Challenging fate (Tom Riddle x reader)
Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Epilogue
Description: There were a lot of unexpected things happening the day of the Battle of Hogwarts. Being send back into the past to change the course of history was definitely one of them.
„Can you pass me the butter?“, Ruth asked you the next morning at the breakfast table. You already found out that she was Ernie’s great aunt. It was weird to sit together with old relatives of the people you were going to school with before, you even overheard someone talking to a certain Diggory, which you figured was probably Cedrics grandpa. If you succeeded, would Cedric be still alive?
Passing her the butter, you were trying to keep your head down - as you were doing the whole morning already - in fear of the moment you’d lay eyes on Tom Riddle for the first time. Yes you knew this was what you were there for, but you weren’t ready for that just yet. Also you didn’t think in the middle of breakfast in the great hall would be the perfect place to do this. You did however know that he was here, because about fifteen minutes ago the atmosphere in the hall completely shifted and you felt a strong urge to look in the direction of the Slytherin table.
You weren’t really hungry, because your nerves were upsetting your stomach so you just shoved down a piece of bread before talking with the girls about which lessons you hoped to share with them. „Miss Granger, would you mind coming with me? I still need to give you your timetable“, Professor Dumbledore’s voice interrupted you from behind. „Of course sir“, you got up from your place next to Edith. „See you later!“, you waved at them and followed Dumbledore out of the Hall.
„I hope you slept well on your first night here“, Dumbledore said, leading you through the corridors. „Yes sir, I did actually. I was so exhausted I fell asleep immediately“, you told him following the Professor up a staircase. „And the girls in your dorm are nice too?“, he looked at you over the rim of his glasses. „Yes they are, but I did notice some…familiarities“, you smiled and came to a stop infront of his office. Following him through the door, you two sat down at his desk. “I thought you might”, he nodded along while pulling out something from his desk.
„First things first, here is your timetable Miss Granger. I tried to base it off of the letter my future self drafted for me“, Professor Dumbledore handed you a piece of parchment with your timetable drawn onto it, „I did however had to make some adjustments, you see at this time Hogwarts is offering a class called ‚Magical Housekeeping‘ which is attended by almost all girls in fifth year. I thought it would be suspicious to not have you attend it.“
Magical Housekeeping? This was really showing you, you were indeed in the past. You could already make out the tendency of the girls to rather get themselves a good match than to work towards having a job or something, which was probably the standard for this time. You did learn in History of Magic that in earlier times people did not pay as much mind to finding their soulmates, as it was highly regarded to have a successful marriage. In the case that people did find their soulmates (which was rarer than in the future - possibly because people didn’t actively search for theirs) some people were heard of rejecting them if they didn’t fit their standards or their parents made them do it. And even if people went on to marry - in their eyes - more successful partners, those who reject or get rejected by their soulmate would never feel true happiness and love again.
„Alright Professor thank you!“, you focused back on your timetable once more, happy that you at least had some familiar subjects again, Herbology and Care for magical Creatures always being your favorite.
„Now to move on to a more touchy subject, I could observe that Tom did notice something was different earlier at breakfast“, Dumbledore brought your mind back to the topic you’ve pushed away since yesterday. „I noticed too“, you answered after a short break, „I could feel it immediately when he entered the hall, though I forced myself not to look at him. Figured it wouldn’t be the best place to do this.“
„Yes yes, I quite agree with you there Miss Granger. I don’t know how he will react to the eye contact that will reveal your soulbound, because my older self seemed to have found out that Tom was conceived while his father was under the influence of a love potion. This means Tom has not been able to experience love to this day. Which explains a lot.“
„Then it was probably best I didn’t do it yet. I also thought about how to do it, but I just figured I would wait until there is an opportunity where we are alone. I have no idea how to get him alone though, without looking into his eyes atleast“, you thoughtfully answered, wrecking you brain for an idea. „Mhm, a difficult situation indeed. Maybe the fact that Tom does already notice something could help you with that, but I trust you will be able to find a good opportunity“, he said with a calming smile, „I think you have to hurry now though or you will be late to your first lesson! You can always come to my office if you are in need of anything Miss Granger.“
You had managed to escape Tom Riddles gaze for about a week now, and you had to admit the 40s were really a completely different world. The subjects were kind of similar at least, but the one subject you definitely wouldn’t warm up to was Magical Housekeeping. It was actually just a course where a witch named Misses Paterson was demonstrating a few spells that were used in the kitchen or something and the rest of the lesson everyone was just gossiping about securing a good match and who took who to Slughorns latest gathering.
Apart from that you did get on really well with your roommates, eventhough you couldn’t really contribute anything to their conversations about boys, but thank god it wasn’t the only thing they talked about. They did however - as did almost all girls at Hogwarts - talk about Tom Riddle. It did come to your attention that all of the female Hogwarts students were fawning over the Slytherin prefect, but you could only ever think about the cruel things he would go on to do in the future.
