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22/07/2025 - 14/09/2025

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Using Silencio to keep from making any noise, Tom Riddle had just returned to the Slytherin dormitory after a night out to find Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk, which ended in another failure, but he was a patient person so he definitely wouldn't be easily discouraged and would wait for the next time.

Opening his room door, he saw Nagini still sleeping soundly in the nest he had secretly hidden under the wardrobe, preparing to lie down to sleep when he saw a strange green diary on his bed. Tom raised his eyebrows and took out his wand to check around, not feeling any signs of anyone breaking in, his sense of territory was very strong so if anyone sneaked into his bed, Tom Riddle would know immediately.

So where did it come from?

Tom Riddle immediately confirmed that this was not his diary, picked it up and looked at it carefully, the appearance was very elaborate and was bound in smooth green leather with neat stitching, no patterns or names engraved on the outside with a simple tie. He suddenly thought that maybe it was a new form of confession from a junior Slytherin? After all, it was almost Valentine's Day, and on this day every year Tom Riddle received a lot of chocolates, roses, and some other things, so it wouldn't be surprising if the confession gift was a diary.

It was best not to open it yet. He will ask the gang he temporarily considered his friends in the next few days.

    "If this is a confession, I'm sure you've caught the eye of a Ravenclaw lady, she even chose the right color for our house."

Evan Rosier nodded and guessed, because he didn't see him take the initiative to open the diary so he didn't do anything, and Nott suggested the possibility that it could be someone from their Slytherin house, after all, writing a diary was common among the females of all houses, at least excluding the first possibility of Gryffindor because they always wanted to stand out from the other houses in a rather vulgar way, something that Slytherin with the inherent nobility of the Pure Blood would not accept.

    "It's simple. Just open it and you'll know who it is, in return you can use it as a hostage for anyone who dares to break into the room of the famous Slytherin Prefect - Tom Riddle."

Abraxas Malfoy with his long platinum blonde hair walked by, conveniently listening to part of their conversation, so he added a harmless sentence but with the traditional wisdom of the Malfoy family, he smiled friendly and put the diary in his pocket.

    "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, for your advice."

It seemed that no one could be trusted, today was still a normal day at Hogwarts. It was a rare night when Tom Riddle temporarily stopped the idea of ​​​​finding the Chamber of Secrets and instead went to explore the diary that appeared out of nowhere. Pulling all three sides of the bed curtains and casting a spell to create a private space for himself, he put aside the thoughts of the worst that could happen and untied the string outside and opened it.

Unexpectedly, inside the notebook were blank pages without a single word, but he believed that it was not that simple. Then Tom looked more closely, his mind was suddenly drawn to the diary.

When Tom opened his eyes, the surrounding scene was still his room, the lights on the ceiling lit up a corner of the room along with the sound of running water, he didn't see Nagini anywhere but this time there was also the appearance of a person with platinum blonde hair and ash gray eyes standing next to him, at first he thought it was Abraxas but looking closely, except for the hair color, the face was somewhat similar to him and the arrogant attitude typical of the Malfoy family, there was still a little difference, the hair was neatly cut short and not long and tied, it was strange, could it be that the Malfoy family had an illegitimate child? He was about to open his mouth when the voice of that teenager rang out.

   “Tom! You left in the middle of night again, didn’t you? Don’t answer me, you’re just going to look like you didn’t do anything. Hurry up and change your clothes, Professor Slughorn doesn’t want his favorite student to be late.”

   “Oh, worried about me? Don’t be so impatient Draco, we’ll still make it, I’ll just miss my breakfast.”

Tom wanted to ask the person in front of him who he was but couldn’t say it, then heard himself answer like that, he realized he couldn’t control himself and was like an outsider who could only watch. He looked more closely at the two teenagers walking through the corridor to Potions class, the boy gave him a piece of bread to share from breakfast and he accepted it with a thank you, Tom followed, thinking as he walked, they both had the same last name Malfoy but his name was Draco, then he told him to stop staring, hurry up and take a seat. Tom - as a spirit witnessing what had just happened - was even more confused, but he could not control his body as he wished and it was as if everything was happening naturally.

