A/N: Whoaaa! Where has the time gone?! College is so time consuming! I'm sorry if I'm too slow with these updates. I'm really trying. C: New Reviews! I always enjoy reading them :D

Chapter 8: It's a Celebration

"AACK!" Tom yelped at the sensation of something slamming against his back, waking him from his slumber.

"Happy shared-Birthday! Get up!"

He was still disoriented. The little voice shouted again.

"Tom! It's already ten! Get up!"

He could feel little fingers gently tugging on his hair. He turned over, causing the unknown creature to fall off of his back and onto the other side of the bed. He rubbed his eyes and turned to see what had fallen. The first thing he saw was a mass of silvery curls that would need emergency detangling after breakfast. He managed a tired grin.

"Good morning, Rosette. Did you sleep well?" he asked as he sat up.

Rosette gave him a big smile. "I sure did! Apep was snoring, though. I didn't even know that reptiles could snore! What are we gonna do today?" She was very excited to hear about the day's schedule. Tom had postponed a raid, just so they could enjoy the day together.

He combed his hair through with his fingers and exhaled, "Let's see. There's a nice park I thought we could check out. Then we could come back home and make our own cake…if that's ok with you?" Tom was not an expert on "What Little Girls Like To Do On Their Birthdays"-ology, and he was afraid that Rosette would turn him down. He was relieved to see her smile grow even wider.

"That sounds like fun! Of course I want to do that! I'll get ready now!" She quickly jumped off of his bed and ran to her room.

"I'll attempt to domesticate your hair after breakfast!" he shouted after her.

"Ok, let's get this over with."

Rosette sat between Tom's legs as he prepared to try and style her hair. He learned very quickly that he could not use the same products on her hair that he used for his. Rosette had thoroughly grilled him for trying to use his normal shampoo on her hair a few nights ago. She said that she required hair products for "people of colour", as she put it.

"Oh!" he said as he opened one of the moisturizers. "I like the way this one smells. What is this? What is shea butter?"

"I dunno. But it makes my hair not be crispy and stuff."

"Crispy?"

"You know. When it's dry! Crispy!"

"Ah, I see. Well, here I go." He poured a generous amount into the palm of his hand and began working it into Rosette's hair. He was amazed by the immediate results. Her hair became less tangled and much more malleable. When it wasn't a bulk of coily chaos, her hair was quite beautiful. Her tendrils reminded him of starlight. He let the curls slip between his fingers in awe.

They're so lovely. Tom paused. He leaned forward to get a good look at Rosette's face, then leaned back again. Her enthralling violet eyes, her soft brown skin, her cute little face, her tiny body, and her wild hair. Oh Merlin… Until now, Tom only saw her as the adorable little sister of his. But, after taking a good look at her, he realized with horror that she would one day be a little girl no more. She was going to mature and become absolutely stunning. Absolutely stunning women attracted men. Tom did not like the idea of that. Heads would roll in the future. No one would ever be good enough for her in his eyes. Hmm, she might not like me if I kill all of her suitors, though… She can marry a nice pureblood. Yes, then no one will have to die.

"Hey! Are you done? I want to go to the park!"

He snapped out of his reverie and finished putting her hair into a puffy ponytail, letting a few curls fall in front of her face.

"Done. Now, get ready. We're leaving in five minutes," he told her, looking at his hands. They were still covered in the moisturizer. He shrugged and wiped it in his own hair before getting up to get ready.

Five minutes later, they were both standing at the door. Tom had to re-button Rosette's coat because she had missed a button and had ended up buttoning every one of them in the wrong hole. Once he was finished, the two of them stepped outside. The snowfall that winter had been relentless and there was at least half a meter of snow on the ground. It would be no problem for Tom to walk through, seeing as how he was a pretty tall man himself. However, to Tom, Rosette's height reminded him of an overgrown house elf. She was a very tiny child for being eight years old, and he often wondered if her growth had been stunted. Nagini had mentioned that she had eaten eight year olds that were Rosette's size. That left Tom at ease with the knowledge of other children being that size, and slightly disturbed at the thought of Nagini comparing his beloved little sister to her previous snacks.

He grabbed Rosette's mitten covered hand. "It will be quicker if we apparate instead of walk there."

Before she could even react, they had appeared next to a tree in the park. Tom laughed as Rosette stumbled around, still very dizzy from the sudden apparation. When she could finally stand straight, she shot him a feigned dirty look. This made Tom laugh even harder…until a snowball hit him right in the mouth. He looked up in surprise at the gleeful little girl. The Dark Lord does NOT lose snowball fights! He scooped up some snow and packed it together to make a rather large snowball. Rosette was still laughing and didn't notice until it was too late. The snowball hit her, making her stumble and fall on her bottom.

