Disclaimer: I did not create the characters, or the setting. I am the owner of this little back story.

In Need of Sanctuary

London, England 1942:

Tom Riddle sat huddled in the tube station, listening to the bombs fall and wondering how he had managed to get stuck here, yet again. When matron had asked if he would prefer to return to school or evacuate with the rest of the orphanage, Tom had been eager to choose Hogwarts. The summer he had been forced to spend in the countryside had simply strengthened his resolve. Now, facing a second summer begging in the underground, he was seriously regretting that decision.

Tom sighed, he had severely underestimated the wizarding world's lack of knowledge about their muggle counterparts. He had tried explaining to every teacher he could think of, he had even approached Dumbledore, for Merlin's sake, but the concept of modern warfare, including bombs, was simply beyond their grasp. If they let him get that far before informing him that everyone was required to leave for the summer.

Tom wished he had a blanket, a pillow, some thing to make sleeping on concrete a little easier. And while he was wishing for impossible things, maybe he should wish for his ration book and permission to use magic as well. Tom snorted. Bureaucracy was the same it seemed, whether one was magic or muggle. When he ruled the world, he would get rid of it, along with war, bombs, and Hitler.

With that pleasant thought, Tom M. Riddle, future benevolent monarch, fell asleep, stomach rumbling to the sound of bombs falling overhead.

Author's Note: I don't remember when I first noticed that Tom Riddle was supposedly living in an orphanage, in London, in the midst of World War 2. It has bugged me ever since.