The right path

Twenty one

James was virtually smashing his head against a wall. He was utterly frustrated with the situation he had just witnessed. First, Harry stupidly reveals one of his secrets. What's next, telling Riddle he was from the future?
Then, he proceeds to banter with him and forget Riddle's claim of possessiveness. And if it wasn't enough, the boy only thought of them as friends, when it was clear he had a major crush on Riddle, always worrying his little mind trying to find forms to impress the other boy. Oh, and then they proceeded to discuss names for the basilisk. Like new weds naming their puppy.

Honestly, he knew he was oblivious when he was young, but witnessing this now was downright painful. Even more so because Riddle was even more emotionally stunted than Harry. For being geniuses they really were dense.

Oh, how he wished to yell at them to realize things already, and see them together before he had to leave this new timeline. But no, he would leave the last day of August as per Death's insistence of maintaining the deal, and probably never see the day they realize what their feelings mean. It was like reading a book that is missing the last chapter. Absolutely annoying!

It was so hard to contain his remarks when talking to Harry, even more so when they had to talk about things that concerned situations like this one. But he had to wait for the right time to reveal things to Harry. Preferably until the time came to see them separated. It was part of the deal with Death, so it shall be respected as such.

Still, he had to warn Harry about Dumbledore being able to understand parseltongue. He wasn't sure when the old transfiguration teacher had acquired the knowledge, but it's better to be safe than sorry. If Harry and Tom used parseltongue as their secret language and someday they were discussing something important...it was in their better interests to know this little piece of information.

So, mustering all of his self control, James managed to pull a straight face and summoned Harry to his mindscape. You know...to discuss important matters and ignore the elephant in the room.

"So, kiddo, how's the day been? Anything you wanna tell me?"

Harry blinked owlishly, suddenly realizing he had entered his mindscape. But it certainly didn't look like it...it was just...blank. There were no sofas, bookshelves, fireplaces, or anything. Just a blank room. Usually, James maintained everything cosy and warm, and now it was just empty and white. Why?

"Uh...James? Why is everything so white?"

And that was what broke the camel's back.

"WHY IS EVERYTHING SO WHITE?! REALLY? THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GONNA SAY?! YOU BLOODY SPOKE PARSELTONGUE IN FRONT OF TOM FUCKING RIDDLE AND YOU ARE ASKING ME WHY EVERYTHING IS SO WHITE!!"

"James..."

"DON'T 'JAMES' ME, YOU'D BETTER PRAY THAT I LET YOU SLEEP TODAY, BECAUSE I WILL SURE AS HELL HAVE MORE THINGS TO SAY THAN 'WHY IS EVERYTHING SO WHITE'."

James took a deep breath, calming himself and willing his face to form a smile. Although if you asked Harry, it was a creepy smile, he would have preferred to have James shouting at him.

"Now that the parseltongue issue is settled, let me tell you that Dumbles can understand parseltongue. Not speak it, I don't think, but he can certainly understand it. I'm not sure when he learned that ability, but it would be better if you and dear Tommy boy didn't use it when he is near. And for the love of Merlin, please refrain from telling the secret to Dumbledore too."

"O-okay, yeah. It's good to know that, I wouldn't have known. And I promise it won't happen again, I just got carried away...you know that happens when I don't get any sleep."

"Yeah, yeah, better go to sleep kiddo. Wouldn't want to have any more accidents."

"Good night James."

"G'night Harry."

And Harry left, still wondering why the mindscape was blank, leaving James to keep banging his head against the cool white wall of Harry's mindscape.

Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore was pacing in his room, thinking. His plans were not going as good as he had first predicted, due to the sudden appearance of Harry Potter to the school.

Sure, the boy was a genius, and a very valuable asset if he could get his trust. But the boy would not look up to him, no matter how hard he tried to get him to do so. He didn't know where he went wrong. He had acted all grandfatherly in front of him, he had praised him in class over Riddle, he had offered to teach him more advanced techniques, or even to lend him some books, yet the boy never acknowledged him. It was frustrating. He was Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful sorcerer alive, he always got what he wanted.

And to make matters worse, the boy was also meddling with his plans for Riddle's future. He needed Tom to go dark, evil and crazy so he could maintain his grip over the British isles. Of course that part went after he defeated Grindelwald in some years' time.

But he wouldn't get Tom to go that way if there was someone Riddle could rely on, maybe even trust. And Potter was proving to be a pain in that regard, since he was always seen with Tom, and they got to talk. Tom was not supposed to socialize, on the contrary, he was supposed to ostracize himself.

The first years of Riddle's education were going as planned. He was shunned in his own house because his last name wasn't one of a pureblood. Then he proved to be powerful, climbing up the hierarchy system. But the boy never forgot what they were like, and so, he never trusted any of them. That's what was supposed to happen, and that effect would have increased to the point of paranoia, if it wasn't for Potter getting out of his way to crumble the walls Riddle had encased himself into.

So, for now, he would try to get Potter on his side, by any means possible. Maybe get Minerva to adore him and go babbling back to Potter. After all, they were pretty good friends, from what he had gathered. If that didn't work out, well...he would need to get rid of some pests. And any of the options would be great, since losing someone would only accelerate the process of Riddle's descent into madness. And wouldn't that be great?