"Tom? What are you doing?" Harry asked the other boy with curiousity.
"I promised you I would figure out the enllaç, didn't I?"
"You got something?"
"Yes, I'm nearly done, I think."
Harry said down next to him and took the papers, which were full of tiny scribbles, in his hands. There didn't seem a beginning or end to them.
"Care to tell me about it? I can't read any of this. There is no logic at all!" Harry scowled.
"Sure, sure. Look, it begins with the bond you and Voldemort formed, ok? Because of the rebounded curse, you got a part of his soul, and a telepathic link. When you were fourteen, he also used your blood to get a body. Body, mind and soul, and the mìtic enllaç was formed. Thanks to it, neither of you could die. So, when I came here, he should have vanished, but a small part of him, the part that was bound to you, remained. Because he and I shouldn't co-exist, but did anyway, I got pulled into this bond as well, getting a tri-bond between Voldemort, you and me."
"So, we can't die if the others remain. But we have to kill Voldemort."
"Yes. Now, there only two options. We need to break the bond in either case. One would be that we kill each other at the same time. Then none of us would have someone alive to pull us back."
"I don't like that one. What's the other?"
"To break it piece by piece. There is one flaw in this bond, and that is that, if it is broken on one side, it also breaks on the other. If we have a tri-bond, that would mean we only have to break it between two of us, and it will disappear as a whole."
"So, if say, the bond between me and Voldemort is broken, it would also break between you and me, and him and you?"
"Yes. Though yours and his is nearly impossible. You have his Horcrux, he has your blood. Those things aren't easy to destroy or remove. Not to speak of the telepathic link. Occlumency could block it, but it would still exist. The easiest is the enllaç between Voldemort and me. Because of me, he shouldn't be here in the first place, and I'm only bound with him through body, mind and soul because we are essentially the same person."
"Meaning, if you differ in those three things from him, it will break?"
"That's the best possibility we have. I'm not sure though, it is completely theoretical."
"We can try at least. And, if you think about it, we have gotten far with that already."
"What do you mean?" Tom frowned.
"Take the definitions of body, mind and soul. The body is easy, your physical appearance. He got another body using a ritual, meaning he got both his own blood, and mine. But when he nearly died, and got this shadowy appearance Snape described, it would seem he hasn't got any blood at all. Maybe he carries some leftovers, I don't know, but that would only be of my blood, not his own, and therefore, yours. You don't share the same body anymore. Secondly, there is the soul. Its definition would be your character, your will, and emotions."
"Yes, and you Gryffindorks cured that." Tom snorted.
"Something like that." Harry grinned. "You are capable of love, you absolutely don't want to become like Voldemort anymore, and you allow your emotions to show. That would heal your soul. Plus, your soul is more whole. You made two Horcruxes, whereas he made seven, of which only a small piece is left."
"And what about the mind? Its definition would be…"
"Your true self. All aspects of you form your mind. And that is still the same."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the acceptance of yourself. In order to differ your mind from him, you need to know your own mind. To know who you really are. Delve into your mind, and face who you are. All of you."
"Wouldn't that be an aspect of my soul and character?" Tom said, frowning.
"The soul is who we are, that is true. But if you are a good person, even act like you are good, but deep in your mind, you don't believe that yourself, and thus don't accept it, that is a choice of your mind. You constantly keep saying that you are Voldemort. You told me that when we were going to visit here, at the Burrow, and you said it again. The point is, you have never been Voldemort, and won't ever become him. Not anymore."
"But then our minds should already be different! He does accept who he is, judging from your stories, embraces it even!"
"Ah, but that is where you are wrong. You both deny a part of yourself. He denies the good in him. You try to deny the bad in yourself, but really deny the good in you as well, since you doubt yourself too much. And there is something else. You want your good side, he wants his bad side. But in reality, no person is good or evil. And so your statement becomes true after all, in a different meaning."
"There is no good or bad, only power, and those who are too weak to use it." Tom whispered. "What meaning?" he added.
"Everyone has good or bad sides, so there is no pure good, or pure evil. The power lies in seeing who you are, and then there are the people who try to deny it. They are weak, for they will never become strong if they don't come to terms with themselves."
"Where the hell did you learn all this?"
Harry smiled. "I wanted to become a psychologist before I knew I was a wizard," he admitted. "I read quite a few books on it, and tried to analyse the human mind and soul."
"Well, you succeeded." Tom muttered. "So to make me different than him by mind, I need to find out who I am, and accept that?"
"Nice summary. Remember: your soul is who you are and want to be. But it is up to your mind to truly believe and accept that."
"But who am I? I am someone else than I always believed, that is for sure, but I have no idea who I truly am. Then how can I accept who I am?"
