Tom didn't talk to Harry at all for the following two days, and it drove the young time traveller mad. Most of the other Slytherin, of course stayed out of his way as well, afraid to invoke the wrath of their Lord. Only Alphard and Megan still bothered, with Avery and Michael often looking his way apologetically and the Lestrange brothers sometimes still talked to him as well, though they were careful to only do it when Tom wasn't around to see them.
Then, the most terrible thing happened: another victim had been found. Harry and Alphard watched from the side, along with many other students as the petrified body of Smith, the 6th year Gryffindor that had been harassing Harry along with McLaggen and McKinnon. Harry frowned deeply at the sight and turned away, walking from the scene with Alphard on his heels.
"Why does he do this when he knows you guys know it's him?" Alphard wondered out loud when they were in an empty hallway.
"Isn't he worried you guys will take action against him, or bust him? You know where the Chamber is after all."
"I think he's punishing me for something, but I don't know what I did to make him angry," Harry muttered.
"I guess we should ask him soon. Maybe we can make him stop," Alphard suggested.
"He doesn't even talk to me anymore, Alphard," Harry said frowning.
Eventually, they arrived at the Caretaker's office, where the rest of the group time travellers were already waiting for them. Ginny, as a flurry of red fury, suddenly appeared in front of them, her face red with rage as she stared at Harry.
"He's done it again!" she accused angrily.
"We agreed that if he went this far, we'd rid the world of him!"
"You want to kill Tom?!" Alphard exclaimed perplexed.
"I think it's time for plan B, mate," Ron said gently, looking at his friend worriedly.
Harry's expression hardened immediately and he balled his fists. The rest of his friends all looked away, most of them looking either very sad or guilty. Fred walked up to Harry and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, making the younger teen look up at him questioningly.
"If you want, we'll do it for you," the older teen said, smiling weakly.
"No," Harry muttered quickly, pulling away from his friend and instead wrapped his own arms around himself, glaring at the others in the room.
"If it comes to that, I'll do it myself, but it's not that time yet. I'll talk to him. I can make him stop before he kills Myrtle."
Alphard made a choking noise at that revelation and he stared at Harry in shock. The other dark haired teen ignored him however, and walked back out of the room. Alphard quickly turned on his heels, waving at Hermione before rushing after his Housemate.
"So, we'll try talking to Tom now?" he asked hopeful.
"I mean, I know Tom, and this isn't him, I promise! No need to kill him."
"I wish I could believe that," Harry muttered, smiling wryly.
. . . . .
Alphard had to run to keep up with Harry's quick pace, even though he was taller than him. It was an obvious sign of Harry's worry that he moved that fast. It was also a sign to Alphard that he was a lot more than he let on. His expression was hard, almost like a soldier going into battle and suddenly he realized that if it came to it, Harry would keep his earlier promise and kill Tom.
"We'll talk him out of it," Alphard said, more t himself than Harry.
They had to. Alphard really did care about Tom. He was his friend after all. Or he used to be at least. Alphard had been the first to talk to Tom, the first to accept him for his lesser blood even before his true heritage was revealed. But then the other started gaining a following, and Alphard became lost in the crowd. Tom had 'rewarded him for his loyalty' by making him his 'second in command', but only after Abraxas Malfoy had graduated two years ago.
"If we can get Tom to see his mistake at least," Harry muttered.
"Tom doesn't believe he can make those," Alphard relied.
"We'll need something else to make it clear to him."
"If he continues on the path he is now, he'll die a painful death while trying to kill a baby in its crib."
Alphard blinked in surprise.
"… Does he know?" he asked.
"Yeah, and it apparently didn't stop him," Harry muttered darkly.
"That's not good. Dying is Tom's greatest fear. Everyone knows that."
They arrived in the common room, where Tom was currently in the middle of playing a game of Wizarding Chess with Nott. The younger boy was being utterly destroyed and was scowling in frustration. Tom sighed bored and made his Tower move.
"Check… again," he muttered.
"Tom! We need to talk," Harry called out as he and Alphard approached.
The whole group was together, as they were nearly all the time it seemed, and as such, Harry had 8 sets of eyes on him. Unfortunately, this didn't include Tom, as he was still looking down at the chessboard.
"Then talk," the Slytherin Heir spoke.
"In private," Harry emphasised, looking at the rest of the group.
Alphard shuffled around nervously when he noticed Tom didn't make a move to stand up.
"Tom, please-…" he started, but fell silent and tensed when Tom's head snapped up and he stared right into those dark blue orbs.
"Since when does 'in private' include Alphard?" Tom growled, glaring at Harry.
"Since I told him about it," Harry shot back annoyed.
"Do you have a problem with that? Too bloody bad! Your actions left me no choice but to include him!"
