In the next few weeks, things seemed a lot better than they did the year before. It's more vibrant and unexpected, which Harry definitely wouldn't have expected a year to be.
As Harry ate his breakfast, he observed Tom from the other end of the Great Hall. The past few weeks seemed to have made him healthier and happier, and the dark eye bags that Harry had seen at the beginning of the year were non-existant.
In his head, Harry daydreamed. He thought of being next to Tom, resting his head on the taller man's shoulder, holding his hand under the table and sharing quiet jokes. He dreamed that he could openly kiss Tom, they could take long walks together, and he could love him.
He was cut out of his thoughts by Hermione's arm reaching in front of him to get a slice of toast.
Shit, he did it again.
Recently, his daydreams about Tom have gotten more reoccurring. It was almost scary to Harry, but really, he couldn't blame himself. Finally, after years of knowing the Slytherin, he's gotten to know the side of Tom that is nice, sweet, and most importantly, not an asshole.
It made Harry's crush so much stronger.
"Mate? You're staring at Riddle again."
Harry turned to Ron, his face definitely bright red, but he still managed to narrow his eyes. "I wasn't staring! I just spaced out, is all."
Ron just snorted into his pumpkin juice.
That added another problem. Mate. Tom would have a mate, seeing as he apparently had a creature inheritance, and chances were it wasn't Harry. It couldn't be Harry. He had absolutely no luck.
Harry's eyes once again shifted to the Slytherin table. But, as his eyes strayed to where Tom had been sitting, it was empty.
Furrowing his brows, Harry quickly looked around the Great Hall to find Tom, but he was too short to see everything so he assumed the Slytherin had left.
"Potter?"
Harry almost jumped in his seat. Merlin, he hadn't seen that coming.
He turned around, seeing Tom standing next to him, holding a plate of bacon. "I noticed you had no bacon left near you," Tom said. "So I brought some over. We have more than enough."
Well, Harry hadn't expected that. With one quick glance around, he noticed that yes, the bacon had almost completely run out.
That's odd. Wasn't the food charmed to always be stacked?
Nevertheless, Harry smiled and he was sure his ears were tinted pink. "Thank you!" He said, gently taking the plate from Tom and placing it next to the toast. "That's really sweet of you."
He wasn't sure if he was just seeing things, but Harry thought he saw Tom's eyes flash a deep red as a pleased smile graced his lips.
"It's my pleasure. While I'm here, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to go for a walk with me in the evening. It's supposed to be a beautiful sunset, and I don't want to experience it alone."
"Y-yeah!" Harry stuttered, sure he looked like an absolute wreck. Was this a date? "Meet at 6:30 near the portrait of Merlin?"
Tom merely nodded, sent a quick smile, and sauntered back to the Slytherin table.
Harry watched on, a buzzing in his head and his heart beating out of his chest. It was hard not getting his hopes up. A walk in the sunset sounded way too romantic for it not to be a date. But what if Tom just didn't want to be out alone? What if he just wanted to be friends hanging out?
Still, Harry hoped that Tom liked Harry the same way Harry liked Tom. It was a one in a billion chance, seeing as Tom would biologically be attracted to the one wizard or witch that is perfect for him, but Harry still hoped.
Even if it was futile.
Even if Harry wasn't Tom's mate, Tom deserved more than one person who loved him unconditionally.
Even if Tom doesn't love Harry back.
Ow. Why did Harry's heart hurt so much?
"Well, that bacon looks good," Ron said, eyeing it.
Harry, still in his trance, shrugged his shoulders. "Have some if you want it."
The duo were silent, and it was strange enough to pull Harry back into the world of the living. Why were they staring at him so intently?
"You need to eat some first," Hermione said, as if it were obvious. "He got them for you."
Harry frowned. "I don't need to eat them first. He got them because the table ran out, I just happen to be the only Gryffindor he knew so he gave it to me."
His mouth tasted acidic after he said it. Harry almost gagged at the taste— what the fuck? It was almost as if someone had squirted lemon juice in his mouth. He must have eaten something acidic earlier.
Ron sighed. "Just eat some of the bacon, mate. I'm hungry and if I know what's going on, you'll find out soon enough."
Obviously still confused, Harry took a few pieces of bacon from the communal plate and placed it onto his own. He sunk his teeth into a piece, and immediately moaned.
Holy shit, that couldn't be normal bacon.
"Merlin, you have to try this bacon!" Harry exclaimed, taking another bite and nearly moaning again. "It tastes so good."
"Yeah, bacon always tastes good," Ron joked, but he reached out and took a piece, promptly taking a bite. Instead of the reaction Harry had been expecting, he just raised a brow. "Tastes the same as any other. You good, mate?"
From next to Ron, Hermione hit him with her elbow. Ron grunted and held his hand to his side, sending Hermione a glare. "What did I do now?"
"You know exactly why I did that," Hermione deadpanned, before her attention turned to Harry. "I'm sure it tastes amazing."
