𝕬 𝕷𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕳𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝕽𝖎𝖘𝖊𝖘 | 𝑇𝑜𝑚 𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑙𝑒 |

Chapter 1- Speeding Down the Wrong Tracks

King's Cross Station was nothing but pure panic and utter chaos the morning of September 1st, 1939. Thousands of children needed to be evacuated and terrified parents were practically clawing their way through the crowd to try and get their child out of London. There had been serious threats of mass bombings and gas raids, even the start of another war. It was obviously something any normal person would be frightened of. There was to be a horrible catastrophe. How could one not be feared by the very idea of that plaguing the city they lived in? However, right there in King's Cross, was perhaps the one person in all of London who was not afraid. A pale boy with neat dark hair was wheeling his cart through the station, closely followed by a wide-eyed girl with thick locks of long hazel hair that tussled around wildly as she struggled to keep up. They were the two outliers in the dense crowd of panic. Tom Riddle did not conform to such unnecessary fear and alarm, while Frankie Dickson was slightly scared, but knew that as long as she stuck close to Tom everything would be alright. As a young wizard and witch on the first of September, they were also trying desperately to get out of this doomed city. They both needed to get off to their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Tom didn't care if the muggles were having problems. This wasn't his world anymore, so he boldly assumed they weren't his problems anymore. He didn't care if the whole city went down in flames. In fact, he wouldn't mind if the orphanage that they lived in was bombed. His only concern at the moment that might cause him to slightly panic, or worry at all, was losing Frankie in all this mayhem.

"Keep up! Stay with me."

After the bizarre incident that had occurred with Frankie a few weeks ago on the orphanage's countryside trip, Tom intended to keep a closer watch over her. He would've held her hand, considering it was a dire enough situation for such a gesture to go unnoticed and be acceptable. However, despite the urge, with carts in hand Tom was forced to just keep going, looking every-so-often behind him for her presence. They arrived at the pillar between platforms 9 and 10, incredibly later than they would usually be there. They only had a few minutes left before the train was scheduled to leave. They would make it, if they wasted absolutely no time. Tom stood at the starting point with just enough room to make a run at the pillar. Normally, Tom was not the one to face the barrier first. However, there wasn't enough space for Frankie to go ahead of him and now was not the time to let such a trivial detail become a priority. Tom took a deep breath and charged for the barrier, slightly looking back as he went to make sure she would be right behind him.

Unfortunately, she would not be.

The shoving crowd of pandemonium and discord had knocked her on to the ground, seemingly unconscious.

Before Tom could fully process what he saw, he was enveloped into darkness and spit back out on Platform 9 ¾. He touched the barrier. It was rock solid. He was suddenly put into even more of a panic then every muggle in the station combined. Tom began running himself into the wall over and over, even though the smarter part of him knew it wouldn't suddenly work just because he kept at it. At this rate, he was more on track to dislocating his shoulder, not for going back to Hogwarts. However, he just had to go back for her. He was certain that he had seen Frankie passed out on the ground. She would not only get trampled; she would miss the train and be trapped in a city that was possibly about to be bombed.

"Tom? Are you alright? What're you still doing on the platform?—Hurry up!"

Tom looked over to find Daphne Aguilar shouting at him from an open train window, even though they were not even remotely friends. She was hanging out of the frame and looking at him like he was mad. He quickly rushed up to the window and she slightly retreated inside, yet remained in eager attention to hear what his unusual distress was all about.

"I lost her—I actually lost her in the crowd..." Tom remarked, with a nervous break in his voice. He was stunned with disbelief and, even though he looked calm on the outside, inside he was shouting the same statement over and over. It was the one thing he was trying to prevent. Guilt was flooding over him. How could he have allowed something like this to happen to her? Daphne looked confused and Tom realized he would have to further explain the situation, if he wanted any help from her, "Frankie and I got separated in the station, with all those panicked people, and now the barrier has closed itself off. She's trapped! We've got to—"