Chapter Twenty-Four

November 1st fell on a Wednesday that year, so both Tom and Severus had no choice but to act as though nothing had happened, no matter how bone-tired they both were or how they felt about resuming daily life without knowing what new form the bond might have taken. In addition, Tom's impulsive decision to remove the Dark Mark meant Severus needed to figure out a means of explaining away its absence. Tom somewhat regretted making more work for the man, but ultimately, if these bonds were keeping him alive, he couldn't be letting one of them go before his other self. He would just have to obtain a different, more expendable spy.

Instead of resting, Tom spent that day and the next trying to think what 'an act of trust' could mean, exactly. He had an idea of how it had worked with Severus, and he rather suspected that Luna had been key, but he couldn't expect Luna to give a repeat performance. She wasn't a god, or even a Seer. She was just a small, waif-like girl who happened to see the world a little differently.

Tom had already decided Luna would be the fourth, so there was that out of the way at least.

In the meantime though, he needed to find a way to prove he trusted Hermione, and then Ginny after. Was that even something one could do on command? Did he actually even trust them in the first place?

The ritual was more forgiving than the first, timing-wise, perhaps allowing that it was a difficult sort of act to perform. Still, it was a problem.

What about Hermione? Did she even trust him?

Tom frowned and glanced at Hermione out of the corner of his eye. She had her Slinkhard book open in front of her, nose crinkled as she studied it, trying to see the use in the words. Tom had told her that the book was more useful than it seemed, and ever since she'd spent their DADA lessons searching it for hidden meaning. He could tell when she caught on to the practical applications of the book's obscure theories because of the surge of irritation he felt through the bond. She didn't like that she'd missed them on her first read-through, and Tom's occasional gloating comments about her oversight didn't help.

In reality, he was proud of her ability to figure out anything through Slinkhard's drivel. The man wouldn't know clear and concise if it was in the middle of hexing him. Tom would be willing to provide proof of that, but the man had already died more than a decade ago.

Just before class let out, Umbridge stopped at his desk. She stumbled over her own two feet, then gave him an overly broad smile that failed to reach her eyes. "Detention, Mister Potter, for tripping a teacher."

By now, absolutely no one in the class believed the woman's excuses for giving him detention, but there was little anyone could do about it. Tom didn't mind though. He eyed the woman with a faint smirk. She wore makeup to cover it, but the skin under her eyes had a deep purple tint to it, and Tom had caught small hypnogogic jerks beginning throughout classes and meals. The woman was still only in the beginning stages of sleep deprivation, but it wouldn't be long before she entered the middle stages, where the real fun would start.

At lunch, Tom observed the students he'd caught in his cursed letter trap. After the first two, he'd waited a week before sending another pair of cursed letters, then a last pair a week after that. With them, he'd caught one upper-year Ravenclaw, an older Slytherin, Malfoy, and Nott. Though the effects were less pronounced in Nott and the Ravenclaw, all four students were suffering the same sort of twitches as Umbridge. He knew the two boys in his year were falling behind in classes, and discreet inquiries told him that they were spending more and more of their free time holed up in the Potions lab brewing Dreamless Sleep.

Incidentally, the curse's best quality was the subtle way it interacted with potions. Dreamless Sleep worked, but it was a potion that didn't provide a feeling of being well-rested in the first place. The curse would undo what little good the potion managed, and the psychological effects would make the victim more and more desperate for sleep until they overdosed on Dreamless Sleep and never awoke.

Tom was considering undoing the curse and letting the children live, in return for their fathers swearing their loyalty to him. He thought having more than one spy was probably better, but he also thought that each additional spy probably brought decreasing returns, so he wasn't totally decided yet.

That Saturday was the Gryffindor/Slytherin match. Tom woke up early, as always, and looked down at Ginny, whose head rested in his lap. She'd been pushing herself at practices. She never said anything, but he'd felt her exhaustion after each one. Did she think he would be disappointed in her if she failed to catch the snitch? He wasn't that hypocritical. Tom ran his fingers through her hair gently so as not to wake her.