"Delve into your mind, find your Inner self, and face him. Don't be afraid of who you really are, no matter who you will find. Don't let others decide who you should be, and define what is good or bad. You are you, remember that as well. If you do that, you will be whole, and your mind will be cured as well."
"I will try. Maybe I could perform Legilimency on my own mind…"
"That is a good idea. Maybe you will find there what you seek."
"Harry? Did you do this too, once?"
"Yes."
"Then who are you?"
Harry smiled. "That is no question easily answered, nor is the question you undoubtedly want to ask me next, how I found myself… I am myself, to put it simply."
"Yourself?" Tom frowned. "That doesn't say much… was who you met better or worse than you had thought?"
"Different. Good or bad is only something we made up, to keep ourselves within borders. But everyone has another definition of it. True, when I first faced my Inner Self, I had all kinds of ideas about those terms already, prejudiced ideas, so I didn't like what I found within myself. My weaknesses and flaws. But I also saw my strengths, and my values. And finally, I accepted my soul, all of it."
"If you can do it, then surely I can't stay behind, right?" Tom grinned.
"Angel?" she asked softly, by lack of a better name, as he opened his eyes after what seemed like hours.
"Don't call me that." He groaned, half asleep still. "I'm—"
"The devil in person," she smirked, her heart warming at the familiar voice.
"Precisely…" suddenly, his eyes shot open. "Wait a minute, what?"
"Oh, so now you're awake." She smirked.
"Luthièn? It's truly you, isn't it?"
"Yep."
"H… how?"
"How should I know? Aren't you supposed to be the know-it-all?" she quirked an eyebrow.
"Of course! Just… not in this case." He mumbled.
"I'm so glad your back," she smiled, and crawled on the bed, allowing him to cradle her against him.
"Me too. Though it is strange…"
"Why did you leave in the first place?"
"I didn't. Really. I could still see you, but you didn't react on me, like those others. You tell me why."
"I…" she fell silent.
"What?"
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I told them about you right? I told the first witches and wizards I met about you, thinking it would be normal for them."
"They didn't understand."
"No, and that scared me. I had been shunned because I was different for whole my life, and I didn't want to be different anymore. I think… I stopped believing in you. I thought I made you up, since no-one else could see you. Not Muggles, but not magicians either. Even my own family couldn't, I discovered, though I never told them about you." She was surprised by her own confession.
She had thought she didn't know why, and had tried to blame him, and forgot him afterwards, leaving nothing more than a distant memory. And yet, here he was, seemingly more alive than anyone she had met.
"So, you couldn't see me because your belief in me wavered?"
"I think so…"
"Then I just have to make sure you won't forget me again." He smirked, and began to tickle her until they both ended up on the floor, laughing. Suddenly, her ears perked up when she heard footsteps hurry to her door.
"Draco…" she whispered, suddenly feeling extremely guilty.
"Who?"
"My boyfriend," she said, not able to meet his eyes.
She thought it was stupid, really, that she acted this way. It was not as though they had ever been together or something. She didn't even know if he felt anything for her. She bit her lip when someone knocked on her door.
"Luthièn? Are you alright? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, I am, wait…" she quickly repaired the glass that had fell on the floor, and made herself look sleepy before opening the door.
"Hey, I thought I heard something… are you alright?" Drake asked, worried. Merlin, she didn't deserve him…
"Yeah, I fell out of bed… clumsy me, even asleep," she joked.
"Honestly…" he sighed."I should've known."
"Hey, I can't help it!"
He laughed and hugged her, but when he placed his lips in her neck, she became very aware of a glare on her back, so she pulled away.
"Luthièn? What's wrong?"
"I… nothing, just a bit tired…" she smiled. "When is breakfast served?"
Of course, he saw right through her weak attempt, but kept silent about it, just throwing her an uncomprehending glance. "Twenty minutes at most. You want me to leave?"
"Please," Luthièn whispered, not knowing what else to say. He frowned and walked out of the room with a worried expression, pulling the door shut slightly louder than necessary.
"So." Her angel said, with a strained voice. "You've got a boyfriend now?"
"Yeah," she replied with uneasiness. And yet, she kinda liked the jealousy in his voice. She couldn't help but add: "He reminded me of you." Shock crossed his face, and before he could give her a retort like he normally did, she had fled to the bathroom already.
