Hello there! I've decided to merge chapters four and five, since four was considerably shorter and not as interesting, me thinks.

But with this we get the full cast ready! (And I get to write about my blorbos)

CHAPTER WARNINGS: slight mention of SA, just barely but I want all of you to be safe and comfortable! It's not too further down, when Voldemort and Tom are having an argument.

Tom stayed the weekend in Malfoy Manor with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, coming up with an excuse to the school that he was visiting family. It was almost laughable how easy the school let him go. Seriously, how had they not kidnapped so many children without them knowing? In any case, he discovered that it was hard not to laugh at how serious they treated their little fanclub— Bellatrix Lestrange was particularly funny, with her unhealthy obsession to Voldemort. In the past few hours only he'd heard her gush after him, prostrate herself on the floor, and even kiss the hem of his robes. Every time she saw him, she would glare as if he was a threat, which was particularly hilarious. Still, Voldemort tried to avoid him as much as he possibly could after their... little talk, and he was tense every time Tom was less than five meters into his space. Honestly it offended him, but he tried to let him process for the time being while he got acquainted with the Death Eaters, since he had nothing better to do in the meanwhile. That is, until he was called to see the 'Lord' in person, into a much nicer room that probably belonged to Lucius Malfoy.

"Is it true that you can give me victory?" was the first thing asked, just as he was stepping inside the study. Voldemort was alone, his snake wrapped around his shoulders in a similar fashion to what Buttercup did, just ten times bigger.

"I can. You won't like my methods, but they're most effective" he sat in front of him, crossing his legs casually and taking a trinket from the desk to entertain himself "if you really want to win the war, you need Harry Potter"

Voldemort bared his teeth to him, leaning forwards. "I know that" he hissed, almost speaking parselmouth.

Tom raised a brow, unimpressed, and he tossed the trinket back onto the desk. He could feel Voldemort's dark magic trying to close around him in a threatening way, but he paid no mind to it. While he was certainly powerful for human standards, Tom had no fear for nothing. Well, one thing, but he had nothing to worry about in this world.

"No, dumbass, I mean that you need to work with him, not against him" before he could be screamed at, or hexed into oblivion, he pointed his wand at him "prophecies aren't fucking real, so don't tell me anything about it. Are you seriously telling me you want your life to be ruled by a crystal ball? The future is always changing, always a mystery. You would know if you had ever met a real seer" he shook his head, rolling his eyes "both of you are opposites, two sides of the same coin. As long as you fight, you'll be each other's fall. Together, you'll be unstoppable"

Voldemort didn't look any happier with him, so he guessed the tantrum wasn't over.

"You idiotic brat, I am not teaming up with Potter!"

"Well have fun losing the war then!"

"There has to be another way!"

Tom bared his teeth back at him, showing off his fangs in what pretended to be a threatening gesture, but he was well aware that his baby teeth weren't that impressive.

"Dumbledore has a hold of everything you want, and he knows how to keep you away, knows how to keep making a fool of you. But Harry is his weak point; if you take off one card, his whole work will crumble to nothing. He is counting on having the boy be your fall, what do you think he's going to do without him?" he took a moment to lean back and relax on the chair, tapping his wand against his other hand "Harry is still young and impressionable, pulling the right strings will grant you his trust. You two have a lot of things in common, I'm sure"

"You're demented"

Voldemort stood to look out the window with his hands behind his back, as if contemplating his words.

"I've spent only a few months in Hogwarts and he already trusts me somewhat and he's definitely not the sharpest tool, this can't possibly be a hard task. Listen, I will be generous and do the first steps for you, but you better put on the work or I leave you to die alone"

Who would've thought Lord Voldemort was a brat? Tom was somehow more mature than him and he was a complete nutcase! Honestly, it was so infuriating but he tried to be the bigger person since the adult in question was deciding he didn't actually want to adult. It was so hard to be Tom Riddle sometimes.

"Damn pastries…" he muttered under his breath, sticking a finger inside his mouth and trying to reach his teeth.

