When It Rains, It Pours (HP)(love triangle)(muggle au)

chapter nine: well fuck you too

Fuck Tom Riddle, thinks Draco.

Fuck Draco Malfoy, thinks Tom.

Tom was not an expert on romance, but he was an expert on Harry. As such, when Malfoy became the unofficial fourth member of their previous trio, it did not take Tom long to notice Malfoy's strange behaviour. He hovered around Harry, hung on his every word... almost like Tom himself did, which keyed him into the very simple fact that Malfoy liked Harry.

Upsetting but stupid to ignore. Everytime Malfoy exclaims over Harry's intelligence, or his eyes seemed to silently beg Harry for personal information, Tom felt something very strong tug at his heart. Anger, maybe. Possessiveness. (A thirst for blood.)

And, like with so many other things, Tom tries his best to ignore it. He bites his tongue and repeats mindless assurance that Harry likes him more. That there's not the slightest chance that Malfoy could succeed in his task. He ignores the gritting of his teeth like he ignores his own feelings of romantic attraction toward Harry. Whether or not Harry returns the feelings Tom so desperately tries to bury is debatable, but that is besides the point.

Harry has never been very keen to date-- he dated a girl in seventh grade, one that Tom hated, if only for the fact that she succeeded in what Tom could not. It was his first relationship, lasted a few months, and broke off harsh and abruptly. After Sampson Umbridge, Harry changed. Not a full 180, he was still the Harry Tom knew and, dare say, loved. But the change, however subtle, was there. He'd seemed almost repulsed at the concept of dating... it is also the time Harry's Off days went from "twice a year" to "several times a week." And although Harry had always had undertones of anti-Ministry, it picked up significantly after the relationship's end.

Harry's never told him the full details of the relationship and Tom never saw it fit to ask. Harry pretended like it never happened and, most of the time, Tom was tempted to do the same.

So Tom rests easy (or uneasy, depending on how you look at it) in the fact that while Harry will be hesitant to ever date Tom, he'd be just as hesitant to date Malfoy, too.

Still. Sharing Harry with anyone was hard enough, but Malfoy was another level of difficult altogether. It seemed that Malfoy shared these feelings and it revealed to Tom once again how oblivious Harry was to social cues at times-- how Harry doesn't see Tom and Malfoy intensely glaring at one another is beyond him.

They manage. Luna plays a subtle mediator and no fights occur. The tension within the group is thick, but Luna starts talking about her newest painting of the moon and everyone is distracted enough to not care as much. Ninth grade comes to an end-- Harry scored second in the class, followed closely by Draco. (Tom's willing to bet that Malfoy lost purposefully, for reasons too known to him, too infuriating to think about.)

The summer comes with seeing the Barn less, which is a plus, and seeing Harry less, which is not a plus. His family (Tom shuddered to consider them such a flattering title) had Harry working tenfold and was often heard threatening to call the police on "trespassers"-- so they weren't allowed him much.

But Luna likes Tom's company, and Tom finds hers adequate, so they hang out even without him. Unfortunately, Malfoy had decided that it's his civic duty to at least try to get along with Harry's friends, so he tags along more soften than not. Luna likes him, which Tom can't sympathize with, so the part time trio is somewhat functional, if you ignore Tom and Draco constantly jabbing at the other's attraction to Harry.

But Tom's aware as well as anyone that Harry is the glue of the group-- he is the lone reason the group exists at all. Harry hangs out with them as much as he can, but his visits are few and fall apart. Without him, the chemistry is two too many adoms off, and every with Luna's insistent diffusion, a fire is opt to start soon enough. The tension, which was close to suffocating yet handleable during the school year, seemed to double. It became a wave and it was not long at all until it crashed down.

So crashed it did. The fire started. The adom emploded. A week before tenth grade was to start up, Malfoy voices a question. It is a fuse thrown, almost carelessly, and it blows open doors previously closed.

"So," Malfoy asks and, Merlin, even hearing his voice ticked Tom off, "why's Harry with his Uncle? His parents, I mean. How'd they die?"

Luna does not pause in their walking but Tom almost does. "I wouldn't know," she hums. "He hasn't told me." Tom notes that she said me instead of we... as if to imply that she knew that Tom was told.

Intuitive bitch, thinks Tom bitterly and then says, "You should probably ask Harry about that. It's not my place to tell."

"So you do know?" Malfoy prompts, ignoring that Tom told him not to ask.

"Mayhaps," replied Tom dismissively. "But I'm not going to tell you, so I do advise you to stop wasting your breath by asking."

"I just want to learn more about him--"

"Don't care."

"You don't care? Of course you don't. All you'd care about is getting your hand down his--"

Luna opened her mouth to speak but Tom cut her off before she could start because, fuck it, he's tired of this. "You, me, the park. Tomorrow. Loser can't ask Harry out until the other has. Deal?" offers Tom with a clenched fist, all the while knowing that no matter who wins, Harry probably wouldn't say yes and that this deal is immature and will only further divide them. Harry will always deny his romantic feelings are romantic until some good ol' therapy, so it doesn't matter much who asks Harry out first.

Tom thinks he just wants an excuse to punch Malfoy in the face. And because Malfoy felt the same way, he agreed.