The Tale of Tom
Chapter Nine: Predator and Prey
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"Tom. Hey, Tom." A soft voice was calling him. He squinted open one eye and saw the figure of Rose leaning over him. He quickly shut his eye again. "I know your awake, Tom," she said, giggling. "You opened your eyes."
Tom rolled over and then said, in a joking tone, "Nope. No Tom. Come back in five minutes."
Rose giggled again and replied. "Come on, Tom."
Tom finally sat up and smiled. "I give up, Rose. Your persuasion tactics are too good."
Rose smiled and hopped off the bed. "Come to breakfast soon, Tom."
"Will do," he said, standing up. Once Rose had left he changed out of his pajamas and went to grab a comb. It was then he noticed a letter on the room's dresser. (It was neither his, nor his roommates; it belonged to the orphanage.) Tom knew it couldn't be his Hogwart's letter as that letter was safely tucked in his pocket. He still patted it, just to be sure. Tom wondered if it could belong to his roommate but somehow he doubted it, the other orphans rarely received mail. His curiosity got the best of him and he snatched the small envelope from its resting spot. To his surprise, on the front, in small, neat handwriting, was written Tom Riddle. There were too many options to consider. The one thing he hoped it wasn't, was a letter from Hogwart's, telling him he had been rejected. Tom quickly ripped open the envelope.
Dear Tom, he read to himself, silently.
I'm glad to see you got back to the orphanage safely. Its looks like it hasn't changed much in the five years since I've left. I hope the other children--Tom could see the word "orphans" scratched out--didn't ask too many questions. As you can see, I was true to my word and your bicycle is resting safely in the shed. Bet you didn't expect it so quickly, eh? I don't think anybody noticed me on my way to and fro.
Now, I hope you kept the map Miss O'Flannery gave you. (She told me about it when I stopped by.) You can use it to find Diagon Alley again, and buy your wand. I told you that I have a buddy in the Leaky Cauldron and he will indeed let you into Diagon Alley. His name is Herbert Crane and he's one of the waiters there. Just ask him and he'll let you in. But as a warning, he doesn't work Saturdays and Sundays. There's no point in getting all the way to the Leaky Cauldron to find you can't enter Diagon Alley. As far as prices of wands, they tend to range from 5 to 10 galleons. The only nearby place to get them is Ollivanders. I'm not quite sure what the muggle-to-wizard money conversion rate is. I think it's about 8 sickles to 1 pound. Gringotts can convert your muggle money to wizard money, they do it all the time for muggle-born children. And, before I forget to tell you, there is 17 sickles to one galleon and 29 kunts to one sickle. I'm not really sure how much pounds are worth in your world (about 8 sickles, pardon my humor) but if you don't have enough money you can always do jobs around the neighborhood for money. Truthfully, that might be a good idea even if you do have enough for a wand. It can never to hurt to have some extra money and you will have to buy more school supplies in the years to come.
I must finish this letter so I will simply say that I hope you have a good year at Hogwarts and feel free to write to me.
Sincerely,
(Here there was a messy scrawl which
Tom presumed to be the signature.)
Frank Bennion
P.S. Sorry if Susan didn't exactly take to you. I think you appearing so suddenly kind of freaked her out.
Tom looked at the letter for several moments before he tucked it back in its envelope and placed it inside his dresser.
8 sickles to a pound and 17 sickles to a galleon, with wands costing an average of 7 galleons, Tom thought. Did he even have a pound? Tom didn't want to think about it but he knew he should. Mentally, he tried to do the math, but failed spectacularly. He opened the dresser again (it kept all of his possessions, including pencils and paper) and was about to start writing down the numbers when he remembered that he was supposed to be going to breakfast. Tom sighed and forced himself to put the paper away. He decided to go back, as soon as he finished his breakfast, to continue his math. When it came to things like math he always had to write it down.
He inwardly sighed as he reached the breakfast table. So many things to do, so little time. Tom ate his breakfast in silence. He was wondering when he could read the books Frank had given him, along with how he could earn the pounds necessary for a wand.
"Hey, Tom?" Rose said, walking up to him.
Tom forced his eyes up from his eaten breakfast and swirling thoughts. "Yeah?"
"Can you help us play 'Predator and Prey'?"
Tom assumed "us" meant Rose and the other three orphans behind her. "How?" he asked, suspiciously. Sometimes the little kids' games had included ganging up on Tom, something he did not enjoy.
"We just need you to accompany us," one of the younger children said. Tom recognized him as the one that always tried to keep him out of their group. Tom figured his extra years intimidated the younger children, with the exception of Rose.
"Miss O'Flannery won't let us go out alone," another child, Henry, said quietly.
"You can play, too," Rose said, slightly taking offense at the other children's comments.