"But c'mon 'Mione, it's Riddle! It looks like it, but— OW!"
Once again, Hermione hit Ron with her elbow, glared at him, and Ron went silent.
What was that about?
He sent a questioning look at Ron, trying to get an answer out of him, but the redhead just looked down at the food and shrugged.
Harry was sure his friends knew something he didn't. But seeing their reactions, they didn't want to tell him. Had that ever happened before?
—
Harry was too nervous to work up an appetite, so he skipped dinner. He was sure Tom would be looking for him in the Great Hall, but they had their designated meet up spot and so Harry knew he could easily explain it to him when they met up.
It was cold outside, so Harry was wearing a red sweater Mrs. Weasley had knitted for him, ripped jeans, and black boots. He made sure to remember to cast a warming charm when they left the castle.
Harry tried in vain to style his hair, but in the end, it still looked just as messy as it had before. Well, that had wasted a good twenty minutes.
Five minutes before they were supposed to meet up, Harry left the common room, making his way to the portrait of Merlin. At this rate, he'd show up a minute late— which was perfect. Shows that he can be somewhat punctual, but shows his indifference.
Merlin, he needs to stop trying so hard. Tom has a mate, for Merlin's sake, and it's not Harry.
As he turned the corner, Harry spotted Tom already standing under the portrait. But something seemed... different.
Merlin. His hair.
Usually, Tom's hair was styled meticulously in the same was as it had been in the past years. But today it was styled differently. It looked good.
The fact that Harry was so mesmerized by a hair style confused him.
Still, he was so entranced by the hair that he walked (nearly ran, actually) into a statue of some random famous warlock.
Pain blossomed through his face and his eyes watered as he heard his nose crack.
Fuck.
Immediately, Harry's hands went to his face, cradling it as the pain continued. His eyes strayed down and saw blood seeping out of his nose, onto his sweater, and staining his hands.
Double fuck.
"Harry? Harry, are you okay?"
Harry's eyes drifted from the wreck that was himself to Tom, who was suddenly in front of him, looking at him worriedly.
"I just got beat up by a statue."
Tom didn't enjoy the joke, but Harry thought it was pretty decent.
"C'mon, I'm taking you to the hospital wing, I don't trust myself with the episkey charm." Tom said, grabbing hold of Harry's waist, helping him walk.
Honestly, Harry didn't need help walking. He really didn't. But with Tom's arm around him, he felt his knees give out and Harry leaned against him.
"You don't need to help me," Harry whispered around the hand covering his nose. "This is getting a lot of attention."
Everyone who passed them was giving them quite strange looks. Harry was used to being judged, but he was sure Tom wouldn't appreciate it.
Instead, Tom sighed. "You deserve support, don't be so self-depreciating. I don't care about the others."
Harry wasn't sure what to say. Was he being self-depreciating? He just wasn't used to getting help when he got hurt.
He let himself sink into Tom's hold, ignoring the comment. He felt so warm and safe, it was sad that they weren't outside about to watch the sunset.
Suddenly, Harry's cheeks heated up in embarrassment. He was about to go on a date with Tom, and he went and got a bloody nose? What the fuck, Harry? This could have been the best night ever!
"I'm sorry," Harry said. "You're going to miss the sunset if you keep helping me."
Tom was silent for a moment, but the fingers on Harry's waist curled around him tighter. "Don't worry about the sunset. You're hurt."
Harry was tempted to say it wasn't Tom's fault that he has a bloody nose, so he shouldn't miss out on the sunset that he wanted to see, but he decided against it. It probably wouldn't go over well.
They reached the hospital wing, and the medi-witch quickly came over when she saw Harry's bloody face. She forbade Tom to come into the wing, but Harry had enough time to thank him and give him a small smile before he was ushered to a bed.
Harry wasn't sure how long he'd be there, considering he was fairly certain she had seen her fair share of broken or bloody noses before, so he got comfortable.
When he got settled in, he looked over to the entrance only to find that Tom had left.
Oh, well. Hopefully he was enjoying that sunset.
—
Tom fumed as he left the hospital wing.
He had been the one to bring Harry, why couldn't he stay at his bedside? It was unfair.
And Harry wouldn't stop downplaying his worth to a fucking sunset. Couldn't he see that Tom didn't actually want to see the sunset, but wanted to hang out with Harry?
If Harry was that oblivious, getting him to go out with him on an actual date would be a lot harder than Tom originally thought.
Because yes, it was now physically impossible for Tom to even doubt Harry was his mate. The amount of pain Tom had felt when Harry was in pain...
Tom shuddered. It wasn't pleasant.
"Tom?"
Turning towards the source of his name, Tom caught sight of the headmaster heading towards him.
"I heard what happened," the man said. "Is he truly..?"
Instead of saying anything, Tom just nodded and continued his walk to the Slytherin dormitory. It was time to think.