Alright another piece of this story. There is a significant time difference between this one and the wand part. This one takes place after Hogwarts. At this point Tom and Harry have become something like friends. Harry has tried to kill Tom quite a number of times, but it never worked out and he found himself drawn into the group around him (partly also because he needed more opportunities to kill Tom), at this point he is more or less resigned to the fact that he won't be able to Kill Tom, it was not a revelation he was happy about. He also tried to actually have a life in the past - tried dating a number of times, but it never quite worked out. At this point of time he started thinking of himself as Harold, also partly because he is not happy with the person he is at this point. He did however also make some genuine friends that are not Tom Riddle, chief among them Cygnus Black.

Chapter 3: Walking down a dark road

Harold absentmindedly played with his wand as he sat on a creaky chair in front of the counter of Borgin and Burkes and watched as Tom organized new artifacts on the shelves.

"It's strange isn't it?"

Tom stopped his perusal and looked at Harold, who was staring out of the dirty window with a faraway look on his face.

"What is strange Harold?"

The other wizard grinned uncharacteristically and Tom stared at him in surprise.

"How time flies after Hogwarts. It seemed like it was just yesterday that we graduated, even when I know that yesterday was the day I broke up with Marlene."

Again Tom was caught by surprise at the other wizards words.

"I thought you were happy?"

Harold chuckled.

"I thought so, but apparently she didn't."

He turned towards Tom with a look of clear outrage on his face.

"She told me that as long as I preferred the company of other men over hers there was no way they could have a working relationship."

Harold scoffed at the memory of his ex-lovers little speech. He had no idea where the woman had gotten the idea that he was cheating on her from.

Maybe he and Tom clicked in a way he had never clicked with Ron, Hermione or even Ginny, but next to that one kiss, nothing even slightly sexual had ever happened between them, and that had been before Marlene and Harold had gotten together. He was aware of the fact that he was attracted to men as well as women and that it was frowned on rather heavily in this time, but he had truly liked Marlene. Not quite loved her, but he had liked her, even though she had been different from Ginny, who had been the first woman, or maybe girl he had ever loved. In the end it made no difference what he had felt or even not felt towards her.

Marlene had accused him of sleeping around and clearly preferring the company of men over her own, though. Alone the fact that the woman thought him to be the type of person who would cheat on someone, had been insult and reason enough to end the relationship between them, a relationship could not work without a level of trust after all.

Harold looked at Tom again, who while seemingly pleased at the end of the relationship, had always been uncomfortable when it came to such topics.

"You were?"

"Of course not!"

Tom nodded.

"But she did not believe me. She brought up Cygnus and then you…"

Harold trailed off.

"I think she wanted me to say that I was not going to visit you again."

The other wizards hand clenched and Harold watched fascinated as the magic around Tom seemed to vibrate.

"I will be leaving for my travels soon."

Harold was throughout startled by this rather abrupt change of topic and looked towards the dark wizard, who pointedly seemed to be looking anywhere but at him. For a moment he wondered if this was Tom's way of giving him hope for his relationship, but then brushed the idea aside. Tom had never liked Marlene.

"The route you consider during seventh year?"

A jerky nod was his response and Harold hummed quietly.

He remembered Tom spending a lot of time in the library and listing various magical places that he wanted to visit, some of them were considered to be so dangerous that the authorities required the wizard's or witch's confirmation that they were willing to travel there and that they would not request help from the government should they find themselves in trouble. Lawless places.

"You have finished your healing apprenticeship, haven't you Harold?"

The wizard in question nodded in agreement.

"With honors." He was well aware of the fact that he sounded smug. Sometimes he thought about how his old friend would react to his career choice, but he never allowed himself to think about it for too long. Nothing good would come of it... and with the way things were going, the way history was progressing... It was not something he wanted to think about.

Tom chuckled and waved his wand, sending a number of glass vials to the top of the shelf. Harolds eyes unwillingly tracked the movement.

"What are you planning to do now?"

Harold shrugged.

