As a general rule, Harry never really thought about trivial things like dating or kissing anybody, mainly because he was too busy between trying to finish the year with passable grades and surviving murder attempts. This didn't mean he was completely immune to the beauty around him. He'd been completely enchanted with the veelas the year before, and he'd been crushing on Cho Chang for quite some time now. In theory, this should not be too new for him but the thing was— he'd never liked another boy before.

He could appreciate how other boys were handsome, sure, but to want to kiss them? That was unexpected. In his defence, Prince was quite pretty and oddly kind for a Slytherin. And if Harry sneaked glances from time to time to see him brush his soft wavy hair out of his face, then nobody was none the wiser. But that was all he was going to do- watch. After all, Prince had mentioned having a boyfriend at some point...

What kind of person would he like? Thomas was quite level headed and clever, exceptionally good at using unfavourable conditions to do his bidding. He didn't seem like he would mesh very well with someone impulsive, even if he could easily get out of trouble. Maybe his partner was someone as smart and competent as he was, someone who could keep up with his wit and wasn't particularly enchanted by his looks.

"Harry, don't put that in just yet" Hermione hissed at him.

He blinked back to reality, just in time to save himself from making the cauldron explode. He gave her a thankful look, luckily all unnoticed by Snape, and continued to carefully follow the instructions on the board. As he measured the next ingredient, he allowed himself to look in the Slytherins' direction, where Prince was stirring his potion and absentmindedly munching on something, maybe a snack he'd sneaked inside the classroom. Harry looked back to his task and added the badly cut roots into the concoction, which turned to a too deep blue, but still close enough to classify as an 'ok' result.

The next time he watched, he clearly saw Prince taking couple leaves from one of his ingredients and putting them into his mouth. Harry was fairly sure that most of the things he was using were incredibly dangerous, but he was not a potions genius like the other so how would he know. Still, it only cemented his belief that the curious boy was indeed more peculiar that he already seemed at first glance.

"Ten minutes left" Snape announced "bottle up your potions, label them with your name and place them on my desk"

Prince left his bottle of bright blue on the desk and started packing up his things. When Harry went back to put away all the ingredients, he saw him put all but one flask back on its place. Later, as Harry left the classroom, he saw plop all the fine powder down his throat.

Interesting.

Later that week during the Defence Club, it came to be his turn to teach, so Harry did his best to show them shielding charms. Prince stuck to the sidelines, correcting them less than usual and mostly acting as audience. This was highly unusual, since he was quite obviously more knowledgeable than any of them and always had something to nitpick from their stance, their technique or their pronunciation.

"Why don't you practise with us?" Luna encouraged him.

Prince stood up from the pillows he was seated in and shrugged.

"Oh, I'm absolutely terrible with shielding charms, even more so than normal spells" he said as he waved his wand silently, and a decent enough shield shimmered in the air before vanishing.

"What are you talking about? You're so good at everything!" Ron sounded frustrated.

Prince bursted out laughing, and he didn't stop doing so for an entire minute, gathering the attention of everyone in the club.

"Ah, that was a good one..." he dried a tear and straightened up "have you not noticed I never do verbal spells? Aside from the fact I am good at non verbal spelling, it's mostly due to the fact I'm not doing any spells at all. I just... wave my wand, think of what I want, hope the result is decent"

Harry stared open mouthed at him after such revelation, and so was most of the others.

"But... that's impossible!" Hermione managed to get out.

"I learnt to do wandless magic before anything else" he passed his wand to an unbothered Luna and moved his hand vaguely, producing a perfectly beautiful patronus without effort "besides, the spells I know are vastly different from yours, so instead of learning everything all over again this saves me time"

He got his wand back and cleared his throat. "What was it... ah, yes. Misete"

The chamber lit up with blue light, footsteps and bright spots all over the place like any other magic tracking spell would. That clearly hadn't been latin... the light vanished when the spell was broken.

"Well, shouldn't you go back to practising? Go on" he waved them off and retreated back to his corner.

Huh.

Harry didn't think about those weird details until a couple days later, when he was going back to the castle after visiting Hagrid, hidden under his invisibility cloak to avoid human interaction as one does.

That's how he ran into Luna and Prince, walking alone on the deserted corridors and speaking in low voices. It truly hadn't been his intention to eavesdrop, of course, but-

"... time is a bunch of shit and I can't tell if it's been to long" he was saying.

"It hasn't been too long" Luna replied calmly "maybe a couple weeks. The dragon isn't too worried yet"

"I'll have to stay longer, won't I?"

"Yup"

"They're going to kill me" Prince sighed, passing a hand through his hair "It'll be maybe two entire years, if I act quickly. I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my life"

He shuffled with his pockets and pulled out a flask filled with some kind of plant that he started to eat, quite obviously stressed. The blonde Ravenclaw chuckled softly.

