I don't own Harry Potter.

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Happy birthday Neville!

Chapter 29

It was his birthday. Tom liked his birthdays ever since he came to live with his parents. Dad hugged him and did the oddly comforting thing with his forehead. Mum gave him kisses and gifts. They did all he wanted to do. It was his special day. This year was different. He was sad about Bilbo. His parents acted strange around him. Dad was cautious and tried to talk to him. He never tried to talk about feelings. That was mum's job. Mum in turn was nervous around him. She was scared of something. Dad had given him that picture. Tom finally learned her name, Merope. He thought it was a pretty name. She had not been pretty but mum was right. She looked happy in that picture. Tom sighed and looked at it once more. It was a great disappointment. Dad said that Merope's relatives were unstable. He did not want to meet them; at least not yet. There would not be any use. He needed to do more research on them. Mum and dad knew very little about them.

Tom sighed, for the first time he wished to send an owl to Minerva. She was the only one who knew about his adoption. He could trust Minerva. She had kept quiet about his parents and Bilbo. Had she spoken about Bilbo he would have been expulsed from Hogwarts. Tom could not think about life without going to school. He needed to keep learning about magic. He decided it was time to go downstairs and start the birthday celebrations. Tom hoped his parents stopped worrying. He was getting better. He did not have any more nightmares and dad let him brew in the afternoons. The potion making calmed him a lot. It cleared his head.

He walked downstairs and walked into the kitchen. It was a Saturday. Mum sang some weird song about some police and some karma thing. Dad shook his head while he fried some eggs. Tom listened to them speak. "Why are you singing that horrible song?" Dad asked while he smirked.

Mum laughed and kissed dad. "You are just and old man."

He laughed and pulled her close. Dad whispered something that made mum shiver and kissed him some more.

Tom decided that it was enough. He walked loudly to them. "Good morning." He said. Mum jumped away from his dad.

"Good morning sweetheart." She smiled and hugged him. "Happy birthday. You are not a boy anymore. You are a young man now." Mum hugged and kissed him. Tom smiled and hugged her back.

Dad served him some eggs. Tom waited for his dad to put his forehead against his forehead. Dad smiled and bumped his forehead with his. "Happy birthday son." He smiled and kissed his forehead.

Tom smiled and felt more like himself. There was chit chat. Mum suggested they make a day out of his birthday and travel to the countryside. Tom wanted to go to Scotland and visit Minerva. He did not want to say it. Tom nodded. "Yes mum."

They went to a little village. He enjoyed himself and laughed when mum kissed dad's frown. "Tom once told me that you would have to anything I said if I kissed you." She said with a silly voice.

They apparated back to London and bought him a small cake. It was after the cake that Mum presented him with a gift. "I thought you would like it." She smiled and offered him a small box. Tom opened it and found a very pretty frame. "For your picture." Tom hugged her. "I think I'd like to put your picture." Mum kissed him and hugged him some more.

"Time for my gift." Dad said and offered him a rectangular box. "I think you will like it too." Dad gifted with a book. "It's about transfiguration." Tome smiled and thanked him.

"Look inside the book." Dad said with a glint in his dark eyes.

Tom found two tickets for a Manchester United match. "It's been a while since we went to one. I thought it would be nice." His father said.

The boy grinned, "wicked." He liked his gifts and thanked his parents before going to bed.

He did not have nightmares and woke up later than usual. He woke up to laughter. It was mum. He made his way to the living room and found the source. Mum and dad were listening to the radio.

"What's so funny?" He grumbled.

Mum grinned, "a joke your dad just made."

"Go wash your face and brush your teeth." Dad played with mum's hair. "We leave in a bit. We have got to get good seats."

Tom ran to the loo. He wanted to be in the stadium as soon as possible. They disapparated and told mum they would be back later.

Tom was very distracted and enjoyed when the match started. Dad and him chanted and drank beer. Well, he had fizzy drinks. "your mum would kill me." Dad yelled over the crowds.

Man U won. His dad and him were hoarse by the time the apparated back home. Mum asked them about the match. Tom began to feel better about things that day. He felt like he could back to Hogwarts without problems.

The day came when he was to leave for the castle. Tom hugged his mum willingly. "promise you will write." Mum whispered and kissed his forehead. Tom did not pull away from her. He thought about staying with her.

