Hey everyone. This is the second fanfic I'm writing, and unlike my first it's a one shot fic
This one shot is the story of Merope Gaunt. I don't know if anybody else has touched on this topic before, but I felt that her story was so important to the plot that it had to be properly told. So this is a short one shot fic that goes over the events that occured in Merope Gaunt's life.
Note: I myself am a guy, and yet I've written this story from the point of view of a woman. Anyone else who has ever done the same thing will I'm sure agree with me that it isn't in the least an easy thing to do.
Also Note: I'm aware that my previous fan fic isn't finished yet, and this does not mean I've forgotten about it. I will get back to it when the next chapter is ready.
Disclaimer: The characters are all JK Rowling's inventions. Also note that like my other fan fic this one too carries a PG-13 tag. It is a pretty dark story that also contains some stuff that really young kids should probably not read. You've been warned
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Merope’s father was horribly cruel to Merope even when she was very young. He would hit her and yell at her, and then he’d lock her up in a room. He never sent her to Hogwarts, as a result of which she never learnt to properly perform magic. Despite the fact that Merope’s poor magical abilities were his own fault, her father Marvolo Gaunt, would taunt her and call her a filthy squib before grabbing her by the hair and throwing her into her room. Merope had a brother named Morfin. Her father was far more accommodating with his son, and would often speak to him in a civilized fashion. Marovolo was not in the least a rich man. He was a lazy drunkard who did no work. The only reason why their family never starved to death was because they could conjure up their food by the use of magic.
Merope’s mother had died when Merope was very young. Merope could not remember her at all and she never dared to speak of her mother to her father. Merope’s mother had died under very mysterious conditions. She had been found dead in a room that was locked from the inside. As Merope grew older she realized that her mother may have committed suicide. After all it was possible that Merope’s mother had been abused by Marovolo as much as Merope herself was being abused.
Marvolo would never allow Merope to cry either. Once when Merope was 12 her father had hit her on the back with a steel rod for burning his dinner , before throwing her into a room and locking her in. When her father reentered the room Merope was sobbing silently. Then her father grabbed Merope by the neck and hissed, “if you don’t wipe your tears in the next 1 minute I will throw you in the fire.”
So Merope grew adept at holding back her tears even in the face of her father’s mot cruel abuse.
The Gaunts were the last living descendents of Salazaar Slytherin. This fuelled in Marvolo a furious spurt of pure blood mania. He detested anybody who was not from a pure wizarding family, a sentiment that even his son Morfin came to share. Marvolo owned a ring and a locket both of which had once belonged belonged to Slytherin himself. If he were to sell those antics he would be able to tremendously improve his family’s standard of living, but Merope knew that if she ever even suggested selling one of those belongings, Marvolo would probably just kill her.
As Merope grew older she found herself longing for a better and improved life. She also began to develop a fancy for a rich muggle who lived close by who went by the name of Tom Riddle. Merope adored his handsome looks, his refined manliness and poise as he went riding by on his horse. She loved listening to his voice. She found herself daydreaming about Riddle. Slowly she began to accept that she was in love with a muggle. The very thought of it terrorized her. She did not dare to think what her father would do if he found about his daughter’s secret love for a muggle. Many times she found herself trying to forget Riddle. She tried to tell herself that Riddle could never be hers, and that going down such a path would only bring pain, misery and suffering. Yet she never managed to forget him. She had never experienced what it felt like to love someone until she found Riddle. She would watch him go by everyday, wishing that she could ride on his horse with.
Unfortunately one day her brother Morfin caught her staring at Riddle as he went by. Filled with fury Morfin threw a hex at Riddle leaving him shouting in agony. Morfin was so delighted at his ability to have successfully hexed a muggle, that he forgot to tell his father that his sister was in love with a muggle. That was until one day a man from the ministry of magic appeared at the Gaunt’s house to summon Morfin to a Ministry hearing for having attacked a muggle. The scene began to turn nasty and Morfin revealed that same Muggle whom he had hexed was the muggle that his sister was secretly in love with. Had the man from the ministry not brought in reinforcements from the ministry to restrain Marvolo and his brother, Merope would probably have died that day.
Her father and brother were both carted of and locked up in Azkaban., and Merope had the house to herself. For the first time she could do want she wanted without having fear being caught and flogged. Slowly she hatched a scheme to make Riddle fall in love with her. She found an old potion book of her brother’s that explained how to concoct a love potion. As she had never formally studied potions as a subject she spent a long time trying to properly brew the potion. Then one day she succeeded and gave the potion to a passing Tom Riddle, saying it was cold water. On drinking the potion Riddle instantly felt in love with her and the two of them ran away to live together. Riddle took with him some muggle money and they found a small muggle house to live in.
Merope was happier than she had ever been in her life. Her dream of living with Tom Riddle came true, even if it involved having to feed him a love potion everyday. She would wake up 2 hours early and secretly brew the potion which she would then give Riddle saying it was a cup of coffee. Riddle would believe her and drink renewing the effect of the potion and keeping himself under Merope’s spell.
