Letting Go

This is a pre-slash fanfic between Tom Riddle and Harry. If you don't like the concept then please do not read. Nothing explicit will happen except for kissing, but I do not want people freaking out about the fact that I write about two men who are in love. Love can come from anywhere and it can happen between anyone. Do not judge just because you do not understand.

The characters and the Harry Potter franchise belong to J.K. Rowling. We all know that so this disclaimer is actually pointless, but let's get into the good stuff.

Harry stomped towards the Forbidden Forest feeling absolutely furious. He knew it wasn't his own feelings, but since it allowed him to let out some of his own frustration at the same time, he didn't really care. Finding out that most of your life had been a lie did that to a person. And if it wasn't for the anger then he would feel quite sorry for himself, so he chose the anger instead. He gritted his teeth before opening his mouth and screaming out his frustration. It sounded almost animalistic and it rang in his ears as he sat down on a rock near the lake.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there as Voldemort's anger faded from his head, but he knew that it had been a while considering that the skies had turned significantly dark around him. He stood up with a sigh. If he stayed any longer he would probably get detention with Severus and as much as they actually got along at this moment in his sixth year, he still sucked at potions, which meant that a detention would equal extra classes.

He turned towards the castle but the snap of a twig sang out behind him and he froze. Oh great. Yeah Harry run into the deep dark forest where all kinds of creatures dwell, alert everything that you are there with a shout and while you're at it sit very still so that you can give something a chance to surround you. He calmly took out his wand. It's not that he wasn't scared, but taking out his anger on something that likely wanted to eat him sounded very good at the moment.

A bunch of glowing animals suddenly stampeded through the clearing behind him and Harry was shocked to see that it was a whole lot of tiger patronusses (patroni?). The space around him came alive as a dozen terrier-sized spiders fled back to their cave. Harry shook his head. Of course it would be the Acromantula, good thing Ron wasn't here; he'd have fainted by now.

He suddenly got tackled and had just enough time to stabilize himself and the person who ran into him before the person leaned back and hit him over the head with her palm. "Are you stupid? You almost just got yourself killed…" Harry was about to say something but she gave him a glare before she continued. "…yes I know you could have handled yourself, but anything can happen out here! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Harry smiled softly. She always worries too much about me. "I'm sorry 'mione, I just got so angry and frustrated that…" Hermione frowned and took his hand before dragging them closer to the castle. He looked around and saw that the tigers had disappeared. He looked at her. "How did you get your tiger patronus to multiply like that?" Hermione looked back to the forest as they kept on walking before looking in front of her again. "I used a copy spell. Only one patronus was real though, the rest were all just copied images, it's a good thing that they weren't clever enough to notice." They came to a slight curve in one of the walls of the castle and Harry was surprised when Hermione walked straight through the wall, dragging him with her.

He had to stop his jaw from hitting the floor as he found himself in a room that looked almost as big as their common room, the colors were just different. Purple and black decorated the place and it almost looked like they were standing on nothing. Black decorated the walls, floor and roof, but a whole lot of purple lights and veils made the room look more light than dark. A fireplace burnt brightly in the one corner.

Hermione sank down on one of the couches and motioned for him to sit as well. He sat down before starring at her in confusion, but she held her hand up before he could speak. "I will explain everything about how I found the room later, for now please tell me why you were so angry that you couldn't even think straight enough to not go into the Forbidden Forest."

Harry sighed again and looked down at his hands. "I don't think you will believe me if I told you." Hermione raised one brow. "Try me." Harry nodded. "Well you see, I know that you think Dumbledore is the best and all that, but I overheard something earlier that indicated that almost my whole life had been a lie." He looked up at Hermione, but she didn't look like she was going to interrupt him by saying that he must have heard wrong, so he continued.

"I was on my way to Severus for a dreamless sleep potion since he had agreed to make them for me after my Occlumency lessons so that he was sure that I wouldn't get too dependent on the potion. Severus had given me permission to wait for him in his office if he wasn't there, since he was never away from his rooms for very long and so I did. A book caught my eye after I had been waiting a while and I went over to look at it. When I opened it, I was shocked to find that it contained a lot of pictures of Severus and my mother. I couldn't stop myself from looking through it."

Hermione just nodded. Harry knew that she knew very how bad his nightmare became some nights. "I heard a noise when I was about halfway through the book and I panicked because I didn't want Severus to think that I was snooping. Then I heard Dumbledore's voice and I knew that he would find it weird that I was waiting alone in Severus' office since we were supposed to hate each other, so I dove under the desk with the black cloth over it. I was glad that Severus had taught me how to hide my presence so I did just that after throwing my cloak over myself as well."

Hermione gave him a look and he blushed. "Oh come on Hermione, you know I take it almost everywhere with me just in case I need it." She smiled and nodded before her face turned serious again. "What happened then Harry?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself. "Dumbledore was asking Severus to make all kinds of different potions for him. He said that he needed them in order to be able to further his plans. I didn't understand what he meant of course until Severus' voice turned angry. He was saying, 'I hope you die a painful death old man, what you are doing to that boy is wrong and if I had a way that I could warn him then I would!' Dumbledore just chuckled and said, 'We both know that you won't be able to do anything to help him unless I allow you too. It was after all your own stupidity when you promised to do whatever I wanted with an unbreakable vow. One in which you also promised to never do something to kill yourself or to lose your magic so you are stuck working as my spy.' Severus had actually sounded like he wanted to throttle Dumbledore, but he couldn't."

Hermione's mouth was hanging open at this point, but since she hadn't fervently denied what he said, he decided to tell her the rest as well. "Dumbledore then spoke again. He said, 'The Weasley boys seem to be slowly slipping from my grasp in order to side with the boy. I will need to place a few more compulsion spells on them. Ms. Granger is an easy one to control if I were to allow her into the restricted section of the library or if I were to promise to reduce her school fees. She likes to help her friends and if I asked her to keep an eye on the boy in exchange because I am worried, then she would do it immediately.' Harry almost flinched at the anger he saw in Hermione's eyes.

