Chapter Nine

Ginny was still asleep next to him when Tom awoke the next morning. He considered her, wondering whether it'd be more trouble to wake her or to leave her there under a Notice-Me-Not charm. A knock at the door decided for him. Ginny stirred, and the door opened, admitting Tonks.

The girls stared at each other for a second before Tonks snorted. "And here I thought you might swing the other way."

Ginny colored, while Tom slid out of bed and dug through his trunk for a change of clothes. "What is it?" he asked.

Tonks's expression dimmed, hair fading to a mousey brown. "Something happened last night," she said. "I just found out, wanted you to hear it from a friend." She looked down. "Your relatives… they…"

"They're dead?" Tom guessed.

Tonks nodded.

"How?"

"The Dark Mark was conjured over their house," Tonks said, wincing. She didn't elaborate, but she didn't really have to. Tom knew full well what he and his did to muggles.

If it wouldn't have been horribly inappropriate, Tom would have laughed at how easy it'd been to rid the world of that trash. As it was, he couldn't totally disguise his pleasure, instead turning away so only Ginny could see. She looked more understanding than appalled. Once he'd schooled his features once more, he nodded. "Alright then." He held up his things. "Do you two mind?"

Ginny was already climbing out of his bed, but Tonks just stood there. She frowned. "That's it? Harry, your family -"

"They're not my family," he snapped. "They made that abundantly clear." He shook his head. "If our positions were reversed, they'd be celebrating right now. I won't say I'm glad they're dead," because that would just be asking for trouble, "but I'm certainly not going to mourn them."

Tonks's expression softened. "Sorry, Harry."

He waved off the apology. "It's fine. Now can I please get changed in peace?"

Once dressed, he went down to breakfast. He'd only just sat down when The Daily Prophet snatched it immediately, ignoring Mrs. Weasley's protests. He stared, digesting the headline for a moment. Harry Potter Orphaned Again: Misfortune or Machination? He rolled his eyes and skimmed the article once, then read through more thoroughly a second time. It was, he reflected, more or less what he should have expected, given Potter's luck. It gave the impression that Harry Potter was under investigation for the deaths of his relatives, presumably as part of a plot between himself and Dumbledore to convince the public of Voldemort's return.

"Hermione, read this," he said flatly as the girl entered and sat across from him.

He watched, chewing absently on some toast, as she grew more and more outraged, finally slamming the paper down on the table. "This is ridiculous!" she shouted.

"Oh, dear, you shouldn't worry about this nonsense," Mrs. Weasley said, coming over and removing the paper. Without bothering to read it, she flicked her wand and Vanished it.

Black came over and ruffled Tom's hair, much to his irritation. "No need to worry kiddo. If anything, this just proves that you're as awesome as me! We can be fugitives together!"

"I haven't been arrested yet," Tom said, knocking Black's hand away. He fixed the man with a scowl. "If you're that desperate for company, why not take some Polyjuice and go out into the muggle world?"

Black smiled awkwardly. "Well, Dumbledore said that -"

"Oh, and Dumbledore's word is law. Sorry, I forgot."

Black stiffened, hackles rising at the dismissal in his godson's tone. "That's not it at all!"

With a sigh, Tom pushed his plate away and faced the fugitive. "Let me guess. Dumbledore said something about how you need to stay here and be a responsible adult rather than face even the slightest risk of capture. He probably alluded to how you already left me alone for more than a decade, maybe with a bit of you wouldn't want to leave me all alone again?" He didn't need Black to reply. His jaw hanging open said everything. Tom nodded to himself. "That reasoning is entirely self-serving and completely irresponsible. With your personality, you'll end up drinking yourself to death staying cooped up in here, and then I'll have lost you anyway." He snorted. "I don't need a godfather who's willing to roll over and die just because his old Headmaster told him to."

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" Mrs. Weasley screeched. "How dare you say that!"

Tom barely avoided rolling his eyes. "Thank you for breakfast, Mrs. Weasley." He made to leave, but was stopped by the woman moving between him and the door.

"Now wait just one moment young man. I've been letting you relax in the library this whole time, but if that's the way you're going to behave, you can join the rest of the children cleaning."

Ginny entered, looking freshly showered, at the end of her mother's sentence. Seeing the expression on Tom's face, she shuddered and sidled past her mother toward the table to grab some food.

