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Reaching Through Time

Chapter 6: What's in a Name?

"H-How did-"

Tom instantly grabbed Harry and stopped him from going into the office. His senses were on high alert and his power crackled across his skin in warning.

The creature sighed and he practically rolled his eyes. Again he snapped and both boys were dragged forward into the office and seated in the two seats on one side of the desk. The door slammed shut behind them and the air shimmered for a moment along the walls.

"We may now speak in privacy."

"What are you?" Tom demanded coldly. He could see Harry squirming in his seat and Tom knew the other boy was being held down in his seat just as Tom was.

The creature made himself comfortable in the seat across from them and took several long minutes to pour himself tea. Each moment that passed Tom could feel his back tensing further and his hands curled into fists.

"I am a goblin." He stated with a small sneer before sipping at his tea. "You may address me as Gothrack." the goblin set his tea down and steepled his fingers together on his desk. "Harry Potter is a time traveler from 50 years in the future. I cannot tell you how I know this, just that certain plans were put into place in preparation for his arrival here in this time."

Both Tom and Harry were silent, shocked that this creature, this goblin, would know about the time traveling.

Gothrack waited another moment before humming softly in approval to their silence. "Goblins have worked with time travelers many times." He held up a finger to silence Harry's question. "We do this because we do not want time travelers to pull their gold from our vaults. We work with the time travelers so they have access no matter the time period. So long as the gold is kept safe with us."

Greed. Tom could understand the goblin's reasons then. Greed was a very understandable reason to do anything.

Harry on the other hand looked lost and confused. "What plans though? Who made them?"

Gothrack sighed through his nose and lifted a folder that had been sitting on his desk. "Plans to ensure you and Tom are financially secure in the wizarding world from this day forward. I cannot tell you who made them." He handed Tom the folder.

Tom cautiously opened the folder and his eyes went wide as he read the information there. Information on who his mother was and who his father was. Information about his lineage and from whom he was descended from.

"A simple inheritance test will give you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, access to the Slytherin vaults." Gothrack turned back to Harry. "A blood binding spell will allow you, Harry James Potter, to create an anchor in one time so you can stop hopping back and forth."

Even though he was engrossed in the file he was reading, Tom was still listening to Gothrack. "Blood binding?" It sounded dangerous. Anything involving blood usually involved being injured.

"A simple blood binding spell. It will bind the two of you together. You will share your power with each other and create an anchor in this time for Mr. Potter to latch onto." Gothrack snapped his fingers and in the air between Harry and Tom a fragile and wispy looking thread appeared. "You already have a weak bond that has, up to this point, allowed Mr. Potter to travel to you Mr. Riddle. It is not strong enough to keep Mr. Potter here.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Harry asked suddenly as the thread vanished.

Gothrack smiled a bit, something that was very unnerving for the two boys to see. "This is not a fantasy book Mr. Potter. You are not going to be tossed into the world with no knowledge of things and be expected to find a happy ending."

The Goblin's expression became neutral again and he folded his hands in front of him on the desk. "Understand that I can not tell you everything in order to protect the timeline. There are some things you cannot know as those facts could alter what must happen."

As much as Tom disliked secrets being kept from him the stare that Gotharck gave him made Tom slam his mouth closed. It was as if the goblin was just challenging him, daring him, to demand the information.

"What can you tell us?" Harry asked curiously. The power that had been holding them to their seats let up allowing Harry to lean forward eagerly.

Gothrack huffed softly. It was obvious he had been hoping that the two boys wouldn't ask any more questions. "I can tell you that your benefactors have left letters to you with very specific instructions to give you the letters at certain dates." With a wave of his hand a crate appeared on his desk. There was a shimmering lock on the crate. "I can tell you that you, Harry Potter, have two paths to choose from."

"Paths?" Harry asked with a deep frown.

Honestly Gothrack disliked working with children. If they weren't loud and obnoxious, then they were always asking questions.

"The human body was not built to exist in two times." The blank look from Harry and the angry scowl from Tom made Gothrack sigh in annoyance. "Once you have a blood bond, you can either live in this time or in your time, Mr. Potter. You will not be able to jump back and forth the way you do now. You will have to chose."

Tom was the first to realize what it was that Gothrack meant. "He'll stop being able to travel through time." It was a statement of fact rather than a question.

With a nod of his head Gothrack continued. "I cannot make this decision for you, nor can I tell you what will happen with either choice. Just that a choice must be made before the blood binding ritual happens."

"Well the choice is easy." Harry didn't even have to think about it. "Tom is my family. My real family. I can't just abandon him."

