Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness	By : Danyealle Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Voldemort Views: 297666 -:- Recommendations : 54 -:- Currently Reading : 184
Disclaimer: I am not J. K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. This is a work of fanfiction and no profit is being made. It is a for-fun endeavor and no infringement is intended.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
This chapter was written by Aya Macchiato

Beta by tannne and Danyealle-sama

Again, I remind everyone that the amazing Aya Macchiato has given me permission to continue this story for her. This is another of the chapters that she already had done. All I've done with this one is some basic beta work, nothing more, it's as she wrote it!

Link to the first story...

http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095391

-Danyealle

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Chapter 4

Days began to pass quickly for Harry at Riddle Manor. The morning after the day Mixey brought him his first batch of letters, which was July 10th, the Daily Prophet announced that retired Auror Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody was found dead in his home from a suspected heart attack. Harry knew that the last few weeks of the man's life were spent in a catatonic healing coma to try to remove all the signs that he had suffered from torture and malnourishment for the greater part of the last year. Then he was fed a potion that Snape brewed which would recreated the effects of a severely ailing heart. Once the potion was entirely out of his system, he was taken to his own house and Barty had delivered the finishing spell that ended the poor sod's miserable life.

The whole thing was played out to a precise degree to make everything look as authentic as possible. Even the most advanced of magical autopsies would confirm the story that the man had died naturally and remove any doubt that foul play could have been involved in his death. It was imperative that everyone honestly believed that Moody really had died of natural causes. If it was ever discovered that the Moody who had been teaching at Hogwarts wasn't really Moody it could cause a lot of potential problems.

Harry had started attending all of the meetings with Tom. The day after the letters arrived, he had stayed in the library for a portion of the early morning meeting but halfway through found himself so antsy and twitchy that he wasn't getting anything accomplished. He also found that he was experiencing a sort of echo of his anxiety which really only made it harder to ignore but couldn't fathom what could be the reasoning behind that. And then Mixey had appeared in his room, saying that Master had insisted that Master Evan come to the meeting in the conference room. Harry had jumped out of his seat and bolted down the stairs. He was barely able to get a hold of himself in time to enter the conference room with some dignity. He hadn't even realized, until then, that the biggest cause of his anxiousness had been his distance from Tom. But once he was in the room with the Dark Lord, he suddenly found his nerves relaxed and calm again.

Afterwards, the two had done a little experimenting with the occurrence at Tom's insistence. He had told Harry that he refused to be controlled by whatever this was without understanding it. They had tried staying at opposite ends of the manor for prolonged periods of time to see just how long they could be away from each before it became distracting.

It didn't take long.

In fact, they found that the longer they tried to remain separate from each other, the more powerful the desire to come together intimately afterwards was. The evening of the 11th, Tom had stayed in his potions lab in the basement while Harry stayed at his desk in their bedroom on the 3rd floor for three solid hours because of Tom's stubborn insistence and him having two of the house elves stay outside of the bedroom door to make sure Harry didn't go racing out of it.

In the end, it had been Tom who had gone up to the third floor where he promptly dismissed the elves and practically attacked Harry against the wall, which Harry had more than enthusiastically welcomed. Tom had ended up bending Harry over his desk, grabbed a fierce hold on his hair, arching him back while he gripped hold of Harry's hip with his other hand. He had then spent nearly a half hour thrusting into the extraordinarily eager, responsive, and, surprisingly vocal, younger wizard.

It had been rough and unexpected but it had been exactly what Harry had wanted. Afterwards, Tom had taken him to the bed then caressed him with surprising gentleness and Harry could tell the man was worried that he'd gone too far or that he had hurt him. Harry fell asleep, wrapped around Tom, while the elder wizard slowly carded his fingers through Harry's hair.

Harry had woken up late that night, around 3 am, to find a tightness in his chest and no one beside him in bed. He had climbed out of bed and followed Tom's magic to the library where he found the older wizard sitting on the floor, surrounded by a pile of books.

"Tom? What are you doing?" Harry had asked as he had walked, bare-footed, into the dim, candle-lit library.

"I'm trying to determine what exactly is going on with us," Tom had said, not looking up from his book.

"Oh, okay. Can I help?" Harry said as he came over and gingerly sat down, cross-legged on the floor beside the Dark Lord. Tom paused and gave Harry a slightly concerned sidelong glance at his wince as he settled onto the floor but Harry gave him a reassuring smile and reached his hand out, silently asking for a book. Tom sighed and simply handed him one of the books from the pile before resuming his own reading.

Harry had quickly cracked the book open and began to skim through the table of contents for anything that sounded like it would be relevant.

As he worked, Tom would mark certain pages and make notations to a small pile of parchment as he went. Whenever Harry came across something that looked important, he would point it out and hand the book over. It was about half-past five o'clock in the morning before Tom closed the book he was reading, sighed and focused his attention on Harry. Harry closed his own book and waited.

"From what I have read, and what I have personally experienced of the bond that you and I seem to be forming, I would hypothesize that this... need to connect with each other, physically, will only grow until the bond has fully formed. It appears that our... intimacy kick-started things and it is progressing faster now than before. The things I've read all seem to agree that each time we come together in such a way will progress the bond further. That is why we're drawn to do so. The bond is trying to complete itself and, in order for that to happen, we have to continue to –"

"Have a lot of sex?" Harry finished.

"Yes."

"And after the bond is complete, this um... discomfort that we feel when we're apart will go away?"

"Correct."

"Oh... well, that's a relief. Um... how long is it supposed to take? To complete the bond, I mean."

"It depends on the frequency with which we progress the bond, but I would wager that if we continue on as we have these last couple days, it'll complete within the month."

Harry grinned up at Tom, who returned the smirk, slyly, causing Harry's grin to widen. "Well, that's good. Going back to Hogwarts in the fall would be exceedingly difficult if this didn't settle down."

"Yes, it would," Tom added dryly.

Harry looked thoughtful for a second before an impish grin spread across his lips and he looked up at Tom through his eyelashes. "Want to um... go back to the bedroom and speed up this whole bond completing thing right now?"

Tom snorted and rolled his eyes before the corner of his lips turned up slightly, despite himself, and he found himself smirking lecherously down at the younger wizard who only smirked back, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Tom actually laughed at him then shook his head before standing to his feet and dragging Harry back upstairs to their bedroom.

An hour later, while the two were lying in bed with nothing but moonlight to bring a dim glow to the room, Tom pressed his lips to Harry's temple lovingly and whispered quietly to the younger wizard. "It is absolutely ridiculous what you do to me. The way you make me act when I'm around you. It's nearly obscene."

Harry chuckled as he curled into Tom's side and wrapped his arm tightly around the older wizard's chest.

