Chapter Nine: Becoming Closer

Harry had recovered well since his shadow elf inheritance transition and he was getting used to adapting and using his newer heightened senses better every day as he practiced adjusting them while tuning them to his surroundings at a given time according to the area and outside or indoor conditions. Tom was very proud of Harry and with every new achievement he made in his new form; Tom and Tanya praised him for every successful accomplishment he made. Harry now seemed at peace with himself too because he had Tom in his life and by his side for the moment and Harry never wanted this tranquility they shared together now to end.

It was now the second week of October currently and Tom was preparing a surprise for Harry in the study. He hoped Harry liked it and would accept it. Harry was right now, out in the gardens of the Villa, and he was attempting connect with the Wind Spirit there for some reason that was urgent. Harry had sensed her calling him to her and he had also felt her unease and wanted to know what was wrong and going on that caused her such distress.

It seemed Harry was able to connect to the elemental spirits of earth wherever they were, which could be a dead useful ability; and he was able communicate with them if need be. It was one of the very first things they had discovered he was now capable of doing and Tom was quite glad for the gift in all honesty. This was because Harry had access to not only information they needed from a nearly impossible source for others to figure out for a given location, but also because it proved versatile in the many ways it could help them as a faction and as a new eternal mate pair be more careful about planning their operations under stealth. Harry and he had discovered it when Harry had woken late after dinner and going to bed upon hearing the water elemental spirit named Aqua calling out frantically to him and not really knowing what it was or was going on.

Harry had hastily dressed at an almost inhuman speed before he rushed and ran out of the room. Tom hadn't even had time to ponder what had happened after it had because he was still half-asleep that morning. Later though, Harry returned carrying a totally drenched kitten that was the same color as his hair and Harry was drenched head to toe too. The kitten had been stuck on a tree branch of the willow tree near the lake in his yard and frightened as she was; the kitten toppled off the branch she'd clung to when it tried to get down and fell into the lake and would've drowned if Harry hadn't heard Aqua calling him and saved her from such a fate.

So now it was Tanya, Tom, Harry, Leila, Elsa, and the little black kitten female named Verana, which was Greek for 'River', plus Fawkes, Nagini and Hedwig that were all living in the Villa now. Harry had named her that because even after her ordeal and he had taken her in to be raised as his own pet along with Hedwig and Fawkes; she had been perfectly calm and well-behaved and since Harry rescued her from drowning in the lake; he thought it was fitting. Aqua seemed to think so too. Verana also did not seem to mind the name either.

So now Harry was discussing with the wind spirit called Aurel about what was so urgent and Verana was with him on this little foray. Tom was in his office putting the last of his surprise together and Tanya he assumed was fixing more potions for her stock at the mansion while Leila and Elsa prepared the first part of the surprise for Harry. However, Verana interrupted his planning by running in and meowing loudly like she was in a panic and ran in a circle before darting out and beckoned Tom to follow her.

Tom thought that was weird and followed Verana out of the room and down into the garden patio where Harry had seen the spirit and now he also had a very bloody and injured Draco Malfoy slung over his shoulder and was unconscious as he heaved him up to the Villa for healing from Tanya.

Tom didn't know who had done this to the young Malfoy, but he assumed Harry did and so for now, Tom helped him carry Draco up to the place Tanya needed to work on Draco at. Tanya seemed shocked to see Draco in such a state but quickly set to work. Harry told Tom he would be by to see him after Draco was out of immediate danger since he had been there since last night lying there and he hadn't heard the spirit Aurel calling him.

Tom nodded and left for now as he prepared the last stages of the surprise for his mate he was going to give him later today after lunch. Harry sat beside Draco and watched calmly as Tanya worked her healing magic on him. Harry knew he felt guilty and that he could've very easily let Draco die last night, but he was lucky, grateful, and thankful Draco didn't go before he had a chance to save him. He never would've forgiven himself if he died because of him.

Tanya told Harry that Draco would sleep and rest for another hour after she finished healing the last of his injuries. Harry nodded quietly and left to see Tom now while knowing Draco would be fine.

Harry walked down the hallway to their chambers and entered silently. Tom looked up from his book as Harry sat down beside him.

"Tom…" Harry told him sadly, "I think I may need to work on how to recognize the different voice tones of the elemental spirits. Draco had been there since last night like that and I could've accidentally let him die. I would never have forgiven myself if I did that and Lucius and Narcissa…what would I have told them if he had? Draco is their only son and heir…their only child to pass their legacy on to?" Harry asked him

Tom's eyes radiated a familiar lingering sadness at seeing Harry so upset like this, "I do not know Harry, but you have time to work on that objective so there's no more need to worry about it for now since Draco should recover, I assume. Did Aurel say who did that to Draco or no?"

