What if He had a Choice?

42

Tom was quite pleased when he found out that Draco had indeed awaited him to fetch the boy. The surprise was dim, as he had figured the other would do so, but at the same time he could not say that he had not expected that the Slytherin would listen to his orders. Draco had this unique ability to be both very demanding and commanding in one moment, and yet the exact opposite the next. Whilst he knew that Abraxas and, from what little he had seen, Lucius seemed to be able to replicate that behavior, he was not entirely sure that it was true to them. Draco seemed to be capable of a more effortless flip between a more arrogant personality, and a more subdued one. Draco seemed to have mastered both sets, a flaw in both Abraxas and Lucius which had been fixed in the third generation of Malfoy Heirs. Tom could not help but be a tad bit impressed by it.

"Come now, it is time for our very first day." Tom seemed quite enthusiastic, but Draco was a bit more subdued. Tom hummed, making a note of it and he would ask on it later, but not at the moment. It was not the time, nor the place for such questions regarding his unusual nature. Draco would not appreciate it, and furthermore would likely just deny anything Tom attempted to ask about. Granted, Tom would not stand for such lying to his person, but he would have to concede defeat in this one instance. It was best for him to just wait until they were alone once more to ask about this attitude that the other seemed to be having. It would not do to have him thinking that he could go about acting like this, without informing Tom what was wrong. Furthermore, it was likely this was attributed to information that Tom did not have, something that could prove dangerous in the future.

It was lucky enough that Draco seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve, at least, when around a select few people. Tom was grateful that he had managed to obtain that right, and he was rather thrilled about it, if he was honest. It meant that Draco held him in high esteem, and that he trusted him to some extent. He could not jeapordize that so easily, and it was definitely easy to do that, particularly with someone such as Malfoy. He is...well...a delicate human in many ways. Far more lis moth, rather than Lucius in some regards. That is, of what he had seen of Narcissa. Although he was not entirely sure what exactly made his disposition.

"We are getting our schedules today," Draco said softly to Tom. Tom gave a smile, winding his arm around the Malfoy Heir's waist, pulling him through the common room and out into the freezing hallways. They moved swiftly, not wanting to freeze, and needing to get to breakfast rather quickly. Malfoy was almost always either the first or near last person to show up, and that was not liable to change. Perhaps this odd behavior is merely exhaustion. The thought occurred to Tom, but he wrote it off almost immediately. It did not make sense, considering he had been around Draco in many different formats, including at the dawning of day when he was bound to be exhausted after not sleeping for long the night before.

"Yes, we should be given them rather promptly, actually."

"Do you remember the castle well?" Tom laughed lightly as they walked through the Great Hall to their table. "Draco, my dear, it was but months ago for me." He said gently letting his body move before Draco in front of him, giving him a small sparkle of his eyes fingers lightly landing on his shoulder, before he pulled in front, gently tugging him forwards.

This was done purposefully, something Draco undoubtedly figured and allowed himself to be pulled forwards easily and without annoyance of complaint. The point was to drive home, mostly to the Gryffindors, that the two were connected in some way, and that would strike their curiosity. Gryffindor curiosity was a rather useful as a tool. He had heard plenty of the so called golden trio from Draco. Furthermore, he had seen the venom that they had looked at Draco with. This was quite useful, as he knew that it would only take an idiot to realize that an Heir to a Noble house allowing themselves to be drug about and commanded around was unlikely to be at the behest of a random person. Even the allowance of touch was a rare thing. Abraxas had explained these things to him quite extensively. Whilst he still found himself somewhat confused with some of the nuances, he knew that this was only going to make things even clearer to the rest of Hogwarts that Tom and Draco were linked in some way, and a somewhat obviously intimate way. Even if Tom had no intention of doing anything close to familiar with him anytime soon, it was the implications that would stop people short.

Of course this could have negative repercussions, but Tom was much better at handling those, and he knew that Draco would manage to do so as well. They would do better to spread negative rumors and claim it was from a justified prejudice than because they were Slytherins. The latter would not work nearly as well. The former, well, Tom knew better than anyone that there was only so much Dumbledore could favor when it came to the Gryffindors. Tom intended to do what he could. He was not too sure this newest Headmistress would be anywhere as bad as Dumbledore, but he was also not willing to take chances.

Furthermore, it meant that any retaliation against his or Draco's person could be construed in a different light, one outside of their just being Slytherins. It would mean that it was easier to get them into trouble. Despite the hardheaded prejudice that seemed to prevail through Hogwarts, Tom did not want his machinations to be disturbed. They would still, of course, but it was easier to handle this sort of disturbance.

Tom pulled Draco down to sit at the bench. "You will regale me, I hope," Draco muttered under his breath. Tom laughed but nodded nonetheless. He fully intended to share his information with Draco, of course. He had things he wished to learn from the boy as well. It was only equal a trad