The Girl Who Loved Tom Riddle

Chapter 2

Magical Christmas

Note: No one really knows why Tom became Lord Voldemort, but I believe he wasn't always evil, something happened to him to become that way.  You know how in book 2 when Riddle's talking to Harry about similarities?  Maybe they really are alike in some ways; they were bullied in their youth.  Just like the way Dudley and his cronies picked on Harry, Tom had some bullies to worry about.  Also, I figured out Tom's birthday, that is, if I'm right, Tom was born in 1926—so he's pretty dang old!  I don't know if JKR writes it in a whole AU, or the timeline is real, like wars and stuff, but I'm putting WW2 (in later chapters during Tom's third year) just like it's real and I bet WW2 would play a big part of Tom hating muggles and it gives him: "If muggles can't get live in the same world together, then how are muggles and wizards supposed to?"  But of course, I'll have to do a lot of research on WW2 but it might answer the question to: "Why did Tom become Lord Voldemort?"

By Christmas time that year, Sarah was more talkative, not only that, but she warmed enough of to sing. Tom heard her singing "Winter Wonderland" outside.  His heart gave a sudden leap when he heard her sweet voice and he jumped from his bed and pushed up the window to see her walking around.

Tom smiled, leaned against he window and cupped his chin, watching a singing and dancing Sarah Grimes in the falling snow.  It was strange, exactly three years ago, this day, Sarah came to the Orphanage a sad and closed up little girl.  Now, thanks to Tom Riddle's charm and thoughtfulness, Sarah talked, smiled and people saw that sweet girl that was hidden beneath the sad one for three years. Why did it take so long for this sweet her Sarah to come out?  Did she miss her mother that much? And what is it about Tom Riddle that changed her?  As Tom Riddle got lost watching Sarah dance and sing in the snow, this pretty picture was ruined when a snowball smashed into Sarah's head, making her lose her balance and fall down. 

Sarah let out a yelp and began to cry.  Tom blinked, and looked at the source of the laughing boys.  Of course, Bobby and his little gang.  Tom used to be friends with them until strange unusual happened every time Tom got angry or scared when the other boys were around.  Tom never could explain it.  Tom was just special.  He had some kind of gift that set him apart from the other boys.  Seeing Sarah cry made something inside Tom snap.  He jumped out of the open window and landed on his feet like a cat.  He had jumped from the third floor and it could've broken all the bones in his legs, but he felt no pain. No other boy could do it. 

Patrick gasped. "Hey, how did you do that?"

"Shut up," Tom snapped, bending to the ground and making a snowball. "How would you like it if I hit you with a snowball?" He chucked the snowball in Patrick's face so hard that it knocked him down. 

"Go away, Tom!" Bobby snapped.  "We were just having fun!"

"I don't see Sarah laughing!" Tom snarled, tackling him to the ground and pummeling his fist into Bobby's face.  Bobby's nose broke and he started to call at Ned and Patrick to help him out.

"Get him off me!" Bobby shouted.

After helping Patrick to his feet, who had a black eye, Ned and Patrick grabbed Tom by the arms and pulled him off of Bobby.  They were four years older than Tom and stronger too.  As Tom tried to get free, Bobby got up, wiping the blood off his lip.

"So that's the way you want it, Riddle?" Bobby sneered, popping his knuckles.

"Leave him alone, Bobby!" Sarah yelled.

Bobby began to punch Tom in the stomach.  Tom grunted in pain and dared not to look at Sarah so he couldn't see her cry.  Sarah covered her eyes with her hands and began to mumble, "this is my fault…this is my fault!"

Bobby gave Tom a hard punch to the jaw and Tom tasted blood in his mouth.  Ned and Patrick were laughing as Tom continued to try to wriggle out.  Tom was a tall kid but he wasn't as tough as the others. 

"Stop it!" Sarah shouted.  "Tom! Tom! Somebody help!  Help!"

Everyone inside heard Sarah's screaming and rushed out to find Bobby and his cronies beating Tom. "Bobby!" Miss Smith yelled.  "Leave Tom alone! That's enough!"

"Not again," said Josh, a burly boy about thirteen. 

 The janitor, Mr. Paten got between Tom and Bobby, pushing Bobby away from Tom. "All right, break it up, lads…break it up."

"I'm not done with him yet!" Bobby cried, trying to get free.

"Unhand him," Miss Smith said sternly to Patrick and Ned.  "Right now."

They roughly threw Tom to the ground as if Tom had been on fire.  Sarah sobbed any harder. 

