Hello lovely Readers,
Here is the next installment of A Shadowed Life.
O3o Sooo still not much to write to. Not many people asking questions rather than saying the love the story XD I love that too, but I like having comments to answer to if you all have a question or something. Maybe even a small quip I could answer too. X.x I love answering anything said XD
Also not much happens in this chapter. Just some info about a few things, hope you enjoy it. Please tell me if you are confused as well. :3
Raicheda-Gives-Ya-An-Idea: O3o Hmmm we'll see what happened to Harry's dragon side hopefully soon, but until then let's see where everything goes from here. :3
MoonPrincess623: Yet he sure does have to fix what he messed up and to Tom that is many years' worth of damage to be undone.
Fortheloveofb: Hahaha yeah I had already decided a long while ago that the past setting wasn't going to be long. X.x It would take too long to write and drag out the story to much then it already is. To be honest I hadn't planned on making the story this long, but hey XD I love writing it so it's a good plus I guess. Though, I think that's because as I'm writing I get more ideas for the story and well…... I just ran away with it I guess XD lol.
Enjoy!
Things in the story you might want to know.
"Talking/ spells"
'Thinking/ sound affects/ Memories'
-Parseltongue-
.:Spells:.
~Dragon Telepathy~
*Dragon Language*
Chapter Twenty- A Broken Return
Harry stared up into the blue glamoured eyes of his Dark Lord. His whole form trembled in pain and he knew this effect on his body would not vanish any time soon. He was sure getting hit with that curse must have some serious side effects, but considering he had not noticed any he wondered if his dragon kept it from doing some serious harm to him. His body twitched slightly almost like he'd been placed under the .:Cruciatus:. curse. His eyelids drooped exhaustion over coming him which he knew was bound to happen sooner or later. He'd been on the run for quite some time before he was thrust back into his own time unexpectedly once more.
He could barely hear Tom calling his female persona's name, his fingers lightly brushing again his face gently. He was sure he probably looked like crap, with bags under his eyes from the nights of no sleep. Let alone the burning hex's effects on the shoulder area he'd been nailed in by it. He wasn't too sure of the effects the unforgivable coupled with whatever the time turner did last time, but from what he'd heard afterwards when he'd asked about it he was sure it wasn't a good look. He was sure if they saw the days-worth of wounds that Harry sustained between the time Tom had been vanquished and the time he jumped again. That there would be great worry over his well being and there would be too many questions he would be unable to answer.
Harry gritted his teeth after a particularly bad feeling rippled through his body nearly knocking him unconscious in the process. It was at that moment he realized Lucius was also there as well as others, that had gathered amongst them. It didn't help that the minister was making a scene as well the man was beside himself in worry as he called for people to find a medi-witch. He could tell that in Tom's eyes he wanted to get him out of there, but would be a stupid move on his part having still been in his Zane persona. As another ripple of pain shot down his spine he turned into Tom's chest and let his eyes close as he gritted hi teeth. This time however Harry's will could not keep him conscious through the pain and he slipped into darkness.
{A Shadowed Life}
Tom walked through the halls of the ministry looking worn and tired. He was wondering if Harry would ever turn up again. He hoped beyond hope that his time spent there would not equal the exact time spend in the time he came from. He didn't have to fake his weariness in the least, yet he still looked as regal as he claimed to be. Sighing to himself he looked over to Lucius who had been accompanying him before the minister came along and started chatting with them. Lucius had been a part of the rues search party until Harry returned to them.
They had made it to the main area before they exited area when Tom had to shield his eyes from the bright white hot light that engulfed the area suddenly. There were cries of panic and discord as some people quickly moved away from the area affected, while others looked away to keep their eyes from hurting. When the light vanished once more, Tom blinked a few times trying to clear his vision. When it was clear he looked in the direction the light had come from. There on the cool stone floor was none other than Briar Rose. The fiery red locks were disheveled and spread out in almost a flame like halo. He rushed to Harry's side and knelt down next to him calling Harry's female name.
"Rose, come on Rose look at me," He watched as emerald gems looked up at him and his heart sank.
Within those eyes he couldn't see very much. The light that had been there before Harry's absence was gone now. The dull flame he had tried to rekindle with the Malfoy's help had been erased and replaced with a colder feeling. Yet in some way there was still the spark that Harry always seemed to have. Tom cursed and stroked red locks away from Harry's face. He'd screwed up and even though he knew not that this had even happened way back then. How could he correct a mistake that happened so long ago?
