Chapter four: Work
Until night, they flipped through the books in boredom, but as Harry stared at the page, he wasn't taking in one bit of it...
He frowned. The two days he had spent in the company of Tom and Albus, he hadn't thought of Sirius's death once, discluding the nightmare about him. The two of them were keeping him so busy that he hadn't had a chance to think about it. Is that the only bright side to living with Voldemort in your house? Voldemort, the man that had caused Sirius's death, was sitting right in front of him on his bedroom floor...
As he thought this, a tear rolled down his cheek. Tom just happened to look up at this time, and stared at Harry as he wiped the tear away furiously and took a deep and shuddering breath to calm himself.
Tom looked away down at his book indifferently and gave a yawn.
Harry decided he'd take a shower in the morning, so he gathered some clothes and changed, not really caring what the other two did at the moment, he felt very tired. He lay back down on the bed, and Tom gave a huffy, annoyed noise.
"What?" he asked angrily.
"I think we should have a schedule on who sleeps on the bed each night," said Tom calmly.
Harry had to admit that this was a good idea. "Fine. Albus slept on it last night, I'll sleep on it tonight, and you can sleep on it tomorrow. We go in that pattern, okay?"
Tom frowned slightly. He was hoping he'd get to sleep on the bed tonight, but Potter always had to have his way....'Stupid idiot,' he thought savagely.
He made a nest on the floor, but Albus did not show any signs of wanting to go to bed. He had stopped looking through the books, but was looking at the window expectantly.
"Err...Albus--" began Harry.
A burst of flame made all three of them jump.
"What was---?" said Tom loudly, but his question was answered as the phoenix appeared at the end of Harry's bed, a bag of food tied to one leg and a letter tied to another.
"That was fast," said Harry, raising an eyebrow at the letter.
Albus took it before Tom did and stroked Fawkes, who was looking at him as if amused. He looked over at Tom and gave a whistle that sounded half-angry.
Harry remembered that Fawkes had seen Tom before--in the Chamber of Secrets.
"Seems like he remembers you," laughed Harry at Tom.
"Imbecile bird," Tom muttered under his breath. Fawkes squawked, offended.
"Ignore him, Fawkes," whispered Albus when he finished with the letter. "He's a sore loser. Hmm...I haven't said those words in a very long time..."
Tom glared at him and punched his pillow, burying his head in it. Harry grinned and Fawkes hopped over to him, singing some of his phoenix tune that made Tom want to vomit.
Harry stroked the bird absentmindedly, looking questioningly over at Albus.
"The letter was from Moony," stated Albus. "He said that they'll start researching immediately, and.....that....our Metamorphmagus was wondering who Tom and I were."
Albus had to admit that keeping Tom in the dark about everything was quite satisfying.
"Good," said Harry. "Err....can Muggles see phoenixes?"
Fawkes flew on top of the wardrobe and was scratching around.
"Yes," Albus said.
"You really are stupid, P--Harry," mumbled Tom from the floor.
"Shut up, Tom, before I send Fawkes to go and poke out Nagini's eyes...just like he did that basilisk...."
Tom was going to open his mouth to retort, but couldn't think of anything to say, so pulled the cover over his head and grumbled.
Albus walked around the bed to the other side, where he made his little bed and got into it, sighing.
Harry turned off the light and also got into bed, where he fell asleep a lot more quickly than last night.
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He was back at Hogwarts, Hermione was shouting at him, Ron was lying at their feet...dead...
He began crying, and ran to the Room of Requirement, where the veil sat, swaying... so many voices....Dobby ran inside, saying Umbridge was on her way....
He ran. Ran from the Room of Requirement, down to the Quidditch Pitch, where the Dursleys' house sat....he could hear screams from inside...he needed to save his family, even if he hated them....Death Eaters were inside, the house was beginning to burn.
"No!" he shouted. A strange force was holding him back... "NO!"
The Dark Mark rose into the air, and Voldemort walked from the inside of the house, the flames not touching him....his mouth twisted into a smile.
His merciless, red eyes focused upon Harry and he pointed at him...
