The crowd jostled around Narcissa and Snape as they stood with their children on platform nine and three-quarters.

"Have a good year you two," Narcissa said.

"I'm sure we will Mother," Draco said.

"Tomas stick with Draco," Snape said, "he'll look after you. Right Draco?" Draco nodded.

"Of course Uncle Sev," He said.

"Good," Snape said giving him a small smile. "I'll see you both once you get to Hogwarts alright?" Tomas nodded and Draco and him hugged Snape and Narcissa before rushing onto the Hogwarts Express to their compartment where the rest of the Silver Trio was waiting.

They quickly settled in and began talking about what was going to happen once they reached Hogwarts.

"Hopefully you'll be in Slytherin like us," Blaise said.

"I'm sure I will be," Tomas said, "considering my father's a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin."

"You raise a good point," Draco said.

"Hey Draco," Blaise said, "shouldn't you be on perfect duty?" Draco snorted.

"Yeah," He said, "but I'd rather stay here."

"You could get in trouble for that," Goyle said.

"They won't care," Draco said. "I think all the first years are actually rejoicing." They all laughed at this.

Suddenly the compartment door slid open and a breathless third-year girl stepped inside.

"What do you want?" Draco asked surveying her coldly. She gulped looking at him nervously and said, "I was told to deliver these to Blaise Zabini and Tomas Snape." She held out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon.

Tomas and Blaise took the scrolls curiously and the girl rushed out of the compartment. Tomas unrolled his and looked at her curiously.

"What is it?" Pansy asked.

"Its an invitation," Tomas said. "Tomas," He read aloud, "I would be delighted if you could join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. Sincerely, Professor H. E. F Slughorn."

"Who's Professor Slughorn?" Crabbe asked.

"He's a new teacher," Tomas said. "Well I guess we should go see him." Blaise nodded standing up.

"Be back later," He said as he left the compartment with Tomas.

When they reached compartment C, they found Harry Potter and a round faced boy there as well.

"What are you doing here Potter?" Blaise asked.

"Could ask you the same question," Harry said.

"Let me guess," Tomas said. "Slughorn invited you both to lunch?" The round faced boy nodded. "Us too," Tomas said, "so why don't we go in?" Harry nodded and they all went into the compartment together.

Once inside they found that they weren't Slughorn's only guests, although judging by the warm welcome Harry was given he had been the most anticipated.

"Harry, m'boy!" Slughorn said, jumping up at the sight of him so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill all the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and huge silver mustache gleamed brightly in the sunlight with the golden buttons on his waistcoat.

"Good to see you, good to see you!" He said. "And you must be Mr. Longbottom!" The round faced boy nodded, looking scared.

"Ah and Mr. Zabini I presume?" Slughorn said looking at Blaise who nodded. "And who else do we have?" Slughorn said his eyes moving to Tomas.

When he laid eyes on Tomas however his eyes widened and he rushed over to him shaking his hand hurriedly. "Why I never thought I'd see the day!" He said. "Its you isn't it?"

"Um…excuse me?" Tomas said now very confused.

"I mean," Slughorn said lowering his voice. "You're his son aren't you? Tom Riddle's." Tomas froze but nodded. "So I thought," Slughorn said. "Well I'm so happy to finally get to meet you. Where have you been all this time?"

"At Beauxabatons," Tomas said. "It wasn't safe for me here."

"Of course," Slughorn nodded, "of course." "Well why don't you all sit down?" He said waving his hand at the empty seats left. They sat down quickly and Tomas found himself with Blaise on his right and Harry on his left.

"Now, do you know everyone?" Slughorn asked them. "There's Cormac McLaggen, perhaps you've come across each other—? No?" McLaggen who was large and wiry-haired raised a hand and Harry, Neville, Tomas, and Blaise nodded back to him.

"—and this is Marcus Belby, I don't know whether—?" Belby was thin and nervous looking and gave them a strained smile.

"—and this charming young lady Ginny Weasley tells me she knows you Harry!" Slughorn finished. Ginny grimaced from behind Slughorn's back and Tomas held back a laugh.

"Well now, this is most pleasant," Slughorn said cozily. "A chance to get to know you all a little better. Here, take a napkin. I've packed by own lunch; the trolley, as I remember it, is heavy on licorice wands, and a poor old man's digestive system isn't quite up to such things… Pheasant, Belby?" Belby started and accepted what looked like half a cold pheasant.

"I was just telling young Marcus here that I the pleasure of teaching his Uncle Damocles," Slughorn told them, now passing around a basket of rolls. "Outstanding wizard, outstanding, and his Order of Merlin most well-deserved. Do you see much of your uncle, Marcus?"

But Belby had just taken a large mouthful of pheasant and in his haste to answer Slughorn swallowed too fast. He quickly turned purple and began to choke.

