Okay going to try to jump right into this and then right over to Past. Need to get back on schedule!

Warnings: It's shonen ai, slash, yaoi, gay, etc. etc.

Notes: (X) is pov change and or time jump.

Chapter, 38: Coming of Age

The party livened up as more Order members joined them soon followed by their friends. When Hermione entered the room, Tom got up, pulled her to the side, and started talking to her in hushed whispers. Harry was able to understand that Tom thought the adults were planning something, but he didn't know what or trust them. He shielded the bond just enough to keep the thoughts out, but the overall emotional tone present. If Tom was going to attack someone, it was better to know ahead of time, but Harry had enough paranoia in general and didn't need Tom to make it worse.

What kind of a relationship am I in? He shook his head and went to locate his friends. Ron and Draco were by the dessert table, Ron piling a bunch of treats onto his plate. Even if they were expensive and easier to eat, he couldn't bring himself to devour plates full. Just looking at the birthday cake made him question his fiancé's sanity. Draco seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he kept looking at Ron, then his plate, and shaking his head.

A blast of raw emotions, most of it anger, surged through the bond. It was nothing short of outrage and violence, and yet what had provoked such a reaction was hidden beneath everything else. Harry staggered towards the couch, his eyes partially closed, his brain throbbing. Something had gone wrong. Tom was almost bloodthirsty. Sure he'd been on edge when the party had first started, but he'd calmed down a bit when Hermione had entered the room. So why…?

CRASH!

"ADERES!"

Harry jumped, his jaw clenching, and he almost went over the armrest of the couch into the cushions. He needed to shake this off. Tom was doing something, for whatever reason. Dumbledore was not happy with him. Perhaps the headmaster could deal with it right now while he tried his best to see straight again?

"I don't remember asking for anything muggle related at my party," Tom snapped. Harry guessed Tom was behind him and to his right. Not that that helped anything. Just locating Tom couldn't get the dizziness or pain from the bond to stop.

He moved around the couch using the armrest for balance and sat down. Once he got the bond shut, he could deal with Tom. But, did he really want to? Once the two of them actually got married, Harry would have to deal with all of Tom's outbursts by himself. Shouldn't Dumbledore have the pleasure of a few more tantrums before he took over for good?

Something flew passed Harry's head and smashed into the bricks of the fireplace. It made a horrible smashing sound and then fell into the fire itself.

Harry slowly looked down at the missile and sighed. So much for Dumbledore handling the situation. And, where was Hermione? She'd been talking to Tom the last time he'd looked. She was probably the best one to defuse him too.

Another loud smash.

"They're all broken! Nothing muggles make ever work!"

Harry winced as a second incoming object flew passed his shoulder, this one landing directly into the fireplace. He was never going to get any peace, ever. It seemed fate had decided in exchange for having Tom back and then their relationship repaired, that Harry had traded every last bit of peace he was ever going to have.

He stood up eyeing the two objects, both of them melting fast now with the flames eating away at them. It began to give off a sickly sweet smell and Harry shuddered moving away from it.

'I killed her,' Tom said through the bond, his anger somehow pushed to the side. 'Remember?'

'The centaurs killed her,' Harry hissed back through the bond. 'What is wrong with you?!' Having distracted his boyfriend mentally, his sanity was able to resurface. He located Tom and stalked towards him, eyes narrowed. Only Tom would do something like this. How had he gotten so lucky?

Tom was standing beside another table that was at the living room entrance. On it was a large number of tubs, each one labeled with a different flavor of ice cream. A large chunk from the table laid on the floor beside it. Harry raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"It wouldn't open," he said defensively. "It says to hit it and I did, but it didn't open!" He picked the tub up and pointed to the words printed out on the ice cream tub as if that made everything he'd just done perfectly all right.

"Give it to me," Harry growled grabbing the ice cream. He took a spoon, hit the edges of the tub with it and set it back down on the table. The lid popped off with ease. Tom stared at Harry liked he'd performed some dark ritual and the ice cream was the end result. Sighing Harry handed him the tub. "Muggle things, ask me or Hermione next time."

