Hello people!! Well, well... I took a little longer than intended to update, but I guess that's not important. I'm no J.K. after all... muahahaa... I don't own Harry Potter, as you might already know, so DON'T SUE. I'm just a fan. A very sick one.
This chapter is probably the longest up to date.
In this chappie, Harry attends his first class; Tom opens up; Harry's on 'deep thinking' again; Dumbledore is back, well, not really... oh, you'll see. Yet, the good stuff will have to wait...


TIME-TRAVEL
Chapter 5: The First Class.




When Harry woke up the next day, the first thing he saw was Tom having breakfast.

"Just in time" the prefect said, inviting Harry to join him "How did you sleep?"

"Never better" Harry smiled, making his way to the carefully laid table "What about you?"

"Me? I'll survive..." Tom shrugged.

They ate in silence. Something was wrong and Tom was tense (otherwise, they would've eaten in the Great Hall). Harry thought it was because of the kiss, but he didn't want to ask. However, when breakfast was over, Tom broke the silence.

"Mmm... Harold?"

"Yup?" the Gryffindor replied not very brightly, due to the half-chewed pancake stuffed in his mouth.

Tom, on the contrary, found this adorable and, noticing the hot flush that was taking over his delicate features, spoke quietly avoiding eye-contact "I wanted to... apologise..."

"What for?" Harry tried to look puzzled. Failing pathetically when he started blushing (the memory of that kiss still fresh in his mind).

"You know.... that kiss..." Tom's hands were twisting rather nervously under the table as the flush became redder "I didn't mean to... I was... you know..."

"You don't have to apologise, Tom" Harry said going redder himself, as to pair up with said prefect.

"Well, I'm... rather glad you didn't mind" Tom said shyly "but I'm sorry, nonetheless. I had no right to-"

"Tom! Don't worry..." Harry said reassuringly.

"So..."

"So?"

"You're starting classes today?" the prefect asked while staring at a particularly eye-catching spot on the floor.

"Yes, I've been sorted into Slytherin" Harry informed the boy.

"What house are you? I mean... in the future"

"Gryffindor" Harry said proudly. A scowl from Tom made him chuckle.

"Gryffindor? And how did you get to be in Slytherin?"

"Well, it didn't surprise me much" Harry stated as he placed his right elbow on the table and his chin resting on the palm of his hand "When I got sorted the first time the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I said I didn't want to be there and decided Gryffindor would suit me well..."

"Why didn't you want to be in Slytherin?"

"Well, I met a really nice guy who got sorted into Gryffindor. He hates Slytherins with a passion -don't ask why-. I was all alone, so I thought it would be great to be with him, so... I asked the hat to not put me in Slytherin, and ended up in Gryffindor... Just like that!" Harry said smiling, as he remembered his sorting. "And I did the same, now, in a slightly different way..."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked a little confused, an eyebrow threatening to rise.

"I wanted to be in Slytherin, to see how's it like, and... umm... to be... with you?" one hell of a spot that was, Harry stared fixedly into it.

Tom, in a very Riddleish way, blushed again and got even more uptight. Truth is, he felt more than happy to have someone caring for him, but he didn't want to sound desperate either, given his very-much-slytherin stubbornness.

"I think we should hurry, your clothes are on the bathroom. Our first class is Potions and you don't want to disappoint Professor Venus"

Harry left for the bathroom as Tom gathered some books, quills and parchments as well.

When our Golden-Boy got out of the bathroom smelling of lavender and fully dressed, Slytherin uniform and all, he followed Tom out of the room and through the halls, into the same old creepy dungeon where Snape usually teaches.

* * *

When every student was present, Harry felt a lot of eyes following his every move. Fortunately, for both him and Tom, Professor Venus made his appearance.

A tall man of about thirty-five, assumed his position in front of the class. Harry hadn't seen someone as beautiful as this man in all of his life. Except for Tom. Or Draco Malfoy, but that's beside the point.

-Wow! Slytherins ARE sexier...- he thought -I owe Malfoy quite an apology-.

The man in question had bright, silky shoulder-length black hair. His eyes were green with orange circles around the pupils. His pointed nose, had soft edges that made his face look flawless, if not perfect. Soft, pink lips completed the picture.

The man reminded him of a certain Potions Master who'd make most of his life a living hell, except for the fact that he felt more than attracted to the first one.

Harry would've thought about Professor Venus' features forever, when he noticed (a little jealous) how Tom was staring numbly at the man.

-Well, it's not like he's perfect...- Harry tried to lie to himself.

"I see we have a new student" said Venus "would you mind introducing yourself to the class?"

"I- I'm Harold Smith, sir"

Instead of being a scary-greasy-bastard, Professor Venus was kind and polite. Still, he looked impassive. "Good morning, Mr. Smith. I'm Professor Venus, your Head of House and Potions Master, if that you haven't noticed" he said, pointing at the dozens of cauldrons spread around the room.

"Now, class, today we'll be making a truth potion. It is not as strong as Veritaserum, but it'll do fine for small tasks such as slipping little embarrassing secrets I'd love to hear about..."

Professor Venus started writing the ingredients in the blackboard. His black robes exposing the lithe curves of his perfect body.
Harry shook his head and Tom looked at him, amused.

"You noticed..."

"What?"

"You noticed Venus'... attributes..." Tom giggled, rather girlie.