The girl turned to one of the couches and aimed her wand with 'reducto' leaving her lips and Harry didn't even try to stop her anger. He knew that Hermione was his friend and that she would never agree to keep an eye on him for the headmaster, unless it was to trick the man. She turned towards him. "Sorry Harry, I just can't believe that man would think I was so cheap to win over. On the other hand I will have to do it if he asked me because then I can act like I am watching over you, otherwise he might just find someone else."

Harry nodded with a smile before his face turned somber again. "Dumbledore then said that Severus would have to brew a potion to weaken my magic since I was stronger than Voldemort at the moment and he didn't want me to survive our next fight. He also wanted Severus to brew a loyalty potion so that I could hang off his every word and die when he told me to die. He said that he would have requested another love potion as well, but since he was my guardian, he was going to get my money anyway and he couldn't risk that Ginny would be able to take it all."

Hermione's face scrunched up in disgust, but Harry continued to speak. "The last part is the worst. He told Severus that it really was laughable that he had been tricked into servitude with no way out. He said that Voldemort had actually just stunned my parents that night even if he really tried to kill me. There had been some kind of spell added into the words of the fake prophecy and every time me or Voldemort heard it or thought about it, then we would have an urge to kill each other. There never was a real prophecy, Dumbledore made it up when my parents wanted to defect to the dark side and to him it was just a bonus that Voldemort disappeared when he tried to kill me. He killed my parents when he arrived and he would have killed me too if he didn't get the idea in his head to raise me as a weapon that could fight for him."

A shudder ran through him and he looked up at his friend. "Hermione what am I going to do? Hogwarts was my home, but I can't stay here and be safe while he is here. I didn't want any part in this war, but it seems that I can't escape from it." The girl in front of him stood up and held him as he cried. Anger, sadness and fear all threatened to overwhelm him, but Hermione calmed him down. "I have something to confess to you Harry."

Harry looked at his friend who suddenly seemed nervous. "What is it Hermione? You know you can tell me anything." The girl nodded before taking a deep breath. "I did something stupid at the beginning of the summer. I was angry at Dumbledore for sending you back to your relatives after you had warned me how they are and I went on a trip to Diagon Alley. There I spotted Professor Snape…uhm I mean Severus and I followed him because I wanted to see what he was up to."

Harry laughed. "We all know you have a crush on the man Hermione, just as Neville has a crush on Luna and Ron has a crush on Daphne, although I don't know how that is possible since his usual mantra is 'I hate Slytherins'. Unless that is just the compulsion speaking." Hermione blushed brightly to her friend's amusement, but she continued her story in order to get back on topic.

"As I way saying…I was following him when someone grabbed me from behind and the next thing I know, I'm looking into Lucius Malfoy's face. He apparated with me and immediately after that I'm kneeling at Voldemort's feet." Hermione ignored her friend as he paled significantly in order to reassure him. "I didn't get hurt Harry. Voldemort seemed to be in the middle of a meeting and he dismissed his lower circle immediately, which only left me, Malfoy and Voldemort in the room. He wanted to ask me a few questions, but I refused until he made an oath that he meant me, you and our friends and family no harm."

Harry gaped at her as Hermione started fidgeting with her shirt. He knew some people changed, but this was ridiculous. He stared then spoke. "How did you get out of there?" Hermione smiled. "Malfoy apparated me back to Diagon Alley after Voldemort asked me to just look out for you. Apparently he lost his mind for a while, but he started regaining it slowly when he got resurrected with your blood."

Harry quirked an eyebrow but said nothing as Hermione continued her tale. "Voldemort looked completely human when I saw him so it was quite a shock. He specifically said that he had a few things that he had to repay you for and he couldn't do it while you firmly believed everything that Dumbledore says. He asked me to make sure that you ate enough and that I ensured that you didn't go back to the Dursleys."

He could only gape at her in shock, but his parents had wanted to go over to the dark side and Voldemort probably found out about it afterwards, so he could kind of understand the theory behind why the Dark Lord wanted to protect him. Although he never thought that the man would actually have a conscience. He looked at Hermione. "Say hypothetically that I did decide to leave here and join him, what guarantee would I have that I wouldn't be killed on site? We also still don't know how Ron would react either."

Hermione blushed at this and looked at him guiltily. "I may have already told Ron about this. I was in shock when I returned and he happened to spot me. I was unable to stop myself from speaking as the shock set in." Harry's eyes turned worried, but Hermione smiled. "Ron may be a hot-head sometimes, but he knew that something wasn't right if Voldemort didn't want to kill you anymore. He is after all an avid chess player."

Harry couldn't help but grin as he nodded. "So what did he say?" Hermione smiled in return. "He said that he would set up the twins to find out the truth and if he found out that Dumbledore had brought harm to you in any unnecessary way, then you would find yourself with him and his family at your side even if it went against their parents' wishes when they could not see reason."

Harry stared at her with wide eyes as he processed the words. He had partly been angry because he thought he would lose his family if he disappeared, but it seemed to be the exact opposite. Hermione cleared her throat and took out a pendant. "Voldemort also said that we could contact him though this. It's not a portkey since he knew you wouldn't trust him if it was, but it seems to be able to telepathically send thoughts to the holder of its twin."

Hermione seemed hesitant to give it to him and he smiled. She really is always trying to protect me. She gave him the pendant, but kept her hand on it and then sighed with relief when they didn't immediately disappear. He closed his eyes as he suddenly felt the link between him and Voldemort strengthen and a surprised voice entered his mind. He vaguely registered that Hermione had removed her hand. "I am surprised, Barely a week since you returned to school and your friend was already able to hand you the pendent. I suspect that something happened?"

Harry's eyes widened at the civil tone and he was about to nod when he realized that the man couldn't see him. "Yeah, I suppose you can say that something has happened. I found out today that Dumbledore found out that my parents were going to change over to your side so when he heard my mum was pregnant he paid a hack to make up a false prophecy. I learned that you only stunned my parents and that Dumbledore was the one to kill them and that he had been using loyalty or compulsion potions on me and my friends, he also wanted to lock away most of my magic. Oh and the prophecy has compulsion charms on it so that we could be prompted to kill each other."

