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Chapter Text

Tom had been convinced his seventh year would be boring until he met Harry, the Slytherin transfer student. Not only was he only joining Hogwarts for his seventh year, but because he was hiding something major, and Tom was determined to find out what (because Harry was most definitely hiding something even if Tom hadn’t managed to figure out what exactly it was yet.) His Knights saw Harry as some boring mudblood who had been missorted. Because unless someone was smart enough to look deeper into Evans, like Tom was, Harry appeared to be no one of interest. He never socialized with any students, arrived at his classes right before the bell rang, and left as soon as class ended. The books he read in the library were never illicit or from the Restricted Section and were only the supplementary reading for their classes. He had no ambitions to speak of, unless being unnoticed counted as an ambition, and were it not for their first meeting Tom, where genuine hatred of Tom shone in Harry’s eyes, Tom would have left him alone.

Despite Tom’s attempts at trying to get closer to Harry to learn what he was hiding, nothing seemed to work, which made no sense. At first, Tom thought it would be easy to gain Harry’s friendship, as it would save him from the hostility of the other Slytherins. Harry had no way of knowing that Tom was not the friendly, perfect student that he appeared to be, and so turning down a chance to become his friend and gain some of his status made no sense. But instead of turning to Tom for help, Harry focused on not being found by the others. He was exceptionally talented at disappearing and was often only seen during classes and mealtimes. He never spent any time in the Slytherin common room and only returned to the dorms minutes before curfew every night and went to bed immediately.

Because of this drastic steps had to be taken to get the strange transfer student to open up. Tom didn’t know exactly what Harry was hiding but he knew it was important just as he knew that he was on the path to greatness and so he began to put his plan into motion.

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Five minutes before curfew Harry left the library and hurried back to the dungeons. He was never one for studying before time travel, but learning was his best bet to get back to his future and to avoid Tom Riddle who was paying attention to his every move.

For some reason, the teenage psychopath was intent on following him everywhere and trying to get Harry to spill his guts out to him and Harry wasn’t sure if he was more disturbed that it wasn’t literal this time, or that he was approaching this task with a single-minded dedication. It seemed that even in another time Voldemort was strangely fixated on him, despite the lack of a prophecy.

Upon returning to the dorms, Harry was met with the sight of all the beds pushed into the edges of the room and a large circle of the seventh year boys who were just finishing making some sort of drink and a bottle of Ogden’s Finest in the middle of the circle, likely meant to be the prize of whatever game his dormmates were setting up.

Before Harry was able to figure out which bed was his so he could avoid socializing and go to bed after casting a very strong silencing charm, Tom said “Harry, I’m so glad you arrived. We were just about to start a game of Never Have I ever,  and I saved you a spot.”

“Thank you for doing that Riddle but I was planning on going to bed so I could get up early to work on Dumbledore’s paper” Harry replied, hoping that Tom’s offer had just been a formality and not a setup to learn more about him.

“As head boy, I’d be more than happy to help you with schoolwork, if it’s causing you any trouble. Besides, it's only Friday so you have all weekend to finish it and a break this evening could help you relax and allow you to know all of us better which could be very useful for the rest of the year” Tom replied, eyes narrowing slightly as he said the last sentence. Harry heard the threat in his statement and knew that Tom would make the rest of his year hell if he continued to avoid Tom’s attempts to learn more about him, so Harry resignedly put his book bag down and walked over to the circle where the only remaining spot was to the right of Riddle. Besides, if Tom figured Harry out Harry might get left alone as he was no longer interesting, which would be nice.

“I’ll explain how the Slytherin version of this game works, as we’re a bit more cut-throat than the Hufflepuffs. The game itself is simple. Everyone takes turns saying a statement that starts off with ‘Never Have I Ever.’ If you’ve done what the person says you take a drink and put down a finger and if not you don’t. We’ll play until everyone but one person has all ten fingers down. Our version of the game differs from the other houses as only the loser of the game can have their secrets be told, which is enforced through a magical contract. As long as you’re not the last person to finish, everything you said is completely confidential. The glasses are enchanted to show others if you’re lying about your answer so no drinking or withholding when you have done something, to prevent people from lying to keep their secrets”

“Seems simple enough. Pass me a contract so I can read it over,” Harry responded.

After he’d read through the contract and signed it, Tom immediately began the game with “Alright I’ll start. Never have I ever killed anyone” and promptly drank.

