Despite what would be happening in twenty-four hours…well less than that now, Hadrian felt very calm, true to his word he had spent every second with Tom. He wanted to enjoy what time he had, for he was sure that Tom would absolutely hate him. They had investigated outside the back, and found a lake hidden amongst the too long grass, and then started on the library, despite the tasks Tom hadn't once complained nor moved more than a few feet from Hadrian all day. He was truly grateful for that, Hadrian honestly didn't want to be too far from Tom. The thought of living without him distressed him, but he'd completely suppressed it as soon as it appeared, he didn't want anything to tarnish this day. He did find himself curious that Tom wasn't demanding it sooner, all the information he wanted he was going to be handed on a silver platter…he refrained from asking just in case his question blew lid off and Tom did start asking.
Tom inwardly wasn't fairing any better, the fact Hadrian was so sure that he would want nothing to do with him made him wary for the first time in his life where information was concerned. He almost wanted to tell Hadrian that it didn't matter, that what happened in his future had no bearing on their lives now. Yet he couldn't get the words passed his throat, he had to know so Hadrian couldn't keep using it against them bonding. Tom suppressed a yawn as he slid into bed, which was fully made, Hadrian had done it while he had a quick shower.
Tom flicked his wand, summoning his cloak, immediately digging into his pockets and removing the packaged books he'd bought earlier that morning. He had found it after some digging, along with a few others he had liked the sound off. He still felt a smug sense of satisfaction when he could buy whatever he liked, which was mostly books, knowledge was power after all. Even when he hadn't much in the way of money, he still found ways to buy books whenever he could. Ripping off the brown paper, he unwound the string and banished both items without care, no the book he wanted held most of his attention. He had known that it would be difficult to find, but he was nothing if not determined. He had first came across the subject when he'd read Magick Moste Evile, but even that book didn't dare mention nor direction but he had persevered and found the right book…Secrets of the Darkest Arts. It gave explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux.
Tom opened it to the page he wanted, ignoring all other chapters, for now, but he would read them at a later date. He had read it already, but he wanted to read it thoroughly and properly without fear of being caught. He had just read one page and turned it when he noticed the sound of the water ceasing, unconcernedly he began to read again, only when he noticed how utterly silent it was despite the fact Hadrian should be done by now did he look up confused, only to see a look on Hadrian's face…one he had never seen before and dearly wished never to see again. Fear, completely and total fear was written across his face. "What's wrong?" Tom asked, closing the book as he stared at Hadrian his gaze demanding an answer, since worry was beginning to claw at him too. He never once considered it was the book of all things, Hadrian had seen him reading things just as dark if not evil.
Hadrian stood frozen, scarcely able to breath as his memory flashed to the small baby thing he'd seen in Kings Cross Station, the mutilated form of Tom's soul, unable to move on, forever trapped in limbo. NO! Hadrian absolutely refused to let that happen, he couldn't…the thought alone tortured him. "TELL ME YOU'VE NOT DONE THE RITUAL!" He shouted, his mind begging and pleading for Tom to answer him, that the answer would be no, he felt so defeated. Everything he had done…it was for nothing, Tom still wanted immortality and would go to any means to achieve it…including mutilating his own soul.
Tom's eyes narrowed, "So what if I have?" he spat angrily, he did not like being told what to do or being spoken to in such a manner not even by Hadrian. Unsurprisingly his own anger began to mount, but he had mistaken Hadrian's soul crushing despair for anger. Hadrian closed his eyes and stepped back, as if being near Tom was repugnant now. Tom shoved the bedding aside and stood up, his fists balled as he stared at Hadrian anger.
Green eyes opened again filled with despair, "Tom please…please tell me you haven't…" he rasped out, breathing a little heavier than normal. Honestly he felt like he was on the verge of having a panic attack, everything was on the cusp of falling apart. He was terrified of the answer, he'd gotten Tom well away from the damn Muggle war, ensuring that he didn't fear for his life three months out of the year! Had he been stupid to think that was why Tom had gone on to create Horcruxes in the first place?
Intense dark eyes watched him stating, "I intend to." he replied determinedly. "I want you to do the same, just think about it…together we could be invincible…immortal," the reverence Tom put into the word made Harry feel his stomach plummet south.
"No," Hadrian stated straight away, "I'll never do that ritual…and if you do…"
"And if I do?" Tom hissed out angrily, as he moved towards Hadrian, "You do not get to tell me what to do!" too furious to see what his words and actions were doing to him.
Hadrian stared at him his face becoming a blank mask, hiding everything he was feeling, "No, no I can't tell you what to do, but if you do create a single Horcrux…then it's over between us." he told Tom grimly, or tried to at least, his voice broke slightly as he said those last few words. It would be the last thing he ever wanted, but he knew what the Horcruxes did to Tom and he couldn't follow him down that path.
"You're mine!" Tom snapped, grabbing Hadrian and pulling him close, now face to face.
"It's not a road I can follow you down," Hadrian said, a warble in his throat as he said it. The urge to tell Tom he was already immortal as Master of Death was strong, but he couldn't. He never wanted Tom to agree to bond with him just for the sake of immortality, no, the only way he would go through with this bond is if Tom truly loved him…loved him enough to give up his desire for immortality through Horcruxes. Tom didn't know that bonding with him would result in him receiving his immortality too.
