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phantomtomatoTom Riddle, Voldemort—and I will never forgive the AO3 tag-wranglers for separating these two—is a character who rarely gets to shine in his own right. He’s more myth than man. But he is something unbelievably special when an author digs past that surface and presents something of the person he might have been. How better to do that than through romance?
This week sees the end of Ouroboros, one of the most widely-known recent fics to take on his character. That story pairs Tom with himself to deliver a beautiful deep dive into his mind from all sides: what was Voldemort like after two wars? What would Tom have been like if he’d been raised differently? What does it mean for Tom to care about the people in his life?
You’ll see those questions, and more, reflected in each of the stories below. I’ve selected 14 different pairings, all rare (so no Harry), that run the gamut. There are dark fics which merit archive warnings (noted in my summary), there are light-hearted stories, there are Toms and Voldemorts who don’t feel affection, who deeply feel affection, and whose emotions can’t be determined for sure. These cover his boyhood and his young adulthood and his wars and after his wars. There are Voldemorts at the height of their power and Toms without anything, paired with peers and subordinates and authorities. I’ve hit the major tropes of his character, so you will find something familiar if you go looking.
What unites all of these recs is that the stories say something about Voldemort as a person. He is a man, his motivations are questioned, his thoughts and feelings are at the heart of each of these. Reading all of them would give someone a very solid foundation for thinking about his character, and I would encourage anyone to consider a pairing, a time period, or a premise that they haven’t before.
My selections include mostly stories on AO3, but not all were initially found there. I’ve been collecting Tom Riddle fic for months, and I claim no impartiality—these are stories that were meaningful to me in my journey with the character. There is one self-rec, please skip “Beautiful Sleepyhead” if that bothers you, and there are two stories with strong content warnings in their summaries. The following fics are ordered alphabetically by pairing partner.
You can find the AO3 bookmark collection for these recs here.
domestic pressures, by edvic
Partner: Abraxas Malfoy
Summary: Voldemort occupies Malfoy Manor during the second war, eventually confronting the portrait of his former lover, Abraxas. Flashbacks let us see into their relationship as young men. T-rated, 5k.
Why?: Tom/Abraxas is the rare pair you’ve likely seen before if you only dabble in rare pairings for Tom Riddle, and with good reason: it’s been taken up by many authors of note, made its way through fest prompts, and cemented itself in the popular imagination. Abraxas Malfoy has the good fortune of being a Malfoy, and his character is nearly in-built. When thinking of people possibly of the era to pair with a young Tom, Abraxas is a good candidate.
This is a ship for people who enjoy angst, unfulfilled romance, and unhappy endings. A key idea, illustrated so well in this fic, is that Tom and Abraxas are not of the same social station, and they cannot meet in the middle. Something: Abraxas’ obligation to his family, or Tom’s need to prove himself on his own terms, prevents them from ever settling together. And then Abraxas dies. This story beautifully highlights Voldemort’s mourning through his interactions with the teenaged Draco. His drifting through a home that had once been a place of happiness for him is tragic.
And do not call it fixity, by SofiaBane
Partner: Albus Dumbledore
Summary: Voldemort time-travels to 1906 and becomes Hogwarts’ potions master, alongside a young Albus Dumbledore. They should be murdering each other; they do not. M-rated, 11k.
Why?: Albus/Tom or Albus/Voldemort is a pairing that usually makes me nervous. There’s a huge age gap to overcome from a purely practical perspective, and the circumstances of their initial acquaintance mean that there’s a good deal of work needed to explain how the characters might ever come to consider each other as a potential sexual partner. It’s a challenge for an author, and I am blown away by how well this fic meets that challenge.
Placing Voldemort back in time with his knowledge/experiences from his adult life evens the playing field—tips it in his favor, really, as Albus is a young man. The initial friction between them morphs into a mutual respect and admiration during Voldemort’s time as a professor. Albus’ awareness of his own attraction is what sells it, I think. Voldemort feels fully himself, sort of helplessly drawn into his life choices and not able to totally acknowledge them as his own, but Albus is clear-eyed and present. The fic strongly asserts that this timeline will be different, and ends on a hopeful note.
Lime, by Arkady (Letterblade)
Partner: Cornelius Fudge
Summary: Cornelius wants to become a Slytherin prefect, so he seeks the counsel of sixth-year prefect Tom Riddle. T-rated, 1.5k
Why?: Now this is a rare pair in the best sense: a pairing that uses characters you might never think about, mashes them together to say one interesting thing about each, and ends before you have time to worry. It’s an old fic, too, dating from 2003 and pulling on a nascent fandom’s understanding of Tom, pre-HBP. It somehow manages to capture qualities like his fascination with how other people work and his disinterest in obeying existing systems, which became foundational to his character. Cornelius is an unexpected hit; I promise that this story makes you think about him as someone worth considering in his own right. And it ends on a note of tenderness between two people who are not usually so tender. It’s not a romance, and it doesn’t need to be.
