Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Shopping & Tom

Harry awoke the next morning to the annoying drone of his alarm at exactly 7:30 in the morning. It took him a moment to gather up the energy needed to fuel the necessary motor skills in order to shut the inconvenience off, and when all was quiet again, he pulled the sheets over his head and cocooned himself within them. Last night, after Mrs. Cole had come back to inform Tom and him that their "time-out" was over, Tom, having somehow warmed up to him during their punishment (not that Harry wasn't grateful that the other boy had begun to like him; he was sure he'd been making an arse out of himself), had taken it upon himself to show Harry where the bathrooms were, something Mrs. Cole had forgotten to do.

Each bathroom was, apparently, right across from the stairs at the top of each floor. They were segregated by gender and the boys' bathroom, at least, had another dividing wall for the shower cubicles. When Harry saw that the showers weren't all clumped together in a large space with no privacy, he was very relieved.

It was also Tom who had, the night before, shown Harry how to use the alarm function on his clock and Harry was, again, indebted to Tom's second random bout of kindness.

It was weird, though, how the other kids stared at them when they were together. Harry had noticed it when Tom was showing him the bathroom. They had looked intrigued by his presence, but quickly averted their fear-filled eyes from Tom. Even the older students were more cautious around the young Dark Lord. It made Harry wonder what the five year old had done to warrant this kind of behavior.
Harry stretched his body out, exposing his feet from under the sheets, and rolled over in a fruitless attempt to become unconscious once again as a sharp knock sounded at his door. He peeked open an eye as it swung open to reveal Mrs. Cole and another lady Harry hadn't seen the previous night.

"Oh good, you're up." Mrs. Cole said briskly. "This is Martha. She'll be taking you out to buy you're clothes. Ordinarily I wouldn't be here, but I have a few things that I forgot to give you the other day. Here. Your towel–don't lose it you won't get another–, your toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo and a comb. Here's a pen, write your last name on them. I really must stress to you not to lose anything. New toothpaste will be given to you when your tube runs out, same with shampoo. You need the empty tube, or bottle as proof that you really do need it and aren't just wasting my or my staff's time. You'd be surprised as to what children have done in the past.. New toothbrushes will be given out twice a year and soap will be given out when you run out. Please show us the small amount you have left before using it up so we can give you more. Towels and combs, however, will not be replaced unless they are broken. Eat some breakfast before you leave. Good day, Martha, Mr. Evans." Mrs. Cole left the room but didn't close the door.

Harry blearily blinked at the empty spot where Mrs. Cole had been standing and turned his attention to Martha. She seemed like a pleasant lady in her early thirties; blue eyes and long blonde hair braided down her back. She was a bit on the plump side and reminded Harry of a yodeler. She was nothing like the skinny Mrs. Cole with her sharp black eyes and peppered grey-brown hair. "Alright, love, you heard Mrs. Cole. Lets get you some munchies before we head out, hmmm?" She left the room, but waited in the hall for Harry. He put his name on everything, like Mrs. Cole suggested before following her out and closing the door.

The orphanage didn't have a cooling or heating system and Harry could already feel the sticky August heat squeezing into the building from any available open space. The stairs creaked under his light weight as his little legs took them on one at a time. He didn't pass anyone on the way down and was surprised by the continued absence of children when he got to the mess hall. Then he remembered that it was a weekend and that it didn't matter what time the other kids got up because there would be food in the hall until lunch was over. He wandered over to the untended counter where someone had left oatmeal out in a sizable pot for people to consume. Harry grimaced at the food but scooped some up and put it in his plastic bowl anyway. The only other inhabitant of the room was Martha, who had seated herself at a table in the middle. He walked over and sat down across from her since it would have been rude of him to try and find another place to sit.