Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related properties belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., etc. This story is property of its author. It is also a work of fanfiction, and therefore no profit is generated from it.
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Playtime
The other children would have cried, but the dark-haired boy plays innocently in the corner, the spider scuttling between his fingers and dancing precariously on his palm. He stares at it with intense indifference and snaps a leg off with clean fingernails, the spider twitching wildly. When he's finally bored, its remaining limbs curl inwards like sun-starved vines, scrunched body falling backwards. Tom smiles for the first time, a terrible gash cracking his skin.
Years later, his first Crucio pours over his lips, spilling over the Muggle at his feet like acid, and his mouth twists into the same smile.