A feeling of fury rushed through the link and Harry was surprised to receive a thought that stated that no magical child should go through that. The Dark Lord immediately composed himself again though. "That does make all the missing pieces fall into place. So what now? Are you going to stay at Hogwarts where the Headmaster can follow through with his plans?"

Harry knew that Voldemort already knew what he was going to choose, they did share a link after all. He could practically taste the Dark Lord's excitement to remove them as unknown factors in the war, but he wouldn't make it that easy for him. "I have some plans of my own, but first I want to know where we stand. I am only 16 years old and no person that age would ever willingly want to fight in a war."

He could clearly sense Voldemort's frown through the link. "I did not give your friend the pendant to enlist you and your friends on my side in this war. You have no place in it unless you want to do research on tactics and finish your studies, but other than that I would prefer to remove all children from this war. My main aim was to get you out of the old coot's reach so that I can concentrate on protecting the wizarding world instead of fighting a 16 year old as you so put it."

Harry felt surprised, but it made sense if he put it that way. "What do you propose we do then?" He clearly felt Voldemort's smugness at having gotten his way, but he didn't feel like fighting it any longer. It was already a big change that the man wasn't trying to kill him, so if he could escape Dumbledore's clutches at the same time, then it would be a win-win situation for him.

"I don't trust the man to wait until tomorrow to make his move, so I would suggest that you gather your friends and sneak out of the castle tonight. I already made an oath to your friend so I suppose trust won't be a problem. I will have a few of my trusted followers, apparate you here." Harry frowned but reluctantly gave in. The followers he was thinking about were trying to kill him most of the time in the past after all.

…a few hours later…

Harry had gathered the support of most of the Weasley family as well as Neville and Luna. But Luna admitted that Harry and his friends would be proclaimed dark if they all left (Harry always knew that she had seer blood). So it was agreed that only Hermione, Ron and Harry would disappear while the rest planted a story that they had been looking for ways to destroy Voldemort. The story would be that they must have stumbled upon something and got captured. Most of it was the truth after all, except the killing Voldemort part. The twins as well as Luna and Neville would stay behind and act like distraught friends and family and they would try to get Dumbledore to recruit them into his little club.

Harry was worried about them, but they were quite stubborn so in the end the golden trio found themselves within the forbidden forest. Voldemort had taught them a shield so that they would not be attacked within the dark woods. Ron was understandably nervous, partly due to the spiders and partly due to not completely thinking that Voldemort wasn't going to pull some kind of trick. They walked to the center of a glade where three figures were waiting for them and Harry was very surprised to see that it was Lucius, Severus and Bellatrix.

But this Bellatrix was smiling pleasantly and the mad persona she usually had was gone. No one spoke as they apparated. Ron reluctantly went with Bellatrix while Hermione went with Lucius. Harry was left alone in the clearing with Severus and the man was looking at him with complete confusion. "Why are you doing this Harry?"

Harry looked at his potions professor and smiled sadly. "I went to get a potion from you earlier today, but you weren't there so I decided to wait. I hid when you and Dumbledore came in because he was the one that told you to not treat me too kindly and I didn't want to place you in a difficult position. I heard everything he said and ran out as soon as you and Dumbledore left the room. Hermione helped me and then told me about Voldemort after she made accidental contact with him while following you one day."

The potions master nodded then looked at him. "I need you to do me a favor Harry. I found a special oath that could negate Dumbledore's oaths, but I only trust you to do it since the key element is that someone you care for must make the oath with you if they might be in danger from you otherwise. The only danger I pose to you is those from Dumbledore's oaths so it would break them."

Harry immediately nodded and copied Severus when he lifted his wand. "I call upon Lady Omira, the goddess of promises, strip these wrongful binding oaths so that I may protect that which I hold dear." He looked at Harry and Harry was surprised to find the words forming in his head. "I accept your protection and in return I break the chains that keep you from fulfilling your desired promise, so it shall be done and so it is." A bright light flashed between them and the oath was sealed.

They both breathed out in relief and Harry was surprised when he felt no more hate for the professor. Yes they had been getting along much better, but that was because they were fighting against the strange urge to hate one another. Now there was nothing to fight against and Harry sagged in relief while Severus caught him with an exasperated sigh. "I guess the old coot created a compulsion spell that caused us to hate each other."

Severus nodded and spoke as he seemed to think. "Luckily he won't know that his oaths have been negated since it would place you in danger so the oath stopped the backlash. Come on. Let's get you to Voldemort." Harry couldn't help but laugh at that. "There are so many reasons why that sentence would have been wrong in the past. This is so surreal."

Severus gave him a rare smile before taking his arm and turning on the spot. They arrived in a small room and Harry felt Severus' arm steady him before letting go of him, unfortunately Harry didn't find his footing yet and he tripped over a loose rug as he tried to steady himself. He tightly closed his eyes and put out his arms to protect his head, but instead of crashing to the ground, Harry felt a different pair of arms lock around his waist.

He looked up and it took his mind a while to figure out where he had seen the man. The man had an air about him that simply called for respect. It was only after Severus' voice rang out behind him that he realized that he was looking at Voldemort. "My Lord, I ask for your forgiveness. My oaths to Dumbledore have dissolved with Harry's help. With your permission I would like to stay at Hogwarts to keep an eye on the coot and to protect the students from his manipulations."

Harry abruptly stepped back. They might not be enemies anymore, but the last thing he wanted to do now was to do something that made the man mad. Voldemort looked at him and smirked before he turned his attention to Severus. "You are forgiven. I am well aware of your reasons, but I could not take you into confidence while you were under those oaths when I regained my sanity. You have my permission to go back to Hogwarts. I require you to brew a few anti-potions as well. There are a few students under compulsion potions at the school."

