Riddle Me This

Title: Riddle Me This

Author: Anarchy Goddess

Email: [email protected]

Rating: R

Keywords: Tom, Marnak, and magical stasis, Slytherin, prophecy, Avada Kedavra

Summary: Tom Riddle's 6th year. The girl that is his best friend will teach him the one thing he never knew. Then she will take it away with regret and longing for the past and the way it was before he became the Dark Lord.

Spoilers: ALL BOOKS

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize from the books is JK Rowling's. The ones you don't belong to me. The plot is also mine.

"I just don't get it, Tom." A small brunette hung by her knees from a large oak tree. Her long brown hair just swept the ground and her silver eyes were puzzled. "Why do you have to become the greatest wizard ever?"

Tom Riddle sighed and looked heavenward. "So that they all will respect me and regret ever comparing me to my Muggle father. Does that make sense to you, Marnak?"

The girl frowned and back flipped down. "Perfect. And yet… I can't help but think that in the far future, there will be one who wishes to forget who his wizard-father is. He will want nothing more than for his father to die, to leave him and his mother alone to get on with their lives without his abuse and torment. The father will rule with an iron hand. The rules must be obeyed. The penalty of insubordination is disownment or death."

Tom leaned against the trunk of the oak and smirked at the setting sun. "No one could not want their own parents."

"You don't." Marnak pointed out. "Why can't the boy in the future?"

"Because," he explained patiently. "He had both his parents all his life. He had their love."

"Maybe, maybe not." she shrugged. "That is only a possible future. There are many choices to make, many lives born and plenty of chances to make that future nonexistent."

Tom stared at her vaguely surprised. "You sound a lot older than sixteen." he muttered. "I don't know why."

Marnak smiled grimly. "It's the Seer's burden. Are you cold yet?"

He shook his head. "You go in, Marnak. I'll be late for dinner."

"You need to eat more. You're too thin." Her silver eyes were worried. "Promise me you will eat tonight, Tom."

He laughed. Marnak was always worried about him. She made sure his homework was done, even to the point of ignoring her own. She was like a mother hen that only had one chick. And that chick was Tom. "I promise."

Her brilliant smile nearly blinded him. "Good." She reached up and brushed her lips against his cheek. "Don't take too long.'

Tom stared at the spot where she had been standing for long moments after she was gone. Marnak never touched anyone if she could help it. She didn't show emotion with anyone besides Tom and she had little respect for anyone else. The very fact that she had kissed him showed that she was preoccupied with something. He couldn't understand why she hadn't told him if something was wrong.

Running a hand through his messy black hair, Tom started back to the castle. He'd ask her tonight after the common room was empty. He didn't like things left unsaid between them. He didn't even bother to go to the Great Hall, knowing that Marnak was already gone.

He had just stepped into the entry when he heard someone call his name. Looking up, he saw Tammi Parkinson standing on the stairs grinning. "Tammi." He said nodding in acknowledgment.

She danced down the stairs and grabbed his arm. "Going back to the dungeons?"

Tom nodded reluctantly. Tammi was not one of his favorite people the main reason being that she giggled about everything. Unthinkingly he compared her to Marnak. Marnak's silver eyes were cool and detached but held a hint of warmth for a lucky few. Tammi's brown were always cold and always calculating. Her blonde hair was always perfectly styled while Marnak's golden brown was either up or down, it didn't really matter. Her delicate features were always perfectly accentuated.

Mentally he shook himself knowing it was unfair to compare the two. They were both beautiful in their own unique ways.

"Great!" Tammi squealed squeezing his arm tighter. "We can go down together."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"Why?" Tammi parroted, nervously. "Because we're going the same way, of course."

His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "You, Tammi, are a Ravenclaw. Why would you be on your way to the Slytherin dungeons?"

"I have to get some homework from Jason." she said after a moment's silence.

"Hmm."

Together the two made their way to the dungeons. Standing outside this stonewall that hid the Slytherin common room, Tom muttered the password. As he stepped inside he was greeted with cheers of "Surprise!"

Looking around he met Marnak's amused silver eyes. His green eyes continued around the room landing on a tall boy with silver blonde hair and Marnak's silver eyes. "You two planned this, didn't you, Jason?"

The boy shook his head. "It was all Marnak. She did the decorations, got the cake, and spread the word. You see before you the entire house of Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Several Gryffindors were invited-" He glared at his younger sister who glared back. "But they had the rare sense to stay away."

Marnak frowned. "You threatened them, didn't you Jason?"

"No. I had Crabbe and Goyle do it."

