With love, Harry
Summary:
In which Harry goes back in time, adopts his arch nemesis and pulls one infamous Dark Lord into his madness somewhere along the way.
"Surprise! Tom, meet your grandfather!"
"Harry. That's Gellert Grindelwald."
"I know. Isn't it exciting!? And he'll be tutoring you to be the greatest Dark Lord ever!"
"What?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is the boss of it all.
Warning: Grammar, perhaps?
A/N: Onward to Hogwarts!
Eleven
Harry gave a long drawn sigh as he shut Tom's trunk.
"Harry, if this is too tiring for you, I can do it myse—"
"Oh no, Tom!" Harry hurriedly exclaimed. "Your papa isn't tired because of this! I'm perfectly fine."
Tom furrowed his brows. "I think you should retire early to bed tonight."
"I am not tired." Harry laughed, coming over to where Tom had just neatly piled a few of books he wanted to take along with him. "I promise I'm fine, okay?"
(He really wasn't tired! It was just the aftermath of the whole Durmstrang incident that made him worry a tad bit too much over a lot of things and that in turn made him sigh a lot lately!)
"Alright." Tom seemed hesitant.
"Are you going to take all of these?" Harry asked as he patted the books.
"Yes." He nodded. "And a few more books which I might ask to be sent over through an owl somewhere later into the term." Tom added in an afterthought. "That is, if you're okay with it—"
"Tom, it's okay. Stop asking me, I've already told you several times." Harry huffed, reaching out to ruffle his son's hair. "This is your home too."
This time, much to Harry's surprise, the boy didn't push his hand away or make a face at his affection.
Instead, Tom leaned into Harry's touch on his own accord.
Harry suddenly felt a strong emotion bubbling up in him. "I'm going to miss you so much, Tommy." He felt his smile wobble.
"Harry, I'm only going to Hogwarts for my education, not on a faraway trip. And besides, I'll be back for the winter and summer holidays." Tom softly reminded him. "I won't be gone forever."
"I know." Harry replied, unable to keep the gloom from his tone. "But still..."
Tom pondered for a moment before hesitantly reaching out and pulling Harry into a hug, his arms awkwardly wrapping around the other. Harry was stunned for a moment before immediately returning it, giddy with the fact that this was the first time after all those years Tom had actually initiated an open act of affection towards him.
"I'll miss you too, Harry."
"You're growing up so fast." Harry complained with a shaky voice as he buried his face in his son's soft hair. "Merlin, I'm being comforted by a child."
"Septhis did say I'm more of an adult than you." Tom muttered.
"You should stop listening to what Septhis has to say. I'm your father, not him." Harry replied. He tightened his grip around his son. "Let's just stay like this a little longer, like, uhm, let's say this is three months' worth of a hug since you're leaving tomorrow."
"Honestly, you're very childish sometimes." Tom told him with a fond sigh. "Fine, three months' worth of a hug."
"Good boy."
Later that evening, Septhis stopped by the little Dark Lord's room in search of his master who had disappeared after dinner.
"Harry?" He raised a brow at the boy who was doing a final check of his luggage.
"Sleeping." Tom replied, head lightly cocking to the side in the direction of his bed as he continued checking things off his list.
Harry lay curled up on one corner of the bed, already sound asleep. Septhis sighed as he walked over to the bed and properly adjusted the blanket over his master. "This is why you wake up cold in the mornings." Septhis rolled his eyes when Harry stubbornly stuck his leg out of the blanket in his sleep.
He flicked his master on the forehead, eliciting a mumble of protest from the sleeping man and a sharp glare from Tom.
"Make sure he's tucked in properly before you sleep." Septhis said as he made his way out of the room. He paused. "And rest early. You have a long journey tomorrow."
"I know that." Tom replied, sounding irritated.
Septhis snorted. "Goodnight."
"Actually," Tom spoke up before trailing off, stopping the man in his tracks.
"Actually?"
Tom looked the other in the eye with a rather serious expression, eyes hardened with determination over whatever it was that he was about to ask of Septhis. "I want you to do something for me."
Abraxas Septimus Malfoy couldn't help but stare at the very tall and pale man that stood beside Harry Mortimer and his ward (and Malfoy's new friend) Tom Riddle. Said man had jet black hair that was neatly slid back, a sharp nose and eyes that Abraxas could only liken to the darkness of the night; the man had a very unearthly appearance.
