A/N: Thank you for the feedback! I know I'm updating quickly but I have had so much inspiration over the last few days that I just couldn't help it - plus your reviews also help! Sorry to readers of my other fics, I will get around to updating them and this should be the last update for a wee while. Anyway this is the big explanation chapter and so if you have any questions don't hesitate to get in touch as I'm not sure how well I've managed to explain it all but still I hope you enjoy.

Happy New Year! :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.

I apologise for any spelling and/or grammar mistakes contained within this chapter.

Please review!

Harry felt as if he were floating. The darkness coated him, sheltering and soothing his aching soul. There was nothing around him but, instead of being frightened by this he felt at peace, relaxed almost. The smell of moss and rotting wood flooded his senses, he thought he could hear voices whispering urgently about something that he hadn't the faintest idea about. Floating further a bright light pierced the darkness, it unwound like a thread, coming towards him from a location that he could not see. Straining his eyes he tried to locate the source of the thread but this was abandoned when the thread reached him. It hovered in front of him and tapped his chest almost tentatively before entering him. At the intrusion his heart gave a painful leap and he felt a jerk as the thread wound back to its source, guiding him like a puppet on a string. Rushing, he felt the darkness zoom past him and his brain was scrambled as he tried to make sense of the situation. Reaching his destination he was blinded by the white light as it surrounded him, chasing away the darkness. Blinking his eyes focused and the source revealed itself to be a ceiling light. Rolling his head to the left he saw curtains and the sound of a woman speaking silently breached his ear drums.

"I'm not sure if he is awake yet Tom but you can sit with him if you like."

Confused Harry took in the rest of his surroundings. He was lying on a soft mattress with white linen blankets covering his form. There was a chair to one side of the bed and a table on the other that housed a vase of flowers, clearly recruited to bring some cheer to the otherwise bland furniture. His memories rushed back like a train that had lost its way only to stumble across its destination by accident. As the train halted to a stop he felt the tingle of pain ghost along his left thigh and his ribs. Moving slightly he gasped as the pain became more pronounced, the tingle turning more into stabs that now covered his entire torso.

"Tom?" he whimpered, the sound of his voice breaking the peaceful atmosphere. It appeared the room's occupants heard this for the curtains were wrenched aside and Tom appeared. Carefully putting the curtain back in place he sat down in the chair, his eyes looking anywhere but at Harry. He soon however overcame this as the silence stretched on and hesitantly reached his hand out to Harry as if to comfort him. Looking at the hand Harry's memories became crystal clear and he backed away to the furthest corner of the bed.

"Get away from me" he whispered, his voice cold and not even the flowers could boost the uncomfortable atmosphere that now oppressed them.

"Harry it wasn't me" sighed Tom, running his hand through his hair roughly and wincing slightly as a few hairs were plucked out.

"It was, you can't lie to me Tom remember our bond, I can feel it telling me that you are lying" said Harry quietly.

"Harry," Tom drew the name out, almost savouring the sound on his lips before continuing, "If he and I were the same person then why do you think you are lying in a bed in what is clearly an infirmary?"

"Your trying to get my guard down so I'll answer your questions! It won't work I'm not some stupid child!" yelled Harry, anger bubbling in his chest.

"Harry please-" started Tom reaching out to him once more to quell his anxiety.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Harry, wrapping the blankets around him like a protective shield.

"What is happening here?" came Dumbledore's voice as he entered.

"HE'S A TRAITOR, HE'S THE LEADER OF THE DEATH EATERS, GET HIM AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Harry pointing a trembling finger madly at Tom, all the while tears were leaking out of his anguished eyes.

"Harry calm down" said Dumbledore gently, regarding the sobbing teen with eyes filled with sadness.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! HE'S EVIL, WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING!"

"Tom, let me talk to him for a while. I'll call you when I'm done" said Dumbledore. Helplessly Tom left and Dumbledore quickly took Tom's place. Placing a hand on Harry's shoulder he tried to sooth the troubled boy, it appeared to be working as Harry uncurled and let go of the blankets.

"Please don't leave me alone with him Professor" said Harry meekly, his rage had now completely vanished and the eighteen year old was now replaced with a frightened little boy.

"Harry, I'm afraid Tom and I haven't been entirely truthful with you. You see that night when you left Tom was consumed with grief and I could see the darkness that lurked deep in his soul rooting itself to his very being. I convinced him to create one more horcrux. I never made this decision lightly but if I allowed him to be consumed then the consequences would be much more severe and so it was for the greater good. In doing what I requested he split off the dark part of his soul and sealed it in an object before hiding it where he felt it would be most protected. However the Death Eaters have found it due to Lucius remembering the deeds committed by Voldemort in the alternate timeline and taking a gamble. He observed that Tom frequently travelled to Albania every summer and deduced that that was indeed where he would most likely hide it. The Tom that tortured you was not our Tom, it was the horcrux and I'm afraid I have to take full responsibility for it as it was I that suggested the creation of such an item."