Harry looked back to see Severus nod and rise from where he had fallen to one knee. Voldemort spoke again. "You may go Severus. I don't want there to be any suspicion if it is found that you are not in your rooms. Use the floo network." Severus nodded and left. Harry suddenly found himself to be the object of all Voldemort's attention and he tried not to squirm under the man's intense gaze. He looked down at his feet, but he couldn't help but to get a glance of the man's body as he looked down. The man looked good even in his usual robes.

Harry mentally shook his head to try to clear it. It didn't make any sense, here he was standing in front of the guy that had tried to kill him more than once and now all he wanted to do was to kiss the guy for some reason. Was he going insane or something? Did the man cast a spell on him somehow? He was sure he wouldn't be acting the way he was for any other reason so it must have been a spell. Heck he'd just seen the guy and now his bloody hormones were going crazy.

A cough brought his attention back to Voldemort's face and he felt his face grow hot as he saw that the man was looking a bit confused. He blushed when he realized that he was tightly gripping the telepathic pendant in his pocket and his connection with Voldemort was wide open, which meant that Voldemort had just practically heard everything that he was thinking.

Voldemort gave Harry a small smirk before walking out of the room. "Come Harry, your friends are waiting in the dining room." He followed the older man silently, he was sure that he had seen something in the man's eyes but since Voldemort didn't seem intent on speaking about the thoughts, Harry let out a sigh of relief. Of course Voldemort would have better things to do than to pay attention to a teenager's embarrassing thoughts.

The Dark Lord stopped at a door and turned towards him. "You may call me Tom in private and in your mind, hearing you going on about Voldemort this or Voldemort that in your head sets off the tracer too many times." Harry turned to the older man. "Tracer?" Tom nodded. "I put a tracer on the name and that is how I always knew where you were, since you and your friends are the only ones who use it."

Harry looked confused and Voldemort sighed. "It's not like I had all the time in the world to run around after you all day even if I knew where you were. I have a war to plan and missions to assign. I might have been insane, but the tactical part of me stayed. The war wouldn't just have been over if I defeated you so I had many other plans in place as well. It's stupid of an entire country to depend upon a single child while they lock themselves away in their mansions."

Harry might have felt offended if he hadn't been thinking a lot about the same thing and it did make sense that the man couldn't have just spent his time sending his minions after 'the chosen one'. His death eaters always failed to bring Harry to Tom and that left the plot open for their annual 'to-the-death' duel. Tom said nothing more as he swung the doors open and Harry was met with a strange sight. Lucius and Hermione seemed to be having a deep conversation on some kind of political matters and Ron seemed to be talking to none other than Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf seemed to want to know why Ron wasn't scared of him, but Ron refused to tell him the reason even though both Harry and Hermione knew that he was much more afraid of spiders even if it wasn't very logical at the moment since he was sitting right next to a werewolf that could easily tear his head off.

But Harry let it go since logic seemed to have flown out of the window for the day ever since Hermione told him about Tom. The conversations stopped as Harry and Tom entered and the three teens were surprised when the two death eaters merely bowed their heads instead of kneeling on the floor like they usually did. Tom seemed to have had expected their reaction because he turned to them after he had acknowledged his death eaters. "We were all once friends who were fighting for the same goal and you can blame the years of insanity for their usual reactions that you have seen. Although the lower ranks of the death eaters really are mere minions. Fenrir is not part of my death eaters though he is here to represent the werewolves."

Harry just shrugged and sat in the seat that Tom offered to him. Ron and Hermione went back to their conversations with Lucius and Fenrir. Everything was very different from what Harry was used to and so he decided to just observe the changes instead of questioning them all. He looked at his friends and inwardly smiled, they both looked more relaxed than they had been in ages. A scrape of a chair alerted him that Tom was sitting down to his left.

The man must have given some kind of hidden signal because the house elves immediately came out with the food. Tom and the death eaters started dishing up for themselves without any hesitation and Harry, Ron and Hermione followed their example. Dinner was eaten with a companionable silence and it was only after all the dishes had been cleared that the room's occupants directed all of their attention to Tom.

He looked at each of them before he spoke. "You are probably wondering about what will happen now." The three teens nodded. "I have had rooms prepared for you here at Riddle mansion. I have also found accredited teachers for you in all of your chosen subjects, but you will be finishing your courses faster than the rest of your year in order to prevent the Ministry from tracking you through your wands. I know that Hermione has been reading ahead and she has also taught the two of you so you will be writing your N.E.W.T.S in two days. The trace will then be magically removed from your wands. Not many people know this, but the ministry can't take your wands immediately if you have your N.E.W.T.S and you can be certain that the ministry won't take your wands for just any little reason. I have given you two days' time for revision because the ministry will not immediately try to locate you through your wands and since it is weekend, they won't figure it out until after you have written your tests."

Ron paled at the news, but both Harry and Hermione became excited at the idea of being able to do magic freely. Tom watched their faces before he continued speaking. "Other than that you are free to do what you want, but you are not allowed to leave the grounds unless you inform me or the inner circle first. One person in the inner circle will then escort you to wherever you want to go, but you will also have to wear a glamor." Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded. It made sense that extra precautions would be taken.

Harry looked at Tom. "I know you said that we will have no part in the war anymore and I am happy with that, but what are your plans for the muggleborns and the rest of the magical children as well as the rest of the magical world?" It felt like Tom was staring into his very mind when the man turned towards him as he voiced his question.

"I want to keep the magic and muggleborns as far away from the muggles as possible, although I know that it would be impossible. So a department will be built in order to analyze the families with muggleborns until they are old enough to come to school in order to ensure that they are not abused. The muggleborns will be sent to a pre-Hogwarts school at 7 years old, where they will learn about magic culture and the basic essentials that every witch or wizard is taught by their families. The families of the muggleborns and the muggleborns themselves will be placed under a silencing spell that would prevent them from speaking, writing or showing any other muggle about the wizarding world. The spell will only be broken when they formally send in a request for it along with their reasons."

