Inception: Rise of the Heir

Tom Riddle disappeared for 10 years. Where did he travel and what did he do during his absence? This is my feeble attempt at a Tom Riddle backstory, right before he rejoined the world officially as Lord Voldemort.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for my o/c's.

Lyra awoke suddenly as the train lurched violently beneath her, groaning as she raised a hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. She raised her head slowly as she looked towards the window and felt the morning sun on her face.

"I can't remember the last time I slept through the night." she thought as she stretched her arms above her head carefully and sat up in the small bed, smirking, as she reached over towards her bag and pulled out the small glass bottle filled with the emerald colored potion. "I know this draught isn't the answer to my problem, but so far it definitely seems to be helping. That was the first night I've had in a long time that didn't involve a crazy dream or me turning into..."

She shook her head and pushed her thoughts away as she took a small sip of the potion and corked it up once more, placing it gingerly into her purse. Dipping the tip of her wand into the small black bag, she summoned a small mirror and opened it as she glanced at her reflection, neatly fixing her hair and pouting as she reapplied her dark red lipstick.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness" She thought as she remembered her mother's words, rolling her eyes as she scowled.

Finally satisfied with her appearance, she placed her belongings back into the small bag at her side and stood up, smoothing the wrinkles out from her dress. She waved her wand lazily at the bed as she stretched again and watched it slowly fold away and disappear, reverting into the old cushioned bench once more.

"I wonder if Tom's awake yet." She thought as she looked towards the thick curtain that separated them, she raised her wand slowly and hesitated. "He could still be sleeping, I don't know what time it even is."

She leaned into the drape and pressed her ear towards the fabric as she listened quietly for any sign that he might be awake. Frowning at the eerie silence that greeted her from the other side of the room, she stepped away from the curtain and wrapped her arms around her, tapping her wand anxiously against her side.

Vivid recollections of the previous night flashed through her mind and she closed her eyes calmly as their dialogue flooded her head. She remembered how uncharacteristically kind he had acted and scowled at how confused it made her feel.

"Not everyone transforms into a monster when they do terrible things Lyra…"

She knew Tom was well versed in the dark arts and knew that like her, he had also committed his fair share of atrocities, but it was so easy for her to forget, especially during times when he carried himself in such a calm and gentle manner. Last night when he had spoken to her, his words were so gentle and earnest that for the first time in a long while, she was able to let her guilt and her self-loathing slip away, even if only for a little while.

"What a frustratingly confusing person he is…" She thought as she felt the train lurch once more from underneath her.

"I don't want to be trapped behind here the rest of the way to New Orleans, but I don't want to disturb him either, perhaps I should just take a small peek." She raised her hand hesitantly towards the side of the drape and held onto it momentarily, changing her mind once more as she let her hand fall to her side. The idea of him staring back at her as she foolishly peeked out from behind the curtain was humiliating, as well as the guilt she would also feel for accidentally waking him from his sleep. "I suppose waiting a little longer couldn't hurt."

She crossed her arms and sat down softly, shaking her head as she summoned the book she had begun to read yesterday to her side once more. Lyra flipped carefully to the page she had left off at and read the rest of the passage quietly.

"Sanguimancy, also referred to as Blood Magic, is a type of magic that incorporates the use of blood into a spell or potion to achieve desired results. Due to the grey area of its nature, it is categorized under the dart arts and in most countries still remains strictly forbidden.

Certain spells are prime examples of the darker side of its nature, such as Cruorcantio, an ancient blood spell that binds its caster to another. Although seemingly useful in nature, allowing one to locate, aid and help their binded partner in times of urgency, many have used this incantation with malicious intent in order to enforce their power over others. There is no countercurse for the spell, its effects and power will remain until the caster themself perishes.

The spell's origin is unknown, but many believe it derived from Egypt, a spell created by the famed ancient wizard Djedi in order to force many people, non-magical and wizards alike, to help with the construction of the ancient pyramids. It is only a theory, however, it's true origins…"

Lyra flipped the page to continue reading the passage and cursed loudly as she felt the parchment slice through her finger.

"Damnit!"

Realizing how loudly she had cursed, she felt her cheeks burn and quickly raised her hand to her mouth, watching a bead of blood slowly start to form on the tip of her index finger. She placed the tip of her finger into her mouth to stem the bleeding and quickly summoned a small vial labeled "Dittany" from her purse. As she uncorked the small tube, she heard his calm, silky voice speak out to her.

"I'm awake you know."

