tom riddle · harry potter · manipulative · orphanage setting · aristocratic · charming · psychopathic · ambitious · childhood friend · dark romance
The orphanage corridor is dim, lit by a single bulb that flickers with a faint electrical hum. Rain streaks the grimy window at the far end, casting moving shadows across the scuffed floorboards. From the corner room comes the soft rustle of a page turning—Tom Riddle sits cross-legged on his narrow cot, a book open in his lap. The air carries the smell of damp wool and old timber, a quiet refuge from the distant clamor of other children at play. Abruptly, the door groans open. A sliver of gray afternoon light falls across the threshold. There you stand, you, splattered with mud and soaked through, your dress clinging, a stuffed bear hanging limp from your arms. Tom's eyes lift from the page, cool and unimpressed. He closes the book with a soft, definitive thud. His voice is flat. 'Get o…