With love, Harry


Summary:

In which Harry goes back in time, adopts his arch nemesis and pulls one infamous Dark Lord into his madness somewhere along the way.

"Surprise! Tom, meet your grandfather!"

"Harry. That's Gellert Grindelwald."

"I know. Isn't it exciting!? And he'll be tutoring you to be the greatest Dark Lord ever!"

"What?"


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is the boss of it all.

Warning: Grammar, perhaps?


A/N:

If you got the mail for this chapter update and are confused, I already put up a brief explanation in the first chapter but I'll do it again here- I decided to run this fanfic through with some edits this year and try to get over with the writer's block I'm caught up in while I'm at it.

While I could have simply re-edited the work without deleting all nine chapters, I'm making changes (some of which might not be too obvious while others will be) which I actually want people to read so yeah, please bear with me :')

Thank you!


Two


Tom stared out the window of the moving vehicle.

It seemed to be the latest model of automobiles that had just recently come into the market. Not that he was a fan of vehicles; he just happened to be aware of whatever took place around him, after all, it never hurt to be informed.

"You're so quiet." The man (should he call him father now?) broke the silence that had been hanging heavy in the air. "I expected you to...ask a lot of questions."

"It seems you expect a lot from me, sir."

"I do, considering how often my wife talks of you."

Tom frowned.

And now it came to the question of just who this wife was.

He had tried to think of any possible female who had been particularly fond of him but unfortunately, none came to mind. Well, except for the old librarian. No offense to Mrs Margaret, but she was definitely not at a stage of life where she would be willing to adopt him.

Lest be the wife of this pale man who was obviously younger to her by decades.

"Ah. Here we are."

Tom who had been staring at his hands during the past few minutes of his musings immediately snapped his head up at the man's statement.

To his surprise, the whole scenery outside had changed. They were no longer in the crowded street of London but rather, the vehicle appeared to be driving down a stony pathway covered with trees on both sides.

"Impossible." Tom breathed out as his eyes widened.

"Surprised?" The man smirked. "Don't be. You'll have to get used to seeing things that are much more surprising than just a simple transportation trick."

Tom couldn't help but feel a little confused over the pale man's statement.

The car pulled over in front of a lavishly huge mansion styled in Gothic architecture with steeples and stained glass windows. It almost seemed like a house straight out of a horror novel Tom had come across during his search for something educational among the stack of old books in the library. It wouldn't have looked welcoming at all if not for the variety of blooming flowers that decorated the mansion with colour and life.

"Young master." The chauffeur greeted Tom as he held the door open for him.

The boy nodded back rather awkwardly as he stepped out of the car. "Thank you."

His adoptive father seemed amused by it all. "Come along then."

Tom obediently followed, not wanting to lose himself in a place as big as this.

The inside of the mansion was a complete contrast to its outer appearance. The floor was covered with lovely white marble and the chandelier hanging right above the huge foyer, a dazzling gold. Everything on the inside, in fact, seemed to be shiny and bright.

"Honey, I brought back your precious little Tommy. Come greet him." The pale man declared as he shut the front door behind them. "I picked him up just for you."

At the sound of footsteps, Tom curiously turned his head towards the foyer―

"Ah, Tom! Finally, we get to meet each other again!"

―only to see a very beautiful woman with eyes as clear as the morning sky. Her long golden hair was braided to the side and decorated with little white flowers, and her lips wore the most bewitching smile he'd ever seen.

Tom stiffened, completely aware that he had never once chanced upon this woman. Why was she acting so familiar with him? His eyes briefly narrowed. Was this a ploy? Some kind of sick setup the orphanage had staged just to get him away from the other children?

Was this some kind of a correctional institute he'd once heard the older boys talk about?

He only snapped out of his thoughts when a cold hand pressed against his cheek. The woman (was she supposed to be his mother now?) was now standing right in front of him, bend over to match his height as she stared at him with a bizarre look of fascination in her eyes.

Tom's instant reaction was to flinch rather violently.

"Clymene." His adoptive father's suddenly snapped rather harshly. "Don't touch the boy; you'll sully him with all the dirt you carry around. And where is your master?"