Tom let Hadrian go, "Fine, you don't need to do it if its too distasteful for you," what went unsaid was he would be doing the ritual. He was sure he could change Hadrian's mind, so what if he did a ritual? It wouldn't change anything, wouldn't make his feelings any less for him.
Hadrian stepped back, swallowing thickly, trying to maintain his composure, Tom had actually chosen the Horcruxes over him, and by Merlin he felt as though his chest was being ripped open and his heart wrenched from his chest. He had been through a lot of hurt in his life but this…he would rather go through everything he had up until this moment again, it was less painful. Hell he'd rather have the Cruciatus curse cast on him and that spoke volumes. "Right," he said dully, "You can use the manor until you get your own place…I'll find somewhere else to sleep." even knowing Tom was putting the Horcruxes before their relationship he didn't have it in him to throw him out. Mentally telling himself to keep it together, he made to move passed Tom and leave the room, to find somewhere to rage and cry in private.
He didn't get far before Tom grabbed him by the arm again, pulling him close, his head falling against Hadrian's, "Why are you doing this to me?" he whispered directly into his ear, he didn't understand how things had fallen apart so quickly. Was this Hadrian's way of making sure the didn't bond despite the memories he'd promised to show him? To finish things quickly before it happened (as he believed it would) later?
Hadrian turned his head to the side, eyes glittering with tears he refused to let fall, rising his free hand, he brushed it against Tom's face, mesmerised by his beauty, "Tom…" he sighed tiredly, "I can't follow you down the road you're going, I cant…no I won't watch you do it."
Tom was utterly bewildered, he honestly couldn't see Hadrian's problem with him using the ritual, from what he read it didn't sound like there were drawbacks for it. He was alive in Hadrian's future…obviously, so he truly didn't understand it and Hadrian was obviously not in an explaining mood. "What road? You know what I want to achieve…it has nothing to do with the ritual." well not directly at any rate, it would only help him live long enough to achieve it and see it through.
"Do you want to see what the rituals do to you?" Hadrian asked heatedly. "Do you want to see what you want me to stand back and watch?! Or worse stand beside you and watch?"
Tom blinked, his brilliant mind whirling with possible scenarios, neither of those scenarios came even close to the real deal. But of course, as brilliant as he is, he wouldn't (or didn't) realize how badly it could go. He thought he'd taken all necessary precautions, and by the time he was creating his third and fourth…he didn't realize what he was missing.
"Promise me you'll stay here, and don't do anything, I'll be right back," Hadrian said, it was time, if Tom went ahead and created Horcruxes after seeing what they did…then there would be nothing he could do. It wouldn't matter anyway, when Tom saw the memories of what Hadrian did…even inadvertently, it still held the same end result. When Tom made a promise he kept it, well, he tried to at any rate, thinking of his mum and him telling her to stand aside.
Tom tightened his hold, he felt completely incapable of letting him go, even if it was only temporarily, irrational fear that he would leave and never return consumed him.
"I'm only going to get the Pensive," Hadrian said, somehow sensing and seeing Tom's fears, he'd only ever truly seen Tom fearful once, that was when he discovered his Horcruxes were gone…when the killing curse had rebound once more and the knowledge there would be no return for him. All he had done to change the future…had it truly been for nothing? Was there no way he could prevent it? He thought in silent despair. Stepping back from him, he Apparated himself to the steps of Gringotts.
Tom stared vacantly at the spot in which Hadrian had previously stood, for all of a few seconds before he began to pace restlessly. The night had definitely not gone how he had envisioned it, in fact it had gone the complete opposite. Glancing back at the book, glaring at it as if it was the cause of all his problems, well it had in a way, but Tom's own headstrong determination and belief he was right had also caused it. He continued his pace back and forth from the fireplace which was blazing strongly, before huffing in irritation and sitting down in one of the chairs by the fire, his stomach was positively churning. He hated that most, he was always in control, even at his angriest he took satisfaction that he was firmly in control, and all of that control had sailed out the window long ago.
What if Hadrian was serious? Would he truly end their relationship over such a trivial thing? An uncomfortable sensation overcame him remembering the look on his face. It could be no trivial thing if those feelings had been genuine and they had been, he nor Hadrian were one for openly displaying emotion except anger when pushed to the extreme. His brow furrowed, remembering everything he'd read upon Horcruxes, and he honestly couldn't see why Hadrian was so alarmed or why he refused to do it with him. Unless…unless he knew something Tom didn't. Which of course could be the case, Hadrian was from a time where magic surely had advanced no matter how little.
Tom felt relief flowing through him at the telltale sound of Apparation, and the wards alerting him to Hadrian being back, which was redundant since he was standing in front of him with a pensive, his face grim and determined. Apprehension quickly took hold, like a living thing in his gut. He had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to like what he saw.
Hadrian moved around to their suites living area, and placed the pensive delicately on top of the table, the feeling of the fires warm did nothing - he felt cold all over. All he had wanted was a single night with Tom before doing this, but instead here he was, neither of them were going to get any sleep tonight. "Alright let's get this over with, I'll try and fill you in as much as I can while we watch it, but understandably I can't show you everything because I wasn't there."
Tom nodded standing up, his wand withdrawn, he knew how Pensives worked, he also knew how rare and delicate they were, so he was admittedly surprised Hadrian had one, but it was the Peverells he was taking about here, so many not so surprising. Giving it one last glance he placed the tip of his wand in the bowl holding the memory the same time Hadrian did before they were soon sucked in, immersed in a memory Tom knew nothing about.
