Chapter 24: Twenty Four

Notes:

Thank you for all your responses regarding my possible Tomione story. The more I have thought about it, the less I want to do Tomione and instead to a trio fic (Harry, Hermione and Tom), but I also want to do a Harry/Abraxas, or maybe even a Harry/Abraxas/Tom. Whichever gives me a plot first will be the one you shall first receive xD

Warning for slight lime.

Chapter Text

X

Harry awoke to loud banging on his door; he groaned and burrowed his face against the warm chest he was laying on-he jumped up with a start.

"Tom?! You need to leave-" Harry began, trailing off as he eyed the person in his bed who did not look like Tom. In his place was a boy who looked around Harry's age, with dirty blond hair, and piercing blue eyes.

"Play along," the boy hissed in Tom's voice; yet another one of Tom's disguises, Harry realised.

He didn't have time to ask what Tom's plan was, because the door opened, and Tom had rolled out of the bed and dropped onto the floor as gracefully as he could while still looking panicked.

"Who's there?" James called immediately, his voice stern. Both his parents had their wands raised.

The fake blond head peeped up from over the bed, a fearful expression on the face. Tom eyed the wands with a mixture of confusion and fear, causing Lily and James to lower them, though they were still in a tight grasp.

"I-I'm sorry; I'll just be going now," Tom stammered, and Harry had no idea how to react. If he had a trophy on him, he would present it to Tom for phenomenal acting.

"Who are you?" Lily asked softly, though her voice held a stern tone. Her eyes darted between Harry and Tom, eyeing them suspiciously.

"It's time we told them, Harry," Tom said gently, sending him a small smile; Harry just looked blankly back, and he could tell Tom wanted nothing more than to roll his eyes.

"Sure," Harry said finally, trying to look as least confused as possible.

"I'm Sal; Harry's boyfriend," Tom said with a bright but shy smile, and he held onto Harry's hand; the Gryffindor at least knew how to do that properly.

His parents looked surprised, but Lily hid it sooner.

"Oh; how long has this been going on?" she asked.

"About a year and half," Tom answered, looking at Harry as if asking for reassurance; Harry nodded, just to make it more believable. "I am sorry, Mr and Mrs Potter," Tom continued, with a look of guilt on his face. "I know it's wrong to sneak into houses, but I heard about what happened to Harry, and I just had to come and see him; I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Lily smiled. "Would you like to stay for lunch? You can meet Harry's sister."

"Thank you for the offer, Mrs Potter; I'd love to meet Heather." Here Lily smiled, because Tom had obviously passed her test by knowing the first names of Harry's family members. "Unfortunately I have to get back to work soon, but it's been nice to meet you, even under these circumstances."

"Do you need a lift back? Whereabouts do you live?" Lily questioned, and Harry saw James cringe.

"Don't worry; I have my bike," Tom smiled. "I'm only up the road in Penzance; it's not far. Maybe I'll come another time with my violin; it's the only instrument I can play, but Harry told me you're a family of drummers, so I guess music is pretty important in your house."

Tom's eyes briefly travelled to his parent's wands that were still in their hands, and James looked like he was stifling a laugh.

"Well, it's been nice to meet you," James said, opening Harry's door and gesturing for him to go out. "I'll see you to the door."

Tom smiled brightly at Harry, and then they were gone, leaving Harry alone with Lily who was looking at him expectantly.

"A year and a half?" was all she said, and Harry hoped the expression on his face was that of guilt.

"I didn't know how to tell you," he answered awkwardly. "He's a Muggle," he added; it seemed Tom was playing that angle, despite his hatred for anyone not Magical.

"I gathered," Lily said shortly. "It would have been nice for you to tell us. Where did you meet him?"

"Sorry," Harry said with a shrug, keeping his eyes downcast. "He goes for bike rides in the countryside a lot. I ran into him one day in the village, and we just hit it off."

He felt his bed shift as his mother sat on it, and she wrapped an arm loosely around his shoulder, as though she didn't want to hurt him.

"I don't have a problem with it, you know," Lily told him softly. "If he makes you happy, then I'm happy; I just can't understand why you'd hide it."

"He lives in Cornwall, and most of the time I live in Scotland; it's a pretty long distance," Harry said slowly, an idea coming to his mind.

Realisation crossed over Lily's face, and he waited for her to speak before he carried the conversation any further.

"How exactly do you see him?" she asked, just as James popped his head round the door.

