Chapter Text
Tom liked his mother even though he knew she was weak and pathetic. She couldn't even use magic, only with a stick - she explained it was called a wand - and only really easy spells that didn't require a lot of magic. Even then she couldn't keep them up long. Her limit was at 2 spells per day.
Still, Tom liked her for giving him her undivided attention and trying to care for and feed him as well as possible. He knew it wasn't easy, she barely got enough money to buy the necessities. Without magic - Tom was sure - they would be already dead. In the books she still had on magic, it was written that wizards were more resilient and that their magic would keep them alive in situations where magicless Humans would have died.
At least with his charming appearance, Tom could get the magicless neighbours - Muggles his mother explained - to help them out. Tom hated charity, he was sure that one day he would be better than anybody else, but for now, he knew they needed the Money only others could provide. Honestly, even if Tom couldn't charm them, his magic could just command them to do so. It was easier. When his mother wasn't there, he used that.
No use wasting time with useless Muggles fawning over him when he could just tell them what to do. The best part was that Tom easily let them forget what happened as well. So no backlash would happen. Therefore, Tom couldn't understand why his mother was against that. She only mumbled something about having learned from her mistake.
Tom could imagine the mistake she made, she only referred to his father that way. The one he was named after. The one who abandoned his mother when she was pregnant and needed help. The one that didn't want Tom. Also the one, Tom resembled in appearance - maybe the only good thing about it since his mother wasn't good-looking. She was plain and cross-eyed.
His mother had never said it but he could read it in her eyes in some moments when melancholy and heartbreak would strike, how she momentarily thought before her was her husband and not her son...
Love rendered his mother so pathetic. She still Had hope this muggle man would come to his senses and play house with them. Who Said Tom wanted him? He would never fall for such a cheap trick. He only loved himself. Maybe his mother, sometimes...
His father Tom Riddle senior, or more accurately his sperm donor was a waste of air. Tom had vowed to kill him one day. As well as his uncle and grandfather from his mother's side. They weren't any better themselves. Only once had Tom met them. He had hated them - from their ugly appearances, and their insanity to their weak magic. Everything about them was disgusting. How they were drunk and reeked horrible, how they slurred their words and were barely able to hold a conversation, definitely not an intelligent one, how they beat his mother when she was Young. They didn't deserve to live.
After all that happened, Tom couldn't understand why his mother still brought Muggle men home. He didn't know if she did it for his sake - she often babbled about it being important He had a father figure - or if she wanted to quell her loneliness. Of course with her appearance and the fact she had a child, she only got old weird men who weren't rich, so understandably nobody wanted them - apart from his desperate mother it seemed. Without money they could bring to help them, they were only a hindrance.
They tried to be nice to him to get them to accept him - Tom never would. There were multiple reasons. For once, his mother should solely devote herself to him. Secondly, they thought they would have authority over him and could order him around or get him out of the picture entirely. Thirdly, Tom didn't want siblings. Alone the thought made him nauseous. Last but not least, some of them were overly interested in him. They saw him like a doll they could do with what they pleased since he was a helpless weak little boy...
Tom couldn't help but smile wickedly. Oh, how wrong they were. Tom loved it when he showed them. How scared their faces looked. He couldn't get enough of it.
Soon it got to the point, where Tom would scare them away before they could even come too close or step more into their home and ultimately his life. Tom neither wanted nor needed them. He didn't need a father.
He was content with how it was, just his mother and himself living in a small cottage - away from little Hangelton and the Gaunts. The cottage is one of Tom's achievements. He charmed - or rather forced with his magic - an old couple out of it. They told his mother the excuse he instilled in them - they wanted to travel the world one Last time. Tom hadn't cared enough to find out what happened to them. They probably starved somewhere. It wasn't his problem. They had their use at least once in their pathetic life.
However, all that came crashing down when his mother started behaving weirdly. Oddly looking forward to going grocery shopping. Bringing more food back than their budget would allow. Starting to have a healthy amount of colour in her face instead of the sickly pale he was used to. Putting effort into her appearance and even getting new clothes for him and herself - where did she even get the money for that? Being more happy and affectionate with Tom - something He liked - and having fewer depressing episodes. Not thinking about or mentioning his sperm donor anymore.
Tom was worried for his mom, so when she was out yet again, he quickly searched through their books. Had someone put her through a mind-altering spell? An obliviate - He learned that's how the forgetting spell was called - to forget his sperm donor? What was wrong? While he was happy with some of the changes, they were sudden and abrupt. That couldn't be normal.
But then he found his answer. It was even worse than the possibilities he had thought of. His mother was in love...
And from the looks of it, her beau had to be someone rich. Otherwise, Tom couldn't explain where all the money came from.
Maybe his mother finally let go of her fear and started exploiting Muggles? That would be nice. Tom could certainly hope. It was a desperate attempt. It was definitely better than the alternative of her having a new lover.
However, all his hope came crashing done on a normal Tuesday afternoon...