"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
Friedrich Nietzsche
Harry woke to a pulse.
Rage. Anger. The smallest trace of terror.
He gasped, slapping a hand to his forehead as another wave of fury threatened to overwhelm him. He'd kept the link open the last few weeks, trusting Tom not to hurt him, but this..
'Tom?'
Harry received no answer, instead picking up AvadaKedavraAvadaKedavraAvadaKedavraAvadaKedavra in mindless repetition, filtered through a dark growl that frightened him as much as it confused him. Another, more familiar voice called so thinly Harry could barely hear it…Nonononononononono…
Before he even realized what he was doing Harry leapt from the bed, disregarding his sweat-filmed body and Letalis' disturbed hiss. Every shard of his intuition was screaming at him to move, to get to Tom before he did something irreparable. In a last ditch effort before he Flicked, his magic surged to lengthen his hair, trying to prevent recognition.
Everything was wrong, wrong, wrong.
The sound of a hundred hearts clashed with erratic breathing in his ears. The heavy scent of terror overlaid the death that glowed suffocating at the end of Tom's wand. Harry had no time to think, only react.
In one swift movement he grabbed Tom's arm, jerking the wand out of his hand and sending it away. Then he shoved, sending Tom to the floor with a crash that reverberated through the hall. Harry met his love's eyes for a single moment - full of anger and the glint of insanity that he was growing so increasingly familiar with.
He jerked Tom's arms above his head, using his vampiric strength to overpower someone for the first time and keep his love held down. It took mere seconds for all of it to happen, and when Harry felt sure that Tom was secure he looked up at the Death Eaters. They'd frozen, especially the one whom Tom had been about to kill. If they remained here, immobile as they were, Harry would never be able to calm the dark lord down.
As he glared at them all, Harry could've sworn he heard the gasp of a female voice, "Aspen…Noir?" All thoughts ground to a halt as he zeroed in on the short woman who uttered his name. But there was no time for this - he had to get them out of here.
"Leave!" Harry nearly snarled at the Death Eaters. His voice held a surprising amount of command for one in such a desperate position. Harry nearly slumped in relief as they fled without hesitation, self-preservation being their most basic instinct.
Tom hissed and struggled underneath his captor, cursing vehementally, -I will kill them! Failuresss, all of them…-
"Tom!" Harry called, frantic to bring an ounce of recognition to the eyes of his love even as he pressed the man harder to the floor. Tom didn't react, his red eyes darting to look anywhere but Harry and his lips curling as he spewed obscenities. Harry had no idea what to do; he'd never dealt with anything like the before. Desperately, recklessly, the vampire sat on the man's stomach a pressed a hasty kiss to Tom's serpentine mouth.
Instantly the man became inert, all words grinding to a halt but not returning the kiss. The instant Harry pulled away Tom's entire body went limp. Glassy crimson eyes blinked and cleared. Hesitantly, Harry eased his grip on the other's arms, waiting for his heart to start again.
"Tom." This time when he spoke Tom's eyes snapped to meet Harry's, hairless brows drawing together in what Harry suddenly realized was pain.
-Aspen…- Tom answered after what seemed an eternity. The vampire could have sobbed in relief, choosing instead to press their mouths together again as he poured his emotions through the link in their minds. Tom reciprocated this time, neither noticing that Harry was still pinning Tom's arms to the ground. The Dark Lord sent torrential emotions back - the lingering residue of his fit of anger, his rising fear at the growing madness inside of him, and his uncontrollable urge to hold Harry close and never let him go, not when the lunacy could strike again at any minute.
One hand trailed down Tom's chest, questioning without words.
'The Horcruxes…so long without my soul complete is driving me to madness. I fear that it will soon consume me. I need the ritual - I was too blind to see before,' Tom's mental voice lay heavy on his mind, sinking into the cracks even as heat built in their kiss. Tom's hands slipped under his fingers, wrapping around Harry's waist and tugging him down so he was no longer sitting but suddenly laying on Tom's chest.
'Aspen…Harry…'
Harry jerked at the last word… Tom never addressed him by his birth name…Whether it was a product of their years as enemies or simply familiarity with his chosen name, he hadn't heard Tom call him Harry since the Department of Mysteries. It was strange but not unwelcome. "Tom?"
Through the link Harry caught the flash of a serpent's head, spouting painful words more poisonous than any venom, -He will leave you forever…-
"Don't leave me, Assspen."
