Laughter and shrieks filled the summer air in the back garden of the Riddle manor as three mud-covered and messy-haired girls ran through the long awaited rain. Elladora, Margaret and Natalie Riddle may have been ladies on paper, but in afternoons like this one the three sisters might have been the daughters of a farmer. Their mother was fiercely proud of the fact she managed to keep them children, shattering all of her mother-in-law's attempts to make them the perfect little statues for her endless row of tea parties, balls and lunches. In fact, Merope would probably join them in their mud fight if it wasn't for the fact that she was currently nine months pregnant with what everyone –except maybe Merope- hoped would be a boy. It wasn't that she wanted a girl just for the sake of it, but she knew that a boy couldn't have that kind of freedom his sisters would. Her daughters may been able to escape the strict grip of their grandmother every once in a while and have some fun, but a boy would be the next Duke of Hereford, and as such couldn't just play in the mud, or skip his lessons because he didn't feel like studying today. And there was always the fear that her next child would inherit magic. So far, that fear has come true with all three of the girls. Merope might have been able to somehow make arrangements for the girls to go to Hogwarts, but it would be a lot harder with a boy. She still remembered the day Ellie first showed signs of magic.
"Mum, look what I can do!" The little girl grinned as she ran into the library of the Riddle manor.
"Is that how you enter a room, Mary?" Even after six years, the now Dowager Duchess Mary Riddle still refused to call her granddaughter her first name. The girl frowned, exiting the room and knocking on the door.
"Yes?" Her mother called out.
The little girl anxiously opened the door again, bowing her head. "Mother, grandmother. May I have the per...pe..."
"Permission," Her mother smiled at her.
"Yes, to enter." She bit the fingernail of her little finger, as she always did when someone scoffed her.
"Actually, your mother and I were just having a talk."
"I'm sure that whatever she has to show I won't take long." Merope stood up and walked to her daughter.
"But we were in the middle of a conversation!" Her mother-in-law seemed to be enraged, which was quite often how their conversations ended.
"Talking about how important it is for me to give you a grandson isn't going to help the matter, Mary. Maybe you should talk to your son about instead of bothering me." She left the room before the older woman had time to respond.
She took Ellie's hand and led her to the kitchen, which was Merope's favourite part of the house, particularly because there was no one there on a Sunday afternoon when most of the staff had time off. She lifted her daughter up to the kitchen island and sat next to her. "So what did you have to show me?" The little girl reached in her pocket and took out a small candle out. She held it out in her hand, frowning at it. After a few seconds, the candle levitated above her palm. A few frowns later, a small flame started at the top of the candle. Merope quickly licked her fingers and put the fire out, taking the candle in her hands. Ellie's eyes widened in disappointment.
"Don't you like what I can do, Mummy?"
"Oh no, sweetheart. It's wonderful and great and amazing, but it's dangerous and a lot of other things too." She stroked her black hair and placed her in her lap. "You can do that because of magic. I used to do magic too."
The little girl gave her mother a confused look. "Why can't you do magic now? Did someone take it from you?"
"No, love, it's just...I didn't like having magic anymore."
"So you don't like me having magic either?"
"No, magic isn't a bad thing, Ellie. It just didn't work out for me. But I can tell you for certain you're going to be a great witch."
Ellie's eyes lit up as the corners of her mouth curled up in a grin. "Really? Are you going to teach me spells and magic?"
Merope shook her head. "No, you'll have teachers to teach you that in a school called Hogwarts."
"Did you go to that school, Mummy?"
"No honey, I...I couldn't go there. But you can, and I'll do my best that you do. There's only one thing, though."
"What?"
"You can't tell Daddy about this. Or your grandmother. Okay?"
The little girl hesitated. "Are you angry that I already showed Maggie?"
"No, you can show Maggie. She'll probably have magic too." Merope chuckled.
"That's good, because she was sad that she couldn't do all that stuff."
"Well, she'll probably be able to do them soon. Now go and play with your sister, Ellie."
The little girl hopped of her mother's lap and exited through the kitchen's glass door. Merope lied to her daughter. She wasn't happy about Ellie being a witch. It would be hard to get her to Hogwarts without anyone's help, but not letting her go would be a waste of talent.
"Are you really going to send her to Hogwarts?" Merope jumped in surprise as Anne, her companion quietly approached her.
"What...how do you know about Hogwarts?"
Anne smiled reassuringly. "Well, I'm a witch, of course. A Muggleborn, might I add. My parents let me attend Hogwarts, but once I was done with that, they pulled some strings and that's how I ended up here. Now, are you going to send her?"
"I don't know. I kind of have to, but it is going to be awfully hard without letting anyone else in. And I obviously can't let anyone else in."
"It doesn't have to be hard. I'm friends with Cheltenham's headmistress. She'll pretend to take Ellie in and send a few letters to the Duchess without any questions."
"Is it me or have you been planning this for a while?"