Voldemort was slightly ahead but still gave him a disgusted look. Snape looked simply tired and mostly appalled by his sudden lack of manners. Tom pulled back his hand and looked at both of them.

"My teeth are sensitive, alright? Sugar is bad" he explained himself defensively.

He was so distracted by their interaction that he almost jumped, startled when a hearty laugh filled the hall they were passing by, one not emitted by any of them. He looked around, trying to find the source. Most of the portraits in that hall were empty, all except one that stood out; a dark sturdy wooden frame encasing a breathtaking sight of the garden of the manor, and a gentleman sitting right next to the roses. Tom couldn't believe his eyes, transfixed in the image of someone who was a stranger and not at the same time. The man had pale blond hair, fair and straight down his shoulders like liquid silver. Dressed in the most refined black and pale blue, all which combined perfectly with his sky toned eyes and pale skin. He was on his best years, young but mature, and incredulously handsome to whoever was to be blessed with the sight, there was no doubt.

And the sight could be enchanting and unfamiliar, but Tom knew the second he saw him.

"Abraxas" a whisper escaped his lips.

Inevitably, flashing memories of golden curls and soft lips pressing on his cheek invaded his mind, and all he could see for a second was the cold and regal figure of a teenage boy who shone with an unnatural shimmer to all who saw.

He was not aware of it but his eyes had become glossy with unspilled tears.

"Mr. Riddle?" Snape called.

Tom blinked and turned to see the two adults, coming back to himself.

"Sorry" he said quietly, trying not to glance towards the portrait.

"I would dare say, my Lord, that the young one doesn't look very well" the portrait suggested with a deep calming voice.

Voldemort huffed, crossing his arms and about to snap at the child, but said boy looked up to the portrait again and tried to smile to him. It was a sad attempt, and all he could muster was a shadow.

"My apologies, Lord Malfoy… you reminded me of someone dear to my heart"

Curious eyes looked at him, but he had the tact to not point out that he looked exactly like Voldemort had once.

"No need to apologise, Mr….?"

"Riddle. Tom Riddle"

"This person you speak of must be of your family"

Once again the Dark Lord thought of interrupting but he stopped himself at the sudden lost expression on whom he thought was always very sure of what he was doing. He looked like a lost kid.

"Not yet, sir. But I aspire to be"

The portrait smiled at him, knowing. It was a little strange he hadn't asked why there were two Tom Riddles standing right there, but this simple interaction felt more than just nice. "Then I wish you luck, young Tom. Thank you for indulging in a couple of words with this old man. Nobody ever visits me anymore…" he sighed with certain theatrical air.

A small smile tugged on the boy's lips.

"I shall visit again then"

They remained silent the rest of the way to the study, but once there Voldemort had many questions. He had not inquired in many things that needed answers, and much was tangled in his head after that little ordeal.

"Where do you come from?" he asked his small counterpart.

Tom blinked once.

"From another world, I thought that much was clear"

Everything came to a screeching halt. Despite it being the most logical and obvious answer, Voldemort still didn't expect to hear that, or at least a part of him didn't. It was so ridiculous! Somewhat possible given the unpredictable nature of magic, but who would even think that was a possibility.

"How… How do things go for you?" he couldn't help but ask. Were their lives completely different? What had been different in his considerably shorter life for him to be so different?

"Someone killed my mother when I was a baby and I was raised by muggles" he shrugged, sitting atop of the desk "When I went to Hogwarts I discovered many things. First, Dumbledore was using me for his plans and he had very sinister intentions. Two, I am what we call a 'demigod'. Three, my father was actually alive all along"

This child had promised to put the entire world in his hands… because he could actually do it. He was much more than Voldemort would ever be, and the thought was as disheartening as it was infuriating. But mostly, his anger was focused on other things for the time being.

"That bastard I killed long ago" he spat, turning around with a swirl of his robe and looking out the window to try and soothe his burning ire.

"My father wasn't at fault" the calm soft voice came not long after.

