Tom didn't know if it was that he now had Hogwarts to look forward to, the fact that he was a wizard, or that John McBride and Harrison Denton had grown out of the orphanage and apparently ran off to join the King's Army, but he was having the best summer he'd had in a long time. Not that he'd come back with much fanfare, nor had he expected any really. Only one or two of the girls even acknowledged that he was home and the little kids barely remembered him. Billy and Jack and a couple of the older boys who hadn't quite aged out of the orphanage yet were all working through the summer and he was left largely alone during the day.
Once upon a time, he would have preferred this isolation and the calm silence, but having Mia and Tammy chattering by his side every day for the past year had spoiled him and he found himself helping Cook in the kitchen and Ms. Cole with chores to keep himself preoccupied. When the sun would set and the boys came back to the orphanage, Tom found himself most at ease, which was a huge change for the boy.
The rest of the boys didn't seem to truly know what to do with him- he was off at some fancy boarding school during the rest of the year and Billy still had his rabbit. With Denton and McBride gone no one seemed to gain anything from treating him or the younger boys like shit, so there was a kind of vacuum of power that Jack naturally filled in. And Jack was too calm and laid back to be like Denton or McBride.
Tom found himself gravitating towards the other boy when he got home from the grocer's every day and Jack showed him some more tricks for carving and told him about the day to day happenings at the grocers and in the market. Tom, in turn, told him about Hogwarts- nothing about the magic, of course, but told him about it being an old castle and that his roommates largely ignored him. About Mia and Tammy and even about how he'd pretended to have an uncle so no one would tease him or pity him for being an orphan. Jack reminded him a bit of Tammy and Mia. He was kind like Mia, and compassionate, like Tammy, and had the type of insight into people that both the girls tended to have.
And he did have his summer assignments. Luckily it was all written essays and with the other boys all out of the house during the day he was easily able to sprawl his books on his bunk and work on them in peace. Especially if he told the ladies of the house he was working on academic work, they'd keep the girls or any of the younger children from bothering him.
By the end of July, Tom realized he hadn't accounted for something- He needed to get his supplies from Diagon Alley. Professor Slughorn had said that either he or Professor Dumbledore would be along to deliver his supply list and the funds necessary, but if he went with them, and saw someone (besides Chadwick), they'd likely make the connection that his uncle was made up. And while he knew how to get to Diagon Alley, even if he had the funds, he didn't know if he'd be able to transport his supplies back without magic, which he wasn't allowed to do. And he couldn't exactly ask his guardians.
It was hard to believe both how fast and how long summer seemed to be moving along. It didn't feel like the beginning of August and it also felt utterly too long until he could get back to the castle. He still hadn't had a good opening to ask Mrs. Cole if he could nip off to Chadwick's. He'd asked once or twice before, but the woman had wanted a couple of the boys or herself to take him by and he hadn't asked again since.
One particularly hot August afternoon, he was standing in the kitchen helping Cook with the lunch dishes when he realized he heard Mrs. Cole talking to someone in the front room. He didn't think anything of it at first, especially since the postman usually stopped by around that time, but then he recognized the other voice and he dried his hands on a towel and hurried to the other room.
Professor Slughorn looked very odd to Tom if only because he was out of his normal robes he wore to classes and around the school and instead was squeezed into a dark grey suit that looks a bit stretched around the stomach. He was making small talk with Mrs. Cole who was eating up the charm.
"Hello Professor," Tom said dutifully, standing a little taller when he stopped beside Mrs. Cole and his Head of House.
"Good Afternoon Tom," Professor Slughorn replied cheerfully. He wished half the Slytherins would act, even if it was just an act, like their Head of House did. "Enjoying your summer? Did you start your homework yet?" The man asked with a wink.
"Yessir," Tom answered. "I've already finished it."
"There's a good lad," Professor Slughorn said, patting Tom's shoulders with a few heavy thumps, "I was just telling Miss Cole here that you're one of my best students, I don't think I've ever seen you fail a test or miss your homework, I wish half my students were as well behaved as you."
"And what do you teach at the school, Professir?" Mrs. Cole prompted, looking thoroughly impressed with the man.
"Mathematics," Professor Slughorn replied without missing a beat, and Tom realized he hadn't even thought of how to explain that one. "You must have been quite the tutor for Tom to be as good at his numbers as he is, ma'am."
