AN: I really enjoyed writing this chapter. It's still so hard to decide if I want it to be Snarry or Harry/Tom. I'm still leaning more towards Snarry, with the possibility of doing an AU of this story where it's Harry/Tom instead. Because let me tell you, there were a lot of Tom/Harry moments I almost added that I didn't. I think this will be a Snarry story since that was how I originally envisioned it.
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! I know I had a lot of fun writing it.
Tom frowned as the younger wizard handed him a piece of paper, one that he soon recognized to be an inheritance test. It was a little unnerving, seeing as both wizards had come back here to give him something so simple.
"This is the results of your inheritance test, isn't it? Why are you showing it to me?" While he knew the importance of such a test, he had yet to see how it affected him. There was the off chance that they were somehow related- but how would that be of any real importance to them? Harry rolled his eyes, heaving a small sigh.
"You'll find out if you read it." Harry said, getting a little impatient. :Do I have to beg?: Tom shot him a look and the younger wizard smirked. :I'm very good at begging, I'll have you know.: Tom unknowingly let his gaze linger, humming softly.
:Fine. I'll read it.: Tom sighed, finally tearing his gaze away and focusing back on the paper in his grasp. "Blood adoption with the muggleborn?" He asked, not as surprised as he thought he would be. Harry did smile a bit as the Dark Lord digested that information.
"Hermione is my best friend. She's always been there for me no matter what." He spoke fondly of her, smiling more. Tom didn't mention it again but did pause at the long list of lordships that soon followed.
"This is quite a list of Lordships." Tom suddenly smirked at the Malfoy and Lestrange titles that came up. "Lucius won't be pleased with this." Harry laughed at the thought of the Malfoy family discovering his mother, a muggleborn, was part of their family.
"I can't wait to inform him about it. It's going to break his heart." Tom allowed himself to chuckle at that as he continued reading.
"Peverell. It looks like-" The Dark Lord was unable to finish his sentence as his gaze landed on the next title, his lips parting as he paled considerably.
"I think he finally got to the important bit," Harry informed Snape, missing the fond quirk of his lips aimed at him. It was obvious Tom was still reading, his eyes widening when he got towards the end.
"Soul magic," Tom breathed out, ignoring his racing heartbeat as he read the words out loud. "Horcrux in scar. Created by Tom Marvolo Riddle Jr." He tore his gaze away from the paper and looked back to the boy who lived.
His Horcrux.
Harry Potter was his Horcrux.
"I know. It's a lot to take in." Harry sighed, still having trouble grasping the fact as well. Knowing that his body inhabited his own soul, and a piece of Tom's was bizarre. The way Tom was looking at him didn't help matters either.
"You're my Horcrux." Harry wanted to roll his eyes but instead gave a simple nod. He did enjoy hearing Tom curse under his breath. "I should have seen it sooner. The link we share at night, the fact that you're a parselmouth…" The younger wizard nearly grimaced thinking about all the clues that had been there all along, only to be hidden by Dumbledore.
"I feel stupid too. When the headmaster first told me about your Horcruxes, I should have put it together. His reasoning as to why I was a parselmouth was because some of your powers transferred into me when I was a baby." He sighed, feeling dumber by the minute.
"Why was he telling you about my Horcruxes, Potter?" Tom hissed dangerously; crimson eyes glowing bright with anger.
"He was trying to get me to destroy them. I told him to do it himself." Harry spoke blankly, watching as Tom's fist clenched in anger. He could feel the other wizards magic crackling.
Even at his worst, he had never seen the Dark Lord like this.
"I see. Do you know of any that he has destroyed? Besides the diary." Tom was eerily calm now and it made Harry dread telling him about the diary.
"Uh, I might have accidentally destroyed one in my second year?" Harry confessed, watching those eyes flash again, magic flaring more. "And before you try to crucio me, just know I didn't exactly have a choice. I had to save Ginny's life. Your soul from the diary was trying to possess her and I had to stop it."
"How did you even manage to destroy it in your second year, Potter?" Tom asked, eyes narrowed in on the uncomfortable seventeen-year-old, who winces.
"That depends. Do you want the long version or the short one?" Tom rose an eyebrow.
"Since I'm intrigued now, give me the long version." Harry sighed.