And said man was also staring right back at him, an eyebrow raised in question.
Abraxas quickly withdrew his gaze and shook his head, a chill running up his spine. He hadn't meant to be caught staring at the man! Merlin, his mother would gut him alive if she had learned of his behaviour!
But thankfully, she was rather distracted with greeting the Mortimer family and the pale man who they'd coincidentally met the moment they stepped into Platform 9¾.
"Lord Mortimer." Lady Malfoy greeted with a pleased smile.
"Ah, Lady Malfoy." Harry returned the smile with a bright grin of his as he stretched out a hand. "Please, just call me Harry, no need for all the formalities."
Lady Malfoy laughed. "Then I must have you call me by my name as well."
"I could never!" Harry looked partially horrified at the thought of having to address the woman before him (Draco Malfoy's grandmother for Merlin's sake!) by her maiden name.
As the two animatedly caught up with each other, Abraxas hesitantly approached Tom who seemed more interested in his surroundings that what was actually going on in front of him. "Hello, we meet again."
Tom rested his sharp gaze upon the blond haired boy. "Hello."
"Where's your luggage?" Abraxas blurted, having nothing better to talk about in the moment of brief and awkward silence that ensued after his greeting.
"I charmed it to fit into my pocket." Tom replied, surprisingly indulging the other's question.
"You can already do that?" The blond boy seemed surprised, his eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. "Mother said advanced charms are only something we learn when we're in our third year."
"It's not too hard." Tom shrugged. "One of the easiest charms I picked up since there was nothing better for me to do at home."
"That's…that's impressive."
"Well, what do we have here? Little Tommy, making a new friend." A deep voice abruptly broke off the conversation between the two. "How adorable."
It's that pale man from earlier, was what Abraxas thought.
"My godfather," Tom supplied at the slightly flustered look on Malfoy's face. "Don't bother with him. He will prove to be less of a headache that way."
But even so, the blond thought it rude to just ignore the man. He was afraid his mother would sit him through an hour's worth of lecture about being polite if she found out so he greeted the other, "Hello, I'm Abraxas Septimus Malfoy."
The pale man smiled as he stretched out his hand. "Septhis Mortimer, a pleasure meeting you."
"Ah, the pleasure's all mine." Abraxas quickly responded as he shook the other's hand in a manner he hoped wasn't too eager.
"What a polite little boy." Septhis said in an approving tone before shooting Tom a look, "Unlike a moody little someone. You should learn from him, Tommy. It would definitely do you good in that school of yours."
"I will conduct myself however I want to." Tom replied with a roll of his eyes.
"See, that attitude will land you in trouble." Septhis clicked his tongue as he shook his head. "You don't want to go about troubling your papa dearest, do you?"
The pale man's smirk was wiped clean off his face when he was suddenly smacked on the back of his head from behind. "And you Septhis, stop taunting our little Tommy on his first day of school." Harry huffed before apologizing to Lady Malfoy who stood beside him, "sorry about that."
"This is?" Lady Malfoy gave Septhis a sweeping glance in curiosity.
"Ah, right. This is Septhis Mortimer. I did mention him a couple of times? I'm not the only one who looks after Tommy," Harry replied, "I don't quite like admitting it but I'm not the best when it comes to being a father, so Septhis here fills in those gaps."
"So you are…together?" Lady Malfoy asked, her voice sounding a little strange at the inquiry.
"Yes." Harry laughed, not noticing anything. "He might be quite an arse sometimes but I don't know what I would do without him being around."
Tom wore a deadpan expression on hearing his father's careless words. He resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and instead threw a glare at Septhis as though telling the pale man to clear things up before it grew to a bigger misunderstanding.
However, and as per usual, Septhis only brushed away his glare with scoff that seemed to say,
Your papa dearest dug up this pit himself so let him crawl out of it on his own.
Lady Malfoy turned to face the pale man, eyeing him in what looked like a new light. "Oh, I did not think…" she trailed off before putting on a polite smile as she greeted the man, "Rachelle Adeline Malfoy."
"It is an honour to make your acquaintance." Septhis greeted in return as he took her outstretched gloved hand, brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss against the back of it all in one smooth and elegant move. "Lady Malfoy."
A faint blush painted the woman's cheeks as she retrieved her hand. "It is also an honour to finally get to meet you, Lord Mortimer. I apologise because I might have mistaken the identity of the patriarch of your household this whole time."
Harry blinked.
