Chapter 21: The Real Enemy

Hello guys! I've almost gotten the rest of the story written! I'm close to the end! It hurts so good! I can't wait for you all to read it. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and the rest of the journey there.

Harry was never much for killing. If there was any other option, why take a life? He hadn't wanted to take Thomas's life, so he didn't. That was understandable, right?

As he stood at the entrance to the hospital wing, seeing the beds filled with aurors, he wondered if he had put them in danger once more by not killing Thomas. Obviously, the whole job wouldn't have been over after that, but it would have been a start. Typically, without a leader, crazy cults like the Death Eaters would flop around like a headless fish until it finally died out. But he hadn't killed Thomas. He'd used the Imperious Curse on him. He'd told the others and they seemed to think it was a good choice, but had it really been the right choice?

Hermione hadn't moved from Ron's side since he'd gotten back. She had told the children he was safe, but so far, they hadn't been allowed to go visit him. Hermione had said she wasn't sure if she'd want them to see him until he got better. The aurors, especially the ones that fought back, had gotten injured pretty severely; burns, cuts, massive bruises. Some of them were hardly recognizable. It was only Ron's bright red hair that had identified him to Hermione. Harry could hardly look at any of them. It made him sick that there were still people who thought they were fine, doing an investigation somewhere far off, just as if it were any other day.

Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office, a rather large basket in her hands of various potions and elixirs. Her eyes were large and thin eyebrows knitted, clearly worried as she went bed to bed, giving each auror what they needed. Harry couldn't imagine being her. In her many, many years here, there had been three wars, countless amounts of accidents, petrified students, death…he couldn't even imagine what else. She was the safest healer they could ever turn to; the amount of trust and responsibility put in her hands was massive. Harry was an alright healer, but he didn't think he could manage all this thrown his way all at once. He would forever respect Madam Pomfrey.

It had been hours since he'd gotten back, but Harry hadn't moved from the entrance where he stood. He had only stared at the damage terrible people could do. He wondered how they could do such things without feeling guilt or shame. Did their way of life eat away at them? Surely, it had to. That was the human way, wasn't it?

There was a sudden flicker of light out of the corner of Harry's eye, breaking him from his thoughts. He turned to look but found the vaguely incorporeal horse patronus was making its way around to where he'd been facing. He watched it curiously, figuring it would find its way to Hermione or Ron, but it stopped before him and began to speak in Ginny's voice.

"Harry, the Ministry is keeping everyone here, using the Imperious Curse on them and convincing them that nothing bad is going on and not to trust you. I managed to escape, but only barely. I don't have a wand. I'm not quite sure what is going on, but I know it's nothing normal. I feel like I haven't slept in weeks. I probably haven't. Umbridge is behind it all." Harry watched as the patronus began to falter. "I'm hiding under some bushes by the Ministry. Just woke from a nap. Not sure where I am or where to go. I-" The patronus vanished into thin air.

He furrowed his brows, already making his way to Hermione.

"Hermione," he whispered. She tore her eyes away from an unconscious Ron and looked up to Harry's. "Ginny sent me a patronus. Apparently the Ministry is keeping its workers hostage there, under Imperious Curse. She's just escaped."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Yes, that makes sense. She told me nothing was going on, but it didn't really sound like her. The Ministry did all this?"

"Dolores Umbridge," he corrected.

Hermione gasped. "I knew they should have kept her in Azkaban. That vile woman." She took a breath. "Where is Ginny? Does she need help?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, she's at the Ministry still, hiding in some bushes? Wandless. Lost."

Hermione immediately stood, patting Ron and whispering something into his ear before turning back to Harry. "Well, let's go then. We've got to find her."

Harry hesitated. Ginny had been forcibly convinced not to trust him, but how much of this summer had been her own doing? Had it been her or the Ministry that had prevented him from seeing his children?

Hermione saw it in his eyes. "Harry," she said softly, "You don't love her anymore, I can understand that. But you will always be her hero. You're hero to all of us. That's why she went to you for help. She knew you'd help her."

Harry nodded, sending the news with his Patronus to everyone involved. "Right. Yes, let's go."

They quickly ran down the hallway to the headmistress's office. Harry pulled out his wand and held out his arm for Hermione to grab.

