"So pitiful..." Tom's smirk widened a little, and his eyes were full of pleased happiness as he glanced at the other boy. He was only able to see his wild black hair, but was able to imagine the sort of expression the thinner boy had, and loving it. "But then again, you're just the same, aren't you?"

"Wha-what...?" Harry's eyes snapped open, and he stared up at Tom. Tom gazed levelly back at him, peering down from his higher position in a cool, black look for a few minutes. Then he suddenly flashed a kind, innocent smile, catching Harry even more off guard. Tom didn't seem to notice as he spoke again in a soft voice, not a trace of maliciousness in it.

"We're all humans. SO we all have insecurities. I can relate to wanting someone to be kind." Tom looked down at Harry, his eyes half lidded and his shoulders slumped a little. He seemed... sad, lonely, and longing. Harry wondered briefly if he looked like that when he himself was alone.

"I-I'm sorry... but what do you mean?" Harry asked hesitantly, still looking up at the dark eyed boy. Tom blinked, and gave that smile again, releasing the bright eyed boy and standing.

"Nothing really. Come on, it's great deal more comfortable upstairs." Tom held out a hand, a silent offer to help Harry up. The smile softened, his eyes exuding a false warmth, the bare coldness and unfeeling hidden from Harry's sight. "It has more space as well."

Harry nodded vaguely, distracted by the beautiful smile the cherubic boy was giving him. He placed his hand in Tom's outstretched one absently, and the dark eyed boy's smile widened as he pulled Harry up, righting his balance before slowly letting Harry go. He then turned and silently walked up the steps, slowly until Harry snapped out of his daze and hurried to follow. Harry blushed at the racket his feet made in the dark compared to Tom. When they reached the top, the room was so dark Harry could barely see his hand in front of his face. At least at the bottom of the stairs there had been light coming from the cracks around the door. Tom went to the wall, and turned up an oil lamp, going around until the room was revealed in dim, warm yellow light.

The room was mostly barren, only a few necessary furniture on the dull wooden panel floor. There was a simple bed with white sheets and a gray cotton blanket. It was barely big enough for one person, and reminded Harry of a prison cot. On the wall opposite the bed was a desk and wardrobe. The desk, like the bed, was simple. It looked old, the maple it was made of as dull and light as the abused floor boards. In front of the desk was a straight backed, primitively built chair. The wardrobe was a little more lavish, looking to be made of oak or cherry maybe. Even though the material was more fancy, the wardrobe was simply made as well.

Once Tom was finished with the lights, he sat down on the bed, one foot resting in front of him, his knee brought up so he could lean his chin on it.

The dark eyed boy had changed into light brown knockers, which were pants that reached just bellow his knees, white socks, a white shirt, and a tan vest. All his clothes were beat up and old, and Harry could see some places where holes had been stitched closed. His shoes were especially old and beaten up. They looked to be a few sizes too small, in fact.

Tom caught Harry scrutinizing as the bright eyes were drawn to the dark ones. Harry became flushed when he realized he'd been staring, and he shot his gaze down to the floor. A chuckles, soft and quiet, like everything Tom seemed to be, drifted over to Harry's ears. Harry's eyes flickered up, and his blush deepened slightly. Tom was still laughing slightly, a hand lightly placed over his mouth, his eyes closed as he spoke through his apparent mirth.

"It's alright, I'm used to people staring at me. You don't have to be so embarrassed." Tom's smile twisted slightly to become more like a smirk again as he let the leg that was brought up slide down to hang over the edge of the bed. His head tilted slightly as he looked over at Harry where he was still standing by the "door."

"Oh, um... thank you," was all Harry was able to force out. Tom switched from being terrifying to kind and back again so fast if nearly made Harry's head spin.

"You know, you can sit down." Tom gestured to the chair across the room, and after a few minutes of being flustered, Harry meekly plopped down into the chair. Tom chuckled a bit more at Harry's expense. "You're a strange person, Harry."

I could say the same about you, Harry mentally shot back. There were many questions running through his head, none of which he was willing to ask for fear of giving his own "freakish" nature away, some he just plain didn't dare inquire.

