Tom

Voldemort, or Tom as his lover insisted on calling him, was watching said lover as the blond talked to the Lestrange brothers. He had been watching him since the night before when he made a comment about his Heir being safe. He thought about questioning him, demanding answers. But he knew Lucius, and the man would have told him any and everything, had he thought he needed.

Which meant Lucius knew something but felt it was important to keep it from him. It irritated him, but he trusted his lover, so while he wanted to order the man to tell him what he knew, he refrained. That didn't mean that he wasn't watching the man closely, trying to puzzle out the information on his own. So far, Lucius hadn't done anything that might tell him about Harry and he was finding his patience waning.

He was still watching the blond when Barty walked in carrying red and gold bags. He smirked when he saw Rod take in the bags with an eye roll while his brother glared daggers at Barty.

The younger man just waved and continued walking into the room. He quickly found a table and put the bags down. He seemed to be searching through them for something when the small kitten his followers were calling Mischief stuck its head out of Barty's robes and meowed.

The dirty blond grinned at the cat before pulling it out and gently putting it on the floor. Tom watched as the cat looked around the room. The strange little kitten stopped when it saw him, then narrowed its eyes before shaking its head and turning to look at Barty.

For some reason as he followed the cat's gaze to Barty, his young follower pulled out a small candle sized tube. He was grinning widely and Tom got the impression chaos was about to ensue.

Barty's eyes darted around the room, stopping only twice, once on him and once on the cat, who Tom swore nodded his head before he darted over and meowed at Lucius' feet. His lover gave the cat a confused look but bent down and picked him up, then he returned to his conversation.

Not three seconds later the floor rippled and disappeared, buried under what looked like black ink. Tom lifted his legs, placing them on the couch he sat on.

Then he watched as his followers noticed and started panicking. Well, panicking might have been an exaggeration. All but Luc and Barty pulled out their wands and started casting spells at the black substance, which was subtly rising. When none of their spells worked they started shouting at each other trying to figure out what was going on and if anyone knew how to fix it.

Tom almost said something, but he was amused for the time being so he let Bartemius have his fun. Summoning a small shield around him, just in case the goo rose above the couch, he looked to see how his lover was handling the strange situation.

Strangely Lucius was wrapped in a shield of his own, glaring at the cat in his arms and not Barty.

Tom watched as the cat stuck its tongue out, looking almost like it was laughing. He thought about calling Luc over and asking about it but Bella screamed and his attention was pulled elsewhere.

He chuckled as she tried to burn the goo off her skirt and legs. The fire hit the black goo, turned green and spread across the top layer of whatever it was that Barty unleashed. It never touched any of his followers – just burned for several seconds then disappeared.

An impressive piece of magic, Tom thought, wondering just what else these Weasley's were capable of.

While he was impressed, Bella seemed to have figured out this was Barty's fault because she ranted and raved as she tried to get to him. The goo must have been thick and like sand because she wasn't moving very far as she dragged her legs though it.

Barty saw her coming and grinned before dropping some kind of powder on top of the inky goo at his feet. The goo vanished, but only in front of Barty. The dirty blonde grinned at Bella, grabbed his bags and raced towards the door.

"Bartemius," he called out just loud enough to halt the younger man in his tracks. Barty looked up at him and then over at the others. Tom tried not to sigh at the pout that appeared on his follower's face. Barty seemed to have an idea because he smiled at him and pulled another handful of the powder… and levitated it through the air to him.

Amused by the action, Tom waved his own wand and brought the powder down to the area between him and the door. With a nod of his head, Barty darted out of the room.

"My Lord!" All three Lestrange cried out at the same time.

He turned to them, "Yes?"

Bella's eyes darted down to the goo and then back up to him, saying what she wouldn't with words. She was never one to admit failure even if it was from a simple prank.

He raised an eyebrow. He saw her eyes narrow and then the way she pulled herself up, standing straighter, instead of asking him for help, she pulled out her wand and started firing more spells at the black gunk, which he now noticed was to everyone's knees.

With her muttered off spells and both her husband and his brother watching her, Tom looked at Luc. His lover was moving across the room towards him, his shield clearing a path before him, which quickly disappeared as soon as he moved. Tom made a mental note that his shield would have worked had Barty not gave him the countering powder.

"Clever," he muttered as Luc reached him, and his lover gave him a satisfied smile.

"Are you going to leave them?" Luc asked looking over at the others.

"Possibly," he replied.

"And if it continues to rise?"

"I do not think it will," he said, taking Luc's arm and turning towards the door, "as far as I can see the Weasley twins prank for fun, not malice. I do not believe they would sell something that could be deadly," the cat in Luc's arms purred happily and again Tom found himself looking at it in confusion.

Luc waited until they were out of the room and the range of the black goop before placing the cat on the floor. The black fur ball took off the second its feet touched the ground.

"I noticed you were amused by Bartemius's little prank, does that mean you aren't going to scold him for it?" Luc asked as they turned and headed for his room.

"I don't think it will be necessary," he replied, "once the others are free, they will find their own way to punish him." Luc chuckled next to him.

"Lucius," he said softly, but even still he felt his lover tense, "If I asked," he spun and pushed Luc back against the hallway wall, his lover gasping upon impact, "would you explain your statement from last night?" he leaned in close, pleased when Luc shivered against him.

"I would," the blond said. Tom pressed in close enough that any gaps between them disappeared.

