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.
CRACK!
Lyra apparated into a small side alleyway and felt Tom's weight lean against her body as she struggled to keep him on his feet. She peered across the road and stared at two residences that lay across from them, on the other side of the street and watched as people passed by them in every direction. The light of day was starting to fade and she breathed a sigh of relief as the crowds started to dwindle, night had finally overtaken the city. She frowned as she heard Tom moan and stared at him, her shoulder starting to ache under the load.
"This would have been easier if our rooms were closer to Rue due Merveilles but I had forgotten about the holiday. We're lucky to have even gotten rooms in the outskirts of town. I'm just going to have to hope no one notices how bad of a shape he's in until we're safely inside."
She waited until a large group of people had passed and slowly walked out of the alleyway, pulling his dead weight across the street until they had stopped at the iron gates that closed the houses off from the sidewalk traffic. She began to pull her wand out slowly, but jumped when a man's voice startled her.
"You need any help missy? Your friend looks pretty bad."
Lyra turned around, her eyes falling on an older man, no-maj by the looks of it and shook her head, a forced smile tugging at her face. "Thanks for your concern, I'm afraid my friend just had a little too much to drink today, I'm just going to get him inside and get him into a nice cold bath."
The man smiled gently at her as he laughed and tipped his hat, "Alcohol makes fools of us all at some point or another. You have a nice day."
Her smile faded as she watched the man walk away and quickly glanced around their surroundings once more. The sun had almost finished setting in the sky and thankfully the street had seemed to be free of passersby, if only for a moment. Taking her wand out, she tapped the iron gate three times and stood back as she watched the two homes split apart suddenly , the sounds of wood and stone crumbling and groaning until a third building appeared in between them, crooked and warped with age. A small elaborate gate rose up from the ground and she tucked her wand gingerly inside her cloak, pushing the wrought iron door open with her free hand. Once inside, hidden from prying no-maj eyes, she closed it behind them and took a deep breath, disapparating as the night echoed from their departure.
They landed loudly in an outdoor hallway, the old warped wood creaking underneath her feet as she waved her wand towards a strange crooked door before her, pink and weather worn. It swung slowly inward and she winced as she tried to hoist Tom further up onto her shoulder, pulling him into the room, laying him down onto a small bed she had spotted against the wall.
Letting out a loud sigh of exasperation she quickly closed the door behind them and waved her wand towards the candles hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the room. She rubbed her shoulder gently to alleviate her pain as she looked around the chamber, it was small and bare save for the two other pieces of furniture in the drab space, a small aged wooden table, complete with a matching chair. She placed her purse down on the wooden table and quickly summoned her large wooden cabinet from within, waving her wand towards an empty corner in the room. The ground lurched as the heavy furniture touched the floor while she walked over towards a small door opposite the bed, swinging it open to find a small washroom and grabbed a few towels off the wall.
Tom groaned in pain again and she paused for a moment in hopes she would hear his voice, resuming her task at hand fervently as she was met with silence. Summoning a small clay bowl from her purse, she held it under the tap and waited until it had filled with warm water. Lyra removed her cloak quickly, tossing it over the chair as she carried the bowl and towels over to his bedside, gently sitting down next to him on the bed. "Tom can you still hear me?"
There was still no reply. Lyra frowned as she set the bowl of water down beside her. "He's unresponsive, that's not a good sign."
Gently pressing the back of her hand to his forehead, she withdrew her hand at the feeling of the intense heat underneath it.
"He's burning up." She thought to herself as she dipped a clean cloth into the water and wrung it out, placing it softly on his forehead. "I don't know what they put in his wine, but they did not have his survival in mind when they gave it to him. Normally I would have assumed it was a paralyzing draught of some kind but if that was the case it should have worn off by now. This is a poison and a very strong one at that, knowing Germain and his ilk I wouldn't be surprised if it was one to keep the blood warm even after death."
She heard Tom let out another soft noise as she got up from the bed and looked around the room. Unlike their accommodations in Salem, these rooms did not have hearths, which made potion brewing slightly less convenient.
"I'll just have to make do with what I brought with me."
Waving the tip of her wand around in her purse she pulled her cauldron out from her bag as well as a small portable metal basin filled with wood that she set up on the table, flicking her wand towards it. A small flame leaped from the tip of her wand onto the wood and she fed the fire until it was large enough to place her cauldron on. Lyra quickly summoned a small book from her bag, placing it next to her as she flipped through the pages, trying to find the potion she needed.
"I need to regulate his body temperature before I can even begin to figure out how to neutralize the poison's effects on his body…" Her finger tapped a page suddenly when she realized she had founded what she was looking for and read it quickly to see what ingredients she would need. Walking towards the cabinet she ripped open its doors quickly, pulling out vials and glass jars and setting them neatly down beside her, pouring each ingredient one by one into the cauldron.
