A/N: So, my name is John Thatcher, and for this story, me and puplepeopleeater will be alternating chapters. The chapters will also alternate POVs such as between Hermione, Almadeus, and other characters. As always, messages, comments, and reviews are welcome, please let us know how we are doing. :D
Disclaimer: If you know it, we don't own it.
Chapter 2:
Almadeus' POV:
I was in the corner of the orphanage playroom that I claimed for myself reading my favorite story, Hogwarts, A History. I had three years until I was able to go there myself and get out of this horrible orphanage. The thought of finally going off to learn magic always made me excited, until I reminded myself that I still had to wait three years. I mean, that was waiting almost another half of my life, being only age eight, but that didn't matter much though, as I was very patient for my age. My maturity for that was beyond my years, although that seemed like a good thing, this made me seem very weird to the other children.
When I was younger, I had wanted to be friends with the other children, but the always drove me away. They called me names and always made fun of me, coming up with weird ways to make fun of me, as even they didn't know what was wrong with me. This had made me angry. They are just dumb , they aren't smart enough to play with me, I always told myself. This would make me feel less alone in my mind, but I would still have that feeling of isolation.
As I was reading, I heard the door open and close. I peeked up from my book to see a pretty young woman with curly brown hair walk through the room with Ms. Lake. Uninterested, I returned to my book. I had forgotten that today was Friday, which was the day when parents and other adults would come to see the children. It went the same every day: the babies were always the first to go, as they were the cutest, and then the parents would slowly work their way up the age groups. That left me in the second to last group to go.
The thing was that I had been in this place since I myself was a baby, which meant that none of the parents had wanted me even when I was at my cutest. Once I realized what this place was for, I would get excited for Fridays. Every Friday I would try to look and act my best, but something would always drive the parents away from me. They would look at me and then quickly pass over me, or even completely avoid me. Every Friday I would end up running to my room, crying in my pillow.
As the years went on, I began to realize that nobody wanted me. I would just shut myself from everything, sometimes hiding so I wouldn't have to see the happiness of the other children as they went to loving homes, while I was still stuck here. I suddenly heard footsteps coming toward me. Great, another parent coming to look me over, just to give that same look and walk away, I thought bitterly. So I glued my eyes to the book in front of me harder, not really reading anything.
The footsteps stopped to my side, and I saw the pretty lady in the corner of my eye; she was crouching next to me. I jumped a little despite myself, cursing myself for my fear.
"Ma'am", I said, trying to be polite "You look a little lost."
The look on her face suggested that she was very confused at what I said.
"What makes you say that sweetie?", she asked with a smile.
This was the most that any parent had said to me. I could tell that she was still confused, but she was trying to hide it from me. I immediately thought back to all the parents that had passed over me and ignored me.
"No one had interest in a kid like me-", I began to say, but she interrupted me.
"You remind me of myself", she told me in a firm voice. "That book", she said as she took the book out of my hands, "is my favorite book. She paused for a moment, taking a look at the book in her hands.
"What is your name?", she asked.
I grabbed the book back from her hands, and went back to gluing my eyes to it. I was becoming excited as this was definitely the most that any parent had wanted to know about me; it was sad really. This was despite knowing that she would probably just walk away in moments.
"Almadeus", I responded quietly, curtly.
She didn't saying anything more for a few seconds, and then slowly rose to standing, crushing my excitement. There it is, I said to myself as she walked away. Yet another parent deciding that they are too good for me.
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