One night both as both of them got into bed, Merope leaned over and kissed Tom on the lips. He smiled at her and leaned over and kissed her too. Soon they were both locked in a long and passionate kiss, as Riddle ran his finger along Merope’s back. Slowly they both grew increasingly passionate and increasingly intimate. Merope felt happier than she had ever felt in her life. Slowly as the night grew darker Merope Gaunt and Tom Riddle both kept drawing closer as they made love to each other.
The following morning Merope got up two hours earlier as usual and prepared the love potion for Tom. Last nights events had left her hungrier for more, and slowly making love became a part of their everyday routine before going to sleep.
After a few weeks Merope realized something that would change her life forever. She was pregnant. I’m going to be a mother she thought to herself in disbelief. She was confused as too whether this news should delight her, or worry her. She realized however that she could no longer continue to seduce Riddle with a love potion. She would have to tell him the truth. She was sure that after having been together for so many days and after having spent so many intimate nights together, Tom Riddle would undeniably love her in return. She was also sure that if nothing else Riddle would want to stay for the baby. His baby. Unfortunately she was wrong
Finally one day she mustered the strength to not give him a love potion. She watched him across the table as they had breakfast with a sense of growing apprehension. Finally in the afternoon the effect of the previous days love potion wore off. After many months Riddle was himself again.
Where am I he thought to himself. He turned around and saw Merope standing at the door looking worried
“How do you feel?” she asked him
“I…don’t know, what’s going on ? who are you?”
And then suddenly like a bolt of lightening the memory of the past few weeks hit him.
“You!!” he roared. “You sick woman!. You lied to me, you cheated me into sleeping with you!. You put your filthy hands all over my body??. How dare you . You made me leave my family and my home to come stay with you?. How dare you?”
“Tom please listen…”
“How dare you call me by my first name?”
“Please, I’m pregnant, I’m carrying your child!”
“Shut up!. How dare you call it my child? As far as I’m concerned I don’t know you!!. Do you understand? Don’t you dare try and come after me!. I’m taking my money and going back to my home. You stay out of my way our I’ll strangle you!”
Merope said nothing as he grabbed the remaining money he had brought from his house and left, leaving Merope alone.
At first Merope did not know what to do. She wandered around the house aimlessly before sitting down on a chair with blank expression. She was simply at a loss for what to do next. For a long time she remained seated on that chair hardly even moving a muscle. Finally the tears that she had learned to hold back for so many years began to flow.
For the next few weeks Merope managed to use magic to summon food for herself. But she could no longer pay the rent of the home she was living in. She had to leave the house. She went roaming into London and often slept on the streets, or in abandoned underground muggle train stations. The thought that she was now responsible not just for herself, but also for an unborn baby was the only thought that stopped her from killing herself, like her mother had so many years ago. She still had with her Slytherin’s locket. She found a shop in Knockturn Alley where she sold it and got some wizard gold. She was sure the locket was worth a lot more than she was being paid for it, but she didn’t have the strength to argue, and she was delighted to accept whatever money she could get. She then stayed for sometime in a wizarding room on rent. But she knew she could not stay there for ever. She also knew that her baby would seen be born, and she had no means to support her baby.
Finally Merope made her decision. She would leave her baby in a muggle orphanage. The thought of abandoning her baby pained more than anything else that had ever happened to her, but she knew she had no choice. The baby would be happier in an orphanage.
Finally after several weeks when she knew the baby would soon be born, she dragged herself upto a muggle orphanage, and asked if she could give birth there. The orphanage managers agreed. And so in a muggle orphanage Merope Gaunt gave birth to her baby.
After the baby was born he was brought to Merope wrapped in white sheets of cloth. “ It’s a boy” a kind faced lady at the orphanage told her. Merope looked at her child. “He’s beautiful she whispered. Oh my baby is so handsome”
Merope was very weak. She knew that soon she would die. After a terribly exhausting life she could finally die in peace. Her baby was in good hands, but she couldn’t help thinking how cruel her fate was to gift her such a beautiful baby, and deprive her of the joy of bringing him up. “Oh he looks just like his papa” she whispered. “My little Tom.”
“Is that what you would like us to name him?” asked the lady at the orphanage kindly.
“Yes, he is to be called Tom, that is his father’s name, Marvolo after my father. And Riddle again after his father”
“She took baby Tom into her hands and looked at him
“I’m sorry sweetie, I’ll never be able to give you the love you deserve. But these are good people. They will take care of you. Until you are ready to face the challenges they will take care of you. Good bye my child. May you be the happiest and most successful person ever born”
Shortly after that Merope died.
Merope never lived to see her son grow up. She never saw her son cruelly bully the other orphans. She never saw Albus Dumbledore come to take him away to Hogwarts to be trained as a wizard. She did not see him become the most brilliant student Hogwarts had ever seen, nor did she see him, unlock the Chamber of Secrets and attack his fellow wizards. She never lived to see her son become the most feared and one of the most powerful wizards ever. Merope was still alive when Tom Riddle was born. But she was dead when Lord Voldemort was born.