This is a new fic I have decided to start, thanks to KaiyoUchiha for sending me a request of a Tom Riddle/Voldemort meeting England story! I hope it doesn't suck too much ;)
In London, it was a cool breezy day in the middle of Autumn. The trees were almost bare, and the sidewalks were sprinkled with colorful leaves. Instead of rainy and dreary like most days, today the weather was nice. The sun peeked out from behind the puffy clouds, and the air was fresh and crisp. Walking amidst the streets was a man who looked of high class. He wore a suit that looked rather expensive, and his head was held high as he observed his surroundings with a small smile, his green eyes shining with pride as he observed his people.
Citizens of London were busily going about their daily activities. A woman was walking with her two little girls, arms full of groceries. A man was riding a bicycle, whistling cheerfully. An old couple were moving at a slow pace, hands held as they admired the fall scenery. A teenage boy was walking numerous dogs...yes, these were his people. The man, Arthur Kirkland, was proud.
Arthur certainly looked human. Hell, for the most part he actually was human. He was also so much more. He was England, the personification of the actual country. With his messy blonde hair and gleaming emerald eyes, nothing could change that. Arthur had been alive for a long time, and things would be like this forever.
After walking down the street a little while longer, until he came across a large square building surrounded by steel iron gates. A sign on the outside read Wool's Orphanage. In the courtyard (Which looked rather grim and unkempt) children ran around playing with each other. They were all dressed in rather shabby clothes, but all looked well fed and healthy nonetheless. Arthur eyed the orphans with a small look of sympathy for a moment before slowly stepping through the gates. A few of the children stopped playing, smiles lighting up their faces.
"Mr. Kirkland!" They cried out happily, rushing towards him. Arthur was no stranger to Wool's Orphanage. He had visited numerous times in the past. As a country, his duty was to his people. That included orphans, so Arthur made it his duty to visit as many Orphanages in London, as well as other parts in England, as often as he could. The children enjoyed Mr. Kirkland's company as much as he enjoyed theirs. He would give out dimes and chocolate, and sometimes join in on their games.
"Hello everyone" He laughed, patting the head of a few of the younger ones who had hugged him. "How has your day been? The weather out is simply wonderful."
He chatted with them for a couple of minutes, handing out delicious chocolate and small peppermints. After gazing around the courtyard for a few more moments, he was started to see a young boy crying. He faintly remembered him as Billy Stubbs, who was usually one of the most energetic.
"What's the matter with Billy?" He asked. At the mention of Billy, many of the children shifted uncomfortably.
"His rabbit died" A girl informed him. "He found it hung from the rafters..."
"Oh" Arthur blinked. "Perhaps I should go have a word with him."
With that, Arthur stood and made his way over to the sulking boy. Billy had curly black hair and dark blue eyes, his face suntanned and covered with freckles. The boy sat in the grass with his knees drawn up to his chest, twirling a dandelion between his fingers.
"Hello Billy" Arthur greeted, sitting down next to the child. "I'm surprised to see you sitting all by yourself. Don;t you normally play ball with the other children?"
"Yes, but I miss my rabbit." Billy responded, eyes downcast.
"Ah, yes. I heard about that. Truly I am sorry." Arthur said sympathetically. "It's sad when pets die."
"He...he didn't just die" Billy said quietly. "My rabbit was murdered."
There was a pause.
"Murdered?" Arthur asked. "What do you mean Billy?"
"I mean that someone killed him. Yesterday I was fighting with Tom Riddle. You see, he was hogging the book about animals like always. I wanted to read it so I could find out stuff about my rabbit. He's supposed to share but he didn't. We yelled at each other before Mrs. Cole separated us. This morning I found my rabbit hanging on the rafters...it must have been Tom."
"Oh..." Arthur said, truly speechless. He knew about Tom Riddle. The truth was, he never really had met the boy before. He never came out of his room to visit whenever Arthur came to the orphanage. What Arthur did know however, was that young Tom was a wizard.
Arthur was no stranger to the magical world. He himself practiced magic occasionally, and he was good friends with many wizards. One of the was Albus Dumbledore, a very skilled man. Arthur had tea with him about once a month, they were close friends. That was also why Arthur knew about Tom. Albus had mentioned that Tom would be going to Hogwarts soon, the next term to be precise. Albus was going to visit the boy and break the news to him soon if Arthur's calculations were correct.
