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That which we make for ourselves	By : magentasouth Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Tom Views: 38078 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from any part of the Harry Potter universe

Chapter List
- 1-That which we make for ourselves
- 2-Ch 2
- 3-Ch 3
- 4-Ch 4
- 5-Ch 5
- 6-Ch 6
- 7-Ch 7
- 8-Ch 8
- 9-Ch 9
- 10-Ch 10
- 11-Ch 11
- 12-Ch 12
- 13-Ch 13
- 14-Ch 14
- 15-Ch 15
- 16-Ch 16
- 17-Ch 17
- 18-Ch 18
- 19-Ch 19
- 20-Ch 20
- 21-Ch 21
- 22-Ch 22
- 23-Ch 23
- 24-Ch 24
- 25-ch 25 - provisional
- 26-Ch 26
- 27-Ch 27
- 17
- 18
- 19
As he walked toward the mermaid an hour later he felt
strangely drained.�

Elana and then Abraxas.�

He had told Abraxas why Caed was
important.. why he needed to
keep him from Dumbledore..

It was either that or risk more insubordination in
future and possibly a loss of trust over time.�

Abraxas hadn�t believed him at first and when Tom had
assured him that it was incontestably established, the silvery eyes had grown
large and Tom could see the galleons floating about in them.�

Abraxas was, at the end of all things, a Malfoy.� He was about money.�

Money and power..

however he would sacrifice a small amount of the
latter in order to attain more of the former and thereby regain the latter.�

The knowledge that Caed would know the state of the
future wizarding world obviously set his business senses twitching and
aching.�

Tom had considered obliviating him
again, but he would then be back to the original problem and if Abraxas
realised he�d been obliviated � which he might well
do � the trust he placed in Tom would be even more quickly eroded.�

So instead he had demanded..sternly.. that Abraxas not
ask Caed anything about his past � or, more
specifically � the future, at all..

He should not even hint that he knew
until told that it was acceptable to do so.�

The blonde had nodded and agreed quickly but the greedy
expression didn�t leave his eyes.�

Tom was mildly concerned that Abraxas might be difficult in future if he didn�t
bring Caed to willingly share information within a
relatively short time.�

And if Abraxas was foolish enough..
or intelligent enough.. to
share this information with his father..
well then all bets were off.�

The Malfoys had resources beyond
imagining.� If Carvell
Malfoy learned of Caed, he would move mountains to
acquire him.�

And, paradoxically, Tom doubted he would be as easily calmed as Grindelwald had been.�

He stopped still and lowered his head, groaning.� Fuck.�
He had to get information for him and quickly.� The man wasnt
known for his patience.� He
demolished entire settlements because it was more expedient than negotiating
for the surrender of mudbloods and blood
traitors.�

He had to get Caed
to talk.�

He placed his hand on the portrait frame and whispered the
password, ignoring the silly slattern making kissy faces at him and walked in
with his mind hovering uncomfortably between what Grindelwald
versus Malfoy Sr. would do to him if he appeared to stand in the way of their
getting their hands on Caed.�

He stopped dead in the doorway.�

NO!!� Damn it.. he�d hidden it!! How had the
little idiot gotten hold of it again.�

It was warded. Severely!� It was KEYED
to him.� The wards couldn�t be removed
and only he could pass them.�

Even if he�d found it, he should never
have been able to touch it!� ��Hades! Was it too late?!�

He leapt across the room in four steps and dragged Caed off the chair backward, throwing him to the ground and
pinning him, casting the diagnostic charm in panic..�

It showed clear.�

The boy was unaffected.�

He cast it twice more.�

No.� he was fine!!�

However that was possible.. he
was fine.� That was all that mattered.�

The boy was sputtering and making excuses.� Anger overtaking terror as his primary
emotion he roared and punched Caed in his stupid babbling
mouth.�

The boy shut off his noise as if by switch.�
He hit him again.�

�I TOLD YOU TO
LEAVE IT ALONE!!��

He was on his feet in half a second and had his wand on the
disobedient little curr, cursing him.�

Caed kicked and scratched at his skin in pain as it
burned invisibly.� Tom ignored the
pleading and begging and held it on him.�

Blood..� blood on his face.. on his arms where he scratched himself.. Caed
was shaking, pale and sobbing pitifully when he finally took the curse
off.�

�You will remember for the future, Caed,
that if I give you an order � I
expect it to be followed.� This directive happened to be for your
own good.�

You recall the lesson with the necklace that I gave you only hours ago.� This
book WILL kill you.�

I have already warned you before!!� There
is NO excuse for this!��

He stalked away to the desk and looked down at the page.

Caedmon?�� The third line?�

Caedmon??� Have you gone?

To the side, the sixth year arithmancy text was open to
chapter eight. �Several pages of finished
matrices lay around the desk and a half finished one, completed to the end of
the third line of the substance box sat with the quill dropped haphazardly on
it.�

Swallowing uneasily he sat down at the desk and pulled the diary closer.

Caedmon is indisposed at present.

Ah.

And you have forbidden him to touch the diary again, I take it.

Yes.

He assured me that he
was not affected by it.�

He refused to elaborate why exactly.�

But he said he knew with �incontrovertible certainty� that my..your..
order was flawed.�

Can you imagine why he might believe that?

I warned him several times after he informed me that he is your..our.. bond-mate.

Why have you abandoned our plans to
rise within the ministry?!� A male bonding??!