"I should hate this, you know," Tom said into the quiet. "I shouldn't allow this. The way our magic is pulling us together. The way I lose control around you. It should infuriate me."

"I know."

"It's dangerous. It jeopardizes everything. Allowing myself to become so attached to someone. To... care about someone. Such feelings only introduce weakness. They make a person vulnerable."

"I know."

"Right when I'm finally beginning to get back on track. When I'm finally beginning to regain my footing and start working towards my task again... I risk everything over my own selfish desires." Tom said with a sigh.

Harry was quiet for a long moment. His thoughts and emotions were turbulent and he could tell that Tom's were just as much of a mess as his own, though the Dark Lord was hiding it well. He always did. "I don't want to be a weakness," Harry whispered quietly.

Tom sighed heavily and tightened the grip of his one arm that had been wrapped loosely around Harry's shoulders and rested under his neck. "You... you aren't, Harry. Not really. I... perhaps you actually make me stronger... in some ways you do. Having you here... yes, you can be a distraction at times but I think I need that. To maintain perspective and to keep from becoming obsessive over the wrong things. You also help me clear my mind and think more calmly. I never..." Tom paused and huffed in annoyance. "Loneliness was always a reality for me. I think I became so accustomed to the feeling that I forgot what anything else could feel like. But you've given that to me. You've taught me what it's like to actually give a damn about an individual person. I'm not sure I've ever honestly cared about anyone before. I've had people who were more useful to me than others; people who were more loyal than others; people who I had a greater investment of time and resources in than others, but that's not the same... I don't think I even realized how..." his words died off, finally cut off by a frustrated little growl.

"I wanted power," Tom continued after a brief pause. "I wanted respect. I also wanted to restore the glory of magic, to fix our rotting, festering wizarding society, and cleanse it from its contamination from the muggles' culture. When I was presented with the opportunity to do so, I took it. It was what I wanted and it still is. It's my responsibility, and I do not regret a thing. But, I've told you before, Harry, I have never been much one for denying myself things I want. And I want you. I... I want this... What you do to me... the things I feel around you... Ugh... I'm rambling," Tom huffed in annoyance. "I don't ramble."

Harry chuckled weakly and held on tighter. "I can't tell you how much it means to me..." Harry began to whisper after a long silent moment passed. "How much it means to me that you trust me. That you actually want me." Harry paused for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Tom?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"I love you."

The silence that filled the room was thick as butter and Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Part of him was terrified that he would in some way be rejected after his confession and yet another strangely confident part of him knew he wouldn't be.

"You don't have to say anything back," Harry whispered quietly. "I never expected you to. You've already said more than I would have ever expected. I don't want anything back. I just want you to know it. Because it's true."

Harry felt Tom's chest rise and fall slowly with a long, heavy breath before he spoke. "I know."

The next day was Wednesday, July 12th, and it was also the day he was supposed to meet the Minister for Magic for tea. As soon as Harry had sent his response back to the Minister several days earlier, Tom had rescheduled any meetings that had originally been planned for this day so the two had no responsibilities outside of their planned trip to Diagon Alley.

The morning started as any other, only with a slightly later than usual rise, thanks to their late night, followed by about forty-five minutes spent in the 'gym'. Then a shower, which they took together for the first time, and ended up lasting longer than two separate showers would have thanks for some distractions, and then a late breakfast, or an early lunch, depending on how you looked at it, served by the house elves.

After 'brunch' Tom led Harry up to the study and pulled a small box out from a drawer in his desk. Inside were two identical necklaces of long, delicate, silver chains with small pendants hanging on the ends. The pendants had a flat, diamond-shaped, sterling silver backing and three different colored gems mounted onto its face. One looked like an opal, one was a pale green gem that Harry thought looked like peridot, and the third was a tiger's eye stone.

In addition to the two necklaces, Harry saw a ring that looked an awful lot like the glamor ring he was wearing on his left index finger at that very moment. Tom set the box on the desk then took out one of the necklaces and handed it to Harry. As Harry took it, Tom took out the other and put it around his own neck.

"These amulets will prevent any tracking charms from locking onto either of us while we are outside the protection of the wards. The amulets can protect against the strongest tracking spells the light and neutral magic's have to offer and against almost all of the dark locator spells as well. Because they are so powerful, they can only be used for a certain amount of time before their own power reserves are drained and they must be recharged. The amulets can hold a ten hour charge. After that, it's necessary to remove it and let it sit, undisturbed, in a dark place for about twenty-four hours before it can be used again. They recharge automatically though. There are spells, of course, that supposedly make you untrackable, but those spells are only effective against some tracking spells and cause a drain on your own magic while active. This pendant negates that flaw."

Harry looked at it reverently for a moment before quickly slipping it on over his head.

Tom then removed the ring from the box and held it in his own hand. "This one is mine. It is very much like your own, although I added a second memory slot to it so that it can remember two different sets of glamors. I haven't actually bothered to make use of it before now. During my previous excursions out into the world, I simply cast some glamors over myself, since what I did was minimal enough that I saw no need in something as extravagant as this. The changes I've made to my appearance during those excursions have always been minimal. In fact, all I've done is this..." Tom said as he paused and performed a quick wave of his wand over himself.

At first, Harry didn't think that anything had changed at all until he looked up into Tom's eyes and did a brief double-take. Tom's eyes were brown, which, while being a perfectly normal eye color, was so foreign on Tom's face that it seemed almost unnatural.

"Not exactly a significant change," Tom said with a smirk. "But I have put this, alteration as well as a few other minor changes, into one of the ring's memory slots." Tom paused to cast a finite, canceling the glamors he had just cast, temporarily returning his eyes to their normal ruby red before he made a show of sliding the ring onto his left index finger. He rubbed his finger over the stone and Harry felt a small hum of magic pulse from the ring for a moment before Tom's appearance shimmered and shifted again.

Harry blinked, slightly surprised by the changes. Once again, Tom's eyes were brown, but his face was also slightly softer and thinner with youth. He looked a few years younger now, probably somewhere around twenty-to-twenty-five, and Harry couldn't help but wonder why Tom would want to look younger.

"I will use this form in public when you are in your Evan Harris form," Tom said. "Obviously, Harry Potter can never be seen with any version of me."

"Obviously," Harry agreed.

"But for when you go out in public as Harry Potter, I will use this form instead," Tom said as he rubbed his finger over the ring again and Harry saw the man's appearance shimmer and melt as it transitioned to the other glamor set.

