I hated that house. I hated what it meant, what it represented. I hated that I couldn’t walk through the lounge without kicking the carpet. There were very few times that I could actually walk into the house without thinking of her. The thing I hate the most is that people associate that house with my family. I hardly spent any time there. I lived most of my live either at Knockturn Alley, in the house that my father had wanted my mother to live in or in Hogwarts. It was rare that I went at all but when I did, I had the back bedroom. It was decorated with trees. There was no window, no garden, no sunshine. I spent as much time as I could out on the common and I understand that is where my uncle went when he was young. It seems we both hated that house but for very different reasons. He hated it because it was where he would get beaten and abused by my grandfather. Sometimes he would escape with me to the common, we would take books and sit by the tree. I often wondered why he went back. But I think it was because he needed to.

When places hold too many memories, they can be vial, sickly places. That is what Cokeworth is. It holds too much. The worst time was when I was there with Peter Pettigrew. A horrible rat of a man, literally. I’m sure the only reason Nagini didn’t eat him was because he would have tasted disgusting. I remember sitting on the stairs, always the damn stairs and seeing Bellatrix and Narcissa in the study. They wanted my uncle to make an unbreakable vow. I couldn’t believe it. It was ridiculous. It made me so angry, it was a good job they couldn’t see me. I would have blown the whole operation, maybe gotten myself Draco and my uncle into a lot of trouble. I didn’t come out until my uncle said it was ok. He knew I was there. I had a habit of lurking on the stairs. The only good thing about Pettigrew was that I could boss him around. Not that he liked it but there you are. The perks of being a Riddle.

I still own the house in Cokeworth, but I don’t live there anymore. I can’t. The last time I went there I walked around for a bit, showed someone in told them where everything was and left. I decided that even if I can’t use it other people can.