Before he'd left him at the orphanage, Professor Dumbledore had stopped Tom at the gates of the orphanage and handed Tom a slim envelope. "Inside is your ticket for the Hogwarts Express." He said seriously, "Now listen closely, or else you won't know how to get on it."

Tom had nodded his head and listened, but he had to admit he was just a little skeptical of the instructions. He'd been to King's Cross twice in his life and there weren't any half or quarter platforms, so he hoped Professor Dumbledore wasn't completely insane when he said he needed to run in between the two platforms to get to the proper one. Professor Dumbledore had spoken to Mrs. Cole about him getting a lift, and Cook promised she'd drop him off after she was done cleaning up breakfast.

The wait was agonizing. Tom spent the two weeks reading his books from front to back, and then when he found he'd finished them all, read them again to any snakes who would listen. A few of them would let him ramble on only because they liked him, but otherwise, he'd be halfway into a chapter before he'd noticed they'd slithered off. At night, when he was certain all the other boys were asleep, he'd open the trunk and pull the box with his wand out, looking at it and occasionally touching it. Professor Dumbledore had told him he wasn't allowed to do magic outside of school until he was of age, so instead, he practiced the words and movements with his fingers. Nothing ever happened, though he swore he saw his pillow twitch once or twice. Only once did Denton try to pick the lock on his trunk and Mrs. Cole walloped him so good that he didn't even look at Tom's trunk again, though plenty of sneers were shot in the eleven year old's direction.

Thursday, September 1st, Tom was up and had anything and everything he owned packed neatly in his trunk. He already had on the school uniform sans his robe and had his envelope with his ticket folded and tucked carefully in his trousers. He ate his food quickly and cleaned up his mess, but not everyone else was moving as quickly as he was. The rest of the children didn't return to school until the following Monday, so many of them were trying to sleep in, which made him groan and want to slam his head against a wall. He ended up helping Mrs. Garter with two of the little ones instead. They weren't old enough for him to be able to impress with his ability to talk to snakes, so instead, he drew shapes on one of the little chalkboards Mrs. Garter used for their lessons and let them shout out the shapes at him until Mrs. Garter came back. Every time he looked at the clock, he could feel his leg bouncing faster with anticipation.

After what felt like ages, Cook came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and she'd barely said his name and he was up. Mrs. Garter gave him a quick one-arm hug as she took one of the toddlers back from him and patted his head and he ran and shouted a goodbye at Mrs. Cole who was working on the wash with some of the girls. In short order he and Cook had his trunk loaded into the back of the car and they were on their way to King's Cross.

Cook, luckily, wasn't as affectionate as Mrs. Garter, or as strict as Mrs. Cole, and the moment he pointed at Platform Nine and said he was ready and had his ticket, she gave him one quick pat on the head and left him be to board on his own. He waited until she was completely out of sight before he turned the trolley around and found the barrier between Platform Nine and Ten.

He swallowed as he stared at the brick wall. No one else was going through it, but it was also early, barely after nine. The ticket said the departure time wasn't until eleven, so it was possible he was the first person there. Part of him hoped that was true, and part of him didn't. He both longed to be the only person there, able to scope the place out and find the best seat and get settled before any other kids showed up, but also didn't want to be noticed by all the people who would arrive after him. He chewed on a corner of his lip and took a deep breath and took a few steps back.

His hands tight on the handles of the trolley, he pushed it forward. He half expected someone to yell at him to stop or to watch out, but no one paid him any mind and he flinched when he hit the barrier.

Only he didn't hit the barrier. Just as professor Dumbledore said, he went through it without a problem and he blinked as he looked around at the empty platform in front of him. He heaved a sigh of relief and then smiled, slowly pushing the trolley up to one of the open doors of the train.

A man waving his wand, muttering under his breath and Tom paused behind him, wondering who he needed to check his ticket with. The man didn't notice him however and waved his wand. Several of the windows slid open in unison and then slid shut. "Windows, check," The man said quietly and then began waving his wand again.

"Excuse me, sir," Tom said quietly and the man jumped just a little. He turned and looked Tom up and down and blinked, before looking at the watch on his wrist. "Goodness, you panicked me, I thought maybe I'd lost track of time," The man let out a breathy laugh and shook his head. "You're a bit early, yeah?"

Tom nodded his head. "My- mom could only drop me off now." He said, the lie rolling relatively easily off his tongue. It was more that he didn't want to try and explain to the random man in front of him his entire situation and it was easier to lie about it.

"Fair enough, fair enough, she's probably a hard-working lady," The man said and looked up and down the train. "Hmm, well, everything's about set anyways, you can go ahead and load up anywhere you'd like- uh… ticket, I suppose- and do you need help with your trunk?"

