Guys look! The new chapter is up! And it's only been a week! You'll probably never see this happen again!

So thanks everybody for all the support and comments; they were super duper fun to read!

For anybody wondering, the book Harry is reading is called 'Carry On' by Rainbow Rowell.

Well, I hope you enjoy this super long chapter :D It took forever to write tbh.

Harry was one of the first ones awake, and thus, decided to go to breakfast a bit early. Not soon after he sat down, with the full intention to read his book (the same one from last night), Tom sat down right next to him. They were the only two of his group at the table, and thus, free to converse.

"It escaped my mind we wouldn't be able to share a bed anymore when I thought of the idea, Love." Tom started scooping food on his plate.

"There's always the Room of Requirements. We can stay there sometimes, if your ducklings know how to keep a secret." Harry put his book down and instead munched on some eggs.

"They'll keep a secret if they want to live. You were awake last night, yes?"

"Yeah." Harry looked at Tom's plate. "What's with all the food? I haven't seen you eat that much since that time you forgot to eat for four days. You know, when we discovered that super old library."

"This body has just come back from the orphanage and I'm starving." Tom replied.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." Harry mused.

"So what dark secret are you going to tell Orion first?"

Harry smirked. "Parseltongue. It'll be an accident. Do they know you have it?"

"No," Tom answered. "But I can let it slip, I'm sure."

"Let what slip?" Orion appeared out of nowhere, taking a seat on the other side of Harry. His hair was was almost down to his shoulders, and it had a smooth, glossy look that reminded Harry distinctly of Sirius. "Oh, I'm Orion, by the way. I know I introduced myself yesterday, but there were like five other people there, so." He was being much more open than he was yesterday.

"It's nice to meet you, Orion. You can call me Harry." He re-introduced himself to the Black heir. "Tom and I were just discussing what would happen if I got lost in this giant castle."

"As I was saying, I'm sure the teachers would let it slip for the first week or so. Honestly, they let the first years come half an hour late sometimes." Tom agreed.

Orion tilted his head. "What do you have first?"

Harry dug his schedule out of his robes. "Oh, uh, here."

He looked it over, then took out his own schedule. Suddenly, he grinned. "Looks like we have the same schedule!"

"Really?" Harry glanced over to the sheets, then smiled. "That's great. You wouldn't mind showing me around, would you?"

"Not at all!" Orion happily replied. He turned to Tom. "Tom, what does your schedule look like?"

Tom dug his schedule out of his robes as well, setting it on the table, then immediately going back to his food. If Orion thought it was strange Tom was so focused on food, he didn't show it.

"We all have the same schedule! But Tom, I thought you were taking extra classes?" Orion asked.

"I wanted to have more time to focus on.. Other things."

Orion got the underlying message. It was completely wrong, but Orion didn't know any better. "Looks like we all have Potions first. Class doesn't start for another 45 minutes, though."

"I can't wait." Harry replied.

Soon enough, the other ducklings all showed up. Harry had gone back to reading his book from the night before, and was discreetly leaning on Tom.

Once they all sat down, Avery gave a perturbed look to Harry's book. "That's the same book you had last night, but I've never seen it in the library here before."

"You wouldn't have."

"And why is that? My family has a fairly large library, and I've read most all of the books in it, but I don't recognize your book either." Malfoy inputted.

Harry flipped a page, never looking up from his novel. "Well, it's a muggle fantasy book."

Nott squinted. "You read muggle books? I didn't know they could write."

Harry frowned. "Muggles are literally just humans without magic. They made the language; of course they can write!"

Tom leaned over, glancing at Harry's book. "Is that the one about the dragon kid and the vampire?"

"I just- I love them so much, Tom. They deserve happiness." Harry pretended to cry.

Avery cut in again. "Sooo, what's the book about?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You.. want to know about a muggle book?"

"Sure, why not? Tom seems to have read it."

