Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
Harry, Hermione and Ron walked down Diagon Alley together, laughing at the latest antics the Weasley twins had gotten up to. Apparently Molly wasn't all that keen on yarn that would turn into limp pasta noodles when you tried to knit with it.
Suddenly black mist formed into the figure of a tall, hooded man in all black. The head lifted, and the flash of a silvery white mask made it clear that he wasn't there for back to school shopping. This man was here for Harry. Before the three of them could react, a scream broke out from someone just down the street and two more figures appeared behind them to prevent their escape.
"Harry Potter. Either come with us or watch your friends and family suffer the consequences." Harry let the blood drain from his face and his hand twitched. "Now, now. No going for that infamous wand of yours." Harry heard Hermione and Ron being grabbed beside him. "Surrender yourself. Or your friends die before your very eyes and these shoppers around us die with them." Taking a brief pause to weigh his options, he glared and grabbed the man's outstretched arm to be apparated elsewhere.
The field he was taken to was in the middle of nowhere. He spotted Tom several yards away and felt Hermione and Ron grab his robes from behind him in fear. Hearing about Tom being good was one thing, but being slammed down in front of Voldemort was a completely different story.
"Ah, yes. My lovely guests have arrived-and right on time as well. Shall we?" He held up his wand and curses started flying. It took every ounce of Harry's concentration to remember that they weren't in any real danger. All of the death eaters in attendance had been informed of the plan and to only throw silent hexes directly at them and to aim more serious curses so they would miss ever so slightly. Tom and Harry went at it full force.
The curses coming from Tom were all nonverbal, but Harry knew that although there were some green spells being sent his way, none of them would kill him. He was sending every jinx and hex he could remember, until he finally landed a rather interesting spell his father had taught him just for the occasion.
Tom fell, eyes wide. He was clearly surprised that Harry had hit him so quickly, and his body landed with a quiet thud.
Everyone stilled, waiting for what would come next. When Tom's chest didn't move after ten seconds, Harry felt panic quickly bubble up in him.
"T-" Hermione slapped a hand over Harry's mouth and apparated the three of them back to Diagon Alley where they were accosted by camera flashes and questions being screamed at them from all angles. Harry, unable to handle the overwhelming panic and sharp emotional pain, felt a torrent of tears cascade down his face.
The noise around him stopped registering in his mind. He wrapped one arm around his stomach and another around his chest to cling onto his own shoulder. Feeling arms wrap around him from behind, he let himself be guided away from the crowd and towards the Leaky Cauldron. He choked on a sob and felt the larger hand on his back give him a few pats before it disappeared. Once he and the other person with him were in muggle London, he fell to his knees and sobbed.
Unable to contain his thoughts any longer, he replayed the scene in his mind over and over. Severus had assured him the spell would make it appear as though the victim was dead for only a few seconds. It was long enough that if you were viewing the memory in a pensieve, the viewer would assume the victim was dead. He had even casted it on Severus, and he had always taken a small breath after five seconds. A small part of him vaguely recognized that he was screaming, but he couldn't hear it. His lungs were uncomfortable with the effort, but he didn't care. Sharp stinging on his side and shoulder told him he was digging his nails into his own skin tightly enough to draw blood. He ignored it and let pain sweep him away.
Ron patted Harry's shoulder when he and Hermione had managed to get to the Leaky Cauldron.
"I'm going back to take care of the press. You get Harry to muggle London, I'll be out to join you soon. A silencing charm may be in order, we don't want attention in muggle London." Hermione nodded and Ron returned to the alley to face the press. He found that the cameras flashing didn't get any less annoying as he talked.
"I can't tell you much, but I can tell you that Harry Potter has defeated Voldemort once and for all!" The crowd went silent and then screams of triumph sounded. "Alright, ALRIGHT ALREADY! Listen, all I'm telling you is that Voldemort is dead. Any remaining death eaters will be rounded up by the ministry. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to St. Mungo's. All questions can be forwarded to your rubbish bins. We'll be releasing the story on our own time, once we've been seen to by medical professionals." He turned and stumbled back to where he knew he could find his two best friends.
