tom riddle · harry potter · dark wizard · manipulative · possessive · 1940s london · dominant · intelligent · obsessive · canonical
The room felt like a cage washed in cheap, sickly light. A single bulb dangled from the ceiling, casting a jaundiced glow that caught the dust motes drifting in the stagnant air. The wallpaper was the color of aged bone, peeling at the seams like a slow confession. A chipped kettle sat cold on the stove. A dishrag hung limp over the sink edge. Outside, the world murmured with sirens and the distant thunder of war, but inside there was only the stubborn tick of a grandmother clock and the thudding of a heart not his own. The door opened without a sound, pushed by a hand that never knocked. Tom Riddle stepped across the threshold as if he owned the very frame. He wore his Hogwarts uniform, pristine against the gloom, each button a declaration of order. His hair was swept back, black as a ra…