When Slughorn came around and asked- a bit in a bored manner- if anyone would be staying at Hogwarts during winter break, Tom realized something. Everyone in Slytherin was going home for winter break.
Except him.
He'd waited until Slughorn was retreating to his office with an empty list to quietly add his name, surprising the portly man, who then cheerfully patted him on the back and told him that he and several of the other professors would be remaining behind, along with students from other houses. There had been a moment of melancholy, thinking about the fact that all of the Slytherins, even the nasty ones who had been tormenting him since he'd begun at Hogwarts, got to go home to actual homes, with families and friends and loved ones. But Tom quickly brightened at the idea. He'd be alone, sure, but even if he was the only student left, that would mean he could have Hogwarts and Slytherin House to himself. No worrying about Nott, his cousin or their friends. No need to tuck himself away in the library when he could actually lounge in the Slytherin common room.
But that was in the middle of November, and after a month passed, he'd almost forgotten about it all- midterms were upon them and Lyall and Mia looked like they were going to cry. Tammy looked like she was going to throw a book at one of the windows, and the rest of the first years looked like some combined mixture of the two.
Despite Justin's warning the first day of classes- their study group had grown. It had started just as Tom had intended to, at first. Just a study group. After he'd helped Lyall, the boy did indeed ask him one day after their flying classes when he could join him for some help on homework. The first couple times it had been just him along with Mia and Tammy, and Tom figured he could keep the entire thing under the radar from Nott, but then Lyall had shown up another Gryffindor boy, this one named Keegan Chadwick, the round-faced boy with the wild dirty blonde hair Tom had seen getting his wand on his trip to Diagon Alley.
Chadwick, as he preferred to his given name, was absolute shite at all things involving a wand, as evidence from accidentally toppling a whole shelf of books in the library one day, and was doing only moderately well in all of his classes except for History of Magic and Potions. He was the only student in the History of Magic class outpacing Tom and close behind him in Potions, and Tom decided letting one more Gryffindor hang about to study would be worth it. Especially because Chadwick actually had a few learning tricks to help memorize the Goblin wars and what witches and wizards were caught in what order. He would also make excellently hilarious sarcastic remarks about all of the events and notable people that helped them stand out better in Tom's mind and Tammy was usually gasping for breath by the time Chadwick finished reading a paragraph. Sometimes, while listening to Chadwick talk and schmooze up the other students in their class, he wondered how the hell he'd gotten Gryffindor and not Slytherin.
Then at the beginning of December, Mia had shown up with Delaney Royston, one of the Slytherin girls from their year, who was a sobbing mess. Tom side-eyed her as Mia and Tammy herded her off to the girls' lavatory and Lyall and Chadwick shared an uncertain look. When the girls came back they plopped Delaney down and immediately included her in their studying, despite not having her things or any books of her own with her. Tammy kicked Tom's shin roughly under the table when he looked too long at the Slytherin girl out of the corner of his eye.
The Hufflepuffs girls revealed later on as they were headed to dinner that one of the Slytherin girls in the upper years had insulted Royston and stolen her bag and thrown most of her notes and books into the lake. Tom helped Mia and Tammy replicate his notes hurriedly to give to the other Slytherin girl for their next study session and when he handed her his portion of the notes, she burst into tears again and threw her arms around Tom, startling the boy enough that Tammy looked like she was going to double over from laughter. Tom awkwardly patted the girl's head while she cried into his shoulder until she finally calmed down enough that they were able to begin their revisions.
Sable Jennings, Delaney's best friend, was there at the next one and Tom realized they were outgrowing the library, but with two Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs and three Slytherins, they didn't really have a better place to meet.
"If I have to look at another astrological chart I will gouge my eyes out," Tammy groaned loudly, her face pressed comically into the open Astronomy book in front of her.
"I think you have them down now at least," Sable complimented, turning a page over in her own textbook.
"What is everyone doing for Christmas?" Mia piped up suddenly, closing her textbook. "It's almost dinner so there's no point starting the revision on the next chapter." Tom's inside froze at the thought- he didn't mind telling Tammy and Mia, or even Lyall or Chadwick that he was staying at Hogwarts, but he didn't know how he felt about Sable and Delaney knowing about it. They'd been decent so far, but he didn't know if he could trust them to not mention it offhandedly to someone else in Slytherin that he'd be staying behind.
"Going home with you likely," Tammy said, voice muffled by the book.
"I'll also be heading home for the break," Delaney said, closing her book as well and picking her bag up into her lap to began shoving everything inside it. "We were invited to the Black's annual Christmas Party, so that's where I'll be Christmas Eve."
"Mum said we were invited as well," Mia said, leaning back in her seat, "So I don't know if we will, we usually go to the Yule festival in the village with the other wizarding families."