Tom handed the man his ticket and shook his head, which he'd regret later, as he tried to maneuver the trunk into the storage department and grabbed a robe and a couple of books out of it first to keep him occupied. He pulled the robes on, and even though they were secondhand, he couldn't tell. They were nice and fit him well and he held his belongings close as he climbed onto the train. He had his pick, all the compartments were roomy and had comfortable chairs and he picked one of the ones in the middle, sitting next to the window where he'd have a good sight of all the other families once they arrived, but also able to duck and keep out of sight if he needed to.

He tried rereading one of his books again, but he had a hard time paying attention. Any time there was any sort of noise, he'd look cautiously out the window, but the first few times it was just the man who had taken his ticket. It wasn't until later on that he heard a pounding of feet and saw two girls emerging onto the platform, trolleys in front of them, talking animatedly to each other while they parents followed behind. They were older, probably in their teens and Tom shrank a bit in his seat, hoping they wouldn't notice him.

They didn't. Instead, they gave their parents hugs and kisses, promising to write. One of the mothers scolded her daughter, telling her she better not receive any news about her skipping classes, while the other girl grabbed a cage with a large grey owl off the top of her trunk while their fathers loaded the trunks onto the train. The man from before, a conductor, Tom thought he was called, greeted them and took their tickets. As all this happened, more people began to arrive, and much of the same began to play out over with each family. Tom ignored the tight feeling in his chest and instead tried to memorized faces. Did anyone look familiar? Not that they would, he doubted any other students starting would have gone to school with him, or know him from London- wizards and witches likely ran in completely different circles, judging from what Diagon Alley had looked like.

Lost in thought and people watching, he'd hardly noticed that people were beginning to stream past his compartment on the train, finding their own seats. No one was paying him any mind either, not recognizing him and seeking out their own friends or compartments they wanted. It wasn't until the door to his compartment slid open and a young girl smiled and waved at him that he jumped and turned to look at her.

"Hi! Are you saving these seats?" The girl asked brightly, waving her hands at the compartment. Tom blinked and looked around and then shook his head. The girl looked well kept with strawberry blonde curls and a round freckled face, and clothes that looked newer than anything he owned- including his wand.

"Is it alright if I sit here then?" She asked, pulling a small tote into the room with her, "I don't know hardly anyone except my cousin and he's off with the prefects right now and my friend hasn't gotten here yet."

Tom nodded slowly and she flashed a bright smile and slid the compartment door shut behind her and flopped onto the seat opposite of him. "Are you a first year too?" She asked excitedly. "My name is Euphemia, but everyone just calls me Mia," she stuck her hand out and Tom took it, giving her a quick shake.

"Yeah, I'm Tom," he said politely. He wanted to make a good first impression, but he was nervous he'd mess it up. What if he did or said something wrong?

"Do you know what house you want to be in?" Mia asked, curling one of her feet under as she adjusted in her seat. Tom shook his head automatically. He'd read about each of them when he'd read through Hogwarts, A History, but each of the houses seemed to possess some attributes he liked. Mia continued on happily despite his quiet response.

"I don't think I mind which house I get-" She said, looking out the window, "My mom was a Ravenclaw and my dad was a Gryffindor, and my cousin is in Slytherin, my whole family has pretty much been spread out and they all liked them, so I'm sure I'll enjoy where I get put." She paused and looked back to him, "What about your family?"

Tom froze for only a moment before lying seamlessly, "I don't know about my parents, they're dead, but my uncle was in Ravenclaw." He didn't know why he picked that house specifically- probably because she said her mom had been in it- crap, his insides seized slightly. What if she asked for his name? Or asked her mom if she knew him? While one part viewed this as a chance to recreate himself- no longer a pathetic orphan with a freak trick, but a proper wizard with a proper home and family, even if they were a bit made up, another part wondered if someone would sniff the lie out immediately.

But she didn't ask. Instead, she made a face. "I'm sorry," she said and he shook his head. He should have gone for the full lie, just saying his mom or dad was in Ravenclaw- he hated the pity people tried to give him when they found out he was an orphan.

"It's okay, I don't remember them." He'd always found telling partial truths mixed with a lie worked best. He was able to tell the lie more flawlessly and remember it easier than making up something completely.

Mia nodded her head, still looking sad, but less with pity, and more sympathy, as if she understood. "My cousin's parents passed away too- his dad died just after the war and his mom passed away not long after that, he's lived with me and my parents ever since."

Tom gave a small smirk of understanding and nodded his head. Mia gave him a genuine smile and he decided he liked Mia, the sincerity was almost disorienting. He wondered if many of the students would be like this- he'd interacted with other children from outside of Wool's when he was in class, but most of them had avoided him. Many of the boys had friends and walked home together and purposely left him out of any games during break, and the girls didn't even look in his direction, let alone try to be nice to him.