Harry breath caught in his throat, but his shock was quickly wiped away. He lay with the broken man on the cold stone floor, breathing in Tom's hurt and kissing his neck with a faint graze of his teeth.
"Never, Tom."
"Amycus."
Hearing his name, Amycus looked up at the hunched form of his twin sister as she pulled off her bone white mask. Black beady eyes stared at him from her round face, and Amycus could already see her rusty Ravenclaw intelligence going to work.
"Amycus, tell me I wasn't hallucinating and that man was who I thought he was."
Stripping off the black robes as well, Amycus set them aside on the couch. Alecto shifted impatiently as he pondered a response.
"There's no way you can't have recognized him - his face is unmistakable! Why was he there?! How-" she was cut off as a flash of heat ripped through their Marks. Both froze, waiting. But there was no follow-up.
"Calm down, Alecto. It's not a summons..." Amycus wondered just how many Death Eaters would be brave enough to go back there with their lord in such a mood; especially after what had nearly been done to him. The Slytherin's thoughts were interrupted when Alecto threw her stumpy arms around him, squeezing him tightly.
"He saved us again," she whispered, her voice tinged with no small amount of awe, "Merlin, Amycus, we owe him a double life-debt now!" Still shell-shocked, Amycus nodded numbly.
Aspen Noir was an unforgettable character, especially when he'd saved your life as a small child. Noir was infamous in the Carrow's time at Hogwarts for being the only person to get close to Tom Riddle; the only person Riddle let close to him. It was especially easy to remember Noir when he'd saved their lives - defenseless First Years in the face of Grindelwald's followers - and then they'd seen him die, struck down to inexplicable ash by the Killing Curse.
Perhaps the reason they'd followed the Dark Lord all these years was because they understood him. Tom Riddle had lost his life that day as well, and Alecto and Amycus were unable to keep their unanticipated savior from his doom. The young children instead turned their attention to Tom Riddle, determined to repay their debt the best way they knew how.
Alecto had let go of him by then, busily magicking numerous books from the shelves that filled their small house. Once the space had been shared with Amycus' wife, but she'd died in the dragon pox epidemic thirty years ago.
"How is he here? How is this possible? We both saw him die…that was so long ago. Why hasn't he aged? Noir looks exactly the same!" papers and books flurried about her as she rifled through them. While a weak spell caster, Alecto was excellent at any sort of research. It annoyed Amycus, however, since she had the tendency to ramble her thoughts out loud. "It isn't possible for a Killing Curse to send someone through time, only for it to kill. Could it have been anything but an Avada Kedavra? No, no, that can't be… there's no other spell that color…"
Finally pulling himself together enough to form coherent thoughts, Amycus finally drawled, "The big thing is that he's here, eh? We're bludgeoning well alive, and Noir's to thank for it."
That gave Alecto pause as they both measured the ramifications. Life-debts were still to be paid...
"Garn, I'm still bloody glad he got there in time!
All things considered, that had been a rather…interesting first experience of a Death Eater meeting, Remus thought as he ran through the dense forest alongside the rest of his pack. They were on their way back to the sheltered alcove that the resourceful werewolves had turned into a thriving village set deep in the forest, away from the stunted view of wizard kind.
The meeting had started out rather mundane, with reports from masked figures on the state of the Ministry, on recruits, on alliances. Other than Voldemort's overuse of the Cruciatus, there was very little to note. It was more annoying to Remus than anything, seeing how utterly inept the Death Eaters appeared to be. Was this what he had signed up for?
He supposed that it hadn't lasted very long, but every moment that had gone by had only served to agitate him more and cause Moony to stir beneath the surface. The scent of pain had increased with every passing minute, testing Remus' already shot sense of control. The weeks spent with Fenrir and his pack had stretched him thin, and the overdose of extreme emotions was calling his feral side to the fore.
The fear had reached a crescendo as it had happened; the scent of bitter decay nearly overwhelming him. He had never smelt anything like it, not even remotely. Suddenly, the room had been saturated in the stench of death, and Remus had caught sight of the glowing green tip of Voldemort's wand.
Avada Kedavra. Remus was a learned man, having traveled Europe in his pursuits as he had tried to drown the pain of the loss of all his friends. And of course he knew the Unforgivables, from the reaction of the body to the curse, to its color, to the mechanics of its casting. But theoretical knowledge was very different from actually witnessing the most feared curse in existence.
