A/N;

I have been ill again since christmas (covid, a mysterious bad cold and a sinus infection – my cup runneth over). I keep getting the runaround by surgeons, drs and drs receptionists who have lost all my scans! I am not happy.

If you like this story don't forget to leave a comment. I only got 2 last chapter. It doesn't feel worth writing...

So, Tom pov. Enjoy.

…...

When Is A Snake, Not A Snake?

It was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the school year and the hall was bustling with students third-year and older who were excited about their day of freedom. When Tom and Buffy appeared in the doorway, the chatter gradually grew quieter as more and more curious eyes peered over and took in their silver chains. Tom and Buffy did their best to ignore them and crossed the hall to where the Slytherin table was located.

One boy – a Ravenclaw – pointed and jeered. "Look, here comes the Slytherins' apprentice ghost. He's already got the chains, just needs a splash of blood to complete the Bloody Baron look." His friends broke out into loud laughter.

Tom gave them all a hard look; silently marking their names for future revenge. The speaker was Gideon Davis, the Pureblood who he'd previously overheard insulting Buffy in the library. On either side of him were Morgan Skuttle, another Pureblood with buck teeth and a square face, and, finally, Gregor Lark a Halfblood. The group took no notice of Tom's intimidating stare, instead, they laughed all the more.

Tom's nostrils flared. At some point, those three would find their homework spontaneously catching fire, their ink bottles exploding or they'd lost important class notes through a hole in their bag. Small things, annoying things, especially to a Ravenclaw.

He was distracted from his glaring by a tug on his wrist.

"Tom, you need to wear your chains with pride." Buffy had overheard the Ravenclaws' insult and seen Tom's scowl. She slowed her steps to a saunter and used her chained hand to regally wave at her Hufflepuff friends and then the Gryffindors.

Tom noticed that one of those who waved back was the gormless lump, Rebus Hagrid. He replied sourly, "Being chains isn't exactly something to be proud of." He slowed as well – the rest of the school would think it hilarious if they saw one of them dragging the other around. He went on. "It isn't as if they've been awarded for Special Services to the school." But he did change his expression to a more disdainful expression.

Buffy shrugged a shoulder. "Stands to reason, if ole Dumblebore wants us feeling ashamed then we should act as if we aren't. I say we wear these chains with pride, I bet we're the first pupils in Hogwarts history who've had to be chained."

A Ravenclaw girl tutted her disapproval, tossed her head, and whispered to the girl next to her, "She's not only foreign muck, she's mental."

Buffy abruptly stopped. "Don't think I can't hear you, girl with the bad hair! Say that again and I'll show the full level of Buffy mentalness."

Tom rolled his eyes and gave her a push, forcing her to move along in front of him. He leaned forward, his lips brushing her ear as he whispered. "Own the chains, remember? Wear them with pride you said."

She threw back an angry look but didn't argue. When they reached Malfoy, she tried walking past to her own seat and Tom had to gently pull the chain to stop her. Having got her attention, he folded his arms across his chest and looked down at her, his mouth set.

"We stay here," he said firmly.

Buffy looked back to where Travers sat alone and then to Abraxas, who'd risen politely to his feet.

The blonde boy smiled. "Good morning, Sweetheart, nice of you to join our merry band of –."

Buffy cut him off with a rude, "Uh-uh, that's a nope. This isn't Buffy's idea of Sits-ville. You can all–."

"Play nice with Abraxas," Tom warned her, cheerfully adding. "Remember to give and take if you still want to visit Caradoc." Without waiting for her reply, he gestured for Malfoy to move along and allow room for Buffy to sit beside him.

"What about Travers?" Buffy whined even as she slid onto the bench between Tom and Abraxas. "I don't want my friends thinking I've abandoned them."

Tom shook out his napkin and placed it in his lap. "If Travers wishes to join us, then he may do so."

Malfoy's eyebrows shot up and across the table, Marcus Lestrange frowned and looked at Tom intently.

"TRAVERS!" Buffy yelled down the table. "Wanna come and sit with me and Tom?"

Travers hurriedly shook his head and turned his attention back to his book.

"He is happier in his usual spot. I knew he wouldn't want to sit with us," Tom exchanged glances with Lestrange and Malfoy. Telling them silently he knew what he was doing, they needn't think he'd gone soft or doubt him.

"You'd better not have done something to scare him." Buffy gave a dark look.

