Chapter 18
"I take it that you didn't give Mrs Baird permission to print your letter, judging by your bitter expression," Tom said as he fell into step with him on their way out of the Great Hall to go to classes. It was Wednesday, and they had no shared classes that day, but that didn't stop Tom from accompanying Harry on his way to double Charms.
"You're quite right," Harry muttered, staring ahead while he quietly fumed that Ruby Baird had all but painted a target on Harry's back. There would probably be more than a few witches and wizards who would take exception to what Harry had so confidently written in his letter that now landed in just about every magical household thanks to Baird's forthrightness.
"If you mention this to your magical relatives, they might be able to do something about it. You are, after all, still just a minor," Tom said in a soft voice as he leaned a bit closer to Harry.
Harry blinked a few times in surprise before he looked up at Tom. "That's a good point. I'll write Fleamont a letter, since he knows Baird personally." Harry wasn't sure what could be accomplished this way, but even just Fleamont telling Ruby Baird off was better than nothing, he supposed.
"Shouldn't you be heading to your own class?" Harry asked as they reached the Charms classroom where Dollie Woodward, their professor and Head of Hufflepuff House, stood waiting in the doorway for her students.
"Yes, I suppose I'd better hurry, since I've got Transfiguration and I don't want to give Dumbledore anymore reasons to disapprove of me and my actions," Tom said with a bit of a grimace. Harry nodded in agreement and waved at him as Tom turned around to head to his own class.
"I think it was very brave," Myrtle said as she sat down beside Harry while all the other students found their own seats around them. "What you said in that letter. It needed to be said for a long time."
Harry shrugged, neither agreeing or disagreeing. He stood by what he'd said, that wasn't the problem. He just hadn't wanted to publicize it in such a way at this point in time. Changing people's perception of muggleborns, or rather squib descendants, was something best done slowly, over a longer period of time. Even Harry and his usual Gryffindor impulsiveness could understand that much. But Ruby Baird had now forced the issue, which would most likely cause many more people to protest those progressive ideas than otherwise might have happened.
Woodward spent the first hour lecturing on stuff Harry already knew so he took the time to write a short letter to Fleamont about what had been happening at Hogwarts so far. He didn't want the letter to be nothing but a complaint, since that might make it seem like Harry only wanted to use Fleamont to fix his problems for him. Nothing could be further from the truth, since Harry genuinely loved the contact he now had with his former grandfather. So he talked about the duel he'd won, what spells he'd used, and about the DA meeting this past weekend and how much of a success that had been. And near the end of the letter he made some mention about being very surprised that Baird had published his letter like that, since he'd never given her permission to do so. There, that should be enough to hopefully get Fleamont to have some strong words with Baird.
Their next class was Transfiguration, and Harry wasn't looking forward to it. So far Dumbledore ignored him since Harry's little outburst in his office, following the DA that past Saturday, and Harry sincerely hoped Dumbledore would continue to do so for the rest of Harry's Hogwarts career.
Thankfully, Dumbledore didn't pay Harry any attention during their class and they practiced more vanishing charms. By the end of the class, as students put away their books, Myrtle pulled Petunia the rubber boa from her robe pocket since the poor snake had been hidden away in there for three hours straight. Just as Harry and Myrtle pushed their chairs into place behind their desks and got ready to leave, Dumbledore suddenly appeared behind Myrtle.
"Is that snake your pet, Ms Warren?" Dumbledore asked with a rather pinched look on his face.
"Yes, Professor," Myrtle said, voice wavering a little as she gave Dumbledore an look full of insecurity. "Harriet got it for me to practice my parseltongue."
Dumbledore blinked wide eyes behind his glasses. "You're a parselmouth?"
"Yes," Myrtle sighed, holding Petunia a bit closer. "That was a surprise for me, too, but thanks to the ancestor potion I now know I'm a descendant from Salazar Slytherin. Can you believe that?"
