The fire crackled loudly; sparks shot into the dark sky as one of the logs fueling it snapped and fell. The smell of wood smoke was almost entirely buried beneath the iron scent of human blood that filled his nose, his face buried in something warm and slick which tore beneath sharp teeth. The resistance of it making the cavernous hunger which filled him even worse. More painful. Clawing at the wracking emptiness and pulling a growl from his lips. He clamped down; tugged; flesh tore and the force pulled his head and shoulders back from his meal enough to catch sight of green eyes, glazed and frozen open, staring back at him.'

Tom jolted awake with a howl and toppled sideways from the upright positon he'd been in against the headboard. The sensation of falling led him to twist around inside his skin in a failed attempt to land with some dignity intact and the resultant thud of his body hitting the floor was immediately followed by a swear and the sound of breaking glass; startled by the noise Harry, who had since woken up and gotten out of bed, had dropped the teacup he'd been curiously investigating onto the floor where it shattered.

"Tom!" He said a moment later, having recovered, taking a small step forwards. "What-?"

But the older man had already flashed passed him into the bathroom and shut the door; ramming into the side of the nickel tub and almost flinging it into the wall. Cold from head to toe, able to taste the blood in his mouth and feel the bits of flesh caught between his teeth, he thrust his fist down his throat. Body instantly obeying the forceful activation of his gag reflex and spilling its contents into the basin: nothing but stomach acid. He hadn't killed the little raven. Hadn't eaten him. It had only been a dream.

This time.

Dropping his head against the side of the tub, feeling the cold metal press into the clammy skin of his flushed face, Tom exhaled a shaky breath. Clenching his fists against the floor. A dream. A nightmare. But how long before it became real?

The door behind him creaked as it was pushed open. Harry's footsteps limped across the floor. Kneeling down beside him with life and worry in those eyes, those blank eyes the sight of which had been branded against his very soul, Harry reached out and took his face in his hands. Fingers sliding along the cut of Tom's jawline. Palms cradling his cheeks. "Nightmare?"

Tom pulled him close instead of answering and dropped his face into his hair. Curling around him defensively. Clutching at his back even though the one he truly wanted to defend him against was himself; the monster inside of him that was now just beneath the skin.

Death, it seemed, was in the little raven's cards. More so than any other mortal creature. Misfortune and disaster followed him wherever he went like nagging crows; a little disaster artist if ever there was one. Leaving him alone wasn't an option. Keeping him with him made Tom both the raven's protector and ultimate demise. Because even if Harry was lucky and he was seen, post Awakening, as his mate that would only win out for so long. Maybe months. Maybe years. But the hunger would take precedence eventually and the awful scene he'd just been forced by his own fears to witness would inevitably come true.

"When I have them it helps to talk about it." Harry said, dipping his head into the taller man's frosted curls as Tom tucked his face into the side of his neck. "I'll listen. If you want to."

Talk about it? Tell Harry that he was having visions of eating him? That at any moment, because of one misstep or simply time, he'd himself become a monster with an unending hunger and a taste for human flesh? Unable to speak for fear of letting free something hysterical, Tom shook his head. Taking a deep breath of the raven's scent and allowing himself to become anchored in the present instead of a future he couldn't control. Slowly calming down enough to be willing to detach himself from the smaller male.

"Is your ankle feeling better?" he asked, opting to change the subject instead. "You were up and about when I woke up so the pain can't be too bad."

"I'm still feeling the effects of the pain reliever, to be honest." He said, getting to his feet and following Tom out of the bathroom. "It was a lot stronger than I expected it would be. The ones they gave me at the Holy City weren't anything like it."

"It took me a bit by surprise as well." Tom admitted. "When you slumped over like that I'll admit you had me a bit concerned, Sparkling. Though I don't think they're meant to be drunk so fast."

Harry made a dismissive sound and crouched down, beginning to pick up the broken pieces of cup. Stacking them in the cradle of his palm with a series of quiet clanks. "When I woke up you were passed out next to me and this cup-well, it's not really a cup anymore now that I've dropped it but that's not important-was sitting on the table. Did you have some tea while I was sleeping?"

