"Harry, get up. We are not doing this again." Tom sneered. I''d staid in my bed for almost another whole week. I refused to eat because then I'd have to see Voldemort. "We have to go to Diagon Alley and buy things for your new school year, which might I remind you, starts September 1st."
"Why do you care?" I rasped.
"I do not have time for a sulky teenager Harry. The Muggles died, the wizards and witches lived. You should be happy." I looked away from him. "Shall I give you something to be sulky about?" I felt a slight blush form. "Then get up. It's time for breakfast. You have thirty minutes to shower, get ready, and come down to breakfast or I will follow through with my threat." With that he turned and left.
I glared at the bedroom door for a few minutes before turning over. Do I do what he says, essentially giving in? Or do I refuse, and win this fight? The problem is I don't know what the 'something' is. I groaned and stood, heading for the bathroom.
When I finished, I walked downstairs and saw Tom putting his book away. He looked over to me through the corner of his eye. "Cutting it quite close, aren't you Golden Boy?" I refused to answer, looking away. I'd spent an extra minute. I had compromised. "Breakfast is ready. Stopped pouting yet?" I glared at him, anger suddenly sparking and igniting into a flame.
"I'm not pouting, you idiot! I was feeling gloomy about the Dursleys' deaths! Just because you don't give a bloody damn about who lives or dies doesn't mean I don't! You sadistic parent killing psychopath!" I finally caught my anger but obviously the damage was done. Tom was furious. As he started straight for me, I started retreating up the stairs. "I think I'll just-" He snatched me by my collar and dragged me back down the stairs, to stand in front of him. I looked away nervously but he grabbed my chin.
"You know I really have lost my patience with you Harry." I looked away but he only forced me to look at him again, having grabbed my hair with his other hand. "However, at this moment, I will let it slide. Expect your comeuppance when we return, and after we need to have a talk." With that said he dragged me to the table by my hair before releasing me. "Sit." He ordered, not even looking at me. Instead he left the room. I didn't dare get up.
He came back holding a pot and a bag. He dropped the bag in front of me as a house elf appeared. Todd. Voldemort sat down and I looked anywhere but at him. "Master called?"
"We are ready for breakfast." He said curtly. Todd smiled and snapped his fingers and our breakfast appeared. I played with my food as Tom ate his. I was now nervous. I wish he'd just get it over with, whatever he was planning… "Harry, eat." I quickly stuffed something in my mouth before getting to work on clearing my plate.
"Tom…" I said slowly, blushing, knowing what I was probably asking for.
"Yes Harry?" He replied slowly.
"Can… can we have that talk now rather than later?" I looked up at him, giving the best pleading look I could. His poker face revealed nothing.
"If it would make you feel better, I could use the Cruciatus on you." I frowned.
"Yeah, I think I'm good. Sorry but no thanks."
"Very well. Harry, that bag is for you." I pulled the bag closer to peer in. "I told you we were headed to Diagon Alley. That is for you to use. The pot holds floo powder. I assume you learned how to use it?"
"I know how, yes." I snapped. "I mean, yes." I quickly rephrased at the look Tom was giving me.
"Follow me." He stood, taking the bag and pot with him. At the fireplace he held out the pot. "Prove it." I grabbed hold of some before throwing it. "Diagon Alley." I called before stepping in. I waited a second before a quick decision was made. I made a brisk pace out of the building and made my way toward Knockturn Alley, just to piss off Tom.
Though when I got there, I was beginning to question my decision. Is a pissed Voldemort really what I want? But it was too late when I realised where I was. "Can I help you?" Mr. Borgin snapped at me.
"I was just-"
"Going." Tom's voice interjected.
"Do I know you?" Mr. Borgin asked, rubbing his chin.
"Perhaps." Tom replied before grabbing my shoulder, a bit too close to my neck, and led me out before Borgin could ask any more questions. "If you wanted to explore Knockturn Alley, you only had to say so Harry." Tom said.
"You mean, you're not mad?"
"Why should I be mad that you went to Knockturn Alley?"
"Because others would have."
"True, but I am not like them. Besides, would it not be hypocritical of me?"
"You mean because you had a job there once?"
