What if He had a Choice?

39

Tom knew full well the struggles of proving yourself in a house that revered pureblood. It was difficult, and when those same purebloods had the influence and history that you did not, it was more difficult than anything more. Not that the house was prone to showing that disdain outside, of course not. It was obvious enough behind the common room door, however, and Tom was more curious how this man not only managed that, but because close enough with Lucius Malfoy that he was named Draco's so called 'uncle'. It would seem that this Severus had quite the loyalty, and he wondered just how deep that loyalty ran, because he did know that Malfoy's did not tend to speak highly of...well anyone.

"As your Head-Of-House, I will take the time to inform you of a few notable expectations of you, a refresher for the older students, and an informer for the few recently acquired students..." Tom noted that Severus glanced towards him, before sliding his gaze away and towards the group of about two or three students that they had acquired as first years. A rather low turnout, but that was not exactly uncommon. At least, in Tom's experience it was not overly unexpected. It was rare that Purebloods had children all the same year after all, and those few halfbloods that did end up in Slytherin were not overly common, muggleborns even less so, particularly since Salzaar left the school, though it was not all bad, personally Tom did not particularly mind it. "We do not engage in conflict with each other outside of the Common Room. That means no brawling, no fighting, no loud verbal conflicts. I do not care what the issue is, should I hear of this happening, the ones involved will face serious consequences." Severus said this in a very plain way, but Tom could tell he was utterly serious. "Second, should you do anything against the rules, I do not care, assuming of course that you are not caught...of course." Severus continued, the stipulation obvious. They may do whatesoever they wish as long as they were not caught by anyone doing said things. Severus hummed, his dark eyes coursing over the students once more. "Keep quiet should you find out anyone doing something that is against the rules. I will find out and punish suitably. Among these, I expect you to do well in class, should you have any issues, request help from one of the other students, however failing or poor work is not an option, so I would caution you to do well, lest you regret it." With those chilling words, Severus hummed, "You will be getting your times tables tomorrow at breakfast, so I warn you not to be late." With that he merely turned and walked out of the common room once more.

"Dramatic, your uncle." Tom admitted softly, his nails raking into the skin of Draco's wrist. Draco swallowed somewhat nervous. He had no idea if that was a good thing or not, whether Tom was annoyed by the fact or simply amused, either way he should suppose it was not important considering Tom did not glare at his Uncle, rather assess him curiously. It was a step up from genuine dislike and borderline hatred, so Draco would consider that a win in his books. He closed his eyes, waiting to sort his thoughts before he responded to Tom. That was important, ensuring that ones thoughts were properly put in place before saying things to Tom.

"I...suppose so. My father is of similar dramatics, but at least Uncle Severus has a point to it. It keeps him from being questioned. I am sure you have noticed how young he is compared to the other teachers...it was worse, according to Father, when he first took the job." Tom hummed curiously but did not question Draco further. This line of questioning was not going to go anywhere pleasant, he could tell that just from the first few sentences that Draco had spoken to him, and he had no desire to further the information at the current moment.

"Draco, tomorrow, when you wake, do not leave your dorm room until I come to fetch you. Is that acceptable?" He questioned, tilting his head upwards to look at him. Draco nodded, brows furrowed, likely wondering what had caused Tom to ask such a thing, but he was not going to press him, Tom knew the boy well enough to know that. He was grateful for this, but really it was a test to see how well Draco would listen to him when there were others present, and to some extent testing the control that he had over the other Slytherins as well.

Draco had set his terms, made his claim. It was questionable to Tom, who knew full well how difficult it was to gain the respect and loyalty of the Slytherins, and even Draco's status would not be enough to handle that. He knew Abraxas had difficulty in his time, and he was curious as to just how much the elder Slytherins would respect Draco's claim over him. Draco was but thirteen at this point, after all, it was not exactly hard to believe that considering Tom's older age, they may accuse him of a great deal of things, none of which would necessarily be wrong. He was wondering just how much those older Slytherins' truly respected Draco.

It would be an interesting take. Tom would get far more information tonight then he suspected he would get in any night close near the future. It was an exciting notion. At the same time, it would test Draco's obedience to his authority when he was not around. He knew that Draco idolized him to some extent, and he was fully aware that he was well on his way to rending Draco's loyalty to his father away from the Malfoy patriarch and back towards him, something which was undoubtedly going to be highly useful in the future. Still, it would not be bad to continue to test the boy. Particularly as time went on. He had spent enough time with the other and gently guiding him and his thoughts to what he wanted that he would not have to worry too much. Luckily.