This one was quite a bit different and yet there were some small features that were the same. Tom still had his nose and chin, but his lips were fuller, his jaw wasn't quite a strong, and his cheeks were rounder, not the crisp pointed, high cheekbones Harry was used to. Tom's eyes were also a pale blue and his hair was a light-brownish color with a touch of red. Sort of the color of old bronze. Instead of Tom's usual style of having it sort of slicked back and exposing his forehead, it was short, slightly wavy, and neatly styled. It was closer to how he'd seen the memory of young Tom Riddle's hair styled back in the chamber during his second year.

This version of Tom's glamor was also clearly younger. He looked very close in age to Harry, actually. Probably seventeen. Harry could actually pass for seventeen if he tidied up his hair and wore fine robes, even though he was only just about to come up on fifteen, so the physical age between the two of them was a close match.

"In this form I shall go by Nicodemus Tomaras," Tom said then.

Harry blinked. "Um. Okay. Nicodemus. Can I call you Nick, as like... a nickname?"

Tom rolled his pale blue eyes, but grinned slightly. "Yes, Harry, Nick is fine."

"Okay, good. So... Nicodemus Tomaras. That's, what...?"

"It's Greek."

"Ah... Greek," Harry nodded his head, but still had that blank look to him. "Does it mean anything?"

A small secret smirk curled up on Tom's lips. "Nicodemus may mean 'Conqueror of the people'."

Harry grinned and chuckled. "Ah. I see. Seems fitting enough. And Tomaras?"

"A common Greek surname," Tom shrugged dismissively.

"So why Greek?"

"Records of magical family lines in Greece go back so far, and are so convoluted, that it's nearly impossible to find anything without months and months of searching, and even then, it is unlikely that a person will find much. If anyone goes digging around, trying to identify the family tree of Nicodemus Tomaras, they will find their work exceedingly difficult. Tomaras is also a very common pureblood family name in Greece, so there are far too many branches of the various trees to be able to prove or disprove my claim to the name."

"Ah, I see. Well that's good then, I guess."

Another beat of silence passed between them before Tom changed the subject. "So does this appearance suit your tastes?"

Harry blinked, slightly surprised by being asked. "Er... Yeah, it's fine. But it's your glamor. It's really up to you if you like it or not."

"I will only ever use this appearance when I am with 'Harry Potter' in a public setting of some sort. This mystery boyfriend of yours has to exist somewhere, after all." Tom smirked and Harry felt himself blush. "And seeing as how this persona will likely become known at some point as Harry Potter's 'boyfriend', I would want you to actually approve of it."

"Oh... wow. Er, yeah, I approve. It's... it's nice. I like the real you better, of course, but this is good. Hair color is interesting. Wait, so are you going to be seen with me today in Diagon Alley?" Harry asked before another thought suddenly dawned on him and he grinned widely. "I could introduce you to the Minister! Introducing the Dark Lord to the Minister of Magic! Oh Merlin, it would be hilarious if he invited you to stay for tea!"

"That is a rather amusing thought, isn't it?" Tom said smirking. "It is my intention that the majority of our visit to London today will be in our primary glamors, me as myself, mostly, and you as Evan Harris. I have several shops in Knockturn Alley I intend to visit, for example, and it just wouldn't be wise for Harry Potter to be seen in that particular neighborhood."

Harry nodded.

"However, I thought that we could make a brief public appearance shortly before your visit with the Minister as 'Harry Potter' and 'Nicodemus Tomaras'."

Harry grinned. "Alright," he agreed quickly suddenly feeling even more excited about the day than he had before.

The two spent some time then going over a made-up history of Nicodemus Tomaras and how the two of them had supposedly met. The story went that Nicodemus had grown up, living with a close friend of his mother's and had been home schooled by her. This last year she had died so he had moved to Hogsmeade to finish up his studying and prepare for his NEWT exams, which he had taken at the Ministry in the spring. He had hit his 17th birthday that year in early January and, at that point, he was finally able to claim his inheritance from his parent's death. But, until that point, he had needed additional money to support himself so he had taken on a part-time job in Hogsmeade.

The story would go that while he was living and working in Hogsmeade, he and Harry had met. Tom had apparently been working on this story for a while, and during the last week of term had actually gone into Hogsmeade under disguise, then modified a few memories to corroborate some necessary details.

First and foremost, he had modified the memories of an old witch who owned a small cottage towards the outskirts of town that had actually been empty for several years. She now believed that during the last 10 months, she had rented it out to a nice, quiet young man named Nicodemus.

The next memory modification that he had made was to the owner and operator of Honeyduke's. The man now believed that he had hired an evening stock boy to help him sort through his inventory, and stock the shelves. The employee, Nicodemus, had never worked counter and rarely worked when the store was actually open, only really interacting regularly with the owner, Mr. Honeyduke, himself.

The boy, Nicodemus, had been nice, quiet, efficient, and performed his tasks very well. He had spoken with Mr. Honeyduke only lightly, as the two were barely casual acquaintances, but had told the man enough that he could give a vague back story to anyone who might come by and ask questions.

As one final step, he had had one of his Death Eaters who worked in the magical records department place in some forged documents, then another Death Eater who worked in a department that was across the hall from the department of magical education slip in and plant some forged OWL and NEWT test results for Nicodemus Tomaras.

With these corroborating modifications in place, the story that Harry would use now was that he had been sneaking out of the castle early in the year, after the whole debacle of his name coming out of the goblet of fire, in an attempt to get away from the scrutiny of the school. He had used the secret passage that came out to the cellar of Honeyduke's and had come across Nicodemus there.

Over the course of the year, the two had secretly met often, and sent owls back and forth. Towards the end of the year, their relationship had grown more romantic and Nicodemus had invited Harry to come stay in his family's old manor house that he had only recently rediscovered as a part of his inheritance. Harry had agreed to stay with him over the summer so that he could escape his horrible relatives.

Nicodemus was an orphan, his parents having died when he was quite young. The fictional family he heralded from, however, was a very old family, and held a lordship in some foreign land. Nicodemus, however, could not inherit any of the money, properties, or titles until he came of age – which had only just happened his last winter – as per the family's traditions.

By the time they were done discussing and going over all of this, it was actually about 2:30 pm, thanks primarily to their having slept in so late. Fortunately, this wasn't actually a problem because of Tom's time-turner.

The pair made their way down to the first floor and into the time-turner room. Tom opened one box, pulled out the small hour-glass shaped object, stretched the automatically extending chain necklace around both of their necks and gave it 3 turns, sending the pair back to 11:30 am. He placed the time-turner back into the second box and then side-along Apparated the pair of them to one of Diagon Alley's apparition zones.

They both had their anti-tracking pendants and their glamor rings on. Harry had been keyed into Tom's ring so he still saw the man's true appearance while the rest of the world saw the first glamor set that featured a slightly younger Tom Riddle with brown eyes. Harry, of course, was in his Evan Harris appearance that made him look about 20 with long blond hair tied back into a loose, low ponytail, and light blue eyes.