"It's.. a love story.. About a kid hailed as a hero.. And a vampire.." Harry started hesitantly.

Apparently that wasn't enough information for them. ".. And?"

"So Simon—the hero—and Baz—the vampire—have to team up and stop this evil wizard from destroying magic forever, and accidentally find out they're gay for each other along the way."

"You're reading.. A story.. About a gay magical couple?" Malfoy asked, dumbfounded.

"Absolutely."

(While the ducklings all shied away from Harry and his story, they did not insult it. Most likely because of Tom. In fact, they never really mentioned it again, despite it being at the front of their thoughts for a good while.)

. . . . .

Potions was fun. Slughorn paired Tom and Harry together since Tom was the top student and Harry was new. The professor was very curious to learn about Harry since the Peverell line was believed to be almost extinct, but Harry was able to redirect the class into actually making a potion.

And make a potion they did. The two soulmates were the perfect pair.. To completely screw with people. That was what they came here to do, anyways.

"Now, boys, let's see how your Non-Drowsy potion is! I have high expectations of both of you!" Slughorn swiftly walked towards their desk.

"I'm glad you think so highly of me, Professor." Tom had a smile on his face, but it wasn't because of Slughorn.

Their potion was a pure sea-blue. Not even the cleanest ocean or lake could measure up to such a bold color, a big difference from the other potions in the room, with their murky blue-green.

Slughorn examined their potion, twirling it in the vial a bit. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh my."

The other students were actively looking over now. Not much could actually catch Slughorn by surprise.

"What is it?"

"What's happening?"

The Professor held the vial up to his eye, examining the potion as close as he could. "Oh my! Tom, you continue to surprise me! And you, Hadrian, are going to be a wonderful potions-maker one day!"

Orion was looking at them both with an awed expression. When he saw Harry's eyes at looking at him, he grinned and did a thumbs-up.

Harry pretended to look confused. "Professor? Is everything okay?"

"This is the best looking Non-Drowsy potion I've ever seen!" Slughorn joyfully announced. He turned back to the duo. "How did you do it? I've never seen this potion with such a clear color before! The more pure and bold it is, the better the potion! How did you get such a color?!"

Harry shrugged, looking unsure. "I.. I don't know. We just followed the directions.."

"Harry is speaking the truth." Tom agreed. "We were only following your masterful instructions."

That was a lie. Harry slipped in some honey he pulled from his bag. Tom stirred it three times more clockwise, and four times less counter-clockwise. They both knew all the tips and tricks to make potions—well, every spell—work as best as they possibly can. The soulmates had spent the first couple thousand years finding magic and learning it all from different dimensions, hidden temples, or even from the future. (Not that there was one, when you live forever and can move through time at will.)

There was still so much more to learn, but they had eternity, so it was okay.

"Well, if you keep making potions like these, I'm sure you'll be a Potions Master before you turn 18!"

"Oh, uh, thank you." Harry avoided eye contact, pretending to be embarrassed.

At that moment, another student spilled their brew over their desk. It immediately turned a sour green color and orange smoke started rising, and Slughorn frantically rushed over to help them. "Back away! Back away!"

And that was the end of that.

. . . . .

Transfiguration was interesting, if nothing else. Tom and Harry were paired up again (much to Malfoy's displeasure—and now to Orion's too), and Dumbledore kept sending Harry knowing glances. He also kept sending Tom suspicious glances, like he knew Tom did something.

"I'd ask why he keeps glaring at you, but I already know the answer." Harry murmured while round stones were being passed out to each student, via magic.

"You gave him a letter telling him that I grew up to be the darkest lord since his boyfriend." Tom replied.

"Speaking of that, Tomcat," Tom turned his attention towards his soulmate, "our good buddy Gellert's wand suddenly stopped working. I'm curious to find out what exactly he'll do now, without the Elder Wand."

"You took it back?"

"Nah. He still has it, but it won't work."