Was it another world, or was it some memory he had forgotten?

They sat at the front desk, today the whole class was learning about the preparation of the Elixir of Happiness and this would be their test during the winter break, Professor Slughorn took out a bottle as an example of the color, effects and recommendations and prohibitions for using it in competitions like Quidditch if it was abused too much, then used magic to write the ingredients and the preparation steps on the board. After everything was done, the remaining free time was for the students to practice with each other.

Even if they tried to find the answer right now, it would probably be all uncertain hypotheses, so Tom remained silent, watching himself and Draco intently prepare the potion in the cauldron amidst the noise of the Gryffindor house.

    “Tom, when Felix Felicis is finished, what do you want to use it for?”

    “We’re not sure if we’ve succeeded yet, Mr. Malfoy. Didn’t you hear the Gryffindors complaining about how difficult it was and how one of them just exploded in his cauldron?”

    “Don’t provoke me, I can definitely do it because I’m excellent at it. This is my specialty.”

Tom shifted his gaze from the cauldron to Draco’s determined face and smiled. Every time he saw his arrogance and confidence, he felt at ease inside. As for Tom Riddle in his spirit form, he didn’t pay much attention to himself, instead he wondered why his “friends” were so natural with his existence, they let out his teasing and malicious words towards the Gryffindors that made them want to use magic to fight immediately.

But there was one thing in common between Tom and the version standing next to him: they were very attentively watching Draco put in the ingredients, adjust the temperature of the cauldron, and also asked him to write down the recipe on the parchment. Looking at the golden lights dancing in the cauldron, he smiled and turned to look at him.

     “See? I told you I could do it.”

From that moment on, Tom - an outsider - gradually paid more attention to Draco Malfoy, he really enjoyed his potion-making skills at such a young age.

The memory he had just experienced was very short, when Tom woke up it was already morning, the lights in the room and the sound of running water were still there like his dream, not knowing if it was a real dream or not.

In the Great Hall, this time Tom took the initiative to talk to Abraxas privately for a while before the two of them prepared to go to History of Magic class.

   “Draco Malfoy? That’s strange, so you said that this person appeared in the diary and had an appearance similar to me. Can you describe in more detail?”

    “He has platinum blonde hair, gray eyes, an arrogant attitude and he is good at hurting others with words.”

    “Well, that’s our characteristic. But the Malfoy family has always had only one heir. If my father finds out, things will definitely take some unforeseen turns. I’ll write a letter to him and ask first. And I definitely can’t let any misunderstanding affect our family.”

The following days, Tom found the Secret Chamber located in the girls' bathroom of Hogwarts, of course this was a mental shock to him, but if no one discovered it, it would be a brilliant idea of ​​Mr. Slytherin. So he had achieved one-seventh of his plan, brushing off the dust on his clothes, now Tom remembered that he had not touched the diary since that night for a long time, tomorrow was also Sunday so he would reward himself with a day of waking up late.

Opening his eyes and looking around, it was still the room in the Slytherin dormitory, he did not expect to see the boy enjoying a peaceful moment with him when he met him again, a porcelain teapot, two teacups and a plate of cookies placed neatly on the table and the fireplace was flickering with fire.

     "Do you want honey or sugar in your tea?"

Draco asked him, his eyes showing comfort and his sitting posture with his legs crossed and his back against the chair was just like a gentleman's, once again he had to exclaim that this feeling was extremely real, when his entire room had the presence of him but felt comfortable and he saw Nagini playing with the mouse toy.

    "Sugar is fine. Why is Mr. Malfoy in the mood to invite me for afternoon tea today?"

    "I don't always have much energy for Quidditch, although playing with your friends is fun. Besides, the weather today is also very nice to enjoy."

Tom took a sip, the bitterness of the black tea mixed with vanilla sugar brought a pleasant feeling to his throat, and he made himself a cup of black tea mixed with honey.

    "I always like to enjoy afternoon tea with my mother like this, she usually drinks black tea in its original flavor, but I find it too bitter so I add honey to mask it."

