(A/N: Hey guys I'm back! I know that apologies seem hollow when it has been so long but I promise you that I truly am sorry that my muse escaped me for such a length of time. I hope that you will forgive me and that you enjoy this chapter.)

A Cold Sleep

Part 21

Spring had come. It was not a subtle thing. One day the snow was there and the next it had melted to reveal new sprouts of green in the gardens. Given the location of Tom's room, Harry had become accustomed to the greenery of Severus's plants under their charms and wards. But stepping into the family dining room with its large windows looking out on the grounds, it was almost jarring to see so much green. He had been at the manor for over 3 months by then, it was March, and crunch time for their NEWT exams.

"So how are we going to take our exams if Dumbledore still has control of the school?" Hermione asked softly as breakfast was coming to an end. They had not yet stood up and the House Elves were serving tea and coffee. It was shocking the turn Lucius had taken toward his servants, all wore finely tailored clothing and looked healthy and confident. Harry suspected it was to do with Draco's interest in Hermione, but who really knew; perhaps Lucius had treated Dobby poorly as part of his persona.

"I am attempting to work on that. It stands to reason that you cannot go to the school, but that does not mean missing out," Lucius said and gently patted one of the House Elves on the head as he was presented with the morning paper.

"I'm not following. I thought the school was the only place we could take the tests," Harry spoke up, his head still foggy with sleep as he sipped at his coffee. Tom had helpfully loaded it down with cream and sugar already, truly the man was a doting boyfriend.

"Not so. The Ministry are the proctors for the exams. Now that they know that Harry is alive and in hiding, just as many of the students are, it is being bandied about what should be done to ensure that students are accounted for. Likely, and this is hearsay, but it is the best I have to go on, the Ministry will be sending its proctors to the homes of those who have left the school. The other options are that the students go to the Ministry itself, or they go to a school abroad for their tests," Lucius informed, his attention split between the table and the front page article.

"Why is it so important that my name comes up?" Harry questioned, looking from Tom to Lucius.

"Simply put, it is because you are the Light Lord. It is always a matter of great interest to gauge the aptitudes of the Powers that be. Tom's scores came under scrutiny, as did Dumbledore's. It is a measure by which people will learn to fear or respect you," Lucius explained, laying the paper flat on the table and stabbing the picture of Dumbledore on the front with his fork.

"So if it weren't for me, were they going to let the rest of my class suffer without their placements?" Harry was outraged by this point; certainly he wasn't the most important or even the most skilled member of his age group.

"No, but your presence does lend a sense of urgency to the matter," Tom assured, his interest on reading the title of the article that Lucius had assaulted.

"What's the old bastard done now?" Hermione finally spoke again, it seemed that she had been busy taking notes on their conversation, or at least that was what appeared to be written on her parchment. Wherever she went these days Hermione was taking notes, and Harry deeply suspected that she was writing a wartime biography of him and Tom.

"He has fled the country. This is an interesting turn of events. The article indicates that he and a group of unknown size was seen leaving the grounds of Hogwarts and that their magical signatures seem to track across the way to France or beyond. The Ministry began receiving reports about it early last night. It seems that all students are accounted for within the walls of the school, but that several of the teaching staff have gone missing," Lucius said, his eyes still scanning the article, as if there were more information to be wrung from the words.

"I dislike the sound of that, Europe at large as far too many places for him to hide from us. He is trying to turn this into a protracted war," Tom's voice had gone hard and his eyes seemed to gleam with something like malice.

"So we track him down. His followers are bound to slip up and we use our connections on the continent to ensure that they are unable to operate without fear," Harry said in a flat, matter-of-fact tone of voice that had the entire table staring at him.

"I know what he's doing, and we won't need to track him down," Hermione said, placing her quill to the side and chewing her lip, brows scrunched up in thought.

"Alright, I'll bite, what is he doing?" Harry questioned, looking at one of his oldest friends and knowing deep in his soul that he wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"The Equinox is coming. He's traveling to one of the old Places of Power. He's looking to use the nexus of magic to bolster his own strength. There's only a few of those in Europe that aren't occupied by a school or a Ministry," she said plainly and Harry felt a chill crawl up his spine, had his hair not grown so long, he was certain that it would be standing on end in that moment.

"How do we combat that?" Harry asked, a lump forming in his throat. He remembered how powerful Dumbledore's magic had been the night he had been attacked, and he was acting through a proxy. What awful power could he wield if he was given access to the most ancient magic?

"He is only one man. We are two. You and I will travel to a Place of Power and commune with magic together. Magic will be more likely to flow towards balance. We can take into ourselves what he would try to steal for himself," Tom's voice was shaking and it wasn't from rage.

Harry reached out and took his boyfriend's hand, squeezing it tightly and drawing the man's attention to himself. For a long moment they were silent, eyes locked, hands joined.

"What are you not telling me? What has you afraid?" Harry whispered.

"We'll…" Tom's voice was strangled and he cleared his throat several times. "If we do this, if we join our powers in such a way, there is no going back on it," he managed to say and Hermione gasped softly, realizing what that meant, leaving Harry in the dark.

"Tom, what are you saying?" Harry questioned and Tom's jaw clenched tightly.

"We'll be as one. Damn the man, this is not how I wanted things to go," Tom spoke shakily and Harry frowned softly.

"So, what, like…wait, are you saying we've got to get married to fight him?" Harry asked as the pieces slid into place and something like fear dawned in his mind.

Tom nodded softly, still wordless. He made a gesture with his hand that Harry only just recognized as wordless and wandless magic. Shortly a box appeared and landed in Tom's outstretched hand, never had a cube of black velvet looked so important.

"Harry, I wanted to save this. I wanted the war to be over, for it to be a grander gesture," Tom opened the box to reveal a black band set with emeralds and rubies. "Harry Potter, will you do me the very great honor of becoming my husband?" Tom asked at last, sliding out of his chair to kneel beside Harry.

Harry didn't speak. He couldn't open his mouth. It was as if someone had placed a sticking charm on his tongue. But some part of him knew that in this moment words were petty things. So instead he reached out with his mind, gently letting his thoughts meld with Tom's. They were chaotic, his mind magic was not yet very skilled, but he focused himself as much as he could on one thing: joy.

To the rest of the table it looked like a staring contest, none of them could hear or truly understand what was going on between the two men. But after several long minutes of silence Tom and Harry lurched forward, wrapping their arms around one another.

(A/N: Hey guys thanks for reading. I know this was a pretty dialogue driven chapter so thanks for bearing with me on that one. I hope you liked it and will leave me a review!)