1937 [The Sea Does Not Like to Be Restrained]
(memories that you bury by making better ones but turns into flowers.)
-Juansen Dizon
March 18, 1937
Wool’s Orphanage, London, England
[The Sea Does Not Like to Be Restrained]
As Harry and Tom entered the orphanage building, two kids approached them with nasty grins on their faces. Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson; thick as thieves. Both boys watched as they sneered in disgust at them.
It made Harry’s blood boil.
“Had a nice date in the park?” Dennis mocked, Amy bouncing in glee at the prospect of bullying the two boys. Harry absentmindedly wondered why the Matron despised the two of them when it was their bullies who attacked them first.
An eye for an eye and the world goes blind.
“Not gonna talk?” Dennis taunted, walking towards them. As Dennis walked forward, the two boys were forced to step back towards the wall. It was too close for comfort. “Or are you too ashamed? ” The repetitive taunts the other kid used against them made Harry sick.
They were plain. Uninventive and unimaginative, to put it kindly.
Oh, who was Harry kidding? They were severely lacking in thought and intelligence. The words caused Harry to lose brain cells just by listening. It seemed that Tom agreed from the annoyed look he sported under his passive exterior. If Harry didn’t already know that they’d have a plan for these idiots, then he would have already dealt with them after the first time they dared bully them.
“No,” Tom admitted, a bored drawl dancing in the undertone of his voice. “We’re just trying to deal with the conversation we’re having, as of right now. It’s incredibly taxing to understand what we’re talking about when the other party lacks the nuance to carry it.”
Tom's statement proved to be quite right. Judging from the scrunched face of Dennis and the gaping mouth from Amy, they didn’t understand what Tom said. Well, at least not fully. Though, their clenched, shaking fists proved that they knew it was a dig at them.
Good.
It was the whole point of it, riling them up. Make them confused, get it done, and make them lose focus of their plans. Easy as pie.
“Yeah,” Harry agreed, a delighted grin on his face that was far from sincere. “It’s really enervating. I think my mind is melting.” He gave the two annoying kids an airy smile, adding to their confusion before he dragged Tom upstairs.
“They’re making me lose brain cells,” Harry whispered playfully in a hushed voice as he and Tom walked towards their room, Harry latching onto Tom’s left arm.
Tom sighed as he opened the door. He needn’t have worried over Dennis and Amy. They would get their revenge on the two eventually. In the meantime, they would need to think of a plan to lure the infuriating kids towards the cave. It would be during summer, obviously, when they visited the seaside. The matrons will assume it was an accident, and Harry’s crying will let them get away with it. But what else?
After all, who tagged along with the likes of Harry and him? They had what was coming to them.
“I know,” he said, watching as Harry flopped on his own bed, groaning as he did. He had his arms over his head, a very telltale sign that Harry was considering ending Dennis Bishop and Amy Benson right then and there.
Harry sighed and removed his arms, dropping them down to the mattress. “What’s your plan?” Harry strained his neck to look over to where Tom was on his own bed, staring at Harry, deep in thought.
Tom hummed and slowly blinked back to reality. He shrugged, acting as though he didn’t really care about the two other kids that were downstairs. “What makes you think I already have a plan?” Tom’s lips quirked upwards at Harry’s derisive snort.
“Your life is run on plans!” Harry exclaimed, his arms flying up before falling and bouncing on the bed just as quickly. “Even when we were six. Poor Billy Stubbs didn’t know what was coming for him. Robert Jones, too.” Tom snorted at the memory. That one had been the best to date. It was done in a short amount of time, too. It had been glorious.
“But what makes you think I already have a plan for them right now?” An amused glint took over Tom’s calculating eyes. He leaned back on his arms as he sat and an innocent look graced his features, quickly covering the amusement.
Harry deadpanned. “But what makes you think I’m nearly blind?” He mocked, removing his outdated prescription glasses and putting them on his head while giving Tom an incredulous look. He sat up and rested his elbows on his knees, narrowing his eyes at Tom in a way that made Tom snort.
Tom then looked up at the ceiling as Harry nearly gave up.