Two small stones landed on their desk. They raised their wand, and both stones turned into full-sized albino peacocks simultaneously, who proceed to scramble off the desk and terrorize the rest of the room at the same time.

The soulmates went back to their conversation while the peacocks peck Malfoy (he probably still smelled like his own albino peacocks back home; it had only been a day) and Dumbledore tried, and failed, to enchant them back into stones. It would wear off after ten minutes, but nobody in the room would be able to turn them back before then.

"You stole my idea." Harry pouted.

"Love, we are soulmates. We get all our best ideas from each other." Tom was acting aloof as ever while the rest of the room was in complete chaos.

"What better way to start the year than to terrorize our professors."

"You know he's going to question you about this."

"You think my talk is going to be half as bad as yours? You better hope we get it at the same time, or he might actually try to end you himself, Tomcat."

Tom smirked. "He wouldn't do anything that would ruin his reputation."

"This is Discreet McGee we're talking about." Harry pointed out.

Tom's eyes widened. "Dang, you're right. He'll probably find some back-hand way to make my life worse with nobody the wiser."

"He can certainly try. I won't let him." Harry slyly smirked. "You're mine, after all. Only I can make your life worse."

Tom returned the grin. "Of course, ~Master~"

Harry turned back towards the front of the classroom, like he was waiting for the still-frantic Dumbledore to continue the lesson. "I keep almost calling you Tomcat in front of our classmates."

"I wouldn't mind if you did. We're here to mess with the ducklings after all." Tom turned towards the front, looking ready for the lesson as well.

"Are you going to let anybody else call you that?" Harry asked with a cold tone.

Tom's voice became softer and warmer; he knew exactly how to deal with possessive Harry. "Only you, Love. You're my wonderful soulmate and master after all, and I love you."

"I love you too," Harry replied. "I think I'll wait with the nickname until a better time. Do you think Dumbledore would look this conversation over in his Pensieve?"

"He might not think of it."

"If you were this carefree your first life here, you would've been dead by 20."

"By 15 at the latest."

"Chamber?" Harry questioned. "Myrtle didn't die till you were 16 though."

"Terrorizing students was fun enough to get on Dumbledore's bad side." Tom replied. "What do you think he'll try to do this time?"

Harry shrugged. "Take away your wand in the summer? Give me opportunities to kill you?"

"I, for one, hope it's something overly dramatic and unnecessarily complex. If he tries to butt into your 'task' I can make him squirm." Tom smiled upon the thought.

"Tomcat." Harry turned his head towards his soulmate, and Tom met his eyes. "What if when girls try to ask you out—you know they will, don't give me that look—, you tell them you already have a crush on somebody."

Tom raised a single eyebrow. "And what will you hope to accomplish with that, Love?"

"Have Dumbledore realize it's me you like."

The peacocks turned back into rocks, and the classroom panic slowly died out. Malfoy's robes were full of feathers and half ripped apart, and he was scowling in disgust.

Tom smirked. "Can do, Love."

(Dumbledore never called them up for a talk, probably because he was still respecting Harry's wishes and staying out of his business. Albus had always seen Tom as a serious threat, even more so than getting to see Tom in trouble for once in his life.)

. . . . .

"Wanna make a bet?"

Tom raised a wary eyebrow. The duo were sitting in each other's laps, hidden in the Room of Requirement, later that night after classes. "What kind of bet?"

Harry was messing with his soulmate's hair, twirling it around his finger. Tom was leaning into his hand, something he did by habit. "When all of our plans come together and Dumbledore takes me up to his office to check on the progress—you know he will—, I'm gonna ask if he thinks it's possible to spare you and convert you to the light or whatever. What do you think he'll say?"

"I'm going to go with he'll think I'm redeemable. He's always had this weird belief with 'nobody's completely dark' and 'the power of love' and that crap," Tom bet.

Harry grinned, messing up Tom's hair even more. His soulmate had his arms wrapped around Harry's waist, head buried in his chest. "I'm going with he'll say it's impossible and he'll ask me to continue on my path to kill you. Bonus points if he brings up my friends I mentioned that died."