"I'm sure Snape can testify for some of the things I'm about to say. Anyway, my second year was shit. Ginny Weasley, who was being possessed by the diary, opened the chamber of secrets, therefore waking up the Basilisk. The said basilisk managed to petrify some of the students, and Lockhart, who was one of the worst defense teachers I've ever had-" Harry saw Snape smirk, but continued on. "followed me and Ron when we discovered the chamber. He tried to obliviate us, but it backfired because he used Ron's broken wand. It caused a cave-in, separating me from Ron. Then I found Ginny, the memory of a sixteen-year-old Tom Riddle, and the basilisk you ordered to kill me. Long story short; I get impaled by a fang, Fawkes saves me by crying on the wound, and then I stab the diary with the fang."
"Are you meaning to tell me that you defeated a basilisk at the age of twelve?" Tom asked, having forgotten about the destroyed diary.
"It wasn't just me. I wouldn't have been able to do it without Fawkes. The Phoenix blinded the basilisk." Harry's attention was on Severus now, and the younger wizard had to hold back a chuckle. The potions professor didn't seem pleased about the events. After all, so much had happened (quite literally) under his nose.
"He's telling the truth, my lord. All of those events occurred. Although, I was unaware until now on how Lockhart lost his memories." Tom forced his magic back down, having calmed down considerably as Harry told him everything.
"Potter, do you know if Dumbledore has destroyed anymore?" Harry shook his head.
"I don't think he has. He told me which objects he thinks to be Horcruxes, but has yet to try and search for them on his own. I think the only one that is destroyed is the diary." Tom seemed to visibly relax.
"And what does he speculate? Besides you." Harry rolled his eyes and thought back to a meeting Dumbledore had forced him into.
"Nagini, your locket and ring, and Ravenclaws' diadem. He thinks there's one more, but can't figure it out." Tom suddenly smirked, realizing his other Horcrux was still safe.
"It seems the other Horcrux is safe for now. Tell me, how do you think I came to look like this again, Harry?" Surprised at the question, the younger wizard shrugged.
"I just assumed you wore a glamour." Tom huffed and shook his head. Snape muttered a soft 'Gryffindors' under his breath, which earned a small smirk from the boy who lived.
"Not many know it, but there is a ritual that will undo Horcruxes, and send the soul back into the original body. After long deliberation, I concluded that I went too far in my youth. My weakness was being afraid of death, and after splitting my soul too many times, it made me insane."
"So you're not denying that you were insane?" Harry smirked at the slight glare Tom threw at him.
"No. I suppose not. I took three of my Horcruxes and transferred my soul back into my body." Harry tilted his head.
"Which three?"
"Slytherin's locket, my ring, and Ravenclaws Diadem. I was going to keep two Horcruxes, but it seems I'll have three." The younger wizard thought what Tom was saying and frowned in thought.
"You're not going to try and remove it from me?" Severus, who had been quiet for the most part, spoke up.
"It's hard enough to undo soul magic, but undoing it with a living being is another thing. That's why the Dark Lord never removed it from his snake. If he tried to remove it from you, it would not only put your life at risk, but it could kill him as well." Severus informed, having been the one to help Voldemort gather his Horcruxes.
"The last Horcrux, besides you and Nagini, is the cup of Hufflepuff. You said that Dumbledore does not expect this, correct?"
"Yeah. He thought you only made five. It was his intention to drag me out after my seventeenth birthday and search for your Horcruxes, but I not only told him off, I ran off before he could try and force me to do it. He's so desperate for me to defeat you that it's pathetic." Harry sighed.
"It's because of the prophecy, Potter. The one where you're supposed to defeat me." Harry rolled his eyes and held back a sigh. Whenever he thought of the damned thing, it made a weight settle on his shoulders. It was the reason there was an inexplicable amount of pressure on him. From Dumbledore, from people like Ron, many of the Gryffindors, and even the Wizarding World.
"I think it's stupid. I've heard it and yeah, it's about me, but I don't think people have been interpreting it correctly. " At Voldemort's gesture to continue, Harry decided to write it down on the back of the inheritance paper with a spell he created with Hermione.
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...
"I think Dumbledore interpreted this the wrong way. Everyone's been going about it incorrectly." Harry said as he looked at the prophecy his wand had just spelled out. "He's so desperate to defeat you that it has him overlooking the simplest of details." Tom looked at the younger wizard, his perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised.
"What would that be, Potter?" Tom hated to admit it, but he was curious as to what the other man had to say about the prophecy.
