Some backstory on Harry, Harry meets Myrtle and becomes her unofficial first friend.
Tom does some writing and some pondering, and moves forward with his plans to "befriend" Hieronymus.
Harry's POV
Friday was definitely a bust, at least as far as Harry was concerned.
That duel was ridiculous, and his anger was hard to control. Not to mention he had to bunk with Malfoy, Riddle, and Black. In fact, after he smoked a few cigarettes and meandered until it was nearly curfew, Harry found himself wishing he had the invisibility cloak.
Then in the next moment it was right there in his hands.
'Uhhhh, Death? What is this?'
You wanted it, so here it is.
'Okay, but wont the Potters freak out?'
I doubt they would notice. You can simply wish it back to where it was, if need be.
'Can I do the same with the other two Hallows?'
You cannot. Both are magically bound or unable to be moved.
'How utterly convenient.'
I would move them if I could, Master.
'I know, I'm not blaming you, just irritated because it makes my job harder.'
Wasn't your plan to get the items back difficult before you figured out you could transport the Cloak?
'Don't point out the hole in my thinking, Death. I'm irritated enough- SPEAKING OF, why did I get so angry at Malfoy?'
I told you, Hieronymus was part of you, which makes his parents just as much your parents as James and Lily.
'Oh.'
With practiced ease, Harry wrapped the cloak around himself and made his way into the Slytherin common room, then headed up to his dorm and slunk into his bed and drew the drapes. He didn't care if anyone noticed because as soon as the drapes closed, they could pretty much keep a bomb out if need be. He thought about the Cloak returning to where it was before and curled up onto his bed.
For the first time in a long while, he had a dream.
It was that god awful scream, but instead of his mother- Lily's- scream, it was Lily and Mary's screams overlapping. A green flash goes through the air, then the green flash is directed at him and he sees the form of Voldemort and Grindelwald flickering. Through one eye he sees the green flash directed at him by Voldemort, through the other he sees Aurors blast into the room, saving him from being hit by the killing curse.
Harry awoke with a gasp at three o'clock in the morning, covered in sweat and irritated.
He crawled out of bed and prepared for the weekend. Technically no one should be awake, and Harry was all too happy to hear that everyone else in the room seemed to be dead asleep.
He made his way to the bathroom and took a long shower at the coldest temperature Hogwarts allowed.
'Death what the hell was that?'
Dreams are not my domain, you know this.
'That isn't what I asked.'
I suppose a change in your surroundings has perhaps caused an emotional disturbance?
'So long as that's all that was.'
Why are you so concerned?
'There's absolutely no connection between myself and Tom Riddle, right?'
No, that was all left behind as soon as you died the first time and became the Master of Death.
'Thank Merlin, I don't need some weird connection with mini Voldemort.'
He shouldn't become Voldemort so long as you play your cards right.
'Yeah, I suppose you're right. Actually, let's say I do end up failing, I'd just be able to go back in time again, right?'
Yes, but you would have to start the dying process over so my connection to you is better. It resets with each time leap.
'Oh.'
After the frigid shower, Harry spent the next two hours going over the homework he had for the week. Technically there was no homework from Monday because most Professors were simply going over what would be covered during the year. Thankfully, there wasn't too much homework due to it being the first week, but Harry was going to do his utmost to make sure the grades he got were at least E and above.
Not because of the ridiculous Slytherin ranking, but because when he studied he remembered Hermoine and her love for studying and he wanted to get a job within the Ministry, if only to stop Dumbledore's rise to power.
Hermione was such a brilliant witch who not only became the Minister of Magic, but also invented numerous spells and a few potions just because of her amazing knowledge.
She even made a secondary school so wizards and witches who didn't figure out what it is they wanted to do after the first seven years of schooling could go on to learn more and finally figure out what it was they felt they were good at.
It also took a load off of a lot of students, which Hermione would know seeing as she had been one of the select few students to use a time turner simply to get to all of her classes.
So of course Harry couldn't simply slack on his schooling like he had when he was first going to Hogwarts, which actually wasn't entirely his fault.
Who knew there were potions that could make a wizard lazy? Harry only figured it out after leaving Hogwarts and his work ethic had become better. Then he put two and two together when on a brief visit to Hogwarts, his incurable laziness returned. It didn't take much to follow the trail to realize that Dumbledore had trained a few house elves to dose Harry's treacle tarts whenever he visited with a laziness potion. It had a more official name to it than that, but Harry never bothered to learn it. While angry, he just made note not to eat while visiting Hogwarts from then on.
