Bones, Dotan

You restless heart
You came this far
Why did you lose?
You restless heart
You're in the dark
Why did you lose?

Lights are fading
Creeping in my lungs
It's all undone
Glass is breaking
Turning into stone
These cold, cold bones

"That's… Ursa Minor," Tom said, skidding the book across the stones to her and refocusing on the telescope.

"How can you tell so easily, they're just bright dots in the sky," Cass kicked the book away and glared at the stars without the help of magnification.

"…Andromeda."

She scoffed. They were the only ones in the Astronomy Tower, after curfew, Cass resisting the extra study session.

"The Black family names their children after constellations, you know," he told her, and she shuffled towards him.

"Really? Is that normal for wizard families to do?"

"No," he pointed at another constellation, though she didn't look, "That one is Caelum."

"Capricornus, Virgo, Tucana, Cassiopeia…"

"Where?"

"Which one?" He knew which one.

"Cassiopeia?"

"Here," he leaned closer so he could see her angle, then showed her her constellation.

Harry cast their strange Tempus. Three in the morning. September twelfth. He summoned the dull, swimming light and put his glasses on, checked the map. Ginny was in the Common Room, alone. He did another head count, and spotted Cassiopeia just before she vanished off the edge of the map. There was no one missing.

He didn't ask about the dream, Tom and Harry had both been on a hair trigger in the four days since the Dark Lord had backed them into yet another deal where Harry inevitably martyred himself, and so both had been resistant to talk to the other.

"…Yes, that was when she named herself Cassiopeia. We were thirteen; she was embarrassed by her blood status, made worse by me," Tom answered his silent questions in Parseltongue.

Immediately and by accident Harry thought about Alicent.

"You really should learn Occlumency. At least attempt it. I do not believe you have ever genuinely attempted it," Tom hissed.

"Yes I have," Harry said, and they both fell silent.

Before he thought about Alicent and the Scriptorium doors for the second time, again without intending to.

"…Sorry."

"…He could not cast the Cruciatus, so I had to do it. I did not anticipate that he would not be capable of…"

"…Oh."

"…Then I Obliviated him. Of- of all of it."

"…Oh."

"You asked," Tom snapped.

"No- I mean, I did - but not on purpose- I'm not… I mean, that's- I'm sorry," more questions bubbled up.

"Harry."

"I just mean… How many Horcruxes were there? Before you? How far gone- How far gone were you?"

"…There were five. The ring, the diary… The necklace, the cup, and- a diadem. It's a type of… Crown. I was…" He trailed off.

His heart was racing by that point, both anxious.

"A crown?"

"It belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw."

Harry had originally had a different set of questions in mind, but he was sidetracked by Tom outright telling him what the fifth Horcrux was.

"…You should be asking yourself why you are wondering whether or not I am capable of love."

"Well- no- what? Why? Why should I ask myself- I think it's a valid, normal question?"

"Okay."

"So, are you?" Harry pressed.

"What a stupid question," he hissed, checked the map again, then sat bolt upright when he saw that Ginny was heading toward the Room of Requirement.

Harry shot out of bed, cancelled the light, lit the braziers around the room with the curse, and panicked.

"Why- surely- there's nothing to… Say- I- what do I do?"

"Breathe."

Harry tried it, as though he'd never done it before, manual and difficult stuttering breaths as she approached the doors. He opened them when she reached them, heart in his mouth, unable to look her in the eye as she stepped into the room with a good amount of hesitation.

"…Hi, Harry."

He looked at the floor, realized he had littered it with wine bottles, and that he must look a wreck, hair a mess, eyes sunken, pale and in crumpled pyjamas. She sat down on the two-seater couch while Harry continued to stand, staring at the ground with bugged eyes.

'What- what do you think I should do?' He asked in his head.

'I think you should tell her everything. The damage is done, let the rest happen.'

'Let the rest happen?'

'How can she choose without the information, Harry. Give it to her and be done with it.'

He sat down on the end of the bed, still not able to look at her, true fear closing his throat. Without thinking much about it, Tom used the curse to pull three Calming Draughts from the bedside table behind him, like a whip, then Harry dropped them when Ginny gasped. He finally looked at her, a quick glance, then picked the potions back up.

"I'm sorry. That's… That's my magic now- it's all I can get to… Work. It's under control, I would never hurt you," he said, then he diluted it by saying, "On- on purpose."

She continued to just stare at him, her frown deep enough to see with his peripheral vision.

"I owe you an explanation… And I've been trying to- to say it all out loud," he uncorked and drank the three potions in quick succession, longing for something stronger, to blast the curse into his head…

"I," he stopped as soon as he started, stomach flipping at the thought of saying any of it.