"You'll be alright, hatchling. And you should stop eating professor Snape's potion ingredients. There are many other things to stress eat around Hogwarts if you're kind enough to the house-elves"

"Pastries and cake don't have the same kick as wolfsbane. And mandrake roots soothe my toothache..."

"New teeth coming in?" she asked as if it was an every day occurrence.

Prince stuck a finger inside his mouth, showing her something and she nodded in understanding.

"I thought normal teeth were enough of a bother but then this happened- and these are only my baby fangs. They aren't even sharp"

"No shapeshifting yet?"

"Nah, father says I'm too young to do that. I'd either have to be full-blooded or have the seal removed, which we know I can't do"

Luna giggled again and they completely changed topics altogether, starting to talk about the strange creatures she believed in and that most definitely were not real. Harry stayed behind, trying to comprehend what they were talking about, or if they were actually speaking seriously. One never knows when it concerned Luna Lovegood, in his opinion.

So far, and from what Harry managed to gather, he had at least three facts about Prince.

One, all the spells he knew were in Japanese and he could not perform spells in latin. Two, he ate highly poisonous potions ingredients as if they were nothing. Three, he might not be completely human? That last one was still in questioning but it was a strong theory.

But what exactly were they talking about when he said that he had to stay for two years? In Hogwarts? Away from his family and friends? He spoke Japanese, so maybe he lived there? But then again, he'd said he'd been raised in America and that completely clashed with said theory. And why couldn't his parents visit him in Britain, and why did he have to wait literal years to see them? Harry was not the most observant person, and people like Hermione probably had a better idea of what was going on, but he also had the feeling that Prince was not actually hiding his weirdness at all. It was as if he was waiting to be discovered...

And what was he hiding, Harry Potter did not know.

"Stay after class, Prince"

Tom stopped on his tracks and gave a reassuring smile to Draco, waiting right where he was standing as the rest of the class walked outside. Harry gave him a curious glance for a second, but ultimately nobody tried to stay behind with him. A minute later, the door closed behind Neville and the classroom remained empty with the exception of himself and Professor Snape, who was examining the flasks on his desk with apparent disapproval for the most part. Tom left his things back on his desk and walked towards him.

"Did I do something wrong, professor?" he asked, making big innocent eyes at him.

Snape rolled his eyes and waved his wand, placing a silencing spell around them, which made him realise this was truly important.

"The Dark Lord has responded to my letter" he said grimly, rolling up his left sleeve to show a tattoo of a snake curled around a skull, a mark of loyalty most likely "He wants to see you as soon as possible"

He nodded slowly. Either he was going to listen to him, or he was going to attempt to kill him, which meant he needed to be prepared for either outcome. From what he'd heard and investigated, Voldemort was not to be taken lightly in the slightest, and this was probably the most delicate part of his entire plan. He needed to have Voldemort on his side at all costs, if he wanted to fix the whole mess they'd all made together. Harry needed to make peace with him for them to have chance to end the war... Tom doubted it would work, but he had his ways to get what he wanted at the end of the day.

"Is there a way to leave the school under Dumbledore's nose?"

"Some. Are you seriously considering doing it now?"

"Not now, I have classes, but maybe tonight?" he didn't have much to lose anyway. "The sooner the better"

Snape pursed his lips, but he nodded regardless. "Meet me in my office after dinner then. And be. careful." he remarked, giving him a severe look.

Tom nodded solemnly and he picked up his things to leave.

He almost ran straight into Harry.

Stumbling back, he blinked in confusion at his cousin, and eventually the realisation that he must've been eavesdropping dawned on him. Such a good thing the silencing spell had been placed.

"You do know that listening in a conversation is very bad manners, right?" he crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

Harry blushed to the roots of his hair, shuffling on his feet and looking away, adjusting his glasses nervously. "Uh... I just..."

Tom sighed and rolled his eyes, walking around him so he could continue on his way to his next class. He would need to be sneaky at night it seemed, since he'd gained a little shadow to follow him around. This was so much the opposite of what he had in mind when he decided to get close to Harry.

That night, Snape brought him over to a secret passage out of the school grounds and into town, where they apparated in front of a dark house that seemed abandoned. Tom knew all too well where they were... this was the Riddle Manor. There was a very spooky air to it, as it was unkept and decaying, broken windows with no light through them and growing vines snaking up the mossy walls. Inside, dust was caking every surface, and the floorboards cracked at almost every step they gave.

He would've been scared had he been a normal child, but he was at one point in life where things could rarely even surprise him anymore, much less scare him. And he also knew he was safe with Snape by his side, so it was alright.

A big snake was waiting at the end of the stairs, looking at them with small yellow eyes that shone with special malice.