Tom looked at the lines thoughtfully.� It
seemed his..glorified appendage.. was
somewhat irritated with him.�

�Caed..�
he said in a low voice.� �Why exactly are you certain you will not succumb to
this book?��

There was no response.�

He half turned and saw the boy had moved closer to the door
and was giving a convincing impression of being unconscious.� A thin little blood trail traced the
movement.

Sceptical he cast a diagnostic charm, the colours displaying that the boy was
weakened and likely in some form of mild pain but not injured.

�I know you are awake
and you are far less hurt than you
are going to be shortly if you do not answer me now.��

There was a long pause and then Caed
said dully ��I�ve
seen the diary in my time.� If I were
going to be trapped by it.. it
wouldn�t be there in my time.� It doesn�t
matter how much I talk to him...��

Tom nodded.� He had thought it might be
something like that.

�It. Not him.� He corrected
absently and turned back to the book.�

Caed didn�t say anything. �

He picked up the quill.. not entirely sure why he was bothering to write with
something that was only a thin memory captured in parchment.� He�d made it himself.� It wasnt
a person. �

It appears he may be correct.�

This does not change the fact that he disobeyed orders.

I fail to see any reason to explain myself to a book infused with a few spells
and a sliver of soul.�

Perhaps I can be useful.

We were working on his arithmancy, as I assume you see.�� I cannot demonstrate charms for him from
here, obviously. ��

What do you hope to gain from this?� Your
purpose is to draw energy from the writer to resurrect my soul fragment.� You will not succeed with this boy.�

Why would you waste the energy you are infused with?!�

Stop speaking to me
as if I were...a..an..object!��

I am not a few spells and a bit of soul.. I am..me.. that is - you.. no!.. ME!�

I created this diary.. I cast the
horcrux spell over that mudblood�s dead body and then
I opened my eyes..here..�

And since then.. every day
has been the same.�

Not even the weather changes.. I have read and reread
every book in the library and in the chamber.. even the basilisk is gone.�

There is nothing here!!�

I would rather speak to the boy about arithmancy than go and reread Goetelinds �Resurrection and Preservation� for the twenty-second
time.�

Nothing changes here.� It is always
silent, unless I speak.. always
still unless I move an object.� Everything
returns to its place if I turn my attention away for a moment.�

This world is dead and I am trapped in it.�

You might easily be where I am but for an act of chance!

And then.. as the last lines
faded out.

I am not some spells and parchment and a little bit of soul

I AM Tom Marvolo Riddle.�

Get me the fuck out of here!

Tom slammed the diary shut and sat back in the chair heavily.� No.� it wasn�t true.. it was just a very
clever spell design.�

He drummed his fingers on the desktop in internal disarray.��

If it was true, what did that mean?�� It didn�t
matter really, did it?!�

The diary was an insurance policy in case he was killed and his servants failed
to resurrect him from other horcruxes � a means of
resurrecting himself through time and chance.��

He imagined for a moment being trapped inside a dead
world.� Hogwarts a prison..�

�If you touch that door, I shall be very angry� he said
absently and heard a faint gasp.��

He half turned at the bloody trembling blonde curled at the foot of the door
miserably and sighed.�

Getting up from the chair he walked over slowly and
cautiously as if approaching a wild animal.�
Caed�s wand peeked out from beneath his arm,
pointing at him but the boy was so weak that he lost it the moment Tom summoned
it wandlessly.�

�Don�t point it unless you intend to curse me.. and I would not advise attempting to curse me unless you are
in perfect health and accompanied by a lot of support.��

Caed curled himself up more
tightly, bracing himself.�

Tom sighed and lowered himself to his knees beside him.� He could see the boy�s lip was split and drew
his wand, ignoring Caed�s
shying away, and healing the small wound.�

The weakening effects of the dark spell would not be able to be healed.. he would have to regain his
strength naturally with sleep ...but the rest
of his bruising and cuts..�

Tom tried to pull Caeds sleeves up
but the boy refused to unclench.�

In the end he stupefied him and levitated him to the bed, divestoing
his clothing and then setting to fixing all the minor damage he�d caused.�

Caed looked miserable, even
asleep.� Tom stroked down his breastbone
and regretted for a moment his rash reaction.�
He reassured himself quickly enough that it had been both appropriate
and restrained in comparison with what he might have done if Abraxas had
disobeyed him in such a manner.. or
Gyphus.�

But still.. he might have lay
with the boy.�

Caed might have leapt on him happily again.. he might have had him again tonight before taking him
to his dorm.�

Now.. Caed was damaged and
afraid of him.. more afraid
of him than he had been since the first night.. and
after yesterday..

�it
was..a poor reaction.�

He rolled his eyes, knowing what he would have to do and
hating it.�

�Enervate� he whispered softly.�

Caed�s eyes flickered and then
opened in shock and disorientation, focussing quickly on him, dazzling green
jewels pinning him like knives.�

�I�m sorry.� He said immediately.�

Caed looked sceptical and wary.�

�I was ...concerned.. that I
was too late.. angry.. worried.�� As with the necklace..
I ..am sorry Caed.��

The boy shook his head. �-means nothing.� You�ll do it again in five minutes.� Tomorrow morning I�ll say something you don�t
like or do something.. or I�ll
refuse to ..whatever.. create
a bloody inferius in defense or something.. and you�ll do it again.�
Worse probably��

Tom swallowed and turned away.� He could lie and say he wouldn�t.��

�possibly� he managed in a tense voice.�

Caed turned away with difficulty
and curled up protectively again.� Tom
reached out tentatively and stroked over his hair, disappointed when Caed shivered.�

He was certain that revulsion and not arousal was at the core of it this time.

