Non Omnis Moriar

19: It went BOOM!

NANO is over! And so is the first half of my Masters' second semester. Which means VACAY. And that means an UPDATE!

Here is the second half of the chapter that got too long lol. It's approximately 6.5k words so...

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The morning just before Christmas, Billy ushered Eric and I to a street lined with small muggle stores.

"I didn't have enough to buy presents, but the milkman agreed to increase my routes by two streets and that finally paid off." He said sheepishly when I asked why he'd left the task until now.

"Should've listened to me and joined me up at the papers'." Eric muttered under his breath.

I glanced between the two boys, the sunken expressions on their faces finally dawning on me.

"How bad is it?" I asked Eric quietly as Billy entered one of the stores, a small pouch jangling in his hands.

Eric was quiet for a while, hands shoved into his pockets and teeth chewing on his chapped lips. His eyes strayed over the dreary lane front.

"It's gotten worse." He replied shortly. "There's an air raid almost every day, rations are slowing down; well, they mostly go to the families, and orphans well...we make do, I suppose. The worst I can tell you is shoes. We've all been sharing about the four pairs that we have at Wool's."

I glanced down to his dusty brown ones, worn and torn in some places - obviously a very old pair.

"It's good that a lot of us have gone on into the factories and stuff. There's a couple more coupons when we need them -"

Eric broke off when Billy reappeared, carefully keeping his sullen expression from the more optimistic boy.

"Found something?" I asked immediately.

"No...I'll try another one." He trailed his eyes thoughtfully to the other stores before entering another one.

In the end, Billy took almost an hour inside while we dutifully waited outside.

"At this point, Billy's going to be spending his entire pay on presents. I bet you he even got Riddle a gift - maybe even two, the fool." Eric kicked a frosted stone as we strolled up and down the street in wait.

"Why two?" I asked.

"One for Christmas and the other for his birthday at the end of the month."

My feet slowed, sending askance glances at Eric. "Riddle's birthday is on the 31st?" I didn't know why I was asking. What good was knowing his birthday going to do? "It feels strange, knowing the day he was born, or that he has one at all."

Eric snorted.

"Of course he's got a birthday. What, did you think he just sprung out his mum, fully grown?"

I raised my eyebrows.

To be very honest, that was unconsciously exactly what I had imagined. Tom Riddle had been unfathomable to me. It was only Dumbledore's prodding and Harry's memories that had painted a picture of a boy who had been swallowed by Voldemort.

But he had only been that - a boy who didn't matter, at least not in the face of what he had become.

The man who walked the hallways of Hogwarts, charming teachers, scoring exceptional marks and studying magic to its heights, depths and beyond - only solidified when I saw him myself.

I wondered if he felt that about himself as well. That he didn't exist - that he needed to become Voldemort to...matter.

"Rose?"