"And his eyes swirled with almost mesmerizing darkness, reminding us all that the dark history of the Gaunt line ran true." Draco read out loud as Harry wheezed in between giggles, "Who is Marvolo Gaunt? Is he truly worthy of being the newly appointed Lord Peverell? Is he truly worthy of our darling savior, Harry Potter?"
"What an irritating woman," Tom scoffed, glaring at today's issue of the Daily Prophet. Already people were whispering about Tom, but thankfully Harry practically pissing his pants from laughter helped lessen the damage to his image. Not that he actually cared about what the peanut gallery thought about him, but Tom still had his pride.
"She's right you know," Harry cheerfully said. "Your face is ' like a Greek statue, carved in marble. Beautiful but with an ice cold intensity that left people wanting to keep close and stay away.' "
"What sweet words you have, darling ," Tom rolled his eyes.
"Is this really your newspaper?" Viktor asked, unimpressed at Skeeter's article about the champions. Unsurprising considering it made Fleur sound as vapid as possible and Tom look like a budding dark wizard. Cedric, even if he had the most complimentary words, had nothing more than a paragraph.
The Beauxbaton students muttered angrily over the article, a translated version making its way throughout the students for those less English-inclined. Harry suspected Blaise Zabini had something to do with it. The Durmstrang students also were very unhappy about the accusations and the image painted of their star champion. They may not be friends with Gaunt, and they may certainly be half-afraid of him at the very least, but they were very proud . And some British journalist flapping her highly biased mouth… Well, the mainland Europe journalists certainly weren't about to take that lying down, especially when it came to their best youth.
International relations were starting off great, thanks for asking.
"The Daily Prophet is practically half a gossip rag," Ron said. "Skeeter's a bitch, but she gets people buying the bloody thing."
"And she can't get fired, because there's a rumor that she has a very extensive amount of blackmail against very prominent people," Neville added. "So no one wants to risk lighting that fire."
"Hmph, surely she'll get her dues soon." Hermione frowned unhappily, looking thoughtful. Harry was very much reminded that his Hermione had trapped Rita in bug form in a jar when they were teenagers. " Someone will make sure of it."
.
Harry usually had so much going on that he kind of… neglected his relationship with Hagrid. He had nothing against the half-giant (and he still gave Tom shit about framing him back then, though it seemed Hagrid didn't remember what ol' Tom Riddle looked like), but other than taking Care of Magical Creatures as an elective he rarely, if ever, spent much time with him. That was on Harry, he would admit.
So it surprised him to even get the note about checking out the Forbidden Forest around midnight. Not that he wasn't going to do it either way.
"Hey Cedric," Harry whispered and poked his sleeping upperclassman, "wake up."
It took a few more pokes and a good shake for Cedric to groan and blink sleepily at Harry's floating head.
"What the fuck- " Cedric scrambled in his bed, and really, it was a good thing Harry had a silencing charm up around Cedric's bed. "What are you doing here, Harry?" He hissed at the grinning fourth year.
"Helping you with the first task, come on!"
Grumbling, Cedric put on his shoes and a robe over his pajamas, knowing that sometimes it was best to go along when Harry woke you up in the middle of the night for some escapade. Neville had warned him very well.
"Are we going out of the castle?" Cedric whispered as they walked the halls under Harry's invisible cloak. "Where did you get this cloak anyway? Invisible cloaks are pretty rare."
"I stole it." Harry cheerily informed him, and Cedric was immediately resigned in not knowing if the boy was joking or not. "Well, technically it was mine to begin with. So more accurate to say that I stole it back. A story for another day, perhaps."
"I don't think I actually want to know." Cedric said dryly, and wasn't surprised when Tom appeared from the shadows and approached them. "Hello, Marvolo."
Tom nodded in acknowledgement. "He didn't tell you anything, did he?" He asked, quirking a knowing eyebrow at Harry, who flapped his invisibility cloak cheekily in welcome.
