AN: I'm sorry for the long wait! I found a way to get my iPad and laptop to cooperate! Alright, I believe I need to answer some questions. I missed a few last time, too, unfortunately.

Stardust of Orion: I hope you are still reading (and enjoying) this. I forgot to answer the question regarding Umbridge. In this fanfic, Harry will be from the main branch of the Selwyns, while Umbridge will be the daughter of his anonymous female cousin and that other death eater Selwyn will be the son of some other anonymous cousin.

Death Sounds Like a Lullaby: Thanks for reviewing and giving me constructive criticism. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I will not be making any edits to behaviour because I have reasons for it (all excuses for my laziness of not wanting to edit are well-thought out and ready to be used… :D ). The scene where the children curse at him was because Harry is now physically eight years old and the children look bigger than him so his mind drew parallels to his 'first' childhood and sort of trapped him in a flashback, but Fortuna snapped him out of. I'll try to make him seem more realistic if you really think it isn't so. Fortuna more or less told him that he could and that he was a child again, too. Additionally, he believes that he is defenceless because he has no wand. Also, Tom didn't really accept that Harry will just be making other friends. He suspected that Harry was going to get bullied because of their association and he also did it just to make Harry satisfied. Harry will still be his by the end of the day. It's a win-win situation. BTW, Tom does sort of understand what Harry is saying, but he isn't putting his understanding into context yet.

Oh, and, in this chapter, Harry is much more relaxed because of what happened before. He's starting to get used to the idea and realization that, yes, he's in the past and, yes, he's going to be his archenemy's best friend.

Alice (Guest): Don't worry, Tom feels nothing sexual for Harry… yet. Right now it's just possessiveness; the same possessiveness he shows to his stolen treasures and also because Harry is his horcrux. Oh, and Fortuna trying to push them together with a little magic.

And thanks to everyone else who reviewed!

P.S. BTW, I was wondering if anyone would like it if I added a bit of plot on Fortuna's side to show her history and her character more.

Chapter Three: Secret Discovery

Later that day, Harry and Tom were sitting in their room; Tom apparently wanted to get to know Fortuna. Harry sat on his bed, holding a book and watching the two interact with a smile. Tom was sitting on his own bed, cross-legged while Fortuna huddled up in his lap.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked before realizing that Tom was staring at him. "Yeah, Tom?"

Tom looked down at Fortuna, who was almost purring like a cat as the boy scratched her chin. "Why is she called Fortuna?" Tom asked after a while. "What made you name her Fortuna?"

Harry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. How was he meant to answer that? Eventually, he just shrugged. "I don't remember. I guess she sort of reminds me of the goddess Fortuna."

Tom frowned down at the snake, pausing in his ministrations and making Fortuna whine in disappointment. Harry stifled a chuckle as Tom resumed his petting, giving in to the demanding snake. "How does she remind you of Fortuna?"

"… I don't… know. I'm amnesic, remember?" Harry sighed, looking resigned, and shrugged before staring back down at his book again. It was a really interesting book, despite being a history textbook.

§I made you lucky. So you named me Fortuna, master.§ The snake suddenly spoke up in a drowsy voice. Harry had to resist the urge to snort. Fate sure did make him lucky (note the sarcasm), having him grow up in the Dursley household, sending a megalomaniac after him – and said megalomaniac's past self was currently sitting in this very room – and allowing Sirius to die… his thoughts trailed off as he caught Fortuna's eye. The snake was quiet and she seemed to be glaring intently at him as if she could sense his thoughts. He thought he saw a vein twitch somewhere under those dark scales and heard a faint voice warning him that he should stop thinking what he was thinking or else. Harry suppressed a shiver. §Because master always attracted the 'wrong sorts' and was a trouble magnet, as mother mistress said, I always manage to get him out of trouble, so he decided to name me Fortuna.§ Harry looked up, staring at Fortuna with an 'oh really?' look on his face. On the other hand, Tom just nodded with a thoughtful look on his face, seeming to believe her. He then looked to Harry and smiled.

"Isn't this great, Harry? You know something about your past now!" Tom seemed genuinely happy for him and Harry stifled a sigh, nodding along. Suddenly, Tom's expression turned dark. "But… this attracting the wrong sorts thing… we should be careful Harry." Harry nodded again, going along with whatever Tom said. Although a faint smile touched his lips when he heard Tom say 'we'.

There was a small period of silence where each was lost in their activities. The only sounds were the flipping of pages and Fortuna's quiet hisses of appreciation. Harry, personally, though that she could do some work on learning how to act like a snake. He was pretty sure most snakes didn't act like that. He turned the page and his eyes were suddenly drawn to a heading.

