When We Were Young

C H A P T E R F I V E

May 24th, 1943

The first thing Tom got was a fluff of raven hair up his nose when he came back to Wool's Orphanage, luggage still in hand.

When Tom hadn't come back for Christmas break, Harry had been very hurt, thinking that Tom would rather be alone than be with him. Of course, Tom sent a letter to the boy right away explaining what happened, and Harry's own anger fueled when he learned who held Tom back from coming to him.

Tom rubbed Harry's back, feeling his guilt returning at full force. Tom had stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas break rather than going back to the Orphanage. Tom had wanted nothing more than to see Harry again, but some foolish, Prewitt Gryffindors decided that putting a body-binding curse on Tom while dumping red and gold glitter all over him was a good thing to do 10 minutes before everyone had to board the train, causing Tom to miss the train as the body-binding curse wore off 30 minutes after use.

Tom had been livid, his magic crackling with anger, but his pride stopped him from telling the professors of the twin's little prank on him. He promised himself that he would get them back, serving them a taste of their own medicine with a plate of revenge.

And he did.

10 minutes before the train left to King's Cross Station for summer break, Tom hunted down the meddlesome twins with the point me spell (commonly taught to 4th years, but that never stopped Tom) and sent a full, overpowered body-bind curse (taught to 5th years) that would last for an hour, along with a silencing charm (taught to 2nd years) and a sticking jinx (the only spell at his physical level) so that the green and silver glitter he dumped on them would stay on their skin for 24 hours before the sticking jinx wore off. Unlike the twins, Tom did all of this while under an disillusionment charm and a silencing charm so that the twins wouldn't see him and therefore have no evidence pointing to him if they decided to tattle.

Although, with the nature of the prank, the twins immediately knew that it was the first year Slytherin they had pranked around 5 months ago that did that to them.

The twins cursed themselves for letting Tom see them while they did their prank. They should've known that the slimy, revenge seeking Slytherin would lash back. It's a Slytherin thing to do.

That retaught the twins a valuable lesson they learned on their first year in Hogwarts. Never prank a Slytherin unless you want to be pranked back.

And so, the train left without the Prewitt twins, and Tom left Hogwarts feeling very smug, not a fleck of glitter on him and not a hair out of place.

As promised, Tom told Harry every little detail on what he did to get back at the twins, and Harry listened with a vindictive gleam in his emerald eyes.

Much like after the Blitz, Harry and Tom were metaphorically handcuffed together and glued at the hip.

Now, instead of laying on Tom's bed, Harry nuzzled up to Tom while the older boy read, his head buried in the crook of Tom's neck and listening to classical music. It wasn't uncommon for Harry to fall asleep that way, both boys squished into one armchair but somehow not uncomfortable.

Tom never had the heart to tell the younger boy to move when his arm or leg got numb, but looking past the limbs that usually fell asleep with Harry, Tom quite enjoyed the position, his Harry wrapped firmly around him like a snake coiled around it's prey.

Another thing that unexpectedly hit Tom along with the twins' prank was the big, bad 'p' word.

Puberty.

Tom got it early, very early at 12 years old.

Tom now towered over every first, second, and some third years, which made him feel as if he were holier than them. The bad thing about early puberty was that Tom wasn't prepared for the acne.

When Tom got his first pimple in February, he stared at it for a good hour in front of a mirror in horror, too disgusted to even poke it.

There was no way that Tom was going to turn into a pepperoni face. No way.

So, he snuck into Abraxas Malfoy's dorm (he was a 3rd year) and took his anti-acne cream, subtly spreading a rumor of how Orion Black's skin looked clearer than normal.

The result was instant. Any acne that he had (one pimple) or may have gotten in the future was erased from his history and Tom's skin remained as clear as day while Abraxas yelled at Orion until his face turned scarlet and he was panting to get more air.

No one ever knew about Tom's stray pimple, and no one ever would.

As for Harry, he probably grew an inch over the year, and he was always baffled at how far he needed to crane his neck up when he wanted to look at Tom.

Right now, the boys were in their usual position, squished in an armchair. Harry was looking up at Tom through his eyelashes, his eyes tracing the lines of Tom's face. Most of Tom's baby fat had dropped away, revealing the aristocratic structure of his face. Harry's heart started to beat impossibly fast when Tom gave him a small smile before returning to his book, his mahogany eyes devouring the words on the page.

Harry buried his face back into Tom's neck, the heat in his cheeks telling him that he was blushing.

Harry didn't know what he was feeling or what was happening to him. He felt warm and fluttery, his heart beat was like a hummingbird's, he was blushing at what he assumed to be nothing, and his mind seemed to be set and focused on Tom.

The small smile Tom gave him, the slight furrow in his brow as he concentrated on what he was reading, how Tom made him feel safe.

Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom, Tom.

To anyone and everyone else (maybe not Tom, he's the unknown factor as of now), the feeling was obvious.

Harry was developing a crush on Tom.

About time.