Author's Note: So sorry for breaking my promise (I don't usually do that, for the record) but my mother wanted me to spend New Year's Eve with her in a seven-hour long movie marathon -- Couldn't turn her down, could I? Besides, we brought the New Year in by going to the 10:00 to 12:30 showing of "Harry Potter"

Happy Birthday Juliana Black! This chapter is completely dedicated to you! (By the way, this chapter was mostly written on popular demand from all of you reviewers)

Chapter Sixteen -- Malfoy

"You must be Lucius' son," Tom said quickly, rising to his feet. "I don't believe you have any business with me, seeing as we all know what your father is planning."

Draco looked a little taken aback by this but remained standing in front of Tom.

"I assure you, Lord Voldemort, that I have no idea what you're talking about. I simply came over here to bid you welcome . . . my Lord."

Draco bowed elegantly before Tom who was not amused in the least.

"Enchanted," Tom said with blatant sarcasm. "I'm sure. Now, if you don't mind Draco Malfoy, I'm currently having a conversation with some friends of mine." Tom looked at Harry, Hermione, and Ron -- signaling that they were the so-called "friends."

"Friends?" Draco scoffed. "You don't mean these . . . these . . . people, do you? I mean, Ron Weasley over there is as poor as dirt and has about the same level of class." Ron scowled at Draco and started to get out of his seat but Hermione held him down. "He wears hand me down robes, for God's sake," Draco laughed. "And Hermione Granger is just another Mudblood. She had absolutely no breeding whatsoever. I don't even know why they let her into this school." Hermione almost let Ron take out his aggressions on Malfoy but her maturity made her keep a close grip on the redhead. "And Potter . . . God, he's the worse. He's a complete show-off and everyone knows that the teachers all favor him. That's the only way Gryffindor won the house cup the first year, you know. Because Dumbledore favored him and gave Gryffindor extra points for good merit. The entire thing was outrageous! Potter has nothing going for him except one little incident that happened when he was a baby, marking him as 'The Boy who Lived.' But you didn't need me to tell you that . . ."

"No I didn't," Tom said fiercely. "Mister Malfoy, I suggest you sit down right now before you say something that you might regret."

Draco obviously wasn't paying attention to Tom since he continued on about Harry's exploits.

"Just a stupid, good-for-nothing tramp without a family. Maybe if his parents had been anything more than complete cowards, they might have lasted the night. But, no, they didn't even have the strength to stand up for themselves. Cowards! Weaklings and cowards, the lot of them! And then Harry walks in here with his bravado and a little scratch on his forehead and suddenly he's Boy of the Year, stealing the spotlight from those who truly deserve it and . . ."

Before Draco could say another word, he found a wand pointed directly at him.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"When you called him a show-off, I might have understood your envy," Tom explained. "When you called him a good-for-nothing tramp, you irritated me to the extreme. But when you suggest that you deserve the fame and the glory more than Harry Potter, that you are somehow more worthy, that's when I'm tempted to do things that I'll probably end up regretting in the morning."

Draco suddenly looked extremely frightened and backed up against one of the wooden tables.

"You are so lucky that I'm here at Hogwarts under Professor Dumbledore's watch," Tom said softly. "Otherwise I would place an Unforgivable Curse on you faster than you can say 'Dark Mark.'" Tom smiled. "Or faster than you can say 'My father's a disgraceful traitor.'"

Draco stood there -- mouth gaped open, completely speechless. "My . . . my . . . father . . . well . . . I" he stuttered, not so sure how to respond to this sudden attack on his heritage.

"Get out of my sight, Draco," Tom said simply. "I don't wish to speak with you any more at the moment. But if I ever do call on you . . ." Tom moved threateningly close to the quivering Draco Malfoy. "If I ever do call on you, I expect you to drop whatever you are doing and come immediately. Do you understand? I've killed many people, Draco. You would be just one more dash to the tally. Do you understand me?"

Draco nodded his head, quaking in fear. "I understand, my Lord."

"Good," Tom smiled. "Now go."

Draco didn't hesitate in running back over to where Crabbe and Goyle were sitting and quickly sliding into place. Tom sat down next to Harry, a look of extreme pride on his face.

"Not bad," Harry said, beaming at Tom. "Certainly told him off them, didn't you?"

"Well, I couldn't let him say those things about . . ." Tom trailed off looking at the exquisite young boy sitting before him. "Well, I couldn't let him say those things about you," Tom finished meekly.

Harry looked utterly shocked. He had thought that Tom had just been using Harry as an excuse to mouth off to Draco Malfoy -- After all, Lucius was about to betray Tom and take over his forces. Harry had thought that Tom was just feeling hostile about losing his power.

"You fought Draco . . . for me?" Harry asked, suddenly realizing that he sounded like a love-struck teenage girl. "I'm sorry," he laughed, shaking his head. "It's just . . . That really means a lot to me. You might be a Slytherin but you're not all that bad."

"I believe it was once said that there wasn't a wizard who'd gone bad that wasn't in Slytherin," Tom said sagely. "But that doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't a wizard in Slytherin who hadn't gone bad."

"What?" Ron had gotten confused a while ago with the wording of the statement.

Harry nodded in understanding though. "I knew I liked you for a reason," Tom said, gently ruffling the boy's hair a little. Harry heard a gasp come from a table from across the room.

"Hufflepuff," Tom and Harry both laughed at once and then looked at each other awkwardly.

"My god," Hermione exclaimed. "You two really are complementary! Look at that! You finish each other's sentences and everything!" She got up and walked over to Tom Riddle. "In that case, my name's Hermione Granger and if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask." She took his hand and shook it firmly. "And I wish you both the best of luck."

Hermione walked back to her seat. Tom stared at Harry in a state of extreme shock.

"Can we go back to our chambers now?" It was more of a request than a question Harry realized.

"Wait, you're not rooming with us anymore?" Ron asked.

"Um, no," Harry said, getting to his feet and dragging Tom along behind him. "I'll explain it to you later Ron. See you sometime, if not tonight, tomorrow then!"

And Harry and Tom walked briskly out of the Great Hall without even finished their breakfast.

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"I'm sorry," Tom sighed when they had gotten back to the chambers. "It's just . . . I didn't expect her to be so understanding about the entire thing. She caught me off my guard."

"Who? Hermione?" Harry laughed. "I wasn't expecting her to be quite so hospitable but I thought that, if anyone would get over the shock quickly, it would be Hermione. She already had read all about the binding spells so she knows the circumstances of the situation. She's very rational . . . She probably just realized that we belong together."

"And you believe that?" Tom asked.

"Believe what?"

"That we belong together?"

Harry blushed deeply. "Well, if we're bound together, I suppose we do belong together then. Besides, we seem to get along perfectly well and long as we forget some things . . ."

"And ignore some others," Tom added in agreement.

"Exactly. I don't mind you at all, Tom Riddle."

"You give in too easily," Tom smiled.

"Not at all," Harry laughed. "I spent a good percentage of my summer vacation sitting in my room weeping and brooding. I don't give in easily. I'm just too tired to keep up a fight that I can't win."

"Is that all I am to you?" Tom scoffed. "A fight that you can't win?"

"In some ways," Harry responded, honestly. "In other ways, you're a friend, a confident, a teacher, a partner . . ."

"A lover?" Tom asked, hopefully.

"You'll never give up, will you?" Harry laughed. He quickly returned to the seriousness of the conversation though. "Someday I'll regard you as a lover. Someday soon."

Author's Note: There's the New Year's chapter at 2:20 AM -- Sorry once again and Happy 2002 everyone!