FLOURISH AND BLOTTS

He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice. (Chamber of Secrets, pg 63)

It was only due to Harry's keen eyes, accustomed to tracking the Snitch during quidditch, that caught an irregular shape hidden between it's pages.

'What's that?' Harry wondered to himself, glancing at the older Malfoy before looking back towards the old book. He almost missed the next words that came out of his mouth.

"Here, girl -- take your book -- it's the best your father can give you --" (Chamber of Secrets, pg 63)

'That isn't suspicious at all.' He watched the back of Lucius Malfoy as he walked out of the store, already deciding on a course of action.

Harry walked toward Ginny, who only took notice of him when stopped right in front of her, letting out a small squeak as he did.

"Could I check over the textbooks, see if any are damaged from that scuffle?" He asked her quietly as to not scare her off. Ginny didn't respond right away, still in shock that he was speaking with her. She finally managed to let aout a muttered 'yes', handing him her cauldron with shakey hands, before shuffling away towards her parents, who were deep in conversation with the store manager.

Grabbing it gently, he took it towards a nearby table, out of sight of both Ron and Hermione, who was explaining to her parents who the Malfoy's were, and sat it down before taking out the first book he touched. He wanted to avoid drawing attention, so he set about inspecting each of the texts before finally grabbing the book he was most interested in.

'I knew something was off!' Harry allowed himself the brief moment of satisfaction before grabbing the object hidden in the pages. In his hand was a small black diary with gold colored metal on the corners, and on the bottom of the front cover he read the name displayed.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle..." Harry whispered to himself before lifting his head slightly, the sound of footsteps alerting him that someone was coming. The urge of keeping the object a secret took hold of him without him noticing as he quickly took the dairy and reached behind him, lifting the waistband of his trousers so that he could place against the small of his back.

"There you are Harry, I was wondering where you had gone off too." Molly told him, hands on hips with a stern look on her face. "I had half a mind to start heading towards Knockturn Alley." She added.

"Right, sorry about that Mrs. Weasley, just wanted to check over Ginny's books, make sure they weren't damaged." Harry told her while gesturing towards the aforementioned books on the table. The stern look she had on her face turning into a soft smile at his words.

"That's rather sweet of you Harry, now come along now we're heading back towards the Burrow. I'll make sure Ginny says thank you to you when you hand them back."

Harry just nodded his head, turning back towards the table and quickly placing the texts inside the cauldron before lifting it up and walking towards Molly, who ushered him towards the front door where the rest of the group was waiting to depart.

THE BURROW

Staring up at the ceiling of the room he shared with Ron, Harry let the out a small sigh. Sleep escaped him at the moment, with his roommates snoring and the ghoul in the attic above them being in fine form tonight, he accepted that he wouldn't be well rested come the morning. Inevitably, his thoughts drifted towards what had happened today particularly the fight between Lucius and Arthur, and what he had come away with after said fight. The diary lay with the rest of his belongings, hidden inside his trunk underneath his robes.

'I wonder what's written inside.' Harry wondered.

Curiosity won him over as he slowly peeled the covers off of him, mindful of keeping himself quiet for fear of waking Ron. He placed each foot gently on the floor, one in front of another as he tip-toed his way to the foot of the bed. Lowering himself to his knees, he unhooked the latches without a noticeable sound. He lifted the the lid before reaching under where he knew the robes were folded, and grasped the diary, slowly withdrawing his hand.

Harry looked at it's cover once again, the moonlight filtering through the window of the room being enough illumination for him to see. Grabbing on its edge, he opened the diary to find out what contents were written inside.

'Its...blank?' Harry thought to himself, a feeling of disappointment running through him. He started flipping through the pages only to be met with the same sight at each turn of the parchment.

A huff in frustration escaped him as he reached the end of the diary. His curiosity brought him nothing but a plain object into his hands. He looked back inside the trunk, looking at the rumpled state of his robes once neatly packed before his hand cut through it.

'At least I have some spare parchment if I ever need it.' Harry thought to himself amusedly.

His eyes took in the contents before catching sight of his quills packed in one of the compartments on the side.

'Should probably right my name on it, just in case I ever lose it.'

His hand reached over to the compartment taking one of the quills before he opened another one right next to it which kept his ink. Then he closed the lid of the trunk for a moment, using it temporarily as a flat surface for the diary, opening it to its first page as dipped his quill in ink.

'Property...of...Harry...James...Potter.' Harry wrote down, the sound of quill meeting parchment being drowned out by the banging in the pipes in the attic. His emerald eyes widening at what happened next.

'What in the world?!' Harry could only stare in shock as the words faded into the parchment before he recieved another shock as new words appeared.

Hello, my name is Tom Riddle.

A/N: Trying my hand at writing a what if story.