"In the Ministry, that night, after Sirius died, and I chased- I chased Bellatrix Lestrange," he swallowed, his tongue too big for his mouth suddenly, "I used the Cruciatus on her. When I did that I-" He looked her in the eye, heart hurting, "I woke up the Horcrux in my head."

Her frown melted as her mouth slowly fell open, but he didn't let her speak.

"That morning in the hall, I- the Horcrux…" He paused, then thought he might as well reveal it all at once, "The Horcrux is- alive, I call him- Tom…"

There was a rush of adrenaline at his words, not his. His thoughts were hidden from Harry, so he kept speaking.

"That morning in the hall Tom read Dumbledore's mind."

He watched her carefully, and she looked distraught, was shaking her head as though she was refusing. He still didn't let her speak, he wasn't done, she would hear it all.

"There we saw that the prophecy he told me, that he told everyone, was fabricated. He faked it, to try and… Get Voldemort to kill me. As a baby, then repeatedly, nearly annually, after that…"

"The real prophecy… It's not good, it means… That I-" He paused, examined the words of the prediction in his mind, and weighed the risks, already enormous.

There was every chance he was making everything worse, as he repeatedly seemed to do.

"When I saw the real prophecy… Dumbledore was thinking about it- while he looked at me, and I- I couldn't bear it, Tom couldn't- couldn't control it either so… And- Ron-" He flinched, said nothing more about him, feeling shameful bringing him into it, "I lost control."

"…You can… Leave, at any point, and I-" He began to say that he'd understand but she shook her head no, white in the face.

"The day that you… Sent Ron to get the necromancy book," he paused to let her gasp, "Sorry, I followed him, I was already… Anyway- that night, after the fight with Hermione, when I vanished, Draco Malfoy, with the Slytherins -Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini- they stunned me. Dragged me to- There's a cabinet in the Room of Requirement -the one he was repairing- with a twin in Borgin and Burkes. They put me in it, and I fell out on the other side. In Knockturn. Bellatrix, Narcissa, and Fenrir Greyback were waiting… They took me to a warded house… Somewhere," he was reciting it rhythmically, no longer looking at her.

"There, I was- I was chained up, and he was there. Voldemort. With Nagini. He offered me a deal…" He did look at her then, and her eyes were wide as saucers, tears welling, "That he wouldn't harm any student of Hogwarts, as long as I never spoke a word about my meetings with him, or the Horcrux without his direct permission. I- I took the deal. I didn't know he was a Horcrux then or the purpose of… Any of it, it was- the alternative was- he wasn't going to return me- to the school so, I- I did what I thought I had to."

He waited for it to sink in, then said, "We swore Unbreakable Vows. He swore that he wouldn't harm them unless they were members of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Which is why…" He could see that she was crying, slowly transforming from silent, still-faced tears to open sobs, but he couldn't stop, "…Why I've been asking you not to join the Order- and the DA…"

"…After that, I met with Cassiopeia, twice a month, for her to train me. But not for long, because I lost it, in the hall. I ran- afterwards, to, here. Into the cabinet. Then…" He took a deep breath, noticed he was sweating profusely, and that his legs were shaking.

"I fell out into Borgin and Burkes, Narcissa was there, waiting for me, apparently all day because I wasn't supposed to meet Cassiopeia till later that night… She- panicked because I lost control of… Everything. I couldn't move, my magic was fried. She took me to Malfoy Manor."

She'd curled into a ball and was looking away from him, weeping quietly. He wasn't sure if she was still listening, but there was no way to stop once he'd started.

"I couldn't move for… A long time. Nagini, Narcissa, and Cassiopeia they… Healed me. Mostly Nagini- she- bit me… It somehow- I still don't understand it, I haven't been able to talk to her and I don't think she can talk to me because-" He stopped, and wrung his hands.

He didn't want Tom to take over in that moment, it would be too much for her, it was all already too much. Too much for him. But Harry was not as good at getting his words out.

"Then the trial. It was rigged. He took- he took me himself. Avrom Dermot was- that was Voldemort."

"I need draughts," she said suddenly, summoning them to herself, whizzing past Harry's face.

She drank them without another word, so he continued.

"After he took- after he took the school, he left me here with… A Dark… Mark and- and released me from the Vow," he decided he wasn't going to admit to killing the headmaster, maybe not ever if he could help it.

"And I saw it for what it was, he wants to use me as a tool, wanted me to tell… So I didn't… I didn't say anything to anyone, or you, but I just couldn't, anyway, because…" He summoned another couple of draughts, and she did too.

"Then… Dumbledore's Army. I- saw the writing on the wall right after we saw Cedrum… Still recruiting- I panicked. Then it happened so fast. He knew- so fast. There was nothing I could do. He told me if I-" He let out a shaky breath, "Sorry, I need to-" Tom summoned the curse, snaked it up his left arm to the elbow and held it there, fizzing his mind clear.