This time, Tom did stand up, his palms slamming harshly on the table, making several of the chess pieces scramble to the side. Many of the others took an unconscious step back, eyes going wide in fear, but Harry stood his ground, glaring back stubbornly. A vicious grin spread on Tom's face, making Harry scowl worried.
"In that case, why don't we include everyone in this, Potter?" the young Dark Lord hissed.
"Fine!" Harry growled back, glaring angrily.
"If you don't close the bloody Chamber again, people will die!"
Several gasps of surprise, horror and shock were heard, and Alphard was pretty sure he heard Megan mutter something that sounded a lot like 'Called it'. Tom smirked darkly and sat back down, seemingly relaxing again, but Alphard knew the other long enough to know he never relaxed, especially not now. His shoulders had a tenseness to them they didn't have when he felt he was in charge of the conversation. Tom was scared.
"That's sort of the whole idea behind the Chamber though, isn't it?" he said flippantly.
"Not for you it isn't," Harry gritted.
"Hermione told me you don't hate muggleborns."
"Yet," Tom added, glaring darkly at him.
"I thought I'd better start early if that's what I'll do eventually anyway."
Alphard noted how the others were all incredibly confused by the current conversation, and more of their Housemates were noticing the commotion and joining them. By now, Ravina, Rowle, Wilkes and his own siblings and cousin had made their way over as well.
"You don't have to become him, Tom!" Harry cried out, getting very desperate now.
"And why would I want to?" Tom asked quietly.
"BECAUSE VOLDEMORT WILL DIE!"
This had the whole room tense up. Many eyes, including Harry's own, widened in shock, and several of Tom's closest friends pulled out their wands.
"Is that a threat, Potter?" Mulciber growled darkly.
"It's a bloody warning! Put that wand down, Mulciber!" Harry shouted aggravated.
Tom sighed dramatically and stood back up. Not even bothering to look Harry's way, he started walking away towards the exit of the common room. Harry frowned in confusion and started walking after him, only to be blocked by the Lestrange brothers.
"Get out of my bloody- Tom! Where are you going! We're not done here!"
"Somewhere with some peace and quiet!" Tom called back uncaringly.
Harry growled and muttered under his breath. Alphard only caught part of it, but it sounded a bit like 'You don't bloody deserve quiet' to him. The Time traveling wizard pushed past the two brothers and rushed after Tom, cursing loudly.
"What the bloody hell was all that about, Alphard?!" Walburga demanded the second the door was closed again.
Alphard looked over at her, and saw that literally everyone was staring at him expectantly. Walburga especially was glaring warningly. Alphard swallowed nervously. Shit.
. . . . .
"Tom, talk to me, please!" Harry called after the other teen.
Tom didn't listen. He just walked on, further away from the dungeons with Harry jogging after him.
"If you don't, you won't give me any choice, Tom!" Harry yelled desperately.
This had Tom stop in his tracks. The teen turned back around, his usually dark blue eyes lighting up violet with rage as he glared at Harry. The younger of the two wondered for a moment if this was it. That Tom would kill him as the young Dark Lord approached him again with large steps.
"Won't give you any choice?!" he hissed furious as he put his face right into Harry's, pressing their noses together.
"Are you going to kill me then, Harry? You must be so relieved that you don't have to act as if you like me anymore, don't you?"
"Act?" Harry asked confused.
"How can you even-"
*Kill. Hunt. Blood. I want blood.*
He tensed at the dark, hissing voice slithering through the walls. Green eyes widened in horror. The Basilisk was hunting again, and here Tom was, acting like whatever was going on was Harry's fault!
"You utter bastard!" Harry growled, pushing Tom away.
Tom stared in shock as Harry bolted away, before cursing and running after the time traveller. Harry didn't care much at the moment. He needed to stop the Basilisk from killing anyone, or petrifying. After everything, how could Tom do this?! Where had Harry gone wrong?
To his surprise, he was actually on time for once, as he saw the large snake sneaking up on a young 2nd year Ravenclaw girl. Harry's eyes widened in panic and he rushed forward, grabbing the girl before she could turn around and see the monster. The girl screamed in fear, but Harry pressed her face against his chest to prevent her from seeing anything.
*Thief! You stole my prey!*
The Basilisk hissed angrily. Harry had his own eyes squeezed shut, knowing that looking at the monster was fatal. He just hoped the girl would come out of this alive. Suddenly, he felt a wet, scaly appendage wrap around his torso. His eyes snapped open and he looked in horror as the Basilisk's tail wrapped around him and pulled him away from the little girl. He was swung away harshly against a wall, and his head made contact with a loud 'crack', making him grunt in pain.
*Stop!*
Harry tried to blink away the black spots, only to find that the whole world had become blurry, meaning he had lost his glasses somewhere in the attack. Still, he noticed a figure rushing to the little blob that was the girl's side. Harry sighed in relief before everything went dark.
