What Do We Fight For?

A/N: What's this? An update? I know, I'm as surprised as you. Still, I thought writing this chapter might help me to get back into this story and well, I guess we'll see if it worked.

Either way, this is a relatively short chapter because I want to plan things out a bit more before I move on too much with the plot. But I figured I'd waited long enough for an update so here it is…

And thank you everyone for all the support, I read all of the reviews and it means a lot to know people are reading and enjoying the story.

Enjoy… And try not to be too disappointed - The confrontation is very anti-climatic

Chapter 8:

And so he entered the snake pit with barely a second thought. Apparently he could still be as rash

as his Gryffindor roots suggested.

"Shut the door."

Harry stared for a second before deliberately pushing the door as gently as he could manage, so it took a good five seconds before his escape root was successfully closed off.

Slowly Harry turned back to Riddle who was sitting lazily on the bed, staring at him through sharp eyes whose darkness seemed to suck everything around him inside them like voids. It was fitting in a way, the eyes were the window to the soul and Tom Riddle's soul was decidedly broken.

"What?" Harry finally asked after a minute of tense silence.

A slow, predatory like smile curled at Riddle's lips. "Did you know your parents Harry?"

Whatever Harry had been expecting, that had not been on the list. "Why?" He asked suspiciously, regarding the wizard with caution.

"Just answer the question." That infuriating smirk was still on Riddle's lips and Harry resisted the urge to scowl at him.

"Kind of." He replied with a shrug, his lip curling slightly at the corner.

Narrowed eyes was the response to this and Riddle stared at him unblinkingly for a few seconds, "Where are they now?"

"They don't exist." Harry flashed his own amused smirk at his words.

"So they're dead." If Riddle thought anything of his strange wording he didn't say so, perhaps he was simply getting used to Harry's odd answers.

"If you want to be morbid about it."

Riddle peered at the young boy thoughtfully, leaning forward slightly as though trying to get a closer look at Harry. As though he was trying to pierce through Harry's skin and find what was really on the underneath. "What do you remember about your parents?"

Harry was definitely starting to feel suspicious, what exactly was Riddle's objective here? Surely he couldn't be that interested in Harry's parents unless… Harry narrowed his eyes.

"If there's a point to this conversation, reach it."

Riddle raised an eyebrow, "You should know Harry, that I don't take kindly to being told what to do. Not by anyone. Not by you."

"Oh? Does the great Tom Riddle think himself too superior to respond to us ordinary people?" Harry mocked, taking a sadistic pleasure in the anger that flickered through his dark eyes. "I suppose you'll want us kissing your feet next?"

While Harry was sure that Riddle wanted to retort, he seemed to push the comment aside, more important things on his mind. "Let me ask you a question Harry… Do you know what you are?"

So here they were, Harry thought, Riddle knew. That didn't mean he had to cooperate of course. "I believe I am a human male…" He pretended to think about it, "Last time I checked anyway."

Riddle's lips curled into a sneer, "Enough with the vague answers and obvious responses, I know what you are."

"Then you hardly need to ask me." Harry pointed out.

Riddle seemed to release a breath of anger. "You are infuriating. Enough pretending. You're different - just like me."

Harry merely stared, unsure just how to go about responding to his comment. In one swift movement Riddle had stood from his bed and was in front of Harry, his figure towering over him.

Tilting his head up Harry just looked at the taller boy.

His move.

"You don't need to hide from me any longer. In fact, you're not going to." Riddle's voice had calmed down to a pleasant tone.

So apparently now was the time to play the naive, 'just discovered he's a wizard' card. Harry took a second to think ahead because while he could do that, he could also not. He just had to work out which one would be the most entertaining.

"Prove it." He said finally and by the brief flash of surprise in Riddle's eyes, it definitely wasn't the response he had been expecting, "That you're…" Harry cocked his head to the side, "Different."

Well aware that there was only so much Riddle could do without the Ministry baring down on him, Harry waited expectantly, a small smirk on his face. Frustration flickered through the other wizard's gaze and he cast his eyes about for inspiration.

Finally Riddle started to stride purposely towards the door, "Wait here."

Then he was gone leaving Harry staring at a closed door blankly. Had Riddle really just left him in his room? Alone?

Mind you, there wasn't exactly much he could do - but not about to let an opportunity to go to waste, Harry decided to briefly look for the book.

Apparently Riddle had learnt from his mistake as the book was not on his bedside stand this time. There weren't many remaining places it could be hidden however and after briefly scanning under the bed, he moved on to the cupboard.

There were some muggle clothes along with several robes hanging neatly in the space but Harry ignored them. There were also various boxes slotted in along with a suitcase Harry assumed was prepared for Hogwarts.

Taking a random guess he grabbed a box and as he was sliding it out, something fell from on top of it, hitting the floor. Pausing in his action, Harry stopped trying to get the box out and bent down to pick up the object.

