Consciousness slowly returned to him and was unfortunately paired with a splitting headache. Harry groaned and squeezed his eyes shut as hard as he could. He could barely move, so he couldn't try to ease the pain by holding his head and rubbing his temples.

"He's awake!" he heard Ginny's voice exclaim relieved.

Slowly, he tried to open his eyes. He had to blink a few times against the light, which only made his head throb more, but he succeeded eventually. He wasn't all that surprised to see his friends leaning over him. And by friends, he only meant the Weasleys, Hermione, Sirius, and apparently Alphard. That last one had him scowl in surprise.

"Good to see you awake again, mate," Ron said grinning.

"Yeah! If you'd slept a little longer-" Fred started with a smirk.

"-Sirius would have gone down to the Slytherin dungeons to kill Riddle himself!" George finished snickering.

That had Harry almost sit upright in his bed. His eyes were wide and panicked as he looked over at his friends.

"The-the little girl!" he asked desperately.
"Is she… she's-she's alright, right? I saved her…"

"She's alright," Hermione soothed quickly.

"But I'm not!" Alphard huffed, glaring playfully at Harry.
"You bloody left me to explain everything to the others! Walburga almost put me in the bed next to you when I told her you guys were time-travellers. Most of them thought I was insane till Tom came back to tell them himself, and tell me you were in here."

"Sorry," Harry mumbled embarrassed.

"So, what do we do now?" Ginny asked worried.
"They all know why we're here for."

"I only know one thing for sure," Alphard muttered.
"And that's that Harry will have to answer for a lot of things when he returns to the dorms."

"I think he might have to a bit earlier," Sirius growled, looking at the door.

Harry frowned and looked over. He swallowed nervously when Tom, along with Nickolas, Dimitri, Megan, Michael, Avery, Mulciber, Nott and Dolohov walked in. They all looked rightly pissed off, their wands out and ready for use as Tom walked over to his bed with purposeful strides. The Twins, Ginny and Sirius pulled their own wands out as well, and Fred and George moved to block Tom's way. A flash of annoyance appeared in Tom's dark eyes before he turned to Alphard.

"Alphard, please show your friends out. I have something to discuss with Potter, in private," he said coolly.

"Like Hell you do!" Ginny growled angrily.
"He's in here because of you in the first place!"

Dimitri was the first to move when he saw Ginny get ready to curse Tom, and he jumped forward, pressing the tip of his wand against the girl's throat. He sneered at the youngest Weasley.

"Don't even bloody think about it," he hissed.

"Let go of my sister, you bastard!" Ron growled, taking out his own wand, only to come face to face with Megan.

"No fighting in the hospital wing," Tom spoke calmly, putting on his Prefect persona easily.
"Alphard, please lead everyone outside in an orderly manner. I promise only to talk with Potter."

With a sigh, Alphard stood up and he grasped Hermione's shoulder gently.

"Let's go. You all heard Tom," he announced.

The Slytherin's all glared at Harry's friends, and waited tensely until they started moving before obeying Alphard's words as well. Once everyone was out of the room, Tom pulled out his wand and cast a few privacy charms on the room and Harry's hospital bed. After that, he turned to face Harry for the first time. Harry glowered at him from the bed.

"Since when am I just 'Potter' to you?" he asked quietly.

"How did you know where the Basilisk would be?" Tom demanded to know, ignoring Harry's question.

"That's not how this is going to work," Harry said scowling.
"If you want any answers, you'll have to give me some too."

"Who says I won't just take what I want?" Tom asked darkly.

"Is that what you've been doing then?" Harry shot back, glaring at Tom.
"Is that why you suddenly won't talk to me anymore? I'm no longer useful to you?"

Tom gritted his teeth. His hands tightened around the bars of Harry's bed until his knuckles turned white.

"July Andrews! That's why!" he growled.

"Because I'm friends with her?" Harry asked incredulous.

"Don't act as if I'm stupid, Harry! I saw you in the library with that chit!"

Harry couldn't believe it. He threw his head back and laughed hysterically, making Tom pause to look at him in shock. All this for a stupid misunderstanding! Tom was jealous.

"We're just friends, Tom. We were talking and doing homework," he said.
"Other than you, we actually have to put time in schoolwork, you know."

"Andrews definitely has more than just friendly feelings for you," Tom deadpanned.

Harry snorted at that and nodded his head in agreement. Tom's eyes darkened with rage and he opened his mouth, but Harry quickly held up a hand, stopping while he grinned at the older teen.

"The whole thing was really embarrassing," Harry chuckled.
"I was obliviously telling her about our relationship and how happy it made me when she admitted she thought our study date was an actual date. Imagine my horror when I realized her friendliness was actually flirting and I never even realized! I apologized for leading her on and asked if we could still be friends."

"You didn't even notice?!" Tom asked shocked.

"It wasn't that obvious, was it?" Harry asked innocently.

Tom looked about ready to have a mental breakdown at that. The sight of a distraught Tom was actually pretty hilarious, and Harry could help but chuckle in amusement at the sight. Eventually, Tom sighed and shook his head in defeat.

"I'll forgive you for your mistake since you won't be hanging out with her anymore," he said.

That of course wiped the smile right off Harry's face.

"You forgive me- What do you mean I won't hang out with her anymore?!" Harry exclaimed angrily.
"She's my friend! And you don't have a bloody thing to forgive me for! You misunderstood the situation and acted instead of trying to talk to me!"

"She's in love with you, Harry!" Tom hissed back.
"I won't allow you to be friends with her!"

"You can't tell me who are and aren't my friends, Tom!" Harry shouted frustrated.
"I'm my own bloody person, not one of your mindless followers!"

