A True Belonging

chapter thirteen

It's summer vacation when I enter Malfoy Manor, nervous as hell. I hadn't seen or spoken to Tom since the night before Weasley attempted to kill me. I have no idea what Tom was told or how he feels. Maybe he's angry at me for getting injured again. Maybe he is angry at Weasley for his attempt at murder or maybe he isn't angry about it. Or he is angry we haven't spoken in almost two months. It took me only a few hours to get to my home and pack things for my stay at the Manor, I sent Draco ahead though he wasn't sure at first but eventually went. I stared at the large front doors, contemplating running. I know Tom is staying here for a week, since they are having a Death Eater meeting here tomorrow. I don't know what to expect. Heaving a weary sigh, I knock and a few moments later the door is opened by an irate Tom.

"Tom-" I go to speak, only to stop when I'm yanked into the Manor and gathered into a pair of arms, the door shutting behind us, "what-"

"Shut up."

I swallow, not saying anything else as Tom holds me captive in his arms; a strong yet gentle hug. It was the last thing I ever expected him to do when he saw me. I was prepared for yelling and anger, not this. It took a few moments for me to relax against him but I eventually do, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Before we go to the meeting I want to make something clear." Tom whispered down into my ear and I couldn't help the shiver that goes down my spine.

"W-what's that?"

"You are to pay more attention to your surroundings and defend yourself. I will not stand for you dying, is that understood?"

"Y-yes." I whisper, shocked by Tom's reaction. Tom goes to say something else, but stops when Draco appears.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting. My father wished for me to tell you everyone is here and ready." Draco grins, quickly exiting the room back through the door he came in. Tom sighs before letting me go and following after the Malfoy heir.

"Come on, Harry, you should be at the meeting as well." Tom looked at me over his shoulder and I quickly catch up with him.

By the time the meeting is almost over, I am ready to fall asleep. So far all that's happened is death eaters giving reports from their previous orders.

"Now, I have orders for only Remus and Narcissa. Everyone else may leave." I sat a little straighter in my plush chair, next to Tom ,watching as one by one the other 10 present death eaters pop continues when there's only the four of us left, "Remus I would like for you to go and talk to different wolf packs and see if they will join. Come back and report what you find out in three weeks."

"Yes, my Lord." Remus bows before he, too, pops out of the room.

Tom turns to Narcissa next, "can you talk to the Vampires and see what they say?"

"Of course. My lover will be stopping by later tonight, he's agreed to help."

"Excellent, tell him thank you and that he is welcome to visit any time he wishes."

"I'm sure he will appreciate your invitation." She bows, exiting the room through the nearby door.

"Lets go to my study. We can make plans there, house elves can bring food." Tom stands up, walking towards the door directly behind the chair he had been occupying. I follow him, wondering what kind of plans we will come up with.

We are sitting with a desk between us, paper covering the entirety of the top, when Tom sighs.

"The first question we need to ask is where we should have the final battle. I always figured Hogwarts because it's one of the strongholds of the wizarding world."

"I agree. Doing the battle at Hogwarts can give a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages. We should make a list of pro's and con's and see what we come up with." I pull a blank parchment out from a nearby pile and summon a quill.

"Con's then. All the younger students present. All the older students that can fight. Either way they are all still just kids. Hogwarts herself would be damaged, even if she can be repaired later." Tom lists off, and I quickly scratch down what he says before taking over.

"Pro's. Later reaction time for their reinforcements. Few adults that will be easy enough to overpower with our forces. Surprise attack is more possible. We can have students that are on our side attack from the inside, and we can hold back after the initial attack to give them time to evacuate the younger years before storming the inside. We can also just knock all the students unconscious instead of killing them. Of course, there will still be casualties among them. That is unavoidable." I wrote all of this down, turning the parchment around for Tom to read.

"Hogwarts it shall be then. Now, when should we attack? During the day or night, weekday or weekend?"

The next few hours are spent like this, making pro's and con's list of everything that had more than one option. We only stop when the door opens and reveals two grinning red heads and a very red Draco.

"Harry!" Fred grins, arm wrapping itself around Draco's shoulder.

"There you are! Come on and play some Quidditch with us! " George continues, hand grabbing hold of Draco's, who turns even redder.

"Y-yeah, Harry, come play a game, the stressful planning can wait." Draco grins over at me, and I look at Tom for confirmation.

"Very well, I suppose we have done enough for today. Go, Harry." I smile at him before standing up and cracking multiple bones as they complain from sitting still for so long.

It's 11 at night and I'm walking back downstairs from moving my stuff into the bedroom next to Tom's so Sirius and Remus can use the master bedroom, when I hear people talking in the living room. Walking over, I see Tom talking to Narcissa and a male I've never seen before. He's about the same height as Tom, midnight black hair loosely pulled back and resting halfway down his back. His robes are all black, same with his boots. His skin is alarmingly pale, but not to where it makes him look ill, actually it rather suits the man. He's thin but has muscles just barely showing through the heavy robes. I find myself looking into golden eyes when I reach his face, which is sharp and angular but his smile is soft and takes the edge off an otherwise un friendly face.

"Hello, you must be Harry Potter, then?" The man asks, voice soft but holds unspoken power. I walk over and stand next to Tom.

"Yes I am, sir." I reply, nodding my head in hello.

"My apologies, I'm Delano Cruonem, Narcissa 's lover." he grins, a set of fangs flashing in the light of the room and things begin clicking into place in my head, "I was just telling them that my clan would be happy to join in this final battle."

"Excellent, thank you." I smile at him, before turning to Tom, "I'm going to bed, my room is next to yours now, just in case" Tom nods, and I say goodbye to the three of them before leaving.