"You fool!" I shout just before I send the curse to kill him. Not enough satisfaction do I feel for this. He didn't have to die but he forced my hand.
"Wormtail" I say, no louder than a whisper. The rat of a man instantly appears before me.
"Clean this mess" I order and rise to leave the room.
Once in my chamber I head over to my desk. Ah, good. Severus did bring my latest batch of anti-venom potion. And he left a note.
Dark Lord,
This batch should last you three months. If you need more simply let me know.
-SS
I uncork one of the vials and down it with one swallow. It tastes the same but I can't help feeling something is different. The last thing I see is my precious Nagini slithering up to me before everything goes black.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTR
"You go on, Ron! I'll be down in a minute!"
Satisfied that Ron has headed down to the great hall for breakfast I head into my dorm to retrieve something from my trunk. I get within a few feet of my trunk when I notice someone asleep in my bed. I freeze. That hair, that face, that body. I'd seen it all before when I was first in the Chamber of Secrets; although, he does look a little younger now. But I "killed" Voldemort's younger self. So what was Tom Riddle doing asleep in MY bed? And how in Merlin's Beard did he get here?
I have a problem. Understatement of the century, Harry. But how can I get Tom to Dumbledore's office without anyone seeing him. I place a body bind curse on him and a sleeping spell to make sure he doesn't wake up. I don't know how he got here and I don't know how dangerous he is so better safe than sorry. I throw my invisibility cloak around him and carefully stand him up. I take his hand and drag him along behind me. I look strange, but I always look strange so hopefully no one pays close attention. We make it out of the portrait hole and down the corridor with no problem. Once at Dumbledore's office I mutter the password and the gargoyle leaps aside. I guide Tom onto it with me and we rise upwards. I knock on Dumbledore's door and hear him call, "Come!"
I open the door and when I have Tom in I close it. Dumbledore is the only person I know who can see through my invisibility cloak so he sees Tom right away. I remove the cloak and walk Tom to a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk sitting him down.
"Tell me what's going on my dear boy starting from what you've done to him." Dumbledore says giving me a knowing look and kind smile while gesturing for me to have a seat. I take a seat in the other open chair in front of his desk. I'm not even going to try and guess how he knows I did something to Tom.
"I went into my dorm to get something from my trunk when I found him asleep on my bed. I have no idea how he got there. I also don't know if he's dangerous so I thought it would be smart to take preventative measures so I cast a body bind and sleep spell on him." I swear I said that as calmly and slowly as possible. Judging by the look on Dumbledore's face however I guess I might have strung my words together and said everything in one breath. Oops.
"I see." Is all Dumbledore says. I can tell he's trying to figure out what's going on.
"Sir?" I hesitantly ask.
"Yes?" Dumbledore replies.
"How old is Tom?"
"Why do you ask, Harry?" Dumbledore turns his gaze from the sleeping immobile Tom to me.
"Well, he looks a little younger than he did in the Chamber of Secrets. If I remember correctly he was 16 then" I answer.
"Yes, Harry. He was 16 when you fought him in the Chamber. The Tom before us now is 15 year old Tom."
"He's my age?" I ask before thinking.
Dumbledore laughs a little and replies, "Yes, it seems so."
I never thought of Tom as a 15 year old. He's always been Voldemort. I mean I knew he had a past before he became Voldemort, but I guess a part of me also assumed he was born Voldemort.
"If you don't mind Harry, I'm going to wake him now. Rest assured you are safe because I'm going to remove the body bind curse as well" Dumbledore says with a sincere look. I gulp and nod in reply.
Instead of waking up startled and confused as I assumed he would, Tom simply yawns, stretches and opens his eyes. He looks around the office as if familiarizing himself with it. I see him look at me and then simply move on. Once he's finished surveying the room he turns to Dumbledore and inclines his head saying, "Professor Dumbledore."
"Tom," Dumbledore greets him in a neutral tone. "If you don't mind I have a few questions for you."
Tom sighs before saying, "I suppose I must go by Tom? I do not mind as long as you will grant me the same courtesy as I have some questions for you. And possibly Potter here as well"
He knows who I am. That answers that question.
"Everyone's questions shall be answered" Dumbledore says with a look between Tom and I. "Tom, what is the last thing you remember?"