"Merlin! How have I done that?" Tom was affronted. He hadn't seen Travers since yesterday. "You've been next to me since we left the dungeons."

Buffy tutted. "I don't mean now. I meant in the past. I've been told you hiss at people in the corridors."

"Nonsense." He had used parseltongue to threaten Travers in the past. It was a trick that he'd learned early, a way to make his bullying Slytherin Housemates nervous and leave him alone. For the majority, the hissing and glares worked; others needed more devious hexing.

Buffy reached out a hand for the dish containing bacon rashers and Abraxas quickly slid it along the table towards her.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Abraxas held his cup and watched her pile bacon onto her plate.

"Do you have hollow legs or something?" Abraxas asked in amazement.

"Yeah, something. Maybe, it's worms," replied Buffy cheerfully. Abraxas' repulsed expression had her adding, "That's a joke, Mr Sense-of-Humour-Bypass. I'll need plenty of energy for what Tom and I are planning on doing later."

Malfoy, who had a mouthful of pumpkin juice, swallowed the wrong way and began to cough and gasp for breath. Lestrange let out a bark of laughter as Buffy hit the choking Malfoy between the shoulder blades, almost knocking his face into the table.

"Oi!" he spluttered. "You nearly took my head off."

"It was the Hienrichy manoeuvrer!" protested Buffy. "I thought you had a fish bone stuck in your throat."

"I'm not eating bloody fish!" coughed Malfoy, his eyes watering. He coughed again. "You're completely bonkers!"

Tom bit his lip. Breakfasts with Buffy would be entertaining, he just needed to keep himself under control and not overly dwell on the thought of them having sex on the teachers' table.

"Do me a favour," said Tom, leaning back in his seat and adjusting his robe. "Try not to kill my..." he caught himself, he'd almost said knights, "...friends." He leant forward and gave Malfoy a less favourable expression. "As for you, Abraxas... Try to get your mind out of the gutter and treat Buffy with more respect."

Malfoy nodded and dabbed at the spots of pumpkin juice he'd just spat out onto his shirt. "Can I ask what your planning later, Tom?"

"No," replied Tom. At the same time, Buffy said, "Sure. Me and Tom are going on a hike."

"Where to?" asked Malfoy. Lestrange leaned forward, so he could hear them more clearly.

"Hogsmeade," Buffy replied, causing Tom to shush her and looked over his shoulder to see if anyone else had overheard. The closest person was a sleepy-looking boy sitting on the opposite side of the Ravenclaw table.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," Tom replied coldly. Buffy had some explaining to do before then.

Marcus and Abraxas exchanged knowing looks across the table. Tom caught their eyes and shook his head, silently telling them to keep this between themselves. He received nods in acknowledgement.

The comment didn't subdue Buffy. "Not as if you can refuse me. I could knock you out and drag you there unconscious." She flashed him a wide, smug smile. Not only did it set his heart racing, but it made him want to strangle her.

"Could you now?" he asked quietly.

In a strange, 180-degree turn, she gave him a coy look from under her lashes and her smile softened. "Pass the eggs, please, Tom. Those scrambled ones next to your elbow look so good. And, um, can I have fried ones too? Abraxas, pass the dish of yummy fried tomatoes, and... Marcus can have toast, and butter? Because you know, you can't have toast without butter. "Ugh, no black pudding. I know what it is. Congealed blood for breakfast is not my idea of gourmet dining."

Lestrange, Malfoy and Tom pushed the dishes towards her and waited until she was ready to begin eating before returning to their food. For a moment, they were silent as they all tucked into their breakfasts.

Buffy was the first to speak. She nudged Tom and using her fork pointed at the eggs on her plate. "Remember those powdered eggs they gave us at Wools? They didn't taste remotely eggy."

Tom nodded. Food rationing was affecting the Muggle world badly, but not the Wizarding one. "Martha complained that she'd been limited to one egg per week and four slices of bacon. She said everything is getting worse as submarines are sinking supply ships." He nodded at Buffy's stacked plate. "You probably have two month's worth of Muggle rations on there."

"Lucky for me, I'm a witch."

Tom was glad as well. Otherwise, he'd have lost her to the Muggle world.

She forked more eggs into her mouth and then reached for the thickly buttered toast. "Was the food at Wools as bad before the war?"

"Not much better." If Malfoy and Lestrange weren't so intent on discussing a Quidditch match, he'd have closed this conversation down for fear of being overheard. Both the Malfoys and the Lestranges were rich and powerful families, they'd never understand what it was like to be an orphan living on the charity of Muggles.

