AN: To all my readers: It came to my attention a while ago that the documents I was posting did not have the correct spacing to make it easy to read. I was not aware of this, and I am deeply sorry for any trouble I may have caused. I am using a device that does not allow me to upload the document (the chapters) the way I usually do. I am still trying to figure out all the problems this causes and fix them accordingly. I will try and see what I can do about the two previous chapters, though I can not promise anything. But you can all thank reviewer anon for the lack of headaches now!
Harry stood in front of the most dreary building he had ever come across. There were a small set of steps leading to the front door, but the lack of color reminded Harry of a book like Oliver Twist. He scooted closer to Constable Harold, who gently pushed the seven year old back.
"Well, Mr. Potter. Let's go in." The officer walked to the door, and pounded the knocker on the wood. After a few moments, the door opened to reveal a tall, incredibly thin woman.
She was wearing a grey wool dress that reached up her neck, making it look even longer than it probably actually was. Her hair was as thin as her body, brown, and brought up into a very tight bun. Her eyes were small, dark, and beady. They were squished into the the bridge of her nose, which was long and crooked. Her thin lips were pursed until it looked like they'd disappear.
All in all, she looked just as pleasant as the building Harry was being forced to step into. And probably would be forced to live in the future. The very near future, thanks to whatever Harry had that made him such a freak.
"Is this the boy?" Even her voice was unpleasant. Harry resisted the urge to flinch as he was reminded of his aunt when the high, breathy voice reached his ears. From years of practice of tiptoeing around to survive, Harry melted into his polite role. It wasn't that he was faking it. It really was in his nature to be polite. He just learned to put his natural manners to good use. It seemed to work on everyone but his family.
"Yes, Ma'am. The boy didn't have anything on him when he came to the station, so as you can see, it's just him." Harry took a step back from the door, trying once again in a vain attempt to stop this from happening.
"Sir, Miss… I'm sorry, but I think I can find my own way home then. Since it's a ways away-"
"Mr. Potter, we've been over this. We couldn't find anyone with the information you gave us, so you'll be staying here until we find your home. The station isn't equipped to take care of children for an extended amount of time. We'll keep going on your case, but for now, Mrs. Cole will take care of you." Constable Harold's tone was strained as he interrupted the boy, showing the growing frustration and uncaring attitude to Harry's "case."
Harry grew quiet and retook his steps backwards, moving forward into the house. Harry didn't want to stay in such a place, and found himself longing for Privet Drive. He felt like if he stayed there, he would change something, for better or for worse. The fact that the boy apparently had time traveled didn't allow for him to brush the feeling off. Harry had not told anyone immediately that he was from the future due to the initial shock, but had also decided that it was not wise to start raving like a lunatic. Instead he decided to try to live normally, at least until he either got sent back by a second fluke, or when he became old enough to send himself back. So he took to thinking of this as a vacation from the Dursleys.
The constable nodded, bowed his head to Mrs. Cole, and briskly walked back through the door. The man didn't look back once, and as the door shut with a click of finality, the small sound rang in Harry's head.
"Follow me," Mrs. Cole turned on her heel, expecting the new arrival to her orphanage to follow. She continued to talk while she walked, never stopping and never looking back to check on the boy. "You will be introduced to the other children during lunch, but for now you'll be showed to your room. You will share a space with one or two other boys. They're the same age as you, so there will be no problems, do you hear me? Meals are served at 7:00, 12:00, and 6:00. You will be in bed at 8:00, no exceptions, and will wake up at 6:00 every morning. We go to church every Sunday."
Harry vaguely wondered if this woman had been in the army with the way he was being drilled.
"Do you understand me, boy?" The shrill voice of Mrs. Cole interrupted Harry's musings, jerking him back to the real world.
"Yes, Ma'am. I understand." With the confirmation, the orphanage warden nodded and kept on walking.
