By Halloween, Harry was very pleased to note that he had free time every single evening to do a little independent study and also to meditate with Tom before bed. He started finding books in the library that mentioned obscure forms of magic-mostly in the cultural sections-and even asked Flourish and Blotts to send him a catalogue so he could owl order some more books that would go into more detail about things that he thought would help him and Tom.

It was snowing by the time he thought he had a reasonable plan of action that Dumbledore couldn't ignore. And the holidays had just begun when he had counter arguments-and supporting evidence-to anything Dumbledore could have said.

Now if only he could figure out the password.

"Smarties. No? Snickers? Chocolate frogs? Blood pops? Lemon drops. Fizzing whizbees."

"Black peppered imps. What is so important that you need to see the headmaster Potter?" Harry started and turned to see his head of house standing behind him.

"Oh I…it's a Voldemort thing. I think I've figured out a way to fix this whole mess!" McGonagall looked stunned but waved him ahead of her. She followed him up to Dumbledore's office, gave him a few scrolls and left the two alone.

"Well, can I assume that this is about Tom?" Harry nodded and Dumbledore sat back in his chair, rubbed his eyes, and motioned for him to get on with it. "Very well. What do you have in mind?"

"I've brought evidence, working theories, and a plan from start to finish this time." Dumbledore's interest peaked at the dedication Harry had shown to this particular subject. Harry dove right in and didn't stop to let Dumbledore talk-he paused enough in areas that required a bit more thought to really understand the subject matter but as soon as Dumbledore looked like he would open his mouth to protest, Harry simply trudged on.

By the time he was done he was completely confident in himself and that confidence only rose the longer Dumbledore sat and stared at the diagrams he'd brought.

After what seemed like forever, Dumbledore smiled.

"Well my boy, it looks like you've created the perfect plan! I can't find any fault with your reasoning here and it looks like you've spent plenty long developing these theories thus far. But have you thought of what might occur should Tom decide to go back to his ways?" Harry's heart sunk as a realisation hit him.

"You don't trust him. You've never trusted him-even when he was a kid you didn't trust him. You taught him that he shouldn't be trusted and now that he finally wants to reverse the things he's done you just want to push him to the wayside?"

"My boy, it isn't that simple-"

"But it is!" he shouted. "You've never trusted me either, or have you forgotten already? I came to you at the end of my first year and told you about the abuse the Dursley's put me through and you told me I was overreacting. And again the next year when I begged you not to send me back! You've endlessly made excuses for them because you don't trust the word of a child who's being mistreated. I'd be willing to bet anything that Tom came to you at least once to tell you he wasn't being treated right at the orphanage and you told him to suck it up, he's overreacting. Oh, why the flinch? Did I hit too close to home? Magical children are abused and neglected and even killed all the time because of our magic and you're willing to just look the other way. And now that you've got the perfect plan sitting in front of you, you can't be bothered to trust Tom to do the right thing? This is giving him the chance to change the world for the better and you're refusing it? Why is that? Is it because you want all the credit? You can have it! Or is it because an abused teenager was capable of coming up with a solid plan that doesn't involve endangering said teenager when you couldn't?" Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down again as he gathered his things with a neat flick of his wand.

"Or maybe it's because you can't admit that it's that easy. It's no secret that you like being in control of everything-but the world isn't going to fit into your perfect ideals because the world isn't perfect. Professor." He turned and left the room before going to his dorm room to put his things away. It was only moments after he sat down on his bed that his eyes were closed and he was meditating.

Where Dumbledore was shocked, Tom was proud. Harry had not only stood up for Tom, but himself as well. With any luck, he'd made the headmaster reevaluate the things he'd ignored or disregarded and hopefully, that would instil a change in him. Somehow, Harry doubted it.

Tom wasn't about to let Dumbledore slow down their plan, though. He'd have to teach Harry some fairly intricate magic in order to take down the protections he'd put on his horcruxes so they could get to them first. The two planned on starting his extra lessons with Tom every evening before bed to give him a head start on learning what he'd need to know for each of the horcruxes.


