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“Miss Potter, please try to pay attention,” Slughorn sighed tiredly as he summoned the newest Weasley’s Wizard Wheeze from her table.

Harry’s head shot up and she groaned inwardly, resting her chin on her hand as she listened to Slughorn drone on. When it was finally time to start the brewing, she slipped out of her seat to go to his table and sneak her Weather in a Bottle back.

Slipping the bottle into her robe pocket, she scanned the classroom to make sure no one had seen her. Her eyes landed on Tom Riddle, staring straight at her in disapproval.

Harry’s heart skipped a beat. She grinned at him secretively and winked. He rolled his eyes, turning back to his potion.

Back in her seat, Harry had trouble focusing for a few moments, her mind still on the interaction from before. He was looking at her. She sighed.

“Harry? Harry! Hello?” Ron said, snapping his fingers in front of her eyes and startling her out of her daydream. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, fine,” she muttered.

Hermione snorted. “She was busy daydreaming about Riddle again. He looked at her for like two seconds.”

“No,” Harry said quickly. “He also rolled his eyes at me!”

That was two interactions if you looked at it that way.

“You're the only person who takes that as a good thing,” Ron said. “It’s not a good thing that he’s rolling his eyes at you, stop seeing it that way!”

“It is coming from him,” Harry insisted confidently. “I know it. It’s his love language.”

Harry Potter was head over heels for Tom Riddle. This was as obvious to everyone as the sky being blue.

She didn’t exactly do much to hide it. The first time she asked him out in fifth year, she had been too confident that he would say yes. He could not have shut her down faster. It wasn’t in private either so word spread around. This wasn’t that big of a deal since Riddle got asked out a lot and he rejected everyone.

Unlike others, she kept trying. Her parents taught her to never give up on her dreams. Her father had even shared how maturing was what it finally took for her mother to show interest in him. Tom Riddle was nothing if not mature and sophisticated and proper. Harry knew she should probably work on getting the maturity thing down, but that’s just not how she was. There was too much joy in this world for her to sit still with a stern expression on her face.

And so her shameless pursuit continued.

For a while, Malfoy liked to make fun of her for it, but that quickly got boring because Harry could not be persuaded to drop it.

She was in love. Her and Tom were soulmates, she knew it. If he didn’t want to accept her love, then she would simply do it from afar. Hopefully in time he would see that they were meant to be.

***

Her dinners almost always consisted of watching him from across the Great Hall, wistfully. He was one of the first down for breakfast everyday and Harry was not wired to begin functioning until late morning. Getting to breakfast before it was over was a mission of itself. Lunches, he curiously didn’t have at the Great Hall. Several times Hermione said she’d seen him at the library so he either skipped them or he knew where the kitchens were.

Dinner was the only meal he attended in the same place and time as the rest of the school. If she never saw him in a day, she knew she would at dinner.

“Fine, I’ll help you with your introduction but that’s it,” Hermione said firmly, pointing her fork at Ron.

“Thank you, Hermione, you’re the best, you know that, right?” Ron said gratefully.

“Yeah, yeah,” she waved dismissively. “What about you, Harry? Have you started the Charms essay?”

“Hm? What?” Harry turned to face them distractedly.

“The Charms essay?” Hermione repeated. Out of the corner of her eye, Harry could see Tom leaving the Slytherin table. “Have you started it yet?”

“Sorry, I gotta go,” Harry said quickly, grabbing her things and scrambling out of her seat. “I’ll see you guys in the common room!”

By the time she exited the Great Hall, Tom was already gone. Harry sighed and adjusted the book bag slung over her shoulder, choosing a direction to walk in just to wander the halls. She could take the Marauder’s Map out and find him, but that was too much work. She had nothing planned to say to him so finding him wasn’t urgent and she knew that if she started to stalk him, he would definitely find out. He was smart like that.

So Harry pulled her Weather in a Bottle out of her bag and toyed with it as she traipsed through the hallways.

Turning the corner, she bumped straight into a hard chest. The bottle slipped out of her hand and she had to dance and leap to stop it from smashing on the ground. It was Weather in a Bottle, she didn’t need the small storm brewing inside to take over the corridor.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Potter, watch where you’re going!” Tom snapped. Harry looked up to see she had bumped into him and now his books were all over the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed, dropping to her knees to help him pick them up.

“No, leave it, it’s fine,” he mumbled, not wanting her help but Harry gave it anyway. It’s not like she was hoping their hands would brush as they reached for the same book—but a tiny part of her wished it would happen anyway.

(It didn’t.)

Face burning, she met Tom’s gaze as she stood. He was assessing her stance curiously.

“So…” she grimaced, at his Head Boy badge. “I guess this means detention?”

“What?” he huffed. “No, you’re not getting detention for bumping into me. I don’t even think I can dock points for that.”

“Are you sure?” Harry frowned. “I dropped all your books. You’re probably late now for a meeting—I wasted your time. That must be worth a detention.”

He rolled his eyes again. This was an old game. In sixth year, there was a new rule announced that all Prefects had to oversee the detentions they assigned. This was to prevent them doling them out like it was nothing and leaving some teachers with too many students in detention. Since then, Harry went out of her way to get assigned detention by Tom. It worked for the first few weeks, then he finally picked up on what she was doing and stopped. Occasionally, she won a detention here and there, but it had to be something that truly pissed him off.

“Well, it’s not,” he said coolly.

Harry’s eyes darted down to the book in his hand. She wondered if slapping it onto the ground would be considered harassment or obstruction of property and be worth a detention. But she was becoming more sensible day-by-day and recognized this as an idiotic thing that would achieve nothing but Tom seeing her as an annoying child.

