The Fearsome Name of Riddle

Our Names In Stone

Tom had never had much interest in quidditch or flying ever since he had been introduced to the magical world. He had always found his interests lying in boundaries of spells and enchantments. Victoria however, loved the sport. She had been Slytherin's seeker since her second year and had helped them secure the Quidditch Cup three times. 

Tom hated the matches. The loud cheering and the need to sit in the rain for hours to watch her sit at the top of the stadium until the last five minutes made no sense to him. So, he stopped going in their third year. He would study instead, doing his homework and revising for his tests. 

He had been reading a book Professor Slughorn had mentioned to him about horcruxes when the Slytherin team and their budding supporters returned to the common room. They were chanting the word 'victorious', singing it in a distorted way that made it sound more like her name. They had won again. 

Victoria was on Obsidian's shoulders when they came around the sofa so that he could see them. They both had broad smiles and were dripping water from their uniforms as Tom frowned up at them. 

"You're soaking," Tom commented as Obsidian put Victoria back down. 

"We won, Tom," Victoria smiled, going over to him but he stood to get away from her. 

"You're soaking wet," he said again, looking at the droplets falling down her face and from her hair that was pulled back into a single braid down her head. 

"Yes Tom, it's raining," she sighed, standing just away from him as he clutched his book to his chest. "Don't be boring." 

Everyone else took no notice of them but the boys in Tom's knights fell silent. Only she could talk to him like that, even then he usually got angry with her. 

"Let him be, Victoria," Obsidian said, gently taking her by the wrist to lead her back to the celebrations. 

"I'm so proud of everything you do, Tom," Victoria said softly, taking a step towards him as she pulled her wrist free, "can you at least be happy for me?" 

"Put your hands behind your back," Tom sighed, stepping closer to her as he placed his book down on the side table, "I don't want you getting water all over me." 

Victoria obliged, tucking her hands neatly behind her back as Obsidian reached forward to hold her quidditch robes away from Tom. He put his hands on either side of her face, holding her steady as he kissed her lips softly. 

"I am proud of you," he told her, pushing wet strands of pale blonde hair from her eyes, "you bring a lot of pride to this house. You work incredibly hard in both your studies and your sport. It is a pleasure to have you by my side." 

"Poetry." Huntley nodded approvingly as he peeled the outer layer of his quidditch robes from his shoulders. "Do you have a speech for the whole team, Tom?" 

The Riddle boy took the joke well, stepping back from Victoria with a smile. "Hats off to you all. A good game I'm sure." 

A chorus of cheers sounded throughout the common room. Watching them, Tom always felt like he was standing outside when his house looked so happy together. They fit together like a painting, experiencing the joy with ease, something he had never been able to do. 

#####

The door to the boys dormitory was a heavy thing made of solid oak and iron. It smelled of varnish and old cloth as it opened and Tom held it for Victoria. A circle of five four poster beds went around the walls, one for each boy, with thick green curtains. A marble snake wrapped around a coal fire in the centre of the room, providing warmth from the simmering embers. 

"Go on," Tom said softly, guiding her with one hand on her back. 

The heads of the other four boys in the room raised as they watched a girl enter their bedroom. Ties had been abandoned in their privacy and shirts left untucked. No one would scold them for poor dress in there. 

"Get married in secret, did you Tom?" Huntley asked, sitting up on his bed as Tom closed the door behind the two of them. 

"There's no reason why she can't come and sit," Tom told him, walking over to his bed and sitting down with Victoria, "it's not like anything is going to happen. And besides, we've four witnesses to back it up." 

"And what if we chose to take advantage?" Ivan asked, leaning on his pillow with a smirk on his face. 

"Then I would be alone in a room of dead men," Victoria said sharply, her response making Tom smile, "just try and touch me, I'll rip you apart." 

"Do you have to keep her all to yourself, Tom?" Ivan sighed, leaning back on his pillow as his eyes drifted over Victoria. 

A copy of the Daily Prophet smacked Ivan in the face as Obsidian passed him. "She's your cousin, you doll dizzy," he said, making his way over to his own bed, "this is why you don't have a girlfriend." 

"And why you have a new one every week," Huntley laughed, throwing a pocket watch into the air as he lay on his back, "she's not going to leave Tom for you."

"I don't want her to," Obsidian sighed, slumping down to read his paper, "Victoria holds the beauty of our year, I won't claim for the school for fear of her ego, but sacrifice must be made for loyalty. Loyalty to your friends is much more important." 

"Well said Lestrange," Tom said, giving him a nod, "respect amongst ourselves is greatly important, which is why I'm going to ask Avery and Rosier to leave. I have something to tell the rest of you but you two have shaken my confidence with how you speak about my sweetheart. She's not a possession for you to toss around. I'll update you if you prove yourselves in the future." 

Reluctantly, the boys stood from their beds and left the room as ordered. Their grumbling could be heard as the door closed behind them but Riddle's influence was firm after five years in his clutches. The rest turned to Tom. 

"I've done it," he said simply, standing from his bed to pace the room as he spoke. 

"What do you mean?" Victoria asked, frowning as she followed his movements. 

"Your family," Obsidian breathed, watching Tom twist the gold ring with a black stone around his finger, "you actually found them." 

"I have," Tom beamed as he stood tall amongst his most trusted allies. The woman he loved, Victoria Malfoy. His closest accomplice, Obsidian Lestrange. And two loyal dogs, Mulciber and Nott. "Over the summer I learned of my own heritage. My mother's name was Merope Gaunt, daughter of Marvolo Gaunt, descendants of Salazar Slytherin himself and members of the ancient house of Gaunt. I am the heir of Slytherin House."

"My God," Victoria breathed, staring up at him with a sense of concerned pride, "does that mean…?" 

"Yes, it does," he came closer to her, reaching forward to take her face in his hands, "when I find Slytherins chamber of secrets, I can learn how to open it and control the monster within. I can wipe this school clean of mud bloods and blood traitors alike. A new era for the wizarding world could start this very year." 

“Wasn't Merope Gaunt mental?” Friedrich asked with a tense frown, most of them only knowing rumours about the reclusive house. 

“Friedrich,” Victoria said sharply, her head whipping around. 

“That's Tom's mother you moron,” Enoch slapped him up the back of the head in a reprimand. “How would you like it if we insulted yours?”

“It's alright,” Tom said, easing the tension with a wave of his hand, “my mother was no one to admire. I knew that before I knew her name. But, the purity of her blood, and the strength of her ancestry, that is something I am worthy of.”

"Tom, this is incredible," Obsidian beamed, standing from his bed to shake his friend's hand firmly, "to the new era!" 

Mulciber and Nott began a round of applause which Victoria and Obsidian joined as Tom soaked in the praise. A promise of loyalty that would cement them together as a group that would grow into an organisation that would change the wizarding world forever.