What He Grows To Be

by Severus_divides_into_H

Tom Riddle is a frightening coil of darkness, cruelty, and greatness, and changing him is Harry’s only hope for saving people he loves. Going back in time, he takes Tom from the orphanage, but his optimism shatters with every year they spend together.

Tom still longs for darkness. Tom stifles him in his possessiveness. Tom is fixated on him to the point of destroying the world just to keep him.

But Harry loves him. And the future changes.

Genres: Fan Fiction, Young Adult

623 pages, ebook

Published August 13, 2022

Reviews

[C.K · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I didn’t want to rate it, this left me with a lot of conflicted emotions and thoughts about it. IT IS a good story. Heavily toxic? Yes. Concerning in so many emotional levels? Absolutely. Did I hate it? No. I couldn’t.

And in the end I was left wondering what would become of them in the future, with Tom so broken inside and Harry so messed up with guilt. It felt like as characters, they would take 4 steps forward and then go back to square one in a single chapter, and it made frustrated because it felt like they were close to becoming someone better and then BAM, pushed to where they started.

Anyways, I’m too conflicted to say more. I enjoyed it in an odd way but I will probably never read it again, not because it was bad, it was not, I will simply not re-read it because I can’t handle it emotionally, it’s complicated.

P.D.: The author warned about the toxicity and unhealthiness of their relationship but boy I did not expect it to be this much.

[Shri ☽]

Yeah this had such an unhinged, obsessive, possessive Tom, that I could not help but love him more. Because however cruel he may have been to the rest of the world, he was so far gone for Harry, it was not even funny (especially for both Tom and Harry). We get to see a manipulative bastard, yet a soft, sweet Tom with Harry that my heart just swayed with his winds. You want to love and hate Tom in equal quantities at each and every chapter. Harry is no better; he is equally ready to burn the world for Tom and his moral compass is so far out of the loop that Harry really has no idea which is the true North anymore. They truly deserved each other with everything they do to each other and other people.

[Jessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best fics I've ever read. Harry travels back in time to prevent the war and ends up raising little Tom Riddle from the orphanage. But Tom is TOM RIDDLE!!!!!! And we (he) should remember that!!!!!!!
Not a day goes by where I don't think about something related to this fic. Everytime I see young Tom fanart I can't help but "omg just like in whgtb..." please free me (not really). They're both a little fcked up (still not over about what harry did to tom iykyk) I just. I love this fic so much it's insane

[Beata Kurek · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh wow… I can’t possibly describe how this made me feel. The whirlwind of emotions I went through reading this. I was mad at Tom for hurting Harry, I was furious with Harry for leaving Tom, there was so much toxicity, so much angst, but in the end they belong to each other. It was always Harry and Tom no matter the circumstances

[Ceilidhchaos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tomarry. Harry Raises Tom. Time Travel.