This however was a thought you always tried to push away, reminding yourself that this wasn’t Voldemort but Tom Riddle. And you did also notice that Tom Riddle was slowly narrowing down that feeling that something was different (that Dumbledore brought to your attention) to you. He didn’t outright approach you yet, but you could feel his eyes on you whenever you had a lesson together. You were sure it was only a matter of time before he finally decided to do so, and before that happened you needed to either approach him when he was alone or get him to approach you when you were alone. And that was certainly easier said than done, because he was seemingly always surrounded by his Slytherin Gang - as the girls in your dorm called them. It consisted of a few well-known names - at least to you.
Avery, Malfoy, Lestrange, Rosier and Nott were just as much bullies as their offspring was and especially the muggleborns of Hogwarts got to experience that. You were lucky enough to only be called mudblood a few times for now, other muggleborns haven’t been so lucky. Just yesterday Grace Murphy had to be brought to the Hospital Wing, because her hands grew to the size of watermelons. Of course nobody could be linked to that, like it always seemed to be the case from what Ruth told me. Everyone knew it was Toms gang that was responsible but somehow not one serious offense could be proved to be committed by them.
So it seemed that eventhough Riddle hadn’t killed anyone yet he surely wasn’t a friendly guy either. Sighing you made your way to your favorite table in the back of the library. You still had to finish your essay for Professor Slughorn, having been putting it off til the last moment again. Pulling out your Potions book and opening it at the chapter about polyjuice potion, you started with the essay that was supposed to be written about possible outcomes of mistakes you could make while brewing it.
Picking up your quill, you noticed out of the corner of your eye that Avery and Riddle where entering your section of the library. You were actually more feeling it than seeing it. Considering it was already late and curfew wasn’t far away, the library was almost deserted and you saw this as the perfect opportunity to try and get Riddle alone. You just had to get him away from Avery. It seemed like Slughorns essay had to wait again.
Putting together a plan, you decided you “needed” an additional book that would require you to pass close by Riddle and Avery. This would mean being as close to Riddle as never before and maybe that would be what would make him follow you into the back of the library. When they had settled down, you brought your plan into action. Clutching your essay to your chest, so you looked legit, you made your way through the small corridor between the two shelves in the direction of the two Slytherins.
Tom was sitting with his back to you but you noticed that he tensed up as if feeling your presence. Avery meanwhile was just staring at his parchment in confusion. Forcing yourself to slow down as to maximize the effect, you walked by right next to them, probably less than 50cm away from Toms shoulder. And even if you were feeling guilty to admit this - as this would turn out to be the person that would wreck havoc over your friends - you were feeling the effect of this closeness too.
Hoping he hadn’t been able to hear your heartbeat, you turned a corner that brought you into a completely abandoned section of the library. This looked like some dimly lit corner with books about antidotes and poisons, but the books looked rather rundown. Before you could get lost in your thoughts though, you could hear footsteps coming closer and your heart was thudding in your chest.
You could feel that it was in fact Riddle, but now that he was stopping right behind you, you weren’t so sure that you were ready. But it didn’t really matter anyway, because there was no way you could get yourself out of this situation anymore. „Hello“, said a smooth voice behind you, sending a shiver down your frame. Your body reacted without you really having a say in it: „Hello.“ You could feel Riddle taking another step forward, towering over you, now standing so close that it would be deemed improper for this time period.
„Is there a particular reason you are not turning around Miss Granger?“, his voice was a pleasantly deep pitch. You weren’t really suprised that he knew your name. „No of course not“, you answered with a small voice and finally turned around, your eyes glued to his feet. „It’s considered impolite not to make eyecontact“, you knew he tried to get you to look at him, your knees immediately weakening at the sound of his slightly arrogant and demanding voice. „There’s something I…“, you try to explain but didn’t have the bravery to finish the sentence. „What is it?“, he now asked with more urgency his head lowering trying to catch your eye.
You closed your eyes for a second, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm yourself and then raised your head to a point where you could feel his eyes roam over your face. Another deep breath in, and you finally opened your eyes, immediately meeting Tom Riddles dark eyes.
The effect was almost instantly, the feeling of devotion and longing almost swiped you of your feet, your world shifting into place. This was more than love at first sight, it was as if your whole being aligned with his and all your worries about the future and who he’d become were temporarily pushed aside. You could understand everyone’s reaction to finding there soulmate now, briefly remembering the day Ginny turned 15 and ran into Harry the next morning in the burrow.
On him however the effect seemed to be tremendously stronger. His eyes widened almost comically. Tom let out a suffocated gasp clutching his hand to his chest and furrowing his brows. Letting out a strangled groan he could no longer hold himself up, sinking to his knees while squeezing his eyes shut.
