I hope the last chapter wasn't too… out there? I know it started off fine and then suddenly kind of went fanciful. I feel like this is a fantasy story with magic, so I'm allowed, right? This one may be even worse… I don't even know anymore.
Warnings: This story is slash, yaoi, shounen-ai, gay, whatever you call it. Tom/Harry and Remus/Sirius
Notes: (X) Is pov change and or time jump
Chapter 16
"Please let this be all in my head," Harry begged. The one problem with that? This wasn't how he'd imagined things happening. His scenario had been much simpler. Tom woke up, found out he was gone, causing his boyfriend to get slightly depressed, until Dumbledore gave him Harry's letter. Upon reading said letter, Tom decided he wanted to see Harry again and they lived happily ever after. Perfect. No need for anger, complications, or Tom throwing tantrums that risked reducing Dumbledore's house to ashes or possibly sending Tom to St. Mungo's due to exhaustion.. Okay. Maybe a small part of him had wanted to see Tom go crazy until they were reunited. "Merlin, I'm pathetic."
Tom stood in front of him, looking at the bedding Harry had folded and left on the bed his father had been using. He scanned the room slowly, his hands twitching as he did. With a growl Tom grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it into the wall. Feathers erupted, showering the room in white.
The door opened, Tom ignored it.
"Tom."
"He's not coming back," Tom said, his voice tight. "He didn't leave any of his things."
"Harry didn't have anything to leave here," Dumbledore said. He approached the teen with caution, keeping some distance between the two of them. "But you're right. I imagine the second they find Lily; they'll go into hiding somewhere else."
"It's safer here than anywhere else!" He turned, his eyes slits.
Dumbledore held his hands up. "You did this to yourself. Had you simply waited until your mind mended—" Tom's hand shot up and Dumbledore stumbled backwards, almost colliding with the door behind him. "Will you stop that!"
"Then shut up," he said, turning back to the stacked items. He lifted the top corner of the folded blanket, and inhaled. His shoulders slumped, the crackling energy that seemed to be surrounding him fading. "I don't know what to do. I've never reacted this way to a breakup." He brought the blanket up to his chest and wrapped it into a hug. "Not once has anyone ever…." His voice cracked.
Harry's heart did a dance. It was wrong. He shouldn't enjoy seeing Tom in any sort of pain or being distraught but knowing that his boyfriend wasn't handling their breakup any better than he was made him happy. Tom could not just push him to the side as he had his other exes and go on living his life as if no relationship had ever occurred. At least not as easily as Tom had thought it'd be.
"You weren't entirely thrilled when you broke up with William."
Tom made a face. "Only because he broke up with me before I could him. He beat me to it by a day." He stared at the window, his eyes going blank. "I don't know what to do."
"That's a first," Dumbledore snickered. He placed a hand on Tom's shoulder. "Harry did not run off to find Lily because he doesn't care about you. He went because he loves his mother. Had the situation been reversed, he would have ignored his parents and gone into the catacombs to save you."
Tom snorted. "I wouldn't be stupid enough to need saving."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Oh? It would seem like you're in need of saving right now."
"You know what I meant," Tom said, scowling at the headmaster.
"I know you're making a fool of yourself and putting scratches on the floor."
Tom gave a slow shake of his head. "Why him?"
"Hm?" The headmaster took a step closer to his adopted son.
"Of all the people I've come across, why do I feel so strongly about him? According to Harry his grades are at the bottom of his class. He's a Quidditch player, and a Gryffindor one at that, so any intelligence he possibly had of obtaining was most likely smashed by Bludgers. He didn't even worry about his O.W.L.s until after he'd possibly failed them. He doesn't care how he dresses, and his self-esteem is next to nonexistent. He didn't even know who I was beyond being your son!"
"Thanks Tom," Harry muttered. Tom was completely right though. What were we even thinking? Neither of them was what the other usually went for. Tom was the elitist that Harry couldn't stand, and he was the commoner that Tom would always look down on for one reason or another. And yet Harry could say with complete honesty that he wanted to be with Tom. From the looks of it, Tom did too.
The headmaster looked amused. "Harry is far from the bottom of his classes. Nowhere near your marks mind you, but he's a gifted wizard none the less. He simply doesn't put forth the effort he should into his course work, however his actual casting abilities are quite good."
Tom groaned. "I hate that he makes me feel this way!"
"The feeling is mutual," Harry said. He couldn't see his own face, but he could hear the pouting in his voice. At least Dumbledore was standing up for him, which was surprising. He'd been certain that Dumbledore was against his relationship with Tom.
