Title says it all.

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After an exhausting Herbology lesson, Harry and Ron followed Hermione towards the study hall, and plopped down. Neville was still flushed from when Professor Sprout had praised him for his project.

Harry had sat down next to Seamus who was waving his wand over an empty inkwell. He was muttering something under his breath over and over again. Harry watched bemusedly for a few minutes, and then turned to Dean and asked, "What's he doing?"

"Trying out a new transfiguration spell," answered Dean shrugging.

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh no…"

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Minerva, ever since that mysterious talk in Albus' office, had resolved to watch both Harry and Riddle. Somewhat difficult, but she wasn't a Hogwarts' professor for nothing.

Today, she was supervising in the study hall, when Potter, Weasley and Granger came in. She watched the raven haired boy discreetly. He sat next to Finnegan, who was trying out something with an old inkwell. Potter stared for a few minutes, then asked something from Thomas. The dark skinned Gryffindor answered with a shrug, but Potter's eyes widened, and he hastily tried to scoot away. He was too late. The inkwell blasted, sending out a shower of sparks and puffs of grey smoke. The ones closest, Finnegan, Thomas, Longbottom and Potter, disappeared in a cloud of grey.

Even as she hurried towards the table, Potter's wand emerged from the smoke, with a muffled incantation of "Evanesco". The smoke began clearing, and the boys started coughing. But when she approached, she noticed a shield around Potter. Her conclusion that Potter had put up one to cover himself dissolved when he raised his head and looked around surprised. Who had conjured the shield? She observed that the shield was only enclosing Potter, leaving the rest of the students open.

Potter looked around, and his gaze stopped at a figure near the door. She slowly turned to see Riddle. Potter mouthed something like "Thanks", and the Slytherin inclined his head and disappeared.

So Riddle had protected Potter…. A Slytherin protecting a Gryffindor… How odd…

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Another Hogsmeade weekend was looming up, and Harry discreetly distanced himself from the excitement of his friends. He couldn't quite squash down his envy, and he didn't want to spoil Ron's and Hermione's enthusiasm.

However, on Friday afternoon, when he returned to the common room alone after one of Wood's impromptu Quidditch meetings, Harry found a folded note atop his books. Opening it, he found a few lines of slanted cursive writing.

Harry,

Please come up to my office. There is something I have for you.

A. D.

P. S. – I enjoy Acid Pops.

Dutifully, Harry made his way to the Headmaster's office. He said the password – acid pops – to the stone gargoyle guarding the staircase, went on up, and knocked on the door. He pushed the door open when he was bidden to come inside, and found Dumbledore seated at his table.

"Good evening Professor," Harry said, also politely declining the offered lemon drops.

"Ah, so it is, my boy," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "I have a small surprise for you." He slid a paper towards Harry, who took it curiously, and skimmed it.

Then he looked up, his face a mixture of disbelief and delight.

It was a slip signed by Dumbledore saying that Harry Potter would be allowed to join in the following Hogsmeade trip.

"Sir, is this actually…?" Harry's voice died out, he could hardly believe it.

"That is exactly what it is, Harry." Dumbledore looked kindly at him. "But as I am not your actual guardian, I can only give you restricted permission. That means you will not be allowed to join all the excursions, only a very few."

"That's fine, sir! Honest. I'd wanted to go for so long….Thank you so much!" he grinned at the headmaster.

He had to tell Ron and Hermione.

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He ran into them on the way back to the common room. "Ron!" he called, and both of them turned to him. "Ron! I just got permission to go to Hogsmeade! Finally!"

Ron whooped and smacked him on the back. "That's brilliant, mate! We could browse Zonko's and Honeydukes and….so much!"

"But Harry," Hermione spoke up curiously, "who signed your slip?"

"Dumbledore, but it's just restricted permission. He said I could go only on a few weekends… But, hey, I'm not complaining!" Perhaps it was a small concession to keep his mood good around Tom.

"Yeah! You should totally see….well, everything!" Ron went on in an excited voice. "Oh!" he said as they reached the courtyard and saw other students. "We could all go together! Me and you and Hermione and Seamus, Dean, Neville, Fred, George…what do you think?"

Hermione nodded. "That's a really nice idea, Ron, maybe we could ask Percy too…"

Ron wrinkled his nose, but Harry didn't listen to his answer. He spotted a head of dark hair, pale skin, and Slytherin robes in the center of the courtyard, and started turning something over in his mind.

"…Harry? Harry!" Hermione's insistent voice brought him out of his thoughts. He turned and gave his best friends a sheepish smile.

"Sorry…hey, do you guys mind if I asked someone else too?"

"Who?" Ron asked curiously. He exchanged a look with Hermione when Harry merely bit his lip, then his eyes widened and he almost leapt on the spot.

"Harry, is it a girl?" Both Ron and Hermione asked together.

"What?" yelped Harry in shock. "Of course not! It's…."

"It's who?!"

Harry badly wanted to answer "You–Know–Who" to that, but refrained. "Look, don't worry, it's a guy, and I'm not even sure he'll want to come, but I just want to ask him…so will you mind?"

"Of course not, Harry, you ask him, we'll meet you in the common room," Hermione smiled at him, caught Ron by the elbow, and went off.

