Tommy walked down a green springtime lane away from Hogsmeade. No one in the village had stopped him, and he wore his papa's Brackenwood Hall uniform rather than Hogwarts robes. After all his months of planning it was a shock everything came so easily. He'd packed the two-way mirror, his wand and some clothes. Alfie had his instructions, he wouldn't check in again until nightfall.

At the crossroads all the signposts had been painted out, but Alec promised he'd find him no matter where he was. Tommy sat down on a style and sure enough a snake found him first. While he twined it between his fingers, he waited. He'd wait until the war ended, or the world crumbled around him. Instead he only had to wait until a motor roared along the lane in the distance. A motorcycle rider came into view.

Alec drew to a halt in front of Tommy and pulled off his goggles, a cheeky grin flashing.

"Weren't expecting the motorbike, where you, old man?" Alec said.

"You're certain you won't be missed?" Tommy said. Alec shrugged under his aviator's jacket.

"Told you, I'm on leave. I'm supposed to have injuries."

Tommy stood up and approached the beautiful motorbike, with a headlamp glittering like crystal and suggestive curves to protect the innards. Tommy walked all the way around it and came to a halt in front of the handlebars.

"There's no sidecar."

"Well," Alec looked rakish at this, "usually I ride with a 'gel'. Wouldn't want to ruin the moment, would I?"

Tommy made a face, certain that Alec only had one 'gel' on his mind.

"I'm going to look a right prat holding on to you," Tommy said. Alec shrugged eloquently and tossed Tommy a spare helmet.

"You can walk, old man, do you good. Put the roses back in your cheeks."

Tommy would normally smack someone for this, but Alec was older and stronger. He jammed the helmet on and climbed up behind Alec. Before Alec kicked off, Tommy said,

"Did Liz tell you how to find me?"

"She did. Said your school was just outside Duffield. I didn't know there were schools up here."

"It's very exclusive," Tommy said. Alec laughed and kicked the motor to life.

They roared along country roads without interruption, the landscape losing the wild, heather-grown look of Scotland as they headed south. They seemed to be avoiding towns, at least until they came to a checkpoint well over the border in England.

Alec came gently to a halt and whispered at Tommy before dismounting,

"Keep your head down. I'm on leave but you don't have an evacuee card or ID number. Just let me talk."

Tommy nodded. Alec grinned, dimpled and roguish, before walking over to the soldiers.

"Sir, can we have some ID please," one said. Once Alec showed his papers, both the men saluted him. "Captain Montgomery, sir!"

"Right. I'm just bringing my cousin home," Alec then gestured at Tommy. The soldiers glanced at him. "He's being evacuated to Canada."

"Better safe than here," the second soldier said.

They waved them through the checkpoint. Once on the other side, Alec pulled over to check his fuel. Tommy watched him.

"You never said you'd been made captain."

Alec stiffened at the words, but he remounted with his usual smile.

"My father was also Captain Montgomery," he said.

Tommy clung to Alec's back. Alec's emotions didn't boil up on the surface, but Tommy felt them all the same, just underneath the smiles and casual air. When they finally stopped for petrol, Tommy had to be shaken loose.

"You're not afraid of my driving, are you?" Alec laughed as he said it, paying for more petrol than what ration cards allowed.

"Isn't that illegal?" Tommy whispered. Alec shook out his curly hair, much the way Alfie did, and handed Tommy a sandwich. They wheeled the motorcycle off to the side and sat.

"Nonsense. I saved these for this trip. I had a feeling we'd need it, you and I. Hope you don't mind but we won't be making London tonight. It hasn't been as bad as last summer, but there are more checkpoints, and I won't be explaining my leave every time. We'll stay with the DeLacys. You're familiar with them. They've removed from London and they're willing to put us up the night, Tommyknocker."

Tommy shuddered and pulled a face. Alec laughed.

"I'd rather kip outside. I suppose you'll tell me it's dangerous?" Tommy said, while Alec sniggered into his sandwich.