Hermione had taken advantage of silencing charms and was softly rubbing Harry's back.
"How is he?"
"Bad. He thinks he killed Tom, it's absolutely destroying him. We need to take him back."
"That wasn't a part of the plan, we were to wait here for Tom to come to Harry," Ron protested. Hermione's eyes flashed and she pointed her finger sternly at the ground next to Harry's other side.
"Come join me on the other side of the silencing barrier I put around him, you dolt." He took a few steps forward and heard Harry wail. It was the sound of pure, unadulterated emotional pain. "Now tell me he doesn't need to go back this instant."
"Give me two minutes. I have to check first. We need to know what to prepare him for."
Hermione remained close to Harry, rubbing his back. Ron had said to give him two minutes, so where was he? It had been at least two and a half minutes.
Ron apparated back to Harry's side and nodded to Hermione before making sure he had a firm grip on them both.
Harry could hear that people were talking around him, but he didn't care. He couldn't make the words out and he didn't want to unfold their meaning anyway. He had killed the man he had been working so hard to save. The man who showed him how to take care of himself. The one he had fallen irrevocably in love with. Had he even told him he had fallen? He couldn't bring himself to try to remember.
He registered that the ground beneath him changed and heard a scream of hopeless pain. It was choked off by another sob and Harry briefly realized that the scream had come from him. Uncaring of what went on around him, he clung to himself tighter.
"-ry. Harry. Harry! HARRY!" He managed to tilt his head towards the voice that was calling his name although the tears didn't stop. "He's okay Harry. You put more strength behind the spell than you meant to. Harry, he's alright. Look up." He didn't have the strength to look up and see whatever cruel joke was being played on him.
He felt shuffling happen around him and suddenly the arms around his back were gone and the sharp acknowledgement of being truly alone hit him. Wanting nothing more than to curl up in on himself and join Tom in death, Harry shivered. A warm hand landed over his own on his shoulder and another one gently touched his cheek to wipe his tears away. Closing his eyes, he let his head be pulled up to be inspected by whomever decided they needed to see his face. The hands pulled away and suddenly he was encased in a warm cloak surrounded by the scent of vanilla, sandalwood and lilacs. The reminder that he would never be able to hug Tom and smell this scent again shoved forward a fresh burst of tears and another wordless cry.
The hands returned and lifted his face up once more. He felt thumbs gently graze the corners of his eyes, a silent plea for him to open them. He didn't want to, but there was very little that could worsen the pain he was in, so he appeased them.
Shock flooded his system in the instant he realized he was looking into blood red eyes.
"I'm okay Harry. You didn't kill me."
"T-Tom? No, it can't be you. You didn't wake up...it was ten seconds, you never took a breath-"
"Hush darling. Hush. Adrenaline spiked your magic, the spell was stronger than the ones you had been doing with Severus to practice with. I'm okay, I'm truly here." Nagini slithered between the two and shoved her snout against Harry's face.
Master Hatchling lives. Now, I believe you two owe me some New Hatchlings.
Nagini, we have discussed this-
Yes. And you, Great Fool, have promised me New Hatchlings once you had accomplished your untrue death. Now, she turned back to Harry. I demand New Hatchlings from you.
Nagini, Tom warned. Lecture us later. We are going home and then you are getting a plump rabbit while I take care of him. Harry took his face away from the snake and kept his eyes trained to Tom, making sure he wouldn't just disappear if he blinked. He vaguely noticed the three of them were apparated somewhere, presumably home, but he still refused to look away from Tom. He was scooped up and carried bridal-style to Tom's room as tears of relief streaked down his face.
"Tom? Is it really you? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No, my Harry. You didn't hurt me a single bit." Harry's feet were placed firmly on the bed and Harry used the momentum to toss Tom back onto the bed.
"Good, because you and I are not leaving this bed until next bloody year."
