When We Were Young

C H A P T E R O N E

November 1st, 1932

The matron awoke in the middle of the night, disgruntled and confused. Someone was knocking on the Orphanage door, practically waking up the whole block.

The matron grumbled sourly, storming down the creaky steps of the old building. Many children peeked out of their doors curiously, but the matron barked at them, telling them to go back to sleep.

The matron opened the door, her mouth open to chastise the person that was banging on her door, but no one was there.

The old matron looked down when she heard a faint coo.

There he was.

The newborn baby left on the steps of Wool's Orphanage was the vision of perfection. His soft, porcelain skin looked to be made out of ivory, his emerald green eyes looked rarer then any jewels, his ruby lips softer than silk.

This was the baby everyone envied and wanted for themselves.

The baby obviously came from a rich family. The cradle he was in had white gold designs impressed on it and his blanket had his name embroidered on the corner in silver thread.

Harrison Peverell.

The baby let out another soft coo, giving the matron a big, gummy smile and reaching up for her with grabby hands.

Normally, the matron would scowl when the children did this. She was not their mothers, and she didn't want to be. However, when this perfect baby reached for her, her cold heart melted and she picked up the small baby.

As the matron, Ms. Cole, filled out a file for Harrison, she guessed that the baby was around 3 months old, the youngest in the Orphanage so far. The next youngest was Tom Riddle, a one-year-old turning two in a month's time.

She marked Harrison's birthday as July 31, 1932.

She placed the baby back in his cradle once he fell asleep, smiling at the sight of the baby's mouth, wide open, and soft snores coming out here and there.

When Ms. Cole introduced little Harrison to all the children and adults of the Orphanage, they immediately awed and cooed over the small boy.

There was just something about Harrison Peverell that made people gravitate to him and love him.

Maybe it was the way his raven curls bounced when he laughed. Maybe it was the way his smile would fill people to the brim with melted chocolate.

There was something special about little Harrison, and the matron knew it the second she saw this gorgeous baby.

Even Tom wandered over to the baby, his head tilted in curiosity.

Tom Riddle. The only way Ms. Cole could describe him as was cold. Tom Marvolo Riddle was the coldest baby she ever meet and took care of.

She never saw Tom cry before. As a baby, he screamed and glared (what kind of baby glared?) when he was hungry or needed his nappie changed, but no tears ever appeared down his face.

Ms. Cole planned to take Tom to church to exorcise him if his behavior continued, but any thoughts of Tom disappeared at the sight of the baby in her arms.

If Tom was a demon, this baby was an angel.

Perhaps Harrison could straighten out Tom, Ms. Cole mused to herself, her finger brushing across Harrison's corkscrew curls.

Time passed by faster than Ms. Cole liked. Harrison was turning four-years-old soon, and he had the whole Orphanage wrapped around his finger. Everyone stopped calling him Harrison in exchange for Harry, as the boy asked.

Although, what Ms. Cole didn't know was that Harry intentionally played people to his benefit.

Well, played may be the wrong word.

Harry knew that everyone was wrapped around his pinky- well, everyone except Tom. He could tell someone to jump off of a building, and they would do it- for him.

Of course, Harry never would do that for no reason.

He knew the effect he had on people, and he used that to his benefit.

Harry got people to donate to the Orphanage, he did favors for people and in turn, they owed him a favor.

It was a very strong, beneficial system he created for himself. It ensured that he was always protected (if a new kid decided to play bully, everyone came to his defense) and it ensured that he was taken care of.

Everyone except Tom was under his charm. Tom was like the Enigma code to Harry. The boy was no nonsense and seemed to see through all of his attempts to befriend him.

When it came to Tom, Harry was stumped.

He thought of using his memories to intrigue the older boy, but he feared that Tom would just think of him as crazy.

Ever since he had been born, whenever Harry had gone to sleep, he went through a different life. Or rather, he had memories of a past life.

In that life, he had a loving mother with flaming red hair and jade eyes and a silly father with wild black hair and glasses. He had three uncles, one with many scars on his face that he called Moony, another with shoulder length hair that he called Padfoot, and a short, mousy man that he called Wormtail.

Harry remembered how he stopped dreaming of them when a green light hit his crying mum. He had such a fit waking up that the matron had to come down from her room and rock him for hours in the middle of the night (for the rest of the day, Harry was on the matron's bad side, but in the end, all he had to do was smile at her and she melted once more).

Little Harry was a bit older than a year old when that happened, but he remembered it as if it were yesterday.

When he woke up, after that night, Harry always felt an ache in his chest. He missed this other family so much that he sometimes cried.

Harry felt older than he was, and because of that, he never fully clicked with anyone his age. People his age and younger adored him, of course, but he always got impatient with them at the end of the day. He never showed his annoyance because he knew how young they were, but it got tiring.

He felt so bored in this world. He used to liked his dreams of magic and happiness, but those had faded and he was placed with horrible people in his dreams. They were called the Dursleys, and he didn't like them at all. Now, he didn't like his dreams, and found no enjoyment in them any longer.

Nothing changed much in the Orphanage. Harry could only think of how boring this world was.

In his room, Tom Riddle happened to be thinking the exact same thing.

How interesting.