A/N: The last part... all in one week. I'm impressed. I hope you'll like it.

Edit: ...I had written January instead of February, it's really embarrassing. Thanks for informing me!

Memories started to collect during the years, too many for them to remember clearly without magic. They kept a pensieve in a warded room, and had bookshelves filled with small vitals with their memories. Harry had been in the room twice, as far as Tom knew. Once, to sort his memories, and once to view one. Tom still had no idea which memory it was, and he had never thought it his place to ask. He found it ironic that he were the one - and not Harry - who used the room frequently. Before, his past was the last thing he wanted to think about. Now though… he don't actually know why he frequented their memory room so often. Not all memories he viewed were precious to him. He looked back at their worst moments as often as he looked back on their best. He never touched the memories that belonged to Harry though. Only his own. Harry was always the subject in his memories anyway.

Tom locked the door behind him, even if he knew that Harry never disturbed him during these moments. He walked through the shelves and picked the vitals that held memories that had affected him the strongest. The vitals settled along the pensieve's brim. Tom poured them all in and stirred them with his wand so that the first one rose to the surface before he dipped his head.

14th of February, 1999
He found himself in the Great Hall. It was decorated with horrible pink hearts, and he recognized that it must had been Valentine's Day. His past self is seated at the High Table, to the left of Headmistress McGonagall. Tom looked around, trying to spot Harry. It must had been early in the morning, because the tables weren't full yet. The doors opened, and Harry came in.

Tom frowned when he saw Harry come in. His mate was quite obviously hiding something behind his back, and as it was Valentine's Day, it didn't bode well. Harry don't stop by the Gryffindor table, but walked up to the High Table and stopped in front of him. There was a big grin on Harry's face, and Tom thought for a second that he should be worried. Then Harry took out the item he had been hiding and placed it on Tom's - thankfully empty - plate. Tom looked down and started to laugh.

The memory still made him smile and filled him with warmth. He don't know if Harry actually thought much of his gift, but Tom treasured it highly to this day. It did have a certain double value.

"The Sword of Gryffindor?" Tom managed to get out between laughs. "You never stop surprising me!"

Harry kept grinning at him.
"Bit late, but I thought you might like the full collection." he answered with a careless shrug. Tom shook his head in amusement.

"I- Thank you." Tom's laughter calmed down, and he smiled fondly at Harry.

"It has absorbed Basilisk poison, so be careful with it will you?" Harry said, and with a wink he turned around to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

"5 points from Gryffindor for your cheek!" Tom called after him, laughter still in his voice.

"Oh, sod off, you know you love me!" Harry called back without looking at him.

Tom couldn't help but laugh himself. Harry would never fail to amuse him. It had been worth the scolding the both of them got from Minerva afterwards for disrupting breakfast.

1st of September, 1999
He found himself in the Great Hall once again, but those blasted pink hearts were gone this time. His past self was no longer seated directly on the left of the Headmistress, instead he sat next to Harry who was directly to the right of Minerva. The sorting must have just ended, if the nervous looking first years he could see by the tables were to go after.

Tom held Harry's hand underneath the table. He knew that Harry was nervous - Harry had graduated just a few months ago and now he was back as the Defence professor. Tom felt rather ecstatic, not only would the Dark Arts course start this year but he would have Harry by his side as his equal. Last year had resulted in a few fights between them since he had been forced to act more dominant as Harry's Defence professor, but they would be back on equal footing now.

"Isn't that You-Know-Who?" was said loudly from the Gryffindor table. Tom felt how Harry froze beside him. He glanced at the Gryffindor in question, a first year who glared right back. The loud chatter from the other tables had been reduced to whispers.

"It was." A seventh year answered. Tom thought he recognized the girl as a Prefect.

"You don't reckon he's gonna kill us all, do ya?" the first year continued. Tom narrowed his eyes. He knew Harry would snap soon if no one else stopped it.

"I bloody well don't think so. He was a brilliant Defence professor last year." a fifth year boy called out from another part of the table. There was some agreements from the other Houses, especially Slytherin.

"What do you mean was?" asked the first year.

"He's teaching Dark Arts this year, see. Harry Potter is the Defence professor." the Prefect girl explained. The first year looked up at the High Table again.

"That's downright nasty though. You-Know-Who and the Saviour sitting together." the first year said. Tom could feel the rage rising inside him.

"Would you be so kind Mr. Daubney as to stop questioning professor Riddle indirectly?" Harry asked from next to him, his voice loud and clear. "And I especially dislike being accused of being - what was it - nasty for sitting next to a fellow professor."

