Chapter 1: Introduction

AN: This story was formerly The Saga of Jenny. It has sense been revamped. The first and second chapters have been merged and altered. Thank you for your time.

"Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone -

"Are you just going to leave her in her nightgown all day?! It's below freezing, she'll catch her death out here!"

Jenny looked up in time to see a large, gray, wool blanket envelop her. Already feeling cramped in the back seat of the police car, she adjusted herself within the heavy blanket then looked around for the source of this new voice. The three year old's eyes gravitated towards a rather agitated looking woman that was making demands and marching around with an important air. Her voice whistled above the chattering of the policemen and the loud, barking of orders from the firemen. The lady moved back and forth between policemen as she gathered papers. Once she seemed satisfied with the stack accumulated she approached Jenny and the girl was able to get a good look at her for the first time. She was young, younger than Jenny's parents had been.

The woman smiled kindly to the girl and stopped in front of her, leaning on the police car that sheltered the child. "Hi," she said in a baby voice, "what's your name," speaking slowly and clearly for the child.

Jenny screwed up her face and after a second shifted her look into sour, disapproval, "I'm Jenny, why are you talking to me like I'm a baby?"

The woman was floored that this child would register the change in her inflections and questioned her in such an adult manner. She responded back, this time with a normal speaking voice, "My name is Mrs. Cole. You're going to stay with me for a bit while we find someone to look after you."

Mrs. Cole firmly gripping the stack of guardianship paperwork in her left hand and offered her right hand to Jenny. The child promptly latched on and was pulled from her seated position in the car. She was toted to a worn vehicle across the street, feet dragging slightly trying to keep up with Mrs. Coles quick gait.

As Mrs. Cole and Jenny rode to their destination. The child spare one final look to the smoking rubble that once housed her so comfortably and she thought briefly to herself, 'This is not how I imagined Christmas morning would be.'

As Jenny aged at Wool's orphanage she found Mrs. Cole no longer spoke to her in a reassuring voice, promising that, 'The police are sure to track down some extended family soon'. The promises soon turned to, 'Young girls are always favorites, a family will bring you in soon enough'. Shortly after Mrs. Cole no longer shared any reassurance. Jenny soon found there wasn't anyone even coming to visit with her. She longed for the days that couples would visit and ask what she liked to do with her free time.

Mrs. Cole would never outright tell the children, but she had learned some time ago that children who spent more than a year in the orphanage were no longer desirable. Families would begin the process of finding a child by looking at head shots, then from there ask, 'How long have they been here'. If the caretaker's answer went beyond a year the family would politely as possible, yet awkwardly, move on from that child. She supposed it was the family's assumption that the child was troublesome or defective in some way.

Jenny had been at the orphanage five years. Her most recent birthday had gone unnoticed, she would have cried if it had not slipped her mind as well. Mrs. Cole tried to celebrate birthdays when they happen, but Jenny knew that was mostly for the shiny new kids. She had learned that she wasn't special to anyone and resented the fact. She had grown to expect apathy from adults and disinterest from peers. She kept to herself when she got to the orphanage, initially from the shock of losing her family, then she had been quiet for another reason. All the other kids were weird, or more appropriately she was the only magic person there. Initially it had been alarming, but now it was a simple reality.

Jenny, newly eight, stepped out of her room, quiet as to not disturb her roommate, a nasty little girl who was six. As she move through the dusty tight halls, she glanced out the dirty glass of the windows, that barely did anything to make the hallway feel less claustrophobic. Outside, in the backyard, there was a pale boy crouched down in the grass. The grass was shining with dew in the morning sun, but that wasn't what drew Jenny's eye, it was something the boy was fidgeting with. She couldn't quite make it out, but it looked as if it maybe a rope.

The girl trotted down the creaky, wooden stairs and emerged into the dining area, where a few children were, half awake, shoveling cereal in their mouths. She scanned the small group and found she hadn't bothered learning any of these children's names. She only kept track of the children that stayed for a while, but even then, most that she learned the name of got adopted away.

Jenny turned from the kitchen and pushed open the door, revealing the backyard. The pale boy who had been playing looked up and she recognized him after a moment as Tom Riddle. She had spoken to Tom a few times and only in passing. He had been at the orphanage the longest, since birth, she had been a there the second longest. She supposed it would make sense to ally with him, but most of the other children seemed scared of him. Jenny wasn't friendly enough with the other children to hear the gossip about him and she didn't really care either, she had no want for a friend since she couldn't share her secrets anyway.

She peered into Tom's cupped hands and blinked, he had been playing with a snake. She stared for a moment, the snake was coiled in his palm, flicking it's pink, forked, tongue at her.

She tore her gaze from the creature then spoke to the boy in question, "I thought we weren't allowed out this early," looking expectantly at him.

