The time quest

The orphanage

Tom Riddle hated adoption day.

He was hiding in the yard so nobody could see him because Mrs. Cole didn't want to scare away anyone with his freakishness or so she said. Tom knew he was different, he relished in it but sometimes he really did wish he could be like everyone else.

He was talking to his only friend, a garden snake he found roaming around the grounds last week and was surprised to see a regal-looking woman not 10 feet away.

Tom had always liked rare and special things so when he saw the woman standing there, no doubt having gotten lost looking for the entrance to the orphanage, looking full of sadness and resignation, he was immediately intrigued.

He didn't know how to explain it but she felt familiar. She felt familiar in the same ways that the snake did, almost magical.
But that couldn't be the case, there was no such thing as magic, all the books he read said so.
Still he couldn't deny that something was different, that idiot Billy Stubbs and him were basically different breeds there was no way he was as normal as a boy like that.

But this woman he could somehow tell that she was like him, she was above everyone and everything else.

When he realized she was walking towards him, he shooed the snake away and plastered the most innocent expression he could come up with and smiled up at her.
She looked like she could barely retain her amusement, but still she approached him and asked

"Why are you out here?"

"Mrs. Cole doesn't want me scaring away the potential parents"He said with the saddest expression he could muster.
She didn't seem to fall for it but still she asked with a sigh
"Are you hungry?"
At the mention of food his stomach perked up, Mrs. Cole had locked him in the cellar yesterday without food to 'cleanse the evil from his body'. He nodded eagerly because as much as he wanted to look strong he was starving.

The lady then turned around and started walking to the front gate, Tom took this as a signal to follow her and so Holly Peverell and Tom Riddle left the orphanage together.

Holly POV
Holly looked at the little boy that was Tom Riddle and she couldn't help but feel so sorry for him. He reminded her so much of herself when she was a child it was scary.

"Mrs. Cole doesn't want me scaring away the potential parents"
Her heart broke, she knew that he was trying to manipulate her, well as much as a 6 year old could manipulate anyone, which was not very well.

She made a decision she could not kill him. She didn't know what she would do, but killing him was not an option.
Instead, she asked him if he was hungry and the look of absolute Hope in his eyes made her want to kill Mrs. Cole for treating the boy such.
No wonder he turned dark!

So she turned around and walked to the front gate certain that Tom was following her.