Tom knew this was a good way to make sure Harry understood how serious he was about the contract and what type of game this was going to be, as well as a way to establish a lead early on. While Tom had expected others, like Nott who participated in muggle-baiting to drink, Harry was the only other one to take a drink and put down a finger, looking Tom straight in the eyes as he did. Harry’s drinking caused Rosier and the others to raise their eyebrows in disbelief. No one thought that Harry, the boy who apologized to the armor he bumped into, to be a killer, but seeing as his glass wasn’t glowing to indicate that he was lying, Harry evidently was much more dangerous than anyone had previously guessed.

Tom raised an eyebrow at Harry, to encourage him to share more details, but Harry only shook his head in a manner that said he wasn’t going today anything. Despite this Rosier spoke up, saying “I didn’t know you had it in you Harry. Who was it?”

Instead of responding Harry decided to take his turn and said “Seeing as I was the only other one to drink, I guess I’ll go next. Never have I ever used an unforgivable” and then drank again. This time a couple more boys joined Tom and Harry in drinking, but the mood had shifted. Originally the other Slytherins thought the game would be a good way to learn more about Harry’s past and to blackmail the new Slytherin with his secrets as they had assumed Harry would lose. Tom too was surprised by this information. While he knew that Harry was hiding something he hadn’t expected this.

As the game continued Tom learned that while Harry had both performed and been cursed by the Cruciatus and Imperius, he had never cast a killing curse which caused Nott to ask “Then how the hell did you kill someone?”

Instead of not responding to Nott’s question Harry grinned and said “Who said I’ve only killed one person?”

After that particular remark, Rosier refused to begin his turn until Harry gave more details, but Harry refused to respond unless he was allowed to use it as his turn so that no one could speak about it. Tom’s Knights looked to him for confirmation and after he nodded Harry said without a hint of regret in his eyes “Never have I ever burnt someone to death with my hands” and then drank and put a finger down.

Tom didn’t know how to respond to that and neither did anyone else. Noting the extended silence, Harry smiled like he enjoyed being able to talk about what he had done and added “and I was eleven when this happened.”

This admission prompted everyone to again reexamine how dangerous their new roommate was and try to ask more questions but Harry refused to answer them. “Unfortunately for your curiosity, it’s Rosier’s turn.”

While Rosier was admitting that he’d kissed one of his first cousins, something that Avery drank to as well, Tom leaned over and asked Harry “How did burning someone to death feel?”

“Painful. If I were you, I’d stick with the killing curse, it’s much more effective and less messy.”

With every word Harry spoke, Tom’s interest in him grew. He was barely able to pay attention to what others were saying. Who cared that Black had memorized an entire opera, when Harry was able to resist the Imperius. Unfortunately, Harry refused to let anyone test this as he claimed everyone was too drunk to point a wand at him. Tom’s initial annoyance that Harry had been able to escape Tom’s easy classification as someone boring but hiding something to being the most interesting and possibly the most dangerous, barring Tom himself, in the room. Even though Tom would likely not be able to use Harry’s secrets against him as Harry was only one drink behind Tom, it didn’t mean that these secrets would never be thought of again. Tom would get closer to Harry and learn more about him. He would make an amazing addition to the Knights of Walpurgis and Tom was already thinking about how once he got Harry he was never going to let him go

Tom was snapped out of his thoughts of Harry when he realized it was his turn to go again. He himself only had three more fingers to go while Harry had four, and everyone else was irrelevant. Tom didn’t even care about the fact that Black was likely going to lose, as blackmailing him was nowhere near as interesting as Harry was. He was only thinking of Harry and what else he and his pretty little brain were hiding from him. Tom swore that he would learn every single detail about his Harry until the divide between Harry and himself became unclear.

Pushing the thoughts of Harry away, Tom decided he wanted to get ahead even further and decided to pull the Parselmouth card, and slurred “Never have I ever spoke Parseltongue.”

To his surprise, Harry drank as well and  before Tom could even begin to ask any questions Harry hissed “Never have I ever freed a snake from a zoo and trapped a muggle in his place” looking him right in the eyes like his admission was a challenge, and drank, making them tied for first.

Tom soaked up this extra information like a sponge. Just who the hell was Harry Evans and how had he managed to avoid Tom so well before tonight. Tom wished that Harry had been at Hogwarts for longer as it seemed that Harry became more interesting as every second passed. Tom had to tie himself to Harry before this school year ended so that he would never be able to escape Tom again.

