DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS. THIS IS A NON-PROFIT FAN STORY FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENTERTAINMENT

WARNING: THIS FANFICTION CONTAINS COURSE LANGUAGE, SCENES OF NUDITY, AND VIOLENCE, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

CHAPTER 2:

With the flash of light the Dark Lord felt his mind and magic ripped from his body. He would not admit it to anyone, even himself, later but the feeling of terror that gripped him in that moment was overwhelming. Colours and sounds whipped past him in a hailstorm before it all came crashing down and he felt himself growing heavy as he settled into his other selfs body, felt the mind that resided there give way. The feeling of the other mind giving way was odd to him; he felt that his other self should have put up more of a fight, in such he felt disappointed in his other self.

Opening his eyes he looked around at his surroundings. He couldn't help but groan to himself, no wonder his other self gave way so easily, he was back at the orphanage. Back in the hellhole that fostered his hate for muggles. He sat up on his small bed and took inventory of himself, he was small, very small, and he would guess his current age to be around 7 or 8 years old. Blast it all to hell. He looked around the room and noticed one thing different this time than when he was truly a child, there was a second bed in the corner, it was kept neat like all the beds in the orphanage as was the rule, but he did notice small stains that looked like blood, not fresh blood, but blood that someone has tried to scrub away and hide.

Tom, as he remembered he would have to get used to being called again, began looking through his memories and realized that there were a few memories that his body remembered. He knew things about this world that he was sure never happened in his own. The bed across from him belonged to his roommate, he had never bothered to find out much about the boy as he had just came to the orphanage the day prior, the blood on the sheets was probably from the beating the boy got from a few of the older boys for asking questions.

Rule number 1: Don't ask questions. It was a well established rule for those living there; newbie's learned it quick enough. Here you learn or you die, that's just the way it was in 1933.

Rule number 2: If you are small, keep your head down and shut up; if you didn't then the caretakers and older kids made your life hell.

The door to the hallway opened and his roommate entered, Tom would guess his age about 7, same as himself, but he seemed small. The boy had black unruly hair that went just past his shoulders, the caretakers would be getting rid of that today most likely, they believed boys should have short hair. The boys clothing seemed at least 4 sizes too big for him, and the glasses perched upon his nose stirred Tom's memory, they looked too damn close to the Potter brat's glasses. The boy's eyes were closed as if in pain and judging by the limp then he was. The boy limped his way to his bed and sat on it before looking at Tom.

"Hi, I never got to properly meet you, I'm Alexius but you can call me Alex seeing as I'll be your roommate for the next 10 years unless one of us gets adopted"

The boy seemed unbelievably cheery given his situation. His piercing green eyes bright and yet cautious despite the cheeriness of his voice. There was a slight accent to his words that Tom couldn't place in that moment.

"Tom" Was all he said. Alex's cheeriness seemed a little more forced now but the smile on his face remained.

"So… how long have you been here?"

Tom was unsure how to answer, here he had a new chance, he could be whoever he wanted. His soul was whole and un-fractured.

"I was born here"

They ended up talking until one of the older boys came to get them for lunch. Tom kept Alex close to him, during the talk Tom felt the familiar hum of magic under the other boys skin, and he wasn't about to let a possible ally out of his sight, maybe this time he would have a friend when he entered Hogwarts.

Tom discretely willed his 'accidental' magic to divert most of the other children's attention from Alex and him, without a wand he couldn't very well do much but he would do all he could this time around to stop many things from happening.

After lunch finished they were left to their own devices, well, everyone but Alex. Mr. Sam, one of the caretakers, asked Alex to come with him to talk about something or other. Tom went back to his room and waited for Alex to return.

3 hours pass before Alex returns, he's limping worse and has a few new bruises. Tom asks what happened but Alex just shakes his head and mumbles everything's fine. Alex was silent for the rest of the day and night, the only sound coming from him came after they went to sleep, that's when Tom heard him crying.

PLEASE REVIEW