Riddle's Daughters

Prologue

October 31, 1981

"Maze, Maze!" Six year old Mazikeen Riddle groaned, rolling over to face her younger sister. Four year old Theodora Riddle was stood next to her bed, looking concerned. "What is it, Theo?" "Something's wrong!" "What do you mean?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes before letting them adjust to the dark to properly look at Theo.

Theo invited herself onto Maze's bed, and the older child didn't protest, simply scooting over. With eyes adjusted to the dark, she scanned the nursery and found their youngest sister, two year old Natalia Riddle, still fast asleep in her crib.

Mazikeen opened her mouth to question her little sister when suddenly Theodora covered it, eyes wide. "Shh! Do you hear that?" Maze had to listen intently for a moment, her senses weren't as ridiculously sharp as Theo's, but it didn't take long for her to hear what Theo was referring to. Yelling.

The faint voices of their mother and father sounded angry, but that's as much as Maze could gather. Theo looked terrified. "They're using spells on each other!" She hissed frantically. Maze could only trust her younger sister's sharp ears. A loud crash resounded through the house, then frantic, heavy footsteps, hurriedly approaching their room.

Maze looked over to Natalia, and briefly wondered if she should be making a dash for the crib before their bedroom door was thrown open. Theodora shrieked, and clung to Maze's arm like a life-line.

It was their mother.

"Mama?" Mazikeen asked. "What's going on?" Lilith Riddle shut the door quietly, leaning her weight against it as she clicked the lock. The fact that she had her wand raised defensively was not lost on her children. "Mama?" Theo asked this time.

Their mother turned to face them, panic in her eyes, but desperate to hide it. "Everything's fine, my darlings, but you need to listen to my instructions very carefully, alright? We need to go, now." She scooped Natalia out of her crib and the toddler woke up, giving a whine of protest at being woken.

"Go? Go where? Why? What about Papa?" Maze bombarded Lilith with questions, but their mother didn't answer, simply handing them their shoes. Theo was strangely quiet, slipping her shoes on without question. "Mazikeen, put your shoes on." Their mother's tone left no room for argument. Maze had never seen her like this, so the child obeyed with no further questions.

"Theodora, hold your sister's hand and don't let go." The two grasped hands tightly, and Maze could feel Theo's shaking. She wondered if her younger sister knew something she didn't. Lilith unlocked the door, her youngest child held tightly to her side. She slowly cracked the door open, and peaked her head out into the hallway, quickly checking side to side.

She decided the coast was clear from whatever they were running from, because she opened the door fully and grabbed Theo's hand. "Don't let go," she repeated. Maze wasn't planning on it. They were running from something, she had realized quickly, because their mother had nothing with her but them and her wand, and they were hurrying down the hallway as fast as their little legs could carry them, Mama's dragging urging them along.

Mazikeen wondered where her father was.

Suddenly, their mother halted, releasing her hold on Theo to shove the two behind her. They peered around her on either side. Blocking the stairway was their father, Tom Marvolo Riddle. "Lilith." His voice was low, angry, and dangerous, a voice Maze had only heard once before when he caught her trying to get into his office, which was a room strictly off-limits.