Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Can be read after Chapter 32 of Bonds of Love.
Written for OTP Boot Camp Challenge [Helpless]
Helpless
Tom never felt as helpless as he did whenever Harry ended up in the Hospital Wing.
He had an absolutely deplorable number of healing spells in his repertoire and he knew that his magic was not a suited for healing as Harry's was but it was Harry that ended up needing to be healed most of the time so that helped absolutely nothing.
All he could ever do was sit by the other boy's side as he was as pale as a sheet and did not move. It was so unlike Harry to not move that it left him startled each and every time despite the fact that it was not a rare occasion that he ended up like this.
He knew that he should not be worried about the other boy nut he could not help it even if he knew Harry would make a full recovery as he had done each and every time previous.
He could not help the traitorous thoughts that sometimes filled his mind, the possibility of losing Harry and being unable to do anything about it because his magic was not fit for healing. It was a thought that often made him panic inside.
He hated being helpless. He had promised himself in the orphanage that he would never be helpless ever again yet here he was, as helpless as ever in face of Harry's injuries.
He really wondered how Harry even managed to get himself into the Hospital Wing so often. Tom was pretty sure that Harry had managed to get into the Hospital Wing more times that the entire Slytherin House put together already and he still had a couple of years at Hogwarts to go. Sometimes he even wondered why the Healer did not simply have a bed that she kept reserved for Harry to come and use every time he got injured.
He really would not be surprised if Harry had somehow managed to claim a bed for himself in the Hospital Wing.
Tom carefully ran his hand through Harry's hair as he slept. He looked so peaceful when he slept, so young, so carefree. It was a lot different from when he was awake. Harry was still carefree which explained the Hospital Wing visits but he always looked older than he was, almost as if he had seen too much or like he had been forced to grow up too quickly. There was almost a haunted look in his eyes when he was awake.
That was another thing Tom was helpless to change.
Tom wished he could help Harry in some way but Harry never let him. Harry always closed off whenever he broached the subject of his past, almost as if he was scared of his past. Tom wondered what was in Harry's past that made him react to it as he did but there was no way of finding out.
Harry was a mystery that no one could solve, not even him.
He had tried and failed.