"Oh, so I'm calling the shots now?" Tom asked with a bright grin. "My first decree is that there's ice cream for dinner and our bedtime is never." "Now that's a future I can get behind," Barty snorted and held his belly. "No, but seriously. You kids are going to be the death of me. I don't think this body has ever laughed as much as I'm doing in it." Harry felt light, too, and wondered whether this was all a part of Tom's nefarious plans to lure them into a false sense of security like Voldemort had warned him. But when he looked at the other boy, his eyes were sparkling, and his cheeks red from all the attention he was getting. Add another lonely soul to the collection, Harry thought grimly. Incarcerated, left alone… "I'm keeping you safe, Tom," he declared, and Tom swivelled around to look at him with surprise evident on his face. "You what now?" "I'm keeping you safe, just like I'm keeping the others safe, too," Harry explained. "I'm going to be, I'm studying and training for the third task, and I've been through a lot, so I'm using all that to… keep people safe."
“A Certain Mood,” Rabenschnabel (Ch. 25)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20428298/chapters/88869568
Summary:
The moment the Goblet of Fire spat Harry's name out, it was second year all over again. Shunned by most of Hogwarts and made out to be an attention-seeking liar, he feels more isolated than ever. When a chance encounter with his new Defense professor leads to an offer he can't refuse, Harry's long trek down into darkness begins.
It starts out slow but once he's in deep enough to notice, only one question remains: does he even want to go back? And what is this strange connection he feels to Voldemort once he allows himself to give the Dark Lord a chance? Eventually... letting go seems like the easiest thing in the world.