Tom quickly took the lead and the pair of them made their way directly towards Knockturn Alley. Their first stop was a rather sizable book store that had a twisted old staircase leading up to a loft with even more books in it. The books were almost all old. Only a small section towards the front of the first floor actually had new books for sale while the rest of the store was obviously a second-hand book store. However, the store obviously didn't discriminate on a books subject matter, and had a gloriously large selection of books on a wide variety of dark magic subjects.

The shopkeeper eyed the two of them as they made their way into the shop and tended to hover around them as they continued to browse. Harry was both intrigued and amused to observe Tom in this store. He tried to maintain his normal calm, proper aloof persona but his eyes would light up and he would dart his hand out and grab a book with considerable enthusiasm when he spotted something that caught his interest.

Harry had come to understand that if there was one thing that could get Tom excited that didn't involve torture, or sex, it was new sources of knowledge. Harry watched the older wizard with a glowing amusement in his eyes and a smile on his lips. Tom would even get enthusiastic enough to call 'Evan' over and gush over having found some exceptionally rare tome that he'd been searching for for ages.

Harry quickly found himself getting sucked into the excitement and started collecting his own pile of books on various fascinating subjects.

The shopkeeper, who had never fully stopped hovering over them, seemed stunned when the two had easily produced enough money to pay for their purchases, which had amounted to quite a steep price in the end. Tom had pulled what looked like a small draw-string pouch from his pocket then began to pull the mouth of it open wider and wider until they were able to slid even the largest books they had purchased inside it. It obviously had a space expansion charm inside it since when everything was tucked away, the pouch once again was small enough to slide inside Tom's pocket.

Next, the pair had gone to Borgin and Burke's. It was odd being back in the store again after several years, to be in the store as an actual customer, and not as some kid who accidentally managed to land in the store's floo then snuck around trying to hide.

Harry realized now that Borgin and Burke's was basically a pawn shop for dark arts junk. And that's what most of it was. Junk. But there were also some rare gems and Tom was quick to point out which items were actually worth anything, even if he had no interest in them.

Borgin hadn't paid them any attention when they first entered nor while they were wandering around in the back half of the store. Tom was standing with his arms folded across his chest and an amused smirk on his face, looking towards the front of the store. Harry watched him curiously for a moment before speaking.

"What's up?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Oh, nothing much. Just sort of... reminiscing, I suppose."

"Reminiscing?" Harry echoed in confusion.

"Mm... yes, I actually worked here for about a year."

Harry blinked back at Tom with an utterly stunned expression. Finally he choked past his shock. "What?"

Tom snickered. "You look like an idiot with that expression. Shut your mouth."

Harry's jaw snapped shut.

"It was 1945. I had just graduated that spring and came to work here directly after. Managed to procure several extremely valuable objects thanks to my brief employment here. One that was rightfully mine from the start, in fact. It will be amusing to see if dear old Borgin recognizes me."

"Wait, it's the same guy?" Harry asked, doing a double-take as he looked up at the oily old man standing at the counter cleaning some tarnished-looking statue.

"Oh yes. He's the same man who hired me. Borgin here is the original Borgin who founded the store in 1863 with his partner Caractacus Burke."

"1863! That would make him, what? More than a hundred and thirty years old! He doesn't look a hundred and thirty years old..."

"Do I look like I'm nearly seventy?" Tom asked with a pointed look and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, fine... point taken. But you're you."

"We are all wizards. Wizards live long lives. Much longer than muggles. Even squibs live longer lives than muggles because, while the magic in them is too weak to fully materialize, they still have dormant magical creature blood in their veins, extending their life beyond that of a simple non-magical human."

"Huh... fascinating." Harry said quietly before looking thoughtful. "Isn't it sort of risky being in that form around someone who could recognize you?"

"There is no risk in Borgin exposing me," Tom said dismissively.

Harry shrugged and accepted Tom's word, finding himself also curious as to whether or not the old shopkeeper would recognize Tom. His form did look younger at the moment, thanks to the glamors. If Borgin knew Tom when he was seventeen he probably looked a lot then like he did right at this moment.

The pair browsed for another few minutes when Harry came to a stop by the large cabinet that he had hidden inside back before his second year when he had accidentally landed in Borgin's floo.

"Hey, Tom?"

"Yes?"

"What do you know about this thing?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's a vanishing cabinet. They're made in pairs. If this one's counterpart is missing, it's basically worthless."

"What do they do if you have both?"

"You can travel between them. Open the door, step inside, close the door and then exit out the back. You'll then find yourself coming out of the counterpart no matter where it's located. Quite handy, actually, especially since they bypass almost all known wards. However, the things are notoriously testy and break easily. If it breaks while you are inside, you can end up stuck between the two with no way out."

"Hm... Interesting. You know, I'd swear I've seen another one of these at some point but I have no idea where I might have seen it."

Harry shrugged and the pair continued on. Tom came to a stop beside a display case and Harry could see his eyes were alight with excitement. Harry peered over his shoulder curiously to identify what Tom was so interested in and suddenly found his own eyes widen with surprised interest.

There was a book laying there with a snake on the cover and the title printed in slowly moving squiggly letters that seemed to slither in place. It was a parseltongue book. Harry had only ever seen any tomes written in the language of the naga down in the chamber. From their discussions, he'd learned that even Tom had only ever found a couple since leaving the school.

"Borgin! I wish to purchase this book!" Tom said standing up straight and speaking in a commanding tone.

The old man jerked up and quickly looked over towards the dim section of the store they were standing in. He put his things down on the counter and made his way over towards them, wringing his hands together excitedly.

He didn't even bother to look up at them as he came over to the display case and asked which book it was that they wanted. Tom pointed with one of his long fingers and Borgin tapped his wand on the lock on the case, releasing whatever security measures he had on it, and sliding it open. He pulled the book out and Tom instantly snatched it from his hands, looking at it with excited glee. Harry knew that look. That look meant 'Mine!' Harry almost snickered.

"It's not cheap," Borgin growled as he eyed the book cautiously. "Four hundred Galleons."

Tom scoffed. "That's obscene. I won't give you a Knut more than two hundred."

"That's a priceless book there. Rare, that is."

Tom began to make his way towards the front counter and Borgin quickly followed. He made his way behind the counter where he finally raised his head and got a good look at the man before him. Harry watched closely, immensely curious if the man would recognize Tom and how he might react.