In moments, they were in London, surrounded by blackened buildings and charred streets. They walked the crowded streets, heading down the street to the Ministry. Harry wondered, in his head, how Ginny was hiding in some bushes by the Ministry if the Ministry was underground. Did the Ministry even have bushes? He voiced this to Hermione.

"No, I don't believe the Ministry has bushes." She seemed confused. "I'd never encountered any in my entire career there." She sighed. "I go on maternity leave and this crazy mess happens. I thought they'd fall apart without me, but not this bad. Though now it makes sense why they wanted me to leave this early on."

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. "Maternity leave?"

Hermione, who hadn't realized he'd stopped until she had passed him, turned back to look at him. "Oh. I suppose no one told you. We hadn't really been talking as much this past summer as we normally do."

"You're pregnant?" Harry asked, incredulous.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes." She put a hand to her belly, a smile on her face. "It's another girl!"

Harry felt a smile grow on his face, too. "That's fantastic! When is she due?"

Tears came into Hermione's eyes as she said, "About New Years Eve."

"Oh Merlin, that's soon." He looked Hermione over. He hadn't even been able to tell she was pregnant, but now that he looked, he could see the bump under her coat. Harry could hardly believe this. "What are you going to name her?"

"Ron and I were thinking Emma. Emma Lauren."

Harry hugged Hermione and the crowd parted around them. "Emma Lauren Weasley. It's beautiful."

Hermione shook her head as Harry released her. "I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

"It's alright. I know now." Harry, gentle smile on his face, now looked towards the phone booth that Arthur Weasley had once shown him leads to the Ministry. "Come on, we've got to find Ginny."

As boring as the past hours had been, Tom had not bothered to move much. He had only just brushed his teeth, taken a shower, and put on different clothes. Even these mundane tasks had taken a great heap of effort to muster up. What was the point? He had no magic. He could not have the toothbrush brush his teeth without him having to hold it, or transfigure his clothes, or summon the shampoo from the cabinet. Thank the great heavens above that he still had a magical shower that was always the perfect temperature and perfect water pressure. He honestly would not have bothered if the thought of cold water rushing down his back had not occurred. For the time being, he was perked up enough to try and find some food.

As the Dark Lord, he had never really taken to eating three meals a day. When he did eat, it was often at Malfoy Manor. The elves there were very accustomed to his presence. He enjoyed the house elves' meals, but found that he could not imagine having his own elves. To have that sort of servant involved releasing a certain amount of privacy that Tom could not even bear to think about.

He went to his kitchen and stared at the refrigerator, wondering if he dared to open it. There were three options: one, he could open it to find something he had forgotten to use a preservation charm on and went far past rotten for the past twenty years; two, he could open it to find something he had placed a preservation charm on that he could easily eat, regardless of its age; three, he could find nothing. He assumed the only viable options were one and three. He sighed and opened the refrigerator.

Nothing.

He shut the door and decided to rummage through the few cabinets he had. In one, he found an empty jar. In another, he found a spider web. In all the other cabinets, he found nothing. He ran a hand through his wet hair and thought. What could he do? Maybe he had some old potions for hunger?

Tom walked to his library and opened the door. He grabbed the letter opener he kept above the doorframe and made his way to the fireplace, only to be startled by the presence of one Draco Malfoy.

Though Tom wanted answers as to why he was here, he let all question fall as he noticed the book in his hands.

"The Theories and Inclinations of Wands and Wandlore? Interesting read." Tom held the letter opener gently in his hands, twisting it slowly by the pointed tip.

Draco nodded, eyes slightly narrowed. Maybe he was intruding upon Draco's space. Tom could understand the desire to read completely alone, even in another's house. Tom ran the dulled side of the blade carefully across his fingers, feeling the cold steel on his warm skin, and pricked the palm of his hand just below his thumb with the sharpened tip. He hardly felt the pain as he pressed the tip in further, blood beginning to gather on the blade. He crossed the distance to the fireplace and flicked the blood off the blade and into the embers. A fire roared and the secret door behind him opened. He wiped off the blade, placed the letter opener back above the doorframe, and went to his potions lab.

Inside, he felt the winds calling him. He smiled as they caressed his face in a rather excited manner. Did the enchanted winds grow a fondness for him? And after all those years where he did nothing but yell at them…

"Boreas, fetch me a potion for this cut."