Dumbledore looked struck dumb by that bit of information, and Harry had to resist the urge to laugh in his face. Harry remembered all too well how negatively Dumbledore had reacted to learning young Tom Riddle had been a parselmouth, immediately using that as evidence that Tom was an irredeemably bad child. Yet here Dumbledore was confronted with another parselmouth, who happened to be probably the least threatening student he had in his classes that year.
"That may be so," Dumbledore finally said, visibly pulling himself together. "But snakes are not on the approved list of pets students are allowed to keep at Hogwarts. I'm afraid you'll have to get rid of it."
Myrtle burst into tears and Harry was beyond tempted to hex Dumbledore to Hogsmeade and back for upsetting her like that. Instead, Harry kept his temper in check and was able to come up with an appropriate response that wouldn't see him expelled.
"I hadn't realized that the staff was finally cracking down on illegal pets," Harry said, keeping his expression as pleasant as he could.
"This matter does not concern you," Dumbledore said with venom in his voice as he gave Harry the briefest of glances. Ah. There were the real emotions Dumbledore was feeling towards Harry, especially since Harry's letter had said some very unkind things about him.
"I believe it does, Professor," Harry said, looking at Dumbledore as though he couldn't possibly imagine why Dumbledore suddenly seemed to dislike him so much. "I'm after all a Prefect now, and upholding Hogwarts' rules is part of my duties these days. I'm glad to hear that you're going to see to it that all the rats, hamsters, lizards, spiders, budgies and bunnies will finally be banished from the castle. I'm sure the students will be quite upset about losing their beloved pets, but rules are rules after all."
Myrtle, still with fat tears dripping down her cheeks while she held Petunia protectively against her chest, gaped at Harry in shock.
Dumbledore, on the other hand, pursed his lips and didn't seem sure what to say for a few moments. "Five points from Ravenclaw, Ms Hubble, for interfering in a situation that has nothing to do with you."
Harry simply nodded, keeping his face blank while inside he was fuming at Dumbledore's ridiculous behaviour. "Come, Myrtle, we'll go see Professor Driscoll. I'm sure she'll let you keep Petunia, since she's a tool to help you learn a new language."
Myrtle kept her head down, avoiding Dumbledore's gaze and hurried after Harry out of the classroom. Everyone else was already well on their way to lunch, so the corridors were mostly empty. "Do you really think Driscoll will let me keep Petunia? I really love her and I don't want to lose her."
"Yeah, absolutely." Harry was quite sure Driscoll wouldn't take away something that helped one of her students learn a new talent. And if needed, Harry could sweeten the deal a bit by offering Driscoll the information on the colour modifier for wards, which he knew Driscoll was still curious about. "We'll talk to her this afternoon after classes end."
That seemed to reassure Myrtle enough that she at least stopped crying, though she kept a tight but careful hold on Petunia. Before they made it to the stairway, they were cut off by a group of Slytherin girls. The only one Harry recognized was Walburga Black, who was a sixth or seventh year. She wasn't yet the vile hag Harry knew her as thanks to her portrait in Grimmauld Place, but there was definitely something noxious about her even at this age.
"You have some nerve for a bunch of mudbloods," Walburga said with a vicious sneer as she whipped her wand out, the rest of the Slytherins standing beside her, also taking out their wands. "I do believe it's time someone finally showed you your place."
"Myrtle, get down!" Harry yelled, letting his own wand fall into his hand as he stepped out of the way of a bone-breaking curse that one of the Slytherins cast at him. Thankfully, Myrtle did as she was told and dropped to the floor, crawling towards the wall to take cover there. Harry cast a quick shield to keep something yellow and nasty from hitting her before he focused on his opponents. There were five of them, and while he was sure they wouldn't shy away from the most dangerous curses, Harry was still sure they were no match for him.
