Harry felt immense pain as his vision blurred and he fell to the floor. He heard Dumbledore telling him to fight it but the memories he saw, the memories he relived, they were extraordinarily realistic. He saw Voldemort raise his wand but before he did anything, his eyes went wide. Harry leaked into Voldemort's mind, seeing the pain and sorrow Tom had felt for all of his life.
Harry stilled. Maybe he and Voldemort weren't as different as he thought. Lord knows how many times Harry has thought of leaving the light. He never got a choice, it was expected of him. But maybe now he can talk to Tom, no disputes between them.
Dumbledore shouted. Harry wasn't moving. All his friends and family ran to Harry, his eyes fogged over.
Voldemort put his wand down curiously. Harry entered his mind, somehow working it like the room of requirement. He sat in a chair, licking his lips.
"Tom." Tom twitched. "We're not as different as we think." Harry told him. Tom raised his eyebrow.
"You're meant to die at my hands." Tom said indifferently. Harry nodded as if this didn't affect him.
"Maybe that's not what the prophecy meant." Harry said. Tom looked at him curiously.
"You heard the rest?" Tom asked, reaching for his wand. Harry stopped him, gently.
"Meet me in the Chamber. I know it's the only place you can apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Be there in an hour." Harry ordered before forcing both of them out of his mind. Voldemort nodded at Harry slightly before apparating. Harry took a gulping breath.
"Harry, are you okay?" Dumbledore asked as the ministry workers panicked over Voldemort. Harry nodded.
"I'm fine. I want to go home." He croaked. Dumbledore nodded, helping him up and directing him to a portkey.
They landed back in Dumbledore's office. Harry told Dumbledore he wanted to go to Madam Pomfrey so he let him free. Harry scrunched his nose as he walked to the second floor girls lavatory instead. He slid down the pipes and walked the familiar path to the main chamber.
Tom was already there, waiting for him.
"Potter." He acknowledged. He wanted to hear what Harry had to say.
"Tom." Harry hummed, sitting in a couch he previously transfigured when he came down here. "You want to hear the rest of the prophecy." Harry stated. It wasn't a question. Tom nodded once.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..." Harry intoned. "I don't think it means what we first think." Harry swallowed. He knew telling said Dark Lord was a huge mistake and why everything happened that night but he needed to explain to someone who understood.
"You think you know?" Tom asked curiously. Harry nodded.
"Tom, I'm sure you know what soul mates are." Tom looked at him oddly but nodded non the less. "Lives while the other survives. Neither of us have been living, Tom, we've just been surviving." Harry said, exasperatedly. "I saw your memories. I know you haven't had the best life. Neither have I. We've both been abused and neglected as children then had destiny thrust upon us as we entered our escape." Harry explained.
"You think we're soul mates?" Tom asked flatly. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Yes, but that's beside the point. You gave me the power to be able to defeat you, Tom. I deflected your killing curse, Dumbledore thinks it was love. But, was it? I don't think it was. We have a connection, whether you believe me or not. The only way I can conclude deflecting an unavoidable curse and having the power to defeat the most powerful wizard in the world is us being soul mates." Harry sighed.
"There is a way to prove your theory." Tom said, standing. Harry followed. Tom lead him to a potions room inside of Slytherins mouth. Tom cleaned it and went over to the bottled ingredients. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"You're being uncannily nice to me." He observed. Tom smirked as he started the potion carefully.
"I feel a connection between us. To be honest I don't want to kill you. I became insane when I attempted to split my soul. When you brought me back, sorry about that by the way, I not only regained my body but my sanity." He told Harry. "Do you mind if I return to me real form?" he asked Harry. He shook his head. Tom closed his eyes as his body morphed into a version of his younger self, not unlike the one Harry saw in his second year. Harry shivered as Toms teal eyes shot open and stared at Harry. Harry looked down, biting his lip.
"How long until the potion is finished?" Harry mumbled. Tom raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in the boy but decided to ignore it.
"About a minute." He said. Tom finished stirring it and ladled it into two cups. He handed one to Harry and held up his cup.
"Cheers." Harry said to him. They both downed the potion at once, collapsing against the floor in unison.
Harrys vision went blurry. He felt something pull against his lower waist. Confused, Harry looked down and saw a red ribbon. He looked to where the ribbon lead and didn't have to look far. Harry saw Tom looking at him, wide eyed.
Just as quick as it begun, it ended and Harry saw clearly once more. He looked at Tom.
"So, affirmative." Harry nodded nervously. Tom nodded. They sat in silence.
Harry knew a lot about soul mates. As soon as he heard about them he needed to know as much as possible. He knew once you found a soul mate you weren't to separate or you could possibly die of heart break. He knew once you had sex with your soul mate you were bonded for life. He knew once he found his soul mate he never wanted to lose them. But now Harry was scared Tom was going to be ashamed or disgusted.
Tom licked his lips as he felt the conflicting emotions coming from the boy. Tom always wanted his soul mate. He had done the potion each year in school to see if anyone was his soul mate but the red ribbon always broke off. He hadn't tried it since he thought love was the reason for his future downfall. Now that he had a soul mate he didn't want to lose him. After years of searching, he finally found him. He wasn't about to let him go.
Surprising the both of them, Tom lifted Harrys head. He gently pressed his lips to Harry's, in a chaste but sweet kiss. Harry pulled back after a moment.
"That was unexpected." He smiled, resting his forehead on Toms shoulder.
"Indeed." Tom chuckled, nuzzling his nose into Harry's raven locks. Harry suddenly got nervous.
"Tom, what are we going to do this summer?" He asked, his mouth suddenly going dry. Tom looked at him curiously.
"Don't you stay with the Weasleys?" He asked. Harry shook his head.
"Dumbledore says I need to keep the blood wards up at the Dursley's." He mumbled. Tom felt something tug at him.
"There's something you aren't telling me." He stated. Harry paled slightly.
"You saw my memories. I get treated like a house elf." He said flatly, not really wanting to talk about it.
"What about your godfather?" Tom asked. Harry shook his head.
"I'm not allowed to stay there, either." Harry shrugged.
"You're not being abused this summer." Tom told him. "You'll stay with me." He decided. Harry blushed deeply.
"Really, I don't want to be a bother." He stammered quickly. Tom hushed him.
"I've decided. Besides, we just found out we are soul mates." Tom stated obviously. Harry nodded.
"I've got two weeks until then. What will we do?" Harry bit his lip. Tom smiled.
"We'll get to know each other better." Tom promised. "You can owl me." He told him.
"Tom, I want you to understand I'm not suddenly on the dark side. Nor am I apart of the light. I'm firmly in the grey." This surprised Tom.
"I thought you were the lights mascot?" Harry shook his head.
"I was thrust into it as soon as I was told what I apparently did. Nobody asked me." Harry shrugged. Tom nodded thoughtfully.
"I don't want to force you into anything you don't want to do." Tom firmly stated. Harry smiled and kissed him again. It was perfect, Harry's chapped lips against Toms smooth ones. Harry tangled his hand in Toms smooth, wavy hair.
"I need to go. I told Dumbledore I was going to Madam Pomfrey. He'll probably have Sirius and everyone looking for me." Harry whispered against his lips. Tom nodded.
"I'll see you soon. I can hear your thoughts so I believe we can talk telepathically. Just call or owl me if you need me, okay?" Tom told him, his eyes soft. He will only be this way with Harry, nobody else ever. He wanted Harry to trust him. Which he did.
Harry smiled softly. "Thank you." He said, kissing him one last time before standing and running to the opening.
Tom shook his head fondly, apparating back to his manor.