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It's funny how a person's life can just completely change, instantly.
How a small moment - as small as a fleeting look - can turn someone's whole life upside-down.
That's how it went for Harry Potter.
One moment, he was bad-mouthing perfect Tom-Fucking-Riddle, the next: he found himself floored by the realisation that - oh.
Your enemy isn't meant to look at you like that.
Harry knew he was gaping stupidly - like a fish, his brain helpfully supplied - in the middle of the moderately crowded hallway, but how was he supposed to keep talking when Riddle was looking at him like that?
Everything about Riddle was so prim and proper, his whole vibe just being so self-assured, so arrogant.
But right now, he looked different.
He no doubt still held his cocky aura, but the look in his eyes couldn't be called prim nor proper. He looked...
Hungry.
His brown eyes were even darker than usual, surprisingly tantalising in the light of the candlelit corridor, and Harry noticed with faint shock that his pupils were blown. Because of Harry...?
"You were saying, Potter?" Riddle drawled, clearly aiming to sound unbothered by Harry's existence. But he was very bothered.To anyone else, Harry supposed Riddle would have looked completely composed, perfectly normal, just his usual charming self.
But Harry knew better.
He wondered if anyone else could see the cracks in Riddle's 'perfectly' crafted mask, if Abraxas Malfoy or Rabastan Lestrange could see the tension in Riddle's shoulders, in his entire perfect posture, really... Or maybe he had just gotten too good at reading his enemy. Harry couldn't quite keep the smirk off his face at that thought, and he watched in fascination as Riddle's eyes that followed the curve of his lips unwillingly, before they once again flicked up to meet Harry's, this time even darker - if that was even possible. The corridor was near enough empty at this point, most of their peers too used to their rivalry to bother watching their fights anymore.
Harry had other ideas this time, however.
He took a step closer to Riddle, watching in delight as the other teen swallowed thickly.
"Get away from me," said Riddle, and winced when his voice broke mid-sentence.
It's cute, Harry thought as he took another step, how he's still trying to act composed.
"Do you mean that?" he asked cheekily, continuing to move slowly forward, and Riddle still didn't make any attempt to stop him. He just stayed silent and eyed Harry's approaching body, gaze wandering over his lithe limbs, and Harry heard his breath hitch when Harry reached out and touched him. They were very close now - Harry was barely a metre away from Riddle, his arm stretched out, hand resting on Riddle's chest...
And then Riddle fucking snapped.
He let out a deep,, rumbling growl that twisted Harry's stomach in the most delicious way, and grabbed hold of Harry's arm, dragging him closer, blown eyes boring into Harry's-
"Tom!"
Until they were stopped.
"Hey - Tom!"
Harry caught sight of a dangerous glint in Riddle's eyes and he chuckled evilly - oh, how he pitied the poor soul that had interrupted them.
"See you later," he said quietly, winking teasingly at Riddle before pulling his arm free from the other boy's grip. Harry turned sharply, and stalked confidently down the corridor without looking back.
~
It took less time than Harry thought it would for Riddle to find him again.
He'd been sitting beside the lake out on the grounds, eyes closed as he let the spring sunlight heat his cheeks, when a noise behind him alerted him that he was no longer alone. He didn't move, and neither did the newcomer - he felt eyes on his face, but he only smiled distantly in response, eyes remaining closed and head still tilted up to the sky.
"Hey, Riddle," he said softly after a few moments of peaceful silence, and heard more gentle noise as the person settled down beside him on the bank of the lake.
"How did you know it was me?" Riddle asked, and Harry huffed out a small laugh at the note of poorly disguised curiosity in the Slytherin's tone.
"Would you believe me if I said I could sense your brooding presence?" he asked in response, tone light and teasing - something that never happened in front of Riddle.
Until now, he supposed.
"You're insufferable," Riddle muttered, and Harry opened his eyes at that, grinning at the other teenager. Riddle shifted under the newness of Harry's expression; Harry never really laughed around Riddle, never had a reason to.
"I know," Harry said simply, then tilted his head back towards the sun, eyes slipping closed once again. They were both content, then, to sit in silence, Harry resting his eyes - though still awake - as he laid on his back in the grass, and Tom sitting with his knees tucked into his chest, gazing at Harry in - loathe he admit it - awe.
But Harry figured they should probably talk, whether the silence was pleasant or not.
"What changed?" he asked quietly, and knew he didn't have to elaborate for Riddle to know what he was getting at.
"Nothing," Riddle answered, and Harry raised a sceptical eyebrow, eyes still shut. "I knew I..." he paused slightly before continuing, likely to grimace at what was to come next. "knew I... liked you when I first met you, but... I didn't want to,"
Harry nodded, encouraging Riddle to keep going.