They shuffled under the cloak, a little tightly with two full grown teenagers dubiously following the lead of a way-too-cheery fourth year. Thankfully they weren't too far from the Forbidden Forest, their apparent destination.
"Is that Hagrid?" Cedric whispered, "With the Beauxbaton headmistress ?"
"A bit of half-giant love going around, yeah," Harry cheerfully said, leading the three of them towards a well-sized shrub. "So, there's your first task."
"Ah yes," Tom's dry voice said over Cedric's choking, as they watched a Chinese Fireball snort fire at a wrangler and the Hungarian Horntail growl menacingly at the surrounding dragon tamers. "Three seventeen year olds against full grown dragons. Nothing could possibly go wrong."
"Could be worse," Harry grinned at their dubious expressions. "At least it's not Newt Scamander's suitcase."
Cedric looked very much confused at the reference, but Tom sighed and rolled his eyes hard.
.
"No," Tom said very firmly. The fourth year students and Durmstrang pair sat at the courtyard the next day. "I'm not going to even try to outfly a dragon , Harry."
"It's a terrible idea." Hermione looked reprimindingly at Harry and Ron, who was about to agree with his friend. The boys having more times than not enabled Harry to do stupid shit, after all.
"I don't think I have ever even seen you near a broom," Viktor mused. "Have you veen holding out on me, Marvolo?"
"He's a very… efficient Beater," Harry smiled innocently despite Tom's flat look. "I've had trouble dodging his bludgers before."
Neville looked slightly perplexed. "I thought you didn't care about playing Quidditch, Harry?"
"Have you been holding out on us, Harry?" Draco pursed his lips. Harry knew that while Draco didn't join the Slytherin team his second year this time around, he still enjoyed the game very much. Really, he should've tried out ages ago because Slytherin's current seeker was abhorrent. It was starting to get embarrassing.
"I can play," Harry said easily. "But I'm so busy, so I haven't bothered with the team or anything."
"Fair enough," Ron sensibly nodded. "He has enough stuff trying to cock things up, doesn't he? Quidditch is great, but I think some of us'll get heart attacks if you pull some 'Harry thing' during a game."
"Harry-thing?" Harry raised an eyebrow at the redhead, who glanced at the others.
"Ah," Neville said, understandingly. "Like hang off his broom with one hand to dodge."
"Attempt a Wronski Feint during a match," Draco added.
"Jump off his broom to catch the snitch," Hermione sighed.
"With his mouth," Tom's lips twitched at the exasperated sigh Harry's friends let out simultaneously.
"What?" Harry grinned, "Sounds like perfectly viable actions to me."
Viktor blinked at all of them. "Vey are, I don't see ze problem with any of vem. Catching a snitch vid your mouth is perfectly legal."
"Nevermind, Cho, I don't think I want to know what they're talking about," they heard Cedric say a few feet away.
"Cedric," Cho dragged her boyfriend towards the group, " Dragons ."
"Oh, right!" Hermione pulled out a book appropriately named ' So You're Crazy Enough to Tackle a Dragon ' from her bag. Considering she only found out about the dragon thing two hours ago and was only in the library for fifteen minutes today, it was impressive. How she always did that, Harry didn't know to this day. "For a tournament who's determined not to get anyone to killed again, dragons are kind of a poor choice, aren't they?"
"One of them was a Hungarian Horntail," Cedric said. "You know, only arguably the most dangerous breed in the world ?"
"Damn," Ron whistled, having lived with Charlie who might as well have been a walking dragon encyclopedia since he was ten. "Whoever gets that one is fucked ."
"I heard they're nesting mothers," Harry cheerfully revealed, a detail he did not mention last night.
There was a pause. Tom grimaced and Cedric turned slightly green.
"I regret everything," Cedric groaned. "I'm going to die ."
"You're not allowed to die," Cho frowned fiercely at him. "We had our dress robes custom made to match . Come on, Hogwarts' Hero , you have some dragon taming to learn, because I didn't import magical Chinese silk for nothing."