By the time the end of his fifth year came to a close, Harry had just about had it. The ministry official they'd sent to teach defence was horrible at her job, the entire student body was vibrating with worry over their fast-approaching OWLs, making excuses so he could go to the Room of Hidden Things so he could practise the magic that Tom was teaching him…it was all getting to be too much. That and the amount of suspicious deaths that were happening were starting to get on his nerves. It was obvious Voldemort was gaining power again, and it would only be a matter of time before he was powerful enough to maintain his own body-something that Tom was more than willing to share with Harry when he finally told him about the stories and rumours.

Harry was sick of it all.

So he spent his time studying with Tom as much as he could and studying with Hermione and Ron for their OWLs. He'd even decided to quit quidditch since practices were amping up this time of year in preparation for the final matches for the House Cup. He found he couldn't care less about it.

What he did care about, however, was ensuring that his magical skills were as honed as they could be so that as soon as he turned seventeen and the trace fell off of him he could go searching for the rest of the horcruxes. Tom had already told him they could all be collected in one night if he was quick about it, but that it would be exhausting work.

Eventually, though, the time for their exams had come and Harry trudged through them one by one until finally the last practical exam was over with. He breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of the class before they headed to the lake for some much-needed relaxation time.

Ron and Hermione eventually took a walk around the lake, leaving Harry sitting by the craggy rock. He was enjoying the sun while it was out, and encouraged them to take their walk alone. He was rather hoping Ron would finally make a move now that Hermione wasn't solely focused on books. He smiled wistfully when he saw them kiss on the other side of the lake.

"Well, that didn't take long, now did it?" Harry sighed at the voice and closed his eyes to visit with Tom. He'd long since started calling meditation visiting, deciding that meditation was meant to be quiet whilst his 'visits' were quite empty of silence.

"It was only a matter of time, Tom." He yawned and plopped down onto the couch in the little room the horcrux had made in his mind. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Yes, actually. I wanted to tell you that you did extremely well with your tests and that you should be proud of the work you've put in. It'll be worth it-with most of your classes, anyway." Tom made a face, clearly talking about divination. Harry hadn't held much stock with that class either, but he did decide to stick with it until the OWLs and then he'd be dropping that class faster than catching the snitch.

"Thanks. I'm glad it's over, I think my head might explode."

"Don't be ridiculous." Tom reached for the ever-present cup of tea before continuing. "Now, on to more important matters. Are you being sent to that awful muggle house again this summer?"

"Yeah, I've decided I'm not going to ask to go anywhere else but there anymore. There's just no way Dumbledore will even listen to me about it, so why bother wasting my breath. Besides, last summer wasn't as bad as the ones before it…I was just really stiff at the end of the summer from being in a cramped space all the time."

"You should, at the very least, tell Dumbledore that you've been confined to the cupboard under the stairs again."

"I'm not going to him for help anymore Tom. He won't believe me anyways. It's always been like that." Harry could still feel the warm rays of the sun heating his skin, almost like he was a snake soaking in the warmth. He let himself relax into the sensation.

"It is rather calming by the lake. I daresay I miss it. I haven't felt the sun on my skin in such a very, very long time." Even Harry couldn't miss the wistful gaze that Tom was throwing at the wall.

"When you're whole again I'll make sure you get to spend time in the sun with me. Who knows, maybe you'll get a tan." They both laughed at the absurdity of Tom having a tan.

"Thank you Harry. I shall take you up on that offer; however, there is the matter of getting this plan of ours to work. So, would you like to move on with your studies or would you like to wait until you're in that god-awful closet once more?"


While the end of his fifth year hadn't been very eventful, it was still a sight to behold as the defence teacher was boldly removed from the dungeons with Snape practically dragging her out by her cardigan, ridiculing her a new one the whole way.

"...simply cannot believe that someone as inconsequential as you has decided to break into my personal private stores to steal from me when you know just as well as everyone else does that my personal property is not subject to the whims of others. How DARE you! And to accuse me of harbouring a student against their will in anything other than a detention is a deplorable…" His voice trailed off as they rounded a corner, although all the students that were there knew he'd be chewing her out until he was well past being out of steam.

"Blimey, remind me to never go near Snape's personal property." Ron looked ashen, clearly frightened at the idea of being on the other end of the wrath that Snape was doling out.

"Better her than us, mate. She was a shite teacher anyways." They laughed and turned to continue to the Great Hall.