Tom let out a shaky breath. "I'm in love with him, aren't I? Like really in love?"
Harry choked on the air he'd just inhaled. How had Tom gone from 'I hate him' to 'I love him' in the span of two sentences? This has to be my imagination. There was no way Tom was reacting like this or telling Dumbledore his feelings about Harry or Dumbledore defending him, especially no way Dumbledore would try to convince Tom that Harry was worth forgiving. What had really happened, if Tom had mentioned him at all since he'd left, was something along the lines of Tom ranting about how stupid Harry was and how he never wanted to cross paths with him again. And if by some chance they did, he would act as if Harry didn't exist and Dumbledore was agreeing with him word for word, telling Tom that Harry was not a good choice for him, and Merlin knew what else. What was worse the headmaster was right. He'd dragged Tom down into this hell and it wasn't right or fair for either of them. Arrogant arsehole or not, Tom didn't deserve an ordeal like this.
The headmaster seemed to consider that. "I don't know. I'll say this. I've never seen you throw a tantrum like this over a breakup. You usually reserve this type of energy for when someone messes up your research." The headmaster studied him a moment. Tom looked almost despondent as he stared at the headmaster, the blanket still held against his chest. "Harry left you a letter."
Harry's head snapped up. "No! You were supposed to burn it! I'm still alive!" He can't hear you. Wait, this isn't real, calm down. Whether or not it was real or his own brain making this up, he didn't want to see Tom's reaction to his cheesy words. He tried to think of a different way this scene could go. Tom deciding, he didn't want to bother with the letter. Dumbledore telling him he'd burned it. Nothing changed. This is stupid. I should be able to change it whenever I want! The fake memory was probably set though once you entered a mirror.
"Where is it?"
"I'll go get it; with the condition you promise to stop destroying the house."
Tom gave a slight shrug. "I don't have the energy to break anything else." He hugged the blanket tighter.
"Alright. I'll go retrieve it then." Dumbledore left the room, leaving Tom alone.
"You owe me Harry," Tom whispered, his voice harsh. "I'll make you regret leaving me behind." He turned back towards the window and looked down; his attention caught by something. Slowly, he set the blanket down on the bed and grabbed the rubbish bin in the corner full of crumpled up pieces of paper.
"Just kill me now," Harry groaned, sitting down on the bed. "Those aren't meant for you to read." It was his own fault though for not destroying them before he left, but he'd never thought Tom would waste his time rummaging through his rubbish bin to read crumpled up letters that Harry had written. Not after the breakup they'd had. You obviously wanted this, he told himself. If he hadn't, this wouldn't be playing out before him.
Tom sat down next to Harry and placed the rubbish bin in front of the bed. He removed the first ball of paper and smoothed it out. "'Get over it already so we can snog!'?" he read. He opened the next one. "'You're such an arse! I have to save my mum! Can't you just, be okay with all of this and we'll talk afterwards!?'" A smile tugged on Tom's lips. "Do I actually have a choice?"
"No, you don't," Harry said, wishing Tom could hear him. "I don't know if I'll find my way out of the catacombs, but even if I do…." He sighed. He couldn't put Tom through something like this every time he left for work once he was an Auror. Of course, he could just not become an Auror…. This is fake. He hasn't forgiven me. But it was a wonderful to hear that Tom wanted to talk to him again.
Dumbledore entered the room again, holding the letter Harry had given him. "I was told to burn this."
"You had your chance." Tom snatched the letter from Dumbledore and opened it. Harry could tell what parts his boyfriend was reading based on the order of the assorted reactions he gave. By the time he was done, his entire face was red. "I, I have to go after him."
Dumbledore's face grew dark. "You're in no shape to go shopping for books let alone going off to the catacombs."
"There has to be a way." He stood up and almost fell back onto the bed, only steadying himself by placing his hand on the mattress.
"I did not give you that letter so you would go chasing after Harry on a suicide mission. I gave it to you, so you'd stop wasting what energy you've managed to regain on fits."
Tom nodded absently and seemed to regret it immediately. "I need to lie down…" He managed to collect every smashed-up piece of paper Harry had left in the room, shoved them down in the rubbish bin and placed the letter Harry had written for him on top. With the bin in one hand, he grabbed the blanket Harry had been using earlier. "Don't try and stop me," he warned.
"If it keeps you in bed, I'll give you the letters he wrote his friends and any school essays he's turned in for school. I'll even crumple them up and leave them around the house so you can stumble across them."