"I'm headed home too," Lyall said, haphazardly throwing his belongings into his bag. "We'll spend a few days at home, then we're headed to Germany to see my mum's parents."
"Home as well," Sable said, swinging her bag onto her shoulder as the final materials were cleared from the table. "I'll likely be at the Black Christmas Party, but then we're spending the second week of the break in London with my Great-Aunt."
"Ugh, go on and leave me all of you," Chadwick griped. "Mum is visiting her sister in the States and I'll be staying here. She owes me a good present for that."
"What about you, Tom?" Lyall asked.
There was no use in lying about where he'd be, no matter how anxious letting the two Slytherin girls know made him. "I'll be staying as well."
"You're not going home to see your uncle?" Tammy asked, holding the door open for the rest of the group as they filed out.
Tom shook his head, "He'll be out of the country, I'd rather stay here, honestly."
"There you go, Chadwick," Lyall said, grabbing him and Tom around their shoulders, "You'll have someone here after all!"
"Hoo-ray," Chadwick said in a bored voice. "Shall I smuggle him into Gryffindor and drop him off the tower?"
"Now I'm not going anywhere with you at all," Tom said with a slight smirk.
"I think Tom would outclass you in weight and wandwork, so I have no clue how you'd even get him up there," Delaney said in an amused tone, tucking some of her dark hair behind her ear.
"Where is Gryffindor's dormitory?" Tammy asked, looking to the two boys.
"I don't think we're supposed to tell each other where they are," Sable said with a slight frown.
"Well that's rubbish," Tammy griped, "Is there an actual rule about it? Are we not allowed to have friends from other houses stop by for a visit?"
"You never visit Tom in Slytherin," Delaney pointed out.
"Well, he's never invited me now has he?" Tammy shot back. "Besides, I know it's near enough to our dorms anyways, we always walk down the stairs together after dinner.
"Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's dorms are underground?" Chadwick asked, sounding interested.
Delaney gave Tom a look like it was his fault they were on this topic and he flipped it back on the Gryffindor, "I suppose both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are up in the tallest towers then."
"Yup," Lyall said simply and when Chadwick gave him a look he rolled his eyes, "Oh come off it, the three tallest towers are the Astronomy Tower, the Gryffindor Tower, and the Ravenclaw Tower, three guesses where the dorms are." He ticked the three towers off on his fingers and then held them up at the rest of the group like they were a load of duffers.
Tom supposed he was right- not about the duffers part. He hadn't put much thought into where Gryffindor and Ravenclaw's dorms were, but he had heard his classmates refer to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tower before.
"Hufflepuffs and Slytherins," Mia said excitedly, "The ground dwellers, in an alliance against the tower dwelling Gryffindors and Ravenclaws." She sighed and the boys all rolled their eyes, while Sable and Tammy laughed.
"Sounds like we need some Ravenclaws to bolster our numbers, Lupin," Chadwick grumbled.
"Well don't get into too much trouble without us," Tammy said, "I'll ask Mum and Dad if next year you both can join us in the village."
"Next year my Mum likely won't be in the States, but thanks either way," Chadwick said with a shrug, sounding bored. "You can just fold Tom in half and shove him in a suitcase and it's taken care of." The comment earned odd looks from the three Slytherins, but Lyall, Mia, and Tammy didn't seem to take much notice of it.
As they approached headed down the stairs, Lyall and Chadwick pulled ahead to walk separate from Tom and the rest of the girls. Sable and Delaney naturally moved to walk slightly to the side and ahead of Tom, Tammy, and Mia, while Tammy and Tom closed ranks on Mia, who was still talking excitedly about Christmas break. The separation was normal- Chadwick and Lyall didn't want to deal with some of the more problematic people in Gryffindor who would be pissed about them hanging out with the Slytherins, and Sable and Delaney didn't want Nott breathing down their necks about Lyall and Chadwick, along with Tom. It was a silent understanding between the lot of them that outside of the library, where they could easily explain it as "this is only for studying, we're not friends, ew gross," they didn't really acknowledge each other.
"I'm thinking about taking up knitting," Mia was saying, "Then I could make you both something for Christmas, obviously for next year, I wouldn't have enough time to finish anything if I started it now. My mum does it by hand, but I know when she's busy and trying to finish something she has a few spells to keep it going."
"I already picked out what I got for the lot of you," Tammy said, picking at her nails as they slowed on the last staircase, so Sable and Delaney could get a bit ahead of them.
Tom felt his stomach turn over. "You mean for Mia and Justin, then?" He prodded gently, just a bit worried about her answer.
Tammy gave him a side look, "No, you twat, I got something for everyone, gonna owl it to you the night before, same with Chadwick and Lyall and the other girls."
