To Kill You With a Kiss

Chapter 17

"Well, I'd better take off, then..." Draco glanced uncertainly at Harry and Tom. It was dark now, but Harry could make out the faces of his companions in the soft golden light from the street lamp. Draco Malfoy and Tom Riddle. Standing outside Number Four, Privet Drive on a lovely spring evening, talking to Harry Potter. Perhaps this is a dream after all?

Harry shook off the odd feeling of unreality and grabbed Draco firmly by the arm. "Oh no, you are not leaving without us, Malfoy. You can't just dump me here - here, of all places, and just disappear. We are coming back to Malfoy Manor with you."

Draco sighed. "Don't be an idiot, Potter. My aunt fired a killing curse at you, and you want to go back? You are really pushing that "Boy-Who-Lived" thing a little too far, aren't you? Just because you survived the killing curse once doesn't mean you'll do it every bloody time, you moron."

"Draco has a point, Harry." Tom's voice was soft. "The boy has more sense than I thought. It would be the height of folly to go back to Malfoy Manor now, Harry. Better stay here with your family for a while, where you can be safe."

"Safe?" Harry glared at him. "You've never met my aunt and uncle, Tom. I suppose their house is safe, in a manner of speaking, but it's the sort of safety that makes you want to run out and flag down the nearest dementor out of sheer desperation. And besides, I need to talk to Voldemort!"

"But.. but I thought he is the Dark Lord..." Draco gestured vaguely in Tom's direction. "That's what Grandfather said, and the house elf, too. But... No, that can't be right either; they were both there at the same time, he and the Dark Lord. How could they both be there if they are the same person?"

Harry almost felt sorry for Draco. "Yes, I know; it's a little hard to grasp. But if you hadn't been in such a hurry to save my life, you might have noticed that Voldemort - the other one - was talking to me back at Malfoy Manor, not firing killing curses at me like your aunt. And we did not get a chance to finish our conversation."

Tom smiled slightly. "Hm. I do expect that my future self will be very annoyed by... Bellatrix, was it? I wonder why she went against the explicit commands of the Dark Lord? Surely she must know that I will not be pleased."

"Your future self-?" Draco rubbed his hands against his temples. "Okay, now I'm really getting a headache. Why did my crazed aunt fire the killing curse at Harry even though he... you... told her not to? Because she's bloody insane, that's why. Unlike all the other death eaters, she doesn't serve the Dark Lord out of fear; she is actually, well, in love with him, I suppose. Always has been, from the beginning. At least, that's what Mother told me."

"She's in love with me?" Tom made a face. "Merlin help us..."

A ghost of a smile brushed across Draco's pale features. "And I have to admit, Harry, that although I didn't understand what you and the Dark Lord were saying to each other, it sounded rather suggestive. Almost... ahem... erotic, in a strange way. She was probably jealous as all hell. She doesn't want to share the Dark Lord with anybody."

A golden rectangle of light fell over the darkened driveway as the front door of Number Four, Privet Drive opened, and an enormous mustached man peered out into the night. "Hello? Who's there?" Uncle Vernon's voice was gruff, but the moment his glance fell on Draco Malfoy, Harry observed his uncle's pudgy face undergo a singular transformation.

Uncle Vernon gazed at Draco's haughty pale face and expensive clothes with something almost akin to...approval? Respect? Longing? Instead of the fierce growl Harry was expecting, Uncle Vernon emitted a strange unfamiliar sound that sounded almost like a purr. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Good evening, sir," said Draco pleasantly. "I was merely accompanying Harry and... and..." He looked hesitantly at Tom, as if uncertain how to name him.