The Great War

He frowned. Was this book talking about the World War I? So far, he had read through the Opium Wars and Modern-ish British history, including a few paragraphs on the Industrial revolution, King Henry VII and whatnot. Of course, this book was rather obviously biased in favour of Britain.

Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization. They were going to live through the London Blitz and World War II. And, quite possibly, live through it in this very orphanage. After all, he had been sent to the Dursley's, despite his protests and the fact that Hogwarts, with Dumbledore in it, was just as safe, if not safer, than a muggle home. Especially one where he was not loved nor wanted. Yet Dumbledore still sent him there every year and sprouted his love theory. His eyes narrowed. If there was one thing he didn't like about Dumbledore, it was how the man forced him to return to his muggle relatives every summer. So was Dumbledore going to let them stay here all the way through the war?

No… Harry shook his head. No, he wouldn't. It was one thing to put an orphan in the care of indifferent muggles and a complete other to put a child in a warzone. Dumbledore would never do that…

.:*Secret*:.

"You should tell him."

Harry stilled at the abrupt suggestion and looked over at the young Hermione lookalike on his bed, bemused. "Huh?"

Fortuna, for that's who it was, blinked back at him, finally looking away from the marble she had been studying for the past fifteen minutes. She was almost exactly like his bookworm of a friend, except for the fact that her hair was straight instead of bushy and she only looked five. Harry's teeth let go of the lip he had been worrying and frowned. Tell Tom about what? Fortuna rolled for eyes and slumped backwards on the bed, yawning and stretching, a very un-graceful action that Harry wasn't used to from her even after Fortuna had shown him her true personality.

"It's a good time to convince him that magic is real, no? He just showed you irrefutable proof that he knows of his power and can use it." Harry frowned at the reminder of his current dilemma and the thought of the lifeless rabbit hanging from the ceiling. Even though he had seen worse things, it still creeped him out when he saw the rabbit hanging from the rafters. It was kind of scary when it happened right in the same building as you, and if he hadn't known about magic, he'd probably be wondering if there was a demon haunting the orphanage or something. Rabbits don't just randomly hang themselves from rafters, after all, and there weren't any ladders or people who were tall enough to have reached up there. "Now, I thought you Gryffs were brave…"

Harry scowled further and grabbed his pillow to hit Fortuna with it.

"Oi!" Fortuna whined as she threw the pillow from her face, "What the fuck was that for!?"

This morning, when all the children were going to play in the rooms, Tom had, oddly enough, suggested they follow. Harry had been pleasantly surprised by this and agreed. It wasn't often that Tom made a suggestion to go and play with the toys that the orphanage offered and when he did, Harry was happy, because Tom would seem much more like an actual child than a mini-Voldemort. Usually, Harry had to beg and give the other puppy eyes in order to get Tom to agree to come and play with him. Although, this morning Tom had been strangely gleeful and excited about going to the playroom.

Before they got there, however, they heard screaming and crying. Harry, having the saving people's thing he had, rushed ahead, only to see Billy's rabbit hanging from the ceiling, Billy crying and the others looking horrified. Tom was quiet and then Billy suddenly turned to accuse Tom of committing the crime. Of course, Harry jumped in to defend Tom at once.

"You have no proof that Tom did this! You can't accuse him of a crime he didn't commit!" he had said, angry. Despite his efforts, the matron of the orphanage still saw him as a possible suspect and dismissed Harry.

Harry had gone back to his room and told Fortuna about what had happened. Fortuna, however, had surprised him by suddenly becoming a human girl before speaking to him in a distinctly un-Fortuna-like way.

"Fuck you, did you have to disturb my nap? I was having such a nice dream, too…" she had grumbled before sighing, "Ay-ah. That's how humans are. You should get used to the fucking prejudice thoughts of the population. You're in 1934! People have just finished believing that Germans are weird, gorilla like abominations that will rape and kidnap whoever they get their hands on. It's human stupidity at its highest. The Holocaust is coming and Germans will actually believe that all their troubles stem from Jews. What do you expect? That they call the police and do a thorough inspection over the death of a rabbit? People will just pick a scapegoat and take it out all on them. You've been in the same position; I don't think it's too hard to believe…" she had drawled, shrugging. "And remember, this is the kid that grew up to be Voldemort we're talkin' 'bout here. I think that he's the only one that could've done this. He is the only one, except for you, with magic, after all."