Tom's eyes narrowed, confusion his primary emotion, a child's nursery? Why would Hadrian show him this of all things?
"In this memory it's all Hallows Eve, October 31st, 1981," Hadrian said coolly, as if this wasn't his life.
Tom stared at the sleeping baby, safely tucked in a blue blanket, unfortunately he wasn't sleeping for long, as loud explosives banging woke the child from slumber. The second those eyes opened, his heart skipped a beat, his gaze swinging to Hadrian almost immediately. A solemn nod was what got for his silent question.
"LILY, TAKE HARRY GO! IT'S HIM! GO! RUN! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" the alarm and terror could be heard in that voice even from the bedroom, even with the baby crying.
For a second there was the sound of rushing footsteps before the thump of a body could be heard, then a loud cry "JAMES!" a woman's voice cried out in obvious heartbreak, but the sound of her child's cry brought her out as she ran for the stairs and up into her son's bedroom, closing the door behind her.
The first thing Tom noticed was the terrified green eyes, watching as she soothed her son, soothed Hadrian. No, not Hadrian, she had called him Harry. As the door blasted open she returned her son to his cot, defiantly standing in front of the powerful wizard, who was extremely disfigured. Tom's first thought was in utter denial, there was no way this could be him, it was as if he had tried a Naga ritual that had gone seriously wrong.
"Stand aside!" the cold sibilant voice demanded.
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" Lily begged.
"Not Harry?" Tom muttered bewildered, why the hell would he be after a toddler? What on earth could have set him down that course to spill magical blood? Especially a defenceless child…a defenceless Hadrian.
"Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside, now…"
"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead-"
"Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy…" the twenty one year old begged once more - unashamedly so. Continuing to stand in the way of Voldemort, stopping him from seeing her son.
"I didn't understand at the time, why he would want to spare her when he had absolutely no problem killing Muggle Borns in the past…for six years it plagued me, but I eventually got an answer." Hadrian said softly, watching the scene in front of him. Watching his mother die at the hands of Voldemort, before the twin wand he had been destined for but no longer, turn on his younger self. Tom didn't say anything, he was just watching the scene in a state of disbelief. It was why Hadrian elected to say nothing, they would speak when Tom was more aware of his surroundings. In truth he wasn't sure whether Tom heard his statement or not.
Then green light surrounded the room in its entirety, the explosion didn't affect them of course, but the most pivotal moment was lost in the flash of light…which was the fact that the soul piece had slipped from Voldemort and into Harry. Tom did see himself nothing more than a spirit before it fled with an anguished filled cry as if the all the pain in the world at that moment redirected itself at Voldemort causing unimaginable pain.
The last thing either of them saw before the pensive ejected them was a pile of ashes beside a dead body with a crying little boy with a bleeding forehead the injury marked in the shape of a lightening bolt.
"How the hell can you stand to be near me?" Tom spat, as he backed away, he had killed Hadrian's parents, tried to kill the boy himself for Merlin's sake. How far had he fallen that he would try and kill a toddler? He was many things, had a lot planned…but never once had killing the next generation of magicals unless they directly opposed him with a wand in their damn hand came to mind. Which he had noticed that the woman, Hadrian's mother had not. If it had been the other way around he would have killed Hadrian where he stood, in fact he had gotten revenge on those who had made his mothers life a living hell, made her have to give birth in a muggle orphanage.
"You don't know all the facts yet, when you do you'll understand why you did what you did," Hadrian said quietly, sitting down surprised by Tom's reaction, he wasn't worried about his own demise but the fact he had killed his parents. He was not suggesting Voldemort had a good reason, but there was time enough to change that - to stop it happening…if he could. It just all depended on the outcome of all this. "Not that it means I was alright with it, but you have to understand its not happened yet…and I'm hoping that it wont."
"If you change anything you might not end up back here!" Tom protested profoundly, and he wasn't going to live without Hadrian.
"I won't suddenly disappear Tom, when my younger self is born…it won't affect me," Hadrian revealed, seeing the look on Toms face he added, "You'll find out why and how soon enough. We have a lot of memories to get through tonight."
"The facts?" Tom prompted when it became clear Hadrian wasn't going to continue.
"In 1979, a year before I was born one of your followers overheard a prophecy, one being said by Sybill Trelawney, descendant from a great line of seers, most prominently Cassandra Trelawney…she was in the Hogshead being interviewed by Albus Dumbledore for the divination post, despite the fact that it was publicly known that Dumbledore held no stock in divination and was trying to drop the subject from Hogwarts curriculum, just like Alchemy and many other subjects that had been dropped over the years." Hadrian said, sitting back watching Tom's reaction.
"Why the hell would he hold an interview in bar?" Tom scoffed at the absurdity of the notion, taking a seat.
"Because he wanted it to get out, the real prophecy had been uttered in his office just the day before, it was exactly the same but he knew that you were obsessed with divination and this was a way to have it revealed without him having to be obvious about it. After all why would you not trust the words brought back to you by your followers?" Hadrian shrugged, "Prophecies are in most ways self fulfilling. It takes someone believing in them for them come to fruition."
Tom gritted his teeth, the thought of being manipulated by Dumbledore left such a sour taste in his mouth. "What did it say?"
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" that got Tom's attention, as his head jerked up, his gaze narrowing.
"Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies, this was what you got told, your follower had been caught snooping before the end could be heard, but I doubt that bothered Dumbledore…in the end he'd gotten what he wanted," Hadrian replied, "There were two children that fitted the description, but you chose the child most like you, a half blood over a pureblood, Dumbledore of course didn't inform the families they were in danger, he wanted the prophecy to play out, until he had no choice, a good friend of Lily's stepped forward, pleading for Dumbledore to save her, after he asked you to spare her life, but he didn't think you would, and so he went to the other side, began spying, despite the fact he was as dark as they come, his true home was with you, with the others, but his love for my mother sealed his fate and yours too. Its why the curse rebounded, the promise you made, the fact my mother was willing to die in my stead erected one of the most powerful rituals the world has ever seen, enhanced due to the night you chose to attack, Samhain."
"So you have the power to destroy me," Tom stated.
"I have the power, yes, but it never says that I would use it Tom, but even the possibility made you act," Hadrian said, his tone wary, "I don't want to fight you, I never did actually, each and every confrontation was started by you." his tone vehement.
Tom looked bewildered for a second, more than one confrontation? Yes, he wasn't liking the sound of it at all. He continuously refused to think on what he'd looked like.
"The Dark Lord will mark him his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not, and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. That is all we did for seventeen years, you survived as a spirit for thirteen years…while I barely survived my Muggle relatives…" Hadrian sighed, shaking off his lingering thoughts, "Ready for the next one?" standing up, his wand already at his temple and withdrawing the memory, very aware of the fact that each memory would make Tom more suspicious and wary of him…with probably a healthy dose of a desire to kill him.
It took all of a few seconds for the next memory to play out in front of them.
"This is the end of my first year at Hogwarts, I had tried numerous times to tell someone what was happening…but my Head of House…Professor McGonagall…yes that one, ignored me." Hadrian informed Tom, who seemed to prefer to observe his surroundings than speak while they were in the pensive.
It wasn't Snape, it wasn't even Voldemort - it was Quirrell.
"You!" Harry gasped.
"Me," Quirrell said calmly with a smile on his face, "I had wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter,"
"But I thought - Snape-" Harry protested off kilter.
"Severus?" Quirrell said, "Yes, Severus does seem the type doesn't he so useful to hae him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering p-professor Quirrell?"
"But Snape tried to kill me!" Harry said, so sure something was wrong, it couldn't be right.
"No, no, no I tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at the Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering the counter-curse, trying to save you."
Tom closed his eyes, pinching the bride of his nose, before reopening them again, he had a funny feeling he knew what was happening here. Hadrian had basically informed him that he had outright tried to kill Harry many times.
"Snape was trying to save me?" Harry was utterly stunned.
"Of course," Quirrell said coolly, "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't try anything funny again. Funny, really, he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying o stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular…and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight." with a click of fingers, ropes sprang around Harry, confining him tightly.
"You're too nosy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the school at Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look for what was guarding the stone." Quirrell stated.
"Do you know how many times I wanted to say that to you? But the hilarity would have been wasted on me alone," Hadrian teased, despite the memory he was viewing.
"Hilarious," Tom said drolly, but his lips were twitching just so, it still boggled his mind that Hadrian didn't care.
"You let the troll in?" Harry sounding confused.
"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls, you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off- and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly."
"Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror." Quirrell demanded.
Tom was looking at it himself, "I show not your face, but your hearts desire," it rung a bell, many men had wasted away gazing at that mirror, it was dangerous, how the hell had it managed to get into a school filled with children? To top if off Hadrian had apparently fought a damn Troll and won as well as ended up on a Quidditch team in his first year…
"Yes, I used to see my parents in it," Hadrian answered truthfully.
"I see the stone, I'm presenting it to my Master…but where is it?" Quirrell was getting desperate now.
"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much," Harry said.
Tom's lips twitched, well aware of what 'Harry' was up to, even if his clothes suggest he was a Gryffindor he truly as a Slytherin at heart even now as innocent and naive as he was.
"Oh, he does," Quirrell said, "Heavens yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you dead."
"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - thought Snape was threatening you…"
"Sometimes, I find it hard to follow my Master's instructions, he is a great wizard and I am weak -"
"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped, he had already deduced that it was Voldemort. He just couldn't believe he was at Hogwarts of all places.
"He is with me wherever I go," Quirrell admitted, "I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it…since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me. He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me…decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me…"
Tom would deny it until his dying breath but he actually squeaked in surprise, while it was true he had thought of that name…he had discarded it long ago, ever since he had made the decision to change his name to Slytherin. The anagram didn't fit it and so it became irrelevant. Tom did smirk though at the saying, that was a belief he held most dear already. He was glad to see that hadn't been lost over time. He wondered if he had the wizard
under the Imperious curse, or a variation of it at least, since he did seem to be talking freely.
"Yes, there's only power, but as long as it came from the pureblood's right?" Hadrian smirked wryly.
Tom had been about to reply, when he heard a raspy voice speak, despite the fact there was only two people in the room, blinking blankly he tried to look for the person he had missed, looking behind the mirror since it was that general area the voice came from. By the time he'd turned back to Hadrian Quirrell had grabbed Harry and was forcing him to look into the mirror. He snorted at Harry's blatant lie of shaking Dumbledore's hand after winning the house cup. Then the voice spoke again, speaking his own thoughts, informing Quirrell that Harry had lied.
"Not very subtle that," Tom said wryly.
