As Harry laid in the privacy bed that night, he finally allowed his masks to fall. It just seemed so hard to be happy when there were so many things that were missing and just this once, he didn't use his occlumency shields to block out the storm; consequences be damned. His cheeks burned as he felt two fat tears rolled down his cheeks because he just felt so alone.
For the past two days, he has done bizarre things in the hopes of feeling better, feel as if he would be just fine and not miss his family too much. Everything was just piling up, he felt so overwhelmed, annoyed, frustrated, and weak, but most of all, he felt lonely. He had friends, but none of them were able to see through the mask that he put up. He confusedly found himself enjoying the time he spent with a teenager who grew up to become one of the greatest dark lords of all times. The one who was the catalyst to the domino of reactions that was his failure of a life. At first, he struggled to keep with his neutral attitude towards Tom but now it was different and he hated the conflict going on in his mind.
Sometimes, he felt as if Tom understood how he was feeling, felt as if there was some sort of connection between them but he dismissed the idea because that would be too absurd to think about. Not even the Voldemort in his time had been able to see through him.
He felt disgusted with himself, disgusted for having his composure nearly slip several times due to his emotions, disgusted for hanging with the wrong company, disgusted that he hasn't tried harder to get ahold of his family.
He longed for their company and grieved for their loss even though he knew that they were never truly gone. He remembered all the moments they've spent together, all the good and the bad. He remembered the comfort and understanding they held for each other, the safety and reassurance they felt amongst their own company. He remembered the times when they've had to heal each other because their training went too far, but he also remembered the times when they felt proud of their accomplishments. He longed to be there and he knew that he would give so much just to have them all together again.
He was exhausted with the persona he must keep up, a warm-hearted if a bit crazy student for the Hufflepuffs and a powerful figure for the Slytherins. He was exhausted with the things he must do to protect himself, exhausted with having to deal with people who misunderstand him. Perhaps, death would be a mercy but was he even brave enough to take his own life when he has worked so hard for years to live and survive? No, he wasn't and he felt like a coward because he couldn't.
He rolled onto his stomach, face planted into the pillow, muffled sobs echoing off the thin curtains, body shaking under the blankets as uncontrollable sobs wracked his frame. His core trembled as it fought for breath amongst the suffocating presence of the emotions. Just this once, he allowed himself to cry even as his pillow became cold and wet from his tears and he grieved, reminisced, and exhausted himself. As the last of his tears slipped away, he pulled on his strength to stay strong, find his family, and be the leader he was born to be. But that could wait till morning, for now, he should be allowed to take comfort in the darkness as he drifted off towards the arms of Morpheus.
That night as Tom Riddle went to bed, there was a strong wave of sadness before he was assaulted with a storm of emotions through his occlumency shields. He was vaguely aware that one end of his connection with Harry Potter was opened, then he was assaulted with countless memories.
He watched as Harry fought for his survival, sought comfort from those around him, protected students from bullies, battled against the machinations of an old man, and found the strength buried deep within. He envied Harry's strength in not just magic but also of the mind and soul. He envied Harry's resilience, the amount of determination he carried, the power of his character. Worst of all, he found himself envious of those who had earned Harry's affections, been the ones under Harry's protective instincts, witnessed Harry's growth in strength. He was frustrated with his future self for playing into Harry's game, not catching on to the true character. He was jealous of the many paths Harry has created for himself especially when he, Lord Voldemort couldn't find the strength to walk anywhere but towards the dark. He understood Harry's pain, was envious of Potter's strength and longed to have the brat on his side.
Even with all that Harry represented and the obstacles the teen brought to his path, he couldn't hate him and he hated himself for being unable to do so. He wanted to hate Harry, to revel in the dark emotions Harry would throw at him. But he wanted even more to have Harry's strength, wanted to have Harry's power, wanted to have Harry's beauty and attention and he didn't understand why.
Harry represented a threat to him, but he still found himself craving all the bizarre ideas the teen came up with. He found himself craving the next experiment they could perform, the next musical battle, the next stunt. He had only known this side of Harry for a month, and he found it enchantingly beautiful. Harry was and still is the definition of beauty, he is beautiful and would be even when he becomes old and wrinkly.
