Disclaimer: To quote Roger from Rent: zoom in on my empty wallet.
A/N: I'm still trying, really I am. Four months is way better than nine months, you have to admit. I still don't know where I'm going here, but I'll figure it out eventually. Thanks very much for all the reviews.
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Due to various forces beyond his control, Harry didn't get much sleep that night. After he woke up from the nightmares, he found that he was unable to fall back to sleep, the fear of nightmares, childish but all too present, kept him awake. He attempted sleep for an hour or so, and then he gave up and, getting out of bed, began going through the bookcase against one wall.
The titles were fairly normal, some textbooks, a few novels that Harry had seen in the Hogwarts library, in fact, the whole thing was almost distressingly boring.
Until Harry reached the end of the top shelf.
Chaos Through A Sieve: A Theory on Time And SpaceThat looks interesting.
It was, actually. He read it through, cover to cover before dawn and spent a half hour after that staring into space. The theory in it was very interesting indeed. He wondered vaguely if it was possible to transcend time in such a manor.
And if you could! My good gods, the possibilities! You could do anything, you could know everything, you could stop events from happening, you could prevent people from stopping something. Someone with that power would be God. Is it possible, though? I mean, really. And, even if it is, would it be expedient to attempt it? Would the risks involved be worth the potential gain? Gods help me, but I would give anything to find out.
At that moment, someone knocked on the heavy door.
"Yes?" Harry sighed irritably; he hated it when his thoughts were cruelly interrupted like that.
Lucius Malfoy opened the door and stepped just barely inside before shutting it again.
"The Dark Lord requests your company for breakfast. He has informed me to tell you that it will be served in the small dining room in forty-five minutes."
"Thank you, Lucius, I'll be there." Harry stood up and set the book back on the shelf. "Tell him, would you?"
"Of course." Lucius gave a sort of half nod, spun on his heel, and left the room.
Forty-five minutes. Enough time to bathe, at least. And think about a way to proceed from here. What in the hell does he want from me? More than that, what does he expect from me? Gods damn it all, I didn't want things to get this complicated this quickly.
While he showered, and, in fact, all the way to breakfast, he pondered the best way to progress. He knew what he wanted from Tom, and, from what he had already seen, Tom appeared to want the same thing. How to get this moving, however, was the true question.
Tom was already seated and sipping a cup of tea when Harry arrived in the small dining room. The places were set exactly as they'd been the night before, almost as though nothing had been touched except to clean away the remnants of their previous meal together.
"Morning, Tom," Harry said pleasantly, sitting down.
Tom's eyes met his. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
"Not at all, but that's all right."
Tom's eyes narrowed in concern. "You're not sleeping? I'll have something prepared for you."
Harry waved his hand lightly through the air. "No, don't bother, it's fine."
"You're certain?"
"Of course. I don't lie to people I trust except for under the most unusual of circumstances. My sleeping habits do not fall into that category."
Tom smiled slightly. "I see." He hesitated, as though unsure. "Ah… Harry… about last night. I completely understand if you would prefer to forget it ever happened and move on. I see no reason why it should be allowed to damage our relationship."
"Tom," I cut him off, "It's fine. More than fine, I was rather… pleased."
He blinked, once, slowly, much like a cat would. "Really?"
"Yes. Didn't I just finish telling you that I don't lie?" Harry smirked slightly.
"Well then, that changes everything, doesn't it?"
"I suppose it does."
Harry smiled again and raised his cup. Somehow, it didn't seem quite so complicated any longer.