"Cho," the Hufflepuff prefect, looking less sick, smiled at his girlfriend's way of comfort, "I love you."
"You guys are sickenly cute," Harry said, interrupting the lovely moment.
Draco, Hermione, and Neville all snorted. "Says you ."
.
The sun shone brightly on the day of the first task, very apt considering the champions were facing against possible death. The castle inhabitants talked among themselves in anticipation, wondering who would be the first to claim a win. Virtually all the teenage students wore Luna's buttons supporting at least one champion, Professor Sprout in particular puffed up proudly to show her 'Digging the Diggory' one.
"You have a plan?" Cedric asked nervously as he and Tom went into the Champions' Tent. "I really hope I don't get the Horntail."
"Hm," Tom hummed, nodding politely to Delacour, who didn't seem surprised at the mention of the Horntail. Her Headmistress did inform her about it, good. "I'm impartial to the Swedish Short-Snout myself."
It was then Ludo Bagman whirled in, a small bag in hand while he gathered the three champions around him. "I hope you are all prepared!" He grinned, holding out the bag open towards Fleur. "Here is your first task! Come on now, you all get one each. Ladies first!"
Fleur flinched as her hand touched something moving inside the bag, and delicately took out a miniature version of the Chinese Fireball with a number 2 on its neck. "I vill be going second then?" She asked and was relieved at Bagman's confirmation.
Cedric was next, picking out the Swedish Short-Snout and going first. "Going first is a fair trade for getting the Snort-Snout," he said, giving Tom a sympathetic look.
"Ah, and that leaves the Hungarian Horntail for Mr. Gaunt," Bagman patted the Durmstrang student with no shortage of pity, to Tom's disgust. "You'll be going last. Your task is to collect the golden egg placed among your dragon's nest. Points will be given or deducted on based on your performance and the the state of the other eggs in the nest. I wish all of you luck!"
"Oh yes. Because luck is going to get us through a face to face encounter with a nesting dragon," Tom dryly said after Bagman had left the tent to start the event. Cedric gave a wry smile and even Fleur giggled a bit, easing the tension a little. A few minutes later, they heard cheers and then gasps from the crowd outside when Bagman undoubtedly revealed the conditions of the first task.
"Well," Cedric said as Ludo Bagman called for him to come out, "see you on the other side."
.
"I hope he's okay," Hermione murmured as Cedric left the arena successful, but with a rather nasty burn on his face. Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't cure of course, but it was natural to worry when a full grown dragon breathes fire at your friend's direction.
"Give him a higher score, you biased coward!" The Hogwarts students heard Cho Chang yell at Karkaroff, who scored Cedric with a measly four out of ten. Harry didn't know if his Cho was ever as fierce as this Cho was pre-Cedric's death, but Harry found that he much preferred her with this much spirit. She tended to be hilarious .
"It's kind of messed up that they have the headmasters as judges, isn't it? Then our Ministry officials. It sets it up for bias in scoring." Hermione commented after Fleur's turn with the Chinese Fireball. Like last time, she had tried to charm the dragon asleep and again it had awakened and burned part of her uniform. Despite that, Madame Maxime had given her a strong score.
"Cheating and bias is all part of tradition, right Draco?" Harry asked the boy beside him, but got no response. No wonder, Harry thought when he turned to the Slytherin, when he had his eyes practically glued towards Neville and Luna who sat two rows ahead.
Harry really needed to find out what actually was going on with the three of them.
"I know Neville's hair is really shiny today, but no need to practically burn him with your gaze. I'm sure he'd tell you what product he uses nowadays." Harry couldn't help but tease, poking a bit at Draco's vanity more than anything else. So he was a little taken aback at how alarmed Draco was at his words.
"I wasn't staring at him!" Draco said defensively, ears turning pink. "I was just wondering why they weren't sitting here with us. And Luna's hair is shinier."