At the mention of the cup the memory of Abraxas' words came flooding back to him. Tom paused for a moment, considering whether or not he should tell the little raven and risk disquieting him with the information, then he sighed. "No." He said, helping Harry back towards the bed in spite of his halfhearted grumblings that he didn't need the assistance. "No, I didn't have tea while you were asleep. That cup was used by my handler, Abraxas."

"Handler?"

"Every Claymore has a handler to whom they're assigned. A human member of the Order of the Phoenix who provides us any supplies which we need and assigns us the jobs passed down by the Order's higher ups." He said. "Sparkling, stop squirming. You should still be lying down."

"Lying down?" Harry sounded outraged by the suggestion. "We need to leave, Tom! If your handler knows where you are the Order-."

"I'm not to be executed." Lifting the struggling wizard, he lowered him gently back onto the bed. "That was what he came to tell me. And to assign me my next job."

"Wha-? You're not?" a strange mix of relief and confusion adorned the smaller male's face. "Why? You said there were no exceptions to the Golden Law."

"There aren't meant to be." He said. "But I'm valuable enough to them because of my power, it seems, that an exception to 'no exceptions' can indeed be made." Harry didn't need to know that he was now being held as the Order's random. It would only make the little raven begin to blame himself for something else. "We've nothing to worry about, so just lie down and rest you're ankle while I go and pay for our room and board."

"You don't have any money left. You gave it all to those bandits when they stopped us in the forest."

Tom held up a small drawstring bag, the coins inside clinking as it swung gently from his fingers. "I was left a stipend. Not quite as much as I had before, but more than enough."

"The inn keep might be disappointed he has no one to cut his firewood now." Harry said, pulling a smile onto his face though he still looked worried. "Where's your next job? Nearby?"

"No. It's in the Hufflepuff Province; a town called Holyhead."

"Hufflepuff? The northern Province is quite a ways away, Tom. Are you sure we'll make it there in time?"

"We'll have plenty of time, Harry, though I may end up carrying you at least some of the way." He said, heading towards the door. "For now, concern yourself with resting."

Harry didn't have much choice but to do just that and spent most of that day (as well as a small handful of days after) lain up without much of anything to do. The silver lining in the situation was that Tom was accommodating of his desire to hang off of him, and tolerated the fact that the little raven spent the majority of that time sitting in his lap. They set off again the moment that Tom deemed him capable of walking without doing harm to himself, and by the time they'd made camp again that night the wizard could only be grateful for the fact that they were moving again.

Travel was uneventful though the turn of the season had made the going hard. Though not quite as cold in the northern Province as it had been in the mountainous east it was still far from comfortable for Harry, especially without his traveling cloak from the Holy City, who having grown up in the south where it never got any colder than 'balmy' and was not in any way used to such extremes and though Tom did his best to keep him warm it had only stretched so far. Though, admittedly, he'd quite enjoyed the night the Claymore had resorted to bundling him inside of his uniform against the bare skin of his chest and, though Tom had seemed strained by the effort, used his Dark Aura to raise his internal temperature enough that he was putting up nearly as much heat as the fire.

At least Harry had managed to keep all of his fingers and toes despite winter's best efforts to nip them black and blue.

"We'll reach Holyhead by mid-day and spend the night in the inn there. My comrades should arrive at some point today as well." Tom told him, grieves clicking against the frost hardened forest path. "Stay close, Harry. These woods aren't safe."

Harry, who had been staring up at the massive spruce tree splitting the sky above them, jumped slightly and scrambled to catch up with the older male. Tom rested a hand on his shoulder, smirking, but said nothing else. "We're going to be working with other Claymore?" considering how Tom had acted towards him at first Harry wasn't very keen on meeting more of the Order's warriors. Then again, maybe Tom had been an especially arrogant case. "How many?"

"I will be working with two of my fellow warriors. You will wait for me to return from slaying the beast in the inn, where you'll be safe."

"But I've been around you when you were killing Inferus before." Harry protested, that stubborn tint beginning to invade his voice. "What's different this time?"