"Goodbye son." Dad clapped his back.

Tom boarded the train and watched as his parents grew smaller. He felt anxious until Minerva sat in front of him. "How are you?"

Tom nodded, "Fine. How was your holiday?"

"Nice. Malcolm and Robert did magic. I saw them. Mum said she was happy." Minerva said

Tom smiled politely. He did not care for Minerva's brothers. He wanted to know what Dumbledore did after he was gone from the castle. It took him another half an hour of mindless chatter before he asked what he wanted.

Minerva spoke carefully, "He asked about you. He wanted to know if we were friends."

Tom was intrigued, "what did you reply?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "the truth. I said you and I are friends. We are both smart and do our homework together. We help each other. He kept asking about Bilbo. I told him what we said."

Tom nodded, "good. He doesn't like me."

Minerva did not deny the fact. She was a smart girl. The spoke about the holiday and school assignments. Tom knew all he needed to know. Dumbledore was not to be trusted. He needed to keep him at bay. He needed to do his work and keep away from the transfiguration professor.

Tom ate some dinner and then went straight to his rooms. He felt tired and slept like a rock. He woke up the next morning ready to begin his classes.

Tom was grateful that it was astronomy and then DADA. Potions was easy for him although he remembered Bilbo a bit. It was transfiguration that almost killed him. He felt a lot of resentment toward Dumbledore. Minerva kept him together. "don't look at him like that."

"Like what?" Tom hissed.

"Like you would avada him." Minerva hissed back.

Tom looked at his paper then. He did not need to look up to know that Dumbledore had looked at him.

"Mr. Snape, a word if you please." The redheaded man said at the end of class.

The boy felt dread settle on his stomach. Minerva looked like she wanted to stay but Dumbledore's glance was enough to make her leave the classroom.

"How are you Tom?" The man asked kindly.

Tom avoided eye contact but replied clearly. "I am well, thanks for asking professor." He remained looking at the floor.

"I wanted to offer you some help if you are in need of talking to someone." The man continued.

Tom made the mistake to look up. Dumbledore's blue eyes met his brown eyes. Tom felt a dull headache. He felt angry and looked away.

"Thank you, sir. May I leave? I have Herbology next." He said carefully. The professor nodded. Tom felt strange at the burst of anger and deep resentment that he felt when he looked at the older man.

He thought about what would mother say and then realized that it did not matter. Dumbledore did not care for him. This behavior only confirmed that he wanted to keep him under watch. They distrusted each other. Tom walked down to the green houses and sat next to Minerva. "I hate that old man."

Minerva frowned. "He is not old Tom. My father is older and he is certainly not old by any standards."

Tom grabbed some gloves. "Fine." He was upset by the mere thought of the man. He had not felt such hatred since he left the orphanage.

"You have to be as you were before." Minerva commented.

Tom arched an eyebrow, "what do you infer?"

"I am not inferring. I am stating; you were charming and polite to all teachers." Minerva whispered.

Tom looked at her as if she were mad. "My charms never worked on Dumbledore. He hated me since the first day."

The girl sighed, "no, he saw that you were faking the charm. He needs to assume that you are back to being your old self."

"It will not make a difference. He is sure that I am dangerous. I can tell by the way he looks at me. He thinks I am freak. Dumbledore is behaving the same way Mrs. Cole did." Tom potted some plants.

The Gryffindor looked at him with a frown, "Who is Mrs. Cole?"

"The lady who ran the orphanage I lived in. The older children feared me. She knew I was different. Dumbledore believes I am dangerous but cannot do anything. He has no proof and neither did Mrs. Cole." Tom finished angrily.

He expected Minerva to looked concerned or shy away from him. He however did not expect her laughter. "Ms. McGonagall, please contain yourself." Professor Gladwell intoned in a reproaching way.

"I apologize professor." Minerva said in a low voice. Tom feared she would burst out in giggles.

"What is so funny?" Tom asked her.

"You are not dangerous Tom Riddle. You can be mean spirited, competitive, arrogant and full of yourself but you are not dangerous." She finished and elbowed him. "Now help me with this stupid plant and do as your smarter friend tells you. I will not lead you stray." Minerva said.

Tom smiled a little bit and proceeded to lecture her on how wrong she potted her plants. He forgot about Dumbledore for a bit.