"Work I suppose. I have saved enough money, but I really have no plans. Healing interested me, because…"

He trailed off without finishing the sentence. Tom looked at him questioningly, but did not pry further, just as Harold would not pry when Tom mentioned his childhood on the orphanage. Those were simply not topics that they discussed. They valued their privacy and secrets. Harold had wanted to learn how to heal, because the only thing he had ever learned had been fighting. The rest of his studies had taken a backseat due to the threat of the Dark Lord. He knew how to do considerable damage, more so now than before, but when he had stood in the ruins of Hogwarts, the Dark Lord finally dead, the reparations had begun and the wounded had to be treated he had felt terribly useless for a moment. When Slughorn had asked him on his career plans… catching up on herbology had been hard, but it had been worth it. (He had been indirectly responsible for the Dark Lord's death. The Dark Lord that...)

"Well I wanted to learn it."

Tom nodded and stayed silent for a moment as he watched the other wizards whose eyes had gone dark, clouded by painful memories.

"You were the only one who never asked me why I started working here."

Tom made a sweeping gesture indicating the dusty little shop. Harold laughed.

"Well, your plans." Here he gave the other wizard a look. "Were obvious. I guess they expected you to work for the ministry… as if you would ever take orders from such ridiculous people… This on the other hand…"

Harold imitated Toms gesture.

"I guess you wanted to know the clientele that would probably support your… actions in the future and forge connections. Most of your… friends will hold positions of authority in the ministry, so that part is covered."

Harold stopped for a moment and Tom nodded in acknowledgment.

"Quite."

For a moment Harold hesitated, but in the end decided that there was no use pretending. Harold turned on his seat flicked his wand and something shot out of Toms robe pocket. Riddle went for his wand as well, but Harold simply laughed, making the locket dance in the air between them.

"And then there is Hephzibath Smith… Isn't that right, Tom Marvolo Riddle, heir to Salazar Slytherin?"

The dim light of the locked reflected of the locket, making the curved 'S' shine.

Toms eyes were cold.

"How did you know?"

Harold smiled and the locked returned to Toms pocked.

"Of your status?"

"Don't play dumb Harold, it doesn't suit you."

Said wizard gave a bitter smile, remembering a rather dour potions master, who was not born yet, and whose opinion would have differed greatly. As had the future Dark Lord's.

"The house elf had been under the imperius curse… I saw you in it's mind."

Tom did not relax, instead he gripped his wand even tighter.

"When will the aurors be here?"

Harold blinked and twirled his wand between his fingers.

"They would never pay attention to a lowly house elf."

Silence reigned between them, it was Tom who finally broke it with a chuckle and a shake of his head. He sounded almost fond.

"Only you Harold."

Harold smiled. He would not tell Tom that he had played with the idea of going to the aurors and thus change time… he didn't even know why he had decided against it in the end.

"I will be leaving before the week is over."

The time traveler looked at his companion and nodded slowly, slightly startled by the change to their previous topic.

"I see."

"I want you to come with me."

This surprised Harold and it was obvious to everyone who would have been watching. He jerked out of his slouched position and looked at Tom with big eyes, blink rather disbelievingly.

"Why?"

For a moment the heir of Slytherin seemed vaguely uncomfortable, but then his emotions disappeared behind a mask again.

"Healing practices are different around the world, I am sure you would learn a lot."

Harold stared at him, as if searching for something. He found what he was looking for in the way Tom's eyes seemed to evade his own and in the iron grip the other wizard had on his wand. Then he smiled slowly.

"Mhm, it sounds like a good idea…"

Tom smiled and Harold rolled his eyes.

"I would miss you too Tom."

The wizard jerked around at him and nearly lost control of the small case he was floating. Then he glared at Harold who ignored him and simply smiled. He wondered what Marlene would think about this turn of events.

It was kind of like Harold was proving her accusations to be true, but in the end it made no difference. Tom was Tom, and he was special. Whether in a good, or in a bad way.

"With whom would I have such enlightening conversations if you were gone after all?"

Tom stared at him before turning towards his work again. He ignored Harold for the moment, just as Harold ignored the small smile on Tom's face.

Harold sigh and leaned against the counter. His mind was whirling, flickering from one through to the next. He wondered what the following years would bring. He knew, that Tom Riddle had delved into the dark arts during his travels and he knew, what the name Harold Evans had been associated with in the future.

He also remembered the books he had hidden in his moleskin pouch. The ones he had taken from the Room of Requirement. The art of Necromancy.

It seemed like the time had come.

"When do we leave?"

Tell me what you think?

I hope to fill in the Hogwarts years one day.