His Worst Enemy

Tom stood in the Prefect bathroom and watched himself in the mirror. He ran his hands protectively over his still flat belly. Professor Dumbledore's menacing words still rang in his ears. "We might have to close the school!" He could not let that happen, not now. There was no way he could go back to the muggle orphanage in his condition. In two or three months, he would start showing and a pregnant man was way above the limited minds of those stupid creatures.

Tom had to admit that he himself had not known that male wizards could be pregnant if they had sex with another wizard until his bed partner actually asked him if he had taken care of contraception. At Tom's confused look, he had explained that slight difference between muggle and wizard male anatomy. When Tom showed the first signs of a pregnancy, the Ravenclaw seventh year was however rather quick to break all ties with him and make it clear that he was not going to take any responsibility for the child.

At first, Tom had been shocked, both by the rejection and by the idea of having a child. But as he familiarised himself with the thought, he found that he was actually looking forward to being a father. Or a mother? After only a few days, he realised that he already loved that new life that was growing inside him.

Tom was aware that it would be hard to complete his two last years of school and take his NEWTs while having to take care of a baby but he was sure that headmaster Dippet would agree to the necessary arrangements. Furthermore, he knew that he could count on the unconditional support of most of Slytherin house.

For the moment however, the most important thing was that he could stay at Hogwarts over the summer holidays. Even though this was not the usual practice, he was sure the headmaster would allow an exception once he was informed of the circumstances. This solution did require, however, that the school stayed open.

As loath as Tom was to lock the basilisk again in his dark prison deep under the foundations of Hogwarts, his unborn child now seemed more important than his plans to cleanse the wizarding world of mudbloods. The stupid Myrtle girl would have to make do as an example until he was ready to continue his crusade. For the moment however, he needed to feed people a scapegoat to reassure them that the mysterious threat to Hogwarts was over.

A small smile played around Tom's lips as he remembered seeing that Gryffindor half-giant sneak a large box into an unused store room. Knowing the stupid oaf's obsession with dangerous creatures, the box would most probably contain Hagrid's latest illegal 'acquisition'. It would almost be too easy to blame the incident on the boy and his monster. Hagrid would be expelled and the matter would be considered as resolved. The school would not be closed and his child was safe.

With a last look into the mirror, Tom got dressed and left the Prefect bathroom to find Hagrid and set his plan into action.

Two weeks later

Tom knelt in front of a toilet bowl, feeling as though he was retching up his soul. The morning sickness seemed to get worse day by day. Usually he was fine by the time he left his dorm, but this morning, a second bout had surprised him on the way to his first class.

He was just starting to feel slightly better when he heard steps behind him.

"Are you not feeling well, Mr. Riddle?" Professor Dumbledore asked with concern. Tom almost snorted at the ridiculousness of the question. He was sitting in front of a toilet, throwing up, and the Transfigurations teacher was wondering whether he felt unwell.

Nevertheless, he did not want to show more weakness than necessary in front of the old wizard, so he pulled himself upright and answered, "I'm already feeling better, Sir. I must have eaten something that disagreed with me."

Dumbledore gave him an odd look. "That would imply that you had actually eaten anything, which I know you haven't, Mr. Riddle. I have been observing you recently, my dear boy, and have noticed that your stomach seems to disagree with you in the morning rather frequently these past couple of weeks, even though you hardly eat anything before lunch. Is there anything you wish to tell me?"

Tom almost let his tongue slip at the thought of his teacher knowing. But then he realised that Dumbledore could just as well have taken a shot in the dark. He quickly pulled himself back together and shook his head. "No Sir, I am fine. I might have caught a slight stomach bug but I'm sure I will be completely alright in a few days at the latest."

Dumbledore's expression told him that the old wizard did not really believe a single word of what he had said, but he did not stop him as Tom turned away to the sink. By the time he had washed his hands and rinsed out his mouth, the teacher was gone.

*********

The following morning, Tom found himself in the same position as the days before, vomiting back what little he had managed to eat for breakfast. Again, just as he was feeling slightly better, he heard steps and found Dumbledore standing behind him. This time, the teacher was holding a cup that he offered Tom. "Drink this, Mr. Riddle," he said. "It will make things easier for you." With a benign smile and a nod, he encouraged Tom to take the cup.

Hesitantly, Tom reached for the goblet. It contained a dark-blue odourless liquid. It did not seem to be a potion he was familiar with but then potions was not exactly Tom's specialty. With a last look at Dumbledore, he downed the contents of the cup. The potion did not have any specific taste but left a slightly bitter aftertaste at the back of his mouth.

Tom looked up and gave the goblet back to the professor. The wizard took it with an unreadable expression on his face. "How are you feeling now, Mr. Riddle?" he asked. Tom realised with amazement that his stomach had completely given up the fight against his will and that he was not feeling quite as shaky and exhausted as usually after his morning sickness. With a grateful "Thank you very much, Professor!" he made his way to the sink.

*********

Just before Tom reached the Transfiguration classroom, a terrible pain shot through his lower abdomen. He barely contained a scream as he doubled over, clutching his belly. Seconds later, another wave of pain attacked, sending him writhing on the floor. Worse than the pain in his body was the cold fear that gripped his heart like an iron fist. These pains could only mean one thing: his unborn child was in danger!

Through a haze of red hot pain, Tom dimly registered that people were gathering around him. He felt his body being lifted by a mobilicorpus charm and saw the walls of the castle glide past as a teacher took him to the infirmary. Before he could however reach his destination, his mind gave in to the darkness that was lurking behind the pain.

When his mind finally drifted back into consciousness, Tom found the school nurse looking down on him with a mixture of worry and reproach. "Welcome back among the living, Mr Riddle," she said giving him a small smile, then immediately turned serious again. "What were you thinking, trying to abort your child all by yourself?! You should have come to me with your problem rather than take matters into your own hands. I managed to stop your internal bleeding but you were lucky to survive. Things could have gone very different."

Tom felt his heart clench. Abortion? "My child?" he managed to croak. "Well, congratulations, Mr. Riddle, your plan was successful, your "problem" is solved!" said the mediwitch, barely managing to conceal her anger.

Tom turned his face away from her, eyes screwed shut, trying to withhold the tears that were threatening to fall. His child, his little baby, was gone. Dead! How could this have happened. "Did not try an abortion," he choked out.

The mediwitch give him a disbelieving look. "Then how do you explain the presence of a common abortion potion in your system? A potion that every student from year five onwards is normally able to prepare."

As Tom's mind tried to process these words through the mist of pain and grief, a realisation dawned to him: the potion Dumbledore had given him must have been abortion potion! The Transfigurations teacher had worked out that he was pregnant - or had his former lover informed Dumbledore of his condition? - and given him a potion to terminate his pregnancy without asking him. But why? Why would the teacher attempt such an atrocious act? If he believed he was doing Tom a favour, why had he not tried to talk to him first, confront him and then suggest to have the child aborted. Or did Dumbledore want to prevent Tom from carrying his child to term?

Below the confusion and the pain however, there was another voice. A voice that suggested that it did not matter WHY Dumbledore had done what he had done. A voice that asked for vengeance. Vengeance for Tom's dead child. Vengeance for his pain. Slowly, a resolution formed inside Tom. He would destroy Dumbledore down, even if it took his entire life to defeat the powerful wizard. He still wanted to know the reason for Dumbledore's actions but he would act his revenge whatever they might be.

Today, Dumbledore had created his worst enemy!