Part 4
Riddle Manor
Harry wasn't sure what he'd call the relationship he had with the Potters. Lily smiled at him and occasionally reached out to touch his hair and brush away his bangs, but she also repeatedly cast him odd looks whenever they were in the same room but not talking. He'd catch her staring, and then she'd look away and bite her lip.
James was a little bit easier to get along with. He'd grin at Harry and joke around to make him laugh. Even so, he paid more attention to Hadrian when he was nearby, and he never spent time with him at the same time Lily did. Spending time with both of them at once was something only Hadrian was allowed to have.
Sirius was nice to him. Sirius had loved 'teaching' Harry about Quidditch, and he was the one who'd first 'taught' Harry to fly. Apparently Hadrian hated flying, so Sirius and James laughed their asses off when they found out Harry was just 'naturally good at flying.'
Remus was more calm with him, always asking how his day was going and how he was liking the Hogwarts textbooks he'd given him. Harry really appreciated the books, and he made sure to let the man know. Remus always looked immensely pleased.
Snape was both easy and difficult. Harry was nervous around him all the time, unsure how to handle the oddities of having a Snape who didn't hate him, but he was also much more comfortable with Snape than with any of the previously mentioned adults. Harry had no previous happy memories or expectations of Snape, which made their interactions a lot less stressful.
Being with Tom was by far the easiest, though. He wasn't overly affectionate, but he did pay attention to Harry, talk to him, and always made an effort to learn things about him. Tom was the first person who found out he really liked strawberries, and that he hoped to one day have a job where he could help people, and he was actually happy to talk to Tom. It sort of reminded him of Mrs. Weasley, if she'd been able to focus on him more often. She had so many kids and responsibilities that it hadn't been possible, but Tom always made time for him and made Harry feel heard.
"What's your least favorite thing about being the Minister of Magic?" Harry asked, tilting his head. It had been two weeks since Harry had arrived in the new world, and Tom had been telling him about his work, explaining how the Ministry worked along with how the Wizengamot worked.
"Definitely the press." Tom smiled, "People want interviews, they want inside information, some people go as far as to try and spy on me."
"Spy on you?" Harry blinked.
"This past year we arrested a reporter for spying, actually." Tom laughed, "She was an unregistered animagus, and she used that to spy on people to get sensitive information. Most of her stuff was rubbish lies, but occasionally there was a snippet of truth."
"She was arrested?" Harry knew who he was talking about, of course. He remembered Rita Skeeter quite vividly.
"Yeah, sentenced to life in Azkaban." Tom confirmed, "It's a harsh punishment, but unregistered animagi are dangerous."
"Are there a lot of those?" Harry asked, thinking of the Marauders specifically.
"Not really, becoming an animagus is quite difficult. The few who actually succeed in unlocking an animagus form usually have formal training and their instructors prompt them to register." Tom then grinned, "James and Sirius are animagi, you know."
"They are?" Harry widened his eyes in faux surprise.
"Have been since they were sixteen, I think." Tom shook his head with an amused huff. "They registered when they graduated Hogwarts. Personally, I think they put it off so long just to see if they'd get caught."
"That sounds like them." Harry nodded, amused. Tom opened his mouth to respond, and then he frowned and seemed to hesitate.
"Would you like to see my Manor?" Tom asked suddenly, making Harry blink in suprise. "It's not as nice as this, but it's home."
"I think… I'd like that." Harry decided hesitantly. He'd seen Riddle Manor in his dreams, plus catching a glimpse of it from the graveyard, but otherwise he hadn't seen it.
"Great. I'll let Lily and James know, and I'll meet you by the Floo. Alright?" Tom stood with a smile, and Harry nodded. Then Tom was striding from the room and left Harry to find his way.
It was a little bit of a relief, actually. At first, when Harry was adjusting to just being in the Manor and living there, Hadrian had followed Harry around and constantly asked if he needed help navigating the house. Harry had appreciated it for a while, but after a few days it just became tedious to tell Hadrian that he did, in fact, know where the bathroom was.
Harry waited next to the Floo, and he looked over at Tom when he appeared.
"Alright. Ready?"
"Yeah." Harry confirmed, accepting a handful of emerald green powder.
"Riddle Manor." Tom said firmly, and then stepped through the flames that sparked green.
Harry followed suit, tossing his own powder and repeating the words, and he was thrown out into a sort of… acceptance room? Maybe a room for meetings? It looked sort of like a really formal living room.
