the one where they grow up together

by cauldroncakess

Sirius and Remus adopt a magical boy who had been living with Muggles named Tom Riddle. At first, him and Harry are hostile towards each other, but after some time they form a close bond—too close. Nothing can tear them apart. Except for when they get older and Harry makes new friends while Tom delves deeper into his heritage. Fem!Harry/TMR

1. Chapter 1

Harry was four years old when Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius (or Moony and Padfoot, as it was still hard for her to say her R's) finally decided to get married.

It upset Sirius' family greatly, because as the heir of the Black fortune, he was expected to settle down with a proper pureblood wife and produce several pureblood children to continue their lineage. Despite being disowned, he was not disinherited because his parents, at least his father, hoped that the gay thing was only a phase and his eldest son would eventually come around. He was even willing to overlook the Muggle-lovingness.

Alas, that was not what happened. They did not come to the wedding which Sirius was actually extremely happy about. He had his closest school friends and the Potters there, which was all he could have hoped for.

Following Muggle tradition on Lily's suggestion, they had little Harry be the flower girl. With her father's praise and encouragement, she smiled shyly and waddled down the aisle, throwing petals haphazardly in the air, as her mother took several photos.

A couple months later, Lily and James returned from a well-deserved holiday, tanned and rested. They got pregnant with Harry very early in their lives and still had much travelling they wanted to do alone together. Thankfully, Harry loved to spend time with Moony and Padfoot.

"She wasn't too much of a bother, was she?" Lily asked, squeezing her daughter tight in her embrace and kissing her cheek.

"Not at all, she was a delight," Remus remarked, biting back a smile. Harry was a very wild child, having taken more after her father than her mother.

"She went to bed on time?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows at Harry, who buried her face in her neck to avoid the stern look and give away the fact that she didn't.

"Every night," Remus lied for her again.

"Every night, my ass," Sirius grumbled, not as forgiving as Remus was. "She stayed up until one in the morning every other day."

"Padfoot!" Harry cried. "No, I didn't!"

Lily placed Harry on the ground so she could put her hands on her hips and pin her with a disappointed look.

"And she refused to eat her vegetables," Sirius continued, maintaining eye contact with the furious child.

"Only the broccoli!" Harry insisted, holding her hands out. Desperately, she turned to her father. "Daddy, it was only the broccoli I didn't eat, I swear!"

"Yeah, yeah, I believe you," James smiled warmly, patting her head. He looked up at his best friend. "She doesn't trust broccoli, she won't eat them."

Harry nodded, turning her wide doe eyes up at the adults to gauge their reaction. They laughed. She frowned.

"What did the broccoli ever do to you?" Sirius scowled, trying to hold back his mirth.

"They look like trees."

"So?"

"You're not supposed to eat trees," she informed him with a hand on her hip like her mother, and lots of attitude (also like her mother). This elicited more laughter that she didn't understand.

They moved to the living room after that, waiting for Uncle Peter to arrive so Lily and James can share stories from their vacation. Harry, favouring her father more than her mother at the moment, curled up on James' lap, playing with his hands.

She was extremely bored.

"Have you two thought about kids?" Lily asked quietly. "It'd be sweet. And Harry can have someone to play with."

Harry was no longer bored, she was listening intently.

"What, are there no more children for you two down the line?" Sirius questioned.

"Lily says if I want more kids I will have to birth them myself because she's not going through pregnancy again," James explained as his wife nodded in confirmation. "Besides, we're happy with just Harry, aren't we?"

He tickled Harry's sides and she shrieked.

"But also," Lily spoke over Harry's laughter, "I'm not suggesting this just so Harry has another kid to play with. It would be really good for you two," she said with an earnest smile.

Sirius and Remus shared a look.

"Well, the truth is… we have thought about it," Remus said

"And?" James and Lily said eagerly in unison.

"We're not really sure how to go about it."

"Well, I don't know about wizards, but Muggles have a procedure where one of you can donate sperm and have a surrogate mother for your baby."

Sirius and Remus grimaced in response.

"Or you could adopt," James offered, removing Harry from his lap and setting her on the ground. Harry's disbelief and shock at being deposited to the floor in favour of an interesting conversation went entirely unnoticed. Huffing, Harry went to the corner to play with the broken Sneakoscope Sirius gave her. It used to be working until she broke it, then it was hers.

"Well, that's the thing," Remus said, sitting back in his chair. "It probably wouldn't be best to raise a Muggle baby in a wizarding household. Magical orphans are rare, most get sent to live with relatives."

"There must be something," James frowned.

"We're thinking of signing up to be foster parents, it's looking like the only option."

"There you go!" James grinned.

"What are the chances you get a baby?" Lily asked.

"Slim, but not zero," Sirius smiled sadly.

Nine months later, Harry turned five and Moony and Padfoot still didn't have a baby.

"We could have gone with Lily's idea and had a newborn right now," Remus grumbled to Peter at Harry's birthday celebration, Firewhiskey in hand.

"Cheer up, Moony," Peter nudged him. "Something will turn up."

Remus looked up to see Sirius running after Harry as she sped around on her kiddie broom.

"Sirius wants a child so badly. Me, I can probably live without one. With my condition, I never factored children in my future. But I can tell he really wants one."

Peter grimaced sadly, unsure of what else he could say until James came to thump them both on the back.

"Who wants more cake?"

"You will never believe what just happened," Remus said to Sirius.

"What?" Sirius said distractedly, as he stirred the sauce to go over the pasta he was preparing.

"I was meeting with Albus—"

"Albus?" Sirius looked up. "You still talk to Dumbledore?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing, just… weird to keep in touch with your old Headmaster, isn't it?"

"James and Lily talk to him regularly."

"Well that's because Dumbledore was close friends with James' parents."

"Can I get back to my story?" Remus asked impatiently, cracking open a can of Coke.

"Yes, go on," Sirius waved the wooden spoon in his hand and turned his attention back to the pot.

"Well, I told him about how we want a baby and, I mean, he didn't find a baby, exactly—" Sirius' spoon dropped with a loud clang, "but there's this orphan boy living with Muggles. Five years old. Just started doing accidental magic."

"I want him," Sirius said with wide eyes. "I mean—can we adopt him? Is-is that why Dumbledore told you?"

Remus licked his lips and smiled slowly. "When they find orphaned or abandoned magical children in the Muggle world, the Ministry tries to put them in a wizarding family. Dumbledore found this kid and since he knew we were looking, he came to me first."

Sirius gripped Remus' shoulders, urgently. "When can we meet him?"

"Harry, we're leaving now! Come down, quick!" Lily shouted from the kitchen. Harry's small feet pattered down the stairs, her dark red hair tied in two pigtails. She clutched her newest favourite stuffed animal and met her mother in the kitchen.

"Bunny was trying to hide, I don't think she likes going to Moony and Padfoot's," Harry explained, holding her stuffed animal up. James came around behind her with a big box wrapped in shiny red paper. Harry's hungry eyes zeroed in on the gift. "What's that?"

"A gift."

"For me?"

"You wish," James snorted. "Little girls who don't clean up their toys don't get gifts."

"Who is it for then?"

Lily grabbed her hand and brought her forward to the fireplace. "Promise to be on your best behaviour, okay?" she said.

"It's only Moony and Padfoot," Harry frowned.

"They have a new addition to their family," Lily informed her, brushing back her hand and smoothing out her dress. "A little boy. Your age."

"That's who the gift is for?" Harry gasped, wide eyes moving between her parents.

"Yes, so be good and be nice to him. He's probably going to be nervous seeing all of our new faces."

"Okay!" Harry nodded, gulping. She wanted the new boy to feel nice and welcome. She wanted to be his friend! "Do you think he knows how to ride a broom? Can I race with him?"

"Probably not, because he lived with Muggles before. And no, you can not race with him," Lily said. Harry started to protest but her hand was grabbed again and she was brought closer to the fireplace. "Now, do you want me to pick you up or will you be okay holding my hand?"

Harry held her mother's hand tight as they Flooed to Sirius and Remus'. She didn't want to look like a baby in front of the new boy.

Harry followed after her mother, still holding her hand as Lily announced their arrival from the kitchen. The fireplace roared again and her father came up behind them. They moved into the living room where Sirius, Remus and Peter were already present.

"Hello, guys!" Sirius beamed from beside a little boy. "Come meet Tom, the newest member of our family," he patted the boy's back. "Tom, this my best friend, James, his lovely wife, Lily, and their daughter, Harry."

Harry stared. The boy had dark hair, darker than her dad's. But it was way neater, brushed to the side. His clothes were also immaculate and he was sitting with his feet pressed together and his hands on his knees. He had pale skin, and lacked the chubby cheeks Harry had.

He did not appreciate all the attention he was receiving.

His scowling eyes moved from Sirius to the new family that arrived. When his gaze landed on Harry, her heart stopped and she moved to hide behind her mother's leg, feeling nervous, but maintaining eye contact. Eventually, the boy's attention turned to James, holding the huge gift box.

Sirius stood to grab the box from James with a mischievous smile. "Is this for me?"

"Of course not, you prat," James laughed, slapping his hands away and moving closer to the boy on the couch. "It's for Tom."

