"That's rubbish!" Megan spoke up.
"You think I have been fooled?" Tom asked raising an eyebrow aristocratically.
Dominique cleared her throat loudly; and rest of the time travellers started looking here and there. Tom turned to them looking at them with narrowed eyes.
"What?" Dominique asked nonchalantly.
Before anybody could react, a sound of a moving gargoyle attracted their attention. They turned to see a small body wearing round glasses entered the common room. The twins, Tom, Dominique and Draco immediately shot up from their seats.
Harry at first stopped dead at his track. He was startled by seeing so many people looking at him with confusion, sad and with many other expressions which he couldn't decipher.
"Harry—"Fred started.
"Um—"George started as well.
"Sorry."
"Sorry"
Fred, George and Harry spoke up all together.
"Oh,"
They stood there for a minute awkwardly, before the Weasley twins ran and picked him up in a long bear hug. The twins were crying silently in the crook of his neck.
"Where were you?" one of the twins demanded crying.
"The place you are thinking of." Harry replied smiling a bit wryly.
"Bloody Legillimens," George groaned.
"We are sorry," they both said putting Harry down.
Harry took a heavy breath in, and said. "I'm sorry too. I promise and swear of my—my..." Harry said looking around, as though finding something to swear on.
"You stupid arse, swear on our friendship that you won't try to kill yourself again." Draco said.
"Um..." Harry looked around uncertainly.
Dominique snapped. "HARRY JAMES POTTER; I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT IF YOU TRY TO KILL YOURSELF AGAIN, I SWEAR THAT I'LL MYSELF GO AND ASK DUMBLEFUCK TO KILL ME! Is that clear?" Dominique bellowed.
Everybody winced at her loud voice.
Harry's eyes went wide with fear. "No! You'll do no such thing!" Harry shouted back.
"Yes, I'll do exactly what I said." Dominique countered.
"Nick, please, I have already gone through much. If you kill yourself now, I won't be able to live anymore." Harry pleaded.
"Huh, how ironical, Harry; I just told I'll go to Dumbledore if you kill yourself, not before that, you jackass!" Dominique argued.
Harry pulled his own hair in frustration and at his stupidity. "Okay, fine. Fine, I won't kill myself. Happy?" Harry asked looking around him at his friends and sister.
"Yes," they all replied sternly and looked away crossing their arms across their chests.
"Everybody out," Tom said sternly.
Everybody except the five new students vacated the room immediately. He looked at them with raised eyebrows in question.
"Shut up!" they all snapped altogether at Tom.
Tom raised his eyebrows even more and shrugged. Casually, he walked to Harry and grabbed him by his waist. Harry gasped.
"What are—"he started; but couldn't finish, as a pair of lips clashed with his. His eyes grew wide for a minute; but soon he melted into the soft and wonderful kiss and closed his eyes, enjoying unbelievably great taste of Tom's mouth. As Tom tried to invade his mouth, Harry gently pushed him to the wall and savoured every moment of his heaven. Gradually, they pulled apart, panting for air.
Somebody cleared their throat from behind them. "Shut up, Ferret. Stop ruining my moment." Harry said blushing.
"Okay, we'll just go then." Draco said, smirking.
He turned to Fred and George, gesturing to come out with him. They moved out of the common room as quietly as possible.
"Um...what was that for?" Harry asked a bit nervous.
"For saving me from becoming a stupid troll." Tom shrugged.
"Well, then I think you should also kiss the twins, Nick and Draco. They too helped me save you, you know. Actually it was Nick's idea—"
"They didn't make me laugh. They didn't stand by my side, when I wanted to see the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets." Tom stated seriously.
"Oh," Harry made a 'o' shape with his lips.
"And remember Harry, if you try to kill yourself again, then I'll stop listening to whatever you say and go and become a very good student of Dumbledore—"
"No!" Harry responded quickly. "You won't do that,"
"Well then, what should I do?" Tom asked.
"For now you can kiss me again." Harry said before stepping closer to Tom and kissing him again on the lips.
As they came out, they saw everybody staring at them from under their lashes.
"What? Don't gape at us. That's rude!" Fred said.
Draco was surprised to see Roxanne present there. "Uh—Roxanne...What are you doing here?"