Tom rolled his eyes, seemed to consider Dumbledore's words. "Actually, I will take the other letters and the essays." He walked past the headmaster, going into the hall.
"Oh, come on!" Harry got to his feet, chasing after Tom. "You can't read those! They're personal and the last thing you want to read are my school essays!" It would only prove how stupid he was if he did and while Tom might forgive Harry for everything else that'd gone on that summer, he didn't think he'd be willing to forgive a badly written essay. "His priorities are as messed up as Hermione's!"
"What's for lunch," Tom asked as they walked down the hall.
"Chicken. And if you behave, chocolate pie."
"You'll know where to find me." He walked with Dumbledore until the headmaster went down the stairs, he kept going until he was in the room the memory or whatever this was had started in. "Stupid old man." He threw the blanket onto his bed, put the rubbish bin next to it and went straight to his closest. Inside was basically empty, except for a couple of robes and a long cloak. On the floor was a bookbag that looked exactly like the one Harry had with him. Blinking Tom grabbed the bag and opened it. Inside was a bunch of familiar supplies: water, a notebook, a flashlight, some dried meat, a few packets of peanuts, a space blanket, a pen, and a few potion bottles. "Pepperup potions and an invigorating draught?" He laughed.
"Oh no…" His stupid family had been so sure that Tom would be coming after Harry, that they'd left him with everything he'd need to do so. How stupid could they be? Even Harry knew that if a person in an extreme state of exhaustion took those potions and then went and then started pushing themselves to their physical limits again, their body would run through them faster than if they'd rested, leaving them possibly in a worse state than before they'd downed the potions. "Tom, get in bed!"
Something seemed to move in the bag causing all the items inside to shift. Tom stared at it, no doubt waiting to see if it was alive. When it didn't jump out and eat him, he stuck his hand inside, where it vanished. Slowly, Tom lifted his arm up, bringing the item with. A small note was attached to the top. Tom removed it. 'Just in case. I'll need this back.'
"Dad's invisibility cloak." Harry sighed. Great. The last thing Tom Riddle needed was an invisibility cloak. Wasn't his ex dangerous enough without being able to sneak around unseen?
"This certainly helps." Tom walked over to his bed and sat down. He downed the potion bottles one by one. The color returned to his face; the bags that'd been under his eyes faded. He suddenly looked alert and ready to destroy any obstacle that got in his way. Instead of throwing on the cloak and running out like Harry thought he would, he continued to sit there, staring at the bag and the contents inside. "Should I really be doing this?" He looked back at the rubbish bin and ran a hand through his hair. "Damnit Harry."
"No," Harry muttered. "Stay home."
Without warning, Harry was staggering backwards away from the mirror. He let out a loud yelp when he noticed he was about to fall through another mirror and threw himself to the side. Groaning, he closed his eyes, hoping his spine wouldn't get up and walk away from all the abuse it was receiving. I can't lie here forever. Well, he probably could, and weren't you supposed to stay in one place when you were lost so you were easier to find?
He pushed himself up and almost landed in one of Sirius' memories from when he was still a teen living at home and facing off with his father. Harry didn't want any part of it. If he was going to intrude on another memory, it was going to be another one of Tom's.
He got to his knees and then stood up. The room didn't seem to have changed at all. The memory he'd just left seemed to have restarted now that he'd left. I wonder if I can take one of these mirrors home. Then he could imagine whatever he wanted and watch it play out. Pathetic? Yes, but he'd already accepted that he was, so what did it matter? Besides, he might possibly save his sanity without wiping his memories if he could just drag one of these mirrors around with him for the rest of his life or at least until he could get over Tom. He walked around the mirror he'd just exited. The back was made of the same stone as the cavern itself, smooth and lifeless with no images. He placed his hands against it and gave it a push. The mirror wouldn't budge. "Damn."
Harry glanced at the next closest mirror, his stomach knotting up. It was Tom, kissing some good-looking guy and looking rather pleased. Harry was pretty sure the guy was a model for Twilfitt and Tatting's. Did Tom look happier kissing that guy than when he kissed Harry? He couldn't really tell or maybe he just didn't want to admit that he did. When they broke apart, the two of them started laughing. Tom took the guy's hand, and they began walking together, the unknown person resting his head on Tom's shoulder.
The mirror next to that one wasn't much better. Another memory of Tom kissing another hot guy. Harry knew that one was known for something. Like being the grandson of a previous Minister of Magic or some other famous person.