Harry watched Tom's eyes widen in shock at the gift he was being presented with. James smiled warmly and set it down by his feet. Tom gulped and looked to Remus for instruction.

"You can open it now if you want," Remus said, then looked at James seriously, "It's safe, right?"

"Totally safe," James reassured him, which was actually not that reassuring considering the man it was coming from.

Harry watched eagerly as Tom popped the bow off and peeled back the wrapping paper. The box was almost as tall as him so he had some trouble taking the lid off, but when he did, the sides of the box fell down to reveal a kid-sized car.

Harry gasped in delight, envious of the toy. How come she never got her own car? Sure, she had a broom, but she was slightly disappointed her father bought such a cool gift for a stranger before his own daughter.

Tom blinked at the car, gulping. His shining eyes lifted to meet James' and he uttered a quiet, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, kid," James ruffled his hair and Tom was so awestruck he didn't even bristle at his ruined hair.

"I charmed it with an Anti-Collison Charm and set the speed so it doesn't go too fast," Lily said, taking a seat with Harry on the couch.

"Guys, this is amazing!" Sirius said in awe. "You shouldn't have gotten something so—"

"It's no trouble," James waved him off. "We wanted to give Tom a nice welcome gift."

"I was going to say you shouldn't have gotten something I don't fit in—how am I supposed to ride this?" Sirius asked, sending Peter into fits of laughter and causing Remus to shake his head.

"You know, funnily enough," Lily said, raising a finger, "I think—I think—they do make adult-sized cars too. I've been telling you to get one for years."

Harry drowned the conversation out, like she usually does. Instead, her gaze was focused on Tom, who Sirius helped get in the car and drive around. Tom smiled for the first time since they arrived and Harry was getting more and more jealous by the minute.

"Cool cars are a real chick-magnet," Sirius told Tom, his eyes motioning to Harry. "With a ride like this, you can pick up any bird you want."

Tom stared blankly back at him.

"You better not be referring to my daughter as a 'bird', Padfoot," James said sternly.

"Shut up, Daddy!" Harry said. She had no idea half of what Sirius said, but the implication was clear: Tom could let her ride in the car and she wanted to do that very much! Her dad was ruining her only chance.

The adults burst into laughter at her response. Again, Harry didn't know why.

"I think she wants to ride your car," Sirius whispered to Tom, when he made no move to drive over to Harry.

"No. It's mine," Tom scowled.

"Well, yes," Sirius said, slightly taken aback. "But there is a second seat that fits another child."

"Do I have to?" Tom whined. Harry felt hurt bubbling inside her chest. Any second now, the waterworks were sure to follow.

Sirius frowned.

"He doesn't have to," Lily said quickly. "Harry's going to be fine."

Sirius ignored her and pinned Tom with a meaningful look. "If you don't, she looks like she's going to be quite upset."

Tom glanced over to Harry, who's chin was wobbling and eyes watering.

"Fine," he sighed heavily, turning the car around and driving over to the couch. Instantly, Harry's mood brightened. She hopped off the couch, barely listening to her mother's warnings, and climbed into the front seat next to Tom. Her shoulder pressed against his, her arms twisting around each other in anticipation.

"Wait, I forgot Bunny!" she cried, making Tom slam on the brakes. Sirius flicked his wand and the car reversed itself to go back to Lily, who handed Harry her stuffed animal.

"Bunny?" Tom asked in confusion. Harry nodded, shoving Bunny in his face. "That's an elephant. You do know that, right?"

Harry didn't like his condescending tone. She retracted her arm and glared at him.

"Yes, I know that," she said.

"So why would you call him Bunny?"

"Because I want to."

"But he's not a bunny. It doesn't make sense."

"He told me he wanted his name to be Bunny."

"Toys can't talk."

"Mine can."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care, just drive."

Tom's mouth pressed into a thin line, his grey eyes glaring at the girl he was forced to play with. "Fine, but if you get scared, you're getting out of the car."

"Fine," Harry tossed back. "I won't be scared, I have a broom that goes so fast—AHHHHH!" Tom slammed his foot on the accelerator, speeding them across the living room as Harry screamed, alarming the adults.

"Arresto Momentum!" Remus shouted, pointing his wand at the kids to slow the car down, before turning to Lily. "I thought you said it had a set speed!"

"It-it does!" Lily frowned in confusion, standing up. "It's not supposed to go faster than ten miles per hour! I don't know what happened!"

Regardless, she took her wand out and performed a series of charms again.

Harry glared at Tom, "Look what you did, now they're going to make it less fun."

"Me? This is your fault. You screamed."

"Only because you went so fast!"

"I didn't think you would get scared. But you did. So now you have to get off."

"No! That's not fair! I barely got to ride!"

"I don't care. It's mine. Get off."

"You're a meanie, I don't like you!" Harry yelled, hopping out of the car and taking her elephant with her as she ran to Moony and Padfoot's bedroom to cry.

After much coaxing and consoling, Harry was convinced to rejoin the others. Tom apologized to her and she accepted it, both only cooperating because the adults were watching. As soon as their backs turned, the scowls returned on the kids' faces.

For Lily, James, Sirius and Remus, having kids that are the same age could not have been a better outcome. It was just their bad luck that Tom and Harry didn't get along with each other.

Tom was too mean for her and Harry was too soft to fight back, reducing her to tears after nearly every interaction. Her crying grated Tom even more, which made him crankier.

In most aspects, Tom was a perfect child. Tidy, well-mannered and polite (to grown-ups), always went to bed on time, ate all his vegetables, etc. The only department he lacked in was his behaviour around other kids his age. At first, Sirius and Remus thought it was just Harry he didn't like. But one trip to the park proved that Tom felt he was above children. He carried himself like an accomplished business man and was only a child when it came to toys and getting into petty arguments with Harry.

Mending their relationship became a number one priority. The group of friends couldn't keep dealing with the animosity between the kids and it was making hanging out hard. One time, they decided to dump Harry and Tom off with Lily's work friend, Pandora Lovegood, to go out and celebrate Sirius' birthday. Pandora had a daughter of her own a year younger than them and she was the sweetest little girl ever.

Harry enjoyed running around the Lovegood's field with Luna, whereas Tom called her Loony and laughed when the garden snakes coiled around her and she cried. Remus apologized to Pandora profusely for Tom's behaviour when he came to pick the kids up.

It was then that Sirius and Remus decided to have a serious talk with him about how not to treat other people. Tom sat through it with his arms crossed and didn't respond once, making it hard to determine whether anything they said had any effect at all.

Frank and Alice Longbottom, a set of their close friends from Hogwarts, also had a son the same age as Harry and Tom. Little Neville wanted to throw a party for his cat's tenth birthday and his parents, having not seen their friends for a long time, decided to turn it into a big party and invite other kids.

Letting Tom loose around several kids made Sirius and Remus nervous. Especially after how he behaved at Pandora's, they were not looking forward to Tom terrorizing a whole group of kids—a group of kids whose parents were all their friends.

"He has to learn how to interact with other people his age," Remus insisted one night, hours after Tom went to bed.

"Does he?" Sirius countered. "Maybe we don't have to go at all. Let's take him to an auction or something instead, he would have a blast."

"And when he goes to Hogwarts? Then what?"

"He would probably insist on taking over the curriculum," Sirius sighed in defeat. "Why don't we keep him with the adults? He hasn't met Frank yet, I'm sure he would find his job interesting."

"He's an Auror, like you," Remus pointed out. "Tom doesn't find your job interesting."

Sirius ignored him, "You know who he would get along great with? Augusta Longbottom!"

Remus let out a shocked laugh, but quickly schooled himself.

"We can't avoid the issue. He has to learn how to behave around other kids and how to be nice to them."

"He's going to scare the other kids so they leave him alone. Then our friends are going to hate us and we will never get invited again."

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it," Remus declared.

"No, there will be no bridge—Tom is burning those bridges."

Neville Longbottom's cat's birthday turned out to be a bigger event than they expected.

Harry and Tom were used to each other by now, having been forced in each other's presence for months. The other kids, Harry didn't know too well, except for Neville. But she was happy to make new friends.

Tom was not happy. He was not happy making new friends, and he was not happy with watching Harry do it either. She was the only one he was familiar with so he stuck by her side, until she decided to run around with the other redheads. So Tom chose a nice spot under a tree to read his book.

"Tom! Tom!" Harry shouted, running across the field toward him. Tom looked up from his book and glared at her. "Come play Quest with us!" She tossed him a thin stick meant to represent a wand.

"No."

"Please! I need a partner, we don't have enough players."

"I don't care."

"Please, Tom, everyone has a partner except me!" Harry pouted. Tom sighed and stood so their faces were level. Harry smiled in victory.

"No," he repeated firmly and turned away, to find a new place.

"Why?"

"I don't like the other kids. They're too annoying."

"If you give them a chance, you'll see they're really fun to play with."

"Leave me alone. I want to read my book."

"You're so boring!" Harry yelled angrily and marched back to the others. Everyone was already paired so Harry had to play the Quest solo. It increased her chances of losing.

