Torn Asunder

Chapter Four- Warnings

By- IceWind

A/N:

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything in its franchise is owned by J.K Rowling and whoever else has rights to the books. I have no claim whatsoever to the characters; the plot is entirely mine though, as is any new characters that I might introduce into the story. Rating is PG-13; though it may turn to R later.

Kenaz Astaroth: *grins* I like being original, I really do not like reading the same plot line over and over again. ^^;;

Tima/me/… /Npetrenko: Course I will continue. (some person didn't leave a name so I just put three dots, hehe) and thanks.

Shinigami: Haha, Ginny, jealous? *innocent smile* Maybe, maybe not…

MiniMe: Yes, I AM original! *sweatdrop* Thanks. I like making original plots, fun to play around with and people never know what will hit them next. *blushes* I have talent? *whistles* Now for your questions… holy *blank* very close on the Voldemort thing, but not EXACTLY correct. Does Dumbledore know? Nope, he doesn't know a damn thing *evil laugh* It always bugged me how he seemed to always know everything. Oh, the last name bit, I wager that he didn't like the last name Doulin *shrugs* Tom's picky. Tom and Hermoine hit it off? Wait and seee… *claps* You got your last question correct, well except for the renegade thing, I don't think of him as such. I'm on your fav list! *squeals happily* hehe thanks a lot.

'Mes: Questions are GOOD, make you guys keep guessing and doesn't make things overly boring *grins* 'Them', yup, mysterious no? you should really know the ending I planned out for this fic! It's PERFECT! (Yes, I have it planned out, I just don't have the middle parts exactly figured out yet… *large sweatdrop*) Yes! My Latin words were fine! *hugs the online dictionary*

DragonShimmer: lol, it's ok if you took a long time, I know how busy you are and everything. And nope, not everything will be answered in this chapter, hell, only a little will be answered in this chapter!

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Tom trailed behind the trio, his dark blue eyes taking in the amusing sight of Hermoine tugging both boys down the halls and towards… somewhere. That of course reminded him that he still did not know what class he has next and so spoke up, "Well? Where are we going?"

Harry gently pried Hermoine's grip from his arm and glanced back at Tom, "Dungeons, we have Potions now." His gaze darkened slightly at the thought, "Snape isn't the nicest Professor to be around, he always takes points off of Gryffindor for things we never do and seems to turn a blind eye to Malfoy and the Slytherins."

"Hmm… he sounds rather sensible if I may say so." Tom smirked slightly at the flicker of surprise that went through Harry's eyes and he walked slightly faster until he reached Harry's side. He bent down slightly towards the smaller boy and whispered lightly, breath tickling Harry's ear; "Did you forget that I'm really a Slytherin?" His hand lightly rested on Harry's shoulder before he walked off towards the dungeons.

Harry stared after him for a moment before he shook his head slightly as if to clear it. He began to walk faster towards the dungeons, his gaze thoughtful.

~

"Mr… Doulin," Severus Snape gave Tom a dark glare, clear dislike radiating from his body. It may just be the boy's connection to the dark lord that made the older man so unsettled or it may just be the insolent smile Tom cast the professor. He paused for a moment, conflicting thoughts warring in his dark eyes before he reached into his robes and pulled out a smooth wand, handing it over to the teenager with a look of disapproval.

Tom took it into his hands gently, examining it completely before his sapphire eyes flashed at the professor; "This isn't my wand." He twirled it lazily in his fingertips, drawling out lightly as his eyes watched Snape, clearly ignoring all of the other students in the room, "Where is it?" It was a nice wand, but the problem is that it clearly wasn't his. Yes it was a yew, and yes he could feel in the core the tail feather of a phoenix… it was also the same length of his own, 13 1/2 inches, but as any wizard would know their wand from another, he knew this wasn't his.

