Notes: Alright everyone I'M BACK
...And I'm so so SO sorry that I took so long to update.
Over the past few months I took my first real break from posting fanfiction overall in several years for a couple reasons.
Before I posted this chapter, I actually ended up heavily editing some of the previous chapters, which I'd like to inform those who read the originals about first. I changed lots of little things here and there, but the main things I edited:
* I made Tom overall more polite. Or at least less snippy.
I was of the belief that his politeness was not an innate trait, and without memory, he would be a bit more unpleasant, and then we could see him grow more polite with time. I do still believe it's not an innate personality trait, but once someone pointed out that the reason he's polite is because he wants information I realized, well, he needs information now more than ever, I realized he really should act differently in my fic.
* I made Snape treat Tom better in the interrogation chapter. Both at the beginning and end. I liked the ending with the Levicorpus spell, and I do kinda miss it, especially because it informed Harry's reactions, but I think it was just too mean, especially because of something I'm going for later. Also, I realized Snape's generally better at controlling his emotions than that.
* I added a conversation with the other boy in the hospital wing. Also a mirror scene. So he has a tiny bit more info on Hogwarts. (By the way, if you go back to read that and can think of more things they should talk about, don't hesitate to let me know!)
One thing I really would have liked to add in to the previous chapter is to have the full conversation with Hagrid be in there. But I have a hard time thinking of stuff for it. Dumbledore hasn't officially announced what happened in the Chamber, so talking about Ginny (if Hagrid even knows about her) is a dangerous topic, and other conversation topics I can think of either would fizzle out fast, or aren't really relevant to the story. So if you have any ideas for that, don't hesitate to let me know!
...I think those are all the big things! Feel free to offer feedback on the changes if you read them!
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this fic, and thank you for your patience. I hope you will continue to do so, and I would still love to hear your comments and thoughts!
"The summer? With you? And Harry Potter?"
Tom had been examining the objects Snape had brought him—objects which had apparently once belonged to him—and blinked, raising his head to look at him.
"Believe me, I am not thrilled about it either."
"No, it's not that—well, it is—it's just…" He paused, running his fingers along the clothes laid out on the bed before him, then squinted up at Snape. "I'm trying to discern why this is a good idea."
Snape looked away, seemingly wondering that himself.
"I think, with time, you'll find that our headmaster has a very unique sense of what is good for others. He believes uncomfortable situations often serve for people's betterment." He looked off to the side and muttered, "Whether or not they agree."
"What sort of 'betterment' does this serve?"
"I suppose he would like the three of us to…"—He exhaled—"get along."
Tom raised an eyebrow a second time, as if to say Us? Really?
"Futile though it may be," Snape added.
Tom bit his lip, internally assessing the situation as he also returned to assessing the objects.
It wasn't ideal—that didn't need stating. Tom had a difficult time fathoming why Dumbledore—who seemed to bear him no ill-will—would want him to live with one person who had a rather insurmountable grudge against him, and another who didn't seem to like him much better. He wanted them to 'get along?' `Surely that couldn't be it. There had to be more to it.
Was Dumbledore really so naive as to think they'd grow closer instead of hate each other more? Not that he quite understood why they hated each other in the first place.
"Is there a reason I can't stay here over the summer? I wouldn't mind."
Clearly Snape would have preferred that as well.
"You no doubt heard at the Feast that there has been some question as to whether Hogwarts is entirely safe. The Board of Governors likely wouldn't approve of a student staying over the summer until they are able to deny these suspicions. Also, the headmaster wants you to learn magic over the summer, and due to few teachers possessing a proclivity to stay at Hogwarts during this time, we must make other arrangements."
Tom's breath bated at the reveal that he'd be learning magic, his mind beginning to buzz. He tried not to let his excitement leak into his voice:
"You'll be teaching me magic?"
"Do keep up."
"So…" He sat back. "What's Harry going to do?"
"Mister Potter will be…taking up space as usual, I presume."
Tom stifled a laugh; he hadn't been expecting such a response from a professor.
"You don't like Harry, do you?"
