Chapter 9: Letters and meeting the Malfoys

Disclaimer

Don't own HP

$ PARSELTOUNGUE $

Authors note (IMPORTANT)

Since Tom was born on the 31st of December, he would only be ten when the letters are sent so he will start his first year at Hogwarts when he is about to turn 12.

TMR POV

With Harry taking over my lessons and being vigilant with how much I learn, I could cast spells that most first years wouldn't even know about and I could speak two new languages fluently now and learning a third one.

Since Hogwarts only allowed people that were 11 to attend, Harry suggested that I could go to another school should I wish to, somewhere like Durmstrang in Bulgaria or Salem in the United Stated but I wanted to stay close, I couldn't go that far and risk the chance of Harry replacing or forgetting me, I couldn't take that chance so it was Hogwarts for me.

Mort appeared often but he was with Harry most times than with me but he seemed to reduce his touching of Harry or standing so close to him to a minimum. He also seemed to have accepted that I was part of the family now but we barely interacted with each other unless Harry was there and we were forced to be pleasant to each other as not to disappoint him.

My Hogwarts letter arrived in late August and Harry wasted no time in taking me to Diagon Alley to buy my school supplies. Mort came with us to the alley which was a little surprising as I had never seen him stray far from the castle since he started staying long term.

It didn't take a long time for us to get my robes, the assistant that we met the last time we were here was there but she made sure to avoid us or more specifically me. She did show interest in Mort though but he didn't even glance at her and after a while, she began to lose interest and she went to the back of the shop and I didn't see her again for the rest of my time in the shop.

After that we went to the bookshop, Flourish and Blotts, to get my books, I didn't need them, Harry having drilled everything in my head already but it was a requirement on the list of the school supplies thus I had to get them. On our way out, I saw a family of two male blonds heading towards Ollivanders. They seemed like the purebloods that Harry had told me about when he was teaching me about wizard culture and blood status. I clearly recall him telling me about the Malfoys and how they were notoriously blond so it was easy for me to identify them. They carried themselves like everyone else was beneath them.

Both Harry and the older Malfoy man stopped when they were close enough to speak with each other and so I had to stop too. Mort stayed behind me in the shadows, unnoticed by anyone that he didn't want to be noticed by.

"Lord Malfoy. This is certainly a pleasant surprise. I had thought that you would be one of the early shoppers. I was admittedly wrong to make such an assumption. Anyway, how have you been?" said Harry pleasantly, his masks up and his face showing a beautiful smile that I knew to be fake. I could detect annoyance in his tone but it seemed the older Malfoy was none the wiser.

"Ah Lord Peverell, this is a surprise as well. Everything is going very well with me" was Lord Malfoy's reply, a fake smile plastered on his face as well.

"Well where are my manners. Meet my son Tom" he said, tugging me forward by my hand and bringing me in front of him.

Lord Malfoy smiled and extended his hand towards me; "Alexandre Malfoy. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Riddle. Your guardian has told me a lot about you"

I could hear from his tone that he was very unhappy that the situation forced him to be polite to me. He must know my blood status and being the bigoted pureblood he is, he didn't think me deserving of Harry's attention. I took extreme pleasure in the knowledge that he had to call Harry as Lord Peverell, proving how impersonal they were no matter how many times they had met.

I opened my mouth to reply, politely of course, I had manners after all but before I could get a word out, his son was already speaking, cutting me off. 'How annoying' I thought.

"Father, I want to have to get my wand and the rest of my supplies before the alley gets any more crowded." He said, trying to imitate his father's cold tone but failing quite miserably. His tone just came out as that of a spoiled brat and looking at him, he was.

"This is my son Abraxas. Please excuse his behavior" said Malfoy senior, smiling thinly and glaring at his son with clear displeasure showing on his face at his interruption.

"It's perfectly fine. He is a young man. That kind of behavior is to be expected" replied Harry, smiling down at Abraxas brightly, I could tell of course that the smile was fake but Abraxas preened like a peacock at receiving such attention from Harry, MY beautiful Harry.

I didn't like how this was going, meeting the Malfoys but I understood the need for them and the young Malfoy had the makings of a perfect minion. I could practically see the hearts in his eyes when he looked at Harry and although I was displeased at the prospect of competition, I had to admit that this was just perfect. I could use that and by extension him to gain allies when the time comes for me to go to Hogwarts. He would want to be closer to Harry and I would be the only way for him to achieve that thus giving me total control over him. The Malfoys were after all a powerful family politically and they were rich meaning that they were well connected and I knew that if I was going to survive in Slytherin house, I needed as many people by my side as I could get to survive for the first few months until I showed them who was in control and the Malfoy heir afforded me that.

"… so we are going to have to go our separate ways now. It was great seeing you again Lord Malfoy" I heard Harry say, his polite way of saying 'I'm bored with this conversation so I'm going to leave now'.

It seemed like I was so lost in thought that I missed the conversation they were having but I doubt it was important anyway.

"It was my pleasure to make your acquaintance Tom. I hope you and my son will become friends at Hogwarts." Countered Lord Malfoy and then turned with his son in tow, walking in the opposite direction than before and heading towards the direction of knockturn alley.

We lingered in the alley for a few more hours. Buying the rest of my supplies and Harry had to take something out of his vault at Gringotts, leaving me alone with Mort.

"Just how did you meet Harry?" I asked when we had seated ourselves at a table at the Leaky Cauldron for him. I was curious to know about how exactly they came to be so close for Harry to be so comfortable around him and able to drop most of his masks unconsciously. Just how long had these two been in each other's company?

"He found me or more like called me to him at a time he needed me most and I haven't left his side since" he replied and under his breath I heard him mutter; "like he was always meant to". We both knew that his answer didn't reveal much but he seemed unwilling to elaborate more on his answer so I didn't ask any more questions. Mort seemed comfortable with the silence too and that's how Harry found us a few minutes later.

"You look annoyed Tom, is everything alright between you too?" asked Harry.

His question was too convenient, like he had heard what I asked Mort and a few minutes later he proved me right just as we were about to shadow walk home.

"Great at dodging questions and giving answers that don't tell you much isn't he?" he said, looking at the fading form of Mort fondly and before I could reply, we were at home and he was leaving me in the hallway, going toward 'THE DOOR' as I had come to refer to his torture chamber. Not a very creative name but well….

That night I slept restlessly, pondering Mort's words. What did he mean when he said that Harry was always meant to find him? Who or what specifically was he? I didn't know but I was going to find out. In the meantime though, I schemed ways in which I could utilize the Malfoy heir.

'Hogwarts, are you prepared for me?' I thought before promptly falling asleep.