"He told me that if I didn't swear allegiance to him -do what he wants me to- that he would… Kill all of you, that I'd watch him - watch him do it… That as long as the army didn't reform, his Vow would hold, but if you- if you join them, he'll… Please don't join them, Ginny, the war is lost, I failed, I was never any hero, I don't need you to forgive me, I don't expect you to, but I'm begging you to live, please, once you're out of the school you can run-"

"…Harry," she interrupted him, "I'm so sorry."

"…What, no, have you not- have you been listening? I said- I'm a- I'm his- Horcrux- I said-" Then he was crying, Tom released the curse as she crashed into him, rocked him while he sobbed into her shoulder, "…Ginny- Ginny I said-"

"Stop. I heard you."

She'd laid them down and held him until they both fell asleep.

When he woke up, she was bizarrely, blessedly, still there. His room was clean, and the sun was rising when he opened his eyes, all three things startled him. She had breakfast waiting on a new coffee table, with two new single-seater couches. She sat in one, chewing her thumbnail, eyes wide. He sat down with her, and she immediately began to question.

"Can the Horcrux- hear us now?"

"When I destroyed my magic, we became… Fused. He could always hear everything but now we- we share control," again the adrenaline that wasn't his rolled through him, he frowned, and tried to examine it.

'Mind your business, Harry…'

"Fused? So… It can- it can speak through you-"

"Don't. Don't call him it. I've… He's not- not an it," Harry said, and the adrenaline hit again, larger.

'What?' Harry asked in his head. Silence.

"Uhh. So- the Horcrux can speak through you?"

"Yeah, he can."

"You did remind me… Of- it was so… he's spoken to me?"

"To be honest, you seemed to nearly notice every time," Harry looked down at the floor again.

"When you spoke French, the other night, to You-Know-Who, that was…?"

"Yes."

"So, he was talking about you, then, the Horcrux was? When he said that you weren't You-Know-Who's dog?"

"I- What? You know French?"

Tom immediately bristled.

"No, I mean, I know a word or two, but Hermione asked Fleur, she got a rough translation, though she couldn't properly remember what you- it- he- said, so," her eyes were wide, but she seemed steady, then he spotted the nine draught bottles under her chair.

"What did he say?" Harry asked, almost whispering.

"You don't know?"

He shrugged, "I don't know French."

"Uhm, like, 'he isn't your dog,' then something about a deal."

"How much does Hermione know? How much has she said to the Order? To Fleur? To the students?" Tom asked.

'You said that to him?' Harry asked in private, feeling weirdly endeared by it. Again, he was ignored.

"She… She doesn't want to tell anyone, yet, about your mark, the Order - or anyone else, I mean, because it would- So, she wants to know more before she-"

"And are you here to 'know more' for her?"

"What- no- I can't tell her, any of this- you're- this makes you… A target? Doesn't it? For the Order, really, more of a- more of a target…" She trailed off at her own realization.

"Did you tell her that I attempted to use Legilimency on you?"

"…No, Dumbledore did. She told the others not long ago, when she handed out the coins at Hogsmeade- on Saturday. She told them to avoid you. They almost wouldn't let me out of their sight and honestly, you were starting to scare me so- I let them keep me out of your way… Things started to get… Except for when- when you came with me to see Professor Widrich… That was really- awful of me, I- I'm sorry."

There was a heavy pause, she shakily took a biscuit from the silver tray, and held it, "That morning, in the forest, with Ron, when you told me to leave him, that was… The Horcrux, talking to me, wasn't it?"

"I couldn't do it. I couldn't handle it, the curse was… Almost too much to hold in then, and he's better at… At keeping things under control. In my head," he wasn't sure why his cheeks were red, "So he had to take over, or I was- then he did something stupid," Harry snapped.

"It- he was talking to me… Just now, wasn't he?"

"…Yes."

She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them.

"Ginny if this is- I understand if it's too much. You don't need to- you don't owe me."

"What's the curse? Why is it important?" She ignored him and continued her questioning.

Harry wished she hadn't asked, had hoped she wouldn't.

Tom summoned it as she finished speaking, looking between her and it, twisting it up his left arm, "It is pain. A manifestation of it. To remain… strong in his head I needed him to cast darker magic, to feed my core, to feed me. If he failed to do so, we were wracked with pain, not unlike starvation. A hunger that I felt nearly every minute in his head, until that night at the Ministry…"

"Wait, what? You never told me that?" Harry asked in Parseltongue, mostly by accident. Ginny winced and Tom ignored him again.

"To begin with I was a remarkably small piece of the Dark Lord's soul. Now I am… Not," he held the curse, still, making Harry swallow repeatedly, eyes slightly too wide, until he released it.