"Who does what now?" he asked stupidly, making Lily roll her eyes.

"Harry's just like you, you know," she muttered, "sneaking out of school; doubtlessly he got some tips from you."

"I've told him no such thing," James retorted, holding his hands up in defence. "Harry, how have you managed that exactly? I know for a fact that there are no tunnels from Hogwarts to Penzance."

"Students can Portkey to and from Hogwarts with no problems," he told them honestly, and Lily's eyes widened.

"Harry, there's a war on!" she declared darkly, looking somewhat panicked.

"I go straight to his house, and I'm careful; I'm not stupid," he argued. He mused that it was rather strange to argue about a lie.

"Of course a secret relationship would explain a lot," Lily murmured, talking more to herself than the others. "All this hiding away in your room…seeming distracted constantly…"

"See, Lils, I told you we had nothing to worry about," James said cheerfully, beaming at his wife and Harry.

"There's plenty to worry about, James," Lily snapped, turning to Harry with a dark glare. "He seems a nice boy and all, but you can't know everything about him; are you using protection?"

Harry and James both choked, staring at Lily with horrified looks.

"What?" she questioned. "It's a perfectly legitimate question. I know you can't get pregnant, but there's all sorts of diseases and infections you can pick up."

"He's clean," Harry cut in, but Lily looked sceptical.

"You can't know that for sure," she stated, but she seemed to let the topic go. "The Mind-Healer is coming round soon, then you'll be free to relax for the rest of the week; you should be fine to go back to school next Monday."

"I think you need to be checking into the hospital soon, Lily," James grinned, "giving Harry a whole week off school."

"There's no difficulty in reading a book in bed; I'll be asking Professor McGonagall to send me some later this week," Lily nodded, causing James to grin further.

"There's the Lily I know," he joked, and Lily playfully swatted the back of his head as she stood up.

"I'm going to go and ask Severus for some Veritaserum," Lily declared as she made to leave the room. "The Mind-Healer says it's a necessity for evaluations, but I'm not letting a stranger give you a potion."

It may have seemed paranoid, but Harry supposed she did have a point.

"Mum took that well," he said after a moment, remembering he had supposedly just been found out about having a boyfriend.

"She knows you're a Marauder; no matter how much she tells you not to do something, you'll still carry on, even if you have to find a way round it," James mused, looking almost longing. "You are careful though, aren't you? No going out in public on your own or anything?"

"Death Eaters don't care if you're on your own or in a group," Harry pointed out; his father looked sorrowful.

"That's very true," he mused quietly. "Sal seems a nice lad; a bit quiet, but we'll have to have him round more often so he can get used to us."

Harry almost wished that everything that was happening was real, but he knew that the chances his parents would happily accept Tom was incredibly low; perhaps not impossible, but still, very improbable. Although, he would gladly have Tom, rather than anyone else, no matter what anybody else thought.

X

The Mind-Healer was a stern looking, middle-aged woman, with thick auburn hair falling to her shoulders. She seemed to have a very much no-nonsense attitude about her; Harry thought she looked like a meaner version of Professor McGonagall.

Severus handed Harry the potion vial of Veritaserum, and he downed it in one go. Snape and Lily were in the room with him; the protocol called that one relative, and one non-relative, were present as witnesses. Harry had wanted James and Remus, but Lily had a vast knowledge of Muggle psychology, and Remus wasn't allowed to because of his Lycanthropy.

"So, Harry," the woman; Healer Murphy, she had introduced herself as, "let's get straight to business; did you purposefully jump from the staircase at Hogwarts?"

"No," Harry answered simply, annoyed the woman wasn't even breaking him into it gently. Mind-Healers weren't the friendliest of people, so Lily had told him when he asked her why she studied Muggle psychology rather than Magical. Apparently mental illnesses were almost taboo in the Wizarding World, and even the more common issues such as Depression and Anxiety were looked down upon, and so the Mind-Healers tended to treat their patients with disdain.

Healer Murphy scribbled something down on her paper. "And have you purposefully self-harmed at any point in your life?"

"Yes," Harry answered, wincing when he heard his mother gasp, so he hurried to say more. "But only to activate a Portkey."

"A Portkey to where?" Healer Murphy asked with interest.

It was at this point Harry realised he could still have some control over how he worded things, even if his mind wasn't strong enough to throw off the Veritaserum completely.

"To visit my lover," he said; he had to disguise his laugh as a cough after seeing the look on Snape's face.