Tom sighed, stopped and knelt in front of him. Though he recovered well, the unexpected action took the raven by surprise. "This, Sparkling, is an entirely different situation than even the cathedral back in Avalon. The beast I've been sent to kill is proper fare for one of my rank and is many times more dangerous than a mere Inferus could ever be. I am not letting you anywhere near this thing; I won't have you in harm's way. Please stay in the inn where you'll be safe. It shouldn't take more than a week for me to return and you'll be able to do what you like around town."

"During the day." Harry grumbled, then sighed. "It's really that dangerous?"

"Yes." Tom's expression had crumpled into something petulant and worried. The raven sighed again and attempted to smooth down the wrinkles which had formed at the corners of his eyes with his fingers.

"Alright." He said. "I'll stay at the inn."

"Thank goodness."

"But not for my own safety."

Tom blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I'll stay at the inn for your safety, not for mine. If it's really that dangerous I don't want you to get hurt again because you were worried about protecting me."

Even after everything Harry still blamed himself for the Claymore's brush with death in the Holy City. Tom didn't like it, but if it would work in his favor to keep the wizard out of trouble then he'd let it be for the time being.

Getting back to his feet Tom rested his hand on Harry's head briefly before the pair resumed walking. Their footsteps against the hard ground were the only sounds for a long time. A robin alighted on a branch overhead and picked at the bright red berries of a yew tree. The wind hissed through the needles of the forest around them, the soft wooden trunks creaking and popping around them. Slowly, the forest thinned to nothing and the town of Holyhead opened up in front of them.

Somewhere in size between Foxwick and Godric's Hollow, the large wooden buildings looked homey and the streets were festooned with streamers in silver and gold.

"It looks like there's some sort of festival going on." Harry said, shifting his weight forward onto his toes with excitement lighting up his face. "I've never been to one before. I wonder what they're celebrating."

"After we've gotten a room for you at the inn, while I wait for the others to arrive, you'll be able to find that out." Tom said, patting Harry's hair as they continued on their way. The town growing ever closer. "I'll give you the pouch of coin to do with as you please. I'm sure you'll have fun running wild this next week."

"If things even go that long." Tom nodded vaguely to Harry's statement. "I'm sure I will have fun but I'd have more fun if you were with me, Tom."

"No you wouldn't. As much as you enjoy my company others do not and my presence will only sour the experience for you." Tom said. "Normal people, people of their right mind, aren't very comfortable around Claymore."

"I don't care much about 'normal' people." Harry informed him, speeding his pace to a trot. Tom chuckled and followed after him.

The streets of Holyhead despite the presence of the Awakened Being, were full of smiling and laughing people though there was a noticeable tenseness in the air and every few minutes someone would look towards the sky to check the position of the sun. They became even more so when they caught sight of Tom: men glared in suspicion, mothers pulled their children close and young people whispered together as they passed. As usual, Tom ignored them and pushed the little wizard ahead towards the inn.

The inn keeper was friendlier to them than most, though that didn't really count for very much. After receiving the key to the proper room and handing Harry the pouch of coin, bidding him to return by nightfall and to buy what he wanted, Tom made his way back to the darkest corner of the lower floor. Reclining in one of the chairs with the creak of wooden legs, sword propped against its side. He didn't have to wait longer than a handful of hours: the door swung open, light spilling in from outside and making his eyes burn after so long in the dark, and two men entered. Both Claymores. One taller than the other and bringing up the rear while the shorter of the two bounded ahead, moving more like an overexcited dog than any properly dignified Claymore. The symbol on his livery was one which meant nothing to Tom (he only bothered keeping track of the top ten and, well, it was hard not to find Wormtail memorable for his weakness).

"You're the boss, then?" he pulled out another chair and threw himself into it; the other one sat down normally. "We were told we'd be working with a single digit but weren't told who."

Tom grunted in disinterest and crossed his arms. This was why he preferred working solo.

"I apologize for him; I've worked with him a number of times now and can assure you this is just his personality."

