A/N at the bottom.

Chapter 10

The next day Harry could only think about the lesson he had planned with Tom for that evening. He had been practicing for an hour now; Tom was a perfectionist who expected nothing less from anyone else. Harry knew he could now feel his magic flow when he used a spell; he had tried to feel it with every spell he uses. And after he had felt it for the first time, it became less hard to notice even with the less powerful spells.

He had been wondering what Tom had planned for him, he had mentioned this was the first step in controlling your magic, but Harry didn't understand what he had meant with that. He had tried to grasp the feeling of power, to hold on to it just a little longer before casting his spell. But either his spell turned out to be too weak because he hadn't put enough force behind it, or he had blown something up because he had used too much force.

Beside his nervousness about not knowing what came next, he was also nervous about spending more time alone with Tom. They hadn't continued their conversation from Hogsmeade, and Harry was still thinking about his feelings, if they were there at all, for Tom. He had purposely sat down next to a girl at dinner, one he knew to like him. She had been flirting with him, and he had tried to act the same to her, but it hadn't turned out good at all. The girl was nice enough to just tell him he wasn't good at it, so it could have turned out worse, but it was still a kick to his ego. And even if it had turned out good, he had had to force himself to a conversation; he hadn't been attracted to her at all. His roommates, especially Tom and Vincent, had laughed at his failed attempt. Edmond had even told him he would get him dating lessons for Christmas.

Harry had laughed along with them, but inside he saw no reason at all to laugh. He only felt confusion, and fear, because deep down he knew Vincent may have been right. He didn't want it to be true, he had enough to worry about outside of the feelings he might have for Tom. He was the Dark Lord for crying out loud, he could not have feelings for the one person that had wanted him dead from the day he had been born. It was just not right; he could already imagine Dumbledore's reaction, let alone the reaction his best friends would give. His parents would turn around in their graves, their son in love with their murderer.

But he had always thought about what other people would think. They where not around in this time to see him having any kind of relationship with Tom, and he didn't have to tell anyone about it either. But still, he kept pushing the voice telling him that away. He could not keep this a secret, and if he really thought about it, it was not something he would have to keep a secret. If he was sexually attracted to men instead of woman people would just have to accept that.

It was with that thought in mind he made his way over to the empty classroom where he would have his lesson with Tom. He had thought about his lesson a lot, about what Tom would want him to learn next. When he entered the classroom Tom was already waiting for him. He had moved all the desks and chairs to the back wall, so there was a big empty space left.

Harry greeted Tom, and Tom only nodded in acknowledgement.

"Get your wand out, Harry."

"What are we doing today, Tom?"

"Spell casting, or better, I'm casting the spells and you are blocking them. You said you've been practicing your last lesson, so you should be able to block light spells as well as the more heavy ones using the same counter curse. You have to try to put more power in your spell if you want to block my heavier curses, have you figured out yet how to do that?"

"Well, I noticed I can feel my magic all trough my body before I cast a spell and that it will collect in my arm and hand just before I cast a spell. Does it have anything to do with that?"

Tom looked annoyed at his answer, and Harry felt kind of embarrassed that he hadn't figured it out on his own yet.

"You said you had been practicing, Harry. If you practiced enough you would have figured this out already. But you answered partially correct; you can focus more magic to your wand if you concentrate on it. That way, you will have more or less power in your spell as required."

"All right, how do I do that?"

"You'll have to figure that out on your own. Better do it quick though." Tom hadn't even finished his sentence yet before he send his first stinging hex his way. Harry hadn't had enough time to block or dodge so the curse hit him full on. Harry had felt more painful hexes, but this one still stung pretty badly.

"Damnit, Tom, you could at least have warned me you know?" He put his hands on his knees, waiting for the stinging feeling to wear off, but he didn't get the chance to because Tom was already sending another stinging curse his way, and again the curse hit him, sending him to the floor.

"You have to react faster, Harry, your enemy is not going to warn you in a real fight, and he won't be waiting for you to recover either. Now get up and block the curses."