Tom really had dropped his standards going after Harry. I'm done. Forget Tom not acknowledging their relationship, he was going to pretend he'd never met Tom. "Where's the exit?" He looked around the room, scowling when he still saw no way out. He started walking towards the one wall of the cavern he couldn't see. He knew he wasn't being fair. Tom hadn't known Harry when he'd been dating those guys, so it wasn't like he'd cheated on him or anything. But it did prove his original belief that Tom dated the best and—. He froze in front of a mirror that showed Tom making out with a plain looking witch in normal looking clothes. I can't even claim to be the one regular person he thought he'd give a try! He really wasn't different from any of Tom's exes. Merlin, why did he ever have to let himself get mixed up in a relationship with Tom Riddle!? It's over with. Time to move on. To hell with everything he'd thought before. As soon as they took care of Milan, he was going to ask Draco out. "Yeah, because Draco will risk upsetting his dad and go out with me." There had to be someone out there for him, right? Unless Milan was going to kill him soon. Well, that's a happy thought. He needed to focus on finding his family or at least getting out of the room because seeing Tom snogging others was not helping his mental state at all.
Something small and pointed pushed against Harry's head. "Hands up," a male voice growled.
So, help me if I'm being kidnapped again. Muttering a curse, he held his hands up. The wand pressed harder into the back of his skull. "I'm obeying," he protested. Didn't this guy know how taking hostages worked?
The man patted Harry's pockets with his free hand. "Where's your wand?"
Harry sighed. So, he was being kidnapped. Hogwarts really needed a class on how to avoid getting kidnapped. That or the Ministry. You could take basic healing classes at St. Mungo's, so the Ministry should offer helpful classes on dealing with criminals. I'd still probably end up a hostage. "With my mum." No point in lying. This guy was eventually going to find out he was wandless anyway and he really didn't like being patted down by some stranger.
"That makes my job easier." The man grabbed Harry's shoulder and shoved him forward. "Walk."
"Watch it," Harry snapped, barely stepping into a block of light. This one showed Tom breaking up with the model. The guy looked devastated, tears and snot pouring down his face. He grabbed Tom's hand, but the teen shoved him away, and started walking off. "Even our breakup wasn't unique," he growled.
"Breakup?"
Is the guy holding me hostage really asking me about my love life right now? Maybe he was one of the many jilted lovers Tom had had and he'd joined Milan in an attempt to get revenge. If that was the case, maybe they could hit it off. They could grieve together over their breakups and if they ended up getting together during that process, so what? Maybe that was the only way to move on. "Yeah. Tom and I broke up."
The man removed his wand and walked into Harry's view. "Gale?" He scrunched up his face. Definitely not one of Tom's exes. "Didn't Tom arrest you?"
Gale scowled. "Yes, but Milan got me and Nikolas out." His face grew dark. "You have no idea how much trouble you've caused us."
"I've been causing a lot of people trouble this summer," Harry said, evenly. "I could apologize if you'd like, but I don't think it'd do much good." Considering all the trouble they'd been in was their own fault.
Gale brought his wand up and slapped Harry across the face with it. Pain shot up through Harry's mouth and he found himself on his behind on the floor, staring at Gale wide eyed. He brought his hand up to his cheek and when he looked at his fingers they were covered in blood. "Milan and Hollie may not hold any grudges against you, but I…." He shook his head, his fingers tightening around the wand. "You should be dead!"
"It's not my fault you and your family are a bunch of pure blood sympathizers!"
Gale's eyes flashed, his body shaking. "How dare you!" He aimed his wand at Harry. "CRU—" His wand shot out of his hand and landed a few meters away. The wizard glared at Harry. "So, you are capable of wandless magic!"
Harry almost shouted no, then thought better of it. If Gale kept his attention on him, whoever had disarmed him would have the advantage to bring him down. "Sometimes." Not exactly a lie. He'd done it a few times when he was younger. Remus could still use wandless magic, and Tom, of course, seemed exceptional at it, but he hadn't quite figured it out yet. "When I'm under a lot of stress," he added.
Growling, Gale held his hand out. "ACCIO WAND!" Immediately, his hand went to his hand, and he once again aimed it at Harry.
Harry had never felt the Cruciatus Curse and he didn't want to find out now. "L, look. Maybe we can make a deal." He eyed the mirrors around them, giving each a quick look before settling his gaze back on Gale. "You wanted to use me to lure Tom out, right?"
"You already said you two broke up."
Harry winced. "I know and he was pretty clear he didn't care if I died or not down here, but my family still wants me alive. I can't give you Tom, but my family will come for me."