Staffroom 8:00 am Sept. 4, 1943
The professors of Hogwarts were each nursing a cup of coffee or tea as they chatted about, awaiting the headmaster's arrival. Most had had a difficult sleep due to the wave of sadness that travelled through the castle. At exactly 8:01 am, the aged headmaster walked in, wearing stylish sky blue robes that gave the old man a calm and relaxed appearance. He sat down, got himself a cup of plain earl grey tea and took a sip before letting out a contented sigh and gestured for the meeting to start. "So, how were the first two days of school? Any students struggling, missing deadlines, getting bullied, or causing chaos? How goes the boy with two souls?" Dippet asked, enjoying his tea with his eyes closed.
"I fear there may be a darkness in him" Albus Dumbledore, head of Gryffindor said very seriously.
"Is it because he's friends with Mr. Riddle?" Professor Newton, head of Hufflepuff, teased. "Aww Albus, there's no need to feel jealous. We all know that you use the detentions you hand him for shagging." Newton then smacked a hand to his supposed overactive imagination. "Oh, I did not need that mental image. But I assure you, Henri and your darling Tom are just friends."
"Yes, that does explain the sexual tension" Professor Kettleburn added, pretending to be making a serious observation.
Horace Slughorn, the Head of Slytherin, was friends with Professor Newton and decided to play along "you better not let any others hear this, many were betting on when Mr. Noir and Tom would get together. I daresay, I've never seen Tom this enamoured."
"This is a serious matter. I'm afraid that the influence Mr. Riddle has on Mr. Noir may well doom-" Albus Dumbledore said, once again warning the staff of the darkness in such a well-favoured student. They didn't need to know about the compulsion charms, that was his secret.
"Doom us all to darkness" they all repeated, rolling their eyes. How many times have they heard this about Tom Riddle and darkness? After taking it seriously the first few times, they were seriously let down so why continue to?
"If the world was doomed to darkness and misery, remember that I have warned you," Dumbledore said calmly, leaning back in his chair, knowing that pursuing the matter wouldn't get him anywhere.
"If it makes you feel any better Albus, I'm pretty sure Henri has a bigger influence on Mr. Riddle than the other way around. In the past five years of teaching Mr. Riddle, I have never seen him so happy" Professor Newton said as if soothing a jester.
"Tom has always been a brilliant student and very well-mannered. He is a charming young man but he had never seemed truly happy. It was almost as if he was constantly clouded in misery disguised as sunshine. But now, perhaps some of the clouds have parted and we could hope that Tom wouldn't doom us all to darkness" Slughorn added.
Merrythought, the old lady that she was, decided to ruin the moment, it wasn't her intention, she was just tired. "And how is he going to do that? Do the chicken dance until the sun shines again?" she barked nastily.
Dumbledore's lips thinned as he remembered the humiliation one of his lions had been subjected to the previous day. Professor Newton and Slughorn couldn't help but laugh loudly as they remembered the rumours that went around.
"No, perhaps hatching duck eggs from aging potions would do the trick. Salazar knows the chicks have done a good job" Professor Slughorn joked.
"Even flying carpets would do! Perhaps a recreation of Aladdin would help. Especially if the genie can grant wishes" Professor Newton contributed.
"Or you could have them both whisked away in a pumpkin turned carriage at their marriage" Dippet piped in excitedly and many professors laughed at that.
"Look at us! Giggling like a group of schoolgirls!" Merrythought scolded.
"Oh, it's comical how students think the staff meeting is as serious as the stars when all we really do is gossip like teenagers!" Slughorn said, laughing helplessly.
"I quite agree with Galatea," Albus said with a serious face.
"Well, we can't all agree on the same thing!" Slughorn retorted.
"Too true, too true! By the way, my friend, how many points have been taken off Hufflepuff for the stunts?" Kettleburn asked curiously, he hadn't noticed anything particularly off about the Hufflepuff hourglass.
