A New Friend
Hermione Granger’s first few years of life were wonderful. Full of trips , affections , and basically getting spoiled rotten. But throughout all that , her parents urged her to be as humble as she could.
They went to church , visited homeless shelters , and visited orphanages. They did all the good deeds God would be proud of.
Hermione’s parents , Jean and Haword Granger had planned a short getaway trip for the two of them for months. Since there weren’t many close relatives, they were both only childs. They asked the neighbors to look after little Hermione.
Nothing would go wrong , they thought. Nothing could go wrong. They were going on a getaway for just three days and returned back to their princess.
It happened too fast. It had been a good three hours after her parents left when they got the phone call. “Are you sure it’s them?” Mrs Brown said , turning away from Hermione to hide the utter shock that was plastered on her face.
Hermione was not dumb , even for a 10 year old. She was not dumb. She knew something was wrong but decided to keep quiet.
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The police came the next day. Mr and Mrs Brown protested. Telling the police officers that they couldn’t just take her away. The head chief shook his head and insisted that there were no other family members who were available , none that they knew of.
So , they sent Hermione packing.
She brought what she thought was necessary. She took one last look at her old home and entered the police car.
“Don’t worry , little one. It’ll all be just fine.” he assured her. But she knew he was lying , adults lied so much about these kinds of things. She watched movies about it. Read books about it. So she kept silent.
A good two? three? hours. The police man shook her awake. “We’re here kiddo.” Hermione grabbed her two bags and walked behind the man. There in the front door stood a petite lady. Her hips were wide , she wore a blue dress , a white apron over it. Her hair was in a low tight bun and her face was wrinkly.
She smiled , it looked kind at first but the more Hermione stared the more she wanted to sprint away. “Hello there , child. And who might you be?” the woman inquired, urging Hermione to come towards her.
Hermione looked up at the policeman, who just grinned and patted her head. “Miss Cole , this is Hermione Granger. Everything else about her will be sent in later this afternoon.”
“It’s nice meeting you , Miss Granger.” Then he turned away from her and left.
“Come now , dearie. It seems that it’s about to rain.” Miss Cole grabbed her and pulled her inside. “ Follow me dear.” and she walked towards the staircase.
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Miss Cole opened a door to what seemed like her office. The room was what she used to see in movies , the ones where those ‘American highschool kids’ get sent to when they misbehaved. ‘The principal's office’? Probably.
But it wasn’t as fancy as the ones in the movies.The blue sofa cushion was basically almost brown. The room was small and smelled of alcohol. “C’ere , child. Sit''. Hermione sat on one of the little chairs in front of the lady. It made a squeaky noise.
“So Hermione , it’s almost dinner. So I'll hurry the process. Here is your uniform,” the woman placed a dark green uniform in front of her. “You can change into these, then we’ll head down. After dinner , I shall show you to your new room.” Hermione only managed to nod.
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When they got to the dining hall , kids were everywhere. She looked around , examining the place. The only place available was beside a lonely looking boy who was focused on a book. His head suddenly shot up , as if he knew she was staring. She turned her head before he could notice.
Mrs Cole then turned to her. “Everyone is limited to three pieces of bread and one bowl of soup. Do try to finish the meal. I’ll return for you after dinner.” with that she turned around and left.
Hermione took a deep breath and waited in line for her meal. The bread looked…dry.
The only place she could think of was with the boy she’d seen earlier. She walked over and quietly sat down. The boy looked at her for a moment , eyes narrowed. She tried her best to ignore him , instead pulling out her book.
The rest of dinner was silent. The boy hadn’t bothered to get to know her , nor did he question her. She was grateful.
“Dinner’s over , children. Put your trays away and line up!” one of the ladies yelled. Everyone scurried to put their trays away. Hermione followed , she didn’t want to get on any of the ladies’s bad side nor was she planning on it. Just after she washed her hands , she saw Mrs Cole waiting (not so patiently) for her by the stairs. She stood next to Mrs Cole as everyone walked back to their rooms.