What Once Was Mine, by the_flic
Partner: Draco Malfoy
Summary: Draco travels back in time after the final battle and finds Tom Riddle at Hogwarts. They have sex. E-equivalent, 4k.
Why?: This fic falls firmly into the camp of “Tom Riddle has rough-and-dirty Hogwarts sex with our POV character.” What makes it stand apart from the genre is the case of mistaken identity: with Draco back in time, he passes for his own grandfather… or does he? Tom certainly demonstrates exactly how much he wants Abraxas Malfoy to want him back during their illicit shag in the toilet. It shows us Tom wanting something, wanting it more than is sensible and wanting with a depth of emotion that belies the impression of him as incapable of caring for another person. It’s worth reading to see that.
Double Penetration, by Walgesang
Partner: Horace Slughorn
Summary: Tom Riddle wants information about horcruxes. Dumbledore wasn’t willing to oblige, but Slughorn is. E-rated, 500 words. Warning for underage sexual content.
Why?: Tom Riddle was a charming, handsome student who used the good will towards him to get illicit information from a professor. We see that memory in the canonical text. It’s not a stretch to consider that his seduction of Slughorn may have been more literal than metaphorical.
A surprising niche of well-written fics tackle this alternate interpretation of The Horcrux Question, and I encourage anyone to click through the tag and read them all (including the fic inspired by this one). It was difficult for me to choose the single story to represent this idea! They all cover Tom being manipulative, perhaps complicit in Slughorn’s sexual relationship with him; they cover Slughorn’s depravity in having sex with one of his students. What I enjoyed most about this story is its directness: in so few words, it sharply defines Tom’s animosity towards Dumbledore, his disregard for Slughorn, and his willingness to do anything in order to achieve his goals. It is not a happy story, and I especially encourage potential readers to consider the topic before reading.
The Bang and the Clatter, by Snegurochka
Partner: James Sirius Potter
Summary: James Sirius Potter has always felt less than his brother and father. When Tom Riddle turns out to be more alive than expected, James is seduced. M-rated, 10k
Why?: This is a story about how Voldemort can make someone feel special. There are so many ways I’ve seen this core idea go wrong, but in the hands of a great author, it shines. From the first, Voldemort seems to know what James needs, how he wants validation and he wants his talents to be considered valuable and important. He isn’t the dazzling auror that the world expected of Harry’s firstborn son, and he resents that. He isn’t straight, and he resents that. Voldemort is—we don’t know. Is he attracted to men in general/James specifically, or is he putting it on? Does he believe the things he says about how James is a remarkable person, or does he not? This isn’t a story from Voldemort’s perspective, but it is one that gives him agency and demonstrates his ruthless competence. He’s the villain and he’s good at it.
The Metronome, by Icarus
(Archive-locked, requires an account to read)
Partner: Lucius Malfoy
Summary: Lucius’s friend Avery recruits him into the very early stages of the Death Eaters. He meets Lord Voldemort and auditions to be part of the cause. T-rated, 7k.
Why?: This is an example of what I think of as “The Offer”: a story wherein we see why someone joined the Death Eaters. What was their introduction to Voldemort? How were they evaluated for membership? This type of story often flirts with slashing the new recruit and Voldemort, usually not quite going through explicit sex but implying the attraction, because Voldemort must have been something special to get so many people gathered under his banner.
Lucius is our POV character for this, and his unnamed dissatisfaction with his life is our context. He wants something more that what he has, as you would expect, but you might not expect this version of the character. He’s coddled away from facing his mediocrity. What I love about this fic is that many versions of “The Offer” have Voldemort showing someone that they are special, that their magic is incredible and that they are uniquely valuable—Lucius is not given that. He’s given permission to be mediocre and wanted anyway. Voldemort knows how to speak to people, how to reflect their deepest desires back to them, and this story gives us a wonderful rejection of the special protagonist when Voldemort offers acceptance for Lucius as he is.
Beautiful Sleepyhead, by Phantomato
Partner: Nott Sr.
Summary: Voldemort wants discreet sexual release during the first war, and he selects Thoros Nott from among the ranks of his Death Eaters. What follows is a decade-long romance that he never intended to exist. E-rated, 24k.
Why?: Voldemort’s first war is one of his less-explored eras of existence, and what a shame that is. The stress of running that war, the loneliness of being at the top and unable to trust anyone else, makes for a great backdrop to a pairing. Nott Sr. is one of his oldest followers, likely a peer from school, and his loyalty offers the chance for transactional sex that can blossom into something more.
This takes on the idea that Voldemort can and did love the people closest to him, though he may not have been willing to say it. It’s among the most sexual of the works on this list, motivated by the premise, but don’t let the sex distract you from the discussion of how Voldemort exists at the intersection of two cultures, or how he continually makes self-destructive choices that he convinces himself serve his ambitions. This is a Voldemort at his most human.
