Year Six: Chapter Nineteen

Neville and Bella left in the morning shortly after Hannah and Susan, leaving Tom alone for a few hours before the Weasley's arrived with Hermione and Luna. He spent almost the entirety of that time in the shower, running scalding hot water until the steam made it difficult to breathe. It helped, though not enough.

When they arrived, Mrs. Weasley smiled at him vaguely. "Good to see you again, Harry," she said. She glanced around, then wandered off toward the kitchen.

Ginny sighed. "She's been like this since we got back. It's better than the…. just… nothing from before, but…"

"It's weird," Ron finished for her. "Like she's just reading from a script." He shook his head. "I wish I'd been the one to kill that bloody snake," he muttered.

Tom very firmly did not think about how this was quite likely the result of the potion he'd fed her. Like Ginny said, it was better than before, but he also knew how irrational people could be and didn't want to test her understanding.

He also didn't think about the previous night. It had been… educational, he supposed, but any time he thought about it, he felt a wave of nausea.

"You seem different," Luna commented suddenly. "Did something happen?"

Tom smiled insincerely and shook his head. "Nothing important. How has your break been so far?" He caught the glances the others shot each other, but Luna just nodded.

That evening, on their way to his bedroom, Luna pulled him aside. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

Tom opened his mouth to say nothing again, but then he sighed. Luna would know he was lying anyway. He'd have persisted or found some workaround if it'd been Hermione or Ginny, but Luna would likely work out the root of it in time. Better to tell her himself then. "Bellatrix offered to teach me how to… How to give the other party the most pleasure during intercourse." He grimaced, swallowing against the taste of bile. "I accepted." (Though said acceptance had been accompanied by summoning a bottle of an antiemetic before they started, which had both amused and annoyed the dark witch.)

Luna stared at him for a long moment. At last, she sighed heavily. "I see." She smiled sadly. "That's something we would have been happy to help you learn, Tom. Now you've hurt yourself when you needn't have."

The calm statement cut him far deeper than any jealous accusations might have. Tom grit his teeth against the guilt only Luna could incite in him. "It's already done," he said shortly.

Luna nodded. "So it is." She reached a hand out to cup his cheek, biting her lip when he flinched. "I'd like to have been your first, but at least let me be next, Tom. You should experience it properly before you use it as yet another tool to control Hermione and Ginny."

Tom blinked, startled, then shook his head with a wry smile. "You don't think I'll use it that way against you?"

Luna smiled back. "No," she said with utter certainty, "because it's not necessary." She cocked her head to the side. "Though I wouldn't mind if you tried. It may well be interesting."

Tom choked out a laugh and grabbed her hand before she could pull it away. "Thank you, Luna," he said. He felt something strange, a feeling like the fondness he'd been experiencing lately, but more painful. He was struck by the thought that he didn't want to change this girl. She had not, after all, even once attempted to change him. How strange. Had he ever met someone before who didn't try to make him fit their version of ideal?

An urge struck him, and his inability to follow it only reinforced what she'd said. He wanted to kiss her, but after last night, even simply standing so close to her was proving difficult. So instead he turned his head and pressed his lips to her palm. A startled gasp and, when he looked, flushed cheeks were his reward. It made his heart beat faster.

The moment was interrupted by Sirius opening a door into the hallway they stood in. Tom realized belatedly that they'd been standing outside the animagus's room. The man stared, his expression slowly morphing into a relieved smile. Without a word, he closed the door again.

Tom pulled away. Sirius made no sense sometimes. "Good night, Luna," he said. Of course, they were both going back to his room, but had a detour to make first.

"Good night," Luna breathed and beamed. She skipped down the hallway and to his room while Tom went through the door after Sirius.

"What was that look about?" he demanded, finding Sirius mid-drink.

Sirius drained the rest of the glass and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's nothing, pup. Just the worries of an old dog." At Tom's crossed arms and unconvinced stare, Sirius rolled his eyes and poured himself another drink. "I mean it, pup. It's nothing you need to be worrying about. You just focus on being a teenager."

That should have sounded annoying patronizing and condescending, but the sad quality to Sirius's voice prevented Tom from getting properly angry. Instead he huffed and shook his head. "Whatever. Good night," he said rather than pursue the topic any further.

The students woke up Christmas morning to Sirius banging on all the doors shouting, "IT'S CHRISTMAS! WAKE UP OR I'LL GO PADFOOT ON YOUR GIFTS!"

