What if... [Tom Riddle]

Come to me

Warning:
This chapter turned out different from what I had originally planned.
I had two possibilities to explain Tom's behavior after his first day of school.
Well, the second one won and this chapter turned out a bit darker than I originally wanted.

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The second school day ended almost like the first one.

Tom didn't cry this time, but he was clearly depressed.

Harry asked Tom what was bothering him once again, but the boy gave him no answer.
So he didn't ask any further.
Nevertheless, Harry remained vigilant.

One day, two days, a week and finally a month passed by and Harry was at his wits' end.

Tom wasn't just depressed after school, no, now he was always depressed.
And every time Harry tried to speak to him about it, the boy didn't respond.
Sometimes Tom cried, sometimes he ignored Harry and sometimes he forced a smile and tried pretend that everything was alright.

The signals were just so contradictory, that Harry knew that something was wrong but didn't know what it was.

The next morning, Harry made sure that they arrived a little earlier to school.
He said goodbye to Tom at the playground and then went to talk to Mrs. Devaughn.

"Good morning, Mrs. Devaughn."

"Ah, good morning. Mr. Evans, right?"

Harry smiled.
Wonderful, it was good that people didn't recognize him immediately.

"Yes, right. I was wondering if you had noticed something different in Toms behaviour?"

The teacher looked over at Tom, who was sitting on a swing.
"He seems to be a nice little bright boy. Sometimes a little quiet. But that could also be the transition to school. Did you mean something specific?"

"Yes. When I picked him up after his first day of school here cried at home. He wouldn't tell me what's going on. And since then he has been really... sad, I guess. Withdrawn into himself. Has something happened, of which you know and I do not?"

Professor Devaughn shook her head lightly.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. As far as I can tell, he has made friends with a few boys and a girl. It's quite normal that children don't cope equally well with all of their peers."

"Hmm..."
Harry looked at Tom once more and then back to his teacher.
"Well...then, thank you for the information. I'll pick him up this afternoon after class."

"You're welcome, Mr Evans. It's always nice to see parents showing interest in their children. Have a nice day!"

"You Too. Goodbye!"
Harry waved at Tom one last time and then left.

He was on his way home, did some shopping, talked to a few neighbors, and finally went to the park.

What was he going to do with Tom?
Harry had a really bad feeling.
Something was going on and Tom wasn't going to tell him wat it was that easily.
Tom got more and more depressed with each passing day that passed.

How did he let it go on for this long.
A month ... and he had done nothing except to talk with Jeff and Louise's mother, and this morning with Professor Devaughn.

Well...Harry decided to wait no longer.
He had actually planned to get along without magic fro as long as possible, but desperate situations... yes, he was now desperate.

So he made a detour to the apartment and took his invisibility cloak.
Then he went with hasty steps back to Thompson Primary School.

Harry nodded to the secretary, he met at the entrance and went to the toilet to put his cloak on.