"Now what is the meaning of this?" Miss Smith demanded.  "Why were you three fighting with Tom?"

"Tom started it!" Bobby yelled.  "He jumped from the window and…and hit Patrick with a snowball!"

"Wow," Catherine mumbled, "he jumped from why up there?" she looked at he window. 

"Is that true, Tom?" Miss Smith asked.

"They hit Sarah first," Tom said, spitting blood onto the white snow as he pushed himself up.  "And I…was only…helping her."  He winced as Josh took Tom's arm and helped him his to his feet.

"You going to be all right?" Josh asked in concern.  "Wow, what an eye."

"I'll live," Tom muttered.
"We were just having a little fun," Ned mumbled.  "Just playing, and Tom attacked Bobby."

"Bobby, you're such a jerk!" Beth snapped.

"This is all my fault!" Sarah sobbed, getting to her feet.  "If I hadn't been singing then none of this would've happened!"

"Singing?" Miss Smith said.

"Sarah was singing and they thought it would be funny to hit her in the head with a snowball," said Tom.  "But I don't see her laughing."

"You uncultured swine!" Catherine yelled at the bullies as Sarah ran crying back into the orphanage.

"All right, you all know that fighting is not aloud here," Miss Smith began.  "Tom…"

"I was defending Sarah," Tom insisted.

"I know, but you should have come to me first," she said, "if this happens again, I'll have to move you all into different orphanages."

"Why don't you just move Bobby?" Catherine asked.  "He's been pestering Tom ever since…well…years!"

"Perhaps I should," she said, "but it's nearly Christmas.  I hope you will remember what it stands for.  Inside."

Tom pulled himself wearily to his feet and walked inside.  He hated Bobby and the others with a passion.  He hated all bullies. Tom thought it was inane how bullies took pleasure in the pain of others.  'Someday,' he thought with relish, 'I'll get them back.  I will make them pay. I'll torture them the way they have tortured me.  I swear it.'

It was going to be difficult staying in the same place as Bobby and the others, sleeping in that same big room with a bunch of boys who loathed him. He hoped that soon, he'd be adopted and he wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.  Or at least someone would be stupid or desperate enough to have a child that they'd pick one like Bobby.  Patrick and Ned were all right, most of the time anyway.  They just did whatever Bobby told them.  He could handle them, but Bobby was like a disease.  Josh didn't pick on him but he wasn't always nice to him either, until that moment he helped him to his feet.  The younger boys acted as if they were afraid of him, just because Tom was different.

He found Sarah by the fireplace, her face buried into her knees and her arms wrapped around them, surrounded by the other girls trying to placate her. 

"It's all right, Sarah," Beth said.  "Your bruise isn't that bad."

"Maybe we should get the nurse to look at," Catherine suggested.

"No, that's not it," Sarah sniffed, "that's not…why I'm crying!  I'm crying because Tom got hurt!  Tom got hurt because he saw Bobby hit me with a snowball and it made him mad!  I nearly got Tom in trouble for it and he'll have to leave the orphanage!  This is my fault!  If I hadn't been singing, Bobby wouldn't' have hit me and Tom wouldn't have gotten hurt!  Tom was only trying to protect me!  Like—like a big brother!"

Taken aback, Tom flinched and looked at Sarah in a whole new light and pondered what she had just said.  Big brother.  That's exactly how he had been acting toward her since she got here.  He was patient when she wasn't speaking.  He got her to eat.  He ended up being the first person she talked to.  When the bullies were being cruel to her her, he got protective. 

"Tom won't have to go," said Jenny.

"This is all my fault!  I never should have come here!"

Tom walked over to the girls. "Can I talk to Sarah alone, please?"

"Shouldn't you have your eye looked at?" Jenny questioned. 

"I'm fine," Tom said.  "I'll put a steak or something on it later.  I'd like to talk to Sarah."

"Okay," said Jenny.

The girls shrugged, left the room and trekked up the stairs and waited by the railing to listen in. Tom sat down next to Sarah.

"You okay, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah shook her head.

"Listen, don't worry about me," he said, "I'll be okay."

"You could've gotten thrown out because of me," she whispered into her knees. 

"It wasn't your fault.  Bobby's been bullying me for years. He's been a bully to everybody except to Patrick and Ned."

"I shouldn't have been singing," she sniveled, "it's my fault you got hurt, Tom."

"Sarah, you were only singing.  Bobby is a bully.  It's not your fault I got hurt and I won't be kicked out of the orphanage as long as Bobby the Bully behaves himself."  Tom insisted.  "He doesn't understand good music when he hears it. I thought you were beautiful."