Harry was a trained Auror, after all. He sidestepped two more hexes and cast a fire rope that he threw at the girls, catching three of them around their calves. He yanked his wand up, pulling all three girls off their feet none too gently. Two of them dropped their wands, and Harry sent those scattering down the hall with a wild burst of magic before summoning the third wand, letting it fly over his head to land behind him.
That left two Slytherins, including Walburga, who snarled out a blood-boiling curse that Harry quickly shielded against. The other Slytherin almost tripped as the girls behind her tried to get to their feet and her curse went wide and exploded against the wall above Harry's head. And then, out of nowhere, Walburga went flying with so much force she scooted along the corridor right past Harry and didn't stop until halfway down the hallway. Then her wand sailed through the air and landed in Tom's hand as he appeared around the corner, face a furious mask as he took in the situation.
"Were you hit?" Tom asked as he looked Harry up and down.
"Not even once," Harry said, quickly making sure Myrtle was still in one piece. Myrtle looked up as she sat hunched against the wall, face pale and tear streaked, but she seemed in perfect health.
"What is going on here?" Dumbledore said as he stepped around another corner, taking in the scene with anger blazing in his blue eyes.
"These Slytherins attacked myself and Myrtle," Harry said quickly, lest Dumbledore try to expel Tom on the spot or something equally ridiculous. "I was able to hold them off for a few moments, until Tom came and saved us."
"They attacked us," Walburga said as she pushed herself up and limped closer. "Me and my friends were minding our own business when those mud-muggleborns started slinging the most awful curses at us."
"Would you like to examine our wands?" Harry asked dryly, offering his wand handle-first to Dumbledore. "Because it wasn't myself who cast all those nasty curses, I promise you, Professor."
"No matter who started it," Dumbledore said, giving them all narrow-eyed looks full of quiet judgement, "students are not allowed to use magic in the hallways. Mr Riddle and Ms Hubble, you will both serve a week of detention with Professor Strickland. And Ms Black and her friends will spend the next week helping Mr Stoor with cleaning the castle. And ten points from you all, each."
Sullivan Strickland was the Care of Magical Creatures professor, so Tom and Harry would probably be shovelling lots of shit together for a week to come. And Angus Stoor was the castle's caretaker. A gruff man who mostly kept to himself, but he was not nearly as unpleasant as Filch had been.
"Yes, Professor," Harry said through gritted teeth, knowing it was futile to try to argue with Dumbledore, even when it was Walburga and her cronies who had obviously started it. Dumbledore had always disliked Tom, and Harry had given him no reason to support him either, so it made perfect sense that a prejudiced man like Dumbledore refused to even consider their side of the story.
Harry quickly helped Myrtle to her feet, with Tom grabbing her other elbow, and together they supported Myrtle as they left.
It wasn't until they reached the Entrance Hall that Myrtle found her voice again. "I'm so sorry, Harry. I was completely useless."
"No, you weren't," Harry told her with a reassuring smile. "You listened to my instructions, so I could focus on our opponents. You were a big help."
"I'd heard whispering around Slytherin this morning," Tom said as they reached the Great Hall. "That more than one student was severely pissed off about that letter that got published, and that they were planning to teach you a lesson."
"Yeah," Harry said a with a sigh. "I figured that much. Thankfully, I'm quite good at duelling these days, so I'm not worried."
Tom gave her an uncertain look as he let go of Myrtle's elbow, who sagged against Harry in return. "Yes, I certainly got that impression as well, seeing you easily hold up against five older opponents." Tom's gaze was full of things Harry couldn't quite identify and he swallowed before giving Tom a quick nod.
"I'm still happy you came to our rescue," Harry said, trying to take some of Tom's scrutiny off himself because he realized that perhaps he had been a bit too good at fighting off that attack.
Tom kept quiet for a moment as students walked around them, eager to have lunch in the Great Hall. "I'll have a few words with some people in the common room later today. Make sure they know not to bother you again."