Had the situation been any different, Remus was sure he would have retched. Had his sense of self preservation been any less, he would have leapt at Voldemort in hopes of stopping the vile curse, saving them all from the disgusting manifestation of repugnancy!
Then a new scent that appeared had pierced the tense atmosphere, a recently familiar aura of power washing over his senses. By the jolt of shock that had gone through the nearly panicking Death Eaters, he was sure the feeling had been strong enough for even the humans to feel, whether they recognized it for what it was or not. Suddenly Harry was there, taking control of the situation with a frightening deific presence, ordering the room empty as he had pinned the most powerful Dark Lord in five centuries beneath him, effectively stopping the vile curse and clearing the air. Just thinking of it sent chills down Remus' spine and made rage curdle in his stomach.
What in Merlin's name had Harry been thinking, throwing caution to the wind and trying to forcibly restrain Voldemort of all people? Had Remus been wrong in thinking that Harry had grown past the need to be supervised? Because, honestly, who was that stupid? Remus seethed and Moony's protective instincts wrapped around him, fuelling his anger. He had given the young vampire the benefit of the doubt in his relationship with Voldemort, but was Harry actually safe with that… that… madman?
But he had to remind himself Harry wasn't under his guardianship and never had been. As much as he wanted to shake his cub and ask just what the hell was going through his head, Remus had to remember these were Harry's choices. Besides, Harry was too much like Lily, determined to get his own way.
Remus breathed out heavily as a howl alerted them that those in the front had reached Måneshire, and suddenly the tension was easing from his veins. He had come to regard the lean-to village as a haven in the last weeks, and its setting seemed to exude calmness, for him and for the other werewolves. Already he could feel the angry emotions dwindling, and clothes were falling away even before the buildings were in sight as the werewolves stripped off the garb they wore to prevent offence to the wizards. Remus had learned very quickly that the werewolves of this community cared little about modesty in such a sanctuary as this.
Fenrir lagged until he was beside Remus and flashed him a grin, chuckling amusedly. "Lost in thought again, cub?"
Remus blushed for no discernable reason, cursing himself for the weakness, "Just thinking about our new Lord."
"Ah…" Fenrir leaned toward him without breaking his stride and pinched his buttocks. Remus yelped, tripping over his own feet and Fenrir laughed, speeding up. "You worry too much, Remus. Let yourself relax once in a while, won't you?"
Remus scowled, but couldn't deny the blush that still burnt his cheeks or the foreign trembling of his heart. Contemplations on Voldemort faded away with a last thought that Harry had better know what he was doing.
Harry felt an uncomfortable stirring in his stomach, one that wasn't entirely his hunger for blood. No matter how he suppressed it, he couldn't fight the guilt he felt at leaving Tom all alone back in the manor. When they'd finally moved from the hall Tom seemed to lose all strength in his limbs. Harry'd had to carry him, laying his partner down on his bed and wishing beyond all hope that he had access to a time turner…Harry hadn't wanted to leave; Tom was more important than school would ever be, but the dark lord still convinced him, coercing Harry with the fact that Dumbledore was suspicious enough without Harry missing another day of school. Harry barely restrained himself from cracking Tom's ribs as he clung to him, reluctant to let him go. Only the man's promise to remain abed all day soothed his nerves the slightest amount.
Harry growled as he swept down the hall, his hunger only increasing his irritation. In light of recent events he kept putting off taking his blood potion, too busy with other things to even attend to the thought of it. Now his carelessness was taking its toll - Harry still had two more excruciating hours of Defense before he could return to the dorms and find time to drink in peace.
Snape droned on, his low, captivating voice nearly lulling Harry to sleep despite his whirling emotions and the throbbing need to drink. Harry let the monotone wash over him in an attempt to calm down, barely hearing a word Snape said.
Why in the hell was he still here? What was the point anymore? With Ron safely in Tom's manor, Harry's reasons for staying at Hogwarts were narrowed to none. Only Tom's insistence that it would be too much of a disruption for him to pull out now kept him here. It was agitating, Harry thought, hand moving to disrupt his short hair. Yes, the sudden defection of the Boy-Who-Lived would set the Wizarding world on edge. Yes, that would put a very large rift in Tom's plans to take over the ministry. He understood that. It was ideal that the ministry stayed as ill-informed and incompetent as it was now for the takeover to go smoothly. He supposed Tom had a point, really, but he hated that it chained him to this damned place.
"Potter, you would do well to pay attention. Perhaps your dubious celebrity was enough to get the marks in past years, but I fear it will not be enough this time."
