Facing Bad Tropes with Little Lady Potter 4 - (Harry Potter AU, SI)

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Tom Marvolo Riddle. That's the real name of Voldemort.

And she hated it. To say that the former Dark 'Lord' was seething at the idea of having lost her body would be an understatement, but it was also true that this was the least offensive slight yet in her lengthy life of messes.

First, there was the fact her mother gave her the ultimate 'fuck-you' a girl could receive: she was named after her father, someone that shunned her mentally-ill mother and ditched child-support. Sounds like a smart idea, even more when the bitch that took her in that horrible orphanage decided to 'humor' her mother and stick with that name.

Tom was thus born a girl with a boy's name. Not a fun predicament, even worse as she many times thought that her lack of a penis was caused by some 'curse' her mother hurled at her. Took her a few years to realize the situation was far more simple and more entrenched into a dumb reason.

Nonetheless, the orphanage was a nightmare for any girl, so being a 'boy' was a saving grace - until bullies came about. It was ironic how easy it is to predict a bully's trajectory and outpace them, and with utmost bitterness and ruthlessness, 'Tom' became the 'top dog' at the orphanage. She learned how to lie, how to steal and-

Then Dumbledore came about. The bearded bastard was already a pain in the butt to deal with their first encounter. He appeared shocked that a 'wizard' would need to be so evil around muggles. Which was odd to know now since his own father had gotten in a scuffle with muggles hurting his sister.

Beyond that, it was still amusing how the old fool had never realized he was actually a 'she', but it was also Tom's own decision to not let go of her real identity that played a big role in her true gender kept away from most people. First because she was young, had short hair and appeared more like a girly boy, but then she had used charms to sell the role and appear as a proper young man.

Despite all of that, Tom was 'enemy number one' the very moment she stepped in Hogwarts. Once Grindelwald was done for, Dumbledore became akin to a monster towards her, labeling her a dark 'wizard' despite having done the things she was doing to win over her own group of 'bouncers'. Guards that thought 'him' a prodigious member of House Slytherin, and not learn of her muggleborn origin. Racism was something Tom was familiar with as she was raised in pre-WW2 Britain. She knew that all the air of democracy was meant mostly for English-born white people of a certain upbringing. She knew it could be a dangerous tool to deal with.

Yet, it soon became the core context of what felt like a 'snowball turned into an avalance'.

After all, there was a degree of truth behind the old houses' opposition to changes: Dumbledore had gotten all those opportunists in power to play ball with the way politics were handled in Magical Britain, and he had slowly chipped away at those ceremonies that were 'good' traditions for Wizards. Samhain turning into Halloween was one of those things that puzzled Tom as... there was no point for the change beyond appeasing the 'newcomers' and pissing off the 'natives'.

So, when it came to traditions, Tom understood she had to do something for this world that had given her so much. And thus a long grudge and game against Dumbledore came to be.

And she lost that one much to her deepest shame.

She thought it ironic that it was a mistake of hers that led up to this very predicament she was facing, but there was more to the context than one could easily ignore: She had not realized that Horcruxes could damage one's psyche until after she made the first two and, at that point, common sense had left her brain.

More horcruxes meant more chances to survive and plot back against the old goat-fucker, but... then she 'died'. She thought that hunting down the Potters would be a major win for her to avoid some stupid prophecy to ruin her plans but- but then she died. And she lost a lot more than she would have liked.

Her body, her mind, her thoughts, her... sense of self. It was horrible. Truly horrible.

But then... she slowly felt something fix her. It was slow at first, but then it increased in flow. Magic. Not enough to fix her immediately, but she slowly regained her mind, then her memories and... her sanity. Oddly so, Tom could tell that within four years of being stuck within the mind of Rose Potter (now Stevens) had done more than 'mastering all Dark Arts' could have granted her: a sense of wholeness.

Tom was whole - her soul was. Oddly so, Rose's magic had slowly patched her and what once was a mere Horcrux became a fully-manifested soul. And it felt so refreshing.

With a whole soul, her magic was once more at peak within Rose's body, not mixed with hers but as a 'separate' entity from the girl's own might. She was as gifted as Tom was, but it was ultimately something else that made Tom seek the way of patience rather than rush her way back to prominence: the family Rose got.

The Stevens were not related to either the Potters or the Evans, but Joshua Stevens nonetheless did something good in adopting the little Potter as his daughter as Tom had the chance to see through Rose's eyes what kind of dreadful muggles the Dursleys were. It had always left her baffled why Dumbledore could subject his own minions to some idiotic plans of his, and yet that sort of dilemma was struck down by a realization prompted by listening to Joshua talking with little Nymphadora, Bellatrix' niece: He had done it on purpose.