Gale hesitated, no doubt thinking about Harry's proposal. He didn't waste the chance. Somehow, he managed to push himself forward onto his feet and ram his shoulder into Gale's chest. The older wizard let out a yell of a surprise. Not far enough. Before Gale could gather himself, Harry shoved him again. The light at Gale's feet sparked to life, quickly wrapping around the wizard.
"I will kill you!" The light wrapped around Gale's head, silencing him, and the mirror pulled him in.
"Creepy." He gave the area a quick once over but didn't see anyone. "Mom? Dad?" Someone had to have cast the disarming spell. "Sirius? Remus?" No one answered. I can't just stay here. Gale might know how to remove himself from a memory before it ended. He continued down the way he'd been going before the memory had grabbed him and Gale had jumped him, keeping watch for any jutting out blocks of light. His cheek throbbed, no doubt to remind him that it was still bleeding and in need of mending. He placed his fingers on his cheek and sighed when he saw more blood on them. No wand and Sirius has the healing ointment.
He stopped a moment to watch a mirror showing a younger Tom, maybe five, playing in Robinhood bay. Dumbledore watched him from the beach and despite Harry's initial belief that Tom would be cataloging all the living species in the area, he was indeed just playing. The one right beside it showed a six-year-old Tom blowing out some candles on a birthday cake. Dumbledore and some others gathered there stood around him and clapped.
It annoyed him that Tom was only a year older than he was, not even a full year, just a handful of months, and yet he'd never met him before this summer. They should have met in school, but because Tom was such a genius, their paths had never crossed. They could have grown up together. Dumbledore could have brought Tom over to play with him and Ron whenever he visited. He could have at last brought him during holiday gatherings or birthday parties. They could have gotten to know each other early on and understood one another. Now, even if they came back to this room together and viewed each other's memories, it wouldn't be the same. No, they'd gotten to meet by chance at an awards ceremony and fallen for each other at first sight. If Harry had known Tom better, he could have…. Could have what? He'd known Tom was a jerk and he'd still wanted to be with him. He still did. And he dumped me.
He gave the mirror showing a birthday a hard kick and started walking again. "You hate how I make you feel? At least you're not going mental over our breakup," he muttered. Of course, all of that had been made up by him. Tom was probably relaxing with a book or sleeping near that huge window, the sun light playing across his face. Wait…. He stopped. If I made up that memory… then the one with Tom at the beach… If the mirrors were showing him Tom's memories based on what he thought happened, why wasn't little Tom researching at the beach? No. There's no way… But a small part of him told him yes. The memories he was viewing of Tom weren't of his own making. "Oh no…." He felt his stomach drop and gave another look of the room. "Tom?"
What looked to be two separate lights from some flashlights shown in his direction. My family! He rushed towards the lights. He didn't care who it was, as long as they were family and had wands. Harry's foot caught on the side of a mirror, and he flew forward landing on his knees and hands.
Sighing, he got back to his feet, dusting his hands off on his pants and regretted it immediately. Centimeters from his face a very large, at least 4 or 5 meters tall, hooded figure looked down at him. Beneath the hood was impenetrable darkness, save for two dark golden eyes that shown like dim lamps. It seemed just as confused to see Harry as he was of it. What is this thing? They remained in a staring competition until the creature seemed to have had enough. With an ear-piercing scream, it reared back, its arm raising high into the air. Harry took note of the giant bone like fingers and ran. The fingers -claws? - came swiping down straight into the ground where he'd been, stone chunks flying everywhere.
"HARRY, RUN!" No kidding!
"Shite!" It was floating the same way a Dementor did. With another scream it rushed Harry. He kept running as fast as he could while avoiding any of the lights he saw on the ground. He ran past a mirror with Sirius and Remus making out and suddenly came face to face with a wall. He managed to stop seconds before slamming into it and turned around to run in another direction. As he went, he tried to find who'd yelled at him to run, he was pretty sure it'd been Sirius, but who knew.
He cursed when he saw the creature headed his way and ducked behind a mirror. He mentally counted to ten and looked out around the corner. The creature was nowhere in sight. How does it do that? Maybe it was capable of turning invisible? Merlin, I hope not.
Is that the exit? Maybe that thing was guarding it. "I found the exit," he shouted as loud as he could. "It's on the back wall!" He waited for anyone to yell back, even for the creature to scream at him, but no one seemed to have heard him, which was impossible. New plan. Get out of here and go back to the prison, wait for my family to come back. He could send them a note once he was safe hiding behind Klaus given the fact, he had no wand to defend himself with.
