Harry watched as the Death Eaters conversed around him in the dimly lit Headquarters, talking of unimportant things yet again as they relaxed from an evening of training in the Dark Arts. Harry had fallen into the habit of looking up at the other students and teachers at Hogwarts far more often over the last few days, because he simply couldn't get over how bizarre it was to finally have access to almost everybody's mind. He still wasn't perfect at Legilimency, but he knew that he was getting better, slowly.

He practiced an impassive countenance as he viewed the faces and minds of the students around the table, knowing that Tom, so sat besides him, cast him glances every now and then, and would thus be curious if he saw or worked out how amazed Harry was with the new ability to access thought. What Harry was interested in most of all at this time was what the Death Eaters thought about the sudden close friendship between Tom and himself, which hadn't seemed to escape their notice. Harry could only ever read someone's mind when they made total eye contact with him, but that gesture normally came with a wave of new thoughts from the particular Death Eater being watched, relating to Harry, and thus relating to their theories on why Tom suddenly favoured him.

None of their guesses were ever close to the truth, but it intrigued Harry nevertheless to know what it was, exactly, that they each thought. Even their abstract thoughts interested him, their worries about the day and their vague memories of the past. He could finally understand everything about the people around him, besides Tom. A lot of the Death Eaters seemed to assume that his and Tom's new amity was only because Harry was quite good at the Dark Arts, yet a few of them took the recent event of Harry having nearly drifted away from this group into consideration, which resulted in far more interesting ponderings.

Avery was under the impression that Tom had recently sought revenge upon Harry as predicted, and after several acts of evil and much negotiation, Tom had forced or blackmailed Harry into being a proper Death Eater. Avery didn't take his assumptions much past this, for he told himself that the exact details were probably going to stay between Harry and Tom, and he didn't want to get too involved. He contemplated asking Harry a little about it sometimes, but the close relation between Harry and Tom made him hesitant to launch this small plan.

Nott and Lestrange seemed to have talked about this matter together quite a bit, for they both shared the same suspicion in their minds, suggesting that Harry was getting extra lessons in the Dark Arts in exchange for remaining at Tom's side as a Death Eater. Nott and Lestrange were both rather ambitious in their success for the Dark Arts, and Harry was sure that they liked nothing better than being some of the best Death Eaters. They hated the idea of Harry being close to Tom, but not out of jealousy, exactly, merely caution.

Dolohov didn't really seem to care, or else wondered if Harry was ever going to be a teacher of the Dark Arts, like Tom one day. Mulciber was with a few of the other Death Eaters in being satisfied that Harry couldn't succeed in leaving this group, and he was otherwise wondering if Harry could possibly become better than him with the Imperius Curse. He was sure, after some thought, that this would be impossible, because he liked to cause people pain far more than anyone else here possibly could…

Harry was currently listening in on a conversation being held about the different Hogwarts houses. Harry had become used to the Death Eaters sneering at Gryffindors for hours on end, but this one conversation caught his interest more than usual, perhaps because he was faintly bored. Avery, Lestrange and Mulciber were talking to a seventh year boy with the surname Rosier, who was from Ravenclaw. They were discussing the way in which houses were chosen.

"You must want to be a Slytherin, though," Avery persisted, as if this was a known fact. Rosier had just finished wording what it was like being a Ravenclaw. "You wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Well, of course I do want to be a Slytherin sometimes, but my intelligence still surpasses my sense of ambition," Rosier claimed, as the two Ravenclaw boys besides him nodded. "There's no rule saying that only Slytherins can enjoy learning the Dark Arts, anyway. Many of you convince me at times that being a part of this house would have been somewhat of a more interesting choice, but I still enjoy being a Ravenclaw."

"But you ain't here because you want to live up to what your house has been known for," Mulciber reminded him.

"I'm here because I'm interested in the Magic that is taught," Rosier replied, perhaps trying to push away Mulciber's assumptions. "This is the only place where I can get such an accurate overview of the Dark Arts, and the only place where I can practice it until my skills are satisfactory."

"What about you?" Mulciber asked of a Hufflepuff sitting a few seats away from Rosier.

"Hufflepuffs are loyal and hard working, what else do you need?" the boy responded, before turning back to his own conversation.

Mulciber smirked slightly at this, before saying, "Which gives all the houses in except Gryffindor reasons to be useful the world."

"Courage won't get them anywhere," Avery agreed, "except for working at the Ministry, maybe, and that's not exactly going to be much use in the end."

"We can't say all of them are useless, though," Lestrange commented. "Don't you remember Gibbon?"

"Oh," said Mulciber, "I nearly forgot about him."

"Gibbon was different, though," said Avery. "He hated Gryffindor even before he joined us. Didn't he ask the Hat to be sorted into the house just to annoy his parents?"

