I like that you've written this fic from the point of view of someone outside of the relationship and it's great to see this pairing portrayed from the eyes of someone who has been affected by it.

I like how Cecilia noticed that there was something wrong with the way Tom looked at Merope and it's an interesting thought at the end: where she'd wait for Tom. It's an interesting concept that he moved on from Merope and possibly even had more family.

Great writing! :)

Ohh, this is different! I love what you did with the prompt! This is so different to anything I would have thought of, but it's brilliant. I love that you chose to write it with Cecilia as a main character instead of just a part of a plot, and to be fair, your characterisations in general are brilliant here. Originality is through the roof, also. Well done!

I love how this is written from Cecilia's point of view. We don't give her even a passing glance in the books, so it was refreshing and new to hear from her. It's just sad and dramatic enough without going overboard. Merope is characterized nicely too-it's such a contrast from what we see from her in canon-and we've seen far too many retellings from her point of view, so bringing Cecilia in was a nice touch.
However, the flow is a teensy bit choppy, and the switches in tense don't always work.
Overall, there were a couple SPaG issues, but nothing detracting. I like this fic quite a bit and it's making me wonder what happened after that.
Reviewed for the Caesar's Palace Reviewathon.

This was really interesting to read. I loved that you write it from Cecilia's point of view since it isn't something she would ever understand.

You've written this really well. I can really feel the emotions all the way through and I really feel for Cecilia. I'd love to read more of this and how her feelings change over time as she finds out they're having a kid and everything.

You've written Tom really well, too. I really enjoyed all the little nudges towards him being under the love potion and how different he's behaving really shines through even though we haven't seen what he was like before.

I'm amazed at how well you can write so many different pairings.

Great job :)

Poor Cecilia. Having her one love reject her like that, seeing him marry a woman she can see he doesn't truly love. It's sad, dramatic, and the transition between atom and her having happiness to him completely change course was perfect. Having it be from Cecilia's point of view helped a lot to show how heartbroken she was. Well done!

I think I've only ever read one other fic featuring Cecilia as a main character, so this was interesting to read. While I'm normally not a fan of first person in Fanfiction, it worked here. It made her feelings so much more personal somehow, and I felt as though Cecilia was speaking to *me* about everything she was going through.

I loved the way Merope was characterized. She was always neglected and made to be so small. Seeing her victorious and the confidence it gave her was chilling.

It was lovely that Cecelia was willing to wait for Tom. It showed her devotion to him and made everything that much more painful. She was so in love with him, only to lose everything, and yet, somehow, she still had hoped.

Excellent job.

As I said for another author, it is great to see someone trying to write in present tense since it isn't the easiest form. I liked seeing how Merope affected more people than just Tom, himself, with her actions.

Just stealing my review from the Exam Hall at Hogwarts for the June competition:

Excellent characterisation of someone under the influence of a Love Potion. At first, I thought that Merope was slightly OOC, and then I thought about how she would have felt to get her own back at someone who had mocked her all her life, and I thought "no, this is perfect".

I found your story really original; I haven't read anything about Tom Riddle Sr. and another woman. It puts the whole story in a completely different light, and that's the best part about this fic. There were a couple of SPaG issues, but nothing major: "side-by-side" should be "side by side".

I took a point off flow because it was a little choppy. The second part is my favourite, where we really get a grasp of Cecelia's thoughts, but I would have liked a little more description in some places and some sentences are overly complicated (like "he explains a move that I could make that would allow me to put him in check" – you could have stuck with just "that I could make" or "that would allow me").

It was a good use of the prompt, and it was interesting that it was for Cecilia instead of Merope. Great fic!

Please write the next chapter already. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it and liked it a lot.

This was so great and kept me hooked until the very end! Despite knowing how it truly goes in canon, I found myself rooting for Cecilia and very, very angry at Merope and Tom (even if it's not his fault after all but still...). Poor, poor Cecilia! I also felt guilty because I had never thought of her before (my bad, I know) while reading Merope/Tom story... I usually just felt bad for Merope and thought she deserved some happiness, but this changed my whole perspective! My favorite line is, "I can't see you anymore." It's so accurate it gave me chills! You definitely did an amazing job at characterizing both Cecilia and Tom (especially since he was under Merope's spell), and I've just started loving this couple! Great job, and thank you for such an original, beautiful read!

I have never in my life read a Tom Reddke Sr. fanfic, but what you just wrote makes me wonder if I have missed out on something.
I think that you have written this wonderfully, especially considering your rather long Author's Note.
Anyways I really loved your story!

Oh that was so interesting! I don't think I've ever seen that point of view for these scenes before, and it definitely makes me wnat to write a post-Merope Tom-centric fic dealing with the aftermath of him no longer being under her spell (so to say)
I think you did a lovely job with the first person pov in this. I'm not really a fan of it - mostly because it's so difficult to get just right - but I thought it worked rather well in this :)
Cecilia's voice was very interesting, and I loved her reactions. I could feel her confusion and determination, and the way she loved Tom :)
Nice work!
Cheers! :)

Great job with the prompts and the flow of the story! I've never read a Cecilia and Tom Sr. fic before :)

thank you loved it