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This was the second week since he’d come back in time, and he was quickly getting sick of seeing Riddle’s face around.
Harry had pushed him away every chance he could, had insulted him more than a few times, practically spit in his face, but every time it’d only made the guy more obsessed than before.
Harry paused in the middle of the long hallway, where he was heading to lesson, and his eyes gleamed.
He had, unintentionally, been playing hard to get. Riddle, he knew, would do anything to get what he wanted, it’s why he was a slytherin in the first place.
So, the perfect way to get his attention away from him, was to do the opposite. Act just like everyone else in Slytherin, look at him like he was the world, become obsessed with his attention.
He smirked before he forced himself to soften it into a smile, suddenly excited for the lesson he’d been dreading.
He all but skipped to his potions lesson, grinning when he saw Riddle.
“Hi Tom!” He said happily.
He could feel eyes turn to him from every direction, which made sense, since before now all he’d done was glare at the boy hatefully. The most surprised look was from Riddle himself, and he let himself feel smug about it for a second before he bounded up to him.
“What potion do you think we’re doing today?” He asked cheerfully. “Yknow, potions was my sisters favourite subject, before she..” he let his voice trail off.
This was the second part of his plan. Riddle had been hounding him on his home life, his past, but Harry refused to answer before, which just left the maniac more interested. So Harry was going to give him every single detail about a fake family. He’d have to get a journal to keep it all down, or he’d probably forget the details and mess up.
Riddles eyes snapped to him curiously, “you’re being awful friendly today”
Harry made himself think of the most embarrassing thing he could, that time in primary when he tried to tell his teacher about the Dursleys, but had been labelled a liar later. He remembered the shame that had consumed him to the tips of his toes.
Like he expected, his face went pink at the memory.
He saw Riddles smirk appear on his face, and Harry had to use all the will he had to force his own down.
And now, step three, arguably the most important to keep Riddle from being suspicious, obviously fake hatred.
He stuttered a little, “w-whatever Riddle, Nevermind”
He glared at him softly from the corner of his eyes and looked to the front of the classroom instead.
That lesson, he made a point of letting Riddle get to him more often, blushing slightly whenever he got close. Near the end, he divulged his sisters name, Hermione.
He managed to keep this up the whole day, and felt lighter than he had the entire time he’d been here when he fell into his bed and closed the curtains. He cast a silencing charm and finally let out a loud laugh. Soon, Riddle wouldn’t even give him a second glance.
—
The next day, he escalated. He let Riddle ‘catch him off guard’ more often, even ‘accidentally’ glancing at him too many times for it to not be noticed. When defence came, another lesson where he sat next to Riddle, he made sure to ramble, and ramble, to the point where even Riddle had glanced at him in annoyance instead of amusement or curiosity.
Just last week, Harry had the mistake of revealing to his professor that he knew how to cast a patronus. He cursed himself for it back then, but now he’d use it to his advantage.
“Hey To- Riddle! Do you want me to teach you the patronus charm?” For a second, Riddles eyes gleamed, but then his eyebrows furrowed at his next sentence.
“Actually, when I was practising, my tutor told me I got it really quickly for my age, probably because of all the good memories I have. I’m sure it’ll be super easy for you too! You must have plenty of great memories” Harry made sure to make himself sound as arrogant as he could, admittedly taking some inspiration from Malfoy.
Finally, the finishing touch. “I’m sure your parents will be as proud as mine were!” He grinned happily, like he was doing Riddle a favour, before he dimmed slightly, reverting back to being ‘hateful’ when he remembered his parents had died in the war.
The sight of Riddles fake polite look made him want to preen.
“Thank you for the offer, Evans” he drawled, “but I think I’ll be okay”
Harry made sure he was turned away in embarrassment when his mouth twitched.
It’s working, it’s working, it’s working!
He turned back and shrugged like it didn’t bother him, but his eyes lowered respectfully.
—
He didn’t lose a chance to ramble about his mum who loved to bake, or his dad who was obsessed with quidditch, “everyone always says I got his talent, and I can’t help but agree”, his sister who was a squib obsessed with magic, “we did her a favour by letting her keep living with us”.
He make himself sound as spoiled as he possibly could, telling Riddle about his brooms, how “dad would get me a new one every time a faster one came out”, and how “mum was so mean, she’d never let me have my friends over. Still, my life was better than my sisters, at least I had magic. She was such a nerd you know, always reading, the know-it-all”
He made himself and Dudley basically swap places. He was the pampered whale, while ‘Hermione’ was neglected.
Every time he rambled, he could feel Riddle losing interest. There was nothing to know about him anymore. There was just one thing left, how he got to Hogwarts.
“It was so scary” he mumbled at breakfast. “Grindelwald was somewhere in the area, so my family had to evacuate, but, well, I’d left a picture of my dead uncle Sirius, so we had to turn back. They waited outside while I got the picture but then some of Grindelwald’s followers saw them, while I was inside under the wards, and killed them” he pretended to hold back tears, “it was all my fault. They hadn’t even bothered to search the house for me after, you know? They thought my parents only had one kid, because we hid Hermione, so they didn’t even bother trying to get in.”
When questioned why his parents had been targeted in the first place, he explained, “well my parents were both muggleborns you see, and well-“ he paused a second the build suspense, “they wanted to tell muggles about us, reveal everything. They were good people, you know. They wanted to share healthcare with muggles, said it wasn’t fair we could be cured from anything while they were dying”
He glanced at Riddle, and knew that was it. He was done. The boys eyes looked disgusted for a second before he covered it up.
That night he breathed a sigh of relief at finally being left alone. The next day, all the lessons he had sat next to Riddle in, he was now sat next to a random boy he didn’t know the name of.
He made sure to look disappointed.
Maybe he was, a little.