For all of those you wanted a Tom/Harry scene is this chapter, I hate to disappoint. However, it is for a good reason, and crucial to the plot, and I promise the cute-fluffy-Tomarry-goodness scene you all want will appear within the next few chapters!

Rachel :D

Chapter 25

Quickly looking up as Blaise re-entered Harry's room 20 minutes later, Draco frowned.

Why had he returned alone?

"Tom's not here".

Draco stared at him, "... What do you mean 'Tom's not here'?"

"I mean he's not here. He's not in this castle" Blaise replied, frustrated, "I checked his rooms, his office, the DADA classroom; nothing. And Severus and Lucius are missing too".

"Where...?"

"I don't know" He said, shrugging, "But they're not in the castle... Didn't Tom say something about a vampire coven the other night?"

Draco absentmindedly nodded, his hands still stroking the black hair of the boy lying next to him, "Yea... Yea, him and Sev were trying to get them to join forces with the Light side... But my dad... I mean, he shouldn't be... He didn't go last time".

"Maybe he changed his mind?"

"No, it's not that. He always wanted to go... He just didn't. Dumbledore has the final say in the matter, after all. And he chose Sev and Tom".

Blaise shrugged once more, "Either way, none of them are here. Once I couldn't find Riddle, I went looking for Snape and your dad, hoping that they could help us instead".

Draco slowly shook his head, still lost in thought, "No... No, they couldn't have helped".

"... Why not?"

"What?"

"Why couldn't they have helped?" Blaise asked determinedly, "Why just Tom, and no one else?"

The blonde stared at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"Ah... Well... Because... Because Harry doesn't know the others, does he?" He finally replied, "I mean, he barely talks to my dad cause we only have Alchemy three times a week... And Severus still doesn't know what to make of him, so they've never really interacted much, not even in class... Out of the try Slytherin professors, Tom's the only one he actually talks to".

"... But there's more to that, isn't there?"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning don't think for one second that I don't know what's happening here" Blaise growled, crossing his arms across his chest, "Whenever you two run off to some dark abandoned corner and talk in hushed whispers... You're talking about Tom, aren't you? About him and Harry? About..."

Suddenly his eyes widened as he finally pieced it all together.

"... about how they both like each other. And they do, don't they? Asides from the past week, they've shared glances... stared when they thought no one was looking... talked privately after class... Harry and Tom both like each other".

And in that moment, Draco didn't care that they were best friends, he didn't care that they had grown up together, and he didn't care that he had been in love with this boy for his entire life...

If he posed a threat to Harry's happiness, after the newest snake had already suffered so much, then he would be more than happy to take him out.

"And if they did?" He snarled, eyes hard and unforgiving.

Blaise stared at him, then slowly blinked, "Then... Good for them".

Wait, what?!

Zabini smirked at the shocked and somewhat confused look the blonde was giving him, "What? Did you think I'd protest? Rant and rave about how Tom is Harry's professor and Head of House? How their age gap is a decade apart? How it's wrong and bad and immoral and illegal, considering Harry's still a minor?"

"Well... Yea".

Blaise shook his head, then shrugged, "You know I'm not one to be choosey about relationships, Draco. Love's love, no matter what the circumstances. And if Harry and Tom truly do love each other, then... Why should anyone try and stop them?"

Draco stared at him, and smiled a little, "... He'll be happy to hear you say that, you know. They both will".

"Yes, well, we've got to sort out one and find the other first, now, haven't we?"

Draco glanced down at Harry, who was lying on the bed in a fitful sleep, clinging to the blonde like a second skin.

And then they remembered the night's previous events, and both conscious boys sobered.

"... He cried himself to sleep" Draco's voice was hoarse, "Fuck, Blaise, what the hell are we going to do?"

"What can we do?" Blaise replied, unnaturally sombre, "This obviously isn't the first nightmare he's had, and most definitely won't be the last... Whatever happened to him... Whatever was done to him in his past..."

He trailed off but the message was clear.

If we don't know what happened to him then we can't help him.

"... I found an old newspaper" Draco said suddenly, "During the summer. It was the Daily Prophet article back from when he went missing" He looked up at the other boy, "Do you remember it?"

"Yea" He replied, "I'd just turned 11".

He nodded, "Remember how they questioned those relatives of his? The Dursley's?"

"Vaguely".

"Well the newspaper was about their trial" Draco explained, "And there was one line about half way down the piece that said... that said they abused him".

Blaise frowned, "Abused him? As in...?"

"Yea. His uncle..." Draco swallowed, "Man, his uncle was a fucking lunatic... They put him under truth serum, asked him a few questions... And he admitted to it. He used to beat up Harry nearly every day".

"And the other one, the... the aunt" Blaise began, "Didn't she say she... Mentally abused him? Or emotionally, or something like that?"

"Both. And his cousin too, though he fought Harry as well, more often than not".

"And you think this is why Harry's having these nightmares?"

"Could it be anything else?" He countered, "I mean, just think about it Blaise. 10 years of your life, your entire childhood, being filled with pain and anger and resent. Every day being hit or kicked or yelled at, being told you're worthless or just a freak... It broke him".

"... Then why didn't we find out about this before?"

Draco stared at the bags under the black-haired boy's eyes, "... He's exhausted. He probably fell straight into bed and... and forgot to put up a silencing charm".

And the fact that the boy had felt the need to put up a silencer, to block out his cries and whimpers, to hide the truth from them... Just broke their hearts even more.