Hadrian shrugged, "I was eleven, this year was the first time I'd really interacted with anyone…and I didn't know about occlumency which you are a Master of,"
"I have strength enough for this," the voice hissed.
"Harry Potter…" the face hissed when the turban was finally removed. "See what I have become? A mere shadow and vapour…I have form only when I can share another's body…but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds…unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks…you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest…and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own…now…why don't you give me that stone in your pocket?"
Tom stared at himself horrified beyond belief. His only consolation and relief was the fact he knew Hadrian did not die, the utter disgust he had at his future self was magnified seeing how weak he was, how disgusting, how far he'd lowered himself, this had not been what he wanted, not the future he had envisioned for himself. This was the outcome if he used a Horcrux? This wraithlike creature?
"Don't be a fool," Voldemort snarled, "Better sae your own life and join me…or you'll meet the same end as your parents…they died begging me for mercy…"
"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.
"I do not lie," Tom stated sharply, and he knew it was something that hadn't changed, his mother had begged for mercy…even if it was for her son, he may imply but he never outright lied - to anyone - he had no need for it.
"How touching…I always value bravery…yes, boy, our parents were brave…I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight…but your mother needn't have died… she was trying to protect you…now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."
"NEVER!" Harry yelled.
"SEIZE HIM!" Voldemort commanded.
Tom's eyebrows rose up as he watched the scene in front of him, awe and a little confusion swarming him, every time Quirrell touched Harry, he began to burn. All the while his older self shrieked for the wizard hosting him to seize him. When it became obvious that Quirrell couldn't do it, he was ordered to kill Harry. Then Harry filled with a dark fire that he'd seen when he tortured Avery came out and he reached out and grasped a hold of Quirrell's face and held on even as he screamed. That darkness had been present even then, just like his had been. The question remained how he had been so sickeningly loyal to the light for so long…until he remembered Hadrian telling him about the compulsion charms. He had been compelled to do the things he had, compelled away from his true place.
Then before the memory ended he heard Dumbledore's voice before they were forcefully evicted from the pensive as Harry lost consciousness.
"This is why I don't want you to go down the road with the Horcruxes, I want you to swear you'll never make one," Hadrian said, green eyes filled with fire.
"On one condition," Tom stated, his mind already making alternative plans, the Elixir of Life, it would grant him true immortality, he wouldn't end up that disgusting wraith thing should his body end up destroyed. So yes, he would give Hadrian his promise not to create Horcruxes, and if the Elixir of Life wasn't possible he would find alterative means, ones that Hadrian would surely approve of so they could be together forever.
"Which is?" Hadrian asked surprise, that was it? He would swear not to make them on a single condition? Staring into those dark eyes, he wondered what on earth Tom was up to now, there was no way he would so easily give up his quest for immortality…would he?
"That you bond with me, tonight," Tom said determinedly. "I'll even give you a Unbreakable Vow."
"What are you up to?" Hadrian asked, eyeing him shrewdly.
Tom didn't even try putting an innocent expression on, Hadrian knew him too well. "Will you?"
"After you've seen everything and you want to…then yes," Hadrian replied, a small smile on his face. Despite the danger he posed to Tom, he had yet to raise his wand to him, even knowing he had practically defeated him twice already. Oh, he would love to hear Tom's thoughts, what was he thinking? "I must admit…you're not reacting how I thought you would." and it caused a lost look to appear on his face.
"I am not that disgusting parasite you're used to dealing with," Tom argued.
"Not that, you know I've got the power to destroy you, you heard the prophecy and went after me with all you had," Hadrian said, slightly bewildered, "Why isn't that your focus now?"
Tom grabbed Hadrian pulling him close, "You're mine, you'll always be mine," wrapping his fingers through his brown tresses and tugging lightly, smashing their lips together, planting a possessive passionate kiss on those delectable lips. He wanted all of Hadrian, and tonight he would get all of him when they bonded. He was going to make it official as soon as the bonding was done. "You are as dark as I am, you were as Dark as I am even back then I saw it in you, and after all the light side has done to you, I seriously doubt you'd ever willingly go back." Dumbledore had been there during the whole debacle, just waiting to interfere he knew it, it was just Dumbledore all over. He didn't care what had happened in Hadrian's past, the future, because together they were going to remake it.
Knowing what he did now, it had been Hadrian's intention all along, slowly and sneakily making the magical world sit up and see him, publishing books while trying to preserve the magical world and the pureblood families. He knew how to avoid it all going wrong, and it seemed to centre from Dumbledore, but together again, they'd make sure Dumbledore faded into obscurity…in fact he wanted Dumbledore out of Hogwarts, out of his home, one thing at a time, he would think of something.
Hadrian closed his eyes, enjoying the closeness, praying that he was right, but surely Death wouldn't have sent him on this path if it were to fail? But he knew he couldn't blame death, the path was his to take, and if he had to go back in time…even further perhaps…he would do whatever it took to make sure Tom remained his, even if the only outcome was him NOT telling Tom about what happened in the future. "Ready for the next round?" he asked reluctantly still staying close.
"How many more are there to go?" Tom asked, inwardly shuddering as he remembered the disgusting thing he'd become. If Hadrian had shown him that to put him off making Horcruxes he had well and truly succeeded. They would need to talk about it in more detail though…and it looked as though they had all night.
"Not too many," Hadrian said, with that he returned his memory to his mind, and pulled out another calmly and precisely as if he was used to it.
once again touching it, they immersed themselves in yet another memory.
