The summer before Harry's second year at Hogwarts had certainly not been his favorite. Besides being harassed by a house elf that was stealing his letters from his friends, he'd also been unfortunate enough to run into Draco and his father while shopping for books at Diagon Alley with the Weasley family. Lucius, thinking he was very clever, started an argument with Arthur Weasley and attempted to slip a book into Ginny's pile while she was distracted. Years of being forced into the background, however, had made Harry very observant and he noticed the slight of hand right away. Once Lucius and his annoying spawn took their leave, Harry carefully slipped the book into his own pile.

Later that evening after everyone had gone to bed, Harry decided to inspect the book that Lucius had been so intent on giving Ginny. It was black with bronze corners and Harry deduced that it was a Journal after seeing 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' inscribed on the front cover. Despite its plain appearance, Harry opened the book with hesitation. Nothing coming from Malfoy could possibly be good, he figured.

The pages were slightly orange tinted due to age, but other than that there wasn't a mark to be found inside the book. After staring at it for a good while and debating with himself, Harry dipped his quill in an inkpot and started writing.

'My name is Harry Potter.'

To Harry's surprise, the ink soaked into the paper and left no sign that it had been there to begin with. To Harry's even greater surprise, the book began to write back!

'Hello Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle.'

Harry watched as the elegant handwriting began to fade. Why had Malfoy given Ginny a talking book? Who was Tom Riddle? He decided that the only way to find the answers to his questions was to ask Mr. Riddle himself.

'Lovely to meet you Tom. May I ask how you came to be in a book?' He was talking to an inanimate object, but Harry saw no reason not to be polite.

'A series of circumstances lead to my being stuck in here. I will say that I came to be in this book entirely of my own volition. How old are you, Harry Potter?'

Harry was no fool. It was obvious that Tom was skirting around his question.

'I'm twelve. I just turned twelve, in fact. I'll be returning to Hogwarts for my second year in a few days.'

'I go to Hogwarts as well Harry. Or, I did. Can you tell me what year it is?'

'It's 1992.' Harry paused and waited for Tom to respond.

'Ah… Then I've been in here a great while. It was 1943 when I put myself in this journal.' Harry raised his eyebrows as the page went back to being blank. So not only was Tom a person stuck in a book, but he had been there for 50 years or so. Harry couldn't imagine what that must feel like.

'Are you okay Tom? It can't have been easy being in there all this time…' Harry really did feel for the other boy. He knew how it felt to be stuck and alone.

'Thank you for your concern, but for me it feels as if no time has passed. When I did the ritual to put myself here I made sure that I would sleep when the book is closed. I didn't fancy the idea of eternal loneliness.' Harry thought that was probably smart. But it brought up another question.

'Why would you want to be in a book in the first place?'

'I'm sorry Harry, but this is the most interaction I've had in a long time and it's made me quite tired. Can I sleep a while?' Harry scowled at the book. Tom was actively avoiding any and all questions regarding him being in a journal. He considered the fact that Tom Riddles journal was in his possession and not going anywhere, so he decided not to press the issue. Harry had all the time in the world to get more answers.

'Sure, we can talk more tomorrow if you're up to it. Goodnight Tom.'

'Goodnight Harry. I look forward to getting to know you.'

With that Harry carefully closed the book and began to think over the conversation. Nothing about Tom or the journal seemed dangerous outright. He couldn't yet think of any reason as to why Lucius Malfoy would want Ginny to have it. Since Tom obviously didn't want to talk about his reasons for locking himself away, Harry decided that he would have to word his questions very carefully next time in hopes of discovering more.

Harry blew out his lantern and went to sleep in the bed next to Ron's. He wouldn't remember it when he woke up the next morning, but he had a dream about a tall brunette boy with stunning amber eyes…

AN- Sorry for the short first chapter! I just really wanted to push this out while the idea was fresh in my mind. I've read other stories where Harry gets ahold of Tom's journal, but they always end up having some sort of time travel involved and I'm not a huge fan of that. I'm personally interested in how Harry's life would have changed had he kept Tom's journal instead of destroying it. If you're curious as well, stay tuned(: I have a lot of time on my hands right now so I plan on pumping chapters out pretty quickly!