With a slight shake of his head to himself, Harry got up and gently tugged on the sleeve on Tom's robe, ignoring the incensed look that the professor was giving the two of them. He spoke quietly, emerald gaze pinned on the older boy, "I'll explain later, but you can't use your own." Already there was too much talk going on in the classroom about Tom and why he proclaimed that the wand wasn't his… not to mention the fact that Snape -of all people- had it in the first place.

A vaguely exasperated look crossed Harry's visage when Tom seemed to ignore him, and he tugged more firmly on the black robe, noting mentally that Snape seemed to get extremely annoyed by the other's presence. As Tom finally tossed him a preoccupied look, Harry just tugged on his robe again; getting slightly uneasy with the stares the rest of the class seemed to give them both.

"Fine!" Tom hissed out softly, stalking to a seat near the front of the class, a strange light flickered in his eyes as he sat down, a smirk playing on his face. He seemed unconcerned with the fact that Snape was trying to kill him with a glare and sat there placidly.

Severus spoke tightly, finally retreating to his desk; "I will see you both after class." He gestured abruptly to the side of the room, a scowl forming on his face; "The headmaster took the liberty of sending your supplies here."

Seeing that Tom didn't seem inclined to get up from his seat, Harry quietly gathered the supplies and sat down next to the boy, ignoring the worried looks that both Hermoine and Ron were giving him. Malfoy seemed to be darkly amused by the spectacle, and Harry could just imagine what he would say after class. His lips thinned slightly as he stared at Tom, he doesn't seem the least bit upset about Snape. Praeceptor and Praeceptrix may not be right about him. I don't know who to believe… He turned his gaze away from Tom and he looked towards the professor, Then I'm just going to have to watch and listen and observe. I won't be used like some puppet tied up with strings, not anymore.

Snape sneered lightly before he barked out, "Now that little spectacle is over, who can tell me what the infusion of jobberknoll feathers and ashwinder eggs creates?" A flicker of amusement was seen in his eyes as he saw Tom glower at him, but he waited, looking at Hermoine's hand stretched in the air before he spoke acidly, "And someone other then Miss Granger this time."

Harry could see where this was going, silently acknowledging the fact that Snape was subtly attacking Tom verbally for the teenager's inability to remember any key events; for the infusion of jobberknoll feathers and ashwinder eggs are primarily used in memory potions, and Tom couldn't remember much of anything. He grimaced slightly, silently thankful for his extra nightly lessons, about to raise his hand before an arrogant tone rang out.

"They are primarily used in memory potions, Professor," Tom drawled the last word out as if it disgusted him. His eyes flashed up at Severus's in a challenging manner, tossing his head to show that he did not care about the jibe the other made. He watched in clear amusement as the other seemed to whiten even more in rage.

The class was well aware of the tension between the two and the Gryffindors seemed worried -they couldn't afford to lose more points in this class- while the Slytherins seemed to be delighted with the turn of events. Harry remained impassive; keeping his gaze pinned upon the two, uneasy thoughts flickering through his mind as he hoped that the rest of their classes wouldn't end up like this one.

"Five points from Gryffindor for not being given permission to speak!" Snape suddenly exploded out, his gaze chilling as he glared around at the class. Tom seemed to remain smug, ignoring the little fact that he just lost points for his house.

Harry shook his head silently and gave a soft sigh; it seems as if this period was going to be a long one… and not entirely pleasant either.

~

"Arg! I can't believe Snape just took off five points like that! And on your first day too!" Ron was still ranting about potions even after all of their classes were done. He waved his hands as if to emphasize his point and he glared at a wall, mumbling insults under his breath.

"Ron!" Hermoine sighed and caught Tom's amused look, saying hastily, "He always gets like this when it concerns Snape or Malfoy." She turned towards Harry, "Right Harry? …Harry!" he didn't seem to be listening to her.

Suddenly Harry jerked slightly, as if startled and he turned his eyes towards Hermoine, muttering softly, "Right…" He turned his attention back towards the window, his gaze troubled as he remembered what Snape had said after class when he had finished speaking to Tom about his behavior.

