(A/N I figured the last chapter would get more reviews than it did, since things are finally moving. But there you go. This chapter should be hella more interesting.)

Seether; walk away from the sun.

Walk away from the sun, come slowly undone

I can see in your eyes I've already won

I could bleed for a smile, I could cry for some fun

Walk away from the sun, and tell everyone

There's so much left in the air

So much to tell from a stare

There's so much left to defend

But I am no fun

So turn away from the ones who hurt everyone

I can tell by your smile you're coming undone

I could bleed for a smile; could die for a gun

Walk away from the sun and kill everyone.

The Dark Lord studied Harry closely for quite some time, his eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, like he was looking for some sort of deception.

"I'm not your enemy any more," Harry felt the need to say this, because Voldemort's eyes were only getting squintier as the silent moments past.

"I used to be. But now I don't care. Probably something to do with the Horcrux," He put his palm to his chest, because that's where it felt like the Other had settled.

The Dark Lord's eyes flickered from his heart to his eyes several times, narrowed still, though no longer because he was suspicious. He looked fascinated.

"If what you say is true, you will allow me inside your mind." This had been the first thing that Voldemort had said in many minutes, and it made Harry feel as if his breath had been sucked out of him.

He didn't know why.

Unlike Moody's undetectable Legilimency earlier, the Dark Lord's was rough and careless. He shoved into Harry's mind with the silence and stealth of a freight train.

The longer he watched, the gentler he became. Soon he was caressing and cradling the memories like one would a new born baby.

Harry gasped when the Dark Lord removed himself. The two of them watched each other for a long moment.

The teen noticed that the snake was gone.

"So you are mine," Voldemort said quietly. Harry frowned but didn't say anything.

"So what now?" He didn't know whether he wanted anything to do with this any more. But honestly that was a long shot. He was Dumbledore's golden boy and the Dark Lord's soul receptacle.

He was doomed to forever be in the middle. Or maybe not forever. Maybe he didn't have to be in his headmasters shadow for very much longer.

"I keep you safe." Voldemort said, looking at Harry as if he expected him to refuse.

"How are you going to do that?" Harry asked, leaning forward. He didn't know what he was being protected from, since Dumbledore wasn't a threat. Not yet anyway. Voldemort's followers would be his only problem, and surely the Dark Lord could handle them. But Harry let it be.

He figured Voldemort might become possessive of him. From what he understood there was no way to remove the Horcrux unless he died, and it would be destroyed. So of course he'd be protective.

The Dark Lord seemed slightly taken aback by Harry's acceptance, but recovered well.

"My Horcrux will allow me to see through your eyes whenever I wish, now that you have taken it in,"

Harry wasn't too shocked by this, and he was only a little annoyed with it; Though privacy had never really been something he'd ever had an abundance of.

The thought of the Dark Lord watching him whenever he pleased made his stomach jump.

He didn't know whether it was because the thought disturbed him, or something else.

"Will I feel it?" He asked, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach.

"If I want you to."

Harry nodded.

"Anything else?" He felt as if they were almost done.

He also needed to get back to the school before someone wondered if Moody had killed him.

"I want you here once a day to ensure that no one is interfering with you."

"Interfering with me?" Harry didn't know what he meant by that. Or how he was supposed to get away once a day without being obvious.

"Any spells or potions meant to harm you. Or discover what you really are."

Harry got a thrill when he said 'what you really are.' like he was the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"How am I supposed to get away once a day?"

The Dark Lord frowned at him.

"Just do it."

Harry frowned back.

"And if someone finds it suspicious that the Boy Who Lived disappears all the time?"

Voldemort seemed to want to roll his eyes.

"Have Crouch give you 'lessons.'"

Harry blinked and tilted his head, trying to figure out what he was missing. Who was Crouch, and how did lessons factor into this at all?

"Crouch?"

"Bartemius Crouch Jr." He said as if it should have been obvious. Harry still didn't know who they were talking about.

He raised his eyebrows and shook his head to show this.

"Mad Eye Moody. Crouch has been taking the Polyjuice potion to appear as the Auror."

Harry let this information sink in, and realised that it made sense.

"I was wondering about that. Why he was on your side. It seemed strange. I wonder why Dumbledore is so blind to it." Harry said, and when he got no reply, he continued.

"So you want me to tell everyone I'm getting extra defence lessons? That's a pretty good idea. No one's going to think that's weird."

Another moment passed in silence, and Harry got a fresh chill, though the room was overly warm.

"Mood- Crouch said something in class today. That there were people in the castle that could read minds."

"The headmaster. And Severus Snape. All you can do for now is avoid them. If that isn't possible, avoid their eyes. If all else fails attempt to avert your thoughts to something mundane."

"I swear, lately I feel like I don't know what a mundane thought is." He didn't know why he was telling the Dark Lord this, and by the way Voldemort was just blinking at him, he didn't either.

"There's something else. The Othe- I mean, the Horcrux, it told you about my emotions, right? Well now that I have them back I'm a little more, aggressive, I guess. It's not that big a deal; but if anything is going to alert Dumbledore of what's going on, it will be that."

The Dark Lord watched Harry for a moment longer, before standing abruptly and making him jump.

He left the room entirely and Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing.

"Er," He said, wondering if he should leave or wait.

He didn't have to think about it long. Voldemort returned before he had time to stand.

