Chapter IV
Lessons
Harry learned that Voldemort wanted to start lessons immediately. After having breakfast with Blaise and Draco in their room, a Death Eater knocked on Draco's door. It was the same Death Eater that forced Harry from the gardens the day before, and he was shaking with fear as he told Harry the Dark Lord wants him. The three just nodded and Harry felt a strange calmness fall on his as he followed the quivering Death Eater, who seemed to be forcing himself quiet. For once the Manor has been alive with activity, Death Eaters patrolling the hallways and talking with one another. Each time Harry passed them he heard jeers and caught strange looks, the minions believing that Harry was being brought in to die.
The silent Death Eater said nothing as again Harry found himself in front of the office door. He knocked, and entered to find Voldemort in the same chair as he was last time near the fireplace. "Ahh, Harry, there you are," Voldemort smirked. He looked at the Death Eater and told him to come in as well. "He will be our test subject for today," Voldemort said.
The Death Eater's fear seemed to escalate, the man's face being paler than Voldemort's skin as he stared at his Lord in horror. Voldemort smirked at the fear and turned his attention to Harry, amused to find the boy wasn't scared. "I trust you remember what spell we are learning today?" Voldemort smirked.
Harry nodded. "The Memory Charm," he said.
"Good," Voldemort nodded. "Now Potter, tell me what do you know about it?"
Harry thought for a bit, before remembering, "In my second year, Gilderoy Lockhart tried to use it on Ron and me in the Chamber of Secrets. He's been using the spell on wizards who did extraordinary things, and taking the credit for them."
Voldemort's face remained neutral at Harry's mention of the Chamber. Instead he said, "Yes, the Memory Charm simply erases the memories of the individual. It should be simple enough for you Potter. Especially since, as you said, Gilderoy Lockhart was able to cast it."
"Is it temporary?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
"No, the memory is erased permanently. The only way to break the memory charm is by torture," Voldemort said, a cold sadistic smile appearing on his face. "Which you will do at the end of this month."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. Voldemort gave a cruel chuckle and got up from his chair.
"I mean, Potter, is that I have a Death Eater with vital information that I have blocked with a Memory Charm," Voldemort explained. "Your task is to retrieve it, or else face punishment."
"… I'm guessing the punishment is death?" Harry said, surprised his voice isn't quivering.
"No, why would I want to kill you now that you've become interesting?" Voldemort smirked. "The punishment, Harry, is that your little secret will be revealed to the Wizarding World, and I will sit back and watch them tear their hero apart."
Harry stared at Voldemort, not surprised by his cruelty, but surprised that he didn't feel fear. He wasn't scared, apprehensive, or even nauseous at the suggestion of torture. Instead, he felt a curiosity that he had always felt since the ending of their first meeting. "Alright," Harry said, meeting Voldemort's eyes. "Deal, but one condition."
"Oh? And what is that Harry?"
"Tell me about Adrian," Harry demanded. "Every day, at the end of the lessons, if I make no mistakes you will tell me about Adrian."
Anger swept through Voldemort's eyes before disappearing. "Very well. You want to learn about my husband? First, make sure this one here does not remember our conversation," Voldemort said, pointing at the Death Eater.
Harry nodded and turned to face the Death Eater, who's face now held confusion, as well as fear. Harry took out his wand and pointed it at the Death Eater.
"Now, Potter, the Memory Charm is easy to perform, but the danger is that you must be precise about which memory you want to erase. Otherwise, you risk causing permanent brain damage, and I will lose a Death Eater. Focus on the precise memory you want to erase, point your wand at the target, and say Obliviate. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Harry said.
"Then do it Potter," Voldemort said.
Harry turned his attention towards the Death Eater and focused all of his attention on the conversation the Death Eater heard. Harry tried and decided on a starting point, it would be odd if the Death Eater could only remember a small part of what Harry and Voldemort were talking about. Harry wondered if he should erase the entire meeting from the Death Eater's mind, and considered that the safest solution. With his wand pointed at the Death Eater and his mind focused on the moment they've entered the office, Harry muttered "Obliviate!"