"Follow me to your room." She stopped at a door, and called out to a girl who was in what was revealed to be a kitchen. "Martha, find Billy and Gabriel, tell them to come to their room." There was an ascent from inside the room, and the tall woman started up walking again.
She lead Harry down the hallway to a set of stairs, which lead to the second floor. They ascended the staircase, and continued on until they stopped at a door midway to a ladder leading to what Harry assumed was the attic.
"This will be your room. You'll share it with two other boys who are also seven, Billy and Gabriel. Here they are," the warden turned to where two boys were following them up the set of stairs.
The one on the left was about Harry's height, with mediocre brown eyes and light brown shaggy hair. But while Harry was gangly and thin, this boy had plenty of muscle. However, it didn't look like the boy had any meat to support that muscle. Like he never got quite enough food. But despite his build, his cow brown eyes showed high intellect and poise.
The boy on the right's health had the same problem, but his body was just right by society's standards. Not built like an ox similar to the boy next to him, and not like Harry, all skin a bones like a stick. He had dark blue eyes that hinted to boyish cruelty, marking him to Harry as someone who tended to bully others. He had dirty blond hair that was combed neatly to a sort of round point on top of his head.
"This is Gabriel," Mrs. Cole indicated the burly boy on the left, "and this is Billy. Gabriel, Billy, this is Harry Potter, the boy who will be sharing your room." The handsome boy on the right waved a little, and Harry tried for a sheepish smile. Gabriel nodded his head to the dark haired boy with glasses as the warden walked away, leaving the three children alone with each other.
"So… what's your story? I mean, no one comes this place unless something happened." Billy asked as he opened the door to the room, probably for lack of anything to say. Harry stuttered, not knowing how to answer that, as the burly boy slipped past into the room. Thankfully, Gabriel had a lot more tact than his roommate.
"You don't have to answer, Harry. Billy, remember when you first came here and you punched that kid for asking something similar? You're lucky Harry doesn't have your temper." The blue eyed boy looked surprised, but when comprehension set in, he slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning.
"Oh God, I'm an idiot. Hey, ya' ignore that, alright?" Gabriel put a hand on the apologetic blond's shoulder and his expression looked to be sorry too.
"He's a bloody moron, but means well, I swear. You really don't need to tell us your story until you're ready and want to."
"I-it's alright. I don't mind really, it's just I'm not so sure myself what happened." Billy looked like he was going to press, but Gabriel spoke before the blond could.
"Brilliant. Now come inside already. Let's get you set up." Gabriel looked at what Harry was carrying; nothing, and his mouth twitched a little. It wasn't in amusement, nor annoyance or disgust. It just… moved. He stepped aside, allowing Harry to walk inside. "Well, you should at least try the bed out. And don't worry, everyone here has a backstory. We're orphans after all, so you're not the only one." There's someone else who's from the future? I don't think so, was Harry's silent reply.
The room was grey and white, making it look like it was stone. There were two beds pressed up against the opposite wall, a third one put opposite the door. The area around the bed to the right was neat and tidy, with a desk crammed between the third mattress, serving as a surface to pile old and tattered books. The bed itself was made nicely and with great precision. That was immediately labeled as Gabriel's space, while the third bare bed was obviously going to be Harry's. Billy's was, unsurprisingly, rather messy, an with a good deal less books. Posters lined the wall, depicting famous people and places. The blond's bed was neatly made as well, but not as perfectly as the brunet's.
"It doesn't seem the most welcoming of places, but it's not so horrible. We always get something to eat, clothes, all the necessities of human life. It's better than living on the streets, Harry. Believe me," Gabriel mumbled from his seat on his bed. "The adults here try, and that's what matters." Harry turned to the large boy, and decided right then and there that he liked the other child, and maybe even Billy.
"Thanks, Gabriel." The green eyed boy smiled, his eyes glowing with a dim, but warm light. The brunet gave a small smile of his own, but the hint of sadness in his eyes didn't disappear immediately.
"Call me Gabe, Harry."