"You said that you would come soon, I waited for you. But you didn't come." said Roxanne, a bit sad.
"Oh—um, sorry; I just got a bit b-busy over here." Draco said a bit nervously.
"Is Harry okay?" she asked again.
"Y-yes, he is ecstatic!" Draco said grinning.
"But, before you left you said that he's ill?" Roxanne frowned.
"Yes, he was, but before we kissed." A silky voice replied from behind.
"What?" Almost everybody over there gasped.
"You have a problem?" Tom said raising his eyebrows. Everybody shook their heads frantically. "And don't worry; he won't try to kill himself again. I have made sure of that." Tom said smirking.
"But how—"Draco was cut off. He was suddenly pushed back by a force of a body over his. And a second after that, he was kissing somebody. He roamed his hand around the back of the body to understand who it was. It was definitely Roxanne. He gently picked her up of the ground due to her shorter height, and kissed her passionately. He smiled into the kiss. As they parted for air, they both were grinning madly.
"Um...sorry..." Roxanne breathed out.
Draco frowned. "Why would you say sorry?" he was breathing heavily.
"Maybe, because, I didn't want to break the kiss so fast..." Roxanne smiled cheekily. Draco immediately blushed.
"Then why don't you kiss again?" Harry said rolling his eyes.
"When did you come?" Draco asked.
"Do you really want me to explain that?" Harry deadpanned. "And Alphard, I think you want to say something to Nick." Harry said checking his nails.
Both Dominique and Alphard tilted their heads at Harry. "What do you have to say?" Dominique said turning to Alphard.
Alphard just shook his head. "I don't have any idea. What do I have to say?" he turned to Harry.
Harry sighed. "God, why do all of you think so loudly? It's very embarrassing to be able to hear people's thoughts unwontedly." Harry shuddered.
Instantly three 'fuck's were heard from the group; the Lestrange Twins, Alphard and the Weasley Twins.
"You all better come inside before continuing to convert your thoughts into actions, or... I don't know..." Harry trailed off and he himself went inside the common room, after glancing at Tom. Tom wordlessly followed him inside.
"Draco, can you come with me for a moment?" Roxanne whispered to Draco.
"Of course, love." Draco said before walking away with her.
Fred and George were about to leave too. But they were each caught by one person. They turned around to see the Lestrange Twins holding their hands. Dmitri was holding Fred's hand, and Nicholas was holding George's hand.
"Want to join us for few minutes?" the Lestrange Twins asked together.
"O-okay..." Fred and George said pretending to sound calm.
They all entered the Slytherin common room in a lot. Tom and Harry were not present there.
"You had something in your mind?" Dominique asked Alphard suppressing a smirk.
"Um, no..." Alphard tried.
Dominique rolled her eyes. "I think you sometimes forget that I'm a legillimens too." Dominique said.
Alphard sighed. "Then I don't think that there's any point on hiding anything." Alphard said, shrugging.
Dominique nodded. "Absolutely right you are. So...mind kissing me?" Dominique said looking at Alphard closely.
He sighed again. "Is that a question to ask?" he said grabbing her by her waist and slamming his lips to her.
From the other side of the room, Fred and George were getting a bit jumpy.
"Um, you wanted to talk to us?" they asked together.
"Yep," the Lestrange twins nodded. "Actually we were planning on asking you something." They said.
"What?"
"That, the last time we visited Hogsmead, how did you feel spending time with us?" they asked a bit formally.
"Uh—"
"What do—"
"—you mean?"
The Lestrange brothers looked at them impressed. Thought they had a bit of aristocracy in their tone, they were able to make the twins sitting in front of them a bit nervous.
"Well, we mean—"
"—that in Hogsmead—"
"—we spent the entire time—"
"—together; it was just—"
"—us four. You know—"
"—what we mean?" the finished smiling.
The twins nodded a bit nervously. Get your shits together. They thought together.
"Y-yeah, of course we know what you mean. Basically, you are asking, did we enjoy the Hogsmead day with both of you. And our answer to that question is, we had a great day playing the prank on the people, and meeting all the people out there, teaching both of you how to play pranks..." Fred said. They looked at the Lestrange twins. They had a longing look on their faces, as though waiting for something more.