“My plan is merely making them more interested in us. and When summer hits, we’ll lure them somewhere else and teach them a lesson.”
“And I’ll go boo-hoo when they find us out?” Harry guessed.
He looked back down at Harry and grinned, one full with malicious intent. “You know me so well.”
March 28, 1937
Wool’s Orphanage, London, England
The first step to their plan was very easy to accomplish.
While Harry took care of Amy, Tom took care of Dennis. It was quite simple what they wanted; they were just insecure of their own friendships and decided to take it out on both of them.
Honestly, with the things that they were subjected to on a daily basis, Harry was surprised that the only thing they got was hate and close-mindedness from Mrs. Cole and the others.
Even if Harry was only 9-years-old, he was very comfortable with who and what he liked. And while he didn’t know what Tom’s thoughts on the matter were, he knew his best friend didn’t mind their friendship dynamic that much.
Speaking of friendships, it seemed that neither Amy nor Dennis got anything good out of theirs.
All Amy did was simper and mock them in the background while Dennis terrorized the other kids. It also seemed the annoying pair thought they were slick. When Harry and Tom split up (which was very intentional, by the way), Amy decided to flatter Harry while insulting him with backhanded comments at the same time, as though Harry was a stone-faced idiot. He truly had to give her props though even if he wanted to make her die. In excruciating detail.
Damn. The thought of Harry dislocating Amy Benson’s shoulder before he pushed her into the River Thames was really tempting to do so. Unfortunately, they already had plans for the idiot duo and the plan to push someone off of the River Thames required more work than Harry already wanted to do.
Tom told him one night that Dennis kept insulting and making snide comments at him which were really ordinary at best. Harry only felt slightly sorry for his counterpart but it was his fault for setting himself up to deal with Dennis.
When Harry entered their rooms, Tom was on his bed reading the Magical Theory book Harry got him a few days ago. Harry never broke promises, no matter what.
Tom bookmarked his page before looking up at Harry, giving him his undivided attention when he spoke. “Benson overheard me ‘muttering’ about the summer trip and our ‘plans’ for it,” Harry reported as he plopped beside Tom and rested his head against the wall. “How about you?”
Tom gave a bored shrug and at the thought of Dennis Bishop and the halfwit he was. “Insulted me again, nothing new,” He said, opening his book again. “He then pushed me to tell him what we’re going to do during the trip this July. Honestly one would think that they’d have at least a brain cell to share for the both of them.”
Harry snorted and got out his sketchbook. “That’s very unlikely, Tom,” he said. “We both know Amy and Dennis can’t have an ounce of common sense to save their lives.”
Tom glanced at Harry and said, “True enough, mon cher.” Before he continued to read his book.
“As I always am, carissimus.”
Harry opened the sketchbook and saw the unfinished sketch he had of a Kelpie from Mr. Scamander’s book. He already had the rough sketch of the creature; he only needed to draw the details.
June 5, 1937
Wool’s Orphanage, London, England
“Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
With a deep breath, Harry took Tom’s hand and imagined themselves in the storage room downstairs.
He felt a pull at his navel before his back slammed into the room’s floor where he smelt bleach and cleaning supplies. Harry wheezed and laughed in surprise and triumph.
He opened his eyes and snickered at the sight of Tom on his knees, heaving.
“Success!” Harry managed to let out as he took the hand Tom gave him. He sneezed at the incoming dust as Tom covered his own nose and mouth with his shirt to avoid Harry’s sneeze. He rolled his eyes; Tom was such a germaphobe.
Tom pulled down the shirt from his face. “It’s a good start,” his counterpart agreed. When Harry finally got a better hold of his footing, he nodded at Tom before he felt the unpleasant pull at his navel again before groaning.
At least they didn’t end up someplace else again; that hadn’t been a good experience.
Harry sat up from where he was on the floor and heaved himself up and onto his bed where he lay down on his back. He looked to his right where he saw Tom breathing heavily and gave him a grin. Tom smiled right back before gaining a thoughtful look. Harry sat up and asked,
“What’s the plan now, carissimus?”
“You know the plan, mon cher.”