"Good evening" he greeted amicably, despite the bad feeling this particular reptile gave him.

The snake did not answer, but it started to slid closer. Buttercup snapped from underneath his robe, hissing threateningly at the much bigger specimen, warning not to get close to his master. The snake turned around and started to slide up the stairs, and after exchanging a glance with Snape, they followed.

"The child speaks our tongue, master" it said as it slid into a room.

Said room was small and dark, with only a magical light floating in the middle of it. It had once been a reading room perhaps, but it was hard to tell. Six Death Eaters were flanking the room, wands in hand and alert. And right in front of them, there was an armchair occupied by whom he assumed to be Voldemort.

He was, to put it mildly, really ugly. No hair, almost no nose, an unnaturally white skin and the slit eyes of a snake, with long clawed fingers and dressed in a long black robe. Tom had to admit, this guy was the stuff of nightmares alright.

He squinted his eyes at him, clasping his wand tightly.

"Tom Riddle" He hissed, venom dripping from every letter he spoke.

The teen waved his hand in a hello, staying silent for the time being. He honestly didn't know if they were going right into business or what.

"My lord" one of the Death Eaters, a woman, stepped forwards with her wand pointing forwards "who is this itty bitty child? Is he with Potter?"

Voldemort made a dismissing move with his hand and he crossed his legs one over the other, caressing his wand slowly.

"Silence, Bella. All you need to know is that his usefulness could be none"

"Woah, that's mean" Tom crossed his arms, pursing his lip in almost a pout "I came here in peace, of my own volition, to offer help but— if you don't want to win the war then I guess that's your problem…"

Voldemort stood on a fluid movement, pressing the tip of his wand against his throat, but the teen made no move to defend himself, tilting his head backwards to see him eye to eye defiantly.

"You cannot help win this war" he spat.

Tom stepped back to get rid of the pressure on his neck and he pulled his wand out of his sleeve. Right at that moment he had all Death Eaters pointing at him, but he paid no mind as he flicked his wrist and a golden smoke started to form shapes in the air.

"Oh, but I can" he started to walk around the smoke, keeping his eyes fixed on his counterpart "I have power beyond anything you've ever wanted, Voldemort. I can give you the answers to so many of your questions… I can give you your old body back, take you to your best shape. I can place the world in your hands, you know?" he purred in a sweet voice as the smoke projected the form of an adult Tom Riddle. Handsome, elegant, imposing.

His counterpart was walking in circle with him, eyes transfixed on the illusion. He shook his head and looked up to the teen.

"That's impossible"

"Not for me, no" the smoke twirled and started to show the image of a gleaming castle, a school with smiling proud faces "If there's anyone who knows you, it's me. You want this… you started it for power, but also because you craved a home, a place where nobody would treat you differently"

Voldemort bared his teeth.

"You don't know what you're talking about"

"Oh, but I do… You know what pure suffering is and deep down, you don't want the same for children like you. But you made steps in the wrong direction and didn't know how to turn back"

"Shut up…"

"Your mind started to get twisted the more you stubbornly remained on this path, driving you madder and madder"

"Stop it"

"And now it's too late to ask for help, now it's too late to make them understand that you didn't mean it"

"Shut up!"

They remained at opposites sides of the room, just like when they started, as the smoke vanished. The Death Eaters didn't dare move as their leader stared irate to the young boy.

"Leave us"

"But master—"

"Now, Bella!"

All seven left, Snape giving Tom a last glance before the door clicked close and a privacy spell was erected around them.

"You wanted a family" Tom stared sadly at him.

"I don't need your pity, nor such a.. a.."

"I don't pity you" he interrupted, raising his hand to caress Buttercup's head. "I have empathy for you. I was you, back when I was sent to Hogwarts. So lost and angry and full of hate. But when I felt what a real family was… It's addicting, kind of"

He gave a step forwards, and then another, and another, until his wand was against his chest.

"You have to trust me for this to work, Tom" he spoke his real name, softly. It felt strange, but also right "I promise I will help you. You don't have to be stuck in the same abyss you've been in your whole life. You're allowed to ask for help"

Voldemort didn't falter nor did he lower his wand, but there was something in his eyes… They weren't the same person, but in some ways they also were, and Tom knew that beneath his many masks there was a man who had some repent for his actions. It didn't erase his crimes, but it meant he wasn't unsalvageable either.

He wrapped his fingers around his wrist and lowered his hand with little resistance, and before Voldemort could even snap, he stepped the rest of the way forwards and wrapped his arms around his middle in a hug.

He was thin, almost like malnourished, and tense under his touch. But he didn't flung him back with a spell, for what it's worth it. Tom wondered sadly if this had been the first hug anyone had ever given him.

"I believe in you" he said firmly, squeezing around his middle "I always will"