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Tom Riddle was the Demon prodigy and everyone wanted to know: who raised him? A little orphan mudblood who was adopted one year after starting Hogwarts by a man named Harry. Dippet had a brief reunion with the man once and the rumours didn’t disappear, especially when some students had seen a man in a pink tracksuit coming in with short black hair and eyeliner creating a cat-ish look.
“You should invite your friends to dinner sometime!” Harry said to Tom in the corridors. The student grabbed him by the wrist and pushed him away, facing the wall. He wasn’t a scrawny boy anymore, because he was fifteen years old and he knew what would happen if their classmates saw his Harry.
“Why did you come dressed like that?” Tom hissed through clenched teeth and Harry made a little twirl. He pouted like a child, and his real child rolled his eyes in response.
“I didn’t raise you like this, Tommy.” Harry claimed dramatically. “It’s my best suit!”
Tom folded his arms over his chest. “I am not against your clothes, but you should dress more formally if you come here. Why did they call you?” He irked an eyebrow.
Harry was scanning himself and didn’t find one mistake in his outfit. “They wanted to know me.” He rightly said and Tom found that he was offended by that. Why should they want to know Harry?
Harry was a supposed pureblood, but he was so different to them. He was strict and behaved accordingly with him, that was why Tom respected him, but at the same time, he was so carefree he believed that everyone was compassionate and tender. The world didn’t work like that.
After some more bickering on Tom’s part, Harry left Hogwarts or that was what he thought, because he found him again speaking with Dumbledore. Yes, he knew that the man was a Hogwarts student and a Ravenclaw as the cherry on top. At least, he was part of the second house which accommodated dark and grey families.
He was hugging the old man with glee and Tom wanted to scream into a void after being part of that. Abraxas was observing him curiously during a break in the common room. “You never told us about him.” He said, and Tom snorted. “He is peculiar, isn’t he?”
Something that Tom understood at a very early age was that “peculiar” was used by those who believed they were superior than the people they were comparing or speaking about. Harry read him once a book about something like that. Yes, he was peculiar, because he was greater. How many times had he heard whispering in any place they entered about Harry’s choices and styling? which was why he never talked about him.
“You should choose your words carefully, Abraxas.” Tom chimed respectfully and with a sharpness in his tone that it wasn’t normal in him.
“I won’t dare to attack him, Tom. I wish to get to know him better.” Abraxas politely said with all the demure of a pureblood politician and Tom smirked. “He is your father. Adoptive, but he is your relative.” He muttered those last words and continued on writing his letters. Tom remembered that the vacation was going to start soon and he knew what horrors awaited him in his house.
He left the tie in his bedroom. It was small, but with his magic he made it bigger, also Harry’s room. The man could do it himself, but he forgot so quickly about the things he had said or done that it left everything to him. For example, he was humming a tune on the radio and baking like a muggle. It was horrid.
“I missed you so much!” Harry said with kindness and opened his arms to let Tom squeeze there himself. (He did not. He had a certain touch aversion when he wasn’t acting. But he accepted a side-hug.) “I did this for you! You are going to finish Hogwarts soon.” The table was full of pastries and delicacies Tom loved and Harry knew how to do every one of them which was just a tradition for them.
He nodded and sat down with his impeccable manners to start eating. Harry was watching him with those big green eyes and his delicate frame. He was using the long pink earrings Tom bought for him which clinked everytime he moved. It was kind of annoying, but the man seemed really delighted by him tasting the cakes.
“It’s really good, as always.” He said, because Harry wished to hear it. The other beamed at him.
“Thanks you, Tom.” He smiled and Tom knew what he hid behind that smile. “I bought new clothes!” He groaned after hearing that, while his legal guardian brought to the living room all the different clothes with a snap of his fingers. Fortunately, Tom didn’t have to teach him magic. The abilities of the Ravenclaw were astounding.
He saw every suit while he ate and drank the coffee. Harry didn’t let him drink coffee when he was younger. The man believed it was the beverage which didn’t let people grow taller. However, he was taller than Harry at fifteen years old. In the midst of making different noises to approve of the pastel colours and the glitter, Harry shouted, “You should invite your friends next week. I want to meet them.”
Tom didn’t have friends. Abraxas could be part of his inner circle. But he didn’t have a mansion like the others. He had a house, a cosy-comfortable house with the man he loved the most, but it wasn’t impressive. Only Harry was. “I don’t think that it’s possible.” Harry inspected him with narrowed eyes and tilted his head. He was probably sure what he was thinking, because he wasn’t dumb.
“It’s fine then. But Mr Malfoy and Miss Malfoy invited us to a dinner party. The letter came yesterday!” Harry clapped before saying it and showed him the infamous parchment.
Tom snatched it and read it carefully. “That was why I bought a lot of clothes. I have to look my best. I picked a suit for you too!”
He was made of patience, especially living with Harry. With a sigh, he got up and took the suit that was splayed elegantly on the couch. It had a deep shade of silver with black details.
Because of his guilt, he couldn’t reject the meeting. He was trying to build connections, even if Harry didn’t know it, who was cooking again for the next day. He was wearing a tight pink dress which flowed elegantly up to his knees and pink stockings which had the face of bears. He didn’t know if he was using a glamour for the clothes or if it was just a Harry effect on the dress.
He didn’t like the man picking his clothes, but it made a possessive streak in him knowing that he only thought about him, that he was the only man in his life. When he was younger, Harry presented his conquests, but they weren’t good for him. Some of them rejected him after knowing he had an adoptive son, and the others were too prejudiced to go out with a man who loved pink and pastel colours.
