Rebirth

The week passed like its beginning. Tom had barely spoken, well no more than before and especially had not addressed his attitude after the flight lesson. He had already received a detention for hitting a student, he hadn't told him anything about why he was violent, although he had a small intuition. He didn't want to force him to speak, if he didn't want to then he wouldn't speak.

Arriving in the common room, after dressing in civilian clothes, they saw a group of students in front of the bulletin board, accompanied by Professor Flitwick. They joined the group, intrigued. He saw that it was the clubs that attracted the students, as well as Quidditch. He wanted to enroll there but it wasn't until the second year. Looking at the list he saw quite a large number of clubs. He had no idea. It must be said that he had other concerns during his years at Hogwarts to take care of the clubs. Professor Flitwick approached them as soon as he saw them.

"Hello to you two. If you are interested in one of the clubs you can register on this list. The other clubs are not until the third year." Professor Flitwick explained, pointing to a much smaller list on the right.

“WHAT!? but it’s unfair!” Tom said indignantly, looking devastated.

Apparently there was a club on the other list that caught his eye. The teacher simply smiled, proud to see one of his students so invested.

“These are complex subjects that you will only begin to understand in the third year. You just have to be patient.” Professor Flitwick explained patiently.

"But you let 12-year-olds play Quidditch like they're not in danger of getting their heads crushed." Tom muttered, crossing his arms in annoyance.

Harry laughed at Tom's reaction, even though he knew he was going to have to put up with Tom's bad mood. It couldn't be worse than with Voldemort, he thought to comfort himself.

“Oh by the way Mr. Riddle I would like to see you about your detention.” Announced Professor Flitwick who was about to leave.

Tom sighed loudly before following their teacher. And with that he was alone. He looked at the table of clubs, he could take advantage of it to have a normal life, well as much as he could. There weren't many clubs they couldn't join as freshmen. In fact there were only three: runes, magical theory and the study of ghouls. Which left them quite a few choices: art, muggle art, music, astronomy, charms, dueling, frog choir, orchestra and potions.

He could still take a duel, it was something he had mastered after all. Maybe potions would help him improve. He can always convince Tom to take other clubs to get the ones he wants out of his head. He registered his name in both clubs and walked away from the group of students.

Should he wait for Tom here or go to the great hall for breakfast? He was starving and he was not allowed to skip meals with his medication.

He went slowly to the great hall, without really wanting to, even more so when he saw a red head watching the front door from the Gryffindor table. Well, the choice has been made, wait for Tom here. He looked around the great room from here. At the teacher's table he could see that Dumbledore was not in a good mood. For what? Snape was physically moving away from Dumbledore, it was very inconspicuous, but enough for him who had gotten into the habit with his previous jobs of observing the slightest movement of eyelashes. They were the only two teachers who had different behavior. Everything else was normal.

Footsteps pulled him out of his thoughts. Turning he saw Tom, out of breath next to him. They entered the room quickly followed by Ron, which was starting to become a habit. He had to hold Tom's arm to prevent him from doing anything else that would attract attention. They sat at the Ravenclaw table. Tom much closer to him than usual, probably to prevent Ron from coming between them.

“Did you see the news?” Ron asked out of breath, moving to his left.

"No." he replied without emotion.

"There was a robbery at the bank very early this morning. Look!" Ron exclaimed, placing the Daily Prophet in front of him.

Today ? In his previous life it had been the day he went to collect his things. Now that he thought about it Professor Quirrel wasn't there. But that didn't make sense, Quirrel or the fake Voldemort must have known that the stone was no longer in Gringgots' vault. Looking to the left he saw Ron waiting for a response from him, but he wasn't the only one, Dumbledore too. Should he start exploring now?

"It's strange... It's the chest where Hagrid went to get something for school..." he tried.

He saw Ron's expression lighten in his field of vision. It was the correct answer.

“What do you think it was?” Ron asked impatiently.

"What can it do?" Tom cut in sharply, pushing the newspaper away from in front of him.

