Chapter 12

Broken Masks

The rest of the break was unusually quiet. Harry did not see that strange Durmstrang Student in a while, and he spent more time with Tom and his Slytherin friends. It felt good being with them, like a stress relief after everything. He made sure to spend time with Ron and Hermione, naturally, however, he couldn't help but notice strange looks from his fellow Gryffindors. He didn't know why he was getting such strange looks; he didn't feel like he was doing anything wrong. He was being himself for a change. He had his masks on still, yes, however, he found that he could afford to lose one or two of them after everything that happened.

It was harder, however, hiding his friendship with Draco from Ron. Sometimes, Harry just wished that the two would get along. He did not want to hide anything from either of his group of friends, and that also meant that he did not want to worry about what others would think of him. So, on the second to last day of break, Harry wanted to hang out outside with his Slytherin friends and boyfriend, regardless of what people would think. So he did, and though the group has gotten strange looks from the other houses, nobody came to bother them. Especially when the boys, sans Tom, started a snowball fight, and Harry and Blaise spent almost ten full minutes jinxing their snowballs to home onto Draco. It was a fun day.

But now, the new term has started, and with it, came a disturbing dream for Tom. It started off simple enough, he was relaxing on a chaise lounge, Harry laying on his lap as he fed the younger boy grapes. Harry looked wondering, wearing a shirt that revealed his neck, on which was a black leather collar with Slytherin's emblem at the front. Snakes were slithering around, but the boys were happy, content in the other's presence. "Hey, Tom," Harry whispered.

"Yes, my darling?" Tom hummed.

"I love you," Harry said. Those magical three words. Ever since Harry said them, those words ran in Tom's mind, whirling around like a stabilizer whenever the teen started to feel worried or angry. Harry loved him. His Harry Potter, his darling, loved him. And he loved Harry back. Tom wondered now and again how it was that the other him could have lost this ability. How he, Voldemort, have thought that the perfect and logical thing for him to do was to try and kill a baby. It was madness, and Tom wanted to avoid it at all costs.

"I love you too, Harry," Tom said. He watched the snakes move for a moment and looked down. "Harry?"

His darling was gone. He looked up to see that the room they were in was gone too. It was different, dreadfully so. Everything looked as though it was covered in a thick layer of dust, old furniture left forgotten and neglected by the years' past. This was far from Slytherin's study, and Tom felt both curious and hesitant about where he was. The floorboards creaked under his steps. He was in a small room, the wooden door hanging open and out of it, Tom could see a small hallway that led to another room. The door to that room was slightly ajar, and out of it, Tom could hear sniveling. Where is this? Tom wondered. He walked slowly, his hand going to his pocket to find that he did not have his wand.

A bolt of fear shocked through him, but he steeled his emotions as he continued through, stepping closer and closer across the small hallway to the opened door. He could hear a soft hissing along with the small crying. The hissing was snakes, he figured, but the crying was strange. It was definitely not a baby nor a child, it sounded older, more pathetic. He reached the door and stood to its side, listening in.

"M-Master, I'm sorry, please show mercy!" a voice sobbed.

A cold voice answered the sob, "Mercy? There is no such thing." There was a hiss, and then the first man's screams filled the air. Tom peeked his head in to see a short, fat man screaming in pain in front of a chair turned away from the door, whoever was sitting in it was obviously the one casting the Cruciatus Curse. Tom watched as the disgusting rat-faced man continued to be tortured, crying loudly between his screams. "I did not know Master! Please!" the man begged. "Nobody knew Potter had that much power!"

Potter? They were talking about his darling? His Harry? Why? Tom took a cautious step forward, thankful that the floorboard did not squeak under him. The torture stopped and the man immediately crawled to the chair, looking at whoever sat there beggingly. "Nobody knew Master—we still do not know how Potter made those snakes."