"You're my boyfriend! I think I have a right to decide at least with you!"

Tom had let go of the bed and walked up to loom over Harry. The position would by most have been considered intimidating, but Harry just glared back at him fiercely.

"And I respect you opinion if you actually give me a good reason!" Harry growled.

"She wants to steal you away from me!" Tom shouted right back.

Harry just raised a brow, staring at Tom with a deadpan expression. Tom growled in aggravation and leaned even closer so their noses were almost touching.

*You're mine! She can't have you!* he hissed furiously.

Harry narrowed his eyes and pushed the older boy off with a harsh shove.

*I'm my own person! I can be friends with whoever I want!* he hissed back.

Harry's eyes widened when he realized his mistake and he froze. Tom just stood there, staring at him silently before his expression turned completely blank and he sat down on Harry's bed. Harry had to resist the urge to move away, but because backing up would mean he was afraid of Tom and he refused to give the older teen a victory like that.

"You're a Parselmouth," Tom spoke, deadly calm.

"Yeah," Harry replied, eyeing the other suspiciously.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why should I? Despite what you seem to believe, Tom, I'm allowed to decide for myself whether or not I tell you something."

Tom glared at him and leaned over Harry. This time, Harry move back, falling back into the cushions and he was easily caged in when Tom's hands came to rest on either side of his head. This was becoming a regular position for them it seemed.

"And you seem to be under the impression that you can keep this sort of thing from me," Tom growled back.
"What else haven't you told me? How can you speak Parseltongue? Are you a descendant of Slytherin? Are we related to each other?"

"We're not related!" Harry hissed annoyed.
"If you're worried about pursuing an incestuous relationship, we're not."

"Then how do you possibly speak the tongue of snakes?!" Tom nearly shouted in frustration.

"BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Tom reeled back in surprise and looked around himself, quickly casting a few more privacy charms on the both of them before looking back at Harry with an expression that demanded an explanation. Harry sighed deeply and dragged his hands through his hair in exasperation. This was all just so bloody frustrating!

"When you – Voldemort – tried to kill me and the spell backfired, some of your – or his – powers were handed over to me as well," Harry told the other softly.
"Because of that, I can talk to snakes a-and my scar hurts whenever I get close to him… or tingles whenever I'm close to you."

A strange look came over Tom's expression and Harry felt a shiver of something akin to fear run over his spine. Tom seemed thoughtful, curious, and understanding… What was it that he knew about Harry's condition? Harry sat straighter in his bed and leaned close to Tom much in the same way the other always did with him whenever he wanted information.

"You know more about this, don't you?" he asked.

"No," Tom denied. Harry wanted to call bullshit, but Tom held up a hand.
"But I might have a suspicion about what it might be."

"What? Tell me Tom!" he demanded eagerly.

Tom raised a brow and smirked. He leaned closer to Harry until their faces almost touched, but Harry didn't pull away this time like he usually did. He just stared back, green eyes wide in curiosity.

"Why should I tell you anything if you continue keeping secrets for me?" Tom asked smoothly.

"That's not the same," Harry replied frowning.
"I keep secrets for the sake of the whole wizarding world. You're just being selfish and petty."

"Ouch," Tom muttered fake hurt, pressing a hand against his chest.
"That hurt my feelings Harry. Now I definitely won't tell you."

"Tom please! I won't keep any secrets anymore alright? Just tell me already!"

"Fine. What do you know about Horecruxes Harry?"

. . . . .

Alphard looked up when the door opened and Tom walked out, looking awfully pleased with himself about something. That expression was immediately wiped away when he saw the rest of the Slytherins and replaced by a look of utter shock. The sight, as it was extremely rare to see Tom caught by surprise by anything was so hilarious, Alphard couldn't help himself and he burst out in laughter.

It was to be expected, really, as they were all lying on the floor, covered in living ducks. Tom looked over at him, but the dark glare was not enough to make him stop laughing at all. In fact, it just made him laugh harder. Tom quickly turned away from him and looked over at Sirius.

"Being from a later time period has its perks," the School's Caretaker said smirking.

"Did you know there will be a spell invented that makes all the spells of the one it's cast on do nothing but make ducks appear?" Alphard asked snickering.
"You have to teach me that one, Sirius! It was so funny!"

"Ducks?" Tom asked blankly.

"Invented it with three of my closest friends when we were students ourselves," Sirius said smugly.

"And Ginny did something called the Bat Bogey Hex! That was pretty great too! And I don't know what the Twins did, but they actually turned Mulciber's robes in a pink tutu!"

"Free them. We're leaving again," Tom demanded as he started walking away.
"Alphard! Let's go, I have much to think about and I could use your insights in this."

Alphard scowled. He was actually a bit surprised Tom still wanted him around after what happened the last few days. His close connection with Harry and his friends would normally have been considered treachery by Tom and the others. They'd consider Alphard's allegiance with the Weasleys an insult even, yet here he was, still treating Alphard as his second in command. Or again, since Harry had taken that spot from him until their sudden fallout.

"What about Harry?" Hermione asked.

"He has a lot to think about too," Tom replied smirking.

With those words, he started walking again. Alphard muttered a quick goodbye before running after his Lord and friend. He was slightly worried about what had happened inside, but Alphard knew Tom truly cared about Harry, so whatever it was, it couldn't have been too bad. Tom's mood was too good for anything bad to have happened.

"And sent the others down once they can stand on their two feet together, will you Miss Granger!" Tom called behind them.

Alphard frowned. Tom was way too pleased with himself.

"What happened in there?" he asked curiously.

"Let's just say I fell in love with Harry all over again," Tom hummed.