"Anapneo," Slughorn said calmly, pointing his wand at Belby, whose airway seemed to clear at once.

"Not…not much of him, no," Belby gasped, his eyes streaming.

"Well, of course, I daresay he's busy," Slughorn said giving Belby a questioning look. "I doubt he invented the Wolfsbane Potion without considerable hard work!"

"I suppose…" Belby said. "Er…he and my dad don't get on very well, you see, so I don't really know much about…" He trailed off as Slughorn gave him a cold smile and turned to McLaggen instead.

"Now, you, Cormac," Slughorn said, "I happen to know you see a lot of your Uncle Tiberius, because he has a rather splendid picture of the two of hunting nogtails in, I think, Norfolk?"

"Oh, yeah, that was fun, that was," McLaggen said. "We went with Bertie Higgs and Rufus Scrimgeour—this was before he became Minister, obviously—"

"Ah, you know Bertie and Rufus too?" Slughorn beamed, now offering around a small tray of pies and Tomas noticed that Belby was missed out. "Now tell me…"

Tomas soon learned that everyone in the compartment seemed to be connected to somebody well-known or influential—except for Ginny.

In Blaise's case it was his mother who was famously beautiful. She had been married seven times, each of her husbands dying mysteriously and leaving her mounds of gold.

Neville—which the round faced boy's name Tomas learned—had well-known Aurors for parents but the topic of them was very uncomfortable. His parents Tomas knew had been tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange and a couple of other Death Eaters. This among other things was why Tomas had a permanent distaste for the woman.

Tomas rather enjoyed his interrogation because Slughorn gushed all about his birth mother so the boy was able to find out more about her then he had originally known.

The only uncomfortable moment was when Slughorn added in, "Your real father is very powerful as well although very dark…" Tomas had agreed hurriedly hoping that Slughorn wouldn't dwell on the topic which he luckily didn't but he did notice the strange looks everyone but Blaise was giving him after.

Finally Slughorn shifted towards Harry excitedly. "And now," He said. "Harry Potter! Where to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer!" He studied Harry for a moment as though he was a beautifully wrapped birthday present he couldn't wait to open before saying, "'The Chosen One,' they're calling you now!"

Harry said nothing but everyone including Tomas turned their eyes on him.

"Of course," Slughorn said, watching Harry closely, "there have been rumors for years… I remember when—well—after that terrible night—Lily—James—and you survived—and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary."

Blaise gave a tiny little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused skepticism.

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented," Ginny said angrily from behind Slughorn, "…at posing…"

"Oh dear!" Slughorn chuckled looking at the glaring Ginny. "You want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvelous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Blaise looked contemptuous but Tomas looked at Ginny impressed. "I pity that guy if your really that good," He grinned.

"Oh she is!" Slughorn said. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Well then I'll try not to get on your bad side Ginny," Tomas said.

"Yeah you'd better watch it," Ginny grinned waggling her eyebrows. Tomas laughed at this well Blaise rolled his eyes.

The afternoon wore on with more tales of famous wizards Slughorn had taught, all of whom had been delighted to join what he called the "Slug Club" at Hogwarts. Tomas couldn't wait to leave, but he couldn't think of a way to do so politely so he was stuck.

Finally the train emerged from yet another long misty stretch into a red sunset, and Slughorn looked around, blinking in the twilight.

"Good gracious, its getting dark already!" He said. "I didn't notice that they'd lit the lamps! You'd better go and change into your robes, all of you. McLaggen you must drop by and borrow that book on nogtails, Harry, Blaise—anytime you're passing." "Same goes for you, miss," He said with a twinkling smile at Ginny.

When his eyes fell on Tomas his face turned serious. "And Tomas I would really like it if you would stop by and see me sometime," He said. "I have some things to tell you about your birth father."

"I'll try to stop by then sir," Tomas said wondering what the man could possibly tell him about Voldemort.

"Well, off you go," Slughorn said losing his serious face, "off you go!"

They all went out into the darkening corridor talking as they went.

"I'm glad that's over," Neville muttered. "Strange, man isn't he?"

"Slightly," Tomas nodded. "I think he's trying to surround himself with well-connected people so that he can become well-connected himself."

"Well that's nice," Ginny said sarcastically and Tomas nodded.

"Hey Tomas," Blaise called, "come on."

"Coming," Tomas said. "See you all later." They all nodded at him and he rushed up ahead to Blaise.

"You shouldn't get too chummy with them," Blaise said. "They'll dump you the second your sorted into Slytherin." Tomas felt his heart sink but he nodded knowing it was true.

When they reached the compartment Tomas sat down in his seat and Blaise tried to shut the compartment door but it stopped about halfway. "What's wrong with this thing?" Blaise said angrily as he tired to close it again and again.

