Chapter 10
"Hogwarts is being cornered by the Ministry." Draco said as Tom sat down on the Slytherin table.
Tom's first instinct would be to just say 'what the fuck do you mean?' but someone as posh as Draco would probably have a seizure if he did that, so Tom decided to say something less aggressive instead:
"And how did your pea-sized brain come to that conclusion?"
See? Very polite.
Draco got slightly red and spluttered, "M-my father told me." he cleared his throat, "The Ministry doesn't like how vocal Dumbledore is about the whole Grindelwald fiasco, and how most of it was the Ministry's fault. Especially since the old coot has Potter's support."
Tom hummed, "Let me guess, now the Ministry is trying to take control of Hogwarts so it can get rid of Dumbledore as soon as possible."
Draco nodded.
Really, Tom didn't care at all about the Ministry's influence in Hogwarts. He'd never liked Dumbledore, so if the old coot got fired it'd definitely be a win in Tom's book. Besides, Tom fully intended on taking control of the Magical world one day and bringing back the old ways, so it didn't matter if the Ministry fucked it all up now, he'd fix it later.
But there was one flaw in his plan.
Harry Potter. As always.
Harry wouldn't just stand by while the Ministry completely wrecked Hogwarts and fired Dumbledore. Harry would definitely get in trouble some way or another.
Tom groaned and immediately hit his head on the table, there goes his hopes of a peaceful year for once.
Draco looked at him like he was insane, and maybe he was for liking such a walking menace like Harry.
Trouble did, in fact, appear only two days after the start of the new term.
"I would like everyone to give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Dolores Umbridge!" Dumbledore announced with his usual cheer.
Tom only needed to look at the atrocious woman once to come to the most obvious conclusion:
Oh fuck no.
Umbridge was terrible.
Scratch that, saying she was simply "terrible" would be a gross understatement.
She was dreadful, horrendous, abhorrent, vile, gruesome, egregious and any other word that was used by less than 85% of the human population.
The woman was absolutely insufferable and even tho Tom could easily charm her, he really, really didn't want to.
And while Tom's default behavior towards absolute bitches like Umbridge would be 1. Ignore them (if they have more power) or 2. Crush them (if they have less power); Harry obviously behaved differently.
"How the fuck will we defend ourselves if we don't practice the spells?!"
Harry obviously got detention and Tom obviously got "Harry-watching-duty".
Tom wanted to keep an eye on Harry, he really did. But of course he had actual prefect duties on the day of Harry's detention.
He was now patrolling one of the corridors that led to the Ravenclaw tower and daydreaming about Harry, when someone collided against him. Tom lost his balance and both people fell.
"I'm so sorry–"
Was that?...
"Harry?"
Harry blinked owlishly, "Tom?"
"What are you doing here?" They both said at the same time, making Harry blush.
"I was in detention."
"I know."
Harry tilted his head, "You do?"
It was Tom who blushed now. He cleared his throat, "Anyways, I was doing my rounds. Y'know, prefect duties and all that."
"Oh... I forgot you are a prefect now. Congratulations by the way."
Tom shook his head, "It's fine, it's not that big of a deal."
Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes, "It is." He then smiled, "Guess I just have to be glad that you aren't acting like a prick because of that. God knows that Malfoy thinks he's all that just because he's a prefect now."
Tom gave Harry a crooked smile while trying to hold back his laughter, "He's an idiot. You're better off ignoring him."
Harry let out a chuckle, "I guess you're right. A dumbass like him shouldn't get any attention."
Tom opened his mouth to say something else, but then he saw Harry's left hand clutching his right one.
"Did something happen with your hand?"
Harry was taken aback for a few seconds, before blinking and looking away.
"It's nothing."
As if.
Tom didn't want to invade Harry's personal space or will, but he wouldn't let him be hurt in his presence. So Tom pulled Harry's right hand from the grasp of the left hand.
He held Harry's right hand by the wrist, which made it easy to see the open skin, the blood and the words written in Harry's hand.
I must not disrespect my teacher.
Harry tried to pull his hand back, but Tom just strengthened his hold while also taking his wand out.
The white bony color of his wand was so stark against Harry's bronze skin. Tom didn't like it at all. He didn't like seeing his wand touching Harry, it felt like he was threatening him.
He should really stop wasting time, so Tom quickly murmured a "Episkey", and watched with relief as the skin knitted itself together, leaving only some blood that'd dry soon.
Suddenly he remembered that he was still gripping Harry's wrist, and that probably hurt, so Tom immediately let go of the other boy's hand.
Harry flexed his hand and then whispered, "Thanks."
Tom nodded. Even tho Harry was now healed, he didn't seem much happier, and Tom felt like hugging him.
He shouldn't do that.
But what if he did?
Tom took a deep breath and crawled closer to Harry, who looked at him inquisitively.
Another look at Harry's green eyes was enough to convince Tom tho.
So he leaned a little bit closer and put his arms around Harry, hugging him for the first time.
He wondered if he was doing this right. Tom had never been hugged, nor had he even hugged anyone else. Was this fine? Was he doing something wrong? Was Harry uncomfortable?
But all those doubts flew out of his head the moment Harry put his arms around him too.
Tom's heart was beating wildly and he couldn't help but hold Harry tighter, which Harry returned too.
He felt so warm.
His heart, his lungs, his throat, his very soul, all of it was warm. Tom knew it was silly to get so emotional about a hug, but he Just couldn't believe how good it felt to not only hug someone else, but to be hugged back. It was like he was being accepted without any conditions for the first time in his life.
He never wanted the moment to end.
But of course it had to.
Harry said it again, "Thanks." He then let go of Tom, waved him goodbye and left. After Tom got back to his dormitory, he cried again for the first time in years.