"Hermione tried," Tom offered taking the tub. He picked up a spoon and shoved it into the ice cream. "It's Chocolate chip cookie dough, want some?"

"Of course it is," Harry said shaking his head. Everything in the room was basically one form of chocolate or another, wasn't it? Would there be a chocolate fountain later? A small child's swimming pool full of chocolate pudding? Hell, why not just take Tom to a chocolate factory and leave him there? At least the house would remain standing. "Where is Hermione?"

"Ran when I broke the table." He shrugged pulling his wand out. He tapped the broken edges of the table, the piece of wood on the floor zooming back into place and repairing itself.

She is so useless sometimes, Harry thought closing his eyes.

'Now, now. She doesn't have the courage you do Harry,' Tom taunted.

'No, she never lost her sanity like I did,' Harry corrected him. 'What happened to Dumbledore, wasn't he just yelling at you?'

'He saw the time and ran off muttering something about candles.' He leaned against the wall with his ice cream tub. 'You really should try this, it's delicious.'

'And risk you throwing me into the fireplace?'

'Never,' Tom said feigning innocence. 'You know I don't mind sharing things with you.'

Maybe, but did he really want to risk getting into a fight with Tom and his sweets? Tom's arm slid around his waist. He looked at him to ask what when Tom popped the spoon of ice cream in his mouth. He glared at his fiancé, but he'd been completely right. The ice cream was amazing, not overly sweet, milky, creamy, and bits of chocolate chips in it.

Satisfaction came across the bond at Harry's response and Tom released him.

"I don't know how you put up with him," Draco said coming over to Harry.

"Practice," Harry said without missing a beat. They both grinned, Tom glaring at them in return.

"I need to steal him."

"Go for it." It would be nice to be able to talk to some of the other Order members without having to keep an eye on Tom. He would be Draco's problem.

"I meant you."

"Me?" Why did Draco need Harry? "For what?"

"Remus wants help getting a few more things from the kitchen."

Harry noticed a large amount of tension from the bond beginning to fade. He looked at Tom, he was pale and looked like he was ready to grab Harry at any second. He'd forgotten how on edge Tom had been thanks to his ice cream outburst.

And he probably had an outburst, because his nerves are shot, and he thought ice cream would help.

"Just come with," He said following Draco into the hall.

Tom looked down at the ice cream, back at Harry. He seemed truly torn. Harry was so glad he was ranked amongst the ice cream now in Tom's eyes. Before he wouldn't have thought he even stood a chance against a cookie.

"…I shouldn't…"

"We'll spend enough time apart at school. It's your birthday. You spent half your morning with Dumbledore already."

Tom didn't need much convincing. He dropped the ice cream onto the table and took Harry's hand into his own. The three of them walked down the hall and into the kitchen. The table was full of real food, roasted chicken, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, and more delicious feast items. Harry was going to miss this once they returned to Hogwarts.

"Great, I need you two to help me…" his voice trailed off as he turned and saw Tom standing next to Harry. "You shouldn't be helping. Today's your birthday."

"Harry came," he said as if that was the only explanation needed.

"Well if you don't mind." He smiled at them and motioned to the table. "Just levitating charms. We need to get this into the living room."

"Where are we going to put it," Harry asked. There were already two large tables full of puddings in the living room. He didn't think the real food would fit anywhere.

"Sirius is setting up another table by the front window. Take them there."

They took out their wands, each of them levitating a few platters of food. Between the four of them, they were able to get all the food into the living room with ease. As soon as the food was placed on the tables, the Order members flocked around it. Harry was glad he was not the only one sick of looking at desserts.

Tom gave the food a look that said it was beneath him and went back to the table with the ice cream. Shaking his head Harry took some of the chicken and potatoes. While Hogwarts held plenty of feasts with roasted chickens included, Remus' and Sirius' cooking had become a favorite of his. He took in the living room, a frown tugging at his face. He was really going to miss number twelve once they went back to school. More so…He looked to Sirius and Lupin. Sirius was saying something to Remus that was making him blush horribly. He was going to miss his family. He'd finally built bonds with people that he actually cared about. Dumbledore would still be there, but it wasn't quite the same.