"What about my sister?" Ron asked jerkily.
"Well, as to that ― most unfortunate," Lockhart said, avoiding their eyes, wrenching open drawers and emptying the contents into a bag. "No one regrets more than I ―"
"You're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher!" Harry protested. "You can't go now! Not with all the dark stuff going on here!"
"Each year we have a new DADA teacher, you cursed the position, one day though I'd love to know how you did it," Hadrian informed Tom. "That is Ronald Weasley," he added offhandedly.
"You were best friends with a Weasley?" Tom grimaced in disgust, they were light to the extreme.
"The friendship was genuine on my part! I was having trouble finding the platform, then Molly Weasley his mum, started yelling about Muggles, like a moth to a flame I went," Hadrian informed him green eyes filled with sadness, "I didn't know true friendship until I met you and the others."
"Well, I must say… when I took the job…" Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes, "nothing in the job description … didn't expect…"
"You mean you're running away?" Harry demanded disbelievingly. "After all that stuff in your books?"
Tom's lips curled at the disgusting imbecile that dared to call himself a wizard.
"Books can be misleading," Lockhart said delicately.
"You wrote them!" Harry shouted.
"My dear boy," Lockhart said, - causing Hadrian to grimace at the title; Dumbledore called him that and he hated the phrase. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a hairy chin. I mean, come on…"
"So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Harry, Harry," Lockhart sighed, shaking his head impatiently "It's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book-signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."
He banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked them.
"Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left."
He pulled out his wand and turned on them.
"Awfully sorry, boys, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book…"
Harry reached for his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed, "Expelliarmus!"
Tom smirked in satisfaction, that had been an exceedingly well done, and not to forget powerful disarming charm.
Lockhart was blasted backwards, falling over his trunk. His wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window.
"Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one," Harry said furiously, kicking Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, wary once more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him.
"What d'you want me to do?" Lockhart protested weakly. "I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do."
Tom immediately perked up when he heard that particular word come out of the imbecile's mouth.
"You're in luck," Harry said, forcing Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. "We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go."
Tom sneered at the look of dread that flashed in Lockhart's beady eyes. His eyes widened upon seeing the ghost of a girl he was more than familiar with, especially considering Hadrian was very good friends with her. Myrtle Warren, he wondered if Hadrian had already prevented her death.
"Harry," Ron suggested, "Say something. Something in Parseltongue."
"But―" Harry broke off.
"Open up," he said.
"English," Ron said, shaking his head.
"Open up," Harry hissed.
Tom arched an eyebrow it seemed as though Hadrian had been true to his word at least about that, it was difficult for him to speak the language of the snakes.
The sink began moving; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight. It left a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.
"I'm going down there," Harry declared.
"Me too," Ron volunteered.
"Gryffindors," Tom sneered at the sentimentality.
Hadrian coughed and gave him a pointed look, he too was a Gryffindor. Tom merely flipped his hand, Hadrian did not count he should not have been in Gryffindor he was a Slytherin through and through.
"Well, you hardly seem to need me," Lockhart said with a shadow of a smile. "I'll just ―"
"You can go first," Ron snarled.
White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening.
"Boys," he said, his voice feeble, "Boys, what good will it do?"
Harry jabbed him in the back with his wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the mouth of the pipe.
"I really don't think ―" he started to say, but Ron gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Harry followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the pipe, then let go.
"We must be miles under the school," Harry commented, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.
"Under the lake, probably," Ron said, squinting around at the dark, slimy walls.
"Lumos!" Harry muttered to his wand, and it lit again. "C'mon," he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
"Remember," Harry said quietly, as they walked cautiously forward, "Any sign of movement, close your eyes straight away…"
"Harry, there's something up there…" Ron said hoarsely.
"Maybe it's asleep," he breathed back at the other two.
"Blimey," Ron gasped weakly.
Suddenly there was a commotion, and Lockhart had Ron's broken wand.
"The adventure ends here, boys!" he said. "I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and you two tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. Say goodbye to your memories! Obliviate!" he added in a shout.
The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks of tunnel ceiling which were thundering to the floor. The next moment he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.
"Ron!" he shouted. "Are you okay? Ron!"
"I'm here!" Ron shouted back, his voice muffled through the rock. "I'm okay. This git's not, though ― he got blasted by the wand. What now?" Ron's voice sounded desperate. "We can't get through; it'll take ages…"
"Wait there," Harry called to Ron. "Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on. If I'm not back in an hour…"
There was silence for ages after that.
"I'll try and shift some of this rock," Ron said; he seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. "So you can ― can get back through. And, Harry ―"
"See you in a bit," Harry said, trying to sound confident.
Both Tom and Hadrian followed the twelve-year-old into the heart of the Chamber.
"Ginny!" Harry muttered, sprinting to her and dropping to his knees. "Ginny! Don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" He flung his wand aside, grabbed Ginny's shoulders and turned her over. Her face was white as marble, and as cold, yet her eyes were closed, so she wasn't Petrified. But then she must be…
"Ginny, please wake up," Harry muttered desperately, shaking her. Ginny's head lolled hopelessly from side to side.
He saw the boy standing at the end of a very long, dimly lit chamber. Towering stone pillars entwined with more caved serpents rose to support the ceiling lost in darkness, casting long black shadows through the odd, greenish gloom that filled the place.
"She won't wake up," said a soft voice.
