Back home
The taxi rolled up the hill and finally a view that Tom hadn’t seen in years and only now realized how much he had missed, appeared behind the trees: Riddle Manor. Tommy’s jaw dropped. “Is... is this... our house?”, he asked full of shock. Tom chuckled. “Yes, this is where grandma and grandpa live.”, he explained smiling.
Tommy wiped his nose on his sleeve, still full of awe. “This place is gigantic!”, Tommy whispered. “Do you like it?”, his father asked. Tommy nodded enthusiastically. “This is so awesome!”
The car stopped in front of the big manor-house on the round, white driveway. Tommy hopped out the door so quickly, that he accidentally got tangled in miss Noodle’s long body and tripped. Without even noticing his bloodied hands Tommy got back up and helped his five-meter-long snake out of the car. Excitedly he hissed at the animal and dragged her up to the massive stairs that led up to gigantic black doors. Well, he at least tried to. Miss Noodles was about twice as heavy, as Tommy.
Tom senior picked up his luggage from the car’s trunk. Then he followed his son and the massive snake up the stairs. Tom jr. hopped up and down in front of the doors. “What are we going to do now?”, squeaked Tommy. “Well, we knock.”, Tom chuckled. And then he knocked.
It was not his mother, or father who opened the door. It was Cecilia.
Cecilia’s jaw dropped, as her beautiful blue eyes wandered from Tom to his son and then to the incredibly long snake that sat next to him. “W-w-what?”, she stammered. Tom felt how the blood left his face. “Ahm... Ah... Cecilia!”, he whispered fearful. Oh, why was she here? She was still as beautiful as the day he left her. But the thought of being touched alone was horrible. Not that she would have touched him. Not after what he did.
“Who is that lady, daddy? Is she my aunty?”, Tommy suddenly broke the silence. “Ahm, no. This is...”, Tom cleared hie throat, “This is Cecilia.” Tommy’s eyes went wide. Tom had told him about Cecilia on the long ride from London to Riddle Manor. “Soooo, she would have been my mommy if mom hadn’t given you that evil potion?”, Tommy asked thrilled.
Now Tom was blushing madly. “If who didn’t give him what?”, Cecilia asked sharply. Before Tom could stop him, his son had already answered. “My mom, Merope, she gave daddy a love potion. That’s a very mean thing to do and a lot of wizards and witches think it should be illegal. But today she forgot it and we ran away!”, Tom junior exclaimed violently coughing.
Cecilia raised an eyebrow. “A love potion, witches, really Tom? That’s your excuse?”, she asked with anger visible in her face. “Ahm.”, Tom replied dumbly. Luckily Tommy came to his rescue. “No, that really happened! Magic is real! Look!”, he explained and raised his hand with a concentrated look on his face. For a terrible moment nothing happened, and Cecila's glare got darker. Then some of the white pebbles, that filled the driveway, flew into Tommy’s waiting hand. Again, Cecilia’s jaw dropped.
“But... But... how?”, she asked flabbergasted. “I’m a...”, Tommy coughed so hard, that he almost fell over, “I’m a wizard!” “He is!”, Tom agreed, “And so was that... that dreadful woman.” He shivered.
Suddenly Mary’s confused face appeared behind the still shocked Cecilia. She looked older, then when Tom had last seen her. Gray streaks had found their way into her dark hair and her face, so similar to Tom’s own, had a few more wrinkles. When she saw them, lady Riddle let out a shriek and rushed to hug her son. “Tom, oh my Tom, my baby, you are back! We thought you would not come back!”, she squealed.
Then her eyes fell onto the little boy nest to her son, who still proudly showed his pebbles to Cecilia. “Oh, my lord, is this your son Tom? Do I have a little grandson?”, she asked and excitedly hugged the boy before receiving her answer.
-----------------------------------------------
Just a few minutes later, they were sitting in the big living room of Riddle Manor. Mary had called a maid, who now handed steaming cups of tea to Tom and his son. Thomas Riddle was so happy to see his son again that he cried. Cecilia still looked shell shocked. Tom honestly could not blame her.
Tommy seemed to have the time of his life. He excitedly chatted with the maids and butlers, fed Miss Noodles eggs and let his grandparents fuss over him. He would definitely fit into the Riddle household perfectly. Tom leaned back into the big, green couch and smiled. All was good. Nothing horrible would ever happen to him or his son again, he was sure of it.
Tom Riddle sr. was very, very wrong.