The two of them talked about innocuous things, mostly Draco and the stories of how he had been jealous of Harry Potter, deliberately picking fights with the boy with the scar on his forehead, mocking the golden triangle with his gang ridiculous actions.

     “But now that I’ve gone through some things, I see that what I did to him was meaningless, I should have listened to my mother and focused on training to become an heir more.”

    “So what about now?”

    “How should I put it… at first we were together reluctantly and were always uncomfortable with each other, but now we’re sitting here, enjoying an afternoon tea before dinner. If you didn’t like me, you wouldn’t have joined, right?”

He didn’t answer and finished the cup of tea he made, like an admission, instead Tom used snake language to call Nagini over to try drinking tea. As the two of them sat down at the dining table, Abraxas suddenly appeared and put his arm around Draco's shoulder, startling him. Although he was reproachful, his voice did not show harshness but rather helplessness.

   "Oh for Merlin's stinky socks, Abraxas! You could have said hello!"

   "Then what's the fun in that, my little Draco? Have you used the cufflinks my father gave to you? What's the use of them, tell me?"

Tom in spirit form watched the two Malfoys joking around and pondered, it turned out that there were times when he himself would feel comfortable like this, not obsessed with power, not calculating and exploiting, but only pure student-like joy. He snapped out of his thoughts just in time to hear the older Malfoy's question.

    “Honestly, I see you two sticking together from the dorm to the dining hall all day, then never leaving each other during classes, and only temporarily separating when Draco goes to play Quidditch. Are you two a couple?”

Tom in spirit form opened his mouth to say no, but when he heard his own voice, it turned out differently.

    “Jealous, Abraxas? If you want to be like us, find a Slytherin girl, I’m sure no one will refuse with your charm.”

And Draco turned his face away, he didn’t seem to be upset by his words because Tom saw the rims of his ears turn red.

Although Abraxas had assumed Draco was a Malfoy, he was certain that something was not right, because he remembered the opposite reaction when he came into contact with the current and only heir of the family. It sounded absurd, but Tom guessed that what was happening in this diary seemed to be another world existing, and then he was suddenly pushed out of the diary and returned to his room.

In the following days, his search for his identity was temporarily put on hold, entering this strange diary made him lose much energy, so every Saturday night Tom spent time entering the diary. Lately, the night time had also been tightened because some idiots of Gryffindor sneaked out of the dormitory after curfew, went out at night and were caught by the teachers on duty.

Opening his eyes after re-entering the diary, he saw the two of them sitting under a tree in the school garden to avoid the afternoon sun. Draco had just changed from his seeker outfit to his normal uniform, sweat still on his forehead that had not been wiped off and was lying next to him resting. Tom was holding a book on History of Magic but his mind was focused on the sleeping teenager.

He pondered for a long time.

Remembering the meetings, chatting with Draco, then looking at him with the most genuine emotions in front of him in the diary, gradually made Tom have more feelings for him. He could not deny it with the reason of admiring his potion-making skills, nor could he say a word of refusal when seeing that beautiful face always in his sight.

It's true that Tom Riddle took advantage of Draco Malfoy, he used his innocence as a springboard to create relationships with the Pureblood families and build more prestige for himself, but his love for him was not fake.

It's just that Tom didn't want him to know this secret.

He didn't know that he would be stuck with the word "love" like this, he always thought that power was something that was absolutely necessary, and having feelings was something that made him weak.

But every time he woke up and faced his current world, in the places where he and Draco had memories, remembering the nights they sneaked into the library after hours to go to the forbidden books section when Tom went to find out the information he needed, and Draco, he didn't seem to care what he was looking for. He also liked the moment when he saw the scared look on Draco’s face when he played with a small snake in the dormitory room where there were only two people. And when Tom Riddle woke up in his reality, he found himself alone, with the connections he was making the most of, his dormitory empty of the table set up for a tea party, the boring lessons passing by every day, and he missed the smile of that platinum blonde-haired, grey-eyed youth every time he accompanied him in the diary.