"Thankfully, this potion won't take long to brew, twenty minutes at most." Lyra thought as she stirred the contents carefully, watching as the liquid turned a pale blue, nodding in satisfaction as she walked back over to Tom's side.
"Arrogant fool." She thought as she frowned and sat down next to him once more, dipping the towel back into the water before placing it back onto his forehead. She felt the anger in her stomach rise as she looked at his face and looked away in frustration. "If he had listened to me, none of this would have happened. Instead I'm here wasting valuable time trying to make sure he doesn't die."
She sucked her teeth in annoyance as she sat up from the bed, wrapping her arms around her. "I should have let him die, it would have served him right. Plus, it would have enabled me to be free in my pursuits." Walking over to a small window in the room, she ran her fingers over the small wooden shutters that were closed and opened them, feeling the fresh night air on her face. She looked back towards him and observed him curiously, guilt creeping into her stomach as she argued with herself silently. "You shouldn't be so cold. He didn't let you die...he could have."
Shaking her head indignantly she walked over to the potion once more and stirred it, staring into the cauldron absent-mindedly. "He saved me because he needed me. That's all...and he ended up blackmailing me in the process."
Lyra rubbed the perspiration from her forehead as she walked over to the cabinet, grabbing a small sprig of mint. "Yes. He blackmailed you, but where would you be without his help?" She threw the sprig of mint into the cauldron and stirred it three times as it gurgled and emitted a small mist, the rim of the cauldron suddenly covered in cold frost. Turning towards her purse she grabbed a small glass from within and dipped it into the cauldron, filling it with the icy liquid. Her hand trembled at the cold chill that radiated throughout her bones as she carried it over to him.
"I'd probably be feasting on someone right now." She murmured as she rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, propping his head up on the pillow. "He's still alive, but barely…"
Lyra grabbed his mouth gently and opened it, slowly administering the potion to him in small manageable doses. He coughed deeply as he drank and she waited for him to finish before starting once more. Satisfied with the amount she had gotten down his throat, she placed the glass down and stared at his sweat soaked face. With a small delicate hand, she gingerly brushed back the dark hair that was stuck to his forehead and grabbed another towel, dipping into the water and absentmindedly started to wipe the beads of perspiration that rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly aware of her actions, a blush rose up her cheeks and she tossed the towel aside quickly, walking across the room to forage through her bag once more.
"His fever should come down soon. I need to figure out how to get the poison out of his system. I have no idea what it is so I need to make sure what I brew doesn't do more harm than good." She pulled another book from her purse and placed it next to her as she retrieved the potion Tom had helped her with, taking a long sip from the bottle before setting it down before her. Grabbing the book carefully, she opened up its heavy leather cover to reveal its index, running her fingers along the list of chapters until she tapped on an item of interest.
"Antidote for Common Poisons...page 356" She repeated to herself as she flipped through the book furiously, anxious to see if this remedy would prove hopeful. Finding the page she sought, she started to read the purpose and ingredients, her eyes furrowing in frustration as she bit her lip.
"This potion is painfully ordinary...Bezoar. Unicorn Horn. Mistletoe berries? The other two seem fine...but I'm not sure if mistletoe berries will be potent enough for this, perhaps if I added a few drops of salamander blood..."
Lyra flipped through a few more pages and growled in frustration. Almost every potion known to wizard kind was in that book and still there was nothing that came even close to being a potential cure for Tom's affliction. She tapped her finger slowly on the table and stared at the emerald potion that sparkled against the candlelight in front of her. Staring at it's ethereal glow, she raised her eyebrows in surprise, a delightful gasp escaping her lips as a curious idea popped into her mind.
"Tom's strange potion ingredient! I still have the vial, I wonder if there's any left. It's a long shot, but if there is…"
She rooted through her cabinet until she came upon the empty glass, raising it up to the candlelight as she held her breath. Lyra laughed in delight as she noticed the vial still contained a tiny amount of dust and grabbed the other items for the potions she would need.
"It's not much but it should work, there wasn't a lot to begin with, so this should be plenty for at least a small batch!"
She bent over her cauldron and muttered "Scourgify!", nodding in satisfaction at the clean interior and adjusted the fire below as she started to add her potion ingredients.
Thirty minutes had passed and Lyra peered into the cauldron, wrinkling her nose at the odor of the crushed bezoar and grabbed a bottle labeled 'Unicorn Horns'.
"One pinch of unicorn horns…" She said as she shook the bottle into the cauldron, stirring it twice before adding two mistletoe berries. She stirred it two times counterclockwise before grabbing the vial Tom had given her and poured whatever had been left into the simmering potion.
