'𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬.'
'𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.'
Those were the words that Cordelia Alder lived by, those words reminded her how precious life is and those were the words that Tom Riddle remembered the day he died, until he...
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18th July 1935, London
Martha gathered all the children at Wool's in the old library for a quick meeting. Mrs Cole stood in the front looking over the herd of children while counting heads. She would often pause to check if a person was missing or not. She was quite particular about attendance to her meetings, no one was allowed to miss them, not even Tom.
When she was done with counting, she began her quick meeting. She went over the changes in meals, the state of the garden, how there would be now a vegetable garden to tend to among other things and more chores. The children held back their groans as Martha watched them with a soft smile on her face and a finger on her lips.
Seeing the time ticking away, Mrs Cole noted how the children were all sleepy. It was time to end the meeting. "To end on a lighter note, Martha." She motioned to Martha to take over and the younger woman sprang into action.
"Good afternoon everyone." Martha greeted the children. "The trip to the seaside is next week, Mrs Cole and I expect everyone to be on their best behaviour from now until the end of the trip. We'll be taking a train and then a couch—we hired for us to get to Brighton—"
Chatters of children interrupted Martha and she stopped talking, pursing her lips and clasping her hands together to wait for silence. "Quiet." Mrs Cole calmly commanded and a hush fell over the room like a blanket.
"As I was saying, that sort of behaviour will not be tolerated on the trip. We expect you all to have your eyes and ears open at all times and be on your best behaviour."
"For some of you, this is your first trip anywhere with us." Mrs Cole glanced over Tom, Cordelia and some of the newcomers and younger children. "And for some, it is not. We expect the older ones to guide the younger ones. Stick close to each other in small groups if you can. Do not wander off! We don't want to spend time looking for the lost ones."
"Wandering off would strike you off the list for any future trips—it's important you all listen to us."
Tom's eyes wandered around the small library, examining each corner. Almost everyone was far away from him—just what he wanted. He'd chosen his seat carefully, being sure to sit somewhere else compared to last time, not only for more quiet but also to not get involved in any petty childish fights like last time. After all, he had better things to worry about.
He glanced over at Cordelia, expecting her to be sat up straight and eagerly listening like last time. To his surprise, Cordelia looked tired with her head bowed and eyes shut.
Tom debated leaving her in that half-asleep state. It would be humorous if she were to get caught but she would most likely be given extra chores to make up for it. He couldn't keep her in his sight if she was caught up in something so menial.
Glancing down at his sleeve, Tom quietly called Eris. The little snake slithered out of his sleeve and moved towards the sleepy Cordelia. Eris nestled herself on Cordelia's lap and the girl jolted awake.