Quest was a scavenger hunt game. The older Weasley brothers were in charge of setting up the obstacles for the younger kids, to make it more fun. At their call, each pair ran with their list of items to find.

Harry's had a lily pad, which she thought was fitting considering her mother was a Lily. She thought it would be easy to get, but the only three lily pads were in the center of the pond and her arms were too short to reach it. A willow tree was planted right next to the pond, so Harry hung onto the leaves to reach for a lily pad. Her fingers were inches away when her grip on the leaves broke and she fell into the pond.

They were too far from the adults for anyone to see her. The other kids were running around elsewhere, too preoccupied with being the first ones to finish the game. Ron and Ginny Weasley were the closest to the pond, their heads snapped towards it the moment they heard the loud splash that sounded like a kid falling in water.

While they ran to get an adult, Tom rose from his spot under a tree and listened to where the noise was coming from. The splash was preceded by a loud scream and he'd know Harry's shrill voice anywhere. He was trying to train his ears to ignore her voice, but in this moment, he was glad he wasn't successful in doing that yet.

Dropping his book he ran towards the pond where he was sure it was Harry who fell in. His feet stopped at the edge of the pond, he looked around, no one was here yet. Unsure of what to do, Tom stared at the center of the pond. Bubbles rose to the top.

Tom took a deep breath and jumped in the pool, barely registering Sirius' shout to stop. He didn't have to look far for Harry, the pond was not so deep. Her face was frozen in paralyzing fear and had Tom not reached her first, her magic would probably have saved her and pushed her to the surface. But Tom and Harry were only five and both genuinely thought Harry would die.

Tom's hands wrapped around Harry's arms. He was not a swimmer, but he was desperate than ever to get them to the top, which is why the two shot up and out of the water like dolphins about to do a flip.

Once they were out of the water, someone levitated them.

"Harry! Oh my God, Harry!" Lily cried hysterically, clutching her daughter.

"Anapneo," Both James and Sirius said in unison, each of their wands pointed at their child. Tom's lungs were clear but Harry choked out some water. She clung to her mother, wailing, whereas Tom looked at Remus and Sirius apologetically for getting his clothes wet.

"What were you thinking?!" Remus exclaimed, dropping to his knees and gripping Tom's arms. "That was a very dangerous thing to do, Tom!"

"She was sinking," he said quietly, frowning. How was it his fault that Harry didn't think to use her magic to jump out of the water like he did? "She wasn't using her magic."

Sirius and Remus shared a confused glance.

Harry broke away from her mother after she calmed down a bit and flung her arms around Tom's neck. Tom was hailed a hero, making him the subject of the rest of the day's conversation, much to his dismay.

After the pond incident, the dynamic between Tom and Harry shifted. Somehow, she became more tolerable to him. Maybe it was because she was more inclined to listen to how he wanted to do things, or maybe it was because she viewed him as a friend and not an enemy anymore. No longer did they cry and scream and belittle and pinch each other, falling into aggravating yelling matches. The most they did now was bicker.

Tom was more amenable to visiting Harry now, so they headed over to the Potters' Manor more frequently. Harry insisted on showing Tom around the grounds and playing in the garden and riding her broom, but Tom preferred the interior of the Manor more. The had a library that he liked to sit in and pretend like he was an important man who could read all those books. Some days, when he really wasn't in the mood to play outside, Harry would sit with him and read her picture books or draw quietly. Even though she would much rather go outside, it wasn't fun being alone anymore. She preferred to stay with Tom.

He would occasionally bend to her will and do something outside his comfort zone, but only because she really wanted to.

"They're basically attached at the hip now," Lily remarked from inside the kitchen where she was having tea with Remus. From the kitchen window they could see Harry coaxing Tom to get on her broom and pressuring him to do something wild for once.

"They are," Remus responded.

"He's quite a good influence on her," Lily said, sipping her tea. "When Tom is over, he listens to everything I say. It makes Harry want to listen too. She's also using bigger words now. I don't think she knows what they mean, but she hears him say it so she does too."

Remus chuckled. "Sirius and I were worried he would never learn to get along with other kids his age."

"He's still really young," she said dismissively. "I'm sure he'll be alright by the time they start Hogwarts."

"Can I go over to Tom's?" Harry said breathlessly, tracking mud into the kitchen.

Somewhere along the line, "Moony and Padfoot's" became "Tom's".

"Did you do your homework?" Lily sighed, waving her wand to clean the mud prints.

"That's what I'm gonna do at Tom's," she said.

"Fine, but be back before eight," Lily said. "Shower before you go."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was dressed in clean clothes and, with her hair still wet, she Flooed to Tom's.

"Tom!" she yelled through the house.

"Out here!" he yelled back. Brimming with excitement, she ran out the back door to the field where he was kneeling next to a bush.

"Let me see, let me see, let me see!" she squealed, dropping to her knees next to him. Tom extended her hands, presenting her with a small snake. Harry flinched back.

"Are you scared of it?" he snorted derisively.

"No!"

"Then why'd you jump back?"

"I was just surprised," Harry insisted. To show how not scared she was, she brought a hand forward timidly. "Can I pet it?"

"Yeah."

Harry stroked the snake gently. It looked up at her and hissed. She shrieked and jumped back again, making Tom laugh.

"Stop it," Harry whined.

Tom's laughter died down and he looked behind him at the house. Sirius and Remus weren't home, but soon they'd arrive with takeout. It was Saturday and neither liked to cook on Saturday.

"I have to show you something," he said quietly. Harry picked up on his tone, her ears perked. "It's a secret, so you can't tell anyone."

"Okay," Harry breathed.

Tom pinned her with a hard look. "I mean it. It's top secret. No one can know. Not even your parents."

"Okay, I won't tell anyone," Harry promised, scooting closer.

Tom turned back to the snake, stroked it's skin and brought it closer to his face. His brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak. Instead of saying words, he started to hiss in a spitting and aggressive fashion. Harry frowned in confusion, but then the snake looked at him and hissed back.

Harry fell backwards on her bum. "Did you—"

"You promised you won't tell anyone!" Tom said urgently, sensing the uncertainty in her voice.

"I won't!" Harry insisted. "You-you can talk to snakes?"

"Yes," he said warily. "It's a trait that's more common in darker wizards. You can't tell Sirius or Remus." Or they might take me back.

"I won't tell anyone," Harry solemnly. Tom peered at her, waiting for a real reaction. "How long have you been able to do this?"

"Since always."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Why does it matter? I'm telling you now. You're the only person who knows," he said with emphasis. His anxiety was bubbling. Harry hadn't indicated what she thought of his ability. Did she think it was unnatural and freakish?

"This is… so amazing!" she squealed. He let out a soft sigh. "Tom, this is wonderful! What did you say to it? What did it say to you? Does it have a name? Is it a boy or a girl?"

One by one he answered her questions and asked if the snake had a name.

"You know, Sirius and Remus aren't going to think you're weird if you tell them," Harry told him hours later, when they sat in his room doing their homework. Lily homeschooled both of them after one year at a Muggle school didn't work out.

Tom didn't respond.

Harry looked up, concerned. "Tom."

"What?" he snapped.

"They're not going to think you're weird."

"It's not a common ability so you don't know that."

"I do know that."

"How can you know?" Tom asked, sighing.

"Well, I mean, Moony's a freaking werewolf and Sirius is alright with it! I doubt you speaking to snakes is going to top that."

Tom paused, considering this.

They found out Remus was a werewolf just after Tom's eighth birthday. Both were shocked but completely awestruck. Tom now understood why Remus had such difficulty keeping jobs despite being so well-read and skilled.

"I still don't want to tell them," Tom said quietly.

Harry shrugged and turned back to her multiplication chart.

Tom took Sirius' last name. He had the option to keep "Riddle" if he wanted, but Sirius and Remus wanted him to grow up with the Black name so he could be eligible for the Black inheritance since Sirius himself wasn't yet disinherited. However, this wasn't so easy to achieve.

"Hello, James," Tom said, walking into the kitchen where James was sitting at the table and Sirius was cooking.

"Morning, Tom," James responded. Tom looked around in confusion.

"Where's Harry?"

"It's just me today."

Tom stared back at him, as if disappointed that he didn't do his job. He walked towards the fireplace, calling out, "I'm going to see Harry."

"Hold it," Sirius said, blocking his path with a ladle. "What will you be doing?"

Tom narrowed his eyes at Sirius.

"Seeing Harry."

"Well, yes, but what are you doing? How long are you staying?"

"I don't know."

Sirius looked at him suspiciously. "Didn't you see Harry yesterday?"

"So?"

"So, isn't that enough for a bit?"

"You see James every day," Tom pointed to James.

"Almost every day."

"Whatever."

Sirius sighed. "Okay, just be back soon. I need you to pack tonight—"

"Why?" Tom demanded, tensing.

"We're going to London for a bit."

"Oh," his shoulders relaxed. Then he turned to James, "Can Harry come?"

Sirius sighed deeply while James bit back a grin. "No, sorry, lad. Harry has to stay."

"How long will we be gone?" Tom asked, turning back to Sirius.

"A week."

"A week? A whole week in London?!" he exclaimed.

