Chapter Text
It was dark and cold. He curled into a ball. Until the door opened and in its place was a woman with a worried expression.
Then her face turned furious as the woman turned around and began to yell. At someone, he doesn't know anymore.
His tears were dry, but the woman hugged him and kept apologising. He doesn't know why. The small boy hugged the woman tight as she picked him up. "I will get you out of here." She shushed him softly.
Then he woke up with a jolt. He didn't remember what the dream was about, great.
At Pinewood orphanage he couldn't really do much aside from reading some history books he managed to buy for himself.
And although Greek mythology isn't necessarily history, it's always a treat to read about them. If he didn't drool on them that is.
Harry sighed, wiped his mouth with his sleeve and closed his book when one of his caretakers called for everybody.
He's one of the last ones to stand in front of Miss Edith. Though the woman held back a smile as she announced to the whole group of kids: "We're going to the zoo!"
Most of the older kids- teenagers would roll their eyes, but most of them were pretty excited to finally go somewhere fun, him included. If there was anything he liked more than history then it was the vast majority of animals.
While Edith was annoying sometimes he preferred it over his other caretakers by a lot. That doesn't mean he doesn't have dignity when Edith tried fuzzing over him too.
"You all have your coats on?" She asked the rest while she fixed the buttons on his coat. He tried backing away from her, but she was insistent on not catching a cold or getting sick.
"Stop moving, remember the last time you got sick, Riddle?" She huffed.
He grimaced at her words. He was bedridden a few weeks ago and having a fever was not fun. The medicine also was very gross even if he needed it.
When she was done, the woman put her hands on her hips with a tired sigh. The bags under her eyes were prominent and he can count the days where the bags become even darker.
"I'm not sure why most of the staff or teachers were complaining about you. You're perfectly well behaved, as much as a ten year old can." She frowned before resuming to tend to the other children.
He thought so too. There was always an unexplainable feeling. You don't suddenly turn your teacher's hair blue. You certainly don't accidentally float things in the air.
Though that won't let him wane his excitement of going to the zoo. Going to the zoo by bus is exciting, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the animals in their enclosures when they finally arrived at the zoo.
He kept his gaze on a boa constrictor, it didn't really do much aside from sleeping. He would be bored too in such a tiny enclosure. Jackson next to him was already groaning and complaining about the snake not doing much.
"And I thought snakes were cooler than this." The boy whined. He wasn't much older than Harry, but he recently came into the orphanage with an interesting personality.
Jackson tapped on the glass insistently to get the snake to do something. When the snake didn't even lift its head the boy was captivated by another animal somewhere else.
Harry let out a breath of relief. "And I thought he'd never leave." He murmured to himself.
Suddenly the snake moved too and he watched the boa constrictor slither closer to him. It flicked its tongue at him.
Harry blinked. The sudden unexpected movement made him a bit eager. "Can you understand me?" He excitedly asked. More in a hushed whisper since he doesn't want people to look at him strangely.
He's a bit worried the sound doesn't reach the snake at all thanks to the glass, but to his relief and utter surprise the snake nodded.
"I have never talked to a snake before, how did you get here?" He asked, the snake turned its head to a sign. 'Brazil' it read. It took him a while to understand it.
"You came from Brazil?" He asked to be sure. The snake nodded again, he didn't think it was possible for snakes to have complex emotions, but the snake almost looked crestfallen.
A sudden sharp gasp and a body hitting his own almost scared the life out of him. He fell down on the ground, he glared at Jackson who began excitedly talking about the snake finally doing something.
The glass disappeared and Jackson fell into the enclosure. He almost laughed and kept his giggles under control with his palm. The snake calmly slithered out of his enclosure, for a brief moment the snake looked at him.
"Thanks. Brazil, here I come." It said before slithering towards the exit, occasionally snapping at some people to make them scream and run. The snake looked oddly expressive, but he chalked it up to not having seen that many snakes. Or at all.
This is another strange day, he realised. A stern look from Edith and a frightened Jackson is what he received from this ordeal. That's how he ended up being the one to cook dinner and a frighteningly large amount of plates to wash in the sink.
It wasn't all that bad, because it wasn't the first time he was tasked to do chores. But usually when he cleans and dry the plates, it stacks up like a mountain
If only there was a way to make the plates wash themselves. After a while he was done and he immediately took the nearest chair and slumped down.
Exhaustion like Sisyphus rolling the boulder uphill for eternity. Was the soreness in his arms what Sisyphus felt, but eternally engraved?
"Harry." He heard his caretaker call out. Edith usually wasn't a stern woman, but she is now when Jackson was crying next to her and pointing his fingers at him.
"You know I never really believed you to be a troublemaker, but why did Jackson fall into the enclosure?"
He didn't really know. Actually most things that have happened really weren't his fault or he didn’t think so. Though he can’t deny that he did have the intention for Jackson to fall in the enclosure.
“I don’t know, I finished washing the dishes.” He said and kept his head low, staring at the ground. “Can I go now?”
Edith sighed and rubbed her temple. “Jackson, stop whining and go to bed. You too Harry.” Jackson protested at first, but a glare from Edith shuts him up. Jackson stomped to his own room he shared with some other loud kids.
He followed suit and entered his own room with a few other kids. The small room has 2 bunk beds and a lamp with a small desk. The three other children he shared a room with were already sleeping or lazily lying on the bed.