"I don't trust him Potter, and you shouldn't either…" Snape glared at the door where Tom had left and shook his head lightly, turning back to Harry.

Harry hesitated for a moment before voicing his thoughts, "Why not Professor? The Headmaster seems to believe him." It was bad enough that he was having doubts, Snape was just reinforcing them, and if he was to continue to believe his instructors, then he should be able to trust Tom… right?

Snape's lip curled slightly as he replied, "The Headmaster would give anyone a second chance, he gave that flea-bitten mutt of a godfather you have one didn't he?" He ran a hand through his greasy hair, dark eyes expressing worry for once. At the beginning of the school year, Dumbledore had confided into several key teachers about Sirius Black's return, Snape of course had reacted as predicted and had blown up into a rage at the news.

As Harry suddenly bristled at him, he seemed to realize his mistake, but shrugged it off. "Really now Potter, you should know by now that you can't change my dislike… or his for me," he shook his head slowly, "We're getting off topic… I'm serious boy, do not trust him."

"But why not?" Harry persisted, he wanted -no- needed to know a reason why other then Snape's hate for Voldemort, "He seems innocent enough, and the Headmaster does seem to believe that he can't remember anything. Maybe he would agree to be put under a truth serum?"

Snape shook his head, a flicker of disgust speeding through his eyes before he answered, "You know very well that Dumbledore wouldn't subject a pupil to that unless under the most extreme conditions… and by his reckoning, there isn't that great of a cause yet." His hand curled into a fist, "And Riddle may seem innocent now, but what if he does get his memories back? Will he become Voldemort once more? All signs of dark activity has just stopped, will it be started once again because of that boy?! I won't stand for it!" His dark gaze captured Harry's as he spoke softly, "Remember Potter, no one is infallible and that includes the Headmaster. Dumbledore has already made several mistakes in judgment, and it wouldn't harm you to remember that."

"M…mistakes?" Harry paused before sign of remembrance flickered in his eyes, "You mean Sirius don't you?" He clutched the end of the table as if it were a life line, he had always pictured the Headmaster to be perfect, never to be wrong… but… Snape was right, as much as he hated to admit it.

With a slow nod Snape answered his question and supplemented it by speaking, "And not only your godfather, but also with the Ministry… he should have known that they would all act like stubborn fools." His gaze darkened, as impossible as it sounds, "And maybe he should have done something with Riddle when he was just a transfiguration teacher, I know very well that he suspected something about him."

"But you can't expect the Headmaster to be perfect all of the time!"

"Like we all expect you to be Mr. Potter?" Snape's lip curled slightly at Harry's startled look. "Oh don't tell me that you don't notice it boy, the way everyone seems to think that you'll save the day, even Dumbledore! And it's true… you defeated Voldemort… but I suspect that you are hiding something, and I intend to find out what it is."

Harry stood still for a moment, as if he was frozen before he spoke in a strangled voice, "Voldemort isn't defeated, not yet." His knuckles turned white as he gripped the desk harder, but other then that he showed no signs of outward emotion except for his voice.

Snape quickly pinned Harry with a dark glare, exclaiming softly, "What? Explain now, Potter!"

Quickly mustering up enough courage to continue talking, Harry adopted his blank face so that Snape wouldn't see how nervous he was talking about this, "Voldemort is still alive. I didn't kill him… you can't expect me to kill him!" Even though he would dearly love to kill him… the man that murdered his parents. But Harry couldn't seem to pick up a wand and mutter 'Avada Kedavra', and that was the only spell he knew that could kill the other wizard. Oh, he knew the consequences of uttering the spell, the lifelong banishment to Azkaban, but that wasn't what was holding him back… no what was holding him back was fear.

Fear of ending up like Voldemort, becoming just like him. Foolish some may say, but Harry knew power and knew that he loved the feel of it rushing through his body. If he got used to using the killing curse, then what else would he get used to doing? Torturing people with the Cruciatus curse? Controlling them with the Imperius curse? There was no end to the possibilities.