"Not if you want to. I would prefer it myself, but as I understand it the DeLacys have a pretty daughter and are hoping she'll pair off with one of us. Probably you, old man. You're the young turk now."

Tommy continued to pull his face into wrinkles, simply to hear some laughter. Once they'd finished eating, Tommy helped Alec stand the motorbike up. As he did, he noticed Alec moving stiffly.

"You are on leave, aren't you?" Tommy said. Alec wasn't looking at him.

"Aye. Indefinite leave. I was shot down, Tommy. Got the casts off last week. The best part was Liz proposing to me in the hospital. She's a firebrand."

When Alec turned around he had the wistful look all the romantic leads had in the movies, save this one seemed genuine.

"You're going to go back, aren't you?" Tommy politely ignored Alec's sighs and tender looks into the distance.

"Hope to. Hopefully all this shrapnel doesn't put me over the weight limit." And with this startling comment, Alec threw his leg over the bike and pulled Tommy on behind. Tommy didn't cling as hard as before, until they hit a pothole, and then it was for dear life.

They arrived at the DeLacys' country manor just shy of nightfall. With the blackout still in place, the manor looked deserted.

The doors were thrown open by the DeLacys' sour old butler, Fischer. He glowered at Tommy, even in the face of Alec's most charming smile.

"Hullo Fischer, I know his nibs is expecting us," Alec said.

"Captain Montgomery. Thomas," Fischer said, shooting Tommy a poisonous look.

Every time Tommy visited the DeLacys, old Fischer caught him at something he shouldn't be doing, whether it was listening to the wireless at midnight or sneaking biscuits from the pantry.

"Fischer, if you continue to let my guests linger on the stoop I shall ship you off to that alien internment camp that so wants you," Baron DeLacy's oily voice wafted out to them. Fischer scowled and bowed like the hunchback in a vampire movie. Alec swaggered in, Tommy in his wake.

The DeLacys' manor had felt the effects of the war just as Grandmother's Crossfields had. There were blackout curtains at the mullioned windows, and many of the precious curios Tommy remembered seemed to have been locked away. Baron DeLacy looked much the same, however, as he opened his arms to Alec: thin as a weasel with the eerie porcelain face of a Victorian doll.

"You're your father's son, Alexander," Baron DeLacy murmured up at Alec, after they'd embraced and shook hands. Tommy knew what effect this would have and so wasn't surprised when Alec nodded jerkily and took a step back.

Now it was Tommy's turn. "Thomas, you poor boy. You're far too young for such a wretched thing to happen," Baron DeLacy added, taking both Tommy's hands in his cold, dry ones. Tommy had to catch back a sob, but he nodded as well. Baron DeLacy led them both to the small drawing room.

Even here the war had left marks. The tapestries were gone and many more cheap chairs had been crammed into the room. Tommy and Alec both looked around at this uncomfortable change, while Baron DeLacy smiled a sour little smile.

"The army is using the manor as the local headquarters," Baron DeLacy said. No sooner had the words left his mouth than a man burst into the room.

He could only be a soldier. He was even taller than Alec and both broader in the shoulder and paunchier. His uniform was a muddy khaki, with a rainbow line of medals over his heart.

"DeLacy, you didn't say you'd be having guests," the man barked. Alec caught Tommy's eye, the shadow of a grin playing around his mouth. It was clear by the frostiness around the baron that he hated being called 'DeLacy'.

"Captain Montgomery and young Thomas are friends of the family, sir. Are you suggesting I'd invite a few Germans into my house for clandestine suppers?" Baron DeLacy said. The man, who was clearly a general, went red from his forehead to his neck and swelled up in anger.

"In these times, we have to take every precaution. Captain Montgomery would understand," the general jerked his chin at Alec.

Alec removed his jacket slowly before tossing his papers to the man. The general grunted and threw them back as if bowling a cricket ball. "These are in order. You're on medical leave?"

"I am," Alec said, his tone cool and his posture erect.

"And you'll be returning to active duty soon?"

"I most assuredly will," Alec said.