A huge, dark creature---a hideous, batlike creature that looked strangely like a featherless phoenix---stretched its black and leathery wings, revealing its body, which was yellow-like bones covered with shreds of black skin, every inch of its skin crawling with maggots---it gave off a foul smell of death---its eyes were clouded, pale with red slits, rolling in their sockets, it gave an earsplitting scream. Its mouth was full of pointed teeth, saliva dripping---dried blood was on its claws...
It flew right at Harry as Voldemort pointed at him, its bloodstained claws ready to penetrate through Harry's skin....he couldn't run....
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What the hell is that?!
He awoke, screaming loudly, scrambling around in his bed, standing and running across the room, where he turned on the light, panting and shaking like mad...
Looking round, he spotted no hideous phoenix, only a magnificent one perched on the wardrobe, and Hedwig was back, she had a frog in her beak.
Tom and Albus had awoke from Harry's screams, looking wildly at him.
"What is it?" Albus said quickly.
Harry didn't answer immediately, he looked out of the window and walked around the room nervously before sitting back on the bed.
"KEEP IT DOWN IN THERE!" shouted Uncle Vernon from outside of the room.
"Y-Yes, Uncle Vernon," said Harry, coughing.
He covered back up with the blanket and looked at Albus.
"Nightmare," he muttered. "Weird...nothing...s'okay....you can go back to sleep.."
But Albus wouldn't hear of it; he wanted details.
"Albus," said Harry, his teeth chattering slightly. "It's fine, I'm all right, it wasn't one of those....real nightmare things," he added hastily. "Just a bad dream. Impossible, some of the stuff."
Albus sighed. Not many things caused Harry Potter to scream in fear, as he has figured out over the years. From encounters with Acromantulas, to Basilisks, to Lord Voldemort himself, Harry was not one to scream in terror.
Tom had just been staring very sleepily at him, once again very curious as to what the boy (the other boy, rather, since he was a boy himself) had been dreaming.
Harry covered himself with the covers and lay back down, and found himself face-to-face with Tom.
"What?" he asked.
"Just watching you scream in terror," smirked Tom.
"I wasn't 'screaming in terror'..."
"Uh...yes, you were. The truth really hurts, Harry--"
"Yeah, well, so does a kick in the arse," he snarled.
"Harry," sighed Albus, but there was a slightly sharp tinge in his voice. "Go to sleep. You too, Tom. You can be violent tomorrow when I'm awake to supervise you."
He had not meant to say that--it had slipped. 'This teenage stuff is making me senile,' he thought.
Tom had opened his mouth to protest, but Albus leaned up and stared at him in the eyes, and he shut his mouth. Finally, the three managed to fall asleep, Harry had no nightmares, and no one tried to kill anyone.
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That is, until the morning, when an owl came crashing into Harry's window, waking them up.
"This is the most sleep-depriving household I've ever been in!" Tom shouted as he threw the covers off himself furiously.
Harry crossed the room and opened the window, allowing the confused owl to fly in.
"Don't yell at me," snapped Harry. "It's your fault we all have to stay here."
"Oh yeah? Well if you'd have died around fifteen years ago then I wouldn't have had to come here to try and finish you off!"
"If you hadn't have tried to kill me in the first place--"
"--don't blame this rubbish on me--!"
"--it's your fault, don't deny it--"
"--stupid liar--"
"--obsessive hypocrite--"
Albus buried his face in his hands, shaking his head.
"Hypocrite? I think not!" yelled Tom.
Harry gave a bark of laughter. "Whatever, are you really that thick? Here you are--a half-blood--saying all half-bloods should die and are stupid and not even remembering you're one yourself!"
Tom let out a loud, frustrated growl and kicked Harry's trunk. 'I was hoping no one would remember that,' he thought angrily. 'Damn...'
Harry look the letter from the owl and realized it was quite heavy.
"My O.W.L. results," he muttered. "I...err..really don't want to open these..."
"I'll open them," said Tom, trying to take them from Harry.
"I don't want you opening them either," said Harry, rolling his eyes.
"They aren't bad at all," said Albus.
"How do you know?" asked Tom.
"Because, Tom, I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Honestly, like I said before, those hormones are going to your head," said Albus, raising an eyebrow.
Tom flushed slightly.
"Uh oh," laughed Harry. "Lord Voldemort just blushed! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Shut up, you idiot..."