Panicking because he looked like he was in pain, you fell to your knees infront of him right away, your hands releasing your essay which fell to the ground. „Tom! Tom are you alright?“, you tried to get his attention while keeping your voice down, really not wanting anyone else witnessing this moment. Getting no reaction from him except more overwhelmed noises, your hands gently cradled his face as if it’s already absolutely normal.
His eyes opened right away, finding yours again and he pressed out: „It’s…it’s too much…Ahh…“ „It’s alright, it’s alright“, you whispered trying to calm him, still not knowing what’s going on, „come on, why don’t we sit down over there, can you stand?“
Helping him get up, you wrapped your arm around his waist and you two slowly made your way over to the bench infront of the bay window. Sitting down you released his waist, but he immediately grabbed your hands again, his breathing still strained. Giving him time to calm down, you sat together in silence, while your focus shifted to the way your hands were held by his and the way that made you feel. No matter how corny this’ll sound, you didn’t ever want to let go.
You heard the rain tapping on the window, while Tom slowly got his breathing under control. „You…you are my soulmate.“, he finally opened his mouth with an almost steady voice. „Yeah I guess“, you muttered biting your lips, your eyes trained on your hands and suddenly not being brave enough to meet his. What would happen now? Would he be happy? Would he reject you? Would he let you change his mind or would he try to include you in his plans?
„I did not think that I would have a soulmate“, he told you and you remembered Dumbledore telling you about the love potion he was conceived under. Still, you had to act like you didn’t know anything at all, looking at him confused: „Why would you think that? Doesn’t everyone?“ His dark eyes searched yours, and you were briefly worried; remembering that he was already skilled at legilimency, but he continued before you could dwell on the thought too much.
„Yes you’re right, forget what I said it doesn’t matter“, he said and it was obvious to you that eventhough he believed you were his soulmate, he still didn’t outright trust you. „How are we going to do this?“, you asked, unsure how to proceed. „I’m not quite sure I know what you mean Miss Granger“, he had a small smile on his face, but his voice sounded a little on edge.
„I mean, do you want to keep this“ - you let go of his left hand and gestured between you two - „a secret? Or should we let people know? Or I mean do you even want me as you soulmate?“, the last question just burst out of you and you immediately blushed lowering your gaze.
You didn’t mean for that to come out, but just because this was a mission didn’t mean you weren’t still a teenage girl meeting your soulmate for the first time. And considering it was normal in this time to reject your soulmate if you saw fit and with Tom being so sought-after and admittedly goodlooking, you were feeling slightly insecure.
„Excuse me?“, he said with a sharp voice taking his free hand and pulling your chin upwards to look at him, „Yes, I want you as my soulmate and yes I want people to know. Why would you even think that I don’t?“ He looked almost angry, making you even more nervous. Still it made you feel some type of way that he seemed to be so sure.
„I-it’s just I’m muggleborn and I mean I’ve had a few run-ins with your friends“, you said biting your lip anxiously, „I don’t think they’d be too happy with me.“ His eyes were not moving from yours and you couldn’t look away. Second after second went by and he seemed deep in thought, his jaw clenched and no emotion visible on his face. Finally he seemed to have made a decision. „Trust me, you do not have to worry about them from now on. And it does not matter that you are muggleborn“, he said and you released a breath you didn’t know you were holding.
„Okay“, you said with a shaky voice, but you couldn’t fight the smile that was making its way onto your face. If he didn’t want to be with you, Voldemort- no, Tom would never tell you he didn’t care about you being muggleborn. Maybe it was possible to change him.
His hand went from your chin to your face and his thumb softly traced your cheek. You blushed again, the effects of the soulmate bond really starting to settle in now. His eyes looked way softer now, not as sharp as before. The clock in the library chimed three times, disrupting the moment and announcing that there were only ten minutes left until curfew.
Tom cleared his throat and pulled his hand back, his face getting that guarded look again. „Allow me to escort you back to you common room Miss Granger?“, he asked overly polite and stood up, clasping his hands behind his back. „I’d like that“, you couldn’t suppress a slight giggle, „and you can call me (Y/N), Tom.“ He just nodded, but his posture relaxed a little bit.
You picked up your unfinished essay (which would definitely be a problem tomorrow in potions) and lead the way to the tables you were sitting at previously and noticed Avery was already gone. „I told him to go before I came after you, I figured something like this would happen“, Tom explained, noticing that you noticed. „Makes sense“, you smiled while starting to pack your things into your bookbag, Tom being faster and waiting right next to you.
„Let me“, he held out his hands after you put your last book in the bag, looking at you with one eyebrow raised. For a moment you were confused about what he wanted, but you quickly handed him the bag once you realized he wanted to carry it for you. Only being used to the boys from your time, this was such a cute act that made you feel all warm inside.
He slung your bag over the same shoulder his was on, before holding out his elbow to you. Understanding faster this time you looped your arm through his and couldn’t stop the blush from creeping up your neck. This was all so oldfashioned, but you had to admit you really liked it.
Second part already! If you want me to tag you in the new parts just lmk <3