Harry was going to comment on Draco's denial, but Bagman had called for Tom and of course he had to give all his attention to him.
Tom stepped into the arena with his back straight and head held high and the Durmstrang students roared in excitement while the rest of the arena cheered politely. The teenage dark lord didn't acknowledge his adoring fans, but what he did do was find Harry amongst the crowd of spectators and with a smirk, blew a kiss and wink at his direction.
Various girls in Harry's surrounding area swooned.
Not one to be embarrassed at such a display, Harry stood up and made a show of blowing back his own kiss. Then because Harry was a little shit at heart, he yelled, "Kick some dragon arse and I'll let you touch mine!"
"Oi, mate, come on," Ron whined with no real meaning. "I've had enough hearing about your arse."
Tom grinned wickedly in response. He twirled his wand with his fingers, and at the start of the timer, casted a wordless spell on himself.
Then he pocketed his wand. And started walking towards the Hungarian Horntail.
"What is he doing?" Hermione exclaimed as many other people startled in panic. "I thought he said he was going to blind the dragon like Viktor suggested?"
"Oh, what a show-off ," Harry guffawed to the confusion of his friends. The Hungarian Horntail was one of the most reptilian of dragons, and they did successfully try a certain theory a few lifetimes before… How could Harry have forgotten!
The audience quieted in shock when they heard hissing. From Gaunt .
With a stoic face, Tom kept eye contact as he talked in Parseltongue to the frightening dragon, who flickered her tongue as she gazed intently at him. With careful movements, Tom gestured to the dragon's nest and the Horntail's head jerked at its direction, squinting for a moment before finally growling deeply.
"Oh my god," Draco watched, slack jawed as Tom confidently strode towards the nest, the Horntail's head snaking beside him as she kept a close eye on him and her eggs. The other spectators were equally stunned, and gasps were heard when the Durmstrang champion merely picked up the golden egg and with a bow and more hissing, walked away from the most dangerous dragon breed without a scratch .
As soon as Tom was out of range of the dragon, who had immediately wrapped herself around the nest protectively and threatened any tamer who came close, he rose an expectant eyebrow at the judges table as he held up the golden egg with one hand. Bagman was strangled speechless, only barely managing to do his duty and proclaim Tom's success. In the same table, Dumbledore had his hands held up to his mouth like a prayer and Karkaroff had taken the shade of ashen white.
"T-the scores for Marvolo Gaunt!" Bagman announced as the judges held up their scores. "A ten from myself! An eight from Mr. Crouch! A nine from Headmistress Maxime! A - shocking ! - five from Headmaster Dumbledore! A ten from Headmaster Karkaroff! This puts Marvolo Gaunt in the lead with a total of forty-two points!"
"Dammit, Marvolo!" Harry shouted, startling the still shocked crowd. "You smug bastard! That was not kicking dragon arse !"
Tom, to the additional surprise of his classmates, barked a honest-to-god laugh.
...
Life #77 - (Where Tom is the 'Chosen One' and Harry is his 'Malfoy')
Part 2:
Tom didn't have a wand.
Altair - Harry - stared from across the Hogwarts courtyard, where the two sides were at a standstill. In front of each side, the Dark Lord Thanatos and David - Tom - stared intensely at each other. Everyone knew - this was it. This was the going to be the end.
And Tom didn't have a wand.
As dust and dirt caked his entire body, Harry couldn't help but compare this to his and Tom's own faceoff. Weary, yet resolute students, professors, aurors, and many other Light families on one side. Tired yet proud dark witches and wizards on the other side. Harry's own parents were right behind him, his beloved mother unnoticeably trembling in fear against him. Fear for her son.
Tom didn't meet his eyes. Nothing to give away their relationship with each other. Tom's fists were clenched at his sides, and he glared fiercely at the masked dark lord in front of him. As far as Harry could tell, Tom had nothing in his pockets, his arms were bare of a holster, and no one but one other had realized what Harry did.