"But this is not a real fight, Tom; you are supposed to teach me first!" Harry got up from the stone floor just before another curse was send Harry's way, and this time he jumped aside just in time before it could hit him again.

"I'm not supposed to do anything, now are you going to stop your temper tantrum or do you want me to keep hitting you with stinging curses? It is not that it's not amusing to see you struggle, but I won't waste my time on your whining."

Another curse was sent Harry's way, and this time Harry used a protego to block it. Before he had the chance to recover from the spell, another one came which he blocked again. Tom kept this pace going for a few minutes, and Harry was growing more tired with every curse he blocked. Sweat began to form on his face, and Harry wondered why Tom wasn't looking tired. If anything, he looked even more amused than in the beginning. Still standing in the same spot with a smirk plastered on his face.

Suddenly, Harry saw Tom move just the tiniest bit, and he send another stinging curse his way. Harry cast another protego, but it didn't hold against the curse, and it hit him square in the chest, sending him flying in the wall behind him.

"That is what I meant with putting more power in your spell when required, Harry. Your protego wasn't strong enough to hold against my spell. My earlier curses where weaker, and you have been putting more power in your spell than necessary, which has wore you down. If you had put less power behind it you wouldn't be this tired now."

Standing up, Harry gave Tom an angry scowl before pointing his wand at the other boy again. Tom looked a bit surprised at that but soon got into position again himself. He started sending stinging curses Harry's way again, and Harry started blocking them once more. Harry tried to put more force into his spells, or less, depending on the strength Tom was using. He still didn't really get it right, but at least he now began to understand what he was supposed to do. It was getting more frustrating by the minute, every time he thought he felt his magic react like he wanted it to, Tom would already send another curse his way, making it more difficult to concentrate.

And then Tom did the same thing as before. He changed his stance and fired a more powerful curse his way. This time Harry was prepared, and he tried to put more force into his own blocking spell. He failed miserably again though, and went flying against the wall again. But at least he had felt his magic surge again; he knew it would work if he just practiced more. He barely even felt the pain in his body from the collision with the stone wall; he only felt an immense feeling of happiness. It was truly an incredible feeling of power he felt, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Tom kept standing in the middle of the classroom with a bewildered look on his face, which he carefully concealed the moment Harry looked up at him. Harry had still seen it, and he laughed even harder at that. Tom must think he had lost his mind or something, laughing like that when he had just been beaten again.

"I felt it, Tom! I know what you meant with feeling your power and controlling it."

"O did you? And why didn't I notice anything about that?"

"You where to fast, I was still trying to focus it to my wand when you send your curse at me. But I'll get it to react faster with a bit of practice, I know how it works now, so it should become easier from now on."

Suddenly there was a hand in front of him, offering to help him of from the floor. He hadn't even noticed Tom moving at all. But he still took the offered hand, and he was hauled to his feet a moment after. He couldn't help the smirk still plastered on his face, and he noticed Tom smiling slightly as well.

"Well, you better practice a lot then, Harry. You're going to need it the next time we practice in here."

"Next time? Can't we practice some more?" Tom turned around and started to walk towards the door, clearly leaving. He didn't answer Harry's question, instead he opened the door and turned around to wait for Harry, motioning with his head for him to follow.

Harry followed him out, and they continued to walk in silence. Harry soon noticed they were walking towards the Slytherin common room. His whole body began to feel sore, his muscles protesting with every step he took. The more his happy feeling wore of, the more aware he became of the feeling. Tom seemed to notice this too, for he slowed his pace so Harry could keep up.

Once they entered the common room, Harry continued straight up to the dorm room. He really needed to lie down for a bit before he would collapse. He felt exhausted and his legs had a lot of trouble climbing the stairs. He collapsed on his bed with a sigh, grateful for the soft covers. He didn't even notice the door closing until he saw a bottle being held in front of him, he followed the arm attached to it and met the amused grey eyes of Tom Riddle.

"Drink it, Harry."

"Who says you're not trying to poison me, Tom?"