She quickly administered a drop of potion to her finger and tossed it back into her purse, waving her wand slowly towards the curtain. Lyra watched as it drew back and finally disappeared, revealing Tom as he stared at her, a hint of amusement on his face.

"How long have you been awake? I was trying to be quiet so as not to disturb you.." she said, the red on her cheeks starting to fade.

"Three hours...Four maybe?" he said as he stared out the window momentarily, looking back towards her as he gave her a slight smirk. "But I was wondering how long you'd stay hidden behind that curtain."

She smiled wryly as she grabbed her book and placed it on her lap. "Actually, I was afraid I was going to be stuck behind that curtain the rest of the way. Did you not sleep well?"

He flashed a small grin towards her once more and nodded towards the book. "The sleep I had was adequate enough. Still reading?"

"Hardly…" Lyra said as she looked down towards the old frayed text. "It's hard to concentrate when your mind is somewhere else…and yourself?"

She looked around to where his book was laying and found that it was no longer there, the bench was empty and barren. He frowned as he grabbed his wand and crossed his legs, tapping it against his palm. "I'm afraid I'm suffering from the same...complications."

"Anxious about New Orleans?" she said as she leaned back into her seat, raising her eyebrow at him sardonically.

He hesitated at the question, although he was eager to arrive in the famed city, the events of the prior night were still bothering him.

"No." He said softly. "I look forward to our time there...but it seems I have other things on my mind."

She looked at him curiously, watching his eyebrows as they furrowed in frustration. "Normally I would never ask...but seeing as we're both distracted and still stuck in this cabin together...what's on your mind?

He stared at her, his eyes deep and intense, and she found herself trying to find something, anything else to stare at.

"Why does he always have to stare at me like that, with that look?"

It wasn't his face that made her uncomfortable or uneasy, it was his eyes. They had this strange way about them that made her second guess every word that came from her mouth. She could see his mind behind them, calculating, thinking, constantly judging and digesting the way she spoke while critiquing everything she did. It was both disconcerting and uncomfortable.

Tom looked at the woman in front of him and watched as she tried to avert his gaze. He masked the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth, pleased at the discomfort he knew he caused her. He thought quietly to himself as he considered answering her question. He had never divulged his problems or concerns to another, he instead preferred to work through his challenges alone, to let another know about his vulnerabilities seemed to him weak and unwise.

"What bothers you so much is something she could easily help with...why not tell her and use her knowledge for your own benefit?"

He watched as she frowned, biting her lower lip in thought as her gaze settled on the scene outside their cabin window. His eyes moved over her face as he watched the sun dance across her porcelain skin and radiate off her dark locks of hair, and finally glistened off her dark red lips that in times of weakness, he found himself staring at.

He dismissed the strange feeling in his stomach as he spoke softly. "Well if it's of interest to you...I stayed up most of the night, trying to grasp the concept of performing magic without my wand...and found my efforts to be quite fruitless."

Her face softened as she digested his reply, seemingly relieved and he watched as her lips parted slowly.

"Oh…" Lyra looked at him and gently smiled. "Well...if that's all it is, we are still about an hour or so away from New Orleans, if you'd like I could help you..."

She placed the book beside her as she waited for his reply. "...That is if you want me to help you."

"I don't want to be a bother..." He said cautiously as he tried to disguise his eager intentions.

"It's not a bother to me at all, in fact it'll provide me with a much needed distraction from…everything" She waved her hand dismissively.

"Well then, if it's not an imposition…" Tom said innocently as he felt his heart race in anticipation.

"I assure you it's not, but, you'll have to do as I say…" Lyra said as she placed her wand in her purse and looked at him wryly as she continued.

"Now the first thing you need to do is rid yourself of your wand-" She said, waving her hand, watching, as Tom's wand flew from his possession into her outstretched palm. He stared at her furiously as he tried to voice his displeasure.

"That's-"

"Calm down." She placed his wand next to her as she placed her hand in the air, to relax him. "You need to be able to channel your magic through you and not be distracted by your wand-"

"I tried that already." He thought angrily as he scowled at her.

"-Or your temper." Lyra said as she raised an eyebrow towards him. She watched as he stared at her, his eyes softening, as he started to quell his anger.

"Relax." She said softly. "You need to concentrate. Now, in the beginning it's much easier to practice wandless magic verbally, so let's start with an easy one. Call your wand to you and move your hand in the same fashion you would with your wand."

"I tried that with a book last night, why should it work any differently with my wand?" Tom said as he cast a doubtful look at his wand.

Lyra sighed as she shook her head. "You have to really want something in order to call it to you without a wand. Same goes for spells and charms, you have to feel that yearning inside you, even more so than when your wand is in your possession. You were angry when I stole it from you, so take it back."