"Please do not root for my death."

"Oh, I'm rooting for your death alright."

"Harry, the love of my life, why do you do this."

"You know you like it, Tomcat. What's the prize?"

"Winner gets to choose what we do with Grindelwald."

"Deal."

. . . . .

"Harry, hey!" Orion met him at the breakfast table. The only other person there was Tom, since they both rarely needed sleep, and tended to get up early when they did. He sits down on the other side of Harry and murmurs quieter, "Where were you last night? You and Tom were both missing."

"Oh, sorry. Tom showed me the Room of Requirements and let me tell you, those were some comfy beds." Harry grinned, then backtracked. "No, we did not do anything scandalous, like you're probably thinking."

"The thought didn't cross my mind." The boy had a blush across his face.

"I'm sure." Harry deadpanned.

The blush spread even more, and Tom cracked a smile.

The other Death Eater ducklings appeared soon, and the day went on.

. . . . .

Harry had grown to genuinely like Orion as a friend over a few weeks, and was almost regretting how much he planned to mess with Sirius' dad.

Almost. He was still totally doing it.

They often paired up for any projects Tom didn't get to Harry first in. While Orion wasn't the smartest kid out there, he genuinely tried his best and worked hard, and rarely complained about having to do homework. It probably helped that Harry was always willing to help Orion with it, since the Black heir learned very fast that his new friend basically had the entire library (and more!) memorized.

"Harryyyyyyy, how are you so smaaaarrrrrt?" Orion groaned, sprawled over the table, and thus, his homework.

Harry shrugged, flipping a page in a random book. This time it was Shakespeare. "I dunno. I guess I just read a lot."

"I never see you doing your homework, but you always turn it in on time. Just when exactly do you do yours?!"

"I don't sleep very much." While that was the truth, Harry was literally just able to summon a perfectly written essay from out of nowhere, and so was Tom. Even if he did have to do it, he knew a bunch of quick-writing spells and could quote everything he's ever learned from memory. (Photographic memory is great sometimes, not great at others.)

"That doesn't explain anything! You're practically as smart as Tom, and Tom is like, the smartest guy I know!" He whined.

"Speaking of Tom," Harry glanced up from his book. "What exactly is your relationship with him? I know he likes to pair up with me on projects, for Merlin-knows-why, but I don't actually know that much about him."

Orion glanced up from his homework with a guarded look in his eyes. "Tom is.. Our leader. He has amazing goals and strong views on many things, and we wanted to help him reach those goals. Last year, I thought we were kinda drifting from his original goal, and this year, he seems much more focused on you instead."

"On me?"

"Yeah, it's weird." Orion tapped his pencil on his desk mindlessly. "Tom has never been really social. He acts nice, but.. I don't think he truly likes anyone. And then you came along, and he shows you things, pairs up with you, and actually seeks you out at times. It's like.. He actually likes you."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Really? You think he likes me?"

"I think he does. And that's why I also think you should be careful."

"What? Why?" Harry asked (fake) nervously.

"Tom is charming, yes, but he's also.. Dangerous. He's cunning, manipulative, possessive, and has no problems using his looks and smarts to his advantage." Orion stared at his homework with a troubled stare. "I don't want him to hurt you."

Harry didn't have to fake a shock looked. He was surprised that Orion was this open about Tom to him, even though they'd only been friends for a couple weeks. Perhaps Orion wasn't as loyal as Tom once thought, or maybe Tom enforced his loyalty last time through.. Excessive measures.. When Orion started drifting.

After a moment, he cocked his head to the side. "And what would Tom do to you if he realized you told me all this?"

