House: Horned Serpent

Class: Arithmancy

Task 2: What if Merope Gaunt had found a Wizarding shelter instead of a Muggle one?

Prompt: [dialogue] "You are not hard to love", [colour] green

WC: 2, 177

TW: None

The evening was cold and the wind made it impossible for her to keep going. It was almost night as the winter days were pretty short and there was hardly anyone on the streets. She had the slightest idea how late it was. She'd been walking for hours. She'd started her journey before the sun had risen and it seemed she wouldn't have ended it before it had set down. The baby was restless. He'd been that way all day long. But she didn't have time to stay. She had no shelter, no food, no friends to help her. She was completely alone.

It was said that pregnancy made women look beautiful, but Merope Gaunt looked even more deformed and ghosty as she wandered on the empty streets on New Year's Eve. Her old green dress was torn and dirty and it didn't keep her warm. Yet gone were the times when she'd dreamed of lovely dresses and a nice face. Gone was her prince and her happiness. She'd only tasted joy due to magic. It had been wonderful, but it had lasted so little. Had it been right or wrong, Merope was too sick to think about it. Anyway, she'd been happy….so happy.

People were all inside preparing for a new year. Merope, though, didn't hope for anything. She felt tired and old. She wanted to sleep..to forget. She would only wait for the baby - the only miracle in her life. She felt sad she would have to leave him, but she didn't have the strength to carry on. Not any longer. Despised by her father, tortured by her brother and chased away by the man she'd fallen for, she had nothing left to live for. Nothing but that baby.

Inside one of the small houses, on the right side of the street Merope was struggling to walk, a young woman was preparing for the New Year. She was in her twenties, but she looked much younger due to her short stature and her child-like face. She wasn't an exquisite beauty, yet she had a nice face and a smile that would make others smile, too.

She was alone for the New Year. She hadn't lived with her family for a long time. However, she used to visit them at Christmas while the New Year she would usually spend with her friends. That year it was quite different. Her friends had gone out of the town and she had to stay. There were few working places for women despite the fact the war had changed a lot of things in that direction. She'd only been 14 when the war had started, but she would never forget the fear she had to endure during the nights when fire used to rain over London.

She was a witch. The only witch of her family. She loved her parents a lot, but being different inevitably parted them. She had a different education than her parents expected her to have (she went to Hogwarts) and had different dreams than most of the Muggle girls of her age. Marriage was just one of the things she couldn't agree with her parents. Witch or not, her parents were convinced she was already too old and she had to find a husband quickly. She, though, insisted on being left alone. She wasn't going to marry the first one and she wasn't definitely old. She was only 26.

It was warm and tidy inside the house. An apple cake was waiting in the oven while all the kitchen smelled of cinnamon. A gray cat slept happily next to the oven, enjoying the warmth of the fire. The cat had a victorious fight with the Christmas three just an hour ago and now she was recovering her energy for the next day.

Mina had managed to redecorate the tree (what was left of it) and had cleaned once more the floor. She was so grateful that she was a witch. Otherwise, she wasn't that sure the cat would still sleep so happy next to the fire.

She was on the verge of taking the cake out of the oven and put the fish inside when she heard a knock at the door. It surprised her as she didn't expect anyone. Another knock followed. She put the cake on the table and quickly went to the door.

Merope couldn't go any longer. The pain was getting too strong and the baby wasn't going to stop. Her feet were frozen and so was her entire body, but she didn't feel it any longer. The pain was too intense to give importance to anything else. The baby was ready to come and she hadn't found a shelter yet. Left without any option she went to the first door she could find and knocked. There was light inside so Merope decided to insist. She didn't have enough power to go to another door so she put all her hopes into whoever lived in that house. Finally, the door opened and a young woman greeted her. It was the last thing she remembered before she fainted from fatigue and hunger.

The baby came just a few minutes before the New Year. There'd been horrible hours for both of them. Mila had the slightest idea how to help her and so she kept running on the streets trying to find someone who could. Eventually, she returned with an old woman. By the time, Merope had already lost all her power and Mila had to use some of her potion skills (she hadn't been the top of the class, but she wasn't a disaster either) to make it easier for Merope. It worked, though, and the baby came faster than expected.

He was a healthy boy. Mila went quick to bring some food (she remembered the fish and decided to put it in the oven later in case Merope would want to eat something after she recovers a bit) and two glasses of wine to celebrate the New Year. Merope only drank some water. The boy was hungry, too. At first, he'd fallen asleep in Mila's arms. She'd rocked him while the old woman was having her dinner. Mila had never thought the New Year would find her rocking a baby and singing lullabies.

