Riddle then turned his head and pointed his wand at Harry's face. "Now tell me what the heck you were doing down here before I kill you?"
"How the hell am I supposed to talk myself out of this one," Harry thought nervously.
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Walking Across Time
Chapter Eight – The Ghost of Me
"Must I repeat myself, Potter?" Riddle said, his wand still pointed at Harry. Harry just stared. "It seems I must. Tell me what the heck you're doing down here before I kill you?"
It was sort of eerie how Riddle was lying on his side, his body still weak from being impaled on four stakes, and could still summon this air of authority and fear.
"Like I said, I walked into the open entrance in the bathroom and it led me here," Harry gulped. "Hearing a noise, I came here and saw you."
His story did not even sound plausible to himself. There were too many holes. Harry knew it. Riddle knew it. And Harry knew Riddle knew it.
"Let me point out the problems in your story," Riddle began. "You managed to get past both the wards and the basilisk. You found your way around this tunnel. You heard me from that far? No, I think not. In fact, I think you were the one leading me on, Potter."
"I—" Harry started but was interrupted by Riddle.
"Each separate feat you achieved is improbable. Together, it's nearly impossible. You had outside help," Riddle concluded, his wand still pointed menacingly. "Tell me who and I might spare you—for now."
Harry's breathing slowed and his face regained some colour. Riddle had almost convinced Harry that he had no other options but to fess up – the keyword being almost.
"You don't seem to understand the position you are in, Potter," Riddle said.
"No, it is you who is fooled into thinking that you sitting above me," Harry said, gaining back his confidence. "You've been hurt. You had to heal yourself. I sincerely doubt you have the magical strength to back your threat up."
In addition, unknowingly to Riddle, Harry had stalled long enough to manage to hide another radioactive element around them and if Riddle did try to curse him, the spell would not leave the wand.
"In a hand-to-hand combat, I'd say you'd also be at a disadvantage as you are currently incapacitated from your healing trance," Harry reasoned. Riddle paled significantly realizing that Harry had summoned the current situation quite accurately.
Harry pulled out his wand. Riddle, oblivious to the magic dampening field, shivered in expectation of the worst. Harry had allowed him to live, yes, but this only served to prove how little choice Riddle had on his own fate.
"I'll be making the calls now, Riddle."
Harry's wand was pointed at Riddle's throat. Riddle's wand mirrored Harry's. Riddle's magic, however, would not back him in a duel, as his magical levels were severely depleted from having to heal himself from the impalement incident.
"What are your intentions, Potter?" Riddle said, suspicion in his voice.
"My intention is to tell you the truth," Harry said quietly but it seemed loud in the silence of the Chamber. A plan was rapidly forming in Harry's mind.
"How am I suppose to know you're not lying," Riddle said, as he shifted painfully from his position. Despite his pain, he kept his wand focused on Harry.
"It depends on the lie and on the proof to back it up," Harry said.
"So it is a lie."
"No, just listen," Harry groaned. "I know who you are Riddle. I also know who you're going to become. Unfortunately, I also know about all the misery that you will bring."
"You're a Seer?" Riddle sneered. "I think divination is a subject that should have been banned from Hogwarts long ago."
"So why did you set your sights on a prophecy years from now," Harry had wanted to say. But he couldn't as the event hadn't yet occurred, and because this Riddle wasn't yet the paranoid hacked-up soul that Voldemort later was.
"I'm not a Seer," Harry said. "I'm a time-traveler."
"That's original," Riddle said, clearly not believing him. "When are you from? Three hours later?"
"No, I'm from six decades later," Harry said, frustrated that Riddle wasn't taking him seriously. "Let me show you. Try to shoot a spell at me. Do it. I won't retaliate."
Riddle looked at him suspiciously, as if not believing Harry's stupidity. "If you insist, I will—STUPEFY!"
Riddle's wand emitted a red glow at the tip but the spell refused to shoot out. Riddle shook his wand. "Stufefy! Reducto! Avada Kedavra!"
The spells seemed stuck.
"What the hell did you do, Potter?"
"This is what I call a magicless zone—a present from the future," Harry explained, although he wasn't about to tell Riddle the secret behind it. "You won't be able to cast any spells inside the shield."
"Maybe I just can't cast because I'm magically-drained," Riddle retorted. "You're not going to win by playing mind games with me."
"Alright, how about I give you some information about your personal life," Harry said. He went on to talk about the Gaunts, half-bloods, Death Eaters and the name Voldemort. Harry tried to hide as many references to the future as he could.
"So you know of my activities around Hogwarts," Riddle said. "That doesn't mean anything. Infiltration into groups happens all the time."
"Let me try another way then," Harry said. "I've killed you once already. I can do it again."
"Well excuse me, I feel very much alive right now," Riddle sneered. "Unless you're about to AK me soon."
"I'm a time-traveler," Harry gritted his teeth, although he realized that Riddle wouldn't be one to accept ideas all that suddenly. "I saw a future without your interference and realized it wasn't much better."
"Why? Dumbledore was leading a house-elf rebellion?" Riddle said sacarstically.
"Worse, Augustus was Minister of Magic and had reduced non-purebloods to slavery."
"That's not an awfully bad idea," Riddle said.
"Do try to remember that you're half-blood too," Harry said. "In that future, Tom Riddle is a decaying shish-kebab in the Chamber of Secrets."
"Assuming all that you're saying is truth, where do I come in?" Riddle asked.
"I want a better future and I'm thinking that killing you is not going solve my problems," Harry said. "There will be other Dark Lords or power-hungry warmongers. It's to my own advantage to have you alive."
"What do you gain from telling me all this?" Riddle said, finally. "What's keeping you from killing Augustus and then me after you've disposed of him?"