“Fine,” she sighed. “I guess it’s for the best, I do have that Charms essay to write.” Now that she was thinking about it, she was pretty far behind on that. Everyone else except her and Ron had a good chunk of it done and Ron was already getting Hermione’s help. “Yeah, I better go actually. See you, Riddle.”

Harry brushed past him and the bottle slipped out of her hand again, causing a downpour of rain.

“Potter!” Tom growled as his books and papers got soaked.

“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed, in horror. “It was an accident!”

“Oh, of course!” he snapped sarcastically. “It’s never an accident with you!”

“No, really—”

“Just come for detention tomorrow evening, alright?” he glared, wiping the water on his forehead with his sleeve.

“No, but I can’t!” she insisted, eyes wide. She had that essay to work on!

Tom wasn’t listening, he was quickly getting out of the rain and turning the corner.

Harry frowned and sadly continued down the hall, the rain following her.

***

“Hey, Tom,” Harry whispered, six minutes into detention. There were a few other students also serving a quiet detention today. Tom usually had them do lines but lately he’d been too busy to care and just let them sit quietly and work on homework.

“No,” Tom replied, not looking up from his own homework. He scribbled away quickly. Harry gulped as she realized it was probably his Charms essay. That paper was killing her and she was far too behind on it.

“I was just wondering about—”

“No talking,” he interrupted.

Harry pulled her lips in and nodded, returning her attention to her paper. She had an introduction and that was it. This paper was one of the biggest they had to work on and it was due tomorrow. It was too important to leave to the last minute like she had. Her foot tapped on the floor. When that wasn’t enough to shake off her anxiety, her leg began to bounce. When that wasn’t enough, she glanced at the clock to see three minutes had passed.

“Do you think we could make an exception to that rule just this one time?” Harry whispered again, leaning on her elbows.

Tom sighed in exasperation and dropped his quill. His annoyed eyes flicked up to her.

“Is it an emergency?”

Her heart was beating too fast, her thoughts were racing and she felt as though the walls would close in on her just because this essay was not going to get done on time. So yeah, she would say it’s quite an emergency.

“Yes.”

“Is it life or death?” he raised his eyebrows.

If she failed this essay then she could fail her Charms NEWT and then not be a good candidate for the Auror Academy, and if she didn’t have the best Auror training, she would be less prepared out on the field and that could very well kill her so yes, it kind of was life or death. Plus, she might pass out before dinner if she doesn’t get on with this essay.

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“Erm…” her gaze flicked to the nosy students, listening in.

As mentioned, Harry’s massive crush on Tom was not a secret. In fact, she’d recently earned herself a reputation for the most bizarre and ridiculous attempts at wooing, with the younger crowds. The upperclassmen still remembered her for her outstanding Quidditch performance as a first and second year, but these new kids only knew her as the fool who occasionally blew things up to get the Head Boy’s attention.

“Get back to work or you’re writing lines,” Tom demanded of the students. He turned his attention to Harry expectantly.

Her eyes were wide, staring at him pleading, like a desperate animal. He sighed again and reluctantly made his way over to her desk, pulling a chair to sit across from her.

Harry’s heart fluttered when he came so close to her. She tried not to focus on the smell of his cologne but everything about him was so perfect, it was no wonder she was doing so poorly in her classes.

“What is it?” he repeated.

Harry discreetly covered her parchment and bit her lip.

“How far along are you on your Charms essay?” she whispered.

He blinked in confusion.

“Not very far,” he admitted. “I only finished it last night and haven’t got a chance to begin editing it until right now.”

Harry’s face burned, her insides getting colder.

“Why?” he asked suspiciously. “How far along are you?”

She slid her paper off the desk to hide but he was quick and stopped her. His hand on her wrist sent enough butterflies through her to stop and let him take the essay out of her hands.

He unrolled the scroll and his eyes widened, flicking to her in astonishment.

“You’re joking,” he deadpanned.

Harry’s eyes misted and she was short of hyperventilating.

“I know it’s not much,” she mumbled.

“Potter, do you know how important this essay is?” he emphasized. “You had weeks to do it!”

“I know but—” her breaths were coming out erratic and the panic was clear across her face. She was shaking just enough for him to pick up on her behaviour. “I tried to work on it, but, I—it was—you know how it is…”

He didn’t know how it was because he was a star student and very ambitious.

“Yeah, I get it,” he said blandly. “Quidditch, right?”

Harry felt shame course through her. Of course he valued schoolwork over sports, he was an academic. Why did she think she could convince him to help her when it clearly looked like she was slacking? Not trying hard in their classes didn’t help that image either.

Tom had been expecting an answer and when he didn’t get one, he frowned in confusion again. Then he decided to get on with it.

“Well, the introduction you have so far is solid,” he said, eyes scanning her paper. Harry lifted her head, looking at him hopefully again. “Do you have your research notes?”

Harry nodded and pushed the papers towards him. She spent all of last night procrastinating writing the essay by gathering a lot of research.

He snorted. “I see where you spent all your time,” he noted. Harry gulped. Was that good or bad?

Tom quickly skimmed over her notes before picking up her quill. He reached for her ink bottle and blinked at the several options she had before looking up at her judgmentally.

“I like to colour code,” she said sheepishly, “it helps me read better.”

He nodded slowly. He chose the purple ink, the colour she didn’t use in her notes and said, “We don’t have much time so I’m going to go through this quickly. Stop me if you don’t understand something.”

