Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. But the idea of the story is mine own.

Chapter 3

Mysteries

"No object is mysterious. The mystery is your eye"~Elizabeth Bowen

A thoughtful look graced Tom Riddle's face. Currently in his room, on his bed was a stranger, a girl whose name he didn't even know. But he was sure of one thing. She had triggered his curiosity and until he could figure out the enigma, the mystery of this girl, she was going to be by his side.

When Tom had returned to the orphanage, Billy Stubbs had already left and the rabbit taken down from the rafters. He was however greeted by Mrs. Cole's weary and frightened gaze. Tom met her eyes and began to take deep, calming breaths. Is mind began to clear and he slowly prodded and delved into her mind.

Where had the boy been? But more importantly, could the boy have done it?

Mrs. Cole's eyes began to exam the boy's stature. Her head begins to shake, trying to get rid of her doubts.

He was too small. Even with a chair, he couldn't reach the ceiling.

But her gaze hardened as she starting recollecting possible, unexplainable events involving the boy.

Unless he could so ridiculous acrobatic jumps. I mean, after all, his mother was probably a…

Abruptly, he backed away from her mind. He had no desire to learn anything about his heritage and parents. What if the truth, the reality was vastly different form the illusion he had created of the woman who died giving birth to him. What if she was nothing special but a woman treated like trash on the streets? What if he was nothing?

He shifted the bundled body in a black cloth on his back. The movement of the fabric revealed the face of the young girl and caught the woman's eye.

"Goodness gracious, Tom! Who is this child? What have you done to her?"

He shrugged, ignoring the implication that he had been the cause of this girl's lack of mind once again wondered at the identity of the girl.

"I found her in the streets. She was alone. i think she's one of us."

Mrs. Cole gave a frown. She started to speak, "There's no extra room for her with the girls. I think we may have to leave her back outside until there's room left."

He glared sharply at her. There was no way this girl was going to slip out of his hands. He put himself together and prepared a charming smile and a little magic behind his words.

"But Mrs. Cole, there is an extra bed in my room after Billy's been adopted. It will be my pleasure to share a room with this young girl. Imagine how cold outside it is tonight. Surely, your warm soul will allow this arrangement."

He felt his disgustedly sweet smile charm the old lady into submission to his wills.

After all, how much harm can a young boy possibly do?

Harry first realized she was in a place warmer than the outside London's winter street. Her fingers slowly touched the blanket, worn out but still providing warmth. Her eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the darkness. She could make out two beds and one wardrobe in a small room. She felt she had walked into an old black and white film as the setting was void of any colors, painted with black and greys. The only light spilled into the room was from the moon outside.

She frowned at the fact that she had fainted in front of Dark Lord. Sure, he was still a young boy but based on her first meeting and her memories, he was still dangerous. Probing at her magical core, she groaned at the depletion. I guess I overdid it with wandless magic in my current situation.

Deducing that her magic has also been reverted to the child state, Harry mentally wanted to hit her head on something really hard. How on earth was she supposed to deal with the future Lord Voldemort if she was a little girl with barely any control over her magic?

As if Merlin was playing around with her, she heard the voice of the boy who was currently the cause of this trouble she was in.

"So, you're awake?"

Acting nonchalantly, she replied, "Thank you for carrying me to your room. But I'll leave now so sorry for the inconveniences tli now."

Then Tom Riddle walked over to her bed and sat on her. In her small body frame, she couldn't push his weight off. After kicking and pinching, she gave up and glared at the boy casually using her as his cushion."What do you want?"

He ignored her questions and instead posed some of his own.

"Are you an orphan?" She nodded. He smirked as he got off and looked at her. "Good, then you'll be staying in this room 27 as a warden of Wool's Orphanage."

Harry noted the hesitation before Tom asked the next question. "How.. how did you do that?"

"Do what?" She only received a glare back as a response.

Harry carefully formed an answer. "I don't know. But I do know it's something special."

She could see him forming another questions. She sighed. He might be like Hermione.

"Do you know what it is?"

Harry shrugged. She didn't know what other word to describe it except "Magic."

He seemed satisfied with her answers. He shuffled to his bed on the opposite end of the room. Harry relaxed and tried to go to sleep but she heard another muttered question. "What's your name?"

She smiled as she whispered, "Harry".

A groan was uttered. "If we have 'magic', you would think our parents would have thought better than to give us some common names. My name is Tom."

She giggled at his frustration.

Lying in bed, she heard the clock strike midnight. Her eyes looked at the small form of the boy, laying on the opposite side of the room. She didn't know if he would hear her but still, she whispered.

"Happy Birthday, Tom."

Hey, I apologize for the lack of update. We moved, had no internet and my computer crashed with my hard drive. I'm not too excited about this chapter ad I'll probably update it later again.

But on the good side, Tom and Harry are interacting. *inner dancing*

One more questions to the readers, would you prefer it to be one POV or is the switching POV ok? It might be easier just to write it from one character's point of view. I don't know..

Anyway, updates will be faster and hope you enjoyed it.

cgrocks