Between naming and power (there is you), by redsnake05
Partner: Rosier Sr.
Summary: Tom Riddle reconnects with an old classmate, Darach Rosier, around the time he’s pursuing Hufflepuff’s cup. He doesn’t expect to find joy in a sexual relationship, but Rosier makes him want to try. E-rated, 12k.
Why?: “Tom Riddle learns how to have sex” is a staple of his appearances in fandom. Virgin Tom, inexperienced Tom, whatever you want to call it—it mixes here with the common background element of Tom as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse to make a story where, from Tom’s POV, we watch him explore what it means to share physical intimacy with a willing partner.
This is a tough topic, and this story treats it with the gentleness that it deserves. Tom’s relationship with Rosier has elements of the obsessiveness that regular Tom readers will recognize, but the text holds itself back from indulging too heavily in that shortcut. We are graced with details like Tom having researched how to have sex, or the surprise he feels at finding a kiss pleasant, or the insecurity he experiences when Rosier draws back in public. Paired with my favorite type of approach to Tom’s years as a shop clerk—working-class, powerless, frustrated—this is a wonderful look at a Tom who will become Voldemort but who is relatable and human as well.
Padre Island, by yletylyf
Partner: Severus Snape
Summary: Severus and Voldemort both escape the final battle with their lives, though magical Britain thinks they’re dead. They run across one another a year later at a small beach town in Texas. E-rated, 18k
Why?: This fic does everything I would hope for a story about two strong characters: it gives both of them beautiful moments of reflection, letting the reader see how men like them might have made peace after war.
My favorite element of the story is the restraint. In just 18k, we still manage to get time between when they meet and when they first pursue their romance. The story wants you to have faith that the couple is not a heated mistake, a quick shag born of shock and loneliness, and so it shows the reader how Tom works to be non-threatening and calm. It shows the very real fear both men must have at what this chance encounter might mean for their current lives. This fic doesn’t end with Severus and Tom pledging their eternal love or moving in together, and it is better for it, because the story makes you believe that those can come in time.
catastrophic, by cocoartist
Partner: Sirius Black
Summary: Sirius and Tom are both university students. They’re involved with opposing groups. Sirius is rich, Tom is an asshole, and they dance around each other. T-rated, 3k.
Why?: The magic of a Muggle AU is seeing how the author weaves the canonical character backgrounds and traits into a new setting. This Tom and this Sirius still feel like themselves, though Tom is aged down to match, and it’s a fun romp dedicated to showcasing Tom as dangerous, Sirius as rebellious, and their chemistry as electric. Read it and wonder why this ship never took off as a popular niche in its own right.
Not a love story, by tothetardisandbeyond
Partner: Theodore Nott
Summary: Theodore is possessed by Hufflepuff’s cup in seventh year. He and Tom Riddle learn to get along. T-rated, 3k.
Why?: Theo/Tom is a theoretical favorite of mine, but until this fic was published, I couldn’t have recommended a particular story for it. Theodore Nott is a fanon character, yes, but “loner in Slytherin” is an archetype that also fits Tom, and pushing the two together brings me joy.
I love this fic for how it builds the tension between Tom and Theo as Tom occupies Theo’s body. They start out co-dependent, Theo needing Tom to permit him independence, Tom needing Theo in order to have a physical presence in this world, but they achieve something like a mutual understanding. When Tom begins to see Theo as more than a body, as an interesting person in his own right, he seduces Theo through grand gestures of targeted murder. It’s a romance in the sense that romance is sometimes grotesque.
Himself, by Mosh
Partner: Tom Riddle
Summary: Voldemort visits a scene of his younger self masturbating and reflects on his life. E-equivalent, ~1.5k
Why?: You read tomcest because you want more of him. You want to see the sort of things that Voldemort will only ever contemplate when he’s alone—it’s shipfic for the genfic enthusiast who doesn’t mind some sex. This story is a relic from a different era that nonetheless highlights what has come to define the character today: his loneliness, his vulnerability, his self-hatred. I love this one, and I hope you do too.
Farther Away, by rightonthelimit
Partner: Tom Riddle Sr.
Summary: A vision of the night that Tom Riddle confronted his father and grandparents in Riddle manor. E-rated, 6k. Mind the archive warnings: rape, underage sexual content.
Why?: I don’t enjoy this story. I think it is a necessary inclusion in this rec list. It’s beautifully-written and, in reading it, I feel the pain of both Tom Junior and Tom Senior—their encounter isn’t what either of them wanted it to be, they make choices that hurt the other because both men have been deeply hurt as a result of Merope Gaunt’s actions. This is the sort of fic where the emotional impact stays with you even after the details have faded, and for that reason, I recommend reading it (with an eye towards the warnings). What I love is how the fic sets expectations in the first half, and how that magnifies the impact of the second half. This is a tough one, but no understanding of Tom’s character is complete without considering his father.