"I actually have someone I'd like you to meet, so I'll go find her." Tom smiled at him, "Wait here, I'll be right back." Harry nodded in acceptance, and then Tom was gone.
Harry looked around and didn't really know what to do. He was standing in Riddle Manor. It was odd, knowing the graveyard of Voldemort's resurrection would be just down the hill if he walked for a little while. Little Hangleton. A place Harry had only ever associated with misery.
Except the Manor was lit. The floor was dark hardwood with white trim along the floor. The walls were a soft grey, and it wasn't anything like he remembered it being from the visions he'd had during fourth year. It wasn't just an abandoned building full of memories and ghosts. This… this was a home.
"What is this?" Harry turned in surprise at the voice, and he found Nagini slithering across the floor towards him. "Is it a guest?"
"Sort of." Harry told her. "Tom brought me here. Are you who he wanted me to meet?"
"You Speak?" Nagini asked, drawing closer with interest. He crouched down as she reached his feet, and she looked right into his eyes with intelligence behind her dark gaze.
"Yeah." Harry wasn't sure how he still could, because he wasn't a Horcrux anymore, but he was glad for it. "What's your name?"
"Nagini." She confirmed for him.
"Hi Nagini, I'm Harry." He introduced.
"Hold still." Nagini replied. Harry didn't move, and she slithered up his side and wrapped herself around him.
Her tail ended up near his left hip as she wound around his torso several times to sort of… climb him. Harry stood from his crouched position as she wound around his collarbone. He didn't really know what to do with his hands as she continued looping around his shoulders, so he awkwardly hovered them close to his chest in case she fell.
"You're not very tall." Nagini told him, slithering across his shoulders almost leisurely. Harry shivered a little at the new sensation of scales on skin.
"I'm not full grown." He told her. It was true, but Harry also knew he probably wouldn't ever get to be as tall as Tom, whom she was comparing him to.
"I am." Nagini told him smugly. "You're just a hatchling, then?"
"Yeah, pretty much." Harry huffed. Nagini wiggled some more, loosely wrapped all the way around his shoulders like some kind of odd scarf. "Um… what're you doing?" It's not every day a previously murderous snake just climbed you like a tree and chilled around your neck.
"Getting comfortable. You are a very little Speaker." She hissed it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and maybe it was. Harry was probably the only one she'd met aside from Tom, and Tom was quite tall.
"Nagini!" Tom hissed, striding right for them as he appeared, "Nagini, stop, what are you doing?" He sounded slightly panicked.
"I like him." Nagini flicked her tongue at Harry's jaw, and he jumped slightly at the odd feeling.
"Why?" Harry asked, "I didn't really do anything." Tom gasped, but Harry focused on Nagini.
"You introduced yourself, nobody does that." Nagini told him, "No one but Tom."
"Oh." Harry blinked. Hesitantly, he reached up and pet her scales, and she didn't stop him so he assumed she liked it. "Well, I like you too, I guess."
"Harry?" Tom asked, and Harry looked up at him.
"Yeah?" He blinked at the startled expression on Tom's face. "What's wrong?"
"... Nothing. You just surprised me." Tom shook his head. "Have you always been able to speak to snakes?" Harry blinked, and realised Tom was so shocked because Harry hadn't ever mentioned that he was a Parselmouth. In truth, Harry just forgot he was one.
"It's not hard." Harry shrugged, and Nagini shifted slightly from the movement. "Some of them are really nice." The one he'd freed from the zoo had been polite enough to even thank him.
"Fascinating…" Tom whispered, eyes wide. "I wonder if your parents were magical at all."
"I… I don't know." Harry answered. Did Death give him parents? They were supposedly dead, but was Harry technically a Muggle-born now??
"That's okay." Tom smiled, and this time it was brighter than usual. "Harry, being able to talk to snakes is extremely rare. You're the first person I've ever met who can do it."
"Really?" Harry tilted his head, and Nagini flicked her tongue across his skin again, and he jumped slightly less this time.
"People who talk to snakes are called Parselmouths." Tom told him with a beaming smile. "The snake language is called Parseltongue."
"And I can speak Parseltongue?"
"Apparently, yes." Tom nodded.
"We're keeping you." Nagini hissed, moving further up Harry's body to nest in his hair. "You are very polite."
"Oh, thanks." Harry blinked, unsure how to handle compliments from a snake he had been hoping to kill in his past life. "I think you're polite too."
