Good Night, Darling

[ Feed Your Illusions Instead ]

(He has heard of the boy, in the whispers of the wind and the shadows that crowd him.
He has heard of the boy, in the words of his men and the gossip of their children.)

Gellert Grindelwald had heard all sorts of things about the boy with the Hallows tattoo, has even seen it in his mind. The Eyes of the World had seen fit to show him, to let him hear the comings and goings of this new enigma. Out of nowhere, the boy had appeared. He had a history, as any person would, but his history was flawed and twisted and wrong. That was one of the insights his mind's Eye had shown him, and for that he would forever be grateful.

Gellert knew that Dumbledore was up to something.
Gellert knew that something was fundamentally wrong with the Elder wand.
What Gellert did not know was how the boy fit into his troubles.

"It seems unfair to have the Slug Club on your birthday, Hadrian." Orion was moaning while Hadrian hurried into his dress robes, "At least we have a reason to drink."

Tom watched as Hadrian's face lit up, "Yeah?" he replied.

"Oh absolutely," Orion was grinning, "Slughorn will push a firewhisky into your hand as soon as you enter the doorway, then take you to meet some of his new friends, and then we can all hide away and drink. Tom likes to get a bit of schmoozing in, but the rest of us get bored of it easily."

Tom jumped into the conversation, "Slughorn usually holds a dinner party, just for students, but today is one of his soiree's. Not as frivolous as Yule, even if he says it is for Samhain."

Hadrian nods, and Tom had to restrain laughing at his poor attempts to button his shirt. He fumbled, as if he was trying to go quickly but can't quite get his fingers to work.

"Hurry, I do not like to be late." Tom chastised, impatiently tapping his foot. He saw Orion take a swig from a flask, and flinch at the drink.

"Coming, coming" Hadrian says, running a hand through his dark curls and approaching the two standing by the door, "That firewhisky?"

He gestures to the embossed, silver flask in Orion's hand.

"Yup, here."

Tom restrains himself from rolling his eyes, they act like children with no thought for the future. Well, Orion did not need to ingratiate himself with politicians and academics. Hadrian probably would not, his Peverell name would get him not quite as far as Orion but still further than a Mudblood name like Riddle.

The alcohol would make the evening worse for Tom, he thought to himself, as his group would likely be falling over each other in the next few hours and leave Tom to... take care of them.

As if he would coddle them and clean up their vomit, Tom scoffed to himself. He watched as Orion and Hadrian exchanged the flask, laughing at something Tom didn't quite understand. A reference to something, maybe Quidditch.

He caught Hadrian's navy robed elbow, "You might want to take this seriously. Some of these people can be very useful in the future."

Hadrian smirked, "I don't even know what NEWTs I want to take, let alone what I want to do after Hogwarts."

"All the more reason to widen your prospects, then."

The teenager shrugged, "These people are probably idiots, I hardly need them to get a good position in life."

Tom scoffed, "Of course they are idiots, but they have some modicum of power you would be wise to exploit."

"I'm not like you or Slughorn, Tom. I don't go around collecting people because of their merits."