"What's so crazy about that?"

They all knew going to London for a week wasn't the crazy part. The crazy part was Tom not seeing Harry for a week.

"What are we doing in London? Do I have to go?"

"Yes, you're the reason we're going," Sirius sighed deeply. "My… brother insists on fixing my relationship with my parents. So we're invited for tea. You'll be meeting my parents so please be on your best behaviour."

"I can do that," Tom said dismissively, "Why do we have to be there for a whole week?"

"Well, we thought we'd stay and look around for a while. Do some of the Muggle touristy things."

"So why can't Harry come?"

"Because Harry can't do everything with us," Sirius exasperated. "How are you not sick of her yet, I'm telling you if I have to see her face one more time—"

"Hey!" James shot a stinging hex at Sirius who dodged and laughed.

"Kidding, mate."

Tom didn't laugh. He looked like he was busy figuring out what to do for a whole week without Harry.

Tom expected Sirius' family to be… well, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. But what he found was the last thing he expected.

They were a family who liked the Dark Arts, that was for certain. Interest piqued, Tom's eyes drank in all the details of the house. He scanned the wall of decapitated house-elf heads and wondered how Sirius could have possibly come from this household. This place was more suited for the likes of Tom, not Sirius, he thought, as he noted all the snake symbols around the house.

"I'm betting everyone in your family was a Slytherin?" Tom asked.

"Right on," Sirius said uncomfortably.

"Were you?"

"Nope, I was a Gryffindor."

Tom nodded. Remus had a hand on his shoulder, he was tense too.

Sirius' brother, Regulus, greeted them first. His wife, Esme, smiled tightly at them and ushered them into the drawing room. Walburga and Orion Black were there arguing over something that they shut up about the moment they stepped inside.

"Sirius," Walburga breathed, ignoring Remus entirely. Her eyes flicked down to Tom, who at ten years old was beginning to fill into his features. He was tall for his age, his dark hair immaculate and his grey eyes striking. "My, oh my, you might as well be one of us," she said with interest, her hands tilted Tom's face up.

"Mother," Sirius said tightly. "This is Tom, our son."

Something in Tom tugged at that. Our son. He belonged. He didn't call either Remus or Sirius 'dad' or 'father', he was always allowed to call them by their names and that's what he did because they weren't his parents, they were his guardians. But they saw Tom as their own. It… felt nice.

It felt even nicer to know he could pass as a Black.

"Are you a pureblood?"

Tom glanced at Sirius.

"He's a halfblood," Sirius said. The truth was, they had no way of knowing Tom's blood status, but they heavily suspected his mother was a witch, given the statement of the Matron who took Tom in after his mother died.

"Hmm," she said, dropping her hands and stepping back from the boy to examine his posture. Tom stood poised and confident. He didn't shrink back or cower under her examination. His clothes were brand new and pressed, he styled his hair to look neat and apparently his features passed some pureblood/Black test. He was in good standing.

Orion leaned in behind his wife, his eyes narrowing as he examined Tom's grey eyes, cheekbones and straight nose.

"Are you sure you adopted him? He's not your own?" Orion asked Sirius.

"Yes, I'm positive. Believe it or not, Blacks are not the only ones with dark hair and grey eyes," Sirius exasperated.

"Does it matter what he looks like?" Esme piped. "In my opinion, it's what's inside that counts. What good are good-looks if you have no—"

"Funny, I don't remember anyone asking for your opinion," Sirius quipped. He put a hand on Tom's shoulder. "If you only invited us to critique my son, then we'll leave. He's a ten-year old boy, he's not here for an interview."

"I wouldn't try to insult his intelligence, if I were you," Remus broke his silence. "You'll just humiliate yourself."

Esme did question his intelligence again later in the evening. Tom was quick to shut her down, not just to prove himself, but to humiliate her for Remus' sake for defending him.

Though it was his idea, Regulus was tense throughout the dinner, speaking minimally. Walburga and Orion were pleasantly surprised with Tom, especially when he spoke of magical theories and his opinions on them. To Sirius' great discomfort, a lot of Tom's opinions matched his father's.

When dessert was over, they moved to the drawing room, where it was only easier for Tom to charm and impress his 'grandparents'. Sirius and Remus blended in the background as he spun sentences and sprinkled chuckles here and there. It was as if he was the same age as Orion, when he spoke to him. Sirius had to remind his father that Tom was only ten when he offered him a cigar.

It took hours for them to let Tom go. Eventually, Remus stood, clasped his hands, and announced they must leave now. Tom politely said goodbye to all of them and followed Remus out the door.

The second the door shut behind them, he said, "Merlin, you couldn't have done that sooner?"

"What?" Remus said blankly. Tom started walking down the street to the alleyway they Apparated in from.

"How much longer did you want me to talk to them? I was beginning to run out of things to say," Tom grumbled.

Sirius and Remus blinked at each other in confusion.

"We thought you liked them…"

"Seriously?" Tom deadpanned. "No wonder you ignored all the signals I sent you for the past hour."

"I don't think this is healthy," Lily said quietly, crossing her arms as she sat at the picnic table, under the shade of an umbrella. The boys, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all with her, looking at the two kids sitting near the lake alone. Tom was leaning back on his hands with his legs stretching in front of him, while Harry laid back on the grass next to him.

"It's only because it was her birthday," Sirius justified. "He didn't want to miss her birthday."

"It's more than that and you know it, Sirius," Lily tossed back.

Harry and Tom were really close. Over the years, they grew closer. Sometimes, their parents forgot just how close they were until it was time to separate them.

When Sirius and Remus decided to take Tom out to London for a week, they didn't realize how much of a problem it would be. After meeting his family, the only thing he did the whole trip was complain about when they were going back.

They've done several things to try to separate the two, and give them time away from the other, but nothing worked.

Not giving them permission to see the other didn't work. Harry got moody and upset, Tom flat out refused to accept it and went over to see Harry anyway. Giving them separate tasks to do in hopes that they'd be too occupied to care about the other, also didn't work. They either found ways to do it together, or would race to get everything out of the way to make time to see each other.

The worst measure they took was going on separate vacations. Sirius and Remus booked a vacation for their family to go to Spain the same week the Potters scheduled a trip to Italy. Tom was incredulous, continuously questioning why they didn't all go together to the same country, seeing as they all see each other all the time anyway. Harry was quiet and moping.

Keeping one away from the other was like taking their life source away. It was too late for any hope of them growing a healthy distance.

Both families had to cut their trips short because the kids whined and complained too much. Tom went as far as making a scene at the beach because he didn't want to play along the rules anymore and wanted to go home and wait for Harry. Harry showed little interest in everything her family did, bordering on hostile behaviour, as if her parents tricked her by bringing her on vacation away from Tom.

When neither couple could take it anymore, they Portkeyed back to England and Lily invited them for lunch out on the grounds of Potter Manor.

"Is it so bad?" Peter asked. "So they like to hang out? We were inseparable when we were kids."

"Yeah, but we could spend a summer away from each other over the holidays," James pointed. "They didn't last one week."

"I'm worried there's nothing we can do about it now. Why didn't we enforce some distance earlier? They're too dependent on each other now," Lily said.

The five of them watched Tom and Harry who had either fallen in the lake or pushed each other in. Both were splashing the other with water as they fought to get out.

Soon enough they were off to Hogwarts.

Since Harry was inheriting James' Invisibility Cloak, Tom got the Marauders' Map. He was the son of half of the Marauders anyway, so his claim to the Map was stronger.

In retrospect, it would make sense that Harry went to Gryffindor and Tom to Slytherin. Both her parents were Gryffindors, in fact even his parents were Gryffindors. But since Tom found out he could talk to snakes, he knew Slytherin house was the one for him.

It was still a shock, having to accept being in different houses.

"It doesn't mean anything," Harry insisted.

"It means we won't have the same common room, so we can't hang out before bed or anything. And we might be in different classes. We won't get to sit together at meal times," Tom said.

"We can still hang out any time we want! Did you forget we have the Map and the Cloak? I'm sure we'll have most of the same classes. And we can sit at each other's tables, who's going to stop us?"

They sat at each other's tables rarely. Other Gryffindors weren't too happy with a Slytherin sitting with them, and other Slytherins didn't fancy having a Gryffindor at their table either.

Luckily, most of their classes were together. Tom loved the Hogwarts library and insisted they go there a lot, while Harry preferred to go outside more. When the weather got colder, she had no choice but to be inside anyway.

To Tom, everything was normal and as it should be.

Until Christmas neared and he realized Harry made a lot of new friends in her house. There was Hermione Granger, who was an annoying swot he hated because she was competing with him for best in their year. There was the ginger, Ron Weasley, who he remembered seeing a few times at Neville's house and never really liked either. There was Neville himself, who Tom was surprised didn't end up in Hufflepuff, being afraid of his own shadow.

Point was, when Tom and Harry were not together, she was in her own common room, making new friends. Friends who didn't declare they spend the whole day inside the library. Friends who gave her the option to go down to the lake, roam the grounds, and fly their brooms on the Quidditch Pitch.

This was bad.