In moments, a large bottle half-full with blue liquid soared through the air and into his hand. He opened the top and poured a few drops over his cut, watching it disappear. He recapped it and held it up. The potion was whisked away, back onto the shelf from which it came.

Tom glanced around. It seemed Boreas had kept the place perfectly tidy, not a speck of dust in sight. The idea made him rather sad. What if he had not returned?

"Boreas, do I happen to have a potion for ridding of hunger?"

Another potion bottle was tossed into the air, gently landing in Tom's hand. Tom smiled.

"Thank you, Boreas."

Tom turned, about to leave his potions lab, but stopped. "Actually, Boreas, come out of this lab. I could use you around the house."

In a rush, a gust of wind shot past him and into the library, giving the chandelier a bit of a shake before the door to the library shot open and the winds went to the rest of the house. Tom chuckled. If he could never again do magic, at least he could be amused by the remnants of the magical life he once had. The thought was only appealing for a short moment.

"What was that?"

A disheveled Draco peeked from the floor he had slid too when the winds had shot out.

Tom chuckled softly. "That was Boreas, the winds that live in my potions lab. She is a gentle enchantment that acts as a loyal servant."

Draco stood with wide eyes, and thinned lips. "Did you actually…laugh?"

Though Tom was hardly taken aback by the question, he let his smile fade until his lips were just a line. "I apologize. I will attempt to curb my happiness from now on."

Tom turned to look back to his potions lab. In his stomach, he felt the ever satisfying feeling of being perfectly full. It was a comforting change from the biting emptiness that had overtaken it before.

"I had not meant to insult you, My Lord…" Draco trailed off. The words had honestly slipped out of his mouth before he had even realized he had spoken them.

"Draco," Tom began, not even bothering to turn around and see the emotions Draco must be having. After feeling emotions once more, Tom was beginning to understand the privacy that Malfoys had once taken to having when they felt emotions strongly enough. They were like a bright, flashing sign to everyone else; a loud broadcast for others to be aware of. "I am a Lord no longer."

With heavy chest, Tom walked into his potions lab and shut the door behind him.

"This is the longest lock-down ever," Hugo said with a huff, sitting against the far wall from the entrance to the room.

"Aw, come on, Hugo, look at the bright side:" James smiled, though no one could see as he was currently looking out the window. "That's two days without classes!"

"I was actually looking forward to my classes today," Rose said softly, sitting next to Hugo.

"Me too," Albus piped in, not bothering to move from his uncomfortable position on the floor. "I would have had Care of Magical Creatures today. We were supposed to talk about unicorns and pegasi."

"Pegasi?" Tyler, one of Jame's roommates, wondered aloud, sitting up on his bed.

"It's the plural for Pegasus," Gemini replied lying next to Albus but facing the opposite direction.

"Oh." Tyler laid back down.

"What do you think everyone else is up to?" Lily asked from James's bed, propping herself up on her elbows.

"I bet they are all bored out of their minds, too," Shawn, James's other roommate, answered, his head turning red from hanging it upside down off his bed.

Albus smiled and sat up. "Let's play the What Are the Grown-Ups Outside Saying game."

Gemini scooted his head a few inches so that his ear was close to the door. "I win." There was a moment of silence before he said, "They're talking about rubber ducks."

Everyone in the room looked at him.

"I'm not kidding." Gemini sat up. "Come listen for yourselves."

In moments, they were all crowded around the door, trying to push their ears to it in an attempt to hear the conversation.

"Even in his extreme old age, it was all he would go on about." It was Bill again. "Rubber duck theories and conclusions. He just blabbed on and on, non-stop."

"What is a rubber duck? Who would want a duck made of rubber?" The deeper, much more booming voice was unknown to the children.

"Muggles? I dunno. I hear they have some really strange things."

Though the other children were interested and intrigued by the conversation, Gemini giggled.

The conversation stopped suddenly, and they all quickly scrambled back to their positions as the door opened.

"Are you lot listening to our conversation, again?" Bill asked with a small smile. "I heard a giggle."

Gemini, eyes bright purple, explained, "the purpose of a rubber duck is for children to take a bath with. It's a toy they can play with. Usually, it has a little hole in the mouth they can squirt water out of, and it floats."

Though Bill and the other man were clearly taken aback, they smiled even bigger.

"I'm sure my dad would have loved to hear that. He was curious for so long."

Rose and Hugo laughed. "Bath toys?" Hugo asked.