"Really?" she asked, pulling hear tear-stained face up from her knees.  "You liked hearing me sing?"

"You were great," he said, wiping a tear away.  "You should sing at Christmas.  Miss Smith knows the piano—you can sing along when she plays the Christmas carols."

Sarah smiled and rubbed her eyes.  "I probably will.  I love to sing."
"Miss Smith will take us skating tomorrow," he said. "We don't go every year.  I think this will be the first time we'll go staking since you've been here.  Do you know how to skate?"

She shook her head.

"Well, it's been a while for me," Tom admitted.  "But it's really fun…once you stop falling down that is."  

She laughed and then her face wrinkled in surprise. "Tom…"

"What?"  He asked. "What's the matter?"

"Your…face…it's all…"

Tom reached his fingers to his face, got up and looked into the mirror beside the fireplace.  "I don't believe it.  How?"

Tom's face, which what used to have a black eye and a cut lip, was now starting to heal itself. When did that happen?

"Amazing," he said. 

"Bobby really gave you a beating…how could you heal so fast?"

Tom shrugged, turned and grinned.  "Magic, I guess."

"Yeah, magic," she said.  "Well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sarah."

The girls took this as their cue to hurry up to their room to get ready for bed.  When Sarah joined them in the girl's wing, they pretended to be fast asleep.

Tom waited downstairs for a while, dreading have to go back upstairs to sleep in the same room with a bunch of boys who hated his guts.  Finally, he went upstairs to go to bed.  Patrick, Bobby and Ned were already there sitting on their beds.

"Ah, there you are," said Bobby.

"Shut up," Tom muttered.

"You ought to be careful what you say, Tom," Bobby said, "If you want to wake up in the morning."

Tom clenched and unclenched his hands. 

"Go on, Tom…you want to hit me?  Then you can get out of here."

"I can stay awake longer than you," Tom muttered.

"Oh, you're afraid of something happening in the middle of the night?" Bobby asked, grabbing his pillow.  "Me accidentally…smothering this over your ugly face?"

Tom laughed. "If I'm ugly, then you're hideous."

"What was that?" Bobby demanded.

"I think you heard me," Tom sneered.

Bobby stepped toward him just as Josh returned from brushing his teeth.  "Do you guys ever quit? Knock it off!" He got between them.  "If you guys get in trouble for fighting again, Miss Smith will chuck you guys out."

"Yeah," Patrick said, "he does got a point. I mean…if you make Tom angry, weird stuff happens."

"Why don't you listen to him, Bobby?" Tom asked with a grin.  "Strange things happen when I get angry…things I can't control…things I can't explain."

"That's because you're a freak," Bobby spat.

"Maybe…but it's better than being a dog-faced bully like you!"

"Hey!"

"You guys!" Josh shouted.
Bobby lunged at Tom and he hit his head on something, only there was nothing there.  It was as if an invisible shield was around Tom and Bobby couldn't get through. Bobby tried again and he still couldn't get to Tom.

"Why you…freak!"

Tom grinned and sat lotus style on his bed. "I dare you to stay up all night, Bobby."

"All right, I will," Bobby muttered angrily. "We'll see who wakes up refreshed and who is dead."

"Oh please," Josh groaned. "Give it a rest."

"No…no, Tom thinks he's better than me."  Bobby said.  "Well, we'll prove that, won't we?"

Patrick, Josh and Ned retired to bed, whereas Bobby and Tom stayed up, staring at each other with their chins in their hands.  About midnight, Bobby yawned.  Tom grinned.

"Getting, tired, Bobby?"

"Far from it," he mumbled. 

Tom wasn't sure why, but he felt refreshed and wide-awake. Bobby's head bobbed and he fought the urge to fall asleep.  He blinked several times. 

"You are getting sleepy—very sleepy," Tom said, speaking like a hypnotist.

"Shut up," Bobby muttered.  He yawned again and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.  Within five minutes, he lost the war, fell onto his back and drifted into a deep slumber.

"Sleep tight, jerk," Tom smirked before lying down.

--

The next day, Miss Smith took the orphans to the frozen pond to skate.  Sarah was having trouble staying on her feet.

"It's all right, Sarah," Catherine coaxed.  "Just…whoa!" she lost her balance and fell.  Bobby laughed and pointed at her from the side of the lake.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try, Bobby!" Catherine snapped, getting back to her feet.

"It's not as easy as it looks, you know," said Beth, moving in baby steps. 