Mrs. Cole blushed and waved a hand, "Oh, you're flatterin' me, Professir, now, are you here to take Tom along to pick up his supplies like Professir Dumbledore did last year?"
Tom swallowed and Professor Slughorn smiled and nodded, "Oh yes, well, not today, I wanted to confirm a time with you and Tom-"
"Professor," Tom interrupted, earning a look of annoyance from Mrs Cole and a quick glance from his Head of House, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wondered if there's any way I could pick my supplies up with Chadwick- he and his mother invited me to go with them when they get theirs." The lie came out before he could even think about it, but it wasn't a half-bad one- Chadwick and his mother had invited him over when he'd last seen him on the platform, and this would give him a good excuse to go off with them and for no one at Diagon Alley to question why he was shopping with his Head of House, and not his 'uncle.'
"Well, I don't see why not," Professor Slughorn said, reaching into the jacket of his suit and pulling out an envelope and handing it to Tom. "It would actually save me a bit of time and a bit of coin, if you know what I mean, Mrs. Cole," He winked at the woman who giggled, "Go out to the shops and see something and have to pick it up, you know how it is."
"Thank you, Professor," Tom said, nearly sighing with relief. He opened the letter carefully and realized there was no money inside. Not that the coins would be easily stored in the parchment envelope, but he wasn't quite certain how he was to pay for his school supplies.
Noticing Tom's confused look, Professor Slughorn patted his shoulder again, "Now, only buy what's on the list, as I'm sure you know, and take your uniform in to make sure it still fits- the stores you went to with Professor Dumbledore will all have a tab for students in circumstances like your own and we'll handle the bill."
"Thank you, Professor," Tom repeated, folding the list back over. Professor Slughorn held out his hand and Tom took it, trying to mirror the tight grip as he shook the older man's hand.
"Of course, my boy, don't worry about a thing. And of course your ticket for the train is in there as well, September the first, as usual." The man said, turning and shaking Mrs. Cole's hand as well before drawing her in and kissing her on both cheeks, flustering the woman further.
"Have a good rest of your summer!" Professor Slughorn said as he bid his farewell. Tom waved at the man as Mrs. Cole held the door open for him before looking at Mrs. Cole, trying to decide how to best approach his request.
"I see that look, Tom," Mrs. Cole said, closing the door, "You know what I said about going across London by yourself, you need to take someone with you."
Tom frowned, "But everyone older than me is working, and by then it'll be too late." Tom pursued, following Mrs. Cole back to the kitchen.
"When one of the other boys comes back they can walk you to your little friend's house- or you could phone them and see if they can pick you up." Mrs. Cole said dismissively, "Or I'll run you by on the weekend when I'm in the market."
Tom paused in the doorway and frowned. Chadwick had given him his home address but not a phone number, and there wasn't a chance in hell he'd bring Mrs. Cole along to Diagon Alley. He spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between doing chores and trying to convince the older woman to let him out to wander through London on his own. However the woman would not be budged and by the later part of the afternoon, he'd managed to sweep and mop all three floors of the orphanage and rang out the laundry when Mrs. Cole was done washing it and began to hang it out on the lines to dry. He truly wondered if Mrs. Cole would even notice if he just said he was going to read up in his room and then left. After all, he didn't need to go to Diagon Alley immediately but did need to talk to Chadwick about planning to go with them.
"Stuck with laundry duty, eh?" A voice from behind the sheets asked and Tom finished clipping a sheet into place.
"Uh, yeah," He said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Jack ducked under one of the damp sheets and shoved his hands in his pockets. He still had his apron on from the grocer's and his sleeves on his shirt were rolled up and his hair brown hair was wet from what Tom assume was sweat. "Back from the grocer already?"
"Yeah, Mr. Klein said I'd been there long enough," The boy said, reaching down and grabbing a shirt from the basket. Tom took it from him and clipped it to the line. "Mrs. Cole said you need to go to a mate's house," Jack said, sliding his hands into his pockets, "One of your friends from your fancy school."
Tom nodded. "Yeah, I need to talk to him about going to get school supplies before the term starts." If Mrs. Cole was going to insist on having someone escort him to Chadwick's house, it wasn't so bad that it was Jack. Besides, he could probably ditch him at the door- right?