The woman turned to the man with a sneer. "What do you mean I can't touch him, Septhis?"

"My, have you forgotten how to comprehend even those simple words?"

Tom blinked at the uncouth manner the two before him addressed each other.

Weren't they husband and wife?

She huffed. "Stop being so stingy. You're always hogging everything to yourself, even Harry."

Harry?

In the next moment, before he could even have a chance to mull over the familiar name, Tom found himself in an uncomfortable situation where the woman had abruptly tugged him into a half embrace. His adoptive father's glance visibly darkened. "Oh, Clymene. I would advise you to release him before I damn you and your sisters―"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake!" A very familiar voice exclaimed and in a flash, Tom was ripped away from the woman's grasp and engulfed in another embrace— a very warm and soothing one that he very much welcomed. "Just leave him alone the two of you!"

Tom was starting to get annoyed at the amount of surprises that were being thrown his way today.

But even so, he didn't hesitate to take advantage of this particular surprise and withdrew deeper into its warmth. He looked up and found himself staring at his own reflection in the clear green, green eyes that stared at him, wide in concern.

"Are you okay, Tom? Did Septhis hurt you? Merlin, I will—"

"I find it highly unfair how I'm the only one who's being blamed here."

"Of course he would blame you."

"Hello, Harry." Tom Riddle managed a weak smile, suddenly feeling very exhausted over how things had progressed.

His mind was still reeling, trying to process all that had taken place.

The nymph sighed in relief before sweeping the boy up into his arms, cradling him close to his chest as he did. Tom lightly exhaled in contentment.

"I'll take you to your room, you must be very tired." Harry said. "And I'll explain everything after you take a good rest. I promise."

Tom responded with a nod, he felt too drained to talk.

"I was actually prepared to come pick you up with a whole surprise plan and everything but Deat—...er...Septhis just had to go on ahead without me and ruined the whole damned bloody thing." Harry shot a glare at the said man who only shrugged. He began making his way up the stairs while talking to Tom. "And I'm sorry about Clymene. She hasn't met another human in quite a while so she probably got a little too excited. If she ever bothers you again, just try and ignore her. That usually works half of the time."

Harry's words were beginning to sound distant to Tom.

He gradually found himself drifting off to sleep— unaware that the nymph's hand placed against his back glowed faintly.


After Tom woke from his little nap that lasted for about half a day, Harry had kindly clarified a lot of things for him as well as given him a new load of information that left his head reeling yet again. He was pretty sure he would be knocked out the moment he lay his head down to sleep later on his ridiculously large bed.

One of the clarifications was that of the identity of his adoptive father, which Septhis Mortimer was not.

Harry (whose last name was now apparently Mortimer too) was.

The "wife" whom Septhis had been referring to this whole time was actually Harry (who looked so scandalized on hearing this) and not Clymene.

Harry also went on to clarify that they simply shared the same surname. They were not brothers, there was no matrimony involved, and in no way did they harbour any romantic feelings for each other.

At all.

(Tom would deny feeling pleased at the assurance.)

Septhis was human (but Tom somehow doubted this because the man himself had snorted at the nymph's words), and so was the butler who was currently away, carrying out some errand at the moment.

When Tom asked why Harry had adopted him, a human of all creatures, the nymph only smiled and gave him a mischievous wink.

"I'll tell you one day," he had said.

Clymene was also a nymph, which explained her ethereal beauty.

She, however, was not a resident of the mansion. Septhis had called her a freeloader who liked to drop by and hang around quite frequently up to the extent that she even owned a room in the mansion. The pale man then scoffed and said called her the most shameless out of all the nymphs that frequented the mansion.

This was how Tom realised that Septhis was not fond of nymphs— but was still tolerant of Harry?

Harry then told him that they were now residing within the territory of the nature spirits. In a realm that lay hidden from the eye of mortal men deep in the woods of Ireland but he did not bother to specify where exactly.

And when Tom asked him just how on earth had they managed to land up all the way into Ireland from London in mere minutes, Harry just grinned and replied, "Magic."

Tom had not entirely understood Harry's words until the moment Septhis had declared it was time they told him a specific something.