Harry, Hermione and Ron gaped at the man. His plans would solve all of the problems, but then Harry frowned. "How will we be able to convince the light side of your plans?" He easily ignored Tom's grin as his words registered. Harry didn't even feel bad about it. They were not on the 'light' side of the war anymore since they weren't a part of the war at all, but he knew that he would choose the 'dark' side if he was asked to make a decision. Tom's plans seemed a lot more sane and solid than Dumbledore's was.

Tom raised a brow at his question and Harry elaborated. "Well it would cause a lot less bloodshed if we could convince most of the people on the other side that your way is the right way. At the moment Dumbledore just has their backing because they think that you are a lunatic that will kill or enslave them all if you win the war. So we could always set up a confrontation where Dumbledore thinks he has us cornered and then he blabs all his secrets…"

Harry was about to speak further, but Tom stopped him with a cross look. "I told you that you will have no part in this war if you came here and I stand by my word. Confronting Dumbledore would put you in danger and we do not know what he would do if he is cornered. Your idea is a good one, but a cornered Dumbledore would only lead to trouble."

Harry slightly glared at him before giving in. He did come to Tom in order to get away from the war so what the man said was true. Another idea came to him and he grinned widely at Tom. "You said that we could research tactics if we wanted to right?" Tom looked at him as if he was worried about where Harry was taking the conversation.

Harry just ignored the look. "Well what if you created a different faction. Dumbledore is 'good' and 'Voldemort' is 'evil' so why don't you just create a grey faction for those who do not want to fight? You look very different from the way you used to look so Dumbledore won't recognize you and that way you can 'persuade' the groups of both dark and light over to your side. You can also set up most of your plans before the war has even ended then and with a little acting 'Voldemort' can easily disappear once Dumbledore has been taken care of."

Everyone at the table looked at him in surprise and he rolled his eyes. "I do have a brain that I can use you know." Tom laughed, shocking everyone as he looked at Harry. "Yes, you just choose to act before you think." Harry glared at him but said nothing. He then turned his head to look at the one wall before he spoke. "I can't help the fact that I want to protect the first people to ever treat me like family."

He then got up and rushed out of the room as soon as he registered his own words. It was embarrassing to say such things. He was a wizard and he couldn't even protect himself from muggles. Of course he completely forgot that he hadn't been shown to his room yet and also about the fact that he had never been in the mansion before except for the little glimpses he always caught through Tom's link with his own mind.

As a result he found himself to be spectacularly lost. He was tired from the day's drama and he just wanted to fall down onto a bed and sleep, but every room he tried was locked. He was just about to give up and sit down to nap right where he was in the hall when a door to his left clicked open. At first he expected someone to come out, but when nobody exited the room he decided that wind must have blown it open.

He entered the room and was surprised to see a giant room with almost every modern comfort that there could be in the wizarding world. The bed was huge and he was about to fall down on it and sleep when a tiny voice reached him. ""Sssooo c-cold nee-ed heattt."" He looked to the side and saw an egg that was nestled near a fireplace, but the embers were very close to dying out. He didn't know any of the names of the house elves so he couldn't call them and he couldn't use his magic freely yet so he decided to pick up the egg.

His body heat always ran hotter than normal due to his past so the moment he cradled the egg to his chest a pleased hiss echoed through the room. ""Yesss, nice heat. Want more."" Harry just shrugged and carried the egg to bed. He wanted sleep and the egg seemed sturdy enough to keep close to him while he slept so it really was a win-win situation if he thought about it.

He was mildly surprised to find that the bed was already warm as he climbed in, but magic allowed such comforts so he snuggled in deeper. The pillow smelled vaguely familiar, but his mind suggested that the elves might just all be using the same linen cleaner. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep as the warm bed and the soft hissing lulled him to sleep.

…

Tom cursed the brat's sensitivity even though he knew that he had been expecting it. He had excused himself after Harry had run out and now he couldn't find the boy or rather man, anywhere. He decided to head to his room to freshen up before he searched further, but he paused when he saw that his door was open. Extreme anger began welling up inside him. His death eaters knew that this wing was off limits! He was about to rage more when he opened the door but the sight that met him stopped him in his tracks.

He didn't know how Harry had gotten past his wards, but it was unmistakably Harry Potter lying in his bed. Yet he wasn't angry about it for some reason. He glanced to the fireplace and froze again as he noticed that the fire was out and the egg that he had been caring for was gone from its nest. He moved over to the bed to shake the man awake but a pleased hiss reached his ears from under the covers.

He slowly reached down to lift the covers a little and he was surprised to see that Harry was holding the egg against his chest and that he was actually keeping the egg warm. Tom had been waiting for signs of life from the egg ever since he had managed to remove it from the Chamber of Secrets, but it had been two years since then and the egg had still shown no signs of life. Yet Harry was here barely a few hours and he could clearly hear pleased hissing coming from inside the egg.

He knew that he was acting out of character by not immediately shaking the man awake and chasing him out of his room, but at the moment he didn't really care. He sank down on the couch while trying to figure out why Harry's presence suddenly allowed the egg to 'wake' from its incubation. Usually a basilisk would only hatch if it was a chicken egg that had been incubated under a frog, but since the present egg had actually come from Slytherin's basilisk herself, Tom had to determine that basilisks could lay eggs if they were old enough, which they never became since they were usually killed out of fear or for potions.

No known basilisk had ever reached the size of Slytherin's basilisk so there were many mysteries surrounding the present egg. Tom had actually just been keeping the egg warm for so long in the hope that he could figure out the secret to its birth. A light groan sounded from the bed and Tom looked up to see that Harry was having a nightmare. He softly stood up and moved to the bed, but h was hesitant to experience Harry's reaction if he shook him awake.

It was the younger man's sensitivity that probably led to him getting lost in the mansion and ending up in Tom's bed after all. He lightly placed his hand on Harry's shoulder and the younger man immediately stopped struggling in his sleep before giving a contented sigh. Tom frowned and looked around the room. Logically he knew that no one could see him, but it felt like everyone could see him as he struggled to figure out how Harry could calm down with just a single touch from him.

