Chapter 1: (3947 words)
"Sirius!" Harry screamed, his heart filled to the brim with pain of what happened a mere month ago. He was still not over the death of his godfather, nowhere near. He couldn't do anything though, he knew, deep down, that he deserved all of the pain he received from the Dursleys and the daily nightmares. Thank goodness for silencing charms, in any case.
He rose from his bed and went to the small mirror that was in Fred and George's old room. In it, he could see a boy with deep, dark bags under his eyes, and a never-ending expression of pain deep in his eyes, though his face wore an expressionless mask, not giving away anything other than his exhaustion, since he had been so afraid of sleeping recently because of his nightmares. He was tempted to… to cut himself, but he knew it would do nothing but bring about more pain.
Maybe he could just get killed by Voldemort for once? But then he would leave the rest of the world with an insane murderer with a grudge against the majority of the globe. Then again, the world shouldn't be relying on a now sixteen-year-old boy to save the wizarding world as well as the odd muggle too.
*Of course, Harry. But you have to admit, you bring hope to the wizarding world,* spoke a voice that only Harry could hear.
It had begun speaking to Harry in his dreams recently, the first time only being two weeks ago. The voice then spoke with Harry outside of his dreams, and it seemed so familiar to Harry, but he just couldn't place it at first. He eventually realised that it was the voice of Tom Riddle. It was a lot nicer than the current Tom Riddle, but Harry was sure that they were exactly the same, and not in a bad way. Harry knew that they could both feel love, just the current Voldemort was rather insane at the moment, and Harry was sure he wouldn't exactly appreciate that certain opinion.
In a way, the voice acted like a nicer version of the Riddle from the diary during his second year, meaning that whatever is talking to him through his mind is almost the same age, if not the exact same. Harry could see the usefulness of the voice, Riddle was extremely intelligent, and he could help Harry with schoolwork and with defeating Voldemort. Sometimes, Harry wondered if it really was like the diary, if there was a part of Voldemort's soul in him.
Was that even possible? *I'm not sure, but I'm not saying it's impossible either. I don't think I knew what I was doing whenever that happened,* Tom pondered 'out loud'.
*That's a good point, and it would actually explain how we have a connection, not only of the mind but of the soul too, since we can feel each other's emotions,* Harry ended what Tom was going to say, having gotten used to working as a team with the, probably and most likely, soul piece inside of him. How was he going to explain this to his friends?
Dumbledore had come to collect Harry from the Dursleys, Harry then convinced an old professor, Horace Slughorn, to re-join Hogwarts and come out of retirement. Tom had mentioned that Slughorn had taught him when he was in school. The last thing he remembers was the end of his fifth year, and whatever Harry had told him of the future. It was slightly awkward talking about everything that had happened to his life, especially to the person who would come to be the reason Harry's life was like this anyway.
It was nearing the morning, and Harry, unable to sleep since his thoughts were keeping him up, decided to just get out of bed. He checked the time using his wand and saw that it was about six in the morning, and he left the room.
Seeing that everyone was still asleep, Harry resolved to just sit at the kitchen table and have a chat with Tom. Over the lonely week spent at the Dursleys, Harry had found a good friend in Tom, and was pretty upset knowing what he would become. Maybe, he thought, Tom wouldn't have become Voldemort if he was friends with Harry. It's not like he'll ever know though. His friends hadn't noticed anything unusual, though they sometimes commented on how he seemed to space out a lot recently, though they didn't mention anything with the assumption that it was about his now dead godfather.
He then noticed the sound of footsteps and turned to look at whoever entered the kitchen. "Good morning, Harry. You're up early," pointed out a yawning Hermione.
"Hello, 'Mione. I just couldn't sleep," he told the witch. She walked from the doorway to the chair across from him and sat down.
"You know, Harry, me and Ron wouldn't mind if you wanted to talk about your… feelings. I understand that what happened with Sirius was hard, but you need to talk about it to get over what happened," she told the expressionless wizard. Normally, he would burst and shout at his friend for mentioning such a thing, but he had gotten used to the Weasleys and everyone else walking on eggshells around him, worried that he'll shatter into a million pieces if they're too straightforward.