On the train ride back to London for Christmas, Tom was glad he had Harry all to himself again. He sat across from her in their compartment and pulled out his book, but didn't read it, hoping to offer Harry some of the liveliness and conversation she sought in her other friends to prove to her she didn't need them.

"I think I might be getting a new broom for Christmas," Harry gushed.

In their first year flying lesson, Harry impressed her head of house by catching Neville's Remembrall that Malfoy threw from a great distance. Like James, she always had the spotlight on her. Unlike James, she didn't seek it out on purpose. Tom would usually pin her with a derisive look and make a comment about the attention, but he was glad for it this time around because their flying lesson ended early and he didn't like flying.

Her father was over the moon when he heard about her becoming the youngest Seeker in a century. As a result, she was sure she was getting the new Nimbus 2000 broomstick.

"That's exciting," Tom said quietly, then paused, thinking. "Maybe… I could have a go on it?"

Tom could just as well ask for a fast broom, his family wasn't short on gold. But he never wanted one. The last broom he had was when he was seven. He rode it once and since then it's been gathering dust under his bed.

Harry's eyes widened comically.

"Yes—of course! Oh, Tom, you're gonna love it!" she exclaimed. He sat back and listened to her ramble about the features and how fun it was going to be.

See? He could be fun, he thought, reassuring himself.

Just then, the compartment door slid open and Hermione Granger wandered in, bickering with Ron Weasley. Ron sat next to Tom, struggling to contain his pet rat, not noticing the death glare he was receiving from Tom.

"What took you guys so long?" Harry asked, sitting up straighter. "Oh, Tom, I hope you don't mind, I told Hermione and Ron to come sit with us on the ride back."

Tom minded, he minded very much.

"Of course," he murmured quietly, cracking his book open.

The rest of the train ride, the entire eight hours it took to get from Hogwarts to London, was filled with their chatter. Tom didn't say a word once. Half way through, he wondered if he should just get up and find a compartment of Slytherins to sit with. They were certainly less chatty than this lot.

When the train finally rolled to a stop at King's Cross and they got off, Harry confronted Tom.

"What's wrong?" she turned to him the moment Hermione and Ron were out of earshot.

Tom adjusted the strap of his backpack. "Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?"

"If you didn't want them to sit with us, you could have just said so," she rolled her eyes. "No need to act so rude."

"Oh? So you would have told them to bugger off if I said I didn't want them there?" Say yes.

"No, of course not! That's so mean."

Tom rolled his eyes.

Their parents came into view and both were engulfed in hugs and taken home.

Christmas, which should have been a blessing because it meant no separate common rooms or pesky friends to keep them apart, was horrible. Tom made it clear what he thought about Harry's new friends, even going as far as insinuating she was replacing him. This obviously upset her greatly and she refused to talk to him until he apologized.

It didn't help that her mother, ever the voice of reason, backed her up in her decision saying Tom shouldn't dictate who she hangs out with. Though, to be fair, she did push Harry to patch things up with him. Harry came over one afternoon with a list of reasons Tom couldn't be mad at her for making friends and ground rules for maintaining their friendship. He listened but didn't stick around for a conversation, claiming that he had to get ready to go to his grandparents'.

"Grandparents?" Harry frowned in confusion. "What grandparents?"

Tom's eyes flashed in hurt and anger. Harry wished she could eat her words right back up. She grew up with Sirius in her life as her godfather and never once had he ever acknowledged his family. Harry didn't even know they existed until Tom told her about his visit.

"Wait, no! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that, I—"

"Save it. I have to go."

"Tom, I'm sorry! I forgot—"

Her apologies fell on deaf ears.

The Blacks were beginning to accept Sirius back into the family and it was all because of Tom. He had a quality about him that they favoured. When they found out he was sorted into Slytherin, they were even happier. They were beginning to see him as family, and even accept Sirius back. By being himself, he was essentially doing damage control and fixing whatever image Sirius ruined for himself.

They were invited over for dinner on Christmas Day but Sirius refused to spend the day without his real family so other arrangements had to be made. In the end, Walburga trapped him and secured a dinner, insisting they bring Tom over.

They knew all about Tom's grades, having close friends at Hogwarts who wouldn't stop singing praises about Tom Black. Sirius and Remus, once again, blended in the background as Regulus and Orion shared stories with Tom about their days as Slytherins. To their great discomfort and wariness, Tom was beginning to really get along with Sirius' family and even like them. They attributed this to him ending up in Slytherin and feeling like he doesn't fit in with a bunch of old Gryffindors. Being in separate houses has clearly driven a wedge between him and Harry, which they never thought possible.

What if it drives a wedge between them too?

On New Year's Eve—Tom's birthday—Harry and Tom made up. The adults had each talked to their kid individually, and pushed them to patch things up. Harry apologized to Tom and Tom apologized to Harry. She gave him his birthday present with a kiss on his cheek that left him trying to hide a blush. She didn't notice.

Back at Hogwarts, they were on good terms again. They sat next to each other in classes, were still Potions partners, and Harry visited the library with him occasionally. It was certainly easier to stay on top of her work with him around, rather than her Gryffindor friends. Although Hermione spent just as much time in the library as Tom, Harry found her a little annoying to be around when she was studying. Hanging out with Tom was as natural as breathing.

By second year, Tom was beginning to make some friends on his own. Not as genuine as Harry's friends. The other Slytherins talked to him because they recognized him as one of the best in their year and were naturally drawn to him.

When they returned from summer holidays for their third year, Harry noticed how popular he became among the Slytherins. Not that she didn't think or expect him to make friends too. She was happy he had other friends now because it meant he couldn't get mad at her for choosing to hang out with her friends. But she wasn't a fan of the Slytherins he chose to surround himself with.

Malfoy, for example, was probably her worst enemy. They didn't get along at all and she hated him. So to see Tom being friendly and polite… well, she felt betrayed.

"So you're telling me you're allowed to make friends with your housemates, and I'm not?" Tom asked calmly, sliding the books he didn't want back in their respective places while Harry stood behind him with her hands on her hips.

"No!" she exclaimed, promptly getting shushed by Madam Pince. "No," she hissed quietly. "Of course you can make friends… just not with Malfoy."

Tom turned back to look at her, unimpressed.

"I'll talk to who I want."

"Tom," she gaped. "You know how much I hate him!"

"I hate Granger as much as you hate Malfoy. You don't see me complaining," Tom said smoothly.

This was a lie. He complained about Hermione constantly. He never outright told Harry to stop being friends with her, but he made his opinions clear.

"Well Hermione is a nice person. Why would you even want to be friends with a git like Malfoy?"

"He is technically my cousin."

Harry bit back a response this time. The older she got, the more she learned about why Sirius ran away from home. To have them show such an interest in Tom… it made her nervous. She didn't want Tom to be related to that side of Sirius' family. She didn't want him to be related to Malfoy. But she couldn't point out the technicalities that because he was adopted he wasn't related to them, because that wasn't fair. Whatever they were, Sirius' family was Tom's family.

"So that's why you're talking to him? You want to be close with your cousin?"

"No, I don't want anything. He talks to me and I let him."

"Why? He's annoying."

"Keeping good relations with powerful families is important. It's why I let Nott talk to me too. And Zabini. Did you know his mother—"

"Hold on—powerful families?" Harry interrupted. "Since when do you care about that?"

Tom's face relaxed to an innocent look. He shrugged a shoulder.

"You're already in a powerful family, what more could you need? The Blacks have been around longer than the Malfoys."

"Malfoys are richer."

"Again, why do you—"

"It's just good to keep connections, Harry," he snapped, receiving a death glare and another shush from Madam Pince.

"We're thirteen!" Harry hissed. "What do you need connections for? Are you running for Minister of Magic?"

Tom snapped a book he was skimming through shut. His lip curled in distaste. "You don't get it! I don't expect you to get it. You're happy-go-lucky Harry—skipping along with your friends and flying your brooms and having fun and making memories and whatever other corny things you do in the name of friendship. Just accept that we're not the same, we don't think the same."

Harry blinked back at him in surprise. Tom schooled his features into a neutral look and opened his book again, looking for the passage he needed earlier. Harry hung back, hurt bubbling inside her as she wondered how to respond to that.

"If I was in Slytherin, we wouldn't be having this argument," Harry said quietly.

"Yes, exactly," Tom sighed in relief that she understood. Harry's eyes widened in shock. She hadn't meant to imply that she longed to be a Slytherin.

"Well, sorry I'm a Gryffindor and therefore not good enough for you," she mumbled, picking up her bag and walking away. Tom watched her leave, getting the sense that she expected him to follow after her, that he said something wrong. But he didn't move.

Things weren't better between them for a while. Tom was never the chattier one of the two so he waited for Harry to break the silence.

She didn't. She was just as stubborn.

Tom knew a line was crossed when Malfoy called Granger a Mudblood and Harry defended her only for him to ridicule her for having a Mudblood mother and a stinging silence followed.

"Must you go about spewing bigoted nonsense all the time?" he hissed to Malfoy after they were alone.

"What? Don't tell me you're a Muggle-lover, too!"

"What I am is not an idiot," Tom rolled his eyes. "You're embarrassing me."