Snape paused and studied Harry's face for a slight while, his eyes betraying his agitation as he spoke, "Did you tell the Headmaster yet? Damn it Potter, why don't you seem to care?" He was staring at Harry's blank face, as if seeing indifference there.

Harry seemed to break out of his self-imposed trance and spoke with a sliver of fear in his voice, "I do care though! Sometimes too much!" he broke off as if he had said too much and composed himself once again, saying in a calmer voice, "No, I didn't tell the Headmaster, I just found out myself."

"I must inform him then," Snape made a motion as if he was going to walk out before he paused and looked at Harry closely, "Don't get in over your head Potter. You aren't the only one fighting this war, no matter what you may think." When Harry didn't answer him he whirled around and stalked out, presumably towards Dumbledore.

Harry watched his retreating back and as soon as he had left his sight, his face crumpled slightly and he had to steady himself against the desk, whispering softly to himself, "Are you so sure of that Professor?"

With a startled look, Harry gazed up at Tom, unsettled by the other's quick motions as the other boy dragged him into a deserted hallway, "What are you doing Tom?" Snape's warning flitted into his head and his hand edged towards his wand, eyes calm and impassive.

Tom seemed not to notice what Harry was up to and spoke agitatedly, "You said that you would explain about my wand!" He brandished his new one with a flourish and seemed to ignore the way Harry had tensed up, "Like I said before, this isn't it. Nice and all, but not mine."

Seeing Tom didn't seem inclined to attack him with his wand, Harry relaxed slightly; mentally berating himself for being so wound up. He shook his head lightly at the other boy, searching for the right words before deciding upon, "We can't give you your original one Tom, Voldemort has it." Blunt and to the point would be best when dealing with this, he decided mentally, knowing already that Tom wouldn't like him skirting around the issue.

A grimace spread across Tom's face, and he snapped out angrily, "That guy seems to like to ruin my life doesn't he?" He seemed to calm down just as quickly and sighed, shaking his head slightly, "No chance in me getting it back then?"

Harry shook his head; "I don't think so." He glanced around, as if expecting to see Ron or Hermoine looking for him. He gave a mental sigh at that thought, they did that all too often lately, and while he acknowledged their concern for him, it did not mean that they were his keepers. "Where's the others?" That would teach him for not paying attention to what people are doing…

Tom gave Harry a vaguely curious glance, "I told them that I needed to talk to you, they should be in the dorms by now… I suppose I could work with this wand." he stretched slightly, arrogance in his gaze, "We should go as well, gods know that I could use the rest." Without even a goodbye he turned around and walked off.

~

Harry walked around the field, a lost expression on his face as he searched for his two instructors. Where were they? They never left him like this before; they were always here when he got into the dream world. Faint worry flashed through his emerald green eyes as he continued to search. Finally he called out for them, "Praeceptor, Praeceptrix?"

A faint voice called over a small hill, the sound of Kiari's voice; "We're over here, young one!"

Puzzlement entered Harry's gaze before he walked over and gaped at the sight. There was Tom with his instructors… What? He watched Valion gently scold Tom when the teenager didn't do a spell correctly, and his eyes widened slightly. What was he doing here? Astonishment flicker in his gaze at the kind way Valion was treating Tom.

"What are you doing here?"

Tom's words shocked him and the cold look in the other's eyes weren't welcoming either. Harry quickly recovered and banished all emotion from his eyes, ignoring his instructors for a moment to retort back to him, "I could ask you the same question. For all of the times I was here, you were never here before."

Surprise entered Tom's eyes and he glanced at Valion and Kiari, questioning lightly, "Valion, Harry's been here before?" He pocketed his wand into his robe, a curious look in his eyes, "Have you been teaching him as well then?" He gave the man an insolent grin, "Hmm. I wonder what he has learned then."

Harry's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight, unable to keep the feeling of jealousy at bay. They were his instructors, not Toms'! Why is he allowed to call his Praeceptor by his real name? And why is Valion acting so nice to him? He quickly banished any emotion that might have been showing on his face, instead adopting a cold one.

