Courting- WHAT?
Tom is suspicious.
Harry has been talking to Nott and Lestrange more than he should. They are terrible influences on his little Hufflepuff Heir. Terrible. And they are Slytherins. They have an ulterior motive. They must, as all Slytherins do. He doesn’t want them associating with Harry.
Nott is self-centered. He spends hours, grooming himself and perfecting his looks. And he knows how to use it to his advantage, never holding back on the seducing, especially with Ravenclaw girls. And he is known for it, everyone reasonably knows not to trust Nott.
Lestrange is worse. He is stupid and thick, and the whole school knows he failed his OWLs 3 times. He is cunning though, as cunning as an idiot can be. But poor little Harry has probably never even heard of the word cunning, nor would he ever think someone would try using him. Especially for Harry’s last name. Well, TOM’S last name.
Gaunt.
Slytherin.
Would it look bad if he changed his last name now?
If he got it changed with the goblins everyone would know his secret ability, parseltounge.
Then again, anything is better than the muggle name, ‘Riddle’
How could he take the Slytherin last name, for the power and influence without giving away his ability?
Well, Harry has Gaunt's last name, which, in turn, is the Slytherin name.
How can he take it off Hadrian?
Well, he could think of an idea off the top of his head.
But it would be horribly inappropriate, especially because of their relationship.
But…
That Riddle name has to go, it's holding so many opportunities back…
Tom groaned aloud before closing the book he was holding and placing it beside him. He looked over to his left of the common room and froze, shocked, as he noticed Harry sitting in Nott’s lap, laughing at something Lestrange was saying.
Tom narrowed his eyes, noticing the look of - dare he say - ‘adoration?’ in Lestranges and Nott’s eyes.
Harry curled up comfortably on Nott’s lap, wiggling slightly before smiling up at Nott. Nott raised his eyebrows before sending a quick smirk back to Harry before wrapping his arms around Harry and holding him close to his chest.
“Hadrian? Which dorm are you in? If want, you can sleep in my bed tonight-” Nott started.
Tom saw red. His knuckles were white from clenching so hard against the hardcover of his book while watching Harry. His Harry talks to Nott and Lestrange. Sit on their laps. Tom was mad. He was angry watching that, but when Nott offered Harry to sleep with him, Riddle saw red. Angrily standing up and storming over to the three.
“Hadrain, I have decided for us to court.” Tom loudly stated, enjoying the silence, as everyone in the dorm stared at Tom.
Harry’s eyes were as wide as sauces, gaping at Tom, his father, who just declared they were courting. Watching as Tom turned his back and walked smugly out of the common room into their dorm, Harry flashed an apologetic smile to Nott and Lestrange, who looked as shocked as he felt, before rushing off to follow Tom.
“Tom? What the actual hell-” Harry started, before cutting off as Tom shut the door behind Harry and turned around to take his shirt off.
“Hadrian? I need the Gaunt surname- this is the most efficient way,” Tom muttered, sliding out of his trousers and slipping into the cold side of the bed. Harry scoffed loudly.
“So you had to declare it in front of everyone! It’s platonic! I can still date Nott-” Harry stared but stopped, silent, as Tom rolled over to face Harry.
“No,” Tom growled, tugging Harry into the bed, watching as Harry stumbled on top of the sheets on the right side of the bed, which was preheated from Tom’s thoughtful heating charm.
Harry stayed silent.
Okay.
So Tom was still possessive.
Not that he expected much.
Everything was going according to plan from Harry’s end.
But he mustn’t stray far from his end goal.