Silence followed that question as the professors realized that they had forgotten to deduct points or even give detentions. Armando Dippet just laughed at his professors. "You did remember to take points or at the very least issue detentions, didn't you?" he asked as he continued laughing.
"Ten points from Hufflepuff," Dumbledore said as he finally remembered.
"Ten points to Hufflepuff for getting away with stunts!" Gerald Newton said as he burst into peals of laughter.
"Twenty points from Hufflepuff for not taking the duel seriously!" Merrythought exclaimed.
"Thirty points to Hufflepuff for being so inspired by the little chicks he hatched!" Dippet retorted.
"20 points to both Hufflepuff and Slytherin for the amazing charmwork!" Gerald declared.
"20 points from Hufflepuff and Slytherin for having pets that are not allowed!" Albus stated.
"25 points to Hufflepuff and Slytherin for successfully carrying out the experiment. And I daresay, another 5 for the cuteness overload" Slughorn said, leaning back on his seat and sipping his tea, feeling undeniably smug.
Armando gives a loud laugh at the behaviour of his staff "I haven't had such an interesting meeting in ages!" he exclaimed as he continued to laugh uproariously.
"I'm glad that you're finding amusement in our misery Headmaster!" Galatea snapped irritated.
"Yes, and I do envy you lot, Mr. Noir seems to be an interesting student. He also seems to live up to expectations as well, what with his incredible feats of magic" Armando said, pretending to be oblivious to the irritation and glee from his professors. He wasn't going to let any of them ruin his mood.
"I agree with Armando, Mr. Noir is also a bundle of inspiration wherever he goes and he's already very protective of his housemates," Gerald said.
"I disagree, however, we can't all agree on the same thing," Albus said.
"I envy Gerald for taking Mr. Noir, he would have done well in Slytherin!" Slughorn said jokingly.
"Enough talk about the chicken dancer! Onto other topics!" Galatea demanded.
The rest of the meeting went on peacefully with the professors talking about common student problems, bullies, and sometimes gossip.
Harry looked terrible as he got up from bed that morning at 8 am. His usually luscious hair was in complete disarray, his eyes were sore, his nose was puffy and his entire face was bloated. He felt tired and he was aching all over but he pushed past the fatigue to drag himself to the washroom. He was wandering around the castle contemplating many decisions of his life.
"Oh, are you alright child? I thought I felt a powerful wave of sadness last night and it felt like you. I daresay it brought a tear to my eyes. The entire castle felt it too, most just didn't realize it was you." the ghost Friar said as he spotted one of his darling students. The child was hiding so much pain that he refused to show.
"Hello Friar, I'm afraid the middle of the hallway isn't the right place for such a conversation. I apologize for any disturbances last night" Henri said politely as he bowed his head in respect to the other.
"Perhaps a trip to the Astronomy Tower would help. Merlin knows the view and solitude would put you in a better mood" Friar said as he moved to lead the wizard to the astronomy tower. He watched in alarm as the child walked dangerously close to the edge where one step would be enough to throw him to his death.
"I wonder what it would feel like to jump off," the child said morbidly curious, as he looked down. "I know what would happen to me physically but... would I be scared? Would I feel excited? Possibly even freeing? Would it put me out of my misery?" Friar watched in alarm as his child seemed to seriously consider jumping. It wasn't Harry's first time on the verge of committing suicide but he had always realized that there was something to live for until now. This time though, he was all alone, he had no one, there was no reason for him to live for. It should be freeing.
"Don't do it Henri" Friar said gently as he took a deep breath to calm his panic. "There's still so much for you to live for."
Henri looked at Friar, green eyes void of its usual brightness and intelligence. "What do I have to live for? They're all gone, I have no one left." His skin was pale, his hands were trembling and he felt his willpower slipping away from him.
"You'll find them again soon Harry," Friar said comfortingly. "Don't give up hope just yet."
Henri looked at the ghost desperately. "Perhaps in the afterlife, I could be assured that they are doing well."
"And what would they say when they find you dead?" Friar asked gently.
"They're not coming back. They're gone. Why should I hope for our reunion when all it would do is cause me misery?" The voice was void of emotion, the eyes were dull and empty in a way that it would make even the Bloody Baron shiver.