"Yes, exactly. Seems you do use your brain." We came to a stop and I noticed we were standing in front of Florean Fortescue'e Ice Cream Parlour. "Harry!" I heard Hermione cry and I looked to one of the tables. She was with Ron and they were both seated beside a Death Eater. Avery and Nott. I tried to run towards her.
"Hermione!" I called but Tom had a hold of my neck and yanked me back to him.
"Ah, ah, ah. I didn't say you could greet them yet." He whispered in my ear.
"What are you doing?" I asked back.
"Proving who you belong to of course." He replied, brushing it off… or maybe he actually believed that. He pulled out a chair and forced me down in it. "Sit." He ordered. "We're to wait for the other two." However, a minute later, Lucius came followed by Draco and Blaise. Tom sneered at him as he said something a bit to quiet for me to hear. Then Avery, Nott, and Lucius were surprised at his next command.
"My Lord, would you not rather we-"
"You think I cannot handle three measly children? Let alone a mudblood and a blood traitor?" He sneered at them and they immediately reeled back.
"Of course not My Lord, it's just that-" One of them tried, but Tom cut them off.
"Get out of my sight." He ordered. "If I need you, I will call you." They bowed.
"Yes My Lord." With that, they all Apparated away.
"You know they only wanted to-" He glared at me this time.
/Silence/
/Fine, be that way./
He dropped a hand in my hair and I froze. "Now that everyone's here, it is time to go buy your supplies for school. Harry, you and I will be visiting Madam Malkin's and Twilfitt and Tattings first since they will be taking the most of our time seeing as your old robes are much too small and you need more self fitting clothes to wear." He said dragging me off from my friends. I yanked back from him.
"Why were they here if not for me?" I asked him, looking at Hermione and Ron who were following after us.
"I'm not forbidding them from following us Harry, but I am also not telling them how to buy their supplies. Now come along before I decide you need discipline." He sneered before grabbing my shoulder and pushing me ahead of him. I looked behind me to see that we were being followed by all four of them.
When we got there, he shoved me beside Madam Malkin. "How can I help you?" She asked, giving me a smile.
"He would like to be fitted for a uniform pack and a cloak pack, Slytherin. We also need shirts, pants, vests…" He began to order us both clothing and they agreed to have the clothing be sent in packages via floo powder. We got self repairing clothes: shirts, vests, pants, and underwear, including my Slytherin uniform pack and my Slytherin cloak pack. At the end, he added name tags. She gave a price and he paid her.
After we were fitted, we being Hermione and Ron and Voldemort and me, we headed off for Twilfitt and Tattings. We bought the same things here, except they were designed and designer clothes, dress robes, and even hats.
Here Draco and Blaise got fitted, along with Voldemort and I again, and they paid for theirs separately. When we were done and the items had been paid for, Tom led us out of the building and back towards Madam Malkin's except this time we entered Amanuensis Quills.
Here we bought, you guessed it, quills. But not just any type of quills. An auto answering quill, some self spelling quills. Ron snuck me some auto answer quills, self inking quills, and smart answer quills, seeing as I'd given him some of the money Tom had given me. We also bought self correcting ink, ever changing ink, colour changing ink, glow in the dark ink, and of course Tom bought me silver and green ink. Finally we bought parchment, there were no cool parchment paper, but Tom bought a few different coloured ones 'because'. Followed by that store we went to Scribbulus Writing Implements to buy plain ink and quill.
We went to both apothecaries for potion supplies including brass scales, a brass telescope, crystal phials, a moon chart, silver scales, glass phials, a star chart, a globe of the moon, clabbert pustules, dragon livers, chizpurfle fangs, runespoor fangs, bat spleens, leeches, and other potion supplies. He got me a potion kit and a potion kit bag. Then he bought quite a few wiggenweld potions, pepperup potions, antidotes to common poisons potions, and anti-paralysis potions. When I asked him what they were for, he only smirked at me.
"We don't know what kind of trouble Dumbledore's Golden Boy will put himself into. These might come in handy, especially if we don't need to wait the time it takes to brew them." I blushed.
"I told you-"
"As I have told you that past experience says otherwise. Don't bicker with me Harry, you will lose." We heard Draco snicker and Tom turned on him like a snake. "Something funny, Malfoy?" He questioned silkily. Draco seemed to recognize that tone. He bowed.