Harry shook his head, "No, Aurel said Draco would tell me when he woke up and that should be in another hour according to Tanya."

"I see." Tom replied

"I just have a very bad feeling about this though. I feel like I already know who may've done it because he got caught and we're heading for war sooner rather than later. I think it's just instinct for now, but we'll see." Harry said.

Tom remained silent after Harry said that and slightly inclined his head to let him know he had heard him, but could not shake the feeling that Harry felt this way. He did not want Harry to be hurt more than he already had been in the last few weeks. He couldn't live with himself if Harry died in a war that was caused initially between him and Albus; the thought was too painful to bear with.

Harry rested against Tom's side on the sofa in their chambers while he took a small nap and Tom continued to read his book quietly as he ran a soothing hand through Harry's now longer locks. Verana came over to them and jumped up with Harry before she lied down and curled into ball and then joined him in his nap. Tom smiled at the sight; Verana was a blessing in disguise for him because even though she was technically a kitten…she always managed to calm Harry when something bad happened. Nagini was helpful at times, but she was also a large snake and not totally reassuring in the calm department. Fawkes who was still here due to the familiar bond was better than Nagini sometimes, but even he had trouble when Harry's temper was absolutely volatile and he was enraged over something. Hedwig did the best of the three before Verana came as she had known Harry for so long, but the female owl was getting older now and seemed to want to rest more as of late. Companionship with Hedwig had its merits though because she did know many ways to calm Harry from the fiercest of rages and deepest depressions.

Verana though, she could do all these things in such a small form and in a way that she still managed to look and act cute doing it at the same time and be able to make Harry laugh with harmonious laughter that Tom never wanted to end hearing. Verana was definitely a blessing in the form of a small disguise of a black orphaned kitten that nearly drowned a week ago.

One hour later, lunch was soon to start and Harry and Tom headed to the kitchen where the elves had prepared a light lunch for them in the form of a picnic basket and rolled up dark green blanket. Harry looked at Tom curiously.

"Harry, I want you to eat lunch with me outside today since the weather today is going to be wonderful and I think that we both should get out of the house more than we already have been of late." Tom told him gently.

Harry remained silent, but the bright smile on his face gave away exactly how happy he was by it while he nodded in agreement to the picnic. So, they proceeded to an area of the gardens that was more secluded from prying eyes; both inside of the home and on the outside of it. The people of the village had always been curious as to who lived here Tom told him, and sometimes they could be quite nosy while trying to figure it out.

Tom had told Harry that he had Lucius contact some of his associates in the wizarding construction industry years ago to hire and build a tall stone wall fence around the property's gardens and yard in the back that would be warded with some types of wards into the stones. Even still though, some of the village children could be quite mischievous and clever at times and on occasion he had found one of the boys or girls in the yard. The wards were not going to keep them totally out because Tom found he liked letting the boys and girls of the wizarding village try to explore their talents by trying to get in so long as his home wasn't damaged, but he did enjoy the more enclosed feeling of privacy it had because of the fence when the time came.

Harry acknowledged the sentiment with understanding in his gaze as he followed Tom to where they were going to eat their lunch. When they arrived at the location, Tom rolled out the blanket and sat their food basket down on it as Harry sat and he joined him in the bright afternoon mid-Fall sunlight and slightly cool breeze. The sun was warm, but not overtly hot like it was in the summer and the slightly cooler air that their environment had now felt refreshing while it gently blew around them and gave a sense of calm. The sounds of the rippling water washed over Harry from the lake nearby where he had rescued Verana before, but the lake was not within sight range for Tom.

Harry sighed in contentment, "Thank you Tom, I had not realized just how much I missed being able to just go out and enjoy the outdoors like this with all the commotion of late we have had."

Tom nodded and smiled, "You are most welcome Harry, but before we eat…I have a small present for you if you'd like it now?" He asked nervously.

Harry seemed momentarily confused, but then he smiled and nodded. Tom reached into his inside pocket of his robes and pulled out a box that looked like it was for a necklace or pendant of some sort as he handed it to Harry.

Harry's questioning dark emerald eyes seeped into Tom's bright azure ones with an inquisitive look, but he remained silent as he opened the small parcel. As the necklace appeared before Harry, his gasp of surprise and stunned expression was seen within moments as he quickly looked up at Tom as to why he had given this to him. The necklace itself was on a thin and very fine white gold chain and the pendant on it was of a heart that had a small emerald dangling in the middle of it. It was obviously very expensive and been custom-made for him by Tom.