He made his way across the room towards the two people he now considered his parents.

"I get to come back in the summer, right?"

The couple stopped and stared at Harry, their smiles slipping.

"Why wouldn't you," Sirius asked his eyes narrowing just enough to notice. "Did someone say something?"

"No…I just…kind of realized how much I'm going to miss being here once the school term starts again."

"We could home school him," Sirius said and Remus' hit the Animagus on the back of the head.

"Don't even think it. We'd have no time, Harry's safe at Hogwarts with Dumbledore there, and his education—"

"If you taught him…" Sirius suggested.

"No," Remus said glaring at his lover. "I will not take Harry's time at Hogwarts from him."

"I want to go back," Harry said before the two got into a real fight. "I'm just going to miss here."

"The term will be over before you know it. You'll spend a few weeks at the Dursleys, have your birthday, and then you'll be back here," Remus said smiling.

"And you'll have Aderes with you this time," Sirius offered. "Once we have you back, you'll have your own coming of age party. Maybe we'll actually be able to enjoy it."

That was true. While Harry didn't mind sharing another summer with Draco, it hadn't exactly been the best time of their lives. They were much closer now, but it was hard having to work around things. The room was too small for the two of them to avoid touching each other, especially when they went to bed. They'd had to share meals together, avoid Uncle Vernon. They had basically been sharing a prison cell together. Things would be very different with Tom. He wouldn't tolerate Uncle Vernon any more than Sirius did.

"Sure, if my fiancé doesn't destroy the house first."

Sirius frowned at that.

"Tell him to wait until your birthday. We need you to be able to call that place home until you're of age."

"But it's not, this is," Harry argued. "That place was never my home."

"No," Sirius agreed his face hardening. "Those people never once thought of you as family." He set his plate of food down and grabbed Harry's shoulders. "But we'll write you every chance we get and the second we can come get you, we will. Maybe we'll even come early and spend some time catching up with your roommates before you can leave."

"Sirius, you can't attack muggles," Remus said tiredly. "Don't get him fired up Harry." He gave the Gryffindor a small smile. "We know you hate it there, but it's just one more summer to tolerate. After that you'll never have to go back there again."

"Yeah…that's true." Once he was of age, he'd never have to look at his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia again. Besides, hadn't he enjoyed himself when Tom was around as a shadow? Now he'd have him as a full blown person.

"Splendid, everyone is now here." The three looked towards the doorway, along with all the other Order members present. Dumbledore was standing there, a large smile on his face. Harry hadn't seen him this happy in quite some time. "First, I would like to thank everyone who attended, even if you're here to celebrate the New Year rather than Aderes' coming of age. We are glad to have you present." Harry heard Tom groan and could feel the embarrassment drowning him. "There were many times I worried that Aderes would never make it this far. Too often, he's been the cause of…difficult situations. More than once I feared I would have to send him to Azkaban."

A few people laughed at this, Tom's embarrassment growing. Harry would have laughed too, if Dumbledore had been joking. Maybe he thought it was amusing, because it was true, but if Tom had actually ended up in Azkaban…

"Our society takes great pride in seeing our children become of age. It's a special time, a proud time. Something I feared would never be possible when we thought him dead just this past summer…."

'He's trying to get me to kill myself,' Tom whined.

'He's saying all of this, because he loves you,' Harry reminded him.

'More like he loves his speeches.'

It was easy to tell that Tom was actually enjoying this speech, he just wished it had been kept between Dumbledore and him instead of mentioning it to every Order member present.

Dumbledore had given a pause. It was easy to tell he was fighting his own emotions.

"When he came back…I was terrified he would not make it. I told myself at least he would pass among those who cared most for him."