"I'm not…particularly fond of him."
"Is it too forward of me to say it doesn't appear you're particularly fond of me either?"
"I pains me to say you'll have adequate time to learn there aren't a great many things I feel an extensive amount of fondness for."
Tom could already see it now.
"Consider it a trial period, of sorts." Snape swept around the room as he altered the direction of conversation. "If you are able to succeed over the summer, you may continue your schooling at Hogwarts when the next year begins. How much you learn, and how quickly, will determine the year in which you are placed. That is, if you're placed in any year at all." He looked down his hooked nose at him like that was both the most likely option, and the most preferable.
Tom could tell hidden behind his words was the idea that this 'trial period' was about more than just how adept he was at magic. He'd didn't need telling that he'd have to be careful in more ways than magical.
"Do you have any other business to attend to before we leave?"
"Wait, we're leaving now?"
"I don't come to the hospital wing for pleasant chats if that's what you're asking."
Tom bit his lip. In all honesty he would have liked to stay and explore the school more, but he could tell Snape wasn't the kind of person one could negotiate such things with.
He turned back to the items that were supposed to be his.
"Is this really all I have?" He asked softly.
Sure all the essentials were there: clothes, books, toiletries and the like, but nothing more personal. No pictures for his nightstand, or even a keepsake to remind him of home, of family. Nothing that could tell him a little more about himself.
Snape paused a moment before he replied: "All of which I'm aware."
Tom didn't say anything. Merely put everything back in the trunk and followed Snape to the door.
"Don't you have anything to bring home with you?" Tom asked.
"Don't you think a skilled wizard such as myself would have methods of sending it to its proper location?"
They spent the walk across the grounds in silence, which could probably be considered steely, though Tom didn't mind. The grounds around Hogwarts, and what little he saw of the castle, were altogether beautiful, and empty conversation would only have dulled his enjoyment. He turned around, walking backwards, a smile creeping upon his face upon at the sight of the castle in its full glory. He came to find this wasn't a school, this was a palace, a haven.
A—
The word home rose to the surface of his chest.
It occurred to him this was the first time he'd smiled since he lost his memory. Really and truly smiled.
The feeling wasn't half bad.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "You like it?"
Tom cleared his throat. "It's nice I guess." But he couldn't stuff the smile down, couldn't quite figure out what this feeling was.
He must be a student, surely. Otherwise, why would he feel such fondness for the place?
He didn't think Snape would reply, and was surprised to hear, barely audible, "I always thought as much."
They arrived at a wrought iron gate with winged boars on either side—(really living up to the name, Tom supposed. All they needed was a decent amount of warts on them). Once they had passed through it, Snape stopped abruptly and held out his arm. It seemed he was expecting Tom to take it.
Tom wasn't quite sure why he ought to do this, (and was rather offput by the thought of touching this man). Still, he did as he was told and—
He felt like he was being pigeonholed through a pipe. When the journey ended he was in an entirely new location, and wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't feel sick.
"Apparating for the first time can often make one feel unwell," Snape informed the doubled-over Tom in a way that didn't signify he really cared.
As Tom regained his bearings, he thought for a moment, in the same way he quite liked the walk along the grounds, he probably would have rather enjoyed traveling across the countryside. It struck him, that, while this sort of travel certainly got the job done, if wizards had a type of travel more like flying; allowing one to see the view, but also get where they needed to go quickly, he would like to learn it.
The new location, however, was far drearier and less pleasing to the eyes. Rather than an enchanting (and probably enchanted) forest, bordering sunny grounds, and a castle whose majesty was unmatched (at least in his current memory), this was a grimy, cobbled street, like a dull pencil: grey, disappointing, and without its sharpness.
He was almost certain the place was non-magical in nature. He couldn't believe anyone magical would allow their cities to collect this much grime and…boringness. Identical brick townhouses lined those streets, their chimneys spewing smoke into the air, causing a low cloud of what could be either smog or fog to hang over the place, making the air warmer and more humid than necessary. Snape's house was the last in the row, (at least, he assumed it was Snape's as it was the one they were heading towards), and across from it he could see a black river winding through the mist.