He was beginning to think he'd been wrong to tell Ginny she'd have his required heirs. Surely if he were capable of being interested in her, that would have happened by now. He snorted. Surely, if he were capable of being interested in any girl whatsoever, something would have happened by now. He didn't think it was normal to sleep with a girl every night and never once be tempted to do anything more.

Even Ginny had questioned his preferences. "Do you, maybe, prefer guys?" she'd asked hesitantly.

Tom couldn't say for certain. He found people of both sexes equally attractive aesthetically, and he'd thought for years that that was all there was to it. However, Gryffindors were far more talkative than Slytherins, and after listening to the other boys in his dorm talking, Tom was beginning to wonder if he'd ever actually found someone attractive. It seemed as though their definition of attractive meant… more than his. Like there were additional feelings beyond simply noticing that yes, those features went together nicely. They talked about wanting to 'bang' various girls (even though Tom was positive they were, to a one, virgins), and it sounded as though that desire for sex was a requisite part of finding a girl attractive.

They also spoke longingly about various body parts, which Tom found utterly baffling. He was male, and so was Harry Potter (thankfully), so he had to deal with having a penis, but it wasn't something he enjoyed having. It was a somewhat disgusting appendage that was full of inconveniences. Women had it even worse. Everything about the female reproductive system sounded so awful Tom wondered how any woman could possibly believe in intelligent design. And to top it all off, their genitals looked even more disgusting, a feat in itself.

No, Tom didn't understand attraction at all, and moving into Harry Potter's body hadn't changed that.

"Tom?"

He started, realizing he'd been sitting here staring at Ginny while thinking. He smiled awkwardly at her. "Good morning," he said rather than address his wandering thoughts.

Ginny smiled and nuzzled closer to him. Tom huffed a laugh and leaned back against the headboard, closing his eyes. If she were an animagus, Tom was certain she'd be some manner of cat. "Hey Ginny," he asked, eyes still closed. "What animals do you think the others would be?"

The girl sat up and cocked her head consideringly. "Hmmm… Hermione might be an owl? Since she's so smart. Oh, but she hates flying, so maybe not. A fox maybe? They're associated with being clever. Luna would be something weird. Maybe a - a dolphin. Or something." She laughed. "What do you think Snape would be? A bat?"

"A doe," Tom said without thinking, then frowned, unsure where that had come from.

Ginny blinked. "I think a deer would be more likely but… yeah. His patronus is a doe, did you know? He sent us one when you… well, on Halloween."

Tom blinked. He hadn't known. "Why do you think that is?" he wondered, not really expecting an answer, and he didn't get one. Eventually, he started to get ready for the day. "You've got the match this evening," he commented as they opened the curtains, Ginny still working on putting on the Cloak.

Ron stood on the other side of the curtains. For a moment, he just stared. At last, he asked, "Ginny?" sounding more lost than anything, but it was loud enough to wake up the other boys.

Finnegan was the first to take in the scene. He pumped a fist. "Alright, Potter!" he cheered.

Tom pressed his eyes closed. "It's not what you're thinking," he started, even though he knew well enough that no one would believe him.

Ron was starting to turn red. "You've been sleeping with my sister?" he roared, looking like he wasn't sure which one of them he wanted to throttle.

"Emphasis on the word sleeping," Tom muttered.

Ginny was less calm. "No, your sister has been sleeping with him!" She pushed past Ron, storming toward the door. "Not that it's any of your business." She turned as she reached the door and glared at Tom. "Come on," she ordered.

Tom raised an eyebrow but did as he was bade. After a moment, he heard a scuffle break out in the dorm behind him. He didn't have a chance to worry about it though, because Ginny was ranting as she descended the stairs. "Honestly, like I'm some sort of - of - I don't know, thing that he needs to protect from -"

"Evil psychopaths who may plan on using you to take over Wizarding Britain?" Tom asked drily.

Ginny choked out a laugh and shook her head. "I was thinking more 'guys who only want to use me for sex,' but…"

Hermione stood at the foot of the stairs, arms crossed. "I take it Ron finally found out?" she asked.

Tom nodded. "We got complacent."

"What was he even doing being awake this early?" Ginny grumbled, but she was already calming down. "I'll be right back," she sighed and headed up to her dorm.