"I decided today - not for the first time, mind you - that I wasn't even going to look at you, because I knew I'd-" he cut himself off, and Harry heard him swallow. "I knew I wouldn't be able to stop myself from undoing all I've worked for in building up a rivalry with you, thus gaining the reputation that I was uninterested... but I wasn't." he said, and Harry opened his eyes to find Riddle's gaze locked onto his face. "But then you and your stupid face and perfect body and loud fucking aura went and ruined everything in History of Magic."
The class before their confrontation.
"I didn't say anything to you in class..." Harry prompted, voice laced with confusion, and Riddle sighed.
"You didn't need to. Your whole presence is just so... demanding. You claim my attention so easily, and it's terrible, I hate it." Riddle seethed, tearing his eyes away from Harry's face and glaring at the grass beneath them as if it had personally offended him and his entire family. Harry couldn't contain his laugh, and Riddle's sharp eyes locked onto his face once again, likely to redirect the glare to Harry instead, but his expression softened involuntarily at the sight of Harry's bright, amused smile.
"I wasn't aware that I captured anyone's attention, to be honest. I've always just been... disposable. Usable. Just Harry Potter, the kid that can't say no to doing anyone's dirty work if it means it makes someone else's life a little easier... I never thought that someone like me could capture anyone's attention." he said, then winced as he sat upright and hugged his own too-skinny knees to his chest. "I basically said that twice, but you know what I mean."
Tom took a moment to curse whoever lowered Harry's self-esteem that much to the deepest pits of hell, when something clicked and he frowned at Harry in confusion. "But everyone loves you."
Harry laughed again, but this time it wasn't happy and pleasant; it sounded cold and bitter, and Tom would give anything to never have to hear it again, solely due to the fact that it was practically a direct insult to Harry's usual beautiful chime of laughter, and the comparison was almost unreal. "Do they? Or do they love the idea of me?" he asked, and Tom realised with a jolt of shock that he was right - no one around Harry seemed to genuinely want to be around him as a friend. Everyone sought him out for their own personal gain, like asking him to help with homework or to cover for a detention. Everyone assumed he had everything he could ever want, all the friends he could ever need - but when Tom thought harder about Harry's relationships with others, it became glaringly obvious that they were - for lack of better word - fake. He was the type of person that everyone assumed was built to please others, to fulfil others' wishes without complaint. He was the one people fell back on when the world went to shit, because he'd lived through it once, surely he could do it again?
This realisation made Tom extremely furious, and he was suddenly desperate to reassure Harry that he was not like one of those liars, those scum. "I like you. Just you, not the 'saviour' or 'Grindelwald's Chosen One'. Just Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-A-Pain-in-My- hey!" he broke off as Harry flicked a mild wordless stinging hex at him, and rubbed his arm accusingly; although it didn't hurt at all, and Harry knew that. The boy in question grinned innocently, until the expression simmered into a gentle smile, his intoxicating green eyes looking at Tom in a way he never had before, a way the made Tom giddy - and that was completely absurd, so he tried to shake off the feeling immediately. The fact that the result was unsuccessful was nobody's business but his own.
"Thanks. I like you too, y'know," at Tom's dismissive snort - though he was inwardly melting with pleasure - he added: "It's true! Under your mask you're a decent guy, if a little psychotic, but hey - all the best people are crazy."
Tom huffed in offence. "I am not crazy, I am merely desensitised to topics that other, more emotional humans find uncomfortable. And stop looking at me like that!" he exclaimed, but Harry only raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Like what?" he asked sweetly, and Tom tried his darn best not to fall under his damn spell.
"Like you're in on a secret that only the two of us know. I don't wear a mas- Oh..." his whole world felt like it was collapsing. He didn't wear masks! He just... pretended to feel emotions that he did not feel around certain people in order to earn their respect and submission... "Oh sweet Merlin you're right." he breathed, quite startled by this revelation.
Harry just laughed again, and Tom knew that he would never tire of hearing the sound. "I usually am. Okay, that's a lie, I'm almost always wrong about everything that happens ever, but we can pretend. I was right this time, though, that's gotta count for something!" he cheered, and Tom felt himself grinning alongside the other teenager despite himself.
"I'll allow it to count." he said primly, as if he was being merciful about it all. Which made no sense whatsoever, because Harry hadn't even wanted his opinion, but it seemed that it was the right thing to say; if Harry's shining smile was anything to go by.
And with that, they lapsed back into the pleasant silence of before, Harry studying the lake and Tom studying Harry.
~