"And history will repeat itself on that aspect several times." Marnak muttered to Tom. "I hate knowing everything"

"Why does that disturb you?" he whispered back.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It just does." She brushed wisps of red-brown hair out of her face and frowned. "I hope you don't mind my doing this for you. I thought you would like a birthday party. The rest of us have had our birthdays. Except for me." she amended. "But mine's not until the end of school."

"Thank you, Marnak." Tom smiled. "But you didn't have to do this you know."

She grinned evilly. "And we didn't have to get you presents either, but we did. All of us. Even Tammi and Jason."

Jason scowled. He wouldn't have done it if Marnak had threatened him in some way. He and Tom hated each other. Jason only tolerated him because he was Marnak's best friend. Even if he didn't like her, she was still family. Julius and Maria would have punished him severely if he was anything but polite to Tom.

Marnak looked at her brother, her silver eyes unreadable. It bothered her that he didn't speak to her. He was one of the few students that never said anything personal. She didn't know her brother, mainly because they didn't live together. Marnak lived in Ireland with their father and Jason lived in Wales with their mother. Though Julius and Maria were still married, they lived as far apart as possible without raising questions about the status of their marriage. After all, the Malfoy image was very important to business dealings.

Closing her eyes, Marnak concentrated on her brother's thoughts. She encountered little resistance and began sifting through the disarray. She found the usual teenage hormone-driven thoughts, but there was something else. Something deeper and darker. She didn't like it. Shuddering, she disengaged her mind; careful to make sure that Jason didn't know she had been there.

Marnak opened her eyes and saw Tom watching her through intense green eyes. She smiled faintly and shook her head. He tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes.

"Later." she mouthed silently. He nodded showing he understood. "Is this a party or a funeral?" Marnak bellowed. "Where's the music? The cake? The presents?"

The noise level rose considerably in the next five minutes, with presents being dropped in Tom's lap, WWN turned on and up, and people screaming to be heard over it. Through it all Marnak stood and watched the surprise slowly fade from Tom's face to be replaced by a wide grin. A slight smile played across her lips as she contemplated the happy look on her friend's face.

She had never seen him so happy in all their six years of friendship. Growing up in a Muggle orphanage hadn't given him the confidence he had now. No. It was the knowledge that there were others like him in the world, and the only friend he could trust inexplicably. Sighing, she turned away and walked toward the dormitory stairs.

"Marnak?" Tom called.

"I'll be right back!" she yelled. "I have to get something." Darting into her room, she threw open the lid of her trunk and sifted through the mess inside.

Laughing softly, she pulled out a small box wrapped in silver paper. Marnak paused then withdrew another box; this one was of intricately carved ebony. She slammed the trunk lid down and ran back downstairs. By then Tom had opened more than half his gifts and was grinning quite stupidly as he held up the latest broomstick, the Nimbus 200.

Tammi laughed and clapped her hands. Tom was so adorable; it was a wonder he wasn't engaged already. Maybe he just hasn't found the right girl. She thought happily. Though some people thought that Tom and Marnak were a couple, it was also widely known that Marnak would rather drink poison than have a boyfriend. Tammi sometimes wondered if she was a bit... twisted.

Feeling eyes on her, Tammi looked up and saw Marnak staring at her through those frightening grey eyes. No one wanted to draw that particular gaze to himself or herself. It usually meant that Marnak thought you were up to something and if you didn't tell her what was going through your mind, she'd make sure your next potion exploded in your face whether she was there or not.

Tom looked up from his new broomstick and saw Marnak at the bottom of the dormitory stairs. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on the girl next to him and it wasn't a kind look she was giving Tammi. It was a glare that promised pain in the near future. Marnak glanced at him and without a word turned and stalked back up the stairs. Tom rose to his feet intending to follow, but Tammi grabbed his arm.

"Leave her alone Tom." She whispered in his ear. "This is one of those times where a girl needs to be left alone."

Tom knew better. The look Marnak had given him clearly said, come talk to me, please! He shrugged off Tammi's hand and crossed the room. No one stopped him. To them it was just a party for a Slytherin orphan of no great consequence. He reached the top of the stairs and paused in front of her door.

The sobs that were coming from behind the door shocked him. Tom had never known Marnak to cry not even when her cat had died a week into her first year. He slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Marnak?"

Marnak sat up and hastily wiped the tears away. "Tom, what are you doing up here?"

He plopped down on the end of her bed. "You forgot to give me a present." he drawled. "I can't go to bed until I have one more present."