Orion looked scared, but only because he was close enough to Harry to drop his Slytherin mask around him. They were alone in the library, hidden in one of the tables in the back of the room. "Please don't tell Tom I said this to you! I just- I don't want him to hurt you, because I like you and care about you and-"

"Relax, Orion. I'm not telling Tom." Harry reassured him. "Thank you for trying to warn me, but I'll be fine. I swear if it looks like things are going south then I'll get out of the situation before it's too late, but I know what I'm doing."

"How can you be so sure?"

"You told me about Tom, so in return, I'll tell you something about me." Harry paused, shutting his book and stuffing it in his enchanted bag. "I have a lot of secrets. Perhaps, if you stick around, you'll learn some. And if I were to tell you others, you wouldn't believe me in the slightest."

"I'd believe you." Orion stated, determined.

"What if I told you I'm thousands of years old and Tom is my personal slave?" Harry tried.

"I would think you're trying to mess with me." Orion deadpanned.

Harry grinned and shrugged, not agreeing or disagreeing with his friend. "I do trust you enough to tell you I already know about Riddle. I know what he grows up to be, and I know what goals he supports and doesn't. And I know where they'll lead him, if he continues on the same path."

Orion squinted, leaning closer to Harry. "How, exactly, do you know that?"

Harry smiled evasively. "Suppose you'll have to figure that out."

"Oh, I will. Just you wait."

"I'll be waiting."

"… Harry," Orion paused for a moment, looking hesitant. "Thank you. For trusting me... And.. not telling Tom."

. . . . .

"Hey Tomcat, you'll never believe what just happened! Orion tried to warn me about you! He told me that you're dangerous and willing to manipulate people to get what you want, and that, for some reason, you seem to like me." Harry sprawled over his soulmate like a cat.

"I do like you," he answered automatically, then actually thought about what Harry said. "I'm not surprised. He's very emotional, once you get to know him. Last time, he didn't like how dark my group was getting and tried to break out of it." Tom replied, raising his book a little higher to make room for Harry. "I had to.. reinforce my rule."

"I guessed so." Harry stretched, then messed with Tom's shirt. "I'm going to do the Parseltongue thing soon. I'll pretend I don't know that it's labeled as dark."

"You have fun with that."

"Oh, you're falling down with me."

"That wasn't hard to guess."

"I'm glad you're so accepting of my crazy ideas."

"Love, we are both insane. I literally split my soul seven times. And you.." Tom gestured.

".. Yeah?" Harry prompted.

"You're you. And you're insane," Tom finished.

Harry feigned hurt. "I've never been this insulted in my life!"

"Good thing you're dead."

Harry gained a dangerous smirk, making Tom quirk an eyebrow. "You're gonna have to make it up to me, insulting me like that."

"Oh?"

"You better not move without my permission." Harry ordered, then bit down on Tom's collarbone.

His soulmate bit back a small moan that tried to escape, and because Harry couldn't have that, he kissed Tom, winning the battle for dominance immediately.

. . . . .

A couple days later, Harry finally decided to enact part of his plan. At breakfast, he resumed his usual spot next to Tom and waited for all of the other ducklings to arrive.

The conversation was going in an okay direction, when Harry decided to randomly change the subject.

"Hey guys, I was wondering.. I have this ability to talk to snakes and.. I think it's called Parseltongue?" Harry pondered bluntly, ignoring their slowly-increasing shocked faces as they realized what he said. "I was wondering if anybody else has the ability, since I couldn't find much in the library."

"You.." Abraxas started, "You can talk to snakes?"

"… Yes? Is that a bad thing?" Harry asked nervously.

Tom decided to hop into the conversation. "It's an extremely rare ability that few people have ever possessed. Salazar Slytherin is the most prominent example, which is where the snake symbol comes from. Most people descended from him have it as well, though, sadly, that family has all but died out."

"You sure know have a lot of information on this, Tom." Avery mused, hesitant and cautious.

"Yes, well, I am a Parseltongue myself." He stated, as if it were another everyday fact.