Well, everyone but Tom. He always treated Harry like an actual person and not some antique vase or something priceless and easily breakable like that.
(-Line break!-)
Harry was on the train, waiting for his friends to return from their prefect duties. He was sitting on his own since Ginny had run off with her friends and he didn't know where anyone else was. He was just talking to Tom about how useless divination was when his compartment door opened. "Potter? I need to talk with you."
It was Malfoy, Harry realised to his dismay. He was perfectly ready to hex the blond git into oblivion since Harry had begun suspecting him of being a Death Eater, but Tom told him, *I don't think he's going to do anything to harm you. Maybe it's important, and he looks desperate.* The piece of Voldemort's soul in him had deemed Malfoy safe. Of course it did, he's a Death Eater. But his soul piece had never lied to him before, so with some hesitation, by nodded gestured for Malfoy to come in. "What do you want to talk about that's so important, I thought you wouldn't be caught alive talking to me," Harry commented once the blond sat down across from where Harry was sitting.
"Yes, well, that's not exactly wrong," he gave Harry a tentative smile while the ebony-haired boy sniggered quietly, "I just wanted to tell you that the, uh, the Dark Lord made a Death Eater and-"
"Hah! I knew it!" Harry exclaimed, a large grin on his face as he pointed a finger at the blond. Malfoy raised an astonished and amused eyebrow before Harry explained. "I thought you were one for a while, but Ron and 'Mione never believed me."
Malfoy nodded slowly, "Well, you were right." He then paused for a moment, a thoughtful and confused expression on his face, before mumbling, "Never thought I'd be saying that in this lifetime."
*I must say, I sure didn't either,* laughed Tom, making Harry grin and laugh at Malfoy and Riddle's comments.
"Thanks, Malfoy. I'm glad I could set you on the right path before it was too late," he told the blond dramatically, "Everyone deserves the truth, you know, and now you yourself have spoken it!"
Malfoy rolled his eyes but a small smile stayed on his face. The two realised one of the younger years, maybe a Second-Year student, outside holding a note. Harry deducted that it was likely to be about Slughorn and his stupid club, and decided to stay in here, where someone from the younger years will be too terrified to enter with the youngest Malfoy in the compartment with him. Malfoy seemed to be thinking similar thoughts, though he probably didn't know that it was about Slughorn. The two simply ignored the little Second-Year, and carried on as if nothing happened. Malfoy sighed, and asked in a serious tone, "I was hoping to become your friend. I chose to become a Death Eater, but I won't kill or torture anyone. I'm against such a thing and the like." Harry nodded, and gave Malfoy a supportive smile, "However, before any attempts of friendship, I would like for you to know that I'm rather attracted to males as opposed to the opposite sex, and am now dating Zabini. I'm afraid I'll not continue to pursue a friendship with you if you have a problem with this."
Harry grinned and nodded, "I've got no problem with that. It would be rather hypocritical of me, wouldn't it, Malfoy?" He then paused with a grin making him look insane on his face. Seriously, that thing could cause even the strongest of will to pee their pants and run away screaming for their mother. "Well, I suppose I should call you Draco know, huh?"
Malfoy shivered, the grin reminding him of the Dark Lord, oddly enough, but he shrugged mentally, and huffed, "You better not be calling me that in public. I'm sure that little Weasel will have a heart attack." He then stopped, pausing for a moment, before speaking again, "What do you mean, it would be hypocritical of you?"
Harry huffed in a defeated tone, "Very well, Malfoy." However, it quickly turned into the vicious grin once more, "And I mean, I'm gay! Well… maybe bi. I don't know, please don't tell anyone. And about your name, I have something much better to call you in public."
"Of course, I won't say a thing," Malfoy promised, before nodding and telling the grinning boy, "Go on then; let's hear it."
What Malfoy wasn't expecting was for Harry to shake his head and wave his hand in the blond boy's direction, and announce, "You'll see later, Malfoy. And it'll be in front of everyone! I promise!" Still, that's exactly what the ebony-haired boy did.