Plus, after the war, Harry basically had to raise Teddy on his lonesome. A seventeen year old training to be an Auror with a kid who technically wasn't his own, not that he ever, ever made Teddy feel that way.
Harry knew what it felt like to not belong and desire family, and he would never treat Teddy that way.
Even when Harry had three kids with Ginny, he never made Teddy feel left out. Not that he treated Teddy better than his own kids, no, he treated each of them equally.
Even after he found out he had been dosed with a mild love potion by Ginny, he still never treated his biological children any different.
No, Ginny hadn't dosed him with Amortentia, but instead a potion that just caused mild affection between the giver and taker.
In fact, if not for that "love" potion, Ginny and Harry wouldn't have been off and on, they simply would have had one child and never got back together again.
The potion used wasn't extremely strong, but far more mild, but it caused Harry to overlook a lot of things he wouldn't have when it came to Ginny. Like how controlling she was, or how often she liked to drag him- unwillingly- out to be seen by others. It wasn't until soon after their third kid was born that Harry overheard Ginny talking about how she needed to keep using the potion, "because how else will I keep the savior of the wizarding world with me, if not for that potion." Harry hadn't expected something like that from Ginny, not even Ron expected it. In fact no one in the Weasley family had expected a development like that, and when they found out, no one approved of it either.
Needless to say, Harry broke up with her, and the only time they saw each other from then on is when it was her turn with the kids.
Merlin, he missed his kids sometimes.
Lilianne Ginerva Potter, his first child who had dark red hair and bright green eyes and almost more freckle than skin.
Jaime Fred Potter, a boy with dark hair, big brown eyes, and pale skin that would never tan.
Sirius Remus Potter, a boy with dark, wavy hair and green-blue eyes that occasionally looked gray with pale skin and a few freckles. When Sirius had been born, Harry had felt his heart clench at how much his youngest looked like how he figured Sirius would have looked as a child.
Lilianne became an amazing author known internationally in the wizarding world.
Jaime became an amazing well known Quidditch player for Puddlemere United that outdid Oliver Wood himself with his records.
Sirius became- of all things- the Minister of Magic soon after Hermione had finally stepped down.
Lilianne had three kids, Jaime had one, Sirius had a whole gaggle of children that Harry admittedly forgot the amount of, but he figured it was somewhere around six or seven.
Though Harry never aged and his family was well aware of it, he had begun to put a glamor on when he hit his fifties, merely to make those around him more comfortable.
He watched his kids grow, watched their kids grow, and their kids grow before going to explore the rest of the wizarding world.
He stopped by on occasion to visit and see how everyone was doing and check how some family lines were fairing and if anyone needed any funds or help.
It wasn't until his great, great, great grandchildren that Harry realized magic was leaving the world. His great, great, great, great grandchildren were all born squibs, as were anyone else born to that generation.
Magical communities of magical creatures- who with the help of Hermione and his son Sirius were no longer considered dark creatures and allowed wands and the ability to work anywhere, including Goblins- began to die out as well.
Solely magical plants died out as well.
Slowly magic became something only mentioned in stories and Harry had to visit each magically hidden place to renew the wards until he got tired of it and destroyed those places.
Wizards and witches became bedtime stories and only Harry was left.
How he had magic still, he wasn't sure, but he never bothered asking, plus he figured it had something to do with being the Master of Death, which usually was the reason for a lot of things in Harry's life.
Thankfully that was all in the past, and now hopefully not in the future. Harry wasn't sure if a new Harry Potter would be born or if any of those he cared for would be born.
His children certainly wouldn't be born, though he could just as easily adopt.
Who would have guessed that after magic disappeared from the world, the first thing Harry would learn about himself is that he liked men? He hadn't really seen it coming, but he wasn't exactly shocked at that discovery. He had too much to think about during his youth, then with him being jerked around by Ginny for a few years, he never actually got to sit down and think about who and what he liked. He just went with what was expected of him.
However, now he was in the 1940s, where being gay was a big taboo, at least in the muggle world.
The Wizarding world really didn't care, the only thing they cared about was so long as you had a wizard or witch to have magical offspring with. Otherwise, wizards and witches could like who they like, just so long as they did so quietly, regardless if the wizard or witch is straight or gay.