 Harry had the potential to be a threat but he would make an even better ally, or maybe something more, and he could no longer be ignored like before. Desire to know more about Harry was practically consuming Tom and so when one of his Knights got both Harry and Tom out for their status as halfbloods, a fact that surprised Tom as Harry had been claiming to be a muggleborn, Tom knew he had to ask Harry some more questions before he was able to run off to bed.

As the game continued after their joint win, Tom slung his arm over Harry’s shoulder which caused him to grab for his wand and blush a little. Tom thought Harry looked rather good like this, with his hair mussed and his bright green eyes staring at Tom intently. Not letting this revelation deter him from trying to find out more, Tom shifted closer and said “Congratulations Harry, you’ve managed to win along with me. How does it feel knowing that no one here can ever tell anyone you’re a murderer?” Tom inquired, grinning after seeing Harry bristle at the question.

 “Probably the same way you do Tom. After all I’m not the only killer here, now am I?” Harry responded, trying to worm away from Tom who was determined to latch onto him.

 “Speaking of killings you never did get around to telling me about the other people that you’ve killed. Care to tell me? Perhaps sometime this weekend? We did win the bottle of Ogden’s Finest and so we’ll have to share”

“Not particularly Tom. And you can keep the bottle if you’re only interested in learning more about my crimes.” Harry responded while trying to remove Tom’s arm from his shoulder.

“Now Harry, I’d hoped that after how much we shared tonight that we were closer to becoming friends. And friends tell each other things, like how many people they’ve murdered, and when. I promise I won’t tell anyone how or what you did, and I’ll obviously tell you my crimes as well. Is it the crowd you’re worried about Harry?” Tom whispered right into Harry’s ear.

 “I promise that they wouldn’t tell a soul, and if you’re that worried we could go talk somewhere more private. Our beds ended up being moved right next to each other when we were rearranging the room, so we could go there now and get to know each other better. If you’d like even more privacy than that, I know a place where no one else could find us.” Tom finished with a flirty smile. He didn’t think his approach would work, but after seeing Harry look up at him through his lashes he knew he had to try.

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Not only was Tom Riddle trying to talk to him about murder he was trying to get into his pants too! Harry had thought that participating in this game would get Tom to back off from pestering Harry, as would have figured him out. Instead, it only increased his interest in more ways than one. Hopefully, Tom was just a flirty drunk and that he would lose interest when sober, but something told Harry that wasn’t the case.  Harry responded, “No thanks Tom, tonight has been very eventful and I’m tired and just want to go to bed. Alone. ”

“If you insist, Harry. We can always talk later now that we’ve gotten to know each other better. I have a feeling that we will do great things together, both in and out of school. I’m feeling tired as well and so I’ll head back to bed with you, and we can continue our chat tomorrow.”

 Walking to the other side of the room, Tom wondered if Harry knew how different the rest of his school year was going to be. Harry might have been able to hide in the shadows before but this was going to change. Harry might not agree to it yet, but he was Tom’s and had been ever since he had admitted to killing someone and not showing a hint of remorse in his eyes. After bidding Harry goodnight Tom settled into his own bed and began to plan how exactly he was going to get Harry by his side.

Chapter Text

Harry woke up to the coolness that only a dungeon floor is capable of and a pounding headache. Upon remembering that he did not normally wake up on the dorm floor Harry figured that when he was sleeping he managed to fall into the crevice between his bed and Tom’s, and so he began to quietly get up, in an attempt to avoid his dormmates, especially Tom. 

However, as soon as Harry began to move Tom said “Why Harry, if I had known that you wanted to be closer to me that badly, I definitely would have pushed our beds together” as if he had been watching Harry to see when he woke up.

Harry jolted awake at Tom’s words as he hadn’t known Tom was awake or that he had been watching him while he slept. A large part of him didn’t want to respond but Harry knew that ignoring the situation would not help.

“Merlin Riddle, how long have you been watching me sleep like a creep?” Harry said while getting up and trying to add some distance between him and Tom. Unfortunately, this did not work as Riddle ended up taking a step closer, like Harry would try and run if he was given enough space. Which while true, hindered Harry’s escape attempts.

