The Strays of London - Harry Potter x Tom Riddle

Chapter 3

Harry was 11 today.

Things had changed greatly in the time he had been at Wool's. For one, he had a friend, if you could classify his relationship with Tom as friendship. Their pairing was.... odd, especially when compared with other boys their age. For one, that warmth each felt when they touched still occurred with just as much intensity as it had that day 4 years ago. Another fact is the way neither of them seemed to fight, most boys their age would fight, steal, argue with each other only to make up the next day. Tom and Harry had never quite had that, granted, both had been incredibly closed off for the first few months after they had met, neither wanting to let another close to them, for obvious reasons. For around 5 months after the pair had first met, Harry often found himself receiving looks filled with confusion and exasperation from the boy, as though Harry was a puzzle piece Tom was unable to place. However, eventually they had formed a companionship based off silent nods and murmured conversations.

The two had only argued once in the last 4 years, and it was a stretch to even call it that. There had been one incident, about 6 months after their acquaintance where Harry had been speaking with a girl asking for directions. Tom had seen, and automatically assumed Harry was replacing him. Never one to admit weakness, Tom had become distant and harsh, hiding behind the cruel sneer usually reserved for everyone but Harry. The two had fallen into a strange routine of confused on Harry's part, and feigned indifference from Tom. It had taken a lot for Harry, quite hurt at the 180 changes to Tom's attitude towards him, to eventually snap back at the boy after one particularly nasty comment. Harry had questioned Tom as to what his problem was and received only a scowl in return. As Tom had moved to push past Harry the latter had grabbed Tom's hand, holding him in place. Harry had refused to let the boy go until he had an explanation. resulting in some ridiculous conclusion Tom had drawn surrounding how Harry was tricking him and he was a fool for ever believing he could trust someone.

Harry had ended up sighing in total exasperation, asking Tom what the hell he was going on about. When he finally admitted that he had seen Harry with a girl, probably laughing behind his back, Harry had realised Tom was jealous. It was ridiculous really, yet Harry couldn't help the warmth creeping through his body at the revelation, nothing to do with the warmth he usually got around Tom.
The two had patched things up and from then, it seemed Tom was done holding his feelings back and let Harry in. This isn't to say Tom changed from that moment, he was still the same cold, closed off boy he had always been, it was just that he had finally opened himself up to someone and accepted Harry as a part of his life, a part of himself.
If one thing could be said about Tom Riddle, it was that he was fierce about love when he felt it. Something that surprised him more than it did others. And so, Harry Potter and Tom Riddle became best friends, kindred spirits in this cold, lonely world they had stumbled into.

It was this friendship that had led to the two boys insisting on meeting this so called 'professor' together. He had wanted to see both boys separately, something neither were inclined to allow. Luckily the older man had not seemed to put out at their request, well demand, leading to the current position of the two sat in Harry's room, a strangely dressed man huddled onto the chair opposite Harry's bed.

Harry had stayed quiet for the most part of the conversation, remaining uncharacteristically tense and quiet next to Tom. It was unusual for the two, Tom often leaving communicating to Harry, people often being offput by his brashness and straight-to-the-point attitude. Harry's confidence had grown significantly since moving to Wool's orphanage, him no longer sitting on the sidelines and instead becoming the bubbly, chaotic personality it seemed he had been destined to be.

Professor Dumbledore from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had explained that what they could do was magic. It made sense, and it had been one of the possibilities near the top of Tom's ridiculously long list of explanations, although, that didn't completely speak to Toms intelligence considering number 3 on the list had been 'aliens'.