"You mustn't say so, son. They are doing alright and are trying to find a way to get to you" Friar said confidently, he knew this for sure.
Henri gave an empty chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "I wish I had your optimism. But after going without them for so long, I've lost hope. I've tried to let it all go but they meant too much to me that I feel hollow without them."
"I know all of you will be together soon because to us spirits of the dead, time and universes have no meaning to us."
As both held this conversation, none noticed the two sets of grey eyes listening in intently. They had been strolling around when they stumbled upon the strange pair and although they knew that they should get help, their curiosity wouldn't allow the conversation to end by announcing their presence.
Harry allowed a hollow tear to fall on his face as he coldly said "I wish you would stop lying to me to make me feel better. I don't want to hope for something so hopeless."
"I'm not lying to you child but how do you think your family and friends would truly feel if you left them? Would you be willing to cause them so much despair and devastation? Would you be able to forgive yourself for causing them such misery, Henry James Regulus Potter-Black?" Friar asked.
Harry took a deep breath, realizing that Friar wasn't lying about time and universes meaning nothing...
"They wouldn't know if I died," Harry said monotonously as he felt an intense itch in his chest and throat.
"What happened to you, Henry Black? What happened to the one who thwarted the Dark Lord's plan time and time again? The one who played Voldemort so flawlessly? The one who protected himself and his family against the manipulations of a meddling old man? The one who convinced some of the Dark Lord's most loyal to side with him? Are you willing to give all that up by entering the afterlife?" Friar interrupted sharply.
"I did all that for my family, and now they're all gone. The version of me that you've witnessed in 1996 died with them" Henri said, empty tears streaming down his face, uncaring about his state.
"Are you choosing to give up all that you've worked for? You, who worked so hard so that he and his family could have a chance at living in the end? The Henry Black who created his own side? The intelligent, powerful, and charming Henry Regulus being reduced to a corpse. Does that sound appealing to you?" Friar asked convincingly, pleading the child to not take his life in a moment of desperation.
"What am I to do? When I think about them being gone, I can barely breathe. I may never see them again so holding on for them seems moot" Harry said panting, clawing at his throat and chest, struggling to breathe, tears spilling from dull green eyes with abandon.
Friar gave a wry smile "as long as you believe that you'll be fine, you're already halfway there. You mustn't lose hope because they're not gone, you'll be with them soon enough."
"I feel so disgusted with myself for not being able to find them, even after delving into the most obscure branches of magic." The tears still haven't stopped and his voice was cracking, nearly out of the willpower to remember who he was.
"You may not find it, but you seemed to forget that you are one of the most powerful wizards of all times," Friar said with a wry smile. "If you can't find it, make it."
It took a moment for the words to register in Harry's mind. "If I can't find the solution, I should make it" he repeated to himself to change his mindset. If he doesn't succeed, then at least he could die knowing that he tried. "But how?"
Friar gave a mysterious smile and kindly said "I seem to recall a certain charmed galleon that someone used for communication."
The dull green eyes slightly lit up as he recalled one of his bizarre ideas. Each of his siblings as well as the DA were in possession of at least one galleon. If he could only just slightly modify the protean charm then he may be one step closer. But his mind isn't in the right mindset and he needed to calm down first. He took a deep breath and sighed "I need some time."
"Of course child, speak to me whenever you need," Friar said as he checked to make sure his child wasn't going to jump when he was gone. Once he has assured himself that the situation was under control, he floated away. Before he left though, he heard a quiet 'thank you.' He turned back to smile and guided the child away from the Astronomy Tower.
The pair of eavesdroppers quickly scurried off before either of the conversationalists caught them. Had Harry been in his usual state, they probably would have been caught already.
They sped off to the Slytherin common room, stumbled past the entrance, fell heavily into the comfy armchairs and sat in silence for several long moments. The occupants of the common room who had watched the entrance turned back to their tasks, not expecting anything drastic to happen.
The eavesdroppers sat in silence staring at each other until their cousin came down the stairs. Orion looked a little lost as he observed the actions between his cousins. "Cousin Cygnus? Cousin Alphard? The two of you are quite pale." Orion greeted as he tried to understand why his cousins were acting so weird.
