1,075I know that my summary to this story is vague, but it's intentionally so. Like I said, this is going to be a LONG, seven part story and there will be LOTS of twists and turns. This is not a "two people meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after" type of story. It's a mix of canon and non-canon events, but I'm going to try my best to keep the characters as close to their canon versions as possible. It will be quite AU in later chapters because what's the point in writing a fanfic if you could just as well read the book?!
And as a forewarning: in Part I, Tom is a bit OOC, which needed to happen. I have two words for you: character development. This story is going to be 350 chapters long, so trust me, I have plenty of time to turn him into the Tom Riddle we love to hate. (And don't worry, it won't take anywhere close to 350 chapters to do so - like I said, it's mainly going to be in Part I).
Oh, and I'm just going to say this once: the only thing I own are my OCs! Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling. With all of that said, I present: The Dark Lord's Rose.
The Façade
September 5, 1943
"We are going to have to make some improvements this year. Headmaster Dippet was not pleased with the way students were running rampant after dark last year. It's your responsibility as Prefects to ensure that the students in your house are in their dormitories at the appropriate time," said Vincent Bryan, the Hogwarts Head Boy.
Rosemary played with her long, dark red braid and avoided making eye contact with Vincent after the comment, as she knew that it was directed at her. She was likely the least strict Prefect in Ravenclaw, frequently breaking curfew herself to attend numerous parties that the Slytherin boys hosted throughout the years. Thankfully, Vincent had yet to inform Headmaster Dippet of her disobedience. She suspected that this was because of the time she didn't turn him in after catching him purchasing a forbidden charmed quill to use on his O.W.L.'s.
Her eyes wandered around the train compartment while she waited for Vincent to change the subject. The Prefects from each house were present and in various states of paying attention. Almost everyone looked relatively blank and unconscious from the droning of the Head Boy and Girl. Well, everyone except for Tom Riddle, who sat up straight in his seat and gave Vincent his undivided attention. It was somewhat surprising that Rosemary didn't find this annoying- usually she hated the "teacher's pet" types. Perhaps it was because Riddle wasn't just acting a certain way to please an authority figure. Rather, he seemed to constantly carry an air of genuine politeness and formality. It wasn't an act; it was just part of who he was. Or at least that was her perception.
It was for this same reason, his air of stringent formality, that they had barely spoken in their first five years at Hogwarts. Rosemary had never seen him act anything but serious. This was true even when Riddle was with Markus Avery, Tom's closest friend and Rosemary's boyfriend of two years.
She turned her attention back to Vincent, who gave them some last minute reminders regarding their Prefect duties and finally dismissed them. Rosemary left the compartment and made her way to the back of the train, looking for her friends.
She spotted Faye, her closest friend, talking to some of their Ravenclaw classmates inside one of the compartments and poked her head in. "Hey everyone", she greeted them and then looked at Faye. "Want to go find Markus and Adam?"
She smiled and nodded. Rosemary knew that Faye had been waiting for this moment all afternoon. Faye had been infatuated with Adam Lestrange for years, so Rose often invited her along when she made plans with Avery.
"I haven't seen him all summer," Faye sighed, fixing her pixie-cut, light blonde hair in her compact mirror as they walked. "Do you think he's seeing anyone? I heard rumors that he and Olive Hornby have been snogging all summer in Spain."
"I haven't a clue," Rosemary said. It wasn't exactly true. She had heard the rumors and Markus had confirmed them somewhat, but she didn't see the point in telling Faye. It would only serve to upset her. Besides, summer flings were always so short-lived; it was likely that nothing would come of it anyway.
They walked down the corridor together until they reached a particularly rambunctious compartment. "Bloody hell," Faye hissed as they looked in. "I don't want to spend the whole train ride with them." Markus Avery and Adam Lestrange seemed to be telling some entertaining story as two Slytherin girls giggled uncontrollably: Olive Hornby and her best friend, Rebecca Orion. Riddle was the fifth member of the compartment, but he did not participate in their jovial conversation; his attention was already buried in a sizable book.