"So he said, but I never believed it," Rosier commented.

"But he did loose many Quidditch matches against Slytherin on purpose, just to enrage the other Gryffindors," Lestrange reminded them all.

"I remember that!" Avery exclaimed. "Didn't he start throwing goals in his own team's hoop in one match? The look on the Gryffindors' faces was priceless."

"That's what they get for being narcissistic bastards, I suppose…"

Harry stopped listening soon after this, for he didn't really care to hear the low opinions on Gryffindors from the other Death Eaters. He turned to look at Tom, who hadn't joined into any of the conversations that he listened to either. Tom was generally inexpressive, until he observed Harry watching him. They looked at each other for a moment, wordlessly agreeing upon how they craved for the Death Eaters to leave the headquarters, giving them a chance to be alone, together, again…

The Death Eaters didn't leave until around forty-five minutes later, some of them having left earlier, and some of them, such as Nott, Dolohov and Rosier, only leaving when they decided that the people who were gone would be holding more interesting conversations in the House Common Rooms. When the last student closed the door behind them, the two remaining Slytherin boys gazed at one another, savouring the knowledge that they had time ahead of them to spend at will.

Tom reached out his hand to intertwine his fingers with Harry's own, examining his countenance as he did so. As Harry viewed Tom's expression, he could sense that the grey-eyed boy wanted to talk about Grindelwald again. Harry had been trying lightly to postpone all conversation relating to this very subject, and he felt a little concerned with knowing that he could have to talk about this again now, so Tom could be sure that he understood everything Harry thought about the situation. Harry waited for Tom to speak.

"There haven't been any articles in the news lately that could be related to Grindelwald, from what I've seen," he began.

"I know," Harry said, dropping his gaze from Tom as he spoke. "I just hope it'll stay that way."

Tom paused after this, perhaps because he was keen to start this conversation without annoying Harry in any way. "I noticed that you started reading the newspapers from the Death Eaters, which you never did previously… Did you not expect him to attempt an attack on England at all?"

"Not so soon," Harry replied, "and definitely not so quietly."

"Do you think he will make a grander introduction?" Tom asked, his tone quiet and careful.

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "If he does, I want to make sure that I know of everything relating to him in the news beforehand."

If Grindelwald did indeed decide he was confident enough in his followers to launch a well-publicised and full attack upon Britain, Harry dearly hoped that it wouldn't be any time in the near future. He wasn't sure if he could research every rumour and truth about Grindelwald any sooner than over the next month, and the only way he could ever stop the pressure that came with this comprehension was by scanning the newspapers each day, to remind him when he found nothing that he had another day at least to learn more. He wasn't at all confident that he could lie about this completely off the top of his head.

"How powerful is he?" Tom asked quietly after somewhat of a pause, as though it wasn't important.

"I don't even know," Harry answered in truth. "Powerful enough to threaten all of Europe, and to control and kill as many people as he has, too."

"In magic, is he powerful? Or is it merely the protection he has built around him that helps him survive such an endeavour?"

"A mix of both, I think," Harry decided.

"How many people actually follow him, or is it unknown? Does he get the Ministries involved in his attacks?"

Harry suddenly felt as though these questions were a little too straightforward, but he pushed the thought out of his mind so as to find an answer. "No one can know for sure. He had quite a few people when I knew about him, but since then they could have grown in numbers a lot, or even shrunk."

"And they stay near him most of the time?"

"Yeah."

"Does he let many people join him?"

Harry paused. "I don't know…"

Tom gave a hum of understanding before falling into a silence, which made the room rather quiet. Harry wondered what Tom could be thinking about, as he examined his handsome and expressionless face. He wondered why Tom was mute after all of these questions, which he had surely been burning to ask. The only thing he could have learnt about this conversation so far was how powerful Harry supposed Grindelwald was at this time. Harry could see no use in this knowledge… until a thought struck him.

Could Tom possibly be trying to suss out the strength, intention and determination of Grindelwald through Harry so he could work out exactly what he would one day have to exceed? Harry was frozen with this one thought, knowing that it was perfectly possible… How long ago could it have been since Tom worked out the power of Gellert Grindelwald? Long ago enough, Harry was suddenly sure, for Tom to begin idolizing the Dark Wizard. Could Tom be contemplating the idea of joining Grindelwald, even? If Grindelwald wasn't going to be defeated in the next year, Harry was sure that Tom would be more than willing to join him – with his Death Eaters – to help this anti-Muggle organization, even if it meant using Harry's information along the way.

From all that Harry knew of the first Wizard War, Voldemort's motives had been almost parallel to that of Grindelwald from the start. They both despised Muggles and Mudbloods, wanted Wizards to rule over the world, and hoped to one day be the leader of all that they improved. They also both wished for immortality, yet Tom was far more successful in such an aspiration. Who was to say that Tom wasn't planning on learning how to become a Dark Wizard so soon?