Harry's spoken 'I'm Home' made Tom wish to take him away from there and help him heal on his own, "Welcome home Rose… I never gave up hope you would return to us." His voice was thick as he held Harry's hand against his cheek.
Tom wasn't too sure Harry had heard him. His form was drenched in sweat from probably the jump through time. If he recalled correctly he'd looked like this back then too, when he first showed up at Hogwarts. This time however Harry had wounds on him one looked like a burning hex to his shoulder and it was a rather bad one at that. His other wound looked like it was several days old and it was over his eye. He remembered that wound because James Potter… Harry's own father had given it to him. Needless to say the few days of healing at a normal rate rather than by his dragon healing had been reopened because of said time jump. Tom hadn't known a thing about what Harry said to the old fool at the time or much of anything that came forth from Harry's mouth back then. However, now he understood all too clear as to what he'd meant. That fight had broken his little dragon and he knew in a lot of ways it was his fault. He hadn't even let him properly heal before he had thrust him back into battle.
Tom gently stroked the side of his face as the minister stood over them in a panic. Harry's body jolted several times and Tom knew it would be a matter of moments before the pain was too much and the male would succumb to the desire to sleep. When Harry did pass out Tom adjusted his hold on Harry and tucked him against his chest and stood before looking to everyone in the room. Harry's head lulled against his chest before stilling.
"We must move to a more secluded place, to many people around," Tom said and the minister nodded in agreement.
Tom sighed in relief and started to move his precious bundle from the main corridor to the Minister's office. His eye occasionally glancing down, expecting the out cold being in his arms to suddenly disappear, and his relief grew each passing second. When they got to his office and a medi-witch joined them they had the women inspect the sleeping red head. The readings that came back gave the medi-witch worry to cross her visage. She looked to the Minister and then to Tom.
"Is it alright if I remove her robes and shirt? I'm really concerned about her condition," Tom was sure he paled.
After his vanishing period he hadn't known the days that followed after his disappearance and Briar Rose, flight from being hunted. He knew that she had of course taken it upon herself to watch over his death eaters and keep the ranks the best she could on her own, when on the run. However her knew not of anything that might have happened and as the mdi-witch pulled her clothes free he started to see bandages slowly appear. His heart sank… Harry had been running and fighting with whatever wounds he sustained during his run. The medi-witch shooed the men out, knowing she had to see the wounds now and they could not be in the room for that. Tom stepped out reluctantly followed by a pale looking minister.
Tome was watching the closed door silently when the minister spoke up, "I must apologize, Zane… We should have found her sooner. The poor girl… I wonder how she got here though, suddenly appearing in a flash of light like that."
"I'm not sure myself minister," Tom sighed, though he knew perfectly well how this all occurred, or at least partly. He was still in the dark how the killing curse had even caused all of this and he would have to ask Harry eventually.
"I hope you don't mind me questioning her about things that have occurred."
"That is not up to me, but to her… if she is willing to say anything then I will have no issues with it. Keep in mind Minister that she may not be mentally ready to say a thing on it… if ever for that matter."
"I understand, the poor thing has been put through a harsh time in her life."
Tom nodded and they waited the rest of the time in silence. Tom still standing stock still as he watched the door silently and if one were to look upon him, they would be sure to think him some kind of statue. An hour crept on by before the door opened and the medi-witch motioned to them to come into the room. Tom looked to Harry and noted the witch had transformed something into a bed for his little dragon. Harry was dressed in a hospital gown, and the wound that had reopened over his eye was now bandaged, hiding half of his female face. He could also see fresh bandages peeking out from under the medical gown.
"I'm afraid her wounds were badly infected from not getting proper treatment. Whatever she had gone through it is clear someone was intent on causing the most harm possible."
"Why not use potions to help her heal?" The minister asked.
"Considering the extensive damage down it is more reliable to rely on normal healing. In her weakened state, infection, and the possible side-affects to the spell used on her before her appearance it would be too risky to give her the potions."
"What spell was used?" The minister asked.