"Why did it capture me?" asked Harry. Dumbledore's story did make sense, - it would explain how the horcruxes eyes had been red and how they had had the soul connection - but he couldn't help but feel suspicious and betrayed. Tom had promised to him that he would make no more horcruxes and although Dumbledore said it was for the greater good it still never sat right with him. How would they know if the horcrux had replaced Tom? Even if he was told that he was indeed Tom then that would always be the truth as the horcrux was still him, just an evil version.

"Voldemort hates you Harry. He watched as you made Tom weak, how you made him ignore his ambitions for an emotion that he would consider worthless and irrelevant. He wanted to send a message to Tom and it appears that it has worked. We have had word that Lucius's army is gathering and it is evident that a conflict shall soon arise, it was shall we say his way of showing Tom how powerful he is as he could have killed you at anytime he wanted. By sending you back it is not only a taunt to Tom but also a way to turn you against him and thus leave him with nothing. We also have the problem that Voldemort can get through the castle's wards as he has the same magical signature as Tom and so it was also a way to test that theory."

"Its true Harry" Tom's voice pierced Harry's thoughts and he could feel the soul bond thrumming as if backing up the statement.

"Do you love me?" asked Harry, this was the only way he could make sure it was his Tom.

"Yes" replied Tom, again the bond told him it was the truth. Relief flooded Harry's system and, although he was still wary, he was incredibly glad to see Tom there.

"I'm sorry" whispered Harry.

"Why are you sorry?" asked Tom incredulously as Dumbledore made his way out to give them some privacy, smiling at the pair of them before closing the curtain.

"When I was captured I truly thought that it was you torturing me. I thought that you had betrayed me by turning dark and that you only created the Order to infiltrate the Light" answered Harry, unwilling to look Tom in the eye.

"I can understand, he would have had the same soul bond with you and so you would have known everything he said was indeed the truth" said Tom, sitting on the edge of Harry's bed.

"But still, I lost my trust in you so quickly and it scares me. What if this happens again only I'm not returned, I could die believing you to be my murderer" said Harry, his voice rising as his distress made itself known.

"Shh Harry lie back down" said Tom gently, pushing Harry's shoulder so that he slumped back onto the pillows, wincing slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Harry, uttering the question that he wasn't really sure he wanted to know the answer to.

"I, I never wanted you to be upset. I know how much you hate horcruxes and I was scared that if I told you how weak I was that I had to resort to that to beat my demons that you would leave me" whispered Tom, "I know it is idiotic now but before I truly thought that that was a likely outcome."

"Tom, do you think I would leave you because you tried to better yourself for me!" asked Harry incredulously.

"I told you it was stupid" murmured Tom.

"Wait Tom, he kept reading my mind when he asked me questions, he'll know all our secrets now!" gasped Harry suddenly, the panic in his chest refusing to simmer down as more and more came back to his befuddled mind.

"Harry, as we speak Dumbledore is reconfiguring the wards around Hogwarts and after that he will also start on Grimmauld Place. Everything will be fine" reassured Tom.

"But, but the army. What will happen there?" asked Harry.

"We too have an army of our own as you are well aware, in fact I just had word that the Lycans are joining our cause and so we stand a good chance."

"He is incredibly powerful Tom, please don't underestimate him!"

"Harry you are forgetting that we are the same person, or we used to be. I am well aware how strong he is but he has hurt what is mine and no one gets away with that" hissed Tom, his blue eyes hardening so that they resembled cold sapphires. Magic crackled along his skin and Harry shuddered at the cold fury emanating from the man.

"Sorry I'm just concerned for you" muttered Harry.

"I know love but you really shouldn't worry, you know I can't lie to you so I can't placate you with false truths, not that I would mind you. Anyway I believe I told Hermione that she could come and see you so I suppose I'd better call her, she is quite the duellist so I don't want to end up on her bad side" said Tom smiling. Tom leaned in to kiss Harry goodbye but Harry turned his head away and so the kiss landed on his cheek.

"I'm not quite ready for that yet" whispered Harry as he glanced at Tom's look of confusion.

"I understand, and I won't try to push you, I know it will be hard but we will get through this" said Tom. The sadness in his voice hurt Harry but he knew that he still had a lot to come to terms with. A few reassurances and facts could not help him get over the fact that he thought it was Tom that had put him through so much pain, and it would take a while to mend the break in the chain of trust that joined the pair.