An Unexpected Friendship

Chapter 2

I do not own Harry Potter

Tom's Pov

Tom Riddle was utterly bored. His day had commenced in his typical fashion with him playing the role of the perfect model student as always. Brax and Theo, which they had insisted he call them, were walking alongside him to the Great Hall for breakfast whilst Cygnus slept past hours yet again, the idiot that he was. The only reason he was part of the Knights of Walpurgis was because of his influential family and, his stupidity aside, he was admittedly an acceptable duelist.

They settled down at the Slytherin table, Tom exuding an air of impeccable composure, his true thoughts and intentions concealed behind an impenetrable mask. The whispers and curious glances of the Hogwarts populace seemed to be a part of his everyday existence, but today, he felt an unusual sensation. Familiar eyes watched him closely, likely searching for any hint of nefarious deeds since they had last met. Not that he would ever find out if he did, his mask was impeccable as always and his mental barriers were pulled up so tight that even his surface thoughts couldn't be read by the old fool. 

He began piling his plate with food as he amicably talked with Evan, one of his best followers, about the assignment that was due, which he had already finished a while ago, when a boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. 

Immediate pandemonium occurred as whispers started spreading throughout the hall, varying from shock to suspicion. Grindelwald's attacks had been getting more vicious and there had been multiple casualties rending quite a few people in the hall orphans, and as a result, homeless, so a mysterious boy breaking through the Hogwarts wards was obviously a cause for concern. He was really curious at how the boy had been able to do that, it was thought to be impossible since the wards were considered impenetrable.

The boy was relatively good-looking, considering some of the whispers from the females. He had slightly long messy black hair which did little to cover the lightning bolt-shaped scar etched on his forehead, which peaked his curiosity as to how he had gotten it. He looked thin but not overly skinny, more lithe in physique, a pale complexion though it was covered in dirt, for reasons he didn't know, and though he wasn't short, he wasn't tall either and there was also a noticeable tremor rocking through his frame. The most noticeable part of him though were his piercing emerald green eyes that he hadn't noticed until the boy turned and met his. There was a flicker in his gaze as he looked at him, he didn't know what to make of it, it looked for a second as though the boy had recognized him but that couldn't be possible since he was sure that he hadn't seen the boy before in his life. 

The boy then raised his slightly shaking hand to hold his head, clearly he had a headache, but what really caught his attention was the blood coating the edges of the rip in his sleeve, where he saw a clean cut through nearly the entire length of his forearm. It looked as if someone had purposefully sliced his arm but who would do that and why was there also what seemed like a bite in his left leg? As he thought about it he saw a familiar shape lying a few inches away from the boy, it was clear the wand belonged to him so that meant he was a wizard but why hadn't he come to Hogwarts? Did he go to a different school? Ilvermorny or Durmstrang perhaps?

He was officially intrigued as he looked at the boy, it was clear that he had been through quite an ordeal for he looked exhausted and clearly in pain, he was also covered in grime, which meant he had probably come from one of the places Grindelwald attacked or it was all just a facade. The most notable question about him though, was how someone, who looked as young as he did, had managed to cut through Hogwarts wards, whilst being tired and in pain, and land himself in the middle of the Great Hall? 

Harry's Pov (mostly)

As he looked at the weary and questioning faces around him, he realized he needed a cover story as he couldn't let anyone find out he was from the future, especially Dumbledore and Riddle, he didn't know what they'd do with that kind of information. He internally debated with his options here, he could say that he had been captured and tortured by Grindelwald's men using some of what actually happened to help him remember, however, he needed to have a reason as to why Grindelwald would capture and torture him instead of kill him. A sudden idea hit him, it was almost like a light bulb just went on in his head, it was utterly brilliant.