Buffy, though, was different. "Mrs Cole used the food allowance to buy the cheapest food and pocketed the difference. Our vegetables were always pig grade until the inspector had an anonymous tip off." He smirked, that was him. "He made a spot check, and questioned her over it."

Buffy swallowed her toast. "That's horrible. Why didn't she lose her job?"

Tom shrugged. "Who'd want it?"

He watched Buffy shudder – either thinking of Mrs Cole's job or the grim building she'd been housed in. "Wools needs closing down."

He agreed, but his pragmatic side made him say, "And where'd they put all the unwanted Muggle brats?"

"They aren't always unwanted, or Muggles, Tom," Buffy chided.

"True." Neither he nor Buffy were Muggles, and Buffy's family had found her and taken her away. He'd never been so lucky. His family must hate him. "Workhouses exist to keep the riff-raff away from polite society. People don't want them littering the streets and making it look untidy."

Just thinking of Wools created a bitter taste in his mouth. Scraping butter across his toast, he added without thinking, "Not that I care."

"I think you do."

"No."

"Wouldn't you like to make it nicer for future orphans?" Buffy asked, waving to Roz Moody who'd appeared at the bottom of the table. The Hufflepuff began to move towards them.

"Would you?" Tom had never given much thought to the younger orphans. As long as they'd kept out of his way, he ignored them. Why should he care about their miserable lives? No one had ever considered how grim his life was. He gave Dumbledore a bitter look. That old goat had seen the place and never helped him in any way. The Ministry of Magic was wrong in not providing provision for orphans from magical families. They seemed happy to cast them off and let the Muggles take care of them.

Buffy looked away. "Yeah, I'd like to help them." There was a sour expression on her face, making Tom feel as if he'd just failed an important test. A sensation he didn't like.

"Is it true, Buffy?" Roz Moody bounced up with a huge grin on her face."Hagrid said Professor Dumbledore told him to keep it a secret, but you know what Hagrid is like. He gets excited and spills the beans."

"Um, what beans are being spilled?" Buffy asked nervously.

Tom wondered why she looked so anxious. It was obvious this was about her BATT campaign.

"He says Dumbledore told him the Headmaster is stopping animal transfiguration," Roz explained. "Everyone's talking about it. Tabitha Berkley asked Professor McGonagall if it was true, but you know her." Roz changed her voice, using McGonagall's soft Scottish brogue. "You'll find out in due course, Miss Berkley."

Across the table, Lestrange laughed and Roz glanced over, her cheeks pinking when he smiled at her. "McGonagall says Professor Dumbledore will make an announcement at breakfast."

Everyone's eyes automatically moved to where Dumbledore and Slughorn were talking to Merrythought. For once, Tom focussed on the table and not the teachers. His face flushed as he remember Buffy's words about naked bonding on top of the table.

Why had she put images like that into his head? This might be 1942, and he wasn't a prude, but schoolgirls shouldn't talk so openly about sex, especially in front of teachers! And now... now he had Buffy and 'that' table in his line of vision. She was right, that table which was easily wide enough to...

His fist clenched, and he rebuked himself. He'd plans, future plans that didn't include hormonal fantasies where he...

No! Gritting his teeth, he ignored the girls' conversation and applied himself to his breakfast.

…

"I know you don't really care," said Buffy after breakfast. "But you could at least pretend you're happy. Dumbledore's come good on his word and announced the end of real animal experimentation in the classroom. We didn't even need to protest outside the classrooms like we'd planned."

Tom supposed that she was right, she did deserve his congratulations. Changing a thousand years' worth of engrained tradition was no mean feat. It had helped that her idea had struck a chord with many and now her plan had paid off for her. "Congratulations," he said without any enthusiasm.

Buffy snorted. "What's eating at you? Did you get attacked by a flock of Wrackspurts or something? Want me to lend you my Spectrespecs? You can see them coming – or not." She hopped over a disappearing step. Tom merely strode over it – his legs being much longer than hers.

"Or are you sulking because I asked Roz to sit with us? Did I break some weirdy unwritten Slytherin rule that says students from other Houses can only sit with us at certain times of day? Or are you upset because I told your friend to move his pasty-white ass further down the bench?"

"I'm not sulking about anything," Tom retorted. He knew his silence came across as a sulk, but he had other things on his mind and felt frustrated. Being chained to Buffy meant he had no way to un-frustrate himself.