Harry shook his head and looked at the envelope, breaking the seal. He pulled out the first letter, the usual letter that told that he was to return to Hogwarts on September first, and the second letter was his book list.
"I guess this last one is the results," whispered Harry.
"Well, seeing as that's the last one in the envelope, and you haven't seen those yet, chances are that those would be your O.W.L results," said Tom, smirking.
"Another genius observation from Tom Riddle," said Harry, glaring at him.
"Are you going to open your results, Harry, so that Tom can make more snide comments?" asked Albus.
"I suppose.."
He took out the letter, threw the envelope at Tom, who scowled, and opened the letter, tense. Albus stood up and walked around the room and looked over Harry's shoulder:
Fifth Year Ordinary Wizarding Level Results for: Harry James Potter
House/Head: Gryffindor--Minerva McGonagall
Key:
O- Outstanding
E- Exceeds Expectations
A- Acceptable
P- Poor
D- Dreadful
Results are combined Practical and Theory exams.
Astronomy, Professor Sinistra: A
Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Grubbly-Plank/Professor Hagrid: O
Charms, Professor Flitwick: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Umbridge: O Achieved Highest Grade of Class
Divination, Professor Trelawney: D
Herbology, Professor Sprout: E
History of Magic, Professor Binns: Excused from exam, O.W.L not counted.
Potions, Professor Snape: O
Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall: O
Overall Possible O.W.L.'s: 8 (One excused from 9)
Total O.W.L.'s Received: 7
N.E.W.T. classes on back.
Harry gaped at it.
"Seven out of eight? No way...someone's made a mistake...an Outstanding in Potions? I can't wait to see the look on Snape's face!"
He snorted and gave the letter to Albus, sitting down on the bed.
"Professor Snape, Harry, and I daresay we couldn't let our someday Auror fail, could we?" whispered Albus in Harry's ear. Harry grinned.
"I knew I didn't get that on my own," laughed Harry.
"Get what on your own? The grade?" asked Tom, glaring at him.
"Mind your own business, Tom."
Tom scowled and as Albus gave the letter back to Harry, Tom took it from him.
"Hmm...a Dreadful in Divination? Excused from the History of Magic exam?"
"Yeah," snapped Harry. "That was when you sent me that fake vision."
Suddenly, he felt so angry that he couldn't explain it. He curled his hands into fists and stood up abruptly, longing to grasp Tom's neck and shake the life from him...
Tom did not notice, and said nothing about the vision. "Well, well. The highest grade of the class in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Should I be terrified?"
He laughed bitterly.
"Harry," said Albus firmly. "Don't--"
Harry lost it. He slammed a fist into Tom's jaw and knocked him to the ground.
"How many times must I tell you two!?" shouted Albus. "STOP IT!"
Albus pushed Harry off Tom and Tom jumped up, trying to attack Harry. Albus stood between them, hands reached out to both of them.
"Listen to me," said Albus, and for the first time this summer, he looked truly angry. "I know, trust me, I know you hate each other. Tom, I don't like you either, but that doesn't mean I must kill you--"
"No, Albus, that's my job," said Harry. Tom raised an eyebrow.
"--and this spell probably requires the three of us to be alive and healthy, and if you two don't stop trying to kill each other, then we're going to be stuck like this for the rest of our lives, and don't look at me like that, Tom. I'm not going to take your rubbish today, and Harry, you're letting Tom get to you. He's trying to make you angry, don't you see that? Now please, sit down," he said.
Tom and Harry, seeing Albus's red face, sat down.
Harry snatched his results from the floor and looked at them again before throwing them in his trunk, fuming. Albus had his arms crossed across his chest, and Tom was tapping a foot impatiently on the floor.
"This is ridiculous," muttered Tom. "This whole stupid 'staying at Harry's house' situation is just ridiculous. I have a good mind to just leave right now--"
"That, Tom, will not be happening," said Albus coldly. "You will stay right here until this spell is figured out, then after that, I could care less if you jumped off a bridge. Or better yet, a cliff."
"Oh, stuff a sock in it, you old fool."
"SHUT UP, TOM!" bellowed Harry. "JUST SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH FOR ONCE!"
The whole room fell into an uncomfortable silence, then a soft knock was at the door.
