the Gambler

The Christmas holidays started very early, and it was fitting that Scotland had the biggest snowstorm of the year. Harry and Tom were nestled in a small room in Grimmauld Place, and Sirius was joking with Remus and Tonk, who had finally started dating in the living room. Well, they saw the witch's bright pink head resting on the werewolf's shoulders before they went upstairs. Noticing their gaze, Tonks blinked happily a few times.

Tom enjoyed Harry's company.

Everything went smoothly.It was all too easy to gain Gryffindor's loyalty, especially for him.Tom's hand ran gently through Harry's black hair, and the sleeping boy grunted.He put the book aside and bent down to kiss Harry's forehead. He could feel the tingling electricity flowing into his body through the scar.Harry unconsciously tightened his shoulders, and a small moan escaped from between his parted lips.

Harry shuddered every time he touched him.Like an unknown sensitive zone, Tom couldn't wait to seduce the boy.In his eyes, Harry is very pure, the kind of purity that is tinged with ignorance and fearlessness.Contrary to himself, he wants the other party to be dyed in his own color.It wouldn't take long, Tom chuckled, the first step of his plan had succeeded.

After he threw the olive branch, Harry slowly began to trust him.But not enough, he needs complete trust.

Oh, when he asked Harry to open the link, he did not lie, he loved the boy and thought about establishing a third party.But he's still Voldemort, and he's not trying to help anyone - that's before opening the link, isn't it?

And Voldemort.Merlin knew something was wrong with him.Tom could feel that the quality of the soul in the opponent's body was slowly increasing, and he knew that Voldemort had absorbed a lot of soul pieces.Tom's pupils stayed on Harry's ring for a short time, and his guess was right. The moment he activated the rune, the gravitational force of Voldemort's soul was repelling him.

Tom narrowed his eyes. Now he has only made one Horcrux, and there are at least six equal parts of the soul existing in the body.Such an obvious repulsion means that the opponent has reabsorbed at least three or more soul pieces.Why did Voldemort make such a strange decision?It couldn't have been purely to attract Harry.He knows himself too well, and a girl full of romantic fantasies may attribute this to the power of love, but he knows that even love cannot make him give up the chance of eternal life.

It was as if there were hands behind him pushing Voldemort to make seemingly absurd moves.He won't follow anyone's instructions, and neither will his future self.The mysterious person must have the ability to gain their trust.

The most critical question now is the identity of this person.

One secret for another.

Tom was calculating silently in his mind, and a step away from him, Harry was leaning on Sirius Black to discuss Quidditch fiercely.The big smile on the boy's face made Tom feel warm.He wasn't used to such positive feelings, and if it was comfortable, he had no intention of resisting it.Although he preferred to keep Harry's smile to himself.

Yeah, if it wasn't clear that Harry and Black didn't have a relationship beyond kinship, he'd have cursed the man's eyes out and ripped his body apart piece by piece.The mere thought of torturing Black pleased him, and as if sensing Tom's mood swings, Harry looked up at him suspiciously.Tom raised the corners of his mouth to show a most sincere smile, the boy was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly looked away.

Tom found it seemed easier and easier to smile at Harry.Harry's smile was contagious, his nose wrinkled slightly, and his bright emerald eyes were like deep lakes that drew him in easily.

Yes, Harry won't be happy.

"Give me some time, Harry." Tom said nonchalantly, noticing Black's open mouth, he raised half of his eyebrows and looked at him defiantly. "Alone, of course."

Harry put his hand on the godfather's shoulder, motioning silently for the man to calm down.He nodded to Tom, and followed the Slytherin back to the bedroom.No sooner had the door closed than Tom cast several powerful anti-tapping and detection spells.

"There's no need to complain, everyone knows that Black is not the type to be obedient."

It makes sense and cannot be refuted.Sirius is really the type to do such things as eavesdropping.Harry sat cross-legged on the bed, hugging the pillows, resting his head on the soft fabric surface, and yawned profusely.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"The Horcrux."

Tom's attitude was as calm as water, as if the news didn't matter to him.It was Harry, whose last drowsiness was also dispelled by the sudden answer, and he knew that he was like a dehydrated fish now, given the unabashed smile on Tom's face.