"Yes, we've been teaching Harry as well, Tom," Valion's gaze darted quickly towards his other pupil, eyes thoughtful. He glanced at over Kiari for a moment, a faint smile curving on his lips as he inclined his head slightly towards Harry. She answered him with a nod of her own and he spoke, "Well then, Kiari will teach Harry tonight and I'll work on the basics with you, Tom."

A faint frown formed on Tom's face, "Only one of you?" At Valion's affirmative he gave an indolent shrug, eyeing Harry for a bit and muttering loud enough for them all to hear, "I don't know what's so special about him, but I suppose it's fine with me." Arrogance in his stance, he brought out his wand and held it in front of Harry, a smirk on his face, "Valion and Kiari got my own wand back for me. I don't have to use the other one."

Astonishment flickered in Harry's steady green gaze before they smoothed over once more, and a touch of iciness entered his voice as he replied, "Others will notice." He had thought that he had liked Tom well enough -even if he had held some suspicion- but now… the way the other boy was monopolizing his instructor's attentions was maddening. Sure, they don't always teach him at a same time, yet they were almost always together with him. He seethed quietly, refusing to let anything show on his face.

"No they won't, young one," at Harry's swiftly startled look towards her, she reprimanded him, "Emotions! Keep them under control!" As soon as his face was blank once more she gave a curt nod of approval and continued speaking, "They won't notice because we have disguised it to emanate power as if it was the other wand."

A flicker of unease sped through Harry's eyes as he spoke again, "But we don't use wands a lot here… why would he need one?" That was true, they have been trying to teach him how to manipulate the power fields from himself and outside influences without using his wand. Wands only acted as a current of stability for the wielder, helping to control the power; without wands most wizards wouldn't be able to function properly.

Tom seemed to suddenly stand straighter, astonishment written all over his face, "You don't use wands? How is that possible?!" He glanced down briefly at his own wand, his surprise being replaced with a sort of calculated look.

Valion gave a flicker of disapproval at Harry, finally answering; "I had not wanted to tell you yet until you have the basics of what you need to learn down firmly. Then we would have started to teach you what to do, the council wills it to be so."

"Council?" Tom looked keenly interested at that bit of information, "What's this council you speak of? And why does Harry have the same necklaces as you two?" Arrogance seemed to exude from his body, "I of course noticed immediately."

A soft voice from Kiari answered him, her eyes serious as she spoke; "Our entire group is called the Silver Order, and the ones that head the order is the council. They make all of the decisions and tell us what to do. Young Harry here has the same pendant because…" suddenly she seemed to hesitate, eyes inexplicably darkening with something akin to sadness before lightening once more, "he's our apprentice. Valion's and mine." She stopped speaking for a moment and fingered her pendant lightly, speaking on hurriedly, "We are of the cusith, you see… there is a total of seven on the council, all who contain a dragon pendant. From there the group branches off into smaller groups, all of the small groups have only two members and their apprentices. The two members are," a faint smile appeared on her lips, "usually lovers, and if they aren't, the people do not have any lovers and remain forever chaste so they stay true to each other. The two members are allowed only two apprentices in total, though only one at a time is preferred. As soon as the members find their apprentices fit to take up a pendant, they do, though usually a different one. The only time an apprentice keeps the same kind of pendant throughout his entire life is if his instructors died and he inherited the name."

She turned somber eyes towards Harry, speaking in a light tone, "Take Harry for example, if Valion and I die, then he takes up the cusith pendant if he is still an apprentice. Another group finishes his training, but he will become a cusith. If we pass him and he finds a new pendant, and then we die without any apprentices, then the cusith group has died off, to be reawakened by newcomers. It may sound complicated, but it's really rather simple to comprehend."