Tom picked up his wand, ready to blast a hole in the wall to shut the man up. Hermione pulled it out of his hand and cast a silencing spell instead. Then she sat up and groaned. "What does that even mean?" she wondered.

"Do you really want to find out?" Ginny asked.

Tom and Hermione looked at each other grimly, determining that no, it really wasn't worth it to discover the answer. So despite the early hour - when Luna cast a Tempus, it said it was only five thirty - they all got dressed. To Tom's amusement, Hermione was the only one who turned around to get dressed anymore. He smirked at her when she turned back around, making her flush. "Shut up," she muttered.

"Didn't say a word," he replied innocently.

"Come on, let's hurry," Ginny told them before Hermione could try to curse him. She and Luna left first, followed swiftly by Tom and Hermione.

Breakfast was acceptable. Molly Weasley was in the kitchen, but she listlessly directed the utensils about, and the lack of energy transferred to the food. However, Kreacher prepared tea and omelets, and those were good enough to make up for the flat, doughy pancakes and floppy bacon. Still, Tom could see the women's children visibly forcing themselves to overlook her behavior. Well, they didn't have to live with her year round, so it was probably fine.

Then it was time to open presents. It was perhaps for the best that Molly Weasley was distracted. Both Ginny and Hermione were surprised and bemused to find bracelets in their presents from Tom. Ginny's featured a black-and-white banded stone, while Hermione's held a sapphire. Tom gestured at the notes inside the boxes, and as each girl read theirs, they flushed a brilliant scarlet.

The note read: Tap the gemstone twice to activate your paralysis and masturbation charms. It will automatically deactivate after an unknown period of time. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? Merry Christmas, Tom.

Tom gave them a pointed look before turning to open their present to him. They'd once again worked together, this time to create something: a leather wristband with six runes burned into it.

"Each rune corresponds to one of us," Hermione said quietly, still blushing. "We collected a drop of blood from each person. The rune for each person will glow if that person is seriously injured."

Tom nodded appreciatively. "Thank you," he said. From Luna, he received a notebook full of copied notes in various different handwritings. Skimming through, he could tell it all dealt with the Deathly Hollows. He glanced at her, and she smiled back mysteriously.

He'd given her jewelry as well, but hers was a necklace with a moon-shaped locket made of amethyst. Her note made her swallow, eyes tearing up. Slowly, she opened the locket. The picture the other Ravenclaws had torn was displayed, fully restored. Luna mashed her lips together against a sob, then launched herself at Tom. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she whispered.

Tom pet her hair gently. "I found an artist who specializes in repairing photos. We were able to use your father's memories to patch together the missing magic. I left a full-sized copy with him to take home."

Besides that, most of the presents were fairly average, though Sirius grimaced at the clearly dark book on Dementors the Weasley twins had sent Tom. Apparently the beings first appeared in history shortly after the time of Herpo the Foul. Some suspected him to having had something to do with their creation.

The dog animagus much preferred his own book, titled Sixty-Nine Ways to Woo Witches and Please Partners, from the twins and another, Escape the Unescapable: Tricks and Tips to Unlocking Any Situation, 1995 edition, from Tom. Tom helpfully pointed out that there was an entire chapter devoted to ways to escape Azkaban, one of which was being an animagus.

Admittedly, most of the methods were similarly unlikely at best, such as secretly being an air elemental and simply turning into air. Tom doubted there was much useful information in the book, but Sirius would probably enjoy the read anyway.

Tonks stopped by that afternoon with Amelia. "Mister Potter, may I speak with you?" the Minister asked.

Tom glanced at Tonks, who nodded, and shrugged. "Sure."

"My niece says you want to take over the Ministry one day," she said with a smile. "Legally."

Tom tilted his head. "Yes?"

"She has nothing but good things to say about you," Amelia added. "Honestly, I'd think she had a crush on you if she weren't so obvious about her crush on Mister Longbottom." She sighed. "But anyway, I'd like to offer you a deal. You've been insulated against it at Hogwarts, but faith in the Ministry has been…. low, to say the least. You-Know-Who's attacks have all been aimed at the muggle world so far, but no one doubts he will soon turn his eye on our world once more."

