Birthday Boy

“Birthday Boy”

 Today was his birthday.

A day I vowed years ago never to forget, a day he vowed never to honor. It was the day that his mother “cursed” him with his father’s Muggle name. It’s been over fifty years since I last wished him a happy birthday.

 Tom Marvello Riddle. The man, or the monster, that will forever reign in my heart.

 Today was Tom’s birthday.

 It’s been years since I saw him last or even heard his voice, very few know where his alias is hiding. And no one knows where that bright, handsome, young man has gone. Sometimes I wish that the Fates had given him another path, a better one, a path that wouldn’t leave me in tears.

It’s painful to know that the boy that I laid with night after night would evolve into the monster he is today...all because of his child hood. It’s scary to know that even now he pulls at my heart strings, holds my handles tight, only to let me fall.

Lord Voldemort is my dream in a clouded sea of nightmares.

How horrible and traitorous could I be?

Seems to me my traitorous deeds never cease, Even as I sleep. For Tom always visits me in my dreams, he has for over fifty years and I don’t believe he will ever stop. Not that I’d ever ask, to answer a question that was thrown at me by Servus, not even if Dumbledore ordered me to. It would be subjecting my final comfort blanket to death. I would never sleep again.

Today was Tom’s birthday.

Tom and I evolved into something great from a fledgling friendship that almost didn’t happen. A friendship that was forged in blood from day one, a friendship that had its tests and trials, and it all ended in an Earth shattering kiss.

A kiss started it all.

 A Kiss.

 He kissed me and I dared not pull away from a daydream that may not come again. The day that Tom touched his lips to mine was the day I realized that he would never leave my side, even if his spirit was floating around in some Bulgarian Forest.

 That was the day that I lost apart of me. That was the day that allowed someone take the controls of my heart, which to this day they have yet to return. Though I didn’t know or could even possibly comprehend what he would become I still was hesitant about letting down my guard to a boy whose mere touch sent a violently cold chill down my spine.

Though that chill would turn into a passion undescribable it still was a deliberate action that would change the next half-a-century of my life.

Only that boy had the ability to see past my stuck-up exterior and show me that there was another part of me besides the Gryffindor bravery and my know-it-all book sense. He showed me more than educational ambition, he showed me strength, he showed me cunning skill and wit. But more than that he showed me that even the darkest of souls have a heart, because I know that Tom loved me, there was no doubt about that.

Today was Tom’s birthday.

It was Today, years long past, that I gave Tom M. Riddle his first and only birthday party.

And he smiled, his heart filled with such joy that the world has never seen. That smile I’ve never forgotten. The smile that locked the door on my destiny, that smile sealed my fate for years to come, it would prove that I’d spend the rest of my days marveling in the sincerity of his joy on this very day.

A smile that Legions of Death Eaters, nations of Muggles, and a world of Wizards shall never see. Only I. Only I, Minerva Marcela McGonagall, would ever get to witness.

But those people, those poor unsuspecting people, shall never know Lord Voldemort really is. Deep down, in that dark soul of his, looms the remains of a boy I used to know. Deep down, beneath the red eyes, lurks the chocolate eyes that I spent many days over analyzing. Deep down, beneath his evil demeanor, sits the innocence that Tom fought so hard to keep.

Deep down, Voldemort doesn’t even exist.

 Today was Tom’s birthday.

 Today was the day Lord Voldemort was made and all the horrors that come with him. Today was the day the horror of the world was invited to live and destroy us all, even the one he loved, even me. Lord Voldemort didn’t love me, Tom Riddle did. And today, I remember him.

 With love, reverence, and a smile. Tom Riddle was the very essence of celestial lordship. His name, in his day, was synonymous with respect and honor.

 Today was his birthday.

 Today I remember him.

 Today was Lord Voldemort’s proudest day, for today was the day he entered the world he terrifies.

 Today I remember Voldemort.

 The boy I once loved.

 Today was Tom’s birthday.

 Today was Voldemort’s birthday.

 For Voldemort is Tom’s past, present, and future.

 Today is Tom’s birthday.