July 17, 1937
Unclear Location Near South Seaside, England
Harry breathed in the cold air of the seaside as he stepped down from the automobile.
They were somewhere in the south of England. East Sussex maybe? Harry guessed but he didn’t really care. All he cared about was how Dennis and Amy would finally get their retribution.
They had to go. Today.
Them, their annoying personalities, and how they thought they were better than them had to go. All Harry wished was that they’d go without even a proof of indication that something happened to them; as if they would just cease to exist. That was the dream Harry knew wouldn’t happen. But he kept hoping anyway.
Feeling a presence behind him, Harry smiled as he faced his counterpart who nodded in acknowledgement of Harry and his thoughts. Harry turned towards his back and saw Dennis and Amy sharing smirks as they stepped out of the vehicle. Harry sneered at their faces before he quickly faced the seaside view in front of him. Harry didn’t want them to know anything they were planning.
“Alright, children!” Mrs. Cole called, quickly gathering all the children around her. Tom and Harry skirted around the gathering, not really wanting to endure the matron’s presence much longer. The ride to the seaside had been long enough.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Dennis and Amy’s eyes on himself and Tom. Nudging the boy beside him, he gestured to the annoying pair staring at them.
Tom lightly smirked that it could pass as a grin. His eyes were full of mirth as he stared ahead of him, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves as they already were. After the matron ceased to talk, a plan already formed in his head when he saw a path going into the rock wall near the shore.
He elbowed his counterpart, soft enough to not hurt but hard enough for Harry to sense his urgency.
Harry smirked when he quickly got Tom’s plan and saw the opening on the wall. “We make Bishop and Benson see us go in there and lure them in. Make them ask to go with us, in front of everyone,” Tom hissed in Harry’s ear. “I believe there’s something we could do on the other side. If not, let’s make it for ourselves.” It was a low murmur to everyone else in the vicinity but to Harry, it was loud and clear.
It was a smart, yet obvious, decision on Tom’s part to use parseltongue. To the other kids around them, they might think it was the sea spray from the ocean (which was highly unlikely due to their distance from shore but Harry didn’t particularly think that the kids around them were that smart to realize that) but to Harry and Tom, it was as easy as speaking English.
If possible, Harry grinned even wider and quickly acted as though Tom made a joke to not raise the suspicion of their targets.
Harry and Tom continued to act as if nothing was amiss, walking with the other kids towards the town and talking about random topics. If anyone didn’t know better, which they didn’t, they would think that the pair of them were normal introverted kids.
Easy as pie.
During lunch, Harry and Tom snuck out from the group and explored the cave in the wall they saw at the start of the trip.
They weren’t hungry. They managed to have a heavy breakfast with snacks they bought with the money they managed to save up for this moment. Plus, it was normal for the two of them to skip meals because of being caught up in projects or just being generally punished by the matron and the orphanage.
Quickly exiting the establishment that they were confined in for the lunch period, Harry and Tom snuck in and out of alleys and rounded buildings before running the last stretch towards the shore of the town.
After checking that the coast was clear, Tom grabbed Harry by the wrist and ran towards the shore, Harry just barely able to catch up with Tom’s speed. “This feels like what happened with the snakes a few years ago,” Harry managed to get out as he and Tom heaved deep breaths behind the safety of the wall.
“It does,” Tom agreed before standing straight and surveying the cave around them.
The cave was more an alcove than anything else.
It was like a chunk of rock on the cliff side was scooped like ice cream. Sand and gravel covered the area of the alcove that was near the sea, giving way for the sea salt to invade Tom’s senses. It wasn’t dark in the least but it provided enough shade and coolness to escape the humidity of the town.
There was also an exit on the other side of the long alcove (hallway?), giving Tom a view of the seaside blocked off by the cliff near the town.
It was perfect.
Snapping out of his daze, Tom glanced over to see his counterpart’s reaction and it was exactly what he imagined it to be: awestruck and malicious beyond belief.
“This is amazing,” Harry breathed and Tom agreed with him, it was.
Unconsciously grabbing Harry’s hand for comfort and reassurance, Tom took the lead and led the two of them further into the cave before quickly reaching the other opening of the cave.
