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If you didn't know any better you'd have thought Tom glued to the spot. For the last week Tom hasn't budged from his spot by Harry's side. He's kept constant vigil, only moving when absolutely necessary and never gone longer than a few minutes.
Over the course of the week he had made regular trips into Harry's mind, sifting through the years of abuse suffered by the raven haired teen. There had been little improvement in Harry's mental state, and Tom could only imagine the journey ahead of them. With his physical injuries having healed considerably well, the bandages were removed.
Much to Tom's shock Harry began to stir and open his emerald orbs. For a few moments Harry's eyes swiveled about the room before realizing he wasn't alone, the blurred outline of a robed figure sat by his bedside hands clasped together in his lap. Harry did his level best to focus on the figure but with no success, his vision remained blurry. Slowly but surely his memories came back to him and he remembered where he was - Riddle Manor with Tom Riddle, well that's what he'd been told.
Placing a hand on either side of him, Harry slowly pushed himself up. He didn't get very far when the room began to spin and he felt strong arms encase him as Tom lifted the underweight teen onto his lap. Harry had gained a considerable amount of weight in the past week since arriving at the manor but still didn't weigh enough for a normal boy his age.
"How are you feeling, dear?" Tom spoke softly trying not to put the teen under any unnecessary stress. Automatically Harry tensed and tried to give a verbal response, but when no sound came out of his mouth, he simply nodded.
Looking up at the man holding him, he realized exactly who he was. Voldemort. The Dark Lord.
Tom, noticing the boy's expression gauged his unasked question and spoke.
"As you may have noticed, I am Voldemort but things have changed since I last met you and I am not going to kill you now. You will live here in my manor and I'm going to look after you. I promise." At this Harry looked visibly calmer and seemed to relax a little.
Noticing Harry's sudden change in demeanor he asked, "You must be hungry, would you like some soup, dear?" Harry looked at Tom warily for any sign it was a trick. He'd been tricked many times in the past and wasn't going to give anybody the satisfaction of it again especially not the Dark Lord. Deciding it wasn't, he quickly nodded.
Tom summoned a house elf and ordered chicken soup for Harry along with a drink for both of them. A few seconds later the house elf returned balancing a tray on which rested the soup, a glass of water, and a mug of tea.
Tom passed the soup to Harry which he took in his shaky but stable hands and placed the bowl on his lap.
Bringing his gaze back to Harry a few minutes later, he was met with a pitiful sight. Harry was struggling to lift a spoonful of soup and when he did so the spoon shook so much he quickly placed it back in the bowl. Tom watched him try a few times until he couldn't bear it any longer and he did something very uncharacteristic of him; he picked up the spoonful of soup and brought it towards Harry's mouth.
"It's alright, Harry, don't worry I'll feed you." Tom soothed as he was met with wide orbs of shock and fear. As he reassured the teen he allowed a small smile to twist his features. Hesitantly Harry opened his mouth and allowed Tom to feed him.
After he'd eaten half the bowl he groaned unable to eat anymore but he knew he should as he'd probably be left in a dungeon, starving for the rest of his life. As more spoonfuls were given, he stuffed the chicken and vegetables at the side of his mouth until his mouth was full. He knew there wasn't much point as Tom would notice but still he tried it.
"Harry, you can swallow the soup." Tom informed the teen after noticing the size of his mouth.
Harry stared up at Tom getting gradually paler until he looked the epitome of a ghost. Silently Tom cast a spell getting rid of the food in the teen's mouth before he choked. Harry covered his head with his hands and curled up as small as he could. Tom sighed to himself, Harry was most definitely broken and it would take him a while to trust him but he was prepared to wait. If there was one thing Tom was looking forward to after Harry healed it was inflicting some pain on Dumbledore and the Dursley's.
Meanwhile, Severus crouched behind the slightly ajar door not knowing what to think. He'd always considered Harry a pampered prince but what he had seen over the past week proved otherwise. After reading through the list of injuries and noticing the severity of Harry's mental state, he felt more than a little guilty. He'd failed Lily on a drastic scale. He, himself had dealt with abuse at the hands of his own father with Hogwarts being the only place he called home. He should have been the one to notice something wasn't right, considering his childhood was similar to Harry's. Mentally Severus cursed himself, he had been so blinded by his hatred for James Potter, that he didn't see his son as Harry but just a miniature version of his father. Due to his hatred of James he didn't carry out Lily's wish, what he promised her he would do. How he hated himself for that now.
Severus mulled it all over for a few moments before coming to a decision. He was going to try make it up to Lily by playing a role in her son's life. He knew it would be a big decision to make but he was prepared to do his best. He couldn't bear to see Harry suffer any longer and disappoint lily again. For the sake of his best friend he was prepared to put the past behind him and hopefully play an important figure in Harry's life.
Silently Severus entered the room coming to a stop by the door. Almost instantly Harry looked towards him and they stared at each other for what seemed like eternity.
"Hello Harry." Severus offered lamely.