Chapter 4

Intrusion

Riddle had managed to slip back inside after convincing another matron he had to see the nurse for a skin reaction from poison ivy. Of course that was an utter lie. He had dragged his nails across his wrist until the skin began to turn red with some budding welts. It was enough to mislead the woman, and after a trip to the sickbay because he knew his story would be checked, Riddle was free to return to his room unbothered by anyone. He absolutely hated the forced mingle time the matrons thought they all needed. Stupidity is probably catchable with those buffoons. The brunette's solace was abruptly disrupted by a sudden force against his back. His head snapped toward the source of pressure only to be met with gray eyes widening in surprise. Harrison.

"Haha, did the princess sneak away?" Harrison looked rather amused for a moment at their unexpected encounter.

Tom flung the antibacterial soaked rag the nurse had given him at the raven's head at hearing that atrocious name. He would never tolerate being called by any type of nickname and definitely not something as appalling as princess. Unfortunately it seemed his roommate had rather good reflexes as they dodged the rag for it only to land smack dab onto another boy's face; one Riddle recognized as Billy the self-made bully of the place. Oh joy, an even greater idiot.

However before any confrontation could be had Riddle felt a grip on his wrist and then his body turning on his heel without his prompting before he was running down the hallway. He barely had time to register the fact Harrison had dragged him away before their forms rounded the corner and he collided with the boy again. How dare he- "Harrison!" Tom hissed when he was shoved into a closet with said boy pushing in directly behind him with far too many points of body contact for the brunette's liking.

The door shut with a soft click.

"Hush a second." Harrison withheld the wince upon feeling teeth pinching the underside of his middle finger but he didn't let up his hold on the other boy's mouth. "I'll let up in a moment, they're passing right now."

Riddle did not have a moment nor did he do things on other people's time. He opened his mouth wider, curled his tongue around Harrison's top finger (index), and pulled the digit into his mouth only to chomp down hard. He shoved the raven away the moment he was freed and promptly wiped his mouth with the cuff of his sleeve; glaring harshly. "Don't ever touch me."

Harrison gave him a weird look while shaking out the bitten hand. "You're the one who put my finger in your mouth."

"And you only have yourself to blame for gaining wounds." Tom turned around in the small space hoping to find a lightswitch.

The raven's mouth opened, paused mid word, and then closed in thought as Riddle did have a bit of a point. He knew Tom was only talking about the bite he had given him himself but Harrison had gained a few bruises from earlier thanks to his own actions. Not that he really cared. Billy-boy is an utter douche. He flexed the fingers of the hand he had fisted before landing a solid punch on the asshole's face. "Worth it."

"Just open the door. I rather not breathe the same air as you more than required."

"Are you always this nice to newcomers?"

"Be quiet and open the door."

Harrison just grinned.

The lighting coming in from the space between the door's edges and two inch bottom gap gave enough dim light for Riddle to see the stupid grin fade into a small frown. That did not bode well. Hearing the doorknob jiggle without the door swinging open in movement caused Tom's anger to flare. He nudged the raven's hand away to try himself without any lock. He tried it one more time before giving up, as continuous attempts would just be a waste of energy, and pressed his back against the solid wood. Eyelids sliding close to help contain the utter annoyance he felt toward his current predicament and roommate.

"So…"

"Shut up."

"...come here often?"

Tom snapped his head toward the one who got them into this mess. His brown eyes conveying death to those gray eyes that held nothing but a mixture of boredom and amusement. Insolent bastard. "What reason did you have to-"

"What kinda roommate would I be if I didn't help you, hmm?"

"I didn't need help."

"Uh-uh, s'course you didn't." Harrison slipped past Riddle to sit down on an upturned mop bucket at the back of the closet and leaned back against the shelf with entwined fingers behind his head. He figured he may as well get comfortable as it was going to be awhile until someone came to open the door. Who knew the door only opened from the outside? "Feel free to leave then."

Riddle seethed.

The two remained in the small space of the closet without a word spoken between them. It was probably reaching a 10 minute mark by now and yet no one had passed by the door on the outside. Harrison at some point had grown bored of pretending to doze off and started to watch Riddle from his seated position with no less amusement. It was proving to be quite entertaining to mess with the young Voldemort. With death off the table he's so harmless. And at this age he really is like a disgruntled kitten. His sudden chuckle gained him a loathing look that he easily brushed off. He sat up a bit as he figured enough time had passed by now and it was time to set the idea that had struck him upon first realizing the door had locked behind them.

"Oi, wanna see a magic trick?"

"Are you going to suffocate yourself?"

"Do you have a breath-play kink?"

"What?"