Tom has to think about it for a minute before answering, "I drank a vial of anti-venom potion Severus brought me. I remember it tasted as it always did, bitter with a hint of lemon and cinnamon, but something felt off after I swallowed. I saw my Nagini coming toward me and then I blacked out and woke up here."
Dumbledore's face gives away nothing of what he might be thinking.
"Do you know where you are?" Dumbledore asks.
"Hogwarts" Tom replies immediately.
"How old are you?" Dumbledore inquires about next.
Tom takes a look at himself for the first time since being awoken. He stands up and turns in a slow circle trying to take in as much of his body as he can. "I'm 15!" he shouts, sounding slightly outraged but at the same time both amused and scared.
"Yes. Now, Tom, what questions did you have?"
"How did this happen?" Tom asks first.
"As of right now I do not know. I cannot call Severus because he is away at the moment."
"As of now I'm stuck in this time in this body until we find a way to send me back? When does Severus come back?"
"Yes and for the time being you must address him as Professor Snape; he returns in two weeks" Dumbledore answers.
"Why are you here?" Tom asks turning to me for the first time and addressing me directly.
"I found you asleep on my bed and brought you here to Dumbledore" I reply with a slightly quivering voice. He may not be Voldemort and he might be my age for the moment but he still scares me.
He raises an eyebrow at me in question. He looks sexy making that face.
Whoa! Where did that thought come from?!
"I…uh… didn't trust you so I put a sleeping spell and body bind curse on you and brought you here" I answer his unasked question.
He dismisses me and turns back to Dumbledore, "what are we going to do for the time being?"
"No one will know who you are except a select few staff that will recognize you. I'll get you Slytherin robes and speak to teachers to get you a schedule set up. Until Severus returns and we can fix this you'll have to play the role of a fifth year student" Dumbledore explains.
"Fun" is all Tom says.
"Harry, thank you for bringing Tom here; you can go to breakfast before it's over" Dumbledore says dismissing me.
"Thank you, Headmaster" I reply and rise to walk to the door. I manage to walk to the door calmly and not hurriedly. Only just. Okay so I practically ran to the door. At least I managed to not fall.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTR
Dumbledore turns to the fire behind his desk and calls, "Minerva, come to my office, please!"
I hear an answered, "I'll be there soon" and Dumbledore turns back to me.
"Tom, are we going to have any trouble?" Dumbledore asks me.
"As much as it pains me to say, no, we won't have trouble. All I want is to return to my time and back to my body, not this… this adolescent hormone ridden thing!" I reply.
At that moment Minerva McGonagall walks in with a short knock on the door to announce her presence.
"What is it, headmaster? I'm right in the middle of something very important" she asks sounding slightly put-out.
"I'm sorry my dear, Minerva but we have a small problem. Say hello to our guest" Dumbledore says with a wave of his hand in my direction. McGonagall turns and starts to say hello and offer me her hand but when she gets a good look at me she snatches her hand back to her as if I'd burned her and jumps away from me.
"Albus! What is the meaning of this?" I can tell she's trying to sound calm and only barely managing.
"He was found in Mr. Potter's dorm and Mr. Potter brought him here to me. We don't know why or how this has happened but it looks like only Severus can help us except he won't be back for two more weeks. So until then he is going to be a student. I need your help, Minerva, dear. Will you have all the teachers who are going to recognize him report here immediately and have Slytherin's head boy come here, too. Thank you"
"Yes, Albus; you and I will talk later" and without a glance at either Dumbledore or I she leaves.
A few minutes later there's another knock on the door. Once Dumbledore gives the word to enter the person comes in. He's around 5'11, skinny but with muscle, short dark hair, and medium beige skin tone. "You called for me, headmaster?"
"Ryan, yes, this is Tom Riddle. He's new and he's been sorted into Slytherin. Will you get him some robes, please?" Dumbledore asks the boy.
"Yes headmaster. Right away" Ryan replies and leaves. He returns several minutes later with an armful of Slytherin robes.
"Thank you" Dumbledore and I say to Ryan at the same time as he hands me the robes and with that he leaves.