"Nagini is who I wanted to introduce you to." Tom smiled. "She means a lot to me, so I wanted to see if she liked you."
"Well I do." Nagini hissed, "He's mine now. My Little Speaker."
"Oh, um, thank… you?" Harry answered stutteringly. She hissed happily back at him in his ear.
"That sounded like a question." Nagini seemed to be amused, so Harry smiled ruefully.
"It was." He admitted honestly, "I've never been claimed by a snake before, should I not have thanked you?"
"Giving thanks is appropriate." Nagini bobbed her head, "Worry not, Little Speaker, you won't offend me. I like you too much."
"Oh… well that's good." Harry said, petting her lightly. "I'm glad."
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Tom couldn't help but stare at Harry. Nagini was curled around his neck and head, flicking her tongue against his ear and sliding her scales across his collarbone, and yet Harry only seemed slightly surprised. Not uncomfortable, not scared, not even worried that a massive snake hung from his shoulders and wrapped around his chest. Just surprised.
Harry was so much like Tom it made his breath catch every time he caught a glimpse of it. Tom remembered what it was like to grow up with nothing, expecting nothing, and being distrustful of everything and everyone. Harry was that way too.
He looked at Lily and James with detachment, but he seemed to be hopeful at the same time. He never clung to Hadrian, but he allowed it when Hadrian clung to him. Almost like he was scared of being rejected if he reached out first. That, or he just genuinely never thought he could reach out first. Either way, the similarities didn't end there.
Tom and Harry had grown up the same way, in the same place. They had the same birthday, and they were both Parselmouths. Harry looked like Hadrian, yes, but he reminded Tom so much of himself it was almost painful to look at.
"Tom?" He blinked, and realised Harry was looking up at him with those cautious eyes of his.
"Yes?"
"... Can I stay for a little while longer?" Harry fidgeted, one hand hovering near Nagini's scales and the other pulling on his shirt.
"Of course." Tom smiled. "Anything in particular you want to do?" Something flashed in Harry's eyes, but Tom did not understand it. He rarely did, when it came to Harry.
"Can I go for a walk?" Harry asked, and Tom blinked in surprise. "It's sunny outside, and I thought maybe I could explore a little bit. Nagini says she doesn't mind."
"The sun is warm." Nagini put in helpfully.
"It is." Harry's lips quirked up into that almost-smile of his that Tom loved to see. Harry was usually blank faced or skittishly nervous, much like Tom had been at that age, so seeing even a half smile on his face made Tom smile too.
"Sure." Tom replied, "Do you want to go alone?" Harry's eyes went a little distant again, the way they did so often, and Tom tried to understand what it could mean. "I could also come with you, if you want."
"Yes please." Harry whispered, fidgeting some more. Tom didn't understand the way Harry's brow wrinkled. "I'm really allowed to?"
"Of course, Little Hangleton is really pretty this time of year." Tom smiled, and Harry blinked at him in confusion the same way he always did whenever Tom said something soft to him. "We can go wherever you want." Harry nodded very slowly.
"Alright."
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Harry picked his way across the lawn and tried not to look like he was heading in any specific direction. It couldn't have been further from the truth. He could see a destination very clearly in his mind.
Voldemort hated Little Hangleton. He'd despised it because of the Muggle name attached to his house there. Tom, however, spoke of the town with softness and smiled with genuine fondness for it. He'd even offered to walk with Harry, like he really didn't mind seeing it.
"Where are we going?" Nagini hissed in his ear.
"I'm not sure yet." Harry lied. Neither she nor Tom could know he was looking for the graveyard. "I'm just walking."
"Why?" Nagini asked. Harry hummed for a moment in thought.
"It's weird knowing people live in places like this." Harry admitted, "I can't imagine what it would be like. I couldn't go on walks for the sake of walking growing up, and I usually couldn't be out in the sun unless I was hiding. I was alone most of the time, or wishing I was alone."
"Why would you wish to be alone?" Harry frowned at the question, wondering how he could explain what life at the Dursleys had been like without making Death step in to glue his mouth shut.
"Being alone was a relief, in a way. Nobody yelling at me, shoving me or hitting me, nobody bothering me." Harry remembered how much anger Dudley had taken out on him over the years, and how many frying pans he'd ducked as he tried to get out of Petunia's reach. "But being alone could be bad too, especially when you're locked up."
"They locked you up?" Nagini curled around him tighter, and he adjusted her weight so he wasn't unbalanced as he walked.