"Cousin Orion, pinch me," Cygnus said slowly, still in a daze.
"Why?" Orion asked curiously, "Why would you want me to hurt you?" sounding a little hurt.
"I need to know that this isn't a dream."
"Ah, but why would this be a dream?"
"I just heard some really interesting information," Cygnus said.
"And I seriously doubt any of that information is true." Alphard put in.
"So, that leaves us with the conclusion that this must be a dream."
Orion stared at the two before he burst out laughing. The two looked at their cousin with various degrees of incredulity and concern. "My apologies cousins, but the two of you saying that this is a dream makes it hard to believe that the two of you seriously believe you're living in a dream. Besides, to whom would this dream belong? It's incredibly rare for two people to share the same dreams."
Cygnus looked annoyed "just pinch me!"
"It wouldn't help much. It's possible to feel pain in a dream" Orion pointed out.
"Stop making me question my existence, Orion! Just pinch me!" Cygnus demanded sharply.
Orion hesitantly complied with the demand of his older cousin. Cygnus seemed contemplative for a moment before he dazedly answered "I don't think I'm dreaming. I felt the pain."
Alphard Black grinned "like Cousin Orion said, it's possible to feel pain in a dream" he pointed out to his older brother.
"Where did you get that information anyways? You shouldn't believe what someone tells you unless if there is untampered evidence" Cygnus drawled warningly.
"Henri, he knows all sorts of strange facts especially about where to hit people to severely injure them. Even Tom looked a bit spooked out." Orion answered confidently with a small smile on his face.
Cygnus stared long at his cousin for a long moment before he opened his mouth to speak then closed it and seemed to struggle to find the right words. "Henri Noir isn't his real name."
"How would you know? You should not believe what someone tells you without any proof" Orion threw the words back at him before he gained a curious glint in his eyes. "By the way, what would be his real name then? If it's something like Henri Monroe, you can rest assured that you're living in a dream."
"We overheard a conversion between him and the Fat Friar at the top of the Astronomy Tower. His full name is Henry James Regulus Potter-Black."
"But there's no such person and he's denied being a long-lost Black" Orion retorted, he didn't want to think that Harry had been keeping such a secret from him.
"That's the thing, he isn't a long lost Black Orion. He was likely to have been born a Potter and adopted into the Black family due to the order of his last name. He apparently got thrown to the past from 1996 probably during one of his attempts at thwarting a dark lord's plan..."
Both Cygnus and Alphard took turns explaining the situation with Orion asking the occasional questions. None noticed the pair of dark blue eyes that watched the exchange and questioned their carelessness of not spelling privacy wards before such an important conversation. At one point, he decided to intervene.
"So you mean to tell me, that Henri was standing at the edge of the Astronomy Tower, morbidly curious about what would happen if he jumped off with just a ghost in the way.... " Tom interceded sharply as if scolding a pair of immature teenagers. "And you decided to stay there and listen to the conversation instead of getting help?" he finished in a threatening tone.
"I-"
"Is he still even alive?" Tom asked tone neutral but he was panicking and enraged on the inside, Harry wasn't going to be a useful ally dead.
"Why do you care? You barely even know him!" Cygnus exclaimed indignantly.
Tom allowed some of his rage to bleed out and watched in satisfaction as Cygnus' indignation turned into fear. "It is not him that I care about, it's his power and intelligence that should be MINE!" Tom growled possessively with a cold smile even though he knew part of that was a lie.
"He's still alive and he's apparently going to charm some galleon," Alphard answered since his older brother was incoherent.
Tom looked at Alphard as if he had grown a second head and he didn't know what to think. He tried digging into his memories before his time travel to see if he had spotted any odd galleons or anything his followers have found out. Seeing nothing there, he went into the memories that assaulted his mind last night. Since he hadn't found the time to organize the new set of memories, it took a while before he found what he was looking for. "My Lord, are you well?" Cygnus asked, hoping to regain Tom's favour after his rather callous words.