She nodded eagerly and watched as he read through her writing and scratched out certain parts, put brackets around chunks of text and made notes next to them. She saw the beginnings of an outline and things started to click in place. He didn’t need to explain anything really, since it was all Harry’s work and he was simply telling her where to put things and what not to include.

“There, I think that should be good,” he said after a few minutes, pushing the papers back to her.

“Thank you,” she beamed, feeling immensely better than before now that she had a proper plan.

Tom left before she could look up at him. Harry felt a little disappointment but pushed those feelings to the side to work on her essay.

***

She got an ‘E’ on the paper and was ecstatic.

“Tom,” she called, that night when she saw him heading to the Astronomy Tower for class. “I got an ‘E’ on the paper!”

“That’s great, don’t start your assignments so late again,” he said, not slowing down.

Harry smiled widely as she watched him go up ahead of some other students.

“What was that?” Hermione asked curiously, next to her.

“Tom helped me with my Charms essay,” she explained, as they climbed up. “When I was in detention.”

To her delight, the only free space to fit two people on the tower was next to Tom. Harry nonchalantly walked up near him and unpacked her telescope. NEWT-level Astronomy had nothing to do with her future. She would not need it, she didn’t care for it, it was the only class she took because Tom was taking it. It was either Astronomy or Arithmancy, and between those two she thought Astronomy was easier. Luckily Hermione was in the class and though she made a big deal about having to help her, she would never let her friends fail a class if she could help it.

Tom ignored them both as he began to position his telescope to where they were watching last class.

Professor Sinistra lectured while they took notes and then left them to locate rogue planets.

“Hey, Tom,” Harry said after a few minutes. “Are you coming to the next Slug Club?”

He hesitated in answering. “I have to.”

She nodded slowly.

“I’m going too,” she said, even though he didn’t ask. Harry and Hermione got invited to each Slug Club and though she skipped a few, she tried to make it to all of them because Tom went to all of them. “My parents are guests at this one.”

“Oh, really?” Hermione grinned, looking up.

“Your parents?” Tom huffed. Clearly, he didn’t think highly of the two people who raised a bumbling troublemaker like Harry Potter.

“Yeah,” Harry beamed. “My mum was one of Slughorn’s favourite students. And my grandfather loved that my dad married my mum because he’s a Potioneer and now they work on creating new potions together. He invented Sleekeazy’s hair potion, did you know?”

Tom blinked at her in confusion. She came from such a good potions background and she was still abysmal at it?

“Your grandfather invented Sleekeazy’s?” Hermione said, impressed. “I use Sleekeazy’s!”

“Yeah,” Harry smiled wider, happy to talk about her family. They were the only interesting thing about her. “Right now my mum and grandfather are working together on a Wolfsbane Potion. It’s supposed to help people with lycanthropy.”

“That’s enough for today,” Professor Sinistra called. “Did anyone manage to find a rogue planet?”

Only Tom raised his hand.

“Of course, Mr. Riddle,” Sinistra nodded at him with a small smile. “Not to worry, everyone else, they are very difficult to find. That’s why for the next two weeks you’re going to be working with partners to find your planets.”

She had a list of names and Tom groaned at the same time Harry’s eyes widened—they were partners.

***

“So, are you ready to go stargazing?” Harry asked, meeting up with him Friday at midnight. The nice thing about being paired with the Head Boy was that she didn’t need an excuse to be out of bed.

The Gryffindor Tower portrait door closed behind her.

“We’re not stargazing,” Tom huffed, heading towards the Astronomy Tower.

“Aren’t we?” Harry teased.

When it came to business, Harry got serious. She knew Tom took schoolwork seriously and honestly, after seeing how quickly he was able to spot a rogue planet last time, she tried really hard to match his skill.

After an hour, neither had any luck.

“Didn’t you find one in, like, forty minutes last time?” Harry asked.

“This assignment isn’t about finding one right away, it’s about documenting your process and observations,” he stated.

“Ah, right,” Harry nodded. She made quick jot notes in her notebook.

They worked in silence for another hour.

It was now past two in the morning but Harry didn’t care. Well, she cared a little, but it was nice being in Tom’s presence alone, even if he didn’t want to talk. Sometimes comfortable silence was enough.

At two-thirty, Tom sighed in annoyance.

“Maybe we chose a bad night,” he said. So he wasn’t having any luck either.

“Should we pack up and try a different night?” she suggested. She wasn’t opposed to hauling all her equipment up to the Astronomy Tower at midnight again to finish this assignment with him. Besides, they had another week and a half to get it done.

“It’s Saturday tomorrow,” he said derisively. “Do you have to be up early?”

He meant it as a rhetorical, sarcastic question, but Harry nodded uncomfortably.

“I do have to be up in about… three and a half hours, yes,” she said.

He looked up at her in surprise.

“For what?”

Harry tried not to take it personally that he not only didn’t know there was a Quidditch match tomorrow, but that he didn’t care that her team would be playing against his.

“It’s Gryffindor vs. Slytherin tomorrow,” she told her. “First match of the year.”

“The match is not until ten,” he pointed out.

“Well, I have to get up earlier to wake the team for drills and warm up,” she explained. “And I have to give them enough time to eat and generally make sure everything is smooth-sailing. Your Slytherins don’t like to play fair either—it wouldn’t be the first time I wake up and find one of my Chasers in the hospital wing.”