The knot in his stomach tightened. He didn't have any money to purchase any gifts with, and no artistic ability to make anything. What the hell was he supposed to do?
"I was going to give Tom his present before we left on the train," Mia said, all smiles completely unaware of the severe panic attack the two girls were inspiring in the boy, "But if you're owling yours on Christmas Eve, I'll send mine along then." She turned and teasingly prodded Tom in the side, "That way you can't be tempted to open it beforehand."
He was most definitely going to be sick.
Midterms were quite easy, all things considered. Between studying and working himself up over trying to figure out what the hell he was going to get for Tammy and Mia for Christmas, he'd scarcely been eating. By the time he actually had to sit and take his exams, it wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been making it out in his head and he was able to turn his attention back to his problem of Christmas Presents. Not that he'd ever had a proper present before, so this had never been a problem in the past. At the orphanage, they'd sometimes make crafts and they would exchange them, but none of the other kids his age had ever given him anything. Sometimes the younger children would give him drawings.
It didn't help that time was running short. Winter break started on Friday, the day before Christmas Eve, and he helped Tammy and Mia get down to the station, accompanying them to board and let Mia hug him tightly before they both waved out their window. He slipped off the platform as the rest of the students were loading up before anyone could realize that he didn't have a bag of his own with him and he wasn't getting on the train. He'd thought, as he walked back to the castle, maybe a potion would make a good gift. He could probably kiss up to Slughorn and claim it was for practice, but any of the potions he could try and make as a first-year weren't really useful to Tammy or Mia, and a flip through the second year potions book he looked at in the library didn't show anything useful either.
He spent the better part of that Friday looking through every book in the library trying to find something he could do. He found a book on the animation of toys, but that would require toys, now wouldn't it, and he shoved it back on the shelf with a scowl. He thought about what Mia had said about knitting, but as she had said, he didn't have the time to complete anything, let alone the knitting needles or the yarn, not that he knew how to knit in the first place.
Becoming quite desperate that night, he dug through his trunk, looking for something, anything. He just needed an idea. As he unloaded the contents of his trunk for the first time truly since arriving, given he didn't have to worry about any of the other boys wandering in and seeing it all, he finally came across it.
Tucked under a pair of his everyday clothes that were worse for wear and he'd been avoiding at the bottom of the trunk was the pocket knife one of the older boys from the orphanage gave him. At first, his eyes skimmed over it, since a knife wouldn't make a good gift, but then his mind flashed to the little wooden animals that Jack would make for the younger kids, and the snake he'd carved for Tom before giving him the knife. Tom wasted no time. He's only wittled with it a few times, all back during the summer when he'd been bored, and he'd only been able to make a few half-way decent creatures. But maybe if he stuck to something easier, he could manage.
"What in Merlin's pants are you up to?" Chadwick asked, popping up next to him as he strode out of the Great Hall after lunch.
"Heading out to get something," Tom said a bit curtly, still lost in thought. He'd already settled on a cat for Tammy and an owl for Mia. He was hoping that he'd be able to finish them and get them sent out by the next afternoon in time for Christmas.
"Get something? You planning to haul a bunch of snow or in here?" The Gryffindor demanded, looking at Tom like he was a bit mad. "Or are you planning an impromptu escape to Hogsmeade?"
"I need wood." He explained, but not really, because Chadwick was still staring at him like he was mad.
"What would you need wood for?" He asked with exasperation, "You do realize the house elves keep the fires going all the time right? You don't need to go gather up wood for us like some muggle."
"No, I need it for a project," Tom said, equally exasperated.
"Midterms are done," Chadwick said in a deadpan voice, still staring at him like he'd lost it. "There are no projects left to do, Tom."
"No, I'm making Mia and Tammy a Christmas present," Tom said with a loud sigh. They had paused in front of the large hourglasses by the front doors of the Great Hall that marked their points. "They mentioned they got everyone something and I didn't get anything for anyone and it's a bit late to buy anything," Tom said, part truth part lie. He didn't want Chadwick to know he didn't have any money, else he'd question why he didn't just ask his uncle for some.
"Fair enough," the Gryffindor said instead, "What are you going to make using wood though?"
"A friend of mine in London taught me how to make little animals out of wood," he explained, shivering as he opened the doors of the Great Hall and stepped out into the snow. "I'm going to carve them something and owl it off tomorrow." If he got it done in time.
"Huh," Chadwick said shortly, but he didn't wander off like Tom expected him to. No, instead he followed Tom out to one of the trees on the grounds, watching as Tom kicked snow over, looking for signs of fallen branches.
"Wouldn't the wood need to be dried out?" Chadiwck asked suddenly and Tom groaned. Crap. He hadn't thought about that, and anything he found would be buried in the snow and soaking wet. Tom reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to think. He frowned and turned, looking around to Chadwick.