"Healer; this is getting off-hand, don't you think?" Lily interrupted, and the Mind-Healer nodded in agreement.

"Tell me, Harry, do you ever feel stressed about anything, and to what degree?" the Mind-Healer asked, looking down at a sheet of paper which obviously had questions scrawled across it.

"Yeah, but only to a normal degree," he told the woman with a shrug, and she peered at him with a disapproving look.

"How can you know what's a normal level?" the woman criticised, making Harry scowl.

"I don't know," he snapped, "I can handle it so it's not too much of a problem."

"Are you prone to anger outbursts?" the woman continued, making Harry roll his eyes.

"Only when I'm talking to idiots," he muttered, and he heard Snape try and disguise a snort, while the Mind-Healer looked affronted.

"Harry!" his mother snapped warningly, but he heard a hint of amusement in her voice.

"It's no bother; it's the Veritaserum talking," Healer Murphy stated. "It tends to have a worse effect on those whose minds aren't functioning correctly."

"My mind is just fine," Harry argued, but the woman shook her head.

"Your mother told me you're excessively shy; do you agree?" she continued, making Harry shrug again.

"I guess; maybe not excessively," he responded, trying to glance at what the woman was writing.

"Why is that exactly? Is there something about others you dislike?" Murphy questioned.

"People haven't been very nice to me; I just expect it now," Harry said; the Mind-Healer didn't look affected by his words in the slightest.

"Why aren't people nice to you?" Healer Murphy continued, her quill at the ready.

"I don't know; they talk about me behind my back all the time, and they say things to my face as well," he muttered, glaring at the Mind-Healer as she looked disbelieving.

"Nobody can be truly aware people are talking about them behind their backs, yet you seem convinced," Murphy mused. Harry wanted to punch her; apparently Lily felt the same way.

"You aren't here to call my son a delusional liar," she hissed menacingly. "You're here simply to evaluate whether my son is in a fit state to continue with his N.E.W.T examinations, and as he has answered that he is not feeling unbearable stress or depression, I think that leaves your duty done. Harry, sweetheart, do you ever find yourself worrying uncontrollably about anything to do with your studies?" Harry shook his head. "There, all finished," Lily snapped at the Mind-Healer, "I'll go with you to hand your report in."

"I'm afraid you can't-" Healer Murphy started, but Lily cut her off with a vicious glare.

"We're leaving now," Lily stated, gesturing for the Mind-Healer to stand and head over to the fireplace.

As they vanished in the green smoke, Snape handed Harry another vial.

"It's the antidote," the professor explained, and Harry was glad Snape had brought it, even if it probably was his mother who insisted he bring it.

"Thank you," Harry said with a small smile; he noticed Snape's features softened.

"If that woman thinks you're delusional for being bullied then she's a fool," Snape commented with little emotion in his voice. "Though, I think if she tries to put that as an official diagnosis then Lily will make sure she regrets even trying."

X

Tom didn't return until the evening, this time back to his normal look.

"Hello, Sal from Penzance," Harry greeted, earning him a dark look.

"It physically sickens me to act as a Muggle, even in pretence," Tom complained, sitting in the chair at Harry's desk. "I will expect something in return"

"Like what, exactly?" Harry asked, moving over to stand beside Tom.

"You'll find out in time, "Tom told him with a smirk. "Why is it you seem to be angry?"

"I saw the Mind-Healer today; she was a right bitch," he muttered, ignoring Tom's tut at his choice of words. "She hardly asked about anything to do with school; she mostly accused me of making up stories of being bullied; I'm delusional apparently. My mum got really angry and pretty much kicked her out of the house."

"Pay no mind to what people say," Tom told him, getting to his feet. "They tried to label me as a child, yet here I am, soon to be the most powerful wizard in the world, while they rot in the ground."

"Healer Murphy clearly thinks she's the best Healer in the world," Harry said under his breath, but Tom still heard him.

"Was her name truly necessary for me to know?" he asked; Harry looked at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked, but Tom simply fixed him with a dark look. Tom had managed to hunt Anderson down by a name; he was sure the older boy knew how to find people. "Yes," he said, after a long moment of consideration. "Yes, it was necessary for you to know"

He couldn't push away the sickly feeling inside him as Tom smiled cruelly.

Harry found he couldn't quite look at Tom without feeling guilty, but he soon forgot all about his guilt when Tom tipped his chin up and kissed him firmly.