"Oh!" Mia said excitedly, jumping up so she was kneeling on her seat. She reached up and pulled on the locks for the compartment's window and began to pull it down, "Tammy!" She called, waving out the window, "I have a seat!" She paused as she waved some more and then ducked her head back in and closed the window, flopping back into the seat again.

"Sorry," She said, smoothing her skirt, "That was my friend- she's going to be a first year too, I hope it's okay I invited her."

Tom shrugged his shoulders, "It's fine with me."

While they waited for Tammy, Mia pulled a deck of cards from her tote and lowered the table from the wall, shuffling them and Tom leaned forward, resting his elbows on the corner of it, listening to her and she began telling him about a game her cousin taught her. The train's whistle called a warning as the time ticked closer to eleven, but Tom ignored it, his nervousness from before settled.

The compartment door slid open and a girl with straight brown hair tied into a messy braid with a woven carrier pushed into the room. "Sorry- sorry, Mum was running late and we realized we forgot the food for Kelly so we had to turn the car around and go back to get it-" She paused as she set the carrier on the table, and shut the door behind her. "Oh- hi, who's he?" She asked happily, looking at Tom.

The woven carrier yowled indignantly before Tom could answer and the girl rolled her eyes and unlatched it. "Hush, Kelly, you've only been in there five minutes, act like you're dying why don't you-" A large white cat pushed its way out of the carrier bag and hopped onto the seat beside Tom, sniffing him cautiously before hopping over to Mia and climbing into her lap.

"This is Tom," Mia explained, running her hand over the cat, who settled and began purring loudly, "Tom, this is my friend Tamara-"

"No one calls me Tamara unless Mum is shrieking at me," She told Mia and then looked to Tom, "Tammy Baggley."

"Tom Riddle," He said politely as she lifted the carrier and shoved it up into the storage area by Mia's tote.

"Oh ha, so do you like riddles and word games then?" She asked, sliding into the seat next to Mia and then shook her head, "Sorry- stupid joke, of course you do. Ignore me."

"Tammy's a bit daft sometimes," Mia said teasingly, settling the cards and beginning to deal out a hand for each of them, "But I love her all the same."

Tammy punched Mia in the shoulder but rolled her eyes, leaning on her friend as she took her cards. "Good, no one else will. You both excited?" She asked, looking between them. "The only time I was away from Mum and Dad was last winter my grandmother took me to Paris for two weeks."

Tom looked at the other girl, vaguely impressed. She'd been to Paris? Mia just shrugged, "Justin," she paused and look at Tom, "He's my cousin I told you about- Justin says that you only notice it the first week or so and then you get so busy with classes and quidditch and stuff that you don't even notice it. Explains why he never wrote as often as he said he would."

"Maybe he was glad to be rid of you," Tammy said, smirking. She looked to Tom expectantly, "What about you?"

"What about me?" Tom replied evenly.

"Being homesick," She said with exasperation, rolling her eyes. She reached up and pulled the ribbon from her hair and began undoing the braids.

Tom shrugged, "I'll be fine, I'm sure I'll like it more than being at home." He'd never referred to the orphanage as home before, but if he was going with the story that he lived with his uncle- should his uncle be married? Did he have an aunt? He'd need to decide that quickly- then he'd be better off thinking of it as a home from now on.

"Where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?" Tammy asked.

"London," Tom answered truthfully. That one was a bit easier. London was big, he could live just about anywhere and it wouldn't be odd someone might not know him.

"Oh that must be amazing," Tammy said wistfully, "We live south of Taunton in a wizarding village, there's nothing out there and it's boring."

"Do you like London?" Mia asked.

"It's okay," Tom said, "It's very busy, lots of noise- but it's nice being close to Diagon Alley."

Tammy made a noise that Tom took for agreement and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off as the train's whistle sounded again, this time long, drawing everyone's attention. Mia and Tammy both pushed to the window, and Tom looked over his shoulder at the adults waving at them from the platform, the last of the kids hurrying to get on.

"Bye Mrs. Baggley!" Mia yelled and Tammy whistled, blowing her mother a kiss, "See you at Christmas!"

Tom caught sight of the woman they were waving too, standing with a few other mothers. She looked a lot like Tammy- the same hair and general face shape and she made a shape of a heart with her hands and yelled something that Tom couldn't make out. Her chest twisted again, but something bumped against his hand and he found Kelly climbing slowly into his lap, shoving its head against Tom's hand aggressively, demanding his attention. This was good. It was going to be great.