[HP] Dearest Enemy

Harry and Alex rushed to the first floor and found that Tom had arrived in the drawing room and was talking to Dumbledore.Seeing the two coming in, Tom stood up quickly.

"Professor Dumbledore, your arrival is really surprising." Alex stepped forward to shake Dumbledore's hand.

"Stay for lunch, Albus," said Mr. Palampion. "I'll go talk to the house-elf."

"Excuse my abruptness, William," Dumbledore said to Mr. Palampeon, nodding to Harry as a greeting. "I would like to have a few words with Alex alone, if you don't mind."

Tom walked over to Harry at once, and Harry walked out with his arms around the boy's shoulders.Harry wasn't terribly surprised by Dumbledore's sudden visit, but he was vaguely annoyed by the man's presence.Alex concealed something from him. Four years ago, Alex's trip to Germany was definitely more than simply helping Dumbledore. Otherwise, why would Dumbledore suddenly visit at this time?But Alex was as obedient to Dumbledore as the members of the Order of the Phoenix back then, and Harry guessed that if Dumbledore asked him to die for something, he would do it.This made the green-eyed man frown.He'd known quite a few people over the years, but only Alex was his best friend, and Harry subconsciously wanted to keep him away from Dumbledore.Harry never forgot those memories of Dumbledore, including everything written in Skeeter's biography published after his death, and he knew him better than Dumbledore thought.But Alex trusted Dumbledore unconditionally just like himself back then, what should he do?

"Harry?"

Harry snapped back to his senses, seeing Tom staring at him with darker and darker eyes, his face full of concern.Harry realized he was still holding on to the boy's shoulders, and let go immediately.

"Sorry, I was distracted just now."

Tom shook his head slightly, and Harry suddenly realized that the boy who was much shorter than him had grown up again, only a head shorter than himself now.

"You've grown taller, Tom."

The black-eyed boy smiled happily, with a hint of childlike pride on his face: "You forgot that I am a prefect, and I am already able to stand on my own."

The man smiled and patted the boy on the back lightly.Harry was worried about the spiky-haired guy, and Tom was well aware of that, and Tom knew that worried look.But why is he worried about that guy?Almost everyone is saying how great it is to have Dumbledore in Hogwarts. Even I, who don't like that guy, have to admit that Hogwarts and even the whole of England are under Dumbledore's protection. It's safe, Harry, why should he worry?This doubt and dissatisfaction with Alex was like a thorn in the flesh, which made Tom feel very uncomfortable.

But at this point I can only show concern and appropriate doubts for that prickly bastard.Tom thought angrily that he, like Alex, didn't want Harry to know the secret content of the bet.

When there were only two people left in the living room, Dumbledore finally put away his gentle face.

Alex sat down on the chair where his father was sitting just now, and looked at the middle-aged man opposite him with a relaxed expression: "Is there anything I can do for you, Professor Dumbledore?"

"Thank you. I need you to go to Germany as soon as possible, Alex," said Dumbledore.

"At this time?" Alex couldn't help but become serious, "What happened to Germany?"

Dumbledore took out a folded piece of parchment from his robe pocket and handed it to him: "I need you to find out these things for me. Try not to alert anyone to sneak in, and it's best to come back before school starts."

"It will be difficult to check everything and come back before school starts." Alex gradually frowned at the parchment, "Albus, do you need me to confirm the authenticity of this information?"

"Yes." Dumbledore sighed. "The sources are not unreliable, but I'm still worried...you can do this, can't you?"

Alex stared at the pair of blue eyes behind the half-moon lenses for a while, and said softly: "I thought we had an agreement, Professor Dumbledore, you should trust the people over there."

"Sometimes we should trust our intuition more." Dumbledore said, his sharp gaze looked over the lens at the young man who was looking at him. "Just need to prove it."

"I see." Alex nodded, "I'll do my best."

Dumbledore left after lunch.Tom had recently developed the habit of going to the library when he had nothing to do, while Alex and Mr. Palanpayne talked on the first floor.In order not to disturb the father and son, Harry also went to the library.Tom was still sitting by the window.He liked to read near the window since he was a child. Tom was good at finding a place that was neither exposed to the sun nor too dark.Tom looked up at Harry when he entered, and the two nodded to each other, then went about their business.

Palan Penn's rich collection of books is almost fatal to Harry, but during the time he lives in Alex's house, he doesn't have many opportunities to spend in the library like Tom: Alex prefers other entertainment.Harry found several books related to alchemy in a corner, so he took one and sat down not far from Tom to pass the time.It was extremely quiet, except for the slight sound of Harry turning the pages of the book and the rustling of the quill against the paper when Tom occasionally copied something.