"Wait Harry." Tom reached over to stop his friend from accepting anything too quickly. "If we do this now you'll be stuck at the orphanage by yourself while I'm at school. If you don't do the ritual then you can still time travel. You can still visit me while I'm at school."

Gothrack had worked with various time travelers in his life, but never a child time traveler. He knew the rules of what he could and could not say in order to keep the thread of time intact and their world from falling a part. It was why he was the best at this job. But it was always a relief when the time travelers figured things out for themselves. So a small smile cracked in his stern expression and sharp teeth peaked out between his lips.

Tom's mind worked quickly as he considered their options. "Do we have to do the ritual now?" He wanted to make sure of a few things.

"Of course not." Gothrack replied as he stood to open the crate on his desk. He pulled two envelopes out, each marked with a name of one of the boys. "You can have the ritual done whenever you so chose. Although," Again the goblin smirked as he sent Tom a knowing look. "It would be best if done when both of you are of age to attend Hogwarts. 11 is when magic within a wizard starts to stabilize. Also the longer you go without the blood binding ritual, the higher chance side effects will occur."

Over the years whenever Harry had visited he had always appeared wherever Tom was. His friend wasn't forced into a single location. It would make life easier if Harry were to visit Tom while he was attending Hogwarts. The two of them could study together and learn more quickly together. It would also give Harry an advantage when he began school.

"I think we'll wait then." They could handle the side effects or anything else until Harry was 11.

"But Tom-"

Tom let out a small sigh and turned his full attention on Harry. "I know you hate your relatives, but this way you can come with me to Hogwarts. At least on the weekends. And when you turn 11 we'll do the ritual and you can stay here. With me."

As smart as Harry was he was still a child. It took several gentle words and assurances for Tom to win Harry over to the right decision.

"If that matter is settled let us move on to the inheritance tests."

The tests were rather simple and only required a drop of blood from both of them. Sure enough Tom turned out to be the heir of two family lines, Gaunt and Slytherin. As curious as Tom was as to how the money situation worked he held back on asking. If Goblins really were the greedy creatures he suspected they were then Gothrack probably wouldn't tell him about how the withdrawal system would work.

Harry's test revealed several points of interest to Tom. It did say that Harry was the heir to the Potter line, but what intrigued Tom were the obvious blank lines that came after. Seeing those made Tom reexamine his own parchment and sure enough there were a couple blank lines on his own, but not nearly as many as on Harry's.

"Those will fill in as you age." Gothrack told Tom and Harry quickly before Tom could ask about them. "Like the letters your other inheritances will reveal themselves in time."

With those words Gothrack handed the two envelopes over to Tom and Harry. "Open those when you get back to your residence. You will want privacy."

The goblin clapped his hands together once, twice, and the crate vanished. The walls of the room shimmered as whatever spell Gothrack had put up in the beginning came down.

"If you have need of myself or of your vaults just send a letter with my name." The boys would learn more about sending mail via owls later. "Here are the keys to your student vaults. Let us go down and collect your allowances."

The trip down to the vaults was long. The cart the three were in jolted and twisted so much that Harry had to close his eyes and cling to Tom in order to avoid getting sick. Every now and then there were tracks that would split off and shoot off into more caverns and tunnels.

On the way down Harry and Tom learned more about their allowances. The allowances were based off of what the boys would need to live off of for the year, as predetermined by their anonymous benefactors, and they could either take the amount out all at once or in small increments throughout the year.

Gothrack had suggested Harry take just enough to pay for what he would need in the alley as well as enough for whenever he needed to get away from his relatives. Tom decided to take out his entire allowance since he would be stuck at school for almost a year.

The allowance wasn't a small amount. In fact it was enough that Gothrack gave Tom a magic bottomless pouch. Tom, having never imagined he would have that much money ever in his life, didn't know what he'd spend it all on.

As well as the allowance, Tom was given money from the school fund. Gothrack gave the two boys a wicked smile as he handed over the small amount that had been allotted to Tom.

"Not that I'm complaining, but why give this to me?" Tom asked as he slipped the coins into the pouch to join with his own money.

With a sniff Gothrack answered. "Politics. You will learn that Goblins may keep a wizard's gold safe, but we have very little respect for most wizards." He was finishing up writing a few things in his ledgers. "Your benefactors are two of the few to have our respect."

That little tidbit of information peaked Tom's interest. He would need to remember that for future use.

"Now then. If there is nothing else?"