Yes the younger man had haunted his dreams and thoughts since he had somehow defeated him as a baby, but since he regained his sanity he had been thinking of Harry in a different way. A way that someone his age had no business thinking about even if he was now in a body that was barely seven years older than the younger man.

Tom suddenly felt extremely tired and he looked at the other side of the bed. The bed had been custom-made to be larger than other beds so there was more than enough space for him to sleep without touching Harry. His inner voice told him that he was just looking for a chance to be close to the other man for one night since logic told him that he would never have another chance, but he ignored it in favor of sliding under the covers. He lay awake for a while as he waited to see whether Harry would wake up, but he soon drifted off into a deep sleep.

He should have known that the next morning would start with a riot though as an insistent knocking woke him from his sleep and he opened his eyes only to see two shocked green orbs staring into his own. He silently cursed to himself as he realized that he had been holding Harry's back to his front while they had been sleeping and the younger man must have just woken up because he had only turned his head to see who was holding him.

He knew that Harry was gay since they shared a link because of the soul thing so it wasn't that the younger man would suddenly gain a fear of homophobia, which only left the fact that it was 'Voldemort' that was holding him as the reason for the man's reaction. He cursed again as the banging on his door continued and he stood up while casting a neatness spell on both of them before he opened it with a glare. His own variation of the spell changed their clothes at least a little so that his friends wouldn't see that they still had the same clothes on and it would look like they had been up for hours already. His death eaters knew that his wing was off limits so he knew that it could only have been Harry's friends who were probably worried for their friend.

He inwardly rolled his eyes as they both shrank back from him in realization. They had evidently forgotten that they were banging on 'Voldemort's' door in their worry for their friend. He glanced back to see that Harry was now sitting on the bed holding the egg so an idea occurred to him. "What is it? It's barely 6 o'clock in the morning and here you are trying to break my door down."

He knew that they were about to talk to him about their missing friend but the muggleborn seem to quickly catch sight of her friend and her jaw dropped, which caused the Weasley boy to follow her example and to do the same. He looked at them, then glanced at Harry and then back again as if he had only just realized why they had come to his quarters.

"If you are looking for Harry, then as you can see he is helping me with a problematic serpent egg. Since he is a parselmouth it would evidently be easier for him to help me coax the snake out of the egg." The two nodded dumbly and he saw that the Granger girl was blushing as she saw that Harry seemed to be right at home on the bed even with the awkwardness of the situation. An unconscious skim of her thoughts revealed that she actually thought that they would look good together.

Tom had to consciously stop himself from reacting to the thought as the two excused themselves to go to breakfast. The older man closed the door then turned around to look at Harry. "Don't worry too much about last night. Nothing happened. I came in here after trying to look for you and I wasn't expecting to see you in my rooms. You were keeping the egg warm so I decided to leave you to sleep."

The younger man nodded, but for some reason he seemed a little down after the explanation. Surely it couldn't be that he wanted Tom to want him? Tom inwardly shook his head. It was insanity to think that way since he had actually come very close to killing the man numerous times. No one in their right mind would ever want their killer close to them. He decided to change the subject and he looked at the egg before looking back at Harry. "Why did you remove the egg from its place?"

The younger man glanced from the egg to the fireplace. "I was trying to find a room that I could sleep in after I got lost in the mansion and this door clicked open. I was about to just fall asleep on the bed when I heard a voice saying it was cold. I found that the voice had come from the egg and since I couldn't call the elves or use my wand I decided to keep it warm with my body heat. The warm bed also helped a lot though."

Tom moved over to take the egg which Harry seemed to be gripping defensively. "It is a basilisk egg that I found in the Chamber of Secrets two years ago after I had been reborn at that graveyard. Hogwarts herself seemed to know of Dumbledore's plans so she didn't have a problem with letting me in after I had regained my sanity, which happened about an hour after you escaped. I have been keeping it warm since then, but it had shown no life until I came in while you were sleeping with it. The egg was created by Slytherin's basilisk herself so it is one of a kind since no other eggs have ever been born like this."

Harry was about to say something when a sleepy hiss interrupted them. ""Where isss my other massster? I need both my bonded massstersss to hatch."" Tom and Harry looked at each other before Tom slowly neared the egg and places his hand on the part that Harry wasn't keeping warm. Small cracks immediately started to appear in the egg and both Tom and Harry almost collapsed at the sudden sensation of their magic forcefully being absorbed into the egg. A flash of light had them both sealing their eyes before the sensation of the egg crumbling into nothing made them open them again in their panic.

Neither men knew what they had been expecting, but a small black snake with tiny feathered wings definitely wasn't it. They glanced at each other then back at the so called basilisk and they winced when they found that its eyes were completely open, yet neither of them died. The snake seemed to be able to read their thoughts because it settled down and looked at the two of them. ""You are my massstersss, I can do nothing to harm you even if I was forced to. Thank you for your magic, I would never have hatched if the two of you had not bonded before you had helped me.""

The two men froze and looked at each other. Harry was the first one to speak. "B-b-bonded? We never bonded! He was usually trying to kill me and we had just barely been in each other's company for an hour before I fell asleep here." The snake shook its head. ""You have been bonded sssince your magic connected with each other. It doesssn't happen often, but magic sssometimes interferesss when it comes acrosss a couple that ssshould have been together if sssomething elssse had not interfered. You are now unable to harm each other.""

Both Harry and Tom shared a shocked look and the graveyard came to mind before Harry frowned. "But he made me into a Horcrux! Isn't that harming me at this very moment?" The snake was about to answer, but it was Tom that spoke instead. "You have not been a Horcrux for more than a year and a half now. I regained my human appearance and sanity when I absorbed all of my Horcruxes right after my return. You might have noticed that your scar bled a lot one night, but that it seemed to be faded the next day."