Tom stood still, staring at the woman before him. He'd initially tolerated her attempts to mother him, but enough was enough. "Mrs. Weasley, I appreciate you opening your home to me the past few years. I doubly appreciate you sending me food over the summers, because I likely would have starved otherwise. I do not, however, appreciate you acting like you're my mother. My mother gave her life for me, and I have no need nor desire to replace her. Furthermore, you're treating studying as a treat to be taken away, when it is quite possibly a matter of life or death to me. I will not be cleaning. I will spend the rest of the summer learning more because, whether you accept it or not, Voldemort wants to kill me and I refuse to sit back and let him."

Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to have an immediate answer to that. He glanced over his shoulder. "Hermione?" He strode past Mrs. Weasley and out the door.

The bushy-haired girl startled and hurried to follow him. Ginny gave her mother one last look and hurried out with a slice of buttered toast before the woman could say any more.

Once they were alone in the library, Tom groaned and dropped his head onto the table. This day was going to hell already. When he heard chairs scraping, he straightened, looking at the two girls, and smiled half-heartedly. "Do you think you could contact Rita, Hermione?" he asked, preemptively ending any conversation on what had just happened.

"Skeeter?" she asked, frowning thoughtfully. "Yes, but…"

Tom nodded. "Please do. I intend to give her exactly the kind of exclusive she lives for."

Hermione bit her lip thoughtfully, but obediently left while Tom immersed himself in a book focused on summonings. It took a while, but she eventually returned, nursing her fingers. "Hedwig seems angry," she said reproachfully as she approached the table.

Tom cocked his head. Was he forgetting to do something? "I'll check on her when she gets back," he decided. "Sorry."

Hermione waved it off and sat down. She'd barely started on her book (Ritual Modifications to Modify Rituals) when the door banged open.

A moment later, a fuming Ron appeared from the stacks. "There you are," he exclaimed. He pulled out the fourth chair at their table and threw himself into it. "Mum finally let me off cleaning duty. Said I should come hang out with you."

"Are you sure she didn't say to come study with us?" Ginny asked archly.

"Yeah, yeah, like you lot are really -" He cut himself off, blinking as he realized that all three of them did, indeed, have books open in front of them. "Wait, really?"

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione sighed. "We've not just been blowing off cleaning."

Tom hissed out a breath. So that was Mrs. Weasley's response? Send Ron in? No doubt the boy would make it harder to study. He frowned. He shouldn't have blown up at the woman this morning, or Black for that matter, but his largely sleepless night had put him on edge. Pretending to be fifteen again - pretending to be Harry Potter at fifteen specifically - was becoming beyond tiresome. He'd never thought it would happen, but he actually wanted to be called by his real name again. He was Tom Riddle, not Harry Potter. That was never going to change.

He closed his eyes, impatient with himself. It was senseless to think that way.

"What're you reading about then?" Ron asked.

Tom considered their books. Ginny was past reading about Horcruxes directly now and was reading about soul magic in general to hopefully pick up some of the theory behind them a bit better. Hermione was devouring book after book on ritual magic, presumably because she'd realized how useful rituals could be. He himself was reading about summoning entities from the astral plane - he'd long ago decided against attempting to summon anything himself, but one legend said dementors were originally a summoned creature.

In short, all three of them were reading things most would consider Dark, and Tom knew from Potter's memories that, to Ron Weasley, Dark meant Evil. He sighed and flicked his wand discreetly, disguising the books as normal school books. He probably should have been doing that from the outset anyway. He then sent a silent Confundus toward Ron so he wouldn't realize the books had suddenly changed. "Just more of the theory behind our classwork, mostly," Tom said. "The better you understand how a spell works, the easier it is to cast."

Both Hermione and Ginny looked at him sharply, then at their books. Hermione was the first to play along, giving him a troubled smile as she realized what he'd done. "We've been focusing on fourth year, mostly," she said, gesturing toward Ginny. "It's a good review for us, and this way Ginny will have an easier time this year."

Ginny grimaced. Now she'd have to study ahead for real.

Scoffing, Ron turned to Tom. "Anyway, mate, why've you been avoiding me? Don't tell me you want to sit in here and study."

Tom was actually a bit impressed how very much Ron made 'study' sound like a curse. He was much less impressed with the attitude that went into it. "Yes, Ron, I do. I'd like to survive this year's attempt on my life through something a little more reliable than plain luck." Especially when Potter's luck was apparently the sort that led him to having an annual near-death experience in the first place.

Though he took a minute to work through that, Ron eventually nodded reluctantly. He settled down and reached for one of the books with a resigned look. Before Tom had more than twitched, Hermione drew her own wand. "Somnus," she whispered. The red-headed boy collapsed against the table, and a quick sticking charm from Ginny kept him from sliding out of his chair.