"I didn't mean-" the first year started, bewildered. "You see, professor, I know all about how you were meant to kill him. My aunt fought in the war, you see. I can't believe that you're letting that wanker stay alive after all he did."

"20 points from Gryffindor for repetitive disrespect of your professors, Mr. Daubney." Harry said, his voice a low almost hiss but still ringing clear in the almost silent Great Hall. "Don't you dare suggest that I should kill my mate again, or I will see you in detention for the rest of the year."

Tom felt his heart burst with pride at how vicious Harry could be. It was a side that he saw rarely nowadays. His past self rubbed calming circles on Harry's lower back, and the first year was getting glared at by his fellow Gryffindors. It was so often the Gryffindors… but he had gotten asked himself by Slytherins why he didn't kill Harry. Tom grimaced at the thought.

31st of October, 1999
Speaking of Slytherins wanting to get rid of Harry… He found himself in the Hogwarts infirmary this time. Still in their first years together as professors he would guess, after glancing around. Harry was laying in a hospital bed - the same since the first visit in first year, Madam Pomfrey had once told him - and his past self was sitting next to the bed.

"Please enlighten me to how you could possibly miss the staircase and fall down four floors and survive." Tom said slowly, staring at Harry as if he were some puzzle.

"I was having a very enlightening conversation with Ms. Greengrass as we were walking from the Defence classroom to lunch in the Great Hall. The staircase was about to move, and she walked past me onto it without problem but I stumbled as she moved past me, and missed the step." Harry answered, with a small smile as if he found the situation amusing.

"Only you, Harry, only you." Tom answered with a shake of his head as he made up plans on how to best punish the Greengrass family for the obvious assassination attempt.

"I would expect nothing less on Halloween." Harry answered.

Tom snorted. Harry had something bad happening at Halloween each year without a fail. After the first ten years of it, Tom had started to place bets on what would happen. They had had a lot of fun, coming up with impossible ideas for what would happen. He had checked once to see if anyone had placed a curse on Harry for the accidents to happen, but it was really just Harry.

"Ah… I can't say that I'm very fond of the date either." Tom answered with a slight grimace.

"Oh, I almost forgot! It's the anniversary of your supposed death!" Harry exclaimed with a grin. Tom shot him a glare, but decided against pointing out that it was the anniversary of Harry's parents' death as well. He would not be so cruel.

"I'm very much alive, thank you. Unlike certain others, who fell down four floors." Tom answered. Harry pouted at him.

"I didn't die." Harry said, and looked directly into Tom's eyes.

"No, my love. You didn't die, and I'm forever thankful for it."

"...you do remember that we're immortal, right?"

Tom couldn't help but snort again. It was so easy to forget when Harry found himself in life-threatening situations so often. He was glad beyond words that Harry was immortal though.

9th of August, 2001
Hogwarts Infirmary faded away, and he found himself in Diagon Alley instead. Tom's heart clenched. Oh, he was so very glad that Harry was immortal indeed. He watched silently as his past self walked with Harry beside him, they were looking through windows as they discussed the coming school year.

A green beam of light, so very recognizable, came from Knockturn Alley and hit Harry in the middle of his back.

Tom could only watch in horror as Harry stopped talking and fell forward.
"Harry?" he asked. "Love?"

No response came. Tom dropped the bags he had been holding and looked towards the source of the killing curse. He saw a wizard in the shadows of Knockturn Alley that looked triumphant, and silently casted a petrifying spell at the man.

"Call the Aurors!" Tom screamed at the crowd that had started to surround him. He didn't look up at them, instead he chose to turn all his attention towards Harry. His love, his mate, was laying face-down on the ground. Tom turned his body so that Harry was resting on his back. With rising panic, he felt for Harry's pulse. Nothing. Tom felt something unfamiliar run down his cheeks as he started shaking Harry's lifeless body. His vision started to become blurry, but he didn't care.

"Harry! Love, come back! You can't die, not now, not ever! Please, Harry, open your eyes!" He could barely hear what he was saying, but he continued nonetheless.

Tom clenched his fists. If there was any memory he wished to obliviate from his mind, it was this. It was the only time he could ever remember being this afraid, and the only time he ever cried. Harry meant everything to him, and he would never let Harry leave him.

Harry opened his eyes, and brought up a hand to touch Tom's face.
"I saw Kings Cross! As I thought I would!" Harry said, his hushed tone excited. "It was all white! It looked amazing… but I didn't want to be there, Tom. I didn't want to take the train to the afterlife."