"Sure, you have his address?" Jack asked grabbing the empty basket up from the ground as Tom pinned up the last pair of trousers. Tom told him and Jack smirked, "Good Lord, that's not that far, but it's a decent walk. C'mon, we should leave before it gets dark."
Tom nodded his head in eager agreement and realized as they headed through the orphanage to tell Mrs. Cole they were leaving if he should change into something nicer. He only had some nice outfits and a suit for church services, outside of his uniforms, but it would look better than the khakis and stained white shirt he was wearing. Ultimately Jack convinced him it was a waste of time and Tom listened and followed him out the front gates after a short lecture from their guardian on being careful and to be back as soon as possible.
"She acts like I don't walk by myself to work every morning," Jack grumbled, biting a corner of his nail off. "Guess she's worried about her golden goose."
"What?" Tom demanded shooting a look at the older boy.
"You," Jack said, successfully peeling off the jagged nail. "Get into some fancy school, if you go missing or get snatched up or hit by a car your school would come asking questions- unlike the rest of us."
Tom felt his cheeks warm and he shook his head, "Unlikely, maybe if it were the rest of the students, but I'm just a nobody with no parents who happened to get good grades." While part of that was a lie, the rest was the truth. Sure Professor Slughorn might show up if he never got on the Hogwarts Express, but he doubted a whole lot of fuss would be made if he just disappeared. Mia and Tammy might try to make a bigger deal out of it, but they were just two twelve year old girls.
"Keep saying that, hotshot," Jack said, wrapping an arm around Tom's shoulder and pulling him in for a side hug as he ruffled and fluffed up Tom's hair. "If someone who isn't a tyke gets adopted it's going to be you- some fancy bloke who wants a smart kid who knows fancy words and how to do maths and can pick up different languages-"
"That's not going to happen," Tom said, ducking out of Jack's grasp and trying to flatten his hair. "No one is interested in any of the kids past three or four, even if they're smart."
"Fine, smart and handsome- Jeez you're really fishing for those compliments, Riddle," Jack said with a smirk, earning a look from the younger boy. "Besides, you said you had two girlfriends at your fancy school."
"Friends who are girls," Tom said, stressing the first and last words. "There's a difference." He didn't know what he was more flustered by, Jack's teasing or the implications that he'd date Mia or Tammy. He'd listened to the older students and their talks of arranged marriages, in some of the more extreme circumstances, or trying to find equal matches with other influential families, in the less extreme circumstances. Of which he was not from.
"Bloke like you is gonna get a line of them," Jack continued on, ignoring the indignant look Tom was giving him.
"You have a line of them," Tom shot back, earning a bemused look from Jack, "With Denton and McBride gone, Amy's been swooning for your attention along with the rest of the girls at Wool's."
"Yeah, I'm not interested in any of them," Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders, "They're all…." He trailed off and Tom gave him a look, waiting for him to continue. "You know."
"No," Tom shot back, "I don't."
Jack rolled his eyes and sidestepped a woman pushing a child in a stroller. "They're all like us, just kind of looking for better than Wool's. It's just something to distract themselves with before they can leave and get married to some rich bloke and have a pretty house with kids."
"Maybe they want the pretty house and kids to be with you," Tom said with a smirk, earning a gentle shove.
"Nah," Jack said, "I work at a grocer's and I'll probably see if I can get some work at the docks when I'm fifteen, I'll be one of those guys that will either work until I die or I'll be drafted and then die in this stupid war."
"There isn't going to be a war," Tom said, still frowning. "It's a bunch of nonsense, especially after what happened with the Great War-"
"Is this it?" Jack interrupted, pointing to a row of townhouses. "Ritzy."
'It's not "ritzy"," Tom said, looking around for one of the numbers to confirm they were at the right stoop. "Yeah, this is it. Thanks."
