There is only seven more chapters until I'll be caught up to where I originally left off when I had to take it down the first time. I've started writing it again and I'm a few chapters past that but it's still a long way to go…

Well hope you're all enjoying it.

…

Harry was trying to calm himself down as he pushed his back against the book shelf. If he was breathing too harshly he would give himself away and he really didn't want to have that happen.

His heart was pounding a mile a minute in his chest and it felt like it was going to explode.

Of course he had known those voices, one he'd had to put up with the entire year he was at school and the other one haunted his dreams on a nightly occasion.

In this time he had heard talk of the second but he hadn't actually thought he would see him. Though now that he thought about it, the notion didn't seem strange, after all Tom Riddle was not a wanted felon in this timeline. He could roam the streets freely whenever he pleased and no one would think anything of it.

Harry cursed his luck but he had finally got himself calmed down enough to realize that Voldemort, or well he guessed the dark wizard still went by the name Riddle in this time frame, and Malfoy were talking again. Harry listened carefully.

"You remember what you were telling me about that apprenticeship program that Professor Saunders offered you?" Riddle asked Malfoy.

"Yes," Malfoy said.

"And?" Riddle questioned.

"I don't think I'm going to take it, I think I would be much more useful to our...cause, if I wasn't hauled up in that stupid school" even though Harry couldn't see Malfoy, he could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Fool" Riddle hissed at Malfoy and Harry thought he heard the younger man stumble.

"...fool?" Malfoy finally asked, Harry could tell that Riddle's comment had damaged Malfoy's ego.

"Yes, fool," Riddle repeated "you do not know how much use you could be if you stayed in that stupid school, as you put it, for an extra year."

"I don't understand" Malfoy said.

"Of course you don't," Riddle said "and you've just proven my point, fool."

Harry heard Malfoy grumble something underneath his breath.

"You could recruit more students for our cause at Hogwarts than you could if you were on the outside." Riddle continued.

"But...I have already recruited practically everyone who would be useful to you. All of the fifth, sixth and seventh years have joined us and I have hinted to the rest that they should." Malfoy said.

"Ah...and yet you haven't recruited the one person I have asked you to," Riddle said and Harry could hear a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Jones?" Malfoy said reproachfully "That bastard is a lost cause."

"No one is a lost cause," Riddle hissed at him "not for me. I want Jones in my ranks and my patience is dwindling."

Harry could hear Malfoy swallow.

"There might be a way" Malfoy stated.

"Yes?" Riddle demanded impatiently.

"Severus Snape" Malfoy said and Harry's blood ran cold.

"Snape?" Riddle asked "Isn't he a half blood, you know how I feel about half bloods."

"Yeas he is but," Malfoy began quickly "he is very close to Jones. In fact I think they are involved and he is not as strong willed as Jones. We might be able to break him and then use him to get through to Jones."

"Ah maybe you aren't such a fool after all Lucius" Riddle said with a soft laugh.

Malfoy didn't say anything.

"So it is settled," Riddle said and Harry could hear them moving away "you will go back to Hogwarts next year and use Snape to get to Jones."

When Harry was sure the other two were gone, he exhaled loudly. He didn't care what Malfoy or Riddle did to him but he couldn't allow them to hurt Severus. To break him. Harry needed to get out of this store and think of a plan.

He rushed towards the exit, intending to run back to the tattoo shop and think over what he had just heard, but instead he hit an invisible shield at the door and fell backwards. Harry looked around confused as he pushed himself up. The shop keeper was at his side immediately, Harry looked at him questioningly and the shop keeper raised his eyebrow.

When Harry didn't say anything the shop keeper huffed in annoyance and grabbed the Quidditch book that Harry was still gripping on to. Harry's eyes went wide in shock; he had totally forgotten he had been holding the book. "Oh Merlin," he said to the shop keeper "I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to steal it, I totally forgot I had it in my hands.

"Sure," the shop keeper said disbelievingly.

"Honest, I would have never done that on purpose. Can I pay for it now?" Harry asked.

The shop keeper's studied Harry for a moment and then seemed to take pity on him, his eyes softened and Harry got the impression that the shop keeper believed it was an honest mistake. "Why don't you come up to the check out and we can ring that through for you, the proper way?"

Harry blushed, he was glad there weren't many people in the store to witness his embarrassment.

After he had paid for his book, he apologized to the shop keeper one more time before running out the door and back to the tattoo shop.

When Harry got there he was out of breath. He pulled the door open and walked in to the shop. He looked over at Ziggy who was tattooing a very large, extremely muscled man with a Texas style moustache. Now Harry could actually see him fitting in at a place like the tattoo shop, unlike Ms. Swallows had.

Ziggy looked up at Harry when he heard the bell chime.

Harry quickly gave him a short nod and then hurried up the stairs to his apartment.

Once he had the door closed, Harry threw the stupid Quidditch book to the floor and began to pace.

He had no clue what he was going to do about this most recent problem.

Should he tell Severus what he had heard in the book store or would it be better if Severus remained ignorant?

Harry began pacing. He didn't know what to do in this situation.

If he told Severus would he change the future majorly so that he disappeared from existence? He knew that Severus Snape in his time had become a death eater and if he ended up changing that, his life would surely be different.

The Order would lose their spy, though at this moment Harry wasn't sure if he really gave a damn about the Order when it concerned Severus.

Harry wondered without Professor Snape by his side if he would have made it through the first couple years of school. The man had saved his life on countless occasions. Would Severus still be a teacher if Harry changed his past?

Harry sat down on the sofa, running his hands through his hair.

He didn't have any answers.

He didn't want anyone hurting Severus but he didn't want to risk changing the future.

He guessed the best decision right now would be to make sure during the upcoming year that he had Severus' back. At least until Harry could talk to someone, like maybe Dumbledore.

Harry groaned putting his head in his hands.

...

An hour later Harry was still moping on the couch when there was a knock on his door. He looked up and called out "Come in."

Ziggy pushed the door open and looked at Harry with a soft smile "You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine," Harry said "why wouldn't I be?"

"You looked a little pale when you first came in," Ziggy said "I wondered if something had happened."

Harry shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time. "No, I simply felt like coming back and grabbing something to eat."

Ziggy looked unconvinced "What did you do while you were out?"

"Ah...looked around a bit" Harry said "Bought a book to read during summer."

"Yeah?" Ziggy asked "What book?"

Harry looked down at Ziggy's feet involuntarily; his new book was lying open on the floor a few feet away.

Ziggy raised his eyebrow as he bent down to pick it up "Do you always throw things you have just bought on the floor?"

"Oh...no, it must have fallen" Harry badly lied, Ziggy wasn't believing any of it and Harry knew it.

"Really?" Ziggy asked.

Harry nodded.

"Are you sure nothing happened? Nothing you want to talk about?" Ziggy asked.

Harry knew he would have to say something more convincing in order to get Ziggy off his back.

"It was nothing really," Harry said "I ran into some people I knew from school, who I don't really get along with." At least his lie was partly true.

A look of understanding showed on Ziggy's face and he got one of those looks that adults get when they are about to spout out advice.

Harry quickly said, before Ziggy could talk, "I really just don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm fine and I'm sure I won't be seeing those boys around anymore." 'At least not if I can help it' Harry thought and he stood up. He walked over to Ziggy and held his hand out for his book "I think I'm just going to read this in my room for now" he said when Ziggy handed it to him.

Ziggy nodded "Alright, I just have two more clients for today. If you want to come down and talk at any time feel free."

"I will" Harry said "Thanks Ziggy."