"Lots of times." Harry resisted a smile as he spoke, "When I was ten, I was locked in my cupboard for the rest of the school year because I'd spoken to a snake in front of them, and they were convinced I was up to something evil." Vernon had nearly fainted in his anger that time.
"Were you?" Nagini asked, and Harry huffed a laugh.
"No, but they didn't care. They punished me anyway." Harry frowned, "They usually didn't care whether something I did was purposeful or not. They just acted like I was out to hurt them by simply existing."
"I could go bite them for you." Harry laughed at the suggestion, petting Nagini's scales with a smile.
"No, I don't think that would help." He smiled, "I think never seeing them again would be good enough for me." Besides, the Dursleys were innocent in this world. Petunia probably wouldn't even know who he was because she probably hadn't ever met Hadrian. She might not even exist, either, if the orphanage lady was any indication.
Harry then stopped, and he blinked as he found himself staring at a graveyard. He was on top of a hill, and down in a small valley was the exact place he remembered from fourth year. Except… the sun was shining. The sun was shining, Nagini was wrapped around him and hissing happily in his ear while Tom Riddle walked beside them.
No Dark Lord, no Wormtail, no murderous snake, and no Death Eaters. Just graves.
"This is where my father was buried." Harry looked up at Tom, who was smiling out at the graveyard. "I visit sometimes, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because I sort of wish I'd known him, but it could also be guilt because of how relieved I was that I'd never have to meet him."
"Oh." Harry said a little dumbly. "... Can you show me?"
"Sure." Tom answered easily, starting down the hill. Harry stared after him for a moment, and then picked his way down the hill as well.
The differences between Tom and Voldemort smacked him in the face more often than not. Harry never really knew Tom Riddle before. The only experience he had with the man was his sixteen year old self from the Chamber of Secrets, and this Tom Riddle was the polar opposite of him. Even their looks were clearly different. This Tom was older, softer, and his smile was much more genuine than sixteen year old Tom Riddle's charming manipulative one. His personality was much the same in that regard too: softer, more genuine and understanding, and no trace of Voldemort's bitter malice or hatred.
Harry blinked and was suddenly staring at a familiar tall marble headstone. It was exactly as he remembered it being, but also not at the same time.
He was standing in the graveyard again, yes, but he wasn't fourteen or covered in blood. He didn't have an Acromantula-caused injury on his leg, or Cedric Diggory dead at his feet. Voldemort wasn't there and Harry didn't have a scar on his face that burned so badly his vision blurred and he collapsed from the pain–
"Sometimes I wonder if he was loved by anyone." Tom said softly, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. "My mother couldn't have loved him if she ran away to have me far away from him. That or she hadn't loved me. The people who knew my father are dead or moved away, so there's no one I can ask."
"Does it matter?" Harry prompted, looking up at Tom with curious eyes. "If you asked people and they said they hated him, wouldn't that colour how you think of him?" Tom was looking at him curiously, so Harry elaborated. "I mean… if someone tells you a person is terrible, when you meet them you're immediately on guard and scrutinising them to see if they really are terrible. Couldn't it be the same way with someone you'll never get to meet?"
"I suppose you're right." Tom said thoughtfully, and then he turned to smile at the headstone. "I like to think he was loved, so maybe it's better not to know." Harry hummed, but he otherwise didn't respond.
Harry stepped forward and reached out a hand to brush his fingertips along the words etched into the marble.
Tom Riddle
The font wasn't beautiful, and the marble had little chips in it, and little vines had grown in cracks near the ground, but Harry found himself smiling softly at it anyway. Without being tied to it with Voldemort and his creepy ritual, it was such a peaceful place.
"I think he was loved." Harry whispered. "If he's anything like you, he must've been. Right?" He turned to look at Tom, who seemed halfway stunned as his eyes shone.
"Thank you, Harry." Tom said with a warm smile. It was so different from Voldemort, Harry couldn't resist the genuine smile that broke out across his face in return. "What would you like to do now?"
"... Can you show me your favourite places?" Harry asked hesitantly. Did Tom have favourite places? Voldemort hadn't.
"I'd love to." The smile on Tom's face was enough to melt Harry's worries away, and he found himself being led through the hills of Little Hangleton while Tom Riddle spoke gently to him about the land and the history and the types of trees that grew there. It was… relaxing.
Harry went back to Potter Manor more sure than ever, with a genuine smile on his face.
He really had left Voldemort behind him.