�I..will try..� he started but he
saw the boy tense in anger.�

Giving up he stood, disconcerted by how much Caed�s righteous anger and cold shoulder bothered him, and
transfigured a blanket, levitating it over the naked blonde and walking around
the bed until he could kneel on the floor by Caed�s
head.�

�I really do regret...reacting..in that manner.� He murmured , scanning the closed face for any response.� Caed didn�t meet
his eyes.

�Will you..please.. remain here
tonight?� I will sleep on the sofa.� I wish to be sure that you are safe and
well.��

There was a low mutter as he half turned and he looked back,
searchingly, leaning in and stroking over the boy�s shoulder above the
blanket.�

�I�m sorry Caed..I reacted.. on..on instinct.. �a habit..� I will try to curb it...�� he said again.�

The boy didn�t respond and he stood and stepped away hesitantly, waving the
lamp out and lowering the fire.�

He returned to his desk and the familiar brown book he�d
spent years writing in.�

Lighting the candle he sat again and after a moment to
compose his thoughts opened it and stared at the blank page.�

What should he say?�

If it truly was an entity with a sense of self much like himself.. if it was in a sense a version of himself.. he
now knew that it would be alone in there for the next fifty years.��

He picked up the quill.

I cannot release you.

The response was� a
long time in coming.

I know.

I wouldn�t release me either.�

It rather defeats the purpose of a self resurrecting horcrux, doesn�t it?!

He smirked.� It had been his first
thought too, even in light of the apparent sentience of the diary.

You must remain tied to the diary.. but
I will think on how I might perhaps make your existence more tolerable.� Perhaps you could be placed in some form of
stasis for a period of time?

How long?�

No.

I do not wish to lose track of my own perception of the passing of time.� My calculations were already off by a month
when Caedmon informed me of the date. ��

There is neither day nor night here.� All
clocks show the same time..

Do you have any suggestions?� I assume
you have been thinking about this.

I did not expect to have any option but to wait for some hapless idiot to write
in the book.�

How is the hapless idiot, incidentally?

Upset.

Afraid.� Resentful.�

Physically weak.�
I used the tangia flamare
hex.

I have put him to bed..

He is not speaking to me.

There is some reason you do not wish to obliviate
him?

Yes.

Something in his mind is valuable.

Very.

Do you care for him otherwise?

Tom sighed and stared at his own ghostly face reflected in the dark window
glass.�

Did he?�

He was perhaps...fond.. of Caed.�

Last night when the boy had been lost in his release..and
earlier today..when they had fallen asleep on the
couch..� he had
felt ..happy..
perhaps.�

The boy..pleased him..�
It was irritating to know that Caed would not
welcome affection from him right now.� He
wanted to hold him as he fell �asleep..

if the boy was to remain here unwisely overnight.. then he should be in Tom�s arms and not curled away, prickly
with pain and hurt.��

Yes.

There.� It was
said.� Yes.� He was not ambivalent toward the beautiful
waifish little pain in the arse.��

If he had been some run of the mill urchin with no particular value.. he would still have insisted
upon possessing him.�

He had wanted him from the first moment in the forest when he shone the wandlight in his shocked and frightened face.�

What does he look like?� He told me
himself.. but I would hear
your opinion, for obvious reason.

Tom swallowed and thought about Caed again. ��

Beautiful.

He has eyes of the palest emerald.� golden silky smooth skin. ��

He has the most varied array of expressions.. his face betrays his emotions constantly. I cannot
understand why it does not bother me more.�
He is a pitiful excuse for a slytherin.

His hair is perpetually a messy sand blond catastrophe hanging in his face

His body is slender but built of lean muscle and sharp angles..� He is perfect.�� from any side he is
delectable.��

Even his cock is lovely -�
pale, straight, circumcised and slender; tipped with rose.�

and his seed tastes more sweet than bitter.� Like fermented honey.

He is infinitely superior to any I have had before..

Tom stopped, horrified at what he�d written and wished
he could erase it.� He clenched his hand,
accidentally snapping the quill as the words sank into the page and disappeared.�

Are you absolutely certain you are not under the influence of some love potion?

You�ll pardon my scepticism � I cannot imagine writing any of that drivel.�

I know that my own security precautions are far
beyond paranoid, but are you quite sure you have not been accidentally drugged
somehow?

Tom snorted, rolling his eyes.� He
supposed it was fair.� He�d cringed at
the words himself.� Still.. it infuriated him to be dressed
down by himself.�

He repaired the quill.� Waste not want not.

I am not under the effect of a potion.��
I desired the boy from the first and I was in the forbidden forest when
I found him.� No potions in sight.�

Why is he important?� What is in his
mind?

He is the victim of a temporal accident.�
He comes from fifty years in the future.�
He knows about me..

Us.

Us then, if you insist.�

He knows about who I become because it has already happened for him.� He told me about things I have not told
anyone in this time.�

He told me I was Lord Voldemort.� He feared
me.� Fears me still in
fact.�

Well..�

That certainly changes the complexion of things slightly.

And I take it Dumbledore knows and is interfering.� He said you went to Grindelwald
to protect him.