"You didn't, my love. Why didn't you?" Tom asked in a whisper. Harry frowned as he tried to remember.

"Someone met me there… they told me that I shouldn't be there. They sent me back."

Tom smiled. He could feel more tears, but he didn't care. He only cared about that Harry was alright. He hugged Harry close to him.
"Never again, my love. Never scare me like this again. Perhaps I need to chain you up after all…"

Harry gave out a short laugh.
"At least, it wasn't Halloween this time." Harry said, and looked at Tom with amusement in his eyes.

He frowned slightly. Harry found too great amusement in near-death situations. He didn't have time to ponder more on it as Diagon Alley faded away from him.

31st of July, 2008
He looked around the bedroom. They had still been working at Hogwarts during this time, but shared an apartment in Hogsmeade instead of using the school's living chambers. He could see the lights from Hogwarts if he looked out the window, but he kept his eyes on the bed. His past self was still mostly asleep, and the space next to him was empty. He would wake up any minute now… Tom walked over to the bathroom. The door was open, and he could see Harry inside. Tom leant against the doorway as he waited for his past self to wake up and find Harry.

Tom came to slowly, unhappy with being awake so early during the summer break. It was still dark outside, it had to be the middle of the night… so why was the space next to him cold? He woke up quicker when he realized that he was alone in bed. As he sat up, he saw that light was coming from the bathroom. Usually, he would have accepted the explanation and gone back to sleep, but something was different this time. He could hear sobbing. Not sure what he would find, he left the bed and walked slowly towards the bathroom. Tom opened the door more as he reached it.

Harry was standing in front of the mirror, pulling at his hair and looking in the mirror at different angles. His movements were jerky, as if he had done it for a while but stubbornly continued.

"Harry?" Tom asked, his low tone soft with a hint of concern. "What are you looking for?"

Harry's reaction was immediate. He turned towards Tom with rage, fear and… desperation? in his eyes.
"I don't have a single grey hair." Harry started, his tone icy. "Nor a wrinkle. To be truthful, I don't look a day older than 17."

Tom took a deep breath. He knew this. Harry was always calm before the storm. He could see his past self come to the same realization, as he took a step back and raised his hands in a placating manner. Perhaps that had been his mistake that time… Treating Harry as a wild animal was never a smart move. He knew that very well now, had most likely already known it back then.

"It's all part of our immortality, dear. Isn't it beautiful?" Tom asked, trying to feel more sure than he was.

He flinched at the familiar words. Immortality was as cruel as it was beautiful… just as Harry could be, he mused. Speaking of Harry… he turned to look at his beloved's past self. The rage was exchanged to indifferent ice and Harry nodded sharply.

"Oh, it's beautiful indeed." Harry hissed and walked past Tom into their bedroom. Tom barely had enough time to turn around before Harry had disapparated.

Tom stared back at the confused face of his past self. Confusion that got exchanged to anger and then to despair and lastly to resignation. He knew what happened after this, and he didn't want to relive it any time soon. Harry disappeared for a month - to obsessively research immortality in the Time Room he had later learnt from Rookwood. Harry took the heat repressive potion for the first time in years. Tom only knew because he got the backlash of Harry's hormones during that time. It was first August 31st, exactly a month afterwards, that Harry came back to prepare for the new school year, and that his past self had realized that it had been Harry's 28th birthday. He had made sure to stay up with Harry on all birthdays after that - even his own.

2nd of September, 2017
The memory changed from their apartment to the Hogwarts grounds. He could see Harry sitting by the Great Lake, and his own past self walking down from the castle. It was not a happy memory per se, but it would always be important to him. Tom followed his past self, who had sat down on Harry's left side, and sat down on Harry's right.

Tom looked out over the Great Lake.
"I missed you at lunch. Have you been here since morning?"

"Yeah… Tom?"

"What is it?"

Harry turned to look at him.
"Do you ever want children?"

His past self stayed quiet. It had been the first time that Harry ever asked him. He hadn't been able to see it at the time - since he was keeping his eyes on the lake - but he had seen this memory so many times that he knew what Harry's facial expression would be. Real curiosity and overwhelming sadness…

Harry continued when Tom didn't answer.
"Most of my friends have children. I have to see them every day as their teacher. I just… I just thought it might be nice, you know?"

"Perhaps in a few years." Tom finally said, as he dismissed it as Harry's heat and therefore omega instincts talking.