Tom didn't have a wand.
"We do not have to fight, young David," Thanatos's raspy voice echoed through his ebony mask. "Surrender now, and I will show mercy to everyone."
Harry fingered his own wand - blackthorn, unicorn hair, twelve and a half inches - and made his decision.
Tom bared his teeth at the inhuman wizard. "I fight to the death, fake lord."
"Without a wand?" Thanatos sounded amused, "Very well. Kill them all, my loyal followers."
Before anyone could so much raise a finger, Harry broke from his mother's hold and ran .
Because if Tom didn't have wand, then Harry would give him one.
"David!" He yelled, and everyone looked on in shock as he tossed his wand towards who they believed he hated. Tom reflexively caught it and Harry gave a bewildered Tom a shark-like grin. "Give him hell!"
" Avada Kedavra. "
"No!" Tom and the Burke parents yelled in horror as Altair/Harry dropped dead in the middle of the courtyard, wide eyes unseeing towards Tom's direction. He barely noticed Harry's wand warming in sorrowful acceptance of its new master.
"A pity." Thanatos said emotionlessly as he slowly lowered his wand. "Young Burke had promise."
"David," Tom's friend Amy, shaken at the callous and public murder of their schoolmate, whispered in surprise. "You're crying."
In all the years they've known each other, Tom had never shed a tear in front of his friends. So it was no wonder they were captivated by the tears streaming steadily down his face.
"Put Altair somewhere safe, please," Tom said, voice steady. "I'll be right back. I have a dark lord to destroy ."
.
At the end of it, Thanatos was dead and Tom was still alive.
He distantly watched Harry's parents weep over their son's cold body. Even in death, Harry still managed to have a smile on his face.
(They usually died together. And even if they didn't, watching the other die first never got any easier.)
"I'm sorry," Tom hoarsely said as he kneeled by Harry's empty side. "He died for me. And I'm so sorry."
"No," Mr. Burke sighed and his wife shook her head as well. "The fault is ours. We signed up to serve… him willingly. Altair never wanted to, we knew yet we still forced him into service. But we thought it would keep him safe from the Dark Lord, and now we know we thought very wrong."
.
At the aftermath, Tom gave only one speech.
"Altair Burke was my hero," he said to a crowd of thousands, his Order of Merlin a heavy weight against his chest. "He risked himself to spy Thanatos' ranks for me. He shared life-saving information for no recognition. He gave me his wand and sacrificed himself, just to make sure I had a fighting chance of winning. I may have been the one to deal the final blow, but that final blow wouldn't have been possible without him."
"He saved my sister and I in Diagon Alley last summer," a young woman beside a ten year old girl stood up and said.
"He helped us escape the Dark Lord's manor," a group of varying witches and wizards followed.
One by one, people revealed how they were helped by Altair Burke during the final stretch of the war. No one could have possibly imagined how much one teenage Slytherin was able to do. Tom couldn't help but be fond at how much of a busybody Harry had been during Tom's year on the run.
Tom held Altair's - Harry's - own posthumous Order of Merlin in his hands and held his head high. "Remember him, the Boy Who Died. The boy I loved."
.
(( "The Boy Who Died?" Harry indignantly screeched, when Tom finally met him at the Afterlife King's Cross a month after his speech. "That's such a godawful name, you dick."
"Don't worry," Tom mirthfully said, fiercely grabbing Harry into a tight hug. "I think after my very apparent suicide, they'll be calling us the magical modern day Romeo and Juliet."
"I missed you too, prat." Harry sighed.
"Now let's not talk about that life ever again, alright?" Tom said.
Harry gleefully cackled. "Oh, you wish!" ))
A/N: AND YEAH I KNOW THE SPEAKING TO THE DRAGON WITH PARSELTONGUE IS 99% FANON BUT THIS FIC IS TROPE-TASTIC ANYWAY. LET ME HAVE MY FUN ;;;;;