Harry stared mesmerized at the view before him. Despite the low tide of the sea at the time, it was gorgeous all the same. Harry glanced over towards the middle of the view before he was overcome with a wave of exhaustion and almost collapsed on Tom.
A wave of blackness overcame him.
Harry could smell salt and hear rushing waves; a light, chilly breeze ruffled his hair as he looked out at the moon-lit sea and star-strewn sky. He stood upon a high outcrop of dark rock, water foaming and churning below him.
He glanced over his shoulder.
A towering cliff stood behind them, a sheer drop, black and faceless. A few large chunks of rock, like the one upon which Harry and the old man were standing, looked as though they had broken away from the cliff face at some point in the past. It was a bleak, harsh view, the sea and the rock unrelieved by any tree or sweep of grass or sand.
“What do you think?” asked the man. Harry looked at him incredulously. If Harry didn’t know better, he might have been asking Harry’s opinion on whether it was a good site for a picnic.
“They brought the kids from the orphanage here?” asked Harry, who could not imagine a less cozy spot for a day trip. It made Harry question his own thoughts. While Harry didn’t control what he said in visions like these over the years, he knew well enough of the view behind him. They were talking about the trip that they were on right now.
Interesting. It was as if someone wanted them to know.
“Not here, precisely,” said the old man. “There is a village of sorts about halfway along the cliffs behind us. I believe the orphans were taken there for a little sea air and a view of the waves. No, I think it was only ever Tom Riddle and his youthful victims who visited this spot.
“No Muggle could reach this rock unless they were uncommonly good mountaineers, and boats cannot approach the cliffs, the waters around them are too dangerous. I imagine that Riddle climbed down; magic would have served better than ropes. And he brought two small children with him, probably for the pleasure of terrorizing them. I think the journey alone would have done it, don’t you?” Harry looked up at the cliff again and felt goosebumps. “But his final destination — and ours — lies a little farther on. Come.”
Harry blinked and all he could see was Tom’s face and all he could feel was Tom’s lap behind his head. Harry groaned. He always hated dealing with visions like that, the aftermath was always an annoying thing to deal with.
“How long was I out?” Harry asked, sitting up with the help of his counterpart.
“Not that long,” Tom admitted and at Harry’s deadpan, he continued talking. “Just around a few minutes.” Harry sighed in relief. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face, it gave him time to think about the vision.
“No, like- How long exactly?”
“Just around a minute or two.”
It was about Tom, his Tom, again. And it was with the Professor Harry had no name to put on. The vision version of him always referred to him as sir and if the vision did say his name, it was muffled out like Harry was suddenly dunked in a pool of water before resurfacing again to the conversation.
“It was about you again,” Harry murmured.
“Oh.” Tom already knew about his visions like the time when they first met or the first time when they entered the park near the orphanage. Tom already knew about them and the fact it was about him or some other people, the brunette and the ginger. Hermione and Ron, Harry’s mind helpfully supplied. “What’s it about specifically?” Harry was grateful that even if Tom worried about him, he knew Harry enough that he trusted that Harry was alright to talk about it. Over time, Harry stopped being so emotionally invested in the visions and more interested in the information it gave and benefits to the both of them.
“It’s about what we’re going to do today,” Harry said. “About what we’re going to do to Dennis and Amy.” He gave Tom a sharp-toothed grin that was anything but childish, it was full of malice.
“Tell me on the way back,” Tom advised, already hoisting Harry up to his feet. “We stayed too long here. The matron will finally notice us gone. What did you see before having the vision?”
Harry squinted at the view before him again before spotting and pointing at the rock in the middle of it and as a result, Harry saw the cave a little way in front of the rock.
Bingo.
“The professor and I were standing on the rock right there.” Harry continued, pointing at the rock before moving to the cave opening on the cliff face in front of it. “And that’s where they were planning on going to. He said you climbed down from the cliff with Amy and Dennis.”
They managed to get back just in time for the matron to gather everyone up and true to Harry’s word, he told Tom everything and in detail about what happened in the vision.
