A New Beginning

Chapter 4: Talking with Tom

"Harry, child, are you okay to talk to the Dark Lord now?" Severus said, gently waking Harry up from his nap.

Harry moaned but nodded and sat up, resting tiredly against Severus' side. Though he perked up when he saw that Tom was already sitting on the bed, looking at him with eyes which most would have called blank, though Harry could see awe hidden within their red depths.

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

"It's okay, Harry. You have been through quite the ordeal," Tom said evenly, and Harry thought he could hear and see concern, "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted. And yourself?"

"I am okay, thank you," Tom said. Harry thought he looked rather unsure of what to say next, "What… What did you expect to happen when you came here, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, "I don't know, really. I… Part of me was sure that it would be a big green ending, but that part of me, plus a bit more, didn't really mind because at least then I would be with my baby, and my parents, and I would be safe, and free of pain. Then another part of me hoped that you would let the twins and I live, at least long enough for me to have the baby, and hopefully hold them at least once before the big green ending,

"I mean, I don't know if you have ever wanted kids, but it is your baby, too, and you deserved to know. Even if I would have died at some point, at least the baby would be safe, wherever they ended up. A small part of me was hoping, though, that you would let me, and the twins, live long enough for me to have a part in raising my baby. I wasn't sure, though, and I didn't care so long as the baby was safe. I also felt like you should know so that you and your people could punish them, if you wanted to anyway,"

"They will be punished, Harry. No worries there," Tom said fiercely.

Harry just nodded.

"I won't kill you, the baby, or your twins, either,"

"You might want to when I tell you the prophecy,"

The two older men looked at him in shock.

"Harry, how do you know about the prophecy?" Severus asked.

Harry chuckled darkly, "He told me at the end of last year. He thought it was 'finally time' for me to know,"

"He told me he had no plans to tell you, ever," Severus said, anger in his voice, "I wanted to tell you, but he had me under another vow to never reveal it to anyone who didn't already know,"

"It's okay, Severus. I know you would have told me if you could," Harry said, smiling at the man.

"Harry, the prophecy, whatever it says, it doesn't matter. Not anymore," Tom said, and Harry looked at him in shock.

"But-"

"Harry, yes, when I was out of my mind, I was scared of the prophecy. But I wasn't myself. For a number of reasons. And I wasn't thinking clearly. I am sorry for… your parents. And for everything else that Severus has told me about, especially in regards to your time at Hogwarts. But Harry, no matter what the prophecy says, I'm not going to kill you. You came here of your own accord, you have left the Light. That alone has pretty much given me the war. Plus, no matter how it came to happen, you are carrying my baby, and have done everything you can to keep him or her safe since finding out about them, including bringing them and yourself to me,

"I may not have seemed like it before, what with my insanity, and my emotions locked away from me, but… One of the things I had always wanted growing up was a family. I lost sight of that dream when my mind cracked. But now that I have my sanity and emotions back I remember it. When the baby was… I was terrified that the dream that I had just had realised was about to be lost. I may not be good with my emotions yet, I am still getting used to them after all, but I want the baby. I want to be it's dad. And I want you to be it's mum, because Merlin knows I won't be able to raise a child on my own, not after everything. I am sorry, for everything. And I know it will take time for us to be anything close to friends, but know that I am not going to kill you, your friends, or our baby. Not for anything,"

Harry wasn't sure when he had started crying, and he wasn't sure why he was crying either, but he decided to blame his hormones.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked, worried.

"Yeah, just hormones," Harry said, laughing slightly, "Do you want to know the prophecy?"

"No, Harry. It doesn't matter, not anymore. Prophecies are self-fulfilling. If we don't fulfil it then it means nothing,"

"But it's already started being fulfilled," Harry said, confused.

"Hm, by a mistake I made with my broken mind. Had my mind been clear, and functional, I would have never even considered coming after babies. Not even to potentially save my own life. Magical children are special, no matter where they come from. And just because we have started it, it doesn't mean we have to finish it. We can call it quits, right now, and never have to consider it again,"

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, his voice wavering with confusion and almost fear.

"You aren't my enemy, Harry. You never should have been. And now that you have escaped the people who were attempting to use you for their own gain, you are free to do what you want, both in the war, and in life. I won't hurt you. I won't fight you. I swear on my magic to protect and look after you and our child to the best of my abilities, for the rest of my life, so mote it be," there was a sharp snap of magic around Tom and Harry sucked in his breath.

"You didn't need to do that," Harry said.

"Hm, perhaps I did, though. You wouldn't have believed me otherwise, that you and our baby will be safe. It is understandable after what you have endured these past few weeks, let alone everything else. But it is a vow I have no intention of breaking, and not because of the threat to my magic. But that is something you will come to believe with time, safety, and care,"

Harry just nodded again, unsure of what to say. He yawned.

"I will leave you to get some more sleep. We will talk about my original goals when you have had more time to recover," Tom said gently, moving to stand from the bed, only for Harry to stop him with a hand on his arm.

Tom looked at Harry questioningly, though concerned when he saw the boy's nervousness.

"Erm, do you want to feel the baby's magic? Properly I mean, without…" he trailed off, not particularly wanting to even think about what almost happened.

Tom looked at Harry in awe and shock.

"Are you sure you are comfortable with that?" Tom whispered.

Harry just nodded and gently guided Tom's hand to his stomach, idly wondering if the man felt the tiny bump there like he did, he laid his hand over Tom's and let his and their baby's magic flow out of him so that Tom could feel them.

The look of amazement on Tom's face as they felt their little one's magic made Harry smile.

After a few moments of silence Harry yawned again and Tom slowly, hesitantly, removed his hand from Harry's belly.

"Get some sleep, Harry. We'll talk more soon," the red-eyed man said gently.

Harry nodded, lying down and cuddling into Severus, who was still sitting next to him, letting Harry lean on him and soak up the comfort he provided.

Tom left the room and Harry yawned again, not caring that he was being rather childish by cuddling into the man he secretly thought of as some kind of mother figure. But he relished in the feel of those long fingers running gently through his hair.

"It's okay, Harry. You're safe now, so is your baby," Severus said gently.

"I know," Harry whispered, "But you'll still stay with me, right?"

"Always,"

Hiya, I hope you are well!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though it is rather short. Honestly I feel so terrible at the moment, but I needed to do some writing to get out of it for a bit, so I did what I could. Next chapter should be longer, though.

I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes, and more. It is also where I have an update schedule and will be keeping you up to date on what I am working on, both original works and fanfics. So if you are interested in joining then feel free to, I am happy to accept anyone.

I hope you are all having an amazing day!

Kind regards,

Paige xx