Tom tried breathing deeply in order to get rid of the anxiousness that was building up in the pit of his stomach but it was practically useless the moment Harry called out to him. He chews the inside of his cheek as he slowly looked up from glaring at the ground.

Tom was not happy when he realized that he was not the center of Harry's universe like the older teen is to the young ten-year-old wizard. He should have seen the signs! He should have questioned Harry about the letters, the extra gifts that Harry buys when they go out shopping together, oh how much of a fool he has made himself be!

...

Alright, maybe the stupid soap opera that he watches during his supposed 'nap time' has been affecting him. It was the only other thing that he could watch when he's not sleepy besides watching random commercials or cartoons. The latter which he finds too ridiculous to understand.

And anyways, this is real! His reasons to be angry and hurt are justified! This is not just some sort of childish tantrum based on petty feelings like jealousy, or anything of the sort. Tom prides himself on being able to control his emotions better than the kids his age but finds it hard to not want to set the letters on fire when they appear on their dining table.

He would rather be forced to hug a Dementor than to admit being jealous of the other child who had been exchanging letters with Harry.

How does he know it's a child? Simple, Harry told him.

"She should be around your age, Tom." Said, Harry, as he wraps something up in a golden wrapping paper a couple of years back. She gets presents from Harry during Christmas, but he doesn't know whether she has ever sent anything back besides those letters.

(Either Harry hides them well, or there aren't anything else)

Unfortunately, those are the only things he knows. The letters were charmed so that once Harry puts them in the mailbox, it would go to wherever it was supposed to go. The return letters were no different, Tom had probably looked like a fool glaring at their mailbox whenever he passes them to and fro from school.

Taking a peek of the letters behind Harry's back was something that he vowed not to do but couldn't help entertaining the idea when curiosity got the better of him. He tries getting more out of Harry but all he got was a knowing look before Harry finally answers him, "You'll see her soon." and leaves to answer the letters.

Technically, it was probably his own curiosity that landed him in this situation. If he hadn't asked, Harry would have never brought Tom along to finally meet her face-to-face. Tom knows that Harry has met up with this child a couple of times, most likely during his school hours and that knowledge irritates him more than anything.

Public muggle school was boring, as it seemed nothing more than a rinse-and-repeat routine that he has been doing for the past three years. He didn't find any of the subjects to be too hard and he gets along with his classmates well enough, though it doesn't necessarily mean that he's close to any of them, something that he knows Harry is secretly worried about.

In Tom's opinion, he would rather spend his time with Harry than with the other children but he knows better than to say it out loud. It was unfortunate that he couldn't use his magic at school, but he does
get to practice some small minor things at home under Harry's supervision.

In fact, he doesn't really remember much of his time in the orphanage rather than the time when he first discovered his new abilities and the several occasions he practiced on it. When he tries to recall his past experiences, the children's faces are nothing more than water smudges and it was as if he was listening to their voices underwater.

Despite the fact that he can't quite recall the memories of the first five years of his life, Tom doesn't really think much about it nor does he care since he has a much better, and happier, memory now that he's with Harry.

Speaking of which, Tom tenses when he the approaching footsteps getting louder. His toes curl and uncurl under his shoes and his palms continue to sweat no matter how many times he wipes them against his trousers. Merlin be damned if anyone asked if he was nervous.

"Sorry for the wait Tom."

He sees another pair of feet standing next to Harry, and he takes a few seconds to tear his eyes away from the scruffy looking sneakers. He drags his eyes upwards and took note of the baggy trousers, a loose sweater and-

Tom looked at the girl, then up to Harry who has a hand on her shoulder and looking expectantly at the young wizard.

"Tom, this is Ivy. Ivy, this is Tom, my ward."

Tom stares hard at the two and the longer he stares, the more painful his chest felt. There was no denying the similarity between the two of them. It was glaringly obvious, unlike the similarities he shared with Harry. He was proud, happy whenever others pointed out that he looked similar to his guardian, especially when before and after they knew that the two aren't related.

"Hullo Tom, Harry's spoke a lot about you in the letters."

Tom couldn't help it. The anxiety that had been piling up ever since Harry told him about their meeting had finally reached its breaking point. And the words spilled out even before he knew it.

"I didn't know you have a daughter."

There is a pregnant pause between the trio and Tom wishes he could take it back and just introduce himself like a normal person instead. He feels the heat crawling up his neck and burning the tips of his ears in embarrassment.

Harry's jaw dropped in shock and Ivy- Tom catches the look Ivy cast at the taller male before looking down and twisting her fingers at the bottom of her threadbare sweater. Embarrassment briefly forgotten, Tom narrows his eyebrows in puzzlement. He knows that look.

"W-What, Tom no! I'm only 22! I would be-"

"Plausible." Tom cut off. "You look old enough to be her father and she's young enough." He answers with an air of finality.

"Erm, I'm not his daughter."

Manticore balls.

As if he could hear Tom's thoughts, or maybe he saw the look on Tom's face, Harry looked at him in mild exasperation.

"No really," the girl, Ivy, insists while shaking her head. Her mouth was twisted into something between a smile and a grimace as she took a bold step forward.

"Besides, I'm only ten. It would be unlikely for Harry to have a child at twelve... right?"

Whatever argument Tom had prepared inside his head disappeared and the logical side of him finally returned.

"I am rather small and short so a lot of people take me for someone younger, but I'm really ten!"

Tom looked at Harry and when the older wizard gestured towards the girl, Tom resisted the urge to pout.