"That was what is puzzling me the most. Whatever was used had a similar affect as the .:Cruciatus:. curse, the only issue is the spell wasn't used. Whatever was used was supposed to kill her… I believe it might have been the killing curse considering the magical residue left behind. However, something possibly caused the curse to react differently. I'm still unclear as to what that might be, but she is lucky to even be alive," The medi-witch looked over to the sleeping form.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kaloris," The minister said to her and her nodded before looking to Tom.
"Mr. Zane I assume you will be taking her home?" He nodded, "She will need her bandages changed at least a couple time a day until the bleeding ceases."
"Thank you, I will make sure it gets done," Tom said before moving to the edge of the bed, "Is apparition possible in her state?"
"It is possible, but I suggest to, try to do so with great care. Even floo travel would be a bit stressing on her form. However to get her home quickly in such travels would be better for her then normal transportation."
Tom nodded again and gently lifted Harry into his arms. The nurse gently placed Harry's clothing he had worn on Harry's stomach neatly folded. He looked to the minister who nodded and Tom made his way to apparating zone. Upon getting there he left without another word upon reaching the Malfoy house he was set upon by Narcissa who looked on in worry. Lucius had gone home ahead of him at some point to tell Narcissa and everyone else that knew about Harry that he was back. Bellatrix came around the corner swiftly, her wide eyes staring at the person in her Lord's arms. Tom dropped his glamour and looked to the bundle in his arms. To say Harry's Briar Rose form had changed since the first day he'd used it was an understatement. He definitely looked the part of the deadly women from so long ago. Considering not many people had met Rose on her appearance week was probably a good thing, or they would be asking questions about her much older appearance now.
He looked to Bellatrix her fingers were trembling as she reached out to the unconscious person in his arms, "Mighty Phoenix…" She paused and looked to him and he nodded, "Bitty potter was our mighty Phoenix, My Lord?" He nodded again and Bella looked back to Harry as she softly cooed to the unconscious boy.
Tom looked to Narcissa who had her hand over her mouth knowing her mind was putting puzzle pieces together in her head. She was pulling the same memories he'd pulled and most of them were not pleasant in the least and she looked ready to cry, but like a Malfoy she kept them back and out of sight for the time being. Narcissa led him out of the corridor just as Lucius and Draco were coming into the area and they followed silently behind their lord as they walked into Harry's room.
He placed the sleeping figure on the bed and a soft groan left him as his eyes blinked open slowly. Unfocused and pain filled eyes looked up at him once again Tom didn't see the fire he remembered so well in those eyes. Harry was broken and he knew all too well that he was at fault for it even if Harry forgave him for it. Tom simply stroked the side of Harry's face and the other hesitated as though he didn't fully realize he was really back. It was possible all things considered, the poor boy was still in a lot of pain and getting his mind to be sharp was probably very difficult. Eventually he leaned into the hand stroking the side of his face silently. His eyes just simply staring at Tom as the older male looked down at him. His eyes eventually turned away from Tom to look at the others silently watching from a far. His eyes went from the Black lady's to Lucius and then Draco.
"I had resigned myself to never returning…" Harry said softly as he looked back to Tom.
"Your back and safe my little dragon," Tom said to him just as softly.
"I missed this you… the other you… I liked as well, but it wasn't the same… you lost yourself and where you went I could not go," He said to him.
"I apologize, my little dragon," Tom said to him with worry, "I did such cruel things to you."
"There is nothing to apologize for Tom," The familiarity of the name rolled off his tongue effortlessly, "I knew that Tom was not my Tom… that Tom was a time before my Tom came to me. Besides…" He smirked cheekily, "I got even with that Tom in my own way… but I did not do anything that I did not want to do… I did it all on my own accord. There is nothing you did to me that was not my own fault," He sighed.
"No Harry, I did many things to you that weren't justified. I pushed you when you needed to heal and I hurt you when I was mostly angry at another."
Harry only sighed, "Like I said that Tom was not my Tom… so there was nothing to forgive. As someone once said 'It doesn't matter it's in the past.' "
Tom could tell he was not about to win this argument. In Harry's mind he had justified actions taken as a contrast to what he knew was his time and that time. It was a clever way to keep his mind from causing too much harm, but over a prolonged period of time that way of thinking had crumbled and the lines hard blurred when he often broke. In the end he started to wonder just how much damage had been done to Harry's mind. Tom sighed and gently ran his fingers through Harry's red locks of his female persona.