In other words, Tom was going to take out his frustrations on his fellow Slytherins with some creative curses, probably. Not that Harry had a problem with that, at all.
"See you in the library after classes?" Harry waited until Tom nodded before he led Myrtle to the Ravenclaw table. Myrtle flopped down on the bench and ran a trembling hand across her face.
Harry gave her a concerned look. "Have a strong cup of tea," he advised while pouring both himself and Myrtle some from the teapot. "That'll help settle your nerves."
"Please tell me we're going to learn some of the things you just used in our next Defence Association meeting," Myrtle mumbled, sounding as though she was exhausted. The adrenaline was probably leaving her body, Harry figured.
"We'll practice some real duelling, sure," Harry said as he reached for the soup tureen. He was famished, after the unexpectedly exciting morning he had so far. As he served himself a generous bowl of soup, he saw Walburga and her cronies enter the Great Hall, faces full of quiet fury as they stared at Harry and Myrtle at the Ravenclaw table. Yeah, Harry was sure they hadn't seen the last of those witches just yet and he promised himself he would teach Myrtle how to add shield charms to her clothing that afternoon, just to be safe. Those witches now knew that Harry was an opponent to reckon with, but that Myrtle was rather vulnerable. So naturally, they would target her the moment they found her alone.
By the time they strolled to the greenhouses for Herbology, Myrtle seemed mostly back to herself again, though she seemed still a bit more subdued than usual and she stayed close to Harry for the entire walk. Spending an hour pruning various plants helped Myrtle get rid of whatever anxiety was still plaguing her and when they made their way to the library she seemed completely all right again.
Tom wasn't there yet, since he had another hour of classes, and Harry used that time without distractions of the Riddle kind to finish his homework. When Tom finally entered the library, Theodorus Nott and Orion Black were not far behind.
"Hubble," Orion said with a bit of a grimace as he came to a halt behind Harry. "If you attack my fiancée one more time I'll have no choice but to challenge you to a duel."
Harry turned in his seat and blinked up at Orion. "You're engaged to her? You have my sympathies."
Orion responding look was one of utter misery while Tom couldn't hold back a burst of surprised but thoroughly amused laughter as he slid into a seat beside Harry.
"But just so we're clear," Harry said, because he was not going to take anyone's shit for stuff he didn't start. "Your darling fiancée and four of her minions attacked me and Myrtle. I defended us, and if she attacks us again at any time in the future, I'll defend us again, simple as that." Harry gave Orion a rather chilling little smile. "And I'll kick your arse as well if that is what you want to preserve your honour or some such rot. Us squib descendants are done being the whipping boys and girls of this school."
Blinking, Orion looked like he had no clue what to say to that. Harry merely turned his back on him and continued writing his Charms essay as though nothing had happened.
Their little stand off was interrupted by the arrival of Annabel and Lukas, who seemed to take the tension in stride as they sat down as well.
"So what do you think Strickland will have us do tonight?" Harry askes once he finished his essay.
Tom's mouth quirked up in a lopsided smile. "I'm sure it will involve animal excrements of some kind."
"Yeah, so shovelling shit," Harry said with an agreeable nod. "As I feared."
"You got detention?" Annabel asked as she looked between Tom and Harry with round, disbelieving eyes. "What did you do?"
It was Myrtle who launched into the story of the duel, making it sound like it had been an epic battle to the death rather than a few students exchanging curses in the corridor. Annabel and Lukas listened to the whole thing with bated breath and afterwards seemed to agree that Dumbledore had been very unfair in punishing Harry and Tom as much as he'd done the others.
"And that man also told me to get rid of Petunia," Myrtle said with a bit of a pout.
That reminded Harry. "We should probably go chat with Driscoll now before dinner," Harry said, putting away his books. Tom frowned as he leaned back in his seat, apparently not very happy Harry was taking off again. "I'll see you tonight," Harry quickly told him, which seemed to mollify Tom somewhat. He really was a possessive little shit, wasn't he?