Voldemort turned to him violently.

"He thought of us as lesser! He was a blind muggle!" he yelled, and from the corner of his eye he could see Snape recoiling.

Tom jumped down from the desk and confronted him face to face.

"Our mother drugged him and raped him for months!" he yelled back "he was scared and alone, of course he ran! I remind him with every breath I take of what she did to him and he still loves me!"

Voldemort fell a step back, stunned. Nobody had ever done that before, stand up to him.

"If you ever dare say a single world against him once again… then you'll know what it really means to make me furious"

Those were the last words he uttered before storming out of the room, the slight oppressiveness of his magic leaving with him. That little gesture of anger- Voldemort didn't remember ever feeling something as intense before.

"Here"

Voldemort looked down at the glass vial filled with black goo, and then up to the teenager, who waved it impatiently. Really? This was all he said after their argument?

"What's this supposed to be?"

Tom rolled his eyes.

"Drink it and you'll have your body and soul back. All of it"

Just like that? He promised to reverse the effects of making seven horrocruxes with a potion?

"I do not want to reverse it" he huffed "the horrocruxes—"

"Oh for fucks sake… listen, Dumbledore already knows about your little toys so might as well have what's left back or you're done for, because he's going to find them. Now drink it or else"

Voldemort wasn't scared of anything, not even the old goat. That said, this child was… something to be reckoned with. Even with the very few details he'd given, it was obvious he was much more powerful than him, and he could actually force him to drink the damn thing if he so desired. Snatching the bottle out of his hand, he brought it to his lips and drank.

It was foul. As if his insides were being burnt and twisted all at the same time, bones turning to dust. He became aware of every single thread of his tunic against his skin and he fell convulsing to his knees.

"In theory" he heard his voice far away, as if distorted by water "you're getting to feel what living in my body would be like. I had to use my own blood to create the potion, so you might end up with a surprise or two. Don't worry though, you won't get any if my actual power— it would destroy a mortal from the inside out, wouldn't really be fun"

His bones snapped and changed positions, pushing against his pale skin, which soon enough started to dry and peel off on its own like a snake. His coughed up his teeth, new ones coming in and pushing the old ones, same process occurring with his nails. Hair obscured his vision as it grew, but he could not move to push it out of the way. He was screaming in agony for what felt like the longest time, until everything stopped as abruptly as it started.

He laid there, his chest moving in ragged breaths, trembling and shaking in between disgusting remnants of his transformation.

"Hmm, yes… Not to brag, but I am a genius"

Tom crouched in front of him. His voice was so loud, it didn't help when he could hear the creaking of the old house, the nightlife of the forest, and the obnoxious voices of his followers right against his ear. He tried opening his eyes, but everything was too bright.

"Yeah, I know, being able to feel everything isn't as cool as it sounds in theory"

"How…" his voice was raspy and it hurt his own ears "how do you live like this…"

"Oh well, I was born like this. You learn to tune everything out on your own. That and the fact I'm spelled to mute down my senses. Come on, I'll get you sorted out"

A pair of hands hauled him up and dropped him on a chair. It was so uncomfortable, he thought he preferred the floor instantly. There was a soft mumble, and then a coldness filled his body, as if being showered with cold water unexpectedly. But it didn't take long for his eyes to start clearing up and the sensations of his skin to die down. The sounds started growing distant, and eventually silence was made once again.

The child had his wand in hand, and he made him open his mouth, examining his teeth.

"Perfect, you have all your extra teeth"

Voldemort looked at him demanding an answer, as he currently could not speak. In response Tom grinned widely, showing off four sets of sharp fangs on his smile.

"Come, there's a mirror over here"

Standing up was difficult, but Tom pretended to not see how much it took and waited in front of the mirror.

They were… surprisingly not identical. Voldemort was taller, a bit broader, with shorter, curlier hair. His features were also a bit different, still with a similar edge to when he was half-snake, and his eyes had remained the same red colour. Over all, this new body was… not terrible. It certainly felt stronger, stable. And as much as he hated to admit it only to himself, he had missed this; looking human, handsome... normal.

