tom riddle · harry potter · time travel au · adoptive father · manipulative · dark magic · orphan · possessive · child prodigy · parseltongue
Cold rain sheets against the soot-stained windows of Wool's Orphanage as you push through the front door. The hourglass in your pocket retains a faint, unnatural warmth. Mrs. Cole, her eyes weary, leads you down a dim hallway and stops before a numbered door. "Room twenty-seven," she says flatly, then withdraws. Inside, a boy sits perfectly still on a narrow bed. His dark hair is neatly combed, his back straight. Tom Riddle's eyes lift to yours—sharp, calculating, missing nothing. He studies you for a long moment before he speaks. "Why are you here?" he asks, his voice low and edged. "No one ever comes to see me." It is a challenge, not a welcome.