DISCLAIMER: I am Canadian/American, I have never been to England, and I am not 45. So yeah, I'm totally JK Rowling.
I wish.
If I were JK Rowling, the book would not be published.
I doubt it would get past 2.
Synopsis:
Tom Marvolo Riddle is a troubled boy, some say. He was brought up along with his sister, Tabatha, by his 'uncle' Sirius Black, and his wife, Hestia, after his father killed his mother. It is a dark time for the wizarding world, as a man only known as Perth is stalking pure-bloods, along with his group of "Vindicators". Upon reaching Hogwarts, he meets two boys, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy. Little does he know that the very prophecy that started the war will end it. But the three boys are in more harm than they are aware.
PLEASE SEE END FOR AUTHOR'S NOTE!
Chapter 4: In Which Harry Potter Meets A Boy and A Girl
The bright-eyed child dashed down the hall with a shriek, running into a girl who was nearly half his size. Tabby Riddle fell to the ground with a small yelp, knocked backwards from the force of the small brush. She was not a child who would cry without provocation, and at that, not loudly, but her day had been stress inducing and exhausting. Her mouth opened and the strain the past few days had put on her poured out in a wail. The boy knelt down next to her and tried to calm down the distressed girl.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" He asked. The question and apology were met with no answer, only tears and more howling sobs, something that led the boy to scream down the hall: "GRANDMA! GRANDMA! THIS GIRL IS CRYING!"
An older woman, wearing the robes of a head healer, rushed down the hall to the two. She shook her head of silvery grey hair and tisked. "Well, Harry, yelling isn't going to solve the problem." The good-natured woman smiled at the crying child, and scooped her up. "Where's your mother, my dear?" The girl sniffled and opened her brown eyes.
"I don't have one. I'm here with daddy. I want to see Tom." She blinked solemnly at the woman. Tears dripped down splotchy checks, and her lips turned into a pout.
Harry tugged at Tabby's foot, which was dangling out of the woman's arms. "Who's Tom?" he asked, in his normal inquisitive way, as he pulled on the torn tennis shoe. Harry didn't recognize it, and figured it was muggle.
"Tabby! Tabby, sweetheart, where are you?" A frantic voice called. Harry's grandmother recognized the voice and turned.
"Sirius Black, you come here this instant." She commanded, a smile on her face and free hand on her hip.
"Oh, thank god, Dorea. You have Tab." The good-looking man strode down the hall, his long legs swallowing the floor in quick strides. He was well dressed, in great contrast to the scruffy appearance of Tabby. He held his arms out for the girl, and Dorea gave her over, followed by a hug from the motherly woman. "It's good to see you again." He said, flashing one of his most charming smiles. He noticed the small boy between them, and reached down to ruffle his dark brown, nearly black, hair. "Hello, Harry. How are you, kiddo?" The boy beamed up at him, his green eyes, which were magnified with a pair of round spectacles, alight at the sight of his god father.
"I'm good. Who's the girl? Is she your daughter? When did you get her? Where's Hestia? Guess what, I'm visiting grandma today while mommy is shopping. Isn't that exciting? I saw a man who had an ear instead of a nose and noses instead of ears, isn't that funny, and I wanted to laugh, but grandma said that was mean to laugh at him poor fellow, so I held my breath and got the hiccups and then grandma gave me peanut butter to get rid of them." The boy eventually had to stop for breath. He smiled again, and Sirius was struck by how much he resembled his deceased father.
Tabby had firmly rooted her head in Sirius's neck by then, but looked slyly down at the boy. "You're weird." She commented, returning her head to the safety of her father's shoulder.
"Tab, don't be mean. Harry is just excited." Sirius commented, rubbing circles in her back. The girl nodded into his neck, hiding her face. "Come on, let's go see your brother." The pair walked down the hall and entered a room.
Tom Riddle slept. And in his sleep, he dreamt. He dreamed of beautiful stick, one that could make anything appear and disappear. He waved it, making his little sister appear, her hair, for once, clean. "Tabby?" he called out to her. She spun like a top, and glanced over her shoulder. Tom held out his arms to her. Tabby shook her head, smiling knowingly. And then he fell back into his mother's arms. Tom didn't know when the sad looking woman appeared, only that he felt save with her. Merope held him as she did the day he was born, cradling him like the small babe he had been. But too soon was he ripped from his mother's arms, and she threw him, threw him into a hole. A hole where he dropped and dropped and dropped. People screamed at him, yelling, and someone clung, tightly around his waist and it Hurt. He didn't want them to hold him like that but if they let go, then he would keep falling instead of being in this bed.
Tom sat up. He blinked at the room around him, and hadn't quite realized that Tabby was sitting next to him, her large eyes blinking sleepily. "Daddy, when is Tom going to wake up?" she asked, while her small hand rested on his.
A man, who was slight in build and seemed brighter with every step chuckled and stroked the girl's head. "He already is, Tab." Tabby sat up with a start, and grinned at her brother.
"Hi, Tom. Does your head hurt? Granma Dorea said it got hurt really badly. Are you okay?" she asked, sending the questions off in a rapid fire babble that made Tom's head spin.
"Oh, oh, oh." He moaned into hands. His head felt light, and yet heavy. Sometimes, Tom was in the room, listening to Tab prattle on about a strange boy she had met in the hall, and at other times, Tom was drifting across a sea. This sea was strange, and stormy, the waters choppy and rough. But this was not his dream. This was Tabby's story, the one that she had repeated over and over.
Tom remembered when he had first heard of the sea. He was sitting at the table in his old, tiny apartment. The table, a shiny, Formica affair, tilts to one side, in a rather sad teal slope. The table was wiggly, but his mother was very proud of it, despite the numerous scratches and dings in the surface. It was one of the only times that Tom Sr. was not in the dingy Riddle residence, but for the life of him, Tom could not remember why. Merope was standing at the stove, frying up a few pieces of precious bacon. It was one of Tom's only happy memories, and he cherished the way the scent of bacon drifted in the cigarette smoke laden air, a warm, homey smell weaving its way through the choking fumes that climbed into Tabby's chest at night, giving the girl fits of coughing.
Last night, I had a dream, the girl declared, her large brown eyes barely reaching past the teal tabletop. Merope stiffened at the stove, frozen in fear. The thought on her mind, Tom knew now, was that of fright for her darling daughter. As Tom would learn later, the art of divination ran in the Gaunt line, but had not shown for nearly a hundred years. The girl continued her story, eyes dancing around the kitchen, picking out certain details. Tom was on a boat. It wasn't a big boat, but it was one of the boats that are in my storybook. He was really big and strong, but he looked scared. You looked a lot different, all grown-up like. There were two boys with him. One was tall and big like you, but he had this really blond hair that was all… at this point, Tabatha moved her hands in a wave like motion. He nodded, not really paying attention. He was too focused on the bacon and toast that was in his future.
He was holding on to this boy. Or it might have been a girl. The big boy had eyes like stars. No, they were more like the moon, all big and silvery. But the person he held on to was small and… long. Long legs and arms and fingers. The person had these big green eyes that reflected everything. His hair, I'm sure it was a boy, was shaggy and black. You all looked scared and the smaller boy looked hurt. The boat went really fast. And the water was all rough and 'shu-shu-shu'. Tabby waved her hands in a chopping motion to describe the water.
After a few moments of silence, Tom turned his attention to Tabby. "Aren't you going to finish your story?" But the girl did not appear to hear. She was staring off into space, blinked, and smile.
And then I woke up. She finshed.
Sirius Black watched his children talk. Soon after Tom woke, up, Tabby had climbed into the bed next to him, curling up against her big brother. They were both fast asleep when he rose from his chair. Stepping outside the room, Sirius caught Dorea on her way down the hall, her eyes on a scroll of notes.
"Dorea, if they wake up, could you tell them I'll be back soon?" He asked, not caring much for her answer. Sirius trusted the woman, as she was his surrogate mother. She nodded, and still focused on her notes, walked into the room. Sirius smiled, rolled his shoulders, and set off to the stairs. He prayed that Remus would still be on shift when he arrived.
So here I leave you, until my next highly sporatic update. Thanks to all who are now following Happily Never After.
GIVING A SHOUT OUT TO MY ONE (1) REVIEWER, MADD GIRL. I LOVE YOU FOR BEING MY FIRST REVIEWER. YOU'RE AMAZING.
Note the One (1) review up there? Yeah. Let's fix that.
Next Chapter: Enter the Wolf. Hahahahaha.
(Should I treat you to some early citrus-y goodness?)
Love, Dawnie.