Tom's Tale | A Tomarry Fanfiction

The Orphanage

1926

It was the 31st of December. New years eve. The promise of new beginnings bringing families together to celebrate and stay up late into the night. Not everyone got that though, there were some in the world who had no family and instead relied on the company of themselves and those who they knew.  A new year for them meant a new year of no family and no one to love them. 

The air was crisp and packed a powerful bite to those who let it. London is the capital city of England and is located in the south-east of the country. Winter rarely held the magic of snow there and if you were lucky you would get just barely enough to make a ball out of it. This year however was like any other. Rain had fallen for days before Christmas so instead of a 'white christmas' that they all wished for, Children and parents alike complained at the wet ground as it made it impossible for the snow to settle. Instead the ground was covered in brown slush. It looked like the slush puppies people would buy from the ice cream vans but instead of their usual red and blue it was brown and laced with bacteria. However as the days passed, this cleared up and new snow was able to setting for New years eve. 

Silvery flakes drifted down, glittering under the slowly turning on street lamps. Darkness came quicker this time of year. A blackbird swooped down to it's nest as she found safety in the changing of day to night. The walnut brown trees that sheltered buildings swayed in the cold winter wind. The weather was frosty and the snow was glittering. Like white sequins laying all over the floor. The ghostly wind broke the peaceful sound of silence. The snow was damp, every step felt like walking in mud. The snow a clear opposite to the sky. Though the snow was beautiful it was cold and sharp. Crisp, white, pristine, shining covering that transformed the landscape making even London seem like a magical land full of wonder and undiscovered mysteries.

Through the quickly falling snow and bitter air walked a woman. She looked no older than nineteen. The clothes she wore barely fit her body and were almost rags.  Her whole demeanour seemed to look like she had given up. The air had taken its ghastly bite to her cheeks and nose, creating a pink hue to now sit on them. Her eyes were droopy and she looked exhausted. The most prominent feature, her stomach. It was round and to any eye it was clear she was carrying a child. The way she walked and trudged through the snow showed true agony. One hand sat on her lower back to help keep herself up right while the other wrapped around her stomach. Desperately she tried to stay warm but all she could do was carry on walking. 

Merope Gaunt. Daughter of Marvolo Gaunt and sister to Morfin Gaunt. The woman could be described as disgusting and ugly by anyone who saw her. Her hair was lank and dull and her skin was almost as pale as the snow under her feet. The girls face held a story, a story she couldn't narrate furthermore a story she chose to hide. Walking through the snow was difficult for her otherwise small frame. Her legs ached from keeping her upright and having walked quite a distance Merope's whole body wanted to drag her down into the snow and rest. However, for the first time in her life she was set on not giving up. 

While walking through the snow, a slight look of relief came to her features. The place she had been walking so long for had finally came into view. It was a tall building. Considerably taller than the buildings next to it. It was situated in the middle of a steer and stood out rather abruptly to the other buildings. The bricks were a dark mahogany; a large contrast to the white of the snow.  With its height, it was also rather thin which gave it a tower kind of feel. Through the thicker centre glass ran all the way up before the building grew thinner and only held windows in particular spots as if rooms sat there. Thats exactly what was there. The building was an orphanage.