"And..." they asked patiently.
"And...We had a nice day?" George asked.
They visibly deflated from inside. They nodded a bit...sadly. "Okay..." they said.
"What, this is what you wanted to talk about?" George asked.
They nodded again. "Yeah,"
"Oh, we thought that you would ask us on a date...but its fine—"
"You want to go on a date with us?" the Lestrange twins cut off Fred together.
"If you ask us..." Fred and George trailed off.
"Yes, yes...W-would you please come on a date with me Fred?" Dmitri asked grabbing Fred's hand.
"And would you come on a date with me George?" Nicholas asked grabbing George's hand.
Fred and George shook their heads inwardly in amusement. They were grinning widely now in happiness. "We would love to go on a date with you." they said happily.
As they came out of the common room, they muttered to themselves. "Bellatrix is going to torture us when we get back."
"Tom, tell me about you." Harry asked combing his fingers through Tom's hairs.
"You already know everything about me. I think I should ask you the question." said Tom.
Harry shook his head smiling. "I'm talking about your feelings. How do you feel about people? And maybe I shouldn't be asking this, but how do you feel about...?" Harry trailed off.
Tom looked at him. His expression was unreadable. He saw a bit of nervousness on Harry's face. "Harry, I don't particularly feel anything for every people. They are just—there in my life; present as somebody. In fact—I don't know what to feel for them. And about my parents, I wasn't able to meet—or talk to them; but I hate my father; for leaving my mother." Tom looked at Harry closely, trying to read his expression.
Harry remained quiet for a moment, contemplating whether to speak or not. "Tom, you most probably don't feel anything for every people around you, because you try to weigh their utility in your life. Try to accept them by your heart." Harry paused as though thinking. "I mean—try to know their interests, about their everyday lives...try communicating and not order around." Harry said smiling.
Tom remained quite. He was too used to order around than taking somebody's advice. Harry gave a breathy laugh. "Okay fine, I won't pester you much. I know it's difficult for you to listen to people."
"It's okay, I can try listening to you, I guess. But now, tell me about you." Tom asked.
"I have already told you everything about me. What else do you want to know?" Harry asked.
"Um, maybe—hey can you teach me those curses you invented?" Tom asked suddenly.
Harry laughed a bit at Tom's excitement. "So at last, you gathered your courage up to ask me to teach you?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows.
Tom frowned. "You knew I wanted to learn?" he asked.
"Everybody who knows you a bit well can guess that you wanted to learn the curses. I know you Tom; you crave for knowledge like a bloody pregnant woman." Harry said rolling his eyes. But the smile was plastered on his lips. He saw Tom blushed a bit, but was determined not to let Harry know about it. So, he pulled his poker face. "You know, I love it when you blush." Harry said grinning.
"Shut up, and tell me whether you'll teach me the curses—and yeah also, how to cast a patronus." Tom asked.
Harry sighed. "Well, I don't know, the curses, I don't have any incantation for them and the patronus; you know that I cannot cast it myself now." Harry said slumping down.
"Don't worry about the incantation. You don't always need an incantation to cast a spell or curse; you just need magic and intention. And about the patronus, we'll try together. I know you can do it. You're a great wizard." Tom said smiling.
Harry looked at him a bit amazed. It was definitely unusual for him to see Tom smiling, but he was more amazed by his words this time. He said that he's a great wizard. It was Harry's turn to blush.
"You don't look bad yourself blushing, you know." Tom said smirking. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Okay, let's go then. There's still a few hours left for the curfew and the special class, so we could practice in the Room of Requirements." Harry said getting up from the bed they were sitting on.
"Yeah, I've been dying to see this Room of Requirements. Let's go." Tom said getting up as well.
They walked through the seventh floor hall way. Tom was looking here and there, as though looking for the label 'Room of Requirements'.
"This way," Harry pulled Tom into a secluded part of the hallway.
Tom looked at him confused. "But there's nothing over here." He said looking at the solid wall in front of him.
Harry smiled. "There's a reason I consider Hogwarts to be my home and I love it so much. It's full of secrets." He said looking at Tom.