Riddle responded like the asshole he was. “I wasn’t meaning to watch you when you were sleeping, I had just woken up and was about to get out of bed. Luckily for you, I looked down and realized I was about to step on you and then you woke up.”

“Well thank you so much for not stepping on me Tom. It must have been so difficult not to,” Harry responded, his patience worn thin from having to deal with Tom for all of last night. It did not help that he was already feeling poorly from the amount he had drank last night. Standing up to leave had induced a wave of nausea and a throbbing in his head that made him want to run towards the nearest bin.

Looking at Tom, it appeared that last night did not have the same effect on him. There was no sign that the game they played last night had any effect on him, which upon a second inspection may have to do with the hangover potion in his hands.

“Want some? It’s only fair to offer you some, especially considering your initial reluctance towards joining us last night?”

“What’s the catch, Tom? I can’t imagine you being altruistic, especially considering how much more you want to know about me.”

“Well since you mentioned it,” Tom responded with a grin that indicated he had hoped Harry would ask, “Just don’t go out of your way to avoid me today.”

“That’s all?” Harry asked skeptically. 

“Yes Harry. In case you couldn’t tell from last night, I want to get to know you better, which is quite difficult when you are constantly trying to avoid me and the rest of the Slytherins.”

Just as Harry was about to say no another wave of nausea shot through him prompting him to change his mind.

“Just for today, Riddle” Harry said and then downed the hangover cure. Almost immediately Harry began to feel better. His headache disappeared and he no longer felt nauseous, only hungry, something that was supported by his stomach grumbling.

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Seizing this opportunity Tom grabbed his school bag and Harry’s arm and led him out of the dorms, through the Common Room and into the dungeon halls.

 “Unfortunately, we missed breakfast today. Luckily I know where the kitchens are, and as you’re hungry and not allowed to avoid me today I see no reason why we shouldn’t get going right away.” Tom explained so that Harry would not start complaining about being dragged around.

“Officially the location of the kitchens is a Hufflepuff secret but they don’t seem to mind others knowing as long as you’re respectful in there,” Tom said, trying to get a conversation flowing in between him and Harry. 

Unfortunately, Harry did not seem like he wanted to talk or even be near Tom as he was walking like he was being marched to his death. Tom decided to try and break the silence again to make it clear to Harry that he would not be able to act like this today.

“You know Harry, when I said you couldn’t avoid me today in exchange for that potion it included talking with me as well.”

“I’d say in the future Tom you should be more specific with your deals, something you should know from being in Slytherin for so long. So was there something you wanted to ask me? I can’t promise I’ll answer but you can ask”

“You can keep your secrets for now, Harry. We’ve arrived at the kitchen entrance.”

Tom walked forwards towards the painting that hung on the wall and pointed to the pear. “We’re at the kitchen entrance now Harry. All you have to do to get in is tickle the pear.” Tom said while tickling the painting making the opening appear.

The Hogwarts kitchens were as chaotic and loud as usual. The house-elves were constantly popping in and out to cook and clean everything in the large room. Tom often came to the kitchens to get food after a long round of patrolling the hallways and so the elves were quite used to his presence. What he hadn’t expected was for them to be so comfortable around Harry. The first time Tom came to the kitchens he was greeted by a bunch of the house-elves asking for his name and then asking what he needed. As such, he had expected Harry to get the same treatment from the elves working in the kitchen.

Instead of the large affair Tom had been expecting, the two were greeted by an elf named Tibbey who told them she’d get their fry-ups out soon and a slice of treacle tart for Harry.

“Have you visited the kitchens before, Harry?” Tom asked, curious to see if that was why the elves were not introducing themselves to Harry.

“Quite often actually. Sometimes when I get too caught up studying and miss dinner in the Great Hall I’ll come here to get some food. Although, I do appreciate you showing me this place. Had I not known about this place already, I would have been quite grateful for you sharing it with me.”

“You’re quite knowledgeable about Hogwarts considering how you’ve only been here this year.” 

“Well, like you said, the Hufflepuffs don’t exactly try to keep this place a secret” Harry responded, hoping that would be enough of an explanation.

Deciding not to press the issue, Tom tried to redirect their conversation. “Well, I can’t say I’m very surprised about you knowing of this place. After all, last night I learned many things about you that I would have never suspected from how you portray yourself.”