Tom regarded the sleeping boy. "I guess we should bring our actual textbooks," he said with a sigh.

Hermione nodded, looking dejected. "I don't like lying to him, but…"

"He'd accuse us of going Dark or something," Tom agreed.

Ginny blinked, looking between them. "Really?" She eyed her brother. "I know Ron tends to see things as pretty black or white, and we've been reading some somewhat questionable things, but if we just explain why we're reading them to him, I think he'd understand." She hesitated. "But he's not great at keeping secrets, so I agree that we should just pretend we're reviewing anyway."

"That aside," Tom said, "I don't trust him. He's betrayed me twice now." He shot Hermione a look. "Your solution is elegant, but I am never going to kiss him for any reason, so don't even suggest it."

The girl pinked. "I wasn't planning to," she defended, shaking her head. "It's just… it feels like if we do this, that'll be the end of our friendship." Her shoulders drooped. "I only have a couple friends to begin with. I don't want to lose one."

Tom shut his mouth, not sure what to say to that. He didn't know enough about the pair's relationship to risk commenting on it.

Ginny had no such difficulty. "It's probably for the best. You're a muggleborn, so…" She trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Before Hermione could do more than look indignant, the younger girl visibly braced herself and continued, "Ron probably expected that you'd get together and get married eventually."

That took the wind out of Hermione's sails. Now she just seemed confused. "What does my being muggleborn have to do with marrying Ron?"

The red-haired girl grimaced. "I'm sure you've noticed that our family's not… well liked in most circles," she started.

"Why is that?" Hermione interrupted. "It can't just be because you've got less money or because you opposed You-Know-Who, can it?"

Ginny bit her lip. "Well, remember how Mum was talking about using love potions to get Dad's attention? That caused a lot of problems with the rest of the Weasley family at the time, because using a love potion on a pureblood without their guardian's permission is really looked down on. It's not quite illegal, of course, but it's why we never speak with the rest of the family. So anyway, because of that, Ron just about has to marry a muggleborn, and he knows that. So, you know, you're the only muggleborn girl he knows, so..."

"Wait," Hermione stopped her. "What do you mean by 'of course'? Why wouldn't love potions be illegal? I thought your mother was just joking!"

Ginny frowned in bewilderment. "Why would they be?"

Flabbergasted was an amusing look on Hermione, Tom decided. He cut in. "Is your mother planning on using them again for her children's benefit?"

Now Ginny looked flustered. "I think… probably not? After all the trouble it caused with Dad's family..."

"How sure are you?" Tom asked, voice turning chilly. As a general rule, he checked his food for potions before eating, so he should be fine, but if Mrs. Weasley so much as attempted to drug him, he would still force feed her diluted basilisk venom and deal with the consequences.

"Not… totally," Ginny admitted. "But I'm at least pretty sure she'd pick your sixth year so it wouldn't interfere with your OWLs or NEWTs, if she was going to do it." She glanced at Hermione, who was staring at her in shock.

Tom reached across the table and grabbed Ginny's wrist tightly, looking her straight in the eyes. "You're my friend, Ginny, and I trust you, but I will utterly and completely destroy anyone who attempts to use a love potion on me." He flicked his gaze toward Hermione. "Or any of my friends," he amended. "The both of you are mine, and an attack on you is no less than an attack on me."

Pink infused the girl's cheeks at the possessiveness, but she nodded seriously. "I understand, Harry. I'll… I'll keep an eye on her, and I'll make sure it doesn't get that far."

Tom released her and sat back down. "Thanks," he said more warmly. "I'd appreciate it."

Hermione had finally had enough. "Why are love potions being used at all?" she demanded. "That's - that's - that's practically rape!"

"Not sure you need the 'practically' in there," Tom commented idly.

Now it was Ginny's turn to look confused. "What? No, I mean, I get not liking the idea, since you could end up with someone awful, but I mean, you'd be happy with them in the end. It's not ideal, because of course you should wait till the wedding, but..."

"Not ideal?" Hermione screeched. "Being forced to marry and copulate with, oh, I don't know, Vincent Crabbe would be just 'not ideal' to you?"

Ginny blinked owlishly. "Well, that's certainly disgusting to imagine, but if that happened for… whatever weird reason, I wouldn't be being forced to marry him or… anything else. I'd be in love with him, so I'd want to."