Tom took Harry's bag and took out the potions he was supposed to take, before placing them on the table.

“Eat, or I’ll make you eat.” He ordered in a still sharp tone, his eyes darkening.

“We haven’t talked to you.” Ron retorted angrily.

Harry felt his shoulders tense and his jaw tighten. No, he had to stay calm. Dumbledore was watching them.

“Go and make friends elsewhere.” Tom asked, taking a piece of bacon.

"I'm sure it's a you-know-who move! It's strange that the chest you went with Hagrid was the one the thief wanted." Ron continued as if Tom hadn't spoken.

Tom gave Harry a dark look, waiting for his agreement to clear him. Unless it was because of his failure to defend him. A bit of both? He will explain to her later.

"I do not know." Harry replied, pretending to half care.

"And you shouldn't want to know! It's not our problem." Tom said angrily, jumping up.

Tom grabbed some food from the table and both of their bags before grabbing Harry by the collar of his sweater, leading them away from the great hall. Arriving at a corridor empty of students, Tom propelled him against one of the walls causing him to fall heavily on the ground. He dropped both bags and crossed his arms, giving her a dark look that would make Voldemort tremble.

"May I know what the hell you're doing?" he asked darkly.

Harry stood up, rubbing his bruised back. He made Tom do it, he saw that they were indeed alone.

"Look... I have my doubts about someone. About Dumbledore. I think he's up to something, and that Ron is not innocent in his plan." He explained calmly.

Tom suddenly softens letting his arms drop. He tilted his head to the side without taking his eyes off him. And now that he notices it he hadn't seen him blink. He put his head upright.

"Do you want me to spy on him? Or eliminate him?" Tom asked in a soft voice, the opposite of his words.

In the end he wasn't so different from what he imagined Voldemort to be like as a child. What he hadn't expected was that it didn't bother him, on the contrary. Maybe it was the soul tie that was affecting him. Or it was just his past enjoying the thrill he'd craved for years of chasing criminals to the point of killing them in cold blood.

"Elimination can wait. But spying... If you feel up to it." Harry replied, putting his sweater back in place.

He saw the same stars in Tom's eyes again as when he had discovered the library, this time with a red glow. He nodded simply, his eyes still unblinking.

"I need to know who he's talking to to know if he's being dictated to or not and if he's alone..." He mumbled to himself.

Tom had heard it and before he could say anything else he was gone. Like smoke. He didn't know he could be so quiet. He picked up his bag, where Tom had slipped some food and his medicine. He smiled before returning to the Ravenclaw common room, hoping the riddle wasn't too complicated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was in the Ravenclaw study room reading a book of runes, he knew it could come in handy at some point thanks to his previous life.

He had to admit the study room was quite impressive, it must surely function like the tent they had used during the Horcrux hunt. It was almost as large as the great hall. It was large enough that those who wanted to practice spells would not disturb those who were making potions and those who were reading. He knew someone who would have been delighted to have this room.

A loud noise brought him out of his thoughts and saw letters on the table and as he looked up he saw Tom waiting for his reaction. He took one of the letters and read it. It was from Mrs. Weasley.

"Don't worry about it, it will work out in the end and you will soon be best friends..." It was a basic letter from a mother comforting her son.

He took the second.

"It's nothing, stick to the plan and it will be fine. And I don't think this situation will stay like this forever, it's just the first week and let time take its course." It was more than just a simple letter of comfort... A plan? So his intuition was right.

"Today it almost worked but the other boy stopped me and blocked all my attempts. I already tried when he was alone but the other always manages to get in his way. Dumbledore had told us that I will be the only one in his entourage.” This time it came from Ron. So it's Dumbledore's plan, it's confirmed.

"Thank you Tom. I now have proof of my doubts." he thanked.

He saw Tom relax and sit down next to him. He put the letters in his bag, he will put them in his trunk later.

"What do we do now ?" Tom asked.

He himself had no idea if he was being honest with himself.

"We?" he asked now that all the words had entered his mind.

