Harry Riddle - Love is a different time

Came to accept

The white grounds of snow was how Tom felt about their Christmas break, renewed, clean, untainted by the Orphanages and their past. It was only the two of them, a few Hufflepuffs, a stray Gryffindor, and a couple of seniors staying back to prepare for their NEWTs year who stayed back to study. They had the Common Room to themselves and Tom felt he could breathe easy, able to think with a clear head.

He would give Harry the best Christmas, then he would think of his revenge on the Malfoys. Especially the boy Aethon.

Tom had never been one to appreciate Christmas before, the celebration was meaningless to him, the emphasis on good or bad behaviour was annoying and the garish decor gave him a small headache.

But there was something special about Christmas at Hogwarts, that even he couldn't help feeling slightly festive for the occasion.

The Great Hall was magnificent in all its Christmas decor, the sky a misty snow cloud filled with flying sugar canes and large curtains of red, white, green and gold ribbons. The Christmas tree was massive, all the teachers had to chip in and help the school caretaker- Birger, carry it with magic into the great hall. All the teachers had a part in decorating the tree, and once they entered the great hall to see it ready and complete- Harry and Tom had stood still, Harry's mouth slightly open, Tom's face hiding his surprise, and their eyes both shone with wonder.

Hogwarts food was already the best they have ever had, but Christmas food had taken it up a notch, serving chicken, lamb and meat roast of all varieties with the side of beautiful vegetables and juicy fruits of all seasons. For all meal times, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tom and Harry would eat a hearty breakfast every day before going for a walk or a game outside.

Harry had gotten into the odd habit of writing to Eileen Prince. Receiving a post every morning, scanning the contents with a small laugh, and immediately writing a reply on the back of the letter.

"What on earth is your sudden interest in this Prince girl?" Tom asked, unamused at the sight of yet another brown owl arriving this morning with the Prince Family crest. The note was short, and Harry grinned, head shaking slightly, reading it, quickly taking a quill to write a response.

"She's not so bad once you get to know her." Harry's lips quirked as he finished his note (it seemed like only two sentences) and began refolding the letter and putting it back in the envelope.

"What are you even writing about?" Tom began cutting his toast into little squares, then piling each square with the served beans.

"Oh, Gobstones. It's her favourite game. She's teaching me next term how to play and trying to explain to me the history. I told her about another similar marble game, remember Ringers?" Harry gave a piece of bacon to the owl and stroked its brown feathers, his face fond.

Tom dropped his fork. "You told her about the muggle street game?"

Harry scoffed at Tom's alarm, one hand massaging the bird's sternum, it looked positively at home under Harry's hand. " Relax... I didn't tell her it was a muggle game. She conveniently thinks it's foreign for some reason. But so what if it is muggle though? It was a good game, you remember all the marbles we saw. You once stole one from the street kids."

"I won it fair and square and you know it!" Tom picked up his fork and began to eat each small square of bean and toast with vigour. " He had to use his summoning ability to get the marble just where he wanted, but he had prized the green and gold marble with the cut eyes design, not too small and not too big. It was one of his valuable treasures, now gone. He felt his chest twinge at the thought.

Harry nudged him, "Hey... I wasn't trying to make you upset."

"I'm not upset," Tom said quickly. He took in a few more bites. "It's just so typical of you to write to someone about a game . Don't you ever think of anything else besides playing?"