Chapter 3
Harry heaved a sigh of relief as Tom's small snores filled the night. He was very glad that his wand had shown up in his pocket. Maybe it was some sort of a time-delayed disillusionment charm? He didn't know how, but he was just glad that it did. Otherwise this would have been an extremely bad situation.
He made sure that he was facing away from Tom and performed a Point Me spell for Dr. Hughes's office which he assumed was the closest. He was waiting for Tom to fall asleep so he could finally use the wand. He had felt tempted to use it before but had resisted to avoid awkward questions.
The wand spun and pointed towards the road which was now shrouded in darkness. Harry was torn. One the one hand he wanted to go and find his way out of this area of town. He also would like to eat a bit more than a few pieces of apple. His stomach growled angrily. On the other hand Harry didn't want to leave Tom here all alone. His stomach growled again, deciding for him.
He performed his usual set of safety spells. A Notice-Me-Not charm, in case any suspicious people got the urge to walk here, they would just pass by sleeping Tom, a sound barrier, so he wouldn't be disturbed by anything and other spells to keep out strangers, dangerous people etc.
Finally satisfied, he headed out, hitting himself with a disillusionment charm first. He hadn't forgotten that he also looked like a child.
As he walked, frequently checking his directions with the Point Me spell, he reflected on the hectic day that it was. First a trip to Diagon Alley,meeting creepy Ollivander, getting his wand. Then being accused of stealing, running away from the orphanage, getting lost, getting their belongings stolen, and now sleeping next to a dumpster. He was just thankful that they hadn't gotten into worse trouble.
His wand pointed him to a paved road, with lots of shops -now closed- on the side. he heaved a sigh of relief. He had found the way out. Unfortunately, there still was nothing to eat.
He started making his way back. At least he and Tom could find their way out tomorrow. He still regretted running away from the orphanage a bit. Not that Harry had no qualms about running away from the only source of food and shelter that he had in this era. None at all. It was just that Tom was so young and innocent that...Oh, who was he kidding. He had no idea how to survive out on the streets. His only experience was during the Horcrux Hunt when he was seventeen. And he had survived that thanks to Hermione's spellwork and cooking. No matter the things she made had tasted like sludge, they were still edible.
Harry, after the acquisition on Kreacher as his personal house-elf - something Hermione berated him about, until his ears felt like they would have been better off deaf- he had slacked off on learning to cook anything edible. Sure he could cook bacon, pancakes and sausages, but for that, you have to have bacon, pancakes and sausages. Which he unfortunately didn't.
Oh, why did he have to think about bacon and pancakes? His stomach growled hungrily. He could almost smell the bacon. He was probably hallucinating from the hunger. But it smelled delicious. He followed the delicious smell, his nose being his guide. He arrived back where he had started off, near the dumpster. The delicious smell seemed to come from...the dumpster! Ugh! Now he felt like he wanted to puke, even though at the same time, he wanted to rummage around in the dumpster and find out what was the source of that smell. Fortunately, or unfortunately -depending on whose perspective you were looking from- for him, a furious face decided for him.
Uh oh.
"You weren't here when I woke up." Tom said slowly, no emotion present in his voice whatsoever. It was given away by his fists which were clenched and looked like they were a few seconds away from clocking him.
"Umm, I… you see… I.." Harry tried to stall, even though he was cursing inwardly about forgetting to use a sleeping spell on Tom to make sure that he slept through his little excursion. Which would have been possible, if he knew the sleeping spell, which would have been possible if there was one in existence, which there unfortunately wasn't. So Harry just cursed all magic in general.
"I thought I heard something, so I just-"
"You just what? Just got up and left?" asked Tom, sarcasm dripping from each word. "Did you not think that it might have been more dangerous to go and inquire what the problem was alone? You could have woken me! Instead of just leaving me here-" Tom sucked in a breath, stopping himself before he revealed the reason for which he was so angry.
Harry understood. He had left a 9 year old kid alone in the street. No matter that this kid was once upon a time, a Dark Lord, was still a child. Funny how he kept forgetting that. Tom just acted to mature for his age.
Guilt began to gnaw his insides again. Tom probably thought that Harry had left him alone on the streets. For someone who spent life getting rejected by others, this was probably his greatest fear. Abandonment. Harry felt like a complete jerk.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I-"
"Just don't," ground out Tom. "Don't. I honestly don't care anymore. Tomorrow, we are finding our way out of this hell-hole and once we get to Diagon Alley, we can talk. Properly." Tom's eyes glimmered strangely when he said this.
That was when Harry remembered that Tom has said the same thing after he found out that Harry could understand Parseltongue. Oh, this was looking like it would be a fun conversation.
"You can sleep, I'll keep the first watch, this time," said Tom, getting his anger under control again. "And I won't go off wandering in the night." The special emphasis on the 'I' left no room for interpretation as to what he was alluding to.
Harry gulped. He scrunched up into a ball, resolving to keep an eye out for Tom, in case he felt like revenge. This was sooner said than done as Harry's eyes closed of their own accord when he lay his head down. Tom was still watching him. Glaring would be a better word though. Well, he could tackle whatever happens tomorrow, right? Tomorrow, he would..he… just so sleepy….
A/N: Uh Oh! Tom is angry now. This was a bit of a short chapter. Don't worry. A much longer one on the way.
Also, I don't think that 1930s-1940s London was the way I described it, so ignore any discrepancies, if you find any.
