Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Diary of a Call Girl.

"I think he knows something is up," Harry said as he sat down with Neville and Draco.

"What do you mean he knows?" Neville said looking up from the menu in front of him.

"Well he just sort of acted like he knew something was going on, but he was also totally fine that something was going on too. It was really confusing. He acted like we could mutually benefit from this relationship. I might be reading too much into it, but he seemed very business oriented."

"You didn't sleep with him did you?" Draco asked with a grin.

"No, of course not," Harry blushed and Neville slapped Draco's arm.

"Did I tell you what I saw the other day in line for coffee?" Draco announced excitedly.

"No."

"Draco," Neville warned.

"Oh hush Nev, I have to tell him. I saw this woman and she had to be at least 40 and she was sucking her thumb. Just stood there in line sucking her thumb. She was as posh as they come too, and everyone was just staring at her. Can you believe her?"

"How disappointing," Harry retorted sarcastically.

"It was, she was giving us posh people a bad name."

"I'm sure you'll survive."

"Rude," Draco groused and turned to snap his fingers at the closest waiter.

"Do you happen to know how Severus is doing?" Harry asked after a moment.

"He's selling his house! I just found out this morning. I went over to check up on him, because I'm a good godson, and he was packing up the lot of it. He gave me a box of things that you'd forgotten, you'll have to come by after and collect them."

"Wait, he's moving? Where to?"

"Notting Hill, how positively Hugh Grant of him."

"Why there? Why is he moving?"

"I suppose it could be because he was drunk for a week and then was fine, but not really, he just pulled himself together. Also, he probably sees reminders of you everywhere," Neville offered and Harry scowled.

"Brilliant," Harry sighed aloud.

"Speaking of moving, when are you moving out of that ruddy hotel?" Draco asked examining one of his freshly manicured nails.

"Never? I don't know, the lease on my place isn't up for another couple of months, so I can't move back til then."

"Move in with me."

"What?"

"Move in with me, well us. Mother has moved out permanently, I'm assuming for similar reasons to Uncle Sev and it's just me and Nev and we have plenty of room."

"I'm alright," Harry rebuffed him.

"Nope, you're moving in whether you want to or not. You can't just hole yourself up in a hotel forever and you need a new place, so why not?"

"Fine," Harry agreed after a moment.

"Good, because I've already invited your working class friends in Glasgow to stay for Christmas."

"You do know that I'm working class too," Harry grinned at his obvious detest.

"No, sweetie, you're born working class, and with an inheritance like yours you could never be working class. It's all in the blood."

"Sure," Harry said dispelling the argument before it could begin. Draco was probably the biggest fan of the class system that you could find.

Harry had been given Draco's old room when he moved in later that week, because according to the blonde it was the second largest room in the house since he and Neville had taken over the master bedroom. He wasn't picky, he would have slept on the couch if it came down to it. He had to admit that it was nice to live with someone again, even if they were probably prone to having loud sex in the wee hours of the morning. Draco and Neville were looking out for him, when he was failing to do the task for himself. It was nice to be able to call a place home.

Between worrying about Severus and Tom he couldn't seem to find a moment's peace. Hermione had yet to make a breakthrough on the notes they'd stolen from Rita's office and he was stuck. Hermione was said to be going through every online resource and book she could to find what the code might have been derived from and as Ron kept telling him these things take time. If Ron of all people could be patient, then so could he. In the mean time he was going to hopefully work on pursuing other avenues and right now the only thing he could think of was giving her an untimely death, which was out of the question. It was still a nice thought to turn to when he felt particularly heated towards the woman.

"You need to break her," Draco insisted.

"What are you on about?" Harry asked placing the dishes in the cabinet.

"Stop, that's what the staff is for," Draco chastised him. "You need to flash Tom Riddle in front of her face and repeatedly. They have worked together in the past right? Well you need to show her that you have the upper hand right now."

"I don't know, what if that set her off, you know? Like what if that just gave her more of an incentive to get this show on the road?"

"It won't. She'll be scared. She wanted you and Severus to split, and that was her way of punishing you. Now, she will see that you've moved on and with Tom Riddle of all people."

"I dunno. Maybe we should wait until Hermione figures out Rita's code."

"She might never figure that out!" Draco insisted. "She's a bright girl, but come on she's no code cracker."

"Don't underestimate her," Harry said dubiously.