Harry found himself becoming aggravated as he looked at Tom, whose eyes were averted to the table in front of them as he thought. All of these questions could just be to know about Grindelwald more, to use Harry in setting the standards… Tom only looked up when he felt Harry's hand leave his own.

"Why do you care how powerful he is?" Harry asked, his voice displaying no set emotion.

Tom was impassive as he watched Harry, trying to work out why he was asking this. "I'm merely curious," he stated carefully.

Harry surveyed Tom carefully at this, trying to work out whether he was lying or not. He didn't want to believe that Tom would play to his emotions just to get select information, yet it fitted his character well. Harry could see no other reason for the questions, and couldn't even remember why Tom would have started this conversation at all if not to gain information.

Something in Harry expression seemed to help Tom in working out what he was feeling after a while, for he added carefully, "I only care so I can understand how much of a threat he is."

Harry perceived these words incorrectly from worry. "What, so you can know how much power someone needs to have to take over an entire country? So you can know how to put that power to use for the best effect?"

Tom appeared a little stunned with this, but his will to be understood soon overruled all other emotion, "I was merely trying to understand what threat he puts upon the whole of England, and –"

"Caring what threat he puts upon England doesn't make up for half of those questions," Harry interrupted, the anger clearly audible in his voice.

For the first time Tom looked somewhat annoyed. "I was also attempting to work out what threat he puts upon you alone!"

Harry fell silent. His mind raced to think back over the conversation, and he shortly realised that this too was a perfectly plausible intention for Tom to have. It took Harry by sheer surprise. He didn't know what to reply to this, and he was still in half a mind to not believe the other boy. Tom glared at Harry for a moment, before elaborating his meaning.

"A few days ago you said you'd try to kill Grindelwald if ever he came to England and crossed your own path," Tom reminded him, his voice now quieter ad calmer than before, "but I am aware of the fact that having the ambition to rid someone so powerful from this earth isn't a prospect that should be wished for without a plan, and without an accurate understanding of who is around him, what power he has and what will happen to you if anyone worked out who murdered him. You would make yourself a lot of enemies with this one kill… I was worried that you would run away from the school at the first mention of him definitely being in the country, and do this unprepared before I could work out what you thought and planned in advance."

This also made complete sense, and Harry felt somewhat guilty about lashing out at Tom. These words soon lead Harry to think about the murders that Tom had already committed on his father and grandparents. From what Harry knew, that event hadn't been planned at all… unless Tom had gone to Little Hangleton in the hope of murdering the Gaunts alone, and had changed his intention at the last minute. Harry wondered how much thought he had put into the idea, and he also wondered whether Tom would pretend to be against the suggestion of murder as a whole at this time, to appear innocent of his own crimes. Although… it sounded to Harry as though Tom could even be planning to help if he really did want to kill Grindelwald so much.

"I would never join Grindelwald," Tom said, helping Harry's lack for words.

"I know," Harry replied, not at all sure whether he believed Tom on this or not, "I was just being paranoid…"

"I don't think so," Tom observed. Harry looked up at him again slowly. "With teaching my friends all that I know in the Dark Arts, and with holding opinions as strong as my own upon the Muggle population in the world, I can see how you would fear the idea of me perhaps wishing to join the power of Grindelwald. Even my friends, on occasion, think that I could be raising some form of an army, as you have no doubt seen."

Harry hesitated to think about this, not knowing whether it was supposed to be a confession or an explanation on what Harry could have seen in the situation, so Tom could apologise for the confusion. If it was the later, Harry wondered why a simple 'sorry' couldn't do. "So… you're definitely not trying to raise an army trained in the Dark Arts then?"

"My own interests lie in studying the Dark Arts to extreme extents, before perhaps moving onto teaching, as I believe I've already told you. I, of course, will make quite a few drastic choices along the way to pushing the boundaries of magic, but my interest in despising the Muggles won't be very prominent. Not when there are so many other Wizards out there who can get themselves killed for the same opinions that I have, at this age… After a time, I might get into politics and so on, yet I can't imagine that happening in the near future."

Harry wondered how much Tom was lying here, or if he was telling the complete truth. If he really did want to do nothing more in life than push the boundaries of the Dark Arts and share his knowledge with the world, Harry had to admit that his plans didn't seem quite as ill intended as one would expect. Tom seemed to take his silence as a cue to carry on explaining his own thoughts.

"Grindelwald is merely another example to watch, as he attempts the challenge of supporting Wizard power and bringing down the Muggles. He is someone who we can examine in bringing the world to its knees for a short while, but he won't be much more successful than anyone else from the endless parade of people with the same flawed plans. He's doing well in convincing most of the world that he doesn't truly exist, I must own, but my own power and skills will never be given to any Wizard such as him, for I am not the type to follow a leader… Especially not one who has caused so much pain to you personally."