Sarah fell down for the seventh time in a row.  "I don't see how this is fun," she mumbled.

"Oh, is Sarah going to cry?" Bobby asked.

"You should've slept in, Bobby," Tom sneered at him. "You could use your beauty sleep."

"You…" Bobby began but Tom skated away to Sarah who was still trying to get up.

"Sarah, are you all right?" he asked.

"I can't stay on my feet," she whispered.

Tom bent down and tried to help her up without falling down himself.  The last time he went skating with the orphanage was when he was six.  "Just hold onto my hand. That's it…"

They skated for a while, both a little jelly legged and Sarah fell again, bringing Tom down with her.

"Whoops," Tom mumbled.

"I'm not very good, am I?" she asked.

"We just need to practice more," Tom insisted.  "Up again…"
They fell a few more times but it made them laugh until they got really good to the point Tom could skate with her on his shoulder like a pair of figure skaters. The girls oohed and awed over this, clapping and wishing they'd skate with Tom next, but they never did.

--

On Christmas morning, the children were happy with donated gifts and candy canes.  Miss Smith played on the piano and Sarah sang along.  Tom wasn't sure why, but he loved how she sang.  Sarah had the most beautiful voice he ever heard in his entire life. Sarah had the voice of an angel. For a seven-year-old girl, Sarah sang with a pretty strong voice.  She could sing any Christmas Carol, from fun and upbeat ones like "Jingle Bells" that the children all sang together, to melodic, spiritual ones like "Oh Holy Night."  If Sarah kept practicing, she could be a real singer someday.  Her sweet angelic voice made everyone in the room quiet and Mrs. Crabtree kept dabbing her eyes.  Tom felt as if his body was burning with spiritual fire.  He wasn't sure when he felt quite this before. 

In the climax of the song, the phrase, "fall on your knees," Sarah got so into the song that she actually came to her knees.  Even Bobby was being quiet during the song and didn't dare say a joke or he wouldn't get any Christmas supper for it.  After her beautiful singing, everyone applauded her.

"Splendid," said Miss Smith.  "Sarah, you are a beautiful singer!"

Tom gave Sarah a great big hug and the phone rang. 

"Oh, I will get that."  Miss Smith left the den and went to her office to answer the phone. There was quite some time until she came out and the children were talking about how good Sarah was and they all broke out singing "O Christmas Tree."   While singing, Miss Smith came back out.

"Children, I have some good news," she said smiling. 

After the hubbub had subsided, they waited for her to speak again.

"I just got off the phone with a Mr. and Mrs. Shire and they will be coming here shortly to adopt one of you as a Christmas present.  I suggest you be off and make yourself presentable!"

"R-really?" Jenny gasped. 

"Yes, really.  Hurry now!"

Everybody rushed up to their quarters to put on their best clothes, fix their hair and brush their teeth about ten times.  The boys nearly got in a fight that could shower first and they didn't come down until the couple came to see the kids. 

"They're here!" shouted Adam, an eight year old, pointing out the window. 

Miss Smith welcomed the couple in and the boys and girls aspiring to have parents, stared down the stairs.  Miss Smith asked them what they wanted, a boy, a girl and what age.

"A boy," said Mr. Shire. 

All the girls frowned and the boys bustled down the stairs.  Mr. Shire smiled and turned.

"Hello," he said, "I'm Mr. Edward Shire."

The boys nodded in greeting.  Tom suddenly felt nervous.  What if he wasn't what they were looking for? 'Don't get nervous, Tom,' he told himself.  'Don't get scared. You know what happens when you get scared.'

"I combed my hair for nothing," Jenny muttered.

"I'm coming down anyway," said Sarah and peered around the corner.  Mrs. Shire smiled at her as the other girls came down around her.

"Honey," Mrs. Shire said, "can't we get a girl too?"

Mr. Shire shrugged, "Now, sweetheart, we need a boy to do work on the farm…"

"But--,"

Miss Smith cleared her throat and went to the line of boys to introduce them.  Tom was at the end of the line.  'Why do I always have to be last?' he thought.

Mr. Shire looked more interested in the stronger looking boys.  Bobby still had a bruised face from the fight and he walked right past him and stopped at Tom.

"What's your name, son?" he asked.

"Tom," he answered quietly. 

Just then, Tom accidentally made the fire go out from his fear.  Everyone looked at it and Bobby sneered at Tom. 

"Ah," Miss Smith said, going to the fireplace, "looks like snow has fallen into the chimney again."