Yes.� When he first arrived he sought out
Dumbledore and asked for help.� Apparently
he knew him from his own time.�

He does not appear to think fondly of him.

The bastard offered
him no quarter either. He wanted to refuse him entry to all but four classes!
And no arithmancy!�

I have no idea what prompted him to seek help from him other than the fact that
he was extremely distressed at seeing me here.�

Although.. in light of some of the other
things he has said.. I think perhaps he was part of whatever force Dumbledore
will mount against me in time.

That too?�

The news gets better and better.

Do you prevail?

Does he know what happens to me?

Tom hesitated.� How should he tell the
ghost that he would be in there for fifty years?� Should he perhaps lie?� He considered what he would prefer and wrote
reluctantly:

Dumbledore dies eventually on my order.�

...in fifty years or thereabouts.

And he is already headmaster of Hogwarts at the time.

You..are still in the diary in Caed�s
time.� He was quite clear.

There was no response.� He stared at the
page feeling as if he himself had been sentenced to fifty years solitary
confinement.� Which in a sense.. he had.��

It was a sick ache as if he had been hit in the abdomen with a blasting charm.

He put the quill to the page again and wrote slowly; determination crystalising with each letter.

I will find a way to improve your circumstances. �

If I cannot.. I will put you into stasis until a day
which I will inform you of beforehand.

You will not be as you are now for fifty years.

There was a long pause and then the words appeared faintly and untidily as if
the writer were distressed.

Thank you

Tom grimaced.� The two words betrayed the
horror, abject desperation and humiliated dependence of his horcrux self.� �

He felt a sudden need to leave the trapped figure and put the terrible fate
which might as easily have befallen him from his mind.� He scrawled hastily

I must go to bed.� I have a lot to do
tomorrow.

Wait!

When will you return?�

Will you allow Caedmon to speak with me?

He had his hand on the cover of the diary and itched to close it but that
aching sick feeling inside stopped him.�
Against his will he picked up the quill and wrote quickly.

I will allow Caed to speak with you.�

You may continue to tutor him in arithmancy and potions theory. ��

I will speak to you when one of us finds something of use.

Closing the book quickly he blew out the candle and undressed in the near dark.
The leather sofa was cold against his naked back and he was disturbed by the
events of the evening.�

He turned slightly, staring at the embers of the dying fire and felt..strange.� Chilled inside.� Where
there was usually nothing.. there
was a small sharp bitterness now.�

He twisted his head and looked over at the dark expanse of
the bed.�

He wanted to be with Caed.�

He wished, if only briefly, for the physical reassurance.�

For minutes he lay indecisively weighing out how much worse
he might make things by frightening the boy again now with the thought that he
might be set upon in his sleep.�

But he..wanted.. to be near
him.�

He got to his feet amid faint creaking of the sofa leather
and padded over to the bed, slipping in on the other side and listening to the
soft breathing from a metre away.

It was better.� Not ideal but better than
the sofa.� �

He wished the boy would turn.. wished
he would come to him.� He..no.. he didn�t need him.. he
merely wanted him right now.��

And then, as if on command Caed
rolled over in his sleep and wriggled slightly closer.�

Tom blinked in the dark.�

Caed�s warm naked form was only inches away.� He could almost feel his radiant heat.�

�Closer� he demanded silently.�

The boy emitted a snuffly
little grumble and sigh and curled toward him, reaching out arms to
touch him.� He froze, worried that the
hands meeting his body would cause Caed to wake and
panic but quite the opposite occurred.�
When the blindly stretching hands found his chest Caed
emitted a happy little gasp and sigh in his sleep and then in the next second
the boy was pressed against him, arms and legs wrapping themselves around him
like a clinging vine.�

Tom nearly groaned aloud with how much better it felt.� How relieved.. how content.. how comfortable he
was.�

It was unreasonable to be this
affected by Caed.�
Perhaps his diary self was not wrong.�
Something strange was at work.�

Admittedly the bond he had chosen was designed to bring the partners
together.. it enhanced those
things that would foster closeness.�

It was possible this was simply part of it.�

Caed might have felt his ne..want
on some level and responded unconsciously.��

He wrapped his arms around him and breathed in the scent of
the blond hair.� He thought he felt a
kiss pressed to his chest but he couldn�t be sure.��

Thus warmed and enfolded, he allowed himself to think for a
moment on his soul fragment in the ghostly Hogwarts.�

How relieved must it have been when Caed first wrote
in the diary..�

Perhaps he could feed it half a muggle?� Would a little energy allow the horcrux to
escape partially?� ��

He doubted it although he couldn�t place why exactly.�

What would happen, he wondered, if a horcrux, like that in
the diary.. a horcrux infused
with a full persona.. a sense of self.. an identity.. � what would happen
if a horcrux like that were resurrected?�

Would there be two of him in this world?�

Would it be automatically reabsorbed?��

Kissing Caed�s head he settled
himself and relaxed his mind for sleep.

Harry woke and swore under his breath as he realised he was
lying nestled against a warm chest.

�Bastard had said he
would sleep on the sofa!� Liar!�

He inhaled the wonderful scent of Tom�s skin and considered
punching him in the groin.

�I hate you� he growled.�

Tom sighed deeply and shifted slightly, cuddling him
closer.� �My wand hasn�t gone off
yet.� Go back to sleep.� He mumbled
against Harry�s hair.

