Snow White

Part 2

When Tom came back for summer break, he was thrilled to find out you had moved out of the orphanage. He figured he would be moving with you and finally getting to enjoy you all to himself. But when he came back to the orphanage and was greeted by his usual cold grey room, he was furious.

It was late so Tom was supposed to go straight to bed when they arrived at the orphanage, but he walked to your former room expecting you to be there. Tom had a hard time believing you moved and did not take your only son with you, but when he opened the door, the room was empty besides a bed, desk, and dresser. It did not even smell like you anymore, but instead, it reeked of mildew. Ms. Cole had left your room vacant in case you decided you wanted to come back and assist more at the orphanage instead of the few hours you had been doing since your departure.

Tom felt his magic flare in anger. He felt angry that you left him to sleep at this orphanage and he wanted to watch your room burn. Tom smelled smoke and he opened his eyes to see your bed in flames. Ms. Cole also smelling the smoke came out of her room and grabbed a bucket that had been catching rainwater to throw on the burning bed.

"Tom Riddle! You started this fire?" She asked. Tom didn't say anything. He didn't want to talk to Ms. Cole he wanted to see you.

"Go to bed Tom, we will talk about this in the morning when Ms. L/N is here to help me decide what to do with you." Ms. Cole said before escorting Tom to bed. Despite Ms. Cole's dislike for Tom the last thing she wanted is to throw a child out on the street or in jail, but if you did not have a better plan or even take Tom off her hands all together, she saw no other choice. Ms. Cole also knew Tom being adopted would be bad as you were the only one, he seemed to slightly listen to. To send this strange and aggressive child home with unassuming parents would be positively criminal.

You did not live far from the orphanage and were there early the next morning. Ms. Cole greeted you at the door and immediately asked you to her office.

"Last night, Tom set your bed on fire." She told you.

"Oh? Did you ask why?" You asked.

"No, but I presume it is because you had left. So I have a proposal for you. Tom never acts out that badly when you are here, and with his new school, he is only here two months out of the year. So for those two months would you be willing to move back into the orphanage to help keep him calm?" Ms. Cole knew it was not good for Tom's mental and emotional growth to depend on you and that Tom needed to cope in his own way without you being a crutch, but Ms. Cole was done with Tom's behavior.

"Well...Tom seems...to think I am his mother, so I don't know how well that would go." You had not told Ms. Cole of the incidents but now seemed like a good time to bring that up.

"If you do not take him in or at least move back in for these two short months then I have no other choice but to throw the boy on the streets." You knew Ms. Cole was not bluffing. Though it was hard to believe she would be willing to toss a child to the streets.

"I will come back, while Tom is here." You muttered before going back to arrange things for your arrival back at the orphanage. Since your bed had been burned Ms. Cole put you in one of the few empty children's rooms. Shortly after you had finished your errands Ms. Cole asked you to her office once again. This time Tom was sitting where you had previously set earlier that morning. He looked angry and only seemed to become more upset when he saw you.

"Alright Tom, you need to be punished for starting that fire. You should be grateful I did not report you to the police and throw you out in the streets." You gasped a little at Ms. Cole's bluntness.

"It seems inappropriate to tell a child that." You told her.

"Well, it's the truth. Had you not returned he would be out on the street or in jail. You should be thanking Ms. L/N for helping you." Ms. Cole's words made Tom's already angry face twist into an even angrier face.