Revenge

Revenge

By Aerie22

Tom Riddle hated the handsome, elegant young man he saw standing in the distance. The boy who had everything, when he had always had nothing. Riddle shook his head. He would have his revenge. And it would start today. Harry Potter would suffer eternal torture from this day forward.

* * *

April 1942

* * *

The 16-year-old Tom Riddle pondered the unfairness of life as he did a dozen times every day. Abandoned by his father. His mother dead. Left to live in a cold cruel orphanage.

Nightly he prayed to an unhearing God that one of those bombing raids over London would stray off course and level the orphanage and all the foul, despicable people in it.

But he would have his revenge. He was to be Lord Voldemort. He had penned the name on his parchments a thousand times. I Am Lord Voldemort.

Even now he had done the impossible. He had found the lost Chamber of Secrets. And he now could command the horror within. He pondered in satisfaction the havoc that the hideous creature would wreak on the helpless Muggles and Mudbloods. People like his father. As he strode purposefully through the hallways, he smiled a secret smile.

But perhaps he was pondering a tad too intently.

As he rounded the corner on his way to the dungeons, he was knocked down by a flash of robes with yellow highlights.

"Oh my God," the flash squealed. "Are you all right?"

Riddle looked up through blurry eyes as he felt a pressure on his chest. There was a sparkle of light at the vision above him came into focus.

It was her. That Mudblood from Hufflepuff. The sixth year like him. Myrtle Harpington.

And she was straddling his chest!

He felt her hand on the side of his face. He recoiled as if touched by a flaming brand. But she touched his face again. He felt the unfamiliar heat. But it no longer was painful. It was hot...no warm. And he was unaccustomed to a warm touch, human contact.

"Are you all right? Your face is so cold. I'm sorry! Can you get up? I'm so clumsy! Are you in pain? I'll get Madame Ratchet from the hospital wing! Can you move? I don't know what I was doing! Can I help you up...?"

Riddle reached and grasped her pudgy wrist. Why did it feel so warm? He didn't know how to react. No one had ever touched him with such tenderness. His grip tightened on her wrist to keep her from removing it from his injured face. He simply wanted to revel for a few more moments in her heat.

"I can help being clumsy! You didn't break any bones, did you? I was upset! Can you hear me? It's all Olive Hornby's fault! Are you in any pain?"

He looked up. She was looking at him from behind her glasses with a concern that no one had ever afforded him before. Suddenly, he felt her body on his chest not as a burden, but as a comfort. The warmth of human contact. Is this what being human is about?

"Are you sure you're all right? I'm so sorry! Can I lift you up? My stupid roommates got me so upset! Can I take care of you? I couldn't help if I was crying..."

Riddle closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling her warm licorice breath as she leaned over him. He felt his lungs contracting. He was near panting. Emotions! He was feeling! She had drawn it out of him.

"I hate snippy girls, don't you? Not like you. You're wonderful! So handsome. And so smart. I think that all they say about Slytherins is just codswallop. They are so immature."

Riddle felt a new sensation. A stirring he had never let himself feel before. Her warmth was now infusing him. It now reached his own cheeks and was spreading to his loins. This was a woman. Not some skinny bobby-soxer but a real woman. Soft, encompassing. And she had reached him as no other had before.

"You're cheeks are warming, did you know that? You're always so pale. I think you're so wonderful. You're not really stuck up, are you? Olive Hornby says you are, but I said you aren't. That's why she was teasing me. I hate her..."

Is this what life is about? Riddle pondered. Warmth? Softness? Comfort? He slowly reached his hand up and touched Myrtle's face. So soft. So warm. So...human.

Myrtle looked down at Tom, her eyes wide. She began breathing hard as she stared into those ice blue eyes. Suddenly, she threw her entire body on top of his and kissed him. And Lord Voldemort was dead.

* * *

Riddle looked out across the gathering. He was now in a place of honor at the ceremony. And he chuckled to himself. In just moments, Potter, one of the princes of the wizarding world, would begin paying for his arrogance, his good fortune.

* * *

"And do you, Harry James Potter, take Samantha Harpington Riddle as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," the handsome young boy said with a crooked smile.

"You may kiss the bride."

* * *

Riddle gloated. The deed was done.

"Wasn't it a beautiful ceremony? I think Alice Blue robes were just right for the bridesmaids. They don't overshadow the Samantha's bridal gown. I can't believe they're serving salmon at the reception. I told them I was allergic. I'm glad the weather held. What do you think this all cost? Tommy Jr. wouldn't tell me."

Samantha was exactly like her grandmother, who sat sniffling to his right. She even looked a little like Myrtle, only thinner and without the glasses. But Riddle knew that wouldn't last. He chuckled evilly to himself.

"Did you see the way that Granger girl kept looking at Harry? We'll have to keep an eye on her, and that Harry, too. I'm going to have to sit young Samantha down and explain to her just what to expect from married life. I'm sure that tart of a mother of hers didn't tell her anything. At least nothing useful. Tom, now you can tell me: What do you think of the Potters? They're really rich. But are they our sort of people? Tom? Tom Riddle! Are you listening to me?!?"

Riddle felt the sharp jab of Myrtle's elbow in his ribs. He turned to his wife and feinted interest, hiding his scowl at the loathsome, fat old woman who was his wife. He had put up with 55 years of hell with this chattering, complaining, moaning harridan by his side. Myrtle Harpington Riddle.

But he smiled. Now, it was Harry Potter's turn to serve his time in hell.

--Aerie22