Hogwarts: a school of Witchcraft and Love (Tom Marvolo Riddle x F!reader)

Chapter 3-14

Boredom. Boredom. Boredom. Yawn!

You were so bored.

You had gone through all of your usual pastimes that used to keep you busy. From doodling in your sketchbook to exploring imaginary worlds through your drawings, nothing seemed as fun anymore.

The walls were empty from your colourful masterpieces and so didn't cover the peeling wallpaper. The worn-out toys and tattered books left unused. You were itching to do something—to break free from the old walls of the orphanage and go on an adventure, like going to Diagon Alley.

With a creaky old lumpy bed as your launching pad, you glimpsed out of the puny window, dying to see something other than pedestrians and road traffic. But the view was just as bleak as the current state of affairs.

Best case scenario was seeing an owl swoop inside carrying the answer of Hepsibah Smith. But it didn't happen on Monday, Tuesday came and went, and Wednesday was more of the same.

Geez, what was a girl to do to get some excitement around here?!

No one played with you, so there were no games to rid you of your boredom. You couldn't use magic and the only person that did speak to you besides the caretaker, was Snippy holed up in his room.

If Snippy was reading, he rarely verbally replied, but when he did, it was mostly a one word answer to a question you asked.

Your encounters went a bit like this;

"Tom? Are you busy reading again?"
"Yes."

"Do you wanna push me on the swings?"
"No."

"Are you mad?"
"No. Let me read."

Each answer was as full of the you're-bothering-me attitude as the first one, as if you were the world's most magnificent numbskull for asking him to do anything other than read Dark Arts.

That might be his idea of a good time, but it definitely wasn't yours, and he was getting obsessed with them, hissing at you if you interrupted his precious reading sessions.

Hence the newest nickname for him-
Snippy. Had a cute ring to it. Reality was often disappointing.

It was hot when all of the orphans gathered in the garden to look for relief from the heat. Thanks to Mrs. Cole's generousity, a kiddie pool was set up to help everyone beat the temperatures. You were entrusted with supervising the little ones while she ran errands.

You took your duty seriously, because; A, you had nothing better to do, and B, you wanted to prove yourself to be a responsible adult, even if you were still light years away from being one.

Tom and you would each monitor everyone's time in the water, making sure that they kept to the allotted five minutes each. All went swimmingly, except for a couple of toddlers crying when their turns were over.

Moved by sympathy, you picked one of them in your arms, hushing him soothingly while asking Tom to keep watch over the splashing bunch. You put the toddler down on one of the sofas and grabbed a towel from the counter so you could dry him off with care.

Limb by limb, starting with the arms, progressing to the chest, and finishing with the legs, bam! He was as good as new! He soon forgot all about the tears.