"Foolish imbecile," the sitting man cursed, his voice serpent-like. "You are nothing, worthless. Not even good enough to be dinner for Nagini." The pathetic man whimpered, his body stifling, clearly afraid of whoever Nagini was. Tom heard a soft hissing behind him and turned to see a large thick snake moving silently towards him and the door. He hoped that it did not notice him, and watched, relieved, as the snake passed without even glancing his way. Which should not be. Snakes were always drawn to him because of his gift and lineage. They always found him, and always looked his way, and yet this one…

"Master, can I eat the rat?" the snake asked, slithering towards the chair. Tom presumed that the snake was asking about the sobbing, terrified man in front of them, and wondered if the owner would react or have some inkling on what she wanted.

"No Nagini, Wormtail is still of use to us. We need him when the time is right." Tom froze. That was parseltongue. It was no use denying it. The owner of the snake Nagini spoke Parseltongue. But that could not be! It was impossible! There were only three people in the whole world who could speak Parseltongue: Himself, his lovely darling, and Lord Voldemort, the other version of himself. But wait, then that means…

Tom's mind moved fast as he worked it out. He was spying on Lord Voldemort. He was spying on the insane version of himself. The one who dared to killed his Harry before Tom has ever met him yet! He took another cautious step forward. Maybe he could learn something useful…

"It does not Wormtail if Potter has somehow used Parseltongue to cast magic, though impossible and ridiculous the idea seems," Lord Voldemort drawled. "Our spy is still watching him and his friends. He will make sure Harry Potter is where he is supposed to be when the time is right."

Spy? There was a spy in Hogwarts? Who could it be? They were watching Harry, making sure that Harry won? Could the spy be the reason his love was in this deadly duel? Tom needed to learn more. He needed to know who this spy was, and eliminate him. "Y-Yes my Lord, of course, my Lord," the man named Wormtail stuttered. His eyes never left the snake as he cautiously stood up.

"You are dismissed," Voldemort said dismissively, "go be useful, find dinner for Nagini before you become it instead."

Wormtail made a scared little noise and scurried off, running right past Tom as though he never saw him. Now it was just Tom and Voldemort. I need to learn more, and perhaps put this to an end. So with this thought, and honest curiosity, Tom stepped into the room and slowly walked around the chair until he could see clearly who was sitting in it.

It was no man. Not even rather human. Instead, the creature that looked to be in the chair was small, barely humanoid with scarred pink flesh that looked more like tendons of muscles. Its head was enormous compared to the rest of its frail body, its legs and arms barely bones. And yet Tom could feel the man's cold power, like a flood of Dark Magic crashing over him. It was quaint, actually, and it would put any other person to fear, and yet Tom felt familiarly calm. He stared at the monster curiously, tilting his head slightly to the side. "So, you are the great Lord Voldemort," he said out loud.

To his surprised, Voldemort looked up and their eyes met, ruby-red eyes staring at his brown. "Yes, and you appear to be a phantom of my former self," Voldemort said. "How is it that you are here? You are quite too young looking to be my diary or any other…"

"Diary? Ah yes, I've heard about that," Tom muttered. "Though, it is rather funny, isn't it? I am here, whole and seemingly pure, while you are broken. A waste."

"Watch your tongue," Voldemort warned, but much to his surprise Tom just laughed.

"Watch my tongue? What for? You hold no fear over me. You are just a failed version," Tom sneered. Voldemort was still holding his wand. He aimed it directly at Tom, his red eyes seething with anger. Tom took a step closer, and both reacted at the same time. Tom reached for Voldemort's frail neck, intent on snapping it as Voldemort hissed out "Avada Kedavra!"

The spell phased through Tom, hitting the wall behind him as Tom's hand went through Voldemort, unable to touch. They stared at each other, dazed for just a moment before Tom stepped back. "Who is your spy?" he asked.

"We cannot kill each other? Why is that?" Voldemort muttered.

"Who is your spy?" Tom repeated.

"Will you fail to kill him as well as you've failed to kill me?" Voldemort asked.

"Believe me, I never fail with my punishments," Tom promised. "You should know just how terrifying I am at my young age."

"Then you should know that I will never tell you," Voldemort said. "Though I do hope you enjoy being paranoid as you flail about trying to find my spy. It does not matter, I will soon have my body back, and deal with you and Potter both."

"You—" The room and Voldemort disappeared, and Tom found himself floating in a void. He looked around fruitlessly. "Voldemort! Where are you?" he demanded. No one answered. He searched through the void, but all he saw was nothing. Then, a light, and the figure of a small boy with his eyes closed, and then he was back in his bed in the Slytherin dormitory.