He scoffed "It doesn't matter what the rules are, we've been here long enough that they shouldn't apply to us."

Jenny hadn't thought Tom knew who she was, but in hindsight figured he was bound to have noticed the only other child that spent so long at Wools.

She licked her lips, then after thinking for a beat, said, "I don't think Mrs. Cole sees it that way."

His face was unreadable and in a steady tone replied, "You're free to go back inside by all means".

Jenny stared down Tom. Yet, before she could say anything in response, the door to the kitchen squeaked open, letting another person into the backyard. Jenny turned her back to Tom to face the new person. It was a rude, 12 year old boy who had been delivered to the orphanage a few weeks ago. She didn't know his name, but had a few run ins with him and disliked everything about him. He was a lanky boy who had already begun developing acne and almost always had a greasy, unwashed baseball cap on his head.

"Look at this, freak one and freak two have gathered for a freak show," the nearly teenaged boy bit.

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Mrs. Cole won't like that you're wandering about outside at this time."

The boy took a large step forward standing toe to toe with Jenny, "You think I'm gonna listen to a little kid?" The boy leaned in, forcing her to look up in order to keep eye contact with the rather tall boy.

She took a small step back vaguely intimidated and sensed that Tom was standing up behind her now. Suddenly, feeling cornered and very small, she did the first thing that came to mind. She shoved the boy with all of her might, hoping to send a message for him to back off. Although, the girl had overestimated her strength and the 12 year old swayed slightly but stayed put for the most part, unfazed. She had only succeeded in angering the boy. He moved back slightly and before she had time to brace he swung his fist into her stomach. Toppling the girl into Tom's chest, who in turn shoved her forward, away from him.

Her stomach ached in pain. She stared darkly at the boy and wished she could make him suffer. The boy was unperturbed by the small eight year old's stare and began moving towards her again. Jenny this time was aware of these movements and reacted. Her anger quickly vanishing and her hands raising in front of her to protect herself from the boy, several things happened at once. She squeezed her eyes shut preparing for an impact and it never came, instead there was a crash as the boy was flung into the fence on the far side of the backyard.

Tom, who had just witnessed these events take place, suddenly reached for the girl's arm and pulled her to the side of the house making distance between them and the noise. He was sure the other children would come and investigate what caused the noise and he didn't want to stick around for Mrs. Cole to accuse him.

Jenny found herself being lead to some shrubbery against the side of the house, far away from the commotion breaking out in the backyard. She was sure she was going to be ostracized by her peers now. Tom would tell Mrs. Cole, and Mrs. Cole was bound to do something! Maybe she would kick her out into the streets or have her arrested. She was in a panic but before she could even begin to beg Tom to not tell, he cut in through her thoughts.

"How did you do that?" He demanded.

She began wringing her hands and in a rush whispered, "I don't know, I just didn't want him to touch me again and I panicked. Please don't tell!" he stared at her hard for a moment, worried about what he was planning to do, she added, "Please, I'll do anything!"

Tom calculated his next move for a moment then bent down and grabbed a dry leaf that had been caught on some twigs. He held the stem of the leave between his index finger and thumb. She was about to ask him what he was doing, but stopped with the words on her tongue when the dry leaf was consumed by fire and crumbled to ash.

Jenny looked at Tom for a moment then said dumbly, "That was how I killed my parents." He had an unreadable look on his face again and she quickly added, "I didn't mean to, I swear. I just wanted to light the candles on the Christmas tree."

After considering her for a moment, he urged her, "Do something else."

Although Jenny knew she probably shouldn't, she decided that he was safe, he had shown her that he was magic too after all. She looked at a rock on the ground, then with as much focus as she could muster, brought the rock floating in the air, eye level with Tom, slightly above her own head. It hovered like a balloon for a minute then plummeted to the ground as her concentration broke. Her eyes snapped over to a figure rounding the corner to the area of the yard they were hidden.

Mrs. Cole paused upon seeing these two normally isolated children socializing with each other. She cleared her throat then said, "Tom, Jenny, you can't be outside this early in the morning. I don't have anyone outside watching you. Please head in now." Jenny quickly nodded and trotted back to the door, Tom following close behind. Mrs. Cole pause for a second then asked the children's fleeing forms, "Colton got hurt, did you happen to see if there was anyone out here talking to him?"

They paused and turned around. Tom was the first to gather his thoughts and said smoothly to Mrs. Cole, "Jenny and I were together the whole time over here, we didn't see anyone."

Jenny put on wide innocent eyes, slightly alarmed that she had hurt him and asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

Mrs. Cole nodded in answer to Jenny's question and simply said, "Elizabeth volunteered to make some pancakes if you'd like any once you're inside."