"Rare, I will concede, but four-hundred galleons is still an obscene price for a book you would be hard pressed to find anyone even capable of reading. I am not a fool, Borgin. I will not be swindled by you," Tom sneered, narrowing his eyes and glaring at the other man who was now staring at Tom with slowly dawning recognition. "I recall quite well how you operated your business in the past and I imagine that your tactics have not changed much over the years. I would be willing to bet that whoever you bought this from didn't even realize what it was and likely received less than ten galleons for it."

"I..." Borgin began to speak but whatever he was going to say died in his throat and his jaw slowly dropped open. "T-tom? Tom Riddle?" he whispered in disbelief. "Is it really you? Dear Merlin, it's been... You... I heard... but no... if it were true you'd..."

As the man continued to stammer and ramble a small smirk began to curl up on Tom's thin lips.

"You're really alive!" Borgin finally whispered in stunned disbelief.

"Yes, I am very much alive. Thank you for your concern," Tom said with a condescending sneer. "Now, I believe we were discussing the price of this book," Tom said sharply, drawing Borgin's attention back to the book that was now sitting on the counter between them.

Borgin's eyes traveled over the cover of the book with dawning realization. His eyes darted up to Tom and then back down to the parseltongue book.

"Merlin's beard... it's really true... you're... you're him."

"It would be in your best interest, Mr. Borgin, to stay focused on the task." Tom hissed menacingly.

Borgin's eyes widened and his face went slack for a moment before he cleared his throat and began to fidget and fumble with things around the counter.

"Yes... yes. Of course. For you, ten galleons. Yes, that should do. I bought it for about that, if I recall correctly."

"I'm sure you did," Tom sneered, sarcastically as he pulled out a money pouch and quickly fished out the specified amount.

Borgin took the money hesitantly and it looked to Harry that there was an internal war waging in the man's mind. He was probably fighting his long-held business sense and desire to turn a profit or at least break even versus his own sense of self-preservation that was probably telling him not to accept any money from the Dark Lord at all and just give him the bloody book!

A quick side-long glance at Tom showed his own amusement over the old man's clear discomfort.

"I-it's b-been an honor doing business wi-with you, sir. T-to think that... that you once worked in my shop. I wondered... for so many years, but... I..."

"It would be in your best interest to keep your wondering to yourself," Tom said curtly and Borgin paled.

"Of course! You k-know how I always worked. Discretion. Never reveal anyone else's business. Never. I – I would never tell a soul."

"Be sure that you don't. Or I may just have to pay you a far less cordial visit in the future."

Tom picked the book back up off the counter, turned on the spot and began to leave. Harry smirked wickedly at the man before tipping his head in farewell and following Tom back out into the alley.

The more time that Harry spent in Knockturn Alley, the more he found the place both amusing and fascinating. He remembered how creepy and intimidating the place had felt when he had visited the week after having just turned twelve, realizing that ignorance and inexperience had played the larger role in that perception than the alley itself. That and, perhaps, he was more intimidating himself, now, making fully confident that he could protect himself should the need arise.

They continued their journey through the alley, passing one interesting shop after another.

They passed a dank, gray-stone building labeled 'Moribund's Funeral Parlor' that, according to Tom, didn't just deal with the dead, but also supplied body parts for wizarding folk who needed bits and pieces for various dark magic spells.

A bit further down the road, there was a brothel called 'The Horny Toad'. The name made Harry snicker. Beside it, they passed a store called Don Ask and Don Tell, but Harry had absolutely no idea what it might have sold since it was closed and the windows were completely dark.

At the end of the alley was a short, black, medium-sized office building labeled 'Dodge, E & Dodge, E. R, Attorneys at Law' that apparently housed a couple solicitors that were willing to represent shiftier clientele. Beside it was a building labeled 'Creatures of the Night', which seemed to be both a pub and an inn. Interestingly enough, the building had no windows.

After going around the cul du sac at the end of the alley, they retraced their steps, making their way back towards the juncture with Diagon Alley. Just underneath the entrance to Knockturn Alley was a store called 'Belladonna's Candles' that advertised 'Poisonous candles, suffocating incense, and other 'gifts for the dark witch or wizard who has everything.' And directly beside it was a shop that made Harry do a double-take.

"Love Potion #69?" He said, with both amusement and incredulousness as he read the store's sign.

Tom smirked beside him. "Want to go in?"

Harry's head whipped around so fast he was surprised he didn't get whiplash. "Are you joking?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Tom said with a single raised eyebrow and an obvious air of amusement in his expression.

"I'm really not sure..." Harry answered slowly as he turned and looked back at the shop. "What exactly does it have? I mean... is that a shop that sells love potions or is it...?"

"Sex toys, pornography, that sort of thing," Tom said simply.

Harry nodded his head slowly. "Oh."

"Although I'm sure they also sell love potions," Tom added airily. He turned his attention back to Harry and that devilish smirk that sent flutters through Harry's gut spread across his face. "So are we going in, or not?"

"You're willing to go in there, with me, while you're in that form? I mean... Borgin recognized you, there's bound to be others who might. You're really willing to risk being seen with me in a sex shop?" Harry asked, incredulously.

"Honestly, I am allowed a personal life. No one who would recognize me is suicidal enough to question me, or my choice of partners. And anyone who is stupid enough to do it will simply suffer for their ignorance appropriately," Tom said with a simple dismissive gesture.

Harry gaped at Tom for a very long moment, both stunned and oddly touched by the proclamation. His gaping expression slowly shifted to a wide smile and he was filled with an intense desire to kiss the other man. His hands even twitched with the need to wrap his arms around Tom and pull him close.

Harry pulled in a long slow breath, trying to push past the powerful desire that he knew was being amplified by their still-forming bond and looked up into Tom's eyes only to see his sparkling eyes staring back with an echo of Harry's own desire.

The next thing Harry knew, he was being dragged into an alley between two buildings and was pressed up against the wall while Tom attacked his lips. Tom got a strong, firm grip on Harry's hips and hoisted him up slightly. Doing what felt natural, Harry instantly wrapped his legs around Tom's hips and moaned into Tom's mouth as their pelvises ground against each other.

Tom pulled his face back separating the two only from that point, as they remained locked together at the hips. The older wizard's face was alight with the most uncharacteristic mirth and he actually laughed, pulling Harry out of his hazy lust-filled state enough to stare at the Dark Lord with utter confusion.

Just the same, he couldn't help but smile back at the clearly amused man.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked, finally, unable to remain silent any longer.

"It's just so absurd what you do to me. The urges I have around you... and the fact that I want to act on them. It's just... ridiculous."

"But in a good way?" Harry asked, unsure.

Tom grinned and rolled his eyes dramatically, causing Harry to laugh. "Yes, Harry. A good way. Even though it shouldn't be."

Tom ground against Harry, causing the younger wizard to gasp in surprise and then moan slightly at the glorious pleasure the small action had caused.