"Hey, have you ever seen any of the Hogwarts house elves?" Tom asked.
Chadwick raised an eyebrow, pulling off his maroon beanie to shake some snow off of it. "'Course not, they wouldn't be very good house elves if we did, yeah?"
"But if I wanted to nick a bit of firewood from them," Tom said slowly and Chadwick's eyes widened and he nodded slowly in thought.
"Ah, true-" He paused as he looked to the castle, "We could ask Weasley."
"Who?" Tom didn't recognize the name, and there weren't exactly many people left at Hogwarts for the Break.
"Septimus Weasley." Chadwick repeated, pulling his hat back on, "He's a sixth-year Gryffindor, one of the blokes on the Quidditch team- all the girls are mad about him. He stayed for the break too- he's always bringing snacks back to the tower after Quidditch matches, he's bound to know something about it."
Tom paused and then shrugged, "Sure, why not."
"You don't exactly have anything to lose," Chadwick said dryly as they headed back to the castle. "Why the hell didn't you think to get them a gift in the first place? Mia and Tammy only spend all their free time hanging about you. They're smitten."
Tom blushed, feeling the crimson spread across his cheeks to his ears, "No, they're not."
"Even if they aren't, aren't they your best friends?" the Gryffindor said, looking at him pointedly.
Tom glared at the other first year. "I- My uncle and I never did presents really, so I didn't think about it until the other day when they mentioned it."
Chadwick gave him a look like he was weighing what he was going to say or deciding something, either if he believed him or what he wanted to say in return, but then he just shrugged. He grabbed the door and held it open for Tom as they slipped back into the Great Hall. "He was headed up to Gryffindor Tower when we were leaving lunch, you're not exactly allowed in, I don't think-"
"I'll just wait outside," Tom agreed. He finally had Slytherin house all to himself and he didn't particularly want to invite anyone in, so he didn't feel bad about Chadwick not inviting him into the Gryffindor tower. It took a bit to climb the stairs and as they did Tom could feel how empty the castle felt. They encountered no one in the halls, except for the Fat Friar, who was floating along and talking to some of the portraits on the walls. When they finally got up the seventh floor of one of the towers, Tom leaned against the wall as Chadwick went around the corner. He wondered if he should take a peak, but he didn't particularly feel like having Chadwick be cross with him, so instead, he took note of all the portraits that were hung along the walls.
"Tom, right?"
Tom looked over his shoulder as Chadwick and a tall ginger haired boy came around the corner. "Yeah, Septimus, right?"
"That's me," The older boy said, holding out a hand and Tom took it and shook. The boy's grip was strong, but it didn't yank Tom's arm or anything or sneer at him, so it was going well enough already. "But you can just call me Sep, everyone else does."
"Alright, Sep," Tom agreed easily. "Did Chadwick-"
"Yeah, about the house elves," Sep said, leaning against the wall, shoulder resting between two large paintings. "Okay so it's kind of a secret so don't go spreading it around yeah? I heard last time too many students knew how to get in they moved it on us." Tom nodded his head and Sep continued on. "Have you ever walked by the large painting under the Great Hall that's a giant bowl of fruit?"
Tom blinked and nodded. They had to walk past it on the way down to the dormitories, near the hall where he would split off from Tammy and Mia to go to their own dorms.
"There's a giant pear and if you poke it or tickle it until it giggles, it'll turn into a handle and you can open it and get into the kitchens," Sep explained, "That where most of the house elves spend their time."
"Why a bowl of fruit?" Chadwick asked, scrunching up his nose, "And why the hell did they make it so they have to tickle a pear?"
Sep shrugged, making a face that clearly said "don't ask me", "Because Dippet's nuts? I don't know. I heard the last place it was they had some mad knight guarding it, so I'll take the giggling pear."
The first years looked at each other and then shrugged in agreement. "So that's it?"
"Yup," Septimus said, pushing himself off the wall. "But, be nice to them, yeah? If you're polite and say please and thanks they'll worship the ground you walk on."
"I'll keep that in mind," Tom said with a nod. "Thanks."
"No problem," Sep said with a wave of his hand, "See you at dinner tonight when they only have a handful of students they store the tables and give us one for everyone to sit at with the staff." The sixth year boy wandered back up what appeared to be a dead-end hallway and Tom respectfully turned and began walking away.
"Tickle a pear," Chadwick was muttering as they headed back to the stairs, "They're all mad, I swear."
"You're the one rhyming over here." Tom quipped, earning a punch from the blond. "What do house-elves look like?" He asked speculatively.
"I dunno," Chadwick said with a shrug as they jogged down the stairs and paused as they waited for one of the moving staircases to line up with their platform. "I've never seen one, Mum said her parents had one when she was a girl but it died well before me."