Harry was pulled from his reminiscing about the past- also technically the future- by the sound of someone getting up and getting ready.
Harry cast a quick tempus, realized it was now five fifteen in the morning and he was free to do as he pleased now that curfew was over.
Quickly gathering his bag full of his supplies needed for homework, Harry quickly left the room and set about doing his homework.
The entire day was spent in the Room of Requirement, finishing his homework. He didn't finish until it was dinner time and set about eating dinner and ignoring the looks from his fellow Slytherins. He simply ate, headed out to smoke for a while, then headed back inside and ignored everyone in his dorm. He simply fed Mort, then went to bed.
On Sunday, Harry didn't have much to do, so he just went about walking around the castle again. Now that he didn't have the Marauder's Map, he had to relearn all the ins and outs of Hogwarts on his own, including all the secret passages.
In fact it was when he just exited one of these secret passages that was covered by a curtain that he heard a yelp and someone being tossed across the hallway he was now in.
"Told you it's easier to hex her when you steal her glasses."
Harry blinked, listening to the snickering of a group of girls as another girl was softly whimpering from the other side of the hall.
"That's about enough." Harry spoke up, seeing the gaggle of girls all spin towards him. They started scowling, but after a moment their faces became far more… accommodating and Harry felt his stomach drop with nausea.
'Oh ew. No. You're children.'
"Oh! You're Hieronymus Peverell, right? You don't have to mind this, it's just us girls having fun and playing jokes." The leader- a petite blonde with big doe-like brown eyes fluttered her eyelashes at Harry and waved her hand nonchalantly.
"I wasn't born yesterday. She-" Harry paused, pointing at the unknown girl that he assumed was a Ravenclaw given the blue hints to her outfit, "is whimpering in pain and none of you seem to care. So, I'm going to have to ask you all to either stay here and get reported, or leave." Harry shrugged, glaring at the group of girls until they huffed and left.
Finally Harry made his way over to the whimpering girl and felt she was vaguely familiar.
Pin straight dark brown hair pulled up into two pigtails, pale skin littered with acne…
Harry's eyes widened suddenly.
This was Moaning Myrtle, a very alive Moaning Myrtle.
"Hey, you okay?" Harry asked softly as he helped Myrtle up into a sitting position.
"Ow, yeah, probably not. Here. Episkey." Harry cast the spell quickly and watched as some color came back to Myrtle's face.
"I'm Hieronymus Peverell, but call me Harry, what can I call you?" Harry started out, hoping that maybe he could change history by giving Myrtle some confidence so she wouldn't hide out in the girl's lavatory crying and end up caught up in Tom Riddle's plans.
"M… Myrtle Warren, why'd you help me? Olive 'll just target you now." Myrtle squeaked out as she rubbed at her eyes and looked off dazed. Then Harry recalled that Olive- probably the blonde- said she stole Myrtle's glasses and he had just sent them off.
"No one deserves to be bullied, I know how it feels. Would you like me to fix your eyes?" Harry offered with a strained smile.
"Huh? There's no such spell to-"
"I know, I made one. I used to wear glasses, but due to my situation I couldn't keep affording to get new ones when mine were destroyed. So, want me to fix your eyes?" Harry asked again, hoping that Myrtle would agree. If he got rid of her coke bottle glasses, that just got rid of one of the reasons why she was being bullied.
"You won't mess them up further, will you? I… I guess, go ahead." Myrtle sounded apprehensive and Harry didn't blame her. From what her ghost had said, she never had a friend before, and Harry was aiming to be her very first.
Harry grabbed his wand and wordlessly cast the eye repairing spell. It was actually not just a repairing spell, but began with a diagnostic spell that showed why the eye wasn't seeing correctly. Then after the diagnostic spell, Harry cast a spell to fix the cause of the poor vision.
"There, done. Your eyes will be a little sore and sensitive to light, but by the time tomorrow morning comes around, you should be fine." Harry grinned at Myrtle who blinked and stared like she couldn't believe that she was actually seeing with her own eyes.
"Also, I'd like to be friends and… oh, come with me!" Harry stood up, helped Myrtle up, and gently dragged her behind him.
He finally stopped in front of the Room of Requirement (after requesting she close her eyes so as to not give away how to get inside) and brought Myrtle inside.