Tom breathed a sigh of relief but Mr. Shire shrugged, looking him over.

'He probably thinks I'm not strong enough,' Tom thought, 'but a farm isn't my lifestyle anyway.'

Mr. Shire stopped at Josh and smiled.  "Why, you look like a strong boy.  What's your name?"

"Josh," he replied.

Mr. Shire held out his hand for him to shake.  Josh looked kind of confused for a while then shook it.  "Miss Smith, may we bring Josh into your office to speak privately?"

Josh's mouth fell open and some of the boys looked at him in jealousy.

"Certainly," said Miss Smith. "Everyone, back to your quarters."

The children went back upstairs and some of the girls were crying, "I'll never be adopted!"

She led them, Josh looking incredibly nervous and they asked him questions about how long he's been at the orphanage and how strong he was, but Josh was also a smart boy.  All the boys waited silently in the room for an hour until Josh finally came up. 

"Well?" Tom said, standing up.

Josh smiled and looked up.  "They're signing the papers.  They want to adopt me.  I'll go tomorrow!"

Tom smiled back and shook his hand.  "Congratulations, Josh." 

"Thanks. Thank you, Tom."

"Well, they're only adopting you because they need a worker," Bobby muttered.

"Oh, shut up!" Tom shouted.  "At least he'll be getting a real home!"

"Mr. and Mrs. Shire are real nice people," said Josh.  "I can tell already."

"Well, I'm happy for you, Josh," Tom said.

"Thanks."

The rest of the day, Tom tried to feel happy for Josh but inside, he felt incredibly empty.  He wasn't in the mood to eat and by night, he laid inside clutching his pillow and feeling sorry for him.  Tom knew the reason why the couple didn't want him; it wasn't just because Tom was a tall and lanky boy, but because he was strange.  He saw the way Mr. Shire looked at Tom when the fire suddenly went out.  Maybe the fire wasn't as strange as other things he made happen, but it didn't help him down there when he was trying to look his best.  Of course, if Tom was scared enough, he could've made the lights accidentally go out too, or a mirror fall down. 

Tom twisted, tossed and turned in his bed, trying to fall asleep.  'No one will want me—I'm strange.  No one wants me for a son…'

--

After Josh left, Tom felt even worse. Josh was now living with his new parents and working around a farm and though it didn't sound like a fun life that was the kind of scene Josh was looking for.  He loved the country air. 

Sarah felt that something was bothering Tom so she sought him out and found him standing outside.  "You'll freeze, Tom," she said.

Tom shivered and said nothing.

"Tom, what's the matter?  Are you upset because that Josh was adopted?"

He shrugged, "no, not really—I mean, I'm happy for Josh. I just wish, I had made a better impression."

"Come inside," she said, tugging on his arm and bringing him inside. "It's cold." She sat him down on the sofa in the den.  "Listen, I'm kind of glad they didn't pick you."

"What?" he asked.

"Everyone here wants to be adopted," she insisted, "but you don't want to spend the rest of your life on a farm, do you?"

"Better than this place," he muttered.

"You don't like farms, Tom.  You told me so."

"Yeah," he said, "I guess I have some right to the home I want to spend the rest of my life in."

"Where?"

"A castle maybe."

"A castle?" she asked.  "Well, you might be lucky.  A king and queen will decide to adopt you."

He smiled at her being so optimistic.

"You know, Tom," she said, "if you were adopted, I'd be sad.  I wouldn't want them to take you away."

"How come?"

"Because I like you, Tom," she answered.  "I'm glad you stayed so I'd have someone to protect me."  She sighed.  "Maybe the next lady and man who come to the orphanage will adopt the both of us.  You already are like a big brother to me."

"Maybe," he said, nodding.  "Something to hope for." He got up and started to walk away.  "Thanks."

Sarah looked up and noticed that something green and red was hanging just over his head, the mistletoe.

"Tom, wait!" she cried, jumping up.

"What is it?"

She pulled on his hand, making him bend down and kissed his cheek.  "You were standing under the mistletoe.  I'm supposed to kiss you."

Tom smiled.  "Why thank you, Sarah.  I feel much better now."

Sarah beamed up at him like she would kiss him again.  She took in a deep breath. 

"Smells like dinner is ready!" she said happily and led him to the dining room.

Tom had felt much better now, but what he did not know, this may be the last time he spent Christmas in the orphanage.  Soon, he would understand why he was so special and different from the other boys.  Tom was different, because he was a wizard and next summer, he'll get the biggest surprise of his life.

To Be Continued