"Need me to wait around?" Jack asked, shoving his hands in his pockets, leaning against one of the low lying walls that wrapped around immaculate garden beds of flowers. Tom looked at the door and then back to the muggle boy and shook his head. "No, but thanks Jack, I appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it," The older boy said, freeing his hand from his pocket and reaching out to squeeze Tom's shoulder once. "I'll tell ole Cole that your mate's gonna bring you back. Make sure you don't' get in any trouble." Tom nodded and waited until the other boy was out of sight and around the corner to approach the seemingly ordinary door and knock. There were a few moments of quiet and Tom eyed the door, and the ordinary flowers on either side of the stoop. What if he'd gotten the address mixed up? Could a wizarding family live in such a normal looking house? He cleared his throat, uneasy and growing nervous and was about to knock again when he heard the locks on the door slide open and the handle turned.
Chadwick looked almost odd out of uniform, which he'd stayed in even as they disembarked from the Express. Tom was almost glad he didn't change because he would have looked out of place next to the other boy who was also in a dirty blue shirt and scuffed pants.
"Tom?" The boy asked, looking at him in confusion and then smiling, "Ah, so you didn't abandon me and mum. Great, I thought you'd ignore me as long as ya could."
Tom shook his head and stepped inside as Chadwick held the door open for him. "Nah, of course not- My guardians, her name is Mrs. Cole and she wouldn't let me come here without an escort- she said it was too far for me to walk by myself and I had to wait for one of the older boys to actually get off of work on time to bring me 'round."
"Next time Mum and I can just come by and get you," Chadwick said, closing the door behind him. Despite what Chadwick had said about his family's money trouble, the house was beautiful, There were framed moving images of the family hung throughout the hall, but little in the way of furniture crowding the entryway and the landing for the stairs.
"Mum's in the kitchen getting dinner ready, she was wondering who would be stopping by- we don't exactly get many visitors," Chadwick explained, running his hand over the back of his neck. His wild dirty blond hair had gotten longer and he looked like he's grown some- his face even looked slimmer and Tom wondered if he looked much different than he had when they'd ended the term.
Tom followed the Gryffindor to the kitchen, observing the home around him. It was nice, beautiful and clean, but he could see where there was less furniture than a house of this type would have, no cabinets showing off priceless possessions, no elaborate paintings outside of a few family portraits and non-animated landscapes.
"Mum painted those," Chadwick said, sounding a bit proud when he caught Tom looking over a scene of a cottage in a forest, surrounded by brilliantly covered trees. "Her and my grandmum were really good at it, some of the best are upstairs in the hall."
"Is that where you get your drawing ability from?" Tom asked, thinking back on all the sketches Chadwick would draw into the margins of his notes. Some of them were quite detailed and it was a bit soothing to watch him scribble away at the parchment with his quill.
Chadwick shook his head, "Nah, I'm not nearly as good as them, I just like to doodle."
"He's better at drawing with pencil and a quill than I am," Mrs. Chadwick said, emerging from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel that was tucked into the apron tied around her waist. "I just like painting landscapes- it's soothing." She smiled, pulling Tom in for a quick hug, "I'm so glad you stopped by Tom, Chadwick's been quite bored here so far this summer. Usually, I can't keep him inside."
"I've gone outside," Chadwick said indignantly and his mother released Tom and pressed a quick kiss to her son's forehead. "Of course you have, the back garden has never looked better, love." She looked back at Tom and straightened, "Do you want to stay for dinner? It will be done soon."
"Uh, that would be great, ma'am, thank you-" The words were barely out of his mouth and the older woman was shepherding both boys into the kitchen area. It was a little tight, not nearly as big as the kitchen area they had at Wool's but Wool's was also an orphanage made for housing a horde of children, versus the smaller townhouse he was currently standing in. All of the appliances were older as well, looking of a similar type to the ones Cook had in their kitchen and there was a small round wooden table at the end of the room by a large window, looking out into the back garden.
"I made shepherd's pie, I hope you don't mind it," Mrs. Chadwick said happily, opening the door to the oven and checking on the food inside. "Just has a bit longer and it will be done- Can I get you anything to drink?"
"Mum, it's fine, he's fine," Chadwick said, clearly beginning to look uncomfortable.
"Nonsense, he just walked all the way over here," Mrs. Chadwick said, her hands on her hips, "Learn to be a better host, Keegan."
"Water is fine, ma'am," Tom said instead. His mouth did feel a bit dry but he didn't want to cause a fuss. The boys both took a seat at the small round table and Tom could see the back garden more clearly from it. It was similar to how the rest of the house looked so far, clean and minimalistic, there was an old wooden gazebo with some iron wrought furniture on it, but nothing fancy and a few flower beds that looked freshly weeded and trimmed.