The general seemed satisfied at last.

"I imagine you'll both be going to bed?" he said, making it very clear he expected Tommy and Alec out from underfoot. Alec shrugged and put a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"Might have a last cigarette before turning in," he said, also lifting his chin at the general. The man smirked and waved them off as he headed for the door.

"Right, sure you will," he said, fishing around in his pockets. He pulled out a packet of something and tossed it at Tommy. "Here you are."

"What is it?" Tommy turned the little packet over and over in his hands, certain this was a joke or test.

"Sweets. They're rationing them now, boy."

Wizards didn't have rationing, and Alfie promised to send Tommy chocolate frogs and peppermint toads the moment he went to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

"Er, thank you, sir," Tommy said, smiling at him. The man returned it with the first genuinely happy smile Tommy'd seen all day.

"Never met a boy your age this polite," he said, and muttering more in this vein, left the room to Tommy, Alec and Baron DeLacy.

DeLacy gave a genteel cough, very much as though he longed to insult the departed general. Apart from the man's loud manner, Tommy didn't mind him half so much. Apparently, neither did Alec.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought," Alec said, thumbing over his shoulder at the door. Tommy nodded.

"Sweets. Wizard. I haven't had any in ages."

DeLacy laughed and indicated they should sit at the table.

"Make yourselves comfortable. There's still some tea and even some meat. The army have brought their food with them. Goodness knows they eat like…" DeLacy coughed again. "I'll have Fischer bring your supper. Alec, you understand our soldiers won't appreciate you wandering about while they have their meetings. The telephone, the dining room and my," DeLacy sniffed, "office are out of bounds. Even to me. Let's not upset the men with unnecessary arguments."

"Sounds just fine," Alec said, hesitating. Baron DeLacy smiled.

"Francis, Alexander, just Francis. God knows, your father…" DeLacy took a careful breath and smiled once more. Alec's face went blank, but Tommy, sitting beside him, felt anger radiating from him. "I'll let you two relax," DeLacy finished, gliding out.

Alec shook his fist at the door.

"He's the oiliest little eel I've ever met! My father couldn't have got on with him at school, father hated limp-wristed little pansies like that," Alec said. He reeled himself in and fixed Tommy with a gentle look. Tommy shifted away from him, in case he had another burst of temper.

"Papa never liked DeLacy much either," Tommy said. Alec's soft look deepened, so that Tommy couldn't meet his eye.

He shifted in his seat, hoping Fischer would hurry up with their supper. Alec took a deep breath, and put his hand on Tommy's shoulder, so that Tommy stopped squirming.

"Your papa was good man, and your mother was a lovely lady. I know you'll always miss them. I know there won't be anything we can do to bring them back, but," Alec's voice caught a moment. Tommy tried swallowing, but a lump rose in his throat, his eyes smarted. "But you still have Lizzy, and your grandmother, and me, if you like. Me and Liz, when we're married, we'd be happy to have you 'round, Tommy. You can see our castle at last."

"Right," Tommy said. It was all he could manage without crying. They ate in silence, real white bread with actual butter and one slice of ham each, leftovers of the officers' earlier supper. Fischer then showed them to their rooms, which shared an adjoining bathroom.

"I'll get you up early?" Alec said.

Tommy nodded, yawning and not caring.

Alec did wake him early. The world outside had only just started to rise with the sun.

"Sorry, old man, relic of training," Alec said, with a very smart-alecky grin. He went into their shared bathroom and locked the door. Very soon steam poured from under the door, along with Alec's brazen singing: "The very thought of you and I forget to do the little orrrrrrdinary things that everyone ought to doooooooo…"

Since Alec sounded like he'd be busy a while, Tommy fished around for the two-way mirror and hissed,

"Alfie! Alphard Black!"

Alfie swore he'd keep the mirror under his pillow and didn't disappoint.

"Tommy, you dirty dog, running off and having adventures without me!"

Tommy missed Alfie's pretty dimples more than he cared to admit. Even at the crack of dawn his eyes glittered and his cheeks were pink.