It sounded a bit barmy to Tom- having what amounted to a slave, but from what he'd read in Hogwarts, A History, it seemed they were pretty commonly accepted in the Wizarding World, so he tried not to question it. He had no doubt if he did it would get around in Slytherin House and it would be another nail in his coffin that Nott was trying to construct. Instead, he listened to Chadwick make quips and comments as they got back down to the ground floor.
"This," Chadwick said with a puff, "This is why no one gains weight with all the food they put out for us."
Tom smirked. It had been quite a far walk, but he was taller than Chadwick and leaner. He could feel his calves ache a bit, so he just smirked at the other first year as they headed for the stairs down to the underground levels.
"I should have stayed upstairs and taken a nap while you decided to traipse all over the damn castle," Chadwick continued to grumblr as they headed up the hallways towards the giant painting Septimus had told them about. Tom was honestly a bit surprised the boy hadn't if only because while he seemed to hang out a bit with Lyall, he hadn't shown much interest in hanging around with Tom or the girls outside of their study groups. He supposed perhaps it was just the distance they'd created and maintained to make sure no one pestered them about it all, but despite his dry and funny remarks, he'd never really shown an interest in getting to know any of them.
Or maybe it's because you're standoffish. He could practically hear Mia's voice in the back of his head.
"What?" Chadwick demanded, staring at him, "Do I have something on my face?"
Tom blinked, realizing he'd been staring. "No, sorry."
"You're so weird," Chadwick said quietly and shook his head. "Do you want to tickle the pear already, or stand here and keep making dove eyes at me?"
"Dove eyes?" Tom asked, raising his eyebrows before leaning forward and wiggling his fingers against the large green pear.
A loud giggle came from the fruit as it twitched and tried to wiggle away from Tom's fingers. There was a pause, where both boys stared at the painting and then the pear slowly shifted and shrunk, coming off the canvas and forming a handle. Tom grasped it and pressed it down and the canvas swung inwards, opening into a short hallway. There was a large room at the end and it only took Tom a few moments to realize that the room itself appeared to be a replica of the Great Hall. Four tables were lined up where each of the houses had theirs and then a fifth sat at the front perpendicular like the staff's table did. There were creatures scurrying. They looked like- Tom was unable to summon the image of a creature to mind immediately. When he'd heard the term house elf, he'd thought a little of the fairy-type creatures that Miss Garter told all the little kids about, claiming they worked for Father Christmas, but they were far from that image.
"Good Afternoon young masters!" A voice squeaked and Tom turned to see one of the house elves by his side, holding a large bowl of cored apples. It had no hair and its ears were huge, and instead of clothes, it was wearing a potato sack cinched at the waist. "How can Gurdle serve you?"
Tom looked to Chadwick, who was also looking the creature up and down and then cleared his throat. "Uh, hello Gurdle, I wanted to know if you had any spare firewood I could have?"
Gurdle's big eyes blinked twice, looking a bit owlish. "Are Sir's fires running low?" The house-elf asked, looking a tad distressed. Tom couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a boy or a girl, but the poor thing looked like it might cry.
"Uh, no, sorry Gurdle, I just needed some dried out wood for a project- the fires are great," He added, tacking on a brilliant smile before subtly elbowing Chadwick.
"Ow- uh, oh yeah, great fires mate, they're always going nice and warm." The Gryffindor said with a quick nod before glaring at Tom.
Gurdle's lips spread in a giant smile and Tom realized a few other house elves were lingering around them, looking nervous. "Wonderful young masters! Gurdle and the other house elves have lots of wood sirs can use!"
Tom and Chadwick followed Gurdle past one of the tables, where the house elf placed the bowl of cored apples and wiped its- or his or hers, whatever they were- hands on a towel tucked into the cinched rope of the pillow sack and walked them up to a large fire at the front of the room behind what Tom thought of as the fake staff table. There were piles of wood on either side, stacked neatly and Gurdle smiled brightly again, looking pleased at fulfilling Tom's request.
"Thank you Gurdle, you've been very helpful," Tom said, looking to the house elf who blinked again, giving another large smile and a bow before turning back to the bowl of cored apples to continue on with their task.
"How much do you need?" Chadwick asked, looking at the piles.
"Uh, one log would probably be enough for two…" Tom thought about the design he had in his head again and moved forward to examine some of the logs.
"Hey, Tom…" Chadwick said slowly.
"Hm?" The Slytherin grunted noncommittally as she examined a hunk of cut wood.
"How much wood would it take if… we made more than two?" Chadwick asked.
Tom frowned and turned to look over his shoulder and realized Chadwick had turned bright red and was staring at the fire, avoiding Tom's gaze.