"It's okay. Thank you for the offer though," Tom said, tracing his finger along the edge of his bowl. "But what is the game? I'm just curious," he hastily added, seeing the other children's looks.
"We look around for animals and see if we can get them," one of the four year olds said.
So in other words, a demented version of a nature walk, Tom silently thought. "Alright, let me just wash out my bowl," he said, standing up. The other children stood impatiently as he ran it under the running water. Tom analyzed them out of the corner of his eye. Let's see, who do I have to baby-sit today, he thought bitterly. There's Rose, but I don't really consider watching her a chore. I think Henry's pretty shy and quiet, so he should be okay. Chester doesn't like me so he'll probably be a bit of a troublemaker, but I think he's friends with Henry, them being the same age and all, so maybe he won't be too much trouble. As far as Robert, he's only three so let's hope he won't be too much of a trouble-maker. "Alright, let's get going."
The group of children smiled as they headed for the front door, Tom behind them.
"Where should we go first?"
"I think the neighbors got a new dog."
"I thought it was only wild animals!"
"Hush, Chester! It can be both."
"Let's climb a tree!"
"That's just plain stupid, Robert."
"Don't call Robert stupid!."
Ah, the joys of having to watch young children, Tom thought sarcastically.
"Oh, look! A dog," Rose said pointing to a rather weathered dog.
"I wonder if it's a stray," Henry said quietly.
"Quick! Positions men," Chester said ducking behind a fence. The other children quickly followed him. Tom crouched down but avoided stepping on the house's meticulously kept lawn.
"Pshhhww!" Henry made the noise to accompany an imaginary gun. Tom restrained himself from rolling his eyes at their childness. After all, they were children, he reminded himself.
"Blam!" one of the other children said.
"Quick, what's its position?" Rose asked, to seemingly no-one, or everyone.
Nobody seemed to have heard so Tom glanced around the fence. "Er, it's actually heading toward us." Indeed it was.
"Quick men! Throw the bombs!"
"Kablooie!" Chester articulated.
Tom continued looking around the fence at the dog. It certainly seemed like a stray. Tom wondered if it was a coincidence the dog was heading their way or if it could really smell them.
"Blam blam blam!"
"Kapow, kapow!"
"Uh, hey guys?" The dog was precariously closer.
"Psshhww!"
"Re-load!"
"Guys?" Tom could hear the dog's growling.
"What?" The dog broke into a run. Tom had never met a rabid dog before and was hoping to keep that record clean.
"RUN!"
The dog had just reached them. All of the boys broke into a run. Tom immediately stopped as he realized Rose was not with them. "Rose!" he yelled, running back.
The dog had its teeth bared, with a low growl in its throat. Rose seemed to be frozen, her eyes wide with fear. Tom ran forward, but not before the dog lunged, with its mouth wide open.
But the dog never reached Rose. As it was a foot away from her, it seemed to bounce off some--something. Like, an invisible barrier, Tom thought. The dog ran away, whimpering, and Rose was unharmed.
Tom slowly walked up. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.
"Y-yes."
"What happened?" Tom asked, confused. He wanted to ask before the other children realized he wasn't with them and came back.
"I-I don't know. I was just really scared and then, it was suddenly going the other way." Tom decided not to press any further.
"Let's get you back to the orphanage." He could never bring himself to say the word "home."
Rose nodded weakly. "Tom?" she said as they were walking.
"Yes?"
"Can you not tell anybody?"
"Of course," he said, not quite understanding why, but trusting her judgment.
Rose nodded her thanks as they met the group of children at a sidewalk corner. They all broke into their questions of Rose's wellness.
"Are you alright?"
"Did it bite you?"
"What happened?"
"Were you scared?"
The last question seemed to bring Rose back to her normal self. She simply grinned a wide, mysterious, grin and left the other children questioning among themselves.
They walked the remaining block to the orphanage with Tom in the lead. As they entered the orphanage the other children dispersed, but Rose stayed behind. "Thanks, Tom," she said quietly. Rose gave him a quick hug before leaving to join the other children.
Tom stood there and felt the tiniest bit of guilt for lying to her about his Hogwart's supplies.
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Disclaimer: I don't own jack but the clothes on my back. (And the plot/OC characters.)
A/N: Sorry if this chapter took a while to come. As you can see, I'm trying to make them longer. I forgot something in Chapter Eight, so I will probably edit it, but the thing is small enough you won't have to re-read it. As always, check my profile for update info and thank you to my wonderful reviewers. Big thanks to Kuramakicksass for helping me with the pound/dollar/galleon conversions. (She'd really appreciate it if you read her work and I would too.) The conversions are still not entirely accurate, but more so. I figured that with inflation the conversion rates might have changed. I'm also trying to make sure the characters' speech stays accurate for the time. Thanks for reading and Chapter Ten should come soon.
