Title: Forgiveness
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): hint of HP/DM
Warning(s): hint of slash, some angst, and hint of child abuse
Summary: Harry's thoughts of Tom Riddle after the death of Voldemort
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. The quote is not mine. I own nothing!
"Usually, people who refuse to see who we are don't know who they are. Forgive them"
It is my belief that Tom Riddle would not have turned out the way he did if he was given a chance. A home. Someone to love him. But he didn't have those things. He had an orphanage to go to when school was over, and a man that beat him when he got there.
I have to admit that he and I were a lot alike. I never knew love either, until I met Draco. We were both in the same house at Hogwarts, we were both beaten and ridiculed at home. We were both betrayed by Dumbledore.
But I forgave the old man, and my relatives to an extent. Tom didn't. He didn't know how to forgive, because he didn't know what forgiving meant.
Tom didn't want to be hurt again. He was afraid of muggles, thanks to the muggle orphanage owner that beat him, and muggle-lovers. He acted on that fear and turned it into hate. He refused to see the muggles as a good addition to wizard blood, because of his horrible dealings with them, and he didn't see that with no new blood we would die out.
He tortured people, animals, and killed many. But I find myself forgiving him. He did not know how to love, how to befriend people, or how to live. He was not given a time to figure himself out before being thrust into a whole new world that only brought him more pain.
He has a tombstone now. It isn't big, or fancy, but it is there. Hidden amongst a few trees and shrubs. I had suggested placing it somewhere more out in the open, but the Ministry didn't want that. They didn't even want to acknowledge the death of the once feared Dark Lord.
But as I was the one who put the man out of his misery, they allowed me this one thing. Something to remember what Tom Riddle was before he became the man everyone feared: a human being with a terrible past.
END
Short, I know. But I was going through some of my mom's old calendar quote things. This is one of a few that I thought would be good to base a story on.
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): hint of HP/DM
Warning(s): hint of slash, some angst, and hint of child abuse
Summary: Harry's thoughts of Tom Riddle after the death of Voldemort
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine. The quote is not mine. I own nothing!
"Usually, people who refuse to see who we are don't know who they are. Forgive them"
It is my belief that Tom Riddle would not have turned out the way he did if he was given a chance. A home. Someone to love him. But he didn't have those things. He had an orphanage to go to when school was over, and a man that beat him when he got there.
I have to admit that he and I were a lot alike. I never knew love either, until I met Draco. We were both in the same house at Hogwarts, we were both beaten and ridiculed at home. We were both betrayed by Dumbledore.
But I forgave the old man, and my relatives to an extent. Tom didn't. He didn't know how to forgive, because he didn't know what forgiving meant.
Tom didn't want to be hurt again. He was afraid of muggles, thanks to the muggle orphanage owner that beat him, and muggle-lovers. He acted on that fear and turned it into hate. He refused to see the muggles as a good addition to wizard blood, because of his horrible dealings with them, and he didn't see that with no new blood we would die out.
He tortured people, animals, and killed many. But I find myself forgiving him. He did not know how to love, how to befriend people, or how to live. He was not given a time to figure himself out before being thrust into a whole new world that only brought him more pain.
He has a tombstone now. It isn't big, or fancy, but it is there. Hidden amongst a few trees and shrubs. I had suggested placing it somewhere more out in the open, but the Ministry didn't want that. They didn't even want to acknowledge the death of the once feared Dark Lord.
But as I was the one who put the man out of his misery, they allowed me this one thing. Something to remember what Tom Riddle was before he became the man everyone feared: a human being with a terrible past.
END
Short, I know. But I was going through some of my mom's old calendar quote things. This is one of a few that I thought would be good to base a story on.