Hold on. He felt something was a bit off here—
Septhis only wore a slightly smug smirk as he replied, "Oh, that's not much a problem. You don't need to apologise for something so trivial."
Tom cleared his throat and opened his mouth to correct the woman when the train's whistle blew, signalling that it was to depart soon.
"Oh dear," Lady Malfoy spoke first as she reached out to pull Abraxas towards her, "I hope you will excuse us for a few minutes. I have a couple of things to tell my son before he leaves."
"I understand." Harry waved it off. "Let us perhaps meet up again in five minutes and send them off together?"
"That is a good idea." Lady Malfoy nodded in approval.
Harry then turned to Tom and placed his hands on the boy's shoulders. The two stared into each other's eyes for a second before Harry engulfed his son in a bear's hug. "Merlin, you're really going to be leaving."
Tom tried to push himself off of the other's tight grasp because, "Harry, you're choking me."
"You must remember to write me letters daily and tell me everything, everything that happens." Harry continued, turning a deaf ear to his son. "And also, if anyone's being an arse or tries to bully you or lay a hand on you, just, just tell me. I gage to Merlin and all of charm yond I wilt cometh ov'r in an instant and whoop their pubescent buttocks so lacking valor they wend crying for their mother—"
"Harry, you're doing the Shakespearean thing again." Tom replied, giving up on the struggle and simply submitting to having the air being squeezed out of his lungs.
The green eyed youth abruptly stopped talking and sighed.
"I am terribly mine most humble apology, I cannot very much holp 't oft thee knoweth…"
"How about you just stop talking and let the boy go instead?" Septhis replied with an irritated twitch of his eye.
"Fie, now how am I supposed to converse with Lady Malfoy at which hour the lady returneth with that lady son!?" Harry gasped as he loosened his grasp on Tom.
The three of them grew quiet at the face of a new problem looming over them.
If magic had even worked as a remedy to Harry's unique problem in the first place, they wouldn't have to worry as much as they did in this moment.
"I will handle it, so you just stand there and…" Septhis instructed before pausing.
And what?
"Be emotional." Tom helpfully supplied without even blinking an eye.
The older two stared at the little Dark Lord.
"Or do you have a better suggestion?" Tom raised an elegant brow.
"That," Septhis hummed, shooting the boy an impressed look, "now that is a pretty good idea."
"So thee expect oft me to keepeth mine that from which we speaketh shut the entire time?" Harry sounded incredulous.
"Yes." Both Tom and Septhis replied simultaneously.
So by the time Lady Malfoy returned with her son in tow, Harry (after pouring out the remainder of his Shakespearean heart out to Tom, of course) was relegated to standing behind Septhis and his son while looking as emotional as possible. He even had a handkerchief in hands and reddened eyes to add to the drama.
"My apologies, Lady Malfoy," Septhis took the opportunity to speak up first, "Harry isn't quite in a condition to speak right now. You have to understand he is a sensitive soul who is very emotional over our son leaving, seeing how Tom is an only child."
Tom frowned at the pale man's choice of words. 'Our' son?
Over his dead body!
The woman nodded with a look of sympathy in her eyes. "No matter, I can completely understand." She said. "Even Lord Malfoy is a soft one. He was very much upset at having being called away from dropping off his son for an urgent matter today."
Septhis smiled. "I have heard much of him. He must be a good man."
"You must come over to the manor one of these days for dinner." Lady Malfoy courteously invited. "I am sure he would be delighted to get acquainted with your family as well, Lord Mortimer."
Harry frowned. Now wait, something was definitely off here!
"Mother, the train." Abraxas reminded.
"Ah, of course." Lady Malfoy said as she gestured for Tom to come closer. "Here, the two of you should head off quickly now before you miss the train. Abraxas, treat your new friend courteously and make sure the two of you do not starve on the journey."
"Of course, mother." The blond boy immediately replied.
"Good."
"Then I will be leaving Tommy in your care, young Malfoy." Septhis said as he shot the boy a smile. "We will be sure to compensate you for your troubles soon enough."
"Please," Abraxas spoke, "you do not have to. It is my pleasure to make sure Riddle is well settled and comfortable."
Septhis raised his brows and turned to Tom. "He is a very polite boy. I really do hope you can learn from him during your stay in Hogwarts." He then turned back to face Lady Malfoy. "You have brought him up splendidly, Lady Malfoy."