Snape flicked his wand, unlocking what was presumably his front door.
Often houses have a certain, indefinable smell to them, but when Tom stepped inside this one, he found it wasn't so indefinable: parchment, and old shoes, and maybe a little bit of neglect.
He could have fooled himself into thinking he'd walked into a bookstore. The walls were lined with books, the sofa and armchair in the corner creating a false sense of coziness—('false' because nothing about this man said 'cozy'). It had the air of being one of those spaces that is cluttered, but to call it anything but 'neat' would be an insult. Like a library of a devout scholar: cluttered with knowledge, yet, despite the fact that the shelves are puking pages, it all seems somehow perfectly in place.
"Make yourself comfortable," Snape said in a tone that told him he didn't want him to be comfortable at all. "Take care not to touch anything that isn't yours."
Tom's eyes lidded. "So…don't touch anything at all?"
"You're catching on." Snape smirked.
Tom rolled his eyes, not entirely sure Snape was joking.
"I'll show you to your room."
The words 'your room' were clipped, like the thought that it would belong to him for even a summer was repulsive. Though Tom could tell that before they arrived.
He opened a small door in the wall, which Tom would have thought another room, or perhaps a closet, but turned out to be a set of stairs.
After journeying up them, a hallway whose wood was in dire need of staining, dusty portraits whose stern eyes followed him as he walked by, and a decorative table with an empty vase upon it, greeted him.
The advertised room was small, and a bit stuffy, and a few of the floorboards creaked, but something told him he'd slept in worse conditions before.
Though it was a small house, they were able to keep to themselves. Snape was busy resettling into his house, and disinclined to give him a tour, and Tom, not having much to get settled in the first place, spent the time exploring his new surroundings.
He wandered around the library that was the downstairs, and the dingy hallways that were the upstairs. He took care not to enter what he assumed to be Snape's room, as well as a few other locked rooms. He didn't want to get on his bad side…if he even had a good side.
He quickly found he didn't mind being around books. He had affinity for them, especially when their contents had to do with magic.
"Are these all about magic?" He asked Snape when he passed by.
"Some of them. It may surprise you to find most of them aren't."
"May I read them?" He asked, remembering Snape's warning not to touch anything, as well as the fact that this was a 'trial period.'
"If you cannot find ways to entertain yourself."
"I'm sure I can. But you seem like the kind of man who appreciates silence." He put his hands behind his back and smiled too pleasantly.
Snape pursed his lip.
They spent their time regarding each other as wolves encroaching on each others territories: they weren't happy to be sharing the same space, but they couldn't do anything but growl low until one of them made a move.
Later, when Snape made dinner, the action drew his attention from his book. Tom watched with fascination as Snape waved his wand with ease, and the ingredients floated and melded together of their own accord, like Snape's wand knew what to say to them.
"Will I be able to do that?"
"A whole world of magic and you want to be able to make dinner?"
"Well—" Annoyance flared in Tom. "Of course I'd prefer to know much more exciting, dangerous things…but yes"
"Children are not allowed to use magic outside of school until they come of age…but, yes."
The word 'children' in that condescending tone didn't make him feel less annoyed.
"How come I'm able to do it, then? You're able to teach me during the summer."
"Dumbledore has his ways."
Tom could tell he wouldn't get any more information than that.
While they ate, Tom chanced a few more questions, and was surprised to find that it tasted quite good, and he thought he remembered someone once telling him good food does wonders for the soul.
He was glad to find that, despite Snape's obvious distaste for him, and seemingly all things his age, he was cordial enough, and he certainly didn't mind keeping to himself.
Tom was just thinking about asking when he'd start learning magic that evening, when a stack of books almost as tall as him landed on the table.
Flicking his eyes across the titles, he saw that each and every one of them something to do with magic.
"I expect you to have these read before before Potter arrives. Only then will I start teaching you magic."
Tom leaned to the side to look at Snape and tried not to smirk.
"You sure this is everything? It doesn't seem like quite enough."