"Harry, I believe it is time to give the public the story they wish to hear." Harry looked up from his tea and sighed.
"I suppose you're right. Any chance I can get you to come with?" Tom smiled and gave him a gentle kiss.
"Of course, my darling. After all, no one knows who I am. I'll need a proper introduction."
"You're not at all terrified of meeting the Weasley family?" Tom shook his head.
"A rookie mistake, Tom. You should be terrified to meet the lot of them." Severus's deep voice announced him before he had even rounded the corner to the study. "Separately, the red-headed clan can be tolerable at the best of times. Meeting them altogether should be a terrifying experience. You really should be quaking where you stand."
"Just because you don't have any patience, doesn't mean that Tom doesn't have patience as well." Severus raised an eyebrow.
"You think I don't have patience?"
"Harry, now you've done it. He'll exact his revenge so far from now that you won't even remember what he's mad about to begin with. Besides Severus, I've already met two of the Weasley's, one of which isn't faring too well with dear Fenrir. The other I found to be quite the strategist. And Hermione is rather intelligent. I believe you're overreacting Severus. All I have to do is turn on my classic charm and pretend I don't know Ron and Hermione. How hard can that be?"
Harry let himself in through the kitchen door followed closely by Tom. Molly was cleaning up the dishes from lunch and the rest of the house was suspiciously quiet.
"Mrs. Weasley? I hope I'm not interrupting." She jerked and almost dropped the plate she had in her hand as she looked up.
"Good heavens, Harry? I didn't know you were arriving today! Come in, come in-have a seat dear. And Severus, how good to see you-I'm sorry," she pulled up short at Tom. "I don't believe I know who you are."
"This is Tom. He's...well…" A blush started to creep into his skin just before Tom turned on his charm.
"A pleasure to meet you Mrs. Weasley. I'm Tom, Harry's significant other. I've heard nothing but amazing things about your cooking and your skills as a mother. I must thank you for raising such a fine young man." She blushed and smiled at him.
"Molly, if you would. And we're only his adopted family, even though it isn't on paper. I didn't actually raise him."
"An honorary family is still a family, no? I believe he did mention how humble you are with the things you're good at."
Molly blushed. "I'll be happy to whip up something special for dinner tonight if you'll stick around that long. Now Harry," she turned and put both hands on her hips while adopting a stern tone and putting her hands on her hips. "Exactly why am I just now finding out that you have a significant other?"
"I couldn't risk him getting hurt. If the wrong person saw or heard anything…" Relief washed over him when she smiled in understanding.
"Quite alright dear, I understand. I'm assuming you're here for Ron and Hermione?" She walked to the open kitchen window and rang the dinner bell. "Just a moment dear, I'm sure they'll be arriving-" Ron burst through the kitchen door, panting. Hermione was still halfway across the yard.
"I heard the bell, did you make muffins? HARRY!" Ron threw his arms around Harry and pulled him in for a hug, the two of them laughing. "I'm so glad you're back mate! I hope you're ready to be interrogated, I swear that's all Hermione has been doing to me."
"Ronald, what on earth is so important that you go dashing off like that!?" Ron turned to face her and shrugged.
"It's the dinner bell, of course I had to see what was going on. And Harry's here, of course." Harry peeked around Ron and Hermione beamed at him before giving him a bone-crushing hug.
"We've missed you so much, how've you been? Everything alright with you?" Harry nodded.
"Guys, this is Tom. Tom, this is Ron and Hermione. Best friends and surrogate siblings." Tom shook Ron's hand and kissed Hermione's.
"The pleasure is all mine. I'm happy to finally meet you two, Harry's told me of all the adventures you've gotten up to in the past."
"I'm sure he did. He's quite fond of going after madmen," Ron laughed and winked at Harry.
"Nah, just one. I think I'm done with madmen now. I'm only going after this one, he's enough to keep me occupied." They laughed and Hermione brought out some parchment and a quick-quotes quill.
"Now, let's get down to business."