Chapter 11

Dark Rumors

Harry ran from Gryffindor Tower. People were staring at him oddly, almost scared after Ginny's proclamation. He did not know how to deal with it. He could have told them it was a lie, that Ginny was barking mad, but he couldn't find his words. When he tried, he found that his throat dried and his legs weak. His masks did not work. He could feel them falling, smashing onto the ground as he ran away, shattering into pieces. He did not know where exactly he was running off to, he just needed to get away, to be somewhere, anywhere, where he can be alone and reassemble his broken masks. But most of all he needed Tom.

To warn him, to hold him. He needed to tell Tom what Ginny said.

His legs brought him to the dungeons, and he stood in front of the Slytherin common room. He used the password Draco gave him, but the walls did not open. In his state, he began to panic. "Open up! Open up damn it!" he demanded in English, slamming his fist on the wall. It stayed still and Harry growled in anger. "Open up you stupid door!" he cursed out in Parseltongue unconsciously, and to his surprise, the wall began to shake and rise, opening up for him. Harry blinked for a moment before stepping in, looking wildly for Tom.

"Potter! Why are you here?" someone demanded, he didn't look who.

"Where is Tom?" he asked.

"Harry?" Tom stood up from the fireplace and was at Harry's side in an instant. He looked at the Slytherins around them and brought Harry to the fireplace as the Slytherins all started to filter out until it was just the two of them. Tom held Harry close and frowned at his boy. He could tell immediately that Harry did not have his masks protecting his emotions, his sadness, fear, and anxiety radiating strongly from his Gryffindor. A surge of jealousy and anger coursed through Tom. What could have happened to his Gryffindor? What happened that made Harry take off his masks without him? The only comfort was that Harry came straight to him, and he was clearly in pain. "Relax my darling, you're okay now," Tom hushed, "you're here, with me, now what happened?"

Harry calmed himself and looked at Tom. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I woke up and went down to see almost everyone in the common room. Ginny was talking, more like preaching to them. She looked at me and demanded that I explained why I'm dating a dark wizard. She mentioned you by name. I wanted to argue, to tell her that she's wrong but when everyone stared at me, I couldn't. My voice failed me, and I ran away."

Tom frowned and Harry thought for a moment that he was disappointed in him. "Tom?" he whispered.

Tom saw Harry's worried expression and shook his head. "Hmm? Sorry, I was wondering how we are going to respond to this," he said. "Miss Ginny Weasley… I do not think I even had the pleasure of meeting her personally."

Harry nodded and watched Tom for a moment. A memory hit him, and he said with a small horror, "Yes but I think she must have met you, or at least the younger Voldemort."

"What do you mean?"

"My second year, her first, when I dealt with the Chamber of Secrets and your Diary… well, I wasn't the only one who had your diary. Ginny did for most of the year. In fact, she almost died because of it. Dumbledore told us afterward that you owned the diary—well, that Voldemort owned the diary."

"So she was able to make the connection when she heard my full name? Hmm," Tom hummed, "Then it seems that we should pay her a visit and deal with this little nest of rumors now. I mean, if only you and Ginny know that Voldemort and I are the same, so to speak, then all we need to do is make her look mad."

"Mad? But I don't think I want that, she's still my friend," Harry frowned.

"And I am your boyfriend and look at what happened my darling! A single confrontation with her, and your masks all fell away. She needs to be discredited now so that all of our relationships can survive later," Tom explained.

Harry did not like how much sense Tom was making. He did not want to hurt Ginny, but still, if this got out of hand, if everyone she told started treating him differently, or worse told anyone else, it could lead to trouble for both Tom and Harry. Besides, in Hogwarts secrets and rumors spread stupidly fast. It was better to squash it now. "Okay," he nodded. "What do we have to do?"

"Simple, we have to destroy her positioning and arguments with our own, using logic," Tom chuckled. "Let me take the lead, Harry, and people will never believe anything Miss Weasley say ever again."