"Right," he coughs, averting his eyes for a brief moment before looking back at the forest green eyes, "Sorry."

Ivy shrugs and Tom was both relieved and humiliated at the incident.

Stupid afternoon dramas, filling his head with stupid scenarios from stupidly common telenovela plots.

He really needs to stop watching Las Leyes de Pasión.

/

Harry really needs to stop letting Tom watch Las Leyes de Pasión. The boy has been getting a little bit overdramatic with things ever since he watched the damn show when Harry is not around.

Knowing that Tom would have more than likely wallow in despair -Internally, of course- over his mistake, Harry quickly steers the children away from the meeting point and out to the streets.

"Right, let's head out now shall we?"

He then quickly hailed a cab and tries to divert the sudden awkwardness by relaying today's plan to the two kids. After crossing through time and space yet again, Harry had landed himself in an alternate world similar to his. When he came to, he finds himself seated in a cafe in the middle of a busy street with Gloschuss seated across him.

The mask was still on her face and the people around him barely even batted an eye. A concealment charm then, Harry decides.

"Tea?" She offers after a waiter came by and placed the drinks, a plate of brownies and cutleries on the table.

Harry moves mechanically and pours both cups before taking one for himself. Resting his back against the chair, he slouches and blows on the warm liquid.

"There are a few critical things that aren't the same as your world Harry." Glochuss moves her mask to the side and Harry tries not to watch as a female version of him takes a stab of the brownies and eats it.

"One, Lord Voldemort does not exist in this world but Tom Riddle does in this timeline. Whether or not you leave him alone or try to prevent him in becoming the third dark lord is up to you."

"You mean Tom is born in the same year as me and my friends then?"

"Mm, you can do other research about what happened into the wizarding history yourself if you want to know more." She offers before taking another bite.

"Then if Voldemort is not around-

"Well, something else is taking his place as the big bad antagonist. Don't ask me who because I also don't know. That would be your own job."

Harry pressed his lips to a thin line and took a long sip. "Second thing is that as an outsider, you literally have no money or identity here."

Oh. Right.

"Considering that your father's wizarding heritage, there are many identities you can assume just as long as you can prove it. The safest bet is to take an identity of a squib's descendant while hoping for the best."

"What do you mean?"

If it weren't for the mask, Harry was sure that the white haired girl would have given him a deadpan look or something like that. He straightens himself up and looks at the smiley face with as much seriousness as he can muster.

"Dumbledore would be wary of any outsiders who aren't under his watch to approach the chosen one Harry. If you plan on approaching Ivy, the Harry Potter of this world, you need to have a credible back story lest you suddenly find yourself unable to reach her."

Pause.

"Ivy?"

"Yes."

"Her? Ivy's a she?"

"Yes."

"I'm- I'm a girl?"

"No. Ivy is a girl and you are a male. Unless you identify yourself with being a female and I can refer to you using female pronouns if you like."

"N-No thank you."

Glochuss paused in devouring the brownies. She pulls off the mask and sets it on the table. Green meets green and for second Harry wants to say that everything is surreal. He feels like everything is out of his depth and not for the first time.

"I won't leave you by yourself you know. I will contact you from time to time and you can contact me. You aren't entirely left alone."

"It's not that, it's just..."

When he looks away, Harry swore that there was a defeated look on her face for just a second before it was gone.

"Is Harry Potter forever tasked with saving the world no matter what world, time or universe they live in?"

Seconds past and Glochuss made no attempt to answer. Instead, she drinks her tea and Harry finally decides on refilling his cup. He watches the people walking past the shop and starts counting the number of people wearing sneakers.

He only counts to fourteen before he is back into the conversation "No. Not all the time. Sometimes, they get to live a happy normal life. No Dark Lords, no need in saving the world, they grew up with parents and live the most normal life you can wish for.

"Sometimes they get this kind of life on their own, and sometimes they get it through the help of someone else. It may be divine intervention or someone who traveled through time and space to help them."

Glochuss sighs and leans back in her chair, her hands rested on her lap. "Like I said, only you would know what you truly want. You may not be able to completely prevent Ivy from feeling the same thing but at the very least, she could have someone she can lean to. The same goes for Tom Riddle."

The last part caught Harry by surprise.

"The characters may be the same Harry, but they are not perfect replicas of each other." Then she stood up and walked away. Leaving Harry's half of the brownie and enough money to pay for the meal.

Harry could recall the flurry of events leading up to this moment which included apartment hunting with an avatar of power, obliviating one to two people -for the greater good said the avatar of power- making up a fake ID and a magical ID that was easier said than done.

Stealing; in which Glochuss was more than happy to show her pickpocketing skills -he wasn't impressed at all. Nope. Not even a for single, tiniest, least bit, even thought it looked cool and all...- and then, meeting Tom Riddle.

Harry glanced to the young wizard sitting next to him. Ivy Potter's Tom Riddle was nothing like Harry Potter's Tom Riddle. And it makes him wonder; if given the chance would the Tom Riddle of his world love watching telenovelas in secret? Would he still like to drink juice when he can't sleep? Always ordering chocolate-based drinks when they eat out?

Was this how Tom Riddle would have turned out if there had been someone for him?

"So where are we going, Harry?" Ivy blinks up at the dark haired wizard who had been so lost in thought. "Just some places I want to show you both," Ivy smiles albeit a bit shyly and smiles, a bit bittersweet maybe, bit the children were too young to understand.

He couldn't help but wonder, what his own life would be like if there was someone for him.