(A/N: This story is progressing quite nicely in my opinion and I am glad that other people seem to think the same. I just hope that the momentum that I have gathered manages to keep up and I can make more progress before too much longer. Anyway, on with the show!)

The North Wind Blows

Part 26

"You wanted to speak with us my Lord?" Lucius questioned as he and Severus stepped into Tom's office. Whatever it was had been important enough that their lessons with the boys had been cut short for the day. Harry, Draco, and Dudley were with Narcissa in the gardens, the four of them were collecting herbs to help Narcissa brew potions for some of her practical exams as a Healer. Though Severus and Lucius were both certain that it was going to lead to the boys running amok, and Narcissa laughing helplessly whilst attempting to study.

Tom seemed to visibly flinch, his brow drawing down as if in anger. It was a small tic, something that Severus and Lucius had gotten used to over the years. They would have been fools to think that it didn't bother the other man to hear them address him so formally, but they could not help what they were bound by magic to do.

"Yes. Sit, both of you," Tom said softly and both men obeyed quickly. They were silent as Tom stood and came around the large desk that occupied his office. He leaned back against the desk as he stood before them; the expression he wore was one somewhere between frustration and sorrow.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked, tempted to reach out to his lover but not quite being able to bring himself to defy the command that bade them to sit.

"Yes. Something is very wrong. It has been for some time," Tom admitted and stepped forward, before kneeling before the chairs that his partners occupied. With shaking hands he reached out and gripped Severus and Lucius by the knee, they didn't know what was going on and he found that he needed their support to even begin to say what he needed to say.

"You can tell us anything, you know that," Lucius assured, gaining the confidence to place his hand atop Tom's. He didn't know what it was that he was offering comfort for, just that he had an all consuming need to make sure that the other man knew that it was there.

"I know," Tom sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again the blue had faded to the glow of red as old magic coursed through him, giving him the strength to do what he needed to do. "Both of you have been my servants for too long. You are my bond mates. Old magic flows through you just as it flows through Harry and me. I cannot stand to hear you lower yourselves before me when you are my equals," Tom said and was pleased that his voice did not tremble in that moment.

"But we agreed to this. That is just how things are. Is it not?" Lucius whispered and looked to Severus in that moment.

"No it isn't. Not anymore at any rate. It has taken several months of work, and I must admit that Harry showed me much of what must be done, but I am finally able to free you from servitude," Tom said firmly, his eyes glowing brighter. Lucius and Severus shared another look before pulling up their sleeves and revealing the Dark Marks printed into their flesh. They were the only thing that Tom could be talking about in that moment, and yet they remained unchanged.

"I don't understand," Severus admitted, swiping his thumb along the Mark and looking up to meet Tom's eyes.

"You will," Tom breathed and lifted his hands, one covering Severus's Mark the other covering Lucius's Mark. He breathed out and gripped each man's arm as tightly as he dared. He focused intently on the magic that he had left behind in them and poured every inch of power that he possessed into doing what he had discussed with Harry so long ago.

If the pain of the experience fazed either man, they did not show it on their faces. Instead they sat in stoic silence as Tom's grip grew ever tighter and his magic drove into their skin. Receiving the Mark had been incredibly painful and this experience eclipsed that.

But almost as soon as it started the pain faded and Tom pulled away. Both looked down at their arms to see that the Dark Mark remained, only somehow darker and more vivid than it had been before.

"Say my name," Tom said softly, pleading with them.

"Tom," Lucius and Severus spoke as one before looking at each other in shock.

"It worked," Tom whispered, relief coursing through him as his eyes returned to their natural blue. He sat back on his heels and stared between his partners, watching as several emotions played across their faces. They seemed to arrive at the same conclusion at the same time as they slid from their chairs and wrapped their arms around him, each planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you," the whispered softly and held him close. It hadn't bothered them to be restricted to calling him such things, not really, but somehow being able to call him by his proper name meant the world to them.

"You're my equals now. As you always should have been, as you will always be. Now you can call Death Eaters to yourselves and command them as I have all these years. You are no longer servants but Lords in your own rights," Tom explained gently, his hands cradling their faces before pulling each in for a kiss in turn.

"You said that Harry helped you with this?" Severus questioned softly and Tom nodded.

"Yes, I could see how to remove the Mark, but it was Harry who showed me that I could improve it. He showed me that I could give you the power that you deserve," Tom elaborated and sighed in contentment as both men wrapped him in a crushing hug, their chins resting on either shoulder as they held him.

"We owe much to our Harry," Lucius breathed with a smile on his lips that could not be quelled.

"That we do. We owe him far more than what we have given him," Severus said softly, not at all embarrassed to realize that he had shed a few tears of joy.

(A/N: Sorry for making that so short, but I plan on updating again soon so that you don't have to wait too long to find out what comes next for our boys. I hope that you enjoyed my work and will leave me a comment or a review to let me know what you thought.)