Ron came down with Neville while they waited for her. He glared at the ground but, after several seconds, said, "I'm sorry."

"We're just sleeping," Tom said, more toward Neville, who looked like he was trying very hard not to look curious. "There's been nothing untoward."

Neville nodded easily. "I thought so," he said. "The two of you are close, but you don't feel like you're in that kind of relationship."

Ron studied Tom. "Wait, was Seamus right? You're - you know - a -"

"No," Tom snapped. "I just have a hard time thinking about girls and whatnot when I've got a homicidal maniac after me."

Ron raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry. I'm… I've been trying not to jump to conclusions so quickly but… Sorry. I didn't mean to overreact. Ginny's… She's right, it's none of my business."

A cough made the boy jump, and he turned to see Ginny staring at him. She nodded shortly. "Thank you, Ron." She hesitated. "And sorry. For sneaking around. I didn't think you'd understand."

Conversation at breakfast started off strained, but that was quickly more or less forgotten in favor of Ginny and Ron's nerves. Their match against Slytherin would start before long, and it was all they could do to keep themselves together.

Partway through the meal, Cho Chang came up to their table. "Um, Harry? Do - do you mind if we talk? For a moment?"

Tom bit back a sigh. He'd caught sight of her watching him here and there, but he'd hoped she would keep being too nervous to approach him. "Sure," he said. He turned to Ginny. "If I don't see you before you head out, good luck."

Ginny's answering smile was small, but present.

Cho led him out of the castle, then turned and faced him, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Have you been avoiding me?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Tom said.

Cho looked taken aback. "But… why? I thought…" She trailed off, clearly expecting him to finish the sentence for her, but Tom wasn't that kind. Eventually, she got uncomfortable enough with the silence to finish it for herself. "I thought you liked me."

Tom considered her. "Fourth-year Harry Potter thought you were pretty, and mistook that as wanting a relationship with you." He shrugged. "I'm older now. You are pretty - very much so - but I'm just not interested." There was no particular reason to lie to her, so he didn't.

"Is - is it because you're interested in Granger? Or Weasley's sister? Or… or Lovegood?" she asked, tone turning petulant.

"No, I'm not interested in you because I'm not interested in you," Tom told her shortly. "No one else enters into it."

"Oh." Tears welled up in the girl's eyes. "I'm… I'm sorry then. I'll just…"

Tom rolled his eyes and turned before she'd finished speaking and headed back to the Great Hall, only to run into Hermione with Luna. Both girls looked annoyed with him, although Luna's roaring, lion-shaped hat somewhat detracted from the effect. "What now?" he asked.

"You could have been nicer to the poor girl," Hermione chided.

"You could have been ruder to her," Luna said at the same time. At Hermione's shocked look, Luna pouted. "She's friends with Edgecombe."

Tom suddenly wished he'd actively set out to hurt the girl instead of simply not trying to spare her feelings. "Is she one of the ones?" he asked seriously.

Luna wavered. "Not… exactly. She just… doesn't care."

Tom frowned, but accepted that. "You only need to say the word," he reminded her.

Luna patted his cheek. "I know, Tom Riddle. Come, let's get seats in the stadium. Ginny will need our support." Her hat roared in agreement and pounced onto a snake that rose up before it. Hermione went green as the lion ripped the snake to shreds quite graphically, and Tom wondered if he should take offense or not.

The game went terribly. Ron couldn't save a ball to save his life, partially because he just wasn't as skilled as he'd like to be, but mostly because he fell apart when nervous. Slytherin House wasn't helping. They were singing some inane song called Weasley is Our King, which was poorly written but apparently more than enough to destroy the boy's self-confidence.

Ginny, on the other hand, was one of those people who shone when placed under pressure. Even Tom could tell that she was flying better than usual, so it came as no surprise when she managed to catch the snitch long before her brother's nerves ruined Gryffindor's chances of winning.

Then the bludger hit her back, Tom saw red, and Vincent Crabbe's broom exploded under him, sending him plummeting to the ground.