“Things I will not be speaking of again Tom. As much as I enjoyed being able to talk about those things freely without worrying of being judged harshly, I have no wish to discuss them anym--”

“But Harry,” Tom interrupted, eyes gleaming, “if it felt so good to talk about those things in public with others who understand, why are you so resistant to interacting with me and the other Slytherins. You could be great one day, with our help.”

This apparently was the wrong thing to say judging how angrily Harry responded “I am nothing like you Tom Riddle. Just because we have done similar things does not make us alike. Had I wanted to be a part of your group I would have already joined, but I’m not dark like you all are. And don’t speak to me of greatness. I’ve been greater than you ever could be and I much enjoy my obscurity here.”

Harry opened his mouth once more after catching a breath as if to continue speaking but then changed his mind and closed his mouth and looked away from Tom as if he had said too much. Before Tom could respond to any part of Harry’s statement, Tibbey came over with their food. Harry took this as an opportunity to stop the conversation by eating without pause.

 While Tom did the same, he took some time to ponder over what Harry had just revealed to him. To Tom, it seemed that his new interest was repressing how he truly felt. No matter how vehemently Harry denied their similarities, Tom saw how he shone last night while speaking of trapping a muggle in a reptile cage, how his eyes lit up when thinking about when he hurt people with the Cruciatus. Despite his protests, Harry was like him, he was dark or had the potential to be just as dark as Tom and the other Slytherins. What was even more interesting than Harry’s refusal to acknowledge his true self was his final statement on greatness. While Tom did believe Harry had likely done something great, he clearly didn’t understand how high Tom was going to rise. If he did, Harry might join him, because how could someone so powerful, so like him want to live in obscurity?

Tom was about to ask Harry about his final statement, when he noticed that Harry had finished eating and was cleaning up where he ate, despite knowing that the job of an elf was to clean up after wizards. Harry then started to get up as if he was going to leave.

“Harry the deal was that you wouldn’t avoid today so why are you leaving?”

“I’m not avoiding you Riddle, I’m simply going to the library. You are more than free to follow me there and I won’t try to leave but you’re going to be following me around today, not the other way around. I don’t want to be forced to deal with your tag-along’s any more than necessary.” 

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The walk to the library was mostly silent with Harry leading them there and Tom following. It was clear by Tom’s reluctance that he did not want to go to the library when this was the only day Harry wasn’t going to ignore him. Harry thought it served him right. Tom had to realize that Harry was not interested in joining him. Harry thought that he had made it very clear in the school year that he was not interested in socializing with the other Slytherins, or dealing with their behavior, which was why he had isolated himself. However, Harry had faith in his ability to adapt to this new situation. Assuming Tom didn’t get bored of trying to pry information out of him, he could learn to live with his constant presence. Harry had dealt with people he did not like his whole life and survived. In this case, there were only a few more months of this harassment, and even less if he managed to figure out how to get back home. 

Once at the library, Harry looked for a spot as far away from where he usually sat as possible, so that Tom wouldn’t be able to find him easily. The library was one of the only places that Harry could get away from Tom because of how many hiding spots it had. Eventually, the duo ended up wandering to a seat near the Restricted Section and a stained glass portrait that would try to trick people into writing down the wrong answers on their homework. There was room for a couple more people, but Harry hoped that Tom’s followers wouldn’t come and join them. Even though Tom wouldn’t be able to pay as much attention to Harry if the group came, he did not want to deal with their questions as well, or how obnoxious they could be. Just as Tom was about to open his mouth to say something, Ms. Pince’s loud shush could be heard from somewhere in the library, and so Harry got out his books and began to work on his defense essay. Tom, who had not yet taken anything out, leaned over to look at what Harry was working on. 

“Do you need any help with your defense essay Harry? The sooner you get done with your work the more time we’ll have together today.” Tom asked.

“I don’t need any help with it Tom, I’m rather good at defense in case you hadn’t noticed” Harry responded.

“I had early on, and was surprised about that earlier on in the year. However, after last night it makes much more sense that someone as powerful as you would excel at such an important subject, no matter how boring it is at Hogwarts, due to its singular focus on light magic.” 

“Well there’s no reason for them to be teaching us dark spells at Hogwarts, if that’s what you mean. Not everyone is a dark wizard like you and even if they were I can’t imagine anything good would come from teaching it.’ Harry responded.

At this reply Tom quickly responded saying “How do you rationalize not calling yourself a dark wizard and acting like you're so different from them?” 