"Is there a reason you haven't told me whatever it is you know?" he asked against the other man's ear.

"There is." Luc replied, sounding a little lost for breath.

Tom smirked, "Should I be worried?" he asked, nipping his lover's ear. The blond let out a small whine before answering, "No."

He hummed as he pulled away. Luc for all his control looked a little flushed and Tom could tell his lover was trying desperately not to show how affected he was.

"Do you know for a fact Potter is alive?" he asked, the playfulness gone. He might be willing to give Lucius more leeway than his other followers but when it was something this important he found it harder to remain in the dark.

"I do." Lucius said, bringing his eyes up to Tom's, a sign that the other was willing to let him into his mind, should he find he wanted to. He debated it. The desire to know what Luc knew called to him. But he understood that his lover felt it wasn't the right time. With a sigh, he turned away and started walking towards his own room. He knew the blond followed behind him, he didn't even need to listen for Luc's footsteps. When they were outside of his bedroom door, he hesitated then turned and looked at the other man.

"Is Severus involved in whatever it is you aren't telling me?" Luc gave a short nod of his head.

Tom let out a breath and he opened his door. He didn't pay much attention as he started to get undressed.

He was too busy feeling relieved that his potion master and friend wasn't about to betray or leave him. The dark-haired man had been acting odd for weeks now, since Potter had disappeared really. Tom knew how much Lily had meant to Severus and he had no doubt some of that had transferred to the witch's son. It had always been a regret of his, killing the Potters, especially Lily. Severus had begged him to spare her, and he had tried. But the young mother had refused to move out of his way, and when he heard the telling pop of someone apparating outside of the house, he was left with no choice but to kill her. Or so he had thought.

Now years later he knew it had been a mistake. It wasn't even because of the connection he now shared with the young Potter, which at times was inconvenient, but because of something he had learned over the summer.

Something he had only shared the details of with Lucius.

Tom sighed and dropped down onto his bed in only his sleep pants, shirt in his hand.

When he finally had his body back, well the distorted snakelike body version of it, he had started to enact his plan, and one of the first things he had done, after fixing his appearance, was go to Gringotts.

It should have been simple. Tom M. Riddle had never been convicted of a crime nor pronounced dead, meaning his vaults should have remained intact during his disappearance.

He had been uneasy when the goblin Herik asked him to follow him into a private room. Luc at his side, had tensed and grabbed his cane tighter, but with a shake of Tom's head, relaxed. No matter what the goblin had to tell him, it couldn't have had to do with the Ministry; they had no jurisdiction inside Gringotts or over the goblins.

When they had followed the creature into an office-like room, the goblin pulled out a stack of papers and asked Tom to read them over. Trying to puzzle out what could be wrong with his vaults, he took the papers and once he started reading them he couldn't stop.

The first was an inheritance test, something he had used himself when searching out his family, but this wasn't his. It belonged to one Lily Potter née Evans.

However the Evans on the parchment was crossed out and replaced with the name Riddle.

At first he didn't understand. His muggle father was dead; there were no others to carry on the name. Then the implication hit him, and he looked at the mother's name.

Darla Morella, a young witch who he had met and gotten close to. She had been brilliant, powerful, and unafraid of him. There were a few months where they became close and after only one night together she confessed that she didn't believe she could follow him, not like his other followers did. She told him that while she didn't fear him, she feared what he could become and what might happen if he continued on his path.

He had been hurt and angry, and should have gotten rid of her that night.

She knew too much about him, about his followers, about his plans. But in a moment of weakness he had let her go, telling her to stay out of Britain because he didn't want her caught in the crossfire. She had cried and kissed him goodbye. It was the last he had seen her.

Months later, Roiser had mentioned hearing about her living in America and that she was well. She was never mentioned again.

He still didn't know how Darla died, or how Lily, a pureblood witch, ended up adopted and raised by muggles, but he did know that it was his fault that she was gone. He also knew that it meant her son, Harry, was his grandson. The young Gryffindor was his family, the only blood-related family he had left. Something he had never thought about before. It hadn't been important to him before.

Not until he learned that he had already lost a daughter and didn't want to lose her son. His first order when he had met with his followers that night, those present anyway, was that Potter was not to be harmed, captured if need be, but if anyone hurt the boy they would be punished.

One of the other papers had been a letter. It was addressed to Mister Riddle and signed from your daughter, Lily. He still hadn't read it. He was certain Dumbledore had never shared his true name with the Potters. And he couldn't read the words she might have written to a father she had just learned about, nor could he destroy the letter. It remained unopened in his desk.

The last piece of parchment Herik had given him was to claim his lordships, both Gaunt and Slytherin, a clause at the bottom stating that he could also declare an Heir, if he so chose.

He had done what he had to to secure his lordships, but left young Harry out of it until he could speak to him. He needed to explain so many things and he could only hope he got the chance before the stubborn young man lashed out.

"Tom?" Luc whispered, moving to kneel in front of him. Unable to stop himself Tom reached out and ran his hand along his lover's cheek. Lucius had something that Darla hadn't. Maybe it was the man's determination or loyalty, but Tom had never regretted how things had turned out.

He did regret never knowing his daughter. He regretted that he had killed her, he regretted all his past attempts to do the same to his grandson, but could never regret his relationship with Lucius.

"I'm fine," he told the blond, then tossing his shirt aside he reached forward and pulled Luc over him as he allowed himself to fall back onto the bed.