Tom visibly jerked at that, it was his voice after all, not like the one in the memory he'd just seen.
"Tom ― Tom Riddle?"
Tom blinked, so he hadn't changed his name in Hadrian's old future.
"What d'you mean, she won't wake?" Harry asked desperately "She's not ... she's not..." He was unable to form the sentence.
"She's still alive," Riddle said, "but only just."
"Are you a ghost?" Harry asked uncertainly.
"A Memory," Riddle said quietly, "preserved in a diary for fifty years."
Tom gaped, he had planned on using the diary to host a piece of his soul! He had done it then, judging by the badge upon his cloak pretty soon.
"You've got to help me, Tom," Harry said, raising Ginny's head again. "We've got to get her out of here. There's a Basilisk… I don't know where it is, but it could be along any moment. Please, help me…"
"Thanks," Harry said, stretching out his hand for his wand.
Hadrian closed his eyes and shook his head silently, closing his eyes at the naiveté of his twelve-year-old self. His hand placed over his eyes as if he could completely ignore what was happening.
"Listen," Harry said urgently, his knees sagging with Ginny's dead weight, "we've got to go! If the Basilisk comes…"
"It won't come until it's called," Riddle said calmly.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. "Look, give me my wand, I might need it."
"You won't be needing it," Tom said.
"What d'you mean, I won't be ―?"
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," Riddle said. "For a chance to see you. To speak to you."
"Look," Harry said, losing his patience, "I don't think you get it. We're in the Chamber of Secrets. We can talk later."
"We're going to talk now," Riddle declared, still smiling broadly as he pocketed Harry's wand.
Tom just continued to watch completely enthralled by the sight in front of him.
"How did Ginny get like this?" Harry asked finally.
"Well, that's an interesting question," Riddle said pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked in exasperation.
"The diary," Riddle said, "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes: how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with second-hand robes and books, how ―" Riddle's eyes glinted "―How she didn't think her famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her…"
All the time he spoke, Riddle's eyes never left Harry's face. There was an almost hungry look in them.
"It was very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl," he went on. "But I was patient. I wrote back; I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. 'No one's ever understood me like you, Tom… I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in… it's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket'…" Riddle laughed.
"If I do say so myself, Harry, I've always been able to charm the people I needed. So Ginny poured out her soul to me, and her soul happened to be exactly what I wanted. I grew stronger and stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful, far more powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring my soul back into her…"
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked; his mouth had gone very dry.
"Haven't you guessed yet, Harry Potter?" Riddle asked softly. "Ginny Weasley opened the Chamber of Secrets. She strangled the school roosters and daubed threatening messages on the walls. She set the serpent of Slytherin on four Mudbloods, and the Squib's cat."
"No," whispered Harry.
"Yes," Riddle calmly said. "Of course, she didn't know what she was doing at first. It was very amusing. I wish you could have seen her new diary entries… far more interesting, they became… 'losing my memory. There are rooster feathers all over my robes and I don't know how they got there. Dear Tom, I can't remember what I did on the night of Halloween, but a cat was attacked and I've got paint on myself. I think he suspects me… there was another attack today; I'm going mad… think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom!'"
"It took a very long time for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," Riddle said, "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it. And that's where you came in, Harry. You found it, and I couldn't have been more delighted. Of all the people who could have picked it up, it was you, the very person I was most anxious to meet…"
"And why did you want to meet me?" Harry asked, anger coursing through him, showing in those glowing emerald eyes.
"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," Riddle replied. "Your whole fascinating history." Riddle's eyes shot straight to his lightning bolt scar and his expression grew hungrier.
"I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could. So I decided to show you my famous capture of that great oaf, Hagrid, to gain your trust."
"Hagrid is my friend," Harry said, his voice now shaking. "And you framed him, didn't you? I thought you made a mistake, but ―"
Riddle laughed his high-pitched laugh again.
"It was my word against Hagrid's, Harry. Well, you can imagine how it looked to old Armando Dippet. On the one hand, Tom Riddle, poor but brilliant, parentless but so brave, school prefect, model student; on the other hand, big, blundering Hagrid, in trouble every other week, trying to raise werewolf cubs under his bed, sneaking off to the Forbidden Forest to wrestle trolls. But I admit even I was surprised at how well the plan worked. I thought someone must realise Hagrid couldn't possibly be the heir of Slytherin. It had taken me five whole years to find out everything I could about the Chamber of Secrets and discover the secret entrance… as though Hagrid had the brains, or the power!"
"Only the Transfiguration teacher, Dumbledore, seemed to think Hagrid was innocent. He persuaded Dippet to keep Hagrid here and train him as gamekeeper. Yes, I think Dumbledore might have guessed. Dumbledore never seemed to like me as much as the other teachers did…"
"I bet Dumbledore saw right through you," Harry said, his teeth gritted.
"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," Riddle carelessly said. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Well, you haven't finished it," Harry told him triumphantly "No one's died this time, not even the cat. In a few hours the Mandrake Draught will be ready, and everyone who was petrified will be all right again."