"You so are sulking. I don't know why. I've more to sulk about than you."

"Have you?" he asked, surprised. "Like what?"

She moved in closer, her hip brushing his thigh. The briefest contact made his blood fizz again, and he had the mad urge to drag her into the nearest alcove and snog her, maybe more. Except... he wasn't that crazy. She'd probably... strike that, she would hit him... or hex him again. Dumbledore would find out and then they'd be suspended.

"For a start, you're the one who caused all this." She tugged the chain holding their wrists and jerked his arm. "I want you to know I had plans for this weekend!"

She meant Dearborn, of course. The corners of his mouth turned down and he sneered, "I thought you and golden boy were no longer dating? Or do you want to make up, marry him and got to live in a cottage with roses around the door with a brood of golden-haired, angelic children." In his mind's eye, he could clearly see that happening. Buffy and Caradoc were the golden couple, no doubt they'd be happy in their perfect, golden world while he was alone in his dark one.

Buffy tutted with annoyance. "I've told you already, Caradoc is no longer dateable. He...we had words. Lots of words and... anyhow, you don't know me."

Tom stared straight ahead. He knew Buffy better than she thought. She licked the back of the spoon whenever she ate ice cream, her best friend was her cousin and whenever she was faced with a difficult problem to solve, she stroked her quill across her lips and closed her eyes. Sometimes, Tom closed his eyes and imagined himself being that quill.

"Who says I want a golden hero and a cottage? I could have other plans. Say, plannage to go live in a castle with a Dark Lord." They came to the infirmary and Buffy knocked on the door.

Something in her tone of voice had him looking at her sharply. There was only one Dark Lord he knew about who owned a castle.

"Gellert Grindelwald is too old for you." Grindelwald was ancient – he must be at least as old as Dumbledore. If no one killed him soon, he'd probably keel over and die from old age anyway.

"Not gonna disagree with you." She shuffled uncomfortably. "Look, I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention Grindelwald to Caradoc. He's kinda touchy."

That didn't come as a surprise. Tom knew the boy had left Durmstrang because his parents thought their position made it too dangerous for him to stay in Europe. They were right to be anxious; Grindelwald's followers were everywhere.

"I will say nothing to Dearborn if you promise me not to run off with Grindelwald or Deearborn." He pretended it was a joke and gave her a teasingly smile. It was a devastating smile, one he rarely used unless he wanted something important.

He felt a swell of pride when Buffy blinked at the power of his smile. It was good that she wasn't immune to him. She was as touchy as a Hippogriff at times.

Buffy tugged her eyes from his lips. "Uh, ah, um, yeah." she stuttered, making him smile all the more. "Girl scout promise, never run off with Caradoc or my, um, Grindelwald..."

"Good," he replied softly.

"Not that I ever was a girl-scout," Buffy added, spoiling her promise, pushing open the infirmary door and striding into the room. Tom had to hurry to catch up.

Madam Bones' office was empty, and there was no sign of the healer. Dearborn was sat up in bed, a breakfast tray on his knee. He looked surprised to see them and Tom eyed him with misgiving. Did Dearborn's eyes light up with delight or speculation when he saw Buffy?He wasn't sure, but it wasn't easy to concentrate when all he wanted to do was draw his wand and hex the boy out of bed.

"Buffy! It's true! Dumbledore has chained you together!" Dearborn's blue eyes slid to Tom warily.

"Good morning, Dearborn. It's nice to see you so well," Tom drawled, keeping his tone pleasant and polite.

Dearborn fiddled with his cup and evaded Tom's gaze. "Um, thanks Riddle. I suppose Buffy made you come up here?"

"She was rather insistent."

"Never mind that." Buffy tugged Tom closer to the bed. "What happened, Caradoc? I heard an alligator got you."

Tom ducked his head and smirked. The swamp and alligator had been his idea, but his knights had carried out his plan. Malfoy, Dolohov, and Avery had done an excellent job of creating a swamp, and Dolohov had proved surprisingly good at Transfiguring a length of wood into an alligator. Sadly, it had been over far too soon. Dearborn's screams had drawn the Ravenclaw prefects, one vanishing the alligator while the other dragged Caradoc from the swamp.

(Such a pity Buffy couldn't have seen Dearborn's face and heard his screams of terror – she wouldn't have been impressed.) All-in-all, the plan had gone smoothly, although... Tom couldn't understand where the giant snake had come from. His knights had also been surprised by it, and in the ensuing chaos, no one had thought to follow it.