"The garden does look pretty good, Chadwick," Tom complimented and before the other boy could reply his mother was there, setting down three glasses of water and taking a seat.
"Yes, I've been working a lot this summer and he's been spending his time keeping the place from falling apart- he's done marvelously." She complimented, beaming at her son. "How has your summer been, Tom?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.
"I haven't done much," Tom said with a slight shrug as he took his glass of water and sipped at it slowly. "I've already finished my homework and with most of the boys my age and older working jobs during the summer, I've been stuck doing a lot of chores and helping with the younger kids some."
"Well I'm glad you were able to make it by- I told Keegan that if we didn't hear from you in the next couple weeks we'd stop by and see if everything was alright." Mrs. Chadwick said with that gentle smile Tom kept seeing on her like she was worried about the world around her and wanted to take care of him. Chadwick, on the other hand, was giving his mom a look that clearly said he wanted her to shut up, even if he refused to voice it.
"Have you gotten your letter for next year yet?" Tom asked, and Chadwick shook his head, "Professor Slughorn brought mine by this morning and I wanted to ask if I could go with you both to pick up my supplies." He left off the part about wanting to do so since shopping with Slughorn might imply or clue in some people on Tom's living arrangements or less-than-desirable circumstances, but he figured Chadwick would catch on that much. Plus, he didn't want Mrs. Chadwick to feel he was using her- while he was in a small way, he would much prefer her and Chadwick's company to Professor Slughorn. The man wasn't entirely awful, but Tom had no doubt he'd spend the entire time talking about himself and explaining how he knew every other person they saw on the street and in the shops.
"Of course you can, dear," Mrs. Chadwick said, looking excited, "I have the weekends off, so once Chadwick receives his we'll make a plan to head over to Diagon Alley, just the three of us- I'm sure Keegan will be happy to have a friend along this time around- he was very nervous last year."
"I was not," Chadwick retorted, looking horrified by his mother's betrayal.
"I was," Tom shot back, smirking at the other boy, "It didn't help that Professor Dumbledore unsettled me- just a bit," He admitted.
"Try having him for your Head of House," Chadwick replied with a huff, leaning his elbows on the table as he slouched forward, "He's a bit barmy, once he gave a detention to someone for throwing a crackling-whizz across the common room, but when the quidditch team won their first game of the season he didn't bat an eye when one of the sixth years set off an entire box of fireworks."
"Professor Dumbledore is a charming man," Mrs. Chadwick said simply, "He may be a bit mad, but he's brilliant." She paused and pushed herself up from the table and went to check on the shepherd's pie and Chadwick gave Tom a look.
"I'll probably get my letter in the next couple of days if you got yours today, even if it was hand-delivered. How does this Saturday sound for Diagon Alley?" Chadwick asked, sounding a bit more like himself. Tom wondered if he was nervous having a schoolmate over to his home, or if it was that Tom, in particular, knew more about his home life than the rest of their friends. He supposed it was a bit of Column A and a bit of Column B.
"Saturday sounds great," Tom agreed readily, "Would you and your mom be able to stop by Wool's so I don't have to arrange someone to get me there?"
"I think we can manage that," Mrs. Chadwick said, brightly, pulling the pie from the oven and resting it on the stovetop as she went to pull plates out of the cupboard. "We'll need all the standard supplies for the second years, and both of you will need to have your robes looked at. Keegan's already grown two inches this summer and the robes were already looking short on him before that- and Tom you look like you're shooting up too." Tom smiled as the woman carried on, making a list out loud for them of the things they'd need to do and what shops they'd need to see first.
Much like the year before, Tom was greatly looking forward to his trip to Diagon Alley.
A/N: I'm sorry for the late post (again). It's been kind of insane in real life for me, I was out of town on Saturday and forgot to edit and post and by the time I remembered it was Sunday night and I wanted to double-check it in the morning with fresh eyes. This chapter was supposed to be entirely different (in the original plan), but when I ended up writing Chadwick in as a confidante it effected how this would have played out. I think the story's better off for it though. Another Diagon Alley next chapter!
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).