It was on his fourth date with Tom that he started to get the feeling that Tom definitely knew what was up. It had been a wonderful evening filled with flowers and dinner and a walk by the Thames. Despite being a high ranking criminal the man had definitely proved to be a perfect gentleman. He could even say that he was starting to like the man, maybe not love him, but definitely like, and that scared him a little. He couldn't seem to shake Severus from his mind, and he knew if Severus knew that he had been dating Tom Riddle the man might not ever forgive him. But with the way things were going now, they might not ever be together again.

Draco spent a lot of time trying to explain to Harry the pros to taking full advantage of this situation, and that not only should he use the man for revenge, but also treat him as a rebound. He said it would help him get over Severus, and in the future if he met a nice bloke, he wouldn't have a problem. The thing was that he didn't want to get over Severus, he was doing all of this to fix things with Severus. That was the entire point of all of this, right? He already felt more than guilty by allowing himself to lead Tom on and then use him for his own selfish advantage; when his intent was to go and dump him the minute that things were in the clear with Severus again.

Tom had just kept telling him that if there was anything he ever wanted to tell him, that he could. That he wouldn't hold it against him. All the typical stuff that leads you to suspect that they might suspect what's going on. Despite leading a life as a high end escort, he had never been really good at lying, and he worried that if Tom asked him outright that he might slip and tell him everything. He did feel guilty about it, and he also worried about the repercussions of not being forward with his intent. Harry went to bed that night feeling more than a little guilty.

"You know Harry, that I work in a very specific line of work, and it's my job to know things about people, and sometimes this can carry over into my personal life," Tom had thrown out on the table during their fifth date and Harry could feel his stomach drop. "And I think that we both might benefit from being on an equal playing field."

"Yeah, of course," Harry said, silently praying that the man meant something entirely different altogether.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I know everything. I know about your breakup with Severus Snape and your little problem with Rita Skeeter. I'm in the business of knowing things. I checked up on you not long after the night of your friend's birthday party."

"Oh, well, um," Harry started trying to piece together an explanation, but Tom held up his hand.

"You're wondering why I still pursued you, I'm assuming?" Tom offered and Harry nodded dumbfounded. "You see I saw something in you that night, something I didn't think was worth letting go of, and it was even more apparent after our first date. Part of me hopes that you'll start to get over Severus Snape, and you'll learn to like me, and maybe even love me. I know it'll never be the same kind of love as you had for him, but two loves are rarely the same."

"You knew all of this and you still want to be with me?" Harry asked trying to piece together the information he'd just been given.

"Indeed. How about we make a deal?" Tom suggested and Harry nodded for him to continue.

"I'll help you with your little problem, all the business with that Skeeter woman, and you give me a proper shot at dating you. And if after you've given me a fair shot, and you don't want to date me anymore, we'll go our separate ways and I won't bother you again."

"But why?"

"I'm not a man who dates frivolously, it takes a very particular type of spark, and when I spotted you for the first time across that crowded restaurant you definitely emitted that spark. I'm drawn to you in a most peculiar way, I cannot say that I've ever experienced this with another person."

"But I was using you," Harry said running a hand through his hair in confusion.

"The way I see it was that you were showing me how dedicated and how far you're willing to go for the person you love. You're totally dedicated when it comes to being with someone, and I greatly admire that quality. So, call off your friends, and let me take care of you," Tom said taking his hand into his own and offering him a gentle smile. "Take some time to think about it, and let me know. As much time as you need."

Harry went home and went straight to his room. He went through the motions of showering and dressing for bed in an almost mechanical way. He just couldn't see a good enough reason to let this go to waste. Tom was here, fighting for him, while Severus was moving out of a house because he couldn't stand the thought of him. It wasn't as if Severus had made any move to get him back, and the incentive was just too good. If it turned out that he wasn't at all interested in the man, then he was free to move on and fight to get Severus back, or just go back to escorting, whatever it was that his heart desired.

Tom's motives seemed good enough, and he had decided that this offer was entirely too good to not even consider. It was an out, a way to get away from Rita Skeeter. If he could just get her out of the picture then, he felt that his head would be free to putting more thought into what he actually wanted out of his future. He loved Severus, but maybe, just maybe he could come to love Tom as well.

He rolled over and pulled the cover up around his shoulders and thought to himself that this was definitely a decision that was best slept on, and hopefully he would know what to do when he woke up the following day. But a huge part of him knew that was probably out of the question.

A/N: Sorry this took ages. I just got wrapped up in getting ready for Christmas and all that kind of stuff. I promise that now that I'm back in the groove of things updates will come much sooner. Thanks for reading and reviewing! And I hope y'all had very happy holidays!