"Why are you talking about Horcruxes?" Harry asked in surprise, "I have no idea what this is."

Hell you don't know!Tom slandered in his heart, but still had a gentle smile on his face: "We should be honest with each other, shouldn't we? I'm going to tell you a deepest secret." Aware of Harry's vigilant expression, he waved his hand, "Of course, I If you don’t make unilateral deals, you also need to compensate me.”

Harry was really serious this time, and he felt a slight tingling in his chest.But he had nothing to hide. Tom already knew his true identity, so the deal would not lose money anyway.He nodded.

"Just like the name, a Horcrux is a vessel that carries part of the soul. It needs to be made by killing people. Myrtle is the first sacrifice. Her death gave me the diary." Tom said calmly, "I Plan to make six Horcruxes."

"Why are you telling me this?" Doubts naturally arise.

"If you want to defeat Voldemort, at least know where to start."

"I can still provide possible Horcrux options." Tom sat down beside Harry, "but the next part requires you to exchange prophecies. Tell me, Harry."

"No." Harry turned his head away from Tom's sight. Who knew if the other party would suddenly use Legilimency, his Occlumency still couldn't resist the masters in this field, and Tom was one of them.

"/Tell me, Harry./"

"/No./" Harry said angrily.

"The whereabouts of the Horcrux, you want to know, don't you?" Tom gently squeezed Harry's chin and turned the stubborn boy to himself, "You want to kill him completely."

"Who knows if you'll regret it after I finish speaking, you're a damned Slytherin, they don't have only one purpose."

"I'm honored you know me so well," said Tom. "Unbreakable?"

"What is the Unbreakable Curse?"

Tom raised his eyebrows: "It seems that you were really raised by Muggles." He waved open the door, Sirius staggered and fell in, still with the embarrassed expression on his face, "Explain Unbreakable to Harry, Black .”

The dark-haired man wrinkled his nose and gave Harry a questioning look.

"What's an Unbreakable Curse, Padfoot?"

"A contract spell, the party who violates it will lose its life."

Harry quickly turned his head to look at Tom, shocked emerald eyes, the voice that came out of his mouth was hollow: "You want to cast a spell with me?"

"I need your trust." Tom murmured, "Don't show such a guilty expression, I always knew you couldn't trust me."

"I--"

"If we don't even have basic trust, the relationship can't go any further." Tom's finger slowly stroked Harry's lower lip, "I want more, Harry, I want everything from you."

Sirius cleared his throat on purpose.

"Should I be a witness?" He stretched out his wand and placed it between the two's intertwined arms. The dazzling tongue of flame entangled for a moment before disappearing. "Okay, Riddle must tell you the whereabouts of the Horcrux next. The prophecy What is it, Harry?"

"The one who has the power to conquer the Dark Lord draws near. He was born into a family that defeated the Dark Lord three times. Born at the end of the seventh month, the Dark Lord marked him as a rival. He has powers that the Dark Lord does not know. One of the Must die at the hands of the other, because two people cannot live at the same time, one always dies."

"This is more severe than I guessed before." Tom was unexpectedly calm, and his wand fluttered between his slender fingers. "I thought it was just a matter of success or failure. It seems to be a matter of survival."

Harry was silent for a while, he could feel Tom's complicated emotions, and even he was on tenterhooks.So far, all the cards are open. In this case, the decision made by Tom will really affect the situation of the war.Harry quickly raised the barrier in his brain, gripped his wand in his pocket, and he was ready for a deathmatch.

Sensing the sudden loss of emotion, Tom stared up at Harry for a moment, then burst into a bright smile as the boy fidgeted and his mouth parched.He reached out and pulled Harry to sit beside him, and said lazily, "I'll help you kill Voldemort."

"What?" Harry was caught off guard by Tom's words, his eyes widened in shock, and Tom still smiled gently.

"I'll help you kill your future self." Tom slipped his fingers through Harry's, then raised them to his lips and kissed the emerald on the ring.His movements were as gentle as grasping the most precious treasure, and Harry's heart beat so fast that it was about to burst out of his chest.The air suddenly became extremely ambiguous.

"Sorry, my mind is a little messed up right now, and I can't understand what you mean." Harry said dully, "Voldemort is your future self, and you want to kill another self?"