After Harry had rested in the room, Gabe and Billy lead the dark haired boy down to a large room filled with long tables. There was a head table on one side where adults were handing out food. Harry was lead to stand in line, but his two companions grew stiff when they looked at the child in front of them.
"Hey… Billy? Let's… let's go to the end of the line…" Gabriel hesitantly started, but Billy looked like he was trying to gather up courage. Harry tried to study the boy in front of them, but all he could see was the back of his head.
The new boy had dark brown hair, almost making it black like Harry's. The hair must have naturally been wavy, was cut short in neat chops, making it appear straight. He was a little shorter than the messy haired seven year old, and from the way his muscles had tensed, it looked like he had heard Gabriel.
Finally, it looked like Billy had gathered his strength of will enough to say something. As the blond opened his mouth, Harry began to wonder why someone would be so afraid of just another human being. But his musings were interrupted when he heard that word. Harry didn't think he would ever have to hear the word 'freak' until he made it back to the Dursleys. It wasn't until he heard it again that he realized how much he didn't want to have to listen to the word again.
"Hey, freak! What are you doing? Don't you remember that Mrs. Cole took away your meal for tonight after that last stunt you pulled?!"
"Why are you calling him that?!"
"Billy… quiet!" Gabe tried to say as Harry burst out with his panicked question, but the brunet flinched, and actually gave a soft shriek when the boy in front of them turned around.
Now that Harry could see the boy's face, he realized that the other 'freak' was rather… well, Harry couldn't lie, the other boy was positively beautiful. Frightfully so, actually. That is to say that he could without a doubt have incredible looks when older. With dark almond shaped eyes that seemed almost black, and a soft, round face, he had the potential to look positively cherubic. That was just it, it was only potential. Any comforting, disarming qualities were made null with the blank and cold expression the face took on. But what made it frightening, was that the emotionless demeanor hid a ruthless and cruel malevolence. And when the boy opened his mouth, the honey sweet innocence of his voice made Harry cringe.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You can't possibly blame me for your rabbit dying. It was of natural causes. Even Mrs. Cole admitted that."
"It was perfectly healthy! You killed it, Tom! I know you did!" Tom sighed, and turned back around.
"As for your question, Mrs. Cole did not revoke my meal for tonight. There is no reason to believe I had killed the animal. You are grieving over the loss of your pet, and trying to place the blame on someone else, because you can not admit to yourself that you led to it's demise. Billy, do us all a favor and stop beating yourself up over it. It's dead of poisoning from the meal you fed it." The line moved, and as Tom took a trudging step forward, his foot paused in the air when Billy tried to speak again.
"You're a freak, Tom Riddle! You can't be human, not with the things you do! And I know you did all those things. Everything horrible's centered around you, so it must be your fault! You're a freakish, inhuman monster! You-!"
"STOP IT!" Harry's scream echoed across the now silent lunchroom. Even the cold Tom turned back in surprise at his sudden outburst. The boy had his hands over his ears, his eyes squeezed shut, trying to calm himself down, a panic attack washing over him. He couldn't take it anymore, and when Billy whirled around to ask what the matter was, Harry grabbed the blond by the collar, continuing to yell. "What right to you have to call someone that?! No one's a freak! It… it… it shouldn't… shouldn't matter… what a person can do. So… so what if… if everything weird or bad is revolved around someone…? It doesn't mean… it doesn't make that person a freak, right? Right?" Harry, who had calmed down some, looked up into the blond's shocked face. "…Right…?"
His expression showed his distress clearly. The blond realized that maybe the shaggy haired boy had a little backstory with something much more traumatic than he had originally given him credit for. He looked at Tom, his eyes narrowed. The freak looked back with that cursed blank expression, not revealing a trickle of his thoughts. Billy looked back at the new orphan, nodded his head and grabbed his wrist.
