A glimpse into the past
The rows of nearly identical houses along Privet Drive’s suburban street were shrouded in darkness. 1:45, the clock on the wall read, yet Harry Potter found himself awake while the rest of number four’s residents slept soundly. Harry hadn’t been able to sleep well ever since Voldemort’s return during the 3rd task, his dreams -more like nightmares- plagued by the snake-faced dark lord.
The whole thing was an entire suitcase of trauma Harry hadn’t had the time to unpack yet, heck he could still feel the phantom pains of Voldemort’s cruciatus curse. Harry lay in bed, alone since he had let Hedwig out of her cage to fly around the neighbourhood. The soft glow of moonlight seeping through drawn curtains and one dimly lit lamp on Harry’s desk served as the only sources of light illuminating his bedroom.
Silently mulling over the past year’s events, Harry sighed. He had no idea what he was gonna do, maybe he would owl Dumbledore but the man has never really given Harry straight answers. His head hurt from all the stress. Turning on his side, Harry finally let himself succumb to sleep, maybe this time he wouldn’t see the dark lord in his dreams. Except, Harry and his horrible luck did indeed see said dark lord in his dream, but something seems different, doesn’t it?
“Happy Birthday! Sorry, it’s not anything extravagant, this was the only thing I could afford at the moment…” Anastasius smiled sheepishly, in his arms was a cozy-looking scarf. Tom stared at him blankly, causing the 9-year-old to grin awkwardly
“Tom! Say something…do you like it or not?”
The taller boy took the piece of cloth, the warm and soft material nice against his freezing hands. The scarf, a dark grey, did look warm and inviting amidst the harsh winter. The orphanage couldn’t afford heaters or to fix the many broken windows, only providing the children with a few more blankets, which barely did anything against the freezing temperature.
“You should’ve been wiser with your money, but I do like it…thank you”
Thank you, two words Tom was not familiar with. Nobody had given him anything, other than black eyes and a bloody nose, before. He had also never celebrated his birthday before, thinking it to be a waste of time he could be spending on reading books instead. Tom wasn’t sure why Anastasius had wasted all his hard-earned money on him. The shorter boy should’ve saved his money, or better yet, bought himself a scarf. Anastasius had earned the money from doing Mdm Margaret’s yard work for the whole year. Tom knew that as he had secretly watched him slave away under the hot sun for hours on multiple occasions - not that he would tell the other boy that- just to earn a tiny bit of pocket money.
The earnings hadn’t been much as Tom had helped count and hide the money from the rest of the orphanage after the shorter boy had returned from Mdm Margaret’s, coins in hand. “Well, Tom, this is me spending my money wisely. Last year, nobody gave you any presents so I worked extra hard this year to get you something! Plus, the nice old lady running the shop gave me a discount!” Anastasius grinned triumphantly. Tom stared at the beaming boy, and for once in his life, Tom Riddle felt guilty. Guilty for not even doing the bare minimum so as to wish the other boy a happy birthday earlier in the year.
“Why? Why waste your money on me?”
“Because you’re my friend!”
Friend. Tom had a friend. Tom silently vowed to himself right then and there that Anastasius will get a present next year and every subsequent year.
Harry Potter woke up with a start.