It was a book, not the one he was looking for mind you but it was still strikingly familiar. 'T.M. Riddle' was inscribed in gold, unfaded unlike what he remembered and Harry gingerly turned it over in his hands. Struck with a sudden impulse, Harry quickly opened the door and made his way to his own room. Slipping the diary under his pillow Harry then hurriedly entered Riddle's room once again, proceeding to close the door behind him.

Going back to the cupboard Harry considered where to look first, before he could do anything more however, he heard someone walking on the wooden floor outside. Whether it was Riddle or not he'd find out in a second but not willing to risk being caught snooping through his stuff if it was, Harry immediately closed the cupboard and sat down on the bed.

Not a second too soon as Riddle suddenly entered. His dark eyes instantly went to Harry before scanning the room for anything out of place. Apparently satisfied Riddle then proceeded to sit on the wooden chair.

It took a second for Harry to notice and when he did, he could only raise his eyebrows. In Riddle's hands he, almost gently, held a tiny grass snake. "Is this your proof?" Harry asked unimpressed though he had a pretty good idea as to what Riddle was planning to do.

Riddle merely silenced Harry with a look. "What do you want her to do?"

"I don't know, dance?" Harry suggested with a shrug.

"Dance?" Riddle repeated blankly, an odd look on his face.

"What?" Harry asked defensively before allowing a sly smirk to make it's way onto his face, "Fine, ask her to spy on Mrs Cole."

Without changing his expression, Riddle hissed to the snake, unaware that Harry could understand perfectly what he was saying.

The little grass snake disappeared under the door and Tom leaned back, eyeing Harry speculatively. For several minutes there was nothing but silence between the two, neither seemingly wanting to break it.

Then she was back and hissing to Tom who relayed in to Harry. "She's currently drowning her sorrows in a bottle of gin reading a romance novel." Tom repeated, a look of disgust in his eyes.

"Anyone could have guessed that."

Tom looked at Harry in annoyance and he finally relented with a smirk, "Fine, I believe you. After all, anyone weird enough to pretend to talk to snakes is definitely different."

If Tom could have crucioed him then and there, Harry imagined he would have. Instead he chose to 'ignore' Harry's comment and command the snake to leave.

After a few seconds of silence, Riddle spoke up once more. "Tell me Harry, from what you remember, were your parents like you?"

For a moment Harry was confused as to why Riddle was so bothered but then it hit him. After all, Riddle was all about 'pure' blood… despite not being one himself of course. A fact that still amused Harry today.

"Oh no." Harry said, almost gleefully, "They were completely normal." A lie but if it made things more interesting who was he to complain?

Something flashed through Riddle's eyes, but it was gone so quickly that Harry was almost convinced it hadn't happened at all.

"You're sure of that fact?" Riddle questioned, a clam expression on his face.

"Never been more sure of anything." Harry replied cheerfully, ignoring the suspicion in Riddle's gaze.

Riddle hummed thoughtfully and he seemed to be thinking about something or another. Just what was running through his head however, Harry had no clue.

"Leave." Riddle suddenly said, his tone leaving no room for argument. Not that Harry cared about that.

"And here I thought we were becoming friends." Harry said with a sigh, getting to his feet and grinning when Riddle narrowed his eyes in response. "Alright, I'm going." He said, raising his arms in mock surrender before exiting the room.

Why had he found that so fun? Maybe because whatever sense of self-preservation he'd once held, and lets face it, that wasn't much, had been destroyed long ago. Now he'd gladly take whatever thrill he could find in a very Gryffindor fashion… he guessed some things you just couldn't change. Only now… If he threw himself into dangerous situations it wasn't because he was brave, it was because he was bored. And he didn't have any self preservation because he wanted to die.

He had started to think he was more Slytherin than anything else but Harry had realised that he wasn't so easily characterised by a house. No one was. He had and lacked qualities from all four houses, as did everyone else.

Gryffindor or Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. No one fit exactly into one and that was an important lesson he had leant over the years. Don't let the house define the person.

Unfortunately, he didn't care enough to try and change how things worked… Didn't want to even try.

Back in his room Riddle stared thoughtfully at the door through which Harry Potter had just exited. He'd expected their little confrontation to answer his questions, not raise more. The child truly threw him off his game. There had been so many things wrong with their encounter… for one, not once had Potter asked just what they were. Neither had he seemed remotely interested or surprised that Tom was the same as him. He hadn't even asked any questions.

It was as if he already knew that he was a wizard. But if the boy was to be believed in that he was a mudblood then that would make no sense. So maybe he was lying. But why?

Tom's lips curled into a sneer. He'd have to try something else if he wanted to unravel the oddity that was Harry Potter.

But Tom found that maybe, he didn't mind.

A/N: I'm hoping to increase the lengths of any future chapters. But honestly, I'm not going to try and squeeze extra content in that would seem irrelevant. The chapters fall how they fall and will end at points that seem to fit.

But I hope you liked the chapter, thanks for reading.