"WHAT." Malfoy really needs to get a grip on his Pureblood mask. It keeps slipping off, like in this instance, where he made all of the Slytherin table, half the Ravenclaw, and one (1) Albus Dumbledore to glance over.

Abraxas cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed. When nothing happened after a few moments, the tables all forgot about the event ever happening. (Dumbledore was still watching them, but when wasn't he?)

Nott decided to be the one to speak up. "How do we know you aren't lying? If it's a Slytherin ability, how do you have it?"

"I'm a Slytherin, if that's what you mean." Harry replied.

"We don't believe you! There's no way you know Parseltongue!" Lestrange blurted out.

Tom stifled a smile. "Perhaps he meant they would like a demonstration."

Harry didn't bother hiding his grin. "~Hiss hiss motherfluffers.~"

His soulmate tried to hide his grin, but was mostly unsuccessful. "You have this uncanny ability to think of the worst possible things to say."

"~Do do do do do do baby shark!~"

"Harry, if you get that song stuck in my head, I will not hesitate in making you regret it." Tom stated plainly.

"You were the one to introduce me to the song. You get to suffer as much as I do." Harry replied, ignoring the confused and awestruck faces around him. (He was pretty sure Dumbledore was listening on to their conversation as well-)

"So-" Avery tried to gain hold on the conversation again, "how close of friends.. are you? Tom never shows us anything."

Orion sent a wary look towards Harry.

Instead of being offended like the old Tom would have been, his soulmate simply brushes off the comment and turns to Harry, pretending as if he hadn't spoke the language of the snake a moment ago. "That reminds me, my.. friends, and I get together every couple weeks for a meeting, of sorts. To check on grades, make sure everybody's doing okay, learn some new spells, you know. Would you care to join us tonight?"

Harry pretends to ponder it for a moment. "Hm… Sure. Maybe I could teach you guys some new things. I know a lot of tricks and secrets!"

"I would like to learn, if you are willing to show me." Tom replies smoothly, as if the Slytherin King didn't just ask the new kid for help.

And classes go on like usual, once the ducklings learn how to close their mouths again.

. . . . .

"Soooo," Harry asked, nervously looking around the room. "What exactly are we doing?"

The Death Eater ducklings (and Tom) were sitting at a large table, with Tom obviously as the leader. The rest of the room had books, extra space, and an overall eerie mood. This must've been how the meeting room looked.

Harry was the only one still standing, left awkwardly at the opposite end of the table from Tom. All of the chairs were filled with the same people they sat with at lunch, so while it wasn't that many people, it would easily be nerve wracking to a normal human, especially since they were all staring at him.

Good thing Harry was anything but normal. (Probably not human, either, to be honest.)

"Welcome, Harry, to the ba- Knights of Walpurgis." Tom smiled charmingly, but it was obviously fake to his soulmate.

"You have really tacky taste in rooms." Harry pointed out.

All of the ducklings went from staring to glaring at him, the exception being Orion, who looked like he was going to be sick. (The poor kid probably thought Harry was going to get tortured.)

Tom simply replied. "You can deal." 'I have to, as well.' was left unsaid.

"Fair enough. Continue."

"We are a group dedicated to the Dark Arts, something banned from Hogwarts for being too 'dangerous'. In this room, we are free to practice the Dark Arts as much as we want, without fear of being caught or retaliation. All magic is just that—Magic! There is no good or bad magic, just the intention behind it." Tom tried to lull him to the Dark Side (they have cookies!) with his graceful charm and eloquent way of speaking. "So, Harry, will you swear your loyalty to me, and join my group? Join the Knights of Walpurgis?"

"You don't have some sort of test I need to pass? Or am I special because everyone seems to think you like me?" Harry asked bluntly.

Really, the ducklings should learn that Harry is strange and just accept that as a fact. But, instead, they all still get surprised and shocked at everything Harry does that doesn't fit into their usual loop.

That was what the duo were here for though, so maybe they should keep being startled instead. Cause their reactions are GREAT.