Watching for lamp eyes, he had to call it something, he moved towards the exit. He could hear movement behind him, sometimes to his side, but every time he looked, he saw no one. Jeez. Between this place and the breakup, I'm going mad. At this rate he'd be spending the rest of his holiday in St. Mungo's.
The exit wasn't far now. He could make out a short hall that had to lead to a doorway and if it didn't, he was going to make one himself. Lamp eyes appeared without warning a few mirrors away from him. It screeched, raking its long nails across the stone. Cursing yet again, Harry ran for the short hall. Thank Merlin. At the end was a door.
Lamp eye's lights flashed down the hall.
Harry threw the door open. Something slammed into his chest, and he fell backwards.
The fog returned, wrapping around him and suddenly he felt like he was floating. It lasted only a second before he felt the air rushing around him. He crash-landed on a hard stone floor, the room spinning and black dots filling his vision. He really needed to stop traveling this way. As his vision cleared, he could feel small jolts coursing through his entire body. He thought he heard a scream from far away but couldn't be sure. Probably just his brain yelling at him that he'd gone well over his limit of hitting his head on stone in one day. Or Lamp eyes was cursing because it couldn't go through the door.
His vision went black.
When he got his eyes opened his, his vision was only slightly blurry, but not so bad he couldn't make out that there was a stone ceiling above him. An overwhelming, unmistakable metallic smell hit him filled the air. Am I bleeding?
Crunch. Slurp… sluurrp.
An involuntary shudder ran through Harry's body. What is that? Every part of him screamed to run, that something was horribly wrong, but his body still wasn't responding quite well.
Crunch.
For some reason the sound almost made him puke. Move. He needed to see what was going on around him. MOVE. Pain shot up from every cell as he managed to turn his head. If his body hadn't been refusing to work, he would have screamed loud enough to alert everyone and thing inside the catacombs. Not far from his head was a pair of legs. He managed to move his head up a centimeter. The person slumped forward. He's just unconscious. Harry knew he was lying to himself. He's okay. There was a large thump to his left, followed by multiple cracks and more slurping.
I can't stay here.
Something out of view grabbed the person beside him. His vision cleared just as the body went out of sight. He wished it hadn't. No… no, no. He snapped his eyes shut when he heard the first crunch. Oh Merlin…. He was going to die and from the sounds of it, in a very painful way.
A hand clamped down on his mouth. Harry eyes shot open, confused at first that everything was a little darker than it'd been a second ago. Tom was lying over him balancing his weight on two knees and one hand to keep all of it off of Harry. He brought his mouth to Harry's ear. "No noise," he said so quietly Harry wasn't entirely sure he'd heard him at all.
Tom removed his hand, placing it onto the floor. Harry could make out the silhouettes of what looked like some kind of dog or a wild cat moving around just outside the cloak. It began sniffing around. Don't let it smell us. Tom lifted his hand from the other side of Harry, his wand clasped tightly in it. Harry could feel the fear radiating from him, meaning whatever was on the other side of the invisibility cloak was not something to take lightly. He placed his hand on the arm Tom still had on the floor. Their eyes met. This is all my fault. "I'm sorry," he mouthed.
Tom gave the slightest shake of his head.
This can't be happening. He's not supposed to be here! If something happened to Tom, he'd never forgive himself. Did that mean the memory he'd entered was real? If so, what had happened to his stupid ex regaining his common sense and staying in his room so he could read all of Harry's letters and maybe waiting for him to come out of the catacombs? I'll do anything if him and the rest of my family can escape this place unharmed.
After what felt like forever, the creature moved away. They remained as they were, listening to the sounds going on around them. Every time there was another vomit inducing noise, his grip tightened on Tom's arm. Harry wished the invisibility cloak could block out or dampen sound.
Tom finally let out a low breath. "We have to stay under the cloak," he whispered.
"Okay," he said, just as quietly.
"Once we get out of this, we need to talk."
"Okay."
Tom frowned. "Are you in shock?"
"Th, that thing… It… That was Mr. Owen… I just talked to him…" Saying it out loud was the wrong thing to do. His thoughts started to rush together, the strongest one screaming that Tom should not be there. "You shouldn't have come, you—"
"Shh!" He dropped his hand back over Harry's mouth. Two silhouettes came into view snorting at the ground. Tom raised his wand and slipped the very tip of it under the cloak. A spell shot out of the wand.