Harry took a deep breath. He wasn't even sure what wild impulse made him decide to ask Tom out with the rest of the Gryffindors. It only spelt trouble.

But still…. Ron's enthusiasm had warmed Harry. Could theirs warm Tom too?

He slowly walked towards Tom, but at the very last second, he abruptly turned and strode into one of the darkened corridors around. I can't tell him in front of all these people! What if he laughs in my face?! He sat down on a stone bench to wait till at least half of the students left.

A hand touched his shoulder lightly, and he was up and off the bench with his wand out faster than lightning.

Tom stood behind him, also with his wand out, like Harry, but not pointing it at Harry, unlike him.

"Tom…sorry…" Harry said, flushing in embarrassment. The thing was, ever since he was a little kid, he had always shied away from physical contact. Aunt Petunia's slaps and smacks, Uncle Vernon's beatings, and Dudley's shoving and kicking and punching had made him wary of physical contact. Not all the time, of course. He didn't mind it much when Hermione hugged him, or when Ron slung an arm over his shoulders. But when the touch was unexpected, he just…reacted defensively.

He tucked his wand back in. Tom did the same, and sat down onto the seat next to Harry.

"So…I take it you wanted to talk to me?" he asked.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "How did you…. Oh well, never mind. I just, um, wanted to ask…" he shook his head and started again. "We're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow, so…do you want to come with us?"

Tom stared at him coolly. "When you say 'we'…"

"Me, Ron, Hermione, and some other Gryffindors…" When Tom's face didn't change, he sighed. "Look, never mind, I just thought I'd ask…See you later."

As he turned, Tom's voice stopped him. "Wait." He turned back. "I admit I have no intention of joining those rowdy raucous Gryffindors, but perhaps we can meet in Hogsmeade later."

Harry flashed him a crooked smile. "All right, then, I'll meet you there."

Internally, he hoped he wouldn't regret this.

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Harry laughed in sheer delight along with Ron. His very first Hogsmeade outing! The big group of Gryffindors – Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Fred, George, Angelina, Lee, Parvati and Percy – had come down to Hogsmeade pretty early. Now they had split up – the Golden Trio went to Honeydukes, the twins, Angelina, and Lee Jordan went to Spintwitches, the sports shop, Percy went to Tomes and Scrolls, and the rest of the boys went to Zonko's. Parvati disappeared in the direction of the Hairdressing Salon.

An hour later, the three stepped out of the sweet shop. Ron's pockets were bulging, but Harry hadn't bought much. They stood in the sun for a minute.

"I think the rest are still at it," Ron remarked. Then his face changed."Oh. Look who's coming." Harry looked up to see Tom strolling towards them, his face set in a smirk. He stopped right in front of Harry.

"Hey Tom," Harry said. He glanced sideways. Ron was scowling, and Hermione…was twisting her hair?

"Hello Harry." Tom said, again not sparing a glance at his friends.

"Riddle, who asked you to come over?" Ron's tone was unmistakably rude. Harry quickly jumped in.

"I invited him. Remember, I told you guys yesterday?"

Ron looked like he'd swallowed a lemon. "But he's a Slytherin!"

"And you didn't say you were going to ask him!" Hermione added.

Tom moved to Harry's side, and faced the other two. "I wasn't aware that the two of you were his babysitters," he said in his soft, yet dangerous voice. "Who he chooses to associate with is certainly none of your business."

"W-we don't mean that… We were just surprised to see you…Usually Slytherins don't spend time with other Houses…" Hermione put in. "Would you like to come have a butterbeer with us?"

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The rest of the day went relatively smoothly, to Harry's relief. Ron had not said anything more after a pleading look from Harry. Hermione, on the other hand, was immersed in Tom. There were no more uncomfortable encounters, not counting the end of the day when Ron had pulled him aside to ask him why he had invited Tom.

Harry had sighed and said that Tom was helping him in Potions, and he simply had to be nice. They didn't need to know the truth after all.

Harry rubbed his eyes and closed the Encyclopedia of Toadstools. He found himself turning to his books more and more to keep up with his new classes. He had recently discovered that reading through the class material kept him abreast with homework. With Ancient Runes, and the extra Quidditch practices, he had been forced to become more organized. Gone were the free periods, the warm evenings where he would read Quidditch magazines, or play chess or Exploding Snap with Ron. But it was definitely worth it, he decided. Tom had been right. He shouldn't have given up on valuable subjects just because he was too lazy. It helped that History of Magic was better, since, according to the rumours, Dumbledore had asked Binns to encourage the involvement of students instead of just lecturing them. Now Binns – whenever he remembered – would ask questions, and this kept the students from simply slumbering.

Harry sighed. He supposed he should be grateful to Tom for opening his eyes to this, but still, he didn't expect Tom to do this out of the kindness of his heart – if there was any.

He and Tom were…interacting better…to his shock, Tom actually understood him in some aspects, more than anyone ever could, and he found himself relaxing slightly in his presence. They had begun sitting together in many lessons. Potions, History, Astronomy. Divination he partnered with Ron, and Ancient Runes he partnered with Hermione, though sometimes he sat with Tom. The rest he would alternate between all three.

He wasn't stupid enough to believe it could go on, though. Gryffindors hated Slytherins on sight and principle, and vice versa. Sooner or later, it would blow up.

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The last line of Dumbledore's note is from book 6.