Tom looked back at the wall in front of them. Suddenly, a door appeared on the wall. He looked astonished at the door.
"Come on," Harry said opening the door for Tom. "After you," he said smiling.
Tom entered the room and looked around. It was full of broken furniture and old stuffs. "What is this room about?" he asked.
Harry grabbed Tom's hand. "I'll show you." he said nodding. Harry closed his eyes.
Tom kept gaping at the room, as it changed and shifted. After a few seconds, the room was transformed into a large hall with dummies surrounding it. It almost looked like the classroom they had their special classes. But it was much more formal.
"So, how's it?" Harry said smiling.
"It's awesome." Tom replied, still looking around the room.
"Okay, now let's get started." Harry said letting go of Tom's hand and taking out his wand.
Tom nodded and followed Harry's action. "First, I want to learn those curses you invented." Tom said.
Harry nodded. "Okay, then let me teach you the one I casted on that thick skull." Harry said pointing his wand at a nearby dummy. "Just think of an advanced bone breaking curse. The difference between that curse and mine is that my one only separates the joints; all at once." He explained and threw the curse at the dummy. The dummy immediately fell on the ground in pieces.
Harry taught Tom every curse and shields he had invented till today. After about two hours, they were done with all the curses.
"You are a quick learner. You learned about five curses and shields within two hours." Harry said grinning.
"You bet," Tom said smirking. "But you are a good teacher too. You could become a professor after you graduate from here." He added.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know, maybe,"
"Okay, now the patronus." Tom said getting up.
But Harry just sat there. He sighed and looked up at Tom. Tom frowned. "Come on, get up. You'll be good." Tom said pulling Harry's hand.
Harry got up hesitantly and went to the centre of the room. "Okay, the incantation to cast a patronus is 'Expecto Patronum'. And I'll show you the wand movement." Harry said. His voice seemed to be a bit dull than before.
Tom had noticed, but didn't say anything. He carefully followed the wand movement that Harry showed. "Why don't you try first?" Tom suggested.
"Tom, you know—"
"There's no harm in trying." Tom insisted.
Harry nodded. He closed his eyes trying to think of the happiest memory he could remember. He at first fixed his mind on the memory of winning the Quidditch Cup. "Expecto Patronum," he said the incantation aloud. A white whisk of light came out of his wand. But Harry knew that it wasn't a perfect patronus. Harry shook his head.
"Come on, try again. You're doing well." Tom encouraged him.
Harry shook his head again. "The memory I used to cast a patronus is not strong enough now."
"Then try some other memory, Harry. Harry, I know Patronus is a very difficult charm. Even, wizards and witches of seventh year cannot cast it. But, just think—you casted it for the first time when you were in your third year! I know you can do it Harry." Tom said.
Harry looked at him a bit smiling. He was reminded of Professor Lupin. "You remind me of Moony." He said.
Tom tilted his head in confusion. Harry smiled and took out the Marauder's Map from his pocket. "You want to know, how it works?" he asked looking at Tom. Tom shrugged.
"Okay, now to make the map appear, you need to tap it with your wand and say, 'I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good.'" He said handing the map to Tom.
He took the map and followed the steps. He saw the map appearing on the parchment. "Messrs. Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail present you the Marauder's Map." Tom read out the front page. "They call themselves Marauders?" he asked.
Harry nodded smiling. "So Moony is Remus Lupin, Padfoot is Sirius Black, Prongs is James Potter and...Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew." Harry grimaced at the last name. "Moony and Padfoot are my Godfathers and Prongs is my father as you know." Harry explained.
"What about Wormtail?" Tom asked.
"Oh, don't worry about him; he's filthy two faced rat. He's the main reason my parents died. Voldemort was searching for the Potters to kill them, because of the prophecy. He wanted to kill me actually. So, Dumbledore casted a Fidelius Charm on them, to save me for later use. You know, to kill you. And Pettigrew was the secret-keeper. But he threw up all the information to Voldemort as soon as he pointed his wand at him. He didn't stop there. He even framed Padfoot and blamed him for his crimes. He had to spend twelve years in Azkaban, before he could escape." Harry explained.
Tom sighed. He was just losing count of people that had betrayed Harry. He looked at him earnestly. "And why did they call themselves those names?" he asked.