He narrowed his eyes and switched his focus from her to the wand that lay at her side.

"Concentrate."

He took a breath and focused on his wand as he quickly waved his hand. "Accio!"

His wand still lay at her side, untouched, unmoved. Nothing had happened.

"Try again." Lyra said as she stared at him intently.

Tom shook his head in frustration and repeated the words over and over again for what seemed like an eternity, each time holding his hand out in anticipation, and growled angrily when his efforts still remained fruitless.

"Don't be discouraged. It takes time." Lyra said gently as she tried to reassure him, watching as his eyes turned dark and angry.

"I'm sure you're enjoying this little laugh at my expense." He spat at her, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

"Why would I laugh at you?" She said matter of factly as she tilted her head in confusion, his collected demeanor was now gone and he turned on her in a fit of rage. For a moment she thought she had seen a flash of red dance across his eyes and dismissed it quietly again.

"I'm sure it amuses you to watch me make a fool out myself." He sneered as he stood up quickly holding his hand out. "I'd like my wand back."

Lyra frowned as she stared up at his figure looming over her angrily. "I would never laugh at someone who is trying to learn something new, let alone something as difficult as this..."

She continued softly "... and I would never laugh at you, Tom."

"My wand." He said as he continued to hold his hand out, his voice slightly kinder than it had been moments before.

"No. You asked for this." She said defiantly as she stood up to meet him. "Try it one more time. I told you this takes practice. It's frustrating...but you just have to keep at it."

"Damn her." He scowled as he looked into her strangely mismatched eyes, stubborn and determined and sighed, he knew she was right. "My impatience is getting the better of me. Normally something this challenging would never bother me, but how is it that someone like her is able to accomplish this and I find myself struggling to perform the most menial of spells. I'm making a mockery of myself in front of her... it's unacceptable."

"Sit here, let's try something different." Lyra interrupted as she watched his eyes race, deep in thought and sat down, patting the spot next to her on the bench. Tom looked towards her, suddenly aware, as he sat down hesitantly next to her, his body rigid and tense.

Lyra noticed his discomfort and placed a hand gently on his shoulder, continuing calmly, "You need to relax for this to work." He shot her hand a dirty look as he tried to loosen his body. She retracted it quickly as she noted his expression and spoke softly.

"Now...close your eyes."

"How will that help me? Is it not better to see what it is I'm supposed to focus on?" He asked begrudgingly, running a hand through his dark hair.

"Do you trust me?" She said as she turned towards him.

Tom narrowed his eyes at her. She had never given him reason to distrust her and had always been honest with him when something had been asked of her. "You baited her to help you and she has agreed. You should be taking advantage of the situation, not acting like a suspicious child…"

"Yes." He said as he gave her a wary look.

"Well that was a lie if I ever heard one..." Lyra thought as she glanced at his face. "But lucky for him I need this distraction."

"Alright, close your eyes then."

Tom closed them slowly, and felt her lean over him gently, placing something familiar into his hand. He knew at once exactly what it was and felt a jolt of electricity race up his arm as he grasped it lightly.

"My wand?" He said in confusion as he opened his eyes to look.

"Keep your eyes closed." She said as she quickly covered his eyes with her hand.

He grimaced at her touch once more and closed them shut, lightly grasping his wand.

She removed her hands as she addressed him once more.

"Now, I'm going to take it away from you once more and we'll continue from there...alright?"

He nodded in acknowledgement as he waited for what happened next. Instead of summoning it from in-between his fingers as he assumed she would, he felt the warmth of her fingers brush slowly against his as she gently took it from his grasp once more. He breathed in sharply as he felt his heart pound in his chest, heavy and fast as he tried to maintain his focus. He felt her leave his side and bend over in front of him, talking softly. She was entirely too close for comfort and it was distracting.

"Now, do you remember what it felt like when you touched your wand? How the magic raced through you and warmed your body?"

He nodded his head stiffly as he recalled the feeling, trying hard to ignore the smell of her perfume as he felt her back away from him.

"When you call out for your wand this time, try to reach out and find that same feeling, only this time it needs to be channeled from within you and not a piece of wood."

Lyra studied his handsome features as she watched his closed eyes, twitching in concentration, the dark black hair that always fell into his face, clinging to the hollows of his cheeks, and felt herself blush as she anxiously waited for him to try once more.