Shawn crinkled his nose. "Why would anyone want a toy in the bath? Isn't bath time just for cleaning?"

Gemini shrugged, eyes dimming to their natural color. "I dunno. It's a rich kid thing, I think."

Bill nodded. The other man reached for the door handle and began to walk out.

"Wait!"

Both Bill and the other man looked to Albus.

"Is there any update on our dad, yet?"

The room fell silent. It was nearly four now, and their last update had told them about the exchange that had been at noon.

The other man replied, "no word, yet. But your father is very crafty. He once saved my life from a herd of hippogriffs trampling me to death without wands or weapons. All he did was bow." The man smiled. "I believe he can get out of anything."

With that, the two went back out into the hallway and shut the door behind them.

"Back on guard duty, then," Shawn said to no one in particular.

"Are we going to be on lock-down until all the Death Eaters are arrested or dead?" Tyler sighed. "Both will take a while."

James, who had been looking out the window again, smiled. "We won't need to wait much longer at all."

Everyone glanced up and saw what he was talking about: an unoccupied broom James's floating right by the window.

"It'll be much easier if everyone could Accio their brooms, now." James turned around and stuffed his wand into the pocket of his robes. "I'm a skilled flyer, but I don't think I can carry all of you."

Everyone smiled but Rose, Albus, and Gemini, pulling out their wands and attempting the same command. In moments, Tyler, Shawn, and Lily's brooms were all floating there, waiting for their riders. Hugo had not managed anything, it seemed.

"We really shouldn't leave," Rose said.

"The point of being in our rooms is because it's safe here," Albus added. "If we leave, the Death Eaters could get us."

Gemini's eyes turned a muddy, deep mustard color. "At best, we would get in a lot of trouble."

"It's a safety hazard, James," Rose said, placing her hands on her hips. "We could all be killed."

Though he had been wearing a smug expression, James seemed to be considering what Rose was saying. His expression seemed to fall as he finally decided it was dangerous to leave.

"Alright, fine. Shawn, Tyler, and I will go out and pick up some stuff to keep us all entertained. The rest of you will stay here and be safe, alright?"

Lily huffed. "Not without me, no."

James turned to Lily. "Lil, you've got to stay here. I can't ensure that I can protect you out there on your broom while I'm on mine. You're safe here."

"I don't want to stay here," she replied quietly. She sounded just like their mom. "I can handle myself out there. Plus my broom is already out there."

"No, Lil." James's voice grew a bit sterner. "I won't let you go. The Death Eaters are more experienced, and they won't stop until they've got y-"

"James, did you see those ones that tried to get us the first time? They didn't even touch us."

"Lil, we caught them off guard and Gem-"

"I can handle myself, James. Just let me go."

"Lily," Albus interrupted. "you shouldn't go." Albus turned to face James. "And you shouldn't go, either. No one should go. We should all stay here, be safe, and not captured. It's what dad wants us to do, and it's what mom wants us to do, and it's what every professor, auror, witch, and wizard in Hogwarts right now wants us to do. If we leave, we are endangering ourselves, the other students, and most importantly, Dad." Albus stared sternly at James in silence. "Would you want a quick trip to get something fun turn into dad putting his life on the line, again? We don't need to do that to him, and you know that is exactly what they want, James. They want us to get to Dad because without him they think they stand a chance."

The whole room was eerily quiet. No one dared speak, or even move. They let their minds muddle over what they had just heard, considering the bad things that could happen. It wasn't until Albus spoke again that the silence was busted.

"Put the brooms back."

James pulled out his wand and opened his mouth to speak, but said nothing. After a moment, he said, "I don't actually remember how to put them back."

"Bring them inside, then," Rose said. "In case we need to make a grand escape."

James nodded. His roommates brought the brooms inside while he stared out the window, contemplating his responsibilities as the older brother. He wondered if he was really as competent as he was expected to be, and if maybe he needed to be more serious. Most of all, he wondered where his father was and if he would be ashamed to hear what he had almost done to his siblings.

"I don't understand. Are you sure this is supposed to work?" Hermione punched in the code to the telephone booth once more.

"Yes. I swear. Something must be wrong." Harry glanced around at all the people passing. It was very out of place for that phone booth to still be there amongst the new technologies that muggles had. Both he and Hermione were getting odd looks from the passers-by. It might have been because the booth was the only thing, save for a few people, that did not look charred. "Hermione, forget it. Let's find a new way in."