It was morning, and Tom felt lost for only a moment. It was a dream, yet it felt more. He was in front of Voldemort, he heard that there was a spy in Hogwarts. A spy that wanted to harm his Harry. He could not have that. He had to find this spy and kill him. But first, he needed to recollect himself. Tom was useless if he was panicking, and he refused to even entertain such a ridiculous notion.

Harry first noticed something was wrong when nobody returned his good mornings. It was a small thing, even he found himself strange for being so awake in the mornings, which was something the teenager usually hated; however, it was still off-putting. He smiled at his fellow Gryffindors, saying "morning" or "Hello" only to be greeted by blank stares and even some scoffs. It was currently the middle of January, and Harry could not take it anymore. He was with Ron, Hermione, and Tom in between classes. "Have you guys been noticing people acting odd lately?" Harry asked as he held Tom's hand openly. He was getting better at that, showing his affection for his boyfriend in front of everyone.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "I'm not acting weird."

"Not you, Ron, the others," Harry said. "I mean yesterday I asked Lavender for a spare quill because I know that she has dozens of them, and she actually took one out and broke it in front of me saying that she doesn't have any! I mean what the hell is going on?"

"That is concerning," Hermione frowned. "Did you do anything to get Lavender angry?"

"I didn't do anything and that's not the point Hermione! I mean even first years are starting to avoid me!" Harry said.

"You're just imagining things Harry, I'm sure everything is fine," Hermione said. "Though maybe Lavender is jealous that you have a boyfriend."

"Yeah mate, maybe she just fancied you and now she's angry that she can't, you know, hold your hand and stuff," Ron said.

"Weasley, where exactly you get these outlandish ideas is beyond even me," Tom sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers as though he had a headache. "They are glaring and acting weird around Harry because of his friendliness towards me and other Slytherins. It doesn't help that during the first task he did magic none have seen before, as well as your sister's little outburst on Boxing day."

"Tom! You can't blame Ginny for this, she has reasons to be concern—"

"Because I share the name with the Dark Lord, yes, yes I know," Tom huffed. Hermione frowned deeply at that.

"This isn't a joking matter, Tom. This is completely serious, and with the second task coming up next month, I don't know what will happen," she said.

"I know this is a serious matter, Granger, and I am taking this with the seriousness that it deserves," Tom fired back. "Point of the matter is that the Gryffindors does not care nor like Harry's relationship with me, nor any Slytherins. Take Ron's great disdain for Draco Malfoy for example."

"HEY!" Ron yelled a bit too loudly, "Malfoy's an evil slimy git! This has nothing to do with him being in Slytherin!"

"Sure, Ronald," Tom said shortly. "Point of the matter is, the lions do not like that Harry plays with snakes. No Hermione, we will not argue about this, I am right," he said, seeing Hermione opening her mouth. "This is a side of my darling that the others have not seen before, and they are reacting without thinking."

"Tom, you don't need to defend me like that," Harry said, crossing his arms.

Tom just shrugged and looked at Ron and Hermione. "Just tell me this, if I was not Harry's boyfriend, would either of you try to befriend me?"

"TOM!"

"I'm sorry Harry, but it has to be answered," Tom said. The small group stopped. "Well?"

"Of course they would—you're amazing!" Harry said, scoffing at the idea that they wouldn't have any relationship. "Right guys?" Ron and Hermione did not answer right away. Hermione's cheeks went pink as they looked between each other awkwardly. The silence continued and Harry's conviction faltered. "Guys?"

Ron and Hermione continued to be silent. Hermione cleared her throat and said, "Well, I mean Tom is a good student…"

Harry frowned. "If I wasn't dating Tom, or wasn't around, would you guys even talk to him?" he asked in a disbelieving voice. Ron shuffled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ron, tell me the truth," Harry said.

"Well, mate—"

"Tell me!"

"No!" Ron blurted out. "Honestly, Harry no!" He seemed to have realized what he said and clasped his hand over his mouth. Harry swallowed heavily and willed his tears back. He looked at Hermione, "You too?" he asked.

