Chapter Text
Harry was looking out the windows as the Dursleys drove, he was enraptured by the changing scenes from uniform houses to bustling streets.He even relished in the simple comforts of the car he was in, it was a rare thing to be outside after all. Dudley wasn’t in the car with them- an unusual thing but Harry couldn’t bring himself to care. His cousin always liked kicking him or framing him for some reason or another.
Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were whispering, with Aunt Petunia looking a bit frazzled murmuring stuff like ‘they’ll find out,’ and Uncle Vernon was just shaking his head firmly.
He kept on responding, “He crossed the line, Pet,”.
Harry wondered distantly what line he crossed, but was still drinking in the rare sights provided.
The sights turned from bustling streets to buildings that looked old to buildings that gave him chills with the aging brick walls.
The car stopped then in front of a building that looked archaic and dreadful to the young Harry’s eyes.
He took his glasses and rubbed them onto his sweater, then put them back on. As if rubbing them would make what he saw false and untrue.
Was that ‘WOOL’S ORPHANAGE’ sign true?
Suddenly, he felt dread, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia’s whispering suddenly made sense, he was taken to an orphanage. All the horror stories about orphanages suddenly struck Harry with a sense of fear.
Goosebumps erupted onto his brown skin and a pit opened up in his belly. Weren't orphanages where food was little and beatings regular?
“Right, get out, boy,” ordered Uncle Vernon. His face stony with feigned impulsivity, he could see the glee touching the corners of his eyes and the anger slightly burrowing his eyebrows.
Harry complied, he wanted to turn tail and run, where he didn’t know but that was what he wanted to do. However, he heard the streets were worse than orphanages so, he decided he would try his luck here.
He was practical not stupid.
He opened the gates; then entered the orphanage. Fear and courage twisting into one.
Tom Riddle was looking around his room again, he was alone without roommates like the rest of the kids here.
He couldn’t help the slight tug on his mouth as he remembered ousting his second roommate, Billy Stubbs from this room. Really, the boy deserved it, obnoxiously bragging to Tom about that rabbit he got from his dad.
Making ‘subtle’ hints about how his dad cared about him enough to give him something.
Did he think Tom was stupid? Of course, he noticed that Billy was making fun of Tom for not having anything from his dad.
Honestly, Tom warned himto leave it, who knew Billy would ignore Tom’s benevolent advice and continue!
He wanted to hang the god-forsaken rabbit on the rafters, see how he would like his precious daddy's gift hanging like that. At first.
But his instincts told him otherwise, they stopped him, holding his vengeful thoughts in place as he thought it over. Churning his hatred and disgust into a chilling calm that always allowed him to prevail in this orphanage.
He trusted them.
So, he planned another way of going about it.
Billy's rabbit was resting on the ground after hopping a lot, it was tired out. And daddy's boy Billy was playing nearby. This was an opportunity he could not miss.
Therefore, when Tom instigated Billy in the playground with rude comments like 'No one likes you Billy the dumb!' 'You're here cause no one likes you!' 'You were abandoned by your family, Billy'. He came rushing to Tom like an angry bull seeing the colour red and kicked his rabbit by accident. With such force that it hit the ground with a loud crack, blood was oozing out of its head.
Tom remembered shouting in horror and pointing at Billy, Ms. Cole glancing at Billy like he was disturbed in the head, and all the other kids staring at Billy like he was some monstrous creature.
Stupid Billy was staring at Tom with angry eyes, he kept on insisting that it was his fault. Further digging his grave, with such accusations.
He also remembered the utter joy that erupted inside, he felt so euphoric at the time.
After that Billy stopped being his roommate and Tom had this whole place to himself.
He looked over his room, his eyes moved over the bed, the window with thin railings -meant to keep burglars out, his peeling wooden floor and his rather plain furniture scattered throughout the room’s expanse. Along with a monotone wall paper that lined the now yellowing walls, made the room appear dull.
Even if he wanted a manor filed with better decor and tastes, he still had to appreciate what was his.
He hoped to escape this cage that held him for the past 9 years, since he was born. The purpose of orphanages was probably akin to that of prisons- holding its inhabitants’ captive with negligent care-takers as wardens.
He wanted to burn this prison down, laying its ashes in his awake.
He heard Ms. Cole’s tell-tale footsteps along with unfamiliar footsteps, was this his new roommate?
He suppressed a surge of frustration that overtook him. How many roommates would it take until this room was his and his alone.
Tom propped himself up on the bed, leaning on the head rest for support as he prepared himself for the new intruder in his space.
The door opens, revealing Ms.Cole and a short boy- about his age- with ugly glasses that magnified his bright green eyes that simmered with resignation.
He could feel something odd from this boy.
Tom narrowed his eyes and paid a lot more attention to little details he missed.
The boy has dark tangled curls surrounding his sickly pale brown head, with gaunt features and a wary stance. He would have handsome had he looked less haggard and void of any positive feeling. And a stark white lightning bolt scar that crossed the boy's temple, Tom thought was interesting.
He wore baggy clothes that bunched around his body- evidently too big for this bony kid.
Their eyes meet, green clashing with hazel, he felt nostalgia overcome him for a moment-looking at this boy, he felt goosebumps travel around his body.
His instincts told him this boy would change something. What? He didn’t know…