Hermione slammed the phone down back onto the receiver. "Alright." She huffed. "We've tried the toilets and the phone booth, twice. What else is there to try?"

"Got any Floo powder?" Harry asked, taking his glance away from a rather attractive male couple and looking to Hermione.

Hermione scoffed as she opened her purse. "Are you looking at pretty women?"

"What? No, I-I was just-" Harry's cheeks grew pink.

"Harry, you can look later. We have to save your ex-wife, first." Hermione removed a small, clay pot topped with a stopper from her purse. "Now we just need a fireplace."

Harry glanced about. "All of London looks like a fireplace."

"Well, unfortunately, all of London is not connected to the Floo Network." Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into an alley to apparate. They arrived in her home, which was honestly more of a mess than Harry had ever seen it (though that was not saying much considering it was usually spotless).

Hermione tossed a bit of powder in and said, "The Ministry of Magic."

Both she and Harry stepped into the green flames, traveling with impressive speed until they landed in front of a rather plain building.

Hermione sighed. "Oh, Harry. This isn't the Ministry. We'll never get there."

Though he was sure Hermione was about to burst into tears or punch something, he couldn't help but stare at the building. Something seemed off about it, though it didn't appear out of place at all. The windows were all identical and had even spacing. The concrete was just as bland as the concrete they were standing on. The door was a rather unimpressive off-white and even appeared to be peeling a bit at the edges. So what was so odd about this building?

Harry glanced about and noticed it immediately. All the other buildings had dark, black marks along the sides, had portions that were caving in, and looked generally cooked. As he turned back to the building they had landed in front of, he noted that there was not a single bit of evidence there had been a fire. It was pristine.

"Hermione," Harry held out his hand to get her attention, but it seemed she had already noticed the lack of burning, too. She had walked closer to it, just barely touching the wall of it. A thin layer of the wall shimmered, as if the sun had moved and had decided to reflect off the dull grey, and then returned to normal once again.

"I think this is the Ministry, now." Hermione backed up and glanced about. "There are bushes along the sides."

Harry nodded, pulling out the wand he had taken from his encounter with the Death Eaters and tapping himself and Hermione on top of the head with it. If Dolores Umbridge was really here, then they needed to be as inconspicuous as possible, starting with a disillusionment charm.

Hermione grabbed Harry's invisible hand and together they walked alongside the building, checking the bushes.

"I do hope they haven't captured her," Hermione whispered. "Do you think maybe she moved away from the building?"

Harry shook his head, though he realized Hermione couldn't see him. "I don't think she would risk it. If she doesn't have any sort of wand, she probably wouldn't be able to conceal herself. How would she know they wouldn't see her and take her back?"

"I think she could defend herself pretty well," Hermione defended.

"I'm not saying she couldn't defend herself. She could, but she would probably know that she may not be successful and would end up back where she started."

"But Ginny-"

They both heard a crackle from the bushes.

They stopped moving and talking. Harry felt his arm be tugged down as Hermione crouched, attempting to see under the bushes for Ginny.

"Ginny," she whispered. "It's Hermione."

Harry narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the part of the bushes he thought he had heard the sound from.

"How do I know?" a voice suddenly whispered back.

Hermione began, "Your birthday is August 11th. You have three children, all named after-"

"Better than that!" Ginny interrupted loudly.

Harry crouched next to Hermione and could see just barely the outline of Ginny's black work heels against the darkness of underneath the bushes.

"Nightmares of a man named Tom Riddle. Crying in my arms at night not because you were scared he would come back, but because you were scared someone would be able to control you again."

Ginny sat up. Harry could see the redness in her eyes that had dark bags hanging heavy under them, the skewed chaos of her hair that was once perfectly straight, the thin, pale lips that were once covered in peach lipstick and arguing with a lawyer for everything he once had. Her usually proud and strong shoulders were slumped in a way that created wrinkles in her grey suit jacket. Her cheeks were still rosy with a blush that extended over the bridge of her nose lightly. This was her on a bad day. And she was still so beautiful.

"Harry," she whispered. "Where are you?"

"Disillusionment charm." Without warning, he tapped her head, too.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered loudly. "You could've waited to lift her up, first."