The afternoon sun shone through the glass into the room, and Harry inadvertently looked up at Tom who was sitting at the table concentrating on reading, and suddenly felt a little dazed.The time seemed to go back to the time when he was working as a clerk in the bookstore in Diagon Alley, but the clever and studious boy turned into a mature and handsome boy, with his innocence and immaturity gone, and his black jewel-like eyes became deeper and deeper.Tom tilted his head at the same angle as before. His short hair was neat and neat, his nose was straight, and his back was slightly bowed because of his concentration, revealing an involuntary tranquility and an imperceptible laziness.The boy's clean and slender fingers flipping the pages of the book lightly, his focused eyes are as memorable as the contours on the side of his cheeks.Harry had heard Alfart's description of Tom, and he himself had seen it several times in the library. His perfect godson was the idol of many students at school, including several professors who liked this handsome boy very much. Boy, so it was easy for Tom to get grades from the professors, and the relationships were excellent.He was a good kid, in every way, but not unbearably perfect.Tom is diligent and studious, and there are almost no subjects he is not good at; Everyone wears a mask, he will deliberately violate the school rules because he is angry with himself; he will be happy like a child in front of himself; he will be sad, and he will seek comfort from himself when he is vulnerable and emotional... The young man who read the book quietly recalled the various things about the young man in front of him, but he didn't notice a slight smile creeping up his lips and the corners of his eyes.

If I have a child, I hope he is like Tom, at least so far he has not found a better child than Tom.He's more mature than Alfart, more restrained than Walburga, more humble than Selwyn, more easy-going than Celtic (the current student body president, a seventh-year Ravenclaw)... If Tom was his own son... Harry faintly Thinking about it, turning his eyes back to the page, the smile on the corner of his lips was slightly bitter.Harry hasn't been in a relationship these years. At first it was because of Tom, and later because of his own research. Now, Harry doesn't care much about these things anymore. His life is very stable and fulfilling. is what he wants.This turbulent era has always left him with no sense of belonging. It was not until he came to Hogwarts that he gradually found some sense of home.The faces of Cho Chang and Ginny hadn't appeared in the dream for a long time, even Dumbledore with the brown beard and Slughorn Harry with only a small patch of baldness were completely used to it, not to mention Tom, he I watched him grow up.

People are amazing creatures sometimes, and Harry remembered how much he hated that lunatic named Voldemort, but he didn't hate Tom, he wasn't him.In a sense, Tom is also his child. Where the teenager didn't pay attention, Harry has been watching him and guarding him until the child is no longer attached to himself and becomes a completely independent person.

Not to guard against that quiet Slytherin prefect as a future Voldemort, but to watch what kind of person his own child will become.The green-eyed man once again cast his eyes on the black-eyed boy who was already too familiar, and looked at his godson seriously with a father's gaze, with a little pride, a little doting and a little anticipation.

Tom, who was concentrating on the book, inadvertently passed the man leaning on the soft chair not far away with his peripheral vision, and suddenly realized that the man was looking at him, so he raised his head subconsciously.Black eyes met green ones, and Harry frowned at his godson, turning his head to look nonchalantly at the book on his lap.Tom stared at him blankly, and after a while, he lowered his head belatedly, a little panicked.

He was absolutely right, just now Harry was looking at himself with an expression he had never seen before, and he didn't know how long it had been since he looked at him like that.Tom couldn't help but look up again at the man sitting not far away. He was reading seriously, as if he didn't notice his actions, so he lowered his head again.It wasn't an illusion, absolutely not, and the person sitting there was Harry, his godfather, the closest person he'd ever had growing up.But he seemed to be staring at him for a long time, with such... so gentle, even slightly doting eyes.With that look, is Harry really looking at him?

The frequency of the heartbeat began to accelerate for no reason, and Tom suddenly felt a little awkward, as if many thorns suddenly grew out of the soft chair, making it impossible for people to sit quietly like that.Tom suppressed the strange disobedience that seemed to be twisting in his internal organs, and forced himself to shift his attention to the magic theory he had just seen.Mr. Palampion loves books like hell, and he doesn't like anyone to borrow books from his library. He must read more manuscripts that Hogwarts doesn't have at all before the end of the holiday.But those green eyes kept dangling in front of the boy's eyes as if they were burned into the retina.Harry just looked at himself softly, why did he feel flustered for no reason?Could it be that I am used to his lukewarm attitude, and I am not used to such kindness?No, this has nothing to do with Harry's attitude at all. Harry will also observe him when he is helping Harry with his homework. It has been a long time since this happened. Or is it a bit special today... Tom feels that his My brain gradually turned into a mess, and I couldn't understand why I became such a mess.The person sitting there quietly reading a book seemed to be a threat, making the teenager more and more nervous.Forget it, it's better to continue reading this book after dinner, I can't concentrate with him at all!Just when Tom decided to get up and pack up and leave, a house elf appeared at the door of the library and respectfully reminded Tom and Harry to go downstairs for afternoon tea together.

Tom breathed a sigh of relief inexplicably, and neatly packed up the books and notebooks that he hadn't finished.

"Let's go, Harry, Mr. Palampion shouldn't be kept waiting."