Her voice took on a bitter and sour note. While she loved and adored everything about Tom, she hated his house. Her first game as Captain, in fifth year, and Warrington had put Katie Bell in the hospital wing the night before so Harry was forced at the last minute to get Ginny to play. Ginny hadn’t joined the team officially, but Harry had seen her play at the Burrow and at that moment, she was the only other person in Gryffindor she trusted enough to pull off a game.

Of course, Ginny was a star and she didn’t let Harry down. It was a sweet victory, but a terribly stressful morning.

“Right,” he said, closing his telescope. “We’ll try again next week.”

Harry happily packed away her equipment and followed him down.

“Are you going to come to the match tomorrow?” she asked hopefully. She asked him almost every time she was playing.

“Probably not,” he said honestly.

“Aw, okay,” she frowned as they neared the portrait hole. “Good night!”

“Night.”

***

The rowdy Gryffindors cheered as they entered the castle, Harry at the center of the crowd. Lunch was being served so they dispersed and filtered into the Great Hall.

Harry hung back from her friends when she saw Tom.

“We won!” she exclaimed with a bright smile at him. He looked up as he was walking and raised his eyebrows.

“I can see that. And I can hear it,” he replied.

“Were you at the game? Did you watch?” she asked him before he could leave.

“Yes, I was,” he drawled.

Harry’s face brightened. “Did you see me catch the Snitch? I almost—”

“No, I happened to be looking down at my book at that very moment, unfortunately,” he smirked.

Harry huffed in disappointment. “Who brings a book to a Quidditch match?” she grumbled.

Tom rolled his eyes and headed for the Slytherin table.

***

“There she is,” a very familiar voice said. Harry froze. No, no, no— “Speedy!”

She cringed hard. This is exactly why she didn’t want her parents at Slug Club.

Her dad’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest.

“Hey, dad,” she said, hugging him back. He pulled back to ruffle her hair but she managed to duck in time. “No! It’s done up!”

“Sorry,” he chuckled, guiding her to her mother.

“Sweetie!” Lily beamed, turning away from Slughorn to pull her into a hug as well and kissing her cheek. “You look beautiful!”

“Thanks, mum,” Harry blushed at all the coddling and affection. Her eyes darted around the party to make sure none of her classmates were seeing this.

“Ah, yes, Harry,” Slughorn sighed, smiling. “Great student—excellent student.”

Her parents beamed and then she heard a familiar snort. Harry’s heart dropped. She couldn’t see Tom, but she knew he was near.

James knew exactly how much he was embarrassing Harry, it’s why he didn’t cease his actions. Pinching her cheeks, he praised her talent.

“Dad!” she gasped in horror, pulling away from him.

“James, stop it,” Lily rolled her eyes.

James put his arm around Harry’s shoulder again, to keep her close while they had this conversation.

“It’s alright, Professor,” he said, more seriously, “You can tell us the truth.”

Harry’s eyes widened and Slughorn looked put on the spot. Both James and Lily looked at him expectantly.

“Well… I mean…” Slughorn started awkwardly. “She is a little distracted in class sometimes.”

It wasn’t anything too bad, or anything her parents didn’t already know about Harry so she was able to weasel away while they talked. Harry looked around for Tom, wondering where he was now and how much he heard.

Unable to find him, she decided to hang out by the snacks table and nibble on the pumpkin pasties.

Her parents gave a speech along with the other guests, talking a little about their professions. Harry was caught up speaking to a Quidditch player before Malfoy joined the conversation and she turned to leave.

Across the room, she could see her dad speaking amicably with Ron and Hermione, catching up with them. She decided to head over and join them before she caught sight of Slughorn asking to introduce Tom to Lily.

She almost ran to her mother’s side.

“Harry, there you are,” she grinned, turning away from some students to give her attention to her only daughter. “Are you hiding from us?”

“Of course not, Mum, I’m right here aren’t I?”

“Lily, come meet my best student,” Slughorn called.

Harry and Lily turned around to face Slughorn who put a hand on Tom’s back.

“Tom Riddle, pleased to meet you,” Tom said politely, extending his hand.

“Lily Potter,” her mother smiled kindly.

“He’s my next Potions prodigy,” Slughorn boasted with a wide smile. “Head Boy, and in my house! Top of the class in each of his classes, eh Harry?”

Harry nodded quickly, confirming the facts to her mother while Tom grinned bashfully and tilted his head down.

“Well,” she said suddenly. “That’s only for the classes Hermione isn’t on top.”

Tom’s smile tightened as he finally turned his attention to Harry.

“As you know,” she said to her mother, “Hermione is Head Girl and also top of the class. And in my house!”

Slughorn laughed joyously at her cheek, saying she was just like her mother. Lily chuckled lightly.

“It’s funny how it’s always Muggleborns who are my best students,” he noted after he calmed down. Harry glanced up at Tom, his smile dropped ever so slightly.

“Tom, you’re a Muggleborn? I am, too,” Lily shared. Harry knew that Tom was an orphan and the status of his blood was probably mostly unknown. It was not a nice thing to be reminded of, she imagined.

“Are you?” Tom said, in interest. “I find it interesting that us Muggleborns tend have a better grasp of some concepts of magic more than other students who grew up with magic.” Harry nodded along in agreement before she paused to think about what he was really saying. “Not to sound rude or anything, but it came quite as a shock to me to hear that you’re Harry’s mother. I would never have guessed her mother to be a Potion’s Master.”

He grinned evilly at her, and Harry deadpanned back. This was turning into a make-fun-of-Harry’s-lack-of-potions-skills party and she did not like it.

“It did come quite as a surprise to me, too, considering her grandfather, Fleamont Potter, is an even better Potioneer than I could hope to be,” Lily teased Harry, patting her shoulder. “She takes after her father more.”