Harry did not like the dark look Tom was giving; however, he allowed the Slytherin to help him to his feet. Tom waited as Harry calmed himself, hiding his emotions layer by layer behind his masks until he felt ready to face the world. "I'm ready," he nodded, looking at Tom neutrally. They left the Slytherin dungeons and walked hand-in-hand until they climbed the stairs directly up to the entrance hall, where coincidentally enough, they found Ginny Weasley walking with a group of Gryffindors. "It's true," she said, "Tom Riddle is a horrible, dangerous dark wizard! He is not who he seems, he's fooling everyone, even Harry Potter, for he is none other than You-Know-Who himself! Dumbledore has to know that—"

"That I am a dangerous wizard who practices the darkest arts? Oh please Weasley, not even a child would be convinced of that," Tom chuckled.

The group stopped and stared at Tom and Harry. Their hands tightened and stood tall against the crowd. From the crowd, Harry saw both Dean and Seamus looking at Harry. Their eyes both moved, rather comedically, at Harry and Tom's entwined hands then back at Harry's face. Seamus pushed forward and exclaimed, breaking the silence, "So it's true Harry? You're dating a Slytherin?"

"Yeah, so?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow. Seamus held his hands up, "Nothing, nothing," he said, although he glanced at Tom cautiously.

"Harry! You need to get away from him," Ginny said frantically. "Why did you run away?"

"Because I—"

"Because he just could not believe the lunacy of it all," Tom said easily. "Honestly Ginny, think about it, me, the Dark Lord? Why that is even more laughable than Cedric Diggory becoming a Death Eater! Why is it that you even think that I am the Dark Lord? And please do not say that it is because I am a Slytherin for I will be personally insulted."

"I—because I know," Ginny said, "You used your diary two years ago to try and open the Chamber of Secrets! You tried to kill me with it!"

"Two years ago?" Tom hummed. "Two years ago I was only twelve years old and still learning from my mother and uncle. Tell me, am I the Dark Lord because my uncle might have taught me some unfriendly spells?"

"So you admit it!" Ginny jumps, "You practice the dark arts! See Harry, he's dangerous—"

"So do the Durmstrang students," Tom interrupted, "So are we going to say that all of them are the Dark Lord too? Shall I go and inform Dumbledore that Viktor Krum is the Dark Lord?" That earned a few chuckles from the group of Gryffindors.

"No but, but you're teaching Harry Dark Magic," Ginny continued desperately. "That thing Harry did during the first task? There is no way that could have been regular good magic! It has to be illegal!"

Mutters surrounded them and Harry panicked. He glanced at Tom to see that he was still standing calmly. In fact, the edges of his lips were curved, as though he was suppressing a laugh. "Illegal! Do you hear that my love? I've taught you illegal spells! Why that is clearly how you've won your first task, and not because of your prowess."

"I—yeah, I didn't use any Dark Magic, Ginny," Harry said, hoping he sounded somewhat believable. "I did not even know the spell I used! I just was focused on not dying and my magic made the ivies and vines sprout out and cage the dragon."

"Making plants grow, why that doesn't sound especially dark, does it now?" Tom smirked.

"We didn't hear you shout but your lips were moving, Harry can't you see that he's a bad influence on you?" Ginny said, "He could have forced you to use IT."

"So now I'm forcing my boyfriend now?" Tom asked with a raised eyebrow. "I do not like these strokes you are painting me with, Miss Ginny Weasley. Well if you rather be coy and let rumors fly, let me stop you here. Do you think I am forcing Harry to use parseltongue? As if I would ever force that much control over my darling." Ginny gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Tom, but he stopped her before she could still say anything, "Yes I know that Harry speaks Parseltongue! I would be a rather poor boyfriend if I did not know—or worried about it. It is a part of who he is, not something you want to squander and suppress. Now, if you excuse me, we are both hungry and I would rather see that my boyfriend gets properly fed before you go on to sprout any more lies."

He pulled Harry along past the crowd and into the Great Hall. Harry took half a step towards the Gryffindor Table, but Tom stopped him with a pull, "You are eating with me today," he said in a commanding tone. "I don't want you near any of them. Who knows what could happen."

"I can take care of myself," Harry argued but he allowed Tom to pull him towards the Slytherin table. He glanced back at Gryffindor Table to see Ron and Hermione already sitting and looking at him confused. He did his best to give them a sorry wave and pointed between Tom and Ginny who just walked in a second after them, looking clearly upset. The last thing he saw was Hermione's frown before he turned his attention to the Slytherins.