Harry looked away, his stomach knotting up. Did the headmaster really just say that? Of course, Harry was the reason Aderes had been kidnapped, but he'd thought they'd gotten all of that worked out. Dumbledore had told him he didn't blame Harry, but this…

He started fidgeting with his plate before setting it down on the table.

'Harry?' Tom seemed to have picked up on his uneasiness. He didn't want to alarm him. It didn't really change anything, it just hurt.

"But he pulled through. Fwakes tears were able to heal him physically and our own Asclepius was able to heal his mind. Now on this very night stands before me, my son, whom I couldn't be prouder of. He may have done some questionable things, but I wouldn't change anything about him." He was smiling from ear to ear now, his chest proud, his eyes now on Aderes. "Aderes, now that you are officially of age I would like you to have this." He handed Tom a small box, which he took muttering a thank you, his eyes on Harry. "And I would also like to announce the newest member of the Order!"

The room filled with screams and clapping, people cheering.

Harry managed to see a look of utter panic on Tom's face before he vanished behind the crowd of Order members. Even Sirius and Remus didn't seem to have caught on to Dumbledore's words. He closed the bond just enough for Tom to know he was there, but not actually read him and moved through the crowd. Thankfully, it was easy enough with everyone wanting to congratulate Tom. He slipped out of the living room unnoticed.

He sat down on the steps and closed his eyes. It didn't matter what Dumbledore thought, he did care about Tom, a lot. More than anything. Even if Tom had carried through with some of his twisted plans, Harry wouldn't have sent him to Azkaban like Dumbledore would have. He knew very well that Tom would be murdered or worse in Azkaban with all of Voldemort's followers in there. How did that mean he loved Tom more than he did?

The cheers rose again and Harry could see glasses being held up from the doorway. What had he expected? Of course, Tom would be joining the Order as soon as he was of age, but most of the Order members were terrified of him!

'Harry, what's wrong?'

The Gryffindor blinked, surprised that Tom had pushed the bond back open, but knew he shouldn't be. Tom tended to have full control of the bond.

'Nothing,' he lied mentally cursing as he did so. Tom's anger burned through.

'You can't lie to me, not right now.'

'Just enjoy your party. I need a break.'

'I'm not enjoying myself,' he said.

'I know. It's not about that.'

Harry grabbed one of the stair railings to stand up when he felt Tom invade his every thought. He took Harry's mind hostage, scanned over everything, from the memories to his reasoning, and then stopped, shock forming. The invasion stopped, shock turning to anger once more.

'I didn't realize…Harry I'm not even sure if that's what he meant.'

'It doesn't matter if he did or not. It still bugged me, so I'm taking a breather.'

The cheers started dying down. Harry could see some of the members parting, Tom walking to the doorway.

'Harry, I wouldn't be here without you. I can't do this without you.'

'You can do anything,'

'Not this.' Harry shook his head getting up. His fiancé was full of shite as far as he was concerned. Even so, it made him feel better. The second Harry was close enough; Tom's arm went around his waist and pulled him close. 'Thank you.'

'For what?'

'For not running.'

Harry felt his face burn and Tom led them back amongst the Order members. Tom felt if they went in far enough, Harry wouldn't be able to get away. Harry doubted that. He was very good at getting away.

'So what's in the box?'

'A watch.'

'….why a watch?'

'I forget sometimes you weren't raised as a wizard,' Tom chuckled. His grip tightened around Harry, the Gryffindor's body held against Tom's own. He gave everyone that came near him a fake smile and thanked them. 'When wizards come of age, they get a pocket watch.'

'Why?' Harry had not only never heard of this tradition, it just seemed completely weird, even for the wizarding community. Sure pocket watches, or rather watches in general, were handy, but for that to be the traditional gift of a wizard coming of age?

'Tradition.' He sensed Harry's confusion and snickered. 'Not all traditions have to make sense. It's just something practical most people need and will keep for a very long time. So families go out of their way to find one that the person coming of age will like and keep.'

Harry noticed Draco moving for the doorway. For once Ron wasn't following him. He hoped the two weren't fighting again. He spotted the red head in the far corner of the room talking with his brothers. Ron did not look like he was angry or shouting at them.