"This," He said, thrusting his fist in Harry's face as he came to stand in front of him,

"Is for you."

Harry opened his hand and ignored the tingling in his scar. The Dark Lord tipped a ring into his waiting palm.

It was gold and thick, with a silver eagle on the flat face. Twin rubies shimmered in the eyes.

"It will alert me when you become too furious."

Harry hesitated only a second before slipping it onto the pointer finger of his right hand.

"how will it do that?" he asked, still watching the rubies flickering in the fire light.

"Mine will heat up." Voldemort raised his hand to show a simple silver band on his thumb.

"And what will you do?" An image of Voldemort appearing during an argument with the Headmaster and giving him a hug popped into his mind, and Harry hid a smile.

He could have sworn he had seen a small grin vanish from the Dark Lord's face in the same moment.

"You'll see." Voldemort gestured to the crackling flames and Harry took this as a sign he should leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then." He said, Hesistating before the man shooed him in earnest.

Moody was sitting at his desk and barely glanced at the Boy Who Lived when he fell into the room.

"If anyone asks, you gave me this." Harry showed the ring to his defence teacher.

"What is it?" There was a twinge of jealousy in the man's voice, and Harry shrugged.

"It's just to keep me from losing my cool. He also wants me to see him once a day. So he said you could pretend to give me lessons." He didn't mention that he knew that Moody was an imposter. It might anger him, and besides, Harry didn't care that he wasn't really talking to an Auror. It made him much more confident that this man wasn't a spy. Though he did wonder where the real moody was.

"Everyday?" He seemed exasperated, but he nodded in the end.

"Fine, fine. Off you go then, your friends are probably lost without you."

"You were gone for ages Harry!" Ron whined the second he entered the common room.

"You missed Herbology. I told Professor Sprout that you were kept back." Hermione said from beside Ron, her nose temporarily removed from her potions text book.

Harry nodded his thanks and sat down, his heart suddenly pounding.

He felt like he'd crossed an invisible line. Like he'd picked a side and everyone might sense it. Smell it on him.

"You alright, mate? You've been acting really odd lately."

Harry gave his red haired friend a shaky smile, nodding.

"I'm fine. It's been a crazy few weeks."

Ron nodded sympathetically and Hermione gave a sad smile.

"So what did Mad Eye want? He kept you for ages." Ron pressed, and Harry shrugged.

"Not much. Spoke about mind reading. He wants to give me extra defence lessons." He tried to say this casually.

"When?" Hermione asked, closing her book and placing it on the coffee table.

"Everyday. After classes."

Hermione frowned and Ron went red.

"Everyday!? Is that even allowed?" He bellowed, attracting the attention of every other student in the room.

"Are you gonna talk to Dumbledore? Moody's crazy if he thinks-"

"I think it's a good idea," Harry interrupted the Weasley, sensing that he could go on for quite a while.

"It is a good idea Harry, but maybe not every day-" Hermione began, and he interrupted her too.

"I'm fine with it," He said with finality.

Hermione didn't look convinced and Ron looked like he might argue the point further, but he gave them a look that said he didn't want to talk about it.

"It's really fine. It's not that big a deal."

"If you say so, Harry." Hermione picked her book back up and Ron reluctantly went back to sorting his chocolate frog cards.

Now that they were done arguing Harry didn't really know what to do with himself. It was to early to head to the Great Hall for dinner. He didn't want to study. Sitting in silence was an odd thing to do, but he had no idea what he should be doing.

Like what had happened that day made everything dull and boring. Doing his homework seemed stupid after he had just been sitting with Voldemort discussing his anger issues.

He wondered if the Dark Lord was in his head right then.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked from beside him and he stood abruptly.

"Yes! I'm fine! Honestly do you have to ask me every five minutes?" he felt the ring tighten on his forefinger and he pushed the portrait hole open, stomping out before he got too angry.

His feet took him to the lake, and he sat at the edge of the water, pushing small stones in with the tip of his shoe.

He'd noticed that any strong emotion lingered longer now. Before his anger would fade as soon as it had begun. Now it stayed white hot in his gut.

As if before it had burned twigs as fuel, and now it burned molten steel.

He knew it was because he wasn't loading it all onto the Other any more.

He wondered if everyone felt emotions this way.

He took a deep breath and dug his heel into the ground, pushing a large pile of dirt and stones into the water.

The sun was setting fast, but he didn't want to go back into the castle. His anger was still bubbling and it wouldn't take much for him to snap.

He didn't even have anything to be angry about. This thought made it worse.

'Riddle, I asked you a question.' Professor Dumbledore pressed, and Tom bowed his head to hide his sneer.

'And I don't know the answer, Professor.' He spat the title like he had mistaken a pile of shit for cake.

'Ten points from Slytherin.'

The surrounding Gryffindor's cheered, making Tom frown harder. His fellow Slytherin's muttered around him, and though he couldn't catch what they were saying, he knew it wasn't good.

It wouldn't be long though, and they would all fall at his feet.

Some dead, some begging.

Then Transfiguration wouldn't matter a dime.

Harry shook his head fiercely, his mouth open.

For a moment, he had been Tom Riddle. So immersed in the memory that he had forgotten his own existence.

His anger was absent, leaving a weird ache where it had once been. He got to his feet, brushing off his backside and having a little trouble finding his balance.

He shook his head once more and headed back to the castle, Voldemort's memory still fresh in his head.