Narcissa spoke up then, "Can I have a look at his physical condition, My Lord?"
Tom looked up and over at her before nodding and she approached cautiously before looking at the exhausted form of Harry, or as she had fondly come to know in her past as Rose and Phoenix. She stroked the side of Harry's face when Tom got up to speak with Lucius for a bit, but he also kept a close eye on Harry from where he stood. Bellatrix having gone to the other side of Harry and laying down next to him with a pout on her lips.
"Hey Bells…Cissa," He paused wondering if it was alright for him to use the nicknames he'd had for them back then.
Narcissa smiled fondly, "It is good to have you back Orion."
Harry laughed softly, "Been way to long since I heard that name associated with me and not your, Uncle Orion."
"I see you improved on your Briar Rose glamour over the past few weeks… I mean years," Narcissa was having difficulty placing a time on Harry's glamour of Briar Rose considering the one he'd had before his disappearance had been younger. This one was the one she remembered those many years ago.
"I had to do to, so I wouldn't draw suspicions to me over the years," He sighed, "I had to erase the younger glamour version of Briar Rose." It was then he reached up with a hand to the eye that was patched. "Oh… I forgot I tuned down my dragon healing…"
"I would ask you not to use the dragon's magical healing Harry," Tom said.
Harry only nodded, "I was found in the ministry wasn't I? It's understandable considering people saw Briar Rose wounded."
"That is true, but I do not want your healing affinity causing you harm because of your current condition. Which, reminds me…" He walked over as Narcissa whispered spells under her breath to look at the medical information on Harry's condition. "Do you know how you were able to time jump?"
Harry shook his head, "I calculated that the killing curse hitting the time-turner I wear had a play in the jump itself, but there was something else involved in it all. It is a very painful experience to time jump. Almost electrifying to say the least or at least that is how…" Harry paused and laughed and Tom looked at him with a tilt to his head questioning him silently, "My elemental affinity… electricity from my dragon caused the concoction between the time-turner and the killing curse to jump me through time."
"I thought your element could not harm you," Tom said puzzled.
"That is true, but when the element was absorbed into the time-turner it was no longer MY element. It had be turned into the time-turners electrical element and thus caused me harm. However, this time was worse because I was already in a weakened state then I was the first time. I found in a weak state my electrical affinity can also cause me harm as a negative reaction to a weak state of body and, or mind… Elements can still hurt me, but only when I can no longer control them. Thus in a weak state I am considered incapable of controlling the element from which stems from my dragon core in which causes me harm."
Tom took in this information, "You have learned a lot about your affinities quiet well over those years."
"I had too… I didn't want to give you too much information," he smirked, "So I had to learn to control it after I accidently shocked you in the halls of Hogwarts."
A sound of laughter made both males look only to see Draco looking away in embarrassment for letting the sound escape him. Harry raised a brow before smirking and shaking his head. Of course the boy would think something like that was funny. Not to mention Harry had gotten away with doing it too. Harry looked back to Tom who was once again staring at him.
"You did keep many secrets, but I understand why you did now," Tom said to him.
"It was hard… I admit that much… to keep things from you like I did, but it was needed."
"I know," Tom said to him, "You know you could have changed the course of history if you had tried too."
Harry sighed, "I thought about it, but… then if I had done so I would have never have come to know you. If I had been thrown back into this time once more…I wouldn't know what I was coming back too," He looked away, "Besides… everything back then was Dumbledore's fault… the manipulative bastard twisted you, pushed you, and lied to you."
Tom could see a dark fire in Harry's eyes as he spoke, "…That might be true, but… I still killed your family."
"No!" anger filled Harry's eyes and he tried to sit up, but Narcissa held him down, "Dumbledore killed them, with the false damn prophecy. He rewrote the damn thing by cursing the seer into repeating the true prophecy with a false one of his design. He made sure that the fake one was said, out in the open and over heard by Snape… The true one was said when no one was around…" Harry growled, "The fake goes as thus, '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…'"
"Then what is the real one," Lucius asked, now speaking up when he'd been quiet the whole time.
"The one with the power to vanquish the light approaches… Born to those who have been twisted with lies, born as the seventh month wanes… and the Dark Lord will come for him as his equal and they will gain power the world knows not… and neither can die at the hand of the other, for neither can be slain by mortal means… The one to vanquish the light approaches, born as the seventh month wanes…"
Tom blinked, "You… where there?"
