A Little Help from a Snake // Tomarry

14: The Nicknames Begin*

Revised: January 21, 2022

Changed a few lines to match the previous changes I've made. Will also be revising Part 15.

Please be in the correct order...

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Tom closed his eyes with relish as he held his soulmate for the first time. For fifty years, he had been stuck in that damn diary. Fifty years of longing for human contact. Of dread for what the future held for his Harry. He had guaranteed that Dumbledore would have taken measures to prevent him from being born and, if that failed, to prevent him from ever finding out about his relation with Tom. Yet here he was, face buried in Tom's robes as he processed what he had learned.

After several long moments, Harry lifted his head. "How have you coped for so long?" he asked.

"Mostly a desire for vengeance," said Tom. "When Ginny came around, I had decided I would use her to get my body back."

"It's no wonder she's been acting strange," said Harry. "She's hardly looked at me in the past week."

"How did you find out about the soul bond anyway?" And how did Dumbledore not find out he knew?

"Gringotts," Harry replied. "We found that there had been blocks and compulsions put on me, so I had them removed. After that, the parchment revealed the bond." He paused. "What did Ginny write about me?"

"Not much." Harry raised his eyebrows, surprised, Tom continued. "She knows she doesn't have a chance with you, but she does want to get to know you better. Oh, and it seems like she's one of the few Gryffindors who don't believe you opened the Chamber. In fact, she's worried you'll be attacked." Because she feels responsible, he added silently with a flicker of guilt.

Harry snorted. "Well, that might explain why she was following me around before. But there must be a way we can get you back without hurting her or anyone else."

"There may be something down in the Chamber," Tom mused. At Harry's confused look, he clarified. "There's a library back there. Athanasia guards it."

"Athanasia? Who's that?"

"She's Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk," Tom explained.

'Basilisk?' A dark shape poked out from behind Harry. It was a snake, and as Tom watched, it uncoiled itself and situated itself on the floor beside Harry, gazing up at Tom with its tail lashing excitedly.

"A basilisk?" Harry echoed, not at all perturbed by the snake that had seemingly appeared out of thin air. His eyes darkened. "Everyone that's been petrified had been lucky they haven't looked in her eyes directly," he said more to himself.

Tom nodded in agreement. Ginny had told him of the first petrification, so he had ordered Athanasia to be more careful. It hadn't worked.

'I wanna see! I wanna see!' The snake was now slithering around Harry in excited loops.

"This must be Azure," said Tom.

Azure stopped circling Harry and raised her head proudly. 'That's me.'

"Careful," Harry said as Tom leaned down and stroked her head. "She takes pleasure in insulting people she likes."

'You'd better watch your mouth, Tart-boy, or else I'll leave another dead mouse in your bed.'

Tom let out a laugh, smiling down at the snake. 'I like you.'

'No need to feed into her ego,' Harry said, a smile crossing his own face.