"Fine, then don't drink it." Tom rolled his eyes and turned around to walk away again.

"Alright, I'll take it. I was only joking you know." He grabbed the bottle Tom held out and downed it in one go, grimacing at the foul taste of the potion. Instantly his muscles started to relax, and he fell back down on his bad with a relieved sigh. A small burning sensation still lingered, but it was nothing he couldn't deal with.

"Thanks, Tom."

"Your welcome, but don't expect to get them every time you suck at our lessons. You should try harder next time."

"Whatever you say, Tom." He closed his eyes and didn't notice the dark look Tom send his way before he left the dorm room, leaving Harry alone.

After a few more minutes just lying on his bed, Harry got up and started getting some clothes to take a shower. While rummaging trough his suitcase he caught sight of a letter lying on the floor next to Tom's bed with the Ministry of Magic seal on it. It was addressed to Tom and Harry wondered what Tom would need the Ministry for. It was already opened, so Harry could easily take a look at it, but if Tom would find out he knew the boy would be very angry at him for invading his privacy.

His curiosity got the upper hand though, and before he knew it he snatched the letter up from the floor and cast a detection charm on the door, so he would know when someone would be coming up. He took the letter from the envelope and quickly began scanning it content. The first thing he noticed was sign, this letter came from the Magical Registration Department, and the second thing he notices was his name in the title. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly began scanning the text, it soon became clear to Harry what this letter was about. Tom had asked the Ministry about Harry. He had asked if Harry was registered as a magical citizen. And the Ministry had responded negatively, claiming they knew no one by the name of Harry Evans to be part of the magical community. There had never been anyone registering him at birth or at eleven years old in case he was a muggleborn. They had also checked for any other person by the name Evans, in case Harry was not his official name, but there had never been a magical person by the name Evans either.

Panic began to form inside of him. Harry felt his lungs constricting, making it harder for him to breath. This was not going to plan at all; Tom was not supposed to doubt him. But he clearly was, or he would never have contacted the Ministry of Magic. It was clear to Harry now that Tom did not trust his story, and Harry had to change that quickly if he didn't want to get into any trouble. The date on the letter was from a week ago, and he wondered why Tom had not confronted him with this yet. Maybe he was waiting for Harry to tell him, but he doubted Tom would wait for that to happen. Harry remembered Humphrey mentioning that Tom was sending letters, which he had thought odd, and he also remembered the letter Tom had received and hid away for them. He was almost positive that this was the letter Tom had received that day.

He definitely had to keep a closer look on Tom from now on. The other boy was curious about him now and Harry didn't want him to find out the truth. Harry also wondered why Tom would leave this letter so carelessly on the floor, maybe he had wanted Harry to find it, so he would know Tom found this out about him. Or maybe he had just been careless, but Harry doubted Tom was ever careless about anything, let alone something as important as this.

Harry put the letter back in its envelope and left it the same way he had found it, so Tom would not notice Harry had found it, and started towards the showers after putting down his detection charm. It wouldn't do to bring even more suspicion to himself if someone noticed that spell.

He would definitely have to be more careful from now on, or his plans could go horribly wrong.

A/N. Thank you for the reviews you have left me, especially to those reviewing every chapter since the beginning. I really enjoy getting them; it motivates me to keep writing this story.

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but as I'm sure you'll understand it's been busy with Christmas and New Years Eve and everything.

Because someone asked me where I'm from, I'm from The Netherlands, which may explain some of the grammar mistakes I make. But I'm glad I have a wonderful beta who makes me feel like I'm in English class all over again. I truly appreciate her work, and you should too, considering some of the mistakes I make.

This chapter hasn't been revised yet, I didn't want to make you wait any longer. There are still some older chapters that have to get changed, and I consider putting this story on a short hold so I can get the earlier chapters up first before continuing. Let me know in a review what you want, keep reading the non-revised chapters or waiting longer and reading them revised?

Well, thanks again for reading, and keep sending me reviews, I love them ;)

M.