Title: Crystal
Rating: PG-13/R
Genre: Romance/Angst/Humor
Summary: AU; "He's as… fragile as crystal…" To wear matching rings is believed to be the ultimate expression of love… complete detail inside
Pairing(s): Harry/Tom R.
Warnings: AU Yaoi, slash, Boy/Boy
Disclaimer: Don't own fandom. Concept behind story doesn't belong to me either. Story itself does. So does Moorinto… and various cameo characters. So don't sue me or have me erased because I'm not going to lose my very first-ever paycheck to people who don't know how to read a disclaimer.

Summary: The ultimate expression of love… In the small town of Moorinto, it is believed the ultimate expression of love is to wear a matching ring with the one you love. It could also be the deepest sign of friendship, depending on which finger you wear it on. When the semi-loner Harry Potter suddenly finds his matching ring with the person he least expects, it's an up and down coaster ride to discovering if this person could be his worst enemy… or his greatest love.

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AN: Here it is! The last chapter. I was planning on not putting up an epilogue because I couldn't find my original version. It wouldn't have fit with the ending, anyway, but I decided to tie up a few loose ends. It's written and will be up shortly.

At any rate, the AWT seems to be coming along slowly but surely. If you are interested in reading that at all, I will be posting updates of its progress on my blog, the link to which you can find on my profile as well as in I Am Not Allowed To…. For further information, see the notice I put on my forum under Subject Heading: Alter World Trilogy.

Please enjoy Chapter 16, affectionately nicknamed Chapter 15.2.

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Harry woke up early the next morning and cooked breakfast for his family while waiting for Remus to finish getting ready for work. Harry was already eating when Remus joined him at the table, his tie hanging undone over his shoulders.

"Good morning, loveling," Remus said cheerfully, taking his usual seat and dishing out a portion of the meal.

"Morning, Uncle Remus," Harry responded, smiling softly. "Sirius is sleeping in?"

"Yes, the lazy clout." Remus's tone was filled with affection and amusement. Harry laughed.

"Poor Robert. Sirius is taking advantage of him." Robert was Sirius's partner at the firm, who opened twice a week.

"He knew what he was getting into." Remus grinned. "Hurry and finish your breakfast, we need to be at the hospital within half an hour."

Harry took one more bite and proclaimed himself finished. He cleaned his plate and left the rest of the meal in the oven as he waited for Remus to finish. While Remus was putting his own dishes in the sink, Harry wrote a note to his sister and godfather to let them know where their breakfast was, then grabbed his coat and followed Remus out the door.

The hospital was as busy as Harry expected it to be and more. Before they were more than two steps inside the door, Remus was descended upon by no less than three nurses and his aide, all clamoring for his attention.

"Dr. Lupin, Mrs. Johan of Room 313 has signed the procedure form, all I need is your signature to prep her for surgery, which is scheduled for three o'clock this afternoon…."

"Remus, dear, will you please convince Mr. Orenburg that if he doesn't take his medication his condition will only get worse, he refuses to listen until you talk to him, we've all tried, it's positively hopeless…."

"Doctor, the family of Miss Elizabeth is here to ask you a few questions about the operation, they just need a few minutes of your time…."

"Mr. Lupin, - Doctor, sorry – I need you to fill out the requisite forms for the Johnson case, his family's getting uppity, I mean anxious, and if it doesn't get done by today, Mr. Markotti – Dr. Markotti, I mean, sorry – is going to get after you again, we all know how he is – not that I mean anything by that, of course, but…."

Remus sent Harry an apologetic wince as he was carted away and mouthed, 'Meet me at my office,' just before disappearing around the corner. Harry shook his head amusedly and ambled his way down the opposite hallway. He garnered several strange looks from staff members who didn't know him. It was expected; after all, he was in a 'restricted' area, meant only for hospital workers. No one tried to stop him, however, which was a relief. He wasn't much in the mood for explaining his presence in a place where the public wasn't allowed to be. Those who did know him, however, waved to him cheerfully as they passed, to which he offered a small smile in return.