Suddenly the door pushed open hard and Blaise toppled over sideways into Goyle's lap. Goyle slammed the door shut then and flung Blaise off of him. Blaise collapsed into his seat looking ruffled as he glowered at Goyle, Crabbe shook his head and returned to his comic, and Draco sniggering lay back down across two seats to lay his head in Tomas's lap.

"So," Draco said, "what did Slughorn want?"

"Just trying to make up to well-connected people," Blaise said. "Not that he managed to find many." Draco didn't seem pleased by this and Tomas understood why. Draco didn't like the fact that Slughorn seemed to think he wasn't well-connected.

"Who else had he invited?" Draco demanded.

"Cormac McLaggen, Marcus Belby, Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter, and Ginny Weasley," Tomas said. Draco sat up very suddenly making Tomas have to move his head back so he didn't hit him in the face.

"He invited Longbottom?" He said stunned.

"Well, I assume so, as Longbottom was there," Blaise said indifferently.

"What's Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?" Draco asked.

"His parents," Tomas said.

"But they're insane now," Goyle said. "So they don't have much worth—" He stopped though when he saw the deadly glare Tomas was giving him and quickly looked away.

"Slughorn probably wants to see if Neville has any of his parents' ability," Tomas said.

"Fact chance of that," Draco snorted sinking back onto Tomas's lap. He looked up at him hopefully and Tomas knowing what he wanted began to stroke his hair and massage his head. Draco let out something akin to a purr and closed his eyes.

"I pity Slughorn's taste," He said. "Maybe he's going a bit senile. Shame, my father always said he was a good wizard in his day. My father used to be a bit of a favorite of his. Slughorn probably hasn't heard I'm on the train, or—"

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation," Blaise said. "He asked me about Nott's father well I was there. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look so happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters."

Draco's eyes opened and his face was angry but he forced out a unusually humorless laugh. "Well who cares what he's interested in?" Draco yawned flamboyantly. "What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher. I mean, I might not even be at Hogwarts next year, what's it matter to me if some fat old has-been likes me or not?"

Tomas stopped his massaging instantly and Draco let out a disappointed mewl. "Tomas why did you stop?" He asked.

"What do you mean; you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" Tomas demanded.

"Well you never know," Draco said. "I might have—er—moved on to bigger and better things."

"Do you mean—Him?" Pansy asked. Draco shrugged.

"Mother wants me to complete my education," He said, "but personally, I don't see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it… When the Dark Lord's takes over, is he going to care how may O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts anyone's got? Of course he isn't… It'll be all about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."

"And you think you'll be able to do something for him?" Blaise asked scathingly. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"

"I've just said, haven't I?" Draco said. "Maybe he doesn't care if I'm qualified. Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for."

Crabbe and Goyle both looked at him openmouthed at his while Pansy was gazing down at Draco as though she'd never seen anything so awe-inspiring.

"I can see Hogwarts," Draco said pointing out the blackened window. "We'd better get our robes on." They all agreed and got up to get their trunks down.

When Tomas swung his trunk down though he heard a strange sound almost like a gasp of pain and he looked up into the luggage rack confused. Draco seemed to have heard it too because he was frowning to the area as well.

Shrugging Tomas decided to ignore the noise and he pulled his robes on like the others before locking his trunk.

Finally with a final lurch, the train came to a complete halt. Goyle threw the door open and shoved his way out into a crowd of second years punching them aside as he went with Blaise and Crabbe following him.

"You go on," Draco told Pansy, who was waiting for him and Tomas. "I just want to check something."

"Alright," Pansy said and left.

"What do you want to check?" Tomas asked. Draco didn't answer and instead pointed his wand up at the luggage rack saying, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Tomas watched in shock as something toppled out of the luggage rack landing on the ground with a floor-shaking crash at Draco and his feet. He was even more stunned however to see that it was Harry with a strange looking cloak underneath him. He was curled up into a cramped kneeling position as well.

Draco smiled broadly. "I thought so," He said proudly. "I heard Tomas's trunk hit you. And I thought I saw something white flash through the air after Blaise came back…" His eyes lingered for a moment upon Harry's trainers. "You didn't hear anything I care about, Potter," He said, "but while I've got you here…"

He stomped down, hard, on Harry's face breaking his nose and causing blood to spurt everywhere. "That's from my father," Draco said. "Now let's see…" He dragged the cloak out from under Harry's body and threw it over him. When Harry's body disappeared Tomas finally realized that the cloak was an Invisibility Cloak. So that was how he had snuck into their compartment.

"I don't reckon they'll find you till the train's back in London," Draco said quietly. "See you around, Potter…or not." He walked to the compartment door and held out his hand to Tomas. Tomas walked up to him—trying his best not to tread on Harry—and took his hand allowing the other boy to lead him out of the compartment.

Please review!

Ja ne!

Redluna