Orion was looking positively ill at that point. Harry sent a discreet spell his way, and he slowly started to look less pale and maybe able to stand again. The others weren't faring much better, but Harry didn't really care about them at all. Actually, that was a lie. Most were doing exceedingly well. They get to watch the new kid who talked back to their lord finally get what was coming to him!

One of those people, Mulciber (whom Harry has never talked to really) didn't look sick at all. Instead, he looked livid. So did Lestrange and Rosier, but Mulciber was the one who spoke up first. "How dare you disrespect our lord like that! He has given you-"

"Sit down." Tom ordered.

Mulciber ignored him. (how ironic) "- his valuable time and shown you wonderful secrets and you disrespect my lord like this-"

When Mulciber was cut off this time, he did stop. Most because Tom was Crucio-ing him. Now he was screaming in agony.

Harry gasped. "The Cruciatus Curse!"

"If you cannot handle even the Cruciatus Curse, you will not last long in our group-" Malfoy started.

Like soulmate, like soulmate, Harry cut Malfoy off too. "But that spell is so bland and boring! You know so many better ones!"

Tom finally stopped the spell, watching Mulciber twitch on the ground. His screaming had died out to small whimpers. Tom turned towards Harry with a neutral face. "Would you like to demonstrate one, then?"

"Nah, I'm good. How about the lightning one you like?" Harry suggested.

"That would kill a normal person." Tom inquired.

"Oh, right." Harry grinned. "Well, yeah, I'll join your cult. Sounds like fun!"

Tom nodded, then turned back to Mulciber, still breathing heavily on the floor. "Next time you want to talk about how people should respect me, you should do it yourself first. Do not let it happen again, or I will not be as lenient." He turned towards the rest of the group. "As Harry has said, I do know many more creative spells, and I will not hesitate using them if I feel the need to. Do not disobey me."

There was a chorus of "Yes, my lord," from everybody except Harry, who just smiled.

. . . . .

"Dude, I'm convinced. Tom is literally in love with you or something." Orion walked beside Harry in disbelief. They were walking back to the dorms the next day at a leisurely pace, since they had nowhere in particular to be.

"Why do you think that?" Harry asked curiously.

Orion waved his hands around dramatically. (Well, Sirius had to get it from somewhere.) "Because you're not half dead on the ground! He's cursed people for less. A lot less. And nobody can just brush him off like you did. Nobody tells him no, especially not in our group. And he just let you slide out of the test? He makes everybody cast one of the unforgivables to get in, but for you, he just- He just let you say "nah, I'm good" and that was it! Did you even do a binding contract to keep it secret?!"

"I'm very likable. It's not a surprise Tom can't resist my charm." Harry shrugged and grinned.

Just then, Tom walked up beside them, muttering, "What charm?" under his breath, then kept walking ahead, like he'd never said a word (or two).

"How rude!" Harry yelled after him. Tom only flashed him a sly grin and kept walking.

Once Riddle was out of sight, Orion turned to harry, bewildered. "What was that about? Are you like, good friends? When did this happen? Is that what's going on?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about. Sometimes we pair up on projects, and we might hang out every once in a while, and I've joined his cult, but that's about it." Harry responded.

"Tom is like, forbidden territory. Every year he gets a pile of Valentines chocolate taller than me, and he doesn't even eat any of it! All of the girls treat him like he's royalty, and his fake charm does nothing against that. He's the perfect student, gets good grades, is polite. Who doesn't want him?"

"Well, for the Valentines chocolate, you don't think that most of them have love potions in them?" Harry mused.

Orion paused. "I never really thought of that.. But, anyways, he's so high up there and perfect that nobody dares get on his bad side. The only people who ask him out are brave fools who think they have something to prove, then go crying when he politely declines them. I've seen it happen over and over."

"You don't think he might already like somebody?" Harry asked, purely for his own curiosity at Orion's opinion.