~*~*~*~*~*~later that day~*~*~*~*~*~
Standing in Herbology waiting for Professor Sprout to arrive my question is answered. The question of when I'd see (if I'd ever see) Tom Riddle again. He walks through the greenhouse door alone. I scrupulously watch everyone's reaction to him. No one looks twice in his direction… as if he's been here all semester long.
"Hi Harry" Ron and Hermione greet me as they come to stand beside me.
"Hi" I answer distracted not taking my eyes off Tom.
"Who's that?" Ron asks as he notices where my gaze is.
"Tom Riddle" I reply.
"What?!" Ron and Hermione exclaim together.
"I'll explain later but for now it looks like no one pays him any attention as if they don't notice him so let's just play along, alright?"
"Okay" they say.
At that moment Professor Sprout chooses to walk in. "Good afternoon class! Today we'll be learning about Snap Dragons."
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHP
I'm walking towards the dorms when I pass Potter in the corridor. When we lock eyes he quickly drops his gaze and hurries past me in the other direction towards the great hall. Now I know how he feels. I haven't decided yet if I want to change his perception of me or not since my time here is temporary.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHP
"That's all I know so far" I finish explaining to Ron and Hermione.
"Dumbledore hasn't told you anything else?" Ron asks.
"No" I reply.
"What's the plan for the time being?" Hermione wants to know.
"Tom is going to pretend to be a student until Professor Snape comes back and hopefully figure out how to send him back to his own time" I inform them.
"We'll help you keep an eye on him, mate" says Ron.
"Thanks" I answer.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ THE NEXT DAY~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I'm walking behind a rushing Potter when I see him drop something out of his backpack. I pick it up and discover it's his inkwell. "Potter!" I call and watch him freeze and slowly turn around to face me.
"Riddle" he says, uncertain.
"You dropped this" I say offering him his inkwell. He stares at it as if he's never seen it before.
"Thanks" he says after a moment and takes it from me. He offers me a small smile then turns around and leaves. Guess I've decided to try and change his perception of me.
-The Next Day—
As I leave Potions I can't help but automatically spot Harry. I'm concerned about my seeming obsession with him. It's more than my future obsession to kill him. This is more. If I didn't know better I would say I have a crush on him. But… that's just not possible. Is it? I'm coming out of this revelation when I spot something on the floor right where Harry had been. Why is he always dropping stuff? I retrieve it quickly before the other students can walk all over it. His notes for class; I know he can probably get them from Weasley or Granger, but I'm sure he'd like to have his own… messy notes. I quickly walk after him and when I'm not far behind I call softly, "Harry."
Again he freezes. He says something to Granger and Weasley and they continue walking while again Harry slowly turns to face me. There's a look of weariness on his face.
"…Tom?" he ventures, unsure of whether to use my first name or my surname since I used his first name.
"You dropped these" I answer simply and hold out his notes to him. A hint of a blush appears as he realizes what I'm holding and he takes them from me quickly.
He manages to meet my gaze for several seconds longer than normal and says, "thank you" then just as before he turns back around and rushes off away from me. What am I doing?
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHP
"What was that about?" Ron asks when I catch up to him and Hermione a moment after Tom handed me my notes from Potions.
"I dropped my notes and he gave them back to me" I reply simply. I note Ron and Hermione exchange glances and file that away for a discussion to have later.
"Come on, we're going to be late for Charms!" I say and rush ahead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*One Week Later*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I hear hostile voices coming from around the corner. I sneak up slowly and get right to the corner of the corridor and listen in. "You think your funny, do you? I'll show you what's funny" one voice says while I hear snickering from at least two other people. That voice sounds like Draco Malfoy but I'm not certain.
"You'll pay for this" another voice says, sounding defiant. That sounds like… but it can't be… Harry?
The next thing I hear is blasts from spell fire. I peak around the corner and sure enough there are Malfoy and his two cronies and Harry. It looks like Harry is defending himself against Malfoy. I won't be here long so what will it hurt to interfere? I step around the corner and aim my wand at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle and harmlessly send a disarming curse their way. They look around confused and Malfoy narrows his eyes at me when I step into view.
"Riddle, this doesn't concern you. Just move on and I will forget you hexed your own house." Malfoy says trying to intimidate me, I guess.