Harry nodded but he was still frowning. "Yes, it did happen more than a year and a half ago as you said, but how come I was still able to feel your emotions and sometimes see what you are doing. If it wasn't the Horcrux that caused the connection, what was it?" Tom looked at him pointedly and Harry groaned. "So what you are saying is that bonded people can share all that?" Tom nodded and the spark of relief in Harry's eyes before it was followed by sadness, didn't really escape his notice.

He decided to get the uncertainty out of the way. He hated not knowing why the younger man had so many conflicting emotions. "Look Harry, yes I have been trying to kill you most of the time, but I have not been trying to kill you since after the incident in the graveyard. The instances after that were staged and any death eater that tried to target you or your friends were dealt with severely. I have felt drawn to you since then, which is strange since I had never in my life been drawn to anyone unless it was a way to further my plans. With you I just want to keep you safe and away from the war. I cannot say that I love you or any of those overly emotional things since I haven't gotten to know you yet and frankly I don't know if I am even able to feel those types of emotions. All I ask in return is that you tell me why you seem so conflicted."

Harry looked at him and squirmed before he looked down at the snake as he talked. Tom would have taken it as an insult or a sign of being dishonest but he could see the embarrassment on Harry's face and it reminded him that after everything that had already happened, Harry might be a lot more vulnerable than he had imagined him to be, even if the young man was strong.

"I feel drawn to you Tom, in a manner that does not make any sense at all. I hadn't even felt the need to fight against you ever since our fight in the graveyard. I am scarred and damaged and logically you wouldn't ever want anything to do with me in that way." Tom looked at him and shook his head.

"That is not something that should stop you. I know that you are speaking of the abuse you suffered at your Aunt's house. I myself know how it feels but each type of abuse is different and you can never say that one is worse than the other since it is impossible to make a comparison. Every type of abuse leaves a scar and that is why it is known as abuse. What matters is how strong you are when you come out from under it. It takes strength to face life with such a background but it doesn't make you undeserving of happiness. In fact it is up to you to show life that it can't mess with you. I may not be the best person in the world but if you are willing then we can take it slow and learn about each other. We are bonded and nothing can undo it, but honestly I am actually happy about that."

Harry looked up and both felt the truth and saw it in Tom's eyes. He knew that none of his friends would ever be able to understand the way Tom would and it really didn't bother him. It was a relief that Tom wanted to try to work things out between them and the fact that they would be taking it slow was a bonus. If this was a fairytale then they would have fallen hopelessly in love after the first sight, but this was reality and being with someone without truly getting to know them first would spell disaster about 99% of the time. Luckily they had already gotten to know each other a little through the link.

Harry smiled slightly and nodded. "I think that would be a brilliant idea." Tom smiled and then looked down at the snake. "Why were you born with wings? The basilisks I saw never had any." The serpent looked between them before resting its gaze on Tom. ""According to the information from my mother, I am the first basssilisssk that wasss ever born from another basssilisssk. The wingsss were inherited from the fact that ssshe was born from a chicken egg under a frog. Ssshe didn't have them, but the legend among ssserpentsss isss that the firssst born of the oldessst basssilisssk would be able to fly in order to be able to guard itsss massstersss to itsss fullessst capability.""

Tom and Harry looked at each other and shrugged, they had the proof of a winged snake right in front of them so who were they to argue with snake legends. In fact it would definitely help them. Tom stood up from where he had sat down on the bed earlier. "You should eat breakfast and head for your review classes before your friends decide to storm to my room again. I had the elves ready the room for you right next to mine so you were only one room off when you got lost. Your friends have been placed a few doors down since I don't feel comfortable with having anyone near my room."

His unspoken words of how Harry was the only one he could allow in the room next to his or in his room itself didn't go unnoticed, but the younger man kept quiet about it since it strangely enough made him feel warm inside. Tom turned to the snake. "If you can keep your bottom eyelid closed you can go with him if you want, but first tell us your name." The little basilisk looked at them. ""Normally we are named by our massstersss, but I really like the name Sssasssha.""

Both men nodded and Harry smiled. "Then your name shall be Sasha." He picked up the little snake and placed her on his shoulder as he left the room, but he paused just as he was about to exit the room. "Uhm, Tom? Could you conjure a few tiny mice for her? I can't at the moment." The man nodded and Harry soon left the room with a snake around his neck and a few tiny mice in a cage.

Tom shook his head in amusement as they left and he got ready to make plans to incorporate Harry's idea from the previous night. It really was a good idea so nothing bad would happen from just trying it.

…

Two months later Harry opened his eyes and he groaned as he found himself in Tom's bed again. For some reason he had the tendency to sleepwalk or to apparate into Tom's bed whenever he forgot to put up spells that kept him in his room. He wouldn't admit it to himself but he even sometimes forgot on purpose. Him, Hermione and Ron had gotten their N.E.W.T.S marks only a day ago so they were now completely free of any magic traces.

The wizarding world thought that he was on a mission to kill Voldemort due to some covering up that Dumbledore tried to do and things had been peaceful since the news got out. Tom had somehow imbedded his presence into every influential place as a generous benefactor and his cover story is that he didn't want to become Voldemort's target so he kept his identity secret, but that he wants to help people.

It was ingenious to say the least since everyone believed him. He also built the schools and secretly passed new laws. It was actually impossible to think that it had only happened in two months, but you couldn't argue with results and magic only speeds things up. He looked at Tom who was still sleeping and his heart leaped in his chest. They had really gotten to know each other since their discussion when Sasha was born and they had gotten extremely close.

Harry blushed as his mind turned to the first kiss they had shared two weeks prior. They had both admitted that they cared a lot about each other and it led to them having a picnic under the moonlight on one of the tallest balconies in the mansion. Now they were barely seen apart even if they were both in their own little world.

An alarm going off next to them snapped Tom awake and he jumped up before looking at a piece of paper that held information on his wards. Harry glanced over and froze as he saw that Dumbledore was actually attempting to forcefully break into Malfoy Manor. Fear gripped him as he hoped that the Malfoys were ok. He got along greatly with both Lucius and Narcissa and both him and Draco had made peace when the Malfoy heir had come to visit his parents so he didn't want any of them to get hurt.

