To her surprise, Merope couldn’t find anything in regards to her condition. Some of the books that she came across gave reference to proper nutrition and good exercise. Yet there was nothing in regards to her visions or her occasional lapses into anger. She was at a loss.
She looked up to see that a lot of the shop’s customers were leaving, so she figured it was time for her to get moving too. As she stepped out into the alleyway she noticed that the energy had died down a bit; it wasn’t as congested as it had been before. Yet it was no wonder, considering how late it had gotten. She must have lost track of time, reminiscing about the past.
She decided to make her way to the nearby pub, the Leaky Cauldron, to warm herself before she went - well, she really had no place to go. She couldn’t go back to the homeless shelter because of the over-crowdedness and the incident that had left a little girl witness to her attempt at murder. The place that she and Tom had shared didn’t feel like home anymore since he had left. She didn’t have the strength to live in an empty space full of haunting memories. So she had let the apartment go and had been on the streets ever since.
She was definitely not going back to her father’s home. No, she would rather die on these streets than to go back to the beatings, the torture, and the vile acts that she was made to perform by her father and brother. There are some things in life that a father should never ask his daughter to do, nor a brother ask of his sister. Yet Merope’s father and brother did not have such decency. They would defile her body whenever the mood took them. So no, she wasn’t going back to that. As desperate as her situation was, she was better off where she was. As much as she was penniless and destitute, she could at least say that she was free. There was truly no going back for her.
She decided that she would make her way to the paper mill a few blocks away. They usually had some old scraps of paper they kept in the back of the mill, to be burned the next day. She figured she’d sleep there for the night, then plan her next move in the morning. This had been her day-to-day routine ever since Tom had forsaken her and the baby. She started to get caught up in that painful memory when the baby’s movements snapped her out of it.
It was nice and quiet inside the Leaky Cauldron. The roaring fire was very warm and inviting. There weren’t that many people around, and those who were there were either deep conversation, deep in thought, or deep in their bowls of food. The barmaid greeted Merope with a gentle smile.
“Why don’t you warm yourself up by the fire, dear. A woman in your condition should be off her feet and out of the cold.” Merope felt slightly embarrassed and tried to cover herself. But the woman’s smile was very comforting, “Oh love, don’t worry. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. You’re not the first stray to come off these streets. And considering these hard times, I’m sure you won’t be the last. Just have a seat and be comfortable.”
Merope took her place by the fire. She leaned back slightly in the chair and moved her feet close to the hearth’s edge to warm her toes. For the first time in a long while, she felt her soul at ease. The barmaid came to her with a very large mug and another warm smile. “Here you go. Its Bertie Bott’s Best Hot Chocolate.” She laughed a little as she got tongue-tied from saying that. She said it a couple more times just for fun, which gave them both a good laugh. “That should warm up the little one.”
Merope reached into her pocket to give her a couple of Galleons, but the lady waved her hand in refusal, “You hold onto that, love. You won’t need to worry about that tonight. The New Year is just around the corner. And I heard that it’s good luck to have at least one Galleon in your pocket so that you will always have one there whenever you need.” Merope smiled in appreciation and took a long sip from her mug. It was truly the best hot chocolate she had ever had.
As she looked deep into the fire she was reminded of the empty home that she and her husband had shared. She remembered back to a night like tonight. She had been sitting by the fire knitting booties for a baby. Earlier that week, Tom had told her how clever it would be if there were more women like her. That way the world would be filled with love and beauty all the time. She told him how wonderful it would be if there were more men like him around. That way the world would be safe and secure, like the way he made her feel. So they agreed to try to extend their love into a family. The thought of hearing the pitter-patter of little feet made Merope decide to go back and strengthen the potion. She thought she would increase her odds of getting pregnant by increasing their lovemaking. So she made the batches just like she had done before, in the early part of their relationship.
It was a rough attempt at first. She was so used to the more romantic side of Tom that she forgot how wild and lustful he could be. The morning, noon, and night sessions were so tiring that she would often wake up with him asleep on top of her. But she didn’t mind. The thought of having little Toms or little Meropes at her skirt was enough to keep her spirits going. She willed her body to handle the pressure for the sake of having children.
She would come to regret this later as she was trying to make another batch of potion. Their marathon session from the night before had left her a little hazy. Somehow the batch of potion she made was strengthened … but slightly altered.
That morning Tom ate his breakfast and took his tea as normal. Merope felt so tired from the evening before that she barely had any appetite, so she excused herself from the table.
Tom looked offended. He asked if he had displeased her in some way. She of course said no. He asked if maybe HE could cook her something to eat, since she had barely touched her food. She told him that she wasn’t hungry right now. Then he thought that maybe she didn’t like his cooking, which caused him to go on about how she had never complained about his cooking before. She told him it wasn’t his cooking and not to be silly.
“OH, SO NOW I’M BEING SILLY!” And he promptly flew into a tirade.
Merope did not notice at first that he was going ballistic. Her mind was so groggy that she could barely comprehend what he was babbling on about. But he was talking so fast that any normal person, wizard or not, would have had trouble understanding what he was saying.
He started to talk about how she liked going to a particular restaurant every time they went out for dinner. He recalled how she would gush about how much she loved their poached salmon. He was pacing back and forth, trying hard to think it all through.