"Hello Harry," Blaise Zabini smiled as Harry sat down, "Finally decided to sit with the right people?"

"Not now Zabini," Tom warned but Harry shook his head.

"It's fine," he said, and looked at Blaise, giving him a small smile, "Tom dragged me here. Ginny became rather accusatory, and even correctly guessed some of my… other interests, all blaming Tom of course, and she and he had an argument."

"I see, anything we can do to help?" Blaise asked, looking between Draco and Theo who nodded.

"We're fine, for now," Harry said, "Though if you don't mind, I think I will sit here for a while… besides, I missed you guys! Though if you don't mind, I think I'll just be quiet today for breakfast." He glanced around at the boys, who all nodded. Harry gave them each a smile, kissing Tom's cheek, and pulled out Tom's Poe book to read as he ate. He has never really gotten a good chance till now to read it, and it seemed like a better chance than ever.

So he ate and read, getting through The Masque of the Red Death, which took him less than half an hour to do and flipped around to read some of his other works. Harry was surprised that he liked it. Breakfast was soon over, but Harry did not want to stop reading. He had a feeling that if he went back to his Gryffindor friends they would jump on him, demanding question after question, interrogating him until they knew every single second of last night and this morning. And he really did miss his Slytherin friends. He looked at them for a moment and reached for Tom's hand. "Would you guys mind if I spend the day with you all in the dungeons?" he asked.

"Of course," Draco said with a swell of pride, he stuck out his chest as he led the way. Harry couldn't help but notice that Draco and Ron's eyes met, Draco giving Ron a superior smirk that made Ron fume. He sighed, knowing he would have to deal with that later.

The small group returned to the Slytherin dungeons and Harry and Tom took up a loveseat near the fireplace as Draco, Theo, and Blaise took their normal spots around the fireplace, the other Slytherins glancing at them before moving on, Harry's presence barely even a bother or noticeable. It was a nice difference, and Harry couldn't help but smile as he got comfortable against Tom and continued to read his book. He stopped between stories, especially when Draco caught his attention, "Harry, what are you reading?"

He looked up and said, "Tom's book, he brought it and gave it to me when he was done. It's a collection of stories from this muggle author."

"Oh… since when did you read?"

Harry blinked. "Excuse me?"

Draco shrugged, "I just never saw you read, you know, or at least without complaining to Granger and… Weasley."

Harry's cheeks reddened slightly, and he licked his lips before glancing down at his book. "I just felt like reading this," he muttered, "especially because Tom gave it to me, you know? And uh some of the stories are really interesting."

"Which one are you reading now?" Tom hummed.

"Uh, The Murders in the Rue Morgue," he said.

"Ahh, that is a good one," Tom nodded, "The first detective story for the muggles." Harry smiled, his heart beating a little faster as he heard the approval in Tom's voice. He looked down and continued reading, deciding to put his book away when he finished the mystery. The rest of the day, the Slytherins and Harry spent talking in the common room, and Harry felt completely relaxed and happy to spend the day just talking with Blaise, Theo, and Draco. He ate with them as well for Lunch and Dinner, both times he did not even hesitate towards Gryffindor Table, instead, he just continues on towards Slytherin Table, laughing at a joke Blaise told and smiling brilliantly. He was oblivious to the whispers around them, or the strange looks Gryffindors were giving them, or the few resentful glares.

"So Harry, how did you like your day with the Slytherins?" Draco asked, giving him a meaningful look.

"It was nice, relaxing," Harry answered, "However I do miss Ron and Hermione." He glanced over at Gryffindor Table and was shocked when he finally saw the others all staring at him resentfully, whispering to each other. He frowned and felt his shoulders slacking as he looked down at his plate. "Tom," he whispered.

"Hmm?"

"I don't think what we said this morning helped," he said, glancing at the Gryffindors again. "That, or they do not like that I hung out with you all day."

"Well, then if you're ready, you should go and play with the lions," Tom said. "If you need us, you know that you're always welcome." He reached out and caressed Harry's neck, his thumb swiping the front of his necklace. Harry nodded and kissed Tom properly before standing up. "Wish me luck," he said.