"Shut it! Have the teachers said anything?"

"Well, I covered for you on Sunday, but Slughorn knew something was up. He says he'll go to Dippett today and make him see sense. But he also said if you do anything rash, like join the muggle war, you'll be expelled."

Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Do you think he means it?" he said.

Alfie wrinkled his nose.

"Not a chance. Slughorn wants in on this Gaunt mystery. He asked me about it, as if you'd turned up on my family tapestry."

"Tell him I'll be getting to the bottom of it myself. And he's to keep Dumbledore's crooked nose out of it this time!"

Alfie sighed dramatically just as the water turned off in the bathroom.

"If you think I'm getting expelled because of you, dirty dog, you have another thing coming. You'll tell me the moment you find out more, won't you?" Alfie said.

"'Course I will," Tommy replied.

They gazed at each other a moment. Tommy felt words bubbling up behind his lips, so many words he didn't know which ones to use. It seemed Alfie felt the same, for he'd rarely stayed so quiet so long. It was only Alec calling that broke the silence,

"Oi, old man! There may be just enough hot water for you! They dress for breakfast around here!"

Alfie's scowl made Tommy laugh.

"If he wasn't engaged to your precious Liz, I'd hate him. He's so handsome it's criminal."

"Away with you," Tommy said, trying and failing to imitate Alec's genial burr. Alfie's face shifted round to a patronizing little smirk.

"That's just too precious, Tommyknocker."

"Shut up, Rigel."

Tommy closed the lid on Alfie's pretty winking dimples and went to shower. Alec hadn't left him any hot water at all.

As he headed down to the small drawing room for breakfast, DeLacy wafted out of his bedrooms and took Tommy by the arm.

"Now, Thomas, before you go down to eat there's something I feel I must tell you. Lord knows your parents would have brought it up had they…"

Tommy wanted to pushed odious little DeLacy away, call him out for all this pretend sympathy. However, when he met DeLacy's gaze he saw through the facade. Beneath the pinched little mouth and aristocratic reserve, hid a little boy who'd spent too many years alone at a piano, at lessons, at decorum. A little boy who'd given up making friends when gentility dictated he had only subjects and servants, peers and rivals. A little boy who'd once counted Tommy's papa as a dear friend indeed.

"Um, I suppose they would." Tommy drifted into uncertain waters now. Baron DeLacy put a hand on his shoulder and led him to his study.

Unlike the rest of DeLacy's house, the Baron hid all his personality here. There was a modern wireless and gramophone with stacks of popular records, a private telephone, colour photographs of his daughter and wife at ladylike pursuits.

Tommy took a seat opposite DeLacy before the delicate gilt fireplace.

"Well, this is awkward. I'm not sure where to begin, Thomas," DeLacy said, making every show of meaning it, although Tommy saw the secret plainly behind his eyes.

"I already know I'm adopted, sir. They told me when I started at school."

DeLacy appeared taken aback. He recovered quickly, but not before Tommy caught an echo of disdain and shock.

"Well, you understand, these are delicate matters. Your parents were in a bind when they adopted you. Did they tell you that, did they mention?"

Tommy shivered.

"No. Tell me what?"

Baron DeLacy stood up and went to his finely-carved desk. He shuffled through several drawers before coming up with a small envelope. He handed it to Tommy with an air of distaste.

"It was only that I noticed these and the timing seemed rather…convenient."

Tommy found old newspaper cuttings. From the year before he was born, a social column on the runaway marriage of "Thomas Riddle esq., of Little Hangleton and his wife, Merope Gaunt". Six months later the gossip reporter wrote: "Thomas Riddle esq., of Little Hangleton, annuls marriage amidst rumours of marital impropriety."

"What does that mean, marital impropriety?" Tommy whispered. His stomach turned flips. Baron DeLacy touched Tommy's shoulder again, and for once his cold hands had warmth.

"It means that you were an unexpected surprise for your mother. I heard she died in childbed."

