Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, which means I don't own anything in this story but the plot.
This story was written for my friends Harry (thatpottergurl) and Zana (Zanawolf)
I hope you two like it :)
Oh, and one more thing. When characters in this story are speaking Parseltongue, the words will be bold. When they are thinking/dreaming, the words will be italicized. This is so I don't have to type "he/she thought" or "in Parseltongue" all the time.
Harry woke with a start. His scar was paining him, and he noticed a snarling shadow in his room.
"Where am I?" the shadow demanded loudly.
"Quiet," Harry muttered, turning on the light to reveal a handsome dark haired and dark eyed boy with pale skin. "You're in my room."
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"You're the first wizard to ask me that. I'm Harry Potter," Harry said. "What's your name?" he asked, slightly irritated by the feeling of familiarity around the boy.
"Tom Riddle," the boy said, looking around coldly.
Harry gasped softly in surprise. I should've recognized him, he thought.
"What are you doing here?"
"If I knew, do you really think I'd still be here?" Tom demanded. "Actually, it is a lot nicer than that orphanage I've been forced to live in."
"I guess you can stay here until school starts, but you'll have to hide from the Dursleys. When we get to school, we can ask Dumbledore to send you back," Harry said, rolling over to go back to sleep, glad to note that the pain in his scar was fading.
"Where do I sleep?" Tom asked.
Harry sighed and moved to the floor.
Tom shrugged and lay down on the bed, quickly falling asleep.
Harry yawned and fell asleep, dreaming about Voldemort.
"Do you normally talk in your sleep?" Tom asked in the morning.
"Sometimes," Harry said, annoyed that Tom had awakened him again.
"Wonderful," Tom grumbled.
"Are you always in a bad mood?" Harry asked.
Tom glared at him coldly and Harry had the distinct feeling that Tom was studying him.
"Would you like breakfast?" Harry asked.
Tom nodded curtly and Harry went downstairs and grabbed food for both himself and Tom. When he opened the bedroom door again, he found Tom looking through his things.
"You're a Gryffindor?" Tom asked in disgust, holding up Harry's school robes.
"Yes," Harry said, gritting his teeth.
"How much longer until we can go to Hogwarts?" Tom asked, dropping Harry's robes.
"Not soon enough," Harry muttered, giving Tom half the food and cleaning up his room.
Tom sat back down on the bed and ate his breakfast, watching Harry clean.
"You could help, you know," Harry grumbled.
Tom shrugged. "I don't feel like it."
Harry glanced back at Tom, wondering why he was enjoying the fact that Tom was watching him.
He killed my parents, Harry thought, forcing himself to look back at his room, which was now clean.
Not yet, technically, a part of him whispered.
Harry ignored it and grabbed his food, sitting on the floor to eat. He could feel Tom's dark eyes still on him.
"Why do I feel like I know you?" Tom asked suddenly, breaking the silence.
Harry tensed. "I don't know," he said, sensing that he shouldn't tell Tom if Tom didn't know. "Why does it matter if I'm a Gryffindor?"
"Because I'm a Slytherin," Tom said, no longer interested in discussing Houses.
"Potter!" came a yell from downstairs.
Harry sighed, standing up. "Stay here," he told Tom, and went downstairs.
"Why is so much food missing from our fridge?" Petunia Dursley asked, her eyes narrowed.
"I don't know," Harry lied.
"I know it was you," she said, eyes darting to the staircase behind Harry. "Who is that?"
Harry glanced behind him. "I told you to stay up there," he hissed.
"A friend of Harry's," Tom said, ignoring his 'friend' and walking toward Petunia. "I am so sorry to have entered your house without your permission, but my parents kicked me out, and I had nowhere to go. I was just hoping I could stay here until school starts—Harry even generously offered to share his room with me. I'm Kieren, by the way."
Petunia looked baffled by the explanation, but agreed to let Tom stay there until the school year started, as long as he didn't try to corrupt her 'dear Diddy-kins'.
Tom smiled, promising that he wouldn't and thanking Petunia several times. Then he turned and dragged Harry up the stairs, shoving him into 'their' room.
"Cut it out," Harry said, moving away from Tom the first chance he had because of the sharp pain he suddenly felt in his scar.
The memory of the feeling of Tom's hands on his arm also confused him, making him wonder why he had liked it.
"Who was that woman?" Tom asked, ignoring the lingering electric charge in his hand that he felt inexplicably.
"My aunt," Harry said. "Her, her husband, and her son are Muggles. They hate magic and are only raising me because my parents are dead."
"Well, at least I don't have to stay in this cursed room all summer," Tom muttered.
"Why did you go downstairs after I told you to stay here?" Harry demanded.