"Are you guys having problems in there?" snickered Dudley.
Harry, who was still fuming, crossed the room and opened the door.
"What do you want, you obnoxious prat?" spat Harry.
"I was listening to your conversation--" he began stupidly and triumphantly.
Before he could say anything else, Harry pulled him inside, shut the door, and pulled out his wand. Dudley backed against the wall.
"What did you hear?" asked Harry, frustrated.
"I...I...didn't..."
Harry pointed his wand at him. "Tell me, Dudley."
"You--you got in trouble last time--you--you can't use it.."
"Stop changing the subject. What did you hear?" he repeated.
"I..I heard Albus say that a spell has to be figured out and that Tom should jump off a cliff, then I heard you yell for T-Tom to shut up..."
"Did you hear anything before that?"
"N-No..."
"Are you lying to me?"
His eyes were glaring at him dangerously.
"No."
"Very well," he said, lowering his wand.
"Now...now they know you're a freak! And I bet they're freaks too!"
Harry grinned and Tom snorted.
"Good guess," said Tom. "You're absolutely right." He pulled out his wand too, and Dudley whimpered.
"Ahh...how I miss the torture--"
Albus covered Tom's mouth roughly with his hand.
"Listen to me, Dudley," said Harry. "You will not repeat what you heard to anyone, and you will not tell your mum and dad that Tom and Albus are wizards. If you do, you'll wish you'd never overheard us. You understand? Don't you dare tell anyone. Because this is extremely important. You don't want to mess it up. Is that clear?"
"C-crystal," said Dudley, shuddering.
Harry pushed him out of his room and locked the door. They all heard Dudley's footsteps scamper away and a door slam.
"Do you think he is going to tell his parents, Harry?" asked Albus.
"Let's hope not. Lately he's quite good about threats and not telling about them. Especially when Mr. Wand comes into play."
Tom snickered. "Stupid Muggles..."
"Okay," said Harry, pretending not to hear Tom. "I have some homework to do. Seeing as you two are the most...err...powerful wizards of the day, you should be able to answer the questions I don't know."
Albus nodded, Tom twirled his wand in his fingers.
"Technically, I'm not supposed to answer students' questions straight out, but seeing as I'm currently not at Hogwarts..." said Albus, trailing off.
Harry rummaged through his trunk, finding his Charms book.
"A sheet of questions we have to look up over the summer," muttered Harry, pulling the sheet out.
He sat on his bed, and opened his Charms book. "Ah, look. I know this one! Define Gubraithian fire. Easy enough.."
He got a quill and some ink and began writing, speaking out loud with every word he wrote.
"Gubrathian--fire--is--also--called--everlasting--fire--because--it--lasts--as--long--as--one--desires. There. That should do. I hope."
"Are you required to write in complete sentences?" asked Albus. He had a shrewd idea why Harry would know what Gubrathian fire is, but decided not to comment while Tom was around.
"Yes, Professor Flitwick likes that," said Harry, looking at another question and flipping through his book.
There was silence for quite some time. Harry didn't need much help until he got to Potions, and ended up accidentally ripping one of the pages out of the book with frustration.
Finally, it was afternoon when Harry got finished, and Tom was complaining again.
"I'm hungry!"
So the three went back downstairs and Harry told him to find something himself.
Tom did just that and Albus and Harry ate a little something else. Aunt Petunia came inside the house around this time and began suspiciously staring at Albus.
"Err...Harry," whispered Albus out of the corner of his mouth. "Your Aunt's staring at me."
"She must find you attractive," joked Harry. "Alright, alright, just kidding," he added quickly, as Albus looked at him sharply. "Let's go back upstairs."
"I'm not done eating!" said Tom loudly.
"Then finish. We'll be upstairs, okay?" Albus said quietly.
Tom said nothing, he merely stuffed his face with more food. 'He's getting worse than Dudley,' thought Harry with a snort. 'He's got to have a high metabolism. Great, now I'm sounding like Aunt Petunia!'
Albus and Harry went upstairs, and as soon as Harry closed the door, Albus began speaking.
"Harry, I've been thinking about this spell lately," he said. "I'm sure you have been too. But time's running out, it's getting toward the middle of August."
"I've been worried about that too," said Harry quietly. "Surely we can figure it out before term starts?"