"I'll go have a word with him, alright?" He finally spoke to Billy again. Seeing the boy nod, he then stood up and made his way towards the front doors of the building.
"Mr. Kirkland, what a surprise!"
Turing around at the voice, Arthur came face to face with Mrs. Cole, the one in charge of the orphanage. The looked more worn out than usual, dark circles under her eyes and a bit shaky. Frankly she looked like she needed a nice cup of ale.
"Hello Ma'am" Arthur greeted pleasantly with a bow. "I'm quite sorry for stopping by unannounced, but I just happened to be nearby."
"Why of course. The children all love seeing you." Mrs. Cole responded. "But might I ask why your inside? Most of the children are outdoors..."
"I just wanted to say hello to Mr. Riddle." Arthur said, not liking the way the woman's eyes narrowed when she mentioned the boy's name.
"You can if you'd like" She said shortly. "But be wary of...never mind."
Arthur didn't ask what she was going to say and instead continued on his journey to the second floor. Finally finding the bedroom that had Tom's name on the door, he knocked. There was a silence for a moment, so Arthur knocked again.
"Who is it?" The voice of young Tom Riddle answered. He did not sound at all happy.
"Its...Its Arthur Kirkland" Arthur answered, a little unsure of what to say. He knew that Tom knew who he was, but he had never officially spoke to the child up close. There was another silence before the door slowly creaked open and Arthur came face to face with Tom Riddle himself.
"What are you doing up here? Why aren't you with the other children?" Tom asked curiously, but his voice also held a small hint of anger/irritation.
"Well, I just thought that maybe you'd like somebody to talk to. You never seem to really play with the others." Arthur tried his best to explain.
"Why would you care about what I do?" Tom asked.
"I care about all of my people" Arthur blurted out before he could stop himself.
"All of your people?" Tom said mockingly. "Just what exactly are you saying?"
"I mean..." Arthur swallowed. "...Nothing. Just forget it. Anyways, if you don't want to chat then I think I shall go back outside. Billy is feeling terribly down about his poor pet rabbit."
There was an uneasy silence, Tom glaring at Arthur. They both knew well that it had in fact been Tom, and the boy knew that. So far nobody had accused him directly, which made Arthur the first one.
"Look Tom" Arthur finally said, when it was clear that the boy was not going to respond to his last statement. "I know that life can really be horrible sometimes, and I also know what being alone feels like. I also know what it's like being different. No matter, you cant let things bring out your dark side."
Arthur was speaking from experience. Being a country was hard, and past events had sent him dwindling in several dark phases. Luckily he had been taking on the role of a proper English gentleman for awhile now.
"You don't know anything about me!" Tom said sharply. "You don't know anything..."
Arthur suddenly felt a pang of sadness. He pitied the young boy. Even so, Tom didn't have a clue about how Arthur himself grew up. Fighting wars even in childhood, trying to avoid being invaded, always getting beaten up by his sibling...yes, Arthur's childhood certainly hadn't been all happy and cheerful either. Tom didn't know that though, so there was no use trying to explain.
"I had it hard too lad" Was all Arthur decided to say. "You'd be surprised at how hard my life has been, and still is."
There was another uncomfortable silence. Finally Arthur decided that there was no use talking any longer. It was obvious that Tom was an angry child. Maybe once Dumbledore came and introduced the boy to Hogwarts then things would get better. Tom was very powerful, even if he didn't know how to use/control his magic yet. He would make a brilliant student one day.
"Well, I suppose I should get going. I must visit with the other children before it gets too late. Feel free to come join us in the courtyard." He said, standing up preparing to leave. Before he made it to the door Tom muttered something under his breath. Arthur stopped in his tracks. "What was that, Tom?"
"I said you aren't human" Tom told him smartly. "Definitely not."
A small smile lit up on Arthur's face.
"Perhaps that is true."
Before Tom could respond, Arthur left the room. The green eyed Brit had been right. Tom would make a brilliant student at Hogwarts someday. Giving one last glance to the door, he then retreated back outside to the other children. When in the courtyard he looked up at the windows, almost chuckling when he saw Tom's face peeping out of the window.
It would be interesting to see how Tom turned out in his later wizarding years.
A/n: Tada! I hope you at least kind of liked it...this will be a four-shot I think, if anybody wishes for me to continue. Basically this is just a story of different times Voldemort meets England throughout his life.
Please do review :-)