   "Tom, I received a letter from my father, we Malfoys don't have anyone named Draco, not even our distant relatives in France."

Although Abraxas had confirmed it again a few days ago, Tom was still sure that Draco existed, because he was very familiar with every room, subject and teacher of Hogwarts, grumbling to him about going to the boring Hogsmeade Village every year and the Dogweed and Deathcap shops were the only places he often went to buy herbs and quite liked to grow some small plants that he bragged about getting from Malfoy Manor to take care of himself.

Tom's diary entries became less frequent after he got the answers he wanted in the Chamber of Secrets after killing Myrtle, that he was a descendant of Mr. Slytherin, so that was why he could talk to snakes and develop his talent in the Dark Arts more.

Closing the book about Horcruxes one night after going out past curfew, some plans flashed in his mind to build a power for himself, but it was still too early and not enough compared to what he wanted. Tom Riddle needed to be stronger, to the point that….

People would be afraid to mention him.

Somewhere in his heart, he wanted to meet Draco and tell him about this and hear his congratulations, so one Saturday night like usual, Tom entered the diary.

The place where he met him again was no longer in Hogwarts, but in another place, he said this place was Malfoy Manor. The majestic castle was ancient for centuries surrounded by many yew trees, a fountain in the garden, the spacious, dimly lit corridor was lavishly decorated with a beautiful carpet on the stone floor. The walls of the entrance hall displayed pale portraits that he did not pay much attention to and at the end of the corridor was a door with a brass handle leading to the living room, where the two were sitting and talking. Although he knew that Tom was just a spirit listening from afar, if this was another universe, he would definitely share his plan with him.

   “You were distracted just now.”

He heard his own voice, the house elf appeared with the teapot and cake set on the table and disappeared in a split second, he turned his gaze from outside the window to him.

   “Umh, just thinking a little. My father loved white peacocks, he used to let them roam around the garden in the manor, but there aren’t any here now, because Mr. Abraxas hates them.”

Hearing him emphasize the word “now”, Tom paused, the thought flashed in his mind that maybe he had crossed time and space and appeared here.

So every time he exited the diary, he never found him, because Draco couldn’t even appear in his timeline.

   “Tom, this is where it ends, don’t come back here again.”

The scene of the two sitting in the living room of the Malfoy Manor disappeared, and Draco appeared before him. In the blank pages, Tom looked at Draco in confusion, all the things he witnessed, his true feelings for him were left unanswered?

    “You must be wondering why you were caught up in these things that happened, they are the memories between me and you that I kept, really, it’s just…..we didn’t go on the same path, so there’s nothing left. I know what kind of person you will become and how you will affect the wizarding world, but I can’t tell you, because I’m not allowed to disrupt the timeline. I just hope that in your journey, somewhere, don’t forget me, okay?”

Then he smiled, a smile that both of them clearly felt the pain in their hearts, Draco's slender body turned into white camellia petals flying away in the air without him being able to get close and hold what was left of him.

Tom didn't expect that after knowing this, the diary would also be abandoned. It would no longer continue, the secret kisses in the library and the Forbidden Forest, each hand holding, smiling and talking, the unresolved conflicts, and Draco Malfoy was just like a fictional memory in Tom's mind.

After that, he was pushed out of the diary by a strong force, woke up on the bed in his dorm room, turned to look at the diary lying next to him, silent and unopened. He took it and hugged it to his chest, like he was hugging his image in his mind.

A belated hug carrying many regrets.

Many years later, he had become what he wanted to be, the lord whose name no one dared to speak, immortality, unlimited power and a loyal army of Death Eaters. But when he was alone, Tom stroked the old blue diary, the first thing he had turned into something other than his own Horcruxes and muttered a name that had been engraved somewhere in his heart, filled with cruelty, crime and darkness.

Draco Lucius Malfoy.

One fine day, a month before Harry Potter was born and he had to go and destroy the seed that would destroy him in the future according to the prophecy, Voldemort secretly came to Malfoy Manor with a ridiculous thought that he might meet him.

And fate arranged it right.