"I'm going back to Hogwarts tonight, so until I'm back during a break, you get used to this body" Tom pulled his wand out of his pocket and passed it to him. He never realised he even took it "don't overdo it and take proper rest"

"I'm not a child—"

"Sure thing"

Voldemort sent a curse flying his way and Tom ran out of the room.

Harry didn't want to admit it but he had spent the whole weekend looking at the Slytherin table, expecting to see a head of dark locks next to Malfoy. However, Thomas did not appear until Monday morning.

The young man had immediately noticed the Chosen One looking at him and sent a wink his way, to which Harry blushed to the roots of his hair and quickly looked back down to his toast.

Hermione, who was sitting in front of him, looked over her shoulder and back at him, frowning slightly.

"You do know that your crush is not available, right?"

Ron, whose mouth was stuffed full, widened his eyes.

"I thought Cho wasn't dating anyone yet"

The few Gryffindors that heard their conversation sent him disbelieving looks, and Hermione seemed to be rethinking their friendship, but Harry was grateful that he didn't get it because otherwise he would most definitely make a scene about Harry liking a Slytherin.

"I know" he cleared his throat, uncomfortable "Don't worry, Mione"

She didn't seem to believe him but she continued with her breakfast.

Well, what was Harry supposed to do? Prince was pretty, alright? And he had been kind with him, not treating him like he was a celebrity. And he was smart. And pretty. No, wait, he already mentioned that. The point being, it was hard not to have a crush on him, and he was sure a lot of the Hogwarts population agreed with that assessment. But Harry was also a decent person and he was not about to hope that anything might happen when Prince had left clear that he liked somebody already, and that he was happily in a relationship. Pity, but understandable.

"We should go to class now" Hermione gathered her things and drank the remains of her pumpkin juice.

"Off we go, mate" he poked at Ron's side, who groaned and grabbed a last slice of toast before Harry dragged him off.

It wasn't until that afternoon, after yet another detention with Snape, that Harry ran across Prince in a corridor.

"Oh, hey Harry" he waved casually, pulling out a lollipop from his mouth.

"Hi" he said awkwardly "Are you available this week? For err… study session"

"Yup, same hour as usual works for me. Speaking of which, can we talk for a second?" he looked around "in private"

"I mean… yea?"

Prince grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into an empty classroom a hallway over, locking the door and raising some privacy wards.

"Sorry about the secrecy, but we don't want Umbridge to catch wind of this. I have been talking with a few of my housemates, and a couple of them are interested in joining us, of course promising to keep it a secret"

Harry froze. Sure, he trusted Prince to an extent, but inviting other Slytherins in? Not only would the others be against it, but they were mostly in relations with the enemy via their parents. Many had Death Eaters as family. On the other hand, he could not help but remember Thomas' fierce words about how ridiculous the inter house conflict was.

He seemed to read his hesitation on his face, because he continued talking.

"I will make sure personally that they don't cause any trouble. And it would certainly be unfair if we don't accept all houses in this"

That was another good point.

"I will discuss it with Hermione" he decided to say. After all and though he was one of the 'professors', she was the one organising most of it and she would know what to do.

Prince gave him a smile, a gesture that warmed his heart even though he tried to not dwell on it.

"Good to know. I'll see you later then"

Harry had to stay there a little longer to will his blush into disappearing.

The night before the Slytherins were scheduled to join their study group, Harry snuck out to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, following a gut instinct. He had woken up, unable to sleep for hours, and eventually decided to let his restless feet guide him to whatever stupid stunt he was sure to pull.

What he didn't expect however, was to find a figure kneeling in between the trees, petting a baby unicorn. He blinked, putting away his invisibility cloak, and tried to see who it was. However, when he stepped forwards, a branch snapped under his foot and the person looked up sharply, the unicorn running away.