"Just one?" she teased gently. "One would think that with all the gifts you've already gotten, you'd be sick of gifts." Her face still buried in her pillow, Marnak reached over and plucked the silver wrapped box off the nightstand. "Here." she extended her arm backwards. "Happy Birthday, Tom."

Tom hesitated before accepting the gift. He hadn't expected her to get him a gift even though she was his friend. In the six years that they had been friends, she had never once even bothered with a card.

"Are you going to watch?" he asked softly, smoothing her gold-brown hair.

Marnak shivered and shook her head. "I'm too embarrassed!" she moaned into her pillow. "I've never gotten anyone anything and I don't know if you'll like it." she groaned again and burrowed deeper into the bed. "Just hurry up, Tom, so the embarrassment isn't prolonged."

Tom grinned mischievously and slowly tore the paper open. "The paper is off." he announced. "I’m opening the small gray box..." He snapped the cover open and gaped. Inside the case, resting on black velvet was a heavy silver chain from which hung a pendant in the shape of a basilisk. He remembered last year when he had opened the Chamber against Marnak's every warning and found the basilisk. He had thought it quite amusing to scare the students by sending the basilisk out in the halls. What he hadn't expected was for a student to die.

To keep from being blamed, and in hopes that if the 'rampage' stopped he'd be able to stay the summer, Tom framed Hagrid. Marnak had scowled but told Tom the information he needed to succeed. After it was done, Marnak forced him to swear in blood that he'd never open the Chamber in this lifetime. He'd agreed knowing it was too dangerous because the Transfiguration teacher Professor Dumbledore suspected something.

To further insure that Tom didn't open the Chamber, Marnak held a long conversation with the basilisk. Her ability to speak Parseltounge had not slipped by unnoticed. Dumbledore had watched her like a hawk for a while before deciding that she had nothing to do with the paralysis and/or death of Myrtle Tellis.

Marnak groaned. "You hate it! I knew you would."

Tom laughed softly. "I love it."

She flipped onto her back and stared at him. "You mean it? You really like it?" Her eyes lit up and her delight could only be called adorable.

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I mean it."

For the second time in a single day, Marnak smiled. So rare were they that they almost always startled Tom. She threw her arms around him and gave him an exuberant hug.

"That's great!" she chirped. (Chirped? Tom thought. She doesn't chirp.) "Now I have an idea of what to get you next year." She released him and grabbed the ebony box. "Now this one."

"Another gift?" He seemed startled.

"So?" Marnak was suddenly defensive. "At least my gift isn't my brother's whore hanging all over you." She clapped a hand over her mouth.

Tom stared at her. Was Marnak jealous? Marnak jealous? It was a rather astonishing thought considering she usually didn't care what whore/girlfriend cheated on her brother for Tom. Her silver eyes were startled and her pale skin completely drained of all color.

"Just open the box!" she gasped out, still startled. What had possessed her to say such a thing? It didn't matter to her who slept with Tom. Did it? Of course it doesn't! She berated herself. I just don't like Tammi and Tom is my best friend.

She watched silently as Tom opened the carved box. He pulled out the emerald green scarf and traced the design.

"I sensed this symbol would mean something to you someday, Tom." Marnak said softly. "I'm not sure what for but... I made it for you."

The design was that of a skull with a snake coming from the mouth. Tom looked up and smiled at her. "Thank you."

Marnak snorted and looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap. "I'm sorry I haven't gotten you a gift before but... I didn't really know what you'd want besides power. And I definitely can't give you that."

Tom reached over and tipped her chin up. "You didn't have to get me anything, Marnak. I--" He broke off.

"You what Tom?" Her eyes searched his face. "What?"

"It’s not important." He turned away. "Are you coming back down?"

Marnak frowned. "No. Have fun." She flopped facedown once again.

"Marnak--"

"Just go away, Tom. Go away and leave me the hell alone."

Sighing, Tom turned to go. "Fine. But know this. What I'm not telling you is for your own good."

"You think that's what's bothering me?!" Marnak jumped up and glared at him her hands on her hips. "Well not everything is about you, Tom Marvolo Riddle! As a matter of fact, it has nothing to do with you, so back off!"

Snarling he grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Listen to me Marnak. We're friends and I don't want to destroy that. I just want to sort something out before I talk about it."

She twisted out of his grip. "Fine. I have to go do something anyway. We'll talk tomorrow."

Tom looked at her for a minute then turned and stalked out of the room. Marnak sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands. Why did everything in her life have to be so complicated? Sighing, she stood and reached in the drawer in the nightstand next to her bed. Drawing an object out, she smiled.

There were always ways to forget if only for a while.

A/N Does this button do what I think it does? Review?