"Guess it's too early for that." Harrison mumbled to himself as he moved toward where the other had remained leaning against the door. "Watch this." He made sure to make a show of sticking a paperclip into the keyhole and jostling it around before casting a nonverbal Alohomora spell. The lock clicked. Harrison pushed the door open while shifting himself so the light could bathe over Riddle's form as further proof of their gained freedom. "Cool, eh?"

Tom said nothing as he stepped over the threshold nor did he give any forewarning when he shut the door closed behind him; nearly smacking the other boy in the face. The cut off noise of surprise was almost soothing to his ears. He walked toward his room in slightly better spirits.

The following weeks were quite uneventful.

Riddle kept to his books and Harrison roamed about doing his own thing only he knew the purpose of. The two didn't interact much but then again it could be simply because words weren't needed to fill any silences that came between them. At least until boredom hit which prompted Harrison to seek out any means of entertainment to remedy it. Tom didn't care what the other boy did long as it was far away and more importantly did not include him. Thankfully for Riddle his new roommate had zero interest being around him for the most part. Tom felt a bit sour about that at times since they were supposed to be roommates, and the boy was tolerable when not being a proven menace to society, but it was easily brushed away the moment he happened to spot the raven haired boy from a distance doing something troublesome.

However there was one thing Riddle did notice.

Whenever Harrison came back from doing whatever he did he would hunt down Riddle and just invade the other boy's peace no matter what state he was in. One time Harrison had come up to him in the reading corner of the rec room with a busted lip, disheveled clothing, and that lazy smile Riddle wanted to smack off. Not a word was said until the raven got up from the bench and threw an apple at Tom's head before walking away. He had no idea why but sometimes it felt like Harrison was actually checking in on him in some twisted way but that was such a ridiculous thought it was easily dismissed.

Except for today.

Riddle sat underneath the big tree in the yard with a book already open upon his lap. His focus more attuned to his surroundings than the text before him thanks to the boy leaning against his tree beside him. Harrison had causally fallen into step beside him when a matron had come to their room to tell them it was time to get some fresh air with the other kids. Neither boy enjoyed the forced mingling in the slightest but it was mandatory. Tom felt a tad jealous toward the older kids who were taken on outings to the town center once a month. Riddle pointedly sent Harrison a warning glare which only gained him a raised brow of near dismissal. He really did hate the boy more than he tolerated him at times. Thankfully the idiot knew better than to talk to him at the least; however the quiet was not to last as another boy along with a matron were making their way toward them.

"Expecting company, Riddle?' Harrison's voice held an amused tone Tom did not care for. "And here I thought my presence was enough for the princess."

"Your presence has never been wanted."

"Only because I'm nice enough to not leave you wanting."

The cold glare went without verbal response as neither boy was able to continue the conversation as the two approaching figures finally came to a stop before them. The boy with the matron stood slightly behind the woman, looking a tad nervous and yet set, as he pointed at Tom's seated form. "He's the one who stole me yo-yo, ma'am."

"Tom," came the woman's voice; a sternness entering her tone as a look of scolding overtook her previously relaxed expression. "Is what Bentley said true? You know we have strict rules about stealing."

Harrison watched silently on. Thanks to his kept memories his mind scoured up the memory of his former self and Albus Dumbledore diving into the old man's memory of meeting Tom Riddle for the first time. The ablaze wardrobe, the tin of trinkets, and the display of magic for what it was actually meant to be. Intimidation and reform. He sucked his teeth at the distasteful memory. He hadn't thought about that event since he first got here months ago. Back then in his original timeline he had no idea the real truth behind the old man's actions but he had come to know. Albus was a down right manipulative and controlling wizard who saw only what he wanted to see. Harrison grinned suddenly. What better way to start dismantling the old man's plan than to steal that moment from the future Albus Dumbledore.

"You may go join the other children, Harrison. This matter does not concern you, my dear." The matron said while motioning to some area away from the current location. "I need to speak with Tom and Bentley alone."

"Oh sure, I'll go."

There was something in his roommate's voice that had Tom keeping his eyes on the other boy further. He knew Harrison knew about the yo-yo having thrown it at the other boy's head just a few days ago. Riddle's feeling was proven right when Harrison's gray eyes flicked to him just before he pushed off the tree; heading not away from the matron and Bentley but toward the two. The Matron looked a little confused at that but before the woman could say anything of question Harrison's right fist landed hard into Bentley's cheek causing the boy to go down instantly with a shout of pain. Tom's eyes widened in a slip of shown reaction from the completely unexpected attack. He knew his roommate would get into some tussles, mostly with Billy's group for some weird form of entertainment or when the prat decided to pick on the raven, but this was different.

"HARRISON!" The matron shouted in both disbelief and ignition. She rushed to help the downed boy up, checking Bentley over, before locking her eyes upon the addressed boy. "What is the meaning of this!?"