"I've been told that many times," was what he said instead. Tom's smile grew, and he nodded slightly.

"I can believe it," was all the dark eyed boy replied with before a silence fell over them. To Harry, it was stiff and awkward. But unbeknown to the innocent seven year old, Tom was dealing with the silence with patience. He was waiting and letting the silence stifle the other. Like smoking out the bees so he could collect the honey. Sure enough, Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Is this your room, um..." Harry trailed off, not sure what to call Tom. He couldn't remember his last name, but Tom had used 'Harry' to address him before, right? Tom's smile widened, and for a split second it appeared to be twisted again before going back to being kind and sweet.

"You can call me Tom. I like it better than if someone calls me by my first name. Especially if it's you, Harry." Tom kept his dark eyes on Harry the entire time he talked, and Harry found himself unable to look away again. Something about the way Tom was talking made the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end, like it wasn't right somehow. But all the same, he forced himself to ignore it and reply naturally.

"Alright... if that's okay with you then... is this your room Tom?" Tom's muscles relaxed when Harry said his name, and the smile on his face became warmer, softer, and happier. He nodded to give the affirmative, and continued to converse easily.

"Yes. I wasn't allowed a room with another person after a... small misunderstanding." Tom's countenance became dejected, apparently remembering something in the past that hurt him, but there was an underlying bitterness that did not fit with his expression. Harry, however, did not notice this, as he was too busy feeling sympathy and growing more curious.

"What was the misunderstanding? If you don't mind my asking." Tom looked down at the blanket on his bed, starting to pick at a loose string.

"You were there when Billy mentioned it your first night." Tom's voice dripped with bitterness and hurt as he continued speaking, growing slightly louder with each sentence. "I'm sure he told you all about how I killed his rabbit. Mrs. Cole believed him of course, even as I tried to explain that it had died from something that Billy fed it. Then she practically locked me up here in the attic."

Harry felt a pang of great sympathy for the other boy. He would always get blamed for something he didn't do, and locked up in the cupboard for the remainder of the day and-or night. He'd have to tread carefully whenever he was at home, and he still wouldn't be able to escape his 'punishments.'

Why did he and Tom have to endure so much just because they, what? Could do things no one else could do or explain? Did that mean they deserved to be alienated and scorned? Harry didn't believe that. But, what could he do? Wait, no, he could do something. Though... should he risk it? Could he trust Tom enough?

Harry scrutinized Tom for a few minutes, and Tom, who had sensed the stare, looked back up to meet Harry head on. Silence fell over them again, but this time Harry didn't pay it any attention. He was too busy trying to figure Tom out in a few short moments. After a few minutes, he finally decided against it. He couldn't. Not yet, when he knew almost nothing about him, let alone whether he was trust worthy enough.

Instead, Harry gave a bright, beaming smile, causing Tom's eyebrows to raise slightly in question. Harry ignored the silent request for him to shed some light on what his thoughts were. As if it was as easy as it was for Tom to light up the room with the oil lamps. Harry had too much to hide to give away all his secrets just yet. He could, however, show some of his sympathy.

"That's rather unfair, isn't it? If you didn't do it, Mrs. Cole shouldn't try and make your life miserable. I've actually went through something similar." Harry felt his expression soften, still smiling at Tom. "I'd have given anything to have a friend back then. And I don't really know if you feel the same way, but..." Harry extended an inviting hand to Tom, "if you'd like, we can be friends."

Tom was silent for a long while, simply staring at Harry as if he was something impossible to figure out. His face was oddly blank again, before another soft, content smile slipped it's way onto his features. He nodded, but didn't take his hand, leaving Harry's outstretched limb jutting out uselessly.

"I'd like that very much, Harry." The smile stayed on his face, and he started to talk adamantly. "Since we're going to be friends, how about we try to find out about each other?"

"Okay," Harry let his hand fall to his side, trying to ignore the hurt he felt, "what would you like to know?"

Tom hummed before his eyes sparked and he crossed his legs, his arms following. He sat up straight, like he was paying strict attention to what Harry would say in answer to his question. Harry tried to sit up straighter as well, wanting to do whatever he could to become friends with the other boy.