"Come off it, Moony! We've been friends since the academy; don't be like that!" Dog-warrior complained, slumping down onto his elbows like a pouting child. "I think introductions are in order! I'm Sirius 'Padfoot' Black, Rank 33. I've been on eight Awakened hunts not counting this one, none solo."

The look which briefly passed across the other's face made it obvious he was praying for patience. "Remus 'Moony' Lupin, Number 22 within the Order. I've been on fifteen Awakened hunts not counting this one, five of them alone."

"You needn't know my real name, it's of no consequence, but you may refer to me as 'Heartless' Voldemort." Tom's sharp smile caught the light as he leaned forward in his chair, the Rune on his livery flashing silver as his eyes. "All of my jobs, up until this one, have been solo as I'm the Order's current Number One."

Tom knew his reputation within the Order of the Phoenix: cruel, actively combative and belligerent, far too loose with the use of his Dark Aura and more volatile than an oil-fed fire. It preceded him, apparently, because 'Padfoot' pushed away from the table so quickly he almost toppled backwards.

"Bloody hell!" He looked over at 'Moony' as if expecting him to have answers only to find that his friend had gone quite grey in the place. "What'd we do to deserve being forced to work with Voldemort as punishment?"

Tom's eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything the door of the inn opened a third time and allowed a familiar figure inside. Harry, to the obvious shocked horror of the others, walked right up to him and stopped beside his chair. A small box was in his hands, looking suspiciously as if it had come from a bakery and emitting the sugar-spun scent of chocolate. Tom raised an eyebrow. "It's not near nightfall yet, Sparkling. You still have four hours before you need to come back." He said. "You don't go through all of the money I gave you already did you?"

"What do you think I did, purchase the entire festival? I still have most of what you gave me; I know it has to last while you're away." His tone was one which bordered on disrespect and plainly made the other two fear for his life, Golden Law aside. Catching sight of their stares Harry said "if you're not careful those will pop out and roll away" before returning his full attention to Tom. "I'm here because I saw these and remembered what you said in the Holy City and wanted to get it to you while it was still warm. Though I got weird looks when I paid full price for 'crumbs' as they called it." Opening the box, the little raven pulled out the single smallest slice of chocolate cake Tom had everseen. Holding it between his forefinger and thumb, he proffered it to him. "Well?"

"…" The Claymore was certain the ringing in his ears was the sound of his image drowning on the floor in its own blood. "Harry, does this have to happen now?"

The little wizard looked less than impressed. "Chocolate waits for no one, Tom."

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks and mouthed 'Tom?' but the other Claymore ignored them, sighed, and opened his mouth.

"Was that so hard?"

"Shut up and feed me!"

"Rude." Harry snorted, though he happily complied. Chocolate. God he hadn't had it in years. Had almost forgotten what it tasted like. Harry snickered when he caught the other's shiver. "Want to lick my fingers too?"

Ignoring that last comment Tom wrapped his arms around his hips, pulling the little raven close and resting his head on Harry's chest. "You do murder on my image, Potter."

The snicker turned into a real laugh as Harry buried his fingers in the other's silver hair. "I know. I live to wreak havoc on your life and sanity; I relish every moment I make you squirm."

Tom snorted. "Twirp."

"Always." Came the bright reply. "Am I interrupting?"

"Yes."

"Should I leave?"

"Yes."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"…" looking as if he'd just swallowed a lemon, Tom admitted "no."

"Well, that's unfortunate." Mischief laced his voice as he pulled free and stepped out of his reach. "Because I really should be going before I ruin your image any more than I already have."

"It's in smithereens, Potter! Get back here!" The little raven blew a raspberry, laughed and darted back out into the sun. Tom huffed, reached up, and ran his fingers through his hair to set the curls back to rights. "Why did I ever let him follow me out of Godric's Hollow?"

None of them had an answer.

"So," Remus cleared his throat, he and Sirius seeming to have come to an agreement not to mention what had just occurred, "the Awakened hunt?"

Tom gazed at him sharply for a moment, then leaned back in his chair and said "the hunt will start tomorrow."