The Way Tom Is

Year Two: Part One

[[A/N: In case I haven't said this yet: All recognizeable characters belong to JK Rowling and the title of this story belongs to: Raneko_Chan and stolen from her story The Way Paul Is (dont worry, I have her permission) PEACE AND LOVE, iJay]]

Year Two: Part One

“Tom!” I called, face smiling as I ran towards my best friend. It had been a year since the sorting, and over the summer I had gotten more lady-like. My mother didn't ignore me as often, which was a plus, but the downside was that also meant my father no longer ignored me. Nonetheless, I was excited to be going back on the scarlet train and towards Hogwarts, the place I now happily called my home.

“Chamille,” his cool, soothing voice flowed through me and I grinned at him. He had definitely grown over the summer, his clothes were smaller, his trousers not even going passed his ankles and his shoes were worn out and raggedy.

Briefly, I wondered if his family was poor, but discarded the thought. It didn't matter to me either way.

“How was your summer, Tom?”

"Perfect," he replied, though his voice had lost the bit of emotion it had, sounding colder. It meant he was lying. I knew that and he knew that, but neither of us mentioned the summer again, instead skipping it all together.

Tom, like the gentleman he was, led me onto the Hogwarts Express and together we found an empty compartment and sat down across from each other.

The brown seats were in like-new condition, and I wondered if it was from magic or if they replaced the upholstery every year before throwing the thought out of my head. Mother and Father always said it was unattractive for a woman to think.

“How many new students do you think we'll get this year, Chamille?”

“Probably only fourteen or so, I didn't notice many new faces as we got onto the train.”

I could have slapped myself as I said that. Father said it wasn't approved of for woman to pay attention, they were to sit there and look pretty, nothing more, nothing less.

Tom didn't seem to mind though, or if he did, he didn't show it. His face stayed the cool, calm and collected as I had always seen it.

As students passed our compartment, they stopped to look in every once in a while to look in, but none came in to speak to Tom or myself. “Tom, why don't you have more friends?”

The question had popped unbidden into my mind, and as I always did, I blurted it out without thinking about how rude it sounded. His dark brown hair was combed over handsomely, except for one stray strand which hung into his face, making my hands itch to push it back.

“I don't need friendship.”

My shoulders sagged as his words sank in. He didn't need my friendship. Perhaps he was only with me out of pity...was he?

“I only need one, anyways, and that's you.”

A grin took over my tiny twelve-year-old face as he spoke and I practically threw myself at him in happiness, hugging him as tightly as I could.

“Get off of me, Chamille.”

Calm...cool, emotionless. He was used to this happening by now, I was sure, I did it at least twice a month, I was always one to get over-excited.

“Sorry.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twelve. There were only twelve new students, four were placed into Gryffindor. Four in Hufflepuff, two in Ravenclaw and two in Slytherin.

After the feast, the prefects led the new students to the dorm and though everyone was supposed to follow them up there, I didn't. Instead I walked towards the Black Lake, and stared out at the moons reflection in the dark waters.

It was moments like this that I wished I could swim, so that I would have something else to do at that time, instead of staring at a lake. I could be swimming in it.

“You shouldn't be here.”

I jerked around, looking for whoever had spoken but I couldn't see anyone.

“Hello?”

The grass tickled my feet and I remembered that I had taken my shoes off, but that wasn't my only problem. “Who is there?”

“You're supposed to be in your dorm Chamille.”

My bottom lip trembled as tears spilled down my face. Terrified, that was the only word that could be used to describe how I felt at that moment. It was already dark outside, making it hard for me to see in the first place, and now there was someone talking to me..except there was nobody anywhere near me!

“Look up, Chamille!”

I stared up, and saw someone..in the tree? The person jumped down, revealing themselves to be none other than Tom, and I sighed in relief. “You scared me!”

“You shouldn't be here at night Chamille. It's dangerous for girls, anyone can come up and hurt you here.”

The way his voice sounded suddenly seemed menacing, and his blue eyes flashed in the moonlight, causing me to back up.

“T-thanks Tom. I'll j-just go now, then. Good night.”

My feet slapped hard against the unforgiving ground, and I realized the moment that I stepped on a rather sharp rock, that I had left my shoes back by the tree.

I fell onto the ground, clutching my foot and cried out. It hurt a lot worse than I'd ever imagined stepping on a rock would, and I could feel the blood leaking out of it, onto my hand.

“Chamille, are you all right?”

Tom's voice had quickily lost that menacing aura, and instead it was just slightly concerned as he knelt down next to me.

“I'm f-fine. It's my fault, I'm sorry, I left my shoes back at the tree.”

Tom grabbed my hand, his still felt as soft as when I first touched him last year as he helped me from the carriage. “Come on, I'll help you to your Common Room.”

He allowed me to lean on him, something nobody else had ever let me do, and for once in my life I didn't feel like such a burden, as if nobody wanted me. Tom wanted me as a friend, Tom would help me. That's what friends were for, right?

“You're a good friend Tom.”

For the first time, I saw a genuine smile cross his face.