Harry gratefully melted into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Tom's neck to pull him down.

He whined when Tom pulled back abruptly. "I'll be back soon," he whispered, and he vanished just as the door to his room opened.

He was about to complain about the lack of knocking, but the look on his parent's faces told him not to.

"We need to go on Order business," James said hurriedly, glancing out of the window as if he expected a Death Eater to come crashing through the glass at any moment. "Remus will be here for you and Heather if you need anything."

Lily handed him a small object. "This is the Emergency Portkey," she explained. "If anything happens and you can't get to Remus; use this, but always try Remus first if it's safe. Remember we love you."

They basically ran from the room before Harry could respond.

"What's going on?" Harry asked when Tom re-appeared minutes later.

"It's nothing to do with us," Tom answered. "The Dark Lord is currently planning a take-over of St Mungo's; emphasis on the planning."

"I guess that leaves only one person it could be," Harry muttered, and Tom nodded.

"Well he's busy, and your parents are away, so that leaves us with the perfect timing to go and return the Horcrux," Tom said with a smile, showing off his pearly white teeth.

"Like right now?" Harry asked, and Tom nodded. "What if Remus or Heather come to check on me? Or my parents come back soon?"

Tom cocked his eyebrow, and said nothing, instead waving his wand and encasing Harry's room in a bright mist that gradually floated down to the floor and vanished.

"Nobody but us will ever know you left," Tom stated, holding his arm out for Harry to take hold of.

He gripped on to it for just a split second before Tom Apparated, giving Harry the unpleasant feeling of being squeezed through a tube.

As they landed, Harry stumbled away from Tom, before quickly latching back onto him.

They were standing on a rock in the middle of the sea, with waves crashing wildly against it, soaking Harry with the sea breeze. In front of them was a huge, dark cliff, and everything else was impossible to see against the night sky.

"Where exactly are we?" Harry asked, gripping onto Tom even tighter, despite his attempts to throw Harry off.

"Outside the cave; there's Anti-Apparition Wards inside," Tom explained, tugging Harry forwards.

"How did you ever find this place?" Harry wondered aloud, which caused Tom to laugh humourlessly.

"As a child I went on an outing with the other orphans to a desolate village nearby; I got bored, so I came here. It's impossible for Muggles to enter without a witch or wizard, and with all the precautions in place, it's incredibly difficult to steal the Horcrux," the Dark wizard said, staring at the cliffside.

"Regulus Black managed it just fine," Harry pointed out, walking into Tom when he stopped suddenly.

"True; it's a pity he died; he would have made a good follower," Tom mused before stepping down onto another rock, just a bit lower down.

Harry was forced to let go of Tom, and he cautiously followed him down. He held his arms out for balance, as the rock was incredibly slippery.

He moved a lot slower than Tom, who didn't bother waiting for him until he reached the final rock.

"I was always under the belief Gryffindors were courageous; they certainly brag about it a lot," Tom said casually, not bothering to help as he watched Harry struggle not to slip over.

"You can be courageous and still have fears, and I happen to be afraid of drowning." At those words, he took a quick glance at the raging sea beneath him and shuddered. "After drowning twice in my life already, I don't want it to happen again."

"You'll be swimming in a moment," Tom told him, and Harry blanched.

"I can't swim," he reminded the man, who eyed with his disinterest.

"I shan't let you drown; besides, I have a present for you inside," Tom said, sounding almost gleeful.

Harry eyed him warily; anything that made Tom happy usually resulted in someone else's pain.

"Can't we get in any other way?" he questioned, and Tom shook his head, smirking at the boy.

He sat on the rock, and gestured for Harry to sit beside him; the teenager reluctantly obeyed.

Tom slid forward into the water, pulling, or rather dragging Harry with him.

Harry found his arms were flapping violently as soon as he entered the icy cold water; Tom turned and gripped onto both his shoulders hard in an attempt to calm him down.

"Kick your legs," he ordered, letting go of Harry and grabbing his hand.

Harry complied, kicking awkwardly as Tom moved them swiftly through the water, making no sign of acknowledgement whenever Harry spluttered when water splashed into his face.

Fortunately the swim was short, and once in the cave the water was calmer and shallower, allowing them to walk through a narrow passage.

"I still can't believe you thought coming here as a child was a good idea," Harry muttered, glancing darkly at the sharp, dripping walls of the cave. He lit his wand, copying Tom, and waded through the water until they reached a cliff wall, where Tom cast a Drying Charm over them.