"It'll be fine," Rose forced a smile at Faye, but she was equally as annoyed. Orion was beginning to make a habit of showing up wherever Avery did.
"Oh, there's my Rosie!" Markus exclaimed as she opened the door. Rose leaned down to kiss him on the cheek and he pulled her into his lap.
Rebecca tossed her jet black hair over her shoulder and began talking in a fake, sickly sweet voice that made Rose's skin crawl. "You two are so sweet. I can't believe you aren't tired of each other after spending the entire summer together!"
"Not at all," Rose said coolly, looking Rebecca directly in the eye. "I mean, it is a tradition with our families." It was true; the Horton's and Avery's had always been close friends and spent summers together at their vacation homes in St. Ives.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes slightly and stood to leave with Olive close behind her. "Well, we're off to catch up with Julie and Amanda. We'll see you at dinner and more importantly, at the party tonight. Right boys?" She gave a flirty look to Markus before leaving the compartment.
The exchange with Rebecca bothered her more after what she had discovered over the summer. She swept the unpleasant memories from her mind, telling herself that this would be a new year and that everything would change for the better. Still, Rose couldn't keep herself from giving Markus an annoyed look and saying sarcastically, "Oh, so a party? Thank you for the invite, dear."
He gave her an amused look. "Don't cause a fuss. We only just decided while you were in your Prefect meeting." She continued looking at him with a pout and he responded by fiercely tickling her sides. As Rose burst into a fit of giggles, she caught Faye and Adam exchanging eye-rolls at their affection.
"Oh, Ogden, my love, how I've missed you!" Faye grinned and unscrewed the cap of Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, taking a long swig and passing it to Adam. Rose shuddered; she hadn't been able to drink firewhiskey since she had gotten sick from it the year before.
There were at least forty Slytherins gathered in the cramped common room, plus two Ravenclaws: Rose and Faye. They had banished most of the younger students to their dormitories for the night, leaving mainly the fifth through seventh years. By the time they could sneak Rose and Faye into the Slytherin common room, many of their classmates were clearly drunk already. Given the amount of alcohol in the room, Rosemary found it hard to believe that Adam and Markus had just come up with the idea for the party on the train. Of course, Olive and Rebecca were close by, making spectacles of themselves as per usual, dancing drunkenly to the music someone had put on.
"I could really have gone without seeing those tarts here," Faye shook her head, a look of disgust spreading over her features.
"I have not had nearly enough to drink to deal with these people…" Rose agreed just as Markus approached her with a plentiful glass of gin, served neat. She drank quickly and felt it warm her entire body. Only a minute or two later, she refilled her glass and repeated its rapid depletion. She put her glass down and told herself that she wouldn't drink any more, knowing that it would hit her hard in a few minutes.
It had definitely begun to hit her when Adam walked up to Markus with a somewhat worried look on his face. "Do you think we should get everyone to quiet down a bit? Riddle said something about going to bed early…"
Before Markus had a chance to respond, Rose interjected. "Why, are you afraid he'll tell on you? Why isn't he down here, anyway? We should go get him and show him what he's missing out on!"
A look of panic crossed both of their faces and Rose couldn't figure out why they cared so much. It was something about being drunk, though, that made it amusing to get a rise out of them. She turned and bolted up the steps toward Markus and Adam's dormitory, which they shared with Riddle.
"Rose, stop!" Markus tried to grab her arm, but she was too quick for him. She burst through the dormitory door, laughing as she evaded him, and locked it behind her so Adam and Markus couldn't stop her.
Finally, Tom was back from the Welcoming Feast and Sorting Ceremony and had settled into his dormitory. He sat at his desk and began removing the many charms he had placed on the familiar, leather-bound diary to prevent others from discovering his most guarded thoughts. It was filled with his plans for his sixth year at Hogwarts including his strategy for securing the Head Boy position for the following year. It would be a busy year; that much was certain.