In the aftermath of the match, Fred and George ended up with lifetime bans from Quidditch, Ginny and Crabbe were in the Hospital Wing, and Tom had detentions with Umbridge through to the end of term, even though there was absolutely no proof he'd had anything to do with Crabbe's 'accident.'

Tom didn't care. He stalked through the Slytherin Common Room under a Disillusionment Charm and into the fifth-year boy's dormitory. Malfoy was there, ranting about 'those damn Gryffindors,' and 'when he told his father,' and 'the Dark Lord would see to it that Potter paid,' and so on and so forth. Tom waited, magic growing colder with each passing word, until Zabini entered.

The dark-skinned boy shuddered as he passed Tom and stiffened, then continued on to his bed as though nothing had happened. Tom removed the Disillusionment Charm and cast a Silencing Charm at the door. Then he summoned Malfoy's wand.

Malfoy started. "Potter! What are you doing here?"

Tom smiled at the boy. "I thought it was time we talked, Malfoy."

"When I tell -"

"Crucio." Malfoy's wand didn't work as well as Potter's but Tom always had been good at the Unforgivables. Wand compatibility was only a concern for lesser wizards.

Tom watched Malfoy writhe on the floor dispassionately, sending Zabini a quick nod when the other boy merely Petrified Goyle. Nott just stared, eyes wide, as Malfoy screamed.

When at last he released the spell, Tom stepped closer to Malfoy and knelt, resting his knee on the boy's chest. The boy'd soiled himself. Tom Vanished the mess with a flick of his wand and leaned in close to Malfoy's ear. "The next time one of your people hurts one of mine, I won't stop until you join Neville's parents in Saint Mungo's. Understood?"

Malfoy mouthed something, but he couldn't get enough air to speak.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tom said, getting off the boy. "Is that better?"

"Y-you won't get away with this, Potter," Malfoy stammered, expression a beautiful mix of fearful and furious.

Tom considered him. "You make a terrible Slytherin," he decided. "You'll make sure no one else hears about this if you want to survive."

When Malfoy only gaped at him, Zabini chimed in instead. "What do you mean?" he asked with poorly feigned concern.

Tom gave the other boy a bright smile. "Let's just say I've noticed that certain people in this room have had a great deal of trouble sleeping recently. I hear that such things can become fatal if left untreated."

Tom left. If Malfoy still decided to try to get him arrested, that was fine. Tom would deal with it if things came to that, but he didn't think Malfoy was brave enough to risk his life over a little torture.

From the dungeons, Tom meandered to the Hospital Wing, killing time in hopes that Ginny would be ready to leave by the time he got there. However, not only was Ginny not finished being healed, she wasn't even being allowed visitors yet. Tom went back to Gryffindor feeling irritable and climbed the stairs to his dorm.

It was with some surprise that Tom found Hermione in his bed in Ginny's place. She smiled uncomfortably. "Hey," she said, blushing. "I thought you might want company, since Ginny's stuck in the Hospital Wing tonight."

Tom stared, suddenly quite aware of how different Ginny and Hermione were. For starters, Ginny slept in oversized, comfortable clothes. Hermione apparently slept in… "Is that lingerie?" he asked incredulously. It wasn't precisely revealing - just a camisole and shorts - but the thin fabric was decidedly impractical, and the sides were laced up instead of being made of proper fabric.

The girl's blush increased, and she struggled to hold her head high. "It is," she said defensively. "My mother said that… since the other girls are starting to wear stuff like this, I should too." Her gaze flickered to the side as she said that, embarrassment of a different sort coloring her features. "I told her I didn't care about that stuff, but she went and bought it anyway, so…" She bit her lip. "Does it look too weird?"

Tom shook his head. "No. You look fine," he told her. "But you look much more beautiful when you're comfortable, which you're not right now," he added after considering her for a moment. "Your confidence is one of the most attractive things about you, after all."

Hermione's eyes went wide, and her blush ventured into a whole new spectrum of red. "You - you really think that," she said wonderingly.

Tom raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Of course. That's why I said it." He examined the bond, trying to puzzle out what she was thinking.

It seemed like Hermione was doing the same. "You don't mean that the way most people would though," she said, sounding a strange mix of relieved and disappointed.

Tom hesitated. "Probably not, no."