"Here's to hoping…" she thought as she waved her wand over the cauldron and took a step back, grabbing another glass off the table. Filling it slowly she wrinkled her nose again at the smell and held the cup away from her, walking over towards Tom. She felt his forehead once more and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he was no longer warm to the touch.
"Good. Now that his fever has broken, I can give him this antidote and hopefully it'll eliminate the poison."
She poured a few drops of the foul smelling liquid into his mouth and grimaced in disgust as she went back to administer a few more mouthfuls before placing it beside him. Lyra stared at his face curiously as she turned away and looked towards the window. "Why do I suddenly care so much if he lives or dies. This isn't like me."
Leaving his bedside carefully she peered out into the night, looking up at the sky as she continued to ponder what had been lingering in the back of her mind all night. "I've never much felt the need to look after anyone, so I don't understand why his life matters to me, especially after the way he threatened me. He doesn't trust me and although I've tried I'm not so sure I can trust him either."
A soft breeze blew into the room and caressed her cheek as she sighed. "Ever since that night we encountered the wendigo he's been different. Still secretive and devious in some ways but otherwise oddly...pleasant to be with."
She thought back to his dry humour while they had traveled, her impromptu lesson where she had taught him wandless magic and what had transpired between them earlier in the day. When they had first begun travelling with one another she had instantly regretted her offer, finding him to be pompous and strange, all of which made her yearn for solitude. But there were moments, in between all the annoying occurrences, where he had shown her unusual acts of kindness, something to which she was unaccustomed, never having received them before. These small changes in his behavior confused her and it was causing her a great deal of conflict, constantly forcing her to choose between her familiar inclination towards apathy and her new found feelings of sentimentality.
"Perhaps he's doing this on purpose to toy with me…" She thought as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking back towards his still unconscious body lying on the bed. Rubbing her temples as she walked over to the chair, she shut her eyes in frustration, tired of her musings. "Regardless of what his intentions may be and how I feel, his lack of discretion towards both of our safety must be dealt with. I can't continue to bail him out of every situation his poor judgment places us in."
Waving her hand delicately at her purse she grabbed the book that she had been reading on the train, trying to distract herself until he finally woke from his affliction.
The air was still and the flames atop the candles barely flickered as Tom awoke slowly from his sleep, anticipating the pain that was likely to start filling his skull, but it did not come. He was surprised to find that not only was his head no longer filled with sharp aches, but his skin was dry, the cold sweat that had plagued him gone as well.
"Where am I?" He thought as he raised his hand to his face, grinning with delight as he realized he was in control of his body once more. He tried to think back to the last thing he remembered before he had faded out of consciousness and recalled seeing Lyra burst into the underground den the vampires had brought him to, her concerned face before his as she bartered for his life.
"She saved my life...again." He thought as he sat up in bed, rubbing his forehead, trying to make out where she had taken him. A sudden feel of rage and dread overwhelmed him as his mind raced quickly to his belongings, swinging his legs quickly over the side of the bed.
"Your suitcase is here...untouched. Lie back...you need to rest."
He watched carefully as Lyra walked towards him, closing the book in her hand as she placed it on the foot of his bed. "That poison really did a number on you. It took two potions to get you to where you are now."
"What was all that?" He asked softly, trying to catch her eyes, feeling a strange twinge in his stomach when he realized she would not look at him.
"You walked right into a vampire den, probably the most dangerous one in all of New Orleans. Jacques de St. Germain is not normally a reasonable figure to deal with. You're lucky I was able to find you, even luckier than I was able to get you out of there alive."
"He seemed to know you quite well." Tom said curiously, trying to bait her into turning towards him.
"I've had business with him before." She said, her answer vague and disappointing as her gaze averted him.
He remained silent for a moment before he spoke once more, gently. "I suppose a thank you is in order for saving my life. It was foolish of me to have gone."
"Yes. It was foolish and ignorant and egotistical." Lyra said coldly as she turned away from him. "I specifically told you NOT to go down Rue du Rouge. Not because I was trying to keep anything from you, but because I knew there was nothing that street had to offer you. We wasted valuable time today Tom and I don't know how much time I have to spare."
"It didn't seem particularly unusual to me at first." He lied as he cocked his head towards her.
"Tom, I know you to be exceptionally gifted when it comes to magic, but when it comes to this country you remain woefully ignorant." She sighed as she picked her book up from the foot of the bed. "Until you're familiar with where you are, you should take my advice."
She opened her purse and waved her wand above her head as her possessions flew into the open bag, the contents of the cauldron emptying themselves into an open flagon before whizzing past her head and into her hand.
He stared at her impassively as she spoke, his insides burning with anger and remorse. "I'm not a child, don't address me as such." He said furiously.
