The Riddle Twins

 

Voldemort prodded the small baby with his wand, watching with a trace of anticipation as he waited to see if it would awaken. But the boy simply twitched his arm and continued to breathe softly into the neck of the girl who lay next to him. The thin wisps of black hair that grew from her head swayed in the air from her brother's breathing, and her eyelashes flickered quickly and she tossed out a chubby hand from her blankets that clutched the rail of her cot tightly.

Voldemort continued to watch his son and daughter as they slept so soundly. Just over a year old, the twins had become a rumour amongst the Death Eaters, the unseen children of the Dark Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange. He had seen many of his followers glance surreptitiously at Rodulphus Lestrange as there would be a young cry during a meeting and his wife would immediately excuse herself to go to the call. But as one of his most loyal Death Eaters, Rodulphus had never said anything, and if asked about his wife's pregnancy he would simply say that they had had two children, who were kept confidential for safety reasons. In fact, the only person who knew the full story of the twins apart from Voldemort and Bella was her sister, Narcissa, who would sometimes care for them with her son Draco.

Bella's sleeping frame was visible against the silver walls of the Lestrange Manor, and Voldemort knew that she needed her sleep, as when he had last seen her she was very pale, with deep bags under her dark eyes. He did not feel love for the woman, nor any form of attraction, only great respect. She probably the most loyal of all his followers which was why he had decided to give her the honour of birthing his children and heirs. Voldemort had only intended for one child, a boy, to give him a legacy, maybe a kind of lieutenant under him, an elite of Death Eaters to give orders to Muggles and such while Volemort commanded him. But she had been born as well, and he had more faith in blood lineage than in actual children, so daughter to him or not, Voldemort had decided to let Bella keep her as her own.

The fact that she had looked after the two children for so long was a credit to Bellatrix's loyalty and favour, too, as it was only out of revere for her master that had kept her caring for them. The mothering instinct is not strong in that one, Voldemort had often thought to himself with a wry smile, remembering one of the few fond moments of his growing up, when Rodulphus had started dating Bellatrix and Avery was teasing them about the names of their future kids. Bella had simply raised an eyebrow distastfully and said, "There won't be any."  Avery had leaned over and made the snide comment to the young Tom Riddle, and they had shared a short, pompous laugh.

But despite her words, she had named her son Marcal Rodulphus Riddle and his sister Rhya Bellona Lestrange, their last names giving further emphasis on whose seperate parent was whose.

Despite wanting nothing much to do with his daughter, as Voldemort stood up he reached down and touched Rhya's hand softly, gasping as instantly her fingers wrapped around his and pulled it to her,

"My children," he breathed softly, as he removed his finger carefully from his daughter's grip and ended one of his many secret visit to his offspring. "When I return, the future shall have taken a sudden turn."

He exited the room in a swish of black robes, and instantly his mind returned to the Prophecy reported to him by Severus Snape. It was the 31st of October, Halloween, and it was the night he had chosen to kill the boy Harry Potter. Wormtail had come to him the night before, in an excited state, practically shouting that he had news of the boy, of his where abouts. Breaking the Fidelus Charm, Peter Pettigrew had told Voldemort all he needed to know about the location of the Potters.

Voldemort opened the manor door and looked out over the still grounds, the last of the suns light twinkling an eery green over the horizon of feilds. No one but Severus and Wormtail knew of his decision to act tonight, and the thought of this secret gave him a feeling of twisted pleasure that mixed with his desired independance.Without a thought back to his children, soundly asleep back in the Lestrange Manor, the Dark Lord diappeared into the night.

Gets exciting after this prologue/chapter, I promise. Read on my minions!