Tom warily watched Harry as he ate his omelette. The taller boy sat across from using all the etiquette he had learned to also calmly eat. Harry had to admit he had a tight reign on his emotions. Harry finally looked up at him.
"You'll hide in my dorms until it's time to go home for summer. You'll easily be able to slip on the train as no one checks or anything once on."
Tom gave a nod as he absently thought of it.
"Why didn't you kill me?" He asked finally.
"Why would I?"
"I almost killed the girl. I sent a basilisk to kill you." He pointed out, punctuating the last sentence with his fork.
"Hmm. I do not care for the girl. The basilisk…I've had people try to kill me before, we've become friends."
Tom gave a brief frown.
"And what do you plan to do with me?"
"With you?"
"After we're out of Hogwarts. I do owe you a large debt for giving me this body."
Harry idly thrummed his fingers on the table in his kitchen.
"Nothing."
Tom blinked.
"I planned to give you a loan and send you off to some country to learn." He said simply.
"Really?" Tom asked furrowing his brows.
"Yes. As long as you send me some information, some books, some knowledge on what you learn."
Tom thought a few moments.
"You'll give me a loan and let me free if I teach you a few things I learn?"
"Yes."
"You have a deal."
.--.
Harry stepped lightly down the stone stairs as they vanished behind him. As he reached the bottom of the stairs he looked to Lockhart's corpse. He threw a ball of fire at it and watched it burn to ash. Then he smirked and headed of the stairs. He would clean the place up later. He had just had to get rid of the corpse. Classes had been cancelled for the day as Lockhart was missing and everyone was on a search. Harry had paid a visit to Lockhart's chamber last night though and burnt all his things making it look like he had packed and left. No one was the wiser. Harry gave a smirk and walked off easily.
.--.
Harry silently looked over the edge of the astronomy tower again. He could still feel the wind in his hair and the adrenaline in his veins as he pictured the jump. But he couldn't jump. Not yet. Noir and Maen would not be happy. He leaned over slightly farther, squeezing the violin in his hand tightly. He felt the taunt strings slice into his hand and glanced to see drops of blood run down the string. He stepped onto the thin railing keeping balance well. One step. One step was all that was needed. He licked his lips slightly. Suddenly a hand grabbed the back of his robes and pulled him back. He fell into a pair of arms which held him lightly. He looked up to find Lucius Malfoy frowning down at him.
"I come to speak with the headmaster and find you standing over a two hundred foot drop. What are you doing?" he drawled.
"Dreaming." Harry said easily.
"Of what?" The man asked arrogantly, an underlying curiosity.
"Falling." He smirked, eyes alight
The man gave him a searching look.
"So you are suicidal." He said.
"No. I just love falling." He smirked.
He was silent a moment.
"That day you were hit by the bludger. As you fell I didn't see fear, I saw you smile."
Harry gave a smirk. A thumb brushed his cheek.
"Can you smile like that again?"
Harry frowned.
"I would have to feel adrenaline rush through my veins." He whispered. "Feel the wind pull my hair and clothing. Feel the gravity call me. Feel the freedom."
The thumb brushed lower then his cheeks, moving to his lips.
"It was a beautiful smile."
The arms let him go and Harry stood on the stone floor with Lucius watching.
"I must go see the headmaster." He said with a sneer of distaste.
He spun on his heel and strode off. Harry lifted the violin and played him off with a haunting melody.
.--.
Harry knocked on the door clearly. After a moment it swung open showing Snape.
"Gather your vials, jars, and tools." Harry said simply.
"Why?" the man asked warily.
"Give me a wizard's oath you shall reveal nothing you hear or see and I shall tell you."
The man stared down at him.
"I, Severus Tobias Snape, swear on my magic not to reveal anything I see, hear, touch, smell, or see that Harry James Potter shows me."
Harry gave a smirk. The man seemed to be wary, slightly frightened, yet curious about him. At least enough to actually listen to him. A few minutes later Snape and he were in the girl's bathroom, Snape holding all his things. Snape raised a brow at him. Harry moved to the sink.
:Open.:
Snape shivered slightly at the hiss but stared in amazement as the sink opened up.
:Ssstairsss.:
The stairs rose and Harry stepped onto them, Snape a foot behind him. When they reached the bottom Snape gave the bones a quick glance before looking away. As they stepped into the Anti-chamber Snape stared at the basilisk skin in shock. Then his eyes grew wide as he realized what Harry had brought him here for. As he stepped into the large chamber he saw Snape gaze around in veiled wonder.
"I'm the fourth person to enter this chamber in over two thousand years." He breathed.
Then he saw the basilisk. His breath hitched.
"It's huge." He said licking his lips.
"I'll give you half if you cut it up and put everything in the jars." Harry said easily.
Snape took a large calming breath.
"Deal." He said strongly.
Then he started to work. Harry smirked.
.--.
Harry had easily got Dumbledore off his back by saying he had no intention to try and enter the chamber again. Key word; try. He was going to enter, not try to. He had also easily lied and told him he had taken no poisonous items form the basilisk, giving them all to Snape. He'd believed him.
Harry shook his head at the foolishness as he stepped from the circular entrance and sent a blast of fire at it, making the flames hot enough to burn the bones to nothing, and scorch everything off the walls. When it was clean, except for the blackened walls, he cat a few spells, smoothing all the stone and cleaning both the walls and air. He also smoothed the floor and recalled the stairs, doing the same to them.
He moved into the anti-chamber which had held the snake skin, now sliced and stored away. Then he started to carve the room better, tearing away all the jagged surfaces and strengthening various parts with new pillars. It was simple to build, just took a lot of magic to do it all. As soon as the walls and roof were finished he set to work smoothing the floor. Extra rock was formed into pillars, decorative and not.
When he entered the actual chamber he smiled. He started by cleaning and banishing all the grim off the walls. Then he did the same for the roof, the floor, and the statues. When everything was sparkling he started to fix up cracks and jagged edges. He also added extra torches, casing spells to make sure they would light when someone entered, and could light hundreds of times before they needed to be replaced. Then he refilled the small ponds/fountains on either side of the stone walk. Then he smirked and decided all the other pipes and halls leading from this chamber needed exploring. He planned to use this chamber a lot.
.--.
Harry watched Tom, sitting opposite of him. They had warded the compartment. Couldn't have curious eyes seeing him and remembering him later. Harry smirked idly and once again brought the violin to his shoulder. The melody floated through the compartment, intertwined with his magic. It sounded eerily as calming as a Phoenix song. Harry hummed softly to the tune. Finally Tom stood gaining his attention. The boy opened his mouth then sat down again peering at Harry.
"What other skills can you do? I mean besides play a violin perfectly and even infuse magic, which hasn't been done since founder times."
Harry blinked.
"Well I was considered very smart when in elementary."
"What can you do?"
"I can speak fluently in German, French, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish." He said briefly wondering what he could do.
He had never thought about how much he actually knew.
"I can play the cello, the violin, the harp, the guitar, and the flute. I can paint very well. I can read quite well. I am good with knives and swords. I can throw a dagger at least fifty feet. I can run quite far also." He said.
Tom stared a moment.
"Yes. We are quite a like. Powerful and brilliant. But you're even more powerful then I am, and even more brilliant." He said finally.
Harry smiled just slightly and returned to playing.
.--.
End of Chapter 17.
There will be slash but not graphic and not until later.