"Mr. Potter
I have no doubt that you in this very moment suspects this letter being some sort of trap, but let me put your worries to rest. To the best of my ability, at least.
I am well aware that our past isn't the happiest one, and I admit I've been the cause of many of your more unhappy moments.
But, and I assure you, I have no intention of adding yet another unhappy moment to your repertoire with this letter.
I have recently learned of your suprising cause of action; leaving Gryffindor for Slytherin, and while I'm delighted that you've left the lions behind, I can't help but be confused.
You'll have to excuse me, I have always believed you to be Dumbledore's loyal pet, but it's obvious that I was mistaken.
If you haven't already guessed the meaning of this letter, I simply want to know what transpired that made you want to pull away from Dumbledore's manipulations. The man is a master of that particular art, I you weren't already aware of that fact.
I know that I haven't given you any reasons for you to trust me when I say I have no intention to harm you with this letter, but, as I said, I'm merely curious.
Hope to hear from you
Tom Marvolo Riddle
Lord Voldemort"
Harry carefully put the letter back in the envelope after having read it for what must've been the twentieth time.
To say Harry was shocked was to put it mildly. Lord Voldemort, his arch-enemy, had sent him a letter. A non-threatening letter. He wasn't sure what to think about that. Could he really trust Voldemort's word? Or was it Tom? He had written his real name, perhaps to ensure Harry that it was really him and not an impostor. As far as Harry knew, he and Dumbledore were the only ones who knew Voldemort's real name.
It had arrived during breakfast. A hawk, or, that's what Harry thought it was, had done nothing but glare at him the moment its feet touched the table. As if it couldn't stand the sight of him. He had been quick to take the letter and offered a slice of bacon in hopes of at least leave a good impression on the hawk, but it hadn't worked. It hadn't even touched the food. Harry hoped he never saw that hawk again.
Would it really hurt if Harry replied? What could happen? Famous last words...
But the man had even agreed that he was the one to blame for almost everything bad that had happened to Harry in his life. That was surprising, the Voldemort he knew, or the Voldemort he thought he knew, would never have admitted to being the one at fault.
"Oh, what the hell", said Harry and began to write.
-00-
"Harry?"
Said boy looked up from his book and saw Ginny stand in front of him. His insides dropped and he suppressed a groan. Great. 'I swear to Merlin, if she as much as flirt with me the tiniest bit, I'll explode.'
"Hello, Ginny", he said, his voice and face void of emotion. He really didn't want to deal with her. He suspected Ron must have had spoken ill about him, trying to get everyone against him.
"What are you doing?" She asked, taking a small step closer. Harry could smell perfume, a lot of perfume. God, was she trying to kill him by suffocating him with the fumes?
"I thought it might've been obvious since I'm in the library. I'm reading", Harry replied with a roll of his eyes.
She frowned at him, as if that would make him feel guilty. As if she had any control over him. "I was just asking, Harry. There's no need to be rude."
"I'm sorry, but I was in the middle of a very interesting chapter. And since you're the one that interrupted me from said interesting chapter, I'd say you're the one who's rude".
Ginny blinked, as if that hadn't occurred to her. "I- I'm sorry if I interrupted you, I just wanted to..."
Harry waited, but all he got was a fierce blush. "Just wanted to what?"
"I just wanted to ask you if... you wanted to go with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?" Said Ginny, brown eyes filled with hope and desperation.
"Sorry, Ginny, but I'm busy", said Harry and straightened up in his seat. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?
"Busy doing what?" She asked, as if she had any right to know.
"What I'm doing is my business and my business alone. I'm sure there's some other guy who'd love to go with you."
"But I want to go with you", she said and put her hand on his arm.
"Please move your hand away from me. And the matter of the fact is: I don't want to go with you", said Harry and got up. "I'm sorry to say this, Ginny, but I don't want to be in a relationship with you, I never have and I never will."
Harry knew it was a cruel thing to do, but it seemed that was the only way to get through to her, hopefully.
As predicted, she burst into tears and ran out of the library, ignoring Mrs. Pince's protests about running in the library.
-00-
"Tom
I spent ages debating on whether I should write Tom or Voldemort.
I don't see why you're having such hate for your name, I think Tom's a lovely name. It's better than Harry, anyway.
I admit to be surprised and shocked to receive a letter from you, I thought you weren't capable of having a civil conversation, at least not with me. In all our encounters, it always ends up with me running and fighting for my life, and you throwing Avada Kedavra-curses left and right, trying to hit me.
Let me guess; Malfoy?
Shockingly enough, we've become rather good friends these past few weeks. I suppose I was the one at fault- believing everything people told me about how all the Slytherins were evil. I was pathetic back then, I know you agree with me.
You were right, I practically was Dumbledore's well-behaved, loyal dog, but after some digging I discovered he had hidden some important information from me, and that was the end of that. I'm sure you understand why I can't say what this important information was, but you can't blame me for being cautious. Let's just say he and I are not on the same page anymore.
I'm sure Malfoy told you the Hat wanted to place me in Slytherin from the beginning. It said I had the possibility to become great, but once again, prejudices got in the way. This year, I decided to correct those wrongs and be in the House I was meant to be in from the beginning. I'm pretty sure I've got your old bed, I noticed the others avoided it like the plague. You leave your mark everywhere, don't you, Tom?
Hope this letter managed to lessen your curiosity, at least a bit.
Harry"
Voldemort had been close to burn the letter after reading the first word, but stopped himself. Potter had never been one to go with the stream, he had always played by his own rules. He re-read the sentence were the boy stated that Tom was a lovely name several times. How could he think that? It was common, it was boring, it was ordinary, it was muggle. That's why he changed it in the first place. The Dark Lord Tom? No, thank you.
And what could that important information be? The boy was right, though, he couldn't blame him for being so careful with what he said. Again, he only had himself to blame. He thought back on all their encounters and realized Potter was right. It always ended with him trying to struck his enemy with the deadly curse, no matter what the boy tried to say or do. He had always had such a temper.
He couldn't help but chuckle when he read about his old bed. He had slept in the own in the corner, not wanting to be surrounded from both ways in case something happened and he needed to protect himself. He was somewhat delighted that the students feared him so much that they even didn't dare go near his old bed.