hola again... you wanted more, so here it is! ... thanks for reviewing!!!! for those who thought the first chapter resembled how Uncle Vernon treats Harry, etc., nice job! It was supposed to. and hopefully you'll be able to see more of the parallels later... oh, and this chapter's really kinda cheesy at first, so sorry about that...
Chapter 2
The punishment wasn't that bad. Mr. Riddle was obviously shaken by Lana's threatening to tell the neighbors about Tom, and so he neglected to do anything as terrible as he might've... instead, he just made Tom stay in his room for the remaining week until the 30th of August. When the day came, Tom woke up early... and that means even earlier than the usual 6:30, and put on his nicest pair of jeans and shirt, after taking a shower and styling his hair, of course. [a/n: does that strike anyone as hilarious that Voldemort-to-be cares anything about his hair? haha] Little Jenni came in at just the right time, of course, but there was no need to wake Tom up this morning, he had already made his bed, folded his special bunny pajamas and packed them in his trunk along with the rest of his clothes, which were very few, and was ready to go.
"Tom," whispered Jennifer slowly.
"Yeah? What's wrong, hunny?" For he could see tears in her eyes.
"Tom, you're leaving, and... and I won't see you again." And she burst into quiet tears.
"Oh, Jen, of course you will!" Tom comforted, pulling her in for a hug. "What are you talkin' about? Next summer, okay?"
"No, no, you don't understand!"
"What?"
"Well, *sniff*, you're not... you're not coming back.. next summer."
"Why not?"
"Cuz... cuz I heard Daddy talking to Gramma about how he had arranged for you to go to an orphanage!"
"An... an orphanage?"
"Yeah! That's what he said, Tommy!"
"Oh, Jen, don't worry, okay?" murmured Tom, trying to keep his voice steady, but it was difficult, for he felt close to tears, and he was shocked that he was being sent away.
"Okay, Tommy, but will you write me?"
"Write you? I guess... sure. Sure, that's what I'll do, okay? Don't you worry."
"And Tom?"
"What?"
"Will you... will you tell James hello for me?"
"James?"
"Our brother."
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"I know you don't like him very much, but you should give him a chance. You're just jealous, you know."
"I am? Of James? He's only 4 years old!"
"Yes, silly, but you're jealous that he has a good home and you don't, and you know it."
"You know what, Jen, you're right. Thank you. But how will I say hi to him? He won't be at school for another... 7 years! I'll be out of school by then, miss crazy girl!"
"Can't you owl him or something?"
"Owl? How did you know about that?"
A faint smile played upon her thin little lips through the tears. "You... you have lots of books about stuff like that in here!"
"You've been looking through my room?"
"Sorry," she said, her smile fading.
"Oh, I'm just kidding, it's okay."
"I'm going to miss you."
"You too."
She sniffed again and wiped her eyes on her nightgown. "I love you, Tommy."
"I love you too, Jenni." He gave her one more squeeze, walked her back to her room, and tucked her in. He then scribbled a note for his father which he left outside his room, grabbed a piece of toast from the kitchen without the cook seeing him (she didn't even know he existed either, and they lived in the same house), and slid out the door. It was a clear morning, and the birds chirped loudly in the trees, but that was the only sound to be heard, and Tom was glad of it. He hadn't even breathed fresh air the whole summer, so now he practically skipped down the road, feeling the warm air against his face. He swooped down to pick a pretty, cheering rose from the rose bush of Dot McFather's yard, and poked it into a little hole in his backpack. The clean air cleared his mind, and he remembered with a start that the Knight Bus only came at night. What was he to do now? He pulled his wand out of his pocket, and waved it around a bit. No Day buses pulled up next to him, he discovered, so he shoved it back into his jeans and considered... he could owl somebody, but seeing as his owl was in the Hogwarts owlery (where it could be taken care of over the summer) that idea was pretty useless. There was no bus, and no way he could reach any of his friends. Oh well, he thought, no problem, guess I'll just have to break a few rules and apparate. And with that he disappeared into the warm air, thanking God it was so early so that no one could see.
He reappeared skillfully right inside the Leaky Cauldron. "Hey, Tom!" he greeted the young bartender.
"Hey, Tom," he laughed back. "Nice to see you! What brings you here... wait, wait, did you just... apparate?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry, had to get here somehow."
"Um, right. You shouldn't know how to do that at your age! You better watch where you do that, don't wanna get in trouble. Anyway, need a room?"
"Yes please, just for one night, though."
"Sure." Tom Riddle paid, Tom the bartender showed him his room, and Tom Riddle set out into Diagon Alley for some food.
As he sat outside the ice-cream parlor, eating a chocolate sundae and getting some color (which was hardly possible with his fair skin), he thought. He had the rest of the day (it was 7:30) to finish up homework, go to Gringotts, and prepare what he had. He would be meeting Joe, Rebecca, and Lana the next day here, and they would all buy school supplies together. He pulled his school books out of his backpack, spread them around the table, and got to work, but he was only a few minutes into his History of Magic report when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked around to see a blond, tan boy his age standing next to him.
"Joe!" cried Tom, "You're here!" He jumped up to look at his best friend. "And you're tan! Where you been?"
"Hey, Tom! Jamaica. Awesome."
Tom sat back down and pulled out the seat next to him, and Joe sat.
"What're you doing here?" asked Tom happily.
"Knew you'd be here as early as you could get away, so I thought I'd give you some company for a day or two 'fore school. You're coming to stay with us tomorrow night, right?"
"If that's okay!"
"Sure."
"Thanks, Joe. And thanks for coming."
"Any time. Tough summer again?"
Tom hesitated. He really hated burdening others with his personal affairs. He'd had to be told countless times by Joe and Becca and Lana that that's what friends were for, but he still didn't believe it.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that-"
"Well, we need to get you out of there!"
"Hey, I'm here, right? For a whole school year! Don't worry about it!"
"Tom, really. Where're you going next summer?"
Again Tom hesitated. This was even worse news. "Um, I... an orphanage, I guess."
Joe practically knocked over the table standing up, enraged. "WHAT? You can't go to an orphanage! It's okay! You can stay with my family! Or Becca's! Why are you making this harder on yourself?"
"Joe, sit down!" muttered Tom, "People are staring." He did so. "Why are you making this harder on me? It's not all that bad! I can't go with you-"
"Why not? It's fine!"
"Well..."
"Think about it."
"Thanks for the offer."
"So the old man's just too much?"
Tom shook his head. "He's... sending me there. Doesn't know I know yet, though. Suppose he'll send a letter to Dumbledore informing him where I should be sent after Hogwarts is over."
Joe sat in shock for a moment, staring at the table. Then he shook his head, as if to clear it. "Well, enough of that! History of Magic report?" He poked the sheet Tom was writing on.
"Oh, yeah," said Tom, grateful for the change in subjects.
"Hey, I'll join you. Let me go get some ice-cream too, hold on."
So with sundaes and homework spread across the table, the boys worked and caught up on the talk until nightfall, then returned to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner and bed.
Thanks for reading! Sorry it took me so long to get this up! I'll get chapter 3 up as soon as possible... Review! Luv ya'll!