"We'd have no reason to," she whispered.

"Oh… I see," Harry said. He stared at the two for a moment and turned away. "Come on Tom…"

"Harry no we don't mean it like that," Hermione said quickly.

"Yeah mate, Riddle's not half bad," Ron said. "He's a decent bloke, it's just that if you and him weren't dating we had no reason to even say hi to him, you know?"

Tom shook his head, frowning, "Wrong way of putting it Ronald," he said. Harry tugged Tom's arm and the Slytherin shook his head and allowed himself to be pulled away from Ron and Hermione. In their next class, Harry made it a point to sit with the Slytherins, sending hurt looks at his friends on the other side of the classroom. When class was over, Harry left before Ron and Hermione could corner him. Tom sent Draco, Blaise, and Theo to catch up with Harry as he stopped the two Gryffindors. "Give him time," he said shortly.

"Look we said the wrong things, alright? Harry should know that we're still friends with him," Ron said.

"He does, however right now he is not in the best place to be thinking rationally," Tom said. "His house is turning against him because he dares to have friends outside of it, specifically friends with those he considered 'the enemy' and now his two best friends basically said that if he wasn't around, they would have no reason to befriend his boyfriend. Think about how Harry might react to this."

"So what? We're supposed to stay away from him while Malfoy of all people gets to have his slimy hands all over him?" Ron demanded.

"Ron's right Tom, we're his best friends, we know Harry best of all," Hermione said. "We should have the chance to talk to him about this."

"And you will—once I've calmed him down. As for Draco, Weasley, he is Harry's friend, just as well as you are. All of us are his friends, and we are all looking out for the best of him. It is true that you two and I know things about him that others do not, however the same can be said with Draco," Tom said. He glanced back for a moment, "I do not know if this is my place to say it, however, did you know that they paint together? Whenever life gets too hectic for the boys, they go to a special room and paint."

"Harry paints?" Hermione asked.

"He does, and his art is beautiful," Tom nodded, "as is Draco's. The point of the matter is that painting is something they have together. It is strictly theirs. The others know about it, yes, however at the end of the day it is still Harry and Draco's passion. Why, only two people have seen Harry's paintings, myself and Draco."

Ron did not look happy. He frowned deeply and stared at Tom. "How long have this been going on?" he demanded.

"Does it matter?" Tom asked.

Ron huffed and pushed past Tom. The Slytherin simply watched Ron for a moment before looking at Hermione expectantly. She looked at a loss of words and walked past Tom. The Slytherin turned on his heels and followed after his darling.

He found Harry sitting outside with the other Slytherins. He looked more angry than sad. "I can't believe them! I mean are they even thinking?" he raved. "Tom! I'm so sorry," he said when he saw his boyfriend.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Tom said, waving his hand to the others to move away. They did so and Tom sat next to Harry. "Look, maybe the weird looks from your housemates have been too much and Ron and Hermione's answer was just the breaking point. You three are still friends, it's just logical that they wouldn't befriend me without you being a bridge."

"But you're the best thing to happen to me, Tom!"

"That is just your hormones speaking," Tom sighed. "Look, Harry have you figured out the egg yet?"

Harry stared at Tom. Why was he talking about the stupid egg when all of Gryffindor, including his best friends, was acting against him? "Uh no, but Tom—"

"What was it that Diggory said?" Tom mused, "About taking a bath with the egg? Perhaps we should take advantage of that."

Harry stared at Tom for a moment. Was he serious? Still, it was something that Harry needed to work on. He nodded and sighed as he leaned into Tom. "Alright," he muttered. "We can go to the prefect's bathroom tonight. I still remember where it is."

"Good boy," Tom smiled softly. They agreed that Harry should eat dinner with the Slytherins once more, Harry more often forced himself onto them, before separating momentarily for Harry to get the egg, his Invisibility Cloak, as well as the Marauder's Map.

The two met in front of the statue of Boris the Bewildered, a lost-looking wizard with his gloves on the wrong hands. Harry located the right door, leaned in close to it, and whispered the password just as Cedric told him, "Pine fresh."