Tom nodded. "Of course. Destroying muggle towns is good practice for his Death Eaters, but it won't get him the rule over Wizarding Britain he wants."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at him but nodded. "Exactly. There is talk of you being the subject of a prophecy related to him though. I don't believe it should be the duty of a teenager to fight a Dark Lord, prophecy or not, but the general public unfortunately feels differently. Many people think that you are the only one who can possibly defeat him and are willing to sit back and do nothing in the meantime."

"That's fine," Tom said. "Did you know? There was an experiment dedicated to seeing whether lords are seen as powerful because they are powerful, or if they are powerful because the masses see them as powerful." He shrugged. "The results were inconclusive, but I think even that suggests that there may be something to the idea." With a smile, Tom finished, "I plan on vanquishing him anyway. If they want to believe in me, I'll take whatever advantage that belief might give me."

The Minister looked startled, then laughed. "I see. Are you certain you aren't a Ravenclaw?"

"Sadly, I'm not good enough at riddles for that House," Tom said easily.

"Well, be that as it may, that's not what I'm here to ask of you. I'd simply like you to speak to the press occasionally, stating that you are working with the Ministry and are confident that the threat of You-Know-Who will not trouble us for long."

"That sounds reasonable," Tom said. "And what, beyond the increased media coverage, do I get?"

"My assistance running for Minister when you're older," Amelia said simply. "It's not a position I want or enjoy, so I doubt I'll be the sitting Minister at that time, but I have no small amount of influence in the Wizengamot."

Tom smirked. "I thought Minister was a democratically elected position," he said insincerely.

Amelia shook her head with a wry smile. "Though it would of course be good to have the public behind you, the Wizengamot's majority vote is all that's technically needed to be elected." She reached across the table and held out her hand. "Do we have a deal, Mister Potter?"

Tom grasped her hand and shook it. "We do, Minister."

To that end, Rita Skeeter came to speak with him the very next day. Not long after, it was time to return to school.

The first Sunday back, during The Grey's meeting, Tom eagerly started the first lesson on ritual magic, the memory of Bella's dance fresh in his mind. "This term, we'll be focusing on ritual magic. Though we'll mostly be focusing on the more methodical and scientific approach, if you will, you should know that many types of rituals exist. Some include chanting, others can look like a dance, and still yet others can involve nothing more than a series of habits completed daily for a length of time. Some rituals use solely the magic of the one performing said ritual while others use the magic of all those within the ritual's area of effect, and some rituals use only ambient magic and can even be performed by muggles to some slight effect."

There was some mumbling at that, disturbed and disgusted from some and excited and intrigued from others. Tom smiled. "Buuuut," he drawled. "First, there's something we need to do. Luna, have the traitors in our midst redeemed themselves sufficiently?"

Luna stood and walked up to him. "Two did, my Lord," she said with a curtsey.

Tom rolled his eyes at her antics, which got some giggles. "Which two would those be?" he asked.

"Eastchurch and Amano," Luna told him. She turned to face the rest of the students expectantly. "Would you come up?"

The two named nervously walked up and knelt in front of Luna. "We're sorry," Amano mumbled. "We were idiots not worthy of Ravenclaw."

"Or any house. Our behavior was inexcusable," added Eastchurch.

Luna bent down and kissed their foreheads. "I forgive you." She glanced at Tom. "My Lord?"

Tom nodded and pressed his wand against their Marks and, one at a time, the moon overlaid on the Mark faded away, leaving only the original Mark. Of course, it was a few weeks past the date he'd initially set, so some of the mercury would have already seeped into their systems. Oops. "Well done," he said. "It takes cunning and ambition to decide to improve yourselves, courage and intelligence to acknowledge and own up to your mistakes, and hard work to correct them. You are credits to both your House and Hogwarts itself. Please be seated."

"What about Burrow?" Ron called out, as Amano and Eastchurch hurried back to their places.

Tom smiled. "I believe you will all see what happens to those who couldn't be bothered to repent." He waved a hand, dismissing the topic. "Now, returning to the focus of today's lesson," he said, and the Room of Requirement produced a series of small, simple ritual circles. "Come gather around here and look at these. See this first, how all the elements are confined within the outer circle? This is the most common setup and typically indicates a ritual that affects only those within its confines. That also means all power for the ritual must already be present within the circle. On the other hand, this here has lines crossing the outer circle. This type typically draws from and affects a fixed number of related but not necessarily present subjects. Finally…"

When at last the lesson ended, Tom sent his followers off with homework. They were to take five ritual circles he'd given them and try to decipher them.