A faint frown appeared on Tom's face and he asked hastily, "Am I your apprentice as well? Does that mean Harry and I are destined to become lovers?" He seemed perturbed by that, but he managed to keep most of it from showing on his face. A faint red tinge appeared on Harry's cheeks by Tom's comment, but he struggled to make sure it didn't show much on his face.

Valion gave a light chuckle, shaking his head, "No, don't misinterpret us Tom. Did you get a pendent yet?" at Tom's quick shake of the head Valion continued, "You are not our apprentice, yet by leave of the council we are the ones to teach you anyway. You are a special case."

At that statement, Tom seemed to puff up more with pride. He turned an arrogant gaze towards Harry before speaking swiftly, "So how do you know when I am done training? Do you just suddenly say that I'm done? Or do I have to pass a test of some kind first?"

Uneasiness appeared in Kaori's eyes as she darted a quick glance towards Harry before she wrenched her gaze towards Tom and spoke, "You receive a new pendant… and that's all I can tell you of the matter, Tom. We cannot divulge all of our secrets. You must remember though to keep these lessons and 'dreams' between you and us," she added belatedly, "Harry as well. There is a very good reason why we are meeting in secret."

Tom gave a faint sigh, "Fine, one more question then. Who is this Voldemort? People seem terribly frightened of him and all that others will tell me is that he is a 'bad man'… which isn't much information if you think about it," he gave the tight-lipped Harry a wry look, "and how did I get here? I have an inkling that you two know." He gave them a penetrating look, dark sapphire eyes seemingly commanding them to speak.

Kiari gently tapped her fingers against her shirt's sleeve, thinking to herself before she spoke in halting tones, "The one called Voldemort… you don't need to know anything more about him because you will not be involved with him again. You have come here because the council made a mistake and you are the result of us rectifying it."

"I'm just a bloody result then am I?" Tom sneered slightly, his eyes expressing slight discomfort, "And how do you know if I will be involved again or not? Wasn't I just him? I got that much out of what Potter told me."

With his anger quickly mounting, Harry snapped out at Tom, "If they say that you won't get involved again, then you won't get involved!" Inwardly he felt uneasy with the situation, why was Kiari telling Tom more then even Harry knew? And why wasn't Valion trying to stop her? He shook his head lightly as if to clear his thoughts.

Valion suddenly broke in, frowning slightly as he spoke, "Harry! Tom! We have no time for simply talking… we must begin the training. Come with me Tom," with that he turned around -not giving the others any time to reply- and walked off, his pace quick and impatient.

Tom tossed Harry a penetrating look before he pelted off after Valion, trying to see where the older man had went.

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Arrggg, so many italics in this chapter! ^^; Oh well, I needed them all. It's fun making a jealous Harry, though for once it isn't over Tom or something, but instead his instructors. I got kind of tired of writing this chapter, which is why I stopped it right there, in the next chapter I'll pick up from where I just left off okay?

Do you like the way I branch off the council and the groups? It was actually kind of hard to explain it all… and if you guys have any questions at all about it, I'll try to oblige. Except -of course- it's something I'm keeping hidden on purpose.

Before I decided that Tom and Harry was acting a little too chummy -especially for Harry- so I decided to add some suspicion to everything. *snickers* That's always fun. So now Harry is not only doubting Tom, he's also doubting Valion and Kiari.

I know that I only showed what happened during potions and not Harry's other classes, but I decided that would take too much work lol. Don't worry, I'll probably show more interaction between the other Gryffindors and the others houses later on. Right now I'm trying to get everything set up so everything will be in place when I… *coughs*

Anyway, sorry this came out much later then the other chapters, but they'll all probably come out at this time. School sucks a lot, especially when you're a junior in high school. I have major loads of work and my parents really don't like me going on the computer on the weekdays (don't ask)

Oh, and if you want an e-mail update on when I put up a new chapter, just tell me in a review or something okay? That way you can always find out when I update even if you don't go on fanfiction.net. I think I only have three people so far that want e-mail updates. *sweatdrop*

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My e-mail address is flyby311@hotmail.com and put Torn Asunder, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please?