They were unusually quiet today, he could still hear the other children from the other rooms playing a card game or playing with their toys, but the sounds were faint enough despite the thin walls.
“Jackson told me he heard you talking to a snake.” He heard Archie say to him when he layed on the bed. Harry sighed and moved to watch Archie throw a ball at the wall, the ball bounced back right into his hand and he did it repeatedly. The sound of the ball became increasingly annoying and repetitive.
Harry groaned and stuffed a pillow on his head to muffle the sound. “Why do you have to be so annoying today? I’m not taking part in your gossip group.”
Archie shrugged and leaned back on the headboard. “C'mon you’re already weird like us. Besides, the news spread pretty fast no matter how minor they are.”
“People don’t talk to snakes do they?” He was so sure his voice was not heard because of how muffled it sounded thanks to the pillow.
Archie snorted. “No, but you can hiss at them. That’s close enough right?” The sounds from the ball finally stopped.
Harry sighed and put the pillow back under his head and turned his back to Archie. “I guess so.” The snake spoke English.
After that night he began to research more about snakes. Admittedly he never focused on school that much and trying to read a book feels like a challenge to not fall asleep. Kind of ironic when he spends the better part of his day reading about history.
Actually with research he means reading a book that has some facts about snakes. It’s probably the only book which is about snakes in the orphanage.
His head hit the book on the table and he rested on it. Aside from a few giggles pointed his way, most of them didn’t bother him thankfully. Speaking of bothering him.
“And I said the snake finally did something and then he pushed me into the snake enclosure!” Jackson complained loudly in the background.
A girl sat beside him already bored and absentmindedly poked at her potatoes. “Wasn’t there glass to keep the snake out?”
Jackson looked at her exasperated. “It disappeared out of nowhere, that's not normal, he's not normal, Elizabeth!” He hissed at her.
The girl just blinked at him with an unamused expression. “We’re orphans, Jackson none of us are normal.”
Jackson grumbled and pouted in his seat. Most of the children went outside to play since summer is nearing and the sun would be blazing. His own birthday is also close. He didn’t celebrate his birthday much, not that he was able to.
That thought saddened him a bit, but sometimes he gets to watch the single television. That’s enough to keep him happy for a bit or the scarf that Edith gave him. He long outgrown the scarf by now and it looked worse for wear, but he still kept it in his possession.
Instead of continuing his research he beelined to the bathroom and splashed some water on his face. He accidentally splashed some water on the glasses he still wore and he immediately dried them and put them on the sink.
He longed for something more. To be more than just a nobody. He let the sink flow, the sound soothing him as he stared at the mirror. Perhaps he still aches for somebody to actually see him.
“Neville, come down here!” Neville Longbottom quickly finished brushing his teeth. He averted his eyes whenever he saw his scar on his forehead. One much like a thunderbolt.
He then ran down the stairs. embarrassingly he almost tripped down from the stairs making a loud sound as he tried to save himself from planting on his face.
He blinked in confusion as a badly packaged broom was placed on the table in the living room.
“Mr Potter, but it’s not even my birthday yet?” James simply laughed.
“Didn’t I tell you to call me James or dad?”
“It sounds weird, I wish there was a word for guardian or foster parent.” Neville muttered and he glanced at his gift again.
“But you just said it? The word for guardian.” James teased before shaking his head and gesturing towards the broom. “I used to be a master in quidditch, you know, so what kind of guardian would I be if I didn't introduce my ward to the wonderful world of quidditch?”
James Potter basked himself with praise which mostly came from the man himself. Brimming with confidence, sadly a trait Neville never got in the genepool.
He ripped off the wrapping from the broom and he gaped at the broom model. “Nimbus 2000?” He said to himself in awe.
James excitedly nodded and even looked at the broom longingly. “Yep the fastest broom in the game, regretfully I’m getting a bit old to catch up with quidditch.”
Neville gently puts it on the table not wanting to make a scratch on it. The action makes James blink in confusion. “You’re not going to try it out?”
Neville glances back with alarm. “But I don’t know how to fly a broom.” He hurriedly said, though the glint in his guardian’s eyes made the decision clear.
James had to drag Neville outside, while holding onto two brooms. The newly gifted Nimbus 2000 and his own outdated broom. The grass grew taller than the last time he counted. A lot of the flowers bloomed as well like white poppies or chrysanthemums.
“Don’t worry I’ll teach you how to fly.” James was visibly shaking with excitement while Neville was shaking with nervousness and fear. He always enjoyed going to quidditch tournaments with James.
His guardian is very determined to never miss a single quidditch match to keep up with the younger folks and to hone his knowledge of quidditch. But sometimes he is a bit too much to handle. James hopped on his broom and immediately began rising up in the air.
“Now let’s start with the lift off.” James began.
Neville felt his hands shaking as he gripped the broom tight with his hands and hopped on the broom. Suddenly the broom took off and he screamed as he soared through the skies. He flew past a bewildered James and the broom tried to buck him off.
Not tried, it succeeded. He gasped as he fell off the broom, James was there in an instant and grabbed him before putting him safely on the ground. The broom almost whacked James in the face and he took a hold off the broom before it could take off by itself.
James looked apologetic and sheepish as he descended down and put both of the brooms in the shed. “Sorry, too soon?”
Neville still looked shaken, but he got up from the grass. “Too soon, I’m never doing that again.”