Tom was outraged by his response, which he must have taken as an insult.

"Yes we do. Were you planning to do it alone?" he replied, calmly which did not reflect his expression.
Although his question was asked with a tone that meant "be careful what you answer."

"Well, yes a little. I mean we've only known each other for a week, I didn't think you would want to participate. And above all I had doubts but without any real basis." he tried to explain.

Tom just frowned and decided to ignore his answer.

“I hope you took your medicine and ate.” He said, giving him a piercing look.

"Yes mom." he teased, earning him a blow to the ribs.

He simply laughed which earned him another blow and resumed his hectic reading of rune lore. Tom took a book from his bag and did the same. They stayed like that for a long time before Tom went off to his detention hours, not without reminding him to go eat.

After a while of reading, he decided to wander the school corridors "randomly". In reality he was using this excuse to find Erised's cabinet, hopefully the stone is already there. He voluntarily passed to the third floor, hearing in the distance a bushy noise spinning in his room. How could anyone think that leaving a giant three-headed dog among children was the idea of the century?

He continued his rounds until he reached the mirror room. It was placed in the center of the room as in its old life. He approached it after checking that he was indeed alone. He knew he wouldn't see his parents in the mirror again, he had been over that for a long time. Which made him wonder what he would see there?

He stood in front and observed his reflection. He closed his eyes for a few seconds... When he opened them again he saw his adult version, larger than what he had been, unless it was his small size that deceived him. At his side he saw Tom, the one from the journal, perhaps a little older, holding his hand. Being with his soulmate was what he had wanted in his old life too after all. He wasn't that surprised by what he saw.

As for the stone... Perhaps he should wait until the mirror is placed behind the traps so as not to arouse suspicion. He sighed, he will have to learn to be patient. He looked at the mirror again. In this life he will not have to kill him, no one will be able to force him.

He reluctantly left the room, but not without one last glance at the adult version of them holding hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They headed to botany class, the only class they shared with the Slytherins and Gryffindors. They were joined on the ride by Ron, as usual. Tom sped up his pace so he could spend as little time as possible in his presence, Harry sighed audibly, rolling his eyes.

"Spells classes are horrible, especially because of a Gryffindor girl. She's insufferable! She only shows that she knows better than everyone, and then she complains that she's alone." Ron complained, taking advantage of the gap Tom had created to place him between them.

Tom looked darkly at Ron, then at Harry. He didn't know what it meant, he just dodged it. He was jostled by someone and wanting to know who, he saw Hermione's tuft of hair, head down, walking as quickly as possible towards the greenhouses. With their marriages, he had forgotten that at the beginning they hated each other, well one hated the other especially.

Arriving in the greenhouse he placed himself in their groups of friends. He got into a group with Draco, since Pansy and Blaise had gotten together and Tom had gotten together with Neville, forcing Ron to move to the other end of the greenhouse.

It felt good not to argue with Draco and to be able to work hand in hand in harmony. They managed to finish the course quickly, receiving congratulations from Professor Sprout. He looked, now that he had some time at the others. Tom let Neville do most of the work. Pansy and Blaise were silently bickering over which step to take. He also saw Hannah and Susan who were helping Padma and Parvati recover their plants, Hermione had managed to get her teammate to abandon her by wanting to do the work herself. He will have to talk to them at some point, he knew only too well that he needed to surround himself to move forward.

At the end of class Neville, Draco, Pansy and Blaise had to go to potions class. Which didn't look any better for Neville considering his pale face. He accompanied him and Tom to the front door before greeting them. Harry managed to drag Tom to Hagrid's cabin, whom he had only seen on the first day of classes and he blamed himself for that. Hagrid, in his previous life, had always been kind to him, even if he was a little immature at times.

He knocked on the door while Tom muttered in displeasure at the idea of being disturbed from the library for a moment to be here. The door opened to reveal Hagrid with a big smile, visible only by his eyes thinning into a thin line and his beard rising next to his nose.