Multiple howls rang through the room, the one closest to them bounding off with incredible speed. Tom pulled Harry to his feet, keeping him close, and they half staggered thanks to Harry, half ran to the nearest wall. Each step made Harry want to scream. He must have broken his ankle. Tom helped lower him into a sitting position and sat down beside him. He held his hand up to Harry, showing the number five.
"Seriously," he mouthed. Tom nodded. Harry didn't even know what the hell the things were, but he was sure it was mad to have five of them in one room.
A horrible high-pitched scream filled the room. Without thinking he clung to Tom. That sort of sounded like Tilly. Please don't.
Pressure on his ankle made the same burning sensation from before shoot through his body and he almost screamed, managing to bite down on his tongue so it sounded only like a muffled cough. Tom was staring at him, looking pale. Harry hoped he hadn't just signed their death. "Sorry," he mouthed when the pain had subsided.
Tom shook his head and pointed at his ankle.
Harry wasn't sure he wanted to see, but he looked anyway. His pant leg was shredded, and he could easily make out a large bite mark. Blood and something thick and green covered it. His eyes shot back up to Tom. "One of those things bit me?"
He nodded.
His heart sped up. He'd been bitten and judging by whatever the green ooze was, no doubt poisoned. "How long?"
Tom shrugged. He pointed in the direction the creatures had gone and shrugged again.
"You don't know what they are?"
He nodded.
"Wonderful." If Tom didn't know what the things were they were in a lot of trouble.
Tom put his hand over Harry's mouth, took his wand and pointed it at the bite mark. The trademark gold colored magic of healing encircled his ankle, mending the wound, only for it to deteriorate and rip open again seconds later leaving behind a smell of rotting flesh.
The pain was so bad this time Harry was sure he was going to pass out. If Tom hadn't covered his mouth, he'd have definitely given their hiding spot away. "Don't do that again," he said in a harsh whisper. He knew he shouldn't have, but with Tom's hand covering his mouth, what was he supposed to do?
Tom removed his hand, glaring at Harry. He moved back to his original position, back against the wall and put an arm around Harry.
He looks exhausted again. And not just exhausted, but like he'd survived his own hell and crawled out of it. His hair was a mess, there was blood on his neck and clothes. His pants and shirt sleeves were ripped in multiple places as if he'd tumbled down a few stone chutes himself. The dark circles Harry had seen before Tom had taken the potions ringed his eyes again and if he looked close enough, he could see that his breathing wasn't quite right. I have to get him out of here. How, given Tom's exhaustion and his bitten ankle, he didn't know. One thing he knew for sure, Tom didn't deserve to die here.
"We need to find a way out."
"We'll have to crawl."
"Yeah." They shared a long look. Neither of them seemed to be in any shape to stay awake let alone crawl. We don't have a choice. "If this is the same room I just left, the prison cell isn't far."
Tom seemed to consider that before nodding. If nothing else, they could get into the cell and lock the door. If Harry had any luck left, the creatures wouldn't be able to get through the metal bars.
"We'll go slow," Tom whispered. "I don't want the poison to spread any faster than it already is."
"Tom, as long as you get out of here, I don't care."
Tom narrowed his eyes at him. "Crawl."
Harry sighed. If it came down to it, he'd let the creatures grab him so Tom could run. Maybe the poison would end him before the things could break any of his bones.
They inched across the room, freezing any time they saw a shadow or heard a noise.
"We need to lift the cloak," Harry said.
"So, one of those things can grab us?"
"So, we know for sure we're going in the right direction."
"We'll get their eventually."
With the way Tom's body was shaking from time to time, Harry knew they didn't have eventually. They both froze when a creature stepped in front of them. Harry was sure they'd been found. The creature kept sniffing at the edge of the cloak, inhaling deeply, before it moved on. Tom's arm gave out from under him, and he went down, Harry catching him before his head connected with the floor.
Tom stared at him, surprised, and shook his head. "I'm fine—"
"You're exhausted and should be in your bed going through a rubbish bin."
"Of all the memories you had to see…"
"There were worse ones for me to see," he said, remembering the model and the famous guy that Tom had been making out with, not to mention the plain looking witch. His face must have shown the way he felt, because Tom dropped his gaze to the floor. "Give me permission to use your wand."
Tom gave a slight nod and handed his wand over. "You have my permission…"
"I love you."
Tom looked back up, a hint of pink on his cheeks. "I love you too."