Harry nodded, "I had every intention of finding out about the prophecy." He smirked, "Being an assassin in your reign of terror gave me the perks of stealth and I used it to my full advantage."
Tom nodded slowly, "You will show me the memory?"
"Yes… I will not hide anything from you, Tom."
"Then I will view it when you are better… and I would like for you to heal mentally as well Harry," He said to him.
Harry looked away and sighed, "Tom I already told you… It wasn't your fault."
"Regardless of fault or not… I still remember the day you lost yourself to the madness that has obviously built within you."
"That madness… isn't your, doing it is my own and brought on by the misgivings caused by Dumbledore," Harry said being stubborn about it.
"You stubborn…" Tom pinched the bridge of his nose, "I will correct what was broken Harry… I swear I will." Tom stood up and left the room after that, to where Harry didn't know but he felt bad for arguing with Tom. Though, he didn't at all believe Tom was the one to blame for his state of mind.
{A Shadowed Life}
Harry sat in his room looking out the window as it rained. For the first time in a long time Harry felt relaxed, now that he was no longer posing as Briar Rose. Harry didn't bother with any glamour's while at Malfoy manner. Tom had place Orion Black on leave to an undisclosed vacation, and Evan spring was with a friend overseas. Sure he still worried about the issue with the media still trying to wretch Draco and himself from Lucius and Narcissa, but one thing was for sure he would fight it if he had too. Sighing he got up from his seat next to the window and walked out of his room and down the hall to no place in particular.
Harry's looks hadn't changed much, though mentally he had aged the many years he'd already lived. One thing that had changed was the fact that Harry's hair was now longer, which he knew Narcissa liked that fact. The only issue he had was that he often accidently sat on it. So it left him to constantly braiding his hair to keep it out of the way from the most part. The other thing that had changed was the look in Harry's eyes. He was sure they had dulled over the years he'd lived, though to others it had only been a couple of weeks. He sighed as another issue came to him… he hadn't heard his dragon in quite some time. No silent growling, no stirring of any kind. Yet as he stared down at his long fingernails like black obsidian, he knew that the dragon was still there somewhere. He clenched his hand into a fist and paused, mid stride. Had it been because he'd taken on an animagus form? No… that couldn't be, his animagus form was feline and his dragon had feline in it. So what was the cause?
Sighing he continued on his way. Tom had been persistent in healing his mind, entirely convinced that the reason Harry couldn't hear his dragon was because of a mental issue. He was also convinced that his mental status was his fault as well, no matter how much Harry argued the fact. Harry knew back then that wasn't his Tom and that Tom back then had never truly ever known him. He was just a prized fighter back then that was lost amongst the favored of the group.
"Harry?" Harry jerked his head up and looked over to see Draco.
"What is it Dray?"
"Are you okay? You seem out of it today."
"I'm fine… just thinking a lot that is all."
"You know you can always talk to me… I know it might not help or anything, but at least you'll have someone who'll listen without rebuking you."
"Thanks Dray, right now… I think I just want to be alone for a bit okay?"
Draco nodded and reluctantly left Harry alone. Harry knew he was worrying people, but unlike before Harry felt more entwined with the Malfoy and Black families more then he'd ever been. He'd known them all from the day they'd been born to the days that followed after the death of the Potters. He knew better than anyone who they were and what they stood for. He was more engrained into their histories then even they possibly realized.
Harry wandered silently and noted at one point Nagini started to follow him silently. He looked back and down at her and she rose up a little to look at him. Nothing need be said, he knew well that Tom had sent her to watch him. Since the day he'd left the room saying he would fix what was broken Harry hadn't seen him very often. The times he did Tom seemed to be more, gentle with him then he started out, though his possessiveness was still quite there. Turning once again he walked silently down the hall allowing Nagini's silent presence to accompany him.
Harry wandered down and out to the garden, swiftly casting his glamour's to hide his dragon features. He removed his robe and transfigured a stone into a target dummy. He started to train on the dummy in a fighting style only unique to him. The movements fluid and smooth as he landed blows on it and without realizing it he had been training like that for hours before he'd had enough. He was breathing slightly heavily as he stared at the dummy that looked about ready to fall apart. He wiped sweat from his brown catching his bangs in the process. It was at that moment he remembered something and turned to Nagini who was curled up on a rock.