A soft green haze emitted from Harry's wand and surrounded the Death Eater's head. It seemed to seep into the Death Eater, being absorbed by his skin and hair as the Death Eater's vision became cloudy. Soon the soft green haze fully disappeared, and the Death Eater's eyes were misty, a look of confusion appearing before he returned to normal. He looked at the Dark Lord, looked at Harry, who's wand was already back in his pocket, and said, "Here he is my Lord, just as you asked."
Voldemort smirked at Harry and said, "Perfect Potter, there is hope for you yet." He waved dismissively at the man. When it was just the two of them, Voldemort returned to his seat. Using his own wand, he produced a second identical, although smaller, armchair and motioned for Harry to sit down. As Harry did so, Voldemort looked at him. "Adrian, he was my husband as I told you last time," Voldemort began. "His full name was Adrian Balks. He was a half-blood, his mother died when he was five and his father worked with Dark Objects. A collector, if you will. We first met on our first day at Hogwarts, I did not like him."
The small Tom Riddle looked around inquisitively at the stone castle that surrounded him. The portraits were talking, the people inside moving from each other's frames as they welcomed the eleven year olds into Hogwarts. There were ghosts as well! Gliding through the walls and over the small first years who were wearing black pointed hats. Around him, students were talking to each other, whispering and pointing as they followed the man who introduced himself to Riddle earlier as Albus Dumbledore.
In front of Tom, he noticed, was a small boy who looked around with a happy curiosity. As if he felt Riddle's stares, the small boy turned around and looked at him with dull blue eyes. "Are you a Muggle-born?" the boy asked happily, pointing to the second-hand robes Tom was forced to buy.
"Excuse me?" Tom sneered. The boy shrugged and said, "It's just a question," turning around.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and looked around at the small crowd of First years as they gathered around a pair of tall, wooden doors. He smiled and said, "I wish to be the first to welcome you all to Hogwarts. I am sure that you all had an excellent ride across the lake, which we all must thank our groundkeeper, Ogg, for. Now, beyond these doors you will all join your fellow students for a delightful feast. However, before that, you all must be sorted into one of our four Houses. There is Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. Now, I must warn you your actions during the school year will reflect on your House. If you triumph and succeed, which I am sure you all will do, you will gain points for your houses. However, rule-breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, all house points will be tallied up, and the House with the most points will win the House Cup! Now, if you all could line up in two lines? We can proceed."
The hall was filled with the shuffling of many pairs of feet as the mob of children slowly formed into two lines. Tom stayed silent during the entire endeavor, only moving slightly to blend into the line. Much to his irk, however, it seems that the same small boy had a similar idea and was still in front of him.
Dumbledore smiled at the First Years and said, "Excellent, now, let us begin. …" He turned and pushed both doors open, the entrance of the Great Hall revealing Tom to the rest of Hogwart's body.
The two lines of First Years were escorted between the two long middle tables of four, the students having either blue or yellow trimmings on their robes, as well as their Houses badges. The small boy in front of him looked around with a strange excitement, the dull blue eyes always moving before looking back at Tom. He asked Tom a question, but he ignored the child as they've reached the edge of the tables. The line stopped as all the students in the Great Hall, and the staff sitting in the table in front of them turned their focus to a small ratty hat that sat on top of a stool. The small boy in front of Tom had to jump repeatedly to see it.
"Do you want me to get you a wooden crate to stand on?" Tom couldn't just but sneer as he watched the kid.
The kid stopped jumping, turned to face Tom, and said, "No thanks, I don't need your home Muggle-born."
Anger rose in Tom at the mention of being a Muggle-born. There was no way he was that, he will not believe it. He had no time to act on his anger, however, as the hat seemed to bounce into life, the stitching around the brim tearing forming a mouth. Then, the most ludicrous thing happened. The hat began to sing. Tom just stared in stupefied awe as the hat sung, wishing that it would hurry up with it. Fortunately for Riddle, the son the Hat sung was short and soon the hall erupted in applause.
Dumbledore, still clapping, walked up to the hat and pulled out a scroll of parchment paper. He unrolled it, and held it by the top with one hand as he picked up the hat with the other. "When I call your name, kindly step up to the stool, sit down, and I will place the Sorting Hat onto your head. Now then… Avery, Malcolm." A blond-haired boy disconnected from the two lines and made his way to the three-legged stool.