Harrison meanwhile looked completely unbothered; hands slipping casually into their pants pockets as they remained where they were beside the pair. Riddle could tell instantly what the other boy was actually doing though. Their body may be in a relaxed position but Tom knew an intimidation tactic when he saw one and Harrison was definitely looming over the Bentley boy. His gray eyes staring down at the crying kid in silent warning despite the relaxed expression on his face. If there was one thing Tom knew about Harrison it was that the raven really did not care at all for the consequences of his actions nor the opinion of others as most would.

"I'm sorry, I just can't stand liars."

"Excuse me?" The woman's expression shifted once more. "Explain yourself now mister or you will be confined to your room now and without dinner before lights out. Violence will not be tolerated here."

"I saw Bentley drop his yo-yo into the river awhile ago." Harrison lied smoothly, eyes glancing at the sniffling boy, he continued on even when Bentley's fear turned into confusion. "He was complaining so much about it that Riddle told him to shut up."

"Are you saying Bentley is attempting to get Tom into trouble?"

"I couldn't say for sure, ma'am. I only saw what I saw."

The person of topic remained seated where they were as Tom was quite fine with simply watching the events playout. He wasn't sure as to why Harrison was lying for him. It was not required or expected. They owed one another nothing. And yet the other boy was shifting the warranted blame off of him. He could see that the matron was leaning toward believing his roommate rather than the other boy despite the trouble Tom knew his roommate got into behind the backs of the matrons. All the other kids in the orphanage knew it too. It was no secret that Harrison would get up to any kind of mischief to cure boredom, be it helping someone else or messing with someone for fun by means of the implied word. This point was proven true by the weird look on Bentley's face; a strange mixture between confusion (at helping Tom Riddle of all people), anger and cowardice. The latter emotion kept Bentley's mouth shut- more so from being under the raven's pressing aura.

It would be this very event that a future Tom Riddle would look back on and realize that Harrison Black had always been a force to reckon with.

However the present Tom Riddle is too self assured to make any real consideration that there may be another person within the orphanage on par with himself let alone even more dangerous. So he merely went along with the farce with an air of being above such childish antics. The matron seemed to have deemed the issue resolved for now as she left with Bentley in tow but did punish all three boys with no dinner for the night. Tom wasn't sure why he was punished too if the end matter showed he had no part but he figured this matron was one of the older few who disliked him. He couldn't recall having ever done anything to her personally but he knew the staff talked. Not that Riddle cared.

"So where do I sign?"

"Sign what?" Tom closed his book having lost his mood, and ability, for a quiet seated read.

Harrison walked along with the other boy when they stood up and started heading toward the building; not caring about the clear dismissal Riddle gave nonverbally. "For the written contract I know you're gonna want, since you owe me now."

Here Riddle stopped and turned on the slightly taller boy. "Delusional is quite a fitting look for you."

"Should I get that sized for two?" The raven gestured in the space between them; the action causing Tom to just turn and walk away. "Oi, don't be like that princess. I just helped-"

"I asked for no such thing. Stop spewing your bored antics into my personal time."

"Big words for a 10 year old."

"Still older than you."

"Oh yeah? When's your birthday?"

"31st of Dec- stop following me." Tom hissed when he realized he had fallen into an actual conversation with the other boy, again. He hated how Harrison always seemed to get him to slip up and fall into these stupid childish moments he cared nothing for. He was better than other children, he was above them, mature enough to be treated like an actual person. An adult. "We are not friends despite our forced sharing of a room."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. You, " Here Harrison raised both hands to make air quotation marks. "tolerate me. You sure are a prickly asshat for being such a delicate princess." He caught the hand before it could hit him and used the limb to tug Riddle close enough to ruffle the boy's hair before he got out of further hitting range. "And your birthday is 6 months away when mine is just around the corner." The lazy grin slipped onto the raven's face as he turned around to walk backward away from his now silently seething roommate. "Same date funnily enough, eh?"

Tom refused to acknowledge the possibility of being younger than that idiot. And their birthday was at the end of this month on top of that. I hope he dies on his birthday. He leveled the boy with an icy look not at all amused as they seemed to be. Since his peace was no more Riddle saw no point in humoring the matron who had forced them out and decided returning to his room was an option to be taken up. He just needed Harrison gone.

"Go away."

"No."

Well, it was worth a shot. Riddle knew the chances of the command working was quite low as Harrison was similar to himself in that sense; not being one to bow to the whims of others. Only Harrison would do so at times if it amused him whereas Tom would not. His eyes moved down the length of the other boy's body to their backtracking feet. An idea struck him as he watched the blades of grass curl around Harrisons shoe whenever he stepped. Maybe he could scare the boy away and Tom had a way to do so…after all most kids had a fear of snakes.

A/N:

Yes, there was a time jump.

I got bored.

Should I keep this story going?

Not too sure bout the flow of it tbh - Eh well-