Summary:  Sometimes life is better with a companion, no matter what the form. Prompt by @kyoki777 on Tumblr “No strings attached.”

Pairings: Luna/Tom

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Tom watched the little ballerina dance in the store window.  It was a shop of curios and babbles, but the sign in the window read simply: Dancing Magical Doll, No Strings Attached.  Usually, such items held no interest for someone like him.  Dark objects were his forte, but something about the way the doll moved drew his eye.

One could plainly see her hinges and seams, but she moved more like an organic thing.  She looked old as well. She was not an item the store owner had made themselves.

Before he could think better of it, Tom pushed his way into the shop and put on the mask of a bemused shopper.

“How does it work?”  He asked as he motioned his head to the window.

The clerk looked at the window and gave Tom a warm smile.  “No one has been able to figure out. As long as light shines on her, she would continue to dance.”  The woman said with a shrug as she appraised Tom for a moment. “Have a sister with a birthday; she is sure to delight any little girl.”  She said in moving a bit forward.

Tom wondered if half the women he was around noticed they were flirting with him.

“How much?  I have someone who may find it interesting.”  He said as he thought he could take her apart to see how the charms worked.

She was soon tucked away in a small box after Tom talked the woman down from her original price.  He wouldn’t be surprised if the store took a loss on the ballerina as the girl was so eager to please the handsome Tom Riddle.

He couldn’t bring himself to take her apart, as every time he took her out of her box, she would grace him with a mysterious dance that seemed meant for him alone.  She became something of a friend as time passed. He would talk to her as he worked and talking helped him make his plans more clear to himself and later to his followers.

Somehow she became as vital to him as his wand, something he felt less himself without.  As days turned to weeks, and weeks to years he spent less and less time trying to figure out her mysteries and just enjoyed her silent companionship.

He had had her nearly ten years when something finally changed.  He had her dancing nearby his campfire as he looked over his map when the light of a full moon came out from behind the cloud cover.

He didn’t even look up at the sight of the moon and stars in his remote campsite; he cared little for the beauty of nature around him.

“Tom, you should look.  You’re missing it.” His ballerina said, and it just felt so natural that her dazed tone belonged to his companion he didn’t think for a moment about the fact she shouldn’t have a voice at all.

“I think, we’re lost.”  He said waving his hand to let her know there were more important things than whatever she was saying.

“One can’t be lost when they always know where to find themselves.”  She told him, and it slowly dawned on him that she was indeed talking.

Slowly he looked up from the map to find his ballerina kneeling next to him, her smile as beautiful as the painted lips of the doll.

But she wasn’t a doll any longer; she was a full sized girl.  She just looked up at him expectantly as if she had not just been a doll only moments before.

“You’re real.”  He told her as his eyes took in that every detail was the same. She was only more real now, more human; she was more herself.

“I’ve always been real Tom, but you’re missing the moon.” She told him as she looked back in the direction of the sky.

He looked as well and saw the moon seemed larger than life out in the remote wilderness.  His mind wasn’t taking the view in as he tried to figure out what this all meant. His ballerina was real, his only friend and the only one he trusted was a real woman.

“Will this last?”  He found himself asking; he didn’t know what he hoped for more.  On the one hand, having his ballerina be real all the time would be enjoyable, but real women would not like to be kept in boxes and hidden away from the world.  Did this mean he would have to share her?

“I am Luna.”  She said as if that was her answer.  “Things will work out the way they are supposed to.”  She added before resting her head on his knee.