The moan instantly shifted into a disappointed whimper, making Harry pout as Tom pulled away and Harry was forced to slide down and then stand on his own two feet again.

"Come, pet. Let's go into the store," Tom said looking back over his shoulder and giving Harry a lecherous smirk.

Harry laughed at Tom's unusual antics, absolutely bewildered, but equally thrilled by the man's oddly playful mood.

Love Potion #69 did not actually feature an awful lot of things geared towards two male wizards. Well, there was porn of course. Mostly magazines with magically moving pictures, and a collection of books on tantric sex. But a significant portion of the store was actually filled with frilly, lacy corsets and lingerie for women. Then there was a bondage section with leather cuffs, red ball-gags, chains and whips that made Harry both embarrassed and surprisingly aroused. He tried to divert his gaze because he was honestly afraid to give Tom any ideas, and even more afraid that he might enjoy that stuff a bit too much for his own comfort at the moment. He had only just lost his virginity quite recently and didn't think he was at all ready to start experimenting with bondage.

Another small corner of the store was dedicated to a shocking array of sex toys. Harry had never in his wildest dreams imagined that there could be such a wide variety of butt plugs and magical vibrators. Hell, he would admit that six months ago he probably wasn't really even aware that butt plugs existed. Although, now that he had experienced, first-hand, what it felt like to be stimulated down there, he wasn't the least bit surprised by their existence.

He found himself blushing and stuttering in embarrassment most of the time they were in the store. Of course, Tom had found this all exceedingly amusing and had noted that he needed to work harder to break Harry of his shyness on the subject.

Harry couldn't help but wonder what Tom had purchased when Harry had been distracted by the section of the store dedicated to the love potions. The vials of Amortentia had drawn him in by their strong scent that smelled, to Harry, almost exactly like Tom. Earthy musk, mixed with cinnamon. It had been at that point that he had noticed said older wizard standing by the check-out counter and putting a few things into his drawstring pouch while giving Harry one of those looks that sent flutters through his stomach.

The pair left the store laughing lightly, while Harry fought against a strong blush and Harry couldn't help but feel utterly shocked and amazed that Tom was willing to flirt with him in a public setting. Especially in his almost-true form. It had been Harry's understanding that Tom hadn't wanted to risk his Death Eaters, or anyone, really, seeing him in this form, or really becoming aware of his sexual preference because he didn't want them to perceive any of it as a potential weakness. And yet, here he was, walking down Knockturn in his almost-true form, with his hand rested comfortably at the small of Harry's back, guiding him towards the exit of the alley.

It was confusing, but it was also touching and reassuring.

Shortly before 2:30, Tom led the pair of them down between two buildings and then behind them so that they wouldn't be seen. Tom quickly cast some charms to drive anyone nearby away from the pair, and some notice-me-not spells on each of them. Harry removed his ring, returning to his true appearance, and slid the ring into his pocket while Tom rubbed his finger over his ring, switching to his second set of glamors.

"Well, we've still got about a half-hour till my tea appointment with the Minister. Where to now?" Harry asked as Tom's appearance temporarily shifted to the bronze-haired, blue-eyed young man. Harry having been keyed into it kicked in a moment later and the illusion faded away from Harry's eyes revealing Tom's real appearance to only him.

"Well, we'll stick to Diagon Alley from this point on, obviously. I was thinking that perhaps we would visit Madam Malkin's and get you some more casual robes for around the manor."

Harry shrugged. "Sounds fine to me."

As soon as they were back on Diagon Alley and out in the open, Tom canceled the notice-me-not spells and slowly, people began to notice the presence of the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry's hair had grown long enough that his fringe would now hang down past his eyes if he did nothing with it. Presently, it was actually styled with some light gel, slicking it back the same way that Tom usually wore his hair around the manor, so it was completely exposing Harry's forehead.

It was a style that, in the past, Harry would have never worn in public, simply because he usually preferred to try and hide his damned scar from view and keep a low profile. Now, however, he was making no such attempt. Having it out there for the whole world to see only made him that much easier to recognize. As the pair walked down the street they drew quite a few stares, whispers, and not-really-very-subtle pointed fingers.

Harry was used to it though, and he paid it no attention. Tom seemed visibly amused.

"The-Boy-Who-Lived" Tom snickered quietly under his breath. "Savior of the Wizarding World."

Harry snorted. "They're a bunch of damned fools," he whispered back making Tom chuckle.

"It could be argued that we will save them," Tom said with a smirk.

Harry glanced over at his companion and smiled at the use of 'we'. "Yes. Save them from their own ignorance and idiotic mistakes."

"Quite true."

The two wizards spent about fifteen minutes picking out some robes for Harry. Neither of them were much for clothes shopping so they kept their trip efficient and quick. The assistant in Madam Malkin's shop was quite flustered to have Harry Potter there. She fawned and hovered over them. Harry would swear that after a few minutes of it, Tom's behavior became quite possessive, and he often caught the older wizard glaring menacingly at the girl. Harry found it entirely amusing.

Once done there, they began to slowly walk down the alley towards the tea house that Harry was supposed to meet the Minister at.

Harry slowed as his eyes caught a familiar individual standing off to the side of the alley, across from the tea house, trailing behind a tall, thin, woman with horse-faced features that reminded him mildly of his aunt Petunia. The man, however, was the one that Harry was watching.

"I think that guy was Rita Skeeter's photographer," Harry said as he tilted his head, trying to make sure that he was right. That was the moment the man chose to turn to the side, revealing a magical camera strung over his shoulder. Harry smirked. "Yup. Skeeter's photographer. I think his name was Bozo or something."

Tom scoffed. "Bozo? Seriously?"

Harry snickered. "I think so. I remembered it because it was so ridiculous."

Bozo and the horse-faced woman were both loitering in front of the store across the street from the tea house and Harry wondered if they were around because the Minister was supposed to be here soon. Harry wondered if the Minister took tea here regularly so that press just naturally came by or if they had been notified that Harry would be meeting with the man today.

"Hmm... well, anyway," Harry began as he let his eyes travel towards the tea house, "Are you going to come up with me so I can introduce you to him?"

"I'm thinking... not. Perhaps you can introduce me when I come by to meet up with you after the meeting is done. If you introduce me before hand it's likely that he would feel pressured into asking me to join the two of you for tea. It's best if it's only the two of you this visit. Perhaps I can sit in on tea at a later date."

"Are you expecting me to be meeting with the Minister more than just this once?" Harry asked, not having actually considered that possibility.