The door cracked open and the two slipped inside, Tom bolting the door behind them as Harry looked around. Harry's first thought was that it wouldn't be bad becoming a prefect if it meant he could use this bathroom. It was softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, and everything was made of white marble, including what looked like an empty, rectangular swimming pool sunk into the middle of the floor. About a hundred golden taps stood all around the pool's edge, each with a different colored jewel set into its handle. There was also a diving board. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows; a large pile of fluffy white towels sat in a corner, and there was a single golden-framed painting on the wall. It featured a blonde mermaid who was fast asleep on a rock.

Tom walked to the pool-sized bathtub and started fiddling with the handles as Harry looked around curiously. How was any of this supposed to help him with the egg? He turned to ask Tom only to blush immediately. Tom was getting undressed, putting his robes on the side of the bathtub. Harry immediately looked away as Tom turned towards him. "Are you coming, Harry?" he asked innocently.

"Uh-huh," Harry nodded. "Uh I'll just wait until you're in… and please look away." Tom just chuckled at Harry's reaction. Harry heard the water splashing softly as Tom lowered himself into the bath. He glanced back, to make sure that Tom was not looking at him before removing his robes himself and brought everything at the edge of the Olympic pool bathtub and slipping in himself.

The water felt perfectly refreshing, with just the right amount of bubbles, which were all rainbow-colored. He and Tom stared at each other for a moment and Tom closed the distance, kissing Harry as he pressed their bodies together. Harry's face went red and he moved away. "Tom!" he shouted, his voice squeaking.

"I'm sorry darling, it is just you are too beautiful," Tom chuckled. "But you're right, we have more important things to worry about." He moved to the edge and took the egg. Harry moved next to him and they both stared at the golden egg for a moment. "Now what does water have to do with the egg?" Tom muttered.

"Water?"

"I mean why else would Cedric tell you to bring the egg to water? Krum mentioned it as well," Tom said. "When we were talking spells, he specifically mentioned a Dark Magic spell that allows you to make fire underwater. A useful thing, if your task involves being under." He glanced at Harry and smirked, pushing the egg under the water and opened it.

Harry flinched reflexively, ready for the loud screeching, but it never came. Instead, a gurgling song was coming out of it, a song whose words neither boy couldn't distinguish through the water. "What's it saying?" Harry asked. "Should we also be under the water too?"

"Wouldn't hurt," Tom chuckled, as though he already knew. He closed the egg and both boys took a large breath and slid under the surface just as Tom opened the egg once more, and now they could hear a chorus of eerie voices singing to them from the open egg.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And recover what we took,
But past an hour — the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Harry let himself float back upward and broke the bubbly surface, shaking his hair out of his eyes. Tom wiped his face and stared at the egg curiously. "Interesting," he muttered. "Do you need to hear it again, love?"

"Oh yeah, do you mind?" Harry asked. He took a deep breath and plunged back under along with Tom. They broke the surface a second time, Tom looking more convinced. Harry needed to listen to the egg three more times before he had it memorized. "So I have to go and look for people who can't be heard above the ground," Harry muttered. "So… that would be underwater? Because we heard the song underwater?"

"Seems like it," Tom hummed. "But where exactly?"

"The Black Lake obviously! That's the only big area of water I can think of," Harry answered immediately. He looked at the picture of the sleeping mermaid and thought out loud. "Tom, would you happen to know if merpeople live in the lake?"

"Actually yes," Tom said. "When I was in my first year, I remember Abraxas Malfoy angering one of the mermen. It was really funny."

"That's it," Harry said excitedly. "That's the second task! I have to go and find the merpeople in the lake and...and..."

But he suddenly realized what he was saying, and he felt the excitement drain out of him as though someone had just pulled a plug in his stomach. He was a horrible swimmer; he'd never had much practice. Dudley had had lessons in his youth, but Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, no doubt hoping Harry would drown one day, hadn't bothered to give him any. "How am I going to breathe?" he asked, "let along swim!"

"Those are problems we can work around later," Tom said. "For now, I want to figure out the rest of the poem. The line 'We've taken what you'll sorely miss' has me thinking. What is it that they will take? Surely it cannot be a simple object, can it? Like your cloak or your map. Not many people even know you have them."