While in there, she leaned against the wall, not knowing if she should go back. Sure, one day she'd have to face it, but who said that should be now? And then her stomach rumbled. Breakfast. She would have to cross the room anyways. She groaned… How typical she herself decided she should face it now. But how could she? Her own feelings made her lock down. No matter what he felt, she would have to make a choice of her own. She couldn't love two people, no matter how much she wanted to. It would be betrayal on either side. Unfair to them. Again, she sighed. She stayed in the bathroom for as long as possible, and only got out when she heard a bell ring. The house-elves letting them know that breakfast was ready. Without meeting the gaze of him, who was now standing near the window, she hurried out of the room again, wondering herself if she was fleeing.
Dinner at the Weasleys was silent, like the days before, as Mrs Weasley still hadn't recovered from the news of the Twins. When she had entered the room and saw them sitting on each other's lap, she had already blinked and looked shocked, but as they had drawn each other into a deep kiss, she had stiffened, not able to believe her eyes. She still remembered the conversation afterwards. Tom and Harry had sat on the couch next to them, watching Fred and George.
"Hey, lovedoveys. Your mother is watching, you know?" Tom had said, smirking.
"We know."
"Just wanted—"
"—to make it clear for her."
"She wouldn't believe us anyways—"
"—if we just told it," one of them finished, smirking as well.
On that, she had passed out, missing the rest of the conversation, though Harry and Tom remembered it clearly.
"Tss, you'd think that after your confession—"
"—she'd be able to handle this."
"But nooo, time rituals and a young version of Voldemort—"
"-sorry Tom-"
"Are nothing compared to our horrible crime!"
When Molly had regained consciousness, everyone –save Ginny, who they hadn't heard word of anymore, and Arthur, who had been at work- had been in the room. Most of them had been throwing deadly glances at the Twins, who were trying to look guilty, but not quite succeeding.
"You two," she had said, fire shooting through her eyes, not even finding their nervous gulps amusing.
"But Mom!" one of them –Fred, she had thought, so it was probably George- had whined.
"Don't you always say—"
"—'you can't stop love?'"
"I…" damn it, she hadn't been able to say anything against that, so she had decided to ignore it. "You will be sleeping in separate rooms for the rest of the holidays!"
"Why?" they had cried out, horrified. "Harry and Tom share a room! And Ron and Hermione as well most of the time!"
"I don't care! And… wait, Ron and Hermione?"
"Uh… oops?" they had said simultaneously, when receiving death glares of the two.
"I thought you slept in Ginny's room?" Molly had asked slowly, with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
"Well… most of the times…" Hermione had said uncomfortably, which had Molly breathing deep to calm herself, failing, and stalking out of the room.
"That went well!" one of the twins had said cheerfully, the last she had heard.
Which brought them where they were now, eating in silence. Still, she thought. She couldn't keep Harry and Tom apart, she had no say whatsoever over them. And, pitifully enough, not over the Twins either. They were of age, as they had clearly stated yesterday when she had tried to drag them to separate rooms, and they could easily go to their shop, where they lived together anyway. She sighed. When she had tried to at least pretend she did have any say in this household, and separated Hermione's and Ron's sleeping place, they had given her yet another heart attack by saying it was unfair that they weren't allowed to be together, whereas Ginny was camping with her boyfriend. That suggestion had left her speechless once more, and she had sputtered:
"But, but, that's perfectly safe! I mean, she's only fifteen! She wouldn't…" but she had been silenced by two meaningful looks Ron and Hermione had given each other.
Where did I go wrong in their upbringing? She thought miserably. But, as she herself had said so often indeed: 'You can't stop love.", though she hadn't thought about her children when saying that…
She could tell Draco was worried about her. He had been the last few days. She couldn't really blame him, after all, she had tried to distance herself from him as much as possible. She just couldn't take it anymore, being torn up between her angel and her boyfriend! Of course, it should have been easy. Draco was solid, other people could hear and see him, and he was human. Whereas he was a dead immortal. –how ironic-. And that wouldn't have been that bad, if she wasn't the only person on this world who could see him. Though, she thought suddenly, he could touch things… he had proven that before, when he had played with her when she was little. Immediately, her thoughts went a whole different course… she caught herself just in time, and groaned. She shouldn't think about this. She suddenly felt his presence, and she knew he was watching her.
"Luthièn?"
"Yes?" she answered, without looking up.
"We need to talk."
"Why?"
He growled impatiently, which she knew that meant he wasn't in the mood for games, and that he knew that she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. "Make your choice Luthièn," he said through clenched teeth. "Either you will be with him, or with me," he stated, taking her aback.
She had had her hopes, of course, but somehow she hadn't really dared to believe it. But now he stated it so bluntly…
"You… you feel for me in such a way?" she said, surprised.
Suddenly, he laughed. "Merlin, and here I thought I'd made that more than clear! I thought you knew, and that that was why you were avoiding me!" Suddenly, he turned serious. "You don't?"