Remus's office was exactly as he remembered it to be; neat and tidy, with a few photos of his family on the wall, one on the desk, and his degrees displayed proudly behind his seat. Harry amused himself with a few medical journals from Remus's bookshelf while he waited. As it was, it over an hour before Remus returned.

"I'm sorry, Harry, that took longer than I expected," he said, offering a smile and a shrug as he took his seat.

"It's not a problem, Uncle Remus. I know you have responsibilities," Harry murmured, not once looking up from the journal.

"What are you reading?"

"About the field of pediatrics and childhood lymphoma. It's really interesting." Remus smiled.

"So you're interested in pediatrics?" Harry looked up and smiled softly.

"Yeah. I was thinking that I'll either go into pediatrics or neonatology."

"Those are very good fields to be in," Remus said, looking proud. "I think you'd make a wonderful pediatrician."

"You think so?" Harry bit his lip nervously.

"I know so. You're great with children, and I think you would really enjoy working in the children's ward." Harry turned pink and went back to his reading. Remus moved onto his paperwork to allow him his reading time. He left twenty minutes later to scrub up for his nine o'clock surgery; he wasn't able to give Harry a return time, however he left him some money to get lunch in case he didn't make it back in time. With a wish of good luck, Harry watched him leave and then returned to his reading.

When Remus still hadn't returned two and a half hours later, Harry left for the cafeteria to get a snack. He brought his journal with him, and had to sidestep several times to avoid plowing into other people, he was so involved with it. After the fifth time of that happenstance, he marked his place and closed the book. It was a good thing he did, or he would have missed what he heard next.

The following incident would be what he would consider several years down the line to be the third most significant thing to ever happen to him in his lifetime. (The first being his move to Moorinto following the death of his parents, and his second being his fateful meeting with Tom Riddle.) It was by pure chance that he happened to overhear the conversation just down the hall he was passing, and by his own curiosity that he stayed to listen. He would be very glad he did, and all it took to make him stay were four words.

"Mr. and Mrs. Riddle?" Harry stopped dead in his tracks, turning his head very slowly to look down the hall.

Harry could see the backs of two people, a tall man with very dark hair, and slightly shorter woman with the most beautiful long blond hair he had ever seen. They were holding hands, and from the turned face of the woman, he could see that her eyes were red from tears, and her cheeks pale. She was clutching her husband's hand as though it were a lifeline, and her eyes were closed, refusing to look at the doctor before her. Next to the pair was the beautiful woman Harry remembered from the park, Pansy, and her eyes were filled with sadness. And several feet from where they were standing he could see Tom, sitting upon a bench outside of a reception room, looking gaunt and more withdrawn than Harry had ever seen him before.

The doctor before them, whom Harry didn't recognize, had a look that remained sympathetic yet distant; a common look upon doctors who had been so for a very long time and whose work had begun to become a job, and not a career. Harry kept close to the wall, just out of sight yet close enough to be able to overhear their conversation.

"You made a good choice bringing him here today," the doctor was saying. "Your son is suffering from a severe depression, causing a dietary suppression which is the cause of his current fasting. He's beginning to show signs of malnourishment, although not too intense, which is a good sign. However, if he isn't eating within the next few days, I'm afraid he will have to be put on a dietary supplement to help him gain back the weight he's lost."

Mrs. Riddle sniffled; her husband placed his free hand on her shoulder, as did Pansy, who was staring resolutely at the floor.

"I would like to refrain from prescribing an anti-depressant, at least until we figure out the underlying cause of his current state," the doctor continued, flipping through the papers on her chart. "I would like to suggest the psychiatrists here at the hospital. Their service is free of charge with a doctor's notice, and it may serve to help against the need for a prescription."