Harry had been at first stunned by the way Fortuna was reacting, somewhat speechless. She had scratched her head and yawned, swearing and muttering about how she 'couldn't even take a fucking nap' and how every time she was on earth people would always 'bitch about their worries to her' and so on. Eventually, he had shaken off the shock of hearing Fortuna swear and went ahead, thinking about what she said. He remembered Tom's smug, satisfied look that morning and couldn't help but think that, yes, it might have just been Tom after all. But why would Tom kill Billy's rabbit? He had really thought Tom to be innocent just now. He had completely forgotten what Tom was capable of. He was becoming all too comfortable with Tom.

That led to him sitting here now, waiting for Tom to come back so he could ask him if he really was guilty or not. For some reason, he himself burned with guilt. Guilt at becoming real friends with the man that previously would have grown up to kill his parents – previously, because Harry was determined to make a change – guilt at doubting Tom, guilt at becoming comfortable with Tom, guilt at not feeling the pain when he had seen Fortuna become so similar to his bookworm friend. It was utterly agonizing, really, but the more he thought about it, the more apathetic he became and the less the guilt ate at him. And he felt guilty – or, at least, wanted to feel guilty – at not feeling guilt. It was a rather weird feeling, really. He suspected it had something to do with his realization at how similar he and Tom really were. They were similar enough for him to become close to the older boy, even closer than he had become to Hermione and Ron. He felt as if they could understand each other in a way he had never felt before.

It felt disturbingly similar to talking with Tom Riddle's diary, but better.

Maybe this was how it felt to have a sibling? A twin, even.

Harry opened his mouth, about to tell Fortuna that he wasn't going to tell Tom about magic, not yet, but then the door opened and, in a flash, Fortuna was a snake again. Tom pushed the door open and shut it quietly behind him and Harry immediately jumped up, a thought of how he shouldn't care so much for the other flashing through his mind before he pushed it away. He went over to the other boy when Tom didn't move, staring at a distant point out of the window.

"Tom?" Harry inquired, frowning up at the taller boy with concern. Tom's garnet eyes glanced down at him for a moment before he resumed staring out of the window. That was when Harry saw the slight trembling of Tom's shoulders and the way his jaw was clenched. Harry looked up into Tom's eyes.

"They're taking me to be exorcized tomorrow," Tom murmured quietly. If it wasn't for how much Harry was concentrating on listening to Tom and making out his quiet words, Harry wouldn't have realized that Tom's voice was a little shaky.

Tom was scared.

The realization made Harry's eyes go slightly wide and Harry knew, at that moment, that being exorcized was something scary, something that children shouldn't be exposed to at all, something Tom had been through before. It was either that, or Tom was deathly afraid of churches, priests or Christians. Harry didn't believe that exorcism would be that scary, it was regarded as a cure rather than a punishment, after all, but Tom was definitely scared of something.

Harry didn't think that Tom would have ever been so open with anyone, but the other boy proved him wrong again. It amazed Harry that Tom was willing to show his fear since the majority of the time, Tom had a stoic mask on, even in front of him. Usually, the boy wouldn't show anything that could categorize him as weak. Sometimes, he showed amusement or even genuine happiness, but never anything like fear. Tom sighed and gripped Harry's shoulders, resting his forehead against Harry's. The smaller boy shifted uncomfortably, before realizing that Tom was seeking comfort. He hesitantly reached up to pat the other boy's back and a small smile spread across his face. Maybe Tom wasn't so bad after all.

Any remaining doubt was squished from him and Harry stopped trying to feel guilty. All thoughts of confrontation fled his mind.

Tom needed him more than anyone else because he was the only one there for Tom.

.:*Secret*:.

"Shit! Would you stop moving!? I'm trying to take a bloody fucking nap here!"

Harry stopped bouncing his leg abruptly as he blinked at Fortuna, startled. The immortal was human again and it looked really weird to see her glaring at him from where she was on the floor, half under the bed. She grumbled something incomprehensible and shifted from under the bed, a stunned Harry staring at her all the while. She looked over and raised an eyebrow.

"Language…?" he warned weakly, earning himself a scoff from the seemingly bi-polar immortal.

"You shouldn't worry about him that much you know. Nothing'll happen to him," Fortuna said, stretching, "At least, not today."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, snapping his head around to watch Fortuna through narrowed eyes as soon as he heard the last part of her sentence.

"I highly doubt he was afraid of the exorcism itself. Something else probably got him worried or maybe something went wrong the last time he went to be exorcized," the girl said with a shrug, rolling her head around and cracking her neck. There was a small silence before Fortuna broke it again. "By the way, aren't you going to do some practice?"

"Practice?" Harry parroted, feeling a little stupid when Fortuna gave him an exasperated look.

"Yeah, with magic."