Out of sheer determination alone, Harry removed himself from the cloak and forced himself into a sitting position. Dismembered bodies were scattered across the floor, along with pools of blood, broken bones, and what he was pretty sure were things that should never leave a person's body. There were pillars in the room stopping him from getting a full view. He could however see three of the creatures a few meters away ripping apart . His stomach dropped and for a second, he was sure he was going to puke. He was already dead. The fact that Harry hadn't heard the older healer scream when the creature had grabbed him was proof of that.
A fourth creature lunged from behind a pilar and joined the other three. He'd never seen anything like them before. They had the body structure of a panther, but beyond that, the rest of it was a monster. Its skin wrapped tightly around its body showing off every muscle or bone that was closest to the surface. Their heads were somewhat flat and elongated with a long protruding mouth. Harry could clearly see the teeth confirming his fear of what the crunching noises had been. The claws on the creature were a nightmare all of their own, long, thick, and from what he could tell, the ones on the inner side of their paws could move independently of the other four.
Given the way the bodies looked, these things were killing for fun rather than out of hunger. Or they're really territorial. Well, at least Care of Magical Creatures had taught him something. It wasn't going to keep him alive, but at least he had a good idea of why he was dying.
As he scanned the area, he noticed what looked like the prison cell they'd left Klaus and the other healers in. All they had to do was make it across the rest of the room.
Right. He got onto his knees and pulled the cloak back over his head. "They're eating," he mouthed. "I don't think they'll notice us unless we make a lot of noise." He raised his left hand and pointed in the direction in front of them. "The door to the cell isn't far. Do you think you can make it?"
"Yes," he hissed.
"If you can't, I'll distract them."
Tom's eyes widened. Before he could yell, Harry started crawling, leaving him no choice, but to follow.
When they made it into the cell, Harry let out a shaky breath. He stood up, the cloak falling onto the floor and pushed the door closed.
The three creatures that'd been tearing apart Mr. Owen saw him all at once. One of them let out a blood curdling howl. Another creature seemed to appear from nowhere slammed into the door. The metal groaned and Harry took a step back, his vision swimming, and raised Tom's wand. "COLLOPORTUS!" He heard a small click. A second and then a third creature rammed the door, each of them screaming in turn, but it looked like it would hold.
He let out a breath and went to his bottom. "Tom?" He lifted the invisibility cloak. His ex – boyfriend? – was still underneath, but he was unconscious, covered in sweat, and his breathing ragged. "Shite." There had to be a survivor somewhere. There'd been so many healers in this place before they'd left. No one was where they'd left them. He saw a blonde figure was slumped against the wall. "Klaus!" He crawled over to the wizard. "What in the hell happened!?" He shook the wizard, noting how cold he already was. "You're supposed to be getting married soon!" He gave him another hard shake, knowing it was pointless, but not really sure what else to do.
The creatures continued to bombard the door, but Harry knew he needed to focus on making sure they were all okay.
He lifted Klaus' face by his chin. The wizard's face was contorted in pain. This wasn't happening. Had Gale or one of Milan's people come and killed him while using the others to feed those monsters on the other side? The only wound Harry could see was the one on Klaus's arm. When he pushed back the ripped sleeve, he could clearly see a bite mark and what looked to be green ooze coming from it. It was the same bite mark he had.
"Shite." He threw his bookbag down on the floor and pulled out the notebook and pen. 'There's a bunch of rampaging monsters running around just outside the prison cell. I don't know what to do, but everyone's dead. When these things bite, they leave behind a thick green slim and Tom tried to heal it, but it won't stay healed and now Tom's unconscious and I don't know what to do!' He tapped the piece of paper with his wand. IT shot out off the room.
With the letter sent he started going through the healing supplies Remus had packed for them. He found some bandages, gauze, and a water bottle. He poured the water onto Klaus's wound, getting as much of the green ooze out of it as he could before placing gauze on it and wrapping it. That done, he pulled up his pant leg to examine his ankle. "Oh…." Stay calm. He couldn't die until he knew for sure Tom was safe. Until his whole family was safe. He took out another bottle of water and dumped it onto his own wound, a hiss escaping his lips as he did. His ankle throbbed like he'd hit it with a hammer. He placed the gauze as gently as he could onto the bite mark and then wrapped it as well, having to stop from time to time so he wouldn't faint.
Knowing there was nothing else he could do; he crawled back over to Tom and removed the invisibility cloak. He dumped out his bookbag and placed it under Tom's head, then put the cloak over him. "You weren't supposed to come after me," he growled. He pulled Tom's hand into his own and squeezed it. "You're as stupid as I am." Harry thought he saw a slight smile form on Tom's lips and scowled. "That wasn't a compliment!"
(TBC)