"Uh, it would depend on how many I make." Tom realized as the words came out of his mouth that Chadwick has said "we", implying he'd help. "Why?"
Chadwick sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, still looking at the fire, but the blush on his cheeks had lessened some. "I didn't get anyone anything either. No one mentioned anything to me and I don't… My mum doesn't have any spare money to give me to buy presents anyways."
Tom blinked. "But… You said your mum went to the States to see her sister?"
Chadwick's cheek twitched and he scowled at the fire, "Yeah, my aunt has been sending her money to keep the house up and to pay to take a ship over, but there's not much left and…" He finally looked up, "Sorry, just- don't tell anyone yeah? I don't need them knowing everything I own is from a secondhand shop and that my wand is my granddad's old one."
Tom stared at the Gryffindor, who was shuffling uncomfortably. It felt weird, realizing that he wasn't the only one putting on an act, lying to everyone around him about what was going on at home. He realized he was getting stuck in his own head again when he saw Chadwick shoot him a glare as if daring Tom to make fun of him.
"I saw you in Diagon Alley when I got my wand though," he said slowly.
"Mum brought it to Ollivander to make sure it was okay for me to use," Chadwick grumbled, looking to his feet. "He tried to insist I needed my own but we can't afford it right now."
"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Tom said solemnly, earning a grateful look from the Gryffindor. "Does Lyall know?"
Chadwick shook his head. "Nah. My dad was a muggle and died when I was a kid and my mum's been working a muggle job to make ends meet so- I only met Lyall when we started school this year, unless you're part of the wizarding elite in London there's not many other families..."
Tom wondered if he should mention that he lived in London as well, but he didn't know if he was ready to tell Chadwick about the fact that he was an orphan living in an orphanage. It didn't seem quite fair not to, though, given what the other boy had just shared. And what if it did come out that he'd been lying the entire time, even through Chadwick's own confession?
"I live in London," He said finally, albeit on the quiet side, "and I've never met any of the other wizarding families either."
"I'm sure your uncle would introduce you if you asked him," Chadwick said glumly.
Tom bit the inside of his cheek and sighed. "I don't have an uncle."
There was a heavy pause and he could see Chadwick's eyes narrowing as he studied Tom. "So… who do you live with then?"
"I live in a place called Wool's Orphanage," Tom said quietly, mirroring what Chadwick had done before, staring into the fire as he said it, his arms wrapped around himself.
Chadwick ducked his head. "I… I'm sorry. I didn't know- well obviously I didn't know, but-"
"It's fine." Tom said curtly, "It's not so bad, not great obviously, but- I didn't want anyone to know, especially after I got sorted into Slytherin."
"Are you a muggleborn?" Chadwick asked curiously.
Tom shook his head, "The sorting hat said I was a half-blood," He explained, shortening the story down some. "My parents are just... dead, and I got stuck there."
They stood in silence for a bit. Tom didn't like thinking about it too much- what his parents were like, would be like if they were still alive. Ms. Cole had told him a little bit about his mother, but just what she looked like, since there wasn't much more to go on, and her name. Merope. And he knew nothing of his father except that he had his name and his grandfather's name as a middle name. After a few minutes passed Tom cleared his throat and pulled the knife out of his pocket and flipped it open so Chadwick could see it. "Have you ever whittled before? Or carved anything?"
Chadwick shook his head slowly, "Nah- forget I said anything. It was stupid."
Tom paused and looked around the room at the elves preparing food. "Actually… I think I have an idea."
Christmas Morning came bright and early, but Tom slept in. Father Christmas had only ever brought some sweets for the children at the orphanage and he'd long before gotten into the habit of sleeping in. It hadn't helped that he and Chadwick had stayed up fairly late the night before Christmas Eve- Tom trying to show Chadwick how to carve with a knife they'd gotten off the elves in the kitchen, but it was his first time and everything was coming out a bit rough. They went back down to the kitchens again the next morning and retrieved some more wood. They worked down there, away from prying eyes and out of the way of the elves and came up with a sort of rhythm. Chadwick was able to butcher the block down into a very basic shape and while he did that, Tom worked on another Chadwick had already done, carving the finer details out. It was still a bit chunky, not as smooth as the ones Jack was able to make, but by dinner time on Christmas Eve, they'd finished five animals for each of the members of their study group. Well, seven, since Chadwick ended up insisting on making Tom one and Tom decided he'd make the Gryffindor one as well. They got their packages out just in time and by the time Tom's head hit his pillow, he was out- no worried about what his first Christmas at Hogwarts would be like.
When he did finally wake up, it was to startle at the large great grey owl sitting at the foot of his bed. He had no idea how in Merlin's pants it had even gotten into the dorm, considering he was underground- perhaps Slughorn had let it in?