It wasn't like Tom or Harry could ask Gothrack anything else since they were in the main hall where there were many other goblins as well as wizards. So with one last thank you to the goblin the two boys left the bank.

"We have a great deal to think about when we get home." Tom muttered as he led Harry to a little nook against the outside of the bank. "Are you alright?"

Harry quickly nodded his head and smiled winningly up at Tom. "I'm fine Tom! Let's go get your school supplies."

Since the two boys had no idea where to start or which shops to visit first they walked towards the first building that had a bunch of children their age coming in and out of.

As it turned out the first building was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. After a quick glance around and noticing the prices for several robes Tom knew if he and Harry hadn't had the money they did Tom would have been hard pressed to pay for even one robe.

It was with a lift of his chin and a confident stride that Tom went up to one of the free women that looked like she worked in the shop to ask for assistance.

"New Hogwarts students then?" The kindly woman asked with a broad smile. Her brow raised though when she looked at Harry. "Yer a little on the small side though."

Harry smiled, but hid a bit behind Tom in a bought of shyness that Tom was used too.

"He's my friend. I'm in need of Hogwarts robes." Tom glanced around and made a split second decision. "And a new set of formal robes." He'd seen a sign near the front saying something about formal robes.

This was Tom's chance to start the path to integration into this new world that he and Harry belonged to. He wanted to at least seem like he knew what he was talking about.

The woman smiled and nodded. "It'll be just a few minutes. Quite a few Hogwarts students today so the sizing areas are a little busy." She motioned for Tom and Harry to take seats at comfortable looking benches.

Tom took harry's hand and led him over before Harry could be distracted by anything; like the scraps of fabric that were flying around overhead or the magical tape measure that was zipping around another teen that was older than them.

"Formal robes?" Harry asked very softly as he leaned closer to his friend.

"I do want to look my best when I need to." Tom whispered back as covertly as he could. The confused look on Harry's face was absolutely adorable and innocent. "I suppose I should get...Some other things as well."

He would never boast about it, but Tom was an expert on people watching. He was able to take in minute details that would normally be lost to others. At that moment Tom was definitely using that skill in order to figure out what sorts of clothes would be common place in the wizarding world.

Kids and teenagers tended to wear normal clothing, the kind that he and Harry were wearing, while adults wore long robes and cloaks. Beneath the robes though it looked to be business attire. A shirt was a shirt no matter where a person was from it seemed like.

Tom could probably get away with getting shirts and pants in normal stores with the non wizard money he'd exchanged for at the bank. The robes though he would definitely have to get here.

"This always takes so long." Before either boy could turn to look at the owner of the voice, a third body joined the bench. The boy, looking to be about the same age as Tom, had long platinum blonde hair and striking blue eyes. "Are you here for fittings as well?"

Eyes narrowing ever so slightly, Tom nodded politely. The blonde spoke clearly and concisely; a sure sign he was from the upper crust. Already Tom's mind was working fast on how he could get himself into the good graces of this other boy.

"Tom is! I'm here cause it's boring back home." Harry, ever the naive boy that he was, quickly spoke up before Tom had the chance.

Apparently Harry's small stature and adorable looks made him look younger so the new boy only smiled and held out a hand. Tom let out a breath in relief. A person of noble upraising could have thought Harry rude for yous outburst.

"Abraxas Malfoy, a pleasure to meet you." Since it had been Harry who had spoken first Abraxas shook his hand before Tom's.

"Hadrian Smith." That's the name Harry had in this time and they had decided back at the bank to keep using it.

"Tom Gaunt." As much as Gothrack had been hesitant to agree that Tom should use his maternal last name, it had been decided that Tom would change his name to it. The paperwork with the official name change would be filed within the next couple days.

At the name given Abraxas' eyes widened briefly before he grinned. "Definitely a pleasure."

One of the first things Tom would need to do was find out more about the importance of family names in the wizarding world. Especially with the reaction Malfoy had had.

"Not here with your parents?" Abraxas asked with a hint of jealousy. "Mine left me here for my fittings. Wish they had taken me to Twilfitt and Tatting's instead, but my mother insisted on coming here for my first year. Tradition and all that."

Harry liked Abraxas. He had seemed a bit snobbish at first, but the more the boy spoke the easier it became to warm up to the blonde.

"It's just the two of us today. We can handle a simple thing like shopping." Tom lifted his chin a bit to make himself seem older and mature.

Abraxas groaned and nodded. "I tried telling my mother that, but she simply refused to listen." He rolled his blue eyes dramatically and grinned a bit. "So...which house do you want to get into?"

