Summary: A thoroughly impossible freak accident transports our favorite attractive psychopath forward in time from 1942 to 1996. Harry Potter/Tom Riddle slash. Tom finds out what he's been doing these past fifty years.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Tom Riddle, or any other people, places or objects that may appear in this humble work of fiction.
Warnings: Possible spoilers up to the fifth book. M/M, obviously. Rating is down as T for now but may, possibly, increase to M as things progress.
Author's Note: I've been trying for hours to upload this chapter :( Thanks for the overwhelming response for the last chapter, too, and for catching some old mistakes. I caught a couple of pretty bad mistakes in some previous chapters, myself, so I've uploaded corrected versions.

Chapter Twelve: Six Steps Ahead

As Harry walked outside to Care of Magical Creatures that day, he felt a wonderful lightness in his chest knowing that he had delivered Tom safely to the Divination classroom and that he wouldn't have to worry about him for over an hour. Harry had been on edge ever since he picked Tom up after Arithmancy, and he didn't know how he could possibly bear more than a day of this stress.

Hermione had come out of the Arithmancy class with a stunned look on her face. 'He's amazing,' she had whispered in awe to Harry as Tom strode ahead. 'He was scrawling down answers practically before Professor Vector had finished writing the questions up on the board! I don't know why he didn't volunteer any of the solutions, he was done ages before I was, but he just sat there, so I still ended up answering most of the problems. Why wouldn't he want to answer them himself? Didn't Dumbledore explain the points system to him?'

Harry hadn't responded, but he had figured it was because Tom didn't want to get any points for Gryffindor. It was probably better for Tom not draw too much attention to himself, so Harry had been glad that he was keeping a low profile in class.

That all changed in Charms. Harry thought he knew what must have been going on in Tom's mind: if he didn't answer the question, then Hermione would, so since Gryffindor was going to get the points anyway, he may as well get the credit. Flitwick had gone easy on them compared to McGonagall the previous day; the class had mostly been review of their O.W.L. work to refresh their memories. Flitwick had asked lots of questions and asked for lots of demonstrations, and Tom was about as active as Hermione in class.

Tom didn't answer questions the way Hermione did. His hand would raise up into the air, but there was something more easy, almost casual, about the movement – unlike Hermione, who waved her hand around looking as though she was about to burst. It had made Tom look less obtrusive to Flitwick, so Hermione had still answered questions before him several times because she was noticed first, but Flitwick had tried to get more people to respond than just Hermione. While Hermione had answered many of the academic questions, Flitwick had given Tom more of the demonstrations, and Tom had performed so flawlessly that Flitwick chuckled, 'My, your parents certainly know their charms! They could put me out of work! You practice them with more ease than any student I can remember. Bravo, Mr. Maxwell!'

Tom had replied with a short, formal bow and some simple words of thanks, smiling shyly all the while. Harry remembered how the other students had been calling Hermione an annoying know-it-all for years, but Tom had a demeanor that made his classmates more entranced than irritated. That might have had to do with the fact that many in the split class were Ravenclaws, but even Harry had to admit with a bit of caustic amusement that Tom appeared so personable that it would be hard to dislike him unless one knew what Harry knew.

After Charms came lunch, during which Harry saw that Tom was trying to get an opening to ask him something, but some other Gryffindors drew Tom into conversation and pelted him with questions. About halfway through lunch, a group of Ravenclaws led by Cho Chang had come over to the table and complimented Tom on his work in class, completely ignoring Harry's presence, which was fine by him. Cho and Tom had spoken for several minutes before Cho walked away, breaking out into giggles with her girlfriends about halfway back to the Ravenclaw table.

Harry had dealt with Ron, who was so obviously jealous of the rapport between Tom and Hermione that Harry had felt very sorry for him. He had spent most of lunch cheering him up with thoughts of Quidditch tryouts the next day, discussing the students who they expected to show up. The atmosphere had been stifling when it was finally time to lead Tom off to the Divination tower, with Parvati and Lavender barely constraining themselves from hanging off Tom's arms.

Lost in worried recollection, Harry walked right into Hermione as he joined the crowd forming in front of Hagrid. 'Sorry,' he murmured.