He sat down, and Tom watched as Avery sat down on the stool and Dumbledore placed the hat on top of him. The hall was silent for a couple of seconds before the hat yelling out, "SLYTHERIN!"
The table farthest left of Tom clapped as their newest member went to join them. Tom looked towards the staff table and saw an enormous man with a gingerly blond walrus mustache clapping as well, a smile showing from underneath his mustache. After that, Tom didn't pay particular attention to the names called out until Dumbledore said, "Balk, Adrian!"
"That's me Muggle-born!" the small boy said to Tom before sauntering towards the stool. Tom chuckled to himself as the small boy took a couple of tries getting on the stool because of his height. Dumbledore chuckled as well as he placed the Sorting Hat onto the boy's head, engulfing it completely. Unlike Avery's, the hat was quiet for a full minute before announcing, "SLYTHERIN!"
The boy smiled with his results, jumped off of the stool, and walked calmly to Slytherin table, waving at some of the higher years. He sat down, and Tom couldn't help but notice that for the rest of the sorting, the boy kept staring at him, those dull blue eyes drilling into Tom's whole soul. It annoyed him.
The list went on, and the group of unsorted First Years become smaller and smaller as Tom waited for his name. During the entire time, the boy, Adrian Balk, kept staring at Tom, watching his every move as Tom waited between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Finally, Dumbledore looked at the scroll of parchment and said, "Riddle, Tom!"
Tom was the final student waiting. The Great Hall watched as he calmly made his way towards the sorting hat. Dumbledore offered him a smile and said softly, "I am happy to see you here Tom."
He didn't respond. Tom just sat calmly on the three-legged stool and stared out at the four tables, not feeling anything at all as the students stared at him. Dumbledore lowered the Sorting Hat on Tom, and he barely felt the hat brush with his short hair before it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"
Tom smirked as he slid off of the stool and made his way towards the Slytherin Table. The boy was clapping with the rest of the table as he made room for Tom. Tom sat down. "Hello Muggle-born," Adrian Balk smirked.
Tom just looked at him and said, "Just so you know dwarf, I am not a muggle-born."
The small boy snickered and offered his hand. "I'm Adrian," he said happily. "Adrian Balk. My dad's the famous Dark Objects collector."
"Tom Marvolo Riddle," Tom said, not taking Adrian's hand or even looking at the small boy, "and I don't care."
The small boy laughed at that and said, "You know? I think I'm going to like you."
After Harry's lesson with Voldemort, and Voldemort's story, he returned to Draco's room where he saw Draco in front of the cauldron. He stepped up to him and said, "You're really good at Potions, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am," Draco nodded casually. "Get me the Ptolemy please? I need it for your potions tonight."
"The what?" Harry said confused.
"The Ptolemy," Draco repeated, pointing one hand at an open cabinet. "It's in there. The red one."
Still confused, Harry made his way to the cabinet and opened it up, seeing vials and vials of unmarked ingredients. Confused, Harry looked around, trying to find something, anything that matched Draco's description of "The red one." He found several vials with red liquids and just picked one at random and handed it to Draco, hoping he was right.
"Wrong Potter," Draco said with a hint of annoyance. "This is bat's blood. I need Ptolemy. Ptolemy. It's the thinnest of the red ones. Just shake them until you see the red liquid splashes the most."
Harry nodded, and tried again, taking each vial and shaking them lightly. It was the third one that seemed most water-like so he gave it to Draco. "There you go, this is Ptolemy. Thanks. Seriously Potter, how did you ever get by five years of Potions without know what Ptolemy is?"
"I'm just ruddy awful at Potions," Harry said. "Not my fault Snape's a horrible teacher."
Draco only gave Harry a sharp, short look before saying, "I am going to ignore that comment, but this is ridiculous Harry. If you are going to be sleeping in my bed Harry, you're going to have to know at least how to make a decent brew!"
Harry frowned, and looked around. "Where's Blaise?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"Shopping for clothes for you," Draco said. "But don't change the subject Harry. Here, look, do you see the potion shimmering?"