He didn’t long for Malfoy’s party. He didn’t yearn to see Abraxas and his stupid plastic expressions again. Every pureblood desired to know Harry. Every parent of his inner circle. It was just Harry. Tom knew his surname was Potter, a pureblood family, but he said he cut ties with every one of his relatives. It wasn’t probably true.
Trying to investigate and study Harry’s personality was really harsh. Sometimes, the man was pensive, thoughtful, but then he was dancing in frilly clothes or expensive robes and asked him if he could read a chapter of a book which was sitting in his personal library.
He didn’t usually use his magic, but without realising the house was full of complicated spells and runes. His hands were calloused as someone who played too much with ink or wrote too many letters or tried too many potions.
Harry was really skilled and had a lot of knowledge in the Wizarding World. He was polite and beautiful which were the most important qualities for the people. “I am so nervous! I am going to meet Abraxas’s parents.” He yelled loudly and there was a mess in the living room with his choices of boots. Tom accommodated everything. He was ready to go.
“I don’t want to arrive late.” He grumbled and Harry shook his head.
“Five more minutes, Tom!” Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he just tried to breathe. If any of his followers dare to do something like that, they would have a punishment, but Harry was Harry, and even if he didn’t want to admit, he wasn’t sure if he could win against him in a duel yet.
The outfit for the day was formal blue-ish pants which had little stars on the fabric that glowed incessantly. A pink pattern shirt and a long jacket of the same colour. Wizards were more traditional, but it seemed his legal guardian invented trends.
They arrived twenty minutes late and Tom thought that in a few years, they would have to wait for him, so it was more like a practice in the meantime. His guardian was also using glitter in his eyes and cheeks like he was the embodiment of vibrant colours.
Tom wasn’t embarrassed by that, he was more concerned that Harry was going to take all the attention for him, he was the spotlight and he attracted multiple people that wanted to use him for a night-stand. However, he couldn’t allow that.
“Mr Potter, welcome.” Lady Malfoy said and she dressed far more extra than Harry. However, she wasn’t that interesting. “How lovely to meet another Abraxas’s classmate. He always talks about you and your guardian all the time.”
Harry glanced at him after her words and winced with the Potter remark. Tom nudged his shoulder and kissed Lady Malfoy’s hand. “Nice to meet you too! Tom is a sweetheart, I know.”
He just smiled and the elves introduced them to the principal salon where they were going to eat and chat amicably about things that he wasn’t intrigued in.
Mr Malfoy also greeted both of them and his eyes gleamed when he saw Harry’s beauty. Tom was starting to hate the white-haired older wizard. “Such a colourful style you have, Mr Potter.” He said genuinely and he desired to gouge out his eyes.
“Oh, thanks you! You are so kind, Mr Malfoy.” Harry acted bashfully like he wasn’t used to compliments. “Both of you are really elegant dressed tonight.” Lady Malfoy widened her eyes and she seemed nervous after that. Tom could read everyone, because he was always paying attention.
Abraxas was sitting opposite to his father and mother, almost, at the end of the table. While Harry sat next to Lady Malfoy who was really excited and her smile never ceased. His legal guardian was nodding everytime she said something and added little bits of information. Tom was far away from Abraxas, but they sure steal glances between them.
However, he was more occupied in watching Harry. The man was surely charming the couple. When the question about his age was in the air, everyone was shocked that he was so young and decided to adopt a child out of the goodness of his heart. Tom couldn’t argue that. He truly believed that Harry cherished him and protected him in every turn. He didn’t need it, but it did wonders to his pride.
The dinner passed uneventfully and Tom handled a bit of insinuations from both Abraxas’s parents. Then, they gave them a little tour of their Mansion. Harry gasped everytime they introduced him something, and Mr Malfoy was feeling so arrogant to introduce another pureblood to their antiques. Tom was also taking mind notes about that too. Especially because Harry knew some facts about the precious objects, surprising the hosts. Tom just followed him nearly, with one of his hands on Harry's shoulders.
From a young age, he learned that his legal guardian studied a lot and he knew about literature, science, art, in particular. He said those were his “hyperfixations” combined with his bold style he was a complete package no one seemed to care about in the long-term.
Tom wasn’t like any of those fools. He protected Harry, he kept his guardian in his heart. No other person would be better for him. No other person could understand him like Harry did.
They ended up in their house almost at midnight, because his guardian wished to walk down the streets of the neighbourhood. There wasn’t any pretence, he was just like that. No one was outside the houses, because the cold seeped through the warmest clothes. But Harry was using a heating charm. “Do you want to know my family, Tom?” He asked suddenly.
Tom turned around to look at him and thought for a few minutes. Harry leaned his head on his shoulder. For some reason, he remembered that the other said he didn’t have any relationship with his family. He was probably lying or while he was in Hogwarts, he tried to reconstruct those ties again.
“If you want, I can meet them.” Tom replied and let his fingers roam freely through Harry’s hair. The strands weren’t that long.
“I was the one who stopped talking to them. But they sent me a lot of letters during these years. So, we will visit them soon!” Harry chirped and started running to their house. Tom simply used Apparition to do that. (He didn’t have the permit yet, but Harry saw a glitch in everything).
When he appeared in their home, Harry was there before him. “I won’t be here tomorrow because Albus invited me to have tea with him.” He commented and changed his outfit for fuzzy pyjamas and slippers. Tom tried to look away from him when the man was changing, but his thighs had his full attention. He had a rosy skin and his waist was slim. Always delicate, always perfect.
However, he ended up losing the thread of the conversation thanks to that. It was all Harry’s fault. Dumbledore’s name never slipped from his mind. Why did he need to talk with his guardian? He was sure the perverted man had a crush on Harry or something.
Tom nodded and went to his bedroom. He had the necessity to invent a plan for Harry to stay with him the day after. The vacation was a perfect excuse.