Tom stared at nothing for a moment as he remembered a conversation he had with Harry yesterday. "That makes so much sense."
The others merely gave him questioning looks and Tom looked to the sky appearing as if he were asking for help from some deity. "I was asked if it was possible to combine elements of time magic into the protean charm by Henri yesterday."
The others seemed to catch on quite quickly and Alphard bravely asked "What are we to do with this piece of information? Do we keep it as blackmail or help him get back to his own time?"
Tom let out an angry hiss. He didn't want Harry to return to 1996, his soon-to-be ally would be trapped in his Golden Boy persona and he wouldn't be able to talk to Harry again. Harry was too interesting to just send back like some used good. "We pretend that we don't know it as of yet, at least until Harry slips. I'd like to figure him out before anything else happens." Tom said with a cruel smile as he got up off the armchair and left.
As he walked away from the dungeons, he searched the memories to find out what Harry would currently be doing. Once he found what he was looking for, he walked towards the seventh floor, all the way to the ROR and asked the room for Harry.
What he had not expected, however, was to see Harry settled in a huge jacuzzi tub with a warm towel laying on his eyelids, a lip mask covering the gorgeous lips, a paste above where the infamous scar would be, the scent of lavender and lemon thick in the air. He took a step closer, wondering if Harry would suddenly wake and pin him against the wall the way he did Avery. He internally shuddered as he remembered that incident in the common room. He took another step closer, another, and another, but Harry seemed almost dead to the world.
He walked up to where Harry was, his eyes raking over the near-naked form of Harry Potter, save for the speedos. He couldn't tell whether he liked what he saw or not, the body wasn't bad and he knew others found it attractive, but lust wasn't something he himself was familiar with. Why people lower themselves to be driven by such an animalistic emotion unless for reproduction disgusted him. He supposed if they were attached it would make sense, but with strangers... do people simply not understand the vulnerability of such a position? There were so many different ways for an assassination- getting choked, stabbed, poisoned lotion, injections... He was startled out of his observation as a tired voice said "don't eat too much eye candy, you'd get cavities."
Tom scowled as he looked at this version of Harry Potter and he didn't know what made him say what he did next, but something told him to. "The others know your secret," was all he said and he turned to leave, not expecting a reply nor thinking he was welcome.
Harry took a deep breath to get his relaxed mind to work and when the words registered, he didn't even have the energy to stiffen after removing the lip mask. "And what do you expect me to do about it? Tell them which companies to invest in? Tell them exactly how idiotic I find them and their future offsprings?" he asked in a resigned tone. He was alone in this universe, he could mess it up all he liked so long as he was willing to endure the consequences.
Tom stopped in his tracks and turned to find Harry still in his relaxed state and scowled "that would be your choice. I couldn't care less about what you do."
"What did you gain from telling me this?" Harry asked quickly as his mind finally started working again. Not as sharp as it usually was, but enough for him to understand what was going on.
Tom smiled coldly, a calculative glint in his eyes. "A favour" he simply replied.
Harry gave him a long, hard stare as he tried to remember what a Slytherin favour actually entails, raking through his memories of his etiquette lessons with Draco and portrait Walburga Black. He nearly smiled as he remembered Sirius' occasional negative comments and Walburga's elegant scolding of her son during those nightly lessons. "I don't have a choice do I?" he asked rhetorically, taking a deep breath before he asked, "when would like to have the favour fulfilled?"
Tom gave a calculative smile as his eyes flashed red and Harry struggled to understand the reason for the colour change. "Right now actually," Tom said, the smile becoming the charming one that he was known for as he walked back towards Harry.
Harry was instantly wary and cursed himself for being in such a weird position in case a duel broke out, his only weapon being the wand hidden in the disillusioned wand holster. "Seeing as I'm currently relaxing in a huge bathtub and unwilling to get up anytime soon, is there any way to postpone the task you're going to ask of me?" he asked sardonically, not making any moves to get up. In fact, he went even deeper into the jacuzzi tub, being glad that he cast a spell to prevent his skin from wrinkling.