"Merlin," he mumbled, knowing there was no getting out of this fate, "I should have expected this, shouldn't I?" he questioned, his hand covering his face.
Harry nodded his head gravely, "I'm afraid so. No matter now, Ron and 'Mione will be coming back soon. I'll see you at the feast!"
Malfoy nodded his head and stood up, "See you around, Harry. Oh," he stopped walking away for a moment, "and the Dark Lord doesn't really hate you all that much. I think he just acts like he does. I have no clue why he would do such a thing, but after growing up around Father, I learned to notice lies, no matter how well hidden. Use this to your advantage," he opened the compartment door, "Potter." He smirked and strolled down the train, most likely in search of his boyfriend. Harry reckoned that he should probably meet Blaise Zabini later on in the week if he wanted his friendship with Malfoy to continue. Luckily, the blond git (damnit, it's affectionate now) left just in time since Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Luna entered the compartment about one or two minutes after Malfoy left.
"Hello, Harry," greeted the blonde girl a year younger than him.
*I like her; she's unusual and many underestimate her, making her very powerful,* commented Tom, making Harry mentally roll his eyes, since he was too afraid to do such a random thing in front of his friends. He greeted the four and only then did he reply to the waiting soul shard to not seem suspicious.
*Of course you'd only like her for that! I happen to think she's rather interesting in her own special way,* he told the soul piece in him with an amused tone, secretly happy to have a chance to speak to him again. He snapped out of it when he heard Ron whisper to Hermione, asking if he should shake Harry out of his 'creepy daze, it makes him look insane, 'Mione!'
Unable to help himself, he responded clearly, pretending to remain in his 'daze'. "Well, it's not like anyone's ever thought of such a thing before, Ron," he sarcastically told the red-head, making the other three people in the compartment snigger behind their hands. It was just last year when everyone believed that Harry lied about the returning Dark Lord. *Look who's laughing now! Well, definitely not me, since I'm probably not going to live past the next two years,* he thought, mentally rolling his eyes again. *Now is not a good time for my morbid thoughts to appear.*
Ron apologised, making Harry only roll his eyes (seriously, how many times in a day can one boy roll his eyes?!) for the millionth time, "Hey, it's fine, Ron. Anyways, I've got a surprise for you all!"
"Really? What is it?" Neville spoke for the first time, his voice trembling slightly. Harry was proud of the easily frightened boy, almost seeing him as his brother, since he was trying so hard to overcome his fear of speaking to people.
"You'll all see later today." He paused a moment, and then the crazy grin from when he spoke to Malfoy came back, and full-force, "You know, I just said the same thing to a certain blond git earlier today. What a coincidence!" he exclaimed, giving the four his trademark maniacal grin, making the other four friends laugh, excited for later. After being friends with Harry for over four or five years, they got used to the sight of Harry and his slightly unstable ways, knowing that his rarely seen grin entailed that something completely world-changing would occur soon. Honestly, that boy's a miracle worker!
That was when Harry's words processed in everyone's minds.
"Wait, Malfoy!" Ron cried.
"Seriously, Harry. You called him a Death Eater yesterday and now you're talking to him?" Hermione mumbled, an amused and knowing look on her face. *Damnit, why does she have to know everything?!*
"Why'd you talk to him?" Neville asked, the first one Harry can actually bear to answer. *How could I refuse my own brother (eh, kinda)? Well, we might as well have been. With the prophecy, we could have had the same fate, and we both grew up without parents and with slightly crazy relatives.*
"Well, he came up to me, and started talking about all of his Death Eater-ing, so hah! I was right! And I said as much to him too! We're kinda buds now," Harry told them the story, leaving certain parts out, such as the fact that he was gay and the nickname he would use on the blond later on. *I can't give away the surprise now, can I? What kind of friend would I be if I did such a thing?*
Ron rolled his eyes (aha! Now he had proof that he wasn't the only one who did this!) and huffed, "Okay, okay, you were right."
"Hmm, Malfoy said that too," Harry mumbled. Neville, Ron, and Hermione's jaws had dropped, while Luna nodded her head and, with her airy voice, responded, "Thought so."
