Harriet Potter: Tom Riddle's Obsession

Chapter 1 - Merope's Sweet Boy

Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
————————————————————

Merope Gaunt wore a frown on her pale face as she escorted her eleven-year-old son to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters early one autumn morning.

She glanced down at her dark-haired little boy after they successfully made it onto the platform by running at the brick wall that seperated the magical world from the muggle realm.

"Is that it, Mother?" Young Tom Riddle asked as he kept a firm grasp on Merope's hand.

"Yes, that's it, Tom." She answered with a wry smile as she nodded at the massive train a short distance in front of them, "That's the Hogwarts Express."

Tom fell silent as he stared at the locomotive while he and his mother approached.

Merope bit her lip against the pressure he put on her hand as he crushed it in his grasp.

Children ran up and down the platform, some Tom's age, some older, but all eagerly anticipating another year of magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Tom didn't seem to share in their enthusiasm.

Once they drew close enough to the train, she smiled at her son, "Don't you want to let go of my hand, sweetheart? The other boys your age aren't clutching their parents."

"You're my mother." Tom scowled, "If the others say anything rude, I'll set them on fire."

"Now, Tom......" Merope said with a nervous smile, "Remmeber what we talked about?"

Tom cast his mother a frigid scowl while he kept his agonizing grip on her hand.

"You'll make lots of friends if you'll just be yourself." Merope nodded, although doubt lingered in her mind at her own words, "But to do that, you can't be this angry. You have to be sweet and kind, alright? And thoughtful......You can be thoughtful, sweetheart. Think about the time you defended me from that robber! That was very thoughtful!"

"That man was trying to hurt you." Tom frowned.

"He was, yes, you're right." Merope nodded, "And it was very thoughtful of you to fend him off, my darling!"

".......No one hurts my mother." Tom said very slowly as a dangerous scowl darkened his handsome face.

Merope frowned at the grim seriousness of her child's expression.

"Don't be that way, sweetheart." She said to quickly change the subject as she laid a hand on Tom's cheek, "You're as handsome as your father. You'll be an alpha too, I'm certain. With a single smile, I'll bet you can break ten hearts!"

"I don't want to smile." Tom scowled.

Merope's frown returned.

"And I don't want to break hearts." He grouched, "I want to go home and chat with the snake in the garden. How can you do this, Mother? How can you send me away?"

"Oh, sweetheart......." Merope sighed as she knelt to be eye level with Tom, "I know you've been raised in our little flat, but I have to work two jobs just to keep us there. I want better for you! You are," She continued as she sat Tom's trunk down and grasped his other hand, "So very talented.......and brave......and determined. You will go far in this world, my darling! If you stay with me though and shun the opportunity to receive a proper education, you'll fall short, Tom. Is that what you want?"

"Would that disappoint you, Mother?" Tom frowned.

"It would break my heart." Merope pouted.

Tom stiffened as if he had just been given an execution sentence.