"I've gotten involved and I don't care that I hexed my own house. Move on and leave Harry alone" I say to him without backing down. He may not know I'm the future Voldemort but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like one of his scared fifth years who listens to him even when he does wrong. Slytherin house doesn't have the best reputation but he's doing nothing to improve it.
"Or what?" He replies putting on a false bravado I can see right through. I scare him a little by just defying him. Interesting.
"This may not scare you, but I'll go to the headmaster. You want your father to hear about everything, but do you want him to hear about this? You can possibly be suspended for using magic without provocation on another student" I reply keeping my gaze steady on him.
"He did provoke me!" Malfoy tries lying to me.
"I highly doubt that. Now, will you move on or do I have to go to Dumbledore?"
Malfoy glowers at me for several moments before sticking his pompous nose high in the air and giving what he thinks is a dignified sniff before turning to leave.
I turn to Harry to discover him pointing his wand at me now.
"Wait, what?" I ask him.
"You could have ulterior motives for saving me from Malfoy. Why did you do it?"
I stare at him disbelieving as a faint blush creeps up my neck to rest on my face. I see him take note of that but he still has his wand aimed at me.
"I was simply standing up for you. No one deserves to be bullied for no reason" I reply. I note the look of confusion cross his face.
"This coming from the man who becomes Lord Voldemort?" he says but without venom or hate which is surprising.
"Yes, I am my younger self and I am different from my future self. Let me prove it to you?" I ask hopeful.
After several long moments he finally lowers his wand. "Let's go talk in the Astronomy tower" he suggests and I nod, smile and follow him there.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTR
Once I reach the Astronomy tower I sit with my back against one wall and watch Tom as he crosses to sit next to me.
"So you're different from your future self?" I ask him.
He gives me a genuine smile before replying, "Yes. I promised Dumbledore I would behave while I was here. It actually isn't very hard. I don't have the urges or need to kill as I do when I am older. I am not yet a killer so I do not thirst for it."
"Why are you being nice to me? You've been returning all of my dropped items since that day with the inkwell and I swear you've done it every other day and every time I've dropped something… you're always right there."
He looks at me for a moment. "I started to think you were doing it on purpose."
I laugh and after a moment he laughs with me. I've never heard him laugh before. I think I like it.
"I swear to you I don't drop things on purpose. I can be that clumsy" I tell him.
"I'm trying to thank you for bringing me to Dumbledore when you found me. That's why I'm being nice. Anyone else wouldn't have let me live to become the person I am in the future and even though you didn't trust me you still took me to Dumbledore. And… no, never mind." He says with a small blush.
I'm intrigued. "No what? You can tell me" I say in my nicest voice possible trying to encourage him to talk to me. As weird as this is… in a way it also feels… right.
"I feel this pull towards you; like I can't be away from you. I think about you… a little too much"
There's that blush again. I have an instinct to lean in and kiss him then and there and before I know it my lips are on his. I can tell he's shocked but after a moment he presses his lips against mine and we're kissing slowly, languidly, pleasantly. I could do this all day.
Finally we break apart both of us out of breath.
"I'm sorry" he apologizes and looks away from me.
"Why? I kissed you. There's no reason for you to apologize. Did you not like it? I won't do it again" I say hurriedly.
He turns back to me and gives me a shy smile. "I liked it a lot but aren't you straight?" he wants to know.
I smile at him and reply, "no. Everyone wants to believe I am but people know I'm not. I've been out to my friends since third year."
"Then where do we go from here?" Tom asks.
"I wouldn't mind kissing and getting to know you more" I say to him and have time to enjoy the smile he flashes me before I reclaim his mouth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Three days later~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Professor Snape comes back tomorrow" I say to Harry as we relax in my bed. There weren't any extra beds with the fifth years so Dumbledore gave me my own room and bathroom just off the Slytherin dorms.
"I know" he says sounding a little sad. I turn him to face me.
"If you don't want me to go I will stay." I tell him and he looks touched by my statement.
He gives me a sweet kiss before saying, "you have to go back. As much as I would love for you to stay you don't belong here. You being here probably altered reality already." We gaze into each other's eyes for several moments and cuddle together closer.
"These last two weeks have been the best moments of my life. I hope I don't forget them and I hope you don't either; these last three days especially. It's hard to believe we've spent nearly the entire last seventy-two hours together… except for classes of course. We ate together, slept together, did homework together, walked on the grounds together, and flew together. I will miss you, Harry" I whisper and kiss him as passionately as I know how.
