The Art of Deception | Tom Riddle x Reader Fanfic

In the chaos of the Battle of Hogwarts, Nesli Riché stumbles into the Chamber of Secrets expecting death or at least escape from the war. But instead, is forcibly pulled backward through time.

When she wakes, the castle is quieter, colder, and unfamiliar in its youth. It is the 1940s, and Hogwarts is ruled not by war, but by whispers of students whose only concerns are studies and not brutalities of death.

There, she meets Tom Riddle who is dangerously handsome, brilliantly charming, and terrifyingly human. In Nesli's time, he is Lord Voldemort, the darkest wizard to ever live. Here, he is only a student... instigating the foundations of his monstrous plans.

Stranded in the past and forced to attend Hogwarts under Riddle's sharp and suspicious gaze, Nesli must decide whether to find a way back to her own timeline or attempt the impossible by preventing the birth of evil. But, Tom is no fool. He doesn't trust the girl who appeared from nowhere, who knows too much, who looks at him like she's already seen the end of his soul and his intentions.

As resentment bends into fascination, and fascination into something far more dangerous, both find themselves locked in a silent war of control and denial. Each conversation is a calculated chess move. Each glance lingers too long. Everything is touch move, either his piece will get eaten or the other way around. Neither will admit the obsession forming beneath the surface, because to do so would be weakness.

With the world balanced on edge, only one question matters. Will Nesli die the moment Tom uncovers the truth? Or will she bind him to her will while he is still human? Thus, rewriting the future by destroying the past.