A/N: This is a Blood-status bent AU. Tom Riddle Sr is a pureblood and Merope Gaunt is a muggle. How does this change Tom Riddle Jr's life?

"Oi, Riddle! Heard that muggle broad out in the woods is carrying a torch for you. Get away from your bluenosed parents and have a good roll in the sheets, or whatever that Mary or Merope whatever her name is sleeps on. It'll be good for you! Think of it as practice for my cousin, Lycoris back at Hogwarts. She'll never marry you if you can't show her a good time. Are you even listening to me, Tom?"

"Yes, Arcturus, ignore my parents' wishes and ruin my marriage prospects with Black, all for your entertainment. I have more important things to consider. Mother is making me take that muggle Cecilia out for a carriage ride. After all we have to keep up appearances."

"Why must you associate with that bore, you aren't going to marry her. Your parents would disown a half-blood before it had crowned."

"Yet I should dirty myself with not only a muggle, but a muggle tramp?"

"As if the girl would ever dare accuse you of impregnating her if it did happen. The half-blood would be raised a mudblood and go off to Hogwarts, if any of your genes could make magic out of that muggle."

"This is the end of the conversation, Arcturus. I have had enough. You couldn't get me to talk to that girl with a love potion! You may use our floo to escort yourself back to your manor." Tom said abruptly as he turned on his heel and walked towards the carriage at the end of the lane.

As Tom left to meet Cecilia, Arcturus ignored his friend's request to floo home and instead starting walking to the woods between Little and Big Hangleton. He finally came across a rundown shack with a snake nailed to the door. He pushed aside his anger that anyone would treat such a noble symbol with such disgrace he knocked on the door only to be greeted with a knife followed by a dirty man around Arcturus's own age.

"What do you want?" sneered the man his breathe in near visible putrid wafts his blackened teeth almost animalistic.

"I am looking for...your sister? Mary...M," Arcturus fumbled searching for the correct name.

"Merope."

"Yes, that is her. May I please speak to her?"

"What business do you have with my sister? You with your fancy clothes and money leaking out of your pores. What could you possibly want with my good for nothing sister?" the man's sneer became mocking though he had yet to put the knife down.

"My dear friend has heard rumours of her beauty and wishes to see for himself." Arcturus explained his silver tongue attempting to charm the man in front of him.

"Is there another Merope in town? Ain't no one put their eyes on my sister and lived to tell the tale! Your friend would be better off laying with the pigs. Ain't that right sister dear?" The man turned his body away from the door revealing the inside of the shack and what looked to be a pot with legs, Arcturus could only assume to be Merope.

This assumption was proven correct as the pot was lowered and, what Arcturus supposed he could describe as, a girl was revealed. She looked a lot like her brother, though she blended in to the wall while her brother stood out like a stain. Her hair fell dead across her unmemorable face.

"Yes, Morfin," said Merope, flinching at even being addressed and acknowledged. She did not appear to be listening to her brother, only agreeing because she had no other choice. Of course Arcturus thought her brother was right here, Tom might be better off with a pig, it was obvious she would have agreed no matter the topic as long as she could disappear immediately after.

"Ah! What they say in town is true! They do hide the most beautiful women away from us! Truly, you Merope, are the most beautiful women in all of the Hangleton area and possibly all of Britain!" he pleaded that they would not be able to see through the shallowness of the lie.

"Oh well in that case take my sister!" the sarcasm dripped from Morfin's voice as he continued, "Do you plan on paying a dowry? What do you expect us to do because you think my sister is beautiful?"

"I wish to speak to her privately about my friend."

"We don't do private here," he said spinning the knife between his fingers.

Arcturus refrained himself from acknowledging how they obviously don't respect many social conventions, including bathing, and instead said, "Well then I suppose there is no chance of my friend giving her lavish gifts that could easily help make repairs to your home. I'll be on my way then."

Arcturus turned and started walking away until he heard Morfin shout "Out girl!" and retreat back into the hovel.

"Miss Gaunt," Arcturus said with a slight bow, "I am here on behalf of Tom Riddle the II, son of Thomas Riddle of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Riddle. He has become entranced with the enigma that is your beauty and wishes only for a lock of your hair as a reminder of you before he formally introduces himself."

Merope stood speechless, twirling her limp and dirty hair around her finger looking at it as if for the first time. She seemed to have forgotten that she liked to hide in the background, having no one not even herself acknowledge her existence. Now her face lit up bringing a new shape to her face and the mask seemed to fall off.

"I...I...suppose it would be rude of me to deny his request then. I have no pretty ribbons to tie it with." her face darkening again, as the blood rushed to her cheeks.