"I suspect he would like it, assuming that this meeting goes well, and I'm confident that you can make sure it does, in fact, go well. The man soaks up press, and lives for influential connections, he is a politician, after all, and a former Slytherin. Not only are you the Boy-Who-Lived, but you are also the Potter family heir. I'm sure Fudge is more than aware just how much money you have waiting for you upon the arrival of your seventeenth birthday so he would love to have such a wealthy and influential supporter. If he gives you the opportunity to meet again for tea at another point, I would suggest taking him up on the offer."

Harry nodded his head. "Alright, I'll aim for that. So if you won't be joining me, what will you be doing?"

"I'll be around. Don't worry, I won't go far."

The two continued their leisurely slow walk around the surrounding shops and stalls that lined the street since it was still several minutes before Harry was supposed to meet with the Minister. During that time, several people actually managed to muster up the courage to come up to Harry asking to shake his hand, thank him for his defeat of You-Know-Who, which earned a tightly controlled glare from Tom and a tight false smile from Harry. Several other people who congratulated him on his performance in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, which he easily accepted and shrugged off.

This had all managed to attract the attention of the woman, who Harry assumed was most likely a reporter, and the photographer, Bozo. Harry kept her in his peripheral vision as he and Tom made their way from one stall to the next, easily chatting with each other about publicly acceptable things, and politely interacting with Harry's adoring fan base. It was easier to smile and nod to the sniveling masses as they thanked him for defeating the Dark Lord, knowing that said Dark Lord was actually standing directly beside him. Outside he was smiling and accepting their thanks. Inside he was snickering madly.

The reporter, while keeping Harry in her sights at all times, had not yet made any move to approach Harry or Tom.

Tom leaned in close and whispered to Harry a minute before they intended to part ways so Harry could go into the Tea House, "I suspect that the reporter will likely approach me once we separate."

Harry raised a single questioning eyebrow. "Are you going to let her?"

Tom grinned back before leaning in and pressing his lips to Harry's cheek. "You should go. Don't want to be late for the Minister."

Harry had been slightly surprised by the extremely public show of affection, even if it was as minimal as a kiss on the cheek.

Tom began to step away, but Harry just couldn't leave things like that. Almost against his own will, his hand went out, grabbed the front of Tom's robes and pulled him back in. He pressed his lips against Tom's, and he could feel the other wizard grinning into the kiss. It deepened for the briefest of moments before they parted, staring into each others eyes and smirking madly at each other. At some point during the whole thing, Harry was sure he heard the sound of a magical camera going off.

"Good luck," Tom said.

"Thanks," Harry said, trying not to chuckle too loudly. As he stepped away his eyes swooped over the crowd quick enough to note that just about everyone nearby had been watching the whole interaction. As soon as Harry had started to look around though, they had all quickly tried to divert their gazes. He heard Tom snickering quietly under his breath and felt the other man's amusement in the back of his mind.

The two parted ways and Harry walked across the cobblestone street to the 'Townshend Teahouse'. From the outside, he could see an outside dining patio with lots of large potted plants, giving it a garden setting. He stepped past a waist-high wrought-iron fence that marked the boundary of the patio dining area and through the front entrance. Inside it had the look of a traditional formal English tea room. Small round tables with floral fabric table clothes, crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and English bone china on the tables. One wall featured all of the various options of loose-leaf teas that you had to order from, and all of the walls were decorated with paintings and an assortment of eclectic antiques. Some on small tables, and some on small shelves mounted to the walls.

The general decoration scheme screamed 'Victorian', and it took a considerable amount of effort for Harry to keep from grimacing at the whole thing.

"May I help you, sir?" a young girl in what was obviously the establishment's uniform asked him.

"Yes, I'm supposed to be meeting the Minister here," Harry said with an extremely believable pleasant smile plastered on his face.

The girl actually bushed a little and stared at him, wide-eyed for a moment before she seemed to find herself. "Oh yes, he usually arrives a few minutes late. I can show you to his usual table."

"That would be great, thank you."

The girl then led Harry back outside onto the patio. Harry imagined this was for the sake of keeping the encounter public, and didn't honestly mind. It was a rather nice day out, quite surprising for mid-July in London, plus it seemed that they had some sort of charm cast around the patio that kept the temperature from being exceedingly uncomfortable.

Harry sat down where indicated and looked over the menu that was left there. The place offered an extraordinary number of different teas, but offered some food options as well. Mostly things like scones, sandwiches, biscuits, quiches, and even beans on toast.

"Ah, Mr. Potter! I do hope I haven't kept you waiting too long," came Minister Fudge's voice from behind him. Harry turned in his seat and quickly stood up, offering his hand. Fudge took it eagerly and Harry smiled through the man's disgustingly clammy hand and weak grip.

"Not at all, I've only just been here a minute myself. And please, call me Harry," Harry said easily as he sat back down. Fudge took the seat opposite him and smiled back.

One of the uniformed girls who worked at the teahouse came by and quickly took their order. A moment later she was returning with tea, and a plate with scones and shortbread biscuits, per the Minister's order.

Harry and Fudge set into some light conversation about the weather, and Harry's summer holiday. Fudge praised Harry on his success in the tournament, which Harry graciously accepted, and then praised Fudge right back on some recent legislature that he supported in the Wizengamot. Fudge seemed surprised that Harry was aware of it at all, since it hadn't really been very publicly covered in the Prophet. The legislature, actually, put in additional restrictions on the homes of young muggleborn witches and wizards. It mandated that all muggleborn children's homes must be warded by Ministry officials.

On one end of the argument, it placed 'protections' there. On the other end, it also reported, instantly, any and all magic performed on the premises, to the Ministry. Which, again, could be argued as a security precaution, since underage muggleborn children shouldn't be performing magic in their home anyway, and there aren't supposed to be any magical adults there. In addition to reporting on any magic performed on the premises to the Ministry, the wards also had an extra layer of magic built into them that prevented anyone within the house who knew about magic from ever speaking about it to anyone not keyed into the wards. It was a powerful compulsion charm and the point was, quite obviously, intended to prevent the muggle parents and family from ever letting details about the magical world slip to muggle friends or relatives.

What was less well known was that anyone who willfully tried to circumvent the compulsion spell would suffer quite painfully from it, and if anyone somehow succeeded in letting information slip, the Ministry would be notified, and the wards would render the muggle who let the information slip, comatose until they could be dealt with through other means.

Again, all of these details were not really public knowledge, and the legislature had been passed rather quietly with only a few small blurbs in the Prophet that really only spoke about the Ministry so valiantly offering free warding to protect the homes of muggleborn children.

Harry knew the details about it because of Lucius' and the other more influential pureblood's reports.

It was actually the four different Death Eaters who had seats on the Wizengamot that had done the most work in getting the legislation pushed through, and it was Lucius' diligent work that had gotten the Minister himself to put so much of his own power behind the bill.