*See, this is why I think she's amazing, Tom,* Harry told the soul shard.
*You sure do talk to yourself rather a lot, don't you?* he heard Tom mumble, and he mentally huffed back at him.
*Sure do, honeybuns,* Harry's maniacal grin returned to his face as he heard his friends pondering out loud to each other about what his surprise later on would be, not knowing he was listening too. They obviously noticed him grinning at nothing, and shrugged, deciding not to question his insanity. A pretty good idea in his opinion. Not many knew it but he called literally everyone by something different from what most call them. *Everyone gets a humorous, if not slightly insulting nickname from me, out of the kindness of my heart.*
*Yeah, right. I've heard what you call Umbridge, and it's not pretty,* Tom told him with a monotone voice, as if he was saying 'seriously'.
*Just be happy with what you got, hon, it's not changing anytime soon, and I could just as easily make it even more embarrassing,* Harry threatened playfully, and he could hear Tom's laughter. Sometimes he wondered if Tom was actually the current Voldemort, and he knew how possible that could be, but the thing was he didn't know, and he didn't even care all that much. If Tom found out about everything he thinks, he has someone else to talk to, and he'd never be alone. Also, a new kind of cheating in exams, but he's pretty sure that there's no spell against having a soul shard in him. On the other hand, if the current Dark Lord found out about everything he thinks, including his treatment at the Dursleys, he would be embarrassed, but still glad he had someone to talk to. *Hey, honeybuns?"
*Ugh, yes?* it replied.
*You're not ever going to leave me, are you?* Harry himself wasn't expecting how vulnerable and fragile he sounded when he asked the question, and it seemed like Tom, or Voldemort, wasn't either.
*No, Harry. I'll always be here, I promise,* it returned after a few minutes with an affectionate hint to its voice, and Harry let out a small smile which his friends didn't notice luckily, though even he knows that he's slightly insane, but what would you expect from someone who's been abused, and then a murder target to the greatest Dark wizard of all time? Who he's kinda friend's with now, maybe?
"Harry, you and Ron should get changed, we're almost there," Hermione mothered at them once she realised that the train was almost coming to a stop, and then she dragged Luna off somewhere to change. The two friends changed into their school robes quickly and then waited for Hermione and Luna to come back. While they did so, Ron asked Harry if he was okay.
"I'm fine, Ronald," Harry grinned at him. The ebony-haired boy hardly ever grinned, but on the day or two that he does, he rarely stops.
The red-head groaned and questioned, "Why?! Why must you call me such names?!"
"Ron," Harry began slowly, as if speaking to a young child, "that is literally your actual name."
"Yeah, I know, but everyone calls me Ron!" he whined at the, most likely, insane student just as Hermione and Luna returned from wherever they magically disappeared to. *Oh, wait. I can't use that muggle phrase anymore now that I know that magic is real.*
*Yes, it must be such a treacherous sacrifice,* Tom replied sarcastically, Harry could practically feel Tom rolling his eyes at the ebony-haired boy's heartbroken voice.
Settling on getting some revenge for the sarcasm (even though he's sarcastic most of the time), he smirked as Ron and Hermione exchanged heart-eyes and Luna looked at what was probably an invisible creature, *Hey, don't you start, honeybuns!*
Feeling that Tom wasn't going to respond anytime soon (since he was too busy sulking), Harry snapped out of his daze and joined into his friends' conversation like a completely ordinary and totally sane student attending just another magical school – oh wait, no wonder he was so crazy.
The train finally pulled up at the station, and the second Harry and his friends stepped off of the train, the ebony-haired boy raced towards the thestrals pulling the carriages. He felt like he was just like the reptilian dragon-horses: everyone saw a monster, something that was crazy and wrong and should be ignored or killed, when inside, there was just something that craved to be loved.
Or stroked.
That works too.
Harry stroked the large creatures as Malfoy approached him, "I assume you told your friends?"