“The waiter!” He came to a complete stop and looked at Merope accusingly. “So you love the ‘salmon,’ do you? Or is it that pompous buffoon that serves it to you, you, you wretched harlot!” To hear Tom yell at her that way, and to see him look at her with such a loathsome glare, was enough to sober her mind and make her slap him clean across the face.
Tom and Merope just stood there. It didn’t sink in what she had done until she felt the throbbing pain in her hand. She tried to grab Tom’s face but he just backed away from her. He wouldn’t even look at her. Then he cried out that he didn’t deserve a good woman like her. He walked to an open window in their apartment and tried to jump, but Merope moved quickly and grabbled him before his feet left the floor. She tried to talk him down but he kept going on and on about how he wasn’t worthy of her love.
He told her that he understood if she wanted to be with that buffoon waiter so that he could feed her all the poached salmon she wanted. But as soon as he said that, his emotional pendulum swung the other way and he said that if he couldn’t love her, then no one else would. He pushed Merope out of the way and started to ransack their bedroom in search for something. He found that something in the form of a wooden box. And in the box was a small pistol.
Merope was so stricken with panic that she couldn’t think. Tom took the gun and pointed it straight at her. Tears were streaming down his face as he looked into her eyes.
“I LOVE YOU! I WILL BE THE ONLY ONE TO LOVE YOU!” he told her with a manic look in his eyes.
He pulled the trigger … but nothing happened. Merope almost fainted from the shock. She lunged at him trying to get the gun away but then –
BANG
They both looked stunned. Tom seemed as frightened as Merope. But then he felt a sudden rush of serenity as he fell to her feet. Merope looked down to see her skirt covered in blood – his blood.
Merope looked around frantically for her wand. But he had left their bedroom in such a mess that it was hard to find. She stood in the middle of the room and thought as hard as she could, and suddenly the wand flew out of a corner and into her hand. She quickly worked over his body, trying to recall a spell, potion, or anything to save him. Tom just kept smiling as he tried to wipe the tears from her face.
“Don’t cry, my love. I’m still with you. I’ll always be with you.” But as he spoke his life force was growing fainter with every breath he took.
She started to feel more frenetic. She didn’t want to take Tom to a hospital because she felt that Muggle science would only make his situation worse. But she didn’t want to take him to St. Mungo’s Hospital either, because they would detect the potion she had been using the past few months. She felt conflicted about what she should do. Then she remembered a spell she had used to mend broken things around her father’s house.
Concentrating through her tears she waved her wand over Tom’s wound, hoping that the spell would have the same effect on him as it did on inanimate objects. Nothing happened at first, which scared the life out of Merope, but then she saw that the bullet was slowly making its way out of Tom’s body. Tom’s wound was closing up and the bleeding was stopping. Tom took a deep breath and greeted her with a smile. Then he went back to sleep. Merope felt sure that he was stable, so she straightened the room and placed Tom in their bed. She then went to Diagon Alley to get a spell book from the bookstore so that she would never be caught off guard like that again. She stayed by his side the whole night. She memorized all the spells that she could find as she kept her vigil over Tom. He occasionally woke up to smile at her but would then go back to sleep. He was out of touch for a few days.
During that time she came to the realization that she couldn’t keep doing this. She couldn’t go on drugging him forever. There had to be some point when he would come to love her on his own. Considering the time they had spent together, surely he would see how devoted she had been to him and would want to stay. She thought he would stay, if not for her, then for the baby, since she came to find out later that she was indeed pregnant.
Tom was in and out of consciousness during the course of his recuperation. Merope used her newfound knowledge to heal his body as much as she could. She did not give him any more of her love potion during this time. Tom still acted very courteous and kind to her during his waking moments, which led Merope to believe that her assumption was correct: that he was coming around to love her on his own. But she was wrong.
After a week of resting, Tom had made a complete recovery. He looked around their room, wondering where in the world he was. He felt as though he was coming out of a dream. He showed no regard to Merope at first, thinking (as he had done before) that she was one of the help.
Merope wasted no time in reminding him that she was his wife.
Tom looked amused at first, asking if she was joking. But Merope explained about their love affair, which had taken place over the last year. She even showed him pictures of their wedding day. Tom recalled some of the moments that she was telling him about, but he couldn’t understand how he and Merope had ended up together ... and how he had ended up in love with her.
Merope decided to come clean and told him that she was a witch.
Tom shot straight out of their bed and into a corner or their room. He rummaged for his clothes and put on anything just to get dressed. Merope pleaded with him not to leave her and was pawing at his legs as he tried to get his pants on. He just gave her a nervous, disgusted look. He couldn’t believe that he had been bewitched into this marriage. He thought of himself as a strong man and an intelligent individual. So to think that he had been so easily hoodwinked infuriated him.
He was almost out the door when Merope threw herself at his feet. She looked into his eyes and told him the blessed news.
“I am the mother of your child! I’m having your baby! Don’t leave us now!”
Tom just looked at her in disbelief. He must have thought it was another one of her lies, or a spell like the one she had been using on him all this time. He wanted no more of this charade, no more of these lies, and none of this witchcraft. And he told her just that. He pulled away from her arms and walked out the door.
She never saw him again.