Harry raised an eyebrow at the interruption of his thoughts, eyes darting to the sneering Professor. He barely resisted rolling his eyes at the man, exasperated to have his quiet contemplation interrupted. He gritted his teeth and lowered his eyes apologetically. "Sorry, sir."
Peering through his lashes, he barely caught the flash of indignation cross Snape's face. Apparently, he didn't like Harry backing down. "Why don't you tell the class about what you would do if you encountered a Lethifold? That is, if it hadn't already eaten you."
Harry smiled thinly, "Well, sir, I am quite sure that won't be a problem. I don't like the heat, so I'm highly unlikely to encounter one. Really, should you be worrying about this, either? I don't see you as the sunbathing type. Merlin help us all if you were."
Snape was trembling in fury now, and Harry let the vindictive pleasure coarse through him. That had felt good. "Get out, Potter!"
"Gladly."
Harry rose and made his way to the door, feeling quite a bit better than he had a minute or two ago. In the last row, he caught guarded silver eyes that narrowed dangerously, and Draco stood as well. "Professor? I need to use the restroom."
Snape gave a searching look to Draco and apparently liked what he saw. He nodded before a small smirk twitched on his lips. "Hurry back, Mr. Malfoy."
"Of course, sir."
Harry felt Draco following him and sped up his steps, really not wanting to deal with this right now.
"Potter! Slow down!"
Harry did no such thing, but chanced a glance over his shoulder. "This is a very bad time, Malfoy."
"I don't give a niffler's arse what you want, Potter! You've been avoiding me again!"
Harry sighed in agitation and spun on his heel, almost causing Draco to run headlong into him. Harry cast an obscure version of the Muffliato spell, considered Dark simply because of the consequences to anyone trying to listen in. Draco startled as it surrounded them, staring at Harry with wide eyes. Harry simply stared back at the blond. "Well? Say whatever you have to say and be done with it. I don't have time for you."
Draco's mulish expression faded to one of irritated superiority. "What has been up your arse these last few weeks? First you tell me that you're allied with the Dark Lord, then you totally avoid me. Again."
"I've been busy," Harry frowned and looked away. "The loss of my friend…"
"Oh, don't start on that. If you're really Dark, he wouldn't have been killed. Next excuse, Potter?"
Anger built up in Harry's chest, and he sneered venomously. "Didn't I tell you that you were on your own? My obligations to you are done, Malfoy. Don't act like you're entitled."
Draco's fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. "It is my business when I've got every newspaper in Wizarding Britain slandering me! They say we're involved!"
"Like I care what the papers say," Harry drawled. Really, this was Draco's biggest complaint?
"That's just it! You don't care! I'd think… ugh, you don't actually fancy me, do you Potter?"
Harry couldn't help it. He laughed. Long and loudly, if not a bit hysterically, so much that he had to brace his forearm against the cool stone of the hallway wall to ride out the waves of true hilarity. Draco just looked more offended by the minute, glaring indolently with his arms crossed over his chest. He looked a bit like an overgrown toddler, and it only added to Harry's mirth.
"Shut up!"
"Sorry, sorry, but that was hilarious. No, Draco, I have no interest in you whatsoever. If I did, you would be dead right now."
"And just why," Draco was attempting a sneer now, but it looked more like a pout, "Would that be?"
Harry smirked, a slow, vicious thing as he stood straight. "Because I am in a very serious relationship with a man named Tom Riddle. And he would kill you if he thought there was a chance of you taking me away. Do you know that name?"
Draco shook his head slowly, expression melting to confusion.
Harry flicked his wand to remove the silencing spell and began walking back down the hall. He wanted to get to his room, already, and take his potion. Just before he turned the corner, Harry glanced back over his shoulder, smirk still present. "He also goes by Voldemort. That name ring a bell?"
Harry's laughter echoed off the walls as he left a very dumbfounded Draco Malfoy sputtering to himself in an empty hallway. The afternoon hadn't turned out so badly, after all.
A/N: YOU MUST ALL THANK EMPY-CHAN FOR YOUR SOULS…or at least for this story continuing. I got very frustrated with several parts and considered going on hiatus, but EmpyrealFantasy kindly helped by writing several scenes with my input. Usually I consider 13 to be a lucky number, but when it comes to writer's block this wasn't so…
On another note, thanks for the 1000 reviews! Although I didn't get many last chapter, I am grateful to every one of my readers who takes the time to leave a comment or two. Thank you very much!