They didn't talk about it in a few years.

31st of July, 2048
He found himself in their bedroom, though no longer in the Hogsmeade apartment. He recognized it as Grimmauld Place 12. It was summer, so it was not much of a surprise that they lived in London instead of Hogsmeade. Tom looked around. His past self was lounging on the bed with a book, and Harry was in the shower. The clock on the wall was a few minutes to midnight.

Tom saw Harry come out of the bathroom as the clock was about to strike twelve. He put the book to the side and rose from the bed. A small box rested in his hand.

"Happy Birthday, Harry." Tom said, and slipped down on one knee.

"Should I threaten to walk right out of here and have you search the whole planet for me?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. Tom simply smiled at the deja-vu.

"Will you marry me?" Tom asked, and opened up the box so that Harry could see the ring. It was a simple silverband with an emerald in the middle, and a ruby on each side.

"Ah, so I have to travel the planet now." Harry said with a laugh, but still took the ring from the box. "I'll marry you, Tom." he answered. Tom stood up.

"Here, let me.." Tom said, and reached for Harry's hand but Harry moved his hand away. Tom felt how Harry slipped the ring on his finger. He looked down on the engagement ring on his hand, and then up on Harry.

"Love, I think you finally managed to be more Slytherin than me." Tom said, and looked down on the ring with wonder.

"You're mine, I thought it more fitting." Harry answered with a small shrug. His grin gave him away.

Tom chuckled and moved to kiss Harry.

He looked down on his own finger, where the engagement ring still rested together with his wedding ring. The two rings meant more to him than the Gaunt ring had done as his Horcrux.

5th of March, 2104
The memory took place in a kitchen this time. His past self was reading the Daily Prophet, a forgotten mug of coffee next to him. Harry was standing up by the stove, making tea through Muggle means. Harry always made tea during his heat, it was one of those quirks that Tom had learnt to love.

Tom lowered the newspaper and stared in front of him, seemingly at nothing.

"What is it?" Harry asked, as he sat down next to Tom. When Harry didn't get an answer, he glanced down at the paper. The headline read Minister of Magic Dead. Lucius Malfoy died yesterday evening at the respectable age of 150.

"Tom?" Harry asked, his tone worried, and placed one hand over Tom's. "Are you okay?"

"Yes…" Tom answered slowly, and turned to look at Harry. "I knew his father. Abraxas. A year above me in Slytherin, fairly decent. He was one of my first followers. Lucius would have made him so proud…"

"It's okay to not be okay, Tom." Harry said, his voice as soft as a whisper. Tom felt how Harry squeezed his hand in a comforting gesture.

15th of June, 2137
It was Hogwarts yet again. The castle didn't look any different from when he himself had been a student. Tom smiled fondly at the castle, before he turned to his past self and Harry.

"This is it. It's goodbye." Harry said softly.

"We can still come back." Tom reminded him. Harry shook his head, the motion so small that Tom nearly missed it.

"I think it's time to say goodbye for real. We've been working here for almost 140 years. I never left in the first place - except for the year during the height of the war." Harry answered.

"Ready to finally see the rest of the world after 150 years?" Tom asked with a small smile.

"157." Harry absentmindedly corrected. "And we have seen some of the world, Tom. Remember the summer we spent in Albania? Or the one in Egypt? Not to mention the winter that we managed to visit France…"

"We never spent long in any of those places, love."

"Which is why this is a final goodbye. Hogwarts has been our home for too long already."

"Are you ready?"

Harry turned to look at Tom. He smiled softly.
"I don't think I'll ever be more ready."

The memory faded as his past self took Harry's hand and they apparated away.

18th of December, 2164
Once again a new memory. He found himself in a small cottage. He couldn't remember where this time, but there was snow on the ground outside. Harry and his past self was sitting by the kitchen table, Harry with the Daily Prophet in front of him.

"Hermione has died." Harry whispered, staring at the paper as he couldn't believe it. Tom looked up at him.

"Not surprising. She was well over 180 years old, wasn't she?" Tom commented, tone light but his eyes watching Harry as an hawk. Harry's reaction was still unpredictable after 166 years together.

Harry looked at him, his emerald eyes filled with fear.

"I can't remember the last time that I talked to her. She was my friend, and I can't remember the last time that we talked!"

"Things had been tense between you two for decades." Tom pointed out. "She wasn't much of a friend anymore."

