The right path

Twenty nine

The walk towards the grocery deposit was tense, as the sudden realization of the boys' feelings was weighing heavily on both of them. Their internal turmoil was visible to anybody with eyes, but still, they never noticed that the other had a similar problem to their own, too worried to appear normal to the other's perspective.

And James was not having it. He had talked long and hard with Harry to sort out his feelings, spending those three long hours before lunch explaining everything related to emotional intelligence he had learnt while on limbo. All of that to avoid disaster. And what did he get? An awkward hour and a half of them ignoring each other while pretending to be engrossed in their surroundings, carrying potato bags back to the orphanage.

The only reasonable solution he could find was to coerce Harry into talking and put their plan into action. First step: sharing personal information and showing emotions without the Slytherin mask. But how on earth was that going to happen if they refused to acknowledge each other? Not even Merlin could do such miracles.

So, after some insistence on James' part, Harry finally decided to break the almost sacred silence they had built, hoping for the best outcome, and avoid being hexed to oblivion for his efforts. Or suggestions. Because Harry had an idea, that may o may not convince Riddle, but was worth a try. Still, he felt really nervous about it and kept glancing at Tom every once in a while, sometimes opened his mouth to speak but desisted in the end.

Tom, feeling Harry's stare for what seemed the hundredth time in a span of five minutes, was getting impatient. He had never thought of Potter as an idiot, but he was doubting his judgement right about now. Was Potter trying to tell him something? Was he going to bring up the events from the night prior? Tom really hoped not, he was still confused about some of his feelings and conclusions.

"Potter, what is it? You are starting to annoy me."

Harry was startled to hear Tom's voice. He hadn't expected that, it was not in his plan for Tom to get annoyed. What was he going to do? What if he messed up? What if Tom hated him now? No, no, that was not it. Harry was just being an idiot. He reminded himself to breathe and put his plan in motion. So, with a heavy sigh, Harry tried to steady his voice, and blurt the most eloquent sentence he could manage.

"Uh... Riddle... I've been thinking... We are carrying potato bags, right?"

Tom, who had been trying to restrain himself from forcefully getting answers as to who was the James Harry had been talking about the night prior, couldn't help but to quirk an eyebrow to that stupid question. In fact he had to do a double take to make sure it was Potter who was speaking. Was Harry delusional for spending too much time under the sun's rays?

"Yes, Potter, that is what we have been doing for the past hour or so..."

Harry didn't like the way Tom had said that, he was not supposed to actually answer the question. It made Harry feel stupid, but at the same time, that's what happens when you ask strange rethorical questions and wait a little bit too long to explain yourself.

"I already know that, Riddle, It was a rethorical question. Which I was going to use to introduce a brilliant idea of mine. These potato bags probably mean that we are going to have that awful salt-less mashed potatoes we had the other day for dinner, probably accompanied with the stale bread I already saw in the kitchen this morning. Curse the austerity of war. So... What if...and this is only an idea...what if we deliver these bags, put a confundus on Ms. Cole, get an invisibility charm upon ourselves, fly to the Leaky Cauldron, and get a proper meal just for today? Because I might puke if the potatoes are mixed with oatmeal again."

Tom was sure he was the one delusional now. Harry Saint Potter, the softest Slytherin in existence, the one that defended muggleborns from the pureblood ideals, the boy who cared little to nothing about the social hierarchy because it was 'classist', was suggesting to, illegally, meddle with the matron's head. A muggle, weak woman without any knowledge whatsoever about magic. That was an interesting turn of events. Still, there was this other side of Potter that somehow didn't care about law, and that was the part of him that was most intriguing. The fact that he illegally hatched one of the deadliest creatures on earth, and created an illegal artifact to get to use magic out of school without any other explanation but the curiosity he felt towards it was strange. Just what was the boy's motivation? That, was one of Tom's goals, to decipher the puzzle that was Harry Potter. Maybe then he could understand why he was so attracted to the boy.

"As funny as it would be to mess with her head, Potter, you forget that I don't have any money to pay for my food. So, that's a no."

Finally, something that Harry had expected. The money issue he could work with. He only hoped that everything went according to plan.

"You know, I was planning on discussing this over food, but if it makes you agree to help me in my illegal endeavor, I will take my stakes now. See, when at school, as I'm sure you know, I enchanted some of our classmates' brooms to improve their breaks, and tweaked them a little to have less air resistance, although not to the extent I'm planning on doing for my real broom. The point is, that last adjustment came to be because of you, so I wanted to give credit when credit is due. I was going to offer you 15% of my winnings for creative design purposes, if you are okay with it. I know it's not much, but I also know you will probably make a fuss out of it anyway..."

At this last statement Tom had to swallow his retort. He was about to tell Potter he didn't want his pity, and that he wouldn't accept the money for something he had not done. But he knew that Potter wouldn't take it, stubborn as he was. And...he also wanted a real meal...with the bonus of an opening to ask Potter about the James he was sobbing to the night prior. Adding to the fact that Potter would probably proceed with his plans alone if he didn't agree, and Tom wasn't too kin on letting Potter get in trouble because of his lack of finesse.

"Make it 5% and it's a deal. I didn't suggest any specific method to achieve the diminished resistance, that was all you. And you'd better have learnt how to fly on your own, Potter, because I refuse to carry you this time."

Harry was amazed at how easy it had been. He had expected a little more of trouble to convince Riddle of accepting the money, but he was not about to complain.

Just then, the brightest smile Tom had ever seen bloomed across Potter's face. It was a strange sight, but not unwelcomed. It was... Nice? Tom didn't know how to react to it, though, so he just kept his neutral facade on. If his heart was beating quicker than normal, nobody would ever know.

"That's a deal, then, Riddle. I hope you can keep up with me though, I think I have surpassed you in the arts of flying without restraint."

And with that, Harry sped up, leaving a flushed Tom Riddle behind. Stage two of the first step in Harry's master plan was about to start. He would need to hurry up if he wanted to make real progress this summer, after all, returning to Hogwarts meant building the Slytherin facade over again. But it was worth it, wasn't it?