"The fact that you would be much more useful alive," Harry repeated without hesitation. "And because I think you're different from the original Voldemort of my timeline. There's a certain discrepancy in your existence and that of Augustus."
"You're thinking that Augustus took my place as Voldemort?" Riddle said, aghast. "You really think that shrimp, pureblood supremacist and inbred horror could best me in a duel and in politics?"
"I used to think that but now, I'm not so sure," Harry said. "I think you haven't gone through the transformation to become Voldemort yet so you're still Tom Riddle. Now I expect you to be curious about how powerful Voldemort became. But I shall discourage you from taking this path. Let me tell you what happened to my timeline's Voldemort."
"Voldemort's death was sad, pathetic and very much deserved. He suffered much and died in agony." Harry went on to describe the details and humiliation that had accompanied Voldemort's death and thus effectively convinced Riddle that Dark Lords had better be Dark Lords that didn't split their soul.
"One more thing," Harry said to Riddle who was frowning both in fear and in distaste. "You think that you're all powerful but you need to realize that there are people stronger than you in this world. I am more powerful than you magically. Augustus outstrips you in terms of politics and bloodline. In addition, he has many more allies than you do."
Riddle snorted at the last one.
"You have no idea how many people fear and abhor you in this school, Riddle. Take the Longbottom girl, for one. Your at the top of her hate list," Harry said. "You have charmed the teachers but have neglected your fellow students—some who will hold a grudge a lifetime. You also underestimate Augustus because he is eleven and has a sweet face. Let me tell you that he outstrips you in terms of leadership. He charms and manipulates people to follow him. You do so by inducing fear in you followers. The difference? His followers will follow him into death and yours will abandon you."
"The cornered rat is the most dangerous one," Riddle whispered to himself. "I do not inspire loyalty as I thought I did."
"Still, the identity of my timeline's Voldemort is irrelevant for this currant timeline," Harry shrugged.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, chances are, either one of you will turn out to be Voldemort-like. I'm trying to prevent that from happening," Harry explained. "Without having to rely on assassination, if possible."
"Technically you've killed me once, already," Riddle sneered.
"Technically I've killed you more than once, Riddle," Harry said, the corner of his lips twitching.
Riddle paled.
"Now, you can be my ally or my opponent." Harry twirled his wand. "Swear it with a Wizards' Oath. Mind you, I'll give you the formulation."
Riddle looked at Harry, his eyebrows slowly shaping into a scowl.
Harry stared back. "You can die now or you can die later. Now choose."
Riddle gulped and answered. "Later."
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Riddled walked quickly in the hallways, his lips pursed and his eyes mere slits, signs that betrayed his anger. Harry strolled beside him, his face shaped into a mask of indifference.
Riddle was fuming because Harry had coerced him into agreeing to let go of the so-called 'accident' in the Chamber of Secrets. Harry was hiding whatever he was thinking because he was plotting the double murder of Riddle and Augustus. Harry knew that Riddle didn't really believe his tales of time-travelling, but for now, it was in their best interests to cooperate, especially since Riddle had sworn a Wizard's Oath to help Harry.
"How do you plan on disposing of my sweet little cousin?" Riddle said venomously, still not over the fact that Harry had managed to score a kill on him. "Offer him to throw himself on a stake? Convince him that poison is good for his health?"
"Your attempts at being sarcastic are falling rather flat, Riddle," Harry said as he checked around the corner to make sure the hallway was empty before signalling to Riddle to proceed. "I'm going to make Augustus disappear."
"So you're just going to vanish him?" Riddle said, his hands stuck in his pockets. "The sweet little tyke isn't exactly a gerbil-sized animal you can vanish with a wave of your wand, Potter. Didn't they teach you anything in the future?"
"They taught me how to shut up," Harry snapped at Riddle. "Will you quit complaining? This is for your own good as well as mine!"
"My own good? You've killed me once—more if what you say is true," Riddle retorted. "Anything you say or do is suspicious at the least."
"You know, I've never seen you loose your cool in such an abysmal way," Harry said coldly. "I have to say I'm slightly disappointed."
"Dying will do that to you," Riddle snarled. "You really should try it."
Harry kept his face impassive. "I—"
"How old are you in reality? You're not sixteen, are you?" Riddle interrupted. "You're too reckless to be a true Slytherin and yet you show the skill and cunning of wizards thrice my age. You never even told me how you got into the Chambers."
"I'm old enough. And I've seen enough," Harry said shortly. "As for the Chamber of Secrets and my identity, those are stories for another day. Now shut up, here he comes."
The two stood back to a wall, waiting for their prey to turn the corner.
"Well that was a restful sleep! Why is it so dark in here?" a voice from Harry's pocket said.
Both Riddle and Harry startled at the familiar voice.
"What the heck? Oh shit, this really isn't the time for him to start acting up," Harry moaned, as he pulled Dumbledore's portrait out of his pocket.
Harry frowned at Dumbledore's portrait, wondering what had gotten the magic to regenerate itself.
"Last time I checked you were still in my trunk and silent. How the hell did you get into my pocket? This is such a bad time. Silencio."
"He's coming," Riddle hissed, pulling on Harry's sleeve.
"I know, I can hear his footsteps," Harry hissed back angrily.
"And I can hear the both of you very clearly," Augustus said walking up to them, holding two wands pointing at the two older boys. "Planning my death, guys?"
"This was so badly done," Harry groaned, running his hand through his hair. He put his hands up. "You got us, Augustus. You totally got us."
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TBC
Author's Note: hey hey hey…
Teaser:
"What's your plan, now, mister time-traveler?" Riddle sneered.
"I'm going to frame you for the murder of Augustus," Harry said simply.
