Harry thought of himself as being very aware of his surroundings, especially in a place where he already felt uncomfortable. At that point in time, he was very uncomfortable to begin with, which was why he nearly jumped when a voice nearly whispered into his ear, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, my darling."
Despite having been in the same room as her a few times the boy-who-lived instantly recognized the owner, and he felt his skin crawl. How had she snuck up behind him? He had been so careful, intent on staying away from her.
So how had she snuck up on him?
Before he could move away her arms wrapped around him from behind, face next to his as she took in a deep breath. Another chill rain down his spine as he realized she was smelling him. "Your aroma is just as I imagined, you must have worn perfume. And this outfit? You wore it just for me, didn't you? You came all this way just to see me, to impress me."
He struggled, but it had no noticeable effect. His Wand wasn't accessible and with three years on him, taking into account his already small stature, she overpowered him physically with ease.
"Hardly," he grunted with disgust, "I was trying to avoid you as much as possible."
"Liar," she nearly sang out voice lacking any spite, before nuzzling into his neck and Harry barely managed to force out a cringe rather than a gag. "Why else would you have accepted an apprenticeship with Professor Riddle if not to impress me?"
His body stilled, eyes widening. "H-how did you…"
"Oh my sweet Harry, you still have so much to learn about the world. Don't worry though, I can teach you everything you'll ever need to know."
She leaned in again, for what reason he wasn't sure, but a voice called out that stopped in just in the nick of time. "Pandora, what are you doing?"
For a moment he wasn't sure if she would let go, but then slowly, almost reluctantly, she did so and he immediately lunged away from her, putting enough distance that he would be out of her reach.
"Just speaking with Harry, mother."
Sure enough, it was Narcissa Malfoy that stood nearby, high and regal as always, glancing between the two of them with no small amount of distaste. Harry promptly glared in return. It wasn't like he wanted her crazy ass daughter that close to him.
"Your presence has been requested by your aunt Bellatrix."
Pandora nodded, "Of course," with that she began to follow her mother, before turning slightly. "I will call on you" the witch whispered in promise, voice having a quality that certainly wasn't one he would ever attribute to a girl, Slytherin, or a Malfoy.
The moment she was gone from sight had Harry looking for a bathroom. It would take him a good five minutes of washing his neck to finally feel clean again.
****
Through years of experience avoiding others, along with a healthy amount of luck, Harry managed to avoid any further major conversations or confrontations for the remainder of the evening. The duo departed around the same time as another group, thus avoiding any long goodbyes.
When they stepped through the floo, and into the Potter residence, both of his parents were waiting for them, though clearly trying to be as nonchalant about it as possible.
"Oh, you two are back early…"
James rolled his eyes hard enough for both the newcomers at how obvious the redhead's statement had been. "How was the party?"
The boy shrugged, "Pretty much what I thought it would be like, and several people already knew about the apprenticeship."
"Not surprising, I let the information slip a few times to colleagues and others who might have an impact on your future. Rumors travel fast in our world, and this is what we wanted. Besides, you were already the topic of interest." Grace interjected, smiling at how all the attention switched to her in shock, including from the youngest male.
"I-I was!?"
She nodded, "Very much so, but we expected as much. Rumor has gotten around about your talent in class and with your initial cover story I imagine there was already talks about you even before school started. Men aren't exactly common in the Magical World Harry, especially ones that can make the papers in such a fashion at such a young age."
Lily's eyes narrowed instinctively, "There hasn't been any talk of… proposals I trust."
"Not that I was privy to, but it wouldn't surprise me if such conversations hadn't begun in private."
"Yeah, apparently Sirius' cousin is curious about my 'value'." He thought about mentioning the other 'encounters' during the evening but opted not to, there was already enough tension for one evening.
Harry had meant the statement as a joke, mostly, but the snarl that it earned was a bit of a welcomed surprise considering it originated from his mother. "Well, she can just take her spoiled little brat of a daughter and piss off as far as I'm concerned."
Before the conversation could continue down that path James coughed into his hand, perhaps hiding a laugh, perhaps not. "Not something we need to worry about, at least right now. Thank you again for escorting him Professor."
Grace gave a slight nod of her head, made eye contact with the boy one last time before turning and departing.
****
It was weird the first time she had been in their home. Weird to see her sitting at the kitchen table with his parents having a conversation. It was way worse to answer the door and have her standing outside.
Grace Riddle, his professor, standing at his front doorway looking down at him expectantly. "Have you gone over the books?"
Her question brought his mind back to the present and he nodded slowly. "Uh yeah… a bit."
"Good," the response, and accompanying nod, was short and professional even as she moved past him and into the house. "That will make our task easier. We will start with a quick review of the normal spells then move onto elemental exercises."
From the reading he had already done the boy-who-lived knew what she was referring to. Elemental magic was difficult for several reasons but one of the primary ones was it required a different type of control than normal spellcraft. Exercises had been developed to make this process easier, more natural.
James entered the room, his wife at work, and nodded in greeting. "Professor Riddle, I assume you're here for lessons?"
"I am, I trust the back yard is clear?"
The man didn't have much time to reply as she continued walking through the home and to the back. Instead, he merely gave Harry a slight shrug and an encouraging smile before heading up to ensure his daughters stayed clear of the area for a time.
_____________________
Read 30 Advance Chapters-
patr*on.com/rary01