"I'm teaching you how to layer Protego and how to throw it up quickly, for starters." Harry actually felt excited to teach again. Perhaps he should become a professor this time around?
"Why are you helping me?" Myrtle still seemed suspicious and Harry could only sigh.
"I wasn't lying when I said I used to be bullied. So I'm teaching you ways to not be bullied, first is putting up Protego faster than you're used to. That way if Olive- was it?- decides to hex or jinx you, you can begin bouncing it off, so until dinner, we're practicing this." Harry smirked as Myrtle looked somewhat excited to learn.
So for the rest of the day, Myrtle had non-harmful spells thrown at her until she could get a shield up quickly and at one point even did it nonverbally, though it was weak.
Harry was super proud and had Myrtle close her eyes again as he led her back to the Great Hall.
"Next Saturday, wait for me on the seventh floor, and we'll continue with my lessons until you can stand on your own so Olive will no longer be able to bully you, okay?" Harry smiled widely and actually felt positive emotions for the first time in a while.
"Sure! And thank you Hieron- err, Harry. You really didn't have to help me, and can I pay you for my eyes?" Myrtle shifted from foot to foot, looking a bit nervous.
Harry simply shook his head. He had plenty of money until his emancipation, and he didn't do it for the money. Admittedly, his reasons for fixing her eyes was a bit selfish in that he just wanted to make sure she had no reason to be in that bathroom on that day to lessen the likelihood of Tom Riddle becoming Voldemort, but Myrtle didn't need to know any of that.
"I didn't do it for money, maybe when I graduate I'll publish how to do it, but for now I'd like to keep it to myself and I'm not about to charge anyone for it, either. I know how frustrating glasses are." Harry simply shrugged, tensing slightly when he noticed Tom and his followers passing him and Myrtle by.
"Oh, well… I know some people in Ravenclaw who hate wearing glasses, maybe I could send them your way?" Myrtle gripped at the sleeves of her sweater, nervously looking from the passing students to Harry.
"Sure, I don't mind. Just be sure to tell them to tell me that you sent them." Harry offered a wide grin as Myrtle nodded excitedly.
"Of course, well, I'm going to get dinner now, thank you Harry!" Myrtle waved and scurried into the Great Hall towards the Ravenclaw table.
Harry waited a bit before moving at a more subdued pace towards the Slytherin table to eat dinner.
He wasn't sure why, but he didn't like the fact that Tom had seen him and Myrtle interacting.
Perhaps Harry could find the Chamber of Secrets first and fish out those books on "immortality," so they were easier to find so Tom would instead focus on those ways of immortality instead of Horcruxes? It wasn't a terrible idea, perhaps next weekend he could get it done and over with.
Dinner passed by quickly and as Harry headed into the common room, he was stopped.
"Peverell, I would like to apologize on behalf of my friend Abraxas Malfoy." Tom spoke up, loud enough for everyone currently in the common room to hear. Harry also noted that Abraxas himself was nowhere to be found.
Harry simply paused for a moment and smirked.
"I see why everyone is wrapped around your finger Riddle, I was very nearly convinced." Harry hummed out quietly, so only Tom could hear what he was saying.
Just because Tom wanted to make a scene of things, didn't mean Harry wanted to make a scene.
"I am unsure of what you mean?" Tom stated in a confused tone as Harry rolled his eyes.
"Your sincerity is severely lacking, Riddle. But… I'll take this for what it is and say thank you for apologizing, but the one who needs to apologize to me is Abraxas, not you." Harry stared straight at Tom with a frown, hoping to get across that he much rather be talking to anyone else.
"If I could get him to apologize-"
"If, IF , you can manage that, I'll mind my manners during mealtime. I'll stop slouching and eat with more decorum, I'll even use my words." Harry stated with amusement. He really doubted Tom would get Abraxas to apologize, but then his heart fell to the bottom of his stomach. He forgot who he was talking to there for a second. Tom could get Abraxas to lick the common room floor if he so much as commanded it.
'Well, I walked into that one.'
"Then you have a deal, Peverell." Tom's smirk- that Harry refused to admit was attractive- made chills run up and down Harry's spine.
'Yeah, great, I'm going to have to mind my manners at mealtime now. Merlin help me.'
"Please note that I said I'd mind my manners, not that I was going to start following all the rules in Slytherin." Harry pointed out with an arched brow. Tom had better not expected Harry to completely change his tune. He would mind his manners, namely at mealtime, but he wasn't about to follow all of Slytherin's in-house rules. If he started doing something like that he would either need to be bribed with a high amount or someone would have had to have found some seriously embarrassing dirt on him.
"It has been noted, Peverell." Harry simply nodded and headed back up to his dorm, silently cursing his own stupidity. It was just following manners, after all, it wasn't like he had to mind all of his manners all of the time, either. Just during mealtime, which was only three times a day, but most likely two in Harry's case since he tended to forget entirely about lunch most days.
Slightly irritated, Harry curled up in bed and silently cursed himself for walking into his own "doom," which wasn't exactly doom, but more just a newfound irritation he'd have to deal with during lunch time. Hopefully Abraxas took his time to apologize, but Harry had the feeling that Abraxas would be apologizing first thing in the morning.
Briefly, Harry thought about dodging Abraxas so he technically couldn't apologize, but he somehow knew Tom would get on his case if he tried anything like that. Instead he just fell asleep with a pout.
Tom's POV
What I have witnessed so far from Hieronymus Silas Peverell has been most interesting. I can see his power where most cannot. His magic feels like Death, but the power alone is enough to draw me in. I am glad I had Abraxas test him, even if Abraxas himself did not know I was using him to test Hieronymus. I dare say I am excited to see what Hieronymus might show me in the future. I just know that I must get him on my side, by any means necessary. If I can bring him to my side and convince him to mind his manners and his betters, then I may just have the perfect follower, but part of me wonders if I want him as a follower… Perhaps I want him to be equal with me? Not as he is now , but after he is taught how to act. I feel that once he works towards being a better version of himself, no one could stop him and if he were to be on my side no one could stop me .
Tom finished writing in his journal- and yes he called it a journal and if he heard anyone calling it a diary he would hex them until they never called it a diary again- on that Friday night, his thoughts solely focused on Hieronymus.
For some reason, Hieronymus' magic was similar in some ways to a Dementor. The coldness, the fear. While Tom had never had a run in with a Dementor- and he hoped he never would- he had done plenty of research on the things because they were considered some of the darkest magical creatures in existence.
Though Hieronymus' magic was not nearly as overbearing as the Dementors were said to be. His magic didn't exactly suck the happiness out of those nearby, just merely gave them the feeling of cold and death as well as a hint towards their own fears.
Hieronymus also kept a very tight cap on his magic to the point that not even the most adept teachers could sense how dark his magic was. If not for his own talent with seeing magic, Tom would have never known about Hieronymus' magic until he had revealed it during the duel.
Perhaps Tom was thinking a little too much about Hieronymus and his magic because he swore he felt the shorter boy's presence, yet he couldn't see anything. Or at least he didn't until he saw the drapes on Hieronymus' bed were pulled closed.
Tom was almost always certain of his senses, and he knew he didn't see or even really hear Hieronymus, and yet somehow his untouchable drapes had pulled closed on their own.
Another thing Tom would need to look into when it came to Hieronymus. Instead of thinking further, he just got some much needed sleep.
All of Saturday, Hieronymus was nowhere to be found. He wasn't in the library, he wasn't in the Great Hall and had missed both breakfast and lunch. The only time Tom managed to see the boy was during dinner and when he headed to their dorm to rest.
Tom had wanted to talk to Hieronymus and possibly "apologize" on Abraxas' behalf, but he didn't get the chance because as soon as Hieronymus stepped into the dorm, he made his way to his bed and pulled his drapes closed.
Tom figured he would talk to Hieronymus tomorrow, then.
Tomorrow came about, and once again Hieronymus was hard to find. As soon as Tom did see Hieronymus, he was shocked to see the boy happily talking to a Ravenclaw girl he didn't recognize.
It wasn't exactly a shock to find Hieronymus being friendly towards the other houses. If the boy didn't listen to one rule in Slytherin, chances are he wasn't going to listen to any of the other rules.
Perhaps Tom would talk to him about that later, but Ravenclaw wasn't a terrible house to interact with.
In fact, Tom, though he didn't seek relations with any other houses, was on amicable terms with most of the other houses and knew a few names from the other houses as well.
Most considered him to be the friendliest Slytherin, when really Tom only noted down some of their names because of the connections they could possibly have.
Such as Cormac Diggory, who was from a long line of mainly pureblooded witches and wizards usually sorted into Hufflepuff that had plenty of connections to intelligent magical creatures due to their line of work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
Dinner passed by quickly and as Hieronymus headed into the common room, Tom managed to stop him while quite a few people were still around, just what he was aiming for..
"Peverell, I would like to apologize on behalf of my friend Abraxas Malfoy." Tom spoke up, loud enough for everyone currently in the common room to hear. Tom had explicitly asked Abraxas to head to the dorm room ahead of him so that he wouldn't be around to squawk about not wanting- or needing, in his eyes- to apologize.
"I see why everyone is wrapped around your finger Riddle, I was very nearly convinced." Tom blinked at Hieronymus' comment, somewhat apprehensive. Tom thought that he wore his masks very well, and that not many could see through it. In fact, the only one who could see through his masks was Dumbledore, but no one really believed Dumbledore when it came to all he said about Tom. Tom had been very careful about making sure that each time he was accused, someone else would almost always be found at fault instead of him to the point that not a lot of teachers- or Dippet- put a ton of faith into Dumbledore's accusations.
So how was Hieronymus able to see through things so clearly? Excitement suddenly bubbled within Tom's stomach.
'Perhaps… he is like me? Is that how he's able to see how I truly am?'
"I am unsure of what you mean?" Tom asked, feigning a look of hurt at Hieronymus' rolled eyes. Another thing Tom was going to have to fix about Hieronymus and it was now at the point that Tom really hoped that Hieronymus wouldn't make the job easy for him.
Even though he was only fourteen, he'd been so bored with how easily things had been moving forward at this point.
To have someone not afraid of him and willing to challenge him, but was also just as powerful as him was exciting and something Tom looked forward to.
"Your sincerity is severely lacking, Riddle. But… I'll take this for what it is and say thank you for apologizing, but the one who needs to apologize to me is Abraxas, not you." Tom tried to ignore the discomfort at hearing Hieronymus use his muggle last name. He truly hated the sound of it. He wished he had a name like Abraxas Malfoy, or Hieronymus Silas Peverell, a name that one heard and could easily tell it was the name of a pure blood. Instead he was stuck with Tom Riddle, and he was one Tom Riddle among who knows how many in the muggle world.
"If I could get him to apologize-" Tom started, but was cut off, causing him quite a bit of irritation.
"If, IF , you can manage that, I'll mind my manners during mealtime. I'll stop slouching and eat with more decorum, I'll even use my words."
"Then you have a deal, Peverell." Tom smirked widely. It seemed Hieronymus wasn't exactly aware of the dynamics of his group. If he requested something of anyone in his group, they would be all too willing to do it for him, regardless of what it might be. If it got them on better terms with Tom, they would do it, and Abraxas currently needed to make up for being an embarrassment twice now.
"Please note that I said I'd mind my manners, not that I was going to start following all the rules in Slytherin." Tom resisted his own urge to roll his eyes at Hieronymus. Of course he didn't expect anything more than that. He was extremely familiar with doublespeak and definitely did not put it past anyone else to doublespeak as well. They were sorted into Slytherin after all, almost all conversations within Slytherin contained some type of doublespeak and those who didn't know how, learned quickly.
"It has been noted, Peverell." Tom stated as he headed up towards his dorm. He had a conversation to have with Abraxas about apologizing to Hieronymus. It was one step closer to getting Hieronymus to act in a way that Tom had wanted him to act and any start was better than none at all.
Plus, perhaps this could be the start of an acquaintanceship with Hieronymus, and if Hieronymus proved himself, perhaps a friendship.
A/N; So... about Ginny. I don't hate her character, btw, but I never liked her and Harry. It felt like weird idol worship, so I figured I'd keep that angle and have Ginny act more like she was in idol worship with Harry than actual love.
And no, I don't think she'd dose Harry with Amortentia, which is probably why Harry let her live. She mostly used a mild love potion so Harry would overlook the things he didn't like about her than making him completely head over heels for her.
Oh, yeah, wizarding world dgaf about if you're gay or straight, so long as you have kids, who cares. Pureblodded families probably care a great deal more, but I could see "mistresses" being a common thing amongst pureblooded marriages in which the married couple just has kids and then keeps their lovers on the side/hidden.
And yes, Tom calls his "diary" a journal IMO. He's a snobby, arrogant teenaged boy, he wouldn't write in a diary, he'd write in a journal.