May 2, 1998
The castle halls were empty. Though under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry did not bother to lighten his tread and his footsteps reverberated in the deserted corridors, causing the portraits that were still intact to turn their heads curiously. Everyone was in the Great Hall, eating, celebrating and mourning. After Harry explained to Ron and Hermione as best he could what had transpired within the Carcerem, they joined the rest of the school. Harry's heart had tightened the moment he set foot inside the hall, every face turning toward him, but only one person stood out.
Ginny. She looked exactly as he remembered her, as if he'd only been gone for a day rather than months. She had run to him. Had thrown her arms around him before he'd even taken a step. He'd hugged her back. Tongue-tied, he tried to put as much feeling as he could into the embrace, every unspoken apology for being with Tom.
Harry came upon the stone gargoyle that guarded the headmaster's office. Voldemort had blasted it away when Harry chased him into the office. Now it lay on its side. He pulled the Cloak off his head.
"May I go up?" Harry asked it.
"Suit yourself," the gargoyle replied, weakly.
"McGonagall will be over soon," Harry assured it and the gargoyle gave a glum shrug.
The headmaster and headmistress portraits were all vacant. All save for—
"I am so sorry, Harry," said Dumbledore.
Harry sat in the vacant chair before the desk. The Cloak slid off his shoulders, pooling in his lap.
"Why was it here?" Harry asked.
"Severus confiscated it at a most untimely hour. He was going to remove it from the castle but the battle began before he could. He stored it in the cabinet, without any way of knowing the two of you would find yourselves fighting between it."
"Tom touched it when he worked for Borgin and Burkes," said Harry.
Dumbledore sighed. "Out of all the wizards and witches in this world, I knew Tom Riddle would have come across the Carcerem at some point. It is both ancient enough and powerful enough to have attracted his attention. When Severus revealed it …" Dumbledore's cheeks paled. "When the two of you entered the office—"
"There was no way you could have warned me. There wasn't time," said Harry, wanting this to be very clear. "It's not your fault."
Dumbledore's smile was watery. "They handled it well," he observed.
Harry knew he spoke of Ron and Hermione. There had been questions — many of them — and Harry knew there would still be more to come. He was amazed, and rather dazed, that they had not only let him explain, but had not charged from the room or (in Ron's case) punched him in the face.
"Better than I would have," said Harry. "I think they're in shock." Harry wiped his nose on his sleeve. It still smelt of smoke. "I'm in shock."
"I believe you can count Tom in on that as well," said Dumbledore lightly.
The words were out of him in a rush. The only glaring bit that he'd kept from everyone, finally spilled over. "We were intimate."
"I know."
Harry looked up.
"You … know?"
"Harry, the way Tom looked at you told me that."
Harry went red.
"Were you forced?"
Harry shook his head. "It was always consensual." His face burned hotter. "I don't even know how it happened. It just … did."
"And now?"
"I —" Harry looked down at his hands, fingers convulsing on the Cloak. "I don't know what to do," he whispered. "Everything was so clear before and … Kingsley's asked me to head a team to track him down and I — I don't know what I'd do if I … if I met him again. I don't …"
"Harry, you have achieved something I wrote off long ago. You have not only shown Voldemort love and forgiveness, but proved that such magic is far greater than any power he has ever known. Lord Voldemort has never known love, has never believed in its strength, and you've shown him otherwise."
A lump formed in Harry's throat. Tactfully, Dumbledore watched the morning rays stream through the window, allowing Harry to recover himself.
"So you don't think he'll attack again?" he finally asked.
"Of that, I cannot say. Tom has always been ambitious. To assume he will be content as things are is—"
"Stupid."
"Unlikely," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "He will resurface, of that I am confident, but his goals may be far different than before. I think you should tell Kingsley," Dumbledore added suddenly.
Harry's head whipped up. "What? Tell him? Everything?"
"Everything. Including your relationship. I understand why you wish to keep it to yourself, but he is a wizard you need on your side. Kingsley has already accepted the Minister position."
"He has?" said Harry, taken aback.
"You must have just missed each other. He left not ten minutes before you arrived."
"Professor, I can't tell him. I let Voldemort go."
"You let a radically changed man go," Dumbledore corrected. "The man who emerged from the Carcerem is not the man who entered it and the same is true for you. That is how the Carcerem works. You cannot leave unless you forgive. Unless you are remorseful. Tom is no less dangerous, but he is not the same. Tell Kingsley. He may not agree with your choices, but he will listen."
It was only then that Harry realized the Carcerem was gone from the desk.
"Kingsley took it," said Harry, looking up at Dumbledore. "Didn't he?"
"He recognized it immediately. It is a highly classified artifact. And yes, I informed him it had recently been activated, but not by who." The twinkle returned to Dumbledore's eyes.
"There's something that I don't understand," said Harry. "Tom still looks like Tom. Like how he did within the Carcerem. Why didn't it change him back when we left it? Why did it change him in the first place?"
Dumbledore's brow furrowed slightly. "It could be that the effort of containing two such powerful wizards as yourselves — oh, yes, Harry, you are exceptionally strong," Dumbledore added at Harry's startled look. "It could be that both the effort in trapping you and the explosion did damage to the Carcerem."
"You don't sound convinced," said Harry.
"I find it more likely that the Carcerem did not fully recognize the Tom Riddle who stood before it in this office. The soul was the same, but greatly damaged. What you must remember, Harry, is that the Carcerem's purpose is to heal."
Harry snorted.
"I'm sure it didn't feel like that most of the time," Dumbledore amended gently. "Whether Tom's soul was too weak — too tattered — to survive within the Carcerem as it was, we may never know, but it chose to revert him back into the form when it had first encountered him. Tom Riddle experimented on himself in ways no other wizard has. Things do not behave normally around him."
"Do you think the Carcerem healed him?" asked Harry. "Healed his soul, I mean? You think it's … whole again?"
"Only Tom can answer that, but I think it may be possible, or perhaps it began the process. It would explain why the Carcerem returned him in the form it deemed correct and not as Lord Voldemort."
Harry stared at Dumbledore. "He's thirty."
"Would you rather he wasn't?"
Harry blanched and Dumbledore chuckled. For a moment, they sat in silence, the morning sunlight bouncing off the broken glass on the floor from the window Tom had shattered. Where was he now, Harry wondered. What was he planning?
Come with me.
Harry got to his feet. "I think I'm going to go to bed, sir. If anything happens—"
"Do not fear, Harry. If anything should arise, we will see to it."
Harry disappeared again under his Invisibility Cloak, wanting nothing more than a hot bath and a long, uneventful slumber. The corridor outside the Headmaster's office was still empty. He wondered if the Fat Lady would let him in without a password, just this once.
Come with me.
Harry drew the Cloak firmly about him, letting the memory wash over him, letting himself recall what it felt like to drown in Tom's eyes.
It's over now, he told himself. You made your choice. It's done.
But for a heartbeat Harry had wanted to slip his hand in Tom's and say okay.
.
.
A/N: Just a short little thing today. Next chapter will be the start of part two!
Many of you noticed a suspicious lacking of the portrait monster, and I am here to tell you that everything is going according to plan. *evil-steeple-fingers*
As always, thank you for reading and double thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me! Feedback keeps the fire burning and helps me improve.