'Are you really all right, Harry? You're acting oddly – as if you're worried about something. You should have let Parvati and Lavender take Tom up to class, you know. You're nearly late.'

'I'm fine, and as for Tom, Dumbledore told me to watch out for him.'

'Yes, I know, but you're going to a lot of trouble for nothing. Relax a bit,' she smiled. Harry grinned at the irony of Hermione telling him to relax, and she noticed, because she said, 'Oh, don't look at me like that,' though she was smiling, too.

When class began, it became clear to Harry that Dumbledore had told Hagrid about Tom, because Hagrid was acting extremely grumpy, telling students off for petting the Abraxan horses too hard or for being too rough with their wings. Harry wondered idly if Hagrid had got them from Madame Maxime.

Once everyone in the class was either examining the horses or just avoiding Hagrid edgily, Hagrid dragged Harry off several feet away from the rest.

'Dumbledore told me abou' him,' Hagrid whispered. 'Are yeh all right, Harry?'

'Sure,' Harry replied. 'No problem. Don't worry about it, Hagrid.'

'An' how can I not worry about him, I ask yeh?' Hagrid said disgustedly. 'S'not that I don' trust Dumbledore, but I don' like the idea of letting that wander freely 'round the school.'

'He's not allowed to wander off. I'm supposed to be watching him.'

'Well, make sure he don' slip away. Mind, I think it's awful unfair for you to have to look after him.'

'It's okay. I'll be fine. If he couldn't beat me when I was twelve, I'm sure I can handle him now,' said Harry, with more confidence in his voice then he felt. But it made Hagrid beam and clap him on the back, saying ''Atta boy, Harry! Don' you let him get you down!' so it was worth a pinch of falsehood, and saying it even made Harry feel more confident.

Harry told Hagrid that he'd have to leave class early to get to the North Tower in time to pick up Tom, and Hagrid agreed to let him go without any complaint. So it was that Harry packed up fifteen minutes before class ended and arrived at Divination just as the bell signaling the end of class rang.

Harry waited. No one came out of the classroom. Frowning, he opened the door a bit, wondering if the class was just running late.

There was no one there except Professor Trelawney, humming to herself as she picked up the crystal balls and set tea cups down on the table.

'Professor!' he exclaimed, leaping into the classroom. 'Professor, where is everyone? I'm supposed to be looking after the new student. Where did he go?'

'The Fates informed me that class would end a half-hour early today,' she replied mistily.

'Oh no,' Harry moaned, darting away in panic.

When Trelawney – who was, without a doubt, the worst professor Tom had ever been subjected to – declared that she was ending class a half-hour earlier than expected, Tom had known exactly what to do with his time. Ditching the Gryffindor girls by saying he had some Arithmancy research to do in the library and promising to see them later in the common room, he raced as fast as his legs would carry him through the halls, except for making a detour and tiptoeing quietly when he heard Peeves cackling up ahead. He reached the library in a little over ten minutes, inwardly cursing Peeves for his delay. Panting, he went to speak with the librarian.

'Excuse me,' he gasped. She looked down at him with prim disapproval. 'I would like to examine every Daily Prophet printed since September of 1942.'

She looked at him in surprise and her eyes narrowed. 'Whatever for?'

'I'm doing some personal research on the history of the wizarding world for the past century,' Tom replied congenially. 'I covered most of it in my private research over the summer, but I've forgotten a few details of the past fifty years or so that I believe are important for interpreting the current conflict. We can only understand the present by understanding our past, after all. Most of my classmates wouldn't understand my interest,' he added with a tinge of embarrassment, 'so I thought that I'd try to take a quick peek between classes, if that's all right with you, ma'am.'

The lips of the stern librarian quirked ever so slightly, and Tom knew the type well enough to see that he'd be getting his way. 'Very well,' she nodded, and Tom beamed up at her in a way the old woman probably hadn't been smiled at by a student in her life. Her own smile broadened just slightly. 'I'll show you to our collection.'

Tom had just finished putting the papers away when Harry ran in, looking around frantically and sighing in relief when their eyes met.

'We'll be late for History of Magic,' Tom said mildly.

'You will be; I don't take it. What have you been doing?' asked Harry sharply, his eyes narrowed.

'If you must know, I was looking myself up in the papers.' Tom picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. 'Shall we go?'