Driscoll, as expected, gave Myrtle permission to keep Petunia once it became clear Myrtle used her to master her parseltongue. Driscoll seemed fascinated by that particular talent and had Myrtle say various things in parseltongue just to hear what it sounded like. Harry was sure Driscoll was going to share that particular bit of news in the teacher's lounge before the night was through.
After dinner, Harry made a quick stop in his dormitory to freshen up and put on some older robes, just in case detention got really disgusting. Then he hurried down after telling Myrtle it was probably a good idea to stay in Ravenclaw Tower that evening, lest she run into Walburga and cronies by herself. Myrtle paled considerably at that idea and gave a solemn nod, promising she'd stay put.
Tom was already waiting in the Entrance Hall, and just as Harry approached him, Sullivan Strickland appeared as well.
"Mr Riddle and Ms Hubble, right?" Strickland asked as he approached them. Harriet didn't take Care for Magical Creatures, so Strickland hadn't even officially met her before.
"Yes, Professor," Harry said with a agreeable smile. "What's on the menu for this evening?"
Strickland chuckled and waved them out the doors onto the grounds. "Nothing too bad. Cleaning out some stables, but you can use magic for that. And taking care of some animals, if you don't mind, Ms Hubble."
"Not at all," Harry said amiably. He honestly liked animals well enough, so looking after them didn't bother him one bit. "In fact, I'm looking forward to it. I've always regretted not being able to fit your classes into my schedule."
"That's nice to hear," Strickland said as they approached the stables near the forbidden forest. "Mr Riddle will be able to help you if you have any questions. He's one of my star students."
Tom seemed to take those compliments in stride, face set in a calm and agreeable mask as Strickland opened the stable doors.
"All the stables need cleaning and fresh straw. And the orphaned unicorn needs a bottle, which I'll bring in a moment." Strickland gestured around briefly before disappearing again.
Most of the stables of the long building were full with all sorts of critters. Hippogriffs, a couple of Thestrals, some Abraxan, and one golden unicorn foal which immediately drew Harry's attention. There were also a few kneazles lurking about, gazing at them with luminous eyes as they hid in the shadows.
"Here." Strickland returned and thrust a huge bottle of warm milk into Harry's hands. "Just offer it to the foal, he'll do the rest." And then he was gone again.
Slowly, carefully, Harry opened the stable door and smiled at the foal, who watched him with large, blinking eyes. "Hi there," Harry said, ignoring Tom's snort of amusement as he leaned against the stable door to see what Harry was going to do. "Would you like some milk, my shiny little friend?"
The foal sniffed the air and approached Harry with careful steps as Harry held out he bottle, rubber teat first. Before long the foal latched onto the bottle and sucked eagerly.
"Wow," Harry couldn't help but say, since he was genuinely impressed by the beautiful animal in front of him. He'd seen plenty of unicorns before, but never one so young and so close. He looked up at Tom with a bright smile, and was briefly taken aback by how intense Tom's gaze was as he stared at Harry. Tom seemed full of quiet hunger, of just plain desire as he stared at Harry.
Swallowing, Harry turned back to the foal. Yeah, it seemed that Tom was just as attracted to Harry as Harry was to him. Something told Harry that once they admitted that to each other a physical relationship would follow at once. Best to hold off on that for a while longer, though, since Tom was still quite young. And so was Harry, at least physically. There would be plenty of time to fuck each other's brains out in the future, after all.
Harry reached out a careful hand and gently stroked the foal across its short, wild manes. "I wonder what your name is."
"I doubt Strickland named it," Tom said in a surprisingly hoarse voice. "He'll release it back to the herd the moment its weaned."
"Yeah, I suppose," Harry said with a wistful sigh. It really was an amazing animal. "Still, we'll be looking after it for a week, right? We could name it."