"Oh sorry—I forgot, my father, Sirius and Peter were animagus. Actually they became Animagus, to help Moony. He is a werewolf." Harry said smiling.
"A werewolf," Tom asked raising his eyebrows.
Harry nodded. "But don't jump to conclusions, Tom. He is the most polite and understanding person I have ever seen. He's been the best Defence against the Dark Arts Professor we have ever got." Harry said still smiling. "Wait, I'll show you the photographs." Harry just waved his wand. After a few minutes, an album flew in the Room.
Harry sat down on the floor and began flipping the pages. "There they are; Sirius, my father and Remus." He said pointing at a particular photograph of the four Marauders.
Tom clearly noticed that Harry avoided a man present there. But he could guess well that the man was Peter Pettigrew.
"Sirius is a Grim Dog, my father was a deer and as told before Pettigrew is a filthy rat." Harry made a face again. "And that's my mother." Harry said pointing at a particular photograph and smiling.
Tom looked at Harry and smiled himself. He seemed so relaxed and calm when he talked about his family. "Sirius looks exactly like Orion." Tom commented.
Harry nodded laughing. "Yeah, I know. I almost got a heart attack when I first saw Orion." He said.
Tom laughed too. He was happy that he could make Harry smile and laugh again. He now really understood what Harry meant by being happy. And he was sure that he was happy right now.
"Harry, why don't you try to cast the patronus again?" Tom asked.
Harry's smile faltered a bit, but it didn't disappear. He wasn't sad anymore. "Okay," Harry nodded and got up.
He raised his wand. He closed his eyes and the first thing that came into his mind was the smiling faces of his parents and his godfathers. Slowly he started imagining talking with his parents and hugging them. A smile appeared on his face. "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted.
Tom watched with amazed eyes as the silvery stag pranced around the room for a while and then dissolved into the air. When he looked back at Harry, he saw him grinning widely.
"A stag, as my father's; my mother's was a doe." He said smiling.
Tom smiled too. "Great job Harry."
"Okay, now it's your turn." He said motion towards Tom's wand.
Tom nodded. He raised his wand and closed his wand, thinking about a happy memory. At first, his mind got filled with the memory, when he was taken to Hogwarts for the first time. But then he remembered that Harry had said the memory wasn't enough to cast a patronus. So, he rummaged his mind for a happier memory. He fixed on the memory when he came to know that he was the heir of Slytherin. He opened his mind and waved and pronounced the incantation, "Expecto Patronum". But nothing happened. He glanced at Harry.
"You need to pick a stronger memory, which makes you smile whenever you think about it." Harry said smiling.
Tom nodded and stood still, thinking about all the happy memories. He decided on another happy memory; when he had been declared the smartest wizard of his age. He was really happy and proud of himself at the time. He raised his wand again and tried. "Expecto Patronum," he waved his wand. A white spatter of light emerged from the tip of his end; just like Harry had before.
He sighed. Harry put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. It's just a matter of concentration and the memory. You'll be successful." Harry said smiling.
Tom looked at him in admiration. A small smile appeared on his face as well. "Thank you," he nodded.
He closed his eyes again, thinking about a strong happy memory. This time, his visions were filled with images of Harry smiling and laughing. Gradually his mind shifted to the moment they kissed. A smiled appeared on his lips.
Harry was noticing his expression. When he saw Tom smiling, he just thought; he has got his memory. Harry smiled. "Expecto Patronum!" Tom said. As he waved his wand, a white light emerged from the tip of his wand, followed by a silvery jackal. The animal ran around Tom a few times, before running away and disappearing into the wind.
"Excellent!" Harry said grinning widely. He turned Tom around and pulled him into a tight hug. Tom was grinning as well. He held Harry with his dear life. A tear rolled down through his cheek; tears of happiness. He pressed his cheek on Harry's shoulder making the tear soak in Harry's robes.
"Thank you, Harry." Tom said pulling apart.
"Oh, don't thank me. It's fully your credit that you could cast the charm." Harry said smiling.
Tom breathed out a laugh. No Harry, it's totally your credit. If not for you, I would never be genuinely happy, Tom thought.