Harry shook is head in denial.
"She was everything I had left. She was one of my first friends, and now she's gone…" Harry's whisper died out, and he continued to stare at Tom with fear in his eyes.

"Do you want to go to her funeral?" Tom asked carefully.

Harry shook his head again.
"Tom. Kill me. Please... I can't take this! They're all gone, and they deserved to live so much more than I!"

Tom took Harry's hands in his.
"Don't you dare say that Harry. You deserve life." he hissed. Harry shook his head again.

"I want to be with them, Tom. Don't keep me alive when you spent years trying to kill me in the first place!"

"I haven't wanted to kill you in almost 200 years!" Tom said angrily.

"Do it anyway! For me! Don't you love me, Tom? Do you want me to suffer?" Harry asked. Tom could see tears in his eyes.

"I'll kill you, my love, but only if you make a Horcrux first." Tom answered, no - demanded. "I will not let you leave me, ever, do you understand, my love?"

Tom looked away from the scene. Harry would ask for death more times after this, he knew. But that day back in 2164 had been the first. Harry didn't leave his side for days after it. They never did go to the funeral. It had likely been for the best.

21st of June, 2184
They were laying together on the bed this time. It was dark outside, and his past self held Harry in his arms.

"Do you think our family is too small? I can't remember the last time we even had a pet…"

"Is Nagini not enough? Her company can be a handful as it is."

"You can hardly call her a pet, Tom." Harry answered with a small frown. "Wouldn't you like it if we had an addition to the family?"

Tom turned to look at Harry.
"If you are with child, say so."

Harry's face became flushed and he shook his head.
"You know very well that I am not. You wouldn't want one then?"

Tom sighed.
"I have never thought of myself as a father. It's not part of my instincts." He paused and looked at Harry searchingly. "Is it your instincts as an omega?"

Harry made a shrugging motion.
"Maybe? I just… always wanted a family of my own. It's been everything I wanted since I was a kid. Not that I remember ever being a kid…" Harry gave out a dry laugh. "I had to grow up so fast. I don't think I would know what to do with a kid if I ever had one."

"You have a family of your own." Tom pointed out. "You have me."

They never talked about children again. Perhaps they should? No… Harry would never be able to take it if he outlived his own child. Their various pets hurt Harry deep enough.

5th of November, 2755
The memory took place in a bedroom again. He thought back on the memories he had seen. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, a bedroom, a kitchen… With how much they had travelled, it was a surprise that most of his important memories took place in the same place. Always different bedrooms and kitchens, but still. Tom didn't care to look around this time. His past self was reading a book and Harry was sitting on the window seat. Harry had been in heat he remembered, but the distance had seemed normal back then. Tom frowned. He could never pinpoint when Harry's depression started.

"Tom?"

"Yes, Harry?" Tom didn't look up from his book.

"775 years is quite a long time to live… I think I'm content with it. I think it's enough."

Tom looked up from his book. He scrutinized Harry searchingly, but Harry kept his head towards the window.
"What are you trying to say?" Tom asked.

"I'm ready to take the train."

"Which train, Harry?" Tom asked, his tone growing impatient.

Harry turned to stare at him, but his eyes seemed lacking, empty.
"To the afterlife."

Tom threw his book away and got up from the bed. He walked over to Harry in a few steps. As he stopped, he took Harry's face between his hands and stared down at him.
"No."

"I can try to kill myself." Harry offered in a small voice.

"You'll never succeed."

Harry sighed.
"That's the problem, isn't it?"

Harry turned towards the window again. Tom's hands fell from his face.

"Love…" Tom sighed and sat down behind Harry. He embraced Harry from behind. "Together forever, was it not?"

"Forever is a very long time, Tom."

"It is." Tom agreed quietly. "But it's never enough."

31st of July, 2980
Tom barely reacted as the memory changed. It was still a bedroom, only in a different house. The changes were small, and he didn't care about them. He knew exactly which memory this was. It was one of his worst.

"Happy 1000th birthday, love." Tom smiled warmly at Harry and brought him closer to kiss him. Harry didn't respond. Tom frowned slightly at him. Harry's depression had come and gone in periods for the last few hundred years.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked as he looked searchingly at Harry.

"Isn't this enough?" Harry asked quietly. "I've been alive for a millennium, that's as good as being alive forever. Can't I die now?"

"It's never going to be enough, Harry." Tom answered. His frown deepened.

Harry looked up at him, his big emerald eyes seemingly unstaring.
"Okay." he whispered, and disapparated. Tom startled as Harry disappeared from his embrace.