It was this vein of conversation that actually dominated most of their conversation. Once Fudge realized just how surprisingly well informed and knowledgeable that Harry seemed on the inner workings of the Ministry's current political engine, the Minister slipped easily into his well-practiced politician role. He got so into the conversation that he had actually managed to forget for a bit that Harry wasn't even fifteen years old yet.

To say that the Minister found himself surprised and impressed with the young man would be an understatement.

It was also easy for Harry to get on the man's political good side since he was clearly echoing a lot of the sentiments that Fudge heard daily from Lucius Malfoy, a man who met with Fudge almost daily, and had been lining the man's pockets with political donations for years.

"Ah... I must say, Harry, this has been a pleasant surprise to say the least. Quite a reprieve from the rather ludicrous things I've been having to deal with the last few days," Fudge sighed as he ate the last scone.

"Oh? What sorts of ludicrous things?" Harry asked with only a mild air of interest as he sipped at his tea.

"Ugh, it's the most ridiculous..! Dumbledore's political maneuvering is becoming... concerning. And tiresome. That's all."

"Mind if I ask what exactly the old man is doing that's causing you such distress?"

"Well, you know how there's an election this fall, of course. My opponent is a man that is far more to Dumbledore's liking, I'm sure. In some inane attempt to draw the public's attention back to Dumbledore's past accomplishments, he's trying to claim... oh, it's just absolutely absurd, the man is actually claiming that You-Know-Who has returned!"

Harry took on a stunned, affronted, expression. "You've got to be kidding me! Is he completely barmy?"

"Exactly! It's absurd I tell you! He's just wanting to make me look like a fool! Get the public all worried and riled up. Fear! It's all about fear! Fear to control the masses. If he can get people afraid that You-Know-Who is back, they'll do anything to try and protect themselves! They'd even vote in a fool like Stephan Moffat if the man had the support of the man who defeated Grindlewald! The only man who You-Know-Who supposedly feared."

"He's loosing it, if he thinks he can plant his own man in the Minister's seat by claiming You-Know-Who is back. That's just insane. No one is going to believe that. What evidence is he providing to back up this claim of his?"

Fudge snorted at this point. "He claims his old Death Eater spy, was called back to a meeting by You-Know-Who himself. Claims that the Dark Lord has been back for months, trying to rebuild his power in secret. As if the Dark Lord could come back and be back for months and no one would know! Hah! Ludicrous, I say..." Fudge stopped and then looked up at Harry with some sort of dawning realization in his mind. "Oh my... oh my, I really should have been more sensitive to your situation. Here I am going on about You-Know-Who, and you..."

"Don't worry about it, Minister," Harry said with a reassuring tone and a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You know, this isn't even the first time that Dumbledore has tried to claim that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is still alive. He actually claimed that you encountered the Dark Lord in your first year! I... I always wanted to ask you about that but Dumbledore actually had the gall to refuse me contact with you!"

"What right does he have to refuse anyone contact with me?" Harry said belligerently. "He's been trying to pull stunts like that for years, and quite honestly, I'm sick of it. He's not my legal guardian. He has no legal say over my life outside of school but he's always trying to stick his nose into my business where it doesn't belong."

"Exactly!"

"He just wants the world to see me as his. He wants the world to think that he's got the Boy-Who-Lived in his back pocket. It's just another political ploy, and I don't particularly appreciate being used by him all the damn time," Harry said and Fudge was nodding his head in enthusiastic agreement. "And to answer your question, I have no idea what exactly Dumbledore thinks I encountered in my first year, but all I know for sure is that our pathetic excuse for a defense teacher, Professor Quirrell, attacked me then tried to steal a priceless and dangerous magical artifact that Dumbledore was keeping hidden in the school. I happened to get in the man's way, and prevented him from gaining the object, which reacted badly to his attempt to steal it, resulting in the man's death. Where Dumbledore gets the idea that You-Know-Who had anything to do with it, I don't know..." Harry said rolling his eyes dramatically.

"That man is obsessed with reliving the glory days! That's what I think!" Fudge exclaimed. "He's renowned for his defeat of Grindlewald, then for his fight against You-Know-Who in the war, but now that things are peaceful and calm, he's falling into obscurity! He's just fawning for attention! Stirring up the pot needlessly and making things unnecessarily complicated for the rest of us!"

Harry grinned, thrilled and amazed at how easy it was to get the man riled up, and how easily he had convinced the Minister that Harry was on his side.

Their conversation continued on in that vein for a short while longer with Harry continuing to stroke the man's ego and play to his paranoia and insecurities. Their meeting ended with Fudge exclaiming how pleasantly surprised he had been with Harry's maturity level and intelligence and expressing the desire to meet again at another time. Harry enthusiastically agreed then told Fudge to send him an owl with a time and he would make every effort to be there.

The two stood and walked to the exit of the patio where they paused. Harry felt Tom's magic nearby and turned his head just in time to catch sight of the man walking towards them with an impish grin on his face. Harry grinned back for a moment before turning to face Fudge.

"It really has been a pleasure doing this, Minister. Thank you so much for inviting me today."

"Oh, don't mention it, my lad. It's been my pleasure!" Fudge paused as Tom came to stand a few feet away and the Minister glanced between him and Harry. Harry glanced over at Tom and smiled.

"Minister, I'd like to introduce you to someone rather special to me, if you don't mind?"

"Oh, no, of course I don't mind, dear boy!"

"Good. This is my very good friend, Nicodemus Tomaras. I'm staying with him this summer. Nick, this is Minister Fudge."

Tom took a confident step forward and stuck out his hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Minister," Tom said in a smooth, calm tone.

"It's a pleasure to meet a friend of young Mr. Potter here," Fudge said, shaking Tom's hand. Harry felt an inkling of disgust in the back of his head and suspected that Tom was finding the Minister's clammy hands just as unpleasant as Harry had. Yet Tom maintained the perfect facade, making Harry internally smirk.

They exchanged pleasantries for a moment longer before Fudge finally had to leave to attend a meeting of some sort at the Ministry and the group parted ways.

"That seemed to go quite well," Tom mused with a small smile on his lips.

"Were you eavesdropping?"

"Of course."

Harry chuckled.

"I wasn't the only one though. The reporter was trying to listen in as well. I disrupted her spells throughout most of the conversation, which she seemed to find quite frustrating."

"Well, I appreciate your efforts then. I definitely would not want some of what was said reported in the Prophet," Harry said with a grimace.

"Quite so. Well, shall we head back?"

"Sounds fine to me."

The pair made their way to one of the alley's designated apparition zones and Tom side-along Apparated Harry for appearances sake.
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Harry Potter and the Breeding Darkness