Under the moonlight, Harry could see golden curls and pale skin, a bit of an unnatural shine surrounding them. They were dressed appropriately for the cold weather of the night, but their cloak was most certainly dragon hide and of very high quality which meant this might be a rich kid. They didn't look like anyone he might have seen on the castle at first glance, though.

They both raised their wands nearly at the same time as a muttering voice reached their ears.

"Of course he would sneak out in the middle of the fucking night… and here I was enjoying Luna's cupcakes…"

Thomas Prince came into the small clearing, stopped on his tracks, and blinked in between them. First he looked at Harry, then at the stranger. Then back again. Then started all over.

Harry opened his mouth to ask what was happening, to any of them, when Prince's expression shifted to pure excitement.

"Brax!"

He jumped on top of the blond mysterious person, hugging them in what seemed to be a crushing grip and lifting them up the ground. Harry had never seen anyone as happy to meet a stranger in the middle of the night. The blond hugged back around his neck with seemingly as much force, before he was put back on the ground. He was just the same height as Prince, so maybe just a few centimetres taller than Harry.

"You idiot!" he had a slight french accent, and he started pulling on Prince's ear "do you have any idea of how much chaos you caused!? My godfather has been so mad that nobody even wants to talk to him and your father nearly burned down the ministry! Even my father is upset about— Mmph!"

He was cut off when Prince grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss.

Suddenly, Harry felt incredibly out of place and maybe even a little heartbroken. One thing is to know someone is taken and other is to see it with your own eyes, ok?

The kiss lasted longer than he would've liked, but finally they pulled away. 'Brax' seemed about to slap him across the face but he only huffed and looked away.

"Honestly I don't even know why I bother with you"

"Because you love me" Prince declared with confidence, grinning widely.

He then seemed to remember Harry's existence, turning to him like this was an entirely normal scenario.

"Well, it looks like we need to take this conversation somewhere else. It's time for bed, don't we think?"

His tone didn't leave room for argument, firm and commanding. Harry nodded passively for once and in silence followed back to the castle.

Abraxas didn't have much chance to get Tom off of him once he got really determined to make up for the time spent apart, but in reality and despite how much he denied it, he had missed him as much. So he melted into the kisses and the arms around him.

"You've been eating sweets again" he whispered, brushing Tom's lower lip with his finger.

"My teeth are just growing in" he excused himself, pushing their lips back together.

It wasn't until he was somewhat satisfied and Abraxas' lips were red that he pulled back enough to be able to talk in between soft pecks all over his face.

"How is everyone back home?"

He sneaked an arm around the demigod's waist to pull him closer.

"Your parents were hysterical for a while, but once we figured out what you did things calmed down… you're still definitely grounded though"

He made a pause, bit Tom's cheek, and continued.

"My brothers were also very concerned, specially Draco. Everyone noticed your absence, even Regulus was mad"

"I'm sorry I disappeared out of the blue" His eyes, currently a warm amber, were sincere in his guilt "I miss everyone, specially you, so dearly but I wanted to help"

Abraxas had spent a little time investigating to gather resources and to find him, so he knew a little about the very weird and upside down world they were in, but he was still surprised to hear that. Tom was regularly a selfish person, which was alright, and he rarely bothered to help other people unless he cared about them.

"Why?"

"Well out of spite is a reason I admit, but also— it is kind of sad. They don't really have a chance without me"

He rolled his eyes and flicked his forehead.

"Arrogant" he admonished, but he knew he was right.

Tom kissed his nose, and then his lips again, and he proceeded to be thoroughly distracted for a while.

"I'm supposed to take you back"

"Won't leave yet" he mumbled, pressing his lips against the unblemished skin of his neck "stay"

"Can't…"

Abraxas closed his eyes and tilted his head back as sharp fangs pressed down without breaking through.

"Stay" he insisted, and he dared lick down right were he'd just bitten.

He felt a shiver down his spine and his hold on him tightened.

"Stay"

It was almost a feral sound, like a hiss and a growl all in one.

And how could he just say no to that?