“It’s just different Tom, and no matter how much you fish for more information you’re not getting any. Yesterday I told you more than I ever intended to tell anyone, and you’re not going to learn more,” Harry responded, while getting up “I need to find a book, I’ll be back, so don’t complain about me not honoring our deal” and left without waiting for a response.

After leaving the area the two were studying in, Harry quickly walked away from it and into the stacks. Truthfully, he didn’t have any book he necessarily needed; he just wanted to get away from Riddle. It wasn’t even that his questions were getting to him and it was just that Tom was so annoying to work with. Harry legitimately needed to get some essays done and Tom seemed to think that he was just trying to avoid him. So while leaving wasn’t the best way to get his work done, it was the best way to prevent Harry from jinxing Tom’s lips shut. Eventually, he stopped at a random shelf to grab a random book that ended up being How to Speak Owl , and then returned to finish his work. 

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Upon returning to the alcove they were working in, Harry saw that a group of Tom’s followers were there, making his day even worse. Before he could even turn around and go on another random book search, Tom told him he’d made sure to keep Harry’s seat open and his work untouched.

Before he could get back to his work Harry asked “How did you end up finding where we were studying?”

Tom responded “Apparently Theon Nott uses this alcove to study in regularly and he also said that he’s never seen you in this area. Did you choose a different area to study in because of me, Harry?”

Before Harry could respond, Theon butted in and asked “What book did you choose that took so long for you to find? The only time I’ve ever taken that long to get a book was because it was in the Restricted Section.”

“To answer your questions, yes Tom I did and I ended up choosing How to Speak Owl . After all, the only thing better than knowing one animal language is two” Harry replied and then started to work once again on his Defense essay.

Taking the hint, Tom and the others spoke mostly amongst themselves, only asking Harry the occasional question. Each time Harry would feel a little bad about ignoring them, he reminded himself who he was dealing with and even if they seemed nice enough now and wanted to hang out with him, they were people who would try to lead him down a dark path. Sometimes they would break out into whispers amongst themselves that Harry suspected were charmed so that he could not listen in, as it was complete gibberish. This slightly annoyed him, as it’s common courtesy to not hold secret conversations in front of someone. However, he let it go because Harry knew he’d likely be disgusted about what they were talking about and that they were probably only doing this to try and get his interest.

This lasted for a couple more hours until dinner was being served. Tom seemed to be in a rather good mood and so he said that Harry didn’t have to join them at dinner but that after the deal would be back on, something Harry agreed to quickly. He still ended up eating in the Great Hall, but sat far away from them and enjoyed the little time he got to himself today, as he hadn’t been in contact with this many people since before he traveled to the past.

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After finishing dinner Tom asks some of the other Slytherins about Harry who revealed that he said he was going back to the dorms, making the task of finding his new interest very easy. Unfortunately, Tom had not been able to learn much more about Harry today. He was very closed off and taking to forwards of an approach would only hinder his opening up, and so Tom had forced himself to refrain from asking everything he wanted to know, which was almost everything. Was Harry a good duelist? Did he have experience in rituals? What was the darkest thing he’d ever done? While none of these things had been answered, patience was key with someone as flighty as Harry. His Knights seemed to think so too, as during dinner they ended up discussing Harry for most of it. All except for Rosier, who thought Harry had the heart of a light wizard, thought that Harry needed to be brought into their group. It was up to Tom to get a hold of him, something he intended on doing even if his Knights weren’t also interested in recruiting Harry.

After walking back to the Common Room, Tom noticed Harry was not there. He headed to their shared dorm and saw that Harry had moved his bed back to its normal position, away from Tom’s which was rather disappointing. Waking up to Harry asleep on the floor was rather funny and it gave him time to watch Harry at his most vulnerable. 

It seemed Harry heard Tom’s entrance because he opened his curtains and asked “What are we doing now?”

“We’re going back to the Common Room, unless you’d rather spend the rest of our night in bed.” Tom replied, laughing to himself about how Harry pinked up.

After he’d managed to get himself together Harry responded “Sod off Tom, I’d rather fight a Norwegian Ridgeback.”

“Your loss,” Tom replied while leading them to the Common Room to his favorite couch in front of the fire. Harry sat down as well, making sure to leave as much room as possible between the two of them. It was clear that if there had been any other seats open he would have chosen those instead. However, the only reason this couch had even been unclaimed was because Tom had established it as solely his, something Harry likely didn’t understand the significance of as he stayed as far away from large groups of Slytherin’s as possible. This time, Tom was content to sit in silence until Harry spoke first, something that didn’t take as long as he expected.

