When We Were Young

BONUS CHAPTER #1

A/N

Hello readers! This is one of five of the bonus chapters that I am writing in celebration for WWWY hitting 100k views! I hope you enjoy! 😄

P. S. Tom is 7 and Harry is 6 in this chapter!

¤¤¤¤¤

August 22nd, 1938

"Hey, Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"Where did everyone go?"

"I don't know."

The two boys were sitting on a brick ledge, their legs swinging as they looked at the lion habitat across from them.

The Matron had taken the whole orphanage to the zoo since some rich person donated a bunch of pounds. The food had been better quality than usual for the past few days and everyone got a new pair of trousers or some other article of clothing that they needed.

It had been a good week so far, but it seemed that Tom and Harry were lost. They had turned away from everyone for a few seconds to see the lions, and when they turned back, everyone was gone.

Poof.

"Do you reckon they'll find us?" Harry asked, peering up at Tom with innocent green eyes.

"Eventually," was the older boy's answer.

Harry hummed, jumping down from the ledge. "Well, there's no point in waiting here. Wanna go see the other animals, now?"

Tom frowned at Harry. Such a mature look on a seven-year-old's face was funny to see for Harry.

"If we move, it'll be harder to find us."

Harry shrugged. "We can always ask the workers where the exit is if we aren't found by the time the park closes. We might as well see the animals with all the time we have! This might be the only time we have the money to go to the zoo!"

Tom hummed uncertainly, slightly shifting as he thought of the pros and cons.

"Don't be a chicken, Tom."

Tom froze, his left eye twitching at the childish taunt. "Excuse me?"

Harry smirked and put his hands underneath his armpits, flapping his elbows like a pair of wings. "Bock bock!"

Tom jumped off of the ledge, glaring and scowling at Harry. "Stop being so childish."

Harry smiled coyly, cocking his head and letting out another chicken noise. "If it's so childish, why are you so angry, huh?"

"Shut up," Tom grumbled, hurriedly stomping off in the direction of the zebra enclosure.

"Wait for me!" Harry squealed, running after his best friend.

Tom huffed, but slightly slowed his pacing so that Harry could catch up to him, ignoring the million-watt smile Harry sent his way.

"Brat," Tom murmured.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Harry threw back, swinging his arms back and forth as they walked closer and closer to the zebra habitat.

"What are you? 5? No grown person says that anymore," Tom said snobbishly, giving Harry his famous side-eye.

"No, I'm six, and it's not like we're grown people, Tom. You're barely seven!" Harry exclaimed, almost hitting an old lady in the face with his hand when he threw his arms up in the air to emphasize his exasperation to Tom.

"Still older than you. Respect your elders," Tom coolly retorted, grabbing Harry's arms and forcing them back down, shooting the old lady an apologetic look.

"I wouldn't call someone older than me by one year my elder, Tom," Harry scowled, pushing Tom's hands off of his elbows.

"I wasn't talking about me," Tom said dryly, motioning to the old lady behind Tom, who was waiting for an apology from Harry.

Harry looked between Tom and the old lady, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But, I didn't do anything to the lady. . ."

Tom rolled his eyes and sighed. "You almost hit her by throwing your arms in the air like a savage monkey. Perhaps the zoo keepers lost you when you were a baby."

Harry's cheeks tinted a dark red and he hurriedly apologized to the old lady, feeling thoroughly humiliated after Tom's last comment.

After the old lady let them go, the two arrived at the zebra enclosure and Harry refused to look at Tom, his eyes roaming everything else as his cheeks stayed a pink color, portraying his lingering embarrassment and anger.

It was only when Tom turned to Harry to ask where he wanted to go next when he realized that Harry hadn't spoken in the minutes that they spent looking at the zebras.

"Where do you want to go now?"

When Tom didn't get an answer, he sighed. "Are you giving me the silent treatment?"

Silence greeted Tom.

"Are you mad that I called you a savage monkey in front of the old lady?"

Harry's pink cheeks darkened once more to a furious red, and Tom knew that that was why he was currently getting ignored.

"I was only teasing."

Harry finally looked at Tom, but he was giving Tom a glare.

Normally, Tom would be unaffected by the glares he received, but Harry's eyes were different. The look of ice in them sent chills down his spine. Outward, Tom showed no sign of being disturbed by the glare, but he was shaken up a bit on the inside.

Tom gave Harry a sugar-sweet smile and ruffled his hair, whisking the corkscrew curls to and fro. "How about this: I will only embarrass you when we're alone, yeah?"

Harry rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to reply, but a shrill cry interrupted him.

"HARRISON PEVERELL! TOM RIDDLE!" The Matron bellowed, her face a bright shade of red.

Tom and Harry threw each other a scared look, both forgetting their minor row.

"We're screwed," Tom mumbled, watching the Orphanage Matron stomp toward them.

"More like mega screwed," Harry said, sighing. "Here we go."