Finally, it was Harry's 16th birthday, but he decided against celebrating. Sure, all his friends had given him birthday presents. Even his classmates send him owls with congratulations, but they didn't do much more than that. Instead, the whole group decided to go to Diagon Alley to buy their school equipment and new dress robes for the party. They met up with some of their friends, who all had to give Harry their best again and by the end of the day, they were all exhausted and happy as they fell into their beds.

The rest of the two weeks were filled with quidditch, pranks, reading and hiding in the bushes making out. He and Tom had been caught three times, causing a lot of teasing from Ron, Sirius and especially the twins. Tom didn't seem bothered by it at all, in fact, Harry noticed that he looked very smug every time it was brought up again and he started to get the niggling feeling that Tom had them get caught on purpose for this reason. It was annoying and endearing at the same time.

Eventually, the time came for the party, and everyone had dressed up. Hermione had dressed in a dark green gown with silver trim and Ginny wore a pink lace gown. Fred and George wore dark red costumes that were slightly reminiscent to the uniform Viktor Krum had worn to the Yule Ball while Ron wore simple, yet elegant black dress robes. Harry was dressed nearly the same as Ron, not wanting to stand out too much. Tom too wore simple black dress robes, a bit cheaper than the ones the others were wearing, though Harry would have gladly payed for anything, Tom refused to take anything too costly.

Still, it was probably Sirius that would attract the most attention with his very expensive and fashionable robes. He was dressed like a true Lord, a bit like Lucius Malfoy would go, but in lighter colours and not as stiff of a collar.

"Ready to leave?" Sirius asked, handing Tom the Floo powder first.

Harry watched as Tom stepped into the Floo and threw the powder at his feet. Suddenly, Tom lashed out, grabbing Harry by his wrist and pulled him in as well.

"Malfoy Manor!" he called.

The duo stumbled out of the floo at the Malfoy home, Tom laughing joyously and Harry fell on top of him. Harry jumped up quickly and dusted off his robes, glaring at his boyfriend.

"What the hell was that?!" he demanded.

"That was me doing something spontaneous," Tom chuckled.
"I know I don't do it as often as I should, but you have to admit it was fun!"

Harry rolled his eyes and smiled while the others all arrived too.

The party was already going when they walked into the ballroom. Many purebloods, all dressed in impeccable and expensive robes talked and danced together, enjoying wine and aperitifs that were brought to them by House Elves wearing silver lined cloths with the Malfoy insignia on them.

"Hermione! Tom! Harry!" Alphard called out, waving at them.

He had been talking to Megan, Michael and Sandberg while a bit further, Walburga, Cygnus and Orion were socializing with the Lestrange brothers, Dolohov, Mulciber and Nott. Ravina Lestrange hung on Abraxas Malfoy's arm again and was standing near the food table, where the couple was accepting congratulations.

"Oh! It seems Professor Slughorn and Professor Dumbledore are here too!" Hermione said, pointing at the two teachers, who were talking to Lord Malfoy and Lord Black.

"Well of course. Dumbledore and Lord Malfoy were classmates back in the day," Tom said.
"They might have never gotten along, being rivals as far as the rumours go, but the Malfoys are strong followers of the saying 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'."

"Don't tell me our host is a Slytherin version of Dumbledore!" Harry asked desperately.

"Oh no. He's the complete opposite of Dumbledore," Tom replied smirking.

"Should we go say hello?" Hermione wondered.

"I don't think so," Ron muttered.
"Let's just go to our friends instead."

Harry had wanted to go greet his friends too, but Tom pulled him along towards the Malfoy Heir instead.

"Abraxas. I heard you will be married by the end of the summer. Congratulations," Tom said in greeting.

"Thank you, Tom. It means a lot to hear that from you," the older man replied, dipping his head with a small smile.
"I heard of your accomplishments with your OWL's, ten in total I believe? Second only to the Weasley girl who broke the record, yes?"

Harry could see in the wicked glint in the man's eyes that he was goading Tom, and the hard look in his boyfriend showed him that he wasn't completely untouched by it either. Tom smiled thinly.

"Hermione surely is deserving of praise for her scholar accomplishment," Tom agreed softly.
"I am very proud to call her a friend, as I am proud to stand second to her."

Harry squeezed Tom's hand gently in thanks and smiled happily. He knew that it could have gone completely different. Tom was easily jealous, and wanted to be the best. Still, that he took Hermione's 'victory' so well was a good sign that Tom was indeed changing for the best. Abraxas smiled back at them, looking a bit disappointed as he turned towards Harry.

"Mr. Potter. We meet again," he said calmly.
"I heard rumours that Lord Black was interested in joining you and Cedrella Black."

Harry could feel Tom tense next to him.

"He was also interested in joining her with Tom," Harry replied blankly.
"Just because he wants something to happen won't make it happen. I'll choose for myself who I marry."

"That could become a very interesting three-way," Ravina chuckled, grinning at him and Tom.

"It won't come to that," Harry said smirking.
"I have a feeling that Cedrella will herself in a happy marriage without her family's influence."

With that, the two of them turned away and walked back to their friends.

"Who'll she marry then?" Tom asked curiously.

"Septimus Weasley," Harry replied grinning.