This stunned Malfoy into silence. "I—I am embarrassing you?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes. With your great ego and incessant need to prove yourself better than Granger. What is it? Do you have a crush on her? Are you insecure that she's a better student than you?"

"What—no! It's nothing like that!" Malfoy sputtered, scandalized.

"Then stop continuously bringing attention to you and her," Tom demanded. He paused, looking up at Malfoy with a serious look. "Some might start to think that you do like her. It would spread around Hogwarts like wildfire. Everyone here loves gossip."

Malfoy stared angrily at Tom's retreating form.

It was hard for Tom to track down Harry. She was hard to catch in the Great Hall and she stopped sitting with Tom in classes. She was avoiding him and the thought hurt more than it should have.

Tom knew that this feud would be temporary, that things will go back to normal with them eventually. But still, Harry rejecting him was a hard pill to swallow.

"Harry," Tom whispered, catching her off guard on a trip to the kitchens. He had the Marauder's Map open and when he saw her making her way down the castle in the middle of the night, he knew Harry well enough to know it was for a snack.

She stayed silent.

"Harry, knock it off, I know you're here," he said impatiently, hand waving through the air. He hit a soft surface and immediately stopped, rubbing her shoulder where he accidentally hit too hard. "Sorry."

With a huff, she pulled the Invisibility Cloak off her.

"What do you want, Tom?" she asked tiredly. Tom's hand didn't leave her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

She watched him closely, assessing his sincerity.

"I talked to him. He was an idiot for saying those things. I made it clear he couldn't go on saying nonsense like that," Tom stated.

This was evidently more than Harry expected from him. Her anger dripped away and she relaxed around him.

"He's a right git," she muttered.

"I know," Tom agreed, hand sliding off her shoulder.

"Hermione is infinitely better than him."

"You know how I feel about Granger, but sure, I'll agree," he said with a playful roll of his eyes.

"You don't agree with him?" she asked quietly, just to make sure.

"Of course not!" he scowled. "Anyone with half a brain knows Granger understands magic better than Malfoy ever could. And you're not implying that I think your mother is inferior? She practically raised me!"

Lily was the closest thing he'd ever get to a mother, he thought.

"You're right, I'm so sorry," Harry shook her head, feeling stupid.

She looked up at Tom again and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands locked around her waist, drawing her closer. It was strange because despite how close they were, they didn't hug a lot. There was no need to when you saw the other every day. So this felt really nice.

They stayed that way for a few moments. Harry shifted, about to move, but Tom held onto her tighter. He wasn't ready to let go yet.

"Tom," Harry said softly, putting her hands on his shoulders.

"Hmm?"

"You have to let me go," she said with a smile.

"Why?" Tom asked, a smile of his own growing on his face. Harry smelled nice, Harry was comfortable, Harry was familiar. He didn't want to let this go.

"We've been like this for a few minutes now," she noted, though she didn't make an effort to pull away anymore.

"So? I missed you."

"I'm hungry," she said eventually. Her statement was punctuated by a loud growl from her stomach. Tom pulled away and looked down at her in amusement.

"Merlin, woman, did you even have dinner?" he asked. His hand grabbed hers and he walked with her to the kitchens. Harry was all too happy to be dragged along by him, leaning into his figure and smiling up at him.

"Yes, but not much. I'm hungry again. Couldn't sleep."

When they were alone together, other worries melted away. Tom snickered at the way Harry inhaled her food, adding a healthy dose of sarcasm and gentle bullying as was usual for him. Harry rolled her eyes, quick to retort back. They fell into their normal routine and when it was time to leave, neither wanted to go.

"I wish our dorms weren't so far away," Harry sighed, knowing that just outside the kitchens, they'll go in separate directions. Her, to the seventh floor, and him to the dungeons.

"See, when I said that, you got all upset at me. So I'm not really sure how to respond," Tom said.

"What? When did you say that? I didn't get upset at you."

"When I said I wished you were in Slytherin," Tom reminded her.

Harry rolled her eyes. "Because I know you don't like that I'm in Gryffindor."

"That's not true," he said. It was true. "I only wish we were in the same house."

"Whatever. I think it's better this way," she muttered.

Tom stared at her unblinkingly, deciphering what she could mean by that. Harry caught his intense stare and clarified, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Tom let out a soft chuckle.

"We never needed absence to grow fonder," he pointed out.

"But it works, doesn't it? I'm fonder of you already," she grinned. Tom met her eyes with a small smile dancing on his lips. He shook his and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"I bet I could sneak you into my dorm," he said.

"You can't," Harry countered.

"Why not?"

"We'll get caught!"

"So that's what makes it exciting," he said slowly. "But we won't get caught. I have the Map and you have the Cloak. We're invincible."

"Tom, seriously. If any of the boys in your dorm saw me… who knows what they'd think!"

Tom was already dragging her down the stairs to the dungeons. "Everyone is asleep. Just put on the Cloak and no one will know."

"You realize we're already breaking so many rules being out of bed?" Harry complained. "Then, not only are you smuggling me into a common room I shouldn't be in, but you're taking me to your dorm! A boys' dorm!"

"Sirius would be really disappointed if I followed every rule. So would your father. Relax, Harry. We're only making our dads proud. This is an excellent use of the Map and the Cloak," he beamed.

"You're a terrible influence," Harry shook her head. Her arguments were half-hearted at best. This is the closest she'd been to Tom in a long time and if he thought he could sneak her into his dorm, she was not going to pass up the chance.

"Put it on," he whispered when they reached the bottom of the stairs and he looked both ways into the corridor. Harry wrapped the Cloak over herself and followed him to the Slytherin common room.

It was eerie and silent inside, not a single soul in sight. The room was dark and bathed in greenish light coming from the windows looking into the bottom of the lake. Harry gulped and sped up to stay close to Tom as he ascended a set of stairs before reaching a long hallway. Eight doors down to the left was his dorm. He opened the door quietly. Harry peaked in behind him to see all the boys' bed curtains were closed and slowly took her Cloak off.

Tom didn't bother to hide as he changed into his pyjamas, not that Harry even noticed he was changing. She was too busy examining the room and the desk that was clearly Tom's.

"Do you need clothes?" Tom whispered in the dark. Harry glanced down at her outfit. Her shirt was comfortable enough, but she couldn't sleep in jeans.

"Maybe some comfier trousers?"

He tossed her a pair of sweatpants. Unlike him, she headed to the bathroom to change. When she emerged, Tom's curtains were drawn as well, save for the crack in the middle he left open for her. Harry slid under the duvet on the left side and turned to face him. Tom waved his wand to close the curtain and muttered a few other spells she didn't know.

"What was that?" Harry asked, lifting her head from her pillow.

"Privacy charms," he spoke a little louder. "You can scream and the boys won't hear."

"Well, here's to hoping tonight's not the night you try to kill me in my sleep," she joked. Tom pulled the duvet over his shoulders and grinned at her.

"I wasn't planning on it but it does sound like a brilliant idea. Maybe I can finally have some peace in my life," he said.

Harry shoved him before snuggling deeper into her pillow. "Your pillows are softer than mine, that's not fair."

"Another reason you deserved to be in Slytherin and not Gryffindor."

"Oh, don't start with that again."

For the next twenty minutes they bickered over which house was better. Then they argued about their performance in certain classes. Then Harry shared gossip that Tom liked to pretend he was too cool to care about, but she knew that he liked knowing other people's secrets.

Sometime around three in the morning, Tom's eyelids began drooping so Harry stopped talking and let him sleep. His breathing evened out, relaxing her into sleep as well.

Harry was surprised that Malfoy apparently listened to Tom because he stopped finding every opportunity he could to verbally harass Hermione. After she noticed this, she began noticing other things too. Like how the other Slytherins shut up and gave him their full attention anytime he spoke. Or how they constantly sought his opinion and approval. His allure drew in people from other houses as well.

She didn't know how she felt about this. It wasn't that she was suspicious of him—Tom could do no wrong in her eyes. It was the attention he was gathering from other people that made her green. Tom easily being the most handsome boy in their year did not help.

Harry eyed Daphne Greengrass swooning as he walked past her and her friends down the Slytherin table.

"Be right back," Harry announced to Ron and Hermione, leaving her food abandoned to saunter across the Great Hall.

By now everyone was used to Tom and Harry sitting at the other's table. It wasn't a problem because they didn't make it a regular occurrence and only stayed for a few minutes. McGonagall didn't bat an eye any time she saw Tom sitting with Harry.

"In my experience, you can never keep a Potter away from a Black. It's easier to just leave them be, they'll cause less trouble this way," she told Professor Sprout.

Tom was flipping through his book, bored of the conversation around him when Harry neared the table. Her jealousy soothed when she moved past Daphne Greengrass, knowing she was at least able to sit next to Tom rather than admire him from afar.

"Hey," Harry said, plopping down next to Tom.

"Hey," he echoed back, closing his book to give her his attention. "Did you do your Charms homework?"

"Oh, no," Harry groaned, dropping her forehead in her palm. "I knew I forgot something! You said it was due today?"

She ignored the look of pure loathing she was receiving from Malfoy for sitting across from him.