"She can't walk?" Harry asked as Ginny disappeared from his view.

"Yes, her leg is turned at a bad angle. It looks broken. It would've been better to float her away, but you can't see her, now." Hermione reached out a hand to where Ginny had been. "Can you move it?"

"No, I can't. It hurts too much. Otherwise, I might've moved away from the building."

"Alright. I'm going to try to lift you then." Harry waddled awkwardly over to where he thought Ginny was. "Reach out a hand so I can find you."

Harry felt her hand reach out to his own. It was cold and shaky, so much unlike the fierce woman he had grown to love so long ago.

"Okay. I've got you." Harry followed her arm to her shoulder, and reached out his other hand, finding her knees and carefully wrapping his hand underneath.

"Ow, ow." She hissed quietly as Harry tried as gently as possible to lift her up.

Once he had her steady in his arms, he asked softly, "are you alright?"

"My knee is definitely busted."

"Hold on tight," Hermione said as she placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and disapperated.

They landed perfectly inside Padma's office where Neville and Luna were waiting.

Neville stood, wand at the ready. "I heard that. Who's there?"

"It's us, Neville. We've found Ginny." In an instant, Hermione had undone the disillusionment spells on them all.

"Fantastic!" Neville smiled. "I'll let the others know."

Hermione lifted all the papers and knickknacks off Padma's desk and Harry placed Ginny on it with caution. Harry didn't even see Neville's patronus leave as he looked over Ginny with care.

"Is it only your knee that hurts?"

"Well, I don't exactly feel like a field of daisies, but I can manage." Ginny turned her head to one side and took a shaky breath.

Luna popped up behind Harry, offering him his wand.

Harry took the wand gratefully. "Thank you, Luna."

"Harry, if you still love her, you should let her know. I'm sure she's been wondering." Luna gave a dreamy smile and walked away to Hermione, who was talking to Neville about what happened.

As he looked over Ginny, Harry couldn't imagine ever being with her again. She deserved so much more than him. He could never give her the love and independence she needed. She was strong, and could manage herself. She hardly needed Harry to be her hero.

"So," Ginny began. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Harry met her weak gaze.

"Do you still love me?"

After a sigh and a moment of silence, Harry replied, "Not in the way you deserve. Not in the way I used to."

Ginny lifted her head to look at him fully, letting her messy red hair fall off the desk. "How then?"

Harry thinned his lips. "Like I care about you. Like you are the mother of my children. Like you are beautiful and strong and unable to be anything but free."

Her pale lips gave half a smile. "Isn't that enough?"

He shook his head. "Not enough to stop myself from continuing the damage I've already done. Not enough to share everything with you. Not enough to want to marry you again."

Ginny's red eyes glistened and she let her head fall back to the side.

Suddenly Madam Pomfrey was there, tending to her, and Harry was backing away, watching as her pale skin was tinted with healing blue light. He was backing up, and then there was a door there. And he went out the door and down the hallway, and then another hallway, and another until he had reached the entrance to Hogwarts. Then he pulled out his wand and disapperated. And he was in a green field and he was running. He wasn't running fast, just away. He wanted to get away from his old self, the one that hurt Ginny and made her think that he was the one for her. He wanted to get away from the part of him that thought she was beautiful. Most of all, he wanted to escape from the part of himself that still cared for her.

The green field grew an edge, and Harry ran up to it and stopped. Over the edge was a cliff, tall enough to kill him, but he would land in more green field, with scattered wildflowers. Harry looked down at it, and then turned away, disapperating somewhere else.

He didn't know where until he was surrounded by blood red walls, black crown molding, black velvet lined mahogany bookshelves filled with loads of old books and ivory bookends, a molten silver ceiling, and an elegant chandelier. The library. Tom's library.

"I assume you are here to update me on what has been occurring." Draco spoke up behind him from a chair where he was reading. "I see you are alive."

"Yeah." Harry turned around. "Uh, I escaped. Fairly easily, I think. Wasn't too bad. I got Thomas under Imperious. Any day now we should see signs that his regime is falling."

"Excellent. Did you stab him in the eyes , like I suggested?"

Harry gave a small smile. "Yes, actually."

Draco tore his eyes away from his book. "Did he do that twitch where he tried to blink but couldn't?"