Pissed off at how comfortable he was feeling curling up
against the psychotic asshole, he turned his head and bit the nipple
closest.� Hard.�

Tom jerked in shock, gasping but instead of swearing and
pushing him away he gripped him harder.�

Harry let go in confusion.�

Tom�s hand slid suggestively down his back. �Then again.. I could be persuaded to wake early� he said huskily. �Harry pulled a grimace of disgust.�

�I wasn�t trying to turn you on, you perverted fuck.� You bloody hit me last night.� You
cursed me!� For nothing!! �You said
you�d sleep on the couch.��

Tom rolled suddenly and Harry found himself lying beneath
him.� The larger boy held himself
balanced on his elbows to look down into Harry�s face.

Tom Riddle looked gorgeous at the best of times, but he looked truly devastating
first thing in the morning with that perfect hair in disarray and sleep
softened eyes.�

Their morning wood was stacked warmly side by side between them.�

�I apologise again
for that.. It was perhaps excessive � although I�m
sure you realise that any other of my ..death eaters..
would have received far more if they had directly
disobeyed me when I was trying to protect them.�

Nevertheless..I acted out of frustration.� I was angry at you because you.. ��
He broke off, a slightly irritated look on his face.�

Harry watched the expression, reluctantly fascinated.

�I what?�� he asked.�

He could actually feel the shape of the answer and it was surreal.�

�You startled me.� You..worried.. me��

A faint smile curved Harry�s lips.� �I scared
you.� You were frightened.� Admit it.� You were scared.��

Tom�s eyebrows lowered warningly.

�I didn�t say that.��

Harry�s smile widened in genuine pleasure.� Tom hadn�t hit him because he disobeyed.. at least not only.. maybe not even mostly.�

He hit him because he had felt afraid and he hated it.�

Harry tentatively traced his fingers up the warm skin on Tom�s sides. �And you
came to bed because?� he asked softly.��

Tom looked uncomfortable at the question and leaned down to
kiss him.

Harry turned away slightly, still looking at the strange expression on the
other boy�s face.� Tom huffed in
frustration.�

�The sofa was cold.�
It is MY bed..��

Harry shook his head dismissively.� Tom
probably knew more warming charms than the charms teacher.� He could have transfigured another bed without
even drawing his wand.�

The dark head dropped and rested its forehead on his
shoulder.� �Fine.�
He huffed�

�If you must know.. I was bothered after talking to the horcrux in the
diary.� I...� You were right.� He is..lonely.��

...From now on he will teach you arithmancy and potions theory.��

Harry smiled even more widely, relieved.� He felt truly sorry for the tom in the
diary.�

�Good� he whispered.�

Tom raised his head and looked at him with something between
resolution and apprehensiveness.�

�Tell me what you remember about the diary, Caed.� What happens
to him?� Does he escape the spells?��

Harry swallowed hard.�
Tom�s eyes darkened in response and his face twisted slightly.� �Caed.. I must know..��

Shaking his head, Harry looked away, staring at the wood
grain on the mahogany wardrobe.�

Tom turned his head back very gently.�

�Please Caed.. As you are now part of me..irrevocably bound.. he is part of you also.�
What happens to the diary?��

Harry bit his tongue.�
He had always been irrevocably bound to Tom.� This new binding couldn�t be any more
relevant than actually carrying a piece of his soul.�

He had been a horcrux when he had destroyed the Tom Riddle in the diary.� What real difference was there now?� It couldn�t be changed.� Voldemort wouldn�t even be corporeal when it
happened.�

He sighed.�

�The diary was destroyed� he said softly.� �The Tom Riddle inside it was destroyed
too.��

Harry grimaced as Tom�s face broke..

The transition from painful dismay into a maelstrom of anger, disbelief, sadness
and frustration was like storm clouds boiling.�
He pushed himself up off the bed and onto his feet and paced away,
shoulders bunched tightly and hands delving through his hair.� Harry could hear him breathing hard.

�NO!!� he growled anguished.�
�He cannot ..I �cannot..endure
fifty years alone in there, only to die..
I REFUSE TO ALLOW IT!!��

Tom turned back with a furious glint in his eye.�

�Tell me everything!.. � he demanded.�

There was a faint threatening undertone that bespoke
thumbscrews if answers were not forthcoming.�
Harry pushed himself up in bed and looked around for his wand as subtly
as he could manage.�

�CAED!!!� TELL ME!!��

Wherever his wand was, he reasoned � it was nowhere within
reach.� He wet his lips nervously.��

�Ok.. ok.�� he said hesitantly,
trying to think fast.� His brain refused
to respond, pushing only the truth forward.

�The diary fell into the hands of a girl.� A first year student.�

Nobody noticed she had it and there was a lot of fear and pointing fingers when
someone started writing nasty things on the walls in blood and some students
got petrified.�

Someone figured it out and one of the girl�s friends followed her down into the
chamber of secrets � she�d opened it somehow � and saved her;� destroyed the diary.��

Tom strode to the side of the bed frustratedly
�How?!� How was it destroyed?��

Harry raised supplicating eyebrows�

�..um..basilisk venom.� It.. kills horcruxes.� His eyes widened
as he saw the shocked look spread itself across Tom�s face.� It bespoke extensive questioning on his
knowledge of horcruxes to follow.�

But Tom only asked �The girl summoned the basilisk?��

Harry shook his head slightly.� �It was
the horcrux Tom Riddle.. by
then it had almost drained her of life.�
He was strong enough to call the basilisk.. strong enough to touch things��

Tom looked physically ill..