"Yes, but I lied. It's actually due tomorrow. And now you have time to do it," Tom smirked.

Harry slid her arm through his. "Will you help me with it?" she asked hopefully.

He let out a long-suffering sigh. "I'll proofread for you, but I'm not going to help you research," he stated, adding chips to his plate. Harry liked them more than he did.

"Thank you!" she beamed, taking one of the chips from his plate and plopping it in her mouth. "Are you coming to the Quidditch match?"

Tom frowned, "I didn't know you were playing this week—"

"I'm not. It's Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff."

"Then why the hell would I go?" he snorted. There was a clear divide down the middle of his plate where Harry's chips were and his healthier food.

"It'll be fun!"

"No, thanks."

"Spoilsport," she muttered, finishing the chips and detaching herself from him. "Okay, see you in class."

"You missed one," he pointed to the lone chip on his plate.

Harry's face puckered in disgust. "It touched the broccoli."

Tom rolled his eyes and watched her leave, eating the last chip himself. The conversation around him resumed and he was once again bored so he continued reading his book.

A week after her fourteenth birthday, they kissed for the first time. Harry would say it caught her by surprise, and not just because she was talking when Tom leaned across her body sprawled out by the lake and pressed his lips to hers. She would say it caught her by surprise but ultimately it didn't. Her and Tom did everything together. They were always together. It made sense to her that her first kiss would belong to him too. She wouldn't have wanted it any other way either. Dean Thomas tried to kiss her at a Gryffindor Quidditch party last June and she accidentally slapped his face in an effort to get away from a pair of lips that weren't Tom's. (She thinks she will spend a whole year apologizing to Dean).

"Finally," she whispered when Tom pulled away to gauge her reaction. Harry sat up and pressed another kiss to his lips. "Nearly everyone's had their first kiss except me." At this, Tom smirked. "Don't get cocky—Dean Thomas tried to kiss me."

Tom's smile dropped. "He what?"

"He didn't though," she assured him, bringing their lips together again. "This is nice."

He mumbled a response against her lips that she couldn't make out.

The second time they kissed was two weeks later. Harry planned to meet up with Hermione, Ron and Ron's sister Ginny in Diagon Alley so they can all get their school supplies.

"Tom, stop moping around," Harry huffed as she double checked her side purse to ensure she had everything she needed. Tom was sitting in her kitchen grumbling about not being allowed to come despite needing school supplies too. "I told you you couldn't come last week and you were fine with it then."

"That was then, I'm a different person now."

"You're a whiny person now."

"Harry," her mother called, coming into the kitchen with an apologetic look. "Your father can't take you anymore, I'm so sorry—"

"What?" Harry exclaimed. It took too long to set a date she can hang out with her friends so they can all be free. No one's parents except her father were free and now he couldn't come. "We can just go alone—"

"For the last time, no," Lily said firmly. "I will not explain to the other parents why we suddenly let you roam around London on your own."

"Then can't you go with us?" Harry pleaded.

"I can't, I'm sorry, Pandora's coming over we have work things to discuss."

"Sirius?"

"He's busy with your father."

"Maybe one of Ron's brothers can go with us," Harry thought out loud.

"Well, actually I already asked Remus and he cleared his schedule to take you lot."

"Really?" Harry beamed.

"Yes, he'll be here any minute."

Remus Flooed into their kitchen and Harry thanked him profusely for taking time out of his day so she can make her plans.

Tom cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Father," he said in his most polite voice. Harry sensed where this was going and pinned him with a glare. "Since you are going to Diagon Alley, could you pick up my school things? In fact—and this seems like a better idea—why don't I just tag along? We might as well get it out of the way."

"Of course you're coming along," Remus chuckled, completely missing Harry's deadpan look.

"Excellent," Tom grinned. "I'll just grab my list."

"No need, we can look off of Harry's," Remus said. "Let's go, kids."

Tom smirked at Harry victoriously as he passed by her to Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

Ron and Hermione were a little put off when they saw Tom with Harry. They knew he didn't like them and Harry had promised Tom wouldn't come so they could all enjoy themselves without his judgmental and sarcastic quips every three minutes. Tom, for his part, was enjoying having crashed Harry's plans way too much.

As predicted, Tom and Hermione got into several arguments over topics too boring for anyone else to care about except Remus. Hermione quickly took a liking to Remus, probably because he was telling Tom off for being rude to her.

They bumped into Neville and his father at Florean's Ice Cream Parlour. Remus and Frank were all too happy to get a separate table for the kids while they sat alone and caught up.

"You guys are still coming over to my house, right?" Harry asked while Tom left to get more napkins. "Neville, you should come, too. My mum is friends with Luna Lovegood's mum and she's coming over, so Luna might be at my house."

"Loony Lovegood?" Ron squawked. Harry sighed. Unfortunately, the stupid nickname Tom came up with for the poor girl has stuck.

"Don't call her that," Harry warned.

"I like Luna Lovegood, she's fun," Ginny said. Harry knew Ginny also liked Tom, she was not very good at hiding her crush. And she knew that Luna had forgiven Tom for the nickname and whatever else he did in the past when he was a demon child. She liked him, too.

Harry's revenge was turning this event around on him.

"Perfect," Harry beamed. Tom returned with the napkins and twenty minutes later, Remus was taking them back to the Potters' Manor to stay with Lily.

"Thank you so much, Remus," Lily said, kissing his cheek. "Tom's staying with us, right?"

Tom's head lifted in alarm. "We're not going home?" he asked Remus.

"No, I'm going back to work."

"I have to stay here?"

"I mean, no one's home…" Remus frowned.

"That's okay! I don't mind staying home alone," Tom said quickly, hurrying to the fireplace but Harry dragged him back by the arm.

"Oh, no, you're not leaving! How could we possibly let you stay home all alone when you have friends here and my mum's food and—"

"Harry, let me go," he muttered urgently.

"Harry's right," Lily insisted. "There's no way I'm letting him sit in that house all alone. Come Tom, I'll make you some strawberry lemonade the way you like."

It was laughably easy to drag Tom into activities he hated.

After they all had tea, Pandora and Lily went downstairs to the basement where the Potion experimenting happened and the kids had free reign over the house.

Letting Ginny and Luna decide what games they play ensured Tom would hate it.

"We can play Truth or Dare," Hermione suggested.

"Sure! How do you play?" Luna asked.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you choose to say a Truth or do a Dare," Ron said.

"Correct," Hermione said, pointing at Ron.

"Isn't there a Muggle game where you spin a bottle and kiss who it lands on—why don't we play that?" Ginny said, with a furtive look at Tom.

"Ooh, yes, we can play that!" Luna smiled.

Tom's jaw clenched. Harry knew any second now he was at risk of breaking the 'no magic outside of school' law and hex them all.

"That's a little too much, I don't think we should do that," Harry interrupted. "Let's stick with Truth or Dare."

"We can spin the bottle to decide who's turn it will be!" Ginny added.

"Okay, fine, whatever," Harry acquiesced. She asked their house-elf to bring a bottle because she was sure if she rose from her spot next to Tom, either Ginny or Luna were going to take it and then Tom would blow up the house.

The Truths were funny, and some of the Dares were hard but doable. Ginny seemed to be waiting for someone to dare her to kiss Tom because Tom chose Truth each time, not giving her the option to dare it herself. But no one did and she was getting a little frustrated.

Harry and Hermione shared a private smile when Ginny spun the bottle and it landed on Tom for the fifth time—and he still chose Truth.

"Is it true you secretly hate Harry?" Ginny demanded.

"Yes," Tom answered without hesitation. Harry scoffed and slapped his arm. "One hundred percent true."

Tom leaned into the circle to spin the bottle and it landed on Hermione. "Truth or Dare?" he asked disinterestedly.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Dare."

"I dare you to sit in the lake for the next," he checked his watch to see how many hours were left until he could go home, "three hours."

Everyone laughed in surprise, except Hermione. "Seriously? You can't do that!"

"Tom, you can't do that," Harry agreed, still smiling a little. "You can't make her do anything that can hurt her."

"Fine, then… I dare you to run up and down the hallway three times—"

Hermione sighed in relief and stood up.

"—and shout 'I wish I was as smart as Tom'."

"What?!" Hermione shrieked.

"You heard me," Tom leaned back on his hands with a smirk on his face. "Or will you back down?"

The price of backing down from someone's dare meant you owed them three more dares spread across the next month. Term started again next week and Hermione did not want to owe Tom anything that could jeopardize her reputation.

The rest of them watched eagerly as Hermione slowly walked outside the room, as if each step pained her. The door to their room shut and fifteen seconds later they heard Hermione's feet running down the hall shouting, "I wish I was as smart as Tom!" repeatedly.

None of them could contain their laughter. Harry fell over backwards and started to choke from how hard she was laughing. When Hermione returned, her face as red as Harry's hair, they all scrambled to hide their giggles. Only Tom met her gaze with a self-satisfied smirk.

And then the most wonderful thing happened.

Hermione spun the bottle and it landed on Tom.

Tom's eyes widened as half of them gasped out loud, Harry included. She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Truth! I pick truth!" Tom said quickly, before Hermione could even ask.