He was annoyed when his thoughts were once again interrupted by the commotion growing in the common room. "They're worthless," he sighed to himself, thinking of Avery and Lestrange, the masterminds behind the soiree. They seemed to have no motivation to speak of unless it involved a woman or some form of intoxicant. At the very least, they were loyal to him and it was easy to manipulate them. He thought about going downstairs and threatening them all to quiet down, but with Slughorn as their Head of House, it wasn't as though anyone had to worry about facing any sort of real punishment for their party. When it came to his beloved Slytherins, Slughorn was the biggest pushover in the history of professors.
Tom was interrupted from his thoughts once more when he heard the door open and slam. He spun around, shoving the diary in one of his desk drawers. Tom expected to be annoyed at the cause of the disturbance, thinking it was one of his dorm-mates. But when he saw Avery's girlfriend, Rosemary Horton, he was instead simply confused and surprised.
"Miss Horton?" Tom greeted her, allowing some of his confusion to leak into his voice and began to walk toward her. She was catching her breath a bit as though she had been running from someone, or something. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Well, I'm sorry if I've bothered you, but I was wondering if you'd like join us downstairs?"
Now he was even more confused; he wondered if Avery or Lestrange had simply sent her up here to make sure he wasn't too upset about the get-together and told her to use the invitation as an excuse. He offered a polite smile and said "Thank you, but I have a full day of class tomorrow and should finish preparing."
She smirked a bit and crossed her arms over her chest. "Like you need to prepare, Riddle. Avery told me you were the only other student besides me that scored an "O" on every O.W.L. last year."
Tom was surprised yet again. "You were the other student?" He knew that she was cleverer than even the average Ravenclaw, especially in Potions wherein they had been partners a few times, but had no idea that their O.W.L. scores had been the same.
"Don't act so surprised," she said. He was about to apologize for his rudeness when she grinned and he was thankful that she hadn't taken offense. Tom found staying in the good graces of his peers and professors at Hogwarts a necessary burden, but exhausting nonetheless. "Anyway, if you come downstairs, I'll fill you in on what we're brewing Potions tomorrow. I was talking to Lydia Bogg – she's Slughorn's seventh-year assistant – and she told me about some very interesting ingredients that he picked out. Plus, he has that exam over our summer readings at the beginning of class now that we're at N.E.W.T. level…"
Tom felt torn; he really just wanted to be alone, but it was tempting to get a head start into Slughorn's lesson plans. The first potion of the term always seemed exceptionally challenging and the short exam given at the beginning of the class period would determine their potions partner for the rest of the semester. The students with the highest grades would get paired up to ensure that the slackers couldn't just elect to work with someone with more talent.
He begrudgingly agreed and followed her into the chaos. Avery and Lestrange were at the bottom of the stairs and looking at him in varying states of confusion and worry. It was clear they weren't quite sure how to proceed, but Rosemary led him away from them. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw her give them a look of satisfaction. "Now, let's get you a drink," she said. As he followed her, he felt several pairs of eyes on him. It probably seemed odd to see him there; while he made every effort to be outwardly polite and charming, he kept to himself and didn't typically bother with social functions. They worked their way through the crowd and arrived on the other side of the common room, where rows of liquor sat on a long table.
The crowd was so loud that he had to strain to hear her, even though she was speaking quite loudly. "Unfortunately, most of this is gone, so you pretty much only have two choices: Ogden's Old or Beefeater?"
Tom had never been drunk, much less had he even tasted alcohol. He had no idea what either of these were, but given his admittedly arrogant nature, he didn't exactly want to advertise his ignorance. He asked for Beefeater simply because he found the name to be more interesting.
"Excellent choice," she beamed, displaying two rows of perfectly straight, white teeth. "Gin is my favorite." She poured him a glass, added a couple of ice cubes, and handed it over. He raised it to his lips and took a small sip.
Disgusting. How can anyone stand to drink this?
He knew he wouldn't be able to sip this leisurely all night so he drank it as quickly as he could, cringing slightly at the aftertaste. When it was gone though, he noticed that a nice warmth spread through his body. "Well, you're catching up already!" She took his glass and refilled it before he could protest. "I'll have another too. I told myself I wouldn't, but you know how that goes…"
He didn't, of course, but he nodded and gave her a small smile anyway. It felt odd to talk with her without Avery or Lestrange around; he had only spoken a few times with her over their previous five years at Hogwarts.