“Change of plans then,” Tom said and Harry nodded. After experiencing the visions over and over again, both Harry and Tom knew to listen to it.
Plus, who knows when they’d come back to this place in the near future? Maybe never.
As they reached the cliffs near the town, exactly the ones near the vision, Mrs. Cole told them they could explore. It was also the exact time Tom noticed Amy and Dennis slowly approaching them.
It was game time.
The annoying girl soon reached the pair of them before Dennis.
“Hi!” Amy greeted. Tom hid his grimace and managed to give her a small smile. She grinned brightly back (it almost made Tom want to puke) before gesturing to Dennis and herself, asking, “Can we explore with you guys? We didn’t want to explore with just the two of us, with just Dennis and me alone.”
“Sure,” came the chipper voice of Tom’s counterpart and it made Tom want to snicker, he would oh so clearly hear the disgust and hatred from Harry’s voice.
“It’s safe,” Harry called from below Tom. He was the first to descend down the cliff, Dennis and Amy quickly following before Tom closed in on the two of them. It was so laughable that those two idiots thought that they could terrorize Harry and himself when they fell into their trap so easily.
Amy’s shaky voice came into question Harry’s assurance. “Are you sure?” At least now Harry knew she had at least a brain cell.
“Positively sure.”
“A-alright.”
Amy was quivering and shaking just as much as the boy beside her while Mrs. Cole and the assistant matron, Martha Charles, checked on the two of them. It was pathetic really. Just a little show to inspire fear and all their hubris and arrogance was gone, pity.
Ms. Charles turned to face both Harry and him, an admonishing face etched on her face.
“What happened?” She asked, and it took all of Tom (and Harry’s) control to not laugh or react in any way but remorseful and regretful.
“We were just exploring, promise!” Harry said, an innocent look of terror and horror masking the pride and glee in his eyes. At the tug of his shirt from Harry, Tom quickly spoke in a panicked manner, refusing to meet the assistant matron’s eyes.
“Yeah,” came the breathy yet panicked reply from Tom, his eyes crinkling in his best attempt to stop crying. Not from fear, no, but from bursting out laughing. “When we came back, Amy and Dennis suddenly were like that. We didn’t know what happened. Amy asked if they could tag along and we agreed. Then this happened.” Tom then looked up at Martha Charles and her eyes softened in sympathy at the both of them before reporting back to Mrs. Cole.
The matron didn’t look like she believed any of the information her assistant gave her but accepted it anyway after looking at the frightened-looking boys.
She sighed and ordered the kids to pile back up into the vehicle when they arrived back in the village.
They were going home and no one was none the better of what happened.
July 17, 1937
Wool’s Orphanage, London, England
Harry flopped down onto his bed and let out a relieved sigh. Finally, those idiots won’t approach them anymore. It was like a bucket of ice cold water washed over Harry, in a good way. With no more snobby Benson, and no more idiot Bishop with a superiority complex, life was good.
Tom sat next to Harry, a manic grin stretched on his face, dimples clear for Harry to see.
“We did it,” Tom whispered. “We actually did it.” Proud yet unwavering disbelief was clear on Tom’s face. As if his plans don’t work out flawlessly every time.
“Of course we did it, carissimus,” Harry said, leaning up to grab Tom by the bicep before pulling him down to lie down on the bed beside him. Tom fell with a small, ‘oof’. “It’s you who planned it, of course it would work out as planned.”
Tom let out a disgruntled noise. “But it wasn’t my plan though,” Harry’s best friend denied. “Not really.”
Harry rolled over and laid an arm across Tom’s stomach, snuggling against Tom. “S’all fine, Tom,” Harry said, words a bit muffled from his place mushed into Tom’s side. “You adapted because of a vision I had and it worked out perfectly. You shouldn’t beat yourself up.”
Tom just let out a put-out sound before rolling around to face Harry. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and tugged him closer to him, Harry readily doing so. Tom was very warm yet cool to the touch at the same time. Harry loved it.
And it was only Harry who could experience that. Harry grinned at the thought. As it always should be. Harry doesn’t share friends, let alone best friends like Tom.