"Oh, it's on!" she shouted through her laughter.

Fifteen minutes later, the two of them plopped themselves down on the snowy ground, tuckered out from their exciting snowball fight.

"That last one you threw had a pebble in it, my dear sister…" Tom chided playfully, "Since you threw with an intent to kill, you have to wash dishes tomorrow night," he told her, poking her in her side and making her laugh. "On second thought, never mind. I'll do the dishes. You always leave food on the ones that you supposedly washed."

Rosette let out a fake gasp. "What?! Don't think of it as me leaving food on them. They're just…convenient leftovers. Available straight from the cabinet. You don't have to do any serving because they're already on the plates!

"Rosette, that's disgusting!" he laughed. He pulled out his wand and cast a warming charm, making the area around them dry and snow-free. Then, he conjured up a basket covered with a cloth. "I thought we could have a picnic out here. The cold weather can't stop us."

He spread the cloth out and began to empty the contents of the basket. A thermos full of hot chocolate, chicken noodle soup, Twinkies (which took him forever to find), and some tea for himself. The two ate together while chit chatting about whatever Rosette decided to change the topic to. They somehow ended up on the topic of going to Hogwarts.

"Are you gonna take me to Diagon Alley?" she asked him before taking a big gulp of her hot chocolate.

Tom gave her a confused look. "Of course…Why wouldn't I be taking you?"

"You DO realize who you are, right? If everyone sees Voldemort in public with a little girl, it might raise SOME level of alarm," she stated matter-of-factly.

Tom inwardly cringed when she referred to him as "Voldemort". It didn't sound right being said with her sweet little voice.

"I can just use a Polyjuice potion," he said plainly. He then stood up and brushed the snow off of him. "Come. Let's ice skate," he said and grabbed her hand, pulling her along.

The numerous blizzards and low temperatures that previously tore through the area left the lake at the park nice and solid. There were scratches indicating that many before them had opted to ice skating as well.

The two of them walked to the edge of the frozen lake where Tom quickly transfigured their boots into stylish and snug ice skates. He then, stepped onto the ice and skated towards the middle of the lake. Rosette watched him in astonishment. She had no idea that Tom could ice skate. He was tall and a little on the athletic side, but "Graceful" was not a word she would have ever thought to describe her brother with. Yet, here he was, moving on top of the ice as if he were only walking. She wanted to join him, too. The problem was, she had never ice skated before. But, Tom made it look so easy. How hard could it be?

Rosette took one step onto the ice and was surprised at how fast the ground and one's face could come in contact with each other. Tom stifled a laugh and skated over to her.

"That's an interesting technique you've come up with, my dear sister. Though, I'm almost one hundred percent certain that your feet are supposed to do the skating, not your face," he teased as he lifted her and helped her stay steady on her feet.

She spit her tongue out at him, "very funny. I didn't know."

"Here," he said, skating backwards while pulling her along. "It's easy."

Rosette had no choice but to take uneasy step, seeing as how she was being dragged.

"Oh come on. You slide through the hallways in your socks all the time. It's nearly the same thing. One foot at a time. Slide. Yes! Like that! Keep on. Take your time."

They had skated hand in hand to the centre of the lake before Rosette was even aware. Tom watched her determined little face as she skated wobbly with him. She looks so serious. It's adorable. Tom was too busy admiring his little sister to see the uneven patch of ice before him. His skates lost control on top of the bumpy area and caused him to lose his footing. Rosette managed to yank her hand out of his before she went down with him. She watched as he got better acquainted with the ice, snickering as she slowly slid away.

"Falling runs in the family!" she teased as he grumbled about cursing the entire lake for making a fool out of him. He looked up to see Rosette laughing and, more importantly, skating on her own.

"Well, look at you. Skating all on your own now, eh? You seemed to have moved out of the way just in time…" he said, pushing himself up, just to be promptly knocked down again by the force of Rosette's little boy colliding with his.

She was laughing hysterically. "It's not as bad when you have something or someone to fall on!"

Tom sighed when he opened the door and the warmth of the indoors hit him. Rosette scurried past him and through the door, kicking her boots off and shedding her coat before running straight to the kitchen.

"Hurry up! We have to make a cake! You proooooomised!"

"Let me actually get through the door first. Slow down. We have plenty of time. You didn't even take off your mittens, yet. Get back in here, you silly child."

