Hush Little Baby

Chapter 4

Harry tucked li'l Tom into bed. The poor boy was tuckered out.

"Well, kiddo, you sure had a big day, huh?" Harry asked as he pulled the blankets up to his chin.

Tom yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I seepy." he admitted.

Harry nodded, a smile on his face. "I'm sure you are. Did you have a fun first day with me?"

"Yuh-huh!" he replied. "You 'tay with me? Fo'eber?" Tom wrapped both of his tiny hands around one of Harry's large ones.

Harry felt like crying. Even at two years of age, little Tom had felt so incredibly alone. It made him wonder just how bad his childhood had been. He wondered if that orphanage was still in operation. Harry decided that he'd find out. But, for tonight….

"You bet," he clasped his free hand around the two holding his other.

Tom's little grin further served to tear at Harry's heart. Slowly, Tom's sapphire slid closed and his breathing evened out. Harry kissed Tom's forehead in a way that he sure his father would've done, and turned out the light.

The next morning, Harry was up bright and early. He had something to take care off.

"Mr. Weasley, do you know where I can find the muggle child services office?"

Mr. Weasley looked up at Harry while chewing on a piece of egg. "Whatever for?"

Harry shrugged. "Oh, no reason."

Arthur nodded, respecting Harry's need for privacy. "Well, I don't know the exact location, but I do believe it is somewhere near the Leaky Cauldron."

"Thanks," Harry gulped down a glass of orange juice and stood up from the table. "Watch Tom for me would you? I need to do something."

Molly nodded with a smile. "Of course, I'll watch him Harry, dear."

Harry nodded and swept out the door. Once able, he disapparated.

In London, Harry found the Leaky Cauldron. Mr. Weasley was right. Not a block away there was the building he was looking for. He walked in.

"Excuse me," he said to the Desk Clerk. "I'm looking for the orphanage run by a Mrs. Cole?"

The desk clerk nodded and began flipping through the file. She didn't ask questions, she did as she was asked. That's why she was getting paid to do.

"You said, Mrs. Cole? Correct?" she asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes please."

She pulled out the file. "Mrs. Cole runs the Surrey Branch Children's Home at number eighteen Wisteria Walk."

Harry was taken aback. Voldemort, the one he knew best, had grown up not far from where he had. Was it just a coincidence?

"Thank you ma'am. That's all I needed." He left and disapparated, this time to Wisteria Walk, number eighteen. He didn't need to take a second look to know this was what he was looking for. The outside looked presentable, but the feeling he got from it was ominous. Like a part of him didn't want to be here. He walked up the path and knocked at the door. A young woman answered.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked.

Harry bowed like a gentleman. "My name is Harry Potter, I'm looking for a Mrs. Cole."

The woman nodded. "Come on in, you must be the inspector." She stepped aside. "MOM!" the lady called. "The inspector's here!"

Harry could see right away that they weren't ready for any inspection. The inside was filthy and unkempt. Harry shivered as a roach crawled up his leg. Disgusting! He was nervous to find out the condition of the children.

Mrs. Cole, an old dumpy woman, with a cigarette hanging from her mouth, came to greet Harry. "Good morning, Mr. Potter was it?" Cole took out her cigarette and breathed out a mess of smoke into Harry's face. "Well as you can plainly see, we are ready for your white glove."

Harry coughed as the smoke traveled down into his lungs. He was trying NOT to lose his temper. This was where Tom Riddle had grown up. He pitied the boy. "Yes, I can see that." he answered with a monotone.

Mrs. Cole took him on a tour. First to the nursery, which tested his patience greatly. This was where his Tom would be if he had sent him back here. It was covered in dirty clothing, messy diapers. Harry wanted to get sick when he saw a pile of fecal matter underneath one of the sorry excuses of a crib. Then to the five and six year old boys' dorm. This time, what made Harry sick was the state of the children; sunken cheek, swollen bellies, sallow complexion. Every room got worse and worse. Finally he caught glimpse of what had to be a two-year old boy. Filthy and torn shirt, no diaper and a definite rash with it's bursting sores. He could stand it no more.

"Mrs. Cole, I'm assuming you were expecting me?"

The old lady nodded. "Yes, we were."

Harry shook, angrily. "Then why didn't you even ATTEMPT to clean this place up?"

Mrs. Cole took a step back. "Well, we did, this has always been enough for the other inspectors. They are just orphans after all." She blew another puff into his face.

Ire driven, Harry snatched the offensive piece of material away from the woman and snapped it in half, putting it out. "Then I want their names please, I am going to have to report them too. This place is a sty, and the condition of these poor helpless children, it sickens me." Harry decided to reveal himself. "It's no wonder Tom Riddle went the way he did! He clearly had reason to hate muggles like yourself!"

Cole came to a realization. "You're not the inspector. Get out of my establishment!" She ordered.

Harry laughed cruelly. "Because of you a little boy grew up to be a murderer, a madman! All because of his treatment here! You, Mrs. Cole, have the blood of hundreds on your hands! And this establishment will not be yours much longer. I intend to purchase the property and see to it that these poor souls are treated properly, and I will take GREAT pleasure in throwing you out of it!" Harry turned and stomped out of the place, but not before using magic to heal the children most harmed by the blatant abuse.

Outside the of the orphanage, Harry noticed the playground he had used to hide at. He trudged to a swing and sat upon it and cried. Cried for the poor boy that had grown into his sword enemy. He'd never known how horrible it had been. No wonder Voldemort had hated muggles so much. First, his muggle father abandons his witch mother to die, then he's raised like this. All he'd ever known was hate. Hogwarts brought little relief as he had to return there every summer. Well, now, Tom had a second chance. And he, Harry, would see that it was not wasted. He stood up from the swing and disapparated to a small red phone booth. He stepped inside and dialed in the numerical code "magic". A voice prompted him to reveal his name and his purpose there. "Harry Potter, child services." He took the pin and proceeded to the wand weighing desk.

After much time he was finally at the child services floor. He stepped up to the desk. The woman there recognized him at once.

"Mr. Potter, whatever can I do for you?" she asked sweetly.

"Ma'am, you've probably heard what happened at the last battle, but just in case you didn't. Voldemort was changed into a two year old. I would like to apply for guardianship and adoption." Harry explained, rapid fire.

The woman's face held a mixture of horror and shock. "Why? Why would you want to ADOPT that….that…" She struggled to find the right word, but Harry knew a perfect term right away.

"That CHILD if you please." he finished. "I wish to adopt him because he needs me. He needs someone to love him. I wish to give him what he never had when he grew up the first time." He told the woman what he'd found at Mrs. Cole's. "He grew up in that hole the first time. I have to make sure that, this time, he has more love than he knows what to do with." He stopped to give the woman time to siphon through the torrent of tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Why, that's horrible, those terrible muggles! It all makes sense, of course, that darned cycle, doesn't make it right o'course, but…" she blew her nose. She fumbled for the correct forms. "Of course, a father is just what he needs now. And, although you're young, I just know you'll be the perfect one for the job." She handed him the forms. "Just fill these out and bring them back with his medical and dental records.

Harry gratefully took the papers and left. He smiled to himself. Maybe he could right the wrongs done, not only to the little boy that Voldemort had once been, but to all the children hurt by this thing.

AN: Sorry for such a long wait. Here's a good chapter to make up for it. And the next chapter will be posted tonight too, promise.