“No, no,” Slughorn countered. “James was excellent at Potions as well.”

Lily and Tom laughed lightly at her expense while she said, “Thanks Professor Slughorn.”

“Oh, I don’t mean it like that…” he waved it off, before making an excuse and escaping.

Harry watched him leave with a glare then turned her attention back to Tom who was already much more interested in her mother.

“So I hear from Harry that you’re working on a Wolfsbane Potion?”

Harry froze.

“Did you, now?” Lily asked quietly, turning to stare at Harry, unimpressed. “Harry’s not supposed to be talking about that.”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, did I get you in trouble?” Tom asked Harry innocently with wide eyes. There was amusement in his eyes and it was the first time he looked at Harry that way. That was the only reason she didn’t glare at him too.

“It just slipped out, sorry Mum,” Harry apologized.

Lily, unfortunately, couldn’t tell Tom about it. Instead she talked about her other projects that he was just as fascinated with. Harry quickly got bored and looked around again.

Her heart stopped.

Hermione and Ron were telling her dad something, nodding their heads and pointing at Tom. James’ eyes zeroed in on the Head Boy and then he flicked his mischievous gaze to Harry.

Her eyes widened and she shook her head at him, pleading.

Sure, she’s embarrassed herself in front of Tom in the name of love countless times, but she and Tom had an understanding. She knew his limits and he knew her well enough to predict now. James Potter coming over to embarrass her in front of her crush would not end well.

“Excuse me,” she squeaked, scurrying away. She ran straight into her dad, grabbed his arm and pivoted him away. “No!”

“Speedy, is that him?” James asked eagerly. “I didn’t know that was the boy you moon over!”

“I do not moon over him!” she argued.

“And he’s Head Boy too?” James looked over the top of her head to get a better glimpse of him. “Is this why you’re always in detention?”

Harry groaned.

***

“Why do they call you Speedy?” Tom asked the next night they were on the Astronomy Tower.

Harry dropped her head in embarrassment.

“It’s just a nickname from when I was a child. I had a toy broom and would zoom around on it everyday and I was fast. Hence, Speedy,” she explained.

He snickered.

Harry felt her heart swell. She took a moment to discreetly admire his beauty. He had long lashed—it was so unfair how gorgeous his eyes were. And his hair, always falling in perfect waves.

She quickly looked down when his eyes darted up.

“So, erm,” she began, looking into her telescope in hopes of finding this damn rogue planet. Or not. She didn’t mind staying up here with Tom. “My mum really liked you.”

And just as she said it, she realized how it sounded like she wanted her parents to like him. Of course she did, but she didn’t want Tom to know that it mattered to her.

“She thinks you’re really smart,” Harry added quickly. “She’s surprised you’d be friends with me.” He looked up at her with his eyebrows raised. “I mean I know we’re not, like, friends, but I didn’t correct her. Because I think she might want to connect you with some other Potioneers or something. So I didn’t say anything, just in case that’s something you want.”

Harry’s face was burning as she debated looking up at him. Tom had a small scowl on his face. A cute scowl.

“That’s nice,” he said quietly.

Harry relaxed and smiled. She looked back into her telescope and it was quiet between them for another twenty minutes, but it was a comfortable silence.

This is the most she’d been around Tom ever. First the essay help, then the Astronomy class, then the Astronomy assignment, then the Slug Club. She would consider anyone else she spent so much time with a friend now, but he didn’t see it that way. She really wanted him to but maybe with time his opinion would change.

“Hey…” Harry said slowly, squinting her eye. “I think I see it, I don’t know, I think it might be…”

“Let me see,” Tom demanded, putting a hand on her shoulder to nudge her to the side. Harry moved, feeling butterflies flutter in her stomach at his touch. Tom looked into her telescope. “This is it!”

Harry cheered and pulled up her notebook. They took turns looking through the telescope and speaking their observances out loud to jot down. Tom finally pulled away from her telescope. He peered down at her while Harry appreciated their height difference.

“I can’t believe you found it,” he remarked, tilting his head.

“I’m not a terrible student,” Harry argued. “Just average compared to you.”

“Good job,” he grinned. It was probably the first—no second?—praise she ever got from him.

They were still standing close and Harry couldn’t help but ask, “Are we having a moment?”

His grin dropped and he groaned, rolling his eyes.

“No, we’re not having a moment, Potter, get it together,” he huffed, packing his belongings.

“But Tom,” she teased, “it could have been perfect! We’re alone, on the Astronomy Tower, and we were stargazing—”

“Pack your things and let’s go or you’ll have to walk to your common room alone,” he interjected in a no-nonsense voice.

“I can walk to my common room alone,” Harry stated, but she did pack her things anyway.

“It’s nearly one-thirty in the morning,” he said, as they went down the stairs.

“And I’ve been out later and longer since we were in first year,” she said.

“You roam the castle at night, past curfew, regularly?” he asked skeptically.

“I mean I don’t think I should be telling you so if you try to report me, I’ll just deny it. But yes, I have been,” she smiled.

“That’s not possible, you would have been caught. You’re terrible at sneaking around.”

“Or I’m so good because you didn’t even know how long I’ve been sneaking around.”

He sighed in exasperation. “I’ve caught you in the corridors several times. You’re not as good as you think.”

Harry only grinned secretively. She turned towards the portrait of the Fat Lady and said to him, “Oh come on, Tom, I thought you knew I wanted you to catch me.”

His brows pinched.

“Why do you think no other Prefect or Professor has ever caught me out of bed? It’s only you,” she pointed out.