Tom and Jenny rushed indoors. Jenny's stomach was fluttering with nerves. She almost got herself caught. Her eyes roamed over the back of Tom's head trying to guess what he was thinking as she followed him up the stairs away from the busy kitchen. She decided that she could trust Tom, he had a chance to tell and didn't, he had even provided a cover story. If that boy did tell, it would be his word against both Tom and Jenny's.

Interrupting her revelation Tom stopped suddenly, twisted a door knob, presumably to his room, then grabbed her arm and pulled her in, shutting the door with a click behind him.

He spoke with a sense of urgency, "I want to show you something." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the snake he had in the backyard. "Can you do this too?" He began making hissing and spitting noises at the snake.

Jenny didn't know what to think, she was quickly becoming sure the only other magical person she has met since her parents death was loopy. "Tom, what on ear—", She was going to ask what on earth he was doing, but before she could finish her sentence the snake, hissed back, seemingly at Tom. Confused, she turned her sentence into, "Is that snake talking to you?" He simply looked at her, wait for more input. She continued hesitantly, "Although that is cool Tom, I can't do that too." The girl look from Tom to the snake, then stuck out a finger to the snake, silently seeing if it would climb on.

He watched at the snake slowly looped its way up her finger, then said, "Why can't you?"

"The question you should be asking is, 'why can you?' Actually."

"Jennifer, don't be difficult."

She looked up from the snake on her hand a said, "My name isn't Jennifer, it's just Jenny. It's not short for anything." Then she turned her attention to the snake, stroking its head lightly.

"My name is just Tom too, not Thomas. I once had a family that visited me and was insistent on calling me Thomas, no matter how many times I corrected them."

She let out a small laugh, "Some of the people who come around here are just horrible. I'm surprise Mrs. Cole lets them get through the front door." Letting a smile play on her lips, eyes still focusing on the snake.

He considered her, then stated "If you'd like you can keep him."

"Huh?"

"The snake. His name is Redan. You can keep him. He likes hanging around me, but I don't want to care for him."

She considered it for a moment, then said "Okay, what do I feed him?"

He let out a small bark of a laugh, "He can feed himself. Just let him outside once a day and then after bit meet him outside again, he'll find you."

With a final sigh she agreed, "Alright, but I don't know where I'll keep him, my roommate is a nosey brat."

Tom looked incredulously at her, as if she should have thought of this already, and simply said, "Scare her." Jenny opened her mouth to protest but he cut in, "I've scared all my roommates and now Mrs. Cole doesn't make me room with anyone anymore."

"But it's not that easy. I don't want her to tell my secret."

"Nobody will believe her and she'll be too scared to tell," then after a few seconds of thinking added, "at least if you do it right."

"Tom," she said softly, voice wavering, "I don't want to be mean. What happened today was a fluke."

He looked hard at her for a moment, trying to read her face, then dismissively said, "If it wasn't for that fluke you would have probably been worst off then he is," Jenny flinched slightly at the reminder she had injured Colton. "You need to establish power over the rest of the kids or they'll just keep walking all over you for the rest of your life."

After deliberating with herself, she realized this would be a battle she wouldn't win, and wasn't sure if she even wanted to win. Jenny whispered conspiringly, "Okay, but what do I do?"

That same night the orphanage a woke to a child's screams, the six year old that shared a room with Jenny had woken up in the middle of the night to find spiders. Dozens of spiders. All of them crawling under her bed sheets, some had even worked their way up and into her hair. Mrs. Cole had been the first on scene, bursting into the room and quickly pulling the six year old from the bed, comforting her and picking spiders off her nightgown. Jenny sat up in bed, wrapped in her own nightgown. Silently relishing in the fact it worked. The other children were leaning into the room pushing through the door frame to catch a look at what caused the panic. She saw within the children, there was Tom. He flashed her a quick, knowing smile.

Mrs. Cole shooed all the children to bed once she had finally calmed down Annabel enough. Annabel had not left her side since the incident and Mrs. Cole thought wearily to herself that it would be a sleepless night. She was certain there would be no convincing Annabel to get back into bed, at least for tonight. Mrs. Cole couldn't help but ponder if this event was linked to Jenny and Tom suddenly becoming friendly, but before she could think too much of it, Annabel tugged her arm and asked if she could be read a book.

Jenny felt slightly guilty for scaring her young roommate, but she also savored the idea of never having to share a room again. Jenny listened for movement in the hallway and once she was certain no one was up, she reached under her bed and removed a shoebox from its hiding spot. Gingerly she placed it on her bed and removed the lid.