"So then, what can it be?" Harry asked. "They can't… they can't take my Firebolt," he said with a twinge of sadness.

"No, no I do not think it will be anything materialistic," Tom said.

"Then what? Besides my few things, the only thing I can think of that I'll sorely miss is—" Harry did not want to complete the thought, his stomach once again twisting at it.

"Me," Tom said. "I think it would be best to go under the assumption that they will steal the person you care most about. Such as your boyfriend."

"But that's horrible!"

"Then it will definitely be me they'll be stealing," Tom said, nodding in confirmation. "So that makes things simple, we will simply have to figure out a way for you to locate and retrieve me in an hour's time."

"You say like it's all so simple," Harry muttered.

"The solutions to dangerous takes are usually are," Tom shrugged. "Either way, let's forget about the egg for a moment, I want to clean my boyfriend and help him relax." Harry was all for the idea. They placed the egg back on the ledge and spent an hour cleaning each other and relaxing in the tub. By the time they were done, the bubbles were all done, and Harry felt properly relaxed and sleepy. They toweled down and redressed. "Tomorrow, I want you to start practicing the fire spell, I'll teach you the wand movements. It will be difficult as it'll naturally be a non-verbal spell, meaning you cannot say it aloud," Tom said. "But I'm sure that we will get the hang of it." He kissed Harry, stroking his thumb across his necklace. "I love you, my darling."

"Love you too, Tom," Harry said.

They went their separate ways, and once he was back in his own bed, Tom was happy to have dreamed of Harry again, this time uninterrupted by Voldemort.

Harry, however, in the spirit of his Gryffindorness, seemed to have had a more eventual evening which he told Tom after Charms the following day. "I told you, I had to give my map to Professor Moody, he helped me out with Snape and Filch who almost caught me out of bed! But I was in my Invisibility Cloak. The strange thing is, however, that according to Snape and Moody, someone broke into Snape's office and stole potion ingredients!"

"Potion ingredients? Strange," Tom muttered.

"The stranger thing is that I saw, on the map. It was Mr. Crouch," Harry said. "Mr. Crouch was in the office! I told Moody as such and he took my map."

"Why would Crouch be stealing from Professor Snape?" Tom asked, "Last I heard the man was ill. Which was why we had to suffer, I mean entertain, that other Weasley."

Harry nodded and looked back at Ron and Hermione. They did not make up yet, and he wanted to, however, Harry did not know how to approach them. The other Gryffindors too were continuing to act weird. "Yeah, but I don't know why Mr. Crouch would be here if he is still sick. Could this be connected in any way with who put my name in?"

"It's possible," Tom said. "Anything is possible at this point; I feel we need more information."

"Well, if you need information, I'm the boy for it," a voice answered. The two turned to see a handsome Durmstrang student standing in front of them. He smiled at them and winked at Harry. "Hello Harry, last time we met I think I went on a bit too strong, so can we try again? My name is Vaska."

"And I am Harry's boyfriend, Tom Riddle," Tom said stepping between the two. "I don't believe we've met."

"Well, I am from Durmstrang."

"And I've met all of the students who came from Durmstrang, and yet we have not met yet," Tom hummed.

"Oh, I spend most of my time on the ship," Vaska said easily. "Any way you said that you needed information? I would be happy to help."

"Oh? And why would you?" Tom asked. "We are technically enemies in this competition. Shouldn't you want your school to win?"

"How does this Mr. Crouch business help my school win?" Vaska asked. "I will not help with the tournament, in the name of, what do you say, fair competition, however anything else I will be glad to help with, especially for such a beautiful boy and his lovely boyfriend." Vaska purred. Harry took a step back and Tom scowled. "I tried too hard again, didn't I? My mistake, I desire to be friends with you, Harry. From what I've heard, you are a bit lacking in that."

"Friends," Harry muttered. He glanced at Tom and thought for a moment. "If you want to be friends, then maybe you can help us with something."

"Indeed," Tom said. "A task from me specifically. I want you to keep an eye on your headmaster. Tell me if anything odd happens, if he acts unusual. You will report directly to me."

Harry looked at his boyfriend oddly, "What does Karkaroff have to do with Crouch?"