"Well... I..." Harry's ears turned a lovely shade of pink. Lately, it was easy for him to blush. Tom was the one to blame, of course.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Tom asked and Harry nodded "I used to have an enormous crush on him..." he giggled again.

Harry wasn't a bit surprised, but he was intrigued "haven't you felt like, you know, that for a girl? I mean... I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that"

"It's ok, I don't mind" Harry sighed relieved and smiled, as Tom went on "I'm what muggles like to call a poof"

Harry chuckled "you don't have to be that specific"

Tom smiled and proceeded "I never liked girls. I tried to, but I was born like this. Better accept the facts... not an easy task, if you ask. How about you?"

The words left Tom's mouth before he had a chance to think. Harry answered anyway "I'm... attracted to girls most likely. There are some exceptions, though"

"You mean, you're..."

"Yes, that" he laughed softly "I like both" he concluded.

"Haven't you had any experience with boys?" Tom inquired, a little nervous now that the conversation was getting more serious.

"Nope" Harry said quickly, looking down at the cauldron between them.

"I'm so sorry" the prefect said with an apologetic look on his face.

"What are you sorry for?"

"I kissed you. A first kiss must be special... and I stole that from you..."

"Who said it wasn't special?" Harry quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

"Ooookay..." and one hell of a cauldron that was...

"Nevermind..." the green-eyed said as his eyes drifted into a smiling beauty in front of him "so... have you had much experience?"

"I... not really... just one boy"

"Tell me!!" Harry demanded cheekily.

"Alright, if you ask nicely..." Tom said sarcastically, winking at the green-eyed to let him know he was teasing him "His name was Christian. He was a muggle-born of fifteen. I met him while I was at the orphanage on the summer break before my fourth year at Hogwarts. As usual, I was helping take care of the nursery, when this boy came with the buys. He worked for the supermarket. I helped him unpack the stuff and started talking... I'm sorry, this must be really boring"

"No, not at all" Harry said, a sweet smile on his lips "please, go on"

Tom obeyed. Harry knew then that he had dated Christian for the rest of the summer, before he died in a car accident. Tom was devastated. By the time he got the news, he was at Hogwarts and didn't get a permission to see Christian.
The boys were passionately in love, though they never made love. Not only because of their age, but also because of Tom's inability to trust.
Ever since Christian's death, Tom hadn't been in love or a relationship of any sort.

Harry had melted over the prefect's words. He couldn't help it: he was falling in love with the boy and he knew it. He wanted to kiss the boy but, after his words, he knew he couldn't do it. He could hurt him, and that wasn't his intention.

But then again, Tom kissed him. That had to have a meaning.

Of course, it could've been a reaction to being cradled into sleep by a complete stranger who could've perfectly walked away and leave him to suffer alone.

Too many questions and not enough answers in Harry's mind. Still, he thought about his parents. They died because of Voldemort. Because of him; the boy he now loved. -I can't do this... but yet again, I can't believe he's turning into that- no, it can't be... There has to be something we don't know...-.

While Harry was overwhelmed with thoughts, Tom had been concocting the potion. When he looked at the prefect, he realised he had forgotten about the potion and now was too late. He felt guilty for letting Tom do all the work on his own.

* * *

Professor Venus dismissed the class and Harry walked by Tom's side, carrying the books. Just as they were alone in the hallway, Harry approached the slytherin "I'm sorry I left you to work on your own. I was-"

"Thinking? I could tell. They weren't happy thoughts, were they?"

"How did you know?" Harry asked. Tom could read him like an open book, and that scared him a little.

"I didn't know, I just... felt it. And I didn't want to bother you, so..."

"So... you're amazing"

"I know" Tom chuckled. Apparently he didn't understand Harry's intentions behind his statement. Which was a good thing to Harry.

* * *

They reached the Transfiguration classroom.

When they found their seats, Dumbledore (little more than fifty years younger) walked into the room.

He was wearing a bright yellow robe with violet lace on the edges. His pointed hat was violet with yellow dots. He had earned himself a lot of funny looks and he knew it.

"Do you like my outfit?" the not-so-old man laughed "I bought it last week" the class, including Tom and Harry, chuckled "Now, if you don't mind, we have a class to start. Today we'll be turning a rose into a muggle-pen. But fist, I'd like to welcome our new student" he looked at Harry "Harold Smith, right?" Harry nodded "I expect you to excel at this subject, if not..." the whole class let out a dramatic gasp "you won't be given any lemon drops!!"
Everyone laughed, as Harry gave Tom a warm smile.

The class went by without any major complications. Harry's wand behave a little funny, due to the time-travelling. -A side effect- Harry thought.


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Wooohooo! I got this thing written already... I soooo wanted to go to sleep (it's 3.21 am, for fuck's sake!). My muses will have to stop attacking me... or else I might kill them... somehow...
Muses: *gasp*
I really hope you liked this chapter. Next one will be shorter, but will be essential (I hope) in Harry and Tom's relationship. Or, they will just kiss and stuff, I haven't decided yet... hehe... off you go... read and review, and give some advice.
I'm going to sleep, now. Have I mentioned I'd love you to review? «««REVIEW!!
By the way, I posted two new stories. Go check them out. One is decent, the other sucks and it's not really a story... read anyway, it'd make me happy =)!!