She had the New Year's dinner later with Merope some hours later. After the old woman had left, Mila had stayed next to the kid, guarding him for fear something bad might happen to him. After a while, he woke up and nothing would stop him from crying. She gave the baby to Merope, guessing it was hunger that had woken the boy up. Yet Merope hardly had any milk to breastfeed her son and so Mila had to go back to her potion book and look for a way to turn some cow milk into suitable milk for a newborn...

They named the baby Tom Marvolo Riddle. Mila arranged a special place for him into a quarter of the room, transforming a chair into a crib and enchanting some old toys, she'd kept during the time, to hang over his crib. She gave her best to learn to knit and she discovered she actually liked it. So she made some pairs of shocks, first. Then a tiny green cap and she went on trying until she managed to knit an entire suit and a blanket. In just a few days, the mother and the child had everything they needed.

Merope had thought she was going to die, but Mila's potions had helped her body to recover while the kindness her host provided both to her and to Tom gave her the courage to keep going. So, it only took her a few days to leave the bed.

Mila had promised her they could stay at her as long as they wanted. "There are enough rooms" Milla added. So, she stayed. She gave her best to help Mila with house chores. At first, Mila refused, but as they were going to live together Mila understood Merope needed to do something to feel useful.

Five years had passed and the baby was already running around the house. He was a little trouble-maker. The cat was trying to avoid being too close to him most of the time as his way of playing was a bit too harsh. However, the cat seemed to forget it some hours later and it would come again: first like a shadow, walking slowly and quietly, then she would suddenly jump on him and run away only to do it again. Tom laughed every time the cat played with him. Despite everything, they were friends and Tom didn't actually mean to hurt it. He was only too young to understand.

Yet there were times when he would stay quietly next to Mila and watch her. He loved to watch her making cookies. He adored cookies. But most of all he loved when she allowed him to decorate them or to make figurines from the dough. He would stay next to the oven, with a stuffed snake in his arms, and wait for them to get brownish. Then he would eat them with honey.

He was very intelligent and full of energy and Mila had loved him from the first day. She'd never married, but having Tom around made her feel less lonely. He was like her child. In fact, she'd been more like a mother to him than Merope had. It wasn't like Merope hadn't tried, but Mila seemed to be better than her. Merope had never known love and so she found it hard to display it. On the other hand, Mila had been surrounded by attention and love, so it was natural she would find it easy to play with the kid and tell him stories.

"Have you thought about finding someone and marry?" Mila had asked Merope one day.

The new life she'd had in Mila's house had made wonders to her look, though she was far from beauty. She got more confident and she even managed to find a job. Mila had taught her to make up and choose her clothes more carefully. Together they would prepare potions for skin and hair care.

Even the young Tom was willing to help. He had his own potions already l little harmless bottles of colourful bottles that would change their colour and smell when mixed. From time to time, their own potions would become his subjects - of course without the two of them noticing before the potions got green. He liked green, so it was no wonder his own potions would turn things green.

"You are not hard to love," Mila added as if she'd guessed her thoughts.

"I'm not beautiful," Merope answered. "Nice clothes and some make-up won't make up for it. And I'm not like you. I don't bond so easily with people." She admitted. "Look at Tom. My own son loves you more than he loves me."

"Beauty isn't everything. And it isn't true. Tom doesn't love me more. He just likes to be around me because I allow him to do everything he wants. He can paint the walls green or bring snakes inside" The thought about snakes made her shiver. She had always been afraid of snakes. She still was, but Tom seemed to attract them all the time. Mila had wanted to make him sad and so she'd allowed him to play with them (although, at first she'd been terrified the boy may get bitten). "He likes to play with me and he, indeed, cares for me, but you are his mother and he knows that. He loves you. He really did. But Tom isn't the only one to love you. Haven't you noticed the way Lucian is watching you?"

"Lucian?! You must be kidding. He is just polite." The truth was Lucian - one of her work colleagues- had been way too friendly lately. But how could she have noticed when she'd never been loved before?

Lucian wasn't handsome. His looks were nothing compared with Tom Riddle. Yet he had a kind heart and he seemed to like her. Merope also found it easy to speak with him. They would talk for hours without getting bored.

Mila gave her a look that told her she was being silly.

"Why don't you invite him for dinner on Christmas Eve? That way Tom will meet him, too."

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You can wear that lovely green dress Tom likes so much. I bet Lucian will like it, too. I'll help you get ready and Tom will certainly help us make cookies and gingerbread. I hope, though, that Lucian isn't afraid of snakes. Tom had brought another one in the morning. He told me the little was cold and lonely. I couldn't convince him to take it back. "

"Fine. But I don't think Lucian feels something for me."

"We'll see."