Let the coins fall where they may...

Chapter 7

Considering that his first endeavor to befriend Riddle was a success, Harry decided to go on to the next part of his ingenious plan. So, anyways, onto Part two: altering Riddle so he will not grow up to be an evil megalomaniac. That was the hard part. From what he knew, Riddle was very stubborn and not easily influenced. Harry knew that he could succeed with this part only if he could gain Riddle's trust. And to do that, Harry had another plan. Yes, he was an amazing plan maker of plans within plans of plans that…plan. And that there, was a tongue twister…..sort of! If one actually twisted their tongues when saying 'plans'. Maybe. But he was going off topic. So, first he had to move to Riddle's room, so he could block any sort of outside influence that could potentially ruin his amazing plans. Also, he didn't trust his roommate Gregory to 'do an evil Riddle' and start making his life miserable.

He also knew that if he himself went to ask Ms. Cole for a room change, Robertson would somehow interfere and she would never let him move. For some unknown reason she already hated him. Him! A more innocent person than him one could never find! But Robertson was not exactly...well, sane.

So she would heed Gregory if he asked to switch rooms, wouldn't she? From what he had seen, she liked Gregory. Well, at least she did not hate the kid. Harry was counting on her loathing of himself to get through the scheme.

And considering how Robertson had said that both him and Riddle were similar, chances were that she would switch him into Riddle's room. Hopefully.

Harry already knew from Dumbledore's memories that Riddle had his own room (probably because he scared off his previous roommate). And he also knew that there was not much space in the orphanage. He was positively sure that Robertson would make him room with Riddle, if everything went according to plan. The only thing he had to do now was irritate, annoy and scare Gregory into complaining to Ms. Robertson so that she would switch him. With how Gregory was behaving towards him, that part seemed quite enjoyable for Harry. He was also quite proficient at the irritate and annoy part, not so much the scare part. He would have to actually creep Greg out enough, for the boy to complain to Cole or Robertson.

He couldn't really think of anything. But he had no scruples about reusing old ideas. Something like what Riddle had done to him.

Harry looked out the window. There was no one there because it was dinner-time and all the kids had gone in to eat, which he couldn't, of course.

Perfect timing, he thought to himself. There was a small drop onto the yard. Harry was positive that he could jump it, the problem was getting back in without anyone seeing him.

He put his leg over the windowsill and took a deep breath and…. jumped.

The jarring impact of the ground with his leg sent shocks through it. Harry winced painfully. He was sure that he probably sprained it. Maybe he might have misjudged the distance a little. He began to limp away from the window.

Moving a bit further away, he could see the dead snake that was in his bed today morning. The one that he had thrown out. Using a stick, he slowly picked up the snake and dropped it into his pocket, swallowing his disgust. This is for the future, he chanted to himself. He also picked up a few sharp-looking stones and nice, squishy mud on the way. Things that he could potentially use for tormenting Gregory. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he was sure he would come up with something. He had enough materials, after all.

He slowly made his way back to the orphanage's back, where the kitchen was. The back door was open slightly. He peeked in. On the far end was Gladys, her back towards him and the door.

He slowly tiptoed past her, trying to make as little noise as possible, wincing every time his sprained leg touched the floor. He gave a sigh of relief when he reached the door exiting to the corridor. All the kids were still in the food hall, eating. He ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, not giving heed to his complaining leg. There was no time to stop. He dashed into his room and closed the door with a slam. Merlin, he thought, panting. That was scary.

By then, he could hear the chatter of the kids downstairs. They were already coming up for bedtime. He jumped into his bed and pulled his bedclothes over him, as if he were lying there the entire time, trying to calm his breathing.

Footsteps sounded outside and Gregory came into the room. As soon as he saw Harry, his face turned sour.

"You better not have touched my things, freak. Or I'll make you sorry," he said, his face scrunching up in disgust. Harry wisely did not retaliate. That boy would get what was coming. Yes, he knew that he was acting childish, but he was a child, wasn't he? That gave him the right to act like one.

Harry did feel a little guilty for what he was about to do, but this was for the future of the world. Sacrifices would have to be made. It was just a side-effect that Harry would enjoy this.

Gregory took a long time getting ready for bed and finally, Gregory fell asleep, small snores coming out if his mouth.

Harry waited for a few more minutes and then proceeded to take the snake out of his pocket with Gregory's baton-like thing. He had seen how Gregory had reacted to the snake in his own bed, so he decided to put it into Greg's bed, under his bedclothes. Call him a copycat, but this was a good fear tactic. He had to give it to Riddle. Then, he filled Greg's shoes with stones, making sure that the pointy ends of the stones were sticking up. Then he filled Greg's socks with the squishy mud. Finally , he wrote a small note, saying:

Hey Greg,

Guess what? I did touch your things!

Hugs and Kisses,
Harry

He decided to leave the note because he didn't want the blame to go on anybody else. After all, he had to be the one to get into trouble.

After making sure that everything was in place he went back to bed, smiling.

In the morning, a scream rang throughout the orphanage.

Harry blearily blinked open his eyes, a slight smirk on his face. His hoped his plan was a success. He could hear shouting around the corridor already, then heavy footsteps. The door opened to show Ms. Robertson, her face red with anger, still in her nightclothes.

"What do you have to say for yourself boy!" she screamed, holding the note in one hand and the dead, now-really-stinking-badly-snake, in the other. That was gross. Even he hadn't touched the snake with his hands.

A petrified Gregory was standing behind her, tear streaks across his face. He kept shifting from foot to foot, still wearing the shoes and socks. Wow! He was much more manipulative than Harry would ever have thought. He probably kept wearing it to gain sympathy from Robertson. Robertson looked ready to jump to his rescue anyway.

"Gregory got what was coming to him," replied Harry flippantly. He had learned the hard way, how easily he could annoy someone by just opening his mouth. He was counting on it now.

Ms. Robertson puffed up in outrage, her face going a shade of red that Harry wouldn't have thought possible, the buttons on her nightclothes looking fit to burst. "Apparently, you have not yet learned your lesson, boy. Today, you will stay in all day and clean the kitchen floor. Not a spot of dirt should be left when I come to check over it. Hope that punishment is sufficient to get through your thick head. Again, you will receive no food or drink."

"But M-ms. Robertson," blubbered Gregory. "I don't want to be in the same room as this freak. He is just like Riddle. Who knows what he will do when I'm asleep? How… how can I-" He burst into large noisy sobs that sounded extremely fake, to Harry's ears at least.

Ms. Robertson looked a little flustered for a second. She petted Greg as if to say 'there there'. She dithered around a little before her eyes became hard and cold, as she made her decision. "Hear that, boy? It is only two days since you got here, and look at how you are looked at already. Only because of your foul mouth and your insolent attitude."

Harry looked back at her, trying to make his face as insolent-looking as possible.

"You are not even sorry, are you boy?" she shrieked, spittle flying out of her mouth in indignation. "I will not have you contaminating the good children in this place. I already have Riddle doing that. Maybe I'll make you share your room with him. Then we'll see."

Harry tried to keep his face straight, trying his best to suppress the grin that was threatening to break across his face. He crossed his fingers behind his back. This was it!

"Pack your things up, boy," said Ms. Robertson at last. "You are moving."

Dun dun dun... Robertson really dislikes Harry,doesn't she?