"Haven't I already told you," Riddle quietly said, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been... you. Imagine how angry I was when next time my diary opened, it was Ginny who was writing to me, not you. She saw you with the diary, you see, and panicked. What if you found out how to work it and I repeated all her secrets to you? What if, even worse, I told you who'd been strangling the roosters? So the foolish little brat waited until your dormitory was deserted and stole it back. But I knew what I must do. It was clear to me that you were on the trail of Slytherin's heir. From everything Ginny had told me about you, I knew you would go to any lengths to solve the mystery... particularly if one of your best friends was attacked. And Ginny had told me the whole school was buzzing because you could speak Parseltongue…"
"So I made Ginny write her own farewell on the wall and come down here to wait. She struggled and cried and became very boring. But there isn't much life left in her: she put too much into the diary, into me. Enough to let me leave its pages at last. I have been waiting for you to appear since we arrived here. I knew you'd come. I have many questions for you, Harry Potter."
"Like what?" Harry spat nastily.
"Well," Riddle said, still smiling pleasantly, "How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
There was an odd red gleam in Riddle's eyes now.
"Why do you care how I escaped?" Harry slowly asked. "Voldemort was after your time."
"Voldemort," said Riddle, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter." Shimmering words were quickly traced through the air.
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Tom waved the wand once and the letters rearranged themselves.
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
"You see?" he whispered "It was a name I was already using at Hogwarts— to my most intimate friends only, of course. You think I was going to use my filthy Muggle father's name forever? I, in whose veins runs the blood of Salazar Slytherin himself, through my mother's side? I, keep the name of a foul common Muggle, who abandoned me even before I was born, just because he found out his wife was a witch? No, Harry. I fashioned myself a new name, a name I knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak, when I became the greatest sorcerer in the world!"
"You're not," Harry contradicted, his voice full of hatred that Tom flinched at hearing.
"Not what?" snapped Riddle.
"Not the greatest sorcerer in the world," Harry said, breathing fast "Sorry to disappoint you, and all that, but the greatest wizard in the world is Albus Dumbledore. Everyone says so. Even when you were strong, you didn't dare try and take over Hogwarts. Dumbledore saw through you when you were at school, and he still frightens you now, wherever you're hiding these days."
"Dumbledore has been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me!" Riddle hissed.
"He's not gone as you might think!" Harry retorted.
"I was trying to scare him," admitted the fourteen-year-old, shrugging his shoulders.
Tom turned to Hadrian but he wasn't looking at the scene in front of him, but away. Tom, frowning, followed Hadrian's line of vision, but nothing was there… then he heard it, then saw the flash of light as a phoenix came. "It's Fawkes, a phoenix, Dumbledore doesn't have him yet, he must get him after his 'defeat' of Grindelwald."
"That's a phoenix…" Riddle said.
"Fawkes," Harry breathed.
"And that's the old school Sorting Hat."
The laughter started up again, sending goosebumps up their necks and arms. "This is what Dumbledore sends his defender?! A songbird and an old hat! Do you feel brave, Harry Potter? Do you feel safe now?"
Harry never did answer.
"To business, Harry," Riddle said. "Twice ― in your past, in my future ― we have met. And twice I failed to kill you. How did you survive? Tell me everything. The longer you talk," he added softly, "the longer you stay alive."
"No one knows why you lost your powers when you attacked me," Harry said abruptly. "I don't know myself, but I do know why you couldn't kill me. Because my mother died to save me. My common, Muggle-born mother," he added, shaking with suppressed rage. "She stopped you from killing me, and I've seen the real you; I saw you last year. You're a wreck. You're barely alive. That's where all your power got you. You're in hiding. You're ugly; you're foul!"
"So. Your mother died to save you. Yes, that's a powerful counter-charm. I can see now ― there is nothing special about you after all. I wondered, you see. Because there are strange likenesses between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike… but after all, it was merely a lucky chance that saved you from me. That's all I wanted to know."
"Now, Harry, I'm going to teach you a little lesson. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort, heir of Salazar Slytherin, against the famous Harry Potter, and the best weapons Dumbledore can give him," Riddle said.
"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four," Tom hissed out the password in Parseltongue. Everyone conscious in the pensive of course understood.
Tom watched, horror-struck, as the humongous serpent began going after Hadrian…no Harry, watching as he fell, as the phoenix began attacking the Basilisk's eyes, stopping it from ever petrifying or killing anything again. Listening to his Horcrux scream for the basilisk to leave the bird, to kill the boy, telling it to smell― not even screeching it in Parseltongue so he could understand it. watching as the twelve-year-old beg for help that would never come. He opened his eyes again and saw the boy had a sword in his hand, the sword of Godric Gryffindor, true to Harry's word. He was running wildly, a basilisk lunging at him every few seconds. He saw him raising the sword high above him, and it did indeed penetrate the basilisk's mouth. He also saw the fang sink into the vulnerable flesh of the twelve-year-old's upper arm.
"You're dead, Harry Potter," Riddle gloated. "Dead. Even Dumbledore's bird knows it. Do you see what he's doing, Potter? He's crying. I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter; take your time. I'm in no hurry. So ends the famous Harry Potter," Riddle added, his voice now sounding distant. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry… she bought you twelve years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must."
"Get away, bird!" Riddle's voice suddenly said. "Get away from him! I said, get away!"
"Phoenix tears…" Riddle quietly said. "Of course… healing powers… I forgot…"
He then looked back at Harry and said "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter… you and me…"
That was all Harry needed; he took the fang from the side of him where he had discarded it. With a snarl he brought it down against the dairy. Black ink began spilling out, Harry ignoring every scream Tom Riddle let loose. As quickly as he was there… he was gone.
Both of them gasped as they were evicted from the pensive.