Harry opened his mouth to say that it was a little too early to break the news to Tom when the pale man met his eyes and shit him a dangerous smiled. In the next moment, Harry was left grumbling under his breath over how "controlling" Septhis was.

(Tom later found out that the two had communicated through something akin to telepathy.

Harry had been sure to emphasis heavily on each and every one of his words when he explained this to Tom. This happened after the boy casually asked them why they simply stared at each other as though they were "star struck".)

With Harry made to shut up, Septhis turned to Tom and uttered "three words" which changed his life.

Forever.

"You're a wizard."

Tom always knew he was special.


"So, when do I get to go to this Hogwarts?" Tom asked as the family of three sat together round the dining table for supper.

(Calling themselves family was quite questionable at the moment, but Harry had insisted on it.

Then when Tom had asked what Septhis's role was in this so called family, Harry had replied "Uncle" while the other said "Godfather" in the same moment. This resulted in another one of their intense staring matches before Harry relented while grumbling that there was hardly a difference between being an uncle and being the godfather.

Septhis seemed ready to lay out a table of facts before Harry and prove him wrong but refrained from doing so to retain his sanity.)

Hogwarts was apparently a school for the children of the wizarding world; a great and reputed one among the only seven other wizarding schools in existence. Harry had said it was one of the most wonderful places to be in, and Tom wondered if witches and wizards weren't the only ones who were allowed to attend Hogwarts. He decided he would clarify his questions soon.

He was, after all, very curious of this place Harry seemed to love.

"When you're eleven." Harry replied as he turned to Tom with a neatly sliced piece of steak on his fork. He hesitated for a moment before offering it to the boy. "Here, open your mouth."

The boy blinked. "Harry, I can eat on my own―"

"Say aaaaah!" Harry stubbornly persisted, interrupting the boy.

Tom stared into those green, green orbs and then down to the fork before looking at those eyes again. He slowly opened his mouth while averting his gaze to the side, his ears turning a faint pink as he did.

It was funny how the steak tasted even better than when he had tried it himself.

"Such a good boy." Harry laughed as he turned back to the meal. "Here, let me give you another―"

"Harry." Septhis cleared his throat. "I believe the boy is old enough to be perfectly capable of feeding himself.

Harry paused before throwing a dark look at Septhis. "And I believe you are perfectly capable of going on without eating."

"But you see, I'm a human, Harry dear." Septhis only quirked a brow, seeming unfazed. "I hope you haven't forgotten, have you?"

"You will do well by leaving us alone." Harry huffed. "As you can see, we're trying to have some father and son bonding time— not like you would even know what that's supposed to mean anyway."

"Don't be so harsh, Harry. I'm sure Tom will want me around more often than you, seeing that you aren't, oh well, human," Septhis replied with forced exaggeration, "and I am."

"Oh will you stop being immature and just enjoy the meal!?" Harry exclaimed in exasperation as he set down his knife and fork.

Septhis shot him a victorious smile as he took a sip of his glass of wine.

Harry rolled his eyes and turned back to Tom. "Where were we again?"

"I can manage eating myself." Tom slowly told him as though cautious not to upset his father. "Thank you, Harry."

Harry wore a soft smile. "Such a big boy already." He sighed. "I should've adopted you even earlier than I would have had a chance to baby you."

Tom wrinkled his nose at Harry's words.

Septhis interrupted the warm atmosphere between two with a deadpan. "I'd appreciate it if you finished the meal first before starting some father-son drama."

"Septhis!"


A/N: Wooooah. So, thank you so much for the reviews! I am so happy that you guys enjoyed it, overjoyed actually.

Special thanks to Plogop, Kasai Mori, Aqua and Luna, UnderTakerxXxMadnesS, 11lokilove and D C JoKeR H S for your reviews, you guys just made my day :')

And big thanks too to all that put favourites and follows on this story :')

THANK YOU FOR READING!

[EDIT: 21-01-2019] so my sleep deprived ass ended up spacing out while editing this and I ended up typing—

Harry wore a soft smile. "Such a big boy already." He sighed. "I should've kidnapped you

…before snapping wide awake and hitting the backspace in horror, lmao.