"Hello Hagrid, I hope we don't disturb you. I should have warned you before." Harry greeted, returning his smile.

"Of course not! You're always welcome. Come in!" Hagrid greeted, clearing the way to let them into his house.

They sat down on the chairs around the table. Tom spotted Fang and played with him, ignoring the rest. Hagrid fetched two cups which he filled with tea before serving them. He could see that Hagrid was wondering who he was with so he answered the question unasked before making the room uncomfortable.

"This is Tom, my best friend. He's not very talkative with people he doesn't know so don't take it too personally."

“Well nice to meet you Tom!” Hagrid exclaimed happily, sitting down on a chair across from them.

Tom gave a simple nod with a small sound of appreciation.

“So how are classes going?” Hagrid asked.

“For the moment the lessons are not too complicated.” he replied lazily

"I have no doubt, you are in Ravenclaw after all, it's the house of smart guys." Hagrid proclaimed drinking from a bottle that didn't contain pumpkin juice, probably firewhiskey.

“What is your job here?” Tom asked suddenly, now that Fang was sleeping peacefully and no longer offering him any distractions.

“Tom...tact.” He complained, displaying an apologetic expression towards Hagrid.

"It's nothing Harry." Hagrid laughed. "I am the guardian of the keys and premises of Hogwarts. I also take care of the animals. " He explained simply.

“What animals are there at Hogwarts?” asked Tom intrigued.

“Well there are thestrals, hypogriphs, unicorns when they want to be approached and now Fluffy who was added to the list recently.” Hagrid explained, happy to be able to talk about his beloved animals with someone.

“Fluffy?” Tom asked curiously.

“He’s a good dog.” Hagrid complimented proudly.

“Tell me Hagrid, isn’t that what’s on the third floor?” He knew it was, he just wanted to join in the discussion.

"He's not bad, he's a very nice Cerberus..." Hagrid began to explain.

“A CERBERUS!?” Tom cut in, half getting up from his chair.

Harry pretended to put on a terrified face to show his shock.

"There's nothing to worry about..." Hagrid tried to reassure, saddened by the situation.

"No, that's for sure, he must have eaten salad. What's the idea of putting a giant three-headed dog in a school full of children? How are we supposed to defend ourselves against that? Especially since the person who learns this, is afraid of his own shadow." Tom panicked at his diatribe of questions.

"I told you he's a good dog, he won't hurt anyone and you just have to put on some music. And Professor Quirrel is a good teacher, and a very good wizard he repelled vampires , dark wizards and other even more horrible things." Hagrid took offense.

"Oh I don't doubt it, but the only thing he's pushing away with his garlic is me." Tom replied sarcastically, crossing his arms, jaded.

"I like Professor Quirrel but Tom is not wrong. Simply telling the students not to go is not enough."

“In any case, I have said too much to you, far too much. You should return to the castle.” Hagrid complained as he stood up.

They went out after Hagrid told them to come back whenever they wanted. Tom was muttering beside him, smoke almost coming out of his ears. He stopped abruptly in a corridor of the inner courtyard. Harry stopped a few steps later when he realized this.

"How can teachers leave a Cerberus in a school without saying anything? I feel like I'm the only sane person here." Tom said angrily.

"You're a sane person. A tactless one. Surely they have a reason for doing this."

They had a valid reason indeed but even it, was not enough to justify the presence of Fluffy.

"I once tried to kick someone out of the window because they stole my brownies. I'm far from sane." Tom muttered, looking at the ground, embarrassed.

Harry laughed at the sudden revelation, which didn't surprise him much knowing the character. Tom pushed past him sulking and walked towards their common room followed by Harry who teased him the whole way. Once in the common room Tom seemed to have forgotten the story of Fluffy now focused on a book "Advanced Magic Theory" which seemed complex. Harry lounged in an armchair playing wizard's version of chess with other Ravenclaw students. He had forgotten how relaxing life at Hogwarts could be, if you stayed away from trouble. He already had the impression that this would not be the case for him in this life.