"Harry, this pendant has several spells on it for protection. One of them is a locator charm. I know that you do not like those, but if we go to war soon I need to know where you are and that you are alright." Tom told him softly

"Other than that, it has a built in port-key activated to bring you here for now if you say home in parseltongue. Once we go back to the Mansion again; I'll have to modify it to change the destination of the port-key itself. It has a Notice-Me-Not charm so only you and I can see it and it has a charm that once you put it on, only you or I can take it off again." Tom said softly

Harry's dark green eyes filled with happy tears as he smiled at Tom and silently asked him to put it on. Tom obliged him and helped put it on and as he started to pull away when he was done, Harry gave him a soft but lingering kiss on his cheek and Tom's hand came to rest gently against his face.

They seemed so in-tune with the other that neither of them noticed the smiling face of a blond teen who had just been released from the healer's care in the house for food and company as he came to see where Harry was. Draco was stunned to hear of Harry's transition from Tanya, but assumed it was for the best. He hoped Tom knew that if he ever broke Harry's heart that he would tear him apart. Draco had started to consider Harry like a friend at school their last year before their friendship evolved more to like brothers than anything else. That had infuriated Ron and the whole Weasley Clan; that Harry seemed to have patched things between them and was spending his time at school learning and doing his work while splitting his friend time between Draco and all his Gryffindor companions.

Lucius and Narcissa were content to call Harry a surrogate son and that made Harry so much happier after Ron and his family abandoned him just before graduation for standing up for Draco when he had been innocent on all accounts of what he had been accused. Something they seemed to have deemed inexcusable and when later that evening and Harry was attacked for defending him; they left him to for death and he could have died that night if Draco hadn't come to find him and thank him for his help in private.

Harry and Tom seemed to be gazing into the others souls from their eyes as smiles radiated from them and the magic started to crackle around them. Draco decided he had better step in and break this up or else he may end up witnessing something he'd rather not when it concerned a person whom was considered to be his younger brother by a marginal frame.

Draco cleared his throat loudly and smiled, "Alright, break it up you two! I don't want to have ring out two puddles of mush from that blanket you're on later."

Harry's head snapped over to the voice he knew only too well, "Draco, thank heavens you are alright? I never would have forgiven myself if you'd died. I mean how on earth would I end up telling your mother?" He shivered at the thought.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Yeah I don't know how you would've done that with as protective of me as she is and that also reminds me…Harry, Tanya did not tell me how you found me today, just that you had a shadow elf transition in my absence and you were training your heightened senses."

Harry snorted in laughter and disbelief, "Of all the half-truths I've ever heard, that one is probably the closest to the truth. Draco, are you hungry. Because if you are then come and join us for lunch?"

Draco looked at Tom with a wary gaze and bowed his head in apology for interrupting their lunch date. Tom, however, just shrugged and nodded back as he smiled because Harry was happy now again.

Draco sat down and the food was served.

"Draco, I did become a shadow elf but I have mostly already fine-tuned my heightened senses. I was able to find you because one of my new abilities is that I can sense and communicate with the elemental spirits of the earth now."

Draco nodded, "I see, so you were upset because you didn't find me until a day later due to a missed call then?"

Harry nodded sadly and bowed his head down.

"Harry, it's not totally your fault. These powers are still new and will take time to get used to. At least I am alive and you did rescue me in time. Don't beat yourself up over something that could not be helped." Draco told him.

"Who did that to you Draco? The wind spirit Aurel said you would tell me when you woke, but if you don't want to; we understand." Harry asked

Draco sighed, "I may as well tell both of you now; since it goes along with the story my report is based upon from the task you assigned me to, milord?"

"Harry, please do not take this the wrong way but I think you should know that you should be glad you are here with us rather than them right now." Draco told him

Harry seemed to want to ask why, but Draco answered it for him.

"Harry and Tom; I believe I know why the Order has forsaken their savior. Albus had been leading a double life as much as Severus and any other he put up to spying. He had his façade that he displayed with most people and Harry that was grandfatherly in his vision of the false prophecy."

"But the other side of him is much darker than we realized. He was leading Harry to die because he already knew the real prophecy. I overheard Hermione and Ginny talking of it and how they wondered if it would become true or not? The Order already knows of it and I assume if you had come to them the way you were before, Harry; they would have just ended it for you to eliminate future problems for themselves later on."

"They don't care right now if you are alive or dead. They are in this agenda of Albus's because he had promised each member something of value to you and your heritage to them if he succeeded in this plot of his and it succeeded where he failed since apparently Albus is dead now milord. I overheard Minerva tell Molly and Arthur this morning when I was tracking something nefarious Ginny is plotting of her own with regards to Harry."