Hermione took a deep breath. "I wanted to… I thought we should try to talk about the next step, for us." She bit her lip, twisting the edge of his sheets in her hands, subconsciously raising them higher to cover herself more fully. "I… do you trust me?" Her voice was small, as though worried about the answer.

"Yes." Even though he'd been wondering the exact same thing, the moment she asked, he was able to reply.

"You do?" The smile she gave made him feel as though the warmth she felt was something he could grasp as well. "Well. Um. Well okay then." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking suddenly shy but pleased. "Alright." She nodded.

Tom frowned a little. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Of course!" Hermione gestured to herself. "Do you think I'd have come up here like this if I didn't trust you?"

Put like that, Tom supposed his concern had been unreasonable after all. "In that case, shouldn't you have waited until we were performing the ritual for this?" he asked. It seemed like a waste for her to prove she trusted him now when she was going to have to do it again in the relatively near future.

Hermione blinked. "It's not like it will suddenly stop meaning I trust you."

Didn't it? Tom supposed he didn't have much experience with trust.

Not noticing his confusion, Hermione continued, "But well, actually, I wanted to do something tonight. I think… I don't know if you remember, but our… the ritual was my first time kissing someone and… well… Afterward, I decided that it didn't count, since it was just for a ritual, and I was kind of upset that it was with you at the time but…" She took a deep breath. "I changed my mind. I want my first kiss to have been with you, properly."

Tom didn't gape at her, because that would have been undignified. "...what?" was the only response he could come up with though. "Why?"

Now she looked annoyed. "Because - because that's what I want. And I thought maybe you'd be more interested if I looked… kind of… sexy, but you're not, but I'm already here, so unless you're opposed to it, I'd like it if we could kiss again, but not because we're performing a ritual. Just because you're you and I'm me and we're… um…"

Tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes, and Tom could feel her frustration with both him and herself. "Alright," he said quietly, even as a headache bloomed behind his eyes. He tried to make his tone casual, but there was no way she couldn't feel the alarm that had rushed through him and grown increasingly stronger since the moment she'd told him what she wanted. He didn't understand it, so he tried to ignore it, even as his heart pounded and his hands shook and pain shot through his head.

Hermione sighed and examined him sadly. "Nevermind," she said with a small shake of her head. "I… I appreciate that you were willing to, but I don't… I don't want it to come at the price of our friendship and…" She sighed. "I'm sorry. I… This was a terrible idea. I thought maybe, since Ginny couldn't be here, I could help, but then I ended up overthinking things and I went too far and… I'm sorry." She started to pull the Cloak over her - Tom assumed Ginny had lent it to her.

"Wait." Tom stared at his hand for a moment, which had reached out to grab her wrist entirely unbidden. He shook himself. That wasn't the important part right now. He took a deep breath, wincing as another flash of pain struck. He ignored it. "You can stay."

It wasn't comfortable like it was with Ginny. Tom couldn't relax at all. But Hermione was fragile in a way Ginny wasn't, and part of him knew that if he let her leave, something in their relationship would be broken. So he pulled her back to him and in against his side, and they shifted over and over until they finally managed a position that was at least not uncomfortable, with her partially in his lap and her head against his chest where she could hear how fast his heart was beating, and his hand pressed against her back where he could feel her heart, going not as quickly as his but still faster than the average human heartbeat.

He felt the moment when Hermione finally fell asleep. Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His head still hurt, but it was getting better at least. He opened his eyes again and stared at the ceiling, watching the shadows until morning.

AN: There are some things that have been written for ages now, and chapter 23 is the first of them. It feels good to finally get it out of the 'waiting to go somewhere' pile. It was probably the first part of this fic that ever got started really, because I've spent a long time wondering why Tom would have risked his role of being a good little Slytherin just to petrify some students and murder some random Ravenclaw girl.

Texan: I thought about that, and it's not totally out of the question, but I think there's something more directly applicable to Tom, so I'll probably be going with that. Well, no matter what it's not going to be 21 bonds because holy crap. That'd be so many. I think Tom would explode if that were the case.

Thank you for the reviews. I feel so generally ridiculously happy about them, it's hard to describe