"Good luck," The Slytherin boys chorused and Harry steeled himself as he stood up, taking a moment to prepare his masks, and walked towards the doors, staring at Ron and Hermione as he did so. The two stood up and Harry waited for them. The three left together and Harry couldn't help but feel awkward as they walked silently towards Gryffindor Tower.

"So," he began awkwardly. "How was the ball for you two?"

"Nice," Hermione answered shortly while Ron just grunted something. The silence continued and Harry couldn't help but focus on it, on the distance between them. It was as though something clicked between them, a barrier has developed between them. He felt othered, lost, and alone between his two best friends. This thought scared Harry completely. He started to panic once more and tried to think about how he can fix this, how he can destroy the invisible barriers between him and his best friends and appease whatever wrong or awkwardness between them.

I'm a shapeshifter at Poe's masquerade. Hiding both face and mind, all free for you to draw…

"So about today," he started to say.

"Ginny told us," Hermione said awkwardly. "She actually told me last night… I found her crying in the bathroom."

"Oh," was all Harry said.

"Harry, mate… are you in trouble?" Ron asked.

"What? No!" Harry said, "Look, Tom isn't Voldemort," he said plainly. "Ginny is just overreacting. I did not even think it would be a problem, you know, with Tom and the diary but Ginny made the connection and I did not even get the chance to talk with her, she just jumped off her assumptions."

"But Harry, I get that but still we heard that Tom humiliated her," Hermione frowned.

"And it doesn't help that you're with fucking Malfoy all day!" Ron sneered, crossing his arms. Harry blinked at him and frowned.

"Ron, what's your problem?" he demanded.

"Malfoy! You were with Malfoy!" he pouted, "Stupid, evil, disgusting, slimy, sniveling Malfoy!"

Harry sighed, "I was with Tom, I wanted to spend the day with Tom especially after what happened this morning. I spent most of the day just reading honestly." He pulled out his book for emphasis and placed it back. "I barely talked with Dr—Malfoy. Mostly Tom and Blaise, and sometimes Theo."

"That's fine then," Ron muttered, "as long as you don't talk to Malfoy." Harry just nodded, thinking that this white lie is better than trying to convince Ron that Draco wasn't a prat all the time.

"Harry, we still need to talk about the other stuff," Hermione said. "People have been talking about you and Tom all day, saying that you've been learning dark magic."

"Let them talk," Harry sighed, "I'm not in the mood to deal with rumors and we know the truth."

"But what if Dumbledore hears it? Or the other two headmasters?" Hermione asked. Harry just shrugged.

"Dumbledore knows that I don't do the Dark Arts, and even if he has a suspicion I think he would be smart enough to ask me directly instead of believing in rumors," Harry said. "As for the other two, who cares? Madame Maxime outright screeched at me bringing my boyfriend to the ball, and Karkaroff is a Death Eater, Sirius told me so."

Hermione looked at Harry for a moment before nodding. "Alright, that's fine."

Harry smiled and felt the barriers between them disappearing. He felt the same as ever with the two of them once more, and as they made their way to Gryffindor Tower, he felt that they were closer.

The rumors spread over the rest of the break, but Harry found that he did not care. He had his friends, and that was all that mattered. Ginny still was not talking to him, but it was more out of embarrassment he guessed as whenever he saw him, her cheeks blushed. The younger years avoided Harry all together, some of them even stopping talking whenever he was near, while some of the older years just gave Harry hesitant glances as though he was going to blow up. He felt like he was supposed to be angry at them, that he was supposed to convince them all personally that he wasn't the bad guy, but he couldn't be bothered. He had his friends, most of his dormmates (Padma and Lavender were avoiding him) and that was all he needed.

It was the day before classes resumed, and Harry was walking outside to meet Tom. It was a cloudy day, but rather warm. He did not need to bundle up with every scarf and pair of mittens he owned, instead just wearing his heavy cloak and a scarf. There weren't a lot of people out on the grounds, mainly Durmstrang students stretching their legs out from staying on the boat for a long time. One student was walking his way, and Harry couldn't help but stare at him.