“How good are you at divination?” Harry asked, surprising Tom.

“Unfortunately my third eye is rather underdeveloped.” Tom replied.

“Would you like to play a game then? It looks like the second years are practicing their skills of divination in front of the fire by playing higher or lower, to see if they can predict if the next card will be higher or lower than the one in front of it.”

“That sounds fun,” Tom replied “what are the stakes?”

“Why does there need to be stakes? Why can’t we just play a game for the sake of having fun instead of gaining something?” Harry asked. Tom simply looked at Harry like he was being ridiculous, causing him to cave and add “Well if you win, we could continue the agreement we have going on for another few days. And if I win you leave me alone indefinitely.”

“That’s not a fair deal, Harry. How about if I win you have to hang out with me for a week, and not ignore me all the time like you did today. If you win, I will leave you alone for a month, and tell all of our dormmates to do the same. Before you even try to negotiate this, I think it’s a fair deal considering your win lasts a month and mine only for a week” Tom replied.

This seemed to convince Harry and he held out his hand to shake. Tom took it and made eye contact while he said “Let’s do best out of ten. The next card is going to be higher than the current one.”

Unfortunately, it turned out that the next card was a two, making it lower than the four that had been out when Tom made his guess. Harry went next and said that it would be higher than the next one, and he was correct making them 0-1.

“Divination doesn’t normally agree with me, but maybe this is a sign the universe wants you to leave me alone.” Harry said after getting his first guess right. Looking at Harry in front of the fire, it almost looked like he was one of the psychics Tom would see back in the muggle world on a poster. His face was lit by the fire and his robes fit him in such a way that it made his presence seem larger than life. This illusion was only broken by Harry looking so shocked that he was correct and his smack talk.

After their first guesses, the game truly began. Despite the game being one of  luck, Harry played it like he could actually influence what card came next, something Tom found amusing. They kept on switching between who was in the lead, making the game much more intense than Tom would have thought. Not much was spoken between the two other than them saying “higher” or “lower.”

After a couple minutes the two were tied at eight and eight. It was Harry’s turn and the Queen of Hearts was the choice card. He confidently responded “Lower,” and then grinned. Unfortunately for him, the next card was the King of Hearts.

After seeing that he was wrong Harry said “Damnit, doesn’t anyone know how to properly shuffle a deck of cards.”

“You’re only complaining because you’re so close to losing Harry. I think the next one will actually be lower this time.” Tom replied, and then smiled after being proven correct. “The score is 9-8 now Harry, and I’m feeling generous. If you admit defeat now, I’ll only enforce my win for half a week.”

Scowling, Harry replied “No way Tom, I’m not going to quit when I’m so close to not dealing with you for a month. The next card is definitely going to be higher than that 5 of Wands.” 

At that the second years, who had been drawn into this game after they realized who was playing,  flipped over the next card, which was a 2 of Spades. Harry scowled and glared at Tom, like it was his fault that the card wasn’t higher.

“Don’t get mad at me that you’re losing, that’s entirely on you, or maybe it’s the universe saying you should stop avoiding me, considering that if I get this next card correct I’ll have won your little game.” Tom replied and then looked at the potential final card, a seven of Hearts.

“It’ll be higher.” Tom stated, hoping he was correct. He didn’t show it but he knew he needed to win this game if he had any chance of getting Harry, as the month that he wouldn’t be allowed to bother him, would give Harry enough time to properly plan how to avoid Tom. He gestured to  the second year to flip the card, which ended up being the Knight of Spades.

Grinning triumphantly Tom turned to Harry. “Looks like you are not getting rid of me Harry.” Tom told him, rubbing in his win and its consequences. 

“Only for another week Tom and then I’ll be done with you,” Harry responded. “I’m going to bed now Tom, I’d like to enjoy my last night of not being forced to interact with you not in your presence.”

“Sleep well then, I’ll be seeing you in the morning.” Tom replied, and then watched Harry leave. While Tom had not gotten the information that he wanted today, he got something even better, a whole nother week to get the information he wanted and to get Harry more accepting of dark magic, so that he could eventually join Tom and aid him in his goals.