He was an excellent liar, his mask-like face practiced at deceiving social climbers and peers alike. Tommy only caught the truth of it by meeting the baron's gaze directly, and then it was only a flash, brief and almost incomprehensible.

"He abandoned her. He didn't want me, he disowned me. That's what you mean."

Anger filled his belly till he wanted to be sick with it. Baron DeLacy withdrew as though expecting Tommy to attack him.

"It means, yes, it does."

"Is Thomas Riddle alive?" Tommy said. He felt the papers burning in his hand and flung them aside. They fluttered to the floor, the edges already curling with fire.

"He…is. He remarried. Still lives in Little Hangleton, I believe," Baron DeLacy said. Tommy swallowed hard, putting a lid on that boiling anger.

"You believe? Don't you know?"

DeLacy was the type to know every sordid affair for miles. He too swallowed, delicately, and tried to fix Tommy with a reasonable, placating look.

"As a matter of fact I find the Riddles vulgar. Only two generations removed from their tawdry little business and they act like gentry. Lavinia and I have no time for pretenders, no matter how rich," DeLacy said. Tommy rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I'll go see this man myself." He stormed to the door but turned back. "You aren't going to stop me?" Tommy said, daring the baron to try.

DeLacy shook his head and smiled a crocodile's smile.

"In point of fact, Thomas, I think a rapist who runs off with impoverished scullery maids only to abandon them when it becomes inconvenient is in need of a good thumping."

Tommy grinned too, he felt it slash his face open with malice for Thomas Riddle esquire.

"Right. Where is Little Hangleton?"

"Somewhere in Lancashire. You'll be taking Alexander with you?" Baron DeLacy's mask slipped just enough to raise an eyebrow.

"I will."

"I'll find you some petrol rations then," DeLacy said, all at once brisk.

By noon, the baron had furnished them not only with his petrol rations, but a packed tea and a road map. Alec accepted this all graciously, with only one questioning look at Tommy. Tommy waited until they were on the road to explain himself. They had tea off the road under a patch of trees somewhere in Derbyshire, they weren't certain where. However, Alec brazened it out that he knew enough about maps to make headway.

Alec dozed in the shade while Tommy watched the sky. Sometimes a patrol flew overhead, but the early heat and crisp blue sky were otherwise undisturbed.

Tommy played with the two-way mirror, yearning for Alfie in a way he wasn't yet ready to face. Alec would understand. He was probably dreaming of Liz and their wedding.

"You ready to press on, old man?" Alec spoke softly, causing Tommy to turn around. Alec remained sprawled in the shade. The shadows playing over his face gave him a haunted look.

"Alec, why are you helping me?"

Alec's voice remained soft, his eyes clouded.

"We're a lot alike, you and I. We both lost someone to war. And I think neither of us want to lose anyone else."

Tommy ached for mum and papa now, ached for somewhere safe and warm to cry. He could ask Alec to hold him, but he didn't know how to voice such a personal need. Alec sat up without bidding and placed a hand on Tommy's shoulder. Alec's touch was warm. It would have to suffice.

"We're not that alike, Alec. I've never told you, I haven't told anyone except Alfie. I'm adopted."

Alec's hand remained, steadfast, on his shoulder.

"Adopted? Doctor and Lady Davies adopted you?"

Tommy sniffed and hid it by again trying to copy Alec's accent.

"Aye."

Alec burst out laughing and took Tommy up in a bear hug, much as his mum or papa might have.

"You're the very devil, as my auntie used to say, Tommyknocker!"

Tommy gasped and relaxed into the hug, as welcome as it was unexpected.

"You mean, it doesn't matter if I'm adopted? It won't matter to you and Lizzy? I haven't told her yet, not properly. She already knows all my secrets I probably don't have to," he said. Alec laughed and released him slowly.

"Oh, you'd lie to my bride? You don't have to worry about Liz, we'll tell her together. So tell me, are we off on a hunt for your birth parents, perhaps?" Alec said, his grin infectious enough to cover the obvious tears. Tommy managed to return it honestly.

"We are. In Little Hangleton."