The Darkening of Your Soul

Chapter 23

Harry waited until after nine that evening before calling Tom. That was when Pomfrey turned down the lights in the hospital wing and went to her own quarters. Harry closed his curtains, cast all the privacy charms he knew and activated his mirror.

Tom answered within half a minute, cup of camomile in hand. “How was your day, my dear?”

“Soulmate!” Harry grinned at Tom, his heart soaring while at the same time a sense of calmness came over him, as it usually did whenever he talked to Tom lately. “I’ve had a weird day. First of all, that nightmare curse you used on the Weasley twins is inspired. I’ve been admiring it all day.”

Tom’s small smile morphed into a satisfied grin and he took a bow, almost spilling his tea in the process. “I’m glad to hear it arrived where it was supposed to and has the desired effect.”

“Oh, they’re suffering, alright,” Harry said with an agreeable nod. “Pomfrey had to silence and restrain them.”

“Excellent.” Tom sipped his camomile with all the satisfaction of a cat that ate about a dozen canaries. “It should last up to three weeks.”

“Yeah, that’s nice,” Harry said while he frowned at Tom. “Except now Dumbledore somehow suspects me of casting that stupid curse.”

“Ah.” Tom didn’t seem at all surprised by this news. “So the old man is up to his usual tricks.” At seeing Harry’s puzzled expression, he explained further. “Even as far back as my schooldays this was Dumbledore’s usual tactic when dealing with Slytherins. It doesn’t matter if there is any evidence or not, if there are other suspects or not, if a Slytherin is so much as barely involved in a situation, they must be the guilty party somehow. And no matter what anyone else says or how unlikely it is, Dumbledore will stick to his conviction that the Slytherin is guilty. I knew he still treated Slytherins like this during Severus’ time, and it now appears he’s still displaying the same prejudiced behaviour.”

“In other words, I’m nothing special,” Harry said, feeling oddly relieved Dumbledore hadn’t somehow figured out Harry was far more powerful than an average eleven-year-old since he was technically eighteen.

“In this you are not, no,” Tom said with a teasing glint in his blue eyes. Harry realized he didn’t even really notice the changes to Tom’s face anymore and accepted his new visage as normal. Probably because he still looked incredibly like Tom Riddle while also possessing plenty of new characteristics. The wizard who had applied that kind of transfiguration had truly done some excellent work.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Harry said, reaching for the glass of pumpkin juice he’d been saving since dinner, just so he would have something to drink as well. “Of course, having the twins here meant that Mr and Mrs Weasley stopped by.”

“How did that go?” Tom asked when Harry didn’t continue right away. Mostly because he was sorting through his thoughts when it came to the Weasleys. For the most part, he now accepted that they’d betrayed him, if not actively then passively, and that he’d never been as important to them as they had been to him. But at the same time, they had been his surrogate family for years, and one was his best friend, and another his so far only girlfriend. The Weasleys were unmistakably entwined with Harry’s previous life and not so easily erased from Harry’s thoughts as he would like.

“It was strange,” Harry finally said, and took a sip of his pumpkin juice to occupy his mouth while he tried to find the right words. “They’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a caring family and when I was eleven I desperately wanted to be a part of their family.”