Chapter Text
Tom sighed and closed the book he had opened with a loud thud, and then tossed it to the rest of the pile of scattered books around his bed.
He had stayed up all night researching soul magic and soul bonds...but unfortunately, the texts on soul magic in the wizarding world were, at the time still very vague and limited, particularly because the subject was so taboo. And of course, dear readers, the year was still 1945...Tom couldn’t exactly Google “why do I feel a pulling sensation when I touch a cute twink” like we can nowadays. Sadly, he was not getting anywhere with his research, and he yanked at his curly hair in a rare display of frustration.
But Tom was nothing if not resourceful. In the last chapter, when Abraxas Malfoy showed up with all his devastating Taylor Swift “Bad Blood” MV energy, Tom had also asked Abraxas for books regarding soul magic. He knew that the library in the Malfoy Manor was huge and probably had some books on the subject.
Tom was also getting fed up with his job at Borgin and Burkes. The nerve some people had to come by with the most meaningless wares and artifacts. Rubbish, pure rubbish it was. Old rusted trinkets and broken talismans...nothing worthy of holding a piece of his soul. A piece of the heir of Slytherin’s soul.
That reminded him...he hadn’t visited the cave in a while. He missed his Inferi...they were basically like pets to him. How much he’d like to turn Burke into an Inferius...his old creepy boss was getting on his nerves. The sadistic thought brought a dimpled smile to Tom’s face. Burke, his skin and eyes a cloudy white as he seeped into the murky waters inside the cave to join his brethren… it was a happy thought that kept him going whenever Burke ordered him around the shop.
Now that he’d thought about it, the cave was also an ideal place to keep Harry. It was so far away and remote, Tom thought, no one could access it easily or come and find the boy… if Harry ever tried to leave him, or didn’t want to be his anymore, Tom would keep him in the island in the middle of the cave’s lake, and he’d tie him up and keep him there forever by Tom’s side.
Because Tom was never letting Harry go. He was never going to let Harry go, not when Harry’s touch soothed his fractured soul and breathed life into it like he’d never felt before, not even when his soul was whole.
For a moment, then, Tom wondered about the boy. He wouldn’t like getting tied up or held hostage by Tom, surely… it might even hurt him. And that thought made Tom frown. He didn’t want to hurt Harry, surely...but he wanted to have him. Keep him close, forever.
But what if Harry didn’t want to stay with him forever? What would Tom do, then? Force him against his will?
Yes.
Tom’s eyes closed.
But I don’t want to hurt him.
“ Massster …” a little voice hissed, “ You look worried …”
Tom’s new pet snake curled around his ankle, its wonderful deep green scales shining in the dim light. He had named his new forest-green snake Uloopi. Despite his disdain for muggle religion, Tom had an interest in the way worshippers of Hinduism respected snakes, and acknowledged their spiritual significance… he liked choosing Sanskrit names for his snakes. This snake, Uloopi, was named after the Hindu mythological half-snake, half-human princess. He petted her head and replied, “There’s nothing to worry about.” Uloopi flicked her forked tongue out and tasted the air.
“ Fear ,” she hissed. “ Worry...you are worried, massster…” She hugged her little body around his ankle in a way that was meant to be reassuring, but it really just kind of squeezed his ankle.
“ Isss it….about that boy human? The almossst-naked one who wassss here a few daysss ago? ” Uloopi asked.
Tom looked down at his apparently very observant snake, startled. “ Were you...watching? ” he asked nervously, fearing the worst.
Uloopi looked up at him with a stare that said ‘bitch, are you serious?’ Or as much as a snake’s small face could emote. “ ...I wasss not watching closssely, but I could not help but hear…I went and ssslithered to the closssset to hide... ”
Tom sighed, visibly relieved that his pet hadn’t watched him get a blowjob. “ Thank Sssalazar ...”
Uloopi made a little hissing noise that might have been laughter. Then, she asked tentatively, “ Isss he...your mate, masssster? ”
Tom immediately scowled down at his snake. “ Don’t be ridiculoussss. I am not an animal to require a life-long mate. He is sssimply my …” But what was Harry, to Tom? They were dating, obviously, but that label - boyfriend - didn’t feel right to describe all that Harry was. Because Harry was so much more than that. “ Ugh ,” Tom sighed, “ I...I don’t know.”
“ Foolisssh human boysss ,” Uloopi said, sounding exasperated. “ He matesss you and yet you ssstill think he isssn’t your mate… ”
Wait, what? Tom felt his face flush. “ Wait a minute ,” he said quickly, “ We haven’t mated yet - technically - and if we were to mate, I would be the one mating him, not the other way around .”
Uloopi hissed in annoyance, flicking her tail over Tom’s shoe. “ Fine ... You are courting him, are you not? You are mating him, are you not? Ssso...you two are matesss…duh.”
Tom didn’t know it was possible to get offended by a rather disdainful snake. “ It’sss not that sssimple ,” he argued.
“ Yesss it isss ,” she argued back. “ Humansss are animalsss too, after all… ” Then, she slithered through a hole in the wall to go look for mice.
____
Harry Potter was ecstatic.
Because Operation-Traveling-Back-In-Time-To-Save-Tom-Riddle™ was turning out to be a success!
Seducing Tom had been a great first step. Ever since the first time Harry had given him a blowjob in his apartment, their trysts had been more frequent...even if they had not technically done the deed, let’s just say that there was a lot of humping and blow jobs involved, that usually ended in a few minutes because they were two teenage boys who had way too much pent up sexual frustration.
Surely but slowly, he’d get closer to Tom. He was earning the older boy’s trust, with their apparent soul connection. It was perfect, the perfect plan…
As soon as Harry entered Tom’s apartment, the older boy pushed him against the wall and pinned his hips down. Harry intertwined his fingers in Tom’s hair and pulled at the soft curls as he led him into a rough kiss, and only stopped when he heard a faint hissing noise coming from the floor.
“ Foolisssh humansss… moaning ssso loudly that all the neighborsss will overhear...tsssk tsssk tsssk .”
Harry froze, glancing down. “You….have a pet snake?” he asked Tom nervously. Mentally, Harry was freaking out. Please let it not be Nagini, please let it not be Nagini -
“Oh...yeah,” Tom said, swallowing a little. “I swear she doesn’t bite,” he said, thinking that Harry was visibly worried because he was afraid of snakes. “Her name’s Uloopi,” he continued. “Er, do you...want to meet her?”
“Sure,” Harry said, looking down on the floor behind Tom’s shoulder. Sure enough, a small forest-green snake was curled around one of the bedposts, watching them closely with beady eyes. “I...like snakes, actually.”
“Me too!” Tom gushed a little, “I...I always found them to be fascinating creatures.” He reached out for Uloopi and picked her up easily. The little snake coiled around his fingers, and when he lifted her up to meet Harry, she flicked her tongue out and tasted the air.
“ Lussst...he likesss you very much, massster… ” Uloopi hissed, looking at Harry. “ He wantsss you to mate him, I’m sssure …”
Harry turned bright red, spluttering a little. “No I don’t! I swear!” he squeaked.
It was only when he turned to look at Tom that Harry realized he’d made a big, big mistake.
Because he hadn’t said those last words in English…
He’d said them in Parseltongue.