforgiving emerald glare. "How exactly did you not know something like this?"
Her father reached across the table, touching her hand. "We never knew because no one at the orphanage ever told us. We told them that we were interested in adopting one baby girl. So they described the infant girls that were there, we chose some to look at, and from those we found you."
"They never said anything about you having a brother..." her mother interjected, "we thought you were an only child."
Elaina studied her hands for a moment, mulling things over. She was still angry at the thought of Tom-of her brother, her twin brother-spending ten years alone in an orphanage while she grew up in a comfortable, happy home. But if her parents were telling her the truth-and she couldn't believe they wouldn't be-it wasn't their fault. The orphanage administration? She knew that siblings left in orphanages often got split up if no families would take them together, but had they even tried to keep her and Tom together, or just handed her off at the first opportunity?
A sudden realization hit her. "Do you think Tom's a wizard?"
Her parents exchanged a glance, then her father shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. We don't know if your parents were Muggles or wizards-Tom could be a normal Muggle, or if your parents were wizards, he might be a squib."
"If he has magic in him, it'll probably be showing by now." Her mother pointed out. "You're starting Hogwarts this fall, Laney...if this Tom shows any signs of magic ability, they'll find out one way or another, and send him a letter."
******
As Elaina confronted her parents, Tom had returned to the orphanage, bursting into the administrative offices, and angrily demanding to know why he'd never been told he had a sister. In the following weeks, they communicated through letters and met again in London several times, making up for ten years of estrangement and forming a close friendship.
During this time, Elaina often wanted to tell Tom about their wizarding heritage, find out if he had any magic talent, but didn't know how or where to begin. What if he didn't believe her, and they ended up at odds after being apart for so long? Or what if he was a squib, and her telling him about the wizarding world only built up hopes that would be crushed when he failed to develop any abilities? Elaina didn't know what to say, and so she said nothing.
But all that changed-everything changed-the day Tom woke up to find an owl with a letter in its beak tapping at his window.
A.N.-Aww...little Tommykins, off to learn magic and become the embodiment of pure evil... *sniffles*
Next Time: Sorting hats, new friends, and the obligatory prophecy, complete with liberal amounts of foreshadowing! Yaaaaay!