Harry stood next to Draco and looked into the potion to see a shimmering pale-blue liquid bubbling softly. "Yeah," he said.
"That means I need to add the nettle. It is a plant with stinging hairs on their leaves. I want you to take two nettle leaves and mince them. You know cooking, you should know how to mince, right?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, I do," Harry said. Draco nodded and said, "Okay. They are on the second shelf in the cabinet Harry, third one from the center. You see it? It's in a jar this time."
Harry moved to the cabinet and quickly found the jar. "Yeah," he said, putting it down.
"Good, take out two and mince them. Use the silver knife, it's sharper and you'll keep more liquid that way," Draco instructed.
Harry did as he was told and took out two leaves, being careful with their stinging hairs, and placed them next to Draco on the preparation table. He picked up the silver knife and begun mincing them. Draco smiled watching Harry, and said, "That's excellent Harry. Add them, quick!"
Harry did, and was surprised to see the light-blue color deepen to a darker blue. Draco chuckled at Harry's astonishment and shook his head. "Okay Harry take the ladle, and constantly stir counter-clockwise until it turns a lilac color. It'll become darker before it becomes lighter so don't worry," Draco said. Harry nodded, and unconsciously started his second lesson of the day.
As he stirred, Harry watched in amazement as the blue-colored potion slowly started becoming shades and shades darker, just as Draco said, before eventually becoming light again, starting as a deep, royal purple before lightening up. Draco watched with a look of approval as he gathered the rest of the ingredients he needed. They continued in this fashion, Draco holding total control of the potion as he instructs Harry step by step as both boys take turn looking over the potion, or preparing the ingredients. Harry was surprised at how… easy it seemed to be for him. After all, he had always had trouble with Potions, Snape had always made it a difficult, and unenjoyable subject for him. But learning from Draco, Harry found himself enjoying himself, enjoying the ease that it was following Draco's directions and learning, actually learning! When they were done, Draco examined the potion and used a small silver ladle to gather a small amount of the potion. He smiled at the properties and gave the ladle to Harry.
"Drink this," he said. "It'll help with any sore or broken bones you might have."
Harry did, and his cheeks flushed as a warm feeling spread all over him. "Thank you Draco," he smiled.
"Not at all," Draco said, his cheeks tinting at Harry's smile. He took the ladle back and looked around. "You can relax as I finish this, there's another potion that I need to make, but it's easy—"
"Let me do it!" Harry said quickly. "Please, you're loads better than Snape at teaching me at this."
Draco looked shocked at first, staring at Harry with a confused look before nodding, smiling down at his lion. "Yeah, alright. We're just making a simple fever potion. I don't want you to develop a fever because of all the potions I'm making you drink."
"Alright," Harry nodded. And again, the two started the process of making the potion, Draco holding the same control he did the last one, telling Harry what to do and exactly how to do it. And with each command, Harry obeyed and learned, smiling at himself when he realized that maybe he could start recognizing the ingredients like Draco. Though, he knew that it would take him years to get to the level Draco is.
When they were done the two agreed to make it a daily thing. They relaxed against Draco's bed, their bodies barely touching each other, only centimeters apart as the door opened and Blaise walked through, two bags floating after him. "Harry baby, you're here," Blaise said as he let the bags float into the room and falling gently on the bed. "We've looked at your clothes," Blaise explained, "and honestly they were in an awful shape. So I've decided to get you clothes that more match you."
Harry blushed as he turned his attention towards the two bags, pulling robes, dress robes and pants, button-down shirts, socks, underwear, and pants out of the bags. He looked at Blaise confused, "Why would you do this for me?" he asked. "This is only my second day here…"
"Think of it as a thank you present Harry," Blaise said. "We're both very grateful that you… well quite literally fell into our lives. We've known for a long time about the hateful laws against us, and well… Draco has been wanting to be your friend for so long that it rubbed off on me I guess." Blaise offered a smile at Harry as he picked up a dark-green button-down shirt and held it against Harry. "Looks like I've gotten the size right," he smiled.