Harry gazed at Tom, and couldn't help be inclined towards believing that he was telling the truth. He was overjoyed to know that Tom cared about him enough to hate Grindelwald, and never want to follow someone such as him, but he couldn't help but dwell upon the knowledge that Tom would become just like Grindelwald one day. Harry didn't know how to tell Tom about his gratitude alone after these thoughts, and his harsh assumptions only minutes ago. Tom carried on talking, perhaps reading the emotion upon Harry's face.

"Grindelwald is strong," he said, "and doubtlessly in a position of a large amount of power, but there is still much he can be brought down by."

"Like what?" Harry asked. He was glad of a slight change in conversation, and was curious to know if Tom's theories would be close to what would really happen.

"Killing Wizards so carelessly will get him nowhere, to begin an endless list of flaws," Tom replied quietly. "To spill so much Magical blood when he is not even in full power seems a rather foolish thing to do… He has, evidently, gained more enemies than supporters in a very short space of time. If he cannot even pretend to have sincere concerns for some of the people he's fighting for and against, he won't get very far. He is in no position to become a ruler of England if he leaves such bloody trails."

Harry was curious to know just how much Tom looked into the History of Dark Wizards, even if he did not initially plan on being one himself. His guesses for the downfall of Grindelwald were quite accurate, except for the fact that it wasn't since taking over Ministries that Gellert created his greatest enemy. Harry supposed that the murder Dumbledore's sister, Ariana, was amongst some of Grindelwald's first mistakes, to be followed by many repeats of the same thing… "So you think that he's going to be defeated soon?" Harry asked.

"Not soon, exactly," Tom replied, "merely in the next five to ten years or so… perhaps less. I'm sure he'll cause much havoc, and perhaps take away even more lives than he already has, and he will certainly be very well known if he does manage to take over Britain for a time, but his determination to do everything so quickly, to kill people for just being there, will make it rather easy for his enemies to bring him down."

"You make the idea of him causing terror in random places around the Wizarding and Muggle world seem like nothing," Harry commented, his tone inexpressive.

Tom examined Harry's expression at this, perhaps trying to make sure that he hadn't offended Harry's apparent and true suffering from Wizarding Wars. "It won't be a bearable time, as I am not blind to understand," he said softly, "but it won't be quite as bad for you personally, this time… As long as you don't seek mirthless revenge upon him the day reports claim he is upon English soil, anyway."

"It's still a war," Harry said, not sure why he was drawing Tom's attention to this idea.

"Indeed," Tom replied, "and I don't look forward to it. If we can be spared the suffering from an unwise Wizard's sightless endeavour, I would be relieved and glad to know that the world won't be affected in a way that could be avoided had the leader of the anti-Muggle association been somewhat more intelligent."

At this, Harry wondered what on earth the First Wizarding War lead by Voldemort must have been like. It would, obviously, have been before Voldemort's thirteen years of suffering in the realm between life and death… so perhaps Riddle had been relatively saner. He could have been more careful in his choices, when he first began leading his own army of Death Eaters to try and take over the Wizarding World. From what Harry knew by becoming closer to him, Tom's abilities to work out the ways of other people and to learn from the mistakes of others would doubtlessly take him far in the first war.

Perhaps in the second war Voldemort had merely become a little too determined in his wish to kill Harry, thus he couldn't work upon his other plans. As Harry grew, so did the possibilities of him being Voldemort's downfall, which seemed enough to drive anyone more insane than ever before. Tom's top priority was to remain immortal – perhaps to be sure that he could look into the Dark Arts no matter what at first – so the idea that he, Harry, could have defeated that rule of security, even when he was so young, was playing to one of Voldemort's biggest fears.

In the course of thinking about this, Tom had become occupied with examining Harry from where he sat. Tom reached out his hand for a second time tonight, and slowly offered for Harry to take it again. Harry accepted, more than happily, weaving his fingers together with Tom's. Tom smiled lightly at this, his eyes travelling Harry's face.

"I'm sorry about accusing you for wanting to join Grindelwald," Harry said after a time.

"I'm not offended," Tom replied. "I should have been more considerate." He paused for a minute, before saying, "I also should have seen this coming before, and made sure you never suspected my questions as being odd at all."

Harry looked up at Tom, and smiled a little at this. "Well, I'm glad I could catch you in your plan at least."

"Which ruins the grand effect for me," Tom replied.

"You could have told me, you know."

"Yes, and I should have."

Harry didn't know what to reply to this, but Tom soon spoke again. "We should go back to the Common Room."

Harry thought about this, wondering if Tom meant these words as they looked at each other. When Tom didn't pull away as Harry leant in and kissed him, Harry supposed that he changed his mind.