Title: Stay for Him
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Tom/Merope
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 539
Summary: AU. Tom Riddle Sr. finds out the truth about Merope.
Notes:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Charms - Extra Credit - Write about Merope G/Tom Riddle Sr.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Chocolate Frog - Phineas Nigellus Black - Write about someone who is unpopular.

365 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used – Barrier

"You used a love potion on me!" Tom snarled.

Not for the first time, Merope wished she had magic so she could set up a barrier to protect herself. She knew she deserved Tom's anger, but she hoped he wouldn't escalate to physical violence. Her unborn child might not survive it. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" he asked.

She looked up, stunned to see he looked sad and heartbroken, instead of angry, like he had been a few moments ago.

Merope stood up and rested her hand on her bulging stomach. "I've never been popular. Everyone heard the stories about my father and brother and most of them true. I've always been considered a waste of space, especially since I had little to no magic. In fact, my father once told me that he wished my mother had gotten rid of me before I was born."

Tom nodded, but he stopped and frowned at her, asking, "You said you didn't have magic, but the potion..."

"I have some magic. You don't need a lot of magic to make a potion. As long as you can follow directions, you can make a potion."

"So, why did you do it? To prove that you can?"

Merope shook her head. "No, of course not. I fell in love with you, but I knew you would never love me. And that girl, Cassidy, she told me all about you two, and I knew I never stood a chance. I know I was wrong, but I just wanted you so badly that it hurt. Please, I'm sorry, but I'm pregnant, and I can't do this alone. Please, don't leave me."

Tom turned his back on her. "Merope, Cassidy met nothing to me. She was a selfish bitch, and I wished I never had to see her. I only met you a couple of times, but I liked you. I had feelings for you. I was hoping to get to know you for real, but you took the option away from me."

"You did get to know me, though."

"No, I didn't. You forced my compliance so I never got to know the real Merope Gaunt. I'll stay for my son, but I will never trust you, and we'll never be together. I won't punish my son for his mother's actions, though."

"Tom..."

"No, Merope. If you hadn't been so manipulative, we might have gotten married for real, but you decided I could never want you so you took away my right to make a choice. We are nothing to each other."

And with that, Tom left the room.

He kept true to his word, and when Merope died in childbirth three months later, Tom held his son, a boy that he named Tom Riddle Jr., and he promised to always be there for Tom Jr.

He'd never tell his son the truth about his mother's actions against his father. Instead, he'd paint a picture of a woman who loved her son more than anything, a woman who died to make sure her son would live.

And although Tom Sr. never forgave Merope for what she did to him, he did love his son and was thankful to her for bestowing such an amazing gift to him.