"Magic?" Fortuna rolled her eyes this time. "But I don't have a wand with me." Harry thought that his excuse was rather legitimate, but Fortuna gave him another 'are you stupid?' look. When Harry didn't answer to her look and continued looking confused, the other rolled her eyes again.

"Wandless magic," the immortal explained, taking pity upon him, "Magic without a wand." At the surprised look Harry gave her, Fortuna spoke again. "How else do you think Tom hung that rabbit? And accidental magic is just an uncontrolled form of wandless magic."

"Really? I can actually perform magic without a wand?" The young wizard's interest was piqued at once. All the possibilities!

Fortuna grinned at his eagerness and nodded before becoming a black mamba once more and sliding up the arm Harry offered.

§Let us be off, then, human,§ Fortuna commented in an aloof tone once she was settled. Harry gave her an odd look for her sudden change in attitude, but shrugged it off and made his way outside.

.:*Secret*:.

Fortuna directed him to a shed behind the building. It was a rather large shed, but seemed unused, sitting right next to the main building on the grass.
§Unlock the shed,§ Fortuna told him, §It's currently locked. We can't practice in the open…§

§How?§ Harry hissed back.

§For now, just stare at the lock and say Alohormona, thinking of the effect until your magic reacts. I'll tell you a better way later.§

Harry frowned but then shrugged, repeating the spell over and over until his magic twitched, making him jump, and rushed to obey. His eyes widened at the feeling of that comforting second skin moving and rushing out as the door was unlocked. The feeling of power, of invincibility had possessed him in that single second that he had used wandless magic. His magic had never felt like that before. Fortuna seemed to grin as he walked into the large shed, shutting the door behind him.

At once, Fortuna dropped to the floor, becoming a girl again, her white dress appearing from nowhere. She stretched and cracked her joints with satisfied sigh. Harry stared, though he was getting used to Fortuna's behavior by now. "Now," Fortuna suddenly said, beginning to crack her knuckles one by one and jolting Harry's attention back to her, "You felt that addicting rush of power when you did your first bit of conscious wandless magic just now, right? Just focus and try to capture that feeling again. Magic depends on intent and imagination. Wands and spells are just tools that are used to make it easier to access your magic. Wands help you use it by opening you to it without emotional stimulation, while spells are for control. They shape your magic for you. With either, you'll have to tug your magic out into helping you and shape it according to your desires." Fortuna had finished cracking her knuckles by now and turned back to face him. "Since you have a lot of magic and it seems very close to you, you'll have an easier time with both parts. Try levitating a rock for practice. You need intent and imagination, remember that."

Harry thought her words over and was surprised to feel the comforting warmth that was his magic tingle in response. He looked around and spotted a pebble on the ground and glared at it, imagining it rising, wanting it to rise, but his magic only swirled around him, almost in an indecisive manner. After a while, Fortuna huffed and sat down, taking out a marble ball and staring at it.

Harry glanced towards her, sighing. Dang, he couldn't get his magic to respond the way he wanted to. Fortuna sighed and added, "Shape it, mold it. You have to be the one guiding it. You have to ask it to listen to you." He gave a nod, wondering how he could get his magic to listen and understand. Maybe... He could try talking to it? He scowled at the odd thought but decided to try anyways. After all, this was magic, and magic wasn't meant to make sense.

Um... Magic? Are you there? God he felt weird... Talking to his magic like that... It might not even be sentient. To his shock though, there was a... Nudge? in response. He blinked and decided to try again, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Uh... I guess I want your help, you know? To do wandless magic. Can you... Cooperate? You're always helping me on your own, but I want to know how to work with you and not just... Well... Force you to work for me with my wand and all... I guess I have to say... Thank you. For being there for me.

And then... And then it was like a dam burst. Harry's breath left him in a rush as the feeling of invincibility came over him again. Fortuna bolted up, sitting straight and staring at him as the feeling faded slightly, leaving him all warm and tingly. He barely registered Fortuna becoming a snake again as he reached out, his magic an extension of his body, and coaxed the pebble into the air. It floated upwards, slightly wobbly due to the lack of experience in control.

"Wow..." Harry breathed, smiling softly at the feeling of his magic swirling around him, inside him. It was amazing.

The pebble fell to the ground with a thunk as Harry's concentration was broken by the feeling of another source of power pressing against his own. His magic flinched back, cautious as it hesitantly pushed back against the new source of magic. The new magic was powerful, very much so, and darker, bolder than his own. He suppressed a shiver. It forcefully examined his own and, when Harry turned, he wasn't surprised to see Tom standing in the doorway of the shed, eyes wide with awe. Tom focused his gaze on Harry, a giddy sort of happiness on his features.

"You can do it, too..." He said breathlessly, an amused smirk on his face.