Playing With Fire (Harry Potter x Lord Voldemort)

Awkward Encounters

The moment Voldemort opened his eyes, he knew it was going to be a difficult morning.

He had only so much time to sleep, and the majority of it early that morning was ruined by Harry Potter. Of course. The link was quiet enough for the first half of his slumber, and it opened so suddenly that it actually woke the Dark Lord. Fear was something he could easily associate with, pleasure, however, he had no time for.

Especially not when it was being forced on him through the mind of a teenager.

It was a natural occurrence of course, but that didn't mean that the Dark Lord had to accept it, nor like it. He had half a mind to storm into Harry's room and shake him awake. The only reason he didn't, was that it could break the ease that had finally started to spread. He wasn't about to risk another hiccup. A compliant Potter was easier to deal with. Meaning the Dark Lord had to live with the consequences of letting Harry Potter dream out his experience. Unfortunate.

The link would not cease, no matter how hard Voldemort tried, so he did the next best thing he could think of.

Distracting oneself was a great solution when one could do it correctly. Unfortunately for the wizard, ignoring the link was much more difficult than ignoring feelings. He had tried reading for a quarter of an hour before giving up, but couldn't concentrate on the words, thus he tried writing instead. It seemed simple enough, and he immersed himself in his lettering. The feelings were becoming easier to manage. Imagine his surprise when he felt a caress along his side.

This caused the Dark Lord to freeze in place, a drop of ink slipping from his pen's nib and splattering the written words beneath it.

He wasn't paranoid enough to think someone had actually touched him, no. He knew that this was something that had fluttered over the link as well. Actual physical sensations had never been a problem before, not with any other Horcrux, not even Nagini. She and Harry were the most similar, but he had never had to deal with her in this way. Part of him knew logically that most reptiles didn't dream, the other part of him chalked it up to Harry not being able to follow the rules.

This includes soul magic it would seem. Always an exception.

The implications of this were unfortunate, as exciting as learning new information was, he was not delighted in this particular development. Even so, he sat still, wondering if it would happen again. Unless he decided to wake Harry, which he already decided he would not, this would not end until-

Until Harry was finished.

The Dark Lord closed his eyes and fought the feeling to groan bitterly. He reached up and rubbed at his temples instead, he was vexed. But he accepted his fate and hoped that this would not become a regular occurrence.

Luckily for Voldemort, the situation only lasted for another fifteen minutes or so. He hadn't had to deal with the touch of phantom hands again, and he did not wish to acknowledge the small part of him that seemed...disappointed. Should he be forced to, the Dark Lord would have chalked it up to science. A lost chance at learning more about the strange new development.

That was all.

Lord Voldemort did not crave physical contact.

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Breakfast was indeed an awkward affair.

Harry ate his eggs quietly, keeping his eyes downcast. Nagini had been in an excellent mood because Harry had stayed up the rest of the morning petting her. She had slithered down the hall and into the room and Harry followed. He had walked to Voldemort's office, dragging his feet the whole way, in shame. The moment Harry had entered the room, he knew Voldemort knew. At least to some extent.