'Hey, Draco just left.' He tried, but Tom had stopped to speak with Hermione and his side of the bond had gone limp. He rolled his eyes at his fiancé's response to their friend. She was speaking happily about the watch that he hadn't even opened yet. "Tom, I'm going to go find Draco."

Tom turned to him at that. He stared at Harry, his mind suddenly a jumbled up mess.

"Because I'm talking to Hermione," he questioned making an odd face.

"No, because he just bolted from the room alone and when any of us bolt, there's usually a problem."

He glanced at Hermione who shrugged.

"He could just be using the bathroom. He was fine when I was talking to him a moment ago."

"Look, I spent a whole summer trapped in a single bedroom with him. Something's wrong." The two stared at him again. Harry didn't understand why this was such a problem. Draco was their friend. If something was wrong, it was their duty to go help him. "The two of you don't have to come."

Tom's eyes narrowed and Harry sighed.

"If you're Draco's best friend then go talk to him!"

Tom seemed to consider that, his eyes shifting from slits to thoughtful.

"You're right." He gave Harry a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll return with my friend. Hermione, make sure he stays here." He motioned to Harry with his head, even though there was no need for it. Who else would the heir be talking about?

The female Gryffindor nodded and Harry felt very betrayed. Hermione was even more of a Tom follower now than she had been a week ago.

(X)

Tom stepped out of the living room his eyes adjusting to the somewhat darker hall. He didn't mind going to find Draco, nor finding out why his friend had suddenly bolted from the room. It seemed spending that cursed summer with Harry had taught his friend some horrible traits, such as running whenever he felt the need. They should have just left Harry alone and made Draco stay at the Weasley's. If he'd just stayed put he could have held Harry and dealt with his fellow Slytherin, but no. Now he had no choice, because either he was going to talk to Draco or Harry was and he didn't quite like the idea of Harry and Draco alone. He knew Harry wouldn't cheat on him, but even so…

Draco must have gone upstairs. Sighing he went to the second floor. He just wanted to relax and eat as many puddings as possible without throwing up. That's all he'd wanted for his birthday. Everything else going on was foolish and unnecessary. The entire show was more for Dumbledore than himself. It was sickening in a way.

He stopped at Draco's room and knocked. Draco didn't answer so he just walked in. The Slytherin was sitting in a chair holding a letter. Now he was interested. He shut the door moving towards his friend.

"Harry saw you leave." Draco jumped, Tom's curiosity rising. His friend was hiding something. Or, at least unnerved by something. "Who's the letter from Draco?" He stopped in front of the teen looking down at the letter clutched in his hand. Draco's face was paler than usual he noted and he was obviously fighting some sort of emotional reaction. He gave Draco a minute to answer, but all he did was keep shaking his head. "Fine." He grabbed the letter from Draco's hand, the Slytherin protesting. One dark glare silenced him. "If you won't tell me this is the only way I'll find out."

He looked at the front, no return address, just Draco's name. He removed the letter from the envelope and read it, frowning as he did. It wasn't a very long letter, but it was enough. The letter was scrawled in large bulky, and very unrefined writing.

"We've decided you'll go before Potter. Enjoy the rest of the school term while you're still alive."

There was nothing else. It wasn't signed and Tom did not recognize the handwriting at all. It was not Lucius', nor Voldemort's, but then either fool could have had someone else write the letter for them.

"Where did you get this," he asked reading the letter again looking for any clue for the actual author. He found none, but someone would be stupid enough to admit it so he could kill them. Most of the death eaters weren't bright enough to not brag and their tasks to him.

"I wasn't supposed to see it. It was at Snape's house. The Order wasn't going to show me, but he wanted to make sure I was cautious."

