Tom calmed his excitement with ruthless rationality. He had to be smart about this. A marriage contract was unlikely, and he couldn’t hinge his plans on it. He’d pursue it as a long-term goal, but work on something more likely to succeed in the short-term. Perhaps he’d talk Potter into pursuing some kind of charity venture, or a political aim he cared about. Something related to helping mudbloods, since Potter seemed obsessed with that? Then Potter would feel indebted to him, since it’d undoubtedly be Tom’s genius that allows such a venture to succeed.