When we come up for air Harry whispers, "Tom" sounding a little nervous.
"Harry" I reply.
"Iwantyoutomakelovetome" he says in one breath.
I stare at him for a moment certain I heard him wrong.
"Harry, please say that again. I want to make sure I heard you correctly" I say gently without taking my eyes off him.
He gulps and as he looks me in my eyes says, "I want you to make love to me"
"Yes Harry I will but only if you are sure" I tell him giving him a kind smile.
"I'm sure" he says and pulls me down on top of him and kisses me.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHP
The next morning I bring breakfast back to Tom and wake him up.
"Morning sleepy head" I say to him and give him a playful shove on the shoulder. He stirs and opens his eyes to look at me.
"Morning" he says and sits up in bed taking my offered muffin and orange juice.
Once he's done eating he asks me, "Are you coming with me?"
"Yes, of course" I reply and give him a quick kiss.
"Thank you. Let me get dressed and we'll go" he says getting up and retrieving his clothes.
Half an hour later we find ourselves in Dumbledore's office with Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.
Tom and I sit in the vacant seats surrounding Dumbledore's desk with Professor's Snape and McGonagall on our left.
"Severus, meet 15 year old Tom Riddle" Dumbledore says to Professor Snape. Snape turns to Tom and inclines his head politely.
"Professor Snape does have a way to send you back to your time, Tom. All you need to do is drink another Anti-venom potion and it should return you to your time." Dumbledore says to Tom.
Tom turns to look at me and gives me a sad smile. Tom says to me, "guess this is goodbye" and gives me a hug.
I hug him back and whisper, "I'll never forget you"
I hear him whisper back, "and I'll never forget you" before I rise to leave.
"Thank you, professors. I look to Dumbledore, then McGonagall, then Snape and give them each a smile and nod before I leave the office.
I manage to make it down the stairs and almost to the main doors leading to the grounds before the first tears fall. It's unbelievable that I managed to fall in love with Tom Riddle in under 2 weeks. I'm going to miss him especially if I do retain my memories of our time together. This is for the best though. I walk to the lake and sit under a tree crying and thinking of our short but amazing time together.
TRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTRHPTR
"Before I drink it, Professor Dumbledore, I have a question" I say looking at Dumbledore.
"Yes Tom?" He replies.
"Do I have to go back? Is there any way I can stay here?" I ask him trying to sound confident but falling short and sounding scared.
Dumbledore looks to Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall.
"I think we can make that work. Severus, Minerva, any objections?"
"We don't know the ramifications of him staying in our time" Professor Snape answers.
"Forget the consequences. I say we let him stay" says Professor McGonagall.
"Severus?" Professor Dumbledore asks.
With a sigh Professor Snape says, "He can stay. I suppose we'll never know the ramifications of this decision."
"You may stay Tom. See me after dinner tonight and we will discuss your new future" Dumbledore says to me with a smile.
"Thank you!" I nearly shout happily. "May I be excused?" I ask.
"Yes" Dumbledore says.
"Thank you Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape" I say to them as I get up to leave. Professor Snape nods to me in acknowledgement and Professor McGonagall answers, "you're welcome, Tom. I would like to have a word with you after Dumbledore this evening about your future here."
"Yes ma'am" I reply before heading out the door.
I follow my instincts on where I think Harry might be and find that I'm correct. When I get close enough to him to observe and hear he's crying it breaks my heart a little. I walk to him slowly and stand right next to him blocking out the sun so my shadow falls across his face.
"Please go away" he asks sniffling without opening his eyes.
"Are you sure about that?" I ask in a teasing manner.
His eyes snap open and lock with mine.
"Tom!" he screams and jumps up. He throws himself at me and I try my best to keep us upright but instead we fall to the grass with him above me.
He hugs me tightly, kisses me and then asks, "What are you doing here?"
"Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape let me stay. I don't have to go back" I answer. A pleased grin spreads across his face and warms my heart.
"So we're together forever?" he asks me.
"Unfortunately" I reply and enjoy the quick look of confusion then comprehension cross his face. He laughs and reclaims my mouth in our most heated kiss yet.