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As the rain pounded against the windows, Harry felt like his heart was hammering just as forcefully. "You know something else," he said, his voice tense.

"I do," said Riddle. "I've been in this neighbourhood for over a week now, and I spent a number of nights examining all the spells placed around the property next door."

"All?" said Harry with a frown. "So, you're saying it wasn't just the blood wards?"

"No, there were some other spells as well. One of them-the most noticeable one in fact, was a fake blood ward."

Harry cocked his head slightly. "Fake? What do you mean by that?"

"It's exactly as it sounds," said Riddle. "It was a spell designed to come across as a real blood ward. Now that I have heard what Severus learned, I believe this fake one was put in place to mask the lack of a real blood ward."

"So...it was just there to pretend like it was the real one, so no one would notice that the real one was gone?"

"That is my assumption, yes." Riddle glanced at the rain slicked window when there was a flash of lightning, then continued. "There was also a spell preventing entry to any magical creatures; one that would alert the caster, Dumbledore, no doubt, if anyone entered the house without your permission; and one that alerts Dumbledore to the use of dark magic within the property lines.

"When I was there for dinner the other evening, I used my magic to search the house and learned that some of these spells are placed on what I assume was your bedroom specifically. I also learned that there is a tracking spell on you, meaning Dumbledore is aware of your approximate location at all times."

This was...unbelievable. How could any of this be happening? Harry knew now that he'd been betrayed, but even then, he just couldn't believe it. Dumbledore had never given him any reason to think he'd be doing something this...fucked up behind his back. Because that was what this betrayal was. Fucked up.

All of Harry's suffering over the years had been for nothing. Dumbledore had pretty much told him he knew how the Dursleys treated him, and he'd still been sent back. The blood wards had disappeared years ago and instead of acknowledging it, Dumbledore had just put up a fake one so no one would notice. He was being tracked everywhere he went. People were spying on him and telling Dumbledore everything he said and did.

But all of this was if Snape and Riddle were to be believed. Harry had no real reason to believe them, but...he still did. The note that had possibly been sent by Sirius made a whole lot of sense now, that was for sure.

"Is this...tracker the reason I'm here in Number Two instead of outside of Privet Drive?" Harry asked eventually.

"Yes," said Riddle. "Spells like this can only be removed by the one who cast it, or a Gringotts goblin, or someone trained by a goblin. Dumbledore will know if you leave this neighbourhood, and I have no interest in drawing him to my manor. You could simply go to the bank yourself to get it removed, but I doubt you will even have the chance to enter before being stopped by either Dumbledore or someone sent by him."

Yeah, that sounded pretty likely. Harry frowned again and looked out of the window just in time to see another flash of lightning. He hoped Hedwig wasn't trying to fly through this mess-it wasn't safe for her. "So if no one used any dark magic, Dumbledore wouldn't know about it; he wouldn't have found out about you coming by for dinner that day because I let you into the house; and the one preventing magical creatures from entering just means Remus, Dobby, and I guess Kreacher could never get in," said Harry more to himself than Riddle. "But if I get this tracker off of me, none of the rest of those spells will matter."

"Yes. Once the tracker has been removed, I will be able to take you to my manor."

Harry chose to ignore that last bit for the moment, and continued staring out of the window, though he couldn't see very much through the sheets of falling rain.

After a moment of thought, Harry finally looked back over at Riddle. "If he isn't one of the people betraying me, Bill Weasley might be able to help with the tracker. He's working with the goblins at Gringotts right now, and before the Order got back together, he worked as a curse breaker in Egypt. He might know how to remove it."

Riddle nodded. "Then I will have Severus contact him. If he is to be trusted, Severus will know and be able to bring him here."

"Yeah…" Harry looked away again, back out the window. There was a brighter flash of lightning. Was the storm getting closer?

Tom regarded Potter closely. He was continuing to stare out of the nearby window. Was he avoiding his eyes on purpose? What was he thinking, he wondered? He was clearly upset, that was true, no doubt hurt as well, betrayed by someone he had once trusted so much.

Tom was less surprised by the betrayal. Dumbledore had never really cared for anyone else. It really was just like him to do something like this. Tom doubted he had any real concern over what Potter was feeling in regards to this betrayal. At most, he might pity him, he thought.

But perhaps this was for the best. Potter was nothing but a pawn on Dumbledore's chess board, and that was something he needed to become aware of. Few were ever given that chance, blinded by Dumbledore's...Dumbledoreness.

Why had Potter gotten involved in all of this? Well, Tom supposed that was his own fault for targeting him. So then why had he done that? The prophecy? Yes, the prophecy. Why had he focused so much on that prophecy in the first place? He'd never cared for divination, and nor did he truly even believe in it, so then-

Tom frowned. Why had he been so focused on the prophecy?

Everything had been going in his favour, and then he'd learned about the prophecy and...he'd essentially lost his mind, hadn't he? He became desperate to find the child the prophecy spoke of and take their life, that was true, but why?

There was a sudden sharp pain in his head, and Tom grimaced as he reached up. He was trying to focus on his thoughts about the prophecy, but the pain was preventing it. There was something wrong about all of this. Something very wrong.

"Riddle? Hey, Riddle!"

The hands gripping his shoulders and the sound of Parseltongue were what gave Tom his focus back, and he opened his eyes, unsure of when they'd fallen shut in the first place. He found himself staring into concerned green eyes, Potter standing over him.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Potter asked, his brow furrowed. "You keep acting so weirdly. One minute you're all casual, the next you're all serious and Dark Lordy, and now you're staring at me like you're in pain and about to puke-I can't keep up with this, you know!"

Tom took a breath and straightened back up in the armchair in which he'd slumped over slightly. The pain was gone. But something else was gone now too.

The fog had lifted in his mind. He'd forgotten so much over the years, but finally all of those memories had returned to him. Finally he remembered how things had been ruined. Finally he remembered all of the manipulation. Finally he remembered every success and failure.

Finally, he remembered everything.

He started to laugh-a low, dangerous sound that had Potter releasing him quickly and recoiling in apprehension. But Tom barely even noticed, too lost in the euphoria and anger of remembrance.

"It seems we have much more to discuss, Harry."

That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!