Not just with the Potters or his own servants, but also towards Tom. The hatred, the pushes, the name-calling... it was all to push her in the path she took. All she did to try and become a prominent element of change within the means ot tradition was all piloted by Dumbledore himself. And while it felt horrible and infuriating to think she had been played for so long, there was a sense of truth to it she couldn't deny.

Dumbledore was a known meddling man, and he had played this game for far longer than Tom had. He was smarter, more rooted in the community, and aware of the terms to use to create the kind of characters he needed for his games.

Voldemort, thus, was not a creation of Tom - no, the Dark Lord was a mask Dumbledore forged for her and then sold it to her under the pretense of 'being her foe'.

...

Tom wasn't happy. She was not. Going back now to that role meant playing Dumbledore's game and she loathed the mere thought of that. Rather, she took some time to ponder on what to do next and she forged a new plan.

She would not obtain 'independence' just yet, allowing for her 'rival' to develop beyond what Dumbledore could want her to be - in fact, she was going to make sure Rose was above anyone's expectation so that she could be her equal... and not a foe. In Tom's perspective, staying with Rose meant nurturing a genuine threat to Dumbledore's rule without him having the chance to create another Dark 'Lord' and, with enough care, she could actually end the cycle for good.

She had a good ride as Voldemort, but she doubted she would be as effective with a generation of new youths being less malleable to her message and too influenced by the idea she was the Devil incarnate.

Still, Tom wasn't planning to not do anything before Hogwarts came for Rose, and thus she had a plan ready for the first months of 1989. Rose had developed just finely to handle Apparition. Possessing her had been a practice she had exerted in limited extent for years, but that specific day she had plotted for would see that limit exceeded a lot.

First, she needed to create a 'substitute' to her 'trace' within the Blood Wards and anything else Dumbledore left behind to keep track of Rose. Something that required a few past trips in Knockturn Alley and a small dark ritual involving some of Rose's blood to create a tiny puppet that would mess up Dumbledore's monitoring charms.

With that working just fine, she had to work the right distance to Apparate away without triggering some alarms and, once she had everything ready, she got to the place she needed to be at: the Gaunt Shack. She had spent a few months thinking where she could go to recover her Horcrux and, carefully so, attain the power held within the soul shards, and the Shack was the one place she knew Dumbledore had no focus onto.

Upon arrival, she carefully warped her magic instead of Rose's to slowly disarm all the traps around and, with enough care, she had the tiny home under control.

The ring was within reach and she paused while removing the curse she put on it to consider if this was going to truly work as intended. While it was true that a fraction of her magic temporarily left her with each Horcrux's manifestation, there was nothing confirming to her it would bolster her magic. This would be the first of a kind process, and... it could backfire.

"I am willing to take this chance," She muttered in a squeaky voice. "To end Dumbledore and... to become what I am truly meant to be."

The curse was removed and the Horcrux soon reacted to her draining. The entity struggled against her, shocked by her power and ferocity within the 'eating' and... it was over as quickly as it started. A smile adorned Rose's face as she felt her magic growing more dense and more compared to before.

Delighted, Tom warped back to the place where she first left and... walked back home. It was nighttime, Rose was happily sleeping which allowed Tom to properly take over her mind and soon she made it back to the house, sneaking towards the staircase and-

"What are you doing up?"

...

Joshua was awake and stepping out of the kitchen. He was sipping from a glass of water, and he was... looking at her with a puzzled look. In the past, Tom would have reacted like the Dark Lord that she was - Stupefy and then mind-altering charm. But in recent times, her approach towards the man was 'particular'.

She merely yawned, and then smiled after shifting her eyes from red to green. "Couldn't sleep."

A simple childish deflection and one that was met with a huff.

"You could have gone to find me-"

"You weren't in your room," She whined back, her behavior being a far cry from her usual self or even her old self as a child - no, this was a mask she crafted to mimic Rose's own mannerism and... check a path she had never thought approachable: the one of having an actual good parent keeping track of her growth. "I am sorry."

Her last few words mellowed his stance and he crouched down, arms wide open.

The offer was easy for her to understand and... she smiled before darting for a big hug. She was picked up, nestled in his arms and then carried to his bed. Cuddling was not something Tom thought she would have lived long enough to experience even just once, but the way this came to be, the way Rose's own body reacted to this blanket of parental safety and Tom's own growing delight in having someone that cared for her was...

Wonderful.

Hence why, without hesitation, she reminded herself what her ultimate plan was now - to be not Rose's enemy, but to be her sister and... have a chance at having a good life for once.

AN

Tom (Name pending for change once she is given a body) is now an ally to both Joshua and Rose (but both don't know that).