Tom considered her words before shaking his head. “Go to your dorm.”

“Yes, sir,” she winked and spun on her heel, heading inside the common room. She waved at him one last time, which he didn’t reciprocate.

***

“I can’t believe you’re actually taking notes,” Hermione praised, “Slughorn is going to be—what are you doing?”

Both her and Ron looked down to what Harry was neatly writing on her parchment.

Tom, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?

“Is that pink paper? Since when do you have pink paper?”

“I borrowed some from Parvati,” Harry said, using her wand to cut the paper into a heart shape before she folded it up strategically like she learned in a magic origami book to look like a rose. “Perfect.”

She waited for Slughorn to give them their daily ten minute break during the double Potions classes. Placing the rose on her palm, she muttered a charm and tapped it with her wand. Then she blew and the rose glided through the air, dodging hands trying to grab it or swat it away.

It went over peoples’ heads and then landed straight on Tom’s notebook. He didn’t even have to inquire as to who sent it. Looking up at Harry, he fixed her with a deadpan then unraveled the rose.

“No,” he answered, looking up at her again.

Harry sighed in disappointment. She really thought this time she won a date with him. They had been getting along a tad better than before.

A few of the Slytherins snickered at her but it didn’t faze her. Harry turned in her seat so she was facing Ron and Dean and got into a conversation about Quidditch.

Dean was trying to get onto the Quidditch team, she thought. Harry already had enough Chasers but she wouldn’t mind training with a backup just in case something like the Katie Bell situation happened again.

By the next day, she had an offer on the tip of her tongue for him, the only thing holding her back was that she didn’t want to seem biased and like she was favouring her friends to join the team. Shouldn’t she technically be holding trials so it was open to everyone?

She was leaving detention with Tom in the evening when Dean found her. Well, she wasn’t leaving with Tom. She was several paces behind him but it was his detention that he doled out because she flew too close to him on her broom when he was outside and apparently that was not allowed.

The other three students who earned detention by the Head Boy were all friends and walking behind her as they all made their way to the Great Hall.

“Hey, Dean,” Harry greeted cheerfully.

“Hey, Harry, how are you?”

He was also so kind and polite. She wished she could put him straight on the team.

“Doing well, you?”

“I have a question for you.”

Oh no, Harry looked up at him slightly dreading her answer.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Do you maybe… want to go to Hogsmeade with me?”

She stopped, startled. Her eyes immediately flicked to Tom’s back who was still within hearing distance even though he wasn’t walking with them.

“Oh, erm, I don’t know if that’s a good idea, I’m sorry,” she said awkwardly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

If he noticed her looking at Tom, he didn’t mention it.

“Ah, I see,” he said, disappointed. “It’s cool.”

They began walking again.

“I think it’d be fun,” Harry insisted, “the thing is… I’ve been wondering if you might want to join the team? And we’re already friends so I don’t want it to seem biased if I bring you in as a backup, but if we go out to Hogsmeade together, then it will definitely look biased.”

Dean’s disappointment washed away. He evidently was more interested in Quidditch than Harry and agreed how them going out would present as a conflict of interest.

At the entrance of the Great Hall, she noticed that Tom had lagged behind.

“Are you alright?” she asked him carefully. He looked annoyed. Harry didn’t imagine it was fun thinking your soulmate might go out with someone else—regardless of how he would deny the fact that they were meant to be together. “I’m not going out with anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Tom scoffed and glared down at her in annoyance.

“You are a thorn at my side, Potter, why in the hell would I care who you go out with?”

Harry lifted her hands up in surrender and shrugged.

“I’m just saying. I turned him down for a good reason but the main reason was for you. I am still available.”

Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“I don’t care what you get up to, as long as it doesn’t involve me,” he hissed, brushing past her to the Great Hall.

“What was that about?” Ron asked as soon as she sat at the Gryffindor table. It was always a topic of interest: how Harry makes a fool of herself in front of Tom Riddle.

“Dean asked me out to Hogsmeade but I turned him down,” she answered, scooping mashed potatoes onto her plate.

“You turned him down?” Hermione glanced up from her plate. “Because of Riddle?”

“Well, obviously.”

“Blimey,” Ron gaped. “He was mad that Dean asked you out? He actually likes you?”

Harry nodded emphatically.

“What did he say?” Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“Well he kind of lagged behind—he was walking ahead of us—and when Dean left I told him that he had nothing to worry about because I’m still available to go to Hogsmeade with him.” Ron and Hermione shared a glance, sensing where this was going.

“And he said…?”

“That I’m a thorn at his side and he doesn’t care what I do as long as it doesn’t involve him,” she answered, unbothered.

“Harry,” Ron chuckled. “I think we should reconsider the possibility that he means the words he says.”

“He’s just nervous to show his true feelings,” Harry insisted, pouring some more gravy on her potatoes. “It might change our dynamic and he’s scared of that.”

“Or—”

“Hang on,” Hermione interrupted Ron. “You might be right.”

“Hermione?” Ron scowled in confusion.

“If by some bizarre miracle Riddle has liked Harry this whole time, or for some time, I don’t know, nothing works better than showing a guy something he can’t have anymore.”

Harry frowned. “But I want him to know that he does have me.”

“Don’t you see, Harry? You’re going about this wrong,” Hermione's eyes gleamed as she got into her theory. “You’ve made yourself too available. Why should he ever give you the time of day when he knows you’ll be around no matter what?”

“You want me to go out with someone else?” she whispered nervously. For as long as Harry has been into boys, it was only Tom for her. She had never been interested in anyone and never entertained the idea of dating anyone other than Tom.