There was a pile of packages at the foot of his bed and the owl hooted shrilly at him and held out one of its legs, where a letter was tied tightly.
It took a bit of picking at the string before he got it loose and the owl hoo'ed gratefully and settled on the top of his bed post. He broke the wax and opened the letter, which was a collaborative mess from Mia and Tammy, wishing him a Happy Christmas and telling him to not have too much fun without them.
He carefully folded the letter and set it to the side before carefully selecting his first present. He'd settled on the blue and white wrapped package from Mia because she was the first person he'd befriended in the magical world and he felt it would be rude to start with anyone else. He unwrapped the package slowly, enjoying the anticipation that built up in his chest, making his stomach flop nervously. It was heavy and when he finally opened it he found a box filled with books.
They were a series, from the looks of it, heavily used, the words on the binding of one of them nearly worn away and he found a note pressed between a pair of books explaining that her mother had only been able to find the series second-hand, but they were Justin's favorite growing up and she thought that he would enjoy them. A quick flip through the first chapter of one of the books gave him the impression that it was similar to a wizarding detective series, with the main character being some broody older man. Tom smiled at the thought and carefully rounded up the books before resting them next to him and rooting around for Tammy's present, one wrapped in paper from the Daily Prophet.
This one required no note. Inside were two decks of cards, one the newest version of Exploding Snap that had come out, as well as a normal pack of playing cards, though they weren't the standard symbols, instead runes for the elements divided the cards and underneath both decks was a book, "50+ Games to Play with Family & Friends!" Tammy brought a pack of cards with her everywhere except class and whenever she was getting bored she got the cards out and shuffling them agitatedly until she found something better to do.
Chadwick's was next on principle since the boy had spent the previous day helping him with carving, and he ran his hand over the hawk that Chadwick had carved for him. It wasn't as detailed as the ones Tom had finished off for the girls and Lyall, but he'd still done a good job and Tom set it on top of the books, making it look like the bird was guarding them. Sable had sent him a pair of simple silver cufflinks with a quick note explaining that her father had told her every boy should have a pair for nice occasions, along with a few packages of candy, and another package from 'The Roystons,' contained a set of beautiful leather bound notebooks. He found Lyall's package was squashed under the others since it was smaller, containing a series of patches from Germany and some candy labeled in what Tom assumed was also German and a note that Lyall had hurriedly signed with the simple greeting of "Happy Christmas!"
That left four presents that he was completely uncertain of.
He grabbed the closest one, which turned out to be a box signed, "Mr. & Mrs. Ansel & Justin," which was stuffed with homemade cookies and fudge and he grabbed a piece and chewed on it slowly as he grabbed another. Tammy had also put up her parents to sending him something and Mr. and Mrs. Baggley had sent him a smart-looking pair of black and grey ear muffs, as well as a gold badger lapel pin. He smirked, knowing Tammy had suggested both items since she'd pointed out to him that he needed to keep his ears warm on several occasions, and whenever they hung out Nott always called her the "Pretty Hufflepuff Princess."
A small box was signed "From Professor Slughorn," and Tom found a set of new quills and ink- the label claiming that they were of the "non-spillable" variety. It was likely a nod to the fact that Tom's ink was always "mysteriously" spilling in potions and in the common room, and he'd had to ask Slughorn to help him clean up his books a few times.
The last box, surprisingly enough, was labeled form 'the Avery's. The tag simply wished him a Happy Christmas and was signed from 'Mr. & Mrs. Fulton Avery, Miles Avery, & Prisilla Avery," in a neat flourish. Inside was a box of chocolates and Tom wondered if Avery's parents had simply sent them to him on principle, or if Nott had put him up to trying to poison Tom.
Once he'd carefully put everything inside his trunk, he took a shower and got dressed, enjoying the relaxed pace he was able to set, not having to worry about the rest of the boys in Slytherin waking up. After he dressed, he wrapped himself in his inter cloak, his Slytherin scarf and the new earmuffs that the Baggley's had sent and admired how well they went with his scarf.
Breakfast was a sleepy but happy affair. He found himself sitting in between Professor Slughorn and Chadwick, and after the initial thanks for his gift from his Head of House, he and Chadwick spoke of what they'd received and also wondered what the girls and Lyall thought of the figures they'd received. After breakfast was over and every was too content to do much running about Septimus asked Tom is he was any good at chess (he was not, unfortunately, he'd never had the chance to learn before), and the older Gryffindor boy retrieved his chess set from their dormitory and a small group set up in the library. A pair of older Ravenclaws girls who had also stayed joined them, along with a first year Hufflepuff boy. Tom had brought along the playing cards Tammy had sent and the girls shuffled them while Septimus explained the game.