Tom shook his head and leaned a little heavier on the gate as he gave Harry an indulgent smile. "What would you name it, then?"
"Silver," Harry said with a chuckle, holding onto the bottle with two hands. It was almost empty and the foal was pulling onto it aggressively.
"It's gold," Tom pointed out in a dry voice.
"Exactly." Harry gave Tom a huge grin and finally wrestled the empty bottle away from the foal. "No, that's all you get for now, Silver."
"No." Tom stared at Harry as though he only now realized how utterly impossible Harry was on any given day.
"Yes, it's done, Tom." Harry slipped out of the stable and quickly slid the door shut, lest Silver follow him out. "We've named our first animal together. That's a rather momentous occasion, don't you think?"
"I don't recall having any say in naming the thing," Tom muttered as he looked down at Harry with narrowed eyes.
"But you didn't object either," Harry pointed out, still grinning.
"I did, in fact, object." Tom crossed his arms, though the corners of his mouth twitched.
"But not very firmly," Harry insisted, taking a step closer to Tom though he had no idea why.
"Very well, next time I'll just curse you to get my point across," Tom whispered in response, also taking a step closer to Harry.
"I'd love to see you try." And Harry meant every word of that. Suddenly exchanging curses with Tom seemed like a very exciting idea and Harry couldn't help thinking of a few ways in which he could tempt Tom to a friendly duel sometime soon.
"What sort of spells would you use to defend yourself?" Tom murmured, now standing just about flush with Harry, gazing down at her with heated eyes. "Perhaps some of those…stimulating spells you've been using so eagerly these past few days?"
Harry's whole face burned while remembering everything he'd been doing while thinking of Tom these past few days. Tom smirked in response, even though the stables were rather dimly lit and he wouldn't be able to see in detail how much Harry was suddenly blushing.
"To be honest with you, Harriet." Tom leaned down a little more. "I wouldn't mind a… personal demonstration of those spells."
They were going to kiss, weren't they? Harry suddenly knew with certainty that was what was about to happen. He licked his lips before he could stop himself and tilted his head up a bit more because right at that moment, Harry wanted to kiss Tom more than he'd ever wanted anything in his entire life.
"How did you manage with the foal?" Strickland asked as he barged inside the stable.
Harry and Tom sprang apart, Tom banging his elbow against the stable door and Harry dropping the bottle in his arms. Thankfully the glass had been charmed unbreakable so Harry quickly picked it up again and offered it to Strickland with a wavering smile. "Silver drank all of it," Harry said, studiously ignoring Tom's body standing at his back.
"You've named him Silver?" Strickland asked with an amused chuckle. "It's an apt name, since he'll turn silver in a few months."
"Oh." Harry had completely forgotten unicorn foals did that, though he shrugged as if everything had been done intentionally. "Yeah, I figured it suited him. Tom didn't agree. He wanted to name him Tommy Junior, but I figured that wasn't a very regal name for such an incredible animal." Harry kept a smile on his face, ignoring Tom's vicious poke in the back with a firm finger.
Strickland shook his head as he gazed between them both. "You'd better get to cleaning now, or else you'll still be here past midnight."
"Yes, Professor," Harry said dutifully, stepping back and onto Tom's toes with purpose, which resulted in a pinch in his side before he could flee the scene. Oh my god, Tom Riddle was ridiculous and Harry simply adored that about him and holy fuck, this crush was really getting out of hand. Harry chose the stable of the most vicious looking hippogriff while Tom moved to the opposite side of the building to start on a Thestral.
Harry gave the hippogriff a bow after he opened the stable door and waited until the animal bowed back before casting various charms to remove the manure and soiled straw. Strickland provided them with fresh bales of straw to use in the stables and they methodically worked their way through the entire building, cleaning all the animals quietly. Harry didn't dare say anything, since Strickland was still there.
They had almost kissed, though, he was sure of it.