"How are we-?" Harry started to question, but he stopped as Tom grabbed hold of his hand and sliced his palm open with a knife.

Harry hissed and tried to yank his hand back, but Tom was stronger, and he moved Harry's palm across the cliff wall.

It immediately started to shake, part of it fading away into darkness and creating an entrance for them to go through.

It led onto the edge of a large lake, which seemed to stretch on forever. The top of the cliff was too high to make out, and Harry felt like they were literally in the middle of nowhere.

"Don't touch the water," Tom said warningly, and Harry moved closer to Tom; away from the edge.

"I wasn't planning to," he muttered, gripping onto Tom's arm, and Tom smirked.

As they walked around the edge, Harry noticed a faint green glow coming from far across the lake.

"I guess Voldemort's favourite colour is green," Harry commented casually.

"Who would bother with something as childish as a favourite colour?" Tom retorted, though his voice held no malice. "Green is simply a respectable colour, commemorating Salazar Slytherin."

Tom stopped suddenly, causing Harry to walk into him. Harry threw out his arms to keep his balance, while Tom waved his hands through the air. Harry had no idea what he was doing, but then Tom's fingers clenched over nothing, and yanked his fist back.

The water began to ripple; Harry stepped back, expecting the worst, but it was nothing more than a small rowing boat; he doubted if they would both fit in it, and that was saying something considering they were both slender.

Tom climbed in, and then gestured for Harry to get into it too; he looked at the man with uncertainty.

"I thought you said not to touch the water," he said, trying to peer into the murky depths.

"Unless you are incapable of climbing into a boat, you won't be touching the water," Tom replied, rolling his eyes.

Harry sighed but climbed aboard, and found himself sitting in Tom's lap; he was correct in thinking that the boat was too small for them both to be able to sit comfortably and separately.

Harry rather disliked the slight height; being raised above the boat edge gave him no sense of security.

The boat moved slowly through the water, creating small ripples on the otherwise calm water.

As they neared the green glow, Harry could see it was coming from a small jagged rock, but the darkness and the glow disguised anything else.

The boat gently bumped the edge of the rock, so Harry stood up, feeling Tom's hands on the small of his back to steady him as he clambered out. Tom followed a lot more gracefully, and waved his hand, vanishing the glow.

A stone fountain type thing stood perched on the centre of the rock, and sat to the side of it, making muffled sounds and bound in ropes, was the Mind-Healer Murphy.

"I hope you enjoy your present," Tom whispered into his ear, standing behind Harry and wrapping his arms around his waist, as though Tom was a loving husband who had just presented his partner with an extravagant romantic gift.

"What is she doing here?" Harry asked softly, still in surprise. He couldn't even fathom how Tom had gotten her here so quickly.

"You were right; she did appear to view herself as better than others," Tom murmured casually, resting his chin atop Harry's head. "Her Wards were simple to get through; then I restrained her and brought her here for you."

"I don't want her," Harry stated, still staring wide-eyed at the woman.

"That's a pity, because, if you recall, I did something unpleasant for you, and now it's time for you to repay me," Tom hissed gently, his hands caressing Harry's sides. The boy tried not to shiver against the pleasurable sensation.

"I-I won't kill her," Harry stammered, shutting his eyes as Tom ducked his head down to place kisses upon Harry's neck.

"You don't need to," Tom assured against Harry's skin. "You just need to make her drink the liquid."

"How do I do that?" Harry asked, opening his eyes and staring at the fountain.

"You are aware of the three Unforgivable Curses, are you not?" Tom questioned rhetorically.

"What happens to her if she drinks it?" Harry pressed on; he could maybe push himself to cast the Imperius Curse if it didn't cause the death of the Mind-Healer. Maybe.

"She won't die," Tom answered with a hint of dejection in his voice. "Do you know what I read in her notes? She had wanted to diagnose you as delusional and paranoid; the hospital voided her statement, but she had further notes suggesting she was going to appeal against the rejection."

"Why is she so determined?" he asked, throwing a dirty look at the bound woman.

"Her son was a friend of the Diggory boy; I looked through his mind and saw he blamed you for the death," Tom explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's rather tragic really," Tom mused. "That poor young man with an insane mother who killed him and ran away; nobody shall miss her."

"But you said-" Harry started, but Tom cut in.