“Just to see his reaction!”

Harry considered this. Hermione was right about a lot of things. And though she knew Tom better, there was nothing in this situation that would necessarily hurt him because he was the one who turned her down.

“For how long?”

“That depends on how he reacts,” Hermione said. “You might have to date for a while and stop getting into detention for him to miss you.”

Harry digested this information and nodded.

***

She had a plan to bribe a few of the boys to ask her out, but as soon as she showed more interest in conversing with Dean—a boy who wasn’t her best friend, Ron—they all started to come crawling out like termites.

Hermione pushed the rumours along, subtly making comments about how Harry was looking for a date.

Apparently, this whole time she was really sought after.

“Huh,” Harry said, after Seamus walked away promising to her a signed poster of some Quidditch player his family were related to. “Who would have thought?”

“Well, you are popular,” Hermione reasoned. “And an excellent Quidditch player. And very pretty.” Harry blushed. “I think pining after Riddle wasn’t good for you. Look at how many options you have!”

Harry felt the creeping sensation that she was being watched. Looking over her shoulder she saw Tom, several paces behind them, turn down a corner.

She didn’t want to hurt him, but so far Hermione's way was working.

***

“Right, thanks Justin,” Harry said, the fourth time Justin Finch-Fletchley blushed and called her pretty. They were in Herbology, a class they didn’t share with the Slytherins and so Tom wasn’t around and she didn’t need to escalate this conversation.

“Do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me?” he blurted.

“Oh, erm, sorry,” she said apologetically. “I would but… my niffler has been out of control so I need to stay in and feed him jewelry so he doesn’t steal all the gold from the village. That would be terrible for the shop owners, as you can imagine.”

She’s had to make countless excuses in the past week and they were getting worse each time. Hermione winced and Ron covered his mouth to stop from laughing.

“Okay, next guy you say yes to!” Hermione said firmly on their way back to the castle.

“Alright,” Harry grumbled, feeling guilt twist inside her.

The next guy, Terry Boot, came up to her at dinner. Harry came down alone, which was dangerous because without her friends, a lot of guys felt confident enough to approach her.

“Terry,” Harry grinned up at the Ravenclaw boy.

“Hey, Harry,” Terry breathed.

He stumbled over his next few words while Harry discreetly looked over his shoulder. Tom was sitting at the Slytherin table and his shoulders were tense.

The Hogsmeade trip was the next day so Harry had to say yes to Terry because Hermione said she had to.

“So, er, I hear you’re free tomorrow,” Terry added, swallowing nervously. Harry didn't know where he heard that because she’d been lying all over about not being available. She didn’t even want to think about what to say to all the boys she rejected on the premise that she had other things to do and couldn’t attend. She’d let Hermione deal with that.

“Yeah,” she smiled instead.

“Great,” Terry said, relieved, before tensing again. “Erm, do you maybe want to go to Hogsmeade with me?”

She glanced over his shoulder again. Tom was now glaring straight at her. Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head.

Harry’s heart soared. It felt like flying. She had just caught sight of the Snitch, now she needed to close her fingers around it and grasp it.

“Sure, Terry, I would love to,” Harry smiled. Terry grinned wide, while another Ravenclaw boy near them, who had also asked her out, scoffed.

Harry headed to an empty seat on the Gryffindor table and from here, she saw Tom, lips pursed in annoyance, storm out of the Great Hall.

She rose from her seat, wanting to run after him and apologize and tell him that he was the only one for her. There were song lyrics and poem verses on the tip of her tongue—but Hermione and Ron sat next to her and she couldn’t move.

“Where are you going?”

“Tom!” she hissed. “He heard me say yes to Terry Boot and I think he’s upset now.”

They looked back at the door, jaws dropped.

“He saw you agree to a date and left?” Ron asked.

Harry nodded and tried to stand again. “I have to fix this!”

“No!” Hermione pulled her back down. “That’s what he wants. For you to come after him and tell him it didn’t mean anything. Then he can pretend like he didn’t even care but he would know it doesn’t mean anything! He has to come to you.”

Harry whined and picked up her fork.

“I don’t like this.”

“I know,” Hermione patted her back. “But it’s necessary. It wouldn’t be if you chose a normal person to fall in love with.”

***

Harry waited for Tom to stop her from going to Hogsmeade with Terry. While they were waiting for the carriages, she kept looking around, expecting him to run out and pull her out of the queue and profess his love for her and beg her not to go with Terry.

But he didn’t.

She sourly proceeded to have an excellent day with Terry, just to spite Tom.

The two walked back to the castle with ice creams in their hands. Terry surprised her with two strawberry cones, much to her delight. Harry took a big lick from her cone and it smeared the tip of her nose which he found hilarious. He was very fun and easy to get along with when he knew the entire Great Hall wasn’t listening to his attempt to ask out Harry.

“I had fun today, Harry,” he said before they reached the castle.

She smiled at him, “Me too.”

Then her smile dropped, thinking he was going to ask her out again.

“Erm, I hope this doesn’t make things awkward,” he said, “But is it alright if we just stay friends?”

Harry stopped walking.

“I’m sorry!” he said quickly, guilt-ridden. “It’s just that—well, I feel terrible now because I had so much fun with you, but I’m actually in love with someone else and it’s so stupid but I was kind of hoping to make her jealous seeing me with someone else to know if she really likes me!”

Harry gaped at him.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” he sighed, shoulders dropping.

“No, Terry!” Harry exclaimed, putting her hands on his shoulders. “I did the same thing!”