Tom sighed. He'd had this argument in his own time. Purebloods just didn't think the same way sometimes and, in the end, he was muggle-raised. He didn't agree with it any more than Hermione did, but they'd likely get nowhere arguing the matter. "True love is more of a muggle concept, Hermione," he said. "Purebloods can't ban the production of love potions, because they use Amortentia as a step in getting married, usually, even when the ones getting married are already in love. Since divorce isn't a part of their culture, they've settled on Amortentia as a way to make sure they don't fall out of love with the other person. With that background, it's hard for them to understand why we'd see a difference between natural love and potioned love.

"Not to mention that the schools spread the ridiculous myth that love potions aren't permanent,'" he said, lips twisting down. The research was out there, and he'd read it. The fact was that, for Amortentia at least, there was not a single case of the recipient falling out of love after the potion was meant to have worn off. Most people claimed that was because the potion just helped them overcome their hesitation, or some such nonsense. He highly doubted it. "No one even cares how inconsistent that is with the official use for the potions."

"And Ron knows about this?" Hermione asked.

Tom looked to Ginny, who nodded hesitantly.

Hermione scowled. "And what would happen if we weren't compatible?"

"Well," Ginny said, expression making it clear she knew how little Hermione would like her answer, "you would do what you needed to to make things work." She winced.

"I'd do what I needed." Hermione repeated flatly. "What about him?"

"He'd… try," Ginny offered. Tom figured that meant the girl had little faith in her brother's ability to cater to Hermione's most likely high expectations of a partner.

Hermione sniffed, apparently of the same opinion. "In that case, sorry Ginny, but I think Harry has the right of it. For your own sake, make sure your mother doesn't even try. Now excuse me while I look up every detection spell ever invented."

Tom watched her go, then turned his attention to Ginny, who looked miserable and lost, and offered her a smile. "We're not angry with you," he said gently. Or at least, he wasn't, and Hermione probably wouldn't be for too long. "Just the society you were raised in."

Ron snored loudly and shifted. Tom and Ginny looked at him, having managed to entirely forget he was there, then each other and laughed. If Ginny's laugh came out a bit forced, Tom wasn't going to comment on it. "Come on," Tom said, smiling more broadly. "Let's go grab those books before he wakes up."

By the time they returned, Hermione was back too, no less than four books spread out in front of her. She didn't look up when they sat down, and they felt no need to interrupt her. Instead, Ginny kicked Ron, who opened one eye, saw her, and grunted. When she kicked him again, he sat up. "What's that for?" he complained.

"You were drooling," Ginny informed him.

Ron wiped at the table ineffectively, ears reddening. "Sorry," he muttered. He looked at Hermione strangely, perhaps remembering that she'd been the one to put him to sleep, but shook his head after a second and moved to join them studying.

The three of them left Hermione to her devices, which Ron didn't seem to find unusual, and they actually did review fourth year. It was boring, to be sure, but Tom always had enjoyed teaching, and he found himself settling into the role of tutor easily. Studying with Ron was not as terrible as Tom had expected, actually. The boy was no genius, but so long as he was focused, he certainly wasn't stupid either. The main problem was that he had little ability to concentrate on things that didn't interest him, an admittedly common flaw in teenagers.

"When'd you get so good at all this?" Ron asked later, as they were heading downstairs for dinner. Hermione remained behind.

Tom shrugged. "I had nothing better to do all summer."

Dinner was a strained affair. Hermione still hadn't arrived, leaving Ginny anxiously glancing at the door between bites. Both Mrs. Weasley and Black alternated glaring at each other and looking anxiously at Tom. For his part, Tom ate slowly and methodically, ignoring the rest of the diners. Then, when Tom was almost finished eating, Hermione came in and sat down in the silence. Behind her, Severus slipped in, inclining his head as he caught Tom's eye.

"I learned about love potions today," Hermione said suddenly.

Tom looked up.

Hermione smiled, but it was a thin, sharp kind of smile that reminded Tom of Bella. He wondered what it would take to make her show this side of herself more often. "I want to make something quite clear to everyone here. I consider love potions to be as bad as the Imperius curse, so I've asked Professor Snape to keep an eye on both Harry and me. If he discovers that either of us has been given a love potion, or any sort of mind-altering potion for that matter, he's agreed to reverse the effects. At that point, Harry and I will leave, and you will never see either of us again." As she said it, she glanced at Tom, the only sign of her nervousness. She was bluffing, since not even Severus could reverse Amortentia.

Tom considered her long enough for everyone else to look at him, then nodded. While he didn't approve of her deciding on this course of action without consulting him first, he wouldn't undermine her at this juncture.

"Hermione, dear, why on earth would you say that?" Mrs. Weasley asked, the first to find her voice.

Severus stepped forward. "Muggle culture and pureblood culture vary drastically on this point," he said. "In this instance, I find I agree with the muggle view."