He was the son of Lucius Malfoy and the grandson of Abraxas Malfoy. There was a long generation gap between Tom Riddle and Draco Malfoy.

Even though his heart had stopped beating, he still felt a little pain. It was true that love made him weak. But he could start over, Lord Voldemort had a lot of patience.

The old blue diary was opened over the years to write new memories, between the stories of his little dragon and life in Hogwarts against Harry Potter, when he secretly controlled his power to command the Death Eaters who still persisted after the first war, to be reborn in his own body, and also to be able to meet Draco.

The official meeting between the two when Draco was sixteen years old. Looking at him exactly like in the diary, with a face of fear and obedience to him, the deepest part of Voldemort no longer ached.

Under his guidance, Draco fell in love with this cruel lord, a love that Voldemort took the initiative it was distorted, arbitrary, forced and full of exploitation when turning him into a Death Eater so that he could not betray him, keeping his freedom in his sight.

But he also made him special compared to the other retainers, they cuddled together during afternoon tea, read books in the manor's library, and watched the stars twinkle in the sky at night. This relationship made Draco tense, but also strange in a way that was not too bad because of his tolerance.

Because Tom Riddle had lost Draco Malfoy, but Voldemort would not let that happen again.

But in the end, despite all his power and insane arrogance, he was still defeated by the one in the prophecy. His Horcruxes were destroyed, his army weakened, he lost everything.

The war was over, Lord Voldemort had lost the battle to Harry Potter, the Malfoys were originally Death Eaters, but considering that they had switched sides and not participated in the war to help win the last wizarding war, they had escaped being imprisoned in Azkaban Prison and only had to pay a portion of their assets to the post-war recovery fund.

Draco closed his room door and used his wand to light up the lights, because Hogwarts was damaged, the students were temporarily off school and went home until the reconstruction was completed, he took the item from his desk drawer and tore open the outer packaging. The moment Voldemort suddenly hugged him before the deadly battle, he gave him this and told him to open it when the war ended. An old and faded blue diary in his hand, Draco felt confused, it seemed like this was also one of his Horcruxes, but clearly Voldemort had died in front of everyone there.

If he were to come back to life…

He shuddered, although his feelings for him were real and Draco believed he wouldn’t hurt him, he didn’t want another war to break out. His family had just cleared the suspicions, he couldn’t let anything happen that would affect the Malfoys any further.

Draco sighed, scolding himself for being a coward, then decided to open it.

It was a Portkey, he only had time to realize that for a few seconds before he was quickly pulled into the unknown darkness. Draco sensed that this was a very powerful magic and could bend space and time, so he felt a terrible throbbing pain in his head and accidentally fell asleep before he knew where he was.

It seemed like his mind had drifted into a long sleep, the headache gradually disappeared and when Draco opened his eyes, in front of him was the familiar ceiling of the Slytherin dormitory room of Hogwarts, the familiar cold and darkness seeping through the wall with the sound of running water in the distance and the silver snake crest hanging above the fireplace. Then he sat up and looked more closely, there seemed to be some changes, the sheets spread on the four corners of the bed did not look as old as when he entered school, and he felt like he had changed, it seemed like… he was a little younger than his real age.

    “You’re awake? Do you still feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

A strange voice rang out, Draco startled and looked up, in front of him was a person sitting on a chair, holding a diary exactly like the one he had opened just now, a handsome face and obsidian eyes smiling and focusing on him. Draco got out of bed and stood up, looking at him wearing a rather old school uniform, then down at himself still wearing the clothes he hadn't changed out of during dinner, he was startled, realizing that he had actually been pulled back to some time in the past by the Portkey.

    "I'm fine, can you tell me who you are and what year it is?"

    "It seems the plan worked. I'm Tom Riddle, and this is 1943."

So he was pulled back more than fifty years ago, Draco was stunned, then followed by the information of the other person's name, Tom Riddle….

It was the Lord's real name.

He didn't know whether to be happy or panicked, then he came closer, his cold hand touched his face, Tom's eyes couldn't hide the joy.

   "Finally I can meet you, Draco Malfoy."

End.