Author's Note: No, you're not seeing things. Three chapters in one day! :D

Written for…

Daily Weird Prompt Challenge. Prompt: professor!Tom AU

Negotiations

Tom tapped his foot impatiently, unable to keep himself from glancing at the clock every few minutes as he waited for Headmaster to return from his 'urgent business.'

With every second that passed, he felt a stronger need to head back to the house to check on the girls. He chalked up the feeling to sleep deprivation; clearly his mind wasn't working properly after forty-eight hours of nonstop baby care. The knot in his stomach was senseless. He knew better than anyone that no one could get through the wards he'd put on his room to keep the children safe.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Dumbledore said, gliding back into the office and taking his seat behind the desk. Tom took a breath, trying to calm his churning stomach. "Now, what is it you wanted to see me about, Tom?"

"I applied for a position here many years ago … I was wondering if you might reconsider your dismissal of my application."

As usual, the Headmaster was unreadable and Tom found it unnerving. It was so easy to tell what his followers were thinking or feeling. He'd forgotten what it was like to deal with his old professor.

"I'm not sure that would be a good idea."

Tom nodded. He hadn't really expected any different.

"I understand your hesitation. Perhaps this will change your mind." He dropped a file on the desk and watched closely as Dumbledore looked through it.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

"I've decided someone ought to know what was going on, and better you than the Ministry."

"Still don't trust anyone, I see."

Tom shifted in his seat. "Not politicians, no. I get the feeling if I went to them with all of this it would get me into a lot of trouble."

Dumbledore tapped the file. "From what I've seen in here, I can't say I'd disagree."

"Yes, well. If you noticed, I was absent from all of those documents."

"I think you and I both know who was responsible for these attacks, Tom."

"I can neither confirm nor deny your suspicions. All I wish to do is end all this madness before it gets out of control. And that-" he waved a hand to the folder. "That is the evidence needed to put away all people responsible for it."

Dumbledore nodded. "And how am I to know that the attacks will end when these people are captured."

Tom reached into his cloak and pulled out a photograph, dropping it beside the file.

"My daughters," he explained as Dumbledore admired the twins. "They're two days old. I'm not sure I can quite explain what's happened to me, Professor, only that since their birth I have had very little interest in anything other than keeping them safe."

Dumbledore handed the picture back and sighed.

"You realize the difficult position this puts me in, Tom."

"I do, sir," the younger man answered, feeling more like a schoolboy by the second. It was hard to believe it have been more than twenty years since he'd attended school. "I am begging you to help me – not for my sake, but for my daughters'. I'll do anything you ask."

The Headmaster smiled for the first time since Tom entered the office.

"I think we might be able to come to some sort of agreement."