"What was your family like?" Harry stiffened at the question, but quickly forced himself to relax. Luckily he had managed to keep his smile, even though it was now forced and slightly stiff.

"My parents had actually died in an accident when I was a baby, so I grew up with my aunt and uncle, along with their own son."

Whether Tom picked up on how vague he was being Harry had no idea, but he hoped he was not being too transparent. But Tom did not press or go back to the issue during their entire conversation, for which Harry was grateful. Tom avoided talking about himself throughout the entire thing, even though he asked Harry everything from what his favorite food was to what he thought of the orphanage. Not that Harry minded, of course. As long as the subject of his family wasn't brought up, he didn't mind talking about himself. He didn't want to pry into Tom's life if he didn't want to talk about it. Besides, as far as Harry was concerned, he had seen enough to know somethings. It was only when the silence had shown up again that Harry decided to ask the question that had been at the forefront of his mind with some hesitation.

"Tom, I'm just curious but... Billy said you can do things normal people can't do." Harry paused when he saw the smile on Tom's face turn stiff, his expression slowly darkening and turning cold, but continued. Depending on the answer, Harry would or would not be able to confide in Tom in hopes of giving the other boy someone to understand him. "Is it true?"

There was an incredibly long pause, the silence oppressive as Tom scrutinized Harry. For the bright eyed boy's part, he held a steady, level gaze with him, not glancing away for even a second. Finally, Tom slowly nodded his head. But his expression twisted again, bitterness and disappointment seeping out of his eyes and tone.

"Yes, it's true. Are you scared, Harry? Do you find me unnatural too?" Tom glared at the wall beside him, refusing to meet his gaze in a show of dejected preparation for the worst. Harry stayed silent for a few moments as well, studying Tom before he broke the silence with a quiet voice with afraid undertones.

"No, because I can do those things too." Tom's head turned to face Harry from across the room, so slowly that Harry could swear he heard the vertebrae in his neck creak. Harry gave a small, shaky smile before continuing. "I could always do those things. One time I made my hair grow back when my aunt had given it a horrible hair cut." Tom's expression turned into one of distrust and disbelief as he scrutinized Harry.

"Why should I believe you? Can you prove it?"

Harry sagged when Tom didn't believe him, but he figured he'd be hesitant to hope as well, so he tried to think of ways to prove himself to Tom. In the end though, he could only look into his lap.

"I can't prove it right now. Tomorrow, I'll come back up here, and I'll show you."

"So you can set up a prank with those two fools?" Tom snapped, and Harry heard the hurt someone can only get from betrayal in his voice. Harry rushed to defend himself and his two other friends.

"They're not fools, and that's not what I'm planning to do at all! I really can do them too, I'm not sure what to call what we can do, but I swear I'm not lying! Please, Tom, let me prove it."

Tom glanced dubiously at Harry out of the corner of his eyes, and after a few more moments of tense silence, he jerked his head slightly in a lopsided nod.

"Alright. Tomorrow, I'll let you 'prove' yourself. But if you turn on me..."

Harry shook his head fervently in as he answered excitedly.

"I won't. I promise."


Tom watched as the boy smiled and talked about all the times he had used his abilities. He had not been expecting that sort of confession. However, if it turned out to be true... then he might be even more interesting than Tom had first given him credit for.

But he would not expect what Potter said to be true. It couldn't be anyway, and he would proceed with ruining the naïve child's irritating, oblivious innocence concerning the world and how it worked. It would be easy.

He allowed himself a smirk that held every ounce of malicious intent he held as the boy with the bright green eyes got carried away in the story again.

It would be fun anyway.

AN: I'm afraid that I'll be going on a trip for a week tomorrow, so I won't be able to post any new chapters until I get back. I will, however, be writing it by hand the entire time, so when I get back, I hope to have multiple chapters ready to be typed and published. Until then, ja ne.

I'd be very happy to see any reviews you can offer during my trip, I will be checking in to see what you guys thought of this chapter, sorry it's so short, but I really don't have anything else that needs to be done yet.