�Who else was present?�� he asked hollowly.� Harry
furrowed his brow not understanding.� �No one? Just the girl�s..friend..� why?��

Tom shook his head.�

�I assume the girl�s friend was a boy.�
How did he evade the basilisk��

Harry hesitated warily.�
He felt like someone venturing out onto a black frozen lake and hearing
the ice creaking and cracking faintly.�

He couldn�t think of another plausible response though.�

�He...killed it.� With the sword of Gryffindor.�

Tom snorted and nodded, a twisted rictus
smile distorting his features

�ah.� Of course��

A peculiar wash of guilt broke over Harry.� The trapped resigned lonely boy.. Tom.. dying
as he stabbed the diary. Blood..� The basilisk.. blinded and killed..

He wondered whether this tom thought of it as some kind of pet or
something.� He looked shattered.�

As the guilt and remorse ached in him, Tom�s eyes flicked to
his own and he saw comprehension there.. a black knowing look before the boy turned his head away and
strode into the bathroom without a backward glance.�� The shower started.��

Half a second later as the various unpleasant possibilities
of that knowing look burst in his mind, he leapt out of bed and, finding his
clothes, got dressed at light speed, finding his wand on the desk and going to
the door.�

He was racing through the corridors down to the dungeons
when he ran into exactly the person he least wanted to meet.�

An arm snagged him as he raced past an alcove and pulled him
off balance, he spun and crashed to his knees, sliding
across the stone painfully.�

�Out of your dorm during curfew, I see, Caedmon.� You spent all
night in the head boy�s room.� That
will be seventy points from Slytherin
I think.��

Harry looked up at the somehow cruel looking face of the
young Professor Dumbledore.�

The points lost did not even rate a mention in his catalogue of worries.�

He was equally concerned that Tom would come running out of his room to collect
him.. and that he wouldn�t.�

�I fell asleep over my books, professor� he said
apologetically. �arithmancy.� I�m trying hard to catch up with everyone�� Dumbledore rolled his eyes.�

�Spare me your lies Caedmon.�
I warned you to stop associating with Tom Riddle.� You obviously chose to ignore me.�

Get up.�� We are going to have a little
talk before breakfast.��

Harry shook his head frantically.�

�Mr Piper!� Get up or
you will serve a week of detention
with me.� Perhaps you shall even so.. it would keep you from your
dangerous new friends.��

Harry got to his feet as if on springs. �No!!� Please don�t, Sir!� I�m sorry!� he spluttered urgently.�

Dumbledore snorted and gripped him by the material of the
shoulder of his robe as if to prevent him turning and scarpering.�

�Come along then.� My
office.� We shall see how much
detention you deserve.�

The door closed quietly behind him as he wrung his hands
nervously.��

�Sit down.� Dumbledore instructed coldly.�

Harry padded forward and lowered himself gingerly into the
wooden tall backed chair, feeling suddenly as if he were before the wizengamot again.�

That feeling increased exponentially as he found he could no longer move his
arms or legs.�

Dumbledore walked slowly around him and leaned against the
front of his desk.� His auburn hair
curled as it met his shoulders and the pale blue eyes were like ice chips.� The long fingered hand slid into his opposite
sleeve and drew an unfamiliar black wand.��

Harry�s eyes followed it as it was levelled against him and he waited to be
cursed.�

Dumbledore frowned after a moment and then said, irritably
�Legilimens!�, soon frowning even more deeply and stalking forward.�

�Take down your shields, boy!� he demanded.� Harry shook his head helplessly �I don�t have
any.� I can�t.� I�m not!��

Dumbledore�s eyes narrowed and then he twitched aside the
collar of Harry�s shirt with the tip of his wand.� �New jewellery, Mr Piper?��

Harry nodded.� �it was a gift.��

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow querulously. �From Tom Riddle,
I take it�

Harry nodded and the man�s face darkened.�

�And did you put it on yourself?��

Harry shook his head and Dumbledore turned away in furious
irritation..� �I
TOLD you to stay away from him.� Now look at what you�ve done!� Did he tell you anything about the necklace?��

Harry shrugged his shoulders slightly.� �He said it would protect me� he
mumbled.�

Dumbledore snorted and stalked to a tall corner cabinet in
the cluttered little room, opening it and taking out a tiny phial from the back
of a shelf full of phials.�

�Our Mr Riddle is a dangerous boy� he said quietly.� �Last year he was responsible for the death
of a student � and the framing and expulsion of another student for the crime.� Did you know that?��

Harry�s eyes were fixed on the tiny ornate bottle of clear
liquid.� Veritaserum.� He was sure of it.� He bit his tongue.� �Tom!�
Tom.. help� he thought
desperately.� What good was a mark if he
couldn�t activate it?!�

Dumbledore unscrewed the top of the phial very carefully.�

�This.. Mr Piper is a recent invention of the department of
Ministries.� I have no doubt that you
will be familiar with it in your time.�
It elicits a completely truthful answer from those who generally cannot
be relied upon to provide it otherwise.��

Harry felt his breathing speed.� What did he even want to know?!� TOM!!�

�I feel.. for
some reason.. you are not being completely honest with
me, Caedmon..or whoever you are.. Your manner since
you first arrived here has been most suspicious � as was Tom Riddle�s instant
desire to be of any and all assistance to you.��

Tom, despite appearances, is no altruist.�

I want to know what you have told him already.�
And you are going to-.�� A
deafening caterwauling drowned out his final words.� Harry cried out, ducking his shoulders,
unable to cover his ears.�

Dumbledore�s eyes narrowed.�

�I imagine that is our friend Mr Riddle now.� He yelled over the deafening
noise.�

�This distraction will not work.��

He cast a charm and the noise cut off as the room was
insulated from the rest of the castle.�
Stepping forward quickly he gripped Harry�s nose and tilted his head
back. �

He pressed his lips together and held his breath but it didn�t
take very long till he had to gasp for air. �

A splash of tasteless liquid landed on his tongue and then his mouth was held
closed for a moment.�

Harry felt reality tilt slightly.� He felt a bit drunk and his head lolled.�

Something was ..bad...� he was..scared..of something.. couldn�t remember
what.� Dumbledore looked funny.� �Your beard is gone� he told him.�

The familiar face smiled thinly and Harry grinned back
sloppily.�

�Now.. What happened the night you
arrived here� Dumbledore asked quietly.�

Harry remembered back and found himself slurring out the answer automatically

�I was having dinner in the great hall when the death eaters
attacked the wards and I went outside and the battle was everywhere.. I was looking for Voldemort in the forbidden forest and I
heard him... And then a spell hit me and.. I think he
kicked me...� He was standing over me...and
then I don�t remember..and then..� and then.. I was at
the edge of the forest and there was snow everywhere and everyone was
gone.� ..So I ran up to the castle to
find everyone but ..it was all quiet and headmaster Dippet was there and Tom Riddle
too!�

And then you came and you weren�t nice like you usually are.� ...And you wanted me to tell me about the
future!!� ..You were the one who told
Hermione never to ever do that.. and
she just about drove me spare going on about all the things you couldn�t do if
you used a time turner and the end of the universe or something.� So you wouldn�t ever do that!!��

Dumbledore frowned at him again. �This is a special
exception.� What year was it when you
left your time?��

Harry responded promptly �1997�

�And who are the death eaters?��

Harry�s head lolled and he struggled to think.� �I don�t know them all.� Um.. Bellatrix Lestrange and Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange.. Lucius Malfoy..uh..Antonin Dolohov... or wait.. that�s one of Tom�s friends.� Um.. Abraxas and Alphard and Palmer and Darius and Roan..
and Draco ..� um.. and professor Snape and� ...I don�t know.� Lots of other people I don�t know. �And me.� I didn�t want to be but I had to anyway.�

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows..

�No Mr Piper..I meant what is a death eater.� Who
are the death eaters?� Who attacked Hogwarts
and why?��

The floo flared green and headmaster Dippet�s
head poked into the room.�

�professor Dumbledore!�
I require your assistance at..er..
at once!�� The
headmaster blinked, confused and peered at Harry.� �Mr...Piper?� What are you doing here?��

Harry smiled dizzily and opened his mouth to answer �being
interrogated� but Dumbledore silenced him.�

�Mr Piper was speaking with me regarding his courses.��

Dippet looked uncertain. �er... at..five in the
morning on a Friday?!�� He seemed to
remember himself. �Nevermind..
Come through at once.. the
school is in chaos.� I need you to deal
with it!!��

Dumbledore made agreeing sounds.�

When dippet had gone he rounded on Harry and growled
�I will return and we will continue our conversation when I have dealt with
whatever Tom Riddle has done now.��

Harry nodded and let his head fall back against the chair, closing his eyes
dizzily.�

The sound of the floo informed him that he was alone shortly
afterward.� He wondered vaguely what Tom
had done.�

He seemed to sit there for a long time..
half dozing when the sound of the door opening quietly
behind him roused him.�

He cracked his eyes and tried to sit up a bit but his head felt large and
unbalanced.� Tom walked silently into his
line of view, looking disconcerted.� He
raised his wand and cast some charms over Harry and the chair and his lips
thinned in irritation.�

Two minutes of
different spells later Tom reached forward and gripped Harry roughly by the
upper arm, dragging him out of the chair.�

Overbalancing, with Harry dizzy and limp, they both nearly fell.� It was only Tom�s quick wand that righted
them both.�

Buoyant� with a
weak levitation charm, he was pulled swiftly out of the room and down corridors
screaming with sirens and running with ankle deep water� until they reached a statue of Eliza
Winthrop-Baggert and Tom opened a passage, shoving Harry
through and closing it after them.�

Inside there seemed to be, rather than a way, simply a
room.� It was filled with chaise lounges,
rugs and oversized pillows in gold and grey tones.�

Harry looked around confused.� He wasn�t really sure what was going on.� The meaning faded in and out a bit.�

Tom was here.� Tom had saved him.� Where was Dumbledore?� Why was it so loud?!�

There was some reason he should be afraid right now.. he had the feeling.. it was on the
tip of his tongue so to speak but he couldn�t for the life of him think
why.�

He sagged against tom and mumbled. �You saved me.� I wished you would.��

Tom tossed him down on a chaise lounge roughly and examined
him with his wand.�

�What is wrong with you?!� he demanded. �What exactly did he do?� Are you under the effect of a potion or was
it a spell?��

Harry tried to focus.�
Too many questions.�

�I�m confused..and..afraid.�

He gave me veritaserum.� It�s a
potion.��

The familiar face blinked, surprised, and leaned down.� �Veritaserum is ..truth
serum obviously?� I was not aware that a
reliable potion for that existed.� Is it
still working?��

Harry closed his eyes.�
The diffuse worried feeling was growing.�
�Yes.� It exists in my time.� Dumbledore said the department of mysteries
just invented it here.� ..yes.��

He cringed as the sapphire eyes glinted with mercenary glee and Tom�s lips
tightened.