"The Order and their secrets," Tom hissed. Draco actually flinched at the use of the snake language. Tom ignored him and sat down on the bed. This letter proved that both Draco and Harry were going to be targets the second they left number twelve. Not that Tom had doubted Harry as a target. Who would waste their time killing Asclepius and using his blood to write a threat to Harry if they didn't actually mean it? Not even Voldemort's stupidest death eater would do that. This did make things somewhat more complicated though. He'd been willingly leaving Harry alone with Draco at the school, because he trusted that together, the two of them could handle most situations. Draco was no fool and Harry was proving to be a great duelist since he started training with that…thing. If they were both targets however….

"What would have happened if I didn't know," Draco asked, his voice only shaking slightly. "I'm always on guard. I have to be, but to not tell me…"

"At least Snape had enough sense to pass it along," Tom said. He hadn't even come to a solution about keeping Harry safe at Hogwarts and now he needed to include Draco. Funny, no one seemed to find Ron worth threatening. The death eater who'd killed Asclepius must have been smart and strong, the mind healer wouldn't have been killed otherwise. Ron was probably just as much a target as Draco, most likely to be used as bait. He sighed again. This wasn't going to end well. They weren't going to have a choice, but to kill whoever was behind all of this, Voldemort included. "We aren't going to be able to separate at school."

Draco looked up from his hands at him.

"What?"

"We're going to have to stay together, all five of us, unless we're in the common room or Dumbledore's office. Places that have tightened security."

"What about the Room of Requirements?"

"I don't know—"

"Potter will be pissed if you make him cancel D.A."

"He'll be more pissed if he's dead," Tom said, but he wasn't sure if that was true or not. Harry had been trying very hard to show his independence lately. He'd grudgingly accepted such a thing, at least until they'd found the threat in blood. "I can't just let the two of you walk into a trap."

"Hogwarts is safe," Draco said. He didn't seem entirely convinced of his own words.

"Right, because Asclepius decided to commit suicide and use his final moments to write a threatening message to Harry. Oh and to transfigure a rat so it could eat his insides for dramatics." Draco made a noise at that and looked back down at his hands. This was ridiculous. Why couldn't he have been strong enough to kill Voldemort when he'd been held captive? His cursed brother had known exactly how to keep his strength low, he'd never been allowed to recover enough to be able to fight back, not enough to do any real damage anyway, because he'd definitely tried.

Maybe as an Order member, Dumbledore would explain to him how they were going to increase the security at the school? Perhaps he would actually listen to his ideas and implement some of them? If he got enough Order members to back him, the headmaster wouldn't have much of a choice. As things stood, Harry and Draco should both remain at number twelve until Voldemort was dead. Perhaps Hermione as well, just in case. They could have Ron.

"What are you going to tell him?"

"I'm sure he knows already from the bond," Tom said leaning back.

"Convenient."

"Sometimes," Tom admitted. The bond was quite useful for most things, but it did have its drawbacks at times. Harry was learning to use it and he was sure his fiancé would master it soon enough. That could lead to some very dangerous results. There were things Harry didn't need to remember. "We're going to need to head back. They'll notice I'm missing soon enough and Harry isn't going to stay put unless you come back with me."

Draco sighed now.

"Right."

"They're not getting you," Tom said. "I have no qualms with killing death eaters and as an Order member Dumbledore won't threaten me with Azkaban if I do."

Draco nodded. He didn't seem confident in Tom's words, which was a shame, but somewhat understandable. That was all right. He would prove to Draco and Harry that Voldemort couldn't touch them while he was around. There was going to be a mass slaughter of death eaters soon. All he had to do was track them down and end them. No one would be able to catch him now that he was considered of age.

He snickered as they started back to the party.

"How is his funny," Draco demanded.

"Draco, I'm going to have so much fun killing every death eater I meet now. What could be more fun?"

Draco stared at him and he walked passed him. Yes, his chains had finally been removed and he was determined to repay Voldemort for all the hell he'd endured over the summer and perhaps a bit more in interest.

(TBC)

And done! I don't know what's going on at this point. Tom and Draco stole the spotlight from what it was originally going to be. This was rewritten a few times…I need to go over my notes for the second half of the school year now to at least get a rough idea, before Tom becomes an evil overlord. Harry will probably stop him anyway.

Enjoy.