After being trounced in several games, Tom managed to beat Chadwick, and then the Hufflepuff boy, Roswell Pratt- who blushed hotly when everyone sniggered at his last name. However both the girls, Lauretta Chase and Artemis Krepley, absolutely destroyed him as well, so his victory streak was no so long lived. Towards the end of the game with Artemis, as the group watched her Queen beat Tom's king to death with a sword, Lauretta suggested they head outside and make use of the fresh snow that had fallen that morning.
Tom had never had quite so much fun as that Christmas Day. Tammy had started a snowball fight with him when it had first started snowing back in November, but it had been short-lived due to homework needing to be done. This time, the six students spent several hours outside, building a few forts and pelting each other with snowballs. Two older Hufflepuffs ended up joining in, along with Professor Beery, their Herbology Professor, who accidentally got smacked in the side of the heat with one of Septimus's snowballs when he walked out to check on the greenhouses.
Septimus looked like he was going to die of embarrassment for a bit, but Professor Beery taught them how to make snowballs zoom towards their target and account for any last-minute dodges and the group only retreated back inside when Lauretta exclaimed that she could barely feel her fingers.
By then, dinner was coming up and the group went inside, cleaning up the mess of snow they dragged into the Great Hall with them and flopped down at the single table that filled the hall. He'd already begun piling his plate with food when he realized it wasn't Professor Slughorn beside him, but rather Professor Dumbledore. With how cool the Head of Gryffindor House had been to him since he'd begun, he avoided the man and carried on a conversation with Chadwick and Roswell, as Septimus on the other side told the rest of the staff in great exaggeration how he'd knocked Professor Beery off his feet when his snowball hit him.
At one point though, as Tom reached for a second-helping of turkey, he happened to make eye contact with the Professor to his right. Any other day he would have carried on ignoring the man, but just then he was so happy, so content with how everything was, he smiled brightly at the Professor. It seemed to take the Transfiguration Professor back for a moment, but then he returned a smaller smile.
"How has your Christmas been, Tom?" The man asked. "Did you receive any gifts?"
Tom smiled wider, "It's the best I've ever had," he said genuinely. "I received a few from my friends- I didn't realize they were getting me anything until right before midterms, so I had to rush to put something together for them, but I think it turned out good enough." He paused and then tact on, "How was yours, Professor?"
Professor Dumbledore was looking at him with that look that said more than it should like he was staring through him again. "It was good, Tom, I'm glad you're making friends. I will admit I was a little worried when you were sorted into Slytherin, but you seem to be doing well."
Tom nodded his head and said quietly, "The hat said it was where I'd be best, and I want to be the best wizard I can be."
Professor Dumbledore gave him another appraising look before nodded and turning back to his conversation with the professor on his other side. He didn't know what had made Professor Dumbledore so distant, outside of being sorted into Slytherin, but he hoped that this meant he wouldn't be ignoring him in Transfiguration anymore.
Tom had anticipated not being able to sleep after the day's events and festivities, but by the time he'd changed into his pajamas and crawled into his bed, the good food and excitement of the day finally caught up with him and he was falling asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.
A/N: Well that was a long chapter, it even beat out Diagonally in word count, it's two-three times the length of a normal chapter. I would like everyone to know that I picture Chadwick with the voice of James Veitch. And yes, the mad knight that use to guard the kitchens before the pear was Sir Cadogan. And, fun fact - I didn't intend for Tom to tell anyone about being an orphan until in his later years of Hogwarts but Chadwick happened and if you've ever written before you know characters have a habit of just taking the plot where the hell they want to go. So this will be Chad and Tom's little secret for now.
Also, since I'm not making it a secret to the readers, just to Tom, Dumbledore was avoiding Tom for three reasons that combined freaked him out a bit too much- 1. Parselmouth, 2. Sorted into Slytherin, 3. His appearance of seclusion among his peers. It's setting off "Future Dark Lord" alarm bells in Dumbledore's head and because he is only Tom's teacher for a single class and not his head of house, he's not as aware of Tom's budding friendship in other houses. He'd be lying if he said he didn't think that Tom was using Mia and Tammy's friendship to appear normal, but watching him interact with Chadwick and Roswell at the table and how well he interacted with the other students in the snowball fight and how genuinely happy he appeared is kind of throwing Dumbledore off/making him wonder if he didn't calculate it wrong. They aren't going to be buddies any time soon, but Dumbledore won't be as hostile to him moving forward.
As always, this is something I'm doing in my spare time, but I do have all the chapter planned out up until the reboot of Empathetic, and a good bit already written out. If you want to support me or read more of my writing, I'd really appreciate it if you checked out my original works at StrongwindAcademy dot com, or on our WattPad, if that's your preference (wattpad dot com (/) user (/) strongwindacademy [remove spaces and parenthesis because ffnet is a dick about links]).