He looked lost, and she couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around him, and hugged him to give him some comfort. Clearly, he understood the gesture wrongly, for all of sudden, he drew her into a deep, hungry kiss. Her mind only cleared when it ended, and she stepped back, horrified. "Damon I…" she said.
"Don't tell me you did not want that," he said, but flirtatious and dangerous.
She closed her eyes and released a slow breath. It wasn't that she hadn't liked it, quite the contrary but… "I'm together with Draco," she stated. "I can't… I can't be together with you when I a with someone else. Would you want to have someone who could betray their lover like that? Just say 'fuck the consequences' and kiss someone else? I… I liked it. I.." she swallowed. "I love you. You've always been there for me when I needed someone there, you've held me when I was alone and you allowed me to cry on me and cheer you up… But I simply can't be with you when I have someone else. It wouldn't be fair to Draco… Please understand that."
Her plea seemed to conflict him. "I've never been able to deny myself what I want…" he started. "But for you, I can wait… However, I need to know. Do you love me more than you love him?"
"Yes," she answered quietly.
"Then don't make me wait for too long," he whispered, and brushed his mouth against her forehead.
The Weasley family plus guests were all excited, and Mrs Weasley even seemed to forget her worries about her children's relationships for a moment. It was nothing like the World Cup, but the two best Quidditch teams of Britain, the English Plymouth Pegasi and the Scottish Johnstone Javelins were playing against each other. It was in the same stadium as the World Championship had been held in. Hermione and Tom were the only two who weren't brimming with excitement, but they both went along anyways, mostly for the sake of their boyfriends. At the moment, chaos reigned the house. They had to leave in three hours, and they still weren't done checking and packing.
"The tent? Wait a minute, do we even have one? The other one was burned down wasn't it?"
"No, I asked Diggory. He isn't going, reminds him too much of… well, you know. But he lent us his one."
"Well, that's exceptionally kind of him. And what about all the food? Oh, I still have to make sandwiches. Tom, dear, do you want to help me?"
"Wait a minute Mrs Weasley, I'll come. Harry? Have you seen my brush? I looked all over the place!"
"Don't have it! Maybe Ron? Ron? Have you seen Tom's brush? That black and blue one!"
"I have it!" Hermione shrieked. "Sorry, didn't know it was yours. Merlin, this place is a mess right now. Has anyone borrowed my book: Facts about the relations between Wizard and Goblin?"
"Why would anyone want to read that?" Ron said, horrified. "Maybe it is in your room!"
"Tom, sandwiches, please?"
"Coming! Hermione, just put my brush on the table there."
"Sure. Oh, where is that book?"
"Oi! We wanted to—"
"—bring our fireworks but,"
"—someone seems to have confiscated it!"
"Yes, that was me!" their mother shouted.
"Aaaw, but mom."
"What is a Quidditch victory—"
"—without magical firework?"
"Oh, alright alright, as long as it keeps out of the tent! I don't want another one burnt down!"
"Fine, fine." They said cheerfully, and high-fived before running up the stairs.
Three hours later, everything was –miraculously- found again, with the exception of Hermione's book. Ron whispered to Harry that the garden gnomes had probably taken it. There was enough paper in that one book for them to make a fire the whole winter, every night. Normally, they always had to steal a book or twenty for that, and it still wasn't enough. And anyways, Ron reasoned. What else to do with such a book than burn it? At least that way, it still had some use.
"Now, hurry up everyone! We don't want to miss it, do we?"
"Coming!" they all shouted, and got in the car. Harry was glad they didn't travel by portkey now. He really hated any kind of magical transport, save brooms and Thestrals. But the last were kind of hard to get, and a broom wasn't continually available either.
"I swear! It is completely safe now! Please let me do it just once? I improved it with this car!" he heard the hopeful voice of Mr Weasley when they got near the car.
"Arthur." The icy voice of Mrs Weasley said. "We have this new car for three months now. Surely you didn't enchant it again?"
"Well, enchant is a big word… I did the same what Muggles do with their technology… just a bit...faster."
"An still, you don't see Muggle cars flying around, or invisible ones, do you?"
"Of course not! If they are invisible, then…"
"The answer is no Arthur. And it stays that way."
"But Molly…"
"Oh oh, seems like Dad's in trouble…" Ron whispered. "He'd better give in."
"No."
"Alright, alright." Mr Weasley fumed.
"Now, all of you, don't stand there and get in the car!"
They opened the doors and got in the magically enlarged car. The back seat was wide enough for Charlie, the twins, Ron, Hermione, Tom and Harry, making the last six very happy. That happiness was dimmed however, when they received a glare from Ms Weasley.
"Well, onto Quidditch!" Charlie said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.