Abraxas Malfoy couldn't help but preen at the praise.
"Thank you." The boy's mother replied with a proud nod.
"Alright, let us depart then?" Tom suggested with a strained smile. Septhis really did know how to get into his nerves!
Harry could only helplessly wave his son goodbye.
Tom paused in his steps and shot him a genuinely warm smile that almost melted his heart. "I promise I will write to you daily. Take care, papa."
"Taketh care." Harry could only mouth back. "I wilt miss thee."
His red rimmed eyes were definitely not an act now.
Seeing Tom turn his back and board the Hogwarts train side by side the Malfoy boy—
"Ah," Harry expressed his annoyance when his view turned blurry and was obstructed by a certain pale man.
"You're only supposed to act emotional." Septhis sighed as he wrenched the handkerchief out of Harry's hands and roughly rubbed at the other's eyes. He leaned in closer to the youth as his voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "He is not leaving forever, you know that. He's going to be returning for the winter. I will not have you bring shame to the Mortimer name in the vicinity of all the wizards and witches present here today so stop being such a wimp and end your waterworks before I permanently seal your tear ducts."
Lady Malfoy who had waved her son goodbye turned around just in time to witness the low whispering shared between the Mortimers. She politely looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed at having witnessed something rather intimate between the parents of Tom Marvolo Riddle.
Oh, if only Lord Malfoy had come along as well to comfort her at the departure of their son.
Then maybe she wouldn't feel as awkward as she was.
Soon enough, Lord Mortimer faced her again with an apologetic look at having her wait for them. He expressed his desire to meet with her husband soon and regret at not being able to accompany her longer for a conversation since Harry was not in the best of conditions.
She could only nod and bid them farewell after making sure to get their contact information.
Then, the two left the platform closely wrapped in each other's arms.
And Lady Malfoy couldn't help but feel an ounce of envy towards them.
Well, of course she wouldn't have felt so if she had only paid better attention because rather than being 'closely wrapped in each other's arms' as she imagined the two to be— Septhis had stunned Harry immobile (before the youth could do something stupid like grab Tom back from the moving train) and mute before practically dragging him off the platform in a hurry.
He knew his master all too well.
And prevention is better than cure.
Meanwhile, on the train to Hogwarts, Tom was seated across Abraxas in a compartment the two had all for themselves.
Of course, there were a few people who initially popped in to try and ask if they could join them but with just one look from the young Malfoy heir, they were sent scampering.
Tom appreciated the silence.
The same couldn't be really said for Abraxas.
The poor blond boy continuously kept on rubbing his palms against his trousers in the most "noble" like manner he could manage. He was nervous because it had already been an hour and a half and they still hadn't even shared a proper conversation.
Much less even uttered a word.
At this rate he wouldn't even dare write to his mother about the progress in his friendship with Lord Mortimer's ward!
But he couldn't bring himself to say anything out of fear that the boy would walk out of the room because he was annoyed.
Since when did I grow into such a coward!? Abraxas could only bemoan quietly.
"Have you ever seen Hogwarts?" Tom asked, abruptly breaking the silence and startling the blond.
Abraxas was in a momentary daze before quickly snapping out of it. "Of, of course." He solemnly nodded. "But just from afar."
His father was a member of the Board of Directors at Hogwarts, as have all previous Malfoy patriarchs. So whenever Lord Malfoy had to attend a meeting or a gathering, he would bring little Abraxas along with him though the boy would usually be left with the nanny to explore the streets of Hogsmeade.
Lord Malfoy would always remind him that this was done so that Abraxas could enjoy the beauty of Hogwarts alongside all his peers when he finally attended the school at the age of eleven.
Tom hummed as he listened to Abraxas's explanation while staring out the window.
"That's nice."
There was a small smile playing on his lips much to Abraxas's surprise.
"Tell me something more about Hogwarts." Tom proposed as he turned back to face the blond haired boy.
"Sure." Abraxas blinked as he saw what seemed like an excited glint flash past Tom Riddle's dark eyes.
Well, thought Abraxas, at least we are talking now.
A/N:
This honestly took me such a long time to write. Also, hope you liked the interaction between Septhis and Harry! huhuhu
Thank you Gurgaraneth, Skywroe, Jully Reed, Perhentian, laelruin and Keze for the reviews! I really appreciate it! Love you! :')
And love to all of you who out this in your favourites and follows!
Thank you for reading/giving this a try! ^^