The next day, Dumbledore summoned Tom for another lesson, so Tom left Hermione at the sign-up for Apparition lessons and headed up to the Headmaster's office.

"Welcome, my boy," Dumbledore said. Today it seemed he'd gone for the eye-searing combination of lime and tangerine polkadots, right down to the brilliant green gloves with neon orange fingertips. Tom immediately switched his gaze to the desk to avoid going blind prematurely. If Dumbledore noticed, he didn't react. "Please, come sit. Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you," Tom said automatically.

Dumbledore shrugged, popped a drop in his mouth, and waited while tea appeared on the desk between them. At last, the man sighed. "I want to apologize."

Tom blinked. "What." His disbelief was too intense to even summon the correct inflection for the question.

The man chuckled. "No need to be so surprised. I have considered your words often since the last time we met, and I believe you were correct." He bowed his head. "I have made many mistakes in my life, and no doubt I shall continue to do so. I apologize that so many of those mistakes have affected you, directly or indirectly."

Tom shifted uncomfortably. "It's…" Well, it wasn't fine. "No one is perfect," he settled for instead.

"Thank you for your understanding," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling once more.

Tom wondered again whether Dumbledore knew who he was. If so, it was stupid to continue this charade, but if not, Tom would be stupid to reveal it now, alone in the man's office with him as he was. So he continued to play at Harry Potter as Dumbledore spoke of horcruxes: his suspicions as to the number of items as well as the identity of said items. Tom felt unnerved by how bloody accurate the man managed to be. If Voldemort knew, he'd be furious.

"Horace, I believe, knows something, but he has only given me a clearly altered memory." Dumbledore sighed. "Nonetheless, he is safer here than fending for himself. Should Voldemort realize I have been hunting his horcruxes, he would no doubt kill Horace in short order."

Tom inwardly marveled that Slughorn had bothered altering his memory. "Why wouldn't he tell you?" Tom asked curiously. "Voldemort would want him dead either way, so wouldn't it make more sense to help you defeat him? It's what I would do."

The old man smiled and shook his head. "I believe he is ashamed. He has, after all, sat on this knowledge for decades. Had he shared it sooner, Voldemort might not have had a chance to rise again."

Tom snorted. He supposed he could understand the drive to avoid saying anything about something important out of shame, but he would never put appeasing such emotions above his own survival.

"Next time we meet, my boy, I will have a task for you," Dumbledore said as Tom was leaving. "Sometime just before the Easter holidays, I should think."

"Got it," Tom said and hurried out the door before Dumbledore could say anything else he didn't want to hear.

Transfiguration classes had become interesting now that several of McGonagall's students were secretly Animagi. The woman wasn't an idiot, so when those students' Human Transfiguration homework scores abruptly jumped up, she looked appropriately suspicious. Most likely because of that, she spent several lessons discussing the ins and outs of the Animagus transformation, though she couched it as simply a theoretical coverage for the sake of the interested.

She asked Tom to stay after class one day. "I suppose I should assume you've already achieved the transformation, Mister Potter?" she asked once she'd set them both up with some tea.

Tom smiled thinly. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Professor."

"Please, Mister Potter. Do not insult my intelligence. I know your father and his friends became Animagi for Mister Lupin's sake. It's hardly surprising for you to learn the transformation as well now that you've started living with Black."

With a shrug, Tom nodded. "It's a reasonable enough assumption," he agreed without confirming or denying anything.

If that annoyed her, she hid it well. Instead, McGonagall asked, "Were there any issues with the other students learning the transformation, and are there any forms I should be concerned about from a safety standpoint?"

Tom considered that. "I'm certain that, if students were learning such a difficult skill, they'd have plans in place for any incidents minor enough to be handled without a teacher, and you or Madam Pomfrey would have been informed of anything greater than that. By the way," he added, Summoning a parchment and quill from his bag and sketching out a creature, "Luna's crumple-horned snorkacks are far more alarming than her description indicates."

Taking the parchment, McGonagall's eyes widened and her lips thinned. "I… see. Do be sure that Miss Lovegood knows I would prefer not to meet such a creature unprepared."

"Of course, Professor," Tom said.

AN: We're reaching the end of the year. A couple more chapters, I think. Year Seven will most likely not really be an entire year itself, since I see little reason to draw out the conflict once Tom's figured everything out. So while the story isn't that close to over, the end is definitely in sight.