Even though Harry knew it was probably better that they didn't rush into things, he also couldn't help but think about what would have happened if Strickland hadn't interrupted them. If they'd spent the evening alone in the stables. Yeah, Harry's imagination went straight to all sorts of sexy shenanigans in a warm and dark hayloft.
Yeah, it probably was for the best that Strickland had interrupted them, at least for the time being. Harry did know he had some new material to add to his fantasies he'd be thinking of later that night in his own bed while he using some of those…stimulating charms.
By the time they were done, it was nearing midnight, and Strickland walked them back to the castle. Harry whished them both goodnight, not missing the look full of disappointment Tom sent his way as he walked down the steps to the dungeons.
Even though it was already late, Harry spend some quality time with a dildo before going to sleep, thinking about Tom and himself in the stables and what could have happened.
The next morning they had double Potions first thing, and Harry felt a little on edge when Tom entered the classroom and sat down next to him. But Tom acted like he always did, giving Harry a small smile before gathering his tools from his bag. Yeah, okay, it was probably a good thing they didn't talk about what almost happened. Especially not during class.
He and Tom managed to brew a perfect Draught of Peace, which Slughorn reminded them was a frequent part of the OWLs. He also reminded Tom to bring Harry to the Slug Club meeting that Saturday evening, which Harry had completely forgotten about.
"Not to worry, Professor," Tom said with a perfectly polite smile. "I'll make sure Harriet won't get away."
Harry blinked and barely managed to hold back a snort that wanted to escape him. As Harry got up from the desk, he gave Tom a cheeky wink and then turned his back on him, though he did see Tom briefly bite his lip in response. Yeah, riling Tom up might just be Harry's new hobby, he decided. That, and fucking himself with a dildo every single night. And hopefully one day, Harry would be able to combine those two hobbies.
As they walked up the stairs to the ground floor, they encountered some Ravenclaws who were making their way down for their next class.
"Harriet," Naveen Tikaram said, the 6th year Ravenclaw who was part of the DA. "Will the DA take place this coming Saturday? Since it's a Hogsmeade day then."
Harry frowned, since he'd completely forgotten that in Harriet's time there were more Hogsmeade's weekends than had been in his own time, though he had no idea why. "Yes, of course. We'll stop before lunch, so people can still go to Hogsmeade in the afternoon."
"Fantastic," Naveen said, taking a step closer to Harry. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me, Harriet?"
"Er…" Harry was truly caught off guard, not having expected such an invitation from a young man he barely knew. Behind him, he could practically feel Tom glowering and he could only imagine what sort of thunderous expression sat on his face at that moment. "That's very kind of you to ask," Harry said with a polite smile. "But I already have plans." That was a big, fat lie, of course, but Harry had presumed he'd be hanging out with Tom and their other friends on the first Hogsmeade day of the new schoolyear. So that counted as plans, right?
"Of course," Naveen gave Harry an agreeable nod and made his way down the stairs.
Harry took off to Charms, Myrtle hurrying behind him wanting to know what Naveen had said to him. After lunch they had a very boring hour of History before they met up with Tom again for Arithmancy.
"Have you heard?" Robert Clearwater said to Myrtle just as Tom slid into his usual seat beside Harry. "Naveen Tikaram fell down the stairs just after lunch. He broke seven bones, including his pelvis. He has to spend at least two nights in the hospital while Madam McClure puts him back together."
Harry very slowly, very carefully, looked to the side. Tom was the picture of a dutiful student as he opened his book and dipped his quill into his bottle of ink, ready to take notes. His gaze was carefully fixed on the desk in front of him, though the corners of his lips couldn't seem to stop quirking up, no matter how much of a blank mask Tom was trying to keep on his face.
Sighing, Harry shook his head. Flirting with Tom Riddle was all well and good until someone broke his pelvis. It seemed that Harry needed to have a serious conversation with Tom that attempted murder would not make Harry like him more than he already did.