-Where is Osiris?-
-He is out hunting, he worried about you so much he was starving himself till master told him to go hunt-
Harry nodded and said nothing else. To Osiris Harry had only been gone a few weeks, but to Harry it was another story. The time he spent in that time had drastically changed who he was emotionally and mentally. He didn't change much physically, mostly because he couldn't really age anymore physically. He had missed his companion and hoped to see him again soon.
Sighing he picked up his cloak and banished the almost destroyed dummy. He turned and started to walk towards the house when he noticed someone outside watching his silently. He wasn't surprised when he saw it was Tom. Only Tom would be able to sneak up on him like that, he was to use to the human Tom from long ago. That Tom wasn't noisy much, but he was easy to detect none the less. This Tom however, was a whole new Tom. He shook his thoughts away it was confusing him to think of Tom in two different ways. He thought it best to not dwell on it now and just move forward without thinking too much on it.
He walked over to Tom slowly and judging by the look on Tom's face he was probably relating to Harry in a similar way that he'd thought of Tom. Tom's face smoothed and seemed to become thoughtful.
"What's wrong Tom?" Harry asked as he approached him.
"I want to know what your plans are from here."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Do you plan on still going through with all you started?"
"You are meaning Orion and Evan aren't you?"
He nodded slightly, "As well as Mrs. Rose."
Harry looked down and away, "I haven't thought about it. My acting skills have improved since back then. It won't be hard for me to fake being Orion or Evan anymore. Rose is no issue unless Dumbledore is involved."
Tom sighed, "What about you yourself?"
Harry blinked, "Huh? Me? What about me?"
"Harry… you know you aren't you anymore."
Harry sighed, "I know that, what do you, expect? I was thrown into the past, a past I knew nothing about or anyone other than you and the few people I knew later on. That Tom didn't know me though, so I was truly alone. I did what I had to and pushed myself to my limits and beyond. I constantly threw myself in danger for you and I will continue to do so. I don't care if that Tom hurt me… he was angry, deranged, and not in control of himself."
He looked to Tom who had surprise in his eyes, "Why?"
"Why would I? Because I never had a choice before and when I did I followed what my heart told me to do. Dumbledore polluted me and manipulated me with 'his' Ideals. You on the other hand all you ever did was fall for his lies and tricks as he sucked you into a darker pit that he wanted you to fall into. You never used me… I didn't let you because I willingly followed your orders on my own. No one was forcing me and when you pissed me off I got even in my own way remember? Even after you and the Malfoys' saved me from my despair in this time I never did anything that wasn't my own choice. You didn't break me Tom, the person who had broken me was none other the Albus Dumbledore. The exact same man, that broke you and destroyed you and I plan to make him suffer as much as you plan on doing so. He was the one who ruined my life and sent you after me over a fake prophecy he dredged up-"
"Which you have yet to show me the memory of-" Harry glared and Tom smirked and waved his hand in dismissal, "I apologize… continue."
Harry sighed but continued, "He was the one who used me as a weapon against you in the years before you found me. He lied to me about the shield around my summer home protecting me. He allowed the Dursley's to have their 'fun' with me. He allowed years of abuse on many levels to occur without lifting a damn finger to stop it. He forced friendships on me that were never truly there by lying to other people. He was also the very same person who kidnapped me and sold me off to a dragon tamer and not telling anyone who the dragon was regardless on the fact I was disguised as Evan Spring. He intentionally attacked me at that place and even though it might not have been intended he was the one who hurled me into the past. Even there he made my life a living hell, thinking I was part of that other sore excuse for a Dark Lords army. On top of that he was the one who hunted me down and planned on killing me before I was suddenly hurled back into this time. So if anyone broke me it was him. Nothing you can do will fix me you can't fix that which is broken because it can never be the same thing twice."
Tom was stunned, it was obvious that Harry had thought about this since their encounter that day he'd come back. Ever since then Tom had been thinking of a way to help mend him. Well it seemed as though that mending wasn't going to happen if Harry wasn't going to allow it too. He shifted and glanced to Nagini who was curled at their feet silently listening to their conversation. The tension in the air coming from Harry had her on edge as she sat coiled tightly.