He looked a couple of years older than Harry, around Krum's age, and just like Krum, he was tall and fairly muscular with dark hair that was naturally ruffled and pale skin that looked to just start being tanned. His eyes reminded Harry strangely enough of charcoal, and he was dressed in regular Durmstrang uniform, but it looked good on him, he filled it out. And for some reason, he was heading straight towards Harry.

Harry stopped in his tracks unintentionally and just waited for him to pass, wondering where it was that he was going. He thought that maybe the student would head inside for some warmth, but instead, their eyes met, and this mysterious student walked towards Harry, stopping only just in front of Harry. He was taller than Harry (a rather easy feat really) and his chest was at eye level with Harry, forcing him to look up slightly. "Hello, krasiv," the older teen said, his voice practically purring like a tiger or lion. "I have heard of your beauty, but now is the first time I've to get to see it up close."

"Uh… who are you?" Harry asked awkwardly. He glanced around, wondering why this person has decided to talk to him, and how he should react. And, if needed, how he can get away. Did he hear the rumors? Is he going to accuse Harry of being a Dark Wizard like so many people are whispering? Nobody has been bold enough to step up and accuse him as such, but Harry had a feeling that would soon change.

"Vaska," the mysterious teen said, holding out his hand. Harry stared at it for a moment before deciding to shake it. Vaska had a strong grip and surprised Harry when he pulled his hand up and kissed it with a smirk, "That is what you Westerns do when you meet a beautiful boy, yes?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Uhh, not really," Harry said, although his cheeks were blushing. He pulled his hand away and bit his lip, "Look, it's nice to meet you but I have to go—"

"Go? Where can a beautiful boy be going in such a hurry? It is cold out here, why not stay and we can talk and warm each other inside?" Vaska asked, his charcoal eyes having a glint in them that made Harry wary. He took a step back, but Vaska met it.

"Look," Harry said strongly, "I'm sorry but I have to go, I'm meeting my boyfriend and he's actually very possessive." He stepped past Vaska and for a moment thought that the boy would try to grab him, but he didn't. The teen just allowed Harry to keep walking.

"Very well, Harry! I will just speak with you later," Vaska called out, and with a shudder, Harry continued to walk without ever looking back.

He found Tom at the edge of the Black Lake surprisingly with Viktor Krum, the two in a deep whispered conversation. Harry decided to try and sneak towards them to catch their conversation. Their voices were low, but he kept hearing small words like fire and spells and decided that they were talking about dark magic or something. "Tom, there you are," he said when he was near enough. Tom just glanced at him and wrapped an arm around Harry's waist, kissing his cheek.

"We'll talk later Krum, I'm very interested in that spell you mentioned," Tom said. He looked at Harry and said, "Krum here was just explaining about a fire spell that can work underwater. It is labeled Dark Magic, naturally, for it seems unnatural, but it is something still worthwhile I believe."

Krum just grunted a goodbye and nodded, waving to Tom and giving Harry a strange, knowing look. "Does he know?" Harry immediately asked.

"About our little adventure into the Dark Arts? No, however he does know about our, say, unique relationship," Tom smiled as he turned to face Harry, his hand staying on Harry's waist as he other moved to Harry's neck, his thumb once against swiping at Harry's necklace. "The Durmstrang students know more about the Dark Arts than any student here will normally learn, they personally learn the dangers of it, as well as its more addicting qualities." Tom chuckled and gave Harry a knowing smile, "So naturally, I want to take advantage of their time here and learn all I can so that I can teach you, and together we can see how Parseltongue affects it. I'm very curious about how it will affect a dark spell that casts fire underwater."

"Yeah, that does sound useful," Harry muttered. He thought for a moment about bringing up the strange student Vaska he ran into but decided against it. He didn't want to ruin his and Tom's personal time. Instead, he just rested his head against Tom's shoulder and sighed, "So what else are you going to teach me?"

"Everything my darling, but for now, I think we should just enjoy ourselves. How about a walk and then go bother the house-elves for some hot chocolate?" Tom suggested.

"Sounds perfect," Harry grinned.

A/N: Sorry it took so long.