Harry became overwhelmed with emotions. Nobody ever had devoted this much attention and gifts on Harry, and with such genuineness! He looked at the two of them and said, "Thank you… so much, for everything you guys done. I honestly don't know how I can even start to repay you—"
"Just be yourself Harry," Draco said softly, stepping close to him. Harry nodded and decided to hug the blond. "Thank you," he whispered again. Draco smiled and returned the hug, giving a knowing smirk to Blaise.
They've lunched together, and decided to play Quidditch in the garden. Harry was glad that so far he didn't encounter Lucius Malfoy again, nor saw any of the Death Eaters that he knew. He couldn't even imagine what he would do when he run into Bellatrix Lestrange. The spells Voldemort taught him were not murderous, or harm-centered like Harry first thought. No, instead after Harry mastered the memory charm, Voldemort tasking Harry to cast the spell on five Death Eaters during the afternoon, they moved onto other, more advanced spells. After each lesson, Voldemort gave Harry a small piece of his past with the mysterious Adrian Balk, such as the fact that he hated the little wizard for all of their first year.
It was the second year of Hogwarts that Tom Riddle started to like Adrian. For most of their first year, Adrian had taken to call Tom "Muggle-Born," which got them into many arguments and debates. It didn't help that Adrian had taken the role of being Tom Riddle's shadow, always following the boy and showing up when least expected. It annoyed Tom to no end, especially since each time, Adrian always held a superior air to Tom. That was, until, their second year.
It was October, and Tom was relaxing outside, glad to be away from everybody. There was a small noise, and Tom turned his head to see a slender, dark-green snake that almost camouflaged with the wet grass. Tom got to his knees, not caring about getting his school pants wet, and started to speak to the snake, just like all the snakes he found near the orphanage. "Hello," he said.
The snake stopped in it's tracks and looked up at Tom. "Hello," it replied. "What is it that you want?"
"Nothing, just to talk," Tom hissed, this type of magic coming naturally for him. "It has been forever since I've talked with a snake."
"Oh? Why is that little human?" the snake asked.
"Because they always find me in the orphanage," Tom said. The snake nod it's head, listening closely. The two then started to have a light conversation, Tom mainly doing the talking as he charmed the snake. He sat there for a long time, relaxing as he explained his situation to the random snake. When he was done, the snake only looked past Tom's shoulder and said, "Another, there's another human. Much smaller this time."
Tom whirled around to see Adrian standing a couple of feet from Tom. His cheeks were tinted as he, for the first time, stumbled over his words. "I-I'm sorry …Tom," Adrian said, calling Tom by his name for the first time. "I should never—I mean I've never thought that you could—I'm sorry!"
"For what?" Tom asked confused. Yet, he felt satisfied seeing the annoying kid fumble and fall from his superiority.
"For calling you Muggle-born," Adrian said. "No Muggle-Born could ever have done what you've done! It's impossible."
"What do you mean?"
"Talking with snakes Tom!" Adrian said excited, looking at Tom with a new look in his eyes. Was that admiration? Worship? "You know you don't know what you are? What you've just done?"
"And what is that I've done?" Tom asked, getting to his feet. The snake he was conversing with continued along its way.
"Talking with a snake," Adrian explained. "I've always wondered why you were in Slytherin, I mean, I've thought you were a Muggle-Born and there is no way a Muggle-Born would ever be a Slytherin! But now it all makes sense! You're not a Muggle-Born at all! At most you're a half-blood, which is so much better."
"A what?"
"You can talk to snakes, you're a Parseltongue," Adrian said with an excited smile on his face, closing the distance between the two second years. "Salazar Slytherin was a Parseltongue as well, in fact there's talk that he might be the first one! Only his family has the ability and, well, you have it so that only means one thing."
A knowing smirk appeared on Tom's face as he connected the two together. But he wanted to hear it from Adrian. He wanted Balk to get off his high-horse voluntarily and kneel before him. "Which is?" he asked.
"You are a descendant of the great Salazar Slytherin, Tom Riddle. You are the Heir to Slytherin," Adrian said. "That is why I'm sorry! For everything I've said last year, calling you a Muggle-born all these times. Can you… can you forgive me?"
Tom looked down at Adrian, smiling as the last air of superiority left the small boy, and instead went to Tom, where it rightfully belonged. "Beg," Tom commanded. "Bow down and beg for my forgiveness."