"You know Ron and Hermione were a couple at the end of the last year, Harry…well, Headmaster Dumbledore oh so graciously promised each of them a portion of the gold within your family's fortune as well as the Potter Summer Cottage in Venice to live in after they married in the village there."

"Ginny was promised a portion of money that was generous along with the Potter Spanish Villa in Spain with full access to your family's library there. From what I've heard her say about it; it would be wise to have our elves here empty it and return the books to Harry for now here until Severus is handled in full where his loyalties are truly concerned."

"Percy Weasley was directly involved in unexpected ways for Albus and his Order. He helped Albus seem as if he was not helping Fudge and Scrimegour while they were in office, and as such, he was left a small pot of generous gold from Harry illegally by Albus."

"I am positive that Bill, Charlie, and Fred and George Weasley have no idea about any of this and may be able to be convinced to our side if they see Harry personally to talk to him since they seem concerned with everything going on and are worried for him right now and how he just 'vanished' from home with the Order in such chaos?" Draco smirked at Tom.

Tom smirked back and then looked at Fawkes for a moment and nodded as Draco seemed to understand that Fawkes had brought Harry to Slytherin Mansion originally and he too nodded his thanks.

"The saddest part of all this is that the Weasley patriarch and matriarch are involved and are so deeply engrained as well. They were given the biggest portion of money for taking Harry in each summer when they did for Albus and taught him principles of which Albus wanted taught but not overly done. They were to have been given permission to Ginny to wed Harry if he even survived the final battle and they were left Harry's two original familial homes; Godric's Hollow to rebuild if they wanted and Potter Mansion in Edinburgh."

"Besides that, they were given added bonuses for having Ron and Ginny become so close to Harry as his friends over the years. Hermione received her own bonus in her bank account from what I could tell."

Harry stood up and paced back and forth as a violent storm of angered rage welled up inside of him and his eyes seemed to show that he was furious beyond belief.

"What about Nymphadora Tonks, who was briefly engaged to Remus Lupin before he died and was my godfather Sirius's niece I suppose since Bella, Andromeda and your mother Narcissa were his cousins?"

Draco swallowed hard and deeply breathed inward; he had hoped Harry wouldn't ask of her.

"Harry, you are angry and I have no doubt this will only infuriate you more so please remain as calm as possible when I tell you what happened to her by the Order?" Draco pleaded.

Harry nodded firmly.

"Nymphadora…She's dead and gone, Harry; the Order…they were planning to hunt you down and bring you back to your relatives in Surrey eventually despite them forsaking you and Tonks vehemently refused that she would be a part of a mad war any longer when her uncle's godson was in danger who knows where and probably left to seek them when they hadn't come as planned."

"Alastor Moody told her she was being selfish when she said she was going to look for you by herself if no one else would and then she blew up at him in a furious rage. She screamed at him of how could she be selfish when you were somewhere out in the world, most likely injured and lost with no means of food, water, shelter, and how all of them called her selfish when she wanted to go look but make sure he was alright rather than send you back to a place you despised and all they did was sit on their cushy behinds and revel in knowing they'd all be better off letting you die so they could gain what should be theirs according to them."

"After she finished; everyone was quiet and stunned into shock momentarily. She turned to leave the place they were in and Alastor killed her as her back turned because he knew she would tell others what she'd been witnessing for months now and he didn't want to risk exposure to the public."

Harry eyes were angry before they had dulled and went out. Tonks was dead…the only adult in the Order who was more of a parental figure that he had left was dead? Harry fell to the ground where he had been pacing in shock before he sat next to Tom and buried his face in his shoulder to hide the pain he felt.

His whole body was trembling and both Tom and Draco knew he was crying for the first time in probably many years because of his past abuse at Number Four. Finally, Harry stilled and turned his head to Draco to continue.

Draco sighed, "The day after Tonks was killed; I was in Diagon Alley seeing if there was any peculiar news to be heard surrounding Harry since it was reported he was missing in the Prophet since Monday the last week of August when they found him gone and no one knowing the wiser."

"I had gone in my regular guise as myself and pretending to be shopping for some things for at home when I ran across the troublesome trio otherwise known as Hermione, Ron and Ginny there too."

"They hadn't spotted me yet and seemed to be suspicious, so I followed them around listening to their discussions as they went. One discussion caught my particular interest though. They were discussing the plans Albus had left them prior to his death, I assume."

"Milord, my father and I are aware that there are a few artifacts which you hold close to you in supposedly secret and protected locations?" Draco told him carefully

Tom tensed dramatically, "Why would they know of them?"