"I know why he's depressed, Doctor, no offence," said Pansy, looking up from the floor. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Mrs. Malfoy?" said the doctor, looking subtly annoyed at being interrupted. The apparent Mrs. Pansy Malfoy pursed her lips.

"I'm a jeweler, you see. A few months ago, my cousin came to me with a request to make an exact replica of a ring owned by the person he loves. If I'm to understand correctly, which I am," she said pointedly, with narrowed eyes, "this person he's in love with recently rejected him. He's heartbroken."

Harry stopped breathing. His heart pounded loudly in his ears, so much so that he feared the small group could hear it from their distance. The ongoing conversation was tuned out completely as his thoughts revolved around in his head

She's his cousin. She's his cousin, not his beau. An exact replica of the ring owned by the person he loves…. He… loves me? And I… I rejected him… and now he's sick. It's all my fault!

"..om? Where are you going? Tom!" Harry tuned in, glancing around the corner just in time to see that Tom had stood up and was exiting the hospital through the doors at the end of the hall.

Harry breathed heavily, the journal now feeling like a hundred pounds within his numb fingers. Hurriedly, he shoved the book into the arms of a startled aide, quickly telling her to bring it to Dr. Lupin's office, before tearing down the hall toward the same doors. He ran past the startled group, the doctor making a startled protest after him.

Harry was deaf to it all. All he could think about was Tom, that he had to find him and make it all better. To do it now, before it slipped from his fingers forever. He darted through the doors, almost unable to avoid a collision with a man on a pair of crutches who was making his way in, running too fast to apologize. He looked around feverously once outside, hoping that Tom hadn't gotten too far away. He had to find him, even if he didn't know what he was going to do when he did.

Luck was with him. Tom was halfway down the walk towards the lot when Harry spotted him. Harry broke once more into a run in an effort to catch up to him.

"Tom!" he cried out, dodging the others on the walkway. Tom stopped mid-step and turned around slowly. Harry stopped as well, not more than five feet away.

Tom look startled, his eyes dull and dark as he took in Harry's heaving form, his face flushed pink from his sprint. They stood there for several moments in silence, looking at each other as though only they existed in the world. Around them, the people and noise faded away.

"I am so, so, sorry," Harry whispered. His eyes glistened with unshed tears as he spoke. Tom watched him silently. "You were right. About everything. After my parents died, it hurt so much. I closed myself off to the world. I never wanted to feel that pain again, and I thought that perhaps if I didn't care, then it wouldn't hurt anymore. But it never went away, and my heart just kept closing and closing, locking everything inside a brick wall. And then I met you, and I kept running into you, everywhere. You were in my thoughts at every moment, and you just kept chipping and chipping away at it, and I was afraid…. I was afraid of what would happen if that wall fell, the wall I had spend so much time building. I was scared I would get hurt again." A crystalline tear rolled down his cheek, but he didn't notice. Something sparked behind the dullness of Tom's eyes.

"I lied to you. And I'm so sorry I lied, because it hurt both of us, and I didn't mean it to. I do want to know you, and I want you to know me. I want to know you for who you really are so much." Harry choked, unable to continue.

For nearly a full minute, they both stood silently again, staring at one another. And then, slowly, Tom held his arms open, and that was all Harry needed before he had buried his head in Tom's neck, his arms wrapped around the taller boy's waist, whispering his apology over and over. Tom's arms held him tightly in place, his chin resting atop Harry's head.

After several minutes, when's Harry's apologies went silent and the neck of Tom's shirt was tamp from his tears, Tom loosened his hold just enough to bring a hand to Harry's chin, lifting it for their eyes to meet. His other hand pressed something small and round into Harry's palm, and when Harry looked down, he saw Tom's silver and gold ring. It was then that he noticed that his own beaten and battered ring was sitting comfortably upon Tom's left ring finger.

"Never do that again," Tom commanded sternly. Before Harry could reply, their lips had met in a sound kiss that made them both forget anything else they were going to say.

They were quite content to stay that way for a while.