"Nothing, hopefully," Tom hummed. "This is about something else." Harry just nodded while Vaska smiled at the two of them.

"Then I'll do it! I'll tell you all there is to know about the headmaster this time tomorrow!" Vaska moved forward, as though to hug them goodbye, but stopped himself. Instead, he held out his hand and shook theirs. "So long, boys," he said.

After that strange event, Harry's day was nice. He sat with Ron and Hermione, and though they did not talk about the argument yesterday, there was no tension between them, as though it never happened. He ate and laughed with his two friends during dinner and Harry brought them both back up to speed as they made their way to Gryffindor Tower. "Hang on, isn't that your trunk, Harry?" Ron asked as they stepped onto the seventh floor.

In front of the portrait of the fat lady was indeed Harry's trunk, tossed on its side with his clothes thrown about on its open lid. "Why is it there?" Hermione asked, "this is such a tactless joke."

The three moved to fix the trunk, only to see a nasty message on the trunk lid. Slytherin Whore! Traitor! "What the hell? Who did this?" Ron fumed. He yelled the password to the fat lady, who tutted as her portrait swung open, and the three walked in to see what looked like the rest of Gryffindor House gathered in the common room, as though waiting for them. "What's going on?" Harry asked.

"Why are Harry's trunk and clothes outside? And who wrote that awful message?" Hermione asked.

Katie Bell stepped forward, glaring at Harry. "Because he's not welcomed here anymore. We all talked about it and Potter shouldn't be here anymore!"

"Katie you're joking," Hermione said.

"It's true!" a tall teen with wiry blond hair said. "Potter spends all his time with those snakes! And you heard the rumors that he uses Dark Magic! He probably hisses around with snakes in his off time too."

"Excuse me? You're insane!" Harry said.

"Not as insane as you for sleeping with the enemy!" the same teen yelled.

"My boyfriend has nothing to do with this!" Harry yelled. His hand going for his wand automatically. Everyone else stepped back and he scoffed. "What? Scared I'll hex you with dark snake magic?" he gave a nasty laugh.

"Uh mate… you're not actually going to do that, are you?" Ron asked.

"What? No—look just move out of the way so I can put my trunk back," Harry said.

"Nobody wants you here!"

"That's not true, we do," the unmistakable voice of Neville Longbottom yelled out. "I'm sorry Harry! We tried to stop them! But McLaggen pushed me and he even punched Seamus!"

Anger began to rise in Harry. He glared at them all. "So what? Because I have Slytherin friends and a Slytherin boyfriend I'm now a whore huh? A traitor?"

"It's not just that Harry, we're all scared," Lavender Brown said. "That thing you did during the First Task… those snakes you summoned... that's no ordinary spell."

"Yeah who knows where you got that snakey spell, or what else you can do! And there are also those rumors about that Riddle kid."

"Look we're doing this for our own safety." Ginny Weasley stepped out from the crowd. "I'm sorry Harry but surely you'll understand? I mean, I tried to help you by telling everyone that—"

"That what? That my boyfriend is helping me survive?" Harry sneered. In an instant, he could feel everything falling around him. All the barriers he so carefully placed, all the personas he crafted to appease everyone around him. The masks to hide himself in. They all fell, and all he felt was a pure rage. "You know what? Fuck this. If this is how you guys show jealousy over me having a boyfriend—over me actually making friends with Slytherins—I don't need you shits."

"Harry!" Hermione gasped, but Harry wasn't having it. He turned and moved to leave before stopping, "And one more thing. At least with Slytherin, you actually know where your friends actually stand with you. Hermione, Ron, Nev, Seamus, and anyone else who tried to stop these shitheads, I'm sorry. I don't care enough to even try to argue. But you're right about one thing Ginny, Tom did teach me some new spells." He pointed his wand at the ground and hissed out in Parseltongue, "Vines slither out and block my foes!"

The floor cracked as thick green vines broke out, sprouting upward and tangling with each other as Harry gave a final turn, leaving Gryffindor Tower as the vines intercrossed with each other, blocking anyone from following.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Thank you all so much for the wait, and I hope that you all enjoy this extra long chapter.