Tom Riddle is Here-Plan in Action

30

"What was that about?" Tom asked the moment Draco exited the potions room. Draco glanced towards him huffing and mumbling softly but otherwise moving forwards at a quick pace, forcing Tom to speed his waking up unless he wanted to be left behind. "Hey, do not ignore me!" Tom hissed, and Draco paused, breathing in deeply, trying not to let his nerves show. They were in the public, after all, and anything could happen in the public. He did not want to risk himself, or his reputation. Not with how angry his father was swiftly becoming. He did not know why Tom would not just allow him to send a damn letter, it was hardly a big deal, but he also knew better than to question him as well. He was not entirely blind, he knew what they were, after all, and it was more and more obvious anyways. It would not be long before the other teachers, and the rest of the school caught wind of the way things were going. He did not know what the response would be, but he could guess.

"You know what it would have been about. There is only one thing that it could have been about!" Draco muttered viciously, his eyes flaring darkly. He turned on his heel to address Tom properly. "I have not sent my letter to Father, so naturally he would ask his contact in the school about why." He folded his arms over his chest defensively, continuing to stare at his lover. "Father is bound to enter the school soon in order to attempt to address this oversight. I have no idea what it is you intend to do about that, if anything but..." Tom cut him off, lifting a hand and raising one brow, tilting his head slightly to watch him. Draco felt distinctly analyzed, and was not sure how it felt.

"Do you truly believe that I would just...let him beat you for the sake of allowing it?" Draco paused at that, unsure how to respond. To some extent, he sort of did believe that it would be part of the punishment, after all not being allowed to send a message to his father and missing his annual letters was the punishment was it not? That would mean that anything that would come out of that would also be part of the punishment, but perhaps this was also supposed to send a message to his father. After all, Draco had been suspecting that Tom had some sort of levy on him. Though what it was, he did not know. "Draco," Tom moved in close to him, pressing his hands upon his shoulders, easing the tension. "I would not simply allow Lucius to come and beat you. Punishments are my job, not his. Furthermore, this is a show of strength. On your part, and a test on his. Granted, yes, it is a punishment for pushing yourself too much and doing things beyond what I have commanded as well as trying to goad me into blindly trusting Severus, but I am not going to allow Lucius to take punishments into his own hands."

"What are you going to do when Father comes to the school? He has already talked to Uncle Sev," Draco admitted quietly. His eyes flickered with nervousness and anxiety. "That means that he is already angry. I've never disobeyed this commandment before. Lucius always gets his letters on time, and yet...I am nervous. I cannot help but think that there is no doubt he will enter the school and wait until I am alone to come out. He has done it before."

"Oh?" Tom asked, curious at this new development. He had not known that, no. "When?" Draco hesitated, not sure he wanted to say more, but ultimately simply sighed and gave in. It was not like Tom knowing any more was going to change anything. If nothing more, it may end up helping Draco, though he doubted it. His father was already livid. He was going to Uncle Severus for cues as to what Draco was doing, which meant that he was bound to be far more angry than any time before. Typically he asked Crabbe or Goyle, but both of them would tell him if his father had reached out to them. They knew full well what it would mean, and always informed Draco when it happened so that he could prepare and do damage control.

"Does it matter? We are getting beyond the point, which is Father is bound to be coming into the school ground rather soon, and I have nothing to protect me from him at that moment."

"I will be with you," Draco shook his head.

"But you can't possibly be with me at every point of the day. That is simply impossible."

"Draco...I do not like that you are trying to avoid my question. When did this happen before." Draco shrunk downwards, the tone of his Alpha was clearly affecting him, which Tom knew was going to be the case. Normally, he would not affect such things to his purpose, but in this case, it was the only way to get his answers. Draco was being rather cagey. He did not like it. Though he was understanding what Severus meant when he had stated that Draco could be quite good at circumveting his answers to what was unnecessary and yield little return. Tom had thought that it was simply because Severus, from his suspicions, was not an Alpha, but it was clear that Draco was good enough to even confuse him, though it was only for a moment.

"Second year," Draco admitted reluctantly. "And third. Towards the end of Second, and beginning of third, and then again mid-way through."

"I will be asking you more about these instances, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Good," Tom sighed out heavily. "We need to get to our next class before we are late. So be swift, I, most certainly, cannot be late to more classes."

As they walked towards their next class, Tom continued to speak. It was low, and quiet, but there were not many people milling about the halls, at least not on the sub floors, which gave them little time to plan, but Tom seemed to be keen to use what little time they did have, despite his insistence on being on time to class, on discussing their next moves.

"We have Dumbledore properly tied up in us. Dispatch Zabini and Parkinson to handle a couple of articles to the Prophet, and any other publication that they know of. I shall give you the drafts that I have made up. With the evidence, of course, because what is a bashing article without evidence? We should be able to see him purple in at least a few days."

"Haven't you already been doing that?" Draco asked carefully. He did not want to anger Tom, as the other seemed to be on edge after their conversation about his father, which he supposed was to be expected and he should not really take it to heart. Though it was hard to not do something like that, Draco decided to play it safe, anyways. It was better than paying for it later. At least, in this instance it was better than paying for it later. Tom never forgot, from what Draco could tell. It was something he had in common with his father. It was...unsettling at times.

"Yes, but only smaller articles, ones that do damage, but not much. It is time to go bigger. I would have just the side publications, but unfortunately there is the littlest room for doubt should it come from the Prophet and the smaller publications. therefore, both are needed. At the same time I wish you to send Greengrass to spy on the Weasley Twins, and send Crabbe and Goyle to begin making passes towards the trio...send it down the line. I don't want any physical fights, however."

"Of course, I can do all of that, it is no issue." Tom breathed in heavily, excited about this new chapter.

"Things are about to explode." He said with a laugh, and a dark smile on his face.