Rosemary seemed to notice the many pairs of eyes glancing in his direction because she said with a smirk, "I think there are quite a few Slytherin girls here that would very much like it if you asked them to dance."
Tom surely didn't have an interest in that. He glanced over his shoulder and a group of three or four fifth year girls burst into a fit of giggles. He was aware that he was attractive by most standards and had dealt with his fair share of girls somewhat throwing themselves at him, but he loathed their shameless desperation. The last thing he wanted to do was encourage that sort of behavior. "I'd rather not," he told her. "We should discuss what you found out about the Potions lesson."
"Of course, let's go over there so we don't have to scream over the music." Rosemary pointed to a couple of free seats on the side of the common room that seemed the least crowded.
They sat down next to each other and for a few moments, neither of them said anything as they observed the other party-goers. He was about to open his mouth and say something about the Potions lesson again when, suddenly, she gestured in the direction of Avery, who was talking animatedly and laughing about something with Rebecca Orion. "I know that he's been cheating on me all summer with her. I was outside one night at our vacation home in St. Ives and I saw him sneak her into his place, which is right next door."
She spoke so matter-of-factly and this puzzled him. He had never been in a relationship – nor did he have any desire or the time for that sort of thing – but her reaction was odd. Tom wasn't quite sure what to say; he certainly couldn't empathize with her situation, but he offered: "I'm sorry to hear that."
"Oh, you didn't know? Since you two are so close, I thought he would have told you." She took another drink from her glass. He thought that it was possible Avery had confided in him at some point on the subject, but Tom hadn't bothered to remember. He discouraged his own involvement in anyone's personal life, mostly because he just didn't care.
"You don't seem bothered," he commented.
"No, I suppose I'm not too bothered. The only troubling side of it is that she keeps making an appearance every time I'm with him. It seems like she should at least have the decency to try and conceal his infidelity." As she spoke more she sounded even more detached, as if her words were weightless. Though he hadn't spent much time around her in the first place, Tom realized that he had never seen her in a cynical mood; it was such a sharp contrast to her usual lighthearted nature. "I don't love him anyway, at least not in that sense. I've known him since I was a child. I don't have any siblings and he's really more of a brother. We're together because our parents want us to be. In the beginning, I think we tried to tell ourselves that it was more, but that's really the truth of it."
If he didn't know what to say before, now Tom really didn't know what to say. If she truly felt this way, he wondered why she wouldn't just break things off with Avery. He was grappling with his own curiosity and the fact that he knew he should avoid involvement in their personal lives at all cost. At the same time, he was struck by her honesty and felt as though the Rosemary Horton he had been acquainted with during his time at Hogwarts thus far was simply a relatively likeable façade for these cynicisms to hide behind. This was not unlike his own persona that he put on display for the world to see.
Tom realized that these were odd thoughts for him to entertain and he attributed it to the alcohol running through his vasculature. If he were sober, he likely wouldn't have listened to a word that she said. Thankfully, she saved him from coming up with something reassuring, or at least not too off-putting, to say. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what's gotten into me. You shouldn't have to listen to my complaining, especially since you're his friend. I shouldn't have put you in that position. Please don't mention any of this to Avery."
"Of course not," he said. Once again, Tom had no intention of getting involved with their issues.
"Thank you." She gave him a small, sad smile. After pausing for a second or two to finish the last of her drink, she said, "Anyway, let me tell you what Bogg said about our Potions lesson tomorrow." He watched her as her face seemed to brighten and the cheerful façade returned; she was sporting her mask once more.
"Here's to alcohol, the rose-colored glasses of life." – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Well, I hope you liked it so far! Please review! Just to warn you, many of the quotes that I post along with each chapter will be from works by F. Scott Fitzgerald and they will be cheesy at times! I'll be back in a week with Chapter 2, titled Only Joking.