Dumbledore was probably under the impression that Tom was living there and with the man almost snapping under the lies of the past two months Harry couldn't say that he hadn't expected the old man to lose control. He jumped up and copied Tom as the man started dressing, but he didn't get very far. Tom grabbed his arm as he was about to exit the room and looked at him sternly. "Harry you will not be following me. This is not your war to fight anymore. Wait here. I promise I will take my strongest death eaters with me but please just stay here and stay safe."

Harry was unable to nod or even do anything as adrenaline pumped through him, but a promise was a promise even though he now wished that he had rather asked to be able to fight alongside Tom. It went against everything he was to watch Tom leave the room with the knowledge that he was going to fight a man much darker than anyone they had ever known.

Tom moved close to him and kissed him on the forehead and then lightly on the lips before he left the room. A soft hiss broke the silence and Harry decided that he could actually do something for Tom. He turned to Sasha who was lying on a heating pad. She was barely longer than a ruler and her body stretched out thin except where her dainty wings were. He picked her up and looked her in the eye. "Sasha I am going to place you in Tom's pocket without him knowing. Please stay silent and help him when you can. He is about to face an extremely evil wizard and as strong as Tom is, I think the other wizard will try to pull something underhanded."

The little basilisk nodded and turned to the door to show that she was ready. Harry hid her behind his back and quickly ran to catch up to Tom. He hugged the man from behind and then turned him around to give him a deep kiss while Sasha slithered into the man's robes. Both Tom and Harry were breathless after the kiss and Tom smiled at him. "I love you Harry, never forget that."

Harry was about to demand that he come back in one piece after also confessing his feeling for him, but the man apparated away. Harry was left marching up and down the mansion until Hermione and Ron found him. They tried to calm him down, but they were unable to and Hermione finally lost her cool. "You might have promised him that you would not go anywhere, but we didn't and this is us kidnapping you!"

She grabbed both her friends and apparated near Malfoy Manor since she had heard that that was where Tom had went from Harry's ramblings as he paced. What they saw stopped them in their tracks as Dumbledore and Tom had come to a stand-off. Dumbledore glanced to the side and saw Harry. He laughed and said "Well you have met your match Tom, Harry is here and he will take care of you right here." The old man looked as Harry. "You know what to do, I have shown you what you are my boy."

Dumbledore turned furious when he saw that instead of running in to face Tom, Harry turned to face him with his wand drawn. "I know what you did old man, no use hiding it. I'm not about to rush to my death just because you can't handle not being the center of attention." Dumbledore turned a very unflattering red and purple as he heard those words and he promptly threw a killing cursed at Harry.

Tom tossed out a gravity curse and Harry, Hermione and Ron hit the ground hard. Not that it actually bothered them since the killing curse had been heading towards Harry and if only he had been brought down then it would have collided with either Hermione or Ron. Spells began to fly as Dumbledore and Tom started to duel and Harry felt his heart sink as he realized that the Elder Wand was giving Dumbledore the upper hand. The death eaters in the inner circle were all fighting the order of the phoenix although Harry was happy to see that most of the fights had stopped since he had arrived even after they saw that he was not on Dumbledore's side.

Harry gasped as one of the members of the order that he didn't know slyly cast a leg binding curse at Tom, but he was unable to stop it in time since he cast his spell a second too late. Tom went down hard as he tripped and Dumbledore pointed the Elder Wand at him. Harry's scream rent the air even before Dumbledore's words of "Goodbye Tom, Avada Kadavra!" rang out.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as a tiny black form suddenly freed its way from Tom's pockets and Sasha leaped forwards with the help of her wings while staring the curse and Dumbledore dead in the eye without her protections in place. Everything seemed to freeze before the green curse turned dark and shriveled away before reverting back to its caster. Dumbledore's curse rebounded and killed him a few seconds after he had cast it and the roar was deafening around them as memory charms and compulsions fell with his death.

Everyone there knew who Tom was, but when he picked Harry up and kissed him completely senseless much to the delight of the younger man, they found that they didn't really know the truth after all. It was soon revealed that Tom was the one that had been the benefactor and everyone gathered to learn the truth. Harry sighed and told them what happened even though most of the people on the 'light' side had to watch his memories before they completely believed him.

He didn't really care since the important people in his life, including the professors at Hogwarts, immediately believed him. They promised that he could visit his friends at Hogwarts the next day if he wanted and he nodded as Tom picked him up and apparated with him. Harry's gaze sobered as they landed in Tom's room. He could clearly feel the man's anger through their bond, but he decided that he had had enough; he wasn't some damsel in distress. The war was over and there was no need for Tom to be so protective anymore so he turned and spoke before the other man could even manage to gather his thoughts.

"Stop Tom! Before you went I wanted to tell you that I love you too, but you didn't give me a chance. I sent Sasha with you to protect you and it is a good thing I did otherwise you would be dead because of people who apparently do not know the rules of an honorable duel. I did not intend to leave Riddle Manor so it is a good thing that I have a headstrong witch as a friend who can drag me to where I want to be. The war was won without a lot of bloodshed and Dumbledore is now gone. I did not disobey your rules although if you think that I will follow them all the time like some puppy then you have another thing coming!"

The shocked look on Tom's face stopped the tirade and he couldn't help but laugh as Tom spoke his next words. "Yo-ou l-love me?" Harry leaned in and fiercely kissed the man. "Yes I love you and there is nothing you can do about it. I know that things will still be a little difficult with the world but due to Dumbledore's loyalty potions and memory spells I think that most of the higher ups will be glad to know that you had helped them."

Tom nodded then grabbed his arm and dragged him to bed. "Come on, we'll need a few more hours' sleep before we deal with the rest of the people." Harry nodded and snuggled into Tom's chest as they lay down. It may take a while before their relationship progressed, but Harry liked it that way and for some reason he knew that everything would turn out alright.

The End

Thank you for reading my first one-shot, I hope that it was satisfactory.