"Uh…no. I got him when his eyes were closed." Harry tried to avoid looking at Draco. He had the sudden remembrance of all those scars on his back and chest, and that holster…

"Very well, then. Did you find Ginny?" His eyes were drawn back down to his book.

Harry nodded. "Yes. She's safely in Hogwarts now being tended to by Madam Pomfrey."

"I assume that's why you are here, then."

Harry looked around the room. "I guess."

A few seconds passed in complete silence. Harry could hear his own breathing.

Tom emerged from his lab, then, startling Harry.

"Oh, Harry." Tom seemed surprised.

"Tom." Harry gave a pleasant smile. "Hi. I'm alive."

"I see." Tom's eyes glazed over Harry a moment. "I assume you have successfully carried out your plan, whatever that was."

Harry nodded. "Yep."

"He's trying to escape his ex-wife, who he just rescued," Draco added.

Tom's eyebrows rose. "Do you hate her?"

"What? No." Harry looked between the two Slytherins. They made it seem as if he had divorced her because they couldn't stand to be married anymore. That wasn't it. Was it? "I just…have some very complicated feelings about her right now."

Draco looked up quickly with surprise on his face. "You still lover her?!"

"I-I never said that!" Harry flushed.

"Clearly, you have some sort of reminiscent feelings for her," Draco yawned, "otherwise you'd hate her, or at least have answered with 'no'." Draco's eyes followed as Tom crossed the room and sat in the chair across from him, potion in hand.

"I don't love her." Harry replied softly. "But I don't hate her."

"You still care about her." Draco replied, sounding rather bored and rude. "She's your best friend's sister and your best friend's wife's best friend. You had kids with her. You have history. Of course you still love her. Just not romantically."

Harry was, of course, very confused by the rather rude guidance Draco was giving. How did he even respond?

"Okay." He looked between them uncomfortably. Draco was coming off as a bit of an ass, really. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to say anything else. Instead, he turned to the bookshelves.

There were hundreds of books to read. He could probably find something about Quidditch here somewhere…

As Harry walked down each isle, looking over the books, Tom watched him carefully. He studied the small details in expression that Harry gave off, as Tom had been doing in portrait form for months. Harry was clearly a large mix of emotions, as all of them tried to have control of his face. Tom could read his face much better than he had at first. He had a small wrinkle between his brows that indicated his frustration, and the slightest pink over his cheeks showed a fading embarrassment. His eyes seemed focused so intently on searching titles, but beyond that, they were distracted, and his lips were pressed together into a thin line as if he was thinking.

Tom felt eyes on his own face, and looked over to find Draco staring at him with one eyebrow arched, eyes peeking over the top of his book.

"Why are you staring?" Tom asked him quietly.

"Why are you staring?" Draco's eyes flicked over to Harry and then back to Tom. Tom had seen that same shine in his eyes before. Draco was amused.

"I do not need to explain myself."

The tops of Draco's cheeks rose to his eyes. He was smiling behind that book. "Then I'll just assume."

Tom furrowed his brows. "Assume what?" he hissed.

"That you've developed a fondness for Harry Potter and that's why you are staring." Draco's eyes resumed to scanning the page. "You like how he looks."

Tom narrowed his eyes. "You have never been so incredibly open to sharing your thoughts."

"This is what I've always been like. Just not to you when you were evil. How's it feel to no longer scare someone you used to terrify?" Draco flipped the page nonchalantly.

"Much like expecting to be a wizard yet being a useless muggle instead." Tom scowled and looked away.

Draco did not respond, which only served to make Tom angrier. He used to command rooms with fear alone. People had once not dared speak his name. He was the greatest evil wizard to ever have lived. And now he could not even do a lick of magic. Tom was so angry inside that he wanted to burst, but he was afraid of what emotion he would find underneath all the hatred and frustration. He didn't want to be so human.

Harry was beside him now, settling down in a chair with a very thin book in hand.

"I didn't know you could read, Potter." Draco spoke suddenly. "Or did you pick it for the pictures?"

Harry stopped moving and stared at Draco. "Why are you such a prat? Did I do something wrong?"

In an instant, Tom read over Harry's expression. His eyes were crinkled in the corners ever so slightly, as if he was angry, but at the same time, seemed more open, as if he was taken aback.

"He says he is always like this." Tom gave just a moment to scan over Harry once more before glaring at Draco accordingly. "I suppose it is how he treats those he deems inferior."