Tom chuckled and shook his head amused.

"That's something Abraxas would not like to hear."

Harry laughed softly and shook his head in agreement as they joined the others. Megan was telling the others about her holiday Greece with her family and Tom complimented her on her new tan, to which she proudly replied that it was because she'd spend all of her time on the beach or swimming in either the ocean and her private pool.

"I have an announcement to make!" Michael said cheerfully, pulling Sandberg closer to him and making the girl blush.

The others who had been talking a bit further came to join them as well, curious. Avery and Eileen Prince had only arrived just now and stood with the others while Walburga, Cygnus, Orion, the Lestrange brothers, Mulciber, Dolohov and Nott came up to them as well.

"If it's about how you own another prize in some duelling competition, I'm not interested," Mulciber told Michael.

"Yeah, in France when visiting my grandmother," Michael replied smugly.
"But that wasn't what I was going to say. I meant the fact that it's finally been made official! Ellis and I are engaged."

"Congratulations!" Eileen said happily.

"Thank you," Sandberg mumbled blushing.

"Such a happy occasion should be celebrated!" Nicolas exclaimed loudly.
"And where better than at a party?! Let the Firewhiskey flow in abundance my friends!"

"Nicolas Icarus Lestrange! Are you drunk?!" Walburga asked angrily.

Nicolas blushed and opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the double doors of the ballroom swung open and four people strode in, wearing full black and skull-like masks covering their faces. Harry's eyes widened in shock as he recognized them all anyway.

Voldemort calmly followed after his Death Eaters while more of them still came behind him. There had to be around ten of them in total. Bellatrix Lestrange, who had been one of the four first to enter, was immediately on top of anyone who dared to raise their wands.

"Expeliarmus!" Dumbledore yelled, expertly disarming the insane witch.

Immediately, the Rosiers, a family famous for their skills as duellists, were all in arms as well, but Voldemort quickly strode forward.

"Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green and Dumbledore's body dropped to the floor. Harry's eyes widened in horror as he gripped his own wand tighter. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel the disappointment in Dumbledore's anticlimactic end, but it was pushed down violently under the rage and fear his death awakened in Harry.

"You bastard!" he screamed, turning towards Voldemort.

The man smirked and allowed Harry to try and attack him. Every one of Harry's curses were easily deflected by the much older, much stronger wizard, making Harry only more and more frustrated.

With just a flick of his wand, Voldemort disarmed Harry, and with another, he froze the teen's body on the spot. Harry hissed in anger and tried his best to strain against the invisible bonds, but they didn't give him an inch.

"Harry!" Ron shouted as he tried his best to get through the Death Eaters.

Tom, who had been standing next to Harry, had been pushed back by the commotion and had ended up back in the crowd between his friends. He watched as Michael, Alphard and Megan readied themselves to save Harry, but he stopped them.

"Stay here, don't do anything yet," he ordered them quietly.
"Tell the others to do the same. Only act when I give you the go ahead."

Once he received a reluctant nod from all three, he turned back to Voldemort, who stood gloating next to Harry.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Potter!" the man hissed.

It was now or never, Tom realized. Voldemort would kill Harry if he didn't interfere.

"So you're Lord Voldemort!" he called out bravely.
"I have to admit, I'm quite disappointed in you."

He stepped out of the crowd, giving his older self a cold smirk. There was a very uncomfortable pressure tugging at his mind and chest, as if he had been underwater too long and needed to breathe desperately, but he ignored the feeling and took another step forward. Bellatrix glared hatefully and raised her wand at him, sneering in fury.

"Why you little-"

"Bella!" Voldemort called out sharply, stopping her before she could do anything to Tom.

The snake like man turned his blood red gaze on Tom and narrowed his eyes slightly as he gave him a frigid grin.

"And pray tell, how am I disappointing you, child?" he asked.

Tom gave a cold laugh and approach some more until he was standing right in front of Voldemort. The pressure was almost unbearable, but he ignored it still. He had to if he wanted to save Harry's life.

"How is it that you don't see how counterproductive killing Harry is?" Tom asked him in astonishment.

"Tom! No!" Harry hissed, trembling in his bonds with how hard he was trying to fight them.

"You only say that because you do not know the truth," Voldemort told his younger self.
"The must die for us to live. You will be grateful later on, when you are where I am now."

"And you only say that because you don't know the truth," Tom shot back.

"Shut up Tom, please!" Harry tried again, eyes wide in horror.

Tom glanced at his boyfriend only for a second before refocusing back on Voldemort.

"I don't understand how you can create something so powerful without even realizing it," he said.
"How can you not know what you made Harry into when you tried to kill him the first time? How is it that you never figured it out, even though you've been around him longer than I?"

"What are you talking about?" Voldemort hissed.

Tom smirked instead of answering and cocked his head.

"Maybe Harry was right and your mind has indeed rotted with insanity," he taunted.
"Otherwise you'd have realized it by now. You'd have known just by being near him."

"Speak, boy!" Voldemort bellowed in anger.

"Don't! Please, Tom! Don't!" Harry begged, tears in his eyes as he struggled as hard as he could.

Tom grinned widely, a dark, evil glint in his dark blue eyes.

*He's a Horecrux.* he hissed in Parseltongue.