"No My Lord."
"Keep to your own business, Malfoy." Tom sneered before leading us to Flourish and Blotts. There we bought 'The Book Of Charms and Spells', 'A Beginner's Guide To Transfiguration', 'Magical Drafts And Potions', 'The Dark Forces: A Guide To Self-Protection', 'A History Of Magic', 'One Thousand Magical Herbs And Fungi', 'The Standard Book Of Spells' Grades 1 through 7, 'Magical Theory', 'Intermediate Transfiguration', 'Quidditch Through The Ages', 'The Official Guide To The Quidditch World Cup', 'Book Of Spells', 'Curses And Counter-Curses', 'Advanced Potion-Making', 'A Guide To Advanced Transfiguration', 'The Essential Defence Against The Dark Arts', 'Defensive Magical Theory', 'Advanced Rune Translation', 'Ancient Runes Made Easy', 'Rune Dictionary', and the 'Monster Book Of Monsters'.
"You call this a book?" Tom asked, looking at it.
"It was assigned by that gamekeeper on Hogwarts Grounds." Draco answered. Tom side eyed him before dropping the subject and picking up another book. 'The Life And Lies Of Albus Dumbledore'. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Are we really getting that book?" He smirked.
"Of course we are. You need to read it, and I would also like to read the book."
"It's all a lie, that book is probably by Rita Skeeter."
"Yes, but you must not believe everything you read. You know… Rita Skeeter seems to make lies on anyone. I really must have Bella deal with her. She has no conciseness so she really must be kept in check. I remember all those lies she wrote about you Harry." He said, taking another copy of that book.
"Can I have this book?" I asked, throwing him the 'Easy Spells To Fool Muggles' book. He smirked.
"It's a harmless book. Sure. But you have to take these books." He gave me a 'The Rise And Fall Of He Who Must Not Be Named' and more books on himself.
"Seriously?"
"Yes." He replied curtly. I sighed and lumped it in with the rest.
Then we went to Obscurus Books. There we bought a few more books like 'Flesh-Eating Trees Of The World', 'Confronting The Faceless', 'Magical Hieroglyphs And Logograms', and 'A Collection Of Above Three Hundred Receipts In Cookery, Physick, And Surgery'.
Then we went to Whizz Hard Books where we got only five books: 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them', 'Numerology And Grammatica', 'New Theory Of Numerology', 'Spellman's Syllabary'. Then one I managed to get Tom to agree to: 'Quintessence: A Quest', by agreeing to do studying until September 1.
"Harry, you can get a pet, but not one Nagini will eat. So no toads, rats, cats, or bats. You may have a snake, an owl, double ended newt, niffler, kneazle, or a ferret. Actually.. no you can't have a newt. Nagini would eat it. Then perhaps you might get a crup." Tom said as we entered the Magical Menagerie.
In the end he got me two pets… a calico kneazle kitten and a beagle like crup puppy. He bought fang brushes for Nagini while telling me that we'd drop off my pets to the Carrows, who collect pets. All kinds of pets. I'd never met them before… not that I can think of anyway.
"We should get lunch." Tom said after we left the menagerie. "We'll go to the Leaky Cauldron." We ate whatever we picked from the menu, but Tom ordered all of us butterbeer.. When we finished, he dragged us off to Quality Quidditch Supplies. "Our last stop in Diagon Alley." He stated.
"Um… Tom?" I asked as we were left alone.
"Try again." I rolled my eyes and he smacked the back of my head. I put a hand to the back of my head and rubbed.
"Ow! That hurt!"
"Eye rolling is unbecoming." He stated simply.
"Vol- Tom." I'm trying to make a deal, I can't be mean about it.
"What is it Harry?" He asked, putting a hand to the middle of my back as he guided me through the store.
"I was thinking…" How do I say this? I've never been the first to make a deal, and coming to realize that now sucks.
"Amazing. I didn't know you could do that." He replied sarcastically, making me chuckle a little.
"That's not all I had to say, Tom." I replied smoothly, smirking at him.