"Then explain to me this…. On the night of the raid when you and your father were fighting, what exactly made you like that?"
Harry paused and sighed, "It was my own doing. I let my anger take over, years of suppressed rage that I refused to acknowledge took me over. I wanted revenge… I wanted blood to spill in white hot rivulets everywhere. I want to give pain to something or someone, to let them understand the hurt I had buried within me. I simply went too far and snapped when I saw the blood run from that man's body. It was like I was on auto-pilot and even though I knew I should have been horrified I felt extremely happy about it all."
Tom listened to him silently, 'Oh, Harry…'
"I wanted more to spill and at the same time I wanted to hurt the same man that hurt me, but that's when it all unraveled. I had no more control and I just broke…it's as simple as that."
"Still I should not have shoved you into the next thing that happened… you hadn't recovered fro-"
"Stop! I told you I did what I did because I wanted too. Even then when I knew how hollow I felt… how disturbingly calm I felt… I still wanted to do what you asked of me on my own free will and so I did so without another word on the subject even when Narcissa was trying to say or think otherwise."
To say Tom was shocked was an understatement. Harry was no longer the child he'd been watching over after the Malfoys' had found him. Harry was much darker now, and with reasoning skills that were literally making the boys mind cunning in keeping his mend set what it was. He had to admit though, Harry had a valid point and he really couldn't argue it. If Harry hadn't wanted to back then, then he was sure the human him back then would never have been able to stand against him.
Tom sighed, "Very well then… what do you plan to do from here on out Harry?"
Harry looked him straight in the eye, "I plan to carry on in all of my current assignments as Orion and Evan. If Rose is needed then so be it, I have spent over thirty years as her I am not shy about the form anymore, but I won't use it unless it is truly needed. Phoenix is of the past and should stay as such regardless on my true intentions of making her in the first place. I plan to do what I can for your plans and in the end… I plan to rip Dumbledore limb from limb and watch as he scream in pain and make him watch his plans fall apart and crumble to the four winds."
Tom watched as Harry's smirk turned to a full blown dark grin as he thought of what he would do to the miserable old fool. To be honest Tom seemed to like the dark smile on the male's face. Harry was staying true to himself and not letting anything control his own decisions. It was during this thought however that he watched the grin turn into a frown.
"But first, that meddlesome reporter will have to disappear. She has ruined the carefully constructed plan we made for Evan. I do not plan to let that plan waist because she wants to rip my family apart," He hissed.
"Family?"
"The Malfoy's and Black's are my family Tom… and no one messes with them without my say so," Harry tilted his head at him in silence.
Tom only chuckled, "This coming from the boy who could have changed the past and yet did not?"
Harry looked away, "I knew my place. Changing the past wouldn't change what I already knew had happened. My memories would not change if I did change the past, I would only cause an alternate time line to appear creating two realities. In truth I had already created it as a fixed point in time, just by my mere presence there."
Tom was curious, "How do you know this?" Harry's hand came up to the time turner still around his next, though it seemed modified from original ones now.
"To be honest I delved into the meanings of time and read into everything about it. I discovered most of it on my own however just tinkering with the time turned," He looked over to Tom, "It seems the magical properties in the time turner mixed with the destructive killing curse and my highly electrical capabilities is what made large jumps through time possible. I never dared to use that curse on myself… however I didn't need too. Considering Dumbledore did it for me twice. Both times my electrical affinity reflexively discharged, possibly and a defensive mechanism."
"Interesting, you must teach me of what you learned." Tom said thoughtfully.
"It would be better to show you," He lifted the time turner. "After my last jump back to here I have been tinkering more often with it. Thus, the change in looks and this time I hope what I did is strong enough to not accidently throw me back in time….or worse forward in time."
Tom gave a half smirk to Harry who returned it. Harry may have been broken, but in a way that broken part of him seemed to only make the other male stronger. Harry had a broken return and all that was left was to put what happened behind them and move forth to the plans ahead.
Next Chapter- Serpents Return
Nya... yeah I know...this chapter is kinda meh, but it was intended that way XD This is what I like to call a cool down chapter after the chaos and mayhem from before. This also explains a few things so I hoped it help with anything anyone had a question too :3
Well everyone that is it for this chapter. Looking forward to your R&R's. See you all soon!