What if He had a Choice?

43

Draco was relieved at the easy agreement that Tom gave him. He had to admit, he had been somewhat worried that Hogwarts would cause them unnecessary distance, but it would seem that this was not the case, something which he was grateful for. He hated it when he got close to someone only for them to be ripped away the next moment. It did not matter whether they did not know who he was, or if they did. His ability to make true friends had always been rather...stifled. This was due to multiple factors, including his status and his house. It made things rather difficult. Therefore, he was grateful that the Dark Lord would see to it that they were still to commune regularly. It left a huge weight off of his chest.

"Thank you," He muttered softly. Tom glanced towards him, brows furrowed down slightly, the picture of worry. He smirked toward the other just a moment later, allowing his arm to drape over Draco's, leaving the other to glance towards him, seemingly confused. Tom knew why, it was uncharacteristic of him to be so touchy, but at the end of the day, this was a game, and he knew that Draco recognized it once he glanced towards the head table and the Gryffindor table next to them. He gave Tom a slight smile, and merely allowed himself to relax into Tom's side. This caught the attention of far more than just the Slytherins, just as Tom had desired. He glanced up towards the teacher's table, where he saw McGonagall staring down at him. He gave her a little smirk as he cast his gaze to the others on the table. There were two teachers who, according to Draco, were not there last year. One, from their placement-again according to Draco, though the placement had not changed since Tom had gone to school-was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The other, another female, was not someone that Tom recognized, and it would seem neither did Draco, but the former teacher seemed far more ill than the latter teacher. He was not sure he was entirely certain about this Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he supposed even the most unassuming teachers had the potential to be great.

"It is no issue, my love," Tom said just as gently. "After all, how else could we ensure that we are on equal understanding." Tom questioned. Draco glanced towards him. He had clearly not been expecting that. Tom did love surprising his subjects. "Furthermore, there are some other things that we should think over." Tom stated simply. "Especially what we are going to be doing about our lessons. We cannot simply do them whenever and where ever, such things means that we will have to be careful over when and where we do them."

"You...still want to continue our lessons?" Draco muttered, his eyes glancing around the teachers and students, and they were barely audible, likely for a reason. It was wise for him to not promote this. Tom found that Draco's wisdom regarding the social workings of things to be quite complete and thorough. He had to say that he was most impressed of the boy. There were things that were simply difficult. Draco was only a 3rd year. Thirteen was still quite young in comparison to things. Yet, his understanding far exceeded what even Abraxas had in his time. It was beyond impressive. There was also the fact that every time that Draco surprised him, he was forced to realize just how different it was that Draco was from Abraxas. He wondered...He had no idea what Draco's mother was before being a Malfoy, but perhaps that would be something he should ask.

"Of course, I cannot simply just drop them. Your magic was finally beginning to settle and come into itself. Furthermore, you are amazingly adept at such course, and I would hatae for that to be underfed just because we are at Hogwarts. Besides, we can worry less about your Father figuring out what is going on with our more secret studies if we are here, than if we were at the Manor." Draco paused, giving Tom a slight laugh, but Tom knew what it meant. "I know that it is still dangerous, Draco,"" He said calmingly, his fingers tracing the boy's cheek lightly. "It is easier to subvert here than at the Manor, however, is what I meant." Draco nodded, knowing this was true.

"You have a point, however cautious is still necessary." Tom let his nails dig slightly into the other's thighs, causing Draco's eye to twitch slightly.

"I am aware of that, my dear, which is not the point. I mean that I can better serve the lessons here, with less worry on your part, since we can better predict what information Lucius is to come across."

"Ah," Draco conceded once more. It was really quite easy to get the malfoy to concede to almost anything he requested. It was probably in part due to his status with the family. From what he could tell, Abraxas had held great regard for him well into his life. It would be necessary to further investigate things that he knew about his older self. He knew that they were as of yet considered 'dead'. Yet, Draco was not an idiot. He knew well enough that he was not dead, merely a mirage of something. He could not die, after all, as his status here proved. He just did not know if his older self had gone through with creating the other Horcruxes, or if they had not managed to do so. He had a lot of digging to scramp up, but he would do so. The first step was already being completed in regards to that. Lucius was handling the curse son the Gaunt house.

"Do not worry, I am sure that things will go smoothly." Tom said calmly.

"Speak for yourself. Have you seen the timetables? I mean, this is the least amount of core classes I've ever had with Gryffindors, but why do I still have to bulldoze through Defense Against the Dark Arts with them?" Tom winced in sympathy.

"Yes that is quite unfortunate." He admitted softly to himself. "Do you know any Gryffindor sixth years I should be cautious of?"

"Uh, just...from what I know, just Percy Weasly. He is a Prefect." Tom hummed, tilting his head curiously towards the other table, his dark eyes assessing as he latched onto the only Gryffindor he could tell would be Percy. Prefects usually sat together after all.

"No worries about that then."

"Still be careful, Gryffindors don't exactly need a reason to be hostile, it is just better to give them one."