Dearborn was nodding. "I went to the Owlery to send a late letter just before curfew."

Tom, who was good at picking up on subtle body language, noticed how Dearborn's gaze shifted when he mentioned the letter. Was he lying? Tom knew all about the secretive way Dearborn sent messages almost every evening. That was how he'd known Dearborn would be in that area, at that time.

"I was coming back when a giant snake appeared. It chased me along the corridor and into a swamp." Dearborn paled. "You know how I hate snakes."

"It just appeared?" Buffy asked, her voice subdued. "Like, out of thin air?"

Caradoc nodded. "Exactly. One moment I was alone, then I heard something fall over behind me." He shuddered. "As soon as I saw what it was, I turned, and ran."

"Didn't you use your wand?" asked Tom. Malfoy had seen the flash of magic before Dearborn had sprinted out of the corridor.

"I cast a Full-Body-Bind Charm on it." Dearborn frowned. "It didn't work."

"Perhaps, a miscast." Tom tried to sound sympathetic, but it was hard to keep glee from his voice.

Caradoc frowned again. "No, I cast it perfectly. I also used a Vanishing Charm. That didn't work either.

"Really?" Tom found that interesting. What kind of snake defied magic like that? Dearborn was supposed to be handy with a wand, and despite being a Gryffindor, he wasn't a complete idiot.

Dearborn's face creased up with puzzlement. "I've never seen anything like it. It must have been ten foot long with huge fangs. I thought... It might sound stupid, but I thought it could be a basilisk. They say they are immune to most spells."

"What about cutting its head off?" Buffy piped. "Beheading works on most things." Both boys ignored her; the days of sword carrying were long gone.

"I doubt it was a basilisk." Tom had tried conjuring one once and failed. Suddenly, he remembered when Malfoy had come running down the corridor, screaming about being chased by a Dementor.

"Was it a boggart?" he asked. "There's been one causing trouble in the castle. I'll mention it again to Professor Merrythought. If it's turning into a pest, she'll be interested in hunting it down and using it for her class to study.

He was surprised when Buffy let out a hiss and gave him an evil look. She hadn't used parseltongue... yet... the sound wasn't far off and quite intimidating. What had upset her?

Caradoc's eyes lit up. "A boggart! Oh! If I'd known... but I ran from it and then the floor gave way beneath my feet. That's when I fell into mud and water. I tried to get out... That's when I saw a shape... swimming for me. I shouted – ."

"You screamed," corrected Tom unable to stop himself. "Very loudly and shrilly. Like a silly, little girl."

"Tom!" The annoyed expression hadn't left Buffy's face.

"What?" Tom asked. "It's true! Everyone there says they heard Caradoc shrieking. All the prefects heard him."

Dearborn's handsome face flushed. He twitched and almost sent the breakfast tray skittering to the floor. "Riddle is right. I screamed." His eyes sought Buffy's, a beseeching, puppy-dog expression on his face that made Tom want to punch it. "You must think I'm not only stupid but a bad coward."

"Nope, you're brave." Buffy soothed. She leaned in and placed her hand over Caradoc's. "If I'd been all alone, I'd have been scared too."

"Buffy, I'm sorry for..." Dearborn's eyes went to Tom's then back to Buffy. He gripped her hand tightly. "I am sorry for the things I said to you in the corridor. When I saw your necklace, I thought... I was shocked. You know how much I hate Grindelwald."

Necklace? What was so shocking about Buffy's necklace? Tom regarded the Durmstrang boy intently, reading much more than Caradoc thought he was giving away.

Buffy twitched, uncomfortable. "Let's just forget it. I'm not a Grindelwald supporter and neither are my family."

Tom stiffened. They'd argued about her being a Grindelwald supporter? Hadn't she just told him she was planning on living with a Dark Lord in a castle? The Lovegoods were not a Dark family, what was she up to? What interest did she have in Gellert Grindelwald?

"I hope I haven't lost you as a friend?" Buffy asked, making Tom want to bury his head in his hands.

Caradoc smiled with a huge dollop of fake shyness at her. "I never wanted to lose your friendship."

Tom felt nauseated. He wanted to drag Buffy away and take her as far from Dearborn as he could. The Durmstrang boy was up to something, he'd read his thoughts as clearly as if they'd been written on a page.