"That won't be necessary" was the reply and he only had a moment's warning before Tom dropped into the tub with a quiet splash and ripped the warm towel from his eyes. He was extremely tempted to glare but all that he managed was a look that said 'seriously'. Tom merely smiled "I hope you don't mind if I join you considering how long it's going to take for the favour to be fulfilled."
Harry was trying to put as much distance as possible between him and Tom, but considering the circular nature of the tub, there wasn't much he was able to do. "Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into? It isn't a sexual favour is it?" he asked, trying to put up his occlumency shields.
"And what if it was?" Tom asked with a teasing smile which turned into a confused frown. Where had that come from?
"I would kindly ask you to give me five minutes to get out and ignore you for the rest of eternity" Harry blandly replied.
"I have a few questions, and you're going to answer them" Tom replied quickly before his mouth managed to betray him any further.
Harry blinked once, twice before he gave a small smile "really? That would not repay the favour."
Tom's face was unreadable at this point as he sarcastically replied "really? I didn't know that."
"Glad to be of help Professor Riddle."
"I was being sarcastic."
"So was I."
"No you weren't, you were just trying to save yourself some embarrassment" Tom replied petulantly.
Harry gave Tom a hard stare as if trying to stare a follower into submission "it's just you and me Tom, why would I be worried about being embarrassed?"
Tom scowled and looked away, now wasn't the time to argue with Harry on inconsequential things, he has questions he wants answers to. "Do we know each other in the future?" he asked as a test to see whether Harry would lie since he can't break Harry's occlumency shields.
Harry thought about the answer for a bit. He knew Voldemort nearly as well as he knew himself, but Voldemort didn't know him. But if Tom was asking if they knew of each other's existence then the answer would be yes. "Briefly." he chose to say.
"Would you care to elaborate?" Tom asked, knowing Harry likely wouldn't answer him if he demanded.
Harry startled at the politeness of the question rather than the demand he was expecting. "We've encountered each other a few times and aside from the unusual greetings we gave each other, there wasn't much else."
The teen wasn't lying, but he was making things sound a lot better than they were and being deliberately vague. "What did you think of future me and what did future me think of you?" he chose to ask.
"What makes you think that we made enough of an impression on each other that we had an opinion on one another?" Harry snarled. He was tired of life and dealing with Riddle in this state wasn't helping.
"If I remembered you, especially when you were a student, then there must have been a reason. Secondly, I doubt that low blood sugar levels were the reason for your fainting spell when you first saw me" Tom explained, unaffected by Harry's state of mind.
"Your magical presence was what caught me off guard enough that I fainted the first time we met. Secondly, if you were a professor, you would have remembered me as a student especially when I wasn't unpopular in my time." Harry justified.
He feigned confusion "was I a professor in the future?" He was curious as to what Harry would say.
"At one point in your life, yes. However, an unfortunate occurrence forced you away from the post" Harry said, visibly struggling to reign in the malicious smile threatening to split his face.
Riddle struggled to keep his emotions in check. 'Unfortunate occurrence' was putting it way too mildly. He still had nightmares of the painful death through the burning of his faithful host. Instead, he raised an eyebrow as he asked "May I inquire as to what the "unfortunate occurrence" was?"
Harry surprisingly, especially given his emotional state just that morning, managed a grin. "Nope," he said, popping the 'p' just to aggravate the mini-Voldie more.
"If I left the post before you got launched back in time, then was there any reason why I would remember you?" the teenage Voldie pressed, he wasn't giving up anytime soon.
"As I mentioned before, I wasn't unpopular" Harry managed a cocky smirk and his eyes finally seemed to brighten, displaying its owner's usual intelligence.
"How did you earn your fame?" Riddle asked, wanting to know whether Potter would reveal his having survived a killing curse.
"By being the Heir to two Most Ancient and Noble Houses especially when one was Light orientated and the other Dark. There hasn't been one in centuries" Potter revealed and to begrudgingly fair, he never specified which type of fame.
"If you held so much power, then I would have likely made myself known to you so you must have remembered me enough to gain an opinion on me. So I ask again, what did future we think of each other?" he asked with a triumphant gleam in his eyes, he finally had Potter!