"No, you're worse than a child. You're an adult who is under the delusion that nothing you do has consequences, that you're so extraordinary nothing can harm you. Wake up and smell the reality and humility the rest of us have to cope with." She shook her head as she continued.
"The most concerning part of today's entire situation is that you've made it perfectly clear to me that you still don't trust me and you don't value my intelligence." She placed the bottle of potion next to him and grabbed her cape from the table, fastening it over her shoulders as she reached into its pocket, retrieving his wand.
She placed it on the table gently as she shook her head. "There may come a time when we both need to rely on each other to get what we want and right now I'm not feeling very confident about a scenario like that."
He tried to calm the rage that consumed his body, knowing it would only prove counterproductive to his cause, instead, he continued to brood and stare at her furiously. He knew it would be beneficial for him to open his mouth to offer an apology or anything that would convince her otherwise, but could not find it in himself to say the words. He instead tried to change the subject.
"When will you return?"
She turned towards the door, refusing to look at him as she glanced over her shoulder. "A few days perhaps. I, like you, also value my solitude and you will need some time to regain your strength. Time would not be put to use properly if the both of us stay here and do nothing, I'll use the opportunity to figure out where we both need to be in this city to make the most of this trip."
Lyra opened the door and paused before she walked out of the room, speaking softly. "You sought me out Tom because you needed my help, not the other way around. If you want to prove to me that trust can live between us, do not leave this room until I come back."
He watched as she closed the door softly behind her and felt a murderous rage well up inside of him. His little adventure down Rue de Rouge had almost cost him everything and although he was relieved she had come to his aid, the embarrassment of it all was too much for him to bear. He had let his arrogance lead him into a dangerous situation from which there had almost been no escape.
Tom felt his hands curl into fists as his contempt continued to eat away at him, laying bare his inadequacies and feelings of contrition.
"How dare she talk to me in such a manner, like a common fool." He laid back into the bed as he felt a wave of dizziness overtake him, a side effect from his road to recovery. "I've ended others miserable lives for far less."
Still, his quick temper and intimidation would not aid him in matters such as this and although his pride had been wounded, he had no choice but to let it go.
"She's right. My own curiosities have cost us valuable time and I've acted against even my own interests." He grimaced at his realization and looked over towards the open window. "I've undone everything I've worked towards, if she doesn't trust me then I won't get anywhere. I can't allow that to happen."
He felt a twinge of regret stir inside of him as he thought back to how he had felt when she refused to even look upon him and it made him feel strangely angry. He recalled his thoughts from earlier on that day, when he had first entered Rue du Rouge and of his realization that he had started to become accustomed to her company. What had initially started as a way to achieve his means had become altered, skewed and had transformed into something else entirely without his permission. He had initially been ashamed at the feelings that had started to arise in him, despising what he had worked his whole life to avoid, attachment and attraction to another, a clear distraction that could possibly hinder his future endeavors.
"This newfound interest doesn't have to turn into an obstacle." He thought carefully as he lay there in bed, staring out into the open depths of the night. "If I could convince her that she could lay her trust in me, the possibilities of my advancement could be endless."
Tom smirked as he finally felt a flood of relief wash over him, he no longer had to fight between his priorities and his conflicting internal curiosities, if he played his cards correctly he could have everything he wanted and more.
Nice little in between chapter before the two of them start off on their journey once more. Although Tom has his horcruxes, his physical body would still have a hard time dealing with poison or physical pain. It'll be fun to see where both of their internal conflicts lead them, I think Tom would definitely be uncomfortable and unsure about enjoying the company of other people, but as with everything we've read in every Harry Potter book he was a master of manipulation and founds ways to appeal to everyone that followed him, each had their own reason. If Tom Riddle hadn't learned to charm others, he wouldn't have gotten as far enough to even become Lord Voldemort, I even think that he would find a way to spin his own insecurities into a way to achieve his ends. More to be revealed about some of Lyra's past in upcoming chapters and we'll start to see some more dark magic Tom is destined to learn. Hope everyone enjoyed, please review, follow and fav! Xx
-Kiracalico
Yes Tom definitely has a knack for trouble, I think that especially if someone told him not to do something he would do it just to spite them, because in his arrogance he always seems to make mistakes like in the book series...so who am I to break the cycle? (HAHA) I love New Orleans, it's one of my favorite travel destinations and it is truly such a magical place in person. I think if there was any place in America that would appeal to Tom's dark magical taste, it would be there. In this story we'll definitely learn a lot more of Lyra's backstory, a lot of her habits, her talents and indifference will make more sense when everything comes to light. Tom might find in her more of a kindred spirit than he might realize, usually when we as people tend to make friends or like others it's because we see a small reflection of ourselves in that person.