The right path

Twenty two

Easter break came rapidly, that is, for most of the students it did. Not for Orion Black, though. He actually felt very lost, and lonely. He was currently staring at the ceiling late at night, trying to get his emotions in order.

Ever since he came back from the Yule break (he refused to call it Christmas break), he noticed a big change between Harry and Riddle. And that stung, in a way he had never felt before.

Before the holidays, Harry used to spend at least half an hour talking with him and the others before they went to bed. And he always was willing to help them out. Among the Slytherins, who didn't make friendships out of the goodness of their hearts, Harry was their beaming light, always being kind to anyone and  making friends wherever he went.

At first, that fact only made Orion disgusted. How could you make friends with the rival house? That was treason in their eyes. But then, he got to know the true colors of the boy. It was not a matter of house pride, it was a matter of personality. Potter didn't make friends with anyone, he did that only with people he found worthy, with people who wanted true friendship too. And that made Orion change his mind. Before, he had never had a true friend. Yes, he got on well with most of the students Slytherin house had to offer, but they all interacted between themselves as if they were already in the political world, maintaining a good relationship between pureblood families, and creating strong bonds with the families you had an alliance with. For Harry that didn't matter at all, he liked them because of themselves and not because of their last name.

That's when he realized how much Harry meant to him. He was his only true friend, after all. Yet, he didn't do anything about it, content to spend time with the boy just before they went to sleep. In fact, he was totally scared to tell anybody this. He feared that his family wouldn't approve, just as they did when he wanted to include Riddle in his circle of friends. And he couldn't risk that, not when he had at least some of Potter's time without asking him for it.

However, all of that ended when he returned to the castle in January. Nobody knew what happened, but now Potter and Riddle did everything together. Sure, before they spent some time in the library, which in itself was a surprise to everybody, seeing as Riddle would never let anyone sit with him while he studied, but now they disappeared together and there was not a single soul who knew where they went.

In the beginning, it was the major gossip material. Those were the 'boys wonder' of the school. Handsome, intelligent and polite. All the girls population salivated when they walked by, and he had to admit some boys did that too. Everybody was curious by this development, since they thought of them as competitive rivals. Now, the options magnified, if they joined forces there was no way someone could better them. Ever.

Then, Tom got a little pet snake. No one knew what kind of snake it was, but it imposed a magnificent aura, as if it was the most majestic of creatures. He called it Nirali, as per Harry's suggestion. Since when did Riddle took any suggestions? He didn't know, and he was trying to convince himself that he didn't care either.

Even by that point he was fine with everything. Harry had been spending less time with them, but sure enough, when they wanted to talk, he would always be there, smiling and listening to them. When the real problem began, though, it him hard.

Harry spent most of the morning and early afternoon with his Gryffindor friends during weekdays, he went to quidditch practice with the Slytherin team, who were also good friends of him, even spending some time after training hanging out. But the rest of the day, and all of the weekend, he spent it with Riddle. And they were rarely seen in the library, no one knew where they were during all that time if not there. Wherever they went, though, it was impossible to find them, judging they stayed there way after curfew and not a single prefect could catch them.