Harry meanwhile gritted his teeth in irritation, he almost got outmanoeuvred by the teenage Voldie! He should be better than this! "You do realize that without specifying your "unfortunate occurrence" it could mean that you died, you fled Britain, you were eating fish & chips in Nova Scotia... I only specified that you left the post." he calmly replied, getting irritated would basically be handing the figurative winning medal to the git.
The triumphant gleam left the dark blue eyes as it battled with the challenging gleam. "Now, I highly doubt that I would die that easily given my magical prowess, I wouldn't flee Britain even if I became a criminal, and last but not least, why would I eat fish & chips in Canada?" Riddle verbally battled back teasingly.
Harry looked down at his toes as he said "you sought out your family for comfort after leaving the post to recover from the unfortunate occurrence." It wasn't a lie, the old Voldie did attempt to seek out his followers to possess and he referred to them as his family the night of Cedric's death.
The mini-Voldie however, was looking at the ex-Chosen One as if he had gone insane. "I have a family?" he asked, unable to hide the incredulity in his tone.
Harry looked back up and nodded innocently "yes, a pretty big one at that. I mean no offence, but they were a group of dunderheaded fools."
Mini-Voldie slowly caught on but was still unsure. He narrowed his eyes at the second part of Harry's answer but caught onto his chance to catch Potter off guard "and how would you know what they were like if we weren't important to each other?" he asked pointedly.
Harry startled, he had not expected that turn. "You had one of them teach during my fourth year."
"One does not represent all."
"Tell that to yourself" Harry muttered sardonically and Tom narrowed his eyes at the response. "It wasn't just the one. You had an annoying, snivelling, dim-witted coward cause problems during my third year and kill one of my schoolmates at the end of my fourth. And not just that, you had another slippery fool that nearly got the entire school killed in my second year. I had to steal his personal elf in front of him to teach him a lesson when he tried to use the killing curse on me in front of Dumbledore's office. You also had another one who tried to kill a hippogriff, the keyword being tried but embarrassment seemed to be a good enough lesson for him as he never pulled that stunt again. And I'm rambling but they were pretty good representatives of your family members. Although, I did like some of them."
Tom was speechless and irritated. He wasn't even aware of half of those occurrences such as Lucius nearly using AK in front of Dumbledore's office, why Wormtail suddenly sought him out, one of his knights nearly killing a hippogriff. And though Harry was being purposefully vague, he was sure there was more to it. "You said you liked some of them," he said, his mind no longer fully there.
"Keyword being some and the some that I liked were a small group compared to the rest. Therefore, your family was or will be a group of idiots to the point where you'd find relief through crucioing them" Harry finished his speech as he finally got out of the tub and put on his casual robes, using a switching charm when needed. He surprisingly felt much better after he vented and he sat on a sofa that suddenly appeared.
Tom, however, chose to remain in the tub as he pressed for more information. "If you knew my family so well, then we must have met again."
"I've met your family members separately and I have only met them together once under not-so-pleasant circumstances" Harry drawled out, finally deriving amusement from the conversation.
"Oh for the love of merlin, I just want to know what we thought about each other! Why and how do we keep getting into other topics?" Tom asked, dangerously calm as he was nearing his patience.
Harry gave a shit-eating grin. "And what do you expect me to say considering the confidential status of such information? Say that we got married and fled to Cuba in an attempt to trim Fidel Castro's beard?"
"You had no such qualms when revealing other information" the mini-Voldie pointed out, nearly petulantly.
"What information Mouldyshorts? I haven't actually told you anything you didn't already know. Heck, you don't even know when I'm born or what I looked like as a baby so anything that you picked up from my rant held little to no significance" the ex-chosen one snarked right back as he gave a mocking laugh.
At this point, Voldemort wasn't able to control himself any longer- the insult to his name and the validity of Harry's points driving him to the edge. "Merlin's saggy left buttock! When did you suddenly become so cold? When did you become so difficult? So much like me? You were much easier to deal with back when you were the Gryffindor- " Tom caught himself before he made an even bigger fool of himself, eyes wide as he realized what he said.