Tom raised his head, his beautiful blue eyes were hidden by his soft hair, and Harry's height could only see the deep and delicate outline of the opponent.Tom let out a hoarse laugh under his throat.

"I've already planned to tell you the whereabouts of the Horcrux, haven't I?"

"But that was before telling you the prophecy, don't you care?" Harry repeated the second half of the prophecy, "Two people cannot live at the same time, one of them must die at the hands of the other."

"Between you and Voldemort, I will only choose you. Death is an insurmountable fear for me, and now, I have revealed the secret of the Horcrux in front of you. Isn't this enough to dispel your doubts? "

"This is ridiculous." Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and pinched it, now his mind was in a state of confusion, "Do you really think that you and Voldemort are two different individuals?"

"I thought after what happened last time, you already knew what I was thinking."

"Oh." Harry scratched the hair on the back of his head embarrassingly, "Maybe I still care a little about Voldemort's words, after all - put those aside, er, I shouldn't doubt you, true feelings cannot be concealed of."

"I'm glad you've realized, sometimes our link is a handy thing, isn't it?" Tom smiled. "Back to the topic of Horcruxes, I have to notice that you are not that surprised, mind explaining?"

Harry spit out all the conversations with Dumbledore like pouring beans, he was hesitant to tell Tom, but the headmaster accidentally handed him something, more precisely, hope He returned the item to its original owner.Harry took Gaunt's ring from his pocket and placed it in Tom's palm.

Tom looked coldly: "Where did you get this?"

"Dumbledore gave it to me." Harry stared straight at Tom. "It's your heirloom, isn't it?"

Tom put the ring on his middle finger, and the black stone on it shone with a mysterious light.

"He's already destroyed a Horcrux."

"So is the diary," said Harry, "and four Horcruxes."

"Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's diadem, Hufflepuff's cup and Gryffindor's sword."

"The sword of Gryffindor is not a Horcrux," Harry corrected. "Only a real Gryffindor can draw it."

Tom was silent for a long time, and finally whispered Nagini's name.

"Where do you think you'd hide them?" Harry asked quietly.

"Malfoy, Lestrange and Black," said Tom, "Nagini is special, and I will take her with me." He suddenly looked up to meet Harry's eyes, and said firmly, "I will help You find all the Horcruxes and destroy them, but you must promise not to touch Nagini."

"I--"

"No, Harry, I don't accept negative answers. I will find a way to get the soul piece in Nagini's body."

Harry nodded.

"Tell Dumbledore, I will go on a mission with you. Don't be so surprised. You have been with the old bee a lot recently. If he lets you know the existence of the Horcrux, it means that he intends to train you to complete the next hunt." Tom sneered. "He's dying slowly."

"You cast those spells, you must have a way to untie them!" Harry's grip on Tom's shoulder made the latter frown.

"Dark magic is irreversible."

"I don't want Dumbledore to die." Harry buried his head in the pillow, "He saved me more than once, and I want to save him too."

"You can't save everyone. Some people will die. That is an unavoidable reality." Tom held Harry in his arms, "I can help you avenge Voldemort."

"Won't that create a conflict?"

"Fate is an interesting thing. The time spent with Voldemort made me realize a wonderful phenomenon. The space-time paradox does not seem to exist between me and him. I can approach him infinitely and even hurt him without feeling threatened by my existence." —" Tom's relaxed tone made Harry shudder, "that's a surprise, isn't it?"

"So you can stay in this time and space? Can you still maintain the same position as me?" Harry could feel a little joy sprouting, Merlin, this is definitely the best news I heard these days, bar none.

"Yeah," Tom pinched the tip of Harry's nose, he couldn't help rolling his eyes at Sirius' suppressed growl, and the latter reluctantly left the room, Tom turned back to Harry, "although I'm very Wondering what effect killing him will have on this plane, maybe consider taking over his Death Eaters and ruling the world in another way. And, if my guess is wrong - I can still go back in time and choose Another future, of course, takes you. Now that the barriers between us are gone, why not give me a reward?"

"What do you want?" Harry said cheerfully, seeing Tom's sly smile, he hastily added, "Of course it must be within my range."

"Only what you can give me." Tom leaned forward slowly, breathing on Harry's lips, and in the next second, the tiny distance disappeared.