"I've always been told that even the most mundane word means something, especially given the context. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches." Harry spoke with a small, knowing smirk. "With is a very common word, isn't it? For a prophecy that is supposed to be about me supposedly defeating you, it talks more about my power being equal to yours. It says that I have the power to defeat you, but it doesn't really mention if I'll do it." He explained with a shrug, earning a hum from Voldemort, who seemed to agree to an extent.
"I see your point. How would you explain the other part, Potter?" Harry knew which section Voldemort was talking about and looked at it more, before something hit him.
"Neither can live while the other survives! I get it." Harry's eyes glimmered, catching the other wizards off guard.
"Potter?" This time it was Snape who spoke up, clearly interested in what Harry had to say. "What is it?"
"It's about me. About what I was almost forced to do." Tom was listening intently, not wanting to admit how clever the younger wizard seemed to be. "The previous sentence makes it clear. And either must die at the hand of the other." Harry shook his head with a soft sigh. "For one thing, that's impossible given our wands."
"Yes." Tom suddenly remembered that he and Harry shared brother wands, which in battle, could not harm the other. "What does that have to do with the next part though?" The Dark Lord hadn't caught up to Harry's train of thought quite yet, still piecing the other parts together.
"I'm the other in 'neither can live while the other survives.'" Harry tried to explain, earning two eyebrow quirks from Snape and Voldemort.
"I'm afraid you're not making any sense, Potter." Tom paused and chuckled. :And I'm supposed to be the insane one.: Harry snorted softly, ignoring Snape's curious gaze.
"Look, it might not make sense to you, but it does to me. All my life I've merely been surviving day after day. There's a difference between survive and live, right professor?" Snape's lips twitched the slightest as he gave a nod. "The reason neither of us would have lived while I was surviving is because of Dumbledore. If I'm to be only surviving, it means that I would be following his entire plan. His plan of you killing me in order to destroy the Horcrux inside of my scar."
Harry could have laughed when he saw the looks of realization on both faces. He wasn't sure which was funnier. Snape, who rarely let himself give away what he was feeling, or Voldemort, who was a supposed genius.
"Now you're getting it." Harry smirked, pleased that he had managed to catch the two powerful wizards off guard. "I think that the prophecy was always meant to be a warning of sorts. It's what would have happened if I hadn't decided to take my life into my own hands. That's why the word with had been so important. This was all based on my decision in the end. I could have followed Dumbledore blindly, or I could have forged my own life." Snape couldn't stop the barely-there smirk.
"You seem pleased about yourself, Potter."
"Oh trust me, sir. I am. For one, it means that the damn prophecy is completed. Not that Dumbledore would ever listen to me. He's dead set on me getting myself killed by Tom to ever see reason. The one thing that had dictated most of my life is finished." He smiled a bit to himself, despite a hint of sadness that neither wizard could describe.
"You're still worried about how the rest of the world will react," Tom spoke up and Harry forced away the hint of sadness he felt, not planning on letting it get to him.
"Considering how they've turned on me in the past, a little bit. I can't really bother with it anymore. If they're going to rely on a teenager to win a war for them, then that's on them." He placed his hands back into his pockets, thinking about what came next. "This year is going to be harder than I thought. Dumbledore is going to find some way of making me fight you." Harry shook his head with a scoff. "I really didn't want to show my true powers to Dumbledore so soon…"
:Is this an indirect way of joining me?: Tom purred, causing Harry to chuckle.
:You seem desperate to have me on your side, Tom.:
:You would be useful.: He hissed back, and Harry chuckled again.
:Just useful? Nothing else?: Tom sighed, pretending to think about it.
:I suppose you're decent company.:
:I knew you had a soft spot for me, Voldie.: Tom made a face, glaring at the younger. "Well, as much as I'm enjoying this, I should get back to where I'm staying. The twins will worry that I've been kidnapped by the order and search for me." Harry glanced to his potions master. "Would you accompany me, sir? I'd feel better with an extra pair of eyes."
"Of course, Potter." Snape mumbled, joining the younger man's side as they took their leave.
:See you later, Tommy.: Harry held back a laugh at the dark scowl and unpleasant hiss.
:Potter, if you ever call me that again, I will kill you.:
:Promise?: Harry teased as he walked away with Severus, leaving behind the Dark Lord who was shaking his head.
:Brat.:
R&R, please! And let me know how you feel about a separate Tom/Harry AU story to this one.