Orion looked at Harry as if he just grew two heads. "You think Tom likes someone- If he liked anybody, it'd have to be you."

"Wow," Harry deadpanned, "I feel so special right now. The elusive Tom Riddle likes me."

"That's the point! He doesn't like anyone." Orion waved his hands around again, always one for dramatics.

"People can always change. I've seen a pretty big example for myself." Harry pointed out.

Orion squinted at his friend. "What kind of example?"

"There was a deranged killer back where I came from. Killed tons of people 'cause he was insane. Anyways, he tried to kill me over like, seven times, before I eventually killed him. And then we met in the afterlife and sorted out our differences, and now we're best friends."

"Yeah, no." Orion stated. "I don't know where you get all of these ideas from, but you should write a book."

"There's already one being written. The author is just really slow."

Orion looked at Harry, then sighed. "Green Machine." The dorm room opened, and both of them stepped through it. "I'm going to go to bed. It's a weekend tomorrow, but I don't care. I'm tired."

"Okay! Goodnight!" Harry waved him off as he ascended the stairs.

There were a few others still in the dorm room, especially since it was a weekend. Tom had assumed his usual spot by the fireplace and was reading a random book in the library.

'Forbidden territory, eh? More like my territory.' Harry thought randomly.

. . . . .

A few weeks later, Harry and Orion sat on the ground outside, enjoying the warm fall weather while it was still there.

"Gosh, I love Autumn. The leaves are so pretty and you can pile them up and jump in them. Plus all the bugs DIE. I'm so glad we have spells to get rid of bug bites. Those are the literal worst." Harry whined.

"You grew up with two magical parents, didn't you?" Orion turned his head towards Harry.

"Nah, my parents were murdered when I was a baby." Harry replied.

"Is this another one of your tall tales?"

"Why would I lie about my parents dying? I mean, I lied about it to Dippet, so really don't tell him, but yeah." Harry remembered his made-up story he gave to Dippet. Dumbledore knew he was from the future. "No, I lived with my uncle and aunt. They.. were not the kind of people you would like. They hated magic with a passion, because it wasn't 'normal'. The first time I did accidental magic, I got beaten black and blue and locked in a cabinet for a week."

Orion looked horrified. "Muggles are monsters-"

Harry held up a hand. "I'm gonna stop you right there. My aunt and uncle are terrible people, but not all muggles are like them. Muggles are just like us. Human. The only difference is they don't have magic, so they find other ways to do things."

"Really?" Orion looked mildly surprised. "I've heard that muggles look really weird and have an obsession with violence. And that some of them grow horns depending on how much violence they commit."

"Nope. They're just human. Right now, though, they're in the middle of a really big war. Like we are with Grindelwald." Harry thought back to all the destruction that World War II caused. Of course, he's seen a lot worse, but Orion doesn't need to know that.

"That's.. Weird to think about. All my life, I've been told that they're nothing like us."

"They're everything like us. They're not better, nor worse. They're just human, as we all are."

Orion was silent for a moment, and a cool breeze passed over them. The leaves on the trees shook, and some of them fell off into the lake. ".. How did your parents die? I- I'm sorry. That was really stupid question, you don't have to answer-"

"It's fine." Harry reassured him. "They were in the middle of their own war. It was quite similar to this one, actually, and they were directly in the middle of it. There was a prophecy, you see, and the bad guy was obsessed with it. So, because my parents were part of the prophecy, he killed them when I was a baby, on Halloween night."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Well, technically, you were a Death Eater, buuuut... "It happened a long time ago, and I'm well over it."

"Well, speaking of Halloween," Orion was obviously trying to change the subject, and Harry let it happen. "Are you ready to face your boggart?"

Hoorah! You got to the end! Actually, I have a question. Would anybody be interested in me writing smut for this? It would be my first time writing it, but I don't think I'd do too badly. And it wouldn't be in this chapter or the next chapter or whatever, but sometime in the future for sure. Comment to let me know whether you guys would like that or not!