Tom pulled her mittens off and put them away. He walked into the kitchen where Rosette had already begun to levitate ingredients from the cabinets and onto the counters. He narrowly avoided a bag of flour that zoomed by his head and smiled at her eagerness.

He grabbed one of the eggs that she had circling around his head. "Let's get down to business. No, the chocolate goes in last."

Tom and Rosette began adding the ingredients to the mixing bowl one by one. They weren't the cleanest bakers in the world. Egg shells were scattered and there was no part on the counter that the flour had not reached. Tom looked at Rosette, knowing that there was an abundant amount of flour in her hair. Probably enough to make another cake. But, Tom was not spotless either. He already knew that his eyebrows were caked with chocolate and sugar. How it got there? He didn't know, nor did he care. He would never admit it, but he, the Dark Lord, was having a lot of fun doing familial activities with Rosette.

He must have looked too lost in his thoughts, because Rosette called him two times and he didn't respond. She then took it upon herself to bring him back into reality by flicking a substantial wad of batter at him. Damn, her aim is good! Tom wiped the batter off of his nose and rubbed it across her eyebrows, making sure to give her a prominent unibrow.

"Hey!"

"-Is for horses," he returned quickly.

Rosette threw an egg shell at Tom's head, which was the beginning of the end for the poor kitchen.

The two of them looked at each other after placing the cake in the oven. They both swore they had more of the cake on them than the actual cake did.

"How about we go and get washed up and heat up some left overs before our cake finishes?" he suggested as he herded Rosette up the stairs. She avidly agreed, wanting to wash away her dessert like shell as soon as possible. Everything was starting to harden, making her skin feel stiff and icky. "And, make sure you get behind your ears, too. And under your arms. And in your nose. And between your toes. And the back of your knees. And-"

"Geeeeez Tom! I'll be sure to Scourgify every crevice!" she joked as she ran up the stairs ahead of him. He smiled and went into his own room to wash up. Nagini was resting under his bed when he walked in. She opened one eye and watched him pull out pyjama pants and a t-shirt.

"Have fun today, O' Dark One?" she said mockingly

Tom jumped, realising that he was not alone. "Yes, yes I did, you overgrown worm," he retorted, picking up on her jeering undertone.

"You have such a soft spot for her. I'm surprised she stay, even though she knows who you really are. That sure is a lot of love that you don't deserve."

"Jealous?"

"No. I'll admit, she has been a pleasing addition to the household. The fat mini snake isn't half bad either. He's very knowledgeable in various subjects. I enjoy my discussions with him. I am just saying that it is nice to see you doing something other than an arse twenty-four seven," she sneered.

"Oh, sod off," he replied with feigned displeasure. He cleaned himself up and changed clothes before heading back downstairs, where someone had already began to devour the leftovers.

"If you eat all of those by yourself, you won't have any room for cake," he chuckled.

Rosette slowly turned around. She had a mass of spaghetti noodles hanging out of her mouth.

"Didn't you JUST get cleaned up?" Tom asked as he waved his wand over her, cleaning her messy face.

"'Ou 'er 'aking 'oo 'ong," she sputtered, effectively spewing a few noodles on her shirt.

Tom vanished those away, too. "You didn't even get another bowl! You're just eating out of the Tupperware!" he exclaimed. "Lazy lazy lazy."

Rosette finished her mouthful of spaghetti and let out a dramatic gasp. "I'm trying to cut down on the amount of dishes we use! YOU are just wasteful," she replied as the timer went off on the oven.

Tom thumped her on the head and walked over to the oven. He took the cake out and set it on the counter. He then took the chocolate frosting out of refrigerator and handed a spatula to Rosette.

"Would you do the honours, my dearest?"

"Gladly!" she answered.

Tom was thankful they weren't in a decorating contest. He wasn't an expert on cake decorating, but he knew that Rosette was bad at it. Well, it'll still taste like cake.

"Tadaa! Il est fini!" she proclaimed as she licked the spatula clean.

Tom shook his head, "No." He waved his wand over the ugly cake and eight green candles appeared. "Now, it is done. Now, blow out the candles."

Her smile was just too infectious. He too was grinning from ear to ear.

Rosette stopped just as she was about to blow them out, "No wait! It's OUR birthday. We both have to blow them out!"

"Oh alright," Tom said as he moved right next to her, putting one arm around her.

"1!" she giggled.

"2." he grinned.

"3!" they both cried before blowing out the candles.

"Happy Birthday, Rosette," Siobhan whispered as she looked at the photo of her and Rosette. "I miss you."

A/N: One more chapter before Hogwarts!