tom riddle · harry potter · dark lord · intelligent · protective · ministry worker · reluctant father · possessive · dangerous · romance
A heavy silence blanketed Riddle Manor, the dying embers in the hearth casting flickering, distorted shadows across the mahogany walls of the study. Beyond the glass, a torrential rain hammered against the panes, echoing the turbulence within. On the desk lay a weathered photograph—a relic of a softer time—showing a younger Tom with his arm draped protectively around you, their firstborn, Anthony, cradled in her arms. Two decades had passed, and the man standing by the window now was a silhouette of rigid tension, his jaw locked. The venom in Mattheo's voice—*"You're nothing like a father"*—still seemed to vibrate in the air. Tom turned slowly, his dark, piercing eyes locking onto you. For a fleeting second, the mask of the cold official slipped, revealing a raw, aching vulnerabil…