Harry shook his head. "No, his knickers are in a twist." He leaned over the table and stared at Draco with a stern expression. "What's wrong, then? I assume you won't let us be until we know."

Draco said nothing, but pulled his book from his face and set it down on the table. He didn't meet either of their eyes.

Tom sat back, letting a thought spread a thin smile over his features. "Begging for attention? You are your father's son."

Draco's crystalline blue eyes narrowed in response.

"Well?" Harry said impatiently.

Draco took a slow, quiet breath, then replied, "I've qualms with you both, but I'd prefer to handle then separately." He turned to look at Harry. "Preferably alone."

Harry looked at Draco questionably. "Alone as in talk-to-me-first alone? Or alone as in I-should-leave alone?"

"Leave." Draco directed his attention to Tom, then.

Harry nodded awkwardly, but grabbed his book and headed out the library door.

"What qualms do you have with me?" Tom's calm façade rested over his being. "I can't think of a single thing-"

"Harry. Do you actually like him?"

Tom took a moment to hold onto his calmness. "Do I what?"

Draco glared. "Like him. I see you staring at him. Studying him. Like he's a specimen."

After a moment, all Tom could manage in reply was, "Like?" He wasn't sure he understood the meaning in any sort of way that Draco seemed to be implying.

Draco scoffed. "I was just making fun of you for it. You like how he looks. You're fond of him. You are attracted to Harry Potter."

Though Tom projected an outward disgust at the idea, a part of him muddled it over. He was human now. And though fondness was something he had once felt for Nagini, he was not sure how it would feel now. But why would he be fond of Harry Potter? This was his worst enemy. This was the defeater of his regime. This man…

…had saved his life.

If Tom wasn't the Dark Lord anymore, was Harry really his enemy? If his regime didn't want him anymore, was it still his regime? And if it was no longer his, then Harry being the defeater of it was not so bad.

"Let me tell you something personal," Draco began. "Harry Potter is not one to fall for. Many have fawned over him, few have dated him. Only one has married him, and they were just divorced." He shook his head. "It doesn't last with Harry Potter. There is one thing that is important to him before anything else, and while most like to think that is saving people, I know it's being a hero. He wants nothing more than to save people and be famous, and he'll like you when he has the free time, but if and when you compromise his heroism, you don't matter to him anymore."

Draco sat back in his chair. The two stared at one another for a few silent moments.

"I most certainly do not have a fondness for Harry Potter," Tom said at last.

"Not yet," Draco answered softly. "It never starts that way. But Merlin damned if it doesn't end up that way. Dark Lord or not."

Tom studied Draco curiously. "How do you know?"

Draco rose from his chair. "Experience."

In a moment, he turned and was gone from the library.

Draco glanced down the plain, empty hallway and saw Harry at the end, sitting in a rather uncomfortable-looking wooden chair. Draco just stood there a moment and watched as he turned the pages quickly, seeming to skim over many things. Was there nothing that was interesting to Harry Potter?

Slowly, Draco made his way down the hallway, and immediately, Harry looked up to see him there.

"I assume we're talking out here, then."

Draco nodded. He let himself be watched by Harry as he made his way into a similarly uncomfortable wooden chair beside him, keeping his eyes on the floor.

When their eyes met, Draco could feel all the thoughts he used to think about him return. He was a truly impressive creature, Harry Potter. How could he captivate everyone he met? Not necessarily in a romantic way, but captivate nonetheless. It wasn't how he looked, necessarily, but how he held himself. He held himself as if he was the Chosen One, with shoulders out and strong, as if braced for anything. His glasses were round and reflective, as if they were revealing all his eyes had seen together, in battle and in life. Why did he do this?

"I see how you look at me now." Draco broke eye contact briefly. "Like my shirt is invisible. Like all those scars are all I am."

Harry swallowed. "I'm sorry."

Draco glared at him fiercely. "Don't apologize. Stop it."

He stood and left just as quickly as he came, leaving Harry alone in a wooden chair in a plain room with a boring, picture-less book on the history of Quidditch; a book he thought he might've enjoyed, but found much emptier than it appeared to be.

I hope that chapter was exciting to read! I know it was exciting to write. Don't forget to favorite and follow if you enjoyed it. I always love comments and PMs too! Don't be afraid to ask me questions or give me feedback.

Until next time, my dear readers.