"Clearly. Then out with it, or do I need to enter your mind to find out what you want?"
"If you could buy us all candy-" Seeing as Ron and Hermione could use it - "- then I could stop being…"
"-a moody brat?"
"Sure, for the rest of this summer."
"So you are offering better behaviour for candy for the five of you?"
"That makes it all sound so… simple." I snapped, furious with how childish it sounded… but it was for my friends!
"It is simple Harry. It is the first deal you have come up with on your own. You will get there. The fact that you have made your first bargain is proof of that. I shall counter your offer with one of my own. I shall give the five of you candy in return that you behave better for the rest of this summer and should you misbehave, given to the level you have before this deal, you will submit to any discipline I see fit to give you."
"Submit? To you? You've got to be kidding me." I snapped.
"Do you want the candy?" He asked softly.
"Well… I mean…" I sighed. "Can I counter offer?"
"Of course."
"How much time do I have to think about your offer?" I asked hesitantly.
"By the time we finish at Potage's Cauldron shop." I sighed, relieved. "Then it will be too late and there will be no candy." He stopped and I saw we were at the ball section. He grabbed a snitch, with precision I might add, and stuffed it into my hand.
From the shop we got a Quidditch Starter Kit, a Broomstick Servicing Kit, and I was fitted once more for four Slytherin Quidditch robes. When Tom finished paying for everything, and everyone was present, Tom led us to another shop. Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment.
We bought binoculars, a compass, a crystal ball, and a magnifying glass, among other things. I was beginning to lose hope as the next shop we went to was Potage's Cauldron shop. When my friends were out of ear shot, I turned around and looked at Tom.
"Fine." I said, rather snappish. "You have a deal."
"Is that the way to accept an offer that you wanted? Perhaps I should decline if you are going to be bratty about it." I sighed.
"Again, something unbecoming of you." He said, turning away from me. I instinctively grabbed his arm.
"Wait!" I had felt a burning sensation before it just as quickly went away when I had grabbed him.
"Yes?" He asked as I released him.
"You have a deal." I said flatly, holding out my other hand.
"The other arm, Harry." I dropped my arm and held out the one that grabbed him, feeling nervous. He held out his right hand and shook mine, and I felt a shiver go through me.
"Tom what is that?"
"A magical deal. Don't worry. It's not like the unbreakable vow. No one will die, not that I'd ever give you another way to get yourself killed of course. I'm not a Gryffindor. Now let's find your supplies for school. You start next week."
We bought pewter, brass, copper, silver, and gold cauldrons. And another set of them that were self stirring. After Voldemort was satisfied, he led us to Sugarplum's Sweets shop. "I thought this would make a sweet parting. There are rules, of course. Harry gets what he wants, Draco and Blaise may get six different sweets and three of each, and mudblood and blood traitor may get three different sweets and two of each. Draco, try not to ruin your dinner, your father would be furious with me." Tom joked, clearly making a 'friendly' statement. Of course Draco ate it up.
"I don't think he'd mind My Lord."
"Dismissed, for now." I gathered some candy for Ron, Hermione, and I… seeing as Tom gave them not much to get. Chocolate frogs, bertie bott's every flavour beans, pumpkin pasties, and cauldron cakes.
When Tom appeared again, he was ushering us out of the door and back into Knockturn Alley. We stopped at a place called the White Wyvern. "Draco, give me your arm." Draco gave him his arm as asked and Tom rolled up his sleeve and too late I realized what he was doing. He touched his finger to the Dark Mark on Draco's arm. Draco grimaced in pain, his lips parting as he tried not to scream.
Only three Death Eaters appeared. Lucius, Dolohov, and Nott. Tom released Draco and Draco quickly rolled his sleeve back down. The Dark Mark was red. "Relieve me of those four children. I've had enough of them for the day." Tom demanded and the three of them bowed.
"I trust my son was more than civil My Lord." Lucius said before Disapparating with Draco and Blaise. Dolohov and Nott took Hermione and Ron. Tom then grabbed me and we disappeared too. Back to the Riddle House.
"Put your things away Harry. I give you a clean slate, only because we have made a deal that next I decide to punish you, you will submit to my will." With that Tom left me alone, feeling like I'd lost everything again.