Black was, somewhat to Tom's surprise, on their side as well. "James hated the idea of them too. He'd never agree to use one on Harry." At Tom's questioning look, he smiled sadly. "James always said only a coward would use a potion instead of winning the person's affections naturally. It drove his parents nuts."

Tom honestly didn't think Black meant anything by it, but Mrs. Weasley flushed an ugly red and stood. With a flick of her wand, everyone's plates - even Hermione's, who had barely started eating - flew to the sink and began washing themselves. The woman's lips were pressed together tightly, and Tom suspected that, were her family not ostensibly here for their own safety, she'd have ordered them through the floo and back home. He tilted his head. "What's wrong, Mrs. Weasley?" If his smile was a tad malicious, he didn't think anyone watching would mind terribly.

The Weasley matriarch's back stiffened. "I just think children shouldn't speak on things they clearly don't understand," she said tightly. "Use of love potions to cement a marriage is a necessary part of life."

"Necessary? But even my muggle relatives were more than capable of staying together without any potions," Tom pointed out. "Unless you're saying muggles are more capable of loving each other than magicals, love potions just seem like a crutch. If both sides haven't consented, it's additionally a case of usurping another's will. That's the same thing the Imperius does."

It truly couldn't be healthy to go from so red to so white, but Mrs. Weasley was doing it anyway. "As I said," she reiterated, voice trembling, "one can't expect a child to understand the difficulties involved in a marriage."

Tom shrugged, letting it go. The woman had used a love potion herself, so of course she wouldn't want to change her mind. It would paint her negatively, and most people had a very hard time honestly thinking ill of themselves. Instead, he turned to Severus. "Is it time for our lesson?" he asked, remembering at the last second to inject bitterness into his voice. Harry Potter hated Severus Snape, after all.

Severus inclined his head. "Indeed. It seems you have learned to tell time at last, Mister Potter," he said silkily. He left, slipping out the door as a shadow would. Tom would allow the insult, since Severus had been polite enough to agree to an unplanned lesson. He and Hermione stood and followed the Potions professor, but Mrs. Weasley stopped Ginny. "I need your help here, Ginny," she said primly, as though anyone would believe that.

Tom glanced at Hermione, who was hesitating, and made up his mind. He'd claimed both girls for his Inner Circle. He would not let anyone control them except him. "Ginny needs to learn Occlumency," he said. "The events of her first year left a connection to Voldemort that he could exploit if she isn't trained."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes went wide at that, which suggested that she knew very little about Ginny's condition. If she did, she would have recognized that as utter rubbish. Black, sitting where Mrs. Weasley couldn't see, smirked at him. "I see," she said tightly, "In that case, go on Ginny."

As they descended the stairs into the basement, Ginny shivered. "Thank you," she murmured. "That isn't true though, is it?"

Tom smirked. "Of course not. I'm the one getting visions from him, not you."

Ginny's shaky smile was relieved, but the sight of Severus awaiting them in their training room wiped it from her face. In its place slid a mask of determination.

Both girls did well that afternoon. As there'd been little time to practice, Severus first spent an hour providing actual instruction in the subject. Once he was finished, he gave them another hour to work on attempting the techniques he'd described. When at last it was time to test them again, Ginny was able to keep him out for several seconds, and Hermione nearly ejected him altogether. Severus nodded as he caught his breath. Legillimency was a taxing art, especially for someone whose magic lent itself more strongly toward Occlumency. "Potter," he said at last, voice hard.

Tom raised an eyebrow and waited for the attack. When it came, he welcomed the man in to see his progress.

Severus blinked once, his only reaction to the half-completed mindscape. It was a far cry from the scattered mess of before. "Impressive," he murmured. The world was largely empty and dark, save for motes of light that sparkled like dust in the sunlight. The only exception was a deep pool in the center, within which lay the memories Tom had yet to sort. As Severus reached out to one memory, it flitted away, just as would happen with real dust motes.

Severus withdrew. "As abysmal as expected, Potter," he remarked and turned his attention to his other students. "Miss Granger, you've improved significantly, but I suggest you begin designing a more interesting defense. No shield is impenetrable, and your memories are simple to access and navigate once that shield is breached. Miss Weasley, your shields are still forming, and your method of hiding your memories bears a striking resemblance to the Dark Lord's. Your progress is adequate for this stage of your training, but if you truly intend to use his method, you must put forth even more effort. As it is, I can navigate your mind with ease." He glanced at Tom, but said nothing. "That is all," he said. This time, he left first.