Tom stared at the spot where Harry had just been. He had still not forgiven Harry for it. He most likely never would. Not to mention how irresponsible it had been for Harry to leave so close to a heat cycle. The memory morphed around him. His past self paced the living room. There were bags under his eyes, and he frequently glanced at the door. Harry was still gone. He had been for the past month.

The memory morphed again. Half a year without Harry. The living room had been replaced with Grimmauld Place. They had spent a lot of time in the Black home during their life, and he remembered that he had checked back there quite often in hope to find any clues to Harry's whereabouts. His past self was digging through the closet in the master bedroom. He looked thinner and the bags under his eyes were darker. Tom sighed. He almost felt the bond connection as it torned his past self apart. It hurt to be away from his mate. He only knew that Harry suffered through the heats alone because he had felt nothing through their bond connection.

The room disappeared as the memory morphed for a third time. It was a year without Harry now, down to the date. His past self sat down as he wrote a letter. Tom walked up behind him to read it.

My love,
happy one thousand and one birthday.
I miss you greatly. I can't seem to find you.
Have you gone to space with Muggle means? I hope not.
It doesn't matter if you have. I will not stop searching before you are in my arms again.

Forever yours,
Tom

He knew that the letter would come back unopened a few days later. The memory morphed for a last time.

Tom looked around the Graveyard. Of all the places he had thought of to search for Harry, this had been the very last of them. He walked past a statue that he didn't look twice at - even as it changed when he got closer. He walked deeper into the Graveyard until he saw a lone figure in front of two graves.

"It's been a thousand years since they sacrificed their lives for me." Harry said as Tom got closer.

"And it's been more than one year since you left me." Tom answered, as he tried to control his anger. "Never do that again! Promise me!"

Harry turned his head slightly, just enough so that he looked at Tom.
/I want you to kill me./

Tom flinched slightly at the parseltongue. Harry spoke the language so rarely that he had forgotten what it sounded like when Harry did.
/I'll never kill you, my love. You know that./

/Then I can't promise to never leave again./ Harry answered, and turned his head so that he faced the graves again. Tom looked at him quietly.

"Will you at the very least come home?" Tom asked. He switched back to English, because Harry's use of parseltongue had unnerved him greatly.

"I will. I have suffered as well as you have." Harry answered and stood up. He turned towards Tom. "But I needed this. I needed to be away from you."

"How many times did you try to kill yourself?" Tom asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

"Three hundred and sixty five times. Every day from my thousandth birthday until my thousand and one birthday." Harry answered calmly, a small smile on his lips. It looked cruel.

"Why couldn't I find you?" Tom asked. He had to know.

"Because I know you very well, my dear." Harry answered and stepped forwards so that he was almost nose to nose with Tom. "Let's go home."

Tom glanced towards the graves of Harry's parents as the memory started to fade away. A bouquet of lilies laid in front of them.

31st of December, 2998
Tom raised his head from the pensieve. So much death… it seemed to follow Harry closely. He shook his head slightly to rid himself of the morbid thoughts. Tom sent the memories back to their vitals with a flick of his wand, and then the vitals back to the shelves with another flick. After he took a deep breath, he crossed the room to the door and unlocked it.

Harry was leaning against the wall opposite the room. Tom blinked in surprise when he saw him.

"I was wondering where you had been hiding." Harry said with a small, playful smile.

"Not hiding. Reminiscing." Tom corrected.

"I would have expected you to do that in May, not on your birthday." Harry answered and looked at him searchingly.

"It wouldn't have been as meaningful in May." Tom said, and closed the door behind him. He stepped closer to Harry to embrace him. "I'm so very happy that you're still here…"

"Where else would I be, Tom?" Harry asked lightly and embraced him back.

"Dead." Tom answered, his tone grave.

"I would not be so cruel as to leave you alone, dear."

Tom eased their embrace to look at Harry.
"Really?"

"I would take you with me to the grave." Harry promised, with a smile worthy of a predator.

"Is that my birthday gift then? A promise of death?"

"That would be foolish of me, Mr. Flight from Death. Your birthday gift is much better."

"Oh?" Tom inquired. "What is it then?"

Harry grinned at him.
"A thousand years more together."

A/N: End. More or less for real this time.

I may write something about the one memory that Harry has seen if I get reviews requesting it. Otherwise, it'll be my secret.

All alpha/omega references are basically thrown in as an afterthought... heh. Not really used to those dynamics and they weren't important in this chapter.

Please review x It makes my day!