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Tom was in the library looking for some books to do the extra reading for his Care of Magical Creatures class when a rather tall and broad student shuffled into the aisle where Tom was searching the shelves. If memory served him right, and it usually did, this was Rubeus Hagrid, a Half-Giant third year Gryffindor.
“Afternoon.” Tom greeted the nervous third year politely. There had been rumours that Hagrid had an affinity with the more ‘challenging’ creatures in COMC. He was a little slow but that just meant he would be easier to manipulate, he would be a good stooge if one was needed.
“Riddle. ’Ow are ya?” Hagrid’s voice was coarse, and it grated slightly against his ears, it reminded Tom of the grouch of a Gardner at the Orphanage. Not a pleasant connection to make. He was at the very least polite.
“I’m well thank you.” He replied and pulled the book he had been looking for off the shelf. “And yourself?”
“I’m alright.” He shrugged his large shoulders. “Looking fer a book on Acromantula.”
“I don’t believe that you are study Acromantula until your fifth year.” Tom replied as he stepped aside so Hagrid could get a closer look at the bookshelves. Tom was in his fifth year, and they had only just started to touch upon those creatures, so he doubted that the curriculum had changed to let third years learn about them.
“We don’t.” Hagrid in a rather obvious move looked around to see if anyone was near them and when he saw that there wasn’t anyone, he leant in closer to Tom. Tom resisted the urge to lean away. “I uh, might ‘ave found one.”
“You have a man-eating spider?” He whispered back. “Please tell me that you don’t have it in the castle with you.”
“He’s only a baby.” Hagrid explained in a pleading tone. “He’s no bigger than me hand.” Seeing as Hagrid’s hands were size of dinner plates already did not give a point in his favour.
“Alright, just be careful with him,” Tom decided that he would keep an eye on this situation. He was close to finding the fabled Secret Chamber of his Ancestry Salazar Slytherin and the myth told of a monstrous creature that lived inside...it would be good to have a creature obsessed, more durable person on his side. Worse case scenario? He could feed Hagrid to whatever the creature was, and it would likely be explained away by Hagrid being careless with his creatures especially if an Acromantula was found in his dorm.
“I will.” Hagrid promised.
That was the end of that conversation however Tom went out of his way to smile and nod at Hagrid in the halls. He had gotten a few odd looks from his fellow Slytherins, but they knew better than to question him.
It was the ruddy blush on Hagrid’s cheeks that cued Tom into the boy’s blooming crush on him. He would work with that. And so he did. He stoked those flames by helping him in the library with his homework and going with him to visit the Giant Squid in the Black Lake. Tom should have felt bad about stringing the poor younger boy along, but he didn’t. Hagrid just made it so easy. It wasn’t as if Tom was doing anything special either, he was just spending time with the Half Giant and that seemed to be enough. Of course, not everyone in Slytherin, meaning none, understood his sudden budding friendship with the Half-Giant Gryffindor. But a dose of the cruciatus curse set them straight. He then of course explained the concept of a scapegoat and that was the end of matter.
Tom would never forget the look on Hagrid’s face when he ratted him out for having an Acromantula, for blaming the death of Myrtle Warren on the creature. He probably would have felt worse about it but he had just made his first horcrux, and everything felt a little distant. He turned away from Hagrid as he was marched from the school, although if Tom made sure that his pet escaped into the forest before it could be killed...well no one needed to know.
Hagrid was expelled and his wand snapped. That was the last Tom thought of him as he continued his schooling and delved deeper into the dark arts. At least until he had graduated and returned to Hogwarts after two years to apply for a job.
“Tom!” A booming voice called across the grounds.
Voldemort froze mid-step before turning to face the owner of the voice. “Rubeus.” He blinked confused at the sight of the Half Giant. What was he doing at Hogwarts, wasn’t he expelled? He hadn’t thought about him since that day when he was taken away.
“It’s gud to see ya.” He beamed at him.
“Why are you here?”
“Dumbledore got me a job as the groundskeeper.” He explained.
“I see.” Voldemort inwardly scoffed, of course that man never really believed that anyone other than To-Voldemort could be behind the death of a student. It was why he had truly turned him down for the job of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. At least this trip to his old school wasn’t a complete waste, he had managed to hide one of his Horcruxes in the Come and Go room and he had cursed the position. No one would be able to teach as the DADA professor for more than a year. He gleefully thought of how much of an inconvenience that would become for Dumbles.
“I uh,” Hagrid nervously rubbed the back of his head. “I wanna thank ya.”
“Thank me for what?” Voldemort asked incredulously, was he being serious? Had he forgotten who had gotten him expelled?
“You got Aragog outta the castle befer they could ‘urt him.”
“How did you know?” He demanded. He was sure that no one was around when he set the spider free.
“Aragog told me.”
“He told you.”
“Yeah, didn’t ya know that Acromantula could talk?”
“No, I was not.” It wasn’t in any books he had read when he was helping Hagrid take care of the blasted thing. And oh no, was Hagrid blushing, did he still have a crush on him? “Rubeus…” He needed to nip this in the bud. Hagrid was no longer useful after all.
“I er, gotcha somethin’.”
“Oh no, Ru-” He tried to step back, to protest but Hagrid was nothing if not persistent. He shoved a crudely wrapped package at him. Voldemort reluctantly took it.
“I’ve been waitin’ to give ya tha’ since Dumbledore got me, me job.” He explained as he waited impatiently for Voldemort to open it.
“Why?” He whispered stunned as he opened the package. Inside laid on a soft cushion was the locket his mother had sold to survive. It was Slytherin’s locket. “How did you get this?” He demanded to know, clutching the locked close to his chest. He had seen it in Borgins and Burkes and planned to buy it once he had earned enough money and yet here it was, given to him by the boy, no he was man now, who he had gotten expelled.
“May ‘ave spooked a shop keep.” He confessed. “Didn’t seem to like my kind in ‘is shop much.”
“Why, Rubeus? I led you on, I lied to you and got you blamed and expelled from Hogwarts.” He pocketed the locket so that the Half-Giant couldn’t take it back.
“You just make me like you.” Hagrid shrugged his large shoulders.
They stood in there in silence for a moment or two before Hagrid took a step back. “Well, I outta get back to work.” An uncharacteristic smirk on his face. “There’s always room in ma hut if you ever need a bed.” And then the bastard had the audacity to wink!
Voldemort would deny it forever, but for the first time in years he found himself blushing darkly at the retreating back of the Half-Giant.