Redan slithered hurriedly over the edge of the box and on to the girls bed. Moving quickly he wrapped himself around her wrist and stayed put. Jenny believed she understood that the snake wanted. The girl crawled off her bed and removed herself for the bedroom. Tip toeing down the hall Jenny found Tom's room. Or at least she hoped it was. She silently turned the knob and inched the door open. She jumped back and nearly screamed when she peered in and saw a figure on the bed, sitting up, staring back at her. Fear melted away as soon at it had come when she recognized the figure to be Tom. She hurried into his room and shut the door behind her.

She sat criss cross on his bed, smiling at him like they were old friends. Leaning her head back against the wall she let out a relieved breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.

"Tom," she started, breaking the silence, "I'm getting too old for this kind of stress."

He found himself slipping on a comfortable smile, "We're eight. I'd hate to see how stress you are when we're 18!"

Jenny let out a small laugh and lowered her hand allowing the snake to slip on to the bed and over to Tom. The snake made small hisses and spitting sounds at him and he listened intently then hissed something short back and turned his attention on Jenny again.

"Why did you come here tonight?" he asked suddenly, surprising Jenny.

"I don't know. It looked like Redan wanted to visit."

He considered this for a moment, then changed the subject, "You did a good job tonight, but that won't be enough to give you an empty room permanently. You're going to have to do something else, something more." As he said this he let his eyes drift over her face, looking for a reaction. She had become very interested in the bed sheets and was tugging at a loose tread. He yanked the sheets away from her. Forcing her to look up at him. "Jenny, are you listening?" He snapped.

She stared at him with wide eyes. She couldn't think of the words needed to explain her hesitation, she didn't want him to think she was weak. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Tears began to form in her eyes and she whispered harshly to him, "I don't want them to think I'm a freak."

Tom looked at her, his face unreadable as he watched tears pool in her eyes, threatening to fall. Startled by this reaction from the girl he barely knew. He considered his next words carefully. Then coldly he said, "If you don't remember what Colton said we're 'freak one and freak two'. If you haven't noticed you've already been labeled a freak by them. It shouldn't matter."

She sniffed, blinking rapidly, trying to dry up her eyes and said, "I suppose you're right." Slightly melancholy that she was given the title freak without having properly earned it. Terrified for the answer to her next question, she bit her lip then asked, "Do you think that's why we haven't got a home?"

She watched Tom, curiously waiting for the boys opinion on this matter. She got her answer when he replied after a beat with, "It's because we're different and they can sense it. But that doesn't matter, because now we have each other."

She gave him a tight smile, still feeling an ache in her chest from Colton's comment. She looked at Tom's face, studying it carefully, then produced a pinky, silently requesting a pinky promise, "Promise that we'll always have each other?"

He looked at the pinky and then back at the girl. After considering the implications of this promise, decided it was really no harm. After all, how hard can keeping this one girl satisfied be? He produced his pinky for her.

The next morning Tom woke to find Jenny curled in a ball near the foot of his bed. She was sleeping peacefully.

His attention was drawn away from the girls sleeping form by Redan. The snake was coiled on his desk and began speaking to him, "What is it you find so charming about this girl?"

He snapped at the snake, "Idiot, don't you see, she's like me? She can make things happen too."

Redan was unimpressed, "But she can't understand me."

Tom tutted his tongue and mentally agreed with the snake about the inconsistency, "We can make that work for us, even as disappointing as that shortcoming is." Jenny shifted and he watched her waiting to see if she would wake. After she settled he continued, "What do you think of her besides that?"

Redan paused reviewing that previous evening with the girl, "She's powerful, but not strong. She is held back by fear."

"Well, be that as it may, she's proven herself to be useful. When I told her to scare the child with spiders I didn't think she would be able to control that many. Yet, not a single spider seemed to have strayed from the goal." He smiled to himself, remembering the night before. "I couldn't have done it better myself."

Tom stood up from the bed and move towards Redan, then ordered the snake, "Watch her, let me know if she's thinking of tattling on me and keep tabs on who's bothering her."

Redan hissed in agreement then slinked slowly down the desk and into Jenny's nightgown pocket.

Jenny feeling something slide against her, woke from her sleep, shocked to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Sitting up slowly, the night before washed over her and she remembered coming to Tom's room after scaring her roommate. She felt something shift in her pocket, opening it she found Redan twirling around, presumably trying to get comfortable.

The girl looked up and saw Tom shuffling through some books on his desk. "Sorry," she said and he turned to look at her, "I didn't mean to fall asleep in your room."

He allowed a smile to play on his lips, "That's alright. We're in this together right?"

She nodded in agreement. Feeling comfort in the idea of having an ally in the orphanage. Her stomach growled, she hadn't had dinner the night before from the nerves, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Tom shook his head then said, "How about you get dressed, meet me back here, and we'll go down together?"

She smiled at the idea and agreed, parting ways from him and walking back to her room to get changed.