A smile appeared on Anne's lips. "I've been planning it since your first night here. I saw you burying your wand, and I doubted His Grace would help you if the children turned out to be magical."
"Have I ever told you how grateful I am to have you as a companion?"
"Actually My Lady, you haven't."
"Well, I am. And I beg of you, start calling me Merope. At least when The Duchess and my husband aren't around."
Anne gave her a warm smile. "I'll try. Merope." It was that moment that sealed a friendship that Merope would never again take granted for.
"Mum!" Ellie ran towards her mother, leaving her little sisters playing behind the greenhouse. Merope laid down the newest Agatha Christie novel that Anne recently brought her from the city. "What is it, Ellie?"
"Maggie is using magic again! I've told her to stop and she didn't listen!" Her black round curls framed a furious expression on the round red face. Merope casted a glance in Anne's direction, and in a second she was besides her, helping her up. They hurried after the nine year old, though admittedly a bit set off by Merope's at best normal paced walk. As they came around the corner of the greenhouse, they were greeted by two muddy little girls, one directing her hands towards an unusually tall dandelion, and the other staring at the flower with awe in her eyes.
"Margaret Beatrice Riddle, how many times have I told you about using magic when I'm not around? For God's sakes, you're eight years old! Why isn't your sister running around setting things on fire and blowing flowers up?"
"Because I'm only five, Mummy!" The youngest girl held her chubby palm up, counting the fingers. "See, one, two, three..."
"Oh, not you, Tillie!" Merope sighed as she casted a desperate look at Anne. "Would you mind..."
Without a word, Anne took her wand from her sleeve and put the daffodil back to its normal state.
"Thank you." Merope turned to Maggie, who was currently trying to sneak off. "STOP! Come back here." The little girl slowly returned to where she was minutes ago.
"Now, this is the third time in the last two days that Ellie has called me because you've been doing magic! I am supposed to rest, Maggie. You're not making it easy for me."
"But it was just for fun!" Maggie cried. "I wanted to show Tillie what I can do, and besides, no one saw us."
"But someone could have! Do you know what would happen if Kate caught you doing magic? Or even worse, your grandmother?"
Maggie shook her head, red curls falling out of their tightly secured place. "I'm sorry, Mum. I won't do it again."
"You better not, or you might not be going to the garden party at the Howards tomorrow."
The little girl's face lit up as she realised what her mother has just said. "The Howards are having a party tomorrow? Oh, I promise I'll be good! Are Donna and Evelyn going to be there?"
"And Martha?" Her little sister joined in.
"Yes, all of them will be there." Their mother laughed. The girls exchanged screeches of joy as they ran back to the house, discussing which dresses they should wear and whether or not Tillie should bring her newest teddy bear. They left their mother with Anne, who immediately reached her hand under Merope's, helping her back to her chair.
"Is there something wrong, Merope?"
"No, it's just...the girls seem to be very friendly with the Howards."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"It isn't, but Ellie seems to be fond of the Baron's youngest son."
"What, Frank? He's only a baby!"
"No, not Frank, David!"
Anne's face lit up in realization. "Oh, the thirteen year old!"
Merope gave her a thoughtful nod. "Yes, him."
"Well, that doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"It is when Ellie's only nine. And it most definitely is when the boy is almost engaged to the Fitzroy girl."
"You know, you worry too much. Just let Ellie have this one. You can't stop her every time she has a crush. She'll learn from this."
Merope nodded, letting this one go. "You're right. You know what; I'll just go to bed. My back is aching horribly." Anne's eyes widened as she was there during Merope's last three pregnancies.
"My Lady, you don't think you're..."
"In labour? Not yet, maybe tomorrow."
"But what about the Howard's garden party? I thought you promised the girls they were going."
"Oh, they are going." Merope gave Anne a little smirked as they entered Merope's quarters. "And so are Tom and the Duchess. But I'm staying here. A headache will do. And you're staying with me. If the baby turns out to be a boy, I don't want my husband or my mother-in-law getting their hands on him." She just kept smiling as Anne casted a confused glance in her direction. Merope Riddle had a plan, and as it usually went with her plans, it would work. She could feel it in her bones.
A/N: Hello to everyone! So, Merope has a plan, but you won't be seeing it in action for a while longer. Aren't I bad?
On the other note, you guys still seem a bit confused about the dates. In this chapter, the Riddles are in August of 1935, meaning that Minerva and Tom are the same age (I made Minnie a few months older than she is in the books so she and Tom could be in the same year). That means that if in the previous chapter Minnie was three, so was Tom, although we still haven't seen him.
Also, the Riddle children are in order Ellie -aged nine when Tom was born, Maggie -aged eight when Tom was born- and Tillie - aged five when Tom was born. I know it's a little confusing, but the dates will be in parallel in just a few chapters once Tom and Minnie start school.
Remeber, reviews equal air on here, so do spend a second or two and write something, for my sake.