Albus said nothing for a few moments. "I've gotten no word on exactly how we can turn ourselves back, as you know. There's no telling how long it will take."
Harry fiddled absentmindedly with his bedsheet.
"Maybe there's a way that we can turn just you back," he whispered. "And keep Tom a sixteen-year-old."
"Tom wouldn't like that very much, would he?"
"But, I mean, you don't care! And neither do I! He's Lord Voldemort!"
"I know, Harry," he said heavily. "But this spell may require all those affected by it to be present and willing when we are turned back--"
The door opened, and Tom came in with a burp.
"Excuse you," said Harry, glaring.
Tom chose to ignore that comment.
For hours, everyone actually sat in silence, until Tom found a bouncy-ball and began bouncing it against Harry's bedroom door.
"I'm bored," he said.
"Welcome to my life at the Dursleys', Tom," Harry mumbled.
Tom shrugged. "I can see why you stay at Hogwarts on the holidays--"
"How'd you know I always stay at Hogwarts for the holidays?"
Tom gave a bark-like laugh. "You forget. I'm Lord Voldemort. I know everything."
"That's the cocky attitude that will be your downfall," snarled Harry.
"Downfall? There will be no downfall for me..."
Harry's teeth clenched and Albus gave him a look of warning.
"Nobody wants to argue with you today, Tom. So do us all a favor and bounce your stupid ball and keep your mouth shut," whispered Albus. It wasn't a threat, it was a statement. Albeit a very forceful statement.
Tom snarled but said nothing.
Harry was tired of Tom. He wished he could push him into the street and hope he got hit by a car...but no, that would be killing him, and this stupid spell may need everyone alive. He punched his pillow and threw it, hitting Tom in the head.
"What was that for?" he shouted.
"For being an idiot," he said bluntly.
Tom picked up the pillow and threw it at Harry, trying to hit him, but Harry caught it.
For a few minutes, Albus was relaxing in his chair and Harry was staring at the window, listening to Tom's bouncy-ball hit the door over and over again, when his Aunt called his name.
"Harry Potter! Get down here and clean up this mess!"
Harry, a bit bewildered as to what mess she was talking about, crossed over to the door, where Tom hit him in the back with that wretched bouncy-ball. Harry turned and made quite a rude hand gesture at him, involving a certain middle finger, and Tom blinked.
"No, thanks."
Harry winced. "Ugh, that's not what I was--" he shook his head, "--stupid, sick, nasty pervert..."
He slammed the door shut behind him, and Tom laughed.
"Shhh...trying to doze..." mumbled Albus, who had not seen the scene.
Tom raised an eyebrow at him and continued with his bouncy-ball.
Downstairs, Harry came and saw an angry Aunt Petunia and a table covered with wrappers of all kinds of food.
"Who did that?" he asked.
"What do you mean, 'who did that'?" she asked angrily. "One of you!"
"Tom," he muttered, shaking his head. "I'll clean it up," he sighed.
"Good. It better not happen again!"
"Right.."
She left and Harry began binning stuff, and it took him a good ten minutes to scrub the table from yogurt and other foods spilt upon it. 'That perverted freak,' he thought savagely. 'He's probably up there laughing his stupid head off...'
When he finished, he stomped upstairs and threw the door open. Tom was lying in a relaxed position in the floor, and Albus was still dozing. Harry walked over and stepped on Tom's stomach.
Tom coughed. "Watch where you're going--!"
"Shut up," snarled Harry. "You think it's funny to mess up the table? Huh? You think it's funny for me to clean it? Do you?"
Tom scratched his head and looked like he was seriously thinking about it.
Harry buried his face in his hands and shut the door, collapsing on the bed.
"Look, you hate me and I hate you. But please, don't mess up the table. It's a pain to clean, and Dudley goes and messes it up again."
Tom blinked. Did he just say 'please'? "Errr....fine then."
Albus had woken up from his doze when Tom cleared his throat.
"Are you finally getting along just a slight bit?" he asked.
"No," said Harry and Tom simultaneously.
Albus shrugged. He had some more dozing to catch up on. Why did he ask such a stupid question? Of course, the day Harry Potter and Voldemort got along would be the day Hell froze over.