Tom turned his dark eyes back on Harry, staring into the latter's bright green eyes for a moment before looking away. "I was curious," he said simply. "And just so you know, I was lying when I said we were friends," Tom added.
"I figured as much," Harry said. "Kieren?"
Tom rolled his eyes. "Since I'm not in my time, I figured I would make a new name for myself. It means black or dark."
"Fitting. That's probably a good idea," Harry said.
"Of course, I won't be able to hide anything from Dumbledore, but that won't matter. Why did you say you would have him send me back?" Tom asked.
"Because he's the headmaster now," Harry said.
"I should've known that old fool would become headmaster," Tom muttered.
"He's not a fool," Harry said irritatedly.
"He was in my time," Tom said.
Both boys looked up as an owl tapped on Harry's window.
Tom let the bird in, glancing at the envelope. "It's for you," he said, taking it from the owl and opening it.
"What are you doing? Give it to me," Harry said, snatching the letter from Tom's hand and reading it.
"Dumbledore's coming to get me tonight. Convenient," Harry said.
"This should be interesting," Tom said, watching Harry pack.
"What will be your full code name?" Harry asked, stuffing as much as he could into his trunk.
"Kieren Tom Glantz," Tom said in an offhand voice, picking the last name of one of his old classmates. He flashed a smile at nothing.
Harry grunted in acknowledgement, attempting to force his telescope in his trunk. He finally got it in and then walked to his bedroom door.
"Aunt Petunia, Kieren and I are leaving for the summer sometime today," he called.
"Good riddance!" Dudley shouted.
Harry took that as a "Yes, you can go," and shut the door, writing a quick okay to Dumbledore and sending it with the owl. He made sure Hedwig was neatly settled into her cage and sat down to wait.
"Why would Dumbledore be coming to get you?" Tom wanted to know.
"I don't know, he didn't say," Harry said. "Can you speak fluently with an American accent?"
"Yes," Tom said, caught slightly off guard. "Why?"
"Because the other students are going to wonder why you're at Hogwarts, and I figured we could tell them you're an American transfer student."
Tom considered this. "Works for me," he said, sounding just like he was from America.
Petunia opened the bedroom door. "When are you two leaving?""
As soon as Professor Dumbledore gets here," Harry said.
"Did he say when that would be?" Petunia asked.
Harry shook his head. "It could be any time today."
"Very well then." She left the room, casting a glance at Tom before she shut the door.
Tom stretched out on the bed, closing his eyes. "Wake me when it's time to go."
"Fine," Harry said and sat at the window, staring outside.
Tom fell into an uneasy sleep, dreaming of Harry. In his dream, Tom woke up to find Harry lying beside him. Tom smiled and reached over to touch Harry's face, jerking his hand back when he felt that it was cold. Tom looked at Harry again, who still appeared to be asleep, but this time he saw the unnatural stillness. He looked around, noticing his wand when—Harry shook him awake.
Tom glared at Harry, irritated.
"Dumbledore's here," Harry said, and sure enough, Tom could hear voices from downstairs.
"How long was I asleep?" Tom asked."
Just a few hours," Harry said, briefly admiring Tom's messy hair before carrying his trunk down the stairs.
Tom followed, closing the door behind him.
"Ah, Harry, there you are," Dumbledore said, smiling.
"Sorry Professor. I had to wake up my friend Kieren," Harry said, setting his trunk down as he talked and gesturing to Tom.
Dumbledore looked momentarily puzzled as he took in the sudden reappearance of his former student, but when Harry's eyes darted to Petunia and back to Dumbledore, he seemed to understand, the smile returning to his face. "Of course," Dumbledore said.
"Are we ready to leave?"
Both Harry and Tom nodded and Dumbledore swept Petunia a gallant bow and led the two sixteen year olds outside.
"Professor, may I ask what we are doing?" Harry asked.
"Yes Harry, but I think that it would be best if you first explain why an old student of mine is suddenly here, and perhaps most startlingly, still so young," Dumbledore said as they walked to the corner of the street.
"Actually, sir, I'm not entirely sure why he's here. He appeared in my room last night," Harry said. "The only things I know are that he is Tom Riddle, and he doesn't belong in our time."
"Ah. I am glad to know you two had the foresight to change his name while he is here," Dumbledore said.
"It was Tom's idea," Harry said, and Tom inclined his head coldly.
"Sir, about what we are doing…" Harry began.
"Oh, yes. I am so sorry, Harry, I must have forgotten your question. We are going to see if an old friend of mine will be willing to teach at Hogwarts again," Dumbledore said. "However, I don't think it would help our cause to have Mr. Riddle along, so we can drop him off at your friend Ron's house. You, of course, will be joining him shortly. I assume you already have a cover story prepared for him?"
"We are going to pretend he is a transfer from America, sir," Harry said.
"Excellent idea."