Harry's face had gone white. 'What did you find out? You were only in here for a half hour!'

Tom smirked. 'I used a handy little spell to search for my name in the papers. It makes research very fast, and I found out many intriguing things.' And you couldn't even keep me from knowing for one day, you foolish little Gryffindor. It'll be a cold day in July before a Gryffindor can keep up with me. Outsmarting you is turning out to be even easier than I thought.

Harry frowned. How could Tom have found out anything by looking under his own name? All the information would be under 'You-Know-Who', not 'Tom Riddle'. 'What interesting things?' Harry asked suspiciously.

'Apparently,' Tom went on in a whisper, 'I spent a few decades as a vampire hunter abroad while I immersed myself in the Dark Arts. I then came back to Britain and joined the movement of this You-Know-Who fellow. I don't know why I would do something like that because I don't much like following orders. I'll have to ask myself why if I ever meet myself. I suppose I was one of those Death Eaters.'

'Then, when You-Know-Who fell – I read a bit about him, too – I went into hiding, and I've been there ever since. I suppose he wouldn't be happy if I returned to him after running away – I certainly wouldn't be, if I were him – so I've stayed clear of him, too, since he came to power again. Oh, and you're my second cousin twice removed which, I suppose, explains why the crystal thought you were me when I was transported here, assuming it's not too picky. But you already know all this, of course,' he added smugly.

Don't laugh. Harry told himself firmly, trying very hard to keep a straight face in the midst of all this misinformation, especially when Tom seemed to think he was so clever to have figured it all out. Dumbledore, Harry thought swiftly. It had to be Dumbledore. Of course Dumbledore would have known that Tom would try to find out about himself, so he changed the archives at Hogwarts – even added articles to old Daily Prophets – to give Tom an entirely different identity! It was brilliant, and now all Harry had to do was play along.

'So you understand why you should keep all that to yourself, then?' asked Harry finally.

Tom appeared contemplative. 'It appears that I've managed to make myself an enemy of Dark beings, the Ministry, and the resident Dark wizard of these parts. It would be foolish to reveal myself.'

'As long as you understand that, then I guess it doesn't hurt for you to know the rest.' Harry shrugged, trying to look resigned.

'And you got that scar from You-Know-Who,' Tom continued, raising an eyebrow. 'He couldn't kill you when you were a baby. Why is that?'

Harry shrugged again. 'I dunno. Lucky, I guess. Come on, I'll walk you to class.'

Tom wasn't satisfied with this answer, but he accepted it for the time being because he was running late, and followed Harry out of the library.
Raehli: The status quo can't hold out forever, can it? Hehe.

Slayerq2000: Pictures? Oh, oh, I can just see this!

Voldemort: …Look, and this is me when I was five. Wasn't I a cutie? And that's me on the day I returned from my first year at Hogwarts. Isn't it precious how I made that older boy behind me think he was covered in spiders? Look at him screaming and running around and scratching at his face! I really enjoyed that, it was even worth the warning letter from the Ministry…

Four Days Later…

Voldemort: …and that's me on the day I received my Award for Special Services to the School! I'm sure I have another photo album around here somewhere. That was only the first box!

Pettigrew:…I have to pee…

Voldemort: What was that?

Pettigrew:…nothing…

Short(er) answer: No, the Death Eaters haven't seen pictures of Voldemort at a younger age. Why would he want to show them? It would kind of take away from the scary factor. I'm not even entirely sure that he would have any pictures; the people at the orphanage probably didn't take any, but I suppose it would be possible for someone to find old pictures of Tom from school somewhere. Cough.

TorsKerl: Thanks for pointing out the error in the first chapter! The one in the sixth wasn't an error, though, but don't let that stop you from picking my words apart because I really want to catch any mistakes. And nightmares will play a big part in the story, but that's all I'll say.

Monique: Ah, Quidditch, what a wonderful sport… you'll find out how the Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts go in the next chapter! If Harry and Tom will let me get that far, anyway… and I know how you feel about the time travel fics. That's part of why I decided to write this. I like a challenge.

TheSecretCharacter: I thought I had things planned out fairly well in my head before I started, but now Tom and Harry just won't shut up and this fic is turning out to be longer than I expected. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm having plenty of fun writing it.