"Right. Come on, Harry, Gabe. We'll get food later." He headed out the door to the hallway, Harry in tow and Gabriel following. The blond sent one last glare to the emotionless monster that killed his rabbit, which the freak returned thrice as strong. Billy suppressed a shiver of foreboding, and continued dragging the smaller boy behind him out into the backyard.
It was as dreary as the building that hid it from public view. Besides a small sand box, it was basically just a slightly browning grassy lawn without the abundance of decoration. The cloudy sky with dim twilight just added to the hopeless atmosphere. But the two boys paid it no heed, probably long used to the feel the place they called home gave off. Instead they focused on trying to comfort the newest addition to their 'family,' while at the same time attempting to explain the rules for survival of the orphanage. Billy and Gabriel had already silently agree that they would take the new arrival under their wing, and try to keep him out of trouble. Namely, keep Harry far away from Tom Riddle.
"Look Harry, uh… sorry if I made you remember something you didn't want to," the blond started, trying to find a balance to the situation.
"Yeah, but you really need to understand, Harry." Gabriel put a hand on the small boy's shoulder as he spoke up. "We're not blaming you for anything, and whatever it is that caused you to flip out, it's not like that. Tom… he really isn't normal. There's never any evidence, but everyone knows that he's the one that does them. It's not like your case, whatever it is."
"Take my rabbit that was mentioned back there for example," Billy added, putting himself back into the conversation. "I had done something you are never to do, Harry. I was being my idiotic self, and I tried to antagonize Tom, he insulted me, and I punched him. I'd managed to place the blame on him, but the next thing I know, my rabbit's dead and hanging above my head when I woke up. No 'natural causes' could tie a rope around it's victim head and around a beam. No human 7 year old as well."
"But… then… it can't be Tom's fault as well, right?" Harry decided to not voice his thoughts on how Billy shouldn't have tried to be mean to Tom in the first place.
"No, Harry. Trust me. I've seen the things he can do. Levitating things is one of them. Don't believe me? Ask anyone in this place. They have their own horror stories." Billy shook his head, and put a hand on Harry's other shoulder, shaking him a bit. "Swear to me that you'll stay out of Tom's way. He'll hurt you, and not feel a thing about it too."
Harry looked up into the worried expressions of his two new friends, and slowly nodded his head. All the while thinking about the times he had lifted things without touching them. There are others who can do these things…? And Tom is one of them?
None of the boys in the middle of the yard noticed the shadow of a person listening in from the doorway.
Who is this 'Harry?' He's strange, and way too kind hearted for his own good. No, maybe he's just as self serving as the rest of them. I need to figure out what his story is. A vicious smirk stretched across Tom's face. He needs to learn how this blasted place works, and I don't think Billy and Gabriel will be enough.
AN: Dun dun dun~! Haha, Tommy's home~! Finally, right? And no, just because Harry thinks Tom's gorgeous, does not mean that he's immediately in love with him. I am not going to write that. No. Well, at least not that fast. It's a fact that Tom's extremely good looking, Harry was just pointing that out. But don't worry, my fellow TRHP fans, you will get what you came for. Eventually. I just will write it in gradually. At the very least, I'll attempt to do so. …Am I doing good so far, guys? Am I? Even if I'm not, I'll go back on this some day and make it better, I promise.
Also, a fun little tidbit: Billy was originally named John. But then I wrote about the rabbit, researched the name, and changed it to fit the story. Tom's not so stupid as to kill TWO rabbits!
I also want to apologize for the extremely late chapter. Tom is very hard to write with his many layers of insanity. And of course there's that little problem I set myself up for, whereas Tom is oddly young for this corner of the fanbase. Dang. I always set roadblocks for myself. Gotta work on that. Either way, the reason I'm so late was that I was trying my hardest to figure out how to make this chapter perfect. If any of you knew me personally, you'd know I'm a perfectionist with a slight case of OCD. And this chapter has a humongous importance for the mindset of the rest of the story. So it was important to get everything right. I hope you've enjoyed this latest edition, and I hope you can forgive it's lateness.