Tom crossed one leg over the other and held his chin as if thinking. Honestly he had no idea what Abraxas was talking about, but he didn't want to seem like he didn't know what was going on. Luckily Tom was saved from answering as the woman from earlier came over to usher him over to one of the raised areas for measurement.

"What house do you want?" Harry piped up once Tom was gone. Seeing this as his chance to help Tom out Harry decided to weedle as much info as he could out of the boy they had just met.

With a laugh Abraxas leaned back a bit and crossed his arms over his chest smugly. "Slytherin obviously. It's the best house out of all of them. The Malfoy family has almost always been exclusively Slytherin."

Harry leaned forward eagerly at the information.

Thinking that the younger boy was eager to listen to Abraxas speak more, the blonde decided to indulge Harry. "I mean...Ravenclaw is good too, I guess. If you prefer books. Hecate help you if you get into Hufflepuff!" Abraxas gave Harry a knowing eye roll and the younger boy simply nodded quickly. "I suppose Gryffindor is fine too, but it's so full of idiot risk takers and empty blowhards that the good students are lost in the crowd."

Adopting a form of Tom's previous posture, Harry considered the information that Abraxas had given him.

"With a name like Gaunt though I would wager a guess that your friend would end up in Slytherin as well." Abraxas offered as the younger boy turned contemplative.

A thought occured to Abraxas then as he watched the young boy. "Are you related to the Durham Smiths by chance?"

Harry opened his eyes and tilted his head as he looked at Abraxas thoughtfully. "I don't know. There are a lot of 'Smiths'." For all Harry knew he was indeed related to a 'Durham Smith'. All he knew about his family was that his father's side were Potters and that his mother's side were Evans.

Seeing this as logical, especially coming from a young boy like Harry, Abraxas simply nodded. It was always hard to tell what a person's blood purity was when it came to those common names.

"Harry?" Both boys had been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed Tom returning. "The seamstress says my robes will be done in a hour or so. We can do the rest of our shopping until then."

With their conversation coming to an end Abraxas sighed dramatically. "Is there a chance I could talk the two of you into waiting until I am done with my fitting?" He uncrossed his arms and stood as the woman motioned for him. "I'm sure I could talk my mother and father into leaving me be if I'm with two friends."

Tom rolled that idea around in his mind for a moment. It would be best to go to a new school with at least one friend his own age. Harry would be able to sneak in during the weekends, but it wasn't like the younger boy could attend classes with him.

"Are you alright with that Harry?" Tom asked, his protective streak for the person he cared for most making an appearance.

His question wasn't seconds from his lips when Harry nodded quickly and happily.

With a look of relief and a huge smile Abraxas stepped away from the two dark haired boys. "I'll be just a moment then!"

Tom stood there, his arms once again crossed over his chest. One finger tapped against the arm it was resting on as he looked from Abraxas to the window where he could see people walking around in the street beyond the shop.

"He seems nice." Harry offered up with a grin as he kicked his feet back and forth under the bench. "He told me about the house thing. Abraxas said Slytherin would be best, Ravenclaw is for people that like books. Gryffindor is for blowhards. And I don't think he liked Hufflepuff at all."

The older of the two blinked a few times in confusion before huffing and reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair. "Don't get too attached to him Harry. Remember what happened with Amy."

The even in question made Harry look down sadly. Amy had seemed nice back when he'd been really little. She'd given him her cookies at lunch and had said all sorts of nice things. It wasn't until she yelled at him for being friends with Tom and had tried to drag Harry away that the young boy had found out what was going on.

Amy had disliked Tom and had been trying to 'save' Harry from him. She had been nice at first to try and convince Harry that Tom couldn't be as nice as her.

"It's the two of us against the world." Harry's sad eyes faded and he smiled up at Tom.

That smile always made Tom's heart flutter and he couldn't help but smile back at the warmth that was in Harry's eyes just for him.

"Just the two of us." Tom agreed as he attempted to fix Harry's messy black hair only to fail as the locks jumped lose of the careful styling Tom had tried to do.

Sure enough only a few more minutes passed before Abraxas rejoined them at the bench. "My parents are just across the way at the Ice Cream parlor."

Harry looked up at Tom hopefully at the words 'ice cream' and the older boy chuckled. "I guess ice cream would be hard to eat once the shopping was done." There was a twinkle in Tom's eye and Harry couldn't help the victory yelp as the three boys left Madam Malkin's.

With all the money they now had Tom could safely budget in treats and unnecessary trivialities that in the past he would have only dreamed of.