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After they grabbed her bags from the office , Mrs Cole showed her to her new room. They stood in front of a black door with a silver door knob.
The older lady turned to her , eyes full of alertness. “Listen here girl,” she knelt down to her level and whispered in a very low tone. “Do not. And I mean do not , try anything with this person. If he tries anything , I need you to just keep quite alright? I have enough problems on my plate , I have no time for this. Or anything regarding him. Do you understand?
Hermione managed a little nod. Is the person she was rooming with dangerous? Mrs Cole stood and sighed , knocking the door harshly before barging into the little space. Hermione’s eyes landed on the same boy she had sat with during dinner.
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Weeks had passed since she first arrived , she was starting to think Tom was mute. He rarely spoke to anyone , preferring to read a book alone. When he did speak , it was almost a hushed whisper. Hermione sat at the dining hall that night, a book in one hand , a spoon in the other. Tom was nowhere to be found , he usually appeared for dinner. She tried not to worry , if the boy was mute and he got abducted. How would he scream for help? But it was still bright outside , well sorta bright. The sun was setting rapidly.
Hermione remained calm. Sitting alone in the dining hall , it’ll be fine. He’s probably outside focused on a book. Which reminded her of her own book. She was so focused on the book she hadn’t noticed Lianne Forester stalking towards her a half full bowl of soup in one hand.
“Granger.” the girl sneered.
Hermione slowly looked up. “Can I help you with something , Forester?”
Lianne Forester was nasty girl. Although she was three inches shorter than Hermione , she acted so highly of herself. The girl smirked , “Actually , you can.” Before Hermione could move the girl dropped the bowl of soup on the ground and screamed , ‘Granger! You ungrateful Brat! Don’t you know how many kids would kill for a bowl of soup?”
Mrs Cole rushed in and Lianne was already pointing in her direction. “Miss Granger , I expected better behavior from you. You disappoint me.`` She looked Hermione dead in the eye. “You will be scrubbing the floors clean tonight. You are forbidden to go to sleep unless the floors are scrubbed clean.”
Hermione only managed a nod.
That was how Tom had found her. Scrubbing the floors. He stared at her for a moment and walked away , Hermione held back tears. But then she heard footsteps approaching and a light thud beside her. She looked up to see Tom scrubbing the floors with her. “Tom Riddle , what are you doing?’ she said , her voice was trembling , she wanted to burst out in tears but couldn’t.
“Helping you,” he said seriously. She was silent for a while then continued scrubbing. “Thank you.” she whispered after a few moments of silence.
He sighed. “I know how it feels to do it all alone. Don’t worry about it.”
Another silence.
“How did you get in trouble?” he inquired , intrigued.
“Someone accidentally threw they’re meal on the ground and accused me of being ungrateful for the food. Miss Cole didn’t even hear me out and instantly punished me.” she didn’t seem sad , more like mad. “It wasn’t fair.” she huffed.
He grinned. “Nothing’s fair here , Hermione Granger.”
Hermione hid a surprised look. This was the first time he had smiled at her. The first he spoken more words rather than a simple, “Granger , wake up. It’s time to get up.” or “Hello , Hermione Granger.”
Silence fell over them as they continued scrubbing.
It was past 11 when they finished. They quickly put the buckets away , showered and scurried to their room. Sighing heavily , both their backs were aching after an hour of scrubbing. “I appreciate your help , Tom.” she said , yawning.
“Let’s be friends , Hermione.” he whispered , she almost missed it. Her head shot up looking at him.
He probably sensed her shock and quickly added, “O-only if you want , of course. I’ve never had a friend before and I rather like your company.” he smiled sheepishly.
“Yes , of course Tom. We can be friends.” she smiled at the boy across the room.
“I’m rather exhausted. Goodnight , Hermione.”
“Goodnight , Tom.” she said , before turning off the lights and letting sleep embrace her slowly.