Tom sat for a moment and tried to recreate the feeling he got from his wand, thinking carefully until he felt a familiar sensation creep through his body. His heart skipped a beat in excitement as he waited for it to rise up and consume him. As he felt the familiar shock of electricity encapsulate his body he suddenly opened his eyes, Lyra's words finally making sense, and waved his hand towards his wand, blurting the spell out with confidence.

"Accio!"

Lyra gasped and smiled enthusiastically as she watched the wand jerk out from her hands and into his. "Well done Tom!"

He stared at the piece of wood in his hands with satisfaction and smirked when he realized what had happened. "At last."

"Well, now that you've done it once and you know how to properly channel your magic, you'll only get better. I told you once you got the hang of it, it would be easy." She winked at him as she smoothed out the wrinkles from her dress.

He nodded as he digested what had just happened, his heart still thrumming with excitement.

Lyra watched as his face lit up in delight and stole another glance at him. She suddenly felt a heat rise in her chest and tried to immediately dispel it at once, her cheeks turning red as she glanced around desperately for a safe distraction. Her eyes fell upon the forgotten book at her side and picked it up hurriedly, trying to find where she had left off, eager to push Tom from her mind.

"What's gotten into you? This is absolutely not the time for you to think about anything else but the task at hand. Stay focused. Don't waste your time on foolish nonsense." She continued to berate herself until the feeling in her chest subsided and took a deep breath as she immersed herself completely into the book.

Looking up from his wand, Tom watched curiously as Lyra seemingly recoiled from him, her enthusiastic demeanor gone and had instead withdrawn once more into herself, fervently reading her book and settled comfortably in the seat across from him. He pondered her change in disposition for a moment and opened his mouth, only to find himself closing it once more unsure of what to say.

"A 'thank you' I'm sure would suffice." He told himself dryly as he continued to steal glances at her, but felt strange, as if there was something more he wished to say. He shook the feeling off in annoyance and felt a twinge of self loathing towards himself for his increasingly erratic behavior around her. It was becoming increasingly harder to think with her around and he longed once more for his privacy and solitude.

"Soon enough." He thought to himself as he stared out the window at the strange scenery around them, the trees in the distance no longer tall, bright and green, but strange, dark coloured and melancholy. The trees stood immersed in thick dense swamps the tracks had been built over and their long dripping leaves trailed down towards the dark water below, their appearance mournful and grim. His thoughts were interrupted as a loud voice belonging to neither of them filled the cabin, causing both of them to look up.

"Attention all passengers, we will be arriving in New Orleans in approximately ten minutes, please take this time to collect your personal belongings in preparation for you to disembark. We hope you all enjoyed your ride with us and we wish you all a great stay in the Crescent City."

Tom looked towards Lyra as she placed the book inside her purse and grabbed her wand quickly, standing up.

"The Crescent City?" He said quizzically as he looked towards her.

"New Orleans used to be shaped like a half moon-" She said absentmindedly as she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. "-before the no-maj's overbuilt it. The original city was built against the bend of the river, hence the shape."

"Now where was I.." Lyra held her wand over her head as she waved it delicately, her dark black dress changing slightly as the long billowing sleeves disappeared and he watched as the length of her skirt rose and settled neatly right above her knees.

He raised an eyebrow at her as she shook her head and grabbed her purse. "You're going to want to take that jacket off and roll up your sleeves. You've never been to New Orleans in the middle of June."

"I'm sure I'll manage." He said as he felt the cabin suddenly groan and lurch beneath them as the roaring train finally came to a stop. His heart jumped in anticipation.

"Suit yourself." Lyra said as she shrugged her shoulders, moving her purse around her wrist as she walked towards the door. "I personally can't stand the heat, maybe you'll find it more tolerable."

Tom stared at the back of her head in annoyance as he grabbed the small suitcase he had placed upon the long shelf above him and walked up behind her carefully, keeping a safe distance. He waited anxiously, until the doors to the cabin suddenly flew open and followed as Lyra quickly turned into the hallway to exit the train.

He had finally reached the destination he desired above all else.

Alrighty then! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I hope you enjoyed my take an what learning wandless magic would be like, more of that to come later! There was a historical figure in this chapter, in Egyptian folklore/history there really was a wizard named Djedi and yes he was alive at the height of the building of the Egyptian pyramids! Not a lot of fluff in this chapter (although there was some!) Tom's isn't a warm or empathetic person so I don't think he would take well to new feelings and emotions, I think they would confuse him quite a bit. Remember he had a lot of issues in general and there was a lot of self loathing thrown up in there. To feel anything other than ambition in his eyes was weakness. Well stay tuned for the next chapter and feel free to drop a review on what you think! Follow and favorite if you enjoy ! (it really motivates me) xx