“You did?” he glanced up.

“Yes! I’m in love with Tom Riddle, like madly in love.”

“Oh, well, of course, we all know that—”

“And I only agreed to go with you because he didn’t want me to but he refuses to ask me out himself.”

“Then that’s great!” he beamed. “I feel better now.”

Harry returned the smile, glad that she made him feel better. They continued on their walk back to the castle.

“So who do you like?” Harry asked.

He chewed on his lip nervously. “Luna Lovegood.”

“Oh, she’s a friend of mine!” Harry said. “The jealousy thing won’t work with her, Luna isn’t like that. It’s best if you go up to her and tell her straight up that you like her.”

Harry was still giddy when they parted ways at the castle. Terry decided to hang back outside and see if he could catch Luna or his friends, while Harry headed up to Gryffindor Tower.

As she waited for the staircase to come to her on the third floor, Harry was unexpectedly pulled down a corridor. She let out a loud scream that was quickly muffled by a warm hand.

“Tom?!” Harry gasped when he turned her around to face him in the small alcove to the side of the main staircase.

Tom glared down at her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

She blinked and looked around. “Going up to Gryffindor tower?”

“Not that! Talking to all those boys and going on dates!”

“Oh,” her eyes widened. It was happening. Hermione was right yet again. “Erm, well, as you remember you didn’t want to go to Hogsmeade with me…” she explained, hoping she wouldn’t have to say more. He waited expectantly. “Well, that normally means that I am free to, er, go with anyone else. You said you didn’t care what I did as long as it didn’t involve you, and, erm, this didn’t.”

His glare didn’t lessen.

“I shook my head at you,” he grumbled. “I told you not to accept! You saw me and you did it anyway.”

She knew that was a sign! She knew she was right this whole time—but wait, so was Hermione. Harry had to remember that.

“I know,” she gulped. “But if you don’t want me to go with other people, you kind of have to do something about that. Or let me know properly. It’s not very fair…”

He sighed at her. Then his brows furrowed and he swiped his finger across her nose, picking up the ice cream residue.

“What’s this?”

“Terry got us ice cream.”

Tom sucked on his fingertip to catch the flavour. The action stirred something within Harry.

“Strawberry?” he scoffed. “Did they not have chocolate?”

“They did,” she answered, a little confused.

“So I guess he doesn’t know your favourite flavour is chocolate? Or did he not bother to ask what you want?”

Harry’s eyes lit up. “You know my favourite flavour is chocolate?”

“Please,” he huffed. “You hold the world record for how fast you devour any chocolate dessert at dinner. I’ve seen you skip the dinner meal and go straight for chocolate cake.”

Harry was ambushed by an onset of warm and fuzzy feelings. She didn’t know that he noticed that.

“And what the hell did you and Boot even talk about?” he continued, crossing his arms. “That idiot boy could hardly string a sentence together, I have no idea how you even understood his incoherent mumbling when he was asking you out. I tell you—it was abysmal. It was horrible to watch.”

“So horrible you stormed out?” she teased, timidly grabbing onto his robes. She tugged gently and he gravitated towards her without hesitance.

“I didn’t storm out,” he snapped. “I remembered something very important I had to do.”

“Oh yeah?” she grinned, tilted her head up to look at his face. He was so tall, and it was another thing she loved about him. “What was that?”

“I had to make a voodoo doll of Terry Boot,” he joked, smirking lightly. Harry giggled.

Then she stopped. “Wait you didn’t actually—”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Of course not, Harry. If I did, Terry Boot would have stayed inside sick all day and you would have spent the day with me in detention.”

“For him getting sick?” she tilted her head.

“I’d have found something to pin on you. I’ve done it before,” his smirk widened.

Harry gasped. “You do like me!”

In lieu of an answer, he leaned closer to her and gently brushed some strands of hair away from her face.

Harry’s eyes fluttered shut at the feeling, and he noted the reaction with amusement.

“I knew it,” she said, heart swelling. “I told you we were meant to be.”

“Yes, you did,” he murmured. “I guess I was convinced after all.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she frowned.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I didn’t want to accept it for the longest time, you are very annoying. I guess it just crept up on me.”

The Hermione inside her head was telling her to not give in just yet, let him do a bit more work—she certainly overdid on her own part.

“So…” her hands trailed up to fiddle with his collar, while his own fingers ghosted her sides. Her green eyes flicked up to meet his striking grey ones. “So what now?”

Tom’s gaze flicked down to her lips before moving back up.

“Now, I need to make sure everyone knows you’re off limits,” he muttered.

“Like I’m your girlfriend?” she breathed. He dipped his head down to kiss her jaw.

“Mhm. Mine.”

Harry’s heart fluttered at his words. She wasn’t able to contain it anymore—she’d waited years for this moment.

Pulling his head back she eagerly pressed her lips against his. He chuckled at her urgency but returned the kiss nonsense and it was—

It was glorious.

It was everything Harry had hoped for and more. She closed her eyes and she saw those fireworks exploding. She saw crowds of people cheering for them. She saw their names written in the sky in a cloudy heart.

She pulled back and saw Tom’s grinning face, looking down at her in adoration.

“Merlin’s balls, is this real?” she whispered.

He groaned and dropped his forehead against hers.

“We’re going to have to discuss what's appropriate to talk about while we do this. For example, when I’m kissing you, I don’t want to think of Merlin’s balls.”

“Okay, sorry,” Harry giggled.

“It’s okay, you can make it up to me with another kiss.”

He pulled her in again for a searing kiss.