Chapter 50!

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Chapter 50

A few minutes later, and he was walking back downstairs only to find an empty room.

Frowning, Harry turned to face the door that he knew led to Tom's private chambers.

He bit his lip, contemplating.

Should I knock? Should I just walk in? Should I even just wait outside here?

He shook his head.

This was Tom, for Merlin's sake! He wasn't going to throw a hissy fit if Harry saw what his own quarters looked like!

And so, taking a deep breath, he walked over the door and reached up a hand to knock twice, before turning the handle and stepping in.


Tom was there in his office.

Standing with his back to him.

Both hands on the hem of his shirt.


Harry watched, slack jawed, as his Head of House slowly pulled off his dripping wet jumper, his back muscles rippling under smooth flawless skin, strong shoulder's lifting, lean arms fluidly stretching high above his head as the shirt was removed, spine bending, vertebrate flowing, tanned skin glistening-

Harry swallowed thickly, skin flushing almost painfully as the man carelessly tossed the jumper to the side and picked up a clean shirt.

Shrugging it on over strong shoulders, he began buttoning it up as he turned, and suddenly the younger wizard was caught like a deer in headlights.


Tom blinked, surprised to see the boy standing there, but happy none-the-less.

He gave a warm smile, "Harry. You feeling a bit warmer?"

He couldn't help but let his gaze drift lower, lower, lower, until suddenly he was staring at a defined chest slowly, unfortunately, being covered up by a dark button-up shirt, but even then he couldn't complain and honestly it shouldn't be this easy to lose all semblance of thought just because oh good merlin that shirt looks good on him, the way the black compliments his hair and stands out starkly from his skin, the way it hugs his lean, taut, stomach, the way long nimble fingers slowly, seductively, do up the blood red buttons that are the same shade as his eyes and-

He swallowed once more, turning away quickly, not trusting himself to stare any longer and now fully aware of how red his face must be right now and since they were no longer outside he couldn't blame it on the cold and-

"Harry?" Tom asked, frowning at the boy's silence, "You alright?"

The younger wizard gave a jerky nod, awkwardly clearing his throat, "Ah... Yea, yea, I'm... I'm fine, I just... I'll just... I'm going to just wait outside and- and- and you know, just... hang around... and... and..."

The Slytherin Professor gave a small yet genuine, and amused, smile, "There's no need. I'm just about finished here so..."

He finally closed the top button on his shirt and glanced around the room, as if to see if he'd forgotten anything.

"Nope. All done" Tom finally replied, turning back to face the boy, "Hot cocoa and blankets in front of the fire?"

Harry couldn't help but smile back, "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd saw you just read my mind".

He grinned, "Well, you know me, Harry. I do enjoy a little occlumency".


"This is nice" Tom said abruptly, about an hour later.

Since leaving Tom's office, they had sat up on the couch, at the beginning, separately, but eventually, after one mug of hot cocoa for Tom and two for Harry, they had somehow ended up tangled together across the couches in the Slytherin common room.

It had been Tom who'd initiated the contact, of course, it always was, but day after day Harry found it easier and easier to relax into his warm embrace, to feel cosy and comfortable and warm and safe.

"It is" Harry finally replied, snuggling further into Tom's embrace, the older wizard's arm's automatically tightening around him in response.

"You do know we'll have to get up eventually, yes?"

He sighed, "I know, but I just... Can we just stay here a while longer?"

Tom smiled, "Of course we can. We can stay here as long as you like".

His hand drifted to the boy's hair, and began gently carding through it, smiling once more when Harry let out a content sigh and his eyes closed, leaning further into the touch.


It didn't hit Tom until then how starved for touch the Boy-Who-Lived truly was, and as his mind began to wonder about his little serpent's past, he couldn't help but frown at the pure lack of knowledge he had on the topic.


"... Hey Harry?"

He hummed in response.

"Would you... Will you... Will you me about your life?" He asked cautiously, "Before all this? Before Hogwarts and Draco and Blaise and all that?"

Harry immediately tensed in his arms, eyes flying open as his entire body stiffened, and Tom mentally berated himself for ruining the warm moment.

The boy swallowed thickly, "... What part do you want to know about?"

"All of it" Tom replied honestly, "But I won't push you for answers if you don't want to give them. I don't want you to feel pressured into this... Into telling me anything... Just... Tell me at your own pace. I'll wait, I promise".

And slowly, ever so slowly, he began to relax into his arms once more.

"Well... You know I grew up with my- with them" He started, "They... They were abusive. Hit me, kicked me, stabbed me... You know, the usual".

Tom watched his Slytherin's face carefully.

"When I started to show signs of accidently magic, everything only got worse... So when I turned 10, I got sick of it all and ran away" He continued, "I lived on the streets for a while, before finding my way into Diagon Alley by pure chance... I moved around a lot, did odd jobs here and there to earn enough money to buy books... I learned everything I could".

"What about that Blackburn guy? Where does he come into this?" Tom asked gently, continuing to card his fingers through the dark silky locks.

"I met Sam when I was 12" Harry replied, "I had stumbled down Knockturn Alley, saw a man getting beat up by two others, and intervened... Turns out that man was one of the newest members to Sam's Coven... And they are very protective over their young fledging's".

"And that... that woman... Charlotte, was it? How do you know her so well?"

Harry smirked, "Simple. She's Sam's big sister".

Tom turned to him, shocked, "What?!"

"Yup" He replied, "Sam's her baby brother. And after saving him from a couple of Auror's a few years back, she said if I ever needed anything, that I could always ask her".

He gave a low whistle, "Earning the respect of vampires... Not many a mortal man could do that, you know".

"I guess I'm just special then" He grinned, cheekily, and Tom laughed, "That you are... Can I ask you one last question?"

"Go ahead".

Tom paused, "... How did they find you?"