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Word Count - 854

Written for the Marauders Map, 169/170. Tom Riddle and Serial Killer!au.

Fatal Mistake

He thought that perhaps he was meant for greater things than murder. He could have done and been anything he chose after all. He had the looks, the charm, the power, the charisma. He could have been the Minister if he'd thought to put the effort in. He could have been the next great Headmaster.

He could have used his many talents for good.

But… he liked murder.

He liked playing god with people's lives. He liked watching the light leave their eyes under his power. He liked playing the Auror's for fools, watching them chase their tails trying to find out who was behind the long string of murders plaguing the wizarding world.

He didn't leave many clues.

He left a few. On purpose. He liked to watch them get excited, thinking that they were one step closer, only to find a dead end awaiting them.

Tom was good at murder, so why should he do anything else?

…

James and Lily Potter were a good addition to his collection of souls, Tom thought. They were both powerful, both known throughout the Wizarding World for being the best of what the world could offer.

Tom knew that this would shake their entire community.

If the killer could take out two such prominent figures, who would he take out next.

The child was… difficult. Tom, as a rule, didn't kill children. He preferred to give them a chance to grow up and prove their unworthiness to him before he took their lives.

Gazing into the emerald eyes of Harry Potter, alert and upright in his crib, Tom hesitated. A shiver ran down his spine and he didn't quite understand what was happening. He raised his wand to point it at the child when he heard the tell tale cracks of apparition around the house.

With a final glance at the child, Tom fled the scene. He'd keep his eye on Harry Potter.

…

Auror Harry James Potter had been on the case since a year into his career. He'd picked up one of the murders and simply stayed. Kingsley Shacklebolt has asked him if he could handle it, if it was going to be too personal, but Harry had asked to stay on the case.

This case, this particular murderer, was a big part of the reason Harry had become an Auror in the first place after all.

This particular murderer had killed his parents.

Lily and James Potter had been his last victims. He'd gone to ground, and many thought he'd died or travelled abroad to evade capture. The world breathed a sigh of relief.

Except now, twenty four years later, three consecutive murders held the same MO's of the serial killer.

The Auror's tried to pass it off as a copycat, but Harry knew.

Call it a gut instinct, but he was positive it was the same person.

He was determined to be the one to put an end to the reign of terror.

…

It felt good to be murdering again. Tom had almost forgotten the rush as the years had passed him by.

He'd exchanged his obsession with collecting souls for an obsession on Harry Potter. The little boy had mesmerised him, and he only grew more interesting as he aged. Brought up by the worst sort of people imaginable, he still managed to grow into a good person.

Tom wanted to know what it was about him that made him so good.

Their lives mirrored one another. They even looked a little alike. Both had bad upbringings. Both of them were powerful and charming and handsome.

So what was it about Harry Potter that made him the opposite side of the same coin as Tom?

…

The magic suppressing cuffs were tightened around his wrists and he was led away to the cells. Green eyes felt hot on his back, but Tom only smiled.

…

"How did you catch me?" he asked, when Harry entered the interrogation room. "How did you know it was me?"

"The newest murders, they were focused on me. People I knew. People I love. My parents were your last murders before you stopped," Harry replied quietly, his eyes on the file in his hands. When he looked up to meet Tom's eyes the green eyes were as bright as the killing curse that Tom favoured. "And you, sitting in the corner of the office… you stared. You watched me day in and day out. Obsessive. It made sense."

Tom's lips stretched into a smirk. "Brilliant though, do you not think? Working as the Auror Secretary all these years. Most of the pleasure came from watching them fall over themselves as they failed to find me."

Harry stared at him for a long moment, before his lips met Tom's in a smirk. "And little old me caught you. You must be so glad that you didn't kill me."

…

Tom didn't take his eyes from the green orbs he'd spent years obsessing over as he fell backwards through the veil.

If he had to lose, he was oddly glad that he'd lost to Harry Potter.