"You won't be killing her," he said adamantly. "The potion will simply make her delusional; don't you want to see her pay? Watch her suffer for how she treated you? It's just one little word; one little word and she's yours. Just say the word with enough meaning, and enough power; make sure your mind knows what you need her to do. Say it!"

Harry shakily raised his wand towards the woman, trying to calm himself as Tom's hands slipped under his shirt and then dug his nails into the skin above Harry's hips.

"Imperio!" Harry cast the spell, still trembling as the woman stood up, her bindings falling away. Her face looked clear of the harshness it held earlier, and her eyes were glazed over.

She walked slowly over to the fountain, picking up a shell-shaped object that doubled as a cup, and dipped it in the liquid and drank.

"Keep it strong; she'll fight soon," Tom said lowly, slipping one hand underneath Harry's jeans. He yelped in shock when Tom's cold hand gripped him, but another hand quickly covered his mouth. "Don't lose concentration, or you'll ruin her mind before she can finish."

After her third mouthful, the woman froze, her face contorted in terror.

"Make her keep going," Tom commanded, stroking Harry's member slowly, his other hand still clamped over Harry's mouth.

Healer Murphy opened her mouth to say something, or perhaps scream, but Harry didn't want her to, so she didn't; he could definitely see why this spell was classed as an Unforgivable; it was absolutely perfect for those who needed mindless slaves.

Harry could feel Tom's hardness pressing against his backside as the woman continued to drink the liquid, with tears falling down her face, her eyes wide with fear and her mouth opening as if it to scream without a voice.

"Almost there," Tom whispered, and Harry didn't know whether he meant him or the woman.

He began to stroke Harry faster as Murphy got near the end, stroking until Harry came with a muffled cry, spilling over Tom's fingers.

The Mind-Healer collapsed to her knees on the floor, clutching at her throat and gasping for breath.

Tom withdrew his hand, replacing the one over Harry's mouth with the cum-stained one, and he inserted each finger into Harry's mouth for him to clean, licking off his own salty essence.

"You did very well, my dear," Tom complimented, releasing Harry and casting a Cleansing Charm on him, before striding over to the fountain. He stepped over the women without even sparing her a second glance, and put his hand into the dry bowl, retrieving the necklace that had been placed within. He gripped it, and put the original locket; the Horcrux, into the fountain and cast a spell, refilling it with liquid.

Harry hurried over to stand beside Tom, who had his wand drawn on the woman.

"I thought you said she wouldn't die," he said, trying to press Tom's wand arm down.

"I said you wouldn't kill her," Tom corrected.

"Don't!" Harry hissed, attempting to grab Tom's wand off him. In his struggling, he knocked the fake locket from Tom's grasp, and it went flying into the water with a splash.

Harry stopped fighting, looking at Tom in fear as he expected him to be furious. What he didn't expect was for the older boy to start laughing cruelly.

"Oh, my sweet Harry, you have just made this lady's death very unpleasant; I was going to make it painless," Tom laughed, pulling Harry close to him and creating a ring of fire around them.

Through the flames, Harry could see Healer Murphy still spluttering on the ground, with tears flowing even heavier from her eyes. Beyond that, the once calm water was now rippling, with clammy figures appearing from its depths.

"There are hundreds of Inferi here," Tom told him. "Thanks to you, there shall be one more."

Harry clutched onto Tom as the Inferi clambered onto the rock, edging slowly towards the woman who was now panicking, but unable to do anything in her weakened state.

"What are they going to do to her?" Harry asked fearfully. Tom wasn't looking at him; his face was focused on the Inferi, watching them with a sadistic smile.

"They'll drag her to the depths and drown her. She'll never be fully dead; she'll be aware of her skin rotting and her lungs clogged with water. She'll be yet another corpse destined to suffer in death for eternity."

Harry shivered; the whole idea of that seemed brutal; more horrendous than death, and more horrendous than losing your soul. The woman was cruel, but that didn't mean she should be subjected to living death for the rest of eternity.

He raised his wand, having to steady his trembling arm with his left hand, and pointed it at the woman; the Inferi were nearly upon her, ready to pull her to her doom.

Tom looked at him curiously, but Harry ignored him.

He knew he only had one option; one that was cruel, but the lighter evil.

He felt tears spill from his eyes, but he didn't bother to brush them away. He wanted her to die; she had to die. Death would be a blessing to her; the Inferi were about to grab her, so he had to do it now.

"Avada Kedavra."

X

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 601