“Speaking of visions,” Tom started, loosening his hold on Harry just slightly to see his face. Harry peered up at him questioningly. “What exactly did you see in vision earlier?”
Harry only whined and burrowed his head into Tom’s chest.
“I already told you earlier!”
Tom laughed and ran a hand through Harry’s hair. Harry contently sighed at the gesture. He loved it when Tom did that.
“I know,” Tom claimed but Harry didn’t trust his best friend’s statement at all. “You only told me the details of what happened in the vision, not what you felt about it or even your insights and theories about it. You always say those.”
Harry leaned back to stare at Tom. “I say those?” He asked, incredulous disbelief clear as the sunny day outside their room. “I don’t... notice that at all.” Harry narrowed his eyes at Tom at the revelation. “Why do you keep noticing what I do?”
Tom scoffed, as if he was offended at Harry’s comment. What was there even to be offended about? Harry was asking a genuine question.
“Because, mon cher-” Tom gave Harry a fond look. Harry pouted. “-I notice a lot of things about you. Things you don’t notice yourself.”
“You’re obsessed!” Harry exclaimed, pure delight laced in his words. “You’re obsessed with what I do!”
Tom gaped at Harry and before Harry knew it, Tom was above him, straddling his stomach. Harry squirmed when hands feathered lightly over his neck and to his sides before an onslaught of tickling overcame Harry. Harry laughed and tried his hardest to get away from Tom but his best friend was practically dead weight above him.
“Take it back,” Tom ordered but they were all empty orders to Harry. Tom wouldn’t do that to Harry. “Or else.”
“Never!” Harry exclaimed before full on wheezing and laughing because of Tom’s tickle assault. “We both know I’m right!”
“You’re not!”
“I am!”
Suddenly, the hands stopped their assault on Harry. Harry opened his eyes to peer up at Tom. Tom sat on top of Harry, deep in thought, staring at Harry. What was he staring at? Harry hoped there was nothing on his face.
Harry finally had enough of the unwavering eyes that stared down at him and asked, “what?”
Tom blinked and slowly came back to reality, back to Harry. A grin formed on his face as he looked at Harry but Harry didn’t know what Tom was thinking nor what he was planning.
Harry’s confusion further grew when Tom moved from his spot on top of Harry to beside him again.
“You alright, Tom?”
Tom’s grin widened when he looked back at Harry and Harry looked back at Tom, a questioning gaze at the forefront of Harry’s expression. “I’m alright, mon cher. ”
If possible, Harry’s eyes narrowed even more. “Are you really sure?”
Tom laughed and said that he was.
“What’cha thinking about then?” Harry questioned. He crossed his legs and he laid his chin on the palm of his hand. “You don’t normally space out that far on me.”
Tom’s grinning face suddenly turned smug. Harry gaped at the implications. Tom tricked him.
“Now look at who's obsessed.”
Harry tried to hit him on the arm but Tom blocked the hit with his arms. Harry then grumbled and crossed his arms. Tom tried to hide the grin that was breaking out but the dimples gave it all away.
Pretty.
“I hate you.”
“Do you really, mon cher?” Tom teased, grin spreading out even more. Harry tried to focus on Tom’s eyes instead of his dimples. They were full of amusement at Harry’s reaction. “Do you really hate me?”
Harry only stuffed his face into Tom’s chest, avoiding the question and Tom’s laughter altogether.
“I hate you so much.”
“No, you don’t.”
Harry huffed and sat up, turning around to face Tom. The grin on his best friend’s face was contagious at best and Harry found himself trying to hold his own grin from showing.
Tom looked up at him expectantly, as if Harry was going to say some witty quip to Tom’s response. But Harry couldn’t find any will to find it. After all, why deny a statement that was true in all forms?
Harry let the grin he desperately tried to hide show.
“Do you really hate me, Harry?”
Tom already knew the answer to that question. Why would Harry remotely hate Tom? What has Tom ever done to Harry to warrant him such hate?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
“Afterwards, when Agamemnon would ask him when he would confront the prince of Troy, he would smile his most guileless, maddening smile. “What has Hector ever done to me?”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles