Harry has a funny dream, Tom sees him almost naked, Harry contemplates next year.

Tom sees Harry nearly naked and has some thoughts he'd much rather throw to the side. He will not speak about that extra five minutes, no sir.

Harry's POV

Harry awoke from a very… particular dream about a certain Hufflepuff he'd met the day before and stumbled his way to the bathroom without a change of clothes to deal with the aftermath.

He forgot his change of clothes, but at least had the forethought to grab a towel.

'I am gross. I am disgusting.'

Master… How do you expect to find another thousand year old being to be with?

'Whaaaaat do you even mean?'

I mean that you are the only being as old as you are, so your options are limited for finding those around your "age."

'You're right, but… it's cutting it a bit close, don't you think?'

Next year, Cormac will be seventeen, does this ease your worries somewhat?

'I… yes. Fine. Next year then, but NOTHING is happening this year. Don't get me started on how old I actually am, but I do look and act fourteen according to everyone else. I can't go picking up on someone who is twenty.'

I'm glad you're getting with the times, Master.

'Ew, don't talk like that.'

You are one to talk, Master. Try using lingo from the year 2,900 and imagine how cringy you'd sound to others.

'Oh… Merlin, good point. I mean… D.Y.O.B.? Who even… It's literally B.Y.O.B. but with download instead. It's so incredibly cringy.'

To me, all of you mortals are cringy.

'Technically I'm not mortal anymore.'

A good point, but you think and act like one, even after all this time.

Harry was quick to wash and also quick to realize that he forgot to grab clothes to change into and he seriously wasn't about to wear his old clothes, so instead he stuck with wrapping a towel around his waist so he had a bit of modesty when stepping back into the room, even if most everyone would still be asleep.

What he hadn't counted on was that Tom was awake and also waiting for the bathroom.

Harry walked right past the dark haired older boy before realizing he was being stared at.

Then Harry remembered something important.

He was covered in scars, and the most noted one was the Lichtenberg figure scar running down his back and wrapping around his hips.

From the associated memory, it had been a lightning spell one of Grindelwald's followers had shot off that caused that scar.

"Uhh… Excuse me, sorry." Harry muttered quietly as he dodged past Tom and rummaged around in his trunk for his uniform. He grabbed his clothes and pretty much slithered into his bed with the drapes closed to put his clothes on and desperately ignored the crawling blush going up his neck and reaching his ears.

Next time he had an embarrassing dream, he'd make sure to just accio his outfit from the bathroom instead of walking out and risk running into Tom.

He already knew he was attracted to Cormac and perhaps there was a lingering like for Tom, but that was something he wanted to ignore, and being practically naked in front of Tom wasn't helping him ignore his own problems.

Tom's POV

Tom was admittedly pleased by Harry's behavior around his followers. He seemed to blend right in as soon as the entire group settled around him. Tom also noted that Harry only worked on his own homework and didn't ask for help, nor did he help anyone around him.

Yet another thing Tom would have to work on with Harry, but at the very least there was no dissent amongst the ranks.

Tom was aware Abraxas didn't exactly like the boy, but after Harry had bested him twice, the blond definitely wouldn't say or do anything for the time being. It was reminiscent to how Abraxas and Tom were before Tom had beat Abraxas and gained his first follower. As much as Tom tried leading Abraxas, the blond was stubborn in his ways.

At least he learned his lesson when it was needed.

Though due to Abraxas' dislike, Antonin also didn't exactly like Harry.

Orion wouldn't care about Abraxas' dislike because the blond tended to dislike anyone and everyone for any reason at all. Adrian wouldn't mind so long as Orion didn't mind, as those two tended to be close.

Dominic and Leon honestly didn't care so long as either of them didn't care or if Tom didn't care.

Renatus would make his own decisions as far as anyone else was concerned. He actually was the most friendly of the group, as odd as it might seem, though he did have an issue with causing others pain, but that was something Tom was working on with the boy.

Not to mention that when Renatus and Orion paired up, all the other houses would tremble about the coming pranks that would follow.

Terror Twins is what they were called on occasion, and they did look somewhat similar, but nothing like twins. Their thought process with pranks, however, were exactly the same.

Loud, obvious, obnoxious and lasting.

At one point they charmed the entire school so that their hair matched their house. Gryffindors with red and yellow, Slytherins with green and silver, Ravenclaw with blue and "bronze"- really it was more of a shiny brown for their hair as bronze was a hard color to dye hair into-, and Hufflepuff with black and yellow- and each and every one was called a bumblebee bee until the prank let up.

How the two managed such a thing, Tom wasn't sure, but he figured it was something done to the food during breakfast that day and it lasted a whole two days before a teacher managed to fix everyone back to normal.

Though Tom disliked pranks, he wasn't about to stop the boys from having fun. So long as they weren't obvious and didn't get into trouble, Tom could care less.

When Quidditch was mentioned and Harry seemed interested, Tom wanted to groan.

He really disliked sports. Not just Quidditch, but all sports. Namely because the only "sports" he ever got to play was "football," where his fellow orphans just kicked the black and white ball at him over and over again. Since then he disliked everything to do with sports. Far too brutish for his standards.

Harry, thankfully, seemed somewhat uninterested, until Abraxas goaded him and now the short boy was going to actually try out to be a Seeker.

Tom could easily see why Harry would be a Seeker. He was small and slender, but looked like he could hold himself. If Harry did manage to become a Seeker, Tom supposed he could watch him play one game.

Harry then left, and everyone else began finishing up their own homework and heading to sleep.

It seems bringing Harry into the group has worked out well. He seems to be branching out into a friendship with Orion, or at least Orion seems interested in befriending Harry. I am hoping that Harry will prove trustworthy, though I suppose he should be, seeing as he has yet to tell anyone about Abraxas using an unforgivable. Perhaps I could goad Harry into using an unforgivable himself, so that I have something on him… Though I doubt I would be able to do so. Not that I doubt my abilities, but it seems that Harry would probably hurt himself before casting an unforgivable himself. Perhaps I would not have to blackmail him, but I do want him to join the Knights of Walpurgis. Both with his name as Peverell, but also his abilities. Plus he does almost as well as I do in class. He could easily make a wonderful addition to my group… I suppose I have a lot to think about, then.

Tom finished writing in his journal and headed off to bed.

When Tom awoke, it was a bit earlier than he would have liked, but he was not one to complain.

He grabbed his clothes to get ready for a shower before realizing someone was already inside the bathroom.

He had expected to wait a little while, but instead he was greeted with a nearly naked Harry who only had a towel draped around his waist.

Tom looked the boy over and noticed the sheer amount of scars he had over his body. What caught his eye was the lightning-like scar that splayed over Harry's back and ended at his hips. Beneath the lightning-like scar was plenty of other silvery and pink scars here and there from many different means of leaving a mark. Most seemed to come from spells, but a few looked like knives and possibly even a belt.

Tom was very familiar with scars left by belts, as he had many of his own on his own back.

The next thing Tom noticed was the muscles that Harry seemed to hide. Admittedly Tom assumed Harry to be a lot softer, but seeing the tense muscles all along Harry's body proved that he did actually seem to work out. When and where, Tom wasn't sure, and suddenly he felt a bit ashamed of himself.

Harry hid in his bed, probably to dress and Tom headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

He looked his own body over and frowned deeply. He wasn't chubby by any means, but he certainly didn't have a lot of muscle tone. His stomach was soft to the touch and suddenly he felt a little lesser. The only "muscles" he had were mostly from avoiding the other orphans and running to and from the shelter during a bomb raid.

'I should ask Mulciber about exercises… I can't fall behind.' Tom quietly huffed to himself. He'd work hard over the summer so by the time next year came around, he'd be even stronger than Harry. Harry already had magic as powerful as his own, but to also be physically stronger than himself was absolutely not alright. He was going to blow Harry right out of the water with his strength.

The thought of how attractive Harry's pale body went entirely ignored by Tom- or so he'd have others think. He also would entirely ignore how he spent an extra five minutes in the shower than usual to get rid of such thoughts. What he did in those five minutes were left unsaid and would remain unsaid for the rest of Tom's life.

Harry's POV

It seemed Tom agreed with Harry to never speak about what happened that morning. They simply pretended it had never happened and just didn't speak about it, which Harry was thankful for.

Harry was also thankful for his scars not being mentioned whatsoever.

A lot of the scars were caused partially by Grindelwald's followers and some were caused by people his parents- Silas and Mary- thought they could trust. Namely a squib aunt and her muggle husband, which was all too familiar with Harry.

Thankfully once his parents realized what was happening to him, they took Harry back and cursed his squib aunt and her husband. Nothing like an unforgivable, just so they would have terrible luck for the rest of their days.

The rest of the week fell into the same pattern. Harry would smoke in the morning- and sometimes Cormac would join and Harry would quietly ogle him- classes would pass by slowly, sometimes Harry would eat lunch with his new "friends" in Tom's group, more classes, then dinner, and finally homework with Tom and company.

Harry grew incredibly close to Orion, Adrian, and Renatus. Everyone else was still a bit wary of him, but he seemed to be getting closer to Leon and Antonin, of all people. Dominic was a bit too huffy and wanting to compete with Harry to actually want to be friends just yet. Abraxas, like usual, was still Abraxas, but he seemed to be softening overall.

As for Harry's friendship with Tom, it was still slightly strained, but they seemed to be conversing more and getting to know each other better.

Like Harry found out Tom's favorite color was green, which was entirely not a surprise, but for him to mention it was a bit of a shock.

Harry also figured out that Tom was just testing him and hoped that he'd be invited to Tom's group soon.

He needed to know what they were talking about so he could plan out his future actions, though he got a bit of a hint on Thursday night while they were doing homework.

"I swear those mudbloods don't know respect." Abraxas had hissed out as he began aggressively writing on his parchment paper.

"What is it this time?" Dolohov asked in exasperation. Harry could figure that Abraxas probably bitched a lot, considering he was a Malfoy. It seemed that bitching was a genetic trait, or something along those lines.

"I was talking about Samhain and some muggle born mud blood went on about how dark that holiday was and how Halloween is so much better." Abraxas added as he set his quill down and clenched his fists. Harry figured the boy probably broke a lot of quills before he realized he should just put the quill down to clench his fists in anger.

"How do you mean? I wasn't able to learn much about the magic world since I'd been on the run most of my life, so I'm admittedly a bit lost here." Harry asked, hoping that Abraxas' ire wouldn't be placed at him.

"Well, I don't blame you. Samhain is about honoring your ancestors and the dead. There isn't any sacrifice, at least not anymore. You simply have a nice feast, light a candle for your ancestors, and talk to the recent dead to honor them. Just because hundreds or so years ago, they used to sacrifice an animal to honor the dead and their ancestors, everyone simply assumes it's a dark holiday. It isn't. It's actually a really nice holiday yet these mudbloods go on about how dark and evil it is!" Abraxas growled out as he ran an ink-stained hand through his blond hair, leaving some dark marks in his hair.

"Why do you use that word, by the way? Mudblood, you use it both on muggleborns, halfbloods, and purebloods, so I'm a bit confused here as well." Harry continued, hoping to get more about the ideals of Tom and his group. If they just wanted traditions, then Harry could easily work with that.

"Because they're muddying the magical world. We used to love our traditions and celebrate them happily. Yule or Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Ostara or Spring Equinox, Beltane, Litha or Summer Solstice, Lughnasadh or Lammas, Mabon or Autumn Equinox, and Samhain. All of these are seen as darker, aside from a few of the holidays such as Yule or Ostara. What they tend to forget is that there used to be no real separation of muggles and magic folk. Both muggles and magic folk celebrated the same holidays once upon a time until those awful Christians began to slaughter their way around the world, causing us magical folk to hide and the muggles to break away from the traditions." Abraxas huffed as he leaned back in his chair, looking defeated.

"We never asked to have magic, nor did muggles ask not to have magic, yet they come in like they own the place and change it to their liking. We aren't evil, our traditions aren't evil, we're just trying to live by our own culture and are called awful for it." Abraxas finished as Harry let out a thoughtful hum.

So Tom and his followers weren't muggleborn haters just yet. They were just annoyed that their way of life was being changed for a group of people who refused to learn about the culture they're coming into.

Harry recalled learning about such things in even the muggle world in his past life, so he could see where Tom and his group were coming from.

"Then how do you feel about muggleborns, minus their inability to adapt to this new culture? Do you think they steal magic from us magical folk, like some feel?" Harry prodded as Abraxas looked at him like he was an idiot.

"How could they steal magic when we don't even know where magic comes from? I just want them to learn our culture and give up their muggle ways. I don't know why muggleborns have magic, but I'm sure someone might figure it out eventually." Abraxas shrugged as Harry paused a moment, then realized something about his inheritance test.

"I got an inheritance test when I first arrived here. My mother was a muggleborn witch, but my inheritance test said she was related to the Le Fay and Slytherin lines, but very, very, very distant." Harry pointed out as the entire group looked towards him, then to Tom and back again.

"The Slytherin line, you say?" Tom suddenly spoke up and Harry felt an unpleasant chill go down his back. Oh, right, Tom knew he was the heir of Slytherin because someone had told him about parseltongue.

"Yeah, I'm not qualified for the lordship, though. I only qualify for the Peverell and Le Fay lordships, though the Le Fay lordship has been lost." Harry hurriedly pointed out. He definitely, definitely didn't need Tom thinking he was some competition to be the heir of Slytherin, and he'd like to keep his parseltongue a secret for now. Just because he might be related to Slytherin didn't mean he understood parseltongue, or at least that's what he hoped Tom would think.

"Inheritance tests show such things?" Tom asked, genuinely curious.

"Yeah, it shows quite a bit, as well as some of your magical abilities, but Goblins are sworn to secrecy with their clients, so it isn't like anyone can just check your inheritance test without your permission." Harry explained as Tom nodded and actually looked a bit eager.

"Complication is, though, that I have to wait until I turn fifteen to file for emancipation, and if I didn't do that, I'd have to wait until I'm sixteen to access the Peverell vault and then wait until I am seventeen to inherit the lordships." Harry sighed as he realized he'd spend nearly two months in Wool's orphanage again.

"Honestly, when I become Minister that is something I want to change. Perhaps magical orphanages for magical children, as well. Muggles treat magical children like devils." Tom groused as Harry nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, they do." Harry sighed out as he aimlessly doodled on a piece of parchment. He was technically done with his homework, but he found that he actually enjoyed spending time with Tom and his group. They actually weren't completely awful.

"You say that like you know how it is to be treated that way, Harry." Tom pointed out with slight malice that confused Harry.

Did Tom think Harry was being insincere?

Harry let out a long, tired sigh.

"While my parents were on the run, they figured that me traveling with them all the time wouldn't be the best for me, so they placed me with my squib aunt, on my dad's side. Her husband was a muggle and they both despised magic. They had a rotting little son as well and they made my life hell after a bit of accidental magic. My uncle particularly liked the belt when I did just about anything that could upset him." Harry explained dully. He had both the memory of the Dursleys and of the Twains- the surname of his uncle- now and how they abused him.

"Thankfully my parents seemed to realize that me staying there wasn't any better than living on the run, so they picked me up and cursed my aunt and uncle with never ending bad luck. Sometimes I check on them just to see how shite their life has become." Harry shrugged and noticed that the maliciousness in Tom's look disappeared and instead was replaced with a bit of understanding.

The mood had dropped again- something Harry seemed really adept at doing, albeit accidentally- but picked up again as Renatus and Orion began a bit of paper American football.

'They really are just kids.'

What had you expected, Master?

'I'm not sure. More pure blooded ideals and the want to kill muggles, I guess?'

That only happened after Tom split his soul and the meddling of the old fool Dumbledore.

'Huh, speaking of, I should put that shield on them. Would Tom need it?'

No, Tom is fine, his only descent into madness was due to the horcruxes.

Harry set about giving the boys- Orion, Abraxas, Antonin, Adrian, Renatus, Dominic, and Leon- a mental shield to protect them from Dumbledore. He would have to renew it after the winter break, but for now it'd work. The block would only work against mental hints, so he couldn't very well just give them Occlumency shields as that was something they would have to do on their own.

Homework ended and thankfully they were in the common room this time around, so Harry headed up to bed to get some sleep and hopefully- he was actually praying to any god who would listen- he wouldn't dream of him and Cormac doing that … Though it did make him wonder if Cormac's tongue really was that long… Maybe he'd find out next year.

Yeah, definitely next year.

A/N; kinda short chapter, but I'm working on the next one already, so I /might/ get that out later on today, but I have a docs appointment, so we'll see.

I'm fine btw, just a regular check up lol.

Also Myrtle next chapter!