He understood that Tom was trying to intimidate her into silence, but Harry didn't feel like it mattered too much what Ginny decided to do with the information they were giving her. It would all come tumbling down eventually, whether she knocked it down or not. The Order would find out, Hermione would find out, the whole world would talk, but hopefully, he'd done enough, said enough, to save her. At least her. Now that the Dark Lord had forced his hand, he was too tired to cling to the hope that he could fix or hide it. But Harry, selfishly, wanted to keep her. He knew that Tom did, too, deep down. Made more obvious by his attempts to push her away.

"Sorry… He can be- Voldemort. Like I said I'd understand if you-"

"So, all that time you were… Sick- sick like, weird, angry- you were…"

"Starving."

There was a long gap in her questioning as she chewed her lip, then her thumbnail, biscuit forgotten in her left hand.

"So, you organized Professor Widrich?" She asked.

"Yeah. We both did. The Dark Lord… Saw inside my head. What happened with Ron and what happened in the hall, while my magic was broken. He- well. Cassiopeia… She made him change the laws for you. She didn't think it was fair- she summoned Cedrum. Tom made sure that you would have a choice. That they wouldn't force you."

"Harry made sure you would have a choice," Tom said when Harry stopped talking.

"So, they… Want me to learn necromancy…?"

"Cedrum and his students are valuable in their own right. You are -so long as you do not join the Order of the Phoenix- free to choose your own way. If Widrich teaches you, you are not beholden to the Dark Lord, you will not owe him your services. If you wish to learn your craft and leave when you are finished you can do so," Tom told her, "You should do so."

There was another long pause; she watched him, squinting, still chewing her thumb.

"You're like… Friends? With the Horcrux? It seems like…?" Ginny asked, frowning, "She changed the laws? For me? Who- who even is she?"

Harry blinked rapidly at the insinuation that they were friends, barely hearing the rest of the question.

"I- I- friends? I mean that's kind of a… Stretch I- think- uh… Cassiopeia is- almost like- like- his best friend? That feels weird to say. They went to Hogwarts together. In the same year. Really close until… Until he started to rise to power… They didn't… Agree."

'A… Stretch, is it, Harry…?' There was humour in his thoughts but there was something else, now familiar but still unidentifiable.

'You never told me you were hungry all the time before…' Harry pressed in his head again, annoyed at the lack of response.

'It was not relevant. It still is not relevant.'

'Well, why say it?'

"…His best friend?" She looked drained but bug-eyed, still holding the biscuit.

"It's… Weird. I know."

"And she changed the laws… Because of me? Because of Ron? So then- now Professor Widrich is here legally because… And his apprentices…" She frowned, pointing at nothing.

"Have you met them?" Tom asked.

"No, I- after… You-Know-Who, I couldn't… I told the Professor I wasn't ready."

Tom frowned but Harry figured it made sense, and so he didn't let him say anything about it.

"…The snake… His snake, it transformed into- a woman? And you- she made your eyes glow… What was she doing?"

"She was… Disobeying," Tom smirked as he said it, "She was calming Harry. Her magic is not unlike her venom. She is a Maledictus. She was trapped in her snake form, but she has been released."

She narrowed her eyes at Tom for a long time, "Are you- Are you evil? Like the diary? Do you make him do…" She stopped, swallowed, looked away and started again, whispering, "Do you make him do things he doesn't want to do?"

Tom smiled, slowly, "I have never made him do anything he did not want to."

'Tom.'

'It is true.'

Before she could say anything, Tom said, "I got you a gift. At the Malfoy Manor," he used the curse to open Harry's trunk and felt for the book, brought it to her lap and dropped it there while her eyes widened in alarm, then recognition.

"Oh, this is… Old. Did you steal it? I don't understand."

"Tom just… Asked Malfoy," Harry said.

"The Horcrux… Asked… Malfoy… -Draco Malfoy?- For an… Ancient necromantic text… for me…?"

"Uh, yeah. Tom likes you, but he'll lie about it. Malfoy doesn't know anything, as far as I know, about you, or Ron, or me, but he was there. At the manor. I mean, obviously, it's his… House," Harry said.

'I do not lie about anything.'

'Sure.'

She didn't touch the book, looking at him warily, and he realized she'd just been given a book from the Malfoy library by a Horcrux. Not a dissimilar experience from her first year.

'You're not very good at gift-giving,' Harry thought.

"You are not very good at shut up," Tom hissed in Parseltongue, which startled Ginny further, then he said to her, "I can take it back?" He summoned the curse, and she shook her head, still not touching the book, but definitely looking at it.

'Stop using the curse so much,' Harry thought, shifting uncomfortably, already feeling weird and exposed.

'We are past that. This is our magic. We use it. Enough,' Tom commanded, and Harry's neck went red.

He let the curse go and Ginny gingerly opened the front cover.

(AN: The juiciest tea these walls ever did see. I don't know anything about Astronomy don't me. 3 This is officially longer than the original and I just wanted it noted xx.)