"Tom, you can't," Harry whispered, half in horror, half in utter glee. "You chose five consecutive Truths, that means for this turn you have to choose Dare or you will owe Hermione a dare every day for five consecutive days!"

Tom's already pale face lost all colour entirely. "Who the fuck made up these rules?!"

"Hey, don't blame the rules. You agreed to them," Luna said quietly.

Tom had murder in his eyes. He couldn't bear to meet Hermione's probably extremely sadistic face.

"I guess I have no choice…" he whispered. "… Dare."

Hermione clapped her hands together once in excitement and sat up straight. "Okay, I dare you… for at least ten seconds… to kiss…"

Tom's face blanched. He had chosen all those Truths to avoid having to kiss anyone, though he didn't think any of them wanted to kiss him except Ginny. Now Ginny looked like her opportunity came up and she sat up eagerly, waiting for her name to escape Hermione's lips. Luna was also watching attentively.

Hermione's eyes roved the circle, looking for the person Tom would hate to kiss the most. At the same time, all the boys realized that Hermione had the power to choose any one of them. And then knowing Hermione, she would never let Tom live it down.

Tom pursed his lips and glared at Hermione, waiting for her to rip the bandaid and announce who he had to lock lips with for a minimum of ten whole seconds.

"Come on, Hermione, stop dragging it out!" Ron grumbled.

"Tom, for at least ten seconds, I dare you to kiss… Harry!"

Tom's shoulders sagged in relief, the momentary panic leaving his body, while Harry's face dropped in disappointment.

"Hermione!" she exclaimed. She had the perfect opportunity to embarrass Tom and choose Ginny who would probably never let him go, but she chose her? Ginny herself looked utterly betrayed by Hermione.

"Sorry, Harry, but this is Tom's dare and he has to do it. Unless he wants to back down?" Hermione said to him smugly.

"Hell, no," Tom scoffed. The others watched in confusion and slight disgust as Tom, without hesitation, turned to put his hands on Harry's cheeks and brought her face to his.

This would be their second kiss, and considering how well they liked the first, it was easy to get immersed in it again. So easy that they didn't even know they exceeded ten seconds until Ron threw a pillow at them.

"Oi! Cut it out, that's enough!" he shouted, miming a gag.

Harry and Tom pulled away as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, because to them it hadn't. The others waited for a reaction or explanation, from either of them. All they got was Harry picking up the pillow and hugging it to herself as she watched Tom lean forward and spin the bottle.

Fourth year started out as regular as any other year. The only difference? Harry was getting needier with Tom. And Tom, well, he wasn't doing anything to prevent this or push her away.

They were around each other more. They were always touching in one way or another, whether it be the brush of their elbows, or their hands knocking.

Harry was at the Gryffindor table eating her soup one afternoon when a warm hand on her back caught her attention. Smiling she looked up to meet Tom's eyes, looking down at her. He bent his head to whisper something in her ear. She listened attentively before nodding. Tom lightly tugged on a lock of her hair before walking away.

Harry turned back and belatedly noticed that Hermione had stopped talking and both her and Ron were watching Tom leave.

"Tell me something," Ron began, biting into a long chip. "What's your relationship with him exactly?"

"What? What do you mean? I've always been friends with Tom," Harry frowned, taking a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"Yeah, I know that. I know you two grew up together and whatever, but… aren't you like family?"

Harry choked and spat out her juice.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "You mean like siblings or cousins?"

"That's what we thought," Ron admitted, his face turning a little red. He looked to Hermione for help.

"Why would you think that?" Harry gaped. "What the hell gave you that impression?"

"You grew up together…" Hermione said.

"So?"

"Your parents are really close. Don't you consider his parents your uncles?"

"Our parents are best friends not actually family! Tom and I are best friends—not actually family!"

"Alright!" Hermione mumbled. "It's just you two were so close that all these years we thought you were like family. Especially when you told us he was over at your house like every day."

Harry shuddered at the idea of Tom being perceived like her brother. Never once had she ever thought of him like that. He was Tom, her best friend. If anything she saw him more like a boyfriend. Perhaps Harry should have told Hermione and Ron about the time they were seven and tried to get married at her house.

"Hang on," Harry voiced, a thought occurring to her. She looked up at Hermione. "Is this why you dared him to kiss me? You thought he was like my brother and you wanted me to kiss him? You're sick, Hermione!"

Hermione's face turned a deep scarlet. "No—no! I mean, kind of, but no! I only wanted him to feel repulsed enough to back out of the dare so I can have my five dares."

"And I'm repulsive to kiss?" Harry hissed, feeling all kinds of offended.

"NO!" Hermione was panicking as she tried to correct the situation. "I thought you two would see each other as too close to want to go through with it, not because you're repulsive!"

"Whatever, I'm too grossed out to have this conversation anymore. Thanks for ruining my appetite, guys, I didn't think it was possible."

Harry left her soup abandoned and walked across the Great Hall while Ron snickered at Hermione for royally butchering that conversation.

"You alright?" Tom asked when Harry sat next to him. She was close enough that their arms and legs were touching.

"Yeah, why?"

Tom offered her a chip but she shook her head.

"You look like you're going to be sick. What happened?"

"Trust me," Harry said, meeting his gaze. "You don't want to know."

"Granger, you're sick! What the hell is wrong with you?" Tom spat as he passed her table in Potions class right after lunch. Hermione dropped her head on her table, too embarrassed to look up or offer an explanation.

"What did she do?" Malfoy asked eagerly from the Slytherin side of the room.

"None of your business, you prat!" Harry shouted. She would not have Hermione ridiculed in front of the Slytherins, especially in Snape's class for a simple misunderstanding. "I told you not to say anything," she hissed to Tom.

"I couldn't help it," Tom said innocently sliding into his seat at their table. Harry sat beside him. In the middle of the classroom, he was closer to the Slytherin side and she was closer to the Gryffindor side.

"Why did you have to tell him?" Hermione whispered in despair.

Harry shrugged apologetically. She told Tom everything, she couldn't help it!

"And for your information, Black," Hermione said louder, half rising from her seat to point at herself, Ron and Neville. "We all thought!"

Tom's face twisted in disgust. He turned to Harry, "And they just sat there and watched?" he said only quiet enough for her to hear.

Harry, who was equally as disturbed, said, "Please can we just never talk about this again?"

Snape started the lesson moments later, leaving anyone else who heard the conversation mystified.

Weeks later, Harry found herself tossing and turning for two hours in bed. Sleep was futile.

She pulled her bed curtains apart, slipped her feet into her slippers and grabbed her Cloak and wand. As she descended the moving staircase and reached the ground floor of the castle, only to go even lower, she regretted not donning a dressing gown or warm sweater. It was extremely cold in the castle, especially at two in the morning.

"Ouroboros," Harry whispered outside the Slytherin common room. Her Cloak was still on but luckily no one was around to see the door let in someone invisible. Harry climbed up the boys' staircase and tiptoed to Tom's room, breathing a soft sigh of relief that everyone inside was also asleep with their curtains drawn.

Carefully, she kneeled on Tom's bed, letting the drape close behind her. Harry sat back on her feet and shook Tom gently.

"Tom," she whispered. "Tom."

He scowled before his eyes fluttered open, taking her in. "Harry? What happened?" He rubbed his eyes.

"I can't sleep."

Tom let his eyes shut again as he moved back in his bed and tried to pull his covers back. After a few attempts he realized he couldn't because Harry was sitting on it.

"Well, get in," he said.

Harry slid under the covers, bringing it up to her shoulders and basking in the warmth of Tom and Tom's bed. His leg brushed against her and his eyes flew open.

"Merlin, you're cold," he stated. Instead of recoiling, he ran his hands up her freezing arms and pulled her in closer to his body heat. Harry couldn't resist the smile and sigh of content that escaped her. She snaked her arms around his waist, leaving her head to rest against his chest. Within moments, her breathing evened out and she was asleep.

The entirety of fourth year was spent with them sneaking around.

Harry only visited his dorm one other time. Mostly, they met up in private around the castle usually just before curfew. The Map helped them find secluded areas, the Cloak helped conceal them.

A few times they made spontaneous trips to Hogsmeade and one night, they actually spent the whole night in the Shrieking Shack (after tidying it up with basic cleaning charms). Nothing happened during the night of course, they just talked and then slept, but it was needed. Over the Christmas holiday, when they went home, it became clear that they could no longer get away with sleepovers. They were much too old for them. Instead, they got a new rule of keeping the door open whenever they were in their rooms together. Neither argued the new rule to give off the false impression that they had nothing to hide.

Their friends didn't know what was going on between them. Harry's friends were too scared to ask in case they misinterpreted their relationship again.

Behind closed doors, Harry and Tom basked in this new closeness in their relationship. The teasing, the flirting, the kissing, the touching. Like everything else, this was theirs and both were too possessive to let other people in on the secret. They didn't want to let go of their privacy and have to hear other people's input.

You're too young to be dating.

You're too close.

Shouldn't you spend some time away from each other?

This isn't healthy.

Nobody understood them except themselves.