"Because Albus found one and figured out what it was and told them. He told them how many there may be and how you can destroy them, and that it must be done in order for his plan to be fulfilled. Albus told them that if you recollected them and resealed the piece of you back to yourself; you and Harry, when joined together fully, would have a much higher chance of succeeding than he would."

Tom's eyes narrowed in malice, "I see, so then I need to recollect my special artifacts then and reseal them back to my soul?"

Draco nodded affirmative, "Yes my lord, and the reason I was so hurt is because Albus had obtained two of the seven artifacts and left them to their care. The Gaunt Ring and the Slytherin Locket were the ones they had been left in charge of. I realized soon enough, and was able to retrieve the Gaunt Ring with no problems; however, the locket was what did me in."

"They had removed it and kept it in the Order headquarters which is under the Fidelius Charm. I had to coerce Mundungus Fletcher into giving me the location whilst he was very drunk to go and collect it. I went when it was pitch dark at night and located it easily, but on my way out; I didn't realize my disguising barrier had dropped and I ran directly into Ron as he came back from the bathroom. He was the one who damaged me so and I barely was able to escape once the alarm was raised."

"By Lady Luck's wishes, I have both artifacts for you now." Draco said as he handed them to Tom from his trouser pocket.

Tom went to grab them but before he could; Harry's reflexes were much too quick and snatched them from Draco's hand as he inspected them intensely before he glared at his mate.

"Tom, why did you not tell me you had Horcruxes to contend with…This troubles me, since they know you have them and they are set against destroying them to keep you from me for forever again? I wish that you had told me sooner then let me find out like this…" Harry glared

Draco and Tom sat there stunned by his words and before either said anything Harry stood and let out his dark aura that radiated with dark ancient purification magic that had a powerful feeling exuding from it. He took hold of the two artifacts and with a few select words of the old druid Shadow Elven language; Harry soothed the soul left of the person was murdered and used to create it and then cleansed the remnants of malignant magic that could harm Tom when he would re-seal the his soul-fragment to himself again.

Once he was done and his aura receded, Harry had stunned Draco and Tom in a shocked silence by now. Harry handed Tom the artifacts with the soul pieces in them that had been cleansed. Tom took the artifacts with a shaking hand and carefully re-sealed the two parts of his soul back to himself.

"Tom, just how many horcruxes do you have?" Harry asked him nonchalantly in a cold tone that made the other two flinch.

Tom seemed hesitant to answer given Harry was already angry enough but decided it would be wiser to just answer him.

"I have seven all together, but with these two already re-sealed; there are only five left to re-collect and re-seal." He said quietly. "Harry, I understand you are angry at finding out about them like this, but please try to understand that it was not on purpose."

"I made all these horcruxes years and years ago when my mind was still in a volatile rampage and my judgment was clouded over in a hazy fog. It was long before I underwent my magical rebirth because you became of age and were decided as my destined by Ladies Fate and Destiny."

Draco seemed tense because Harry was so angry and upset, and he knew he had been the one to unveil the news of the artifacts to him by accident. Tom seemed unsure Harry even heard half of what he had tried to explain to him, but soon enough Harry's anger died away and he sighed in dismay.

"I just wish you would have told me of them sooner since I will have to cleanse them like I did those two before you can re-seal the soul fragments back to you. I understand that I found out like this on accident and I wasn't angry about; I was more upset that you hadn't trusted me with the information beforehand." Harry told him.

"How are we supposed to be bonded if we cannot even trust each other with information like this? This is a life or death situation, and yet you have withheld the data from me in an attempt, I suppose, to protect me. I appreciate the gesture, but I would rather risk my life to save yours as my mate than to be hidden away and to let you die because of your past." Harry glared at Tom

"Come and find me inside Tom, when you decide that you can trust me and that being bonded to me is something you will not regret."

Harry stood from the lunch area they had been in and stormed furiously back into the villa and inside to their chambers to relax. Tom watched him go with sadness pounding in his heart and Draco seemed in remorse for what had happened.

"I am sorry about this milord. I guess I should have been more careful as to how to approach this." Draco said, "I will go inside and see if he is alright. Maybe he will listen to me about this." Draco stood and left

Tom sat there for a moment longer, pondering how on earth he was to make this up to his mate. He knew Harry had every right to know of the horcruxes since they had been together for all this time, and in all honesty, Tom was going to tell him of them soon. Now, everything was in shambles with his destined mate and he felt horrible and a sense of regret for not having said something to him before now.

Hopefully, he would find a way to prove to his mate that this was what he wanted and he had not meant to hide the horcruxes from him.