"Only that we're totally buds now, but nothing on your sexuality or your chosen nickname, Malfoy," Harry responded, and he smiled when he saw Malfoy try to reach out to pet the thestrals like he was. "Go on, Malfoy! It's not going to bite! The worst it can do is just go at you like Buckbeak did, remember him?"
Malfoy shivered at the memory of what happened in Third Year as Ron, Hermione, Luna, Neville, and recently joining the group: Ginny, approach the two boys. "Wow. Harry, I know you hardly ever lie and all, but I wasn't expecting that you were actual mates with the ferret!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry rolled his eyes and replied, "Birdy, dear? Could you please remind your idiot boyfriend that I never lie? If you don't mind, of course."
"Gladly," Hermione huffed affectionately at the nickname and complied. She turned around and began smacking Ron, not enough to leave a bruise or anything, but hard enough to hurt. Hard.
Malfoy winced at the memory of Third Year. Wow, so much happened to him in that year. Choosing to ignore the memories of being punched right in the face, he asked Harry, "Why did you give the mud- uh, Granger, that nickname?"
The ebony-haired boy glared at the blond until he was satisfied that his death glare had done its job (it sure had ;D , Malfoy was scared silly) and explained to Malfoy, "Well, I wanted to give her a nickname about her love of reading and knowledge. So, I thought at first that she was a bookworm, and then there's a muggle saying which goes like 'the early bird gets the worm', so I just call her Birdy. Also, birds are super smart."
Malfoy nodded at the explanation, grudgingly accepting that it made at least a semblance of sense. The six went into a carriage, and eventually, they arrived at the castle. They saw the 'ickle firsties on the boats with Hagrid, making their way to the castle to be sorted. Once they arrived there, they saw Professor McGonagall waiting for them. Harry and his group of friends, now joined by Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Theo Nott, and Malfoy's too bodyguards, strolled up to their strict professor. "Heya, Minnie," Harry greeted, making his friends and any student in a nearby proximity gasp, since Harry had just casually used a nickname on their strictest professor (except maybe Snape). With everyone expecting the witch to explode, it was rather anticlimactic when the elderly professor just rolled her eyes. *Why do people always roll their eyes more around me?*
*You just have that effect on people, dear,* replied Tom. Harry grinned, both at his professor's reactions and to Tom's words. Professor McGonagall huffed and asked the ebony-haired boy, "Must you call me that silly name?"
"Sure, Min! We're in the middle of a war," he began using his puppy-dog eyes on her. No one could resist those! And everyone knew it, which was why Hermione and even Tom, in his head, sighed deeply, knowing that there was no resisting those big green doe eyes. Well, stag eyes, really, "we need some happiness in this hour of darkness. And anyway, I think it suits you!"
Okay, it was common knowledge that Harry Potter was rather insane. Everyone thought that he was a liar, and when that was revealed to not be true, they just realised that they had never noticed that the ebony-haired boy was rather loony. Hell, even more so than Luna Lovegood. No one calls Professor McGonagall a nickname and then says that it suits her. No one!
There was deafening silence, until Malfoy suddenly asks, "Why am I even surprised anymore?"
It turns out that no one had an answer to that question.
A/N: Heya! I'm sorry I've not been posting anything else. I'm having a lethal case of writer's block, and the only thing I can write is Harry Potter. I'm sure the block will disappear eventually, but if you read any of my other stories, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be posting for a while.
Also, just for your information, I love the Harry Potter books and hate the movies, and I will fight you on this! :D
Okay, onto the story! I love Harry Potter fanfics where Harry's slightly crazy, there's just not enough of them. With not being able to write anything else, I just listened to Eurovision songs from way back in 2012 (mostly Spain, Italy, and Sweden (I love them! Though Spain is the best! 3)) and wrote as stupidly as possible, starting from the line break. I didn't really write anything crazy before that, since it was a kind of introduction to the story. Also, this is not a one-shot, it is not completed, and I will write the rest, I just have no idea when, so there'll be no schedule for any of my stories anymore, since I can never keep up.
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is the beautifully amazing person who had the brain which I do not have to write the wonderful world of Harry Potter, which she owns. Not me… :'(
Enjoy!