�Excellent. �Did you tell the truth in my
room regarding the fate of the diary horcrux?��

Harry responded automatically �Yes.�� Tom nodded thoughtfully.�

�And were you
the boy in the story � did you
destroy the diary..kill the basilisk?��

Harry struggled to focus.�
He needed to think.� There was
some reason not to answer.� But already
his mouth was responding of its own accord �Yes.��

Tom�s face darkened thunderously and he snarled angrily
�What else do you know about my horcruxes?��

Harry bit down on his lips with difficulty.�
He wasn�t supposed to answer that for some reason.� He was almost sure.� It was wrong to answer it.�

�WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MY HORCRUXES� Tom screamed at him,
furiously.

�Harry gasped and his
mouth started to run by itself� �You wanted to make seven.� The ring, the diary, the
locket, the award, the diadem, the cup, and the snake.��

The ring was made with the murder of your father.� The diary with the murder
of moaning myrtle.� I don�t know
about the others.��

They all had curses on them.� Except Nagini � she was just a bloody big curse all by herself.

The ring caused anyone who wears it except you to wither and blacken and die.
Dumbledore destroyed it � I don�t know how.�

The locket makes the wearer slowly go mad.. become violent.. fall apart..I destroyed
it with the sword of Gryffindor-.��

Tom took two weak steps back and dropped heavily onto the
chair.�

�All three are destroyed?� he asked in an unnaturally hollow voice.� �You destroyed two pieces of my soul?!��

Harry hesitated indecisively between finishing his answer to
the first question and answering these new questions.�

�yes. yes.� He said, feeling relieved as the horrible nagging tug of the
questions vanished.�

Tom looked at him with a torn expression, fluctuating
between murderous and forlorn.� �What
happened to the others?� The ones you
mentioned that I have not made yet?��

Harry let his head flop to the side, turning his face
against the back of the chaise.� He knew
he would answer.�

�I destroyed them.��

Tom emitted a wrenching cry.�

�You and Dumbledore destroyed all my horcruxes??!� he almost wailed.�

Harry turned his face back dazedly ��No.��

Tom blinked and frowned, seeming to review everything
said.� �Do I have any horcruxes
left in your time?� he asked slowly.�

The pause dragged on as Harry�s mind tried to process the truth.� �No.� he said finally.� There were no horcruxes
left in his time since he was in the past now.�

Tom wiped a hand over his face in frustrated despair.� �What do you mean?� The two answers are contradictory��

Harry sighed, giving up on fighting it.�

�I mean.. I didn�t ..we didn�t..
destroy all your horcruxes.� There was one left.� But it�s not in my time anymore.� You have no horcruxes
left there.��

The dark boy stared at him, not blinking, a strange
expression twisting his face.�

�Are you telling me that you
are a horcrux � MY horcrux?� he
whispered.�

Harry responded softly in the affirmative.� What did it matter?!�� There was some reason not to say any of this
but it didn�t seem very important if he couldn�t remember what it was.��

Tom had moved while his eyes were closed and Harry blinked
slowly in surprise at seeing the too perfect face a few inches from his own,
tom kneeling on the floor beside the chaise.�

�and I am alive in your time?� he
asked softly.� Harry nodded.�

�Tell me what the last thing you know
with certainty that I did was��

Harry stared at the deep royal blue shimmers in the almost
imploring eyes.� �You were standing over
me and you cast a spell I didn�t know� he murmured.

�Then I woke up on the edge of the forest in this time��

Tom leaned in and Harry felt his warm silky lips brush over
his own deliciously.�

�I sent you here.� he said softly,
sounding relieved.� A thought seemed to
occur to him. �What did you tell Dumbledore before I reclaimed you?��

Harry wanted tom to kiss him and stop asking questions that
made him feel anxious.� He looked at his
lips even as the answer rushed to the front of his mind.�

�I told him about the evening I was sent back in time and the names of some
death eaters.��

This was not good for some reason he couldn�t place.

Tom�s reaction proved as much when he growled under his breath in frustration. �What.. exactly..did
Dumbledore ask you and what did you tell him in his office before I rescued
you?��

Harry found it was quite easy to recite word for word the
entire interaction he had had with the professor.� He was surprised when he finished with Dumbledore�s
final questions.�

�How long does this potion last?� Tom asked quickly.�

�I don�t know.� In my
time it lasts for six hours without the antidote.� Harry mumbled, closing his
eyes and leaning closer.�

When he opened them again the grim look on Tom�s face had deepened.

�You cannot attend classes, obviously� he said to himself.
�I will need to clear this with Dippet somehow.�� He rose fluidly to his feet and paced away,
muttering.�

�I cannot leave you here unattended..�� Harry watched ambivalently.�

Soon enough Tom returned and pushed him back on the chaise
gently, seating himself on the edge of the lounge beside him.�

Harry wriggled closer, greedy for the contact.

Tom smiled down on him, but the smile was tight and somewhat pained.�

�What do you recall about Grindelwald�s
defeat? � tell me everything you remember
reading or hearing about it��

Author note.

Review replies can be found at
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/18725-review-replies/
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That which we make for ourselves