"No matter, I have one here," he performed a quick transformation on a piece of lint in his pocket turning it into a delicate satin silver and green ribbon. He then pulled the ribbon and a pair of sheers that he had transformed on the walk over out of his pockets.

Merope turned her back to him and he cut a small piece, reluctant to touch her hair at all. He tied it with the ribbon as he faced her and presented her with the lock.

"I hope you friend..." she paused a small smile on her lips as she continued, "Tom visits soon."

"I am sure he will visit very soon."

Arcturus bowed once again as she went into her...house before he turned into the woods before apparating home. Safe in the clean confines of his bedroom in the manor he placed an owl order for one of the Montmorency brand love potions before casting quite a few scourgifys on the limp piece of hair.

In the following days he added the hair and attempted to give it to Tom, before just pouring it in his drink. He watched Tom leave shouting something about true love. It wasn't until the next morning Arcturus found out if his plan was truly successful.

Tom woke him up threatening to use a slicing charm on multiple parts of his body if he ever pulled the stunt again. But yes, sex with a willing woman was amazing, even if he had to sneak a few scourgifys just to touch her.

Arcturus never heard from Merope again and it seemed neither would Tom. Tom went back to school and finished the remainder of the term after the Easter hols and was planning his engagement when Merope came back into his life starting to be visibly pregnant. She pleaded with him to take on the role as father, and that she loved him and would forgive him for leaving suddenly, and he laughed in her face and said there was no way he was the father. Riddle's don't associate with people who live in shacks. Our leftovers go to better homes.

Mary Riddle, his mother, overheard the conversation and while wanted to believe her son would never sleep with anyone before marriage, let alone a muggle, never considering someone of lesser standing than him in the muggle world, something nagged at her about the situation and she decided she would keep an eye on it.

Planning her son's wedding took most of her time, as the wedding between a Black and a Riddle was to be the wedding of the century, and she failed to investigate. However a month before her son's wedding she received a letter from a Mrs. Cole at Wool's Orphanage. The letter said there was a young child named Tom Riddle after his father whose mother had died giving birth and the orphanage had traced the name to Little Hangleton and was wondering if there was any of the possibility of the child belonging to them.

Mary wrote back saying it was unlikely, though not impossible and she would make the trip upon reply.

Mary finally visited Wool's orphanage less than two months after Tom's birth, and even at that time the child was unmistakably her son's. He had the aristocratic features and eyes that could only ever belong to a Riddle. She confirmed that this was her grandson and that his mother had run away not giving Tom a chance to be in his life.

Mary brought the child back home and waited for Tom to get home from the Black's.

"Congratulations," she said disdain stinging her son, "You have a son. The wench from the shack died giving birth to him and he is your responsibility now. I wonder how Lycoris is going to take raising a half-blood? Maybe you should have thought about that before running off with the wench. Are there any more surprises I should know about? If you had sex with this one then you must have done so with every other woman in the country because that one was the worst!"

"It was Arcturus, Mother, I swear! He gave me a love potion!"

"And if you had acknowledged that then we could have given her money to live off of and not be associated to you in any way. Now she is dead and I had to pick this up from the orphanage! Now this is yours!"

"It isn't mine. I refuse to take it. You can bring it back. I don't need a mess like this two weeks before my wedding. "

"You will take care of this or you will be dead to me and your father. You will be disowned. There will not be a wedding if you abandon this child. He may be a half-blood, but it is still your blood!"

"I would rather be dead than raise a half-blood."

"Then you are dead to me. Get out of this house."

As her son left Mary broke down in tears and hugged the child to her chest. She was too old for this. The child was her flesh and blood though, even if he was a half-blood. And so she brought out all of Tom's old things, set up the nursery again, and waited for Thomas to get home from the Ministry.

Every second she held her grandson she fell move in love with him.

She knew she would fight with Thomas over him.

She knew he would ruin their family name.

She knew the Black's would never forgive them.

She knew he was no good.

She knew he was a half-blood.

She knew he was hers, and she knew she loved him with all her heart.

She would raise him better than she had Tom. This Tom would grow up well. He would be a good little Slytherin. Maybe he would be Minister one day. As long as he was hers she didn't care. She would wipe his tears and comfort him and teach him how to love. Every child needs to know how to love.

The Riddle House might lose some of its nobility but this Tom Riddle was worth it. He was already worthy of the name. He was the heir of Slytherin and who knew what he would do with that. This child would be great.

And through everything he would be hers.

Written for Round 1 of Season 2 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition.

Go Cannons!