7.

The hallway leading to the Headmaster's office was deserted, not surprisingly since it was situated in a part of the castle that didn't host any classrooms. Not many students would have reasons to loiter here unless they have a meeting with the Headmaster himself.

The moment Tom and Harry had reached the corridor in question, Harry politely but firmly extracted himself from Tom's arm around his shoulder and put a respectable distance between the two of them.

"Is something wrong?" Tom asked, even though he knew exactly what was going on in Harry's head. The teen may be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but he was a really young wolf whose hunting skills are not exactly polished. In consequence, his motives were so easily seen through if one knew where to look.

"No, of course not," Harry replied, "It was getting a little hot, that's all."

Tom hummed in acknowledgement even though the temperature inside the castle was constantly maintained at a comfortable temperature.

"It was," Harry protested, obviously taking Tom's silence as disbelief. His face was a little flushed; his gaze shifty; a clear sign that he wasn't exactly telling the truth. Tom frowned a little at that; he didn't really care that Harry was lying to him, but it offended him that someone he was interested in was so bloody bad at it.

"I didn't say anything," he replied, deciding that he was going to have to train Harry in the future.

"Oh Merlin you're annoying," Harry snapped, his façade of companionship finally cracking, "I'm starting to believe that going through this farce won't be worth it."

Tom resisted the urge to snicker at Harry's frustration. A baby wolf indeed; he couldn't even stick to his plans for more than a day.

"Oh?" Tom replied smoothly, "Farce? I can assure you I do not consider this a farce."

"Oh come off it," Harry snapped, forcing his hands in to his pockets, "You don't know me so that means you have some ulterior motives to asking to court me. You can't possibly want to bond with me"

"If you know that already," Tom smirked despite feeling a little disappointed that Harry hadn't arrived at the right conclusion, "Why have you agreed?"

This shut him up pretty quickly.

"I…I," Harry stuttered, "I…"

"You wanted to make your sister jealous," Tom supplied, deciding to cut the boy some slack. If he wanted to train Harry, it wouldn't do to break him so fast.

Harry turned to stare at him in surprise.

"You know?"

"Of course I know," Tom huffed, "It was so obvious that it isn't funny. Luckily for you, most of the students of this school are idiots so were oblivious to you master plan."

Embarrassed, Harry looked away again.

"You don't mind me using you? It's not forever you know. I plan to break of this courtship thing as soon as I've decided that Rose had enough."

"Now that won't do," Tom tsked, shaking his head, "I actually had my heart set on bonding with you."

Harry snorted at that.

"Good luck with that. I don't even like you and although I am bisexual, you are so not my type."

"I am everyone's type," Tom protested hotly, then cursed himself for taking the bait. He didn't know what it was about Harry that was making him lose his carefully crafted composure. It was dangerous as it was exhilarating. It excited Tom for the first time in a long time. "And don't throw me away just yet. I can guarantee you that I'll win your heart in time."

"Is that a challenge?" Harry demanded, eyes blazing he stopped in his tracks and turned his entire body towards Tom. The older teen followed suit.

"If you want," Tom allowed easily, "But I see it as a promise."

For a moment, none of them spoke, preferring to stare at each other. The air around them was practically crackling with tension and Tom could feel his magic getting invigorated by the sensation. Release me, it practically begged, Let me out.

Not now, Tom told it in a soothing tone, Soon.

Harry was the first to break their staring contest, turning back to the front with a small huff. The blush coloring his cheeks delighted Tom.

"Whatever," he said and started moving again, Tom following along, for once preferring to let the silence linger.

"My boy," Dumbledore beamed at them, "What can I help you with?"

While Harry smiled back at the old man, Tom preferred to stare blankly back at him. He had never liked Dumbledore; the man may be a capable wizard, but he was far from a good Headmaster. His tendency to play favorites clouded his decision taking abilities. Even if he preached about equality on a regular basis, it was obvious he favored Gryffindors over the other houses. Not surprising considering how everyone closest to him were from that house.

"It's nice to see you again," Harry told him, "It's been too long."

"We're here to register a courtship," Tom interrupted before Harry could start deviating in to other topics and trapping them here for another 30 minutes. Although he really didn't have anywhere to be – his first class of the day was at 10, but that didn't mean he wanted to spend more time than necessary in this office.

"A courtship?" Dumbledore repeated, sounding shocked by the words. Harry glared at Tom in annoyance, before forcing a smile back on to his face as he returned his gaze to his mentor.

"Yes, between Tom and I," he said, as if it wasn't obviously.

"That is…an unexpected development," Dumbledore said slowly, even though it wasn't in his job description to meddle in these matters. As Headmaster, he was tasked to registered participants in the courtship; he was supposed to be an unbiased observer. But this time, Dumbledore was anything but unbiased. By the look on his face, he was definitely not happy with Harry's choice. Tom knew that the old man was trying to figure out what his game plan was and Tom wasn't about to make it easy for him. Dumbledore may be old, but he was powerful and wise. He could become a veritable thorn in Tom's side if the young man wasn't careful.

"The registration," Tom insisted, cutting Harry's response off. He knew that he would pay for his rudeness, but Dumbledore has a thing about him that rubs Tom the wrong way.

"Of course," the Headmaster said, not looking the least surprised by the reaction. He reached in to a trunk behind him and extracted an old leather-bound book. It took a few seconds before he found a blank page and pushed the book and a quill towards the two teens.

Tom signed his name first and watched passively as the ink glowed slightly as the book took in his magical signature. Harry followed suit, his hand a little shaky as he did so.

"As a Founder's heir, you'll have access to the Consort Rooms on the sixth floor," the Headmaster said while Harry carefully closed the book and pushed it back to him, "It's a beautiful place so do try to enjoy them. You can set your password with the painting guarding the entrance. Tom, I'm sure you know it is."

"I do," Tom replied, not even trying to deny the knowledge, "We'll be taking our leave,"

Dumbledore was obviously about to protest, mouth open but his words were cut off as Fawkes suddenly flew off his perch and landed on Harry's head. Tom actually had to blink at that. He had never thought the phoenix would be so open with students; the last time he was here, the bloody bird had ignored him with an arrogance that Abraxas would have been proud of. But with Harry, he was acting more like a kitten than a majestic symbol of the Light.

"Fawkes," Dumbledore exclaimed, looking a little resigned, "Not again."

Harry, however, just laughed easily and brought up a hand to caress the phoenix.

"Does that happen often?" Tom couldn't help but ask, his mind whirling with the implications of this new development.

"It does actually," Dumbledore sighed, "I really don't know why, but I truly believe that my familiar is obsessed with Harry."

"I invigorate him," Harry laughed, looking delighted by his companion, "I mean that literarily. Every time he's forced back to his perch, he appear drunk."

"Another mystery of life," Dumbledore sighed, not realizing the way Tom had froze momentarily at the revelation.

A phoenix drunk on wizard magic...It couldn't be...

Tom's smirk threatened to take over his face as he realized just what was happening here.

Looks like the stakes of hisplan has just gotten a little higher.

TBC

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