Adrian looked at Tom shocked only for a moment before getting on his knees. He bowed, his head and hands touching the wet ground as he said, "Tom Riddle, Heir of Slytherin, can you please forgive me for everything I've done? And can you please let me continue follow you in your shadows?"
Tom looked down at the bowing figure of Adrian Balk and smiled. This felt right, having someone bowing down to him. Tom liked the feeling of power and control it gave him, and he wanted more, he wanted more people to follow him, to bow before him. But, strangely, not Adrian. The boy has been following him from the beginning, and his knowledge intrigued Tom. He had to admit that he could learn much from Adrian, about his ability, and even about Slytherin if he was honest with himself. It doesn't help that, despite his annoyance, the kid was cute. Very cute. A cuteness that the boy knew he had and used it every chance he had. There was a reason, Tom realized, why Adrian Balk was in Slytherin.
With his mind made up, Tom began to chuckle. "Get up, you're forgiven," he said. Adrian looked at him happily as he scrambled to his feet. Tom closed their distance, and decided to make the boy his. "You want to follow me? Very well. You can follow me, but never in my shadow. You will be beside me, and you'll tell me everything you know. For now, my ability has to be a secret, okay? I'm trusting you with this Adrian. Do you understand?"
"Yes! Yeah, I do Tom!" Adrian smiled. Tom grimaced at his name. "What's the matter?" Adrian asked.
"I hate my first name," Tom admitted. "It's so… common. There are many 'Toms.'"
"Then, what should I call you?" Adrian asked innocently. Tom looked down at him and thought for a moment.
"My middle name," Tom said, placing his hand on Adrian. "You, and you alone, will call me by my middle name, Marvolo. Okay?"
"Yes! I can do that," Adrian said excitedly. "Thank you Marvolo, I truly am sorry for how I behave towards you. Dad would give me a beating if he heard I've been rude to a Parseltongue."
"It's alright," Tom said. "And why is that? Are Parseltongues rare?"
Adrian nodded. "Yeah, like I said, only those descendants of Slytherin can speak Parseltongue. It's a show of royalty to some people. I bet, if the rest of the Slytherins knew you could speak to snakes, they'd follow you in a heartbeat."
"Interesting," Tom said. "But for now, I want it to be our secret. Until I know more about it."
"Okay Marvolo," Adrian nodded. And the two walked back to the castle, their relationship blossoming anew.
A/N: Aww, evil falling in love is so precious. Look at those two lil murderers go. Well… future murderers… you'll see. Also, thanks to a phone fuck-up I've lost ALL of my notes! Fuck :)
AnnaMerteuil: No threesome. You'll see in future chapters, Blaise's and Harry's relationship will evolve into that of Big Brother/Little Brother. Draco will be screwing Harry, however. Also no. That will ruin the ending.
Super MKatR: This is next. Meaning, murderers falling in love.
Lilly-flower15: Is 3 days soon enough?
Sasuhinas fan: It's the little tidbits that I love. Especially when people pick up on them!
Kigen Dawn: I'll tell you exactly what happens if you never refer to Adrian as "boo" and "little boy" again. Also, yes the children. Won't someone please think of the children!?
Littlesprout: Thanks!
Hime: First thing first: You are confusing two stories. Mainly, this and Dragon's Courtship. They are two different stories and while Blaise did say that, it was a joke. Why so Serious Hime? Hmm? As I told Anna above, THERE IS NO BLAISE/HARRY! Sorry, caps lock on. And why the hell would I stop? It's called having a schedule. Which reminds me I am far behind on uploading a chapter for Kingdom Hearts… I'll do that tomorrow.
Ern: Thanks! You are super awesome mega fantastic good!
floophoenixLing: I will not tell you who the man is. But I can say, no it is not Harry and immediately follow that with cruel, sarcastic laughter.
Jokul Frosti: Adrian is the son of a Dark Objects collector… whatever that means, also he is very small. Like tiny small. As in, prepare for dwarf jokes small. Also Hermione will be bashed in an appropriate and level-headed fashion, balancing out the amount and severity that poor Ron has been bashed.