Hogwarts: a school of Witchcraft and Love (Tom Marvolo Riddle x F!reader)

Chapter 0-02

No twenty-fours hour later, you were having the most fun you've had in a long time. Most of the orphanage's kids were hollering and chasing each other along the beachy sand towards the never-ending sea of water, the waves ebbing and flowing as they always did. Others were working on sand castles while Mrs. Cole was laying on a towel she had spread over the sand.

She had just put sunscreen on your skin, so the sunlight shone bright against your arms and made them appear golden. All the while you were looking at a frame attached to a familiar mop of jet-black hair, Tom, who was the only one who wasn't dressed for the occasion and stood somewhere further up at the side.

That boy wouldn't know fun if it kicked him up the rear. You intended to go to him, but decided against it when he seemed to be having his own kind of fun, which apperently was staring intently at Amy and Dennis like he had been doing ever since you arrived.

As long as he didn't hurt them, you didn't care. Different strokes for different folks. Your eyes finally pulled away from him, catching ever corner of the pretty landscape and the creatures roaming it: a seagull flying with a pair of strong wings, a little crab trying to avoid being trampled and crawling back to the sea... There was just something so nice about walking on the soft sand with your bare feet and feeling the sand slip between your toes until you came to a stop, spotting distinctive shells lying lazily near the ocean.

They all had different shapes and colours. The pink one was shaped like an opening fan, the other one a pale, blue small fish and the one in orange like an irregular-shaped crystal. You picked up some of them, pretending you were a real treasure hunter, but got lost when you stared out into the water.

Marvelling in silence, you watched the red waves with blue underparts collide with each other and by the time you lifted up your gaze, the sky turned into a peachy hue, somewhere between yellow and orange.

Eventually you laid yourself down on the sand next to Mrs. Cole, feeling too warm and sleepy to do any more shell-hunting or sea-staring. A droplet of water landed on the tip of your nose, but your eyes were closed and you only sighed, not thinking much of it. You had no idea how much time passed when a second one hit you flat on the stomach.

"(Y/N)!" Mrs. Cole called your name soon after, and suddenly you were being bombarded by water droplets as the sky opened up above you. You shrieked at the cold, squirmed to your feet and followed Mrs. Cole who was guiding the rest of the children to the pier where a red and white lifeguards' house could provide you shelter.

Mrs. Cole turned her skinny face to behind her. "(Y/N)! Why have you stopped running? Do you want to get sick?"

"I don't see Tom anywhere!" You yelled, flailing your arms around you in a panic. The beach was suddenly a lot less nice, all dark like someone had flipped off the light switch. The white, soft sand quickly became dark gray and heavy, and your ears filled with splashing of water as the wind picked up. Mrs. Cole ran back to you, grabbed you by the wrist and basically dragged you away while you protested, to no avail.

You were forced to stand next to the other kids as the matron did a head count, her skinny forefinger bobbing up and down with every head she counted. "Eleven," she stated, her voice not a panic but definitely on edge. "We are missing three."

Thunder clapped overhead. You rubbed your hands together and whisked sopping strands away from your face as your gaze scanned over everyone. Tom was gone, and so were Dennis and Amy. Your heart panged, and you could barely hear Mrs. Cole order one of the older orphans to watch over you while she went to look for the missing ones.